Scars That Heal (Dramione Fanfiction) [COMPLETE]

1 - Changing Faces

It had always been hard coping with the workloads at school, and the trouble she, Harry and Ron had gotten into on all those occasions never helped, but it had all at least been fun while it lasted. Now Hermione was on her own again - the outcast. The last six months after the Battle of Hogwarts had been indescribably tough on her to get back to "normal" after everything she had been through. But even she knew that nothing would be the same as it had been before.

At least she had her parents back. True, the search for them across Australia had been terrifying, but now they were back to being her lovely mother and father. But they still had flashes of confusion; Dad would drop a glass, splintering across the floor, and he wouldn't recollect it afterwards. Or Mum would suddenly freeze in the middle of a sentence, and repeat a statement she had previously made. Yes, they weren't repaired yet.

A jolt in the carriage woke her up from her reverie. Hermione stretched her neck a little, easing out the tension in her muscles, and looked at Luna, Neville and Ginny. They were still talking to each other, and it seemed that she wasn't being rebuked for not upholding her end of the conversation.

It was strange, them being adults; Neville was meant to be in the teacher's carriage as the new Herbology professor, but he had insisted that Hermione needed a familiar face amongst all the younger students. Very few people from her original year group wanted to return and do their NEWTs properly in the site of the old Hogwarts. But Neville was there, and some of their fellow classmates remained; the Patil twins, Dean, Seamus, and plenty of others that passed by Hermione as other background performers in her life at school. But it looked like it would be a very lonely year.

With a grinding of gears the Hogwarts Express slowly halted, smoke spiralling towards the window Hermione was beside. She picked up her cloak from the seat next to her, and followed the queue of students cramming to get out of the train. There were the younger years, still, Ginny and Luna's lot. There were a good number of them that she was on friendly terms with - perhaps they would adopt her and she could join them for the year? They all spilled onto the platform, and Hermione slipped into line with Neville. He had grown wider over the six months they had been apart and had lost his awkward, gangling frame. But the scar along his hairline reminded all the students that he was a survivor, and that their teacher had suffered every bit as much as them.

"Wonder how they've rebuilt Hogwarts?" Luna pondered, her earrings swaying with each step.

"They'll have had to be quick about the work," Ginny said, "There was a lot of damage taken in those fights - more than a few of the original charms will have had to be replaced, and you can guarantee that the secret passages won't be quite as secret anymore."

"All the same, how will the Room of Requirement be?" Luna insisted, "Hermione, you saw the fire. Will it have survived?"

"I'm not sure," Hermione replied, tentatively, "There were a lot of flames, and if they repaired it I don't think the quality of the magic will be quite the same. Those were deep spells cast to create that room, and they may never be recovered."

A gloomy pause hovered over them following this statement. They traipsed along the paths to the carriages, and Hermione wasn't surprised to see the Thestrals staring back at her with gaunt expressions. Judging by the others' reactions, they could now see them too. Hermione saw that Ginny's eyes had filled with silent tears, but the other girl had climbed into the carriage before she could mention it.

They said nothing for the rest of the ride.

Professor McGonagall was waiting for them when they got out of the compartment. She gave Neville a disapproving look.

"Teachers are not permitted to ride with students, Professor Longbottom. You will need to go straight to the Great Hall for some staff announcements or you will miss the Sorting Ceremony."