Chapter One – A Fleeting Summer
The war was over and her parents were dead. She'd tried to keep them safe during the war but ultimately she had failed. Hermione had spent the summer after the war not at the Burrow with the Weasley's but at Shell Cottage with Bill and Fleur.
Since the kiss that Hermione had shared with Ron during the heat of battle, Hermione had come to realise that she cared for Ron in a sisterly way and not a romantic way. This did not go over well with Ron. He'd always had a limited brain capacity but Hermione thought the war might have damaged it a little more than originally thought.
Ron was under the foolish impression that Hermione was an object to be owned. He all but told her that she was a prize that he had won. He'd said that he was doing her a favour for no other upstanding wizard would ever welcome her attentions. He went on to say that now the war was over she should get the ridiculous notion of being an independent witch from her head and concentrate on being the perfect stay at home wife.
Needless to say the slap to the face Ron had received was unexpected as were the hexes that followed. The break in friendship between Hermione and Ron signalled the end of the Golden Trio.
With the war over Harry had been looking forward to a stress free future. Hermione was used to Harry staying out of the fights she had with Ron but this time Harry picked a side and it wasn't hers. Harry could be very narrow-minded and with Hermione not following the future he'd designed in his head Harry had called her selfish. After a very heated shouting match, Harry had renounced their friendship and broken all ties with Hermione.
With the Golden Trio broken, Ginny had moved into Hermione's vacated spot incredibly quickly. A part of Hermione was broken beyond belief but the other part of her looked towards the silver lining. Shit happened, Hermione would learn from it and move on.
Both Ron and Harry had proved what terrible friends they were when Hermione had returned from Australia pale and without her parents. So stuck in their selfish ways they hadn't noticed her distress. If not for the help of Bill and Fleur, Hermione wouldn't have survived past the summer.
Hermione was a big believer of moving on with her life. The year on the run had taught her that life was short and could be over in a flash. She decided to be the bigger person in the changes that were happening in the magical world. She was surprised however when an owl delivered letters from both Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass. Obviously she hadn't been friends with them in school but they were known to her. She had been weary at first but they had seemed so genuine in their letters. What started out as one letter became several until they had become firm pen pals. People might think it odd that she had become so friendly with two Slytherin's just months after the end of the war but Hermione had been serious when she stated she wanted to be the bigger person. This was just part of that.
The most surprising letter she received that summer however, was from Lavender Brown. It was common knowledge that the two of them didn't get on and though Hermione had tried to block it from her mind, no one could forget the events of their sixth year.
It seemed that Lavender had come to her own conclusions about the stupidness of Ronald Weasley and to an extent those who hung around him. She had offered Hermione her friendship and though Hermione was mildly suspicious, she had taken the olive branch offered to her.
They were all returning to Hogwarts to complete their education. Hermione was worried that it would no longer feel like home. She'd spent much of her summer helping with the restoration of the Castle and that had only strengthened the new friendships she had made. She'd heard enough in the courtrooms during the summer to realise that everyone was effected by the war. Some had been tarnished by the brush of hate without actually doing anything.
Hermione vowed that she would continue living her life with as little judgement as possible and would make her own opinions of others. Furthermore, Hermione knew that Dumbledore had been a powerful wizard but he had been instilling the rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor house for decades. Hermione vowed that that would come to a stop as well.
An errant thought drifted into her head as she walked towards platform 9 ¾. With the Golden Trio, Hermione had been the brains and Hermione knew that neither Ron or Harry were book smart. With a smirk on her face and a laugh spilling from her mouth Hermione got great pleasure from thinking that they might not pass their N.E.W.T.s after all.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
It has taken me a couple of months but I have finally rewritten this entire story into something marginally better. I re-posted it first on fanfiction on the account I have there and am now posting it up here. The revamp of the story includes 3 new chapters that weren't there before, so I hope you enjoy them! ~ Hannah