It had been five days, five joyful but excruciating days for Hermione since Harry had defeated Voldemort for the final time. She was ecstatic right along with the entire wizarding community that the Dark Lord was gone. Unfortunately she had not been able to see the person responsible for saving them all. As one would expect, Ministry officials seemingly came out of the woodwork to celebrate and have their picture taken with the wizarding world's greatest photo opportunity, Harry Potter. Harry had spent the last five days recovering and then being wined and dined by seemingly every Ministry official he thought could exist. Thanks to Dumbledore's insistence, Harry would finally get to return to Hogwarts to continue his sixth year studies and gain some relative peace and quiet from his adoring public, and Hermione couldn't wait.
Although the past five and a half years at Hogwarts had been the most exciting of her life, there had always been a dark cloud that hung over the school. Now that cloud had been lifted by the person she thought was capable of anything. She couldn't wait for them to be able to go to school, and only go to school. No secret plots to uncover, no unseen villains to thwart, and no more worries about loved ones being in danger. They could finally be teenagers, what an odd thought. She knew now that she could reveal her true feelings for Harry and get a true reaction. Harry had not had a serious romantic relationship with a girl in his time at Hogwarts and Hermione knew why. She knew he was afraid to let anyone get that close to him for fear that his feelings would put them in danger. The only reason he hadn't tried to isolate himself from Ron and Hermione's friendship is because he knew they wouldn't stand for it. "Now he has no excuse," she thought, "should make the rest of the year quite interesting."
She was roused out of her thoughts by her other best friend Ronald Weasley. "Bloody hell, Hermione. What are you doing in here? Dinner has already started and Harry should be back any moment. Let's go!"
She had never seen the Great Hall in such a beautiful state. In honor of Harry, the entire hall was decked out in the Gryffindor scarlet and gold colors. Everywhere you looked you could see the regal lion crest overseeing the proceedings. But it wasn't the decorations that were responsible for the atmosphere, it was the emotions coursing through everyone in attendance. What was that Muggle saying used at Christmas time? "Peace on earth, goodwill toward men." That's what they had in spades tonight. Even the Slytherins, despite their supposed leanings toward all things evil, were in high spirits for the most part. As Hermione and Ron sat down to enjoy their meal Dumbledore stood up to speak.
"I have just been informed that Mr. Potter has been delayed from returning for several more hours by the Ministry of Magic. He should return sometime tonight but unfortunately not in time to enjoy the feast in his honor. I would ask all of you to give Harry some space when he returns. I can assure you that he showed more bravery and cunning than any of us could have expected, from anyone. I daresay that you will be speechless when the details of the encounter are made public. By all means congratulate and thank him if you so desire for his defeat of Voldemort, but please do not press for details."
At this point Dumbledore turned his gaze to the Gryffindor table. Hermione could have sworn he looked specifically at her as he continued to speak.
"I trust everyone will welcome Harry back tonight and in the coming days. Now back to the feast!"
Hermione couldn't help but be disappointed by the news that Harry's return had been temporarily postponed. "I wonder what's keeping Harry?"
"Publicity seekers in the Ministry no doubt," Ron piped in. Dad owled me about how shamelessly everyone has been trying to get their name attached to Harry, especially Fudge, can you believe it? First he claims Harry is delusional and made the whole story up after the third task and now he's breaking his arm patting him on the back. Dad said that when the reporters found out how close Harry was to our family they started bombarding him with questions."
"What's the real Harry Potter like? Does he cry at night? Did you know his parents? Boxers or briefs? Honestly it's totally ridiculous."
The news did not dampen the spirits of the gathering however. For once the only things the Hogwarts students had to worry about was finishing their Potions essay and finding a spell to help get rid of pimples. In other words, the things they should have been able to worry about for the last several years.
Eventually the feast ended and everyone returned to their respective houses. Although the planned festivities were now over the real party was about to begin in the Gryffindor common room. As soon as everyone had arrived back in their dormitories Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan were headed out the portrait hole as fast as they had come in.
"And where do you think you two are headed?" Hermione said in her official Prefect tone.
"Well, you heard what Dumbledore said didn't you? Dean retorted while giving a sideways glance to Seamus. "We're headed out to get some…supplies," he said with a grin.
"Supplies for what?"
"Why to welcome Mr. Potter back of course! Come on Seamus!"
Hermione turned and grinned at Ron. "Looks like it's going to be an interesting night."
Ron stared at Hermione as his jaw dropped seemingly to the ground. "You cannot be serious. First You-Know-Who is defeated and now Hermione Granger is actually looking forward to breaking rules? I wasn't sure I'd ever see either thing happen in my lifetime and now they've both occurred in a week. Unbelievable."
Hermione glared at Ron and responded. "Well if tonight doesn't call for a little rule breaking I don't know what would. Don't worry Ron, I'll be back to my old self in a few days I'm sure."
"Marvelous," Ron said, with sarcasm dripping from his voice and a smile on his face. "Well, what do you think we'll do around here now that our adventures are officially over?"
"Concentrate on our studies of course, you know the N.E.W.T.s are coming up next year…"
"Typical, utterly typical," Ron said with a laugh as he headed up to his room. "I'll be back in a few minutes, Hermione. I can't wait for the fun to begin."
"Me either," Hermione thought to herself. Something told her that they weren't thinking about the same thing however…