Love Changes (Dramione)

[three]

The Burrow wasn't as full and noisy as it used to be.

Percy moved into his new flat a while back, while George chose to stay in the jokeshop. As for the two eldest brothers, Charlie was still in Romania and Bill was already living with Fleur. That left Mr. and Mrs. Weasley with only Ron and Ginny to keep them company. Fortunately for them, Harry and Hermione chose to spend the rest of the Summer with them.

Harry did not enjoy much the wailing of Walburga Black or eating his meals alone. In addition to that, as much as he adored Kreacher, the old house elf's constant dusting was giving him a rather difficult time containing sneezes. So, after quite the deliberation, he decided to just stay with the Weasley's until it was time to leave for Hogwarts.

The Summer flew by unbelievably quickly. Harry, Ron and Ginny had spent everyday brushing up on their Quidditch skills while Hermione read on the grass beneath them. She suspects that it was Ron's way of keeping distracted, and Ginny's method of releasing all her pent up anger. ON the other hand, Hermione would often catch Harry waking up uncharacteristically early to take long walks before the sun rose. Sometimes she'd join him, and on other occasions, she would just watch him throw pebbles around from Ginny's bedroom. To be fair, due to the recent vacancies of rooms, they all could've had rooms to themselves, but nightmares were proving to be quite the staple amongst children of war. So, Harry would still sleep in Ron's room, and Hermione in Ginny's.

Today, just a day before they board the train to Hogwarts, Harry woke up very early once again to take a walk out by the fields. The sound of his footsteps on the creaking floorboards were routine to Hermione by now that she stepped out of Ginny's room just in time. "Let's take a longer walk today, shall we?" Harry proposed, to which Hermione nodded to

Together, both still in their pyjamas, they set out for the wide fields around the Weasley's property. "You know, it surprised me that Hogwarts got rebuilt so quickly. The whole ordeal must've given McGonagall a headache." Harry chuckled quietly

The sun hasn't risen and the wind was cold against their skin. Hermione shivered a little before shoving her hands into the front pockets of her sweatshirt "It feels like the last year has been one big joke of a dream, and that everything is actually just the same." Hermione sighed "Only it isn't, and we have the nightmares haunting us every night as proof of it."

"This is going to be a very difficult year, I feel." Harry sighed too "I don't think anything will be the same. Not the castle, or the field, and certainly not the people."

"It's difficult enough that we're all still trying to deal with the aftermath individually." Hermione agreed "We're only just getting over the past, we can't even deal with our present, and now we have to focus on our futures?" she shook her head and sighed for what felt like the nth time that morning

"At least we have each other." Harry said and threw his arm over Hermione's shoulder "No matter how bad things are and have been, at least we have each other."

"At least we have each other." Hermione echoed with a nod, hooking her other arm around Harry's torso as they walked. The pair walked in peaceful silence for quite sometime until Hermione broke it again "I don't know what to do with the nightmares, Harry. Now that I no longer have you, Ron or Ginny to run to in the night."

"I'm sure whoever the Head Boy is, he will be a friend," Harry reassured "and you can always send me a patronus message. We can sneak some walks in the middle of the night to calm you."

"Surprisingly, I think your coping mechanism is beginning to overshadow mine" Hermione laughed quietly "I'll certainly find a way to wake you, and of course you can do the same. Thank you Harry."