Hermione Granger sat on the steps outside the Great Hall at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The summer months were quickly fading, and she had decisions to make. The time spent since the Battle of Hogwarts had been difficult. Hermione had wiped her parent's memories of her and sent them into hiding in Australia. The memory charm she used was incredibly powerful and at this point likely permanent. Memory charms were not easy spells to cast or to break. The earlier caught the better but near impossible even a year or more later. She shuddered to think what she would need to do to break the charm at that point. The Ministry of Magic might forgive her, but she might not be able to forgive herself.
Since the aftermath of the fight to end Voldemort, she had returned with Ron to the Burrow, while not her first choice, it was the only option available to her. Molly and Arthur Weasley were perfectly fine with her being there, even if it meant she shared a room with Ginny.
Hermione found that acceptable but not ideal. She would have rather been in her boyfriend Ron's room, but she wanted to keep up appearances and not make Mrs. Weasley uncomfortable with her.
Ron had gotten better since his return to her and Harry while they searched for Horcruxes and ways to destroy them but there was a new feeling underlying her affection for the red head. The trust they had tenuously shared over the years was broken. She knew it deep down and it troubled her. How could he have just left them? And then come back? She shook her head. She knew how much she and Harry meant to him but to have left the way he did. It was not easy to forgive, let alone forget.
Hermione sighed. She did love him, or did she? She loved Harry, she knew, like a brother. He was always in trouble, even when he did not go looking for it. But she was always there to save the day, even when she had been petrified. Now that the danger had gone away what was she to do? Her thoughts drifted back to her last conversation with Ron…
"What are you doin' Hermione? You can't be serious?" the red head asked.
"Yes, I am Ronald, why is it so hard to understand?" she asked, crossing her arms against her chest.
"Why would you go back? Blimey, as if we didn't have a hard enough time when we were there, now you want to go back when we don't have to?" Ron said with exasperation. He did not seem to fathom why his girlfriend would want to go back to the school they had been attending for the last seven years for another year of studying. He hated doing the work, he was good enough as it was and he and Harry both were already taking positions as Aurors for the new Ministry of Magic.
"Because, it's important to me!" Hermione responded. "It's all I've ever wanted, ever since I got my acceptance letter, I've only ever wanted to graduate from Hogwarts."
"But they'll give you the honors. You wouldn't even need to go back! We just write to McGonagall, and she'll send us your official paperwork and that'll be that!" Ron said and moved out of the kitchen where they had been arguing and grabbed a piece of parchment to start writing.
"Why do you keep saying 'us' and 'we', you're not the one going back, I am. I don't want it just given to me; I want to earn it!" Hermione said. She was still driven to prove herself even now.
"I don't get it! We almost died nearly 1,000 times at that school when we had to be there, and you still want to give it another go? Do you have a death wish? It'll finish you off for good this time. You need to get your priorities straight!" Ron stood and reached to grab Hermione's arm. She backed away, hands in the air.
She moved to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of Floo Powder and threw it into the fireplace. "I can't talk to you when you're like this." Hermione said and shouted "Hogwarts" before stepping into the flames.
Hermione snapped out of her own thoughts as she heard footsteps approaching from behind. They were not normal footfalls, they were uneven, like someone walking with a limp or a cane. Like Mad Eye Moody. Except he was dead. Hermione spun around and her wand drawn. Except there was no one there. She let out a ragged breath she did not realize she had been holding.
Hermione closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath this time, letting it out through her nostrils. It had a calming effect, and she repeated this a few times to help her center herself. She pulled out her pocket journal she kept with her and began to write a little. It was not anything specific, no dates, just her thoughts and doubts and reassurances about her actions. Staying at the Burrow had left her few escape options. At least when she was here at the school, when she argued with either Ron, Harry, or both, she could escape to her dorm to process her emotions peacefully. At the Burrow, there would be questions.
Hermione felt her arm itch and she subconsciously scratched at her sleeve, pulling the long sleeve up to reveal the painful word 'Mudblood' still etched into her skin from Bellatrix Lestrange's knife. It was healing, slowly, and she stopped wearing short sleeved shirts all together, no matter the temperature. Hermione was quick to hide the scar though, after slightly relieving the itch. Her hand absentmindedly drifted to her neck as well. She caressed herself, the light blue scarf she wore hid the scar left from the same knife that carved her arm. Hermione knew that neither her arm nor her neck would ever fully heal, as the knife had been imbued with dark magic.
Suddenly, those footsteps returned. This time they were definitely approaching her, and her wand was already out. Twice as fast she spun herself around, ready to hex, jinx and otherwise attack whoever was coming for her.
"Away put your weapon! I mean you no harm!" said the person formerly behind Hermione. She was confused and taken aback. Was that a movie quote? Her brain temporarily short circuited. This was a young man, he looked like he could not be any older than she was, yet he walked with a cane, clearly injured in some fashion, likely during the battle, yet she did not recognize him in the least.
"Sorry…reflex…" Hermione offered, weakly.
"It's ok. I wasn't trying to sneak up on you, I figured you'd heard me coming." He said and stamped the cane on which he was leaning.
"I…was…distracted." Hermione replied. That would have been a fatal mistake a year prior, now she realized, she just seemed like a jumpy lunatic.
"No worries. I'll try to be louder next time." The boy said as he stepped down a few steps gingerly. "Can I join you?" he asked. Hermione looked at the stranger confused but sensed no immediate threat from him, so she agreed. "I haven't seen you before, do you work here or just visiting?"
"I'm visiting at the moment. Although I could say the same thing about you." She replied, regarding him as he sat down.
"Ah. Yeah. You could say I'm a Partially Permanent Unknowing Resident: Hospital Wing Division." He said with a sarcastic smile.
"Hospital Wing? Were you in the battle then?" Hermione asked.
"Yes but not the one you're referring to. No one actually knows I'm here outside of senior staff." He looked over at Hermione, he found her brown eyes soft yet endearing. There was something slightly familiar about her…
"I didn't catch your name…" Hermione was watching him as intently as he was gazing at her, meeting his deep brown eyes, and locking eye contact.
"Name's Matt Santini. And you are?" he held his hand out to shake.
"I'm Hermione Granger." She took the offered hand, and he was gentle in his touch.
"Hermione Granger, Hermione Granger…" Matt repeated. "Now that name rings a bell…" he looked across the courtyard as he searched his thoughts. Sure, he was not looking at her anymore, but he was not really looking at anything at this point. "Wait, you're that Hermione Granger, the one in the papers, that helped Harry Potter bring down Voldemort?"
Hermione felt her cheeks flush at the recognition. She was not headlining material on her own, at least she did not think so. For some reason, this guy, who had a weird accent and way of talking, sure latched onto her. "Yes…that would be me…" she confirmed. Her stomach clenched. At this point, she thought that any number of things could happen, her guard was down.
His wand could level at her and kill her right now or bind her and take her to some hidden chamber or the Room of Requirement where he could torture her endlessly and no one would hear her scream. Or he could admonish her for being a muggle-born and tell her she should just give up magic and leave forever and why would anyone want her at this school? She was beginning to panic, and Hermione drew in a couple of calming breaths.
"Wow, you're something of a living legend. It's really cool to meet you." Matt said. He could see her expression changed but was back to neutral in a flash.
"Thank you." Hermione felt herself blushing harder, this boy was actually charming? She instinctively pulled down her sleeve on her arm, not wanting to show her injury and need to answer questions about it. She mentally shook herself and reminded herself that she was in love with Ron. Right? He would be by her side; she knew nothing about this stranger They only just met, and she had no idea if she could even trust him. Coming back was a lot harder than she expected it to be. Hermione knew she never used to be this suspicious of people. "So, why were you in the Hospital Wing if you weren't injured during the battle?"
"Well like I said before, I was injured in the battle," Matt pointed between his feet "Just not this battle. There was an explosion, I think. Hit my head, apparently, coma, woke up here." "And you don't remember anything?" Hermione looked at him with concern.
He shook his head and closed his eyes. "Just bits, pieces, fragments. Nothing concrete, at least not the week before it happened. And based off the state of me, I'd say it was blast injury, with both blunt force and sharp force trauma, multiple contusions, abrasions, and fractures with a concussion. All in all, a miracle I'm still alive."
"An astute observation, if a bit clinical." Professor McGonagall's voice came from behind the pair.
"Professor McGonagall!" Hermione said and got to her feet to greet the Headmistress.
"Miss Granger, I wasn't expecting to see you here today. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I wanted to inquire about returning to finish my schooling, Professor." Hermione admitted.
"I expected as much. You're not the first person from your year who wishes to finish. I've just sent Mr. Malfoy his reacceptance letter. I have yours here, if you wish it." McGonagall replied.
"I do!" Hermione looked overjoyed.
"I suppose I would be wasting parchment and ink on Mr. Weasley and Mr. Potter?"
"Unfortunately. They've already got jobs at the Ministry as Aurors." Hermione stated. Matt caught a hint of sadness in her voice. Her two closest friends were not joining her. He frowned at this and felt a little bad for her. She deserved better.
"Well, let me be the first to say, 'Welcome Back'." McGonagall beamed. As she turned to move back inside.
"Hey Professor?" Matt called after the Headmistress. She paused and turned to him. "I think I made my decision. My grandfather always used to look at me say 'Matt, you're cocciuto!' Means stubborn. I don't want to take the easy way. I think I'm gonna need to request an official transfer," Hermione looked at him now in confusion. "From Ilvermorny to
Hogwarts." Suddenly all the puzzle pieces clicked into place in Hermione's head. The accent or rather lack thereof, the weird colloquialisms, he was American, from Ilvermorny, the school that had been destroyed!