Reunion
Hermione awoke in the early hours of the morning in a sweat. She had just had the worst dream she could imagine.
Even though the war was over and Harry came out victorious, she still had night mares that her family, her friends, her love, would all be killed and she was the only person left.
Today was going to make an interesting day. For Hermione had to go back to Hogwarts, for her reunion. It had been ten long years since she had left Hogwarts, she missed everyone terribly. Sure she had kept in touch with Harry and Ron but not many others.
Harry and Ron had gone into training; they were to become aurors (sp?). Hermione wasn't sure what she wanted to do when she left school, so she did a bit of everything to try it out. In the end, she became a writer. She had worked for the Daily Prophet hoping that she would be able to tone down what they were saying about Harry, that didn't happen. They were just so mean to him and didn't care if what they were saying was true or not.
So she now works for The Quibbler. The Quibbler was no longer a magazine that people laughed at; it was now more popular than the Daily Prophet, thanks in largely to the exclusives that Harry gives every now and again to get the reporters of his back.
Hermione sat up and went for a shower. She had her own flat now; it was near Diagon Alley so she could get to work easily. Hermione lived alone; she hadn't really found anyone she could settle down with. She had had boyfriends but none of them really lasted long, as Hermione was a very smart girl and needed someone who could hold their end of a conversation. None so far could.
Men seemed to be overwhelmed by her intelligence, which is the main reason that she didn't have much luck with men.
Hermione sighed and had a shower. She came out and looked at the clock. 7. 30 Am. The reunion ball starts at 8pm she had just over twelve hours to run her errands and be at the ball.
She had a plan for the day all set out. Once she had gotten ready and had breakfast she would apparate to work. She had finished her column early which meant that she didn't have to work today. She would drop that it, and then she would go to madam Malkin's and pick up her dress, for this ball, although it was set in the wizarding world. It was required that everyone would wear muggle clothing, which Hermione was happy about. She had never had a chance to wear a gorgeous gown, sure she had the papers publicity party's but she would always wear dress robes, now, she could wear a perfect gown.
Madame Malkin had decided to broaden her range for this ball and get some muggle dresses and suits in.
Once Hermione had gotten her dress, she would take it home. Then head to the hairdressers. She had found a wonderful hairdresser in the muggle world that could not only tame her bushy hair, but make it look wonderful without the use of dozens of potions.
After that she would go and visit her parents and then back home to get ready. She had already decided to apparate into Hogsmeade and then gets a carriage into Hogwarts. She originally decided that she would go without a date, but once she realised that everyone else had a date and that she would be the only one alone she decided to ask Dean. Dean was a friend from The Quibbler. She had only known him a few months but was eager to see what Hogwarts was like. They both agreed that it was not a date, which both Hermione and Dean were fine with, as they had absolutely no romantic feelings towards each other at all. Dean was to meet her in front of the carriage.
As Hermione went through her day, she kept feeling like she was forgetting something or someone but couldn't quite place it, until she went into work. Although she had finished her column, she had forgotten to get the pictures from Colin Creevey which supported the column; the column was about Historic buildings. She had decided to write about Hogwarts and the up coming reunion.
When she asked for Colin, every one had told her that he had left for the day and was unreachable. So she decided that there was only one thing she could do, look through her old photos of Hogwarts and find the best one of the castle. Sure they wouldn't be up to Colin's standards but they would do.
She went home and found out her old photos, and looked for the best picture. It was hard for her to look through the pictures and reminisce about old times, but she had no time to. She was already running late.
She found a few good photos and decided to take them into Luna Lovegood so that she could choose the best one. Luna was now the editor and owner of The Quibbler, her father had passed away just after the war. Luna always said that he died because he was a pure soul and all the death and murder was too much for him.
She dropped of the photos and her column and was on her way. She would have to miss seeing her parents for one night. She had called them and told them, they were upset that they wouldn't see her but said that they were fine and that she would just have to come by in the morning or some other time.
On went Hermione's day, she was eventually ready and only ten minutes late. She apparated to Hogsmeade and saw Dean, she apologised for being late.
"Dean, I am so sorry. I've been running late all day." Dean just smiled.
"It's ok; I heard what happened with the photos. Did you find any good ones?"
Hermione nodded as she got into the carriage. "Yes some very beautiful ones, but all of them contained people in them, but that just adds to the effect I think."
Dean smiled and looked at Hermione. "Trying to impress someone tonight? You look gorgeous."
Hermione blushed; sure she had wanted to show everyone that she was no longer a bushy haired book worm anymore, and that she was in fact a grown woman. But she didn't want them to think she was doing it just for one person.
"No, I just love evening gowns; I never get to wear them, and now that I can. I wanted to take full advantage."
Dean smiled in a knowing way. He knew Hermione wanted to impress someone, whether she would admit it or not. The carriage ride took around 5 minutes before they reached Hogwarts, even though she was running late, Hermione could see some stragglers, not all of whom she recognised.
Now that she was here, she got extremely nervous. She hadn't seen this people for the best part of a decade, and now she would see them all at once. All trying to compare lives, that's what all this was, a chance for everyone to show up and show off their new lives, to see who turned out the best, and who turned out the worst.
Dean offered Hermione his arm which she took and slowly started to walk towards the Great Hall, the doors where closed but where charmed to open when someone stands in front of them.
As the doors opened Hermione felt every eye on her, all looking wide-eyed at what she looked like. She was wearing a floor length pale pink gown, it was an off the shoulder style. It was very simple, very elegant, very Hermione. She had her hair straight, she had layers, highlights and feathers to make it look softer. Overall Hermione looked like a different person.
She had a simple tear drop necklace on a clear chain around her neck and matching earrings. Hermione did feel like a princess, and with all of the eyes on her, she looked like one too.
Throughout the night Hermione saw various faces she knew, some she was happy to see and some not so happy to see.
Draco Malfoy had come with Ginny Weasley. During the war Draco realised that he couldn't support the Dark Lord and helped Harry defeat Voldermort. It was then that he fell for Ginny Weasley. Of course people had their doubts, the main person being Ron. But now Draco and Ginny where married, had a gorgeous child and couldn't have been happier, Ron had to get over his high school grudge.
Hermione had spent the night looking at one man, she couldn't recognise him, and he had dark brown hair, piercing brown eyes and a very soft smile. She felt that she knew him, but couldn't quite place him. She was very shocked when he asked her to dance.
She accepted and spent the night dancing with him, talking to him. She was delighted that she had found someone who could not only keep her entertained but hold an intelligent conversation with her.
Dean had found Parvati, who had ditched her date very early on, and was spending his time with her, so he didn't mind that Hermione was with someone else.
The end of the night came and Hermione was saying goodbye to her stranger. She knew they would see each other again, she knew that she would fall in love with him, and never wants to leave him. The only thing she didn't know was his name.
As they kissed goodbye and Hermione was in her carriage, she leaned out the window.
"I feel like I've known you forever, I know we will see each other again, so do you. You know everything I do, don't you?"
She watched as her stranger smiled, it warmed her heart. "Yes, I know that we will fall in love, and that we will never be apart, and I can't wait."
Hermione smiled "then there is only one more thing I need to know."
"Ok, what is it?" Although he already knew what was coming.
"What's your name?" She asked, hoping he wouldn't take offence. She knew that even if he was the worst person she knew in Hogwarts, he wasn't now, she knew she was infatuated by this man, so his name really held no meaning other than she wanted to know what to call him, other than hers.
He looked into her eyes and smiled "Severus Snape."
The carriage began to pull away, and Hermione smiled, she didn't care that he was her old greasy haired, hooked nose teacher in school. Now he was hers.