The Aftermath

03

HERMIONE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND Draco's fascination with the amulet she was wearing. It was certainly a beautiful amulet though. The amulet was gold with a protection rune carved into it, a pink gem attached at the end of the rune — the chain was gold too. At the back of the amulet bore a small family crest that she didn't recognize along with the words 'ex cinere surgemus'.

It had translated to out of ashes we will rise.

Hermione had found it in a box along with her records and documentations in the attic of her childhood home in France. The amulet, she suspected, was a gift from her biological mum — that's one of the reasons why she's been wearing it since the war ended; to find her biological family.

But the reaction she's been receiving from Draco Malfoy along with several staring Slytherins made her anxious and frightened. What if Hermione had been born to a family that were death eaters? What if her biological family is no longer alive?

Hermione doesn't know if she wants to find out about her biological family at all. She has a multitude of questions for them, but on the other hand, she is terrified. The only thing that had been a constant in her life was her family — but that changed when her mum and dad told her the news during fifth year.

She never really had much time to think about her biological family until this year though; after the war. She only bothered to check her childhood home earlier this summer because of Harry's insistence. He'd wanted her to pick up on an activity instead of sulking back at the flat.

"Hermione," a voice lulled her out of her trance. The brunette neglected her gaze from the landscape outside of the train and to the standing figure by the door. Hermione looked at him startled, dropping her hand which was midway of grasping the wand from the holster.

Neville stood with a small comforting smile, as if knowing what she was going through. "Are you okay?" He had asked slowly. Hermione nodded despite not really being — okay, as he had put it.

"What can I do for you, Neville?" She asked, realizing she hadn't been as aware as she'd like. It was odd for her. Sometimes she could be so aware of her surroundings that when somebody abruptly did something, she would have a curse ready at the tip of her tongue, and her wand ready to aim. But in some instances, she would just zone out — captivated by her thoughts. Sometimes, her thoughts would turn on her, and she couldn't escape it. She wonders if she was going mad — but she really didn't want to divulge into that, knowing fully well she won't like the conclusion.

Neville took a few careful and stealthy steps closer to Hermione, then handed her a cream colored envelope with a blank green wax seal. Hermione slowly formed a smile at the presence of the envelope she'd been waiting for all week.

"An owl had been looking for you but I guess it recognized me, and dropped it to me instead," Neville told her. "Thank you," she gratefully responded. The girl quickly grabbed the envelope as a glowing warmth settled inside her heart.

It was from Harry.

Her best friend is safe and alive, she thought.

The Auror Internship Program — Hermione recognized, it hadn't been the safest of programs. She heard from Ginny that only a few weeks ago, a wizard — barely even 20 years old — had died on a mission gone frenzy. After hearing about it, Hermione had been spamming Harry with letters last week but none of them were ever received by him; all the owls she and Ginny had sent were returned back to them. She had been so worried.

"I'm going to give you some space," Neville told her — recognizing whom the letter was from — before walking away. Hermione smiled gratefully at the boy, and immediately scrambled to open the letter once he was out.

Her eyes were flooded with the familiar, particularly nasty handwriting she had learned to tolerate.

To Hermione,

I miss you so much. Everything is well here. I am absolutely fine so you don't need to worry, 'Mione. I can handle myself just fine. Stop spamming me with owls, would you? Head Auror Rhodes had been up my arse last week because both you and Gin were sending so many owls. He said it almost disrupted the mission, but he was bluffing — I know he was. Don't you dare feel guilty.

I wish I could disclose to you what we were doing last week but unfortunately I can't — rules, you know. I reckon you would have loved it. It was bloody brilliant!

We're in Bulgaria at the moment. I'm currently in the middle of a mission, so I have to ask you to not write back a response. Just know that I miss you terribly, and I hope you are well and taking care of yourself. I know you'll have a great first day of seventh year. I'll be there as soon as I can. I really have to thank Gin for convincing you to take this last year.

By the way, Viktor says hi and sends his love.

Harry

Hermione re-read and read the letter for a total of four times, making sure she had not miss any details that would suggest Harry was in any sort of danger. After being sure that there was absolutely no indication of danger towards Harry, aside from being in the middle of a mission, Hermione allowed herself to relax.

She did feel guilty though despite him telling her not to. She couldn't help it. She almost disrupted whichever lengthy mission they were in. It could've cost them their locations. Thoughts of what if's flooded her mind but one in particular stood out.

What if spamming Harry with the letters led whichever death eater they were trying to catch to their safehouse? It could've costed them their lives.

Harry had became an anchor of sorts for Hermione, and her, him. He was the only person she'd allow to see her at lowest, broken point of her life. Harry Potter was Hermione's platonic soulmate. They understood each other despite having different battles.

Hermione had been incredibly happy when she learned that her good friend, Viktor Krum, would become the Auror Internship Program's Bulgarian guide — meaning, he would be the person to guide them to all the places they had to go for missions. She knew Viktor would do absolutely anything to ensure safe passage for Harry, the professional Aurors, and the other Auror Interns.

After reading the letter for another one go, Hermione decided to fold the letter nicely. She discarded of the envelope, and put the letter in her robe's pocket. Ginny came into the compartment with a slight hop in her step and a smile on her face, meaning she had also gotten a letter from Harry.

"The train's stopping in a minute," Ginny had told Hermione, and just like that, the two girls were up and about — preparing for their own tasks as prefect and Head Girl.