Author's Note & Anti-Litigation Charm
For those of you to whom this title is brand new, welcome! I began writing this fic a little less than a year ago, but was quickly overwhelmed by life, and had to set it by the wayside. Since then, I've reapproached it and made some fairly major reconstruction. It seemed cleanest to start a new 'book' for it, as opposed to confusing readers – and myself – by over-editing the previous iteration. And so, let us begin!

I don't own Harry Potter, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Lord Voldemort, or any other aspect of JK Rowling's creation. I am happier this way, because, really, who wants to be the wealthiest woman in Britain? Anything that you recognize is hers, or a variation thereof. I shall try my best to give credit where credit is due in every way possible.
This fanfic has one foot planted loosely in the realm of canon, and the other firmly in the realm of AU. I tried to only change the bits that really had to go (NOTE: this includes the entirety of the Epilogue to DH, which I think JK must have included on accident, Merlin bless her). There's also a new depth to magic in this fic. I think that the incredible Ms. Rowling herself wasn't prepared for where she'd go with the series, and what we are introduced in the first book(s) as being very light-hearted and typical wizardry gets increasingly deeper and more arcane as the story goes on. I choose to follow (and expand upon) the deeper magic that we find towards the end of the beloved series. You have been warned. Lupin didn't die. He's probably my favorite teacher in the whole of JK's creation, and I just didn't have it in me to let him go – and he's marvelous for insightful discussions that lead to epiphanies.

Looking back, the participants of the Final Battle agreed that it was very wrongly named. Voldemort had been defeated, as surely as the scar was now gone from Harry's head, but very few Death Eaters were killed or imprisoned as a result. In the confusion that followed Voldemort's death, they mostly made their way back to whatever bolt-holes they'd used after their Lord's first fall. The Aurory had their hands full for months, tracing down leads and trying – with little success – to prevent further bloodshed.

In a way, the war was more brutal after the death of Voldemort. He had inspired fear in his followers, and with his paranoia gone, the desperate and lawless men acted more riotously than before. They knew, after all, that their lives were ruined whether the Aurors caught up with them or not. Fugitives, they lived in hidden squalor – a steep fall, for many of them, from the glory they'd previously enjoyed – and therefore felt no real need to preserve their lives or reputations.

Some came forward, claiming the Imperius curse. Most of these would-be victims, however, bore the faint traces of the Dark Mark, and were summarily sentenced as willing accomplices in Voldemort's crimes. Members of the Order of the Phoenix wondered if it had been a part of Tom Riddle's plan all along to mark his subjects even after his own demise. "Can't have been" Harry said the first night this idea was brought up. "He never planned to die. Besides, I'd rather not think of any reasons we should be grateful to his Lordship."

Despite the dire predictions of Rita Skeeter and her ilk, the war did, eventually, wind down. Attacks on Muggles and Muggle-borns slowed to a trickle, and then stopped altogether. The cells in Azkaban were slowly filled, and then quickly emptied as many of the prisoners fell subject to the Dementors' kisses. There was a memorial the week after the Final Battle, and a month after the Final Battle – and six months after, they buried the last of the men and women who had died for the cause of the Light.

The toll was tremendous. There was hardly a single family – even among the Purebloods – in Wizarding Britain that had not suffered losses. The Order was, naturally, among the hardest hit – and so long after the final burial, Hermione and her friends were faced daily with the loss of many close friends. Remus and his little son, Teddy, moved in with Harry at 12 Grimmauld Place – Remus was, apparently, unable to continue living in the little house that he and Tonks had shared before her death on the night of the Final Battle.

Although it seemed difficult to imagine, in the midst of the struggles and worries that surrounded the resolution of the Second Wizarding War, the wheel of life managed to turn forward – in many ways, unchanged. In the new school year, Hogwarts had a record number of students – with the arrival of new first years, the inclusion of all the Muggle-borns, and the return of almost the entire previous seventh years (the seventh year Gryffindor and Slytherin males being conspicuous by their absence), the castle was restored to its bustling liveliness. In a way, it helped to off-set the losses. With dormitories and spare rooms so full, it was a little easier to ignore the pain of missing class-mates. There were no empty seats at the House Tables, which made it easier to live with the absence of dear friends.

There were a great many changes to the staff of Hogwarts in that year – new Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Muggle Studies professors had to be found, although Horace Slughorn eventually agreed to do McGonagall a favor and stay on for another year of teaching Potions.

The year passed in a blur for the majority of the school, as lives started to be re-built and events took their course. The weeks following the end of the spring term saw an extraordinary number of weddings. The youngest generation of adult wizards had looked to itself for the strength and encouragement to continue. In themselves they took their comfort, and new friendships and relationships blossomed. Many of them had been denied the joy of a carefree adolescence, and they seemed determined to make up for the joy they'd lost out on.

Neither Ron nor Harry married immediately, although everyone agreed that Harry might as well already be married to Ginny, so obvious was the nature of their attachment to each other. He was determined not to make a decision in the emotional aftermath of the war, brushing aside Ginny's derisive comments on the "aftermath" lasting more than a year. Together, Ron and Harry entered training for the Aurory immediately, not bothering to return to school to formalize their final year. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement seemed more than happy to take in two thirds of the Golden Trio without their N.E.W.T. scores, and would have happily taken Hermione as well, had she cared to skive off her seventh year. Being who she was, however, Hermione flatly refused that offer, though she made sure to burn no bridges, in case she decided that the Aurory was, in fact, the proper course for her to take.

Apparently alone of the entire double-batch of graduates, Hermione was unsure of what she wanted. She knew that she'd not be happy unless she furthered her education, but that was the extent of her plans. After graduation, she took to having weekly meetings with Headmistress McGonagall, where they discussed life and possible careers over tea.