17 Weeks After The Final Battle

Percy was invited, along with the rest of the Weasley clan and several friends of the family, to tour the Hogwarts campus a few days before it opened for the school year. He joined his family on the grounds in the evening after Fred and George closed the shop for the day.

As Ron had mentioned previously, the original castle was no longer 10 stories high, only 4. Ron walked them around the main floor, explaining that this building was for classrooms, professor's offices, and the great hall.

Most of this building was based around the original Hogwarts foundation, and made from the original stones, so it was more familiar than Percy had thought. The ceiling in the dining hall was lowered, but still featured the enchanted sky and floating candles.

The dormitories were in their own buildings and had their own common rooms and study rooms. Ron walked them around the upper years' building, showing off his designs. A small team of house elves were placing clean linens on the beds in neutral, non-Hogwarts House colors, and Percy spotted muggle board games and cushy bean bag chairs in one of the common rooms.

The library was the next building on the trip, and Percy was pleased to see that although it was its own building, it remained largely the same as the library he remembered. The old book smell mingled pleasantly with the fresh paint smell, and Percy spotted, as they walked, the original table that he and Hermione had sat at, all those years ago, at Hogwarts, tucked away near the Transfiguration shelves.

The quidditch pitches and newly added quodpot arena rounded out the tour. There was still work being done on a few other buildings, namely the professor's quarters, a small planetarium, an auditorium/amphitheater, and another building that Ron stated would likely be turned into an administrative building of some sort.

Fred began to tire as they finished, so Mum and Dad took him home. The other Weasley children and friends headed to the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade. Everyone ordered butterbeer, wine, or pop, and they settled into smaller conversations.

Ginny, as it turned out, still hadn't told Mum that she wasn't planning on attending Hogwarts. She was, however, planning on attending an open tryout for the Holyhead Harpies, which would take place on September 15th. Harry rested an arm over Ginny's shoulder as she shared how her training had been going (she'd bullied Oliver Wood into coaching her on the weekends), and how Harry had gifted her a new broom for her birthday last month.

"Thanks so much for the suggestion, Draco, I never would have thought to try out if you hadn't suggested it,"

"No problem," Draco shrugged.

As the evening went on, Percy couldn't help but miss Hermione even more as he watched the couples around him. Bill doted on Fleur, George fiddled with Verity's bracelet and rings as they sat together, and Alicia's arm draped over the back of Penny's chair, playing with her hair as they chatted. Even Harry and Ginny, who were tentatively sort of, not quite, a little bit trying to sort out dating again, were comfortable and happy side-by-side.

Eventually, the gathering broke up, and Percy and Draco apparated home. They landed at the edge of the property and began walking towards the front door.

"I've found a place, and I'm going to place an offer on it in a day or two, once I speak to my accountant," Draco said.

"That's great!" Percy smiled, "Where is it?"

"It's actually Harry's place in London, 12 Grimmauld Place,"

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. Harry doesn't want to live there, but unlike most of the Wizarding world, he's willing to sell to me. And I'll take his house elf as part of the deal. Kreacher, his name is. He's getting up there in years, can't do much but garden and dust, but Harry's never owned an elf and doesn't really want one, so…" Draco trailed off, "I'm looking forward to moving in. I think my mother will like it, too; she spent time there as a girl. Harry's contractors have done nice work on the interior,"

"I look forward to seeing it,"

"Yeah, I'll have to have you over, once I'm settled," Draco swept a hand through his hair.

"If you need help moving, you know my family would be happy to help,"

"Thank you,"

"Are you looking forward to living on your own?"

"I expect it might be a bit lonely, at first," Draco admitted, "I've gotten used to having a roommate, someone to chat to,"

"I've gotten used to it, too. I'm looking forward to Hermione coming back,"

"Does she have a date set yet for flying back with her parents?"

"Not yet, she's hoping for around the second week of September,"

"That's coming up, then,"

"Yeah," They trailed off into silence, making their way towards the house.

There was a light on in the kitchen that Percy didn't remember leaving on. Juno scurried over to the pair of them, barking, double tails wagging. Juno rarely barked, and almost never came to the door when Percy or Draco walked in.

Percy was instantly on guard.

"Someone is here," He hissed to Draco. Draco nodded, pulling his wand out. Percy picked up Juno in one arm. They crept towards the kitchen together. Percy heard the clink of teacup against a saucer.

"Who's there?" he called out, loudly. They rounded the corner to the kitchen, wands drawn.

Hermione sat at the kitchen table with a cup of tea. She gasped, and Percy yelped, and Draco let out a loud curse.

"Hermione!"

"Percy!" Hermione stood up quickly and rushed toward Percy, and he embraced her.

"God, Granger, I thought you were a Death Eater," Draco said, putting his wand away. Percy's heart was pounding too, but he rolled his eyes in Draco's direction. Draco shrugged back, shaking his head, but smiling slightly.

"Sorry, I should have thought of that. I didn't expect you'd be out so late, I didn't mean to scare you,"

"It's so good to see you," Percy murmured into her hair.

"It's good to see you too," Hermione murmured back. Draco excused himself, leaving the pair of them in the kitchen, alone except for Juno. They spent several minutes holding onto each other. Percy was sure Hermione could feel his heartbeat against her own chest.

And then, Percy leaned back, and Hermione tilted her chin up, and they were kissing. Oh, they were kissing. She was warm and soft, and her hands found his neck, fingers brushing his jaw. She tasted like tea, and her hair was down and curly, tickling his face.

This was so much better than Percy remembered it, and way better than the daydream charm from the other day.

Shoot. He shouldn't have been thinking about that daydream charm. He desperately tried to think of something, anything but the feel of Hermione's warm body pressed up against his own. Thankfully, Hermione pulled away.

"Gosh, I missed you,"

"I missed you, too," She moved to put her empty tea cup into the sink, and he made his way around the first floor, locking the doors and settling the house for the night.

Her bags were already up in their room. She ducked into the bathroom to change and brush her teeth, and then Percy did the same. She sat up in bed, waiting for him.

"I know I told you that I'd be home in a few weeks...but our plans changed a bit, and I wanted it to be a surprise,"

"When did you get in?"

"Yesterday afternoon. I got my parents settled at their new place and then we all slept for something like 16 hours straight. My dad wanted to fly the muggle way, so it was a really long couple of days of traveling for us,"

"How are your parents?"

"They're really good. Mum's got her first appointment tomorrow with the healers at St. Mungo's to get them up to speed on her case and start her therapies here. Penny helped me set that up for her. Dad is applying for a faculty position at a dental school. Both of them are looking forward to seeing you again. Less thrilled about me living here with you. But we're invited to dinner with them tomorrow night, if you're free?"

"Yeah, I'm free," Percy agreed. He motioned to the light and Hermione nodded, so he switched it off and they crawled under the covers together. Hermione curled up beside him, pillowing her head on his chest.

Just like in the daydream.

Percy fought and failed again to keep his mind away from that memory.

Hermione shifted, and then he shifted, and then she was on top of him again, and they were kissing just like they had the night before she left. Percy was very pleased that he hadn't put on a shirt to sleep in, because he could feel her skin pressed against his, and the thin, soft fabric of the sleep shirt she wore. Her knees straddled his thighs, hips pressed right up against his. Everything was warm, and she was soft.

She stopped kissing him, and for a moment they stayed just a breath apart.

"That's just as nice as I remember," She whispered.

"It's better than I remembered," He replied, making her giggle. He ran his fingers up and down the skin of her back, under the fabric of her sleep shirt.

She shifted, which Percy stifled a gasp at because that felt much better than he was expecting, her body sliding against his, and tucked her lips to his neck, kissing him there, kissing up behind his ear, across his collarbone.

Oh.

Daydream charms be damned, this was so much better.