Dramione - Time Will Tell - Herlijah

The Letter M

"That, that arrogant bloody ferret!" Hermione huffed as she stomped towards the thestral drawn carriages that lead to Hogwarts, the other two-thirds of the Golden Trio jogging to keep up with her.

"The nerve-," "Hermione!" she stopped abruptly, turning to face the person who so rudely cut her off. "What!?" she growled. "Calm down, he isn't worth it," Harry said while placing a hand on to her shoulder in a comforting gesture in hopes of calming her down. Harry had never seen his best friend get angry this quickly, but it was Malfoy, and he didn't know if he could blame her reaction, no matter how odd it might have been.

Ronald Weasley still panting from the jog, the sweets seemed to be catching up with him once again. "Yeah-" the ginger panted "and ya mind slowing it down a bit 'Mione?" Hermione let out the breath of frustration she didn't realize she was holding and nodded while looking at both of her friends. "He just gets under my skin, honestly did that git not learn a thing from the war!?" she shook her head.

Ron decided to chime in "Malfoy will always be Malfoy, that bloody ferret will never learn a thing." Hermione and Harry nodded in unison. "You're right," She replied, "he isn't worth it, I will not allow Malfoy to ruin our last year at Hogwarts...especially not our first day back."

The Trio continued the rest of the walk to the carriages in a comfortable silence, as they climbed into the carriage Hermione admired the Thestrals, beings that now so many could see, they were remarkable and beautiful in their way. The Thestrals themselves seemed to be slightly agitated, possibly due to the fact they weren't used to being paid attention to; that in itself was a sad thought.

"No amount of reading about them genuinely explains what they look like, the Thestrals." She said to Harry and Ron who were cut -off before they could reply by a platinum blonde climbing into their carriage.

"Hello, Harry." Said Luna with a smile. "Oh Hermione and Ronald, hello to you as well." Both replied with a nod and a smile. "Hello Luna," Hermione replied, "It's so lovely to see you again." Luna gave her a big smile "It's good to see you as well." She reached over to hug Hermione. "Oh, I hope you don't mind me sitting here, I seen Harry and thought it would be nice to see some friendly faces." said Luna as a flush of pink graced her cheeks. Had Hermione not been a vampire she wouldn't have even noticed the slight change, but not much could go past her, not even the small jump in heart rate coming from a mister Harry Potter.

"It's no trouble at all Luna," Harry said quickly, a blush sweeping his cheeks as well which caused Hermione to raise an eyebrow.

"Could Harry have a crush on Luna? When would that have happened?" Thought Hermione, "What about Ginny? Could they have possibly broken up? That would explain why Ginny wasn't glued to Harry, but why wouldn't Harry say anything if that were the case." Thoughts raced through her head at a mile a minute; Although the idea of Harry keeping her out of the loop when it came to Ginny bothered her, she couldn't possibly blame him, the Gryffindor princess had too many secrets of her own.

-----------------------------------------

At the sight of the newly reconstructed great hall, the memories of what transpired on May the second instantly filled her with pain, the scars were still so fresh. The half empty tables did nothing to ease the ache, the silence of those lost was deafening. Hermione grabbed hold of Harry and Ron's hands and walked toward the Gryffindor table and waited for the newly appointed Headmistress to begin her welcoming speech.

Moments later, Minerva McGonagall stepped towards the podium clearing her throat as she began to speak. "Good Evening all, to the first years welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, to our returning students welcome back and a thank you to the returning seventh years for continuing your education." applause rang throughout the hall. "So much has happened these past months but with the downfall of Voldemort comes a new age of prosperity that will lead to the unification of the Wizarding world." Hermione glanced towards the Slytherin table, all of its inhabitants seemed to shift uncomfortably, even Draco Malfoy looked like he felt out of place. By the time she brought her attention back to McGonagall, the Sorting hat was already singing.