The following morning, Hermione awoke to an impatient tapping on her window. Sitting up in a disoriented fashion, she stretched her body and yawned deeply as she threw back her blankets and paced to the window.

Celeste had returned, this time with a very small piece of paper attached to her left talon. Hermione removed it gently and Celeste immediately set off, flying back in the direction of home, indicating to Hermione that this letter would not require a response. She gently unfurled the small piece of parchment and read to short letter.

Hermione,

Meet me at the Leaky Cauldron at 7PM.

Harry

Hermione sighed and let the letter drop to her desk. She half expected this response from Harry. She knew that the mention of Malfoy in yesterday's letter would have upset him.

Glancing at the clock, Hermione registered that it was only 6 o'clock in the morning. Breakfast wouldn't be served for another hour. She briefly considered going back to bed but her mind was racing with thoughts of all the things she had to do today. So instead, she pulled on a comfortable pair of jeans and a cream coloured cardigan and set off towards the castle grounds.

Hermione had briefly greeted Hagrid upon her return to Hogwarts but she was yet to go and visit him. She knew Hagrid was an early riser and would likely already be up and about at this time of day. So, she took to opportunity to go and visit her friend before having to face the rest of the day.

The walk to Hagrid's hut was long but the crisp chill of the September air helped to clear her thoughts. As expected, Hagrid was already up and working, watering some oversized pumpkins that were growing in the patch next to his hut. When Hermione was just a short distance away, Hagrid raised his head and with an enthusiastic smile, waved at her joyfully.

"Hermione!" He said happily as she reached him. "What in Merlin's name are you doing up at this hour?"

"Hello Hagrid," Hermione greeted warmly. "Harry's owl woke me up and I just knew that I'd have no hope of falling back to sleep."

"I see," Hagrid responded. "Well, it's very good to see you. How about a cup of tea?" Hermione accepted and the two of them walked inside Hagrid hut where a warm fire greeted them, along with the incessant sniffs of Fang, who also acknowledged her happily. "So, how had your return to Hogwarts been, Miss Hermione?" Hagrid inquired.

"Good," Hermione lied. Something she was doing concerningly frequently lately. "Busy," she added, honestly this time. "I have all my regular classes today as well as a meeting with Professor Brindlemore at lunchtime, another meeting with Professor McGonagall this afternoon and I'm meeting Harry at the Leaky Cauldron this evening."

"Goodness Hermione," Hagrid sighed. "I hope you're finding some time for yourself among all that responsibility." Hermione let out a small laugh and insisted that she was taking care of herself. In all honesty, she was grateful for her busy schedule. The less time she had to herself, the less likely she was to start overthinking and spiralling into yet another anxiety attack. The only reason she had been able to stave off the one from last night was because of Malfoy's stupid cigarette and she did not want to make a habit of that.

"What do you make of Professor Brindlemore, Hagrid?" Hermione inquired, hoping to receive some intel on her assigned professor.

"Oh a nice lady, she is," Hagrid replied as he set down a pot of tea and some cups for the pair of them. "A little intimidating at first but once you get to know her, she's great. I think you two will work well together."

Hermione smiled nervously and raised her cup of tea to her lips. Hagrid had certainly gotten a lot better at brewing a decent pot of tea. "Professor McGonagall said the same thing," she sighed. "I'm just not so sure that Defence Against the Dark Arts was the right subject for me."

"Oh Hermione, I can't think of a better person for the job," Hagrid responded confidently.

Hermione gave a slight smile but her eyes dropped to her hands in her lap, "I would much rather have been paired with you."

"Hmm, yes," Hagrid grumbled. "Well, I wasn't even supposed to get an eighth-year assigned to me… but, with Mr Nott enrolling at the last minute, McGonagall asked if I'd take him on."

Hermione looked back at Hagrid and tilted her head in confusion. "At the last minute?" she questioned. "Nott decided to return at the last minute?"

"Well yes," Hagrid nodded. "It was my understanding that none of the Slytherin eighth years would be returning – to worried about the backlash, ye see… Then, just a week before you were all set to return, McGonagall was tellin' us that Malfoy had been forced to come back as part of his probation. Mr Nott enrolled just a day later… That's a good friend, that is."

Hermione sighed. Hagrid was right, Nott was a good friend to Malfoy. The thought of it made her heart ache as she thought again of Harry and Ron who had been all too willing to let Hermione return to Hogwarts on her own.

"I'll be interesting to see how the two of us get along," Hagrid continued, turning the conversation back to the assistant professor roles. "I've got a Hungarian Horntail arriving at the end of next week. Think I might get the boy to help me take care of it."

"A Hungarian Horntail?" Hermione said, exasperatedly. "I thought we weren't allowed to have any dangerous dragons breeds like that on school grounds anymore?"

"Oh, this one's just a baby," Hagrid clarified. "No bigger than your average Mooncalf… At least, that's what Mr Weasley promised."

"Mr Weasley?" Hermione questioned. "Is Charlie bringing the dragon?" she added excitedly.

"He is indeed," Hagrid confirmed. "He hasn't told me exactly what time he'll be arriving but when I know, I'll be sure to tell you."

"Thank you, Hagrid," Hermione said genuinely. "It'll be nice to see him."

The pair wrapped up their conversation soon after as Hermione needed to return to her room to put her uniform on before breakfast. Hagrid bid her farewell with some more comforting words and Hermione felt a little better after the meeting with her friend. Her walk back was uneventful, but at Hagrid's mention of Charlie Weasley, Hermione found her thoughts drifting to Ron.

Things hadn't been the same between them since their kiss during the war. In that moment, Hermione had been so sure of her feelings for him – completely convinced they would end up together. But the days and weeks that followed the war were awful and thoughts of a relationship quickly dissipated. Those days went by in a fog of sadness, anger and devastating funerals. Hermione had stood next to Ron, clutching his hand as he said goodbye to his own brother. That had been the day of her first panic attack – where her sadness was so overwhelming that she couldn't bear it any longer. Her scar had burned and boiled to an excruciating level, like the very veins in her arm were trying to escape through the cracks in the horrible letters that maimed her skin. When the attack had finally subsided, she climbed into Ron's bed and let him hold her. That was when their second kiss took place and though she didn't say anything in the moment, that was when Hermione realised that she had been wrong to think they would end up together.

In the weeks that followed, she tried desperately to get those old feeling to return. To feel like she had in sixth year when the thought of him kissing another woman had shattered her. She wanted, more than anything, to love him that way. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get herself to think of him as more than her closest friend.

It all came out on a Saturday night in July. Ron had taken Hermione to Grimmauld Place, which was unoccupied at the time. Harry had been staying at the Burrow with Ginny while he worked to renovate the old home. Ron had set up a picnic in the centre of the guest room, complete with candles and chocolate dipped strawberries. The sight of it made Hermione feel sick but she still couldn't bring herself to be honest with him.

"You look beautiful," he had told her. She forced a smile and thanked him. He leaned in to kiss her and Hermione responded, still hopeful that the spark would return if she let thing go far enough. The kissing became more frenzied and she soon found herself laying underneath him as he peppered kisses along her neck and down her chest. Eventually, he reached the top button of her cardigan and to Hermione's surprise, he hesitated. "Hermione," he breathed, looking up at her. "I don't think I can do this…"

"Oh, thank Merlin," she responded, releasing a heavy breath that she hadn't realised she'd been holding. Tears rolled down the side of her face as she threw her head back in relief, pressing her palms to her face. "Ron, I am so sorry," she began, as she went to pull herself into a sitting position.

"You're sorry?" Ron replied in confusion, placing his hand out for her to help her up. "What have you got to be sorry for?"

"I don't want this," Hermione confessed. She heart was beating out of her chest but it felt good to be honest with him. "I don't think I have for a while… I just didn't know how to tell you. I hoped that if I'd went along with this for long enough, those feelings would come back… It's stupid, I know. I'm sorry for leading you on. I shouldn't have-"

"Bloody hell, Hermione," he finally interrupted her. "I had no idea. I'm sorry you felt that way… and I'm even more sorry you felt you couldn't tell me." Hermione gave him an apologetic smile as a couple more tears escaped her eyes. "I think we've both probably know for a while that we're better as friends."

"The very best of friends," Hemione agreed, drying her cheeks with the sleeve of her cardigan. There was a comfortable silence between them for a while before Ron cleared his throat and began packing up the remnants of their picnic.

"Ginny's gonna be furious," he said suddenly, breaking the silence. "She was counting on me to make you her sister."

Hermione giggled and shook her head, "I'm sure she'll get over it."

"Unless," Ron paused. "What about George? You two would be great together!"

"Ron!" Hermione gasped in response. "I can't date George. As a matter of fact, I don't think he's in the headspace to be thinking about dating anyone right now. Besides, he's almost as much of a brother to me as you are."

"Fair," Ron responded, considering again. "Well, what about Percy? He's smart!"

"Merlin, we'd be insufferable!" Hermione groaned at the thought of it. "And doesn't Percy have a girlfriend?"

"I don't think things between him and Audrey are that serious," Ron countered. "But you're probably right. The two of you would be insufferable together." Hermione rolled her eyes playfully and began helping Ron fold the picnic blanket. He went quite for a few moments looking dejected. Then, his eyes lit up. "What about Charlie?"

"Now that's enough, Ronald Weasley," Hermione said firmly.

"No, I'm serious this time," Ron continued enthusiastically. "He's lived in Romania for the entire time you've known me, so you know him the least of all my brothers – meaning, you couldn't possibly view him as your brother. He's got a high paying job, his own house –"

"In Romania," Hermione added. "Now that's enough. If I want you to play matchmaker between myself and one of your brothers, I'll let you know.

The conversation ended there and Hermione was grateful when Ron didn't raise the topic again. Ron and Hermione were both right – Ginny was furious but she did get over it. They slipped back into their usual way fairly quickly and Hermione was relieved to have her brother back.

When Hermione made it to her dormitory entrance, it was already half past seven. She still needed to change into her uniform and quickly swing by the Great Hall for something to eat. She had a big day ahead of her and while she still didn't feel the urge to eat much, she continued to force herself to do so in order to continue functioning.

"Morning Granger," Nott greeted her as she entered. He had clearly already been via the Great Hall on his way to the head's dormitory as both he and Draco were sitting in front of plates filled with various pastries. She had already noticed that the boys never ate their meals in the Great Hall – likely in order to avoid being the topic of dinner table gossip.

"Why are you always here, Nott?" Hermione retorted frustratedly.

"Because I can be," Nott responded unhelpfully. "And call me Theo. Hearing you call me Nott makes me think you hate me." Hermione rolled her eyes and didn't response. "Croissant?" He added, holding his plate towards her. The scent of buttery goodness made its way towards her, and unable to resist, she snatched the croissant off Theo's plate and took a purposeful bite out of it as she walked towards her bedroom – without saying thank you.