Kings Cross station, London England
9/1/1999
A young woman with bushy hair and a bossy sort of voice walked through King's cross station. She watched as people with large trunks and even a couple of owls made their way to platform number 9 or number 10. Of course, she knew they were not going to platform 9 or platform 10. They were heading to platform 9 ¾. How did the young woman know that? From 1991 to 1998, she went there as well. Like many of the young students, she was a witch and attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She saw a couple of students stare at her as she walked. She had been Head Girl but that was not why they were staring. They had seen her face in the newspapers, chocolate frog cards and of course, those dreaded wanted posters. But that was in her past. She was starting the next chapter of her life and there was no point in looking back to that nightmare now.
"Hermione!" A man yelled. Hermione looked to see who was calling her name. She spotted a tall and gangly man with bright red hair. He was wearing a Weasley Wizarding Wheezes T-shirt and shorts that fell awkwardly on his lanky frame. Ron smiled at her. It had been nearly 2 months since she had seen him. She walked over and hugged him.
"I missed you too 'Mione," he said smiling, "do you need help with your bag?" He asked, looking at her large backpack.
"I put an extension charm on it. It's as light as a feather." She smiled back. It was quite full even though it weighed almost nothing. "You know, you shouldn't wear wizardry shirts in muggle London" she whispered.
He laughed. "I couldn't get one of the ministry cars, it being the first and all, so I thought we could take a taxi to Grimmauld Square and then walk to the house. Ginny and Harry are already there and Luna and Neville are supposed to get there in a little bit- or if you don't want to take a taxi, we can walk, or-" Ron rambled.
"Ron, a taxi is fine." Hermione said with a laugh. They stepped out into the late summer sun. It was surprisingly dry and hot for September in London. Ron hailed a taxi and continued to say
"I can't wait to see everyone! It's been 2 months." Hermione nodded. After finishing a shortened version of auror training in June, Harry, Ron and Neville weren't starting to work until mid-September, the same day as Ginny's season began and her and Luna's classes. They had all agreed to spend some time apart before living together. Luna had traveled with her father, Ginny and Harry had tried to hunt down some of his family in the United States, Ron had gone to the burrows and Neville had taken his Gran to Spain (a long time dream of hers).
"How was France?" He asked her. She had spent the summer in Paris with her parents.
"Great! Paris is a great city, we should go there one day." She liked talking about the future, now that she had one. Ron opened the door for her and they got into the taxi.
"We should, I mean we can't go over during Christmas or Easter. Mum would kill us! I don't know when your brakes from uni are but maybe we can find a different one. How about a present for when you finish your finals?" He asked her.
"That sounds great, Ron."
"Could you tell me more about Paris? We need to know where to go when we visit."
Hermione spent the rest of the car ride telling Ron all about the different places they had seen and visited. Ron listened, was attentive and asked plenty of questions. It felt nice to just sit and talk with him. She almost didn't realize they were at the square. Ron helped her out of the car and took her backpack. He looked surprised that it was so light. Hermione definitely didn't need his help and he knew that, but alas, Gryffindors are known to be chivalrous. They walked up the street to number 12. To other residents of Grimmauld square, there was no number 12- but with magic, Hermione and Ron could see the large town house. Hermione opened the door for Ron, seeing as he was the one carrying a bag this time.
"Your room is yours and Ginny's old room," he told her, "do you need any help unpacking?"
"I'm fine, Ron," she said with a smile. She had missed him over the summer. Hermione walked up the first floor to her room. She placed her backpack on the bed and looked around. According to Ron's letters, they had Hannah Abbott (who was studying to become an magiarchitect and interior designer) redesign much of the town house to fit the 6 of them. Hermione was impressed. Her door was painted white with a golden name plaque. Her room looked like a relatively standard dormitory. It had a bed in one corner, near her window, a desk at the other side and a door to the closet. Hannah had chosen pink and grey bedding, art and accents to finish up the room. Hannah also added floor to ceiling bookshelves and the perfect chair for reading. Hermione smiled. Her friends certainly knew her well. She pulled out her various suitcases from her bag (all organized by what was in them of course). She had just moved on to her second clothing suitcase when a girl with long red hair and freckles walked in. She was wearing a green harpies crop top and denim shorts. Ginny Weasley leaned against the wall, waiting for her friend to notice her. She finally cleared her throat and Hermione turned around, startled.
"Ginny! How long have you been standing there!?" Hermione asked.
"Long enough to see that you managed to pack more books than clothes," the redhead said with a smirk, extending her arms for a hug. "Ron just told me, and you are bonkers, Hermione!" She said with a tone of annoyance. Hermione looked at Ginny confusedly.
"What am I bonkers about this week?" She asked with a chuckle. Ginny, however, was not smiling or laughing.
"Getting your degree and working! You are going to drive yourself crazier than Sirius!" Ginny almost yelled. Ginny was quite a bit shorter than Hermione, so she had to look up to glare at her.
"It won't be so bad," Hermione smiled, "Kingsley and my new boss worked it out. I'll work from 9 to 1 and then take my classes in the afternoon."
"You're not going to have any time, and what little time you do have, you're going to spend with my daft brother." Ginny rolled her eyes as a hint of mirth crept back into her voice.
"That's an oxymoron, Ginny," Hermione responded, smiling. "I'll have time on the weekends that Ron won't have off, so that way you can have me without also having to deal with your 'daft brother.'"
Ginny still looked a little sullen. She was perhaps Hermione's best and oldest girlfriend.
"If it wasn't for you, Harry, Luna, and Neville, I wouldn't be willing to live with him," she said.
"So... everyone but my boyfriend?"
"Exactly. I'm starved, want to go get the others and head out for lunch?"
"Luna and Neville arrived?"
"Yeah, didn't you hear them come in?"
"No must have missed 'em." Hermione shrugged.
"I'll gather everyone else but you might want to change first, it's 27 degrees out," Ginny said, referencing Hermione's hoodie and leggings. It was practically for traveling, but not so much for record high temperatures.
"Sure." Hermione waited for Ginny to leave before she started to change. She pulled out a ¾ length sleeve striped blouse and denim shorts. It was hot, but she preferred not to show her right arm whenever possible. Too many hard to answer questions. Hermione threw her bushy hair into a bun, grabbed her purse, and headed downstairs. She walked into the sitting room to see Harry Potter, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, Ron, and Ginny waiting for her.
"We were talking about heading to Trafalgar Square to find something to eat," Ron informed her.
"Sounds good to me," she replied. The party of six carefully checked for muggles before leaving the house. If a muggle had seen them, it would be quite shocking to see half a dozen people appear out of thin air. They left 12 Grimmauld Place and headed towards the square. Harry walked beside her. His jet black hair still managed to stick out at odd angles as it had all his life. His emerald green eyes were still hidden behind black round glasses. She couldn't help but smile when she saw him. He was here! And after May 2, 1998, everyday he was here was a welcome gift. Harry was probably her best friend, no, he was more like her brother, although they fought significantly less then Ron and Ginny.
"How were the states?" Hermione asked him.
"Fine, but we didn't have much luck," he said sadly. He had gotten a tip-off from an auror that some of the Evans family had made their way to America. He ran his hand through his already ruffled hair. Hermione noticed an old scar from a knife wound when he was 14. She wished she could be as confident about her scar.
"Are you planning to try again?" She asked him. She couldn't help feeling a little bad. Harry was so close to meeting a new part of his family.
"Don't know yet. What about you? How was Paris?" He deflected, but she accepted that he wasn't really ready to talk about it yet. She told him a short version of what she had told Ron. Neville pointed out a small restaurant he frequented the previous year. Because they were a fairly large group, they had to wait to be seated. Hermione walked over to stand by Neville.
"Hey Hermione," he said with a grin. She smiled back at him. He was dressed similarly to Harry and Ron, but he was wearing overalls slightly stained with dirt instead of shorts. Neville had built up a lot of confidence since they had become friends nearly nine years ago.
"How was Spain?" she asked him.
"It was great! Gran really did love it. She always wanted to go with me mum and dad but... you know," he suddenly got very flustered. He always did when talking about his parents.
"I'm sure she's proud that you're an auror now," Hermione said.
"Yeah, you know, it's a lot better than I thought it would be," he responded, a hint of sadness still visible in his eyes as he smiled again.
"Really?"
"Yeah, it's a lot easier than our 7th year and I never expected to use so much herbology. Every time there's a case with plants they let me do all of the research!"
"That's great Nev!" she laughed. Neville took to botany like she took to books. He could focus like Harry did in Defense Against the Dark Arts or Luna in Care of Magical Creatures.
"Table for Potter," a short waitress yelled.
The party followed her to a fairly large table close to the back of the restaurant. Hermione sat between Ron and Luna. Harry was across the table from Ron, Ginny and Neville by his side. The waitress began to take their drink orders. Seeing that Luna was next to her, Hermione took the opportunity to talk to her about the start of school. They would both be attending Draoidh University, the only British university that had a secret magical branch.
"So... are you excited or nervous?" Hermione asked her.
"I think both," said Luna, "it's rather silly to not be nervous. Everyone is nervous when starting something new, but I'm also excited. Draoidh is a very good school, so I've heard."
Their waitress looked up curiously. "You're starting at Draoidh?" she asked. Hermione shrugged non-committedly while Luna nodded vigorously. Hermione looked at the waitress more closely than before. She had rich dark skin and even deeper eyes. Her box braids were pulled back. She was quite cute in Hermione's eyes.
"I'm starting there too," she exclaimed, "I'm Juniper by the way, but my friends call me June or Juni for short. I'm planning to be an art major. What are your names?"
"I'm Luna and that's Hermione." Luna shook Juniper's hand.
"Like a Winter's Night," said Juniper. Hermione nodded. "That's so cool! To have such an unusual name, I mean."
"Because Juniper is very common?" Hermione laughed.
"I've never met someone called Juniper before!" said Luna.
"It's a joke, Luna."
"Well, it was not very good. Maybe you should practice some more?"
Hermione, who was used to Luna's brutal honesty, just giggled while Juniper looked shocked before laughing as well.
"June! We need you back here!" someone yelled from the back.
"Coming," Juniper yelled and waved back at the two as she walked off.
She came back over a few minutes later for their food and drink orders. The restaurants had a large menu, but Hermione chose the caesar salad wrap that Juniper suggested.
"So, you guys are getting your division on the 16th, right?" asked Ginny. Hermione stealthily cast a muffliato charm to keep the other restaurant goers from hearing them.
"Yeah" said Neville. Ron nodded, while Harry just shrugged.
"What are you expecting?" Luna asked.
"Probably something in research. I don't particularly like field work," Neville said.
"I'll probably get something in field work," said Harry. "It's not like I can do much undercover work or research."
"I really don't know," said Ron.
"What about you, Hermione," asked Neville, "considering you're going to be working and going to school?"
"I'm pumped. I'm going to get to work directly with sentient magical creatures and study psychology at the same time!" she responded.
"That sounds like an insane amount of work, Hermione" Ron said.
"It won't be that much. I'm only working part time."
"Because that makes it better?" Ginny asked, incredulously.
"I'll be fine," Hermione grumbled. Juniper returned with their food and drinks. Their conversation slowed as they ate. She noticed that her friends hadn't changed much since the last time she had seen them. After finishing their meal, Luna started the conversation again.
"Are you ready to start your season, Ginny?" asked Luna.
"Yup, I'm starting this year," Ginny said, leaning back in her chair. The others looked up at her, surprised. Ginny was supposed to be an alternate, because almost all rookies are alternates their first season. "Valmai Morgan is heading to Tutshill and they need a new starting chaser. It was either gonna be me or that other new girl. I think she's called Mary... Marlene? No, I think it's Myra... yeah, Myra West. She's fine, but she's no starter. What about you, Luna?"
"I'm very excited! I'll get to study advanced magizoology. Juniper seems very nice! I hope the rest of the people in my class are nice, like her."
They finished their meal and paid. Luna said goodbye to Juniper and they headed back towards Grimmauld Square. Hermione headed upstairs unpack. By the time she had finished, it was late at night. She climbed into bed and fell asleep. It had been a long day, and she was excited for what was to come. She was starting a new chapter, after all. She dreamed of university, her new job, Ron, and a sudden old nightmare of death eaters.
