TITLE: Ménage à Quatre

DISCLAIMER: All things Harry Potter belong to J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

Warnings: The pairings here will be 'Ginger Harmony+' or "Chasing Harry", Ginny / Harry / Katie with Hermione joining much later on... This won't be an action fic or have much in the way of big enemies or anything like that... it's going to be character development, romance and exploration... expect adult content and possibly offensive things here like sex, fem/fem sex, BDSM, swearing and... The Weasleys!

AN: Obviously going to be an EWE fic, not epilogue compliant, not Cursed Child compliant... all BDSM, Kinks and fetishes, and femdom situations described in this fic will ALWAYS subscribe to the SSC protocol. Safe, Sane and Consensual. For those wanting to learn more about BDSM, bondage, or D/s relationships, I HIGHLY recommend tracking down 'Screw the roses, send me the thorns' by Molly Devon and Phillip Miller. Avoid '50 Shades of Grey' like the plague, that is not healthy BDSM, that series is a textbook example of an abusive relationship.


Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Hogsmeade
Scotland

Friday August 20th, 1999

Just after nine am, Hermione Granger took a breath as she stepped through the floo system into the Headmaster's Office at Hogwarts, idly correcting herself that she needed to start calling it the Headmistress's Office instead since Professor McGonagall had taken over the reigns of the school last year.

"Ah, Miss Granger, right on time as usual." Professor McGonagall smiled gently, looking up at her from her desk where she was sitting, comfortably talking with Professor Flitwick.

"Professors," Hermione nodded back, forcing a neutral face as she looked around the office.

"How are you?" Professor McGonagall asked, coming away from her desk to gently beckon Hermione through to join them. "I heard about the... the problems you'd had with Mrs and the youngest Mr Weasley." She explained with an annoyed look on her face.

"Thank you. I'm... it's awkward really. I'm trying to stay friends with both sides, but I can understand why Harry is upset.," Hermione explained as she walked over to the desk.

"I'm sure things will work themselves out," Professor McGonagall smiled gently, trying to reassure her student. "Molly can be... hard headed at times, and these recent revelations have put her on the back foot, as they have with us all really." She explained softly, before quickly changing the topic to a less uncomfortable discussion. "Have you heard any news about your parents?"

"Not yet, I'm... I'm still thinking about what I'm going to do, Harry's helping me but... Australia is a long way and I don't know where I should even start looking." Hermione explained.

The sad truth was, there was every chance that Death Eaters had found her family and that Hermione, like many other first generation witches, had had their family taken and killed by those monsters during the year long struggle against the Death Eater controlled regime.

"Then I wish the both of you luck in your endeavour. I'm sure you will be successful." Professor McGonagall nodded towards her.

"Thank you," Hermione nodded back, she knew the truth just as well as Professor McGonagall did, but it was nice to have someone that would try and reassure her of things, even if it was an almost bald-faced lie. "Your letter said you wanted to discuss my NEWT year with me?"

"Yes, down to business then." Professor McGonagall nodded, gesturing for Hermione to join her and sit down at the desk with Professor Flitwick. "Obviously this year is going to be just as chaotic as our previous years together, but we have agreed that many of the students who sat their sixth and seventh years during the war were not given the best tutoring available, and given how things were in The Ministry, we firmly believe many of them have received unfair marks that either bolstered or reduced their grade in line with their heritage."

"The pure bloods got better marks automatically just for being pure bloods, the half bloods got marked down because they weren't." Hermione simplified it with a grimace. "And the muggle borns had all been rounded up by Umbridge anyway, so they didn't even get a chance."

"Precisely," Professor Flitwick nodded in agreement.

"The examinations board have agreed with our findings and proposals, and all NEWT's given out last year have been revoked." Professor McGonagall explained in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. "Those who sat their NEWT's at the end of the war have been offered the opportunity to return and resit their final year and their associated exams." She explained with a small smile. "While you did not return for your seventh year due to the war, I do assume that would be something you would be interested in returning to Hogwarts for as well now that we are ready to properly re-open?"

"We are changing things slightly," Professor Flitwick explained. "Of age students now will be allowed to floo in and out as your schedule allows. Since there will be far more students returning and starting anew when the school opens, this seemed to be the best compromise that we could come to while allowing everyone to complete their education as necessary."

"Is this something that would interest you?" Professor McGonagall asked hopefully.

"Yes professor, of course." Hermione nodded eagerly, happy to have the option of actually finishing her education properly.

"I told you you didn't even need to ask," Professor Flitwick chuckled from the chair next to Professor McGonagall as they could both see how interested she was in returning to school. "The reinstated year will be quite... hectic. Considering the amount of incoming first years has doubled, and all the other returning students. There are more dorms opening to house this year's crop." He explained.

Hermione nodded, understanding that since Hogwarts had been closed for an entire year for rebuilding and making sure the castle was safe again, they had two entire year's worth of new students starting this fall. And that didn't even take into account everyone that had their last couple of year's messed up by the war and the Ministry's bigoted practices. "That's something I would be very interested in Professors."

"I assumed you would, though given how things are with Mr Potter, I didn't want to automatically enrol you without consulting you first." Professor McGonagall explained with a grimace. "How is he?"

"I've been staying with him, he's bought a new house now and it's been keeping him busy decorating and making it into somewhere he feels comfortable." Hermione explained with a grimace. "He's... angry, frustrated, we both are." She said, waving to the copy of the Daily Prophet on the table.

"Yes, the interviews with The Prophet," Professor McGonagall frowned in thought. "I believe both of you were responsible for these?" Professor McGonagall asked. "I only ask because, as you can imagine, after the stories about how Professor Snape ran the school and The Ministry hunting down and imprisoning muggle born families, these latest revelations have not given the school the best reputation."

"They were all the truth as far as I know, I read all the articles back before we allowed them to go to print, that was a condition of the contract we had with the editor in chief." Hermione explained with a sigh. "Harry has a Pensieve from his family vault, we showed the reporters everything from all six of our years here. Everything, no hidden agenda, just the truth."

"I do not argue that they are the truth, merely that..." Professor McGonagall sighed, massaging her forehead. "I didn't expect Mr Potter to make his history known in such a public fashion." She admitted, the articles in the Daily Prophet going over Harry Potter's life, year by year in excruciating detail, showed exactly how badly the Hogwarts staff were and didn't really need any further damning from anyone.

They'd started at the beginning, with a prologue interview talking about young Harry Potter's life before he'd known about Hogwarts. Even just reading the text of the interview it was plain to anyone that could read that the disgust the reporter was feeling about how Harry grew up without even knowing his parents names was boiling over into anger.

The first 'Potter Edition' of The Daily Prophet had been a country wide best seller and had got the truth about Harry Potter's life out there for the world to see. How he'd been abused and starved, kept in a cupboard under the stairs for the first decade of his life, and fed barely enough to keep him alive.

"There's some of mine there too, it wasn't just Harry." Hermione said firmly, making sure that both Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall understood that.

"Yes, the memories and quotes of Mr Potter's fifth and sixth years were quite spectacularly damning of Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape in that regard." Professor Flitwick nodded with a sad look on his face. "I have even received correspondence from some occlumency masters who went into great detail about the wrongs committed by Severus during his forced attacks on Mr Potter. I believe 'mind rape' was the term used most often, along with offers asking me to contact Mr Potter on their behalf to help with any damage caused by his attacks." He paused with a frown on his face before continuing, looking away from Hermione as he spoke. "I have yet to consider passing the information on to Mr Potter, as I am torn between believing they are offering to help out of their own judgement, or are only offering to help because of how Mr Potter's experience has rather damned the practises of occlumency and Legilimency, with many practitioners around the country being given a bad name because of Severus's actions."

"Things were... complicated," Hermione admitted with a sigh. "I don't know much about occlumency so I can't really say for certain how bad things got, but I do know Harry absolutely hated every minute of what Snape did to him that year, but Dumbledore wouldn't even listen to his complaints." She explained with an angry frown. "I don't know the full story about everything that happened with Snape during the battle or what Harry found out about him. I do know that he was responsible for telling Voldemort the prophecy and getting Harry's parents killed, then he proceeded to bully and abuse Harry for six years with Dumbledore's permission, well, either his permission or on his orders, either way the result was the same." She explained firmly. "Whether Harry's forgiven him after what he did during the war... I couldn't say, I know I wouldn't have been able to, but Harry has always been more forgiving than I am."

"And with regards to Professor Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall asked gingerly.

"If he was still alive, I know for a fact Harry would be hunting him down right now, and I'd be right there alongside him." Hermione said firmly. "The man might not have been a Dark Lord, but he was damn close enough." She bit out. "What sort of a man knowingly abducts a child from his guardian and places him in an abusive home, knowing what he's going through and still forces him back there every year?" She demanded in disgust.

Professor McGonagall winced at that, inwardly grimacing at her own complicity of Mr Potter's home life.

"Dumbledore knew Snape was responsible for his parents murders, but still forced Harry to sit there at Halloween every year and be abused and ridiculed by him." Hermione forced herself to keep speaking, ignoring the tears that were running down her face as she thought about what her best friend had been through over the years. "Every Halloween he forced Harry to sit down at the school feast that celebrated his parents' deaths, in the same hall as the person responsible for everything." She practically shouted, wiping the tears from her face. "No, I was wrong, he was dark, no decent human being would ever do that to someone else, let alone a child!" She spat out in disgust.

Professor McGonagall shook her head at that, and the fact was that the rest of the country agreed with Miss Granger on the fact, leaving both Albus Dumbledore and Hogwarts' reputation in tatters over what had been revealed in the series of interviews.

Faith in the ability of the school was at an all time low, far too many in the country had completely lost faith in Hogwarts after hearing about everything Mr Potter had gone through over the years. The worst parts were after every interview, The Ministry Aurors had been demanding to see her and required explanations for everything, explanations that she didn't have.

What explanation could there really be for why Albus had hidden the Philosopher's Stone at the school in Mr Potter's first year? Sadly, the reporter at the Daily Prophet had hit the nail on the head when they'd given the only two reasons they could think of. Either Albus was using the stone and security measures as tests to see how powerful Mr Potter was, or it was used as an enticement to lure Voldemort to the school.

Which left either the question of why Albus was putting an eleven year old through such horrific and deadly tests against his will? Or why Albus had lured a mass murder to a school with over a thousand hostages or possible victims to be killed? Victims that were supposed to be under his responsibility and care.

And the questions kept coming. Why didn't Albus contact the Aurors when the Basilisk was loose in the school? How did he not know about it when a second year muggle-born student could figure it out? Was he truly that incompetent, or simply malicious? With the school portraits, ghosts and house elves, it was quite impossible that he hadn't known about it, and during all of that, the muggle born victims like Mr Creevy and Miss Clearwater had both confirmed that the school hadn't informed their parents about their petrification during the year, Hermione had confirmed the same, but as soon as Miss Weasley, a pure-blood, had been taken, her parents were informed and were in the school in under an hour's time.

The more the facts piled up, the worse Albus and the school looked, and by the time the interviews had reached Mr Potter's fourth and fifth years, the evidence was damning and overwhelming. Like why The Aurors weren't called to investigate Mr Potter being illegally entered into a tournament without his or his guardian's permission? Or why Albus hadn't offered pensieve viewings of Harry's memory for proof of Sirius' innocence for an investigation or memories of when Voldemort had returned. Why Albus hadn't stood for Sirius and spoken for him, putting him under his protection the same way he had done for Severus?

The facts were piling up and they didn't look good for Albus Dumbledore at all, and by the end of Mr Potter's sixth year, she knew that the public would have been out there calling for Albus' head on a stake and mounted outside of the castle itself, that was if he wasn't already long dead.

After the articles covering Mr Potter's sixth year, Horace had resigned on the spot, literally that same day, by letter as well, vanishing without a trace and leaving Hogwarts without a Potions Master or head of Slytherin. She couldn't blame him, the Daily Prophet was spectacularly damning of someone who had known how Voldemort had cheated death for decades, had even had a hand in helping him learn that information, but had done absolutely nothing to help defeat him until he was forced into sharing the information by Mr Potter himself.

She knew Horace would be back in hiding already, the fallout that almost crucified Horace Slughorn had been extremely vicious, and she doubted the old Potions Master would be able to show his face anywhere in Europe for several years to come without people chasing him out of their towns for his complicity in Voldemort's rise to power.

The pensieve memory and article detailing Mr Potter's seventh year and everything he'd done to defeat Voldemort was harrowing, showcased by a moving photo, captured via pensive, of a discussion between Albus and Severus, speech quoted underneath it, of Severus confronting Albus about how he'd raised Mr Potter "like a pig for slaughter" and Albus sarcastic reply of "Have you grown to care for the boy, after all?" chilled her to the bone and made certain that everyone in the world who read the Daily Prophet now knew that Albus Dumbledore had known exactly what he'd been doing all along, and the cold hearted manipulative bastard had actively planned to sacrifice an innocent child for his own plans.

The memories Mr Potter and Miss Granger had provided had shown a horrifying amount of abuse going on in the school, and a distinct lack of caring or responsibility from the faculty, facts that were thrown in their faces whenever they contacted the students now asking if they would be returning to the school.

Practically all of the muggle born students had outright refused to return to the school, most had already moved out of the country even with the war won, and had transferred to the Beauxbatons Academy. When they'd approached them they'd simply been told that there was no way in hell they would ever return to such a horrific school, or would ever put themselves under the thumb of the disgustingly corrupt Ministry ever again.

There was nothing she could really say to refute anything Miss Granger had said, because it was all true and everything The Prophet had revealed had been utterly damning to the school and all the teachers involved.

Hogwarts, as an institution, was in dire trouble. The actions of Albus, Severus and Horace were all laid bare for the world to see and judge, and the judgement had been so damaging that she quite literally couldn't see how Hogwarts would survive the next few years without support from those they had wronged.

She couldn't even think of Mr Potter as 'Harry' anymore, not after these interviews. She didn't have that right, and judging from Miss Granger's face, she knew it would be a very long time, if ever, that she regained either of their confidences, or gained their forgiveness.

"Miss Granger, I assure you we are working to fix everything that was wrong with the school." Professor McGonagall explained, giving Hermione time to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Everything that Mr Potter went through... I can only apologise for any part I had to play in the suffering he went through during his schooling and I would be grateful if you pass my apology along to Mr Potter with our offer." Professor McGonagall said with a small nod.

"Offer?" Hermione asked, blinking in confusion and wondering if she'd missed something during her rant about Albus bloody Dumbledore.

"To return for his NEWT's of course." Professor McGonagall explained with a kind smile. "While I am not certain of Mr Potter's future plans, the offer is there for him to join you in returning to the school. I would have sent a request for him to join you in this meeting but it seems that nobody knows where he currently is." She paused hesitantly before forging on, promising herself she wouldn't lie or obscure the truth from her students like Albus Dumbledore had done for so many years. "The fact is Miss Granger, if Mr Potter returns to the school, it would go a long way to convince other students to return alongside him, having Mr Potter as a student again would certainly allay any fears they would have."

"I lost my family because of the war Professor, I'm only still here because Harry's helping me try and find them, and if they make it back here without my help I'll find them quicker here than anywhere else." Hermione whispered, shaking her head as she tried to think about what she was saying. "Think about what we... what all the muggle-born students went through, even before the war with Snape and the Slytherins bullying and harassing us at every turn. Nobody did anything, there were bullies shouting mud-blood and cursing us in the halls, even Professor Snape was one of the worst bullies, and you... none of the other teachers did anything even when we complained about it." She bit out in frustration. "Or during the tournament, how I was kidnapped and tied up at the bottom of the lake without anyone even asking me about it?" She demanded, looking at Professor McGonagall firmly now. "My dad was seconds away from pulling me out of Hogwarts when he heard about that, it was only because Harry needed me that I managed to convince him to let me stay here." She explained with a frown. "I almost wish I'd let him take me out right now, maybe I'd still have a family if I had."

"Miss Granger, I can only apologise and say..."

"Harry won't be coming back Professor. I'm certain of that." Hermione said, shaking her head and cutting off Professor McGonagall's apology.

"No?" Professor McGonagall asked, a bit taken aback by how firm Miss Granger was in that statement. "Are you quite sure I couldn't persuade him? An announcement that he would be returning would bolster faith in the school in a way nothing else I can think of would manage."

"He won't come back Professor," Hermione shook her head. "He's living at his new house now with Ginny, trying to sort through everything he found down in his family's vaults. Did you know that the Potter's and Black's actually owned a large amount of shares in the Daily Prophet, along with quite a few other businesses? The Black's mostly, but a load of businesses owned and run by Death Eater families who were happily taking shots at Harry whenever they could?"

"I didn't know." Professor McGonagall whispered.

"It was quite illuminating to see all those names, the Daily Prophet were falling over themselves to say sorry once they realised he knew about his family's shares." Hermione explained bluntly. "I've been helping him write letters to all the other businesses, asking for an explanation or demanding full return payment of all investments." She explained with a shrug. "With all the Potter and Black investments, there was quite a few to get through."

"Can we write to him? There are quite a few things that I need to say to him." Professor McGonagall asked, wincing at the thought of how many businesses Mr Potter now actually had controlling investments in and could very easily bankrupt with a single letter to Gringotts.

"I don't even know what he's planning to do," Hermione explained. "After years of..." She trailed off, gesturing to the copies of the Daily Prophet on the desk and shrugging her shoulders. "Would you come back after all that? After finding out everything you'd been told your entire life was a lie? That everything he'd done, everything he knew, it was all being manipulated by someone who'd been planning your death since before your first birthday?" She demanded. Glaring over to Professor McGonagall.

"I would assume not," Professor McGonagall admitted with a sad glance down at the newspapers.

"Harry didn't even know about his parents memorial until we were there at Christmas, nobody had told him anything about them either." Hermione explained. "Nobody told him anything about his family." She bit out with a grimace. "He told me he hadn't even known their names until Hagrid told him, he'd never even seen their faces until Hagrid gave him that photo album. He didn't know anything about the magical world, just like me. At least I got books and the muggle-born introduction letters, he didn't get any of that, he just got the staff ignoring him and everyone else treating him like a celebrity for something he didn't even know had happened."

"Miss Granger, I will..." Professor McGonagall grimaced, thinking about how badly she had let James and Lily's son down by following Albus' lead all these years.

"I'll pass on your messages if you want, but I wouldn't hold my breath," Hermione whispered, wiping away some tears from her eyes. "He's been betrayed by pretty much everyone he trusted over the years, friends, teachers, people he looked up to." She said firmly, fixing Professor McGonagall with a glare and swallowing back more tears as the finality of the situation hit her. "It's no wonder he's keeping everyone at arms length now, it's the only thing he knows." She said, as she looked away from the sad looks that Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall were giving her.

"Miss Granger, I assure you..."

"You knew, didn't you?" Hermione interrupted, steeling herself for this confrontation that she'd subtly been avoiding until now, hoping that she was wrong and that the woman she'd looked up to for so long wasn't the callous and manipulative woman that her actions painted her as. "Didn't you?" She asked again, causing Professor Flitwick to look at her curiously as if he was trying to figure out what she meant by that. "I didn't figure it out until Hagrid offered to let Harry have a look at his memories when we were talking about how Harry ended up at The Dursley's. Then it was all so clear, I can't believe I didn't see it before." She said with an accusing lilt to her voice, staring across the table at Professor McGonagall.

"See what Miss Granger?" Professor Flitwick asked, curious now when Professor McGonagall hadn't responded to the accusation.

"She knew all along what Dumbledore's plan was for Harry, I don't know how much she helped him out with it, but she definitely knew about it." Hermione explained bluntly, never taking her eyes off of Professor McGonagall for a second as she spoke. "Hagrid's memory, of dropping off Harry as a baby at The Dursley's. You were there, you literally stood there when Hagrid explained that Sirius had handed over Harry to Hagrid and lent him his motorbike. That's when I realised and put it all together."

"Minerva?" Professor Flitwick frowned, looking over at Professor McGonagall now for an explanation, scowling when she looked down and refused to meet his eyes.

"She knew all along Sirius was innocent, just like Dumbledore did. Why would a Death Eater who betrayed the Potter's hand over Harry to Hagrid that night? Or lend him a flying motorbike when it was the perfect escape vehicle he'd need? She'd known since that night, I bet when Sirius was arrested, you were both thankful you didn't have to argue with him about leaving Harry at the Dursley's, just leave an innocent man in jail, it took care of it all nice and neatly for you, didn't it?" Hermione bit out, shaking her head in disgust.

"I only did what Albus instructed me to do," Professor McGonagall admitted in a soft voice. "I did tell him The Dursley's were the worst kind of muggles, but he..."

"Then when Hagrid met you at The Dursley's, you'd been there all day? Evaluating them for Dumbledore to make sure they were just as horrible as he thought." Hermione explained, narrowing her eyes and staring across at Professor McGonagall in contempt. "You'd been there all day, despite Harry's parents only being attacked in the evening. And you just stood there as Dumbledore left him on the doorstep like a sack of rubbish, he didn't even bother with a warming charm or knocking the door, and you two just walked away, leaving an innocent baby to freeze to death on a doorstep all night."

Filius' anger was actually visible on his face at this point, and the more Hermione spoke, the more he gripped his fists tightly to stop himself from exploding at Minerva.

"Harry's first letter from Hogwarts, his admittance letter. You signed it as well. You already knew what his life was like living at The Dursley's, so seeing the address written as The Cupboard Under The Stairs, well, that wouldn't be a surprise for you at all, would it?" Hermione demanded. "That's where he spent his entire childhood, his bedroom was a cupboard under the stairs barely big enough for a child's mattress." She practically shouted with disgust dripping from her voice.

"Minerva?" Filius narrowed his eyes, standing up now to stare at Professor McGonagall in shock.

"Keep Harry bullied and beaten down, never let him have a good family, never actually have a good life." Hermione spat out. "It was all part of the plan wasn't it? Like Professor Snape said, raising him like a pig for slaughter. That's what you and Dumbledore were doing, wasn't it? Professor Snape was just the only one that actually had the guts to call you out on it."

"Albus assured me that it was the only way," Professor McGonagall whispered.

"It's why you never defended him, or me, or any of his friends while we were at school, wasn't it?" Hermione demanded. "All to keep him beaten down so he'd just lay down and die when the time was right!" She snarled, narrowing her eyes as she stood up from her chair. "I think you have my answer Professor." She said, reigning her tone in as she looked to Professor Flitwick now. "It's obvious when you look back at it. Dumbledore never bothered to give Harry any proper training in how to defeat Voldemort, neither did Professor McGonagall. They both held him back as much as they could. Took away everything that he would try and fight for, tried to even take away his will to live. That's why you let Umbridge torture him for so long, isn't it professor? Why you never did anything to help him or protect him?" She asked, glaring at Professor McGonagall before the professor shamefacedly looked away from her gaze.

"I do believe you've made your point clear," Professor Flitwick nodded, looking away from Professor McGonagall with disgust etched on his face as he shook his head.

"I'll finish my NEWTs here if I can, I've never quit anything before and I'm not about to start now." She said firmly. "But I'm not going to turn back into a victim for the bullies around this school anymore. The first one that draws a wand at me or calls me a mudblood, I'll be showing them exactly what we learnt during the war."

"I can certainly agree to that, and now I understand the animosity between Mr Potter, yourself and Professor McGonagall. Rest assured, I will stand in your stead and do my best to assist you in any way you require." Professor Flitwick explained, nodding respectfully to Hermione. "I will also be bringing these events up with The School Governors. I find myself aghast that any faculty here would be accomplice to such horrific acts."

"Thank you Professor, I'll talk to Harry but..." Hermione trailed off with a small shrug as she walked to the fire place with Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall being completely ignored by both of them now.

"No, obviously, I understand Mr Potter's reluctance to return entirely." Professor Flitwick said with a nod. "If he requires anything of me at any point, either of you, you have only to ask. It is the least I can do for you both after everything that you have been through."

"Thank you Professor," Hermione smiled, reaching for the floo powder. "I'll write directly to you if Harry does change his mind, I don't really know if I have enough savings to come back to school at the moment, so I don't know what I'm going to do yet."

"Understandable," Professor Flitwick nodded in acceptance. "I shall send your book and equipment lists through tomorrow then, so you will have them regardless of your choice."

Hermione nodded at that, offering Professor Flitwick one last smile before stepping into the fireplace, and with a shout of "The Leaky Cauldron!" She was gone in an emerald flash of fire before Filius rounded on Minerva with a disappointed and angry glare.


Diagon Alley
London
England

Hermione kept her wand in hand as she walked through the hidden passageway from The Leaky Cauldron into Diagon Alley, keeping it ready and alert for any of the few remaining Death Eaters or the usual blood bigots that were still evading The Ministry's clean up efforts.

In the last year that had passed, Diagon Alley was slowly returning to normal. The Ministry had been putting a good foot forwards with rebuilding everything, and there was still a large auror presence from where they'd utterly demolished Knockturn Alley and were slowly rebuilding it and opening it up to be part of Diagon properly and not a seedy back alley where dark and illegal businesses prospered.

While she understood Harry's anger towards Shacklebolt and the others in The Order, both of them had to admit that Shacklebolt was doing an amazing job as Minister, and was routing out the remaining Death Eaters efficiently, giving them no room to hide or bribe their way out of everything that had happened.

The trials so far had been quick, efficient, and to the point. Veritaserum was used in every single trial. A fixed set of questions were asked each time, and as the defendants listed their victims and crimes, more and more of the magical population turned against the remaining blood bigots in disgust.

The alley was still quiet though, with quite a few shops still waiting to re-open or be bought by new businesses. With so many of the half-blood owned shops having been shut down and persecuted by The Ministry during the war, and many of them having fled the country entirely to avoid being rounded up, it was proving tough to convince people that The Ministry really had changed and that it was safe to return now.

She couldn't argue with them either, after the war she certainly didn't feel safe out in the open like this, and it was only clutching her wand and keeping her awareness constantly on alert that she felt confident in walking down the alley towards the Weasley's shop, hey eyes flicking around at every movement and evaluating every door and closed down shop.

She recognised a few that were still open, recognising their shops from her school shopping trips and recognising their names from Harry's letters and business parchments.

There was Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions that she now knew was owned by The Parkinsons, where The Black family had controlling financial contracts in the business, contracts that now belonged to Harry, much to The Parkinson's horror.

The Magical Menagerie was owned by the Greengrass family, with The Potter's having financial stake in the shop. That one had actually been a surprise, but during their discussions neither Harry or Hermione could actually point out any times that Daphne Greengrass had sided with the Death Eaters or Malfoy during their school years.

The Greengrasses might not be blood bigots or Death Eaters, but they were certainly not friends and hadn't been willing to help Harry out at any point during school, which had led to some frank and uncomfortable letters being sent between the Greengrasses and Harry.

Quality Quidditch Supplies was another one that Harry had a good financial stake in now, much to his pride. It wasn't owned by any of the families that either of them recognised, and had been paying a good amount into the Potter family vault every year as a percentage of their profits. That alone would have been enough to keep Harry afloat and moderately comfortable for his life, but with the other stores and both the Potter and Black fortunes at his back, he was definitely in the top one percent of the country now.

The Daily Prophet's main office still made Hermione smirk. Between The Potters and Blacks, Harry now outright owned controlling finances in the company. They knew it, and now he knew it. Skeeter had been fired instantly as soon as he'd written to the editor and made it clear what he knew, and she had helped him pen a formal letter to the Prophet explaining his stance and what he expected of the paper from now on.

It had been an utter delight to write, and even now she felt an evil and satisfied smirk on her face as she remembered how firm Harry had let her be with laying down the law to The Prophet. It had felt so good to actually slap them down for once, and the letter they'd written had given The Prophet absolutely no room for manoeuvring or lying to them, as Harry had written that if they started telling lies or writing their ridiculous targeted gossip again, he would happily pull out financially and demand full restitution for his contracts.

Apparently The Editor and chief staff knew exactly what their position was, and with her help Harry had written out exactly how bad The Prophet's stake was. If he pulled out, there wasn't many other families that would be able or willing to come in and back the paper financially. If he pulled out, the paper would close in a week. They knew it now and had been towing the line very respectfully.

Happy to ignore the shops for now she made her way through to The Weasley's store, smiling happily and actually relaxing as she pushed her way through the door, hearing the bell jingle above her only moments before Angelina popped her head up from behind the counter.

"Oh, hey Hermione." The older girl waved over before ducking back behind the counter and continuing to lift some boxes up to sort out. "George's in the back with Alicia." She explained, giving Hermione a lavish smirk. "Probably don't want to go back there unless you want an eye full."

"No thanks!" Hermione said quickly with a small chuckle. "I'll wait." She laughed as Angelina grinned at her. "The shop looks great now." She said, looking around at the replenished stock and lurid colours that were sure to attract customers again soon enough.

"It's been hell," Angelina sighed, lifting up one last box before leaning down on the counter top with a sigh. "We've been brewing and enchanting day and night. I don't know how Fred and George did it on their own for so long."

"Me neither," Hermione shook her head, her eyes flicking up to where the long mirror behind the counter had been removed entirely from the store. "How is he?" She asked quietly.

"Better," Angelina smiled over, knowing Hermione was asking from a place of caring. "He still has some moments... some nights you know, nightmares... but he's better."

"That's good," Hermione smiled happily at that. "I'm sure you and Alicia are taking good care of him." She added with a small smirk, knowing full well the relationship between the three was another thing that Molly hated and ranted about on a regular basis.

"Oh definitely," Angelina grinned happily at that comment. "What about you and Ron?"

Hermione sighed, slumping down on the counter a bit at that. "We're still... I don't know, are we together or not?" She grimaced, shaking her head. "Ron's still siding with Molly over everything and defending her. He won't even talk to Harry anymore, and this whole thing... ugh, it's driving me crazy."

"George mentioned it," Angelina nodded, patting Hermione's comfortingly on the shoulder. "He thinks Molly's gone crazy, you know he wouldn't support her saying all of that crap right?"

"I know," Hermione smiled thankfully over. "It's just tough. It feels like fourth year again with Ron and Harry not speaking to each other, but it's worse now, really worse."

"That bad?" Angelina asked with a wince, remembering the tri-wizard year well enough.

"Ron's never going to change, he's always going to be Molly's little boy." Hermione huffed in annoyance. "Even Ginny sided with Harry about everything that happened. She's basically moved in with him now."

"Does anyone actually believe everything Molly's been shouting?" Angelina asked curiously. "Other than Ron?" She clarified.

"Arthur's trying to stay neutral about it all, but I think he's on Harry's side really." Hermione explained. "Percy's just trying to stay out of it. I don't think he wants to pick a side when everyone is still hating him over everything that happened during the war."

"Yeah, George mentioned he's hexed Percy a few times because of everything that happened." Angelina nodded.

"Bill's staying out of it as well. He hasn't said anything really, but I know how Molly treated Fleur really hurt him, and seeing her shouting and screaming at Harry after everything... he hasn't been to The Burrow in ages now." Hermione explained.

"So it's just Molly and Ron then," Angelina nodded.

"Pretty much, I'm..." Hermione trailed off as the back door to the store opened, George appearing with a rather flushed and smug look on his face before a surprised grin got plastered over when he saw Hermione.

"Herms!" George laughed as Hermione scowled at the nickname, walking into the store with Alicia behind him still buttoning up her blouse. "Come to visit again have you?" He smiled opening his arms widely as he strode over intending on giving her a hug.

"George, no!" Hermione held up her wand quickly as she backed away off of her stool. "I... I know what you've been up to just now. No hugs!" She said quickly, flushing slightly as George laughed and gave her a lavish smirk.

"Spoilsport," George grinned, hopping up onto the counter as Alicia came through and smiled at Hermione with a wink. "So, what brings you to our humble establishment this fine morning, if not for one of my world famous hugs?" He asked, looking around. "And without our wayward brother or ickle Harrikins with you?"

"I'm just stopping by," Hermione smiled at him. "I was up at Hogwarts earlier, thought I'd have a look since there's nothing else to do this morning."

"Oh the hallowed halls of Hoggy Hoggy Hogwarts are calling you back once more?" George laughed over. "Harrikins didn't go with you?" He asked, knowing full well there was no point in asking about Ron. The idea of Ron willingly returning to school was laughable at best.

"I didn't think he should," Hermione explained with a tired frown on her face as she moved to sit down on her stool again. "McGonagall knew about everything. I confronted her about it earlier. She admitted everything to me."

"Merlin," Alicia whispered, moving over and giving Hermione a firm hug as both Angelina and George stared in shock.

"She knew? About Dumbledore and... everything?" Angelia asked.

"Everything," Hermione confirmed, swiping away the buildup of tears in her eyes when Alicia let her out of the hug. "I didn't want Harry to be there... I don't... I don't think I could have faced him when McGonagall said she'd always known what Dumbledore was planning for him."

"Bitch!" Angelina hissed out, getting nods of agreement from Alicia and George.

"How's Harry doing?" George asked.

"Angry, fed up, pissed off at Ron." Hermione rattled off. "He bottles everything up, but I know that Molly defending Dumbledore and shouting about Sirius really hurt him." She explained. "With Ron turning on him again... I don't think he's going to forgive him this time, I really don't."

"How many times is this now?" Alicia asked. "That Ron has abandoned Harry?"

"Too many," George answered before Hermione could. "I don't blame him for not forgiving him. I wouldn't." He said firmly. "Tell Harry we've got his back, if he need anything..."

"Thanks," Hermione smiled over thankfully. "I know that'll mean a lot to him."

"We've always got his back, no matter what." George said proudly. "Whatever mum or anyone says, he's family."

"It's just hard," Hermione sighed. "Being pulled in two directions. I don't want to upset Ron, but I can't turn on Harry, not when I know he's right."

"Ron's thick as two short wands, you know how long it takes him to admit he's wrong about anything." George laughed, shaking his head. "He's not going to agree with Harry and risk upsetting mummy dearest, not when she's still cooking and cleaning up after him."

"Ugh, I know." Hermione grimaced at the thought. "I'm trying to keep my mouth shut whenever I'm there, and it's going to be so much nicer if I go back to Hogwarts again."

"You're going back then?" Angelia asked curiously, trying to push the conversation into a friendlier and happier note. "It's your NEWT's right?"

"My last year," Hermione nodded. "It's going to be so weird going back again, they're going to have so many students this year, I don't even know how they're going to cope."

"Oh?" Angelina perked up at that, looking at Hermione curiously.

"All the students that were supposed to be there last year, the new year as well. Then this year's too? And everyone coming back for their last years. And then there's everyone that got rubbish marks because of The Ministry and everything..." Hermione explained, trailing off. "That's two whole first years starting new this year. Three years worth of muggle born first years really, and any of the families that were hiding or on the run during the war. Two seventh years, and even more from the seventh years that didn't get their NEWTs done properly."

"Merlin," George whispered, thinking about that for a moment. "We're going to need a LOT more stock."

"Definitely," Alicia nodded in agreement, seeing where George's mind was going.

"It's going to be crazy up there," George mused. "Do they even have enough room in the dorms for that many people?"

"Professor Flitwick said so," Hermione nodded. "But he said the students in their last year who are of age can all floo in and out instead of staying in the dorms. I guess they needed the extra space for all the new students starting in their first year." She mused on the thought, trying to figure out how they were going to work everything this year. "It's going to be so strange flooing up to school every morning."

"That does sound weird," Angelina nodded in agreement, trying to imagine actually living at home while going to Hogwarts. "Harry isn't going back then?" She asked curiously.

"He said he isn't," Hermione shook her head. "You know how he is, and now with everything and Professor McGonagall too... I think if he went back he'd just be shouting at her. He wouldn't be able to sit in her classes and actually learn anything from her."

"Can't blame him for that," George nodded in agreement. "Just you and Gin Gin then?" He asked.

"Probably," Hermione smiled.

"Don't even know how many people will be going back," Angelina frowned in thought. "I mean, after the war... how many people survived everything and will want to go back to school again after everything that happened there?" She pointed out.

"Umbridge and Snape," George nodded. "Gin told me about everything that happened that last year. I don't think anyone that was there will trust going back to Hogwarts again after that Snape and the other Death Eater professors did when they took over the castle."

"Probably not," Hermione sighed sadly. "Professor Flitwick said that if Harry came back it would really help the school, but it just feels like they just want to use him again."

"They probably do," George commented with a shrug. "Just like The Ministry want him, he's the hero of the hour, getting pictures of him at Hogwarts or at The Ministry would basically put his approval stamp on everything they're doing."

"Which is why he hasn't been anywhere near The Ministry," Hermione huffed. "He doesn't want any of that, he never did. And he's definitely not going to be supporting Minister Shacklebolt or Professor McGonagall again."

"Don't blame him." George shrugged. "You'll keep an eye on Gin Gin right?" He asked.

"You know I will," Hermione smiled at him. "I should probably get back actually, tell Harry how it went." She said, standing up from her stool. "If he's even got up yet." She added with a roll of her eyes.

"Tell him to come by some time," George smiled as he hopped off of the counter. "He's welcome here any time he wants. He still knows the floo address for upstairs right?"

"I think so, but I'll remind him again." Hermione laughed, knowing full well what Harry's memory was like for things like that.

"Tell him we're all supporting him." Angelina smiled over. "And give him a big hug from all of us."

"Especially me!" George butted in with a laugh, opening his arms again.

"Again, ew!" Hermione laughed at him, backing away before he could embrace her.

"And tell that brother of mine to get his head out of his arse." George said firmly. "I don't know how mum and dad put up with him, but he's going to alienate everyone if he continues on like this." He said pointedly, seeing how Hermione nodded in agreement with him.

"I will," Hermione sighed. "I don't know if he'll even listen to me, but..."

"Yeah yeah, we all know how thick Ron can be." George laughed. "Go and say hi to Harrikins and let him know we're here for him when you and Gin Gin go back to Hogwarts alright?"

"I will," Hermione smiled, thankful that Harry still had their friendship. "I'll ask him about letting you guys come and visit as well. We've put up so many charms around his new house that I can't even talk about anything near it without him saying so first." She explained with a laugh.

"About time Harrikins had somewhere safe to live," George nodded happily at that. "Would be great to visit though."

"I'll tell him," Hermione nodded, giving the trio one last wave as she walked away. "I'll probably pop in when I'm doing my shopping for Hogwarts, but if I don't see you all..."

"Yeah, you stay safe too." George nodded, as Alicia and Angelina waved their goodbyes too before Hermione walked out of the store and apparated away once she was out from underneath the store's protective charms.


Holy House
Holyhead
Holy Island
Anglesey
Wales

Hermione smiled happily as she apparated outside of the protective charms around Harry's new house, feeling safe and comfortable here as she walked into the grounds and slid her wand back into her pocket.

It was chillier here than it had been in Diagon Alley, the cool air blowing off of the sea that was close by gave it a salty taste and a refreshing feel on her face.

The house ahead that Harry had bought was amazing, she couldn't believe it when Harry had bought it outright, saying that he didn't want to go stay at Grimmauld anymore with all the bad memories that were hanging over that place.

It was an old hunting lodge style house, maybe even a small hotel at some point. With three floors and a basement, and very clearly muggle not wizarding. It had electricity and a phone line, though she'd helped him add in proper magical enchantments for the water and a few other things.

They'd all first seen it when Ginny had dragged them down to a quidditch match at Holyhead. Well, they'd dragged her along, Harry had been more than happy to go and see the Harpies match.

After the quidditch match they'd just been walking around Holyhead and exploring, neither of the three wanting to go back to The Burrow or Grimmauld yet, when they'd found it when they were just walking around and enjoying the mixture of magical and muggle buildings that made up the Holyhead town.

It was on the outskirts of the town really, a good walk from the towns itself and closer to the Holyhead quidditch stadium, but it was a beautiful old building and even she could see why Harry had fallen in love with it immediately.

Once Harry had bought it, it had taken a few months of them all working together to clean it up and make it liveable again. Apparently nobody had lived here for quite a few years, but with three of age witches and wizards now they made quick work of turning it into somewhere really comfortable and safe for him to live.

There was even a small library, much to Harry and Ginny's amusement, that she'd gushed over and done special work on. Harry had made sure to tell her repeatedly that she was always welcome here, and he'd even set aside a bedroom for her to stay in when she wasn't at The Burrow with Ron.

It was a nicer and more casual atmosphere here. There was none of Molly's ranting or shrill voice shouting around as she ordered them to do this or that, and there was none of Ron's mess here waiting for Molly to clean up after him.

Walking up the steps she pushed open the front door, smiling happily as she closed the door behind her and walked through the entrance way. "Harry? Ginny?" She called out curiously, wondering if either of them were up yet.

The silence that came back answered clearly enough for her as she made her way through to the kitchen, flicking on the kettle to make a morning coffee while she thought about what she was going to do this year.

Going back to Hogwarts had always been her plan right from the start. She still had her uniform and everything, it might need some resizing charms but she hadn't grown that much over the last two years, if anything she hadn't really grown in height at all since her fifth year.

She was still small, petite as Fleur called her. Even Ginny was a bit taller than her now, and Harry had grown up quite nicely over the year after the war, finally getting a growth spurt that put him a good half a foot taller than her.

She was always going to be petite though, just like her mum. At five foot two she knew she wasn't going to grow anymore, but she was happy enough with it. Height didn't matter much to witches and wizards, as Professor Flitwick proved time and again. So she didn't really let it bother her other than when Harry and Ginny constantly put things up in high cupboards forcing her to rely on accio charms to retrieve them.

Retrieving three mugs down she opened the fridge, happy to see that they still had enough milk there for a few days, before closing it and heading out of the kitchen and up stairs.

It was time for Harry to wake up anyway, so she could wake him up before finishing off the coffee, then they could actually talk about what she'd learnt today and see what Harry said about everything.

It wasn't going to be a nice conversation really, so hopefully the promise of coffee would put Harry in a better mood so he didn't floo right up to Hogwarts and start shouting at Professor McGonagall before they'd even finished their morning.

Walking up the stairs she turned onto the first landing way and turned again to head up the second staircase that led up to the bedrooms on the top floor, only to freeze four steps up as the rather exuberant sounds Ginny was making caused blood to flush to her cheeks in embarrassment.

"What is it with everyone this morning?" Hermione quickly backed down the stairs, closing her eyes with a grimace as Ginny's loud utterances and pleasure filled moans continued to echo down the stairs, chasing her as she ran down the stairway again and back to the safety of the kitchen.

"Silencing charms, I have GOT to get Harry to add silencing charms to the bedrooms!" She huffed in annoyance, her cheeks still flushed as she sat down at the kitchen table and concentrated on staring at the boiling kettle.

She'd walked in on Harry and Ginny having sex twice now, and twice was two times too many for her. She still had the images burnt into her mind from the last time she'd walked in on them in the living room to find Ginny literally sitting on Harry's face, both completely naked, while she writhed and groaned lewdly on Harry's tongue, That day had mortified her enough that she hadn't been able to look them in the face for nearly an entire month.

Ginny was frank enough about talking about sex, no matter how embarrassed Hermione got, and she now knew exactly how good Harry was in bed, and how much pleasure Ginny got from Harry's 'parsel tongue' that was apparently better than any parcel or gift Ginny had ever gotten.

That was going to be in her mind all day now, and she groaned as she put her arms on the kitchen table and pressed her face into them, forcefully willing away all the lurid mental images of what Harry and Ginny were doing upstairs as she did her best to concentrate on thinking about Hogwarts and everything she needed to do before returning there for her final year.