Disclaimer: It all belongs to JKR, and I know we're not supposed to list song lyrics, but please don't report me! The song belongs to Richard Marx & Donna Lewis. I thought it fit so beautifully, and I didn't use all the lyrics anywho...be nice, please!

A/N:Okay, I know, I know, y'all want be to update Books and Broomsticks, but what can I say, except my muse is fickle, and I beg of you all to forgive me for taking so long. I'll try to get an update up by next week, but no promises. Anywho, let me know what you think of this piece, really just a short little drabble, I actually would like to continue with it, showing the rebuilding, and all the relationships, and my whole Dumbledore thing, (I should probably explain that) But I don't know. Tell me what you think! And on to the story...

We were strangers,

Starting out on a journey,

Never dreaming

What we'd have to go through

A single tear rolled down her cheek. The scene that lay before her was something out of an apocolypse film. Bodies littering the lawn. Blood soaked everything, so deeply she felt like she was seeing red. On the horizon, The sun rose slowly, a red dawn. A tribute to those who died.

A hand rested on her shoulder. Ron's. She knew without turning around. Seven years of friendship. Seven years of 'helping' with homework. Seven summers full of sunlight and swimming and Molly Weasley's delicious cooking and Arthur Weasley's insatiable curiosity regarding all things muggle, and new WWW products, Seven years of eating togther, going to classes together, Seven years of fighting and making up; Seven years of repressed feelings (actually, they were still repressed) for the man standing behind her.

He didn't say anything. Nothing needed to be said just then. They stood in solemn silence, watching the sky turn from brilliant orange-red to a lighter tawny into an almost too blue colour. It would be a beautiful day.

Now here we are,

I'm suddenly standing,

At the beginning with you

She heard footfalls behind her, light as the morning breeze blowing across the moor, and felt Harry's arm drape around her waist in a friendly embrace. His voice cracked with emotion when he finally spoke.

"I can't believe it's over." Hermione nodded. "But it's far from over, Harry. There are still his followers to hunt down, deaths to be avenged, and a world to be rebuilt, almost." A ghost of a smile flitted across Ron's face. "But we can do it. We've always been able to. Look how far we've come, how much we've already accomplished. This is like starting over. The rebirth of all of us in the wizarding community. Hell, even for the muggles, although they don't know it yet." Trust Ron to be deep and crack a joke in the same sentence.

Hermione smiled, a real one, as she saw a bird fly up from Gryffindor Tower, do a loop, and soar down to the battlefield. "Fawkes." Harry breathed, and the three were silent again, remembering Dumbledore's parting words.

No one told me,

I was going to find you.

Unexpected, what you did to my heart.

When I lost hope, you were there to remind me

This is the start

Suddenly, she laughed. "Have you ever heard the saying, 'everything happens for a reason'?" She paused. "There was a reason Neville lost Trevor on that first train ride. There was a reason Quirrel let that troll in on Halloween-And, yes, Ron, besides the fact that he was working for Voldemort and wanted to kill Harry." Ron sighed audibly. "The woman knows bloody everything!" Harry and Hermione laughed. Ron joined in sheepishly. This is the first time we've all really just laughed together at something in ages. It really was a new beginning. And it was going to be something beautiful.

We were strangers, on a crazy adventure,

Never dreaming, how our dreams would come true.

Now here we stand, unafraid of the future,

At the beginning with you.

A/N:

Yes, yes, shame on me for being so cheesy/cliched. I'm sorry. :(. Review!

Love & Chocolate,

Em