After the Battle (Hogwarts Fanfiction)

Chapter One

After the battle of Hogwarts, nothing was quite the same after. Loved ones have died fighting against the Death Eaters and traitors among them. Traitors that were hiding in plain site all along. Minerva McGonagall soon became Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and no one was sure what might happen. 

There were people still missing, of course. That much was obvious. It was no secret that the Slytherins were hated and feared still by most people in the other houses. People were pointing fingers all around. Of course, Slytherin was the one who received the most backlash. 

The backlash came from older students and parents alike, really. They didn't know that the Slytherins had protected the younger students. They weren't witnessing the younger students grow deathly quiet, in fear they might get discovered and be killed. 

They didn't see the tears streaming down the younger children's eyes. 

Who were ready to defend those young children? 

The Slytherins, of course. Friends and family members were out there. As Death Eaters, nonetheless.

But that didn't mean the others --meaning the Slytherins-- approved what they were doing, of course. Under the common room in the dungeon, the younger children stayed there, shivering and holding onto each other. 

They were provided blankets, of course. 

The older Slytherins, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and even a few Gryffindors, all took turns taking shifts in threes, each one with a determined glint in their eyes. Every last one of them taking turns doing shifts, gripped their wands tightly. 

When everything was all over, a few of the younger children hugged the older Slytherins that had protected and taken care of them from the raging battle that was going on upstairs. 

Others had merely whispered a Thank you, and that was that. But you could tell they were saying it from the bottom of their hearts, their faces shiny from the tears they have shed, eyes filled with gratitude for doing this for them. 

When new students and returning students came in the fall, it was.. strange. 

Friends were missing in tables, leaving the remainder of the friend group to be by themselves. Not that anyone would let them grieve by themselves, of course. 

Everyone had suffered in the Battle of Hogwarts. That much was certain. 

Which was why, when the students had arrived in the Hogwarts Express Train, and gotten inside the school with their luggage having been whisked away, every house was mingling with each other. 

A girl with silky, glossy dark brown hair, with a scarf that was black and yellow striped wrapped around her shoulders, was crying into the shoulder of a Slytherin boy, who was rubbing her back up and down. 

A few Ravenclaws fretted over everyone else's well-being and comforting them when needed, but when a soft spoken question from a group of Hufflepuffs and Slytherins asked if they were okay, they broke down in tears. 

A few Gryffindors were still wary of the Slytherins. And who could blame them? They had a bitter hatred and rivalry for centuries upon centuries on end. And having Severus Snape as your Head of House does things to your head. Last time the others had checked, more than a few of the Slytherins were Death Eaters, whether it was people that had Slytherin as a House many years past, or people that were still in Slytherin. 

Which was why, a tall-sized girl with pink highlights in her blonde hair, got up from her seat in the House of Gryffindor in the Great Hall, and went across to the Slytherin table.