Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
A/N: Posting today specifically in honour of the first day of Hogwarts.
"I don't want to go," Ginny said softly to Hermione, a couple of days before September as they sat together under a tree at the Burrow.
Hermione frowned at her best friend. "We'll visit all the time." The words felt empty, but she had nothing else to give her.
"And write." Ginny fixed her with a pointed look.
"Of course. All the time. About whatever you want. If you ever need to leave for a while, I'm sure Minerva will understand. You're welcome at Vertic Alley whenever you want."
"As long as I knock first, right?" Ginny grinned slyly.
"That would be preferable," Hermione responded flippantly, with no trace of a blush on her cheeks.
"Yuck." Ginny stuck her tongue out.
"You brought it up." Hermione laughed. The two young women lapsed into silence under the tree, Hermione reading a fantasy book for pleasure and Ginny reading the latest copy of The Prophet. Hermione read steadily on, allowing the book to take hold of her completely and not even noticing when Ginny tried and subsequently gave up on engaging her in conversation.
A few hours later Hermione was shaken out of her hypnosis by a familiar voice. "Hey." Ron said, sitting down across from them.
"Hi." She smiled. Ginny stared at her in disbelief.
"Are you kidding me?" She asked, voice rising.
"What?" Hermione asked in confusion.
"I just tried to get your attention for half an hour to no avail. I have never seen anyone be able to pull you out of a book when you're reading."
Ron cocked his head to the side as he considered this. A strange emotion blossomed in his expression. "That's true."
"I…" Hermione spluttered helplessly. She was racking her brains, trying to figure out whether Ron had ever tried to do so. She realized he never had before today. And he hadn't even been trying today, he'd only greeted them.
Her parents hated when she read because she was unreachable, not to mention incredibly angry once they finally raised their voices loud enough to force her back into the real world. She stared at Ron, a blush spreading across her cheeks. Ginny chuckled as she got to her feet and went inside, leaving them alone.
"I reached you." He said in awe.
"Everyone doesn't have to be so surprised." Hermione grumbled.
He chuckled. "Sorry love. It's just the truth." She harrumphed. "How did I reach you?" Her persisted. Hermione looked away, unsure if he wanted a real answer or not. "Hermione?"
She turned her head and her eyes met his. He sucked in a breath at the expression there. "I read those books to escape. Sometimes…sometimes make believe is so much better than reality. Even before the war I found that to be true. And when I get pulled back into the world it's terrible because I remember who I am and everything that's wrong in life so I resent people shaking me out of my trance."
She looked away, suddenly embarrassed. "But you…" she smiled at him, the private one reserved just for him. "You make me love this world. You make this world good enough for me to want to be in it. It's not that the rest of my friends and family don't, but none of them can make the horrors of this world go away. Not like you do."
He was speechless. He rubbed the back of his neck, ears red. "Hermione I…" she cut him off with a kiss. Whatever he had been about to say didn't matter. She loved him and she knew he loved her. "I am so in love with you." He whispered as they pulled apart, resting his forehead against hers. She beamed.
"That's good because I'm rather fond of you," she smirked. He growled playfully and she laughed. "Alright, alright. I'm hopelessly in love with you too."
A few weeks later, Hermione smiled as she remembered that conversation while she leaned against platform eight on the muggle side of King's Cross station. She was waiting for the rest of her party after apparating straight from work. They had planned to meet outside the platform, but it seemed no one else was here yet. She thought about all of the years she had come to this very platform and how very different it was this year. She wasn't leaving on the train, for one, but there were a lot of people who weren't here that should be. She remembered going with the entire Weasley family, still numbered nine, with Tonks and Mad-Eye and Lupin and Sirius. She missed them all.
"Hi Hermione." George was strolling down the rows of platforms in a dragon leather suit, having just come from work himself.
"George." She greeted, hugging him. He looked a little sad, but Hermione decided she absolutely was not going to say anything about it. "You here on your lunch break too?"
He nodded, looking her up and down. He whistled. "You look good in work clothes."
"Oi!" Ron said indignantly from behind them. "That's my girlfriend you're ogling. Put your eyes back in your head." He wrapped his arm around her possessively and giving her a quick kiss. "He's right though." He muttered to her. She rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"Hey Harry." She said, pulling away from her ridiculous boyfriend to give her best friend a hug.
"Hey Mione. Been radically transforming your department much today?" He winked.
She glared at him. "I'll have you know that department was a mess before I was put in charge. Still is." He grinned good-naturedly at her.
"You're doing a wonderful job straightening it out though, I must say." A new voice said, and Hermione found Percy approaching them in his work robes. He smiled at Hermione when she hugged him and pursed his lips when George did the same. Hermione chuckled.
"Nice day for it, eh?" Bill asked as he and Fleur arrived. She was about two months pregnant by now and not showing at all. After greeting each other they all stood in comfortable silence, George interjecting every so often to say something hilarious and, most times, rude.
"Everyone here already?" Charlie greeted as he walked up to them. Where were Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny? Charlie was never on time for anything.
"Everyone except Mum, Dad, and Ginny." Ron replied. "Wonder what's taking them so long."
Harry checked his watch for the hundredth time, anxious to get as much time in with his fiancée as he could before she left for school. A couple of minutes later the group became extremely amused as Mrs. Weasley and Ginny's conversation floated through the station.
"I told you everyone but us would already be here! Honestly Ginevra, you didn't need to go back for your extra quaffle."
"But it was my lucky quaffle Mum." Ginny explained earnestly. Ron sniggered but quelled the amusement on his face as soon as they were in seeing distance. Mr. Weasley was trailing slightly behind his wife and daughter, holding Arnold the pygmy puff's cage and looking very entertained.
Everyone hugged and then Mrs. Weasley looked at them all bleary eyed. "Alright you lot, everyone through the barrier. Ginny you go first. We'll all follow right behind you." She hugged her youngest daughter. Ginny patted her back as she stooped down to return the embrace.
"Don't worry Mum, you'll be back here in ten years for Teddy and eleven for Bill and Fleur's baby. It'll hardly feel like any time at all." Bill and Fleur both looked highly alarmed at this pronouncement and Hermione giggled. Ginny hugged her dad who murmured something into her hair that had Ginny swiping at her eyes and then handed her Arnold. She winked at Harry, saluted the rest of them, and disappeared through the platform.
Harry went through next and Hermione and Ron waited a couple of minutes before they went through in order to give the couple some privacy. They went next and were followed by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, then Bill and Fleur, George, Percy, and finally Charlie. Hermione put her arm around Ginny in a side hug.
"See you the very first Hogsmeade weekend." She promised. "And don't forget to write."
"Bye Mione." The redhead smiled. "I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too." She said, returning the smile. Then Hermione watched as Ginny hugged all of her brothers, kissed Harry one last time, and boarded the train. She waved at them from the window until the train rounded the corner out of sight. They stood there for a couple of minutes, feeling the odd sense that an era had just ended.
Ron clapped Harry on the back. "Well, you've never been to our condo, whaddya say about dinner at ours tonight?" Hermione gasped to herself, realizing that they hadn't had a D.A. reunion. She'd meant to send out invitations, but she'd been so busy…oh well. They would just have to have one over Christmas break. She would write a reminder down in her planner.
"Sounds good." Harry replied, pulling Hermione out of her wandering thoughts.
"Ron can cook." Hermione grinned, falling into step on Harry's other side. She put her arm around him in comradery.
"Can Ron cook?" He asked dubiously. Ron glowered as Hermione giggled.
"He can." She confirmed.
"Hermione will give you a tour. She'll have to be kept out of the kitchen while I cook." He pitched his voice lower so only Harry and Hermione could hear him.
"Do I even want to know?" Harry sighed.
"Something about me making food is apparently very hot." Ron smirked.
Harry groaned. "I did not need to know that." Hermione glared at Ron.
"Ron." She hissed. He winked at her infuriatingly. Ooh, that man. But, she did end up giving Harry a tour, leaving Ron alone to make dinner in the kitchen. He appropriately oohed and ahhed at the house, commenting on how it seemed to suit them very well. He was endlessly amused by the three-story library Hermione had installed via undetectable extension charm, and her extremely orderly home office. They had a wonderful dinner and he seemed to be in good spirits when he left.
That had been a few months ago, two to be precise, and Hermione was now very busy with work. She had created enough jobs to hire a small staff, changed the legislation surrounding werewolf capturing with the auror department, made the ministry required by law to negate the illegality of werewolves and give them jobs (that had been a long and hard court battle to win), made Bill their goblin liaison, Charlie their dragon and dangerous beasts liaison, made it lawful for house elves to be given rights if they wanted to claim them, and generally improved the lives of beasts and beings in the wizarding world.
Slowly but surely, she was chipping away at prejudices and replacing them with a generation who wouldn't even be able to fathom why earlier humans had treated creatures so badly. Or that was the plan, anyways. All of these inroads had caught the eye of many higher ups, and Kingsley had appointed her as Creature liaison to the minister, a prodigious promotion that she and Ron had celebrated quite well.
She had been offered the post of head of no less than five of seven ministry departments; barring only the DMLE which belonged to Harry, and the Department of Magical Games and Sports. The Weasleys had thrown her a party when she had made S.P.E.W. worldwide. Harry and Ron had been beside themselves, they had never thought it would happen.
They'd even gone to The Quibbler to give an exclusive joint interview about Hermione's longstanding interest in house elves and how S.P.E.W. had begun; with quotes from Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and even The Quibbler's Chief Editor Luna Lovegood. The press had been incredibly angry that such notorious war heroes had posted the story in 'that rag of a magazine', but Harry had been adamant.
Yes, work was good. Challenging and rewarding, it was everything she had dreamed. Now all she had to do to get her entire plan to have come to life was to make wolfsbane required to be given to all known werewolves by law. There would still be a registry, but it would not be shared with anyone other than the current head of the Department and the current Minister of Magic, whomever they might be, to ensure there was no tracking for discriminatory purposes. Neither the public nor other officials were allowed to find out about it, or else everyone who knew the secret would be gifted with pimples to rival Marietta Edgecombe's.
Hermione nervously bounced her knee up and down as she stared at the clock in her office. She was due in the Wizengamot now to defend her wolfsbane proposition. If it was passed, it would be called the Granger Wolfsbane Legislation. Granger's Law was already taken by the huge document outlining the rights given to house elves. She had wanted this law to be called the Lupin Legislation, but had been fought down in court.
She also had to go to bat for Goblins at some point, but she knew that would be very difficult and would require years of building up relationships between herself and the species. She returned her thoughts to werewolves, and wished Remus had been here to see this. The clock struck quarter to one and she stood, releasing a breath to try and rid herself of nerves. She took the lift down to the lowest level, ignoring the memories from her attendance at Mary Cattermole's trial, and smiled at the assembled Wizengamot.
At least there were some friendly faces in the crowd. Many were past D.A. members and their families. There was a familiar face in Bill, who was there in House Weasley's seat. Percy was scribing the affair, as he was the best. Blaise Zabini had somehow charmed himself into the role of Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and he was smiling lazily down at her from his spot in the centre. Draco Malfoy also attended his seat and she found herself absolutely positive that she could count on his vote. He and Malfoy Enterprises had been her strongest support, and a surprise benefactor in her court fees.
They had struck a strange understanding of sorts that was almost friendship. It wasn't the true friendship he now shared with Harry and Ginny, but nor was it the frosty enmity he and Ron still shared, but they were trying.
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Wizengamot." She said, her voice ringing strong and clear. "You are here today to hear my proposal on why the Ministry should be required to give all werewolves who identify themselves as such the wolfsbane potion. This should be done first and foremost because it is the right thing to do, but adopting this law also has many benefits. For one, werewolf transformation will be much safer for both the transformer and society at large. Once taken, wolfsbane ensues that the werewolf keeps their human mind and remains docile."
"How do we know that they won't choose to harm us with their human mind?" A staunchy old pureblood interrupted. Hermione had been prepared for this.
"There will be monitoring of the participants and completely random intervals to ensure that this does not happen. But I assure you, Greyback was an outlier, not the majority, and he was a self-proclaimed Death Eater, the likes of which would not be accepted as someone worthy of being afforded the potion."
She was in her element. "Furthermore, it helps them to keep their jobs, which they are now legally allowed to have and will thus cause less of the problems that have created complaints from some about giving werewolves jobs. It will also help get rid of prejudice, especially for young children who may have been turned. But, the most important benefit, in my opinion, is that by passing this law, you will be ensuring that there will be many fewer werewolves in the future." The crowd nodded along with her, listening intently.
"With all or most werewolves taking wolfsbane, there will be little to no werewolf attacks. This means no injuries and people clogging St. Mungo's, as well as no future werewolves being created through bites. I hope you will put aside any preconceived notions and consider my proposal seriously with clear heads. This is a very important law, and it is in the wizarding world's best interests to pass it."
Bill grinned wolfishly at her and she smiled back at him before sitting down in the middle of the chamber by herself. Everyone else was above her in the surrounding seats but she did not let it make her feel small. She sat tall and proud, and prayed that they saw the wisdom of her proposal.
After a very long time Minister Shacklebolt raised a hand to quite the murmurings surrounding him. "I believe it is time for a vote." He said in his soothing baritone. "Those for scrapping the bill entirely." Hermione sucked in a breath, eyes going wide as she realized the amount of people with hands up numbered much less than half. "Those for passing the bill into law."
Three quarters of the room raised their hands and Hermione beamed. She inclined her head in a slight bow. She had done it. She'd won! Everyone rushed in to congratulate and talk to her, but all she could think about was Remus Lupin, and how she wished he had been here to see this happen. The crowd filed out around her, and she prepared to leave.
"Hermione!" A voice called, and Hermione saw a familiar face emerge above the sea of people. Andromeda hurried towards her, carrying a sandy-haired Teddy. My but he resembled Remus today.
"Andromeda, Teddy." She beamed. "I'm so glad you came."
"How could we not?" Andromeda said softly. "His father being who he was. Remus would never have believed this."
"He should have lived to see it happen." Hermione responded, just as quietly.
"Yes." The older witch agreed. "We're here for Nymphadora too. She wanted this almost more than he did." Hermione was saved from a reply as Teddy reached across his Gran for Hermione, who scooped him up in her arms delightedly.
"Hey there Teddy Bear. Your Daddy lived in a world where he wasn't accepted, which was tosh because he was one of the best men I ever knew. I did this partly because it is right, but mostly in his memory." The baby gurgled back at her, and she grinned, handing him back to Andromeda as Draco joined them.
"Congratulations Hermione." He said in his own awkwardly sincere way.
"Thank you, Draco." She said breezily, much more friendly than him. She reckoned that most of his discomfort with emotions was from his stodgy pureblood upbringing.
"Well, we'd better go." Andromeda said.
"I hope to fund more of your world-changing schemes Granger." Draco said, much warmer whilst teasing her.
"I hope you do too." She smiled, and then she was alone, her thoughts swimming with memories of Remus and Tonks. They had died for this world. For Teddy to grow up in a world not ravaged by war. She would not squander any of their sacrifices by allowing prejudice and hatred to remain in the wizarding world. They deserved better.