Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not owned by me.
It was mid-June now, and Hermione's N.E.W.T.s were fast approaching. The morning of her exams dawned dewey and dull as the sun's first weak rays struggled to permeate the atmosphere. Hermione sat anxiously at the breakfast table, drinking coffee and practically vibrating with nerves.
Bill walked in and smiled indulgently at her. "You look like Perce used to before the end of year exams. Pity I never saw him before any big exams."
As if summoned, Percy walked into the room. He took one look at her, and she saw reminiscence flash across his face. "Stop worrying. You'll be amazing."
"But this time is so much different; it's just the practicals, and I never actually took seventh-year classes and…."
"What is it they call you again?" Ron asked teasingly, swooping in to put his arms around her from behind and kiss her head quickly before grabbing a pancake with his hand.
"I'm pretty sure she's called the brightest witch of her age." Harry joined in.
"Okay, okay. I get the point." She informed them with a fake glare.
"There's no way to stop Hermione from being anxious over exams. Not even when you use perfectly logical reasoning." Ginny informed them all.
"There's no such thing," Hermione muttered under her breath, and Percy grinned at her.
"Good luck today, Hermione." Mr. Weasley said cheerily on his way to work. Mrs. Weasley kissed her cheek and heaped more food on her plate. "We know you'll do swimmingly."
Hermione felt such a strong wave of affection for them all she almost cried. "I love you all." She announced earnestly before flouncing out of the room to apparate into Hogsmeade. She patted her robes to make sure she had everything. I.D., wand, quills. Oh no. She had forgotten her favourite quill.
She turned quickly back to the house and nearly smacked into Ron. He grinned at her and held out her quill. "Go get 'em." He said, and she beamed at him.
"I intend to." He snorted, and the last thing she saw before she disapparated was his amused smile.
"Good morning Hermione." Professor McGonagall greeted her at the door, checking her name off of a list of participants.
"Good morning Minerva." She responded as she tried to even her voice. She was ushered into the Great Hall, which had been entirely cleared out and quartered into sections by House. She noted all of the Gryffindors from her grade except Ron and Harry, and she smiled and waved at Parvati and Lavender before turning to hug Neville. She greeted Seamus, who was leaning casually against Dean, and nodded once at a solemn Draco Malfoy. He, Blaise Zabini, and Theodore Nott were the only Slytherins present. Padma was the only Ravenclaw there, but every Hufflepuff from their year was present.
Minerva cleared her throat and motioned for the Gryffindor's who were being tested on Arithmancy to move towards her. Like O.W.L.s, they went in alphabetical order. Hermione thought that was fitting since they were beginning with math. She nearly giggled aloud at the thought she was so nervous. She knew she got the correct answers in that subject as there were actual right answers. She figured out her tablet for Runes in record time and had to complete a complicated star chart for Astronomy where she almost missed noting the moon.
She got a break after that as those who had taken Care of Magical Creatures went next. There was a brief break after every three or four subjects, and Hermione relished the extra time. She wondered if anyone was taking all twelve exams. Of them, she figured the likely candidates to do so were Draco or Ernie.
Professor Flitwick was delighted during her entire Charms exam as she performed each one with cool confidence she only exhibited during tests or in battle. Next was the one she was most nervous for, the only O.W.L. she had gotten Exceeds Expectations in instead of Outstanding. But she reminded herself she was war heroine Hermione Granger who had fought in much more dangerous life-threatening situations than the one she currently inhabited. She was a third of the Golden Trio, after all. She sort of liked the name, and she knew Ron did too. Harry detested it as he detested everything that brought attention to him.
She forced herself to breathe when she was required to encounter a real Dementor. She would not have a flashback today. As she was casting it, she wondered at how the moment didn't change from the very first time you cast your patronus, even if you encountered better memories later in life. She pictured her, Ron, and Harry at the beginning of fifth year sitting in the common room laughing at utter nonsense and was rewarded with her silvery otter.
She got another long pause after that as it was Divination and then break number two. Afterward, she named and then wrangled some plants for Professor Sprout, getting dirt all over the floor. The Professor seemed delighted rather than perturbed, and she whistled as she set to clean it up.
History of Magic was the most uncomfortable exam she had ever performed. She recited words that not only Harry had said a month ago, but ones that Voldemort had uttered as well. She did it as dramatically and true to the event as possible and wondered at the strangeness of the exam. It was interesting and dramatic when Professor Binns was usually exceedingly tedious, even for her.
Once more, she got a long respite as those taking Muggle Studies performed their exams, and then they were given their third and final break. She looked around the room and wondered if this would be the last time she ever entered Hogwarts. Somehow, she doubted it. It would, however, be her last time doing any type of schoolwork there. She shut out the memories as she made her way to the Potions exam.
She performed a bunch of concoctions for Slughorn, and she would never admit it to anyone, but she did crush her beans instead of cutting them for her Draught of Living Death. Now that she knew they were Snape's instructions, she didn't feel as bad following them. He had been a very skilled Potions Master, after all.
Finally, she high-fived a grinning Seamus and entered the Gryffindor section for her very last exam. Minerva was smiling at her, eyes suspiciously bright. Hermione transfigured herself and multiple objects, as well as conjuring as many things as were required.
"One last thing. Would you please turn a match into a needle?" Her favourite Professor asked her softly. Her voice was proud and sad all at once.
Hermione's eyes filled with tears, but she was smiling as she nodded and complied. That had been the first Transfiguration they had ever been taught. She concentrated, and her needle shone more brightly than any she had ever seen. She bowed her head to Minerva as a tear ran down her cheek, and she walked away from the station.
She gave Parvati a watery smile as she followed her in and joined her friends for deliberation. Normally, they would get their results by owl in a few months, but in these special circumstances, they were receiving them today. She wondered if any of them had been offered to forego the written exams as she had.
All of the houses mixed together as they waited to get their reports, and Hermione found out that Ernie had taken only nine exams as she had. She overheard Draco telling Zabini he had taken ten.
"Granger, Hermione." Professor Tofty called. The slight old wizard had been there to oversee their examinations once again. "Well done." He told her with kind eyes. Her own hands shook as she attempted to open the envelope. She pulled out her results and beamed. This time she had perfect O's all down the line. That meant she had gotten the job at the Ministry, which she would start in September.
She hugged all of the former D.A. members and promised to keep in touch and to say hi to Ron, Harry, Ginny, and George. She disapparated and appeared in the front garden of the Burrow, which was decorated with fairy lights. She hummed in curiosity and knocked on the door.
"Surprise!" They all called, and she beamed at them. All of the Weasleys plus Harry and Fleur (who, let's be honest, had become honorary Weasleys) had crammed their smiling faces into the door to see how she'd done. She felt an overwhelming fondness for the lot of them and once again almost began to cry.
"Did you pass?" Harry asked her with a grin as if the idea that she hadn't was incredulous.
She nodded. "Yes." They all cheered.
"Well, let's see," Ron said, grabbing the letter out of her hand. He scanned it quickly as he had with her O.W.L. results and shook his head as he beamed at her. That crooked smile made her entire world. "All O's." He announced to the delight of the room. They dragged her into the house enthusiastically, and she grabbed her results back and smoothed them out to the great amusement of the room.
"Well? How was it?" Percy asked curiously once they'd all settled around the table with some firewhiskey.
"Great." She said, pausing to take a sip. "Reciting Harry's battle was awkward, but Binns paid me almost zero attention, so that helped. Transfiguration was last and for my final spell McGonagall made me turn a match into a needle and we both cried." There were nods and kind smiles at that.
"What potion did you make?" Harry asked innocently. Hermione shot him a suspicious look because she knew he had been watching her practice for potions earlier.
"Draught of Living Death." She answered calmly.
"How'd yours turn out?" Cheeky bastard.
"Perfectly." She answered proudly.
"Mmm." He answered with a smirk and she rolled her eyes. Ron chuckled.
"Am I missing something?" Bill asked.
"Absolutely not." Hermione answered at the same time Harry and Ron answered 'yes', to the general amusement of the table.
They then asked her who else had been testing and she regaled them with all of the information she had noticed during the day. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley eventually retired for bed, but the rest of them drank long into the night. Eventually, it was only her, Ron, Harry, and Ginny left as Bill supported an incredibly sloshed Fleur up the stairs. Her words had become absolute nonsense and eventually she had fully reverted to French. Before that though, they had played an illuminating game of never have I ever that had targeted Ron almost exclusively. Ginny had gotten him with "Never have I ever asked out a future in-law" and he had glared furiously as he drank and then had to explain to his brothers.
"How was it to be back there?" Ginny asked softly, pulling Hermione out of her musings.
"Weird." Hermione replied, downing the last of her drink. "I was elated and depressed all at once. To be honest, I'm glad I was there to take my N.E.W.T.s because that was a good distraction."
"I'm not excited to go back next year, to tell you the truth." Ginny admitted.
"It'll be better." Harry promised her quietly. "And I'll come visit you on Hogsmeade weekends. I'll drag these two sometimes as well, if they can get away."
"Yeah." She answered, looking away from them all out over the Quidditch area. Hermione exchanged a puzzled look with Ron and opened her mouth to ask what was wrong but Harry shook his head pointedly. Ginny caught all of that and smiled wearily at them.
"Well obviously I don't want to relive the memories from the war. All of my loved ones' dead bodies on the floor of the Great Hall, remembering Harry lifeless in Hagrid's arms, you me and Luna fighting Bellatrix, almost getting killed…" She trailed off and set down her bottle with a clink. Hermione had the feeling she had just been having a good time earlier and that the younger witch was nowhere near drunk.
"You have no idea what it was like there under the Carrows. The things I had to endure. The things I did and saw." Hermione was watching Ron watch his sister. His eyes were intelligent and just as aware as hers and they were painted over with concern. No one else spoke, waiting for her to either go on or stop.
"There were all forms of torture. All of the ones Filch would threaten us with from the old days like hanging us on the wall by our ankles and stuff. Then there were physical beatings, the Cruciatus, and forcing us to torture first years. I didn't and I paid for it, but some people had to. Purebloods were mostly left alone, they wouldn't spill too much of our blood but the ones who weren't had to go along with them or face death. Some people committed suicide, I saw someone do it. Girls were…assaulted. The teachers did everything they could but they couldn't do much. Death Eaters and like-minded kids were running rampant and Snape couldn't very well stand against them as Voldemort's most trusted advisor. Hagrid was sacked and tended to stay in his house and the forest. We fought against all of them at night through the D.A. and they knew it so they punished us more."
She grew silent. Ron's mouth had drawn into a hard line. Harry had his fingers entwined with Ginny's but her expression was steady. "They learned quickly that to hurt me they had to hurt innocents in front of me because that was the only way to break me. It was beyond horrible and I don't want to go back to all of those reminders, especially alone." Her voice caught for a second. "But of course, Mum expects me to finish my schooling as if three of her children hadn't already skipped out on their last year." She added bitterly. "Sorry." She directed that at Ron. "Not your fault."
"Have you Mum or Dad them all of this?" He asked her cautiously.
"No. It would only upset them more, and I don't have people falling over themselves to give me jobs." She grinned.
"Actually, that's not true." Harry said and Ginny shot him a look that clearly said shut up. "At least four Quidditch teams have told you that they're ready to scout you."
Ron sat up straighter. "Professional teams?"
Ginny nodded unhappily.
"But that's great! Why…oh." His expression turned grave with understanding.
"He'd want you to play, Gin." Harry said gently.
"I know." she snapped. "But I haven't been able to yet. We'll see. There's three more months of summer. So, when are you two going to Australia?" She directed this at Ron and Hermione, making it clear that discussion was closed.
"I got us plane tickets for next weekend." Hermione responded and grinned at Ron's grimace. "You'll be fine. You fly a broom all the time."
"That's different." He muttered. "A broom isn't a muggle death trap."
"You excited to see your parents?" Ginny asked her.
"Yes. Nervous, but yes. I miss them."
"I think they're mostly excited to be able to travel without me." Harry winked. He was a little tipsy but he still mostly had control of himself.
Hermione shrugged in agreeance and Ron smirked. She refused to look at him. She could practically hear the innuendo he wanted to utter without him even opening his mouth.
"How's the family tree coming along?" Hermione questioned Harry.
"Difficult. I managed to get the old tapestry down, and even Mrs. Black's portrait with the help of Kreacher. But creating a new, living tree on the new tapestry I put up is proving much more difficult. I found all of the books to tell me how to do it in the library at Grimmauld Place though, so I'll get there."
Hermione perked up. "There's a library there? How come I never knew that?" She demanded. Ron sniggered and she glared at him. "I bet it would have had information on horcruxes. Sorry." She added as Harry's fist had clenched involuntarily at the word. "You probably don't want to think about that anymore."
"Truthfully I've thought about it too much lately." He admitted. "Enough to know that there are numerous and disturbingly detailed explanations on them in the Black's library."
"Of course. Purebloods getting education on all of the 'off limits' information and probably just better knowledge in general that the rest of the populations can't access." She fumed.
"Especially if you're Sacred 28." Ron noted. Hermione's head whipped to stare at him.
"Especially if you're what?"
"Back in the day the purebloods made a list of the 'purest' houses, the original pureblood families that existed at the time, barring the Potter's because they felt too many muggles had that surname even though the Potters have been purebloods for centuries."
"Until me." Harry said and Ron nodded at him. Hermione felt her lips pull up in disgust.
"And these families get access to limited information and privileges?" She demanded.
"Mostly." He answered. "Besides inheriting the dusty old books and knowledge, we haven't gotten any advantages in the world. Blood traitors, remember?"
"Hold on." Hermione said, trying to force her partially-inebriated mind to focus. "The Weasleys are included on this list?" Ron nodded. "And the Malfoys, I assume." She said dryly.
"Abbott, Avery, Black, Bulstrode, Burke, Carrow, Crouch, Fawley, Flint, Gaunt, Greengrass, Lestrange, Longbottom, Macmillan, Malfoy, Nott, Ollivander, Parkinson, Prewett, Rosier, Rowle, Selwyn, Shacklebolt, Shafiq, Slughorn, Travers, Weasley, and Yaxley were the original twenty-eight. A lot of them have died out now, or will because of the war." Ginny recited to the astonishment of the other three.
"The heads of each house are given the title Lord or Lady to denote them." Ron informed them. "Mum and Dad retired so Bill is Lord Weasley. It's just a formality now though."
"I bet Malfoy is Lord Draco Malfoy now." Ginny mused. Hermione was disturbed by this continuance of custom and decided it ought to be changed. But she needed to change creature laws first. One step at a time, Hermione. She told herself.
"Well. I'm tired. You coming home?" Harry asked Ginny. She softened at the question and nodded, standing with him.
"See you guys later."
"See you." Her and Ron murmured.
"You ready for bed?" She asked him. He nodded distractedly.
"Ron." She said softly. He didn't move.
"Yeah."
"What's up?"
He raised his hand as if to run it through his hair and then set it down with a thunk on the table. "I just." He stopped himself. "Ginny could have a Quidditch career and she can hardly bring herself to fly now because it reminds her of Fred. It bothers me."
Hermione moved closer to him and put her hands on his shoulders.
"It breaks my heart." He admitted, voice breaking slightly. "Merlin. We've been out here having a good time while Fred is dead."
Hermione frowned. "I don't think you should look at it that way." She told him.
"No?" He asked, looking exhausted.
"He's moved on. We all have to too. You can't stop living when someone dies. Life goes on no matter how you feel, so you should make the most out of it that you can. You miss him, certainly. For the rest of your days? Probably. You don't forget him, but you keep living. Because we're all still alive." She reminded him gently.
She moved to sit down next to him. He squeezed his arm tightly around her and gave her a wan smile. They say there like that for a long while. A couple errant tears fell down his face and she just hugged him tighter, trying desperately to stay above the emotions that threatened to drown her. Eventually, he fell asleep and she half-dragged-half-levitated him over to the couch. She laid down beside him to take a break before trying to get him all the way up the stairs and fell asleep herself. They never made it upstairs but they both found some peace in sleep that night, probably due to the alcohol. They would pay for it in the morning when George was the first one to find them, but for the moment, everything was alright.