A/N: Dramione has always been one of my favorite pairings and I've had this idea for a very long time. This is my first time writing fanfiction in the Harry Potter fandom and I really want to do it justice. Please review!
The Hogwarts Express raced through the countryside. Hermione felt like a first-year again, nervous about arriving at the mysterious place where young witches and wizards were trained in the magical arts. She knew that the castle had been rebuilt but she hadn't seen it since the Battle of Hogwarts. Harry sat across from her tapping the glass with his fingers.
For the first time, their trio had been brought down to two. All the seventh-year students had been offered the opportunity to either return to Hogwarts or to graduate early. Harry and Hermione had both elected to return. Ron had decided to stay home with his family as they recovered from the loss of Fred. Hermione felt guilty for leaving her parents behind after finally tracking them down in a little house outside of Sydney and returning their memories, but they'd understood her commitment to her schooling.
The door to their compartment slid open and Ginny slipped through. Her eyes were red from crying but her face was smooth and her eyes blazing. She settled herself on the seat next to Hermione.
After several minutes of uncomfortable silence, Ginny finally turned to Hermione and said, "How are your parents, Hermione? My dad was telling me that memory spells that powerful can have certain…side-effects."
"They're fine." Hermione smiled. "I told them as little as I could. They know that they're missing something but I don't think they want to ask what it is. How are you doing?"
Ginny's lower lip twitched ever so slightly. "I'm doing okay. I wonder what Hogwarts is going to look like now that it's being rebuilt."
"The same, I'm sure."
The train ride raced by and soon they were stepping into the carriages to carry them up to the castle. There was a huge back-up of carriages with the large number of students freaked out over the sudden "appearance" of the thestrals that pulled them. Harry pushed his way through the crowd and held the door open for a carriage so that Hermione and Ginny could climb inside.
As the carriage pulled up to the doors, they peeked out and looked up. Hogwarts was still an imposing stone structure, more majestic than anything against the night sky. It looked the same as before and once again Hermione was reminded of her first journey inside. She longed for the innocence of those days as they stepped out and walked through the doors.
Hermione looked around for familiar faces as everyone started to file in. Their numbers had been greatly thinned. Not many had accepted the offer to return to Hogwarts when they could just as easily stay with their families and take a job in the Wizarding World.
"Well, look who it is," Ginny muttered, her voice dark. Harry and Hermione turned around and their eyes fell on a familiar pointy face and blonde hair. The summer hadn't been kind on Draco. His normally perfectly flat hair was messy, he looked even thinner than normal, and his eyes lacked their usual arrogant glint.
Draco looked up at Ginny's words and met Hermione's eyes. She stared back at him with her face blank, but he just smiled and turned away.