Hermione and Ginny talked into the wee hours of the morning, long after Lilith and Celia had gone up to Lilith's room to sleep, long after the bartender had gone to bed. The room was dark except for the light thrown by Hermione's wand. They were practicing every charm they could think of, trying to get Hermione back into practice for teaching.
"Phew, Hermione," Ginny said, leaning on the table, breathing heavily. "I really doubt you're going to need to be teaching your classes all those charms and hexes you learned in Auror Training. You're supposed to be teaching them how to levitate feathers and stuff like that, not how to kill or torture each other."
"I know, I'm not practicing these things for teaching, I'm practicing them for self-defense."
"Really, Hermione, times have changed, there isn't any dark force any more. I highly doubt that there will even be any Slytherins."
"There might not be any organized dark force, but it only takes one crazy. You're married to Neville, remember his parents. They were attacked after Voldemort fell."
"No, Hermione, things are very very different. There are no more life sentences in Azkaban, not even any sentences above 15 years," Ginny said, "if anyone committed a crime that deserved those types of sentences, they are killed."
Hermione sat down, staring at her wand, deep in thought. "I guess so, but I just wanted to prove to myself that I can still do all that, that I can still defend myself."
"Trust me, you can," Ginny said, "but now we need to talk about more practical matters. How are you going to be reintroduced to the rest of my family?"
"Oh, please no overblown entrances. How about I just walk into Fred and George's joke shop and say 'Hi, it¡¯s me, nice to see you again'?"
"Absolutely not, they'd probably faint," Ginny said, "besides, it's been eleven years for god's sake Hermione, we need a better entrance plan than that!"
"So what do you suggest?"
"We'll go with your original idea of a letter, but I'll help you write it so you can't chicken out, not that you have any reason to anyway." Ginny's tone of voice left no room for debate, so Hermione meekly nodded.
~*~
An hour and a entire pad of parchment later, Hermione and Ginny had the letter they were going to send in the morning to the Weasley family, using Hermione's new owl, Hedwig Jr. Ginny cleared her throat and began to read the final copy.
"Ahem, Dear Arthur and Molly (Mum and Dad), You may not believe this letter, but I guarantee that it is not a hoax, everything here is absolutely true. I am sitting the Leaky Cauldron right now, penning this letter to you on behalf of none of than Hermione. I came here earlier this evening to pick up Celia to come stay with Neville and me in Hogsmeade, as you know, only to find that earlier that day she had met Lilith Potter in Diagon Alley. Naturally, Hermione and I have been talking for nearly 6 consecutive hours. She was unsure how to reintroduce herself to the wizarding community, so I am writing this letter to you informing you of her return. If you don't mind, Mum, she and Lilith will come to dinner this Sunday. Neither of them is really ready to see everyone again, so can we just keep it to you two, Hermione, Lilith, Celia and I? Love, Ginny and Hermione" Ginny finished reading and put the letter on the table, sealing it and addressing it to The Burrow. After tying to the owl's leg, she opened a window and let it fly out into the night.
"Oh god, I'm so nervous. I know it's a completely unreasonable fear, but it's still there," Hermione said, running a hand through her hair. "Are you still in contact with Remus and Sirius, by the way, they're going to be teaching with me at Hogwarts, according to Minerva."
"Yes, on and off. They are closer to my parents naturally, but we get together for dinner occasionally."
"Are they both still living the life of a single wizard?"
"Of course, Sirius hasn't been in a serious affair, pardon the pun, for a few years and Remus has had a few relationships with various witches, who have all abandoned him when they realized he was a werewolf."
"That's horrible, how close minded could they be?"
"I know, it's a real shame since he's such a wonderful person. I think he's currently seeing a Muggle, believe it or not. Her name's Nellie; she knows he's a wizard, but I don't think he's told her about the whole werewolf thing yet."
"Hmm, a Muggle. He probably should tell her about it, she won't have all the misconceptions that most witches would."
"I suppose, but he's too afraid he'll lose her to tell her."
"Yeah, I see his point," Hermione said, "and anyhow, I'm really not the one to be giving romantic advice, I'm still wearing my dead husband's wedding ring."
Ginny looked Hermione in the eye. "Hermione, as long as you still love Harry, he's still alive."
~*~

On Sunday evening, Hermione and Lilith took Floo Powder to Ginny's apartment in Hogsmeade, dressed in their nicest dress robes, which turned out to be a big mistake. Lilith had never used Floo Powder before, and Hermione was sorely out of practice. They ended up landing on Ginny's floor convered in soot, coughing madly.
Once they had both been cleaned off, thanks to the charms Ginny and Hermione knew for these circumstances, Ginny, Hermione, Lilith, and Celia all piled into Ginny's old stations wagon. Neville and Ginny had been out to lunch with Hermione the day before since Neville was going to be busy this evening wrapping he his old job as an herbologist for the Ministry, in order to start teaching at Hogwarts soon.
Ginny's station wagon, though from the outside appeared to be a beat-up 1987 Ford with the multiple layers of different shades of blue paint chipping off the fenders, was a beautiful car inside. The Department for the Misuse of Muggle Items had loosened up its rules a bit since Arthur first charmed his Ford Anglia. Now, witches and wizards were permitted to charm Muggle items so long as the charms were not harmful and the item was registered with the Ministry. Thanks to these new rules, Ginny's car had been turned into a work of art. Arthur and Celia had taken it upon themselves to research, design, and fix up Ginny's car. The result was an interior that somewhat resembled a psychedelic limousine.
The red velvet benches were arraigned in a circle with a table in the middle that had a water dispenser on it. Instead of seatbeats there were adhesion charms on the benches so that one could not leave their seats without saying the proper charm. The driver's console was equally remarkable, instead of the driver needing to drive, they could merely say the name of the place they wanted to go to and the car would go; the driver's only responsibility was to press the gas or the brake. And of course the car was equipped with flying and invisibility charms; such things were standard on magical cars these days.
"Wow, Ginny, your mum must have had a heart attack when they changed the rules," Hermione said, running her hand over the red velvet seat.
"Yeah, nearly, but I think she was relieved that at least now Dad wouldn't be forced to arrest himself if he decided to raid our garage," Ginny replied, swerving to avoid a cat in the road.
Hermione laughed, recalling how the interior of the Weasley garage usually looked like a Radio Shack after someone dropped a bomb in it, with bits and pieces of various mechanical and electrical devices strewn across the tables and floor.
After a relatively brief car ride, they arrived at The Burrow. It looked just as Hermione had remembered it, except the garden was a bit larger now that Molly had more time with all 7 kids out of the house, for better or for worse. The front add-on still looked like it would have fallen off long ago had it not been for stabilizing charms.
Walking up the front door, Hermione barely had a chance to lift the knocker when the door was thrown open by Molly Weasley who grabbed Hermione around the waist and gave her a huge hug that threatened to break a few ribs. Hermione noticed that Molly was crying.
Returning the hug, Hermione said, "I'm glad to see you again Mrs. Weasley."
Disentangling herself, Molly replied, "Oh Darling, you can call me Molly, I think you're old enough now. Don't you?" Molly tried in vain to inconspicuously dab at her eyes.
Arthur came forward and stuck out his hand to shake Hermione's before reconsidering and pulling her into another hug, albeit less fierce than Molly's had been.
"We¡¯re glad you came back, Hermione. We were starting to think you might never," Arthur said.
"I might not have, had it not been for Minerva. I didn't think I'd ever say this, but I'm grateful."
"So are we," Molly said, bustling about the kitchen finishing preparations for dinner. It appeared as if Molly had prepared for the entire Gryffindor House by the number of pots and pans sitting on the stove and floating in the air above magical fires.
Arthur led everyone out into the garden, where he and Molly had set out the picnic tables. It was a lovely evening, the moon was nearly full, its light spilling over the tables, rendering the floating candles superfluous, yet beautiful all the same.
Sitting down at the tables, Hermione had a flashback to the summer before her fourth year at Hogwarts when the entire family, all 9 of them at the time, including her and Harry, had eaten outside in the very same garden, probably off these very same tables.
"Is something wrong, Mom?" Lilith asked, noticing that Hermione had gotten the detached look on her face that she usually did whenever she was thinking about something sad.
Snapping out of her daze, Hermione responded, "Oh, no honey, but thanks for asking. Could you please pass that treacle pudding on the other side of you? It looks delicious."
The rest of the evening passed in a haze of friendship and memories; not once did Hermione cry, surrounded as she was by friends whom she had sorely missed for 11 years, though she had never admitted it, even to herself.

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Chapter 5 - Don't Look Back
Hermione and Lilith returned to the Leaky Cauldron later that evening the happiest they had been all week. Dinner at the Weasley's had filled both their stomachs with food and their hearts with joy. Hermione especially was decidedly more relaxed after dinner. The evening had passed without any snafus, save one.
>>Flashback to Earlier that Evening<<
Molly had been showing Hermione and Lilith how they had changed the Burrow after all the kids had moved out. They were a few floors up, on the floor that used to have some of the bedrooms but which was now a mixture of offices, storage, and rooms for grandchildren. Molly had showed them all the rooms, except the one at the end of the hall. Lilith, noticing this, had gone into the room and opened the door. When she had shouted to the adults in the hallway, asking what room it was, Hermione, Ginny and Molly had come running.
The room hadn't changed since Hermione's 6th year, the last time she had been in the room. The Chudley Cannons wallpaper was still up, though a bit yellowed around the edges. Along the wall were still the old posters of Ron's favorite players zipping around on their broomsticks. Stacked in the corners were old textbooks and old school robes hung in the closet, protected by what looked to be a moth-repellent spell.
Lilith realized what a faux pas she had committed and had blushed red and, mumbling embarrassed apologies, had disappeared into the garden with Celia. Hermione, rubbing her eyes to clear her vision, had walked into the closet, looking through the robes. Reaching into the pocket of one, she had pulled out a very old roll of Spell-o-Tape.
"Never did give this back to me," Hermione had remarked, her voice cracking slightly.
Molly and Ginny smiled faintly and everyone had headed back downstairs for dinner.
>>End Flashback<<
Now Hermione was sitting at the table in her and Lilith's room at the Leaky Cauldron, penning letters to everyone. It had been agreed that it was up to her to contact everyone, but she had no hesitations anymore. The dinner with Molly and Arthur had reassured her, made her realize that she would be welcomed, not shunned or treated with disdain for leaving. The letters to the various Weasleys were sitting to her left, sealed, addressed and ready to be delivered to the Owl Post Office in the morning.
Dipping her quill into her old Hogwarts inkpot, recently refilled with violet ink, she pulled out another piece of parchment and began writing yet another letter.
Dear Remus,
Hmm, does 'Dear' sound to friendly? No, I'll keep it, he knows I'm not trying to hit on him
I am writing to you in order to inform you that I am returning to the magical community. You have undoubtably heard of this from Minerva, as she had informed me that we would be teaching together next year at Hogwarts.
Does this sound to formal? After all, this is Moony, Moony of the Mauraders, Moony of Padfoot and Moony, who tried to make my wedding dress transparent at the party. Luckily they were too drunk.
I must say that I am glad to be back. I never realized how much I had missed magic until I was using it again everyday. I am especially looking forward to your teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, this time as my colleague (though I do hope you'll forgive me if I call you Professor out of habit). If you would like, I was love to get together with you for lunch sometime.
-Hermione Potter
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News spread quickly in the magical world; by the next day the amount of mail pouring into Hermione and Lilith's room was unbelievable. The owls flying into her room at times made it look like a pet shop.
People whom she had hardly known were writing her, welcoming her home. Of course, she received her fair share of nasty letters, telling her that she was better off as a Muggle, and how she a coward and a disgrace to the wizarding world, but those were to be expected; every world has its fair share of idiotic ninnies to deal with.
She had already had a reunion lunch with all the Weasley clan. Lilith had been spending all her time with Celia and another cousin, Bill and Fleur's daughter, Rosalind. They were very obviously following in the footsteps of Fred and George; Lilith had already created the idea for a new prank for the shop, without any magical training. The twins were busy following up on her idea.
Currently, Hermione was busy packing for the move to Hogwarts the next day; Minerva had written to tell her that there was no need for her to stay in Hogsmeade, as her apartment at the school was ready. The school term began in less than a week and Hermione needed to start getting prepared for teaching and heading a house. In preparation for actually opening the school for the first time in nearly a decade, she had been in staff meetings from 9 A.M. until 6 P.M. every day with the rest of the staff including Neville, Remus, Sirius, and, unfortunately, Snape. Snape had surprised her greatly by being very polite to her when she showed up for her first staff meeting. Perhaps Minerva had been right, perhaps he had actually been worried for her. But she doubted it.
Shoving the final bits of clothing into her trunk with the help of a few space-expanding charms Hermione was ready to head to Platform 9 3/4 for the train to Hogsmeade. She and Lilith would be taking the train to Hogsmeade where they would head the rest of the way in carriages.
Floating the trunk behind her, Hermione headed down into the main lounge area of the Leaky Cauldron. Lilith, Celia and Rosalind were waiting at a table, calmly sipping butterbeers and trying to look innocent.
"Alright, what have you three done now?" Hermione said, slipping into Teacher Mode, as Lilith had termed it.
"Nothing, really," Celia said, trying to put on puppy dog eyes.
"Yeah, besides, he deserved it," Rosalind said.
"Oh, but I thought you didn't do anything?" Hermione questioned, a hint of amusement trickling into her voice.
"Well, maybe we did, sort of," Lilith admitted, "but nothing serious or dangerous," she added quickly.
"That's an improvement from yesterday," Hermione said, secretly relieved. The day before they had been testing a new Canary Creams formula for Fred and George, by adding it to the ice cream served at the ice cream parlor which had then been sold to a couple who had been kissing each other when the suddenly found that they were canaries. Luckily, they had a sense of humor and didn't press any charges.
"Honestly, Ms. Potter, it wasn't really anything, this teenager, looked to be our age, was riding through the Road of Heroes on a magically powered scooter, acting all disrespectful and such, so we tried that new levitation charm you taught us the other day and made him rise 5 feet in the air," Rosalind said. "We didn't even drop him, we just floated him out of the Road and set him on his way."
"Well, girls, as proud of you as I am that you did that, which was a very notable thing to have done, you really cannot go around levitating random people, you are going to get into trouble. When school starts you better not do anything, remember, I knew your uncles and father, and I was taught by the original Marauders, who still hold the official record for having broken every single rule Hogwarts had, and who prompted the formation of an entire new set. In our teacher's guide there is a whole section dedicated to the M rules, M standing for Marauder," Hermione said, looking each girl in the eye. "Plus, I'm not going to want to take points of any of you, but I cannot promise the same for any other teachers, such as Severus, I mean, Professor Snape."
"Awright, Mom, don't get your knickers in such as twist, calm down, Remus already gave us this lecture," Lilith said.
"Yeah, and Sirius even told us not to press the knot on the Whomping Willow to sneak into Hogsmeade, or to hide in the teacher's room in the secret panel in the wall, or to sneak out of school through the One-Humped Witch, or to hide in the Restricted section and make the books scream and pin it on Slytherins. See, we already know not to do any of that," Celia said, counting all the things Sirius and Remus 'warned' them about.
"Right, but you forgot not to use the Shrieking Shack as a hideout for our stuff. And Uncle Fred told us not to go into the potions cabinet and switch the labels on the potion ingredients," Rosalind added.
"Oh, how relieved I am, remind me to smack Remus and Sirius when I see them next," Hermione said sarcastically, picking up the trunk. "Come on Lilith, we need to get to the train. Celia and Rosalind, we'll be seeing you both at the Opening Feast."
Lilith and Hermione headed out of the Leaky Cauldron into Muggle London.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The carriage rocked side to side as it traveled up the road from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts. Lilith was sitting by the window, watching the scenery of the Forbidden Forest fly by; Hermione, though she knew what to expect, was also watching out the window.
"Wow, I haven't seen this is over a decade, I nearly forgot how beautiful it all is," Hermione said nostalgically.
"What Mom? Sorry, did you ask me something?" Lilith replied.
"Oh no, just talking to myself," Hermione said, peering over the tops of the trees to get a better look at the castle they were approaching.
Just then, Hogwarts appeared on the horizon. The castle was as magnificent an edifice as ever, with turrets and towers thrusting up to the sky, with the silver lake reflecting the depths, with the mysterious forest concealing all sorts of wild animals.
Lilith stared at the castle, finally realizing why her mother had been talking about it non-stop for the past week and a half. It was gorgeous. Spectacular. Magnificent. She felt that she could have gone on for a week extolling the beauty of the exterior of the castle, and probably would have, had the carriage not come to a halt just then a little inside the front gates.
Standing on the front lawn was a fairly large group of people including Remus, Sirius, Neville, Ginny, Minerva, and Snape. Hermione came out of the carriage carrying her trunks behind her. Sirius stepped up to greet her, giving her a big hug and tapping on her trunks with his wand, sending them zooming towards the castle.
"Just sent them to your room, ma'am," Sirius said, sticking out his hand and coughing politely.
Hermione laughed. "Sirius, if you honestly think I'm tipping you for doing that, you're crazy. Especially after you had that talk with the girls about how they should 'avoid' trouble."
Sirius looked hurt. "Honestly, Hermione, you could be a little more appreciative. Without Remus and I, they could have gotten themselves hurt, you know, by trying to get into the Whomping Willow without first using a long stick to tap the knot, now they can go about doing their mischief and you can sleep soundly."
Remus stepped up, putting a hand on Sirius' shoulder. "Don't worry Hermione, I'll keep an eye on this one here, our Ravenclaws won't be getting any tips from him."
"Our Ravenclaws?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, we decided this yesterday when we finalized Head of Houses list. You're in Gryffindor; Sirius and Remus are in Ravenclaw, Severus is in Slytherin, and Rebecca Tone is going to head Hufflepuff," Minerva said, handing Hermione a transcript of their last staff meeting which Hermione had to miss because of travel.
"Rebecca Tome? I don't believe I know who she is," Hermione said, tucking the transcript into her bag.
"She's is a co-worker of mine," Ginny spoke up. "Actually, was. She was 5 years behind you at school, a Hufflepuff herself. Very good at Arithmancy, I think she'll be teaching that."
"I see," Hermione said. "So, why are Sirius and Remus both the Heads of Ravenclaw? That's highly unusual, not to mention that Sirius isn't exactly the studious kind."
Remus starting chuckling. "I know, hardly the studious kind, that one was, never concentrated on any work, unless you call trying to sneak into the girls dorm rooms' work'."
Sirius scowled. "I hardly know what you're talking about Moony, me? Innocent me do that?" Sirius leaned in to punch Remus on his shoulder, but Remus ducked out of the way, causing Sirius' hat to fall off his head and roll towards to lake.
Sirius transformed into dog form and took after the hat.
Minerva watched him as he chased his hat before responding, "Originally Remus was going to be the Head, but he was concerned about covering his absences during the full moon so Sirius offered to help out. I decided to make them both officially the Heads so that Sirius won't just be a substitute for a few days and he'll actually get a chance to know the students."
Hermione nodded, "Very good idea, I wouldn't have thought of it myself."
"Well, that's why Minerva's the Headmistress," Remus said, startling Hermione who had forgotten he was still there.
Just then, Sirius came running back to the group, his hat held loosely in his mouth.
"Thank you, Remus. Now my new hat has dog slobber on it," Sirius tried in vain to wipe his hat on his shirt. "But then again, Remus, you must be used to that by now, wolf-boy."
The two of them took off, running towards the Great Hall.
"Well," Minerva said, adjusting her own hat, "it seems I am going to need to keep an eye on them. I suppose it will be a new trend, teachers sitting in detention and losing points for their Houses."
"As long as those two are teaching here, Minerva, we shall all just have to get used to it," Snape said haughtily.
Hermione glared at his back as the group headed towards the castle.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Minerva led Hermione and Lilith to her office, but instead of opening the Gargoyle she turned to the portrait across the hall.
"Meddling Mandrakes," Minerva said to the picture, which depicted a battle scene, complete with charging horsemen, much to Lilith's amazement.
"What's this?" Hermione said, as the picture swung open, revealing a long stone corridor.
"This is the Teacher's Wing. Your room is along the hallway, the one with the red door with the Gryffindor lion on it."
Hermione and Lilith trudged along the low stone corridor, coming to the door and pushing it open. It wouldn't budge.
"You have to set the password, Hermione," Minerva said. "Just say your name, position, and what you want your password to be.
"Hermione Potter, Charms Teacher and Head of Gryffindor House, Harry." The door swung open, revealing a posh suite. There was a red bed along one wall, the same kind as in the dorm rooms. Along one wall was a large fireplace with a roaring, purple fire; in front of the fireplace sat a sofa and two recliners. Opposite the sofa was a desk with a large mirror above it, reflecting nothing.
"What is that mirror for?" Hermione said, examining it.
"Oh, that's the Mirror," Minerva responded.
"I can tell it's a mirror, what does it do?"
"Sorry, it's similar to Floo Powder. If you say the name of any teacher in the school, it will show you their face, allowing you to contact them, as long as they are near their mirror. It also can show you the inside of the Gryffindor Common Room, the Great Hall, the Lake, or the Library. With or without sound, depending on what you want."
"Ah, so that's how you seemed to be omniscient when someone was breaking the rules," Hermione said with a grin.
"Of course. In addition, if the Common Room is too noisy, you can put you hand on the mirror, say 'take me' and you will be taken there immediately."
Hermione nodded, turning to her trunk and beginning to unpack.
"Where do I stay if this is the Teacher's Wing and I haven't been, umm, what's it called?" Lilith asked.
"Sorted," Hermione said from the inside of the closet.
"Right, sorted," Lilith corrected herself, "And shouldn't I not know all about the passwords to the teachers wings."
"Don't worry, you will stay in your mother's room until school opens in three days, then you will live in whatever dorm you are sorted into, and don't worry about the passwords. The main one to open the portrait will be changed. Besides, this is your mother's apartment, you will be allowed in here as long as Hermione has given you permission." Minerva turned to leave. "By the way, Hermione, dinner is in 10 minutes, but before you go you might want to brush up on personal defense wards, last nights dinner turned into a full-fledged duel between Sirius and Severus , and a spell hit off target and poor Neville got turned into a carrot."
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The few days before the Sorting Ceremony were hectic. Remus and Hermione, being the best at charms, were in charge of double checking all the many layers of charms and wards on the castle. There were rain-repellent charms, anti-Apparition charms, unplottable charms, Muggle-repellent charms, and a very odd anti-mutant-puffskein charm that neither Remus nor Hermione had any clue what to do with.
Finally, the big day came. Lilith had insisted on going down the Platform 9 3/4 to take the train to Hogwarts with everyone else.
"I don't want to be a dork with a Professor for a Mother, no offense or anything, you're really cool, in all the history books and everything," Lilith had said before taking Floo Powder to The Burrow so she could travel with all the many Weasley kids.
History Books. Yes, Hermione Potter was in many of them, mentioned as an outstanding Auror, the wife of 'The Boy Who Lived', yet none of them mentioned her stint at the funeral, or her life as a Muggle. She had asked Sirius about them, but he had merely responded 'You'd be surprised what showing up at the publishing house and chatting calmly with the president can do'. Hermione elected not to asked anything else about this 'chat' of his.
"Hermione, Hermione?" Remus said. He had been extremely nice in the past few days, reminding Hermione of her grandfather who had long since died.
Just like everyone else, she thought to herself.
"Coming Remus, let me just fix my hat."
Hermione and Remus walked down to the Great Hall, admiring the House banners that lined the walls. A new banner had been added among the four House banners. It was a simple black banner that said in purple letters "Reminiscemur Vos", which translated as "We Will Remember You."
Signs like these were hung around the school, reminding the students about the harsh reality of magical life. Sirius had spent all week making them, coming up with phrases. They had spent an entire staff meeting brainstorming ideas, and rejecting the inappropiate ones that Sirius kept coming up with, such as, "Hit 'em Where it Hurts", "Never Trust a Rat", and "Keep an Eye on Those Slytherins." Hermione had to admit, that last one was quite correct; most, if not all, of the Slytherins she had gone to school with were killed by Aurors during the war, or exterminated afterwards. The only one living that she knew of was Pansy Parkinson, who, in a remarkable stroke of bravery, had told the Ministry where to find Draco Malfoy and had allowed an Auror to use a Polyjuice Potion to imitate her in order to kill Draco. Hermione had to admire for her; Draco had been abusing her, and she had the guts to give him into the Ministry, knowing full well that she herself could be arrested for not doing so sooner.
Anyway, they had decided on 10 or so phrases, including a copy of the speech Dumbledore had given the night Cedric Diggory had been killed; that one was Hermione's favorite.
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Hermione and Remus sat down at the Head Table, waiting for the students to come in. The Sorting Hat stood on its stool at the head of the room. Suddenly, the doors burst open and the students piled into the Great Hall, unsure of where to sit as none of them had ever been sorted. Most students headed to the tables that their parents had been in, but the Muggle-borns and some purebloods hung back, hesitant to do something wrong so early in the year.
Minerva stood up, raising her wand into the air and shooting up some sparks. Everyone turned to look at her. Nearly everyone that is.
"You two, I don't know who you are but you're Weasleys, stop acting like Fred and George and pay attention," Celia and Rosalind shut up and looked at Hermione, who winked.
"Ahem, everyone, please have a seat at a table, it doesn't matter, you will all be moving soon."
There was a small hubbub as the students tried to get good seats.
"Now then, my name is Minerva McGonagall and I will be your Headmistress this year. As this is the first time that Hogwarts has opened its door in a long time, this year's Sorting Ceremony will be a tad bit untraditional." Minerva paused for a moment to allow some late-comers to enter. "Before I continue with any explanations of any sort, we will need to sort you all into your Houses, these will be your home until you finish at Hogwarts."
She picked up the Hat and a scroll of parchment that had been lying underneath.
"In order to save time tonight, a few of the wizard-born students have already been sorted, you perhaps remember a messenger coming to your house and trying on this hat? Right, you do? Good. That was the Sorting Hat, though we didn't tell you at the time, we wanted it to be a surprise. I will just quickly read off this list, have patience please."
Minerva read off the list quickly; Hermione hadn't realized that they had already been sorting some students. After the list was completed, there was some readjustments of seating. Minerva resumed speaking.
"Now, I will just need anyone whose name I did not read off that list to line up along the wall, I will be calling your names alphabetically so it doesn't matter where you stand."
Setting down the stool in the center of the room, Minerva began to call names.
"Agnair, Marleen....Hufflepuff
Abbott, Jamies....Ravenclaw" Minerva called out.
Finally she came to Lilith. Hemione held her breath, praying for her daughter to be a Gryffindor, and if not, to at least be anywhere but Slytherin.
"Potter, Lilith," Minerva said, sending a murmur through the students, not all of whom had known that Hermione had returned.
Lilith walked quickly to the stool, putting the hat on her head.
"Hmm, tricky one, like your father," the hat communicated to Lilith. "I sense mischief in you child, perhaps Slytherin, No? Oh, I see, raised with the typical Gryffindor bias against evil people. Well, you must have all types in the world, I always say. Since you seem to have your heart so set on that then I guess it must be GRYFFINDOR"
Hermione exhaled, clapping loudly and smiling at your daughter. Minerva patted Lilith on her back before Lilith ran back to her seat, hugging Celia and Rosalind. The names went on, lulling Hermione into a semi-asleep state.
Minerva paused, looking at her list. "Well, it seems the messenger didn't get a chance to pre-sort the Weasley clan, whom we appear to have a preponderance of this year, god help us," she said, smiling.
Weasley, James
Weasley, Eliah
Weasley, Stella
Weasley, Celia
Weasley, Percy Jr.
Weasley, Rosalind
Weasley, Robert
Much to Hermione's amusement and no one's surprise, they were all Gryffindor. Hermione clapped loudly, hoping that no one took after the twins, she really did not want to take off that many points from her own house, as she would undoubtedly be forced to.
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Hermione patted her stomach. The feast had been delicious, as usual. Thoughts of S.P.E.W. surfaced in her mind; Hermione chuckled and looked out over the crowd of students. Neatly arraigned by House, the crowd looked so organized, like 4 lines of battle.
Seeing that most of the students had finished eating, Minerva once again stood up, clearing her throat. The crowd silenced again, nearly immediately, except....
"If I must tell you again, Celia and Rosalind Weasley, to be quiet, you will find that you will have the honor of serving the first detention of the year." The named parties blushed red and stopped talking to the sound of laughter around them.
"Now that the feast is finished, there are a few announcements, explanations, and introductions to be made before you can all retire to you dormitories for the night. First, the basic rules. No going into the Forbidden Forest; no sneaking around after dark unless you feel your life is in mortal danger, no magic in the hallways, if you feel you must know the complete list of prohibited items, you can see Mr. Filch for it. Seeing as most of our teachers are new this year, I will ask those present to introduce themselves and give an abbreviated background."
Minerva gestured to the Head Table, indicating that they should stand up and introduce themselves.
"I am Professor Snape. I teach Potions and am Head of Slytherin; I have taught at Hogwarts before it shut and have seen ever trick in the book so do not attempt any pranks in my class." He glared at the Gryffindor table, his eyes focusing on those with red hair.
"I am Neville Longbottom, Herbology professor. I was a student in Gryffindor when I was younger, a long time ago. I am married and have a young son and am looking forward to teaching this year." Neville grinned and sat down.
"I am Proffesor Tome, Arithmancy professor and Head of Hufflepuff. I am sorry to say I was never able to attend Hogwarts, but I attended school in Canada at Kelowna School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
"I am Sirius Black. Yes, yes, that Sirius Black, I see you all know who I am so I'll just skip the biography part. I am co-Head of Ravenclaw, though I was a Gryffindor myself and I will be teaching Transfiguration. I, like Snape, warn you not to try any tricks in my class, you will be caught, I invented most of them. I believe I still hold the record for most detentions of any student, am I right Minerva?" Minerva nodded, trying to scowl at the bad role model Sirius was being.
"I am Professor Lupin, Defense Against the Dark Arts and Head of Ravenclaw with Professor Black. I taught at Hogwarts on and off before it was shut and am eager to teach here again. Umm, what is there to say about me? Not much. Oh yeah, and Sirius is being egotistical again, he didn't think up all the various pranks, just most of them." Remus sat down. "One more thing, I'm a werewolf, no I won't eat any of you, you don't shower often enough, but my class will be covered by this lovely lady to my left during the full moon. And if my being a werewolf bothers you, then don't come to my class and I'll let you serve detention with Snape."
Hermione stood up, her palms sweating.
Why am I nervous? It's just saying your name and your history, your very abridged history
"Um, good evening. My name is Hermione Potter and I am the Charms Professor and the Head of Gryffindor, my old house. I have one daughter, Lilith, also a Gryffindor this year. I am looking forward to teaching this year and hope you all are looking forward to learning."
"And writing long essays about esoteric charms," Sirius added, only a muttered silencing charm from Hermione prevented him from continuing.
"What Professor Black meant to say was, interesting assignments on useful charms, such as that one, the Silencio charm, easy to..."
Minerva looked at Hermione, who grinned at the assembled students before shutting her mouth. Minerva began to speak. "I welcome you all to this new school year. Remember, we are in a new era; make it a good one."
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Hermione walked briskly through the streets of Hogsmeade until she reached the sign marking the edges of the Apparition Wards that surrounded the town. Pausing momentarily to catch her breath, Hermione Apparated away with a small pop.
She reappeared a few miles away in Godric's Hollow at the wizarding graveyard that the Ministry had built on the site of the Potters' old home.
Opening the rusty front gate, Hermione walked up the path, meticulously maintained with the help of charms, until she reached the back corner. In the back corner lay her friends. Walking to the willow tree that hung over a secluded path of ground, Hermione looked at the shadows cast by the tall stones in the bright moonlight. An owl hooted overhead, adding to the mysterious and ethereal quality that seemed to envelope the entire place.
Hermione pulled out one of the roses and laid it on Ron's grave. Sitting on the ground over his coffin, she ran her finger over the words carved into his headstone. She sat for nearly half an hour before she felt ready to do what she had truly come to do.
She walked to the adjacent grave. Harry's. Leaning on the gravestone for support, she slowly sat down on the ground, heedless of the mud beneath her.
Staring at her hands, she began to speak softly. "Harry, I love you. I always will love you, there will always be a special place in my heart for you. I will never forget you, Harry. But it has been 11 years, time to let go of the past. You are dead Harry." Hermione had to pause to swallow the lump that had risen in her throat. Saying it aloud made it seem so much more real. "I cannot live tied to my past. I am not forgetting you, merely trying to move on. I hope you understand. I love you Harry."
Hermione pulled off the two rings that she wore, her engagement ring and her wedding band. Placing them carefully on the top of the gravestone, she stood up and walked purposefully out of the graveyard, her eyes fixed on the entrance gate.
She was already out of the graveyard before she stopped. She looked at her bare hand for a few moments before turning and running back to where she had just come from.
"Who the hell did I think I was kidding?" Hermione said to the night sky as she put her wedding ring back onto her finger.