Authors Note: For the sake of my story I have changed the ages and years of some characters, I have kept Fred alive, added some characters and changed the first names of other characters. JK Rowling owns the world of Harry Potter, lucky lady.

Chapter One

A tanned forehead fell against the window with an audible thunk, thick lashed eyelids slid down over chocolate colored eyes and plum rose red lips parted slightly as a soft sigh escaped them. The female tuned out her best friends as their conversation turned to Quidditch. She almost wished that Wonwon's bimbo girlfriend would come back so, she could once again engage Harry and Ginny in a conversation. She ran a hand through her now tame caramel curls, trying to soothe her frazzled nerves but she knew it was futile as her nerves wouldn't settle until she received word from the twins or Charlie about her parents. News she was desperate for.

Modifying her parents' memories and sending them to Australia was definitely one of the hardest things she had ever done but knowing that the alternative was a certain and painful death the choice was an obvious one. Plus, she had know that as soon as it was safe she would seek them out and fix it, hoping they would understand and forgive her. And that's exactly what she had done. Two days after Harry defeated Voldemort she had set off and spent four months vigorously searching Australia for the couple. Meanwhile she had earned a lovely tan and finished growing up. The day of her return a week ago she'd passed the search onto Fred, George and Charlie, knowing that they would contact her if they found anything relating to her parents at all. She'd become quite close with the three of them after saving Fred's life during that fateful night in Hogwarts. She smiled faintly, remembering all of the owls the three of them had sent her during her time away, she'd helped with some of their latest inventions and they'd helped keep her out of a funk when she returned empty handed.

"Hermione!" Ginny's voice cut through her thoughts and the curl haired girl turned to look at her friends, her mocha gaze focusing on the red headed girl.

"Yes?" her tone was laced with irritation at having been pulled from her thoughts, Ron snickered earning himself a glare from the two females, he quickly shut up and turned back to Harry, who just shrugged.

"Do you know who HeadBoy is yet?" the younger girl asked, poorly masking her curiosity. Hermione shook her head, causing her curls to bounce.

"Nope, I thought it'd be Harry or Ron for sure but that didn't happen, I don't really know who else it could be, maybe it'll be Justin or some Ravenclaw, I just hope it's not Malfoy, we'd kill each other by the end of the week.." Hermione trailed off, biting her bottom lip, causing the other three to laugh, she joined in after.

"Well, I wasn't a prefect" Harry stated matter of factly, Hermione and Ginny just rolled their eyes.

"Neither was your dad but he was HeadBoy," Hermione said, shrugging her shoulders, Harry just shrugged, brushing it off.

"I'm just glad we don't have to wear our designated robes this year, thank Merlin for being sixth and seventh years, right?" Ginny piped up, the fashion diva in her coming forth, Hermione laughed and the boys groaned, they quickly went back to their Quidditch conversation leaving Hermione and Ginny to talk about fashion. The last hour of the train ride went by in this fashion and as the train slowed to a stop Hermione reached her hand into her trusty beaded bag and pulled out her HeadGirl badge and pinned it to her white v-neck t-shirt, she pulled her knee high dark brown suede boots on over her jeans and stood, making her way out of the compartment and the others followed her, the conversation flowing easily.

Hermione's eyes scanned the crowd, trying to spot the HeadBoy badge on someone's chest but she hadn't found it by the time they got to a carriage and her eyebrows furrowed, a slight frown tugging her red lips down as they climbed in and rode to the castle, she remained quiet the whole ride and the walk inside. The four of them found their spots at the Gryffindor table, soon joined by Lavender, oh joy, Parvarti, Neville, Dean, and Seamus.

"Hey 'Mione! You look good," Neville spoke quietly as he hugged the girl, and she returned the hug, smiling warmly at the male, he was no longer a boy, sometime during the war he'd grown up and he now had confidence, though that was probably because of his part in the final battle, killing that stupid serpent of Voldemort's.

"Hey Neville, thank you, you're not looking to bad yourself," she returned, winking. The boy laughed and gently pushed her shoulder, rolling his eyes at her.

"Whatever Mi" he shook his head and the hall grew quiet as McGonagall walked in with the first years to be sorted, Hermione's mouth fell open slightly, there were so many of them! The sorting began and each time one of the small kids were sorted into Slytherin a lot of the older students hissed and booed, Hermione's red lips pulled into a thin line, mimicking McGonagall's own lips, her expression just as hard as the older professor's. The sorting ended with each house gaining fifteen new students and Hermione in a sour mood with Ron and most of her Gryffindor counterparts. Her gaze quickly scanned the Slytherin table, each of them were subdued and quiet, her chocolate gaze finally fell on Draco Malfoy, and the HeadBoy badge pinned to his chest and though she felt mildly disappointed she said nothing, all of the Slytherin's looked so down and even though she was less than fond of them, it upset her to see them this way, curse her too big heart.

The rest of the feast went by quickly and Hermione stayed out of the conversations, her mind elsewhere and her frustration with her friends hadn't ebbed quite yet.