They now lived in 12 Grimmauld Place. They had moved in there together on the autumn of 98, a few months after that glorious night when Voldemort had been defeated. With Harry still at Hogwarts he didn't need it, so he rented it to them very cheaply. Harry had offered to let them stay there for free, but Hermione had insisted that they at least pay something.
Hermione sat by the window and looked out at the city slowly waking up to another day. To the muggles it was just another day, but to the wizards it was very important day. Today was the one year anniversary of the fall of Voldemort. It was to be celebrated with a huge feast up at Hogwarts. Ron and Hermione were guests of honour along with all the other people who had fought the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters. The feast was of course something Hermione very much looked forward too. It was to be the first time in many months to relax.
Hermione had been busier than ever since last fall when she got her new and very prestigious job. She had been appointed to be the personal assistant to the minister of magic himself, Kingsley Shacklebolt. His appointment had been temporary at first, but it had soon been reaffirmed by a very grateful wizarding community and a Wizengamot, now filled with members of the order and their followers. These days members of the order, the DA and others who had fought in the battle were regarded with awe and respect.
Hermione had been offered the job as his assistant right away when he was appointed. She had however turned him down at that moment. She still had a year of education at Hogwarts to go through and she didn't want to have people believing that she got her position simply because she knew Kingsley. Instead she had worked harder than ever before and managed to go through all the courses of the last year in just a few summer months. Even with this tough pace she managed to get very high grades. Only after that did she accept to take the job.
The job itself had been just as hard. There were a lot of things to sort through. Voldemort's rule had caused a lot of damage and all that had to be taken care of. There were so many hurt that they had to increase capacity at St. Mungo's. Countless muggles had been exposed to magic thanks to the carelessness of the Death Eaters which meant that memory charms had to be performed on a massive scale. Ancient protective spells had been lifted and had to be redone. Other evil spells had to be reversed both within the ministry and in other places. Trials had to be held for death eaters and those who had helped them, not to mention that they had to be caught first. These and many other problems had to be dealt with.
The workload Hermione had taken on was immense. Kingsley was far too kind to force her to work more than a regular work week; Hermione however would have none of it. She usually put in around twelve hours a day six days a week. That last free day of the week was only because Ron insisted. He had been complaining a lot about not seeing her enough. Hermione couldn't really blame him for that, but she still felt that her work had to take precedence. As the summer approached things had started to clear up a little. Most problems had been dealt with and things started to go back to normal. This didn't stop Hermione from working all the time however. She had become quite used to it and she kept it up.
Ron would probably have complained a whole lot more if it wasn't for the fact that he too had a good job. He was now working full time in the joke shop with George. It was a job that suited him well and that he thoroughly enjoyed. Hermione had mixed feelings about it. On the one hand she had wanted Ron to finish his education, but that would have meant that they couldn't live together. Hermione had been determined to work with Kingsley so this was the only solution if they were going to live together. There was another thing to consider as well. Naturally George had been hit harder by the death of Fed than anyone else. Having Ron working with him was obviously a good thing. After Fred Ron had been the brother George had been closest to. During the spring he had started to very slowly revert back to his old happy self.
The more Hermione thought about the day ahead of her the more she was starting to look forward to it. She thought about all the people she looked forward to seeing. She was going to meet Harry and Ginny for the first time since they had spent Christmas at the Burrow. Harry had decided to spend one more year at Hogwarts so that he could finish his education. He had also wanted to spend more time with Ginny. They had graduated yesterday but stayed in the castle in anticipation of the big celebration. Hermione was very curious about their N.E.W.T.S, but had not yet had the chance to interrogate them.
It wasn't just Harry and Ginny she missed of course. There was Neville who would come back from his stay in Brazil. He had spent the last year in the rain forest, studying plants. He, along with his grandmother had briefly visited the burrow on Christmas. He had been very different from the Neville she used to know. He was glowing with confidence and he had acquired a very nice tan.
Hagrid had been fired from his teaching job and was back to being gamekeeper, but from what Hermione heard he was quite content with that. Hermione missed is childish optimism and end even found that she missed his dangerous creatures. She hadn't been very happy about his recklessness in the past, but she had to admit that it was exciting to meet all those animals.
Minerva was another person who Hermione missed. She had never spoken much to the boys about her deep admiration for the Headmistress, they thought her too strict. Hermione however rather appreciated that quality. Minerva was a strong and confident woman who commanded great respect with her mere presence. There had been many occasions during the years at Hogwarts where Hermione had spoken with Minerva. Mostly it had been about purely academic matters, but there had also been the occasions where Minerva had given valuable advice about the difficulty in being a strong woman in a world still very much dominated by men.
But the one she looked forward to seeing the most was Luna. Hermione had always been somewhat irritated by the strange opinions held by the young Ravenclaw. At the same time however those strange opinions posed a great intellectual challenge that Hermione loved to take on. She was still convinced that most of what Luna said was complete bollocks, but she did love debating. It wasn't just that she missed however.
The two had grown very close during their stay at Bill and Fleur's last year. Not only did they share a room, they also shared the potentially traumatizing experience of being tortured at Malfoy Manor. Luna had been quiet about it at first, but Hermione had insisted that they talk about it. Luna hadn't been interrogated like Hermione. Instead she had been subject to random cruciatus spells whenever one of the Death Eaters had felt like it. Fortunately the Narcissa and to some extent Draco had made sure that nothing worse happened. Luna seemed to have gone relatively unscathed through it and Hermione had commended Luna for having the bravery of a Gryffindor to witch the younger witch simply responded by giving Hermione a serene smile.
They also had another very personal conversation a few days later. Hermione had hesitated to bring it up, but she felt it was better she told Luna than anyone else. She had told Luna about the events that had taken place in Luna's home. Hearing that had been devastating for the younger girl. She had broken down completely, crying and begging Hermione for forgiveness. The usually so calm and serene Ravenclaw had lost it completely. Hermione had not really known what to do. She had just held Luna in a tight embrace, while whispering soothing words. It had helped apparently, because the crying had subsided and Luna had fallen asleep. Hermione had tried to untangle herself from Luna, but it had been impossible. Hermione actually found that she liked being so close to Luna. She had slept great that night and woke up happy and refreshed.
A warm smile graced Hermione's face as she thought about the younger girl. She really, really was looking forward to this day.