A/N: Here's my attempt at a new story. Be patient with me, without Amy I'm a bit slow ;) hehe
I'm going to try and keep this as close to canon as possible, even though some of you may say there are some things that aren't very canonical in later chapters. I've no idea yet how long this fic will be, but I do hope you all will enjoy it. This chapter is mostly exposition, to explain what has happened recently in the characters' lives and such.
As always, I greatly appreciate feedback/reviews, and I will try to reply to all of them with the great new feature portkey has, and at my group.
Chapter 1
Hermione Granger slid inside the empty compartment, putting her bag on the shelf above the seat. She wasn't surprised to find that she was the first of her friends to arrive on the train.
She thought back on the weeks prior to that, and about everything that had happened to them. She, Harry and Ron had graduated from Hogwarts. Harry had defeated Voldemort just a month prior to that. It had been the toughest week of Hermione's life, that week while Harry was gone.
The Daily Prophet of course had covered nothing, at least nothing of any value to her and Ron. They'd visited Dumbledore daily, sometimes two or three times a day to find out what was happening.
The day Harry had come back… that day without a doubt ranked as one of the best days of her life. Tired and beaten, Harry slogged his way through the Great Hall as they were sitting down to lunch and had presented Voldemort's wand to Dumbledore.
After that he promptly passed out.
Hermione and Ron had rushed to his side, Ron easily lifted his best friend off the floor and Hermione put one of Harry's arms around her neck as they carried him off to the infirmary. Colin Creevey had snapped a picture of the three of them from behind and Hermione had it framed for both her boys.
Harry had spent the next few days flittering in and out of consciousness. When her classes were over, Hermione would spend as much time as possible by his side, urging him to wake up. Ron took over Harry's responsibilities as Quidditch captain so he was around less, but took an hour or so out of his day to sit by his friend.
There had been an enormous celebration when Harry finally recovered, and the parties ended just in time for everyone to complete their final exams. Harry had been exempt from his Defence against the Dark Arts exam, and with many thanks to her, passed the rest with flying colours.
After leaving Hogwarts, Ron and Harry decided to look for a flat, in the meantime he was taking up residence at the Burrow at much urging by Molly Weasley. Hermione had decided to live at home with her parents for the time being while she saved enough money for her own place.
It was only two weeks after they'd parted ways that Hermione had received a letter from her great aunt Charlotte. It turns out she'd inherited a bed and breakfast, a place called the Crossways Guest House from someone she'd known in her youth. The place had been closed for years, and it was quite run down, and she needed help in the repairs and renovations.
Hermione had immediately contacted Harry and Ron, who agreed to help her out, and she also invited Ginny in an effort to pull the younger girl out of the slump she was in due to certain events of her sixth year. Ginny had written back asking if it was okay with her inviting Luna Lovegood along; Hermione was a bit reluctant to say yes but she finally agreed, thinking her aunt could use as much help as possible.
Jerking herself back into the present, Hermione checked her watch and frowned. It was just like Ron to be running late but she would have thought Harry would try and get the rest of them there early enough. The train would be leaving in ten minutes.
"Come on!" Ron grumbled to Ginny and Luna, who were lagging behind. "We should have already been here!"
"Who cares Ron, we're not going to miss the train," Ginny snapped back. Ron was still only talking to her when necessary and she was tired of it.
"All right children," Harry replied, lugging his trunk along. "It's on platform 6, its right over there. So please stop arguing already."
Ron glared at him as they presented their tickets to the man standing by the door and bumped their trunks along the narrow hallway. "Didn't Hermione say she'd save a compartment for us if she got here first?"
"Yeah," Harry called. He looked into each one as they walked past and finally smiled as he saw her familiar head of hair looking out the window. "Hey Hermione," he opened the door.
"Hi!" Hermione jumped to her feet. "I was getting worried you all weren't going to make it. Did Ron hold you up again?"
"Ha, ha Hermione," Ron said sourly. "It was Ginny; she decided she needed to pack everything she owned."
"Sod off Ron," Ginny frowned.
"You two sit down, Ron and I will get your trunks for you," Harry said to Ginny and Luna.
"Thanks Harry," Ginny replied quietly. Luna smiled at him and perched next to the window across from Hermione. 'Ron was right,' Harry winced as he lifted Ginny's trunk up on the rack. 'I think she put rocks in here.'
He finally managed to shove the thing in place and collapsed on the seat next to Hermione. Ron opened his mouth to object- he wanted to sit next to Hermione but Luna spoke up.
"You can sit next to me Ronald," she said in the dreamy voice that never failed to make the hairs on the back of his neck rise.
"Thanks," he muttered as the train's whistle blew and they began to move. "So where are we headed again?" he asked Hermione.
"It's in York, Yorkshire," Hermione replied. "It's called the Crossways Guest House."
"And your aunt inherited the place?" Harry asked, stretching his arm over the seat top.
"That's right," Hermione answered. "Apparently the owner was someone she knew when she was in her teens, or early twenties. Aunt Charlotte was surprised when she got the deed and such in the mail. She hadn't seen this person in… thirty years or so." Hermione nodded. "Something like that, anyway."
"Must have been a good friend," Harry said.
"She said they were once very close," Hermione leaned back against the seat. "The best of friends… and then they got involved romantically."
"What happened after that?" Ginny asked interestedly.
"I'm not quite sure; she wouldn't go into much detail when I spoke to her on the phone." Hermione replied. "I suppose she'll fill us in when we get up there."
Ginny nodded and the compartment lapsed into silence as they began to move through the English countryside. Luna pulled a copy of her father's newspaper, The Quibbler, out of her bag and began to read it. Ginny leaned over to look at one of the pages.
"What does my horoscope say?" she asked. "Is it good this month?"
"You shouldn't believe in that rubbish," Hermione said. "Merlin knows it's not true. Divination is a bloody waste of time."
Luna peered at her over the top of her newspaper and for one moment Hermione thought Luna was going to throw the thing at her but she smiled. "It's only a waste of time with that Trelawney teaching it." She said, surprising them all. "I had thoughts about taking it my third year but I'm glad I chose Ancient Runes instead."
"So am I," Hermione said, not missing a beat and impressed by the serious look in Luna's pale blue eyes. "It's truly fascinating-"
Ron let out a loud but fake yawn. "Bloody hell, we're out of school. Let's not talk about it like we have to go back." Hermione frowned at him and Ron felt his face turn red. 'That's just bloody great…' he chastised himself. 'How are you going to get Hermione to return your feelings if you ridicule what she loves to do?'
Ron opened his mouth to apologise but Hermione simply glared at him and turned to look out the window. He looked at his best friend for help but Harry simply shrugged and let his head fall back against the seat, clearly looking to have a kip.
An hour later, it had started to rain quite heavily. A jolt made Harry jerk awake, rubbing his eyes before settling his glasses back on his nose. "What was that?" he mumbled.
"Nothing," Hermione's voice was quiet. "Just the train- you can go back to sleep if you want to, I'll wake everyone up when we get to York."
"I'm all right," Harry sat up straighter, his voice still hoarse from sleep. A quick look around the cabin told him that no one else had woken up. "I hate sleeping these days anyhow."
Hermione placed a marker in her book and set it back in her bag. "Nightmares?"
"Something like that," Harry grunted.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Hermione asked, placing a hand on his arm.
"Not really," Harry replied. "It's… it's just something I need to work out for myself is all."
"Are you sure?" Hermione asked. "Harry… I don't think you realise how much better you would feel if you just talked about what's going on."
"Maybe soon," Harry said. "I just don't want to rehash everything right now."
Hermione nodded. "All right… just remember I'm here for you all right?"
Harry smiled at her. "I know… thanks." He rested his hand on hers for a moment. "I think I'm going to get a drink. You want anything?"
"Some juice would be nice," Hermione replied. "Thanks Harry."
Several hours later, the train pulled to a noisy, screechy halt in the York station. Hermione shook Ron awake, Harry began grabbing trunks from the rack and Ginny and Luna started dragging their cases out into the corridor.
"What Mum?" Ron grumbled. "I want to sleep in…"
"Ron come on, we're here," Hermione laughed. "You can sleep once we get to the inn."
Ron turned red as Hermione shook her head and followed Harry down the corridor. "Great, now she thinks I'm a fool," he muttered as he pulled his own trunk down from the rack.
"Aunt Charlotte!" Hermione called as she stepped off the train. "Aunt Charlotte, we're over here!"
A short, round woman with grey hair tied back in a bun turned at Hermione's voice. She had a gentle face, with the same brown eyes as Hermione and a smile that curved out softly at the edges. "Hello dear," she hugged her great niece tightly. "Look at you Hermione… you look just like your mother."
"You look great too Aunt Charlotte," Hermione said. "Oh… these are my friends, this is Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, his sister Ginny, and Luna Lovegood." She pointed to each person in turn. "Everyone, this is my Aunt Charlotte."
"I'm so happy to have all you here," the old woman beamed. "Now first of all I insist you all call me Aunt Charlotte. Mrs. Granger is her mother, not me." She pointed at Hermione and everyone laughed. "I have a car in the front, so if you've got everything then we can get going."
"So tell me more about Crossways Aunt Charlotte," Hermione said from the front seat. Everyone else crowded into the back, sitting with Luna's trunk as it wouldn't fit with the rest of them in the boot.
"It's a really lovely place. I've already got some workers taking care of the building foundation and such. What I really need you all for is painting, cleaning out the attic, putting the boathouse back into working order… things like that."
It sounded like a lot of work to Ron and he shared a look with Harry that made him realise his friend was thinking the same thing. "What's there to do around here?" he asked. "I mean, in the evenings and such."
"Well we're very close to the town, it's only a few kilometres away; you can even walk there." Charlotte replied. "There's also a movie theatre, some little shops… we've also got quite a large garden and a nice sized lake bordering the property."
"That sounds lovely," Ginny spoke up softly. "I can't wait to see it."
"Yeah, well we know Malfoy won't be around anywhere," Ron retorted under his breath. Harry elbowed him sharply in the ribs as Hermione turned around and glared at him.
Ginny rolled her eyes and resumed looking out the window. Luna stared at Ron for a moment then pulled her copy of the Quibbler back out as she shook her head. Ron felt momentarily offended that Luna Lovegood would think him odd but it passed as they began to pull into a long winding driveway.
"Oh it's gorgeous," Hermione breathed as she set eyes upon the quaint building. It was larger than she expected, with a large wraparound porch which was sagging a bit.
The white paint was peeling and the glass panes on either side of the large door were dusty and smudged. "I see what you mean by this place needing a lot of cleanup," Harry said as they all stepped outside. "I mean… not that it's run down or anything but-"
"I know what you mean dear," Charlotte chuckled. "You can imagine my surprise when I received the deed. I drove right up here and fell back in love with the place."
"I can see why," Luna murmured dreamily. "It looks like the perfect place to find an Augurey or a Bowtruckle."
"A what dear?" Charlotte looked at her confusedly.
"Um… they're species of birds," Hermione said quickly. "Luna loves bird watching." She cast a look at the blonde girl who realised her error.
"That's right," Luna smiled. Charlotte nodded and led the teenagers up to the inn.
"Watch your step dears, the floor is a bit rickety." She produced a large, old fashioned key and unlocked the door. "Welcome to Crossways."
Hermione walked inside, followed by Harry. Ron struggled with his trunk for a moment and Ginny and Luna were right behind him.
The hallway was large, with a circular staircase going up three levels. The ceiling was raised in a point, with windows looking out over the grounds on the top level. There were several corridors leading off into different areas of the house; dark wood panelling covering the walls.
"I'm thinking of putting in a lighter colour wood here, maybe a nice oak or cypress," Charlotte said. "It would certainly brighten up the place." She smiled at all of them. "Well, let's leave your trunks here for now and come in the kitchen. I had a notion you'd all be hungry so I made a nice dinner."
Ron visibly brightened at the mention of food and he was the first to follow Charlotte through one of the low ceiling-ed corridors into the kitchen.
"It certainly looks like you've fixed up this room," Ginny said.
"Yes, it's the only one I've gotten to so far. It's the one I'm in the most, aside from my bedroom." Charlotte smiled at the red haired girl. "Sit, sit," she motioned to the butcher block table.
Everyone took a seat, Ron was quick to dodge in by Harry and sit next to Hermione. Charlotte began bringing large serving plates to the table, and soon enough there was what looked like a miniature Hogwarts feast in front of them.
"I wasn't sure what everyone would like, so I made a bit of everything," Charlotte said. "Eat, please, I've got plenty more where that came from."
Ron immediately dug into his roast beef, nodding in approval. "That's really good," he said, his mouth full.
Charlotte beamed. "Thank you Ron! Please everyone, enjoy. I'll be right back." She bustled from the room.
"I think you made her night Ron," Hermione said, helping herself to some potatoes. "My aunt lives to cook."
"And I live to eat," Ron joked, taking a second helping of beef.
Dinner was followed by Charlotte's homemade pumpkin pie; Harry had never tasted it before and thought he and Hermione enjoyed the dessert better than anyone else. After that, the woman led them upstairs to the first floor of bedrooms.
"I chose my room to be on the first floor- that's where the main office is and I thought that might make things easier, and keep my area of the house separate from guests. I thought this room," she opened a door. "…Could be for you two boys. We'll have another one joining us tomorrow for renovation work. I hope you won't mind sharing with him."
Harry shook his head while Ron shrugged. "Doesn't sound like a problem to me. We lived in a dorm during school so we're used to it." Harry said to her.
"Good, good." She smiled. "Now, for you three girls, I thought you might enjoy this room here." She led them down the hall to a slightly bigger room. "This one has an adjoining bathroom, that's why I figured it would be perfect."
"It's lovely," Hermione said. "I think it'll be perfect." The room was big enough to hold three single beds and Hermione dragged her trunk to the one nearest the wall. "Thanks Aunt Charlotte."
"You're very welcome," Charlotte replied. "Well… it's been a long day for me; I think I'm going to turn in. Good night everyone," she smiled and ambled off in the direction of the stairwell.
"Well… what do you guys think?" Hermione asked. "I know she's a bit mothering but-"
"She's great Hermione," Harry interrupted her.
"Yes, she's very sweet," Ginny replied in her quiet voice.
"She makes a great dinner," Ron patted his full stomach. Harry laughed.
"I couldn't tell, you only had six helpings," he snorted and everyone laughed. Ron glared at his best friend.
"She's a Muggle, right?" Luna asked.
"Right," Hermione replied. "Sorry… I meant to tell you all before and I forgot… it just slipped my mind."
"That's the first time I've ever heard of that happening." Ron muttered, but loud enough for everyone to hear.
"All right," Harry said quickly, recognizing the look on Hermione's face. "Ron and I will just be off to bed now. Night everyone," he grabbed his friend's arm and pulled him away.
A/N: Please be kind, and let me know what you think. I'm afraid with this story I have no contest to get all of you to review :)
This story is just getting afoot- expect about one chapter a week as I am a bit slow when on my own ;)