Chapter 1

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Had the past year gone to plan, those in the year of Hogwarts with Hermione, Harry and Ron would have graduated. But naturally, having lived with Harry for the large majority of the past seven and a half years, Hermione should have expected that one of those would have to go so drastically wrong that the entire castle would be destroyed and then some. The probabilities were practically calling for it. The unorthodox methods of teaching combined with the horrors of war were bound to leave a lasting mark on everyone who went to the school, along with everyone who lived in the wizarding world. 

Hermione, ever the dutiful friend had almost instantly researched and found a therapist within the wizarding world for herself and her friends to go to. All but Harry had refused to come, and even he, after the first session left him frozen for days, refused to return. Hermione soon learned that the shrink helped very little. She had tried to be completely open with him and had received the information that she had expected every time, until one day he said that she had essentially run him out of viable solutions that she had not already sorted through herself. Solutions to cure her repeated nightmares, her insomnia, her paranoia, her instinctive reaction to pull out her wand at the slightest offhand movement. All of them had failed repeatedly and despite her continued search for more effective spells or potions, medications or essential remedies, her attempts were foiled each time by the recurring actions. Only a few of the remedies that he had suggested were things she hadn't considered and all had failed to work. She had apologized to the therapist for wasting his time, but he had simply shaken his head, laughed and told her that she had given him a challenge and that he would contact her if he found anything.

When Ron had taken to smoking and drinking to cope with the repercussions, Hermione had tried and failed repeatedly to inform him of the health issues he was likely to develop while smoking and binge drinking every night that he couldn't sleep peacefully. When he had refused to stop and had become more and more irritated with her and Harry, who after observing the argument had chimed in with confirmation of Hermione's information, she told him that she simply couldn't date a man who refused to look after himself in a proper, healthy way. He had cursed at her and, in his drunken state, had attempted to throw a hex in her direction, which had merely pinged off a mirror and died on the wall. He had passed out not seconds later and Harry had to reinform him of Hermione's decision to leave him. Now he added to his coping mechanism with women. 

For a time, they had all lived at the Burrow together, all three staying in the living room, catching quick blinks of sleep from time to time between the nightly shifts they had grown used to taking while on the run. But Hermione had shaken her head a few days after she and Ron had officially broken up and informed everyone of her purchase of a flat just outside of London, in a small, quiet neighborhood. She hadn't stayed away for long and had still gone for dinner with them twice out of the week for the first two months of her living alone. 

During that time, Minerva McGonagall had owled her, having been placed in her rightful position as Headmistress of Hogwarts, and informed Hermione that she was mailing all of the students that had chosen to partake in their seventh year of school during the previous year and was currently offering all of them the opportunity to join a shorter, more concentrated eighth year. When she had ventured to ask Harry and Ron about the offer, they had both shaken their heads and told her that they were going to take the offer all three of them had been given to join the force of aurors in order to collect the remaining Death Eaters still wandering the world. She had nodded and when they had asked if she was going to join the eighth year, she had told them that she was going to have to consider it. She had written McGonagall soon after, questioning as to whether or not these classes would benefit a career in magical law enforcement and whether or not they would take place in the castle.

McGonagall had replied within the day and quickly told her that the classes would indeed benefit a career in magical law enforcement and that they would be taking place in the castle, however, the returning seventh years would be given their own separate common room, in order to promote house unity and downsize the amount of PTSD related attacks that may occur due to the year's advanced skill in spells and potentially dark magic. She had agreed on this standpoint and wrote back that she would join the eighth year class. The Headmistress replied with a list of supplies and information on the Common Room the eighth years would be sharing, which included a large table they would all eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at, and a few rather familiar house elves that would be serving them on the daily, along with the privilege of  going to Hogsmeade whenever their hearts desired. The letter had also contained the number of people who would attending, which changed whenever someone decided to change their mind and leave or decided to attend. At the end of the summer, the number finally hovered steadily at the number of thirty four people. It had remained anonymous as to who would be attending, and Hermione, for the first time in a while was looking forward to meeting her classmates for the year.

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