A Hundred Storms
Chapter Three: One of Those Lives
Folks that are fightin' for every breath,
And it makes me realize.
It's just been one for those days for me,
But for them it's been one of those lives.
-One of Those Lives, by Brad Paisley
When the train finally came to a stop, Hermione glanced around the small compartment. Neville gave her a reassuring smile and told her everything would be okay. She nodded weakly and gathered Crookshanks in her arms, already dreading all the eyes that would be fixed on her.
Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna loaded themselves into one of the carriages, no longer pulled by invisible beasts. They all saw the Thestrals now. Hermione kept alert for others from her year that might have returned, but she only saw the vaguely familiar faces of those who were younger than her. As the carriages jolted into motion, Hermione was aware of the other students turning in their seats to get a better look at her and her friends.
"This is going to get old," Hermione muttered quietly to her three companions. "What are the odds we will be old news soon?"
"Not good," Neville said cheerfully. "Might as well get used to it."
"Whoa." Ginny sat up a little straighter. "Isn't that Blaise Zabini? And Malfoy?"
Hermione's head whipped around in the direction Ginny pointed, and sure enough, Blaise Zabini and Draco Malfoy had a carriage entirely to themselves. Hermione was surprised to find herself pleased that Malfoy looked, well, healthier than when she saw him at his trial. He was still pale, of course, but his pointed face looked much fuller than it had after he had spent a few weeks in Azkaban. His hair was falling in his eyes in what was probably a ridiculously expensive haircut, and he and Blaise seemed to be deep in conversation.
"Well, there are two more eighth years," Hermione said weakly. "I didn't know Zabini was coming back."
"His family wasn't involved, as far as I know," Neville said thoughtfully. "Gran plays cards with his gran. She said they're a nice enough family."
Hermione had never paid Blaise much mind before, but now it looked as though Slytherin from her year would be represented. She was glad Malfoy had someone from his own house with him this year; being back was going to be hard on all of them but in an entirely different way for him.
Before Hermione could tear her gaze away, Malfoy looked up as though he could feel someone watching him. Hermione froze as he met her gaze, and, much to her surprise, he acknowledged her with a small nod before returning to his conversation with Blaise. The conversation must have turned to her because Blaise's dark eyes then met Hermione's as well. Hermione hurriedly looked away this time and tried to find another topic with her carriage-mates.
When they finally reached the entrance to the castle, McGonagall was waiting for them at the door. The students scrambled out of their carriages, and the headmistress smiled primly at Hermione and addressed the rest of the students.
"Welcome, welcome back to Hogwarts!" she said loudly to the throng of young people. "This year is going to be different from any in the castle's thousand-year history, and I wanted to take a moment to welcome all of you back personally. There will be more time for announcements at the feast, but I would like those of you who have decided to return for an eighth year at Hogwarts to please follow me. The rest of you may go directly to the Great Hall to await the Sorting. Our newest students should be arriving with Hagrid momentarily." Without another word, McGonagall turned and walked into the castle, leaving the eighth year students to hurry after her.
Hermione waved goodbye to Ginny and Luna and followed Neville in after McGonagall. She looked about her and saw that in addition to herself, Neville, and the two Slytherins, Terry Boot, Michael Corner, and Anthony Goldstein represented Ravenclaw while Hannah Abbott and Ernie Macmillan represented Hufflepuff. Hermione was disappointed that no one else returned from Gryffindor but was almost giddy with relief that she was nowhere near alone in deciding to finish her education.
McGonagall led them deeper into the castle than Hermione had expected and finally stopped outside a large painting of a very formal-looking wizard family down the hall from the private prefects' bathroom. The family looked down with curiosity at the headmistress and odd group of students before the matriarch of the family asked McGonagall, "Are all these students married?"
The students in question all looked at one another, wide-eyed, before McGonagall chuckled and shook her head.
"They are all of age," McGonagall replied to the painting before addressing the students. "Behind this painting is a common room that we have not had a need to use in many years. In older times, some students would choose to marry when they came of age, especially in the older pure-blood families. Because of those customs, the founders created a wing of the castle that was dedicated to accommodating those students in that unique arrangement. As that custom has fallen out of practice, we have not housed students in this fashion until now. After a lengthy debate between the faculty and the school's governors, we have decided that due to your unique situation of being of age and essentially legal adults, we felt that the restrictions and possible distractions of your house dormitories would not suit any of you." She looked at Neville, Hermione, and Draco pointedly and continued on. "Not to mention that many of you have endured hurdles since you were last students here-I personally felt that the additional privacy of your own quarters would aid in this adjustment."
Hermione, true to form, raised her hand. McGonagall smiled and beckoned her to speak.
"Professor," Hermione said with controlled excitement. "Are you saying we do not have to stay in our house dormitories if we choose not to?"
"Precisely, Miss Granger," McGonagall replied. "This wing of the castle was designed with young couples in mind. The accommodations are a bit different than what you might be used to. Couples from all houses were welcome here, and so we have modified it for the nine of you. Let's take a look, shall we?"
"Lemon drop," McGonagall said to the painting. It swung open, and McGonagall delicately stepped across the threshold. The students were met with a massive common room, easily double the size of Gryffindor's. Instead of two doors for the boys' and girls' dormitories, nine doors, three on three walls, indicated that they would each have their own room.
"This is fantastic!" Neville said in wonder. "I was dreading having to share with the younger students."
McGonagall smiled and indicated the doors. "Each room is fairly identical and has an adjoined bath. You are, of course, welcome to visit your respective house common room, but I am confident this will be an acceptable arrangement for all of you. You are free to bring friends here of course, but the same rules apply as in your original house rooms. Do not share your password with anyone not currently residing in this dormitory, and never leave a guest here unsupervised. I want to commend each of you for returning to Hogwarts. . I don't need to say that as older students, you are all responsible for your own actions. If you act in a way that reflects poorly on yourself, you will simply be asked to leave Hogwarts. You are free to leave the grounds as you please, Hogsmeade is open to you, and you do not have to wait for school-designated outings. You're free to meet friends and family in the village. I will have a timetable for each of you tomorrow reflecting the classes you had requested. I believe that covers it. Do any of you have any questions?"
They all shook their heads, eager to explore the rooms. McGonagall smiled once more. "All right then, your trunks should be in your designated rooms. Help one another find the right room, and then join the rest of the school for the start-of-term feast. I need to attend to the Sorting now."
With that, McGonagall left the wide-eyed eighth years to their own devices. Hermione looked over at Neville and grinned. "Shall we find our rooms?" she asked the rest of the students. They nodded and split up in silence to each room, and before long they were calling out the names of those trunks they found.
The room Hermione stepped into looked a lot like the dormitory she shared with the other girls in her year except there was only one large four-poster bed and small hints that this was a room to be shared by two people. The four-poster bed was massive and the room reflected the tone of a small sitting room rather than a bedroom. It seemed the newlyweds of old valued their privacy. A writing desk stood in the corner along with a loveseat and antiqued bookcase. Hermione was delighted the room had a fireplace andoff to the right was another door Hermione guessed to be the bathroom. Hermione looked for the trunk at the foot of the bed and saw with a skip of the heart the Malfoy signet emblazoned on the side. She backed away from it as though it were a snake and called out the door.
"Malfoy, I found your room!" she said as she quickly exited the room. She avoided his gaze while Hannah's head popped out from the door beside the one Hermione just hastily exited and indicated that Hermione's trunk was inside. Hermione gratefully ducked inside and locked the door behind her.
This room was identical to the one she just found for Malfoy. The room itself was decorated with deep purple hues and Hermione found that she really liked the color. She dug through her trunk and pulled out a set of plain black robes. She, along with the others from her year, were not required to wear the traditional house robes as to make them slightly easier to identify for the professors and prefects. She got dressed quickly and headed to the bathroom with her toiletries. She stopped and looked in the mirror, scrutinizing the person reflected back at her. She looked older. She no longer looked like the schoolgirl that always gazed back at her from the Hogwarts mirrors. Her eyes were more alert, and her stance wasn't as relaxed as it had been in her sixth year. She was, in all actuality, a war veteran now. A war heroine. She had half a dozen medals in her trunk from various wizard groups and the Ministry of Magic, but she would have traded them all to see that girl she only vaguely remembered now looking back at her. She sighed and left the bathroom, patting the inside pocket of her robe to reassure herself that her wand was still there. Hermione then exited her room and waited in the common room for Neville before they walked with the rest of their silent party to join the rest of the school for the feast.