19 Years Later, Or Is It?

CHAPTER ONE: SO MANY THINGS

The morning after the Battle of Hogwarts, Hermione Granger looked around the Great Hall. The sun had barely risen, but the massive room was already aglow with celebration. So much so, that Hermione wanted to cry out: "There are still Death Eaters at large! Every one of you knows someone who just died! Why are you so cheerful?" One glance at Harry, and she knew that he felt the same. Harry Potter didn't have a habit of running his hands through his raven hair, but it was messier than usual. Hermione supposed that others mussed up his hair, wanting to touch their leader, their savior. She could tell from the apprehension in his emerald eyes that he felt uncomfortable. Every laugh he gave, utterly fake. His nimble hands fidgeting with his wand in his back pocket every time someone came up to him. Harry looked up, and she locked eyes with him. The smile he gave back was genuine. The Chosen One truly only wanted to talk to a few people that morning. Hermione nudged Ron Weasley, who had started to nod off next to her, and they both walked towards Harry, saving him from a short witch that had just walked up to him. "Harry?" Hermione called, just as the witch opened her mouth. Now that she had both of their attention, she had to rack her brain for an excuse to pull him out of the Great Hall. "Ron and I were wondering - " and she paused because she had nothing. "Wondering if you would like to join us. We wanted to walk up to Dumbledore's office. I wanted to see if Snape has a portrait in it yet." Ron saved Hermione, and she looked at him gratefully. When he looked down at her, he saw a little bit of unease mixed into his eyes. She then remembered their kiss in the Room of Requirement. Right. She would have to sort that out soon. "Snape? The death-eater Snape?" The rather stubby woman asked, still not done trying to converse with the Chosen One. "Yes. Professor Snape was a hero, in his own right." Harry replied, rather tersely. Ten minutes later, they found themselves exactly where they said they would be. Hermione just looked at the gargoyle protecting Dumbledore's office. She had no idea what the password is. "Um-" She looked at Harry."Erm..." Harry looked just as clueless. Harry had been up there the day before, but he had neglected to tell them how he got up. Though, he had other things going on. Hermione supposed Harry had already forgotten. "Can you let us up?" Ron asked. Harry and Hermione just looked at him, while the gargoyle moved to the side. "What? It was worth a try, and it worked!"As they ascended the steps, they heard voices. When they reached the top, they saw two grim-looking faces. Minerva McGonagall, and Kingsley Shacklebolt - the new Headmistress of Hogwarts, and the acting Minister for Magic. They were sitting down at a conjured table near the fireplaces, sipping tea."We can come back later..." Hermione heard herself offering. "No, Miss Granger, that won't be necessary. Sit down." Professor McGonagall ordered in her Scottish brogue. Once they were all settled, she motioned for Kingsley to speak. "We were just discussing how England's magical population should move forward. There are still Death Eaters left and right, there are thousands dead, thousands Impiriused, and about that number either missing or in hiding. Not to mention the few villages we had have been completely wiped." He said, twirling around a spoon in his Earl Grey. Hermione never pegged him for drinking that kind of tea, but then again she didn't regularly envision his morning routine, either. "We face the same problem at Hogwarts. So many parents pulled their children out that it's a wonder we still had enough students enrolled to keep Hogwarts open. Nearly every classroom, hallway, is filled with debris. It seems a few Death Eaters were too fond of dueling, and others took joy in blowing up bits of the castle. No-one got a proper education, and so we are essentially going to have to make everyone re-take the year." Professor McGonagall sighed into her own tea, which was mint."Is there any way we can help?" Harry offered, polishing his glasses and putting them back on his head."Not really, unless you don't plan on getting your Hogwarts diploma, in which case you could come re-start the Auror program. The head of Aurors was killed in the early days of Thicknesse being Minister. I'm planning Gawain Robards to run the office, he and I worked together on a case a while back concerning a drug ring. He is highly competent, and has a strong moral compass.""What if we come to work with him as sort of an intern? We work in the summer, and then when Hogwarts starts up again, we work on the weekends? I bet a lot of my peers that fought yesterday would also take you up on that offer, should you give them the option." Harry suggested. Right away, Hermione could see the idea take root in Kingsley's mind. She watched as the wizard stroke his non-existent beard, staring at his teacup as if it were offering him advice. Hermione briefly lamented on the fact that had Kingsley been listening to his teacup's advice, it wouldn't be close to the weirdest thing she had seen in the past couple of days. When he finally looked up, all in the room knew that he would eventually agree to Harry's offer. "I can't deny that is an attractive plan, but I don't know how many of your friends will join you. The pay is virtually non-existent until you are completely done training, and I don't know when that will be, considering the work that the Aurors will have." Kingsley spoke slowly, each word booming from his deep voice."If Harry endorses the idea?" Ron laughed. "You'll have at least twenty people in the first ten minutes.""Alright. You'll have to wait to be officially sworn in, but there are now spots with your names on them waiting for you for whenever you want to start working. Do you want them?" Kingsley asked. "I'm in if Harry is." Ron looked at Harry. "We do this together, right mate?""Yeah." Harry turned his eyes on Hermione, looking at her through his round glasses. "Actually, no. I don't want to do that." Hermione said, crossing her arms as four sets of eyes looked at her incredulously. "Why not?" Ron was the first to ask the question everyone was thinking. "It's just I'm so good, at so many things. No offense meant, but I don't want to limit my mental capabilities. I feel that if I begin working in the Auror department, there isn't a way for me to grow out of it. This isn't as much of a problem for Harry and Ron, because they both wanted to be Aurors before the war became full-blown." She had begun speaking to Harry and Ron but had started looking across the table during her monologue. "I want to - to make the world better, to do something lasting."When the Golden Trio walked out of the headmaster's (now headmistress's) office, Hermione had two jobs. For her first job, Hermione had volunteered to help with the rebirth of Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall, as it turned out, wanted to overhaul Hogwarts, not just restore it to the way it was. In her view, "Albus was always groaning about how the Board of Governors wouldn't let him run the school how he wanted. Now we have a chance to make his dream come true."Hermione also found herself to be one of the Senior Undersecretaries for the Minister for Magic. Kingsley had already planned that he wanted a council advising him, so he had offered a spot to Hermione. Quite honestly, she was worried that she was too young to be considered seriously for the job Kingsley offered, but he assured her that while she would have her fair share of obstacles relating to her age, she would also be looked up to, as a role model for young witches across Britain. What he hadn't mentioned, but everyone in the room knew, was that having one of the Chosen One's best friends working directly under him was great for the press. While she didn't want to be on the run with him for 9 months again, being friends with Harry had its perks.