Chapter Text
Nineteen days had passed since the climactic battle of the Second Wizarding War. Good had triumphed over evil, and the light had pushed back the dark. A new peace was trying to unfold. However, the world was still unsettled. Peace had not truly arrived.
The costs of the war were many and high. It would be a long time before calm and a semblance of normalcy would have a chance of returning to Hogwarts and the Wizarding World---if that was even a possibility, considering all that had happened.
Harry found Hermione looking over the parapet of the astronomy tower. She was gazing out over the surrounding landscape. From that height, much of the damage inflicted upon the school from the battle that had taken place was less evident. It was like it might be a little more than the remnants of a bad dream that had not yet cleared itself from the collective mind.
Crews of workers were removing the damage to the buildings and repairing Hogwarts at a rapid pace. Rooves were being patched, walls were being rebuilt, windows were being reinstalled, and fallen items were being repaired and replaced.
Even with all the repairs, Hogwarts would never truly be the same. The stones might look whole again, but the more serious damage lived on in the hearts of those who survived. History would adhere to it like a Permanent Sticking Charm. However, it would soon be ready to return to service and to start building a new, hopefully bright future.
The bodies of the dead from both sides had been collected. Most of them had been claimed by their grieving families. The bodies of more than two hundred deceased Death Eaters had been discovered and removed from the wreckage of the wooden bridge that had been collapsed by Seamus and Neville. Those who remained were slowly being buried with dignity, no matter which side they had fought on.
The bodies of dead giants, centaurs, and animals such as acromantulas were transported deep into the Forbidden Forest so they could decay away from the castle. The thick, putrid stench common to most battlefields caused by all of the spilled death was fading, as well. It was no longer discernible from atop the towers.
Harry waited. He did not wish to interrupt her deep thoughts. Instead, he located a convenient bench and sat down behind her. As he sat, she was so still that it was almost as if she had been hit with a full-body bind curse and placed there to mimic one of the many remaining gargoyles still decorating the tops of the castle. Her only movement, involuntary as it was, was her hair. It was moving about in the high-up, constant breeze that kept the new flags atop the castle in perpetual motion.
Finally, after several moments had passed, Hermione leaned back, supporting herself with her hands as she looked over at him. "Do you remember when you first found out you were a wizard? Do you remember your first day here?"
"Yes," replied Harry. "It is pretty hard to forget that. Do you?"
"Of course," came the answer in that way only Hermione could say it. "It was a Saturday. My parents were not working. I was reading a book in the front room when there was a knock at the door. I remember thinking it was strange, because it was the middle of August and hardly anyone ever visited us then. I answered it to find this oddly dressed woman standing on the steps. It was almost as though she had been dressed up for Halloween, which was strange considering it was the middle of August. She asked if I was Hermione Granger. I said 'yes'. Then she asked if she could talk to my parents."
Harry chuckled. "It was a dark and stormy night. We were hiding from my Hogwarts letters in this nasty, cold hut out on a rock at the seashore," he said as he interrupted the flow of Hermione's answer. "They were driving my uncle barmy. He and my Aunt Petunia were trying to hide me from finding out about my past and future."
Hermione scowled at being cut short but did not say anything.
"Then Hagrid burst in...oh. I'm sorry," said Harry, noticing Hermione’s expression and realizing what he had done. "It was quite a scene."
"I imagine so. Hagrid." Hermione could not help but laugh a bit before continuing with her story. "Anyway, I asked who I should say was here to see them. She said Minerva McGonagall from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was like she was saying something as common as Oxford or Eton. I remember giving her a weird look before going to tell my folks."
"I suppose McGonagall in one of her capes and hats was quite a sight," mused Harry. "She really would look quite witchy in the Muggle Halloween sense. She must have given your parents a bit of a start. At least she wasn't carrying a broom."
"My parents came in and asked her to have a seat. She introduced herself and explained who she was and why she was there. We were all pretty skeptical at first. I mean, really. Your daughter is a witch. She sounded like a crackpot…totally barmy. But the more she talked, the more sense she made to all of us. I had noticed a few things I couldn't explain. This explained most of it. By the end, we were all excited about the whole thing. My folks, well, you have met them, took it really well."
"Better than my aunt and uncle, and Dudley. That’s for sure. First, my uncle tried to threaten Hagrid and shoot him with a rusty, old shotgun he had found in his room. Hagrid broke it. He bent the barrel of the gun straight up, and it went off. A ton of dust and dirt fell off the ceiling onto us. Then Dudley tried to eat the birthday cake Hagrid had brought me while Hagrid was arguing with my aunt and uncle. Hagrid gave Dudley a pigtail," said Harry, starting to laugh at his recollection of the mental image. "I don't really know if it ever went away."
"Really? A pigtail?" laughed Hermione.
"Yeah," replied Harry. "It was really cool. Can you imagine it? A big old curly pigtail popped right out through his pajama bottoms. Then Hagrid started a fire with his umbrella, but I thought that was a trick. This was the first time I saw real magic."
Then, the two of them were laughing hysterically. They continued to laugh for longer than what may have seemed normal. But the tensions of the past were still in need of release. A good laugh like this is very therapeutic and not to be missed or cut short.
"Anyway, Hagrid gave me my Hogwarts letter and explained who he was and who I was. He told me the real facts about who my parents were and their deaths. It didn't take long for me to decide to leave with him. Just about anything would have been better than staying on with my aunt and uncle."
"So how did you get onto the train to Hogwarts?" asked Harry. "Hagrid left me at the station, and I had to find my way to Platform 9¾. If I had not accidentally heard Mrs. Weasley directing the family to the actual entrance, I am not sure if I ever would have figured it out."
"We had a lot of help from the Ministry," said Hermione, standing up and stretching. "From the time my parents agreed to my going, the Ministry assigned two aides to guide us. They took us to Diagon Alley so I could purchase all of my supplies. Then, on leaving day, they took us to the Platform and got me onto the train. They really treated my parents well. But they did put a spell on them to prevent them from telling any regular muggles about their daughter, the witch."
"People would have thought they were daft, anyway," jibed Harry with a smirk.
"Oh, shut up!" she said with her special Hermione grin.
Harry got up, and they started to walk toward the stairway down from the tower. "I still remember the first time we met. You were looking for Neville's toad. You came into our compartment while Ron and I were eating sweets."
"Pigging out is more like it," said Hermione with a laugh. "You were sitting there with your broken glasses and Ron with his dirty nose. He was using some pathetic joke of a spell trying to turn Scabbers yellow. I don't know what I ever saw in either of you."
"Saw in us?" said Harry with mock indignation. "You, with your bossy, little, smarter-than-you attitude. Look what I can do, and you'd better get dressed properly."
'I did fix your glasses for you."
"Well, yeah. Thanks for that," said Harry, a touch of humility in his voice.
"Sometimes I wonder how we ever got together," said Hermione with a bit of wonder in her voice. "You really were quite mean to me early on. You're lucky I didn't know any really good spells back then. Oh, the things I might have done to the lot of you."
They began descending the stairway of the tower. The Astronomy Tower, being the tallest of the Hogwarts towers, had almost too many stairs to count. At least they were now going down. The long trek up them was a true workout.
"Everyone was pretty mean to you at first," said Harry, putting an arm around her shoulder and pulling her closer. "You were a bit of a know-it-all. Didn't go over well with a lot of folks. But we love you more for it, now."
"I know. I'm sorry. But I felt a lot of pressure being a Muggle-born witch mixed in with all of you folks with real magical parents. Maybe I overcompensated a bit."
"A bit?" Harry said dryly."
Hermione pulled away and hit him with feigned ire, then started laughing. She could not deny the truth.
"I guess we have to be thankful Quirrell let that troll into the castle. If it wasn't for that, who knows if we'd have ever sorted ourselves out," observed Harry.
"Yes, what made you and Ron come looking for me instead of going with the rest of the house?" asked Hermione quizzically. "I never have figured out why you did that."
"I don't really know," said Harry as they continued their descent of the stairs. "I never really thought about that. That's a good question. Maybe we were feeling guilty about all the teasing and stuff."
"Well, I am glad you did. I would have probably died."
"I am glad we did, too," smiled Harry. "Can you believe Ron knocked that troll out? I can't believe he got that spell right."
"Hahaha," laughed Hermione. "Yes. Especially after we had argued about it in class earlier."
"What made you take the blame for us?" asked Harry. "I never expected that."
"Maybe I was feeling a little guilty about the way I acted, and then you still came to my rescue. It was really brave of you."
"Or a little stupid, but I am glad we did it. Where would we be without each other? I can’t imagine us succeeding without all three of us. We really turned into an amazing team.
"Well, we and a few others might have helped a bit, too," pointed out Hermione.
"Yes, we did have a fair bit of help. But the three of us did some amazing stuff. Still, I hurt a lot for all we went through and for all of the people we lost. I will never lose that pain."
"So, that brings me to the question I was pondering up there," said Hermione, stopping their descent and hesitating. She turned to Harry and looked him in the eyes as she put a hand on each of his shoulders. "Knowing what we know now, and everything we went through, if this was the day you opened your Hogwarts letter, and it told you everything that was going to be in front of you for the next seven years, would you still have gotten onto that train?"