Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series is, of course, the sole property of J.K. Rowling and I own none of it…unfortunately.

Hermione walked down the newly repaired hallways of Hogwarts, taking in the smell of fresh wood as she went. It had been mere months since the battle of Hogwarts, and though the castle looked beautiful as ever, its occupants were still somewhat shaken. Hermione included herself among those who were obviously still suffering from both the very real losses as well as the very surreal dreams that could only be the product of the horrors that had taken place that fateful day.

Along the rebuilt walls, one could see the various memorial markers set up to honor those who had lost their lives to the hands of Voldemort's Death Eaters. As usual, she had to stifle a sob as she passed the four most bothersome ones - those of Fred, Lupin, Tonks, and of course, Colin Creevey. She had only been back at the castle for four very long days, and she just wasn't sure that she was going to be able to make it through an entire school year, especially with these reminders all over the place.

However, she made her way quietly to her seventh year Transfiguration class, having agreed to meet Harry and Ron there, rather than joining them for the walk. To be quite honest, she wasn't very interested in having company these days, though she wasn't quite sure why this was. The easy explanation was that she was simply more affected by the various deaths than anyone else had been, but she knew deep down inside, that this was not the full reason. For some strange reason, one that she felt she could never explain to anyone, she had felt a strange affection for Fred Weasley, and now that he was gone, she just didn't feel the same anymore.

She supposed that her attraction to him had stemmed mainly from his blatantly disobeying every school rule that she had held so dear during her first couple of years at Hogwarts. That and the fact that he had never been unable to make her laugh, even if she didn't do so in front of him. Now, though, Fred was gone, and she guessed that now was as good a time as any to start moving on with her life. The question was…how?

Harry and Ron had noticed a marked difference in Hermione's personality since the day after the battle, though they had been unable to put their finger on the exact cause. However, they felt it would be downright rude to ask her about it, so they simply took to leaving her alone when she asked for it and trying to cheer her up when she wanted company.

The difficulty level of their classes was almost impossible to deal with, since they had missed an entire school year between their sixth year and now. This tended to keep all three of them so busy that they had no time for socializing with the few Gryffindors who had returned to the scarred castle. In fact, they found a lot of their class time being devoted to the conversing that they so wished to do during the evenings by the fire. This Transfiguration lesson proved to be no different.

"When do you reckon the next Hogsmeade weekend will be," Harry whispered to Ron, hiding behind his textbook so as not to be seen by Professor McGonagall.

"Dunno. Hopefully this coming weekend. I need to restock my Honeydukes collection," Ron replied, sucking on the last of his sugar quills while pretending to listen closely to Professor McGonagall. "Since I started providing Hermione with comfort food, I've been running out of sweets twice as fast."

"Ronald, the least you could do is not talk about me behind my back. Especially when we're supposed to be paying attention," Hermione spat, a glare taking the place of the sorrowful, almost lost look that normally consumed her features.

"At least that part of Hermione hasn't changed," Harry whispered even more quietly to ensure that she couldn't hear him.

"Yeah, the day she starts letting us talk through a class will be the day that I know something serious is wrong with her."

Hermione, Harry, and Ron made their way slowly to their common room after dinner, knowing exactly what awaited them there - a mountainous pile of homework. Potions homework was what took up the majority of the pile, with four essays due within the following week. Apparently, Snape had no sympathy for them, even though they were just trying to get back into the swing of things after a long year away. McGonagall had been no better about the homework load either, though she was a little less strict on her grading practices, making her homework somewhat less stressful. These two classes alone took up the majority of their time, so their other homework tended to be put off until the very last minute.

Tonight was one of the very few evenings when Charms homework received their attention, and since they had a four foot essay due the next day, they mainly sat side-by-side, working in silence. This silence was only broken when Harry or Ron took a moment to ask a question of Hermione, who was beginning to grow increasingly frustrated with their reluctance to open a book and find the information for themselves. During a moment of intense frustration, Hermione finally spoke.

"Why did you two even bother to buy books for this class," she asked angrily, her face reddening. "For that matter, why did you even buy any books at all. Apparently, it was a waste of your money, seeing as how I seem to be your walking library."

Ron put his arm around her shoulders, trying to calm her down. "You are so much more to me than that, and if it would make you feel better, I'll stop asking you questions." They had already been dating for a year, and this was not the first time that he had said something he didn't intend to follow through with just to calm her down. Just a few weeks ago, he had promised to attempt Arithmancy with her, so that she wouldn't be the only seventh year taking it. However, he had never enrolled in the course, feeling that it would be a waste of his time.

"That would make me feel much better, Ron," Hermione said, smiling at him briefly and then looking back at her essay before he could have a chance to kiss her. To be quite honest, she just wasn't that interested in acting the part of his girlfriend right now. Perhaps it was because he looked so much like Fred…