This one's pretty short, and I know it doesnt have a lot of action of any kind, but it does give some background information. I dont know, things got a little deep towards the end, I have no idea where that came from, but yeah. And I'm bad with titles, hence the truly shitty name for the School. Again, I apologize.

I hope you guys like it :")

Any suggestions, pointing out of errors, issues, faults, anything are always welcome!

Word count: 2158

(7/6/17)

After the highly pleasurable turn of events that took place on the Quidditch Field, Sirius conjured the dark chocolate mousse from somewhere and they spent a good deal of time just feeding each other and messing around.

It had been a long time since Hermione had felt so relaxed and been so carefree. For as long as she could could remember, she'd always had a sort of shield wrapped tightly around herself, and even though she didn't completely let her guard down today, she had come the closest to doing it since the War.

At quarter to five, they regretfully left the castle and walked back to the clearing in the field. Sirius brought out another Portkey- a battered old quill this time- and Hermione steeled herself for the journey.

She felt the telltale jerk behind her navel and in the next second, they were not standing in the middle but just outside the Boarding Home for Young Magicals.

BHYM was started by Harry and Sirius, though Sirius was more involved in the investments and funding part of it, three years after the War. Even though Harry had wanted to become an Auror, after the War he discovered that he much preferred peace and quiet. He felt like he'd chased, and been chased by, enough bad guys that it wouldn't matter if he became an Auror or not. He had thought about becoming a Professor for a while, but he had some issues with that as well. He wouldn't get as much freedom, and if there was one thing he cherished after being manipulated and lied to by everyone, it was his freedom. And so the idea of a school entered his mind.

However, the word school was not enough to describe the vast establishment. It doubled up as an orphanage as well. The War had wiped out entire families and left behind many orphaned kids, with nowhere to go. It was an issue that was hit home with Harry, considering how he was treated while growing up. He wanted to do something to ensure that other War orphans did not go through the same thing. Thus, on his travels, he chalked out a plan so detailed that Hermione herself couldn't have done better. He had approached Sirius about investing in it, because even though he had more than enough money to cover all of it, he wanted a second opinion on everything he did. Defeating a Dark Lord and saving the Wizarding World did absolutely nothing for that boy, Hermione would often think.

He worked relentlessly for the next half year, which coincided with the period Daphne left him. Often, he did not sleep, or forgot to eat, because he was so determined to make it perfect. He was also trying very hard not to think of Daphne at all, for he knew if he faltered then he wouldn't be able to pick himself back up again.

And now, running for almost three years, it was one of the most successful projects Hermione had ever seen in the Wizarding World. There were around thirty orphans who lived there full time, and about one hundred kids who enrolled there for day school. And, at the helm of it all, working tirelessly without expecting anything in return, was Harry. He never once complained about the long hours, or the infants who kept him awake at night, or the hormonal teenagers who had frequent tantrums. He took all of it in stride. His determination, and patience had never failed to amaze those who knew him and his work.

And he managed to achieve what he wanted as well. In addition to providing a home and a loving, safe atmosphere for orphans and being a teacher, he managed to get people to stop looking at him as 'The Boy Who Lived' but as Harry Potter, founder of the Boarding Home for Young Magicals. People started appreciating him for his own achievements and merit, rather than something that happened at a time when he was so young he could hardly remember it.

Suddenly, Sirius' hand on her shoulder quite literally shook her away from her thoughts.

"You okay?" she heard him asking.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm completely fine. I was just thinking," she replied absentmindedly, waving his concern away. That man honestly worried way too much. Whenever she teased him about being such a mother hen, he would always smile in that rueful way of his and tell her that no matter how much he tried, he could never come close to mothering everyone around the way James did. It was quite an eye opener for her when she found out that James Potter, pranker extraordinaire and father of Harry Potter, was a mother hen that could get people to do anything with just a glare and pinched lips. Apparently, he even had the hands-on-his-waist thing down pat. It was all Mrs. P, though, Sirius would say, She was the one whom he got all of it from.

Sirius took Hermione's hand, entwining their fingers together and led them inside the huge building. Hermione could just see the construction going on beside the ground, and shook her head fondly. It seemed like there was always some sort of renovation going on here, always expanding. Even though, at first, Harry and Sirius used their own money for the project, over time, they got so many donations and grants they stopped taking money out of their own vaults.

"Hermione, Mr. Black!" A voice called out from somewhere to their left.

They turned towards the direction of the voice, to see Bree standing at the doorway of the playroom, surrounded by a gaggle of giggling kids.

Hermione smiled as they changed directions to walk towards her. "Hey, Bree. You look like you have your hands full."

"Ah yes, it's saturday and you know how the little rascals get when it's Ice Cream Day," she flicked one of the kids, a small girl about five years old, on the nose making her shriek and run around to Bree's other side.

"You guys got here just in time, actually," she continued. "You can deal with the distribution of the ice cream, I'll get going!"

She untangled herself from the invading hands of the children and walked forward so that she was standing right in front of Sirius and Hermione.

"I have a big date tonight, you see," she winked conspiratorially at Hermione, making her laugh.

"I get it, I get it. Now, go, or else you'll be late," she made shooing motions with her hand and Bree walked away laughing.

"Make sure to lock up behind you!" she called over her shoulder.

Sirius shook her head at her before turning back to the children. Just in time as well, too, since most of them had by then realized that Sirius was going to be staying there with them. This realization meant that the overactive bundles of excitement came running and leaping at Sirius, bringing him to his knees at the sheer force of their attack.

"Woah, woah, calm down there kids, I'm right here!" he laughed, turning this way and that, trying his best to greet every little kid who chattered on at him.

Hermione just stood back, smiling softly at the commotion in front of her. If there was anyone the kids at the School liked as much as Harry, it was Sirius. Of course, given a choice, they would always run to Harry, but their Siri was the next best thing for them.

"It's been so long since you visited, Siri!

"Did you bring candies?"

"Can you read me a story tonight?"

"NO! He'll read ME a story!"

"No, he's going to bake a cake with me!"

Soon, the children started fighting amongst themselves, arguing over who would get to spend time with SIrius doing what. She saw Sirius shaking his head in fond exasperation at them, before bringing his fingers to his lips and letting out a shrill, piercing dog whistle that shut everyone up in a matter of seconds.

"Good, now that I have your attention…"

His words drowned out as a small hand tugged at the hem of her skirt. Hermione looked down to see Iris looking up at her with wide blue-grey eyes. Long eyelashes blinked at her shyly.

Hermione mentally awwed at her before bending down to lift the 6 year old up into her arms.

"Hi, Mione," Iris greeted quietly.

Hermione smiled. "Hey, sweetheart. How are you?"

"I'm good, thank you. And you?" It never failed to amuse Hermione how Iris always had impeccable manners. Manners, that always seemed to fall apart in Harry's presence. He had a way of getting even the most reserved kids to open up to him. It never failed to awe her, because she'd always had trouble around children either treating them as though they were very tiny little kids with no brains of their own or like they were adults her own age.

It was one of the reasons why she had bonded so quickly with Iris, because she often appeared smarter than most people would expect of her age. The reason for her precocity, however, was very tragic.

She was one of the orphans of the War, and one of the first children to stay at the School. It's also because of that that she was one of the closest to Harry, Hermione and Sirius. They loved all kids equally, but there were just some they were more fond of than others.

"I'm wonderful," Hermione replied warmly. "So, are you excited for ice cream as well?"

"I'll be fine if I don't get ice cream," she shrugged.

"But you're still looking forward to it, aren't you?" Hermione pressed. "If I recall correctly, you were always particularly fond of Cookies and Cream."

"Well, yes. It is my favorite," Iris conceded after mulling over it for a while. Hermione smiled at her reticence. It wasn't unusual for her to discourage herself from wanting something until she actually had it, believing that it was far easier for her to not set herself up for any sort of disappointment. It was not ideal for a child, a 6 year old, to be thinking that way but it was how she had grown up. The three years after the War, before she had come to the School had not been kind to her. Even now, she never fully talked about it, and Harry, who knew the most out of them, never said anything.

"Hey, Mione!" She heard Sirius shout and looked over at him, smiling when she found him in the midst of all the children.

"Everyone's ready for ice cream, then?" she asked knowingly. Sirius grinned sheepishly and nodded.

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go!"

When everyone had gotten their favorite ice cream- the best part about The School was that it always had a generous amount of almost every flavor of ice cream available at any given time- Sirius led all of them to the game room. It was barely 7, not bedtime and none of them wanted to go to sleep when Sirius was there anyway. It sometimes amazed Hermione how much these kids adored him. But then she'd look at him interacting with the kids, and all doubts and wonder vanished, leaving only a sense of contentment behind.

She never thought that after the War, she would ever be able to call her life content, or just be happy. She had resigned herself to a life filled with unfulfilled desires, dreams of a better world, broken hearts and aching souls. A life that was shadowed by the doubt and fear and anxiety that they had all faced during that time. A life that was not a life, but just an existence.

She had resigned herself to all of that, accepted it with a weary heart because the War had left them all feeling like they'd ages decades in a matter of years.

But now? Sitting in the middle of the game room, surrounded by kids of all ages laughing and giggling and playing around, her, well, boyfriend chasing them and taking them for horse rides on his back and gives them piggybacks, it seemed like the life she had thought she'd be living was not an option anymore. Because as Harry's smiling face entered the room, and she saw each and every kid's eyes light up at the sight of his face, she realized that maybe she had underestimated herself. Not just herself, but every single person who had survived through the War.

And as she got up to swing a giggling Iris into her arms and over and over and over just the way she liked, she realized that she wouldn't give this up for the world. She would go through all of it again just so she could be in this, with these people, laughing the way they did.