Chapter 5

In all their years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, none of the hundred or so students gathered had ever seen it decorated the way it was tonight. As they entered the main door, they saw a glimpse of what to expect. The Entrance Hall was lit by luminous vines, leaves and flowers that crawled up the wall and the ceiling. It gave the illusion of being under the canopy of a tropical forest. Interspersed between the foliage were birds and butterflies with the most colourful wings the guests had ever seen. The warm glow of the vines and the bright colours of the birds and flowers evoked a feeling of absolute calm and beauty. As the students gathered in the Entrance Hall to await the opening of the Great Hall doors, they noticed that while the hallway appeared to be a tropical canopy, it did not feel like the tropics as the temperature was controlled by climate charms. Clearly, Neville Longbottom, the current Herbology Professor at Hogwarts had done an excellent job.

As Harry, Ron and Ginny stood with the rest of the guests, they ran into old school friends -- some they've continued to see regularly in the last seven years as well as those that have left Britain and had only returned to attend this historical event.

"Blimey, Harry Potter!!!" two almost identical, blond young men shouted in unison upon seeing Harry.

Harry laughed and shook his head. "Dennis and Colin Creevey", he greeted them as he shook their hands.

Other Gryffindors and former members of Dumbledore's Army made their way to where Harry, Ron and Ginny stood. Justin Finch-Fletchley came over to say hi with his wife, Susan Bones, who had opted to keep her maiden name instead of being stuck with a mouthful of a surname, Bones-Finch-Fletchley. Ron and Harry nudged Ginny teasingly when Michael Corner and Dean Thomas showed up at the same time.

"What's this, Ginny? Did they end up together or something?" Ron laughed the moment he spotted the two. Ginny glared at him in response but immediately schooled her expression to a friendlier one as her two ex-beaus approached them.

Ginny had a chance to give as good as she got to her brother when Lavander Brown and Parvati Patil came over to greet them. Three years after Hogwarts, Ron had shared an intense relationship with Lavender that lasted for a year and ended when Ron got drunk one evening and ended up in Parvati's bed. Lavender had eventually forgiven Parvati, after all they had years of friendship to fall back on, but had never quite forgiven Ron for his transgression. Ron was visibly uncomfortable as they exchanged pleasantries with the two girls, who seemed to delight in this. Ginny took pity on her brother after a few minutes and distracted the two girls by telling them to go see for themselves just what a dish Lee Jordan had turned out to be. At the mention a good-looking man, the two girls waved a casual goodbye to the three and one last scathing look at Ron, before going off to hunt Lee Jordan.

Ginny noticed that Oliver Wood, who had been talking privately to Harry for a few minutes had already moved on to join his wife, Penelope Clearwater. Harry, standing a little apart from Ron and Ginny was scanning the room and Ginny had a pretty good guess which face he was looking for in the crowd.

Would she show up tonight?

None of the three of them had made up their minds about the answer to that question. On one hand, the Hermione Granger they knew would not miss Professor McGonogall's big event as the torch of heading Hogwarts was passed on to her. The mutual respect and high regard for each other that Hermione Granger and Minerva McGonogall shared was no secret to Hogwarts students. The only person who had ever been able to break through McGonogall's strict facade was Hermione as she continued to impress her mentor and make her proud. More importantly, those close to Hermione and McGonogall knew that beyond their mentor-pupil relationship, they had also developed a mother-daughter relationship throughout Hermione's seven years in Hogwarts. When McGonogall was seriously injured during the war, it was Hermione who stayed with her at St. Mungos to look after the woman she respected most in her Wizarding life. Hermione had once admitted to Harry that while she knew that their fellow students thought that they were insulting or teasing her when they called her Mini-McGonogall, she was secretly proud and pleased with that title, adding that if she ever grew up to be half the witch McGonogall was, she would die a happy woman.

On the other hand, they were not sure if they knew Hermione Granger anymore. Her absence and secrecy for the past seven years was very uncharacteristic for the witch they had known to be blatantly and inherently open and honest. And as none of them understood the real reasons for her absence and disappearance, they could not tell if it was strong enough for her to miss out on showing McGonogall her unwavering loyalty and support.

And if she does show up? How would you feel? What would you do?

Ron's was the simplest answer: he would hug her as tightly as he could and once he had hugged the stuffing out of her, he would start screaming and yelling at her for keeping herself away from her friends for so long. The loud argument that would follow would let everyone, particularly Ron and Hermione, know that nothing has changed between the two of them, and that seven years of being part will never take away what they were as friends.

Ginny avoided answering those questions. She preferred to think about the odds of Hermione showing up and refused to come to a conclusion as to how she would feel if Hermione did show up. She wasn't sure. She still had the same insecurities about her place in the new trio's and Harry's life that she knew that she would not be 100% happy with Hermione's appearance. She also knew, that deep in her heart, she missed Hermione and that there were times in the past seven years that she had wished for Hermione's cool and comforting presence. So Ginny decided that if Hermione did show up, she will go with what her heart told her to feel and act based on that.

Harry knew what he would do upon seeing Hermione. He would greet her calmly and without drama, then he would ask her how she was and how she has been, then he would nod politely and die trying to hide how he felt inside: betrayed, abandoned, remorseful, longing for her presence and that urge to kick himself for something he must have done. A part of him hated Hermione for leaving, for copping out on him. He didn't deserve that. He had been nothing but a true friend to her. He had saved her life several times. He had risen to her defense against anyone who threatened her. And how does she repay it? By abandoning Harry, making him feel a kind of loneliness he had never felt before.

It was bad enough that she had left him, she made it worse by leaving him without an explanation. He couldn't understand why. The last conversation they had, at the first anniversary celebration of Voldemort's defeat, ended on a hopeful note, Harry thought. They were ready to embark on the rest of their lives and he was confident that the rest of his life would, no matter what he did, have Hermione, standing at his side and being the voice of reason in his head. No matter how good her explanation for her disappearing act, Harry felt that some part of him would never forgive her for it.

But how he missed her. In the seven years of not having Hermione with him constantly, Harry had to content himself with memories of her, of the adventures they had shared, of the things she had told him, of the friendship that she had shown. He realised that the first hug he had ever received that he could remember was from Hermione as he left get the Philosopher's Stone during their first year. He realised that Hermione was the first person who ever made geniune and friendly physical contact with him. He had certainly never received any of those from the Dursleys and no matter how "well loved" The Boy Who Lived was, no one ever dared to touch him with the same ease and familiarity as Hermione did. And he missed that. He missed her clutching his arm when she was scared, excited, anxious, happy. He missed the hugs he got from her upon seeing each other for the first time after weeks of being in their separate Muggle homes. He missed the Hogwarts Train Goodbye Peck that had become tradition eversince she started it on their fourth year.

A part of him suspected that he was one of the reasons why Hermione left, that somehow he had something to do with it. But he had never had the courage to fully confront his suspicions, hiding behind the feelings of loss and abandonment instead. He promised himself that he would face those suspicions once he had her in front of him to confirm and deny them. There was no point in beating himself over something that might not even be true.

~~~~

Fourteen minutes after seven o'clock, the massive doors to the Great Hall finally opened and the guests queued up to enter and be amazed at what the Hogwarts Staff and Professors had done. At first glance, it seemed like they were all under a Time-Turner spell. The real time was 7:14 in the evening but in the the Great Hall it was the middle of a beautiful spring day. Gone were the ceiling and the walls. Instead, the Great Hall had been transformed into spring garden that merged with the school grounds, separated by low, well-trimmed hedges that were planted where the Great Hall walls should have been. Above them were big, fluffy clouds against the most beautiful periwinkle blue. Beneath them was a soft and lush bed of grass with small and delicate flowers planted randomly. Instead of the raised Head Table where the professors and staff sat during meals, there was a small raised, white pavillion with a gold trellis. The long dinner tables where students had their meals were gone as well, replaced by round tables covered in matte gold cloth. Each table, which could seat 10 people, had an elaborate bouquet of flowers as centrepieces. The chairs were made with silver wicker.

The Hogwarts professors and staff were standing on the front pavillion, facing the guests as they entered the Great Hall. Before anyone could gasp anymore at the transformation of the place, Hagrid did a loud finger whistle and the most amazing sight greeted everyone. From the edges of the Great Hall, a dozen or so unicorns emerged, accompanied by fairies, which immediately started spreading out.

Dumbledore clapped his hands to draw the guests' attention away from the magical creatures. "Welcome everyone, and thank you for coming tonight. I would like to invite you all to take a seat so that dinner may be served. The ceremonies will start after dinner."

Harry, Ron and Ginny headed for the table near the pavillion where the rest of the Weasley siblings and their spouses were. With the exception of Percy, who had died in The War saving Arthur Weasley from one of Percy's fellow Death Eaters, the whole Weasley family was in attendance. Bill was sitting next to his pregnant wife, Fleur. Next to Bill was Charlie and his wife, Serena Marsters, a witch who specialised in the 12 Uses of Dragons Blood. Fred and George were next to each other as usual, and were engaged in a discussion with Serena about how dragons blood could improve some of the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products. Arthur and Molly Weasley had to stay at the head table in the pavillion. As Minister of Magic, Arthur Weasley had a role in the ceremonies. Ron took the seat closest to Fleur. After he got over his embarassment about his massive crush on her during their 4th year, Ron and Fleur had become close siblings in-law - with Fleur offering Ron insight on how to attract women and Ron helping her understand the complex creature that was Bill Weasley better. Ginny sat next to Ron. Harry took the seat closest to George, leaving an empty seat between him and Ginny. Harry immediately joined Fred, George and Serena's discussion, having a special interest in the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes as its primary investor.

"A spare zeat... perhaps wee are waiting for zomeone else?" Fleur said, with a small smile.

Fleur's astute comment was not lost on everyone in the table, but no one said a word in response.