Bound

Prologue

Hermione had never thought that she would be here again.

She had never thought that she would be sitting in one of the compartments of the Hogwarts express.

She had never thought that she would be on her way back to Hogwarts, back to where it all started.

But here she was, Sitting next to her best friends, whom without, she wouldn't know what would have happened to her and to the whole wizarding world.

Here she was, musing about how it will feel like to walk though the large oak doors that led to the Great Hall again; how it will feel like to walk through them for the last time for the beginning of the year.

She thought that it would be magical. Just like her first year.

Well, it was pretty damn obvious why she would think that.

She was walking through the doors where her life began. Where she was granted the chance to start her life again. The chance to have a fresh new start.

Behind those doors was — after all — where she found out who she was.

It was where she found out which one of the Hogwarts great houses she would be in and how she would be able to live up to the house's ancestors expectations.

It was where she sat down next to her two best friends in every morning and in every evening.

And now she was going to experience that feeling again for the very last time.

Hermione didn't know if she was supposed to feel sad or relieved.

"What do you think Hogwarts will be like?"

The sound of her best friend shook her out of her dazed state.

She turned away from the window and came face to face with her friend whose glasses — this time — were in good shape.

She couldn't help but remember how she fixed them for him the first two years, where everything was sweet and rainbows.

"I am not sure. Perhaps it will be like last years." Hermione replied.

"McGonagall is the new headmistress. I have no bloody reason to doubt her better judgment," Ron shrugged.

Hermione looked at Ron and smiled. She was very glad that Ron didn't refuse to come back to finish their eighth year.

After the war, Ron and Hermione drifted apart. They both were very understanding and they both knew that they needed time to recover from their never ending trauma.

They both then came to terms that they weren't right for each other.

It was just convenient. All it was for both of them was just a silly crush.

They both worked it out and they both decided that it would be fine to continue to be just best friends. Nothing less and nothing more.

"I agree," Harry nodded.

"I am just a bit overwhelmed. The houses were never pleasant to one another, and now with the war that happened?" Harry scoffed.

"The Slytherins will be a cursed walking statue. People already hated them before the war, I can't imagine what they will go through." He shook his head.

"I am confident that the headmistress will do what's right. McGonagall doesn't blame the Slytherins for their choices after all." Hermione added.