A/N: As posted for a contest at hogwartsishome on livejournal.
Disclaimer: I don't own them, though I have been to where she started writing the books.
They looked at the castle, once so welcoming and now it seemed so empty. The welcoming light to the halls seemed duller than it had in years and for the first time the place did not seem so imposing. They looked at each other, knowing what they were doing and what they had done. Each taking a deep breath, they started up the stairs.
They remembered when they had first came to the school, how scared they were, how much they were new to the place e and the rumors they had heard from brothers, sisters, friends, or enemies about the place that was to be their home that year. They remembered their nervousness, and with a slight laugh to themselves, realized that they were just as nervous now as they were then.
They remembered Neville with his toad Trevor, how he would always lose him. They remembered Scabbers, though only him as a rat at the moment, for other memories lead to Sirius. They remembered Crookshanks, who Hermione had left at home this year, not wanting to bring him here, not with her thinking that it was not safe. They remembered the letters brought to them by Errol, Hedwig, and Pig, and of the times when they would scan the ceiling for them.
They wondered who would be there this year, for the train had seemed rather empty this year. They knew that parents would not want their children leaving them, for safety reasons among other things. They wondered why they had come back, and then remembered that here they could plan and look up more spells than they could anywhere else. They knew that, if they could, they would neglect their studies as much as possible, since if they did not succeed in their main purpose, their N.E.W.T.s would be useless.
Inside they saw that the place had lost most of its welcoming, even more than from the outside. They did not know if this was from what had happened last year, or from their eyes, or from the fact that Dumbledore would no longer be there, with his usual greeting. His white tomb outside showed as a reminder to that.
In deed, the hall was almost empty, the house tables were not as full as they could have been. Most were not even close to half full. The sorting ceremony was quick, for this batch of first years was the smallest any of them had ever seen. McGonagall gave the speech after the feast, though neither Harry, Ron, nor Hermione eat their fill. They could not. Harry watched Ginny, she looked so lonely to his eyes, but he knew that he could not be any closer to her.
After the feast, instead of going to their dormitory, they walked back through the great doors and out on to the grounds. They knew where they were going. They walked to the lake, and to Dumbledore's tomb. They stood before it, in the light from the moon. Hermione conjured flowers, lay them on the tomb and moved back to the others.
Harry moved forward. "I am, and forever will be, your man, Dumbledore." He said.
"As am I." Ron said as well, coming forward.
"And I am your girl." Hermione said, standing with them.
They turned back to the castle, and wondered to themselves if they could get into the library to begin their work.
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