AN: Hey everyone! Here is the edited version that I've promised! Hopefully there aren't any other errors, but if there are, please let me know :3

Chapter 1: Seventh year

The war was finally over and it seemed that a lifetime of worry had been lifted from Hermione Granger's shoulders. She and her friends were still recovering from the ordeal, but her future looked much brighter without a constant threat of dark wizards. It was the summer after the final battle with Voldemort and Harry, Ron, and Hermione were getting ready to head back to Hogwarts to finish their missed seventh year.

Harry and Ron had spent most of the summer together enjoying the stress-free life; while Hermione took the time to reinstate her parents' lost memories. It was as if nothing had changed once their memories had returned, as if the war had never happened. They had spent almost a whole year being blissfully unaware of the extreme danger their daughter had gone through. To Hermione's joy though, it made it much easier for her forget about the events of the past few months.

As she sat in her bedroom collecting her books and packing her trunk, a dusty grey barn owl landed on her window sill. She recognized it as Harry's new owl, Hermes, and he was carrying an envelope in his beak. The brunette smiled and rose to meet the messenger.

"Hello Hermes," she chirped softly to the bird as she fed him a treat. Hermione gently opened the letter and read its contents. "What does Harry have to say, hm?"

Dear Hermione,

I hope you still plan on coming to the Burrow for the last month of summer. It just wouldn't be the same without you. I know you and Ron have gone through a tough time in the past couple weeks, but I want you to know that I want you to be here so we can catch up and enjoy a summer for once in our lives. Please respond as soon as you can and let us know so I can let Mrs. Weasley know to prepare your room.

Love,

Harry.

Hermione let out a sigh and sat down at her desk. The war had officially ended in May, and soon after Ron and Hermione had actually gotten together. It didn't take more than a couple months for them to break up, unfortunately. Ron was enjoying his fame and Hermione just didn't seem to fit into his busy schedule. So to her disappointment, they had broken up.

Luckily, she and Ginny had remained friends since it was really just a matter of conflicting interests. Hermione pulled out a piece of parchment and began scrawling a response for Hermes to take back to Harry. She gently attached it to the owl's leg and with a pat on the head, sent him on his way.

This should be interesting. Hermione thought to herself as she packed the rest of her books in her trunk and put on her cloak. It was the middle of August and by all means, still warm out, but she didn't like to draw attention to herself when she traveled. One thing Hermione Granger did not like was being in the spot light. After casting a transportation spell on her luggage, she gave Crookshanks a hug and apparated them both to the Burrow.

"Hermione!" Mr. Weasley was in his garden a few yards from where Hermione had appeared. Crookshanks jumped out of her arms to chase a garden gnome as Arthur Weasley embraced her lovingly. The Weasleys had become a second family to her and she was grateful for their kindness when her own parents couldn't be in the wizarding world every hour of the day.

"Hullo, Mr. Weasley!" Hermione said muffled against his chest. "I'm so happy to see you. What are you growing in your garden?" Hermione looked around his shoulder as he released her from the bear hug and saw freshly plowed dirt, but no life. Arthur turned around and beamed proudly at his patch of dirt.

"I just planted some cabbage! The muggle way, no magic at all!" Mr. Weasley had taken on a larger interest in muggle things since Voldemort had been defeated and his followers rooted out. Hermione noticed, looking at his hands, that they were covered in dirt as well as his knees and a spot on his forehead from wiping sweat from his brow she assumed. "I can't wait to see how long it takes for something to grow! Tedious task growing something without magic. I dunno how you muggles do it!"

"Well I'm sure Crookshanks will help you at keeping the garden gnomes out so you don't have to put any enchantments on it." Hermione chirped as she saw a couple gnomes jump out of a bush on the edge of the plot, followed by a delighted scruffy cat. Hermione turned to head into the newly rebuilt house when a flash of red hair had her in another tight embrace.

"Hermione! I'm so glad you're here! It's horrid being here without another girl y'know!" Ginny squeezed a little tighter and then stepped back to look at the brunette. "Hermione your hair has changed, it's a lot calmer now, and very sleek. Did you do something to it?" Hermione blushed slightly and subconsciously playing with her auburn locks.

"I think since I'm under less stress my hair doesn't have a reason to be frizzy anymore." Joked Hermione, as she put a stray group of her bangs behind her ear. "About time too, it's so much easier to handle now."

Ginny giggled and grabbed her friend by the hand, leading her into the house. Molly Weasley was next to hug Hermione and give her a kiss on the cheek. She was cooking dinner and Hermione hadn't realized how late she had apparated.

"I'm very sorry, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said quietly, bowing her head apologetically. "I should have sent an owl to you as well to let you know when I was coming to the Burrow. I hope it's not an inconvenience that I'm here so close to dinner time." Mrs. Weasley laughed heartily and gave the girl another tight squeeze.

"Don't be silly dear; I always make enough food to feed an army!" She turned back to the stove and waved her hand lazily stirring some broth, while at the same time browning some kind of meat and onions. "You know how my boys eat, so I always have to be prepared with extra food. You look like you could use a little extra yourself, dear."

"Oh mother," Ginny sighed. "You think everyone needs to eat more. If it were up to you we'd all have six full course meals a day!"

Hermione laughed softly. She had lost a lot of weight over the year due to all the traveling and hunting for cursed magical items. She had tried to gain it back once summer came, but the break up didn't really help. Hermione smiled graciously at Mrs. Weasley who handed her a sweet roll and some tea.

"Eat up, deary," Molly replied while heading back to the stove. "And don't tell Ronald that I gave you something before dinner or he'll be down here in a jiff to clean out the cupboards." Ginny laughed as she led her friend into the den where Ron and Harry sat watching quidditch on Mr. Weasley's new, yet very, very old muggle television.

"Oi! What was that?!" Ron shouted as he jumped off the couch. "Are the refs blind?! That keeper is too far out of range, that tackle was legit!" Hermione smiled as Ginny rolled her eyes at her over excited brother.

"I dunno if boys ever grow up." She sighed and sat down on the sofa next to Harry. That slightly drew his attention towards the girl and he smiled brightly.

"Hermione, when did you get here?" He asked as he leaned over and gave her a big bear hug. Harry and Hermione had always had a brother/sister relationship, and she had missed him the past weeks while she was avoiding Ron. The weight from his features that he had carried the past two years was now gone and all you could see was a care free young man. Hermione hugged him back tightly and then sat back to look up at him.

"Just a moment ago, didn't you get my owl?" Hermione watched as Harry lowered his head slightly and shook his head. "You've been watching quidditch all day after you sent Hermes to me, haven't you?" He smiled and nodded.

"It's Bulgaria against France!" Harry stated as-a-matter-of-factly. "We've seen both Krum and Fleur there, of course Fleur is spectating, and Krum is doing fantastically!"

Hermione smiled as he sat back on the couch next to Ginny and flung his arm around Hermione's shoulders in a friendly manner. Ron had still neglected to give Hermione a hug or even a glance to acknowledge her arrival until Harry nudged him hard in the shoulder. He looked over slightly and nodded his head.

"Hey Hermione, glad you made it all right." And that was it as he went back to watching the television. Harry looked at her sadly and mouthed 'I'm sorry' to her.

Ginny glared at her brother and Ron tried hard to ignore the piercing caramel eyes of his annoyed sister. Hermione shrugged and shook her head. She never wanted the break up to cause any tension between her friends, and had hoped that Ron could be mature about it. Since he was so enjoying his fame, and attention from other girls, she thought perhaps their friendship wouldn't be strained.

"I'm going to go upstairs and unpack before dinner." Hermione smiled weakly at Harry and Ginny while turning to head up the many stairs of the house. "Please call me when dinner is ready." And with that, she walked up the large stair case to the third floor where the room she would be staying was located.

The new house was built almost identical to the old one, five floors with a loft at the top, but much less cluttered and everything was new and sturdy. With the absence of Voldemort or Death Eaters, the wizarding world was becoming much more accepting of the muggle world; henceforth, Mr. Weasley had gotten a large raise being in the Department of Muggle Studies.

Hermione slid off her cloak and hung it on her door as she plopped down on her mattress and exhaled. In a few weeks she would be eighteen, many of her classmates would be taking their seventh year again with the war interrupting their school studies. Hermione heard a husky purr and felt Crookshanks jump onto the bed and lie next to her.

She smiled with her eyes closed and gently ran her fingers through the scraggly fur. After a couple minutes she got up and unpacked some paper and a few books from her trunk. A new mahogany desk sat against the wall near to the door and she settled the paper and books neatly onto it.

"Hermione?" A knock at the door and a muffled voice. "Is it alright if we come in?" Hermione went to the door and opened it, seeing Ginny and Harry in the doorway. Hermione stepped aside to let them in and sat back down on the bed. Ginny sat on the desk chair and turned to face her, while Harry leaned against the wall after shutting the door.

"I'm sorry about Ron, Hermione, I didn't think he was going to act like this." Harry said while staring at the floor and rubbing the back of his neck. He looked up and she saw sorrow in his green eyes. "I truly thought that he was over the break up, I mean it has been three months and he never even mentioned being really upset about it or you coming to the Burrow being a problem."

"It's all right, Harry, I thought he would be over it as well since he never really seemed too upset about the whole thing," Hermione sighed as she pet Crookshanks, gently scratching under his chin as her purred his appreciation. "I figured since he had all those other girls, what did he say…'falling at his feet', that he wouldn't even think twice about me." Ginny looked up at her gently and put a hand on her knee.

"We all know you meant more to him than his fame, Hermione." The red head said gently to not agitate the brunette further. "I think he just thought you were the same. That you wanted to be in the lime light as much as he did, which if he'd actually known about you, he'd know that's not who you are." Hermione nodded and sighed heavily.

"Either way it wouldn't matter. If I had accepted the fame that followed Ron, you know he would get jealous of the attention I would receive and we would end up splitting anyway."

Harry and Ginny nodded in agreement. They all knew how Ronald Weasley handled his jealousy and it was not subtle. Hermione stood up almost on instinct as Mrs. Weasley hollered that it was time to eat. Harry and Ginny followed suit as Hermione walked out the door and down the stairs. Hermione paused as Ginny gently grabbed her elbow.

"Oh, Hermione, I forgot to show you something." Chirped the young witch. "Harry, you go ahead tell mum we will be down in a couple minutes." And with that, Ginny pulled Hermione back up the stairs and into her room again, gently shutting the door behind them.

"Ginny, what is going on?" Hermione asked, inquisitively eyeing her friend. "I thought you said you wanted to show me something, so why are we back in my room?" Ginny narrowed her eyes at Hermione and stepped towards her.

"Have you told Harry yet, Hermione?" Asked Ginny asked skeptically as she took a step closer to her friend. "About the contributing factor as to why you and Ron would NEVER work?" Hermione blushed slightly and ran her fingers through her wavy hair. The months with Ron and even before, Hermione had started to notice her attraction towards the same gender.

First, it was in her fourth year with Fleur Delacour. She tried to hide her attraction with jealousy and blamed the quarter Veela's thrall, but as she read about them, she learned that the thrall doesn't affect women. As time went on, it got progressively more evident that Hermione liked females, but when she was with Ron she didn't have a desire to pursue it, so she pushed it to the back of her mind.

"Of course not, Ginny." She replied sternly as she paced the room. "If I told Harry, I know he would tell Ron and I don't want Ron to think that was the only reason we broke up because at the time, it really didn't matter, you know? So no, I haven't told him yet and I hope you won't either, not until I'm ready at least." Ginny sighed and gently grabbed her friend's shoulders to stop her from pacing.

"You're going to burn a whole in the floor if you keep pacing like that." She said gently with a smile. "I promise not to tell him, Hermione, but you should sometime soon, or it might complicate any future relationships, what if you find someone when we go back to school or something?" Hermione laughed sardonically and gently took Ginny's hands into her own.

"I'm thankful to have a friend as loyal as you, Ginny." She let go of her hands and hugged her. "But I don't think I'm going to be in another relationship until school is over. It was too much to handle when I was trying to study." Ginny chuckled and opened the door as Arthur called up the stairs for them.

"You never know when love will strike, Hermione Granger." It was Hermione's turn to laugh as the two girls went down the stairs to the feast that awaited them in the kitchen.