Raw

Hermione awoke to Ron gently kissing her neck and shoulders. They had shifted in their sleep to a spooning position, and he had wrapped his arms around her protectively. The sun shone in through the window of Hermione's bedroom, its rays turning the first afternoon tint of orange.

"Mmm, that feels nice," Hermione mumbled sleepily, turning to face Ron. She cupped his face in her hand and he smiled at her.

"Good afternoon," he said, taking her hand and kissing it gently.

"It feels so late," she said. "I wonder what time it is."

"Dunno," he yawned, pushing off of the bed and rising to sit on the edge, running his hands through his hair. He got up and started putting his swimming trunks on as Hermione watched him from the bed lazily.

"I can't believe we came up here in just our swimsuits," he said, glancing at her with a wry smile. "I'm gonna have to walk back to the common room bare chested."

"Here," she said, rising out of the bed naked. "I think I have some of your shirts from this summer." She walked over to her dresser and rifled through it, pulling out an old white t-shirt that belonged to him. Ron walked over and grabbed it from her, pulling her into him and kissing her gently while subtly cupping her ass. Hermione giggled against his lips and pulled away to sit on the edge of the bed.

"I'm gonna go to the Gryffindor common room before dinner to see what Harry's up to," said Ron, pulling the shirt over his head. "You wanna stop by?"

Hermione nodded. "I'm going to hang out here for a bit, but I'll stop by before dinner."

"Ok, I'll see you soon." Ron put a finger under her chin and lifted her lips to meet his, kissing her softly three times. "Bye."

"Bye," Hermione whispered back, watching him leave the room. She leaned back on the bed, still undressed, running her hands over her body. She wondered if everything would feel different now that she was no longer a virgin.

She looked down the length of her body. Her hipbones stuck out a minimal amount, and she lightly skimmed them, relishing the sharpness of the bone against her hands. She put her feet up on the bed, making her legs into small mountains as she relaxed her head and stared up at a crack in the ceiling over her bed. She didn't feel any different while alone in her room. Maybe it would hit her later when she was least expecting it.

She turned to the side and pulled a book out from under her bed that she had kept hidden since her sixth year. The front read "The Witch's Ultimate Guide to Painless Birth Control." Hermione flipped through the pages to find one that had been dog-eared and read many times. She skimmed the writing on the page and set the book on the bed, grabbing her wand. She pointed the wand at her abdomen and murmured a charm softly, moving the wand in tiny circles. She felt a slight twinge and looked down at her belly, satisfied that it had worked. She closed the book and shoved it far under her bed.

Hermione rolled off her bed and walked to her dresser, picking out a shirt and cotton shorts to wear. She stopped in front of her mirror on the way back, examining her body. She hadn't really looked at herself in detail since well before the war. The summer spent cooped up with the Weasleys showed on her body - several extra pounds seemed to just sit on top of her frame, out of place, like they didn't belong there. Hermione stared for a few seconds longer, then shrugged and pulled her clothes on over her head. She grabbed a brush and ran it through her hair quickly, then tossed it on her bed and exited into the common chamber.

He was sitting at the table when she entered, reading a spell book. Hermione stopped short in the doorway, mouth agape. He must have seen Ron leave - he could have even been there earlier and heard them together in her room. She set her mouth defiantly and locked eyes with him as he glanced up at her.

"So? I bet you've had tons of girls over to your room before," Hermione said, trying to appear bored as she set her lips in a firm line and leaned against the doorpost.

"I wasn't judging you, Granger, and I didn't hear what you and Weasley were doing in there, but thanks for erasing any doubt from my mind," Malfoy drawled, returning his eyes to his spell book.

Hermione folded her eyes over her chest and glared. "What are you doing out here anyways? I've barely seen you leave your room."

"Studying, Granger. In case you've forgotten, school starts in less than a week. And since my social life will be drastically diminished this year, I might as well spend my time studying so I can beat you in grades this year."

"I'd like to see you try. You haven't even come close to beating me once over the last six years."

"Well, we'll see about that. People change," said Malfoy, shooting her a sarcastic smile. "Plus if you keep spending all your time with Weasley, it'll just make it easier for me."

Hermione huffed loudly. "Malfoy, will you please just shut up about me and Ron? I don't like that you get to see us interact, much less that you talk about it."

Malfoy turned a page deliberately, then looked up to meet Hermione's gaze. "Why do you like him so much?"

"Grow up, Malfoy, I'm not playing your mind games with you. We're seventeen."

"No, I'm serious. I've never had a real relationship before. I just wondered what you liked about him."

Hermione looked into his grey eyes and softened slightly. Something in them (honesty, perhaps?) made her trust him, and she decided to answer his question candidly.

"I don't know. There are a lot of great things that I like about him. He's my best friend, and I can tell him anything. I'm really comfortable around him."

"How does that make your relationship special? Anyone can be best friends if they spend enough time together," replied Malfoy, looking at her searchingly.

"Malfoy, that is inherently untrue. Look at you and me - we're going to be spending tons of time together this year in here and I highly doubt we will end up best friends," Hermione retorted, her hands on her hips.

"Probably." Malfoy looked back at her, his eyes dark.

Hermione stared at him for a long moment. "I can't believe I took that question seriously enough to give you an honest answer. You're impossible," she said, throwing her hands up and turning into her room. She shut the door with enough force to make her frustration apparent to Malfoy.

Malfoy stared after her as she left the room and shrugged. He thought he was right.

Hermione paced around her room angrily, fuming at Malfoy. She should have known better than to try to talk openly with him - he wasn't making an effort to start over with her, he was just trying to get under her skin. She resolved to do her best to ignore him for the rest of the year. She pulled out some of her schoolbooks from under her bed and began reading to calm herself down.

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Hermione ran softly behind Megan, listening to the sound their footsteps made as they fell lightly on the pine needle covered ground in the wooded area. She had arisen before six o' clock to meet Megan in front of the Hogwarts castle. The two had taken off running across the Hogwarts grounds. As they ran, Megan continued asking Hermione detailed questions about their surroundings. Hermione got all of them wrong, but she was beginning to get a sense of what was important to notice. Her ponytail brushed softly against the back of her neck as she shook her head to fling off the sweat clinging to the tendrils of hair framing her face.

Megan slowed down in front of her as they reached a clearing with several large flat rocks. "Ok, I think we'll stop here for today. Great job, Hermione! You're a natural runner. I think you'll get into shape very quickly." Megan pulled her wand out from her shorts and picked up a branch, quickly transfiguring it into a makeshift cup.

Hermione gasped in mock shock as she sat on a nearby rock. "You brought your wand? This is the non-magical part of my training," she joked.

"Well, if you want to go thirsty..." Megan shrugged, pretending to throw the cup over her shoulder as Hermione's expression instantly turned to horrified. "I thought not," Megan grinned wickedly. "Aguamenti." The cup filled with cool water, and she handed it to Hermione, who drank it greedily.

Megan sat next to Hermione on the flat rock. "I know it's only the second day of your training, but you're doing really well. How are you feeling so far?"

Hermione took the cup away from her mouth and turned her head to look at her mentor. "I like it. However, I have to be honest - I haven't really felt any changes like you and Headmaster McGonagall were telling me I would."

Megan looked off into the distance. "You will. Those changes take a while to set in, definitely. But I don't know a single Auror who hasn't said that being an Auror changed them, personally."

"Megan? Remember how you were saying that it's very rare for anyone to make it through Auror training? Do you think I'll be one of the ones that does?"

Megan stood up and turned to face Hermione. "Honestly, no one is a given, but I'd be pretty surprised if you didn't finish. You came into this with a very impressive background: all the Horcrux hunting you did last year was similar to the missions Aurors attempt all the time - and we have a much higher failure rate than you did! That experience gives you a considerable advantage at thinking on your feet and recognizing danger. I'd give you a really high chance of successfully completing the training - which is one of the reasons I was so excited to find out you would be my student."

"Wait, you didn't get to pick who you would mentor?"

"Not really. The youngest Aurors generally mentor the Aurors-in-training from their own wizarding school, which is how I got you - I went to Hogwarts. They stay as their mentor until either the Auror-in-training drops out or finishes the training. You mentor new wizards every year until one of yours makes it through training successfully, and then they stay as your permanent mentor."

"You went to Hogwarts?" Hermione asked, surprised. "How old are you?"

"I'm twenty-five. I graduated from Hogwarts the year before you started. It's a shame, really. It would have been great to have seen you and your friends in school. The whole Academy has been talking about you, Harry, and Ron for years, wondering whether or not any of you would become Aurors." Megan climbed up on a felled log and walked across it, using her arms to balance herself.

"So then, who is your mentor?"

"Kingsley." Megan grinned when Hermione's eyes widened. "I bet you didn't expect to know who it was."

"Yeah. Also, he's so old!"

"Well, I had a different mentor when I first entered training, but he died a few years back." Megan didn't meet Hermione's eyes. "So Kingsley stepped in to replace him, and he's been a great mentor."

Hermione was curious to find out more about Megan's previous mentor, but she didn't want to seem too prying, especially since they had just met. "Does Kingsley still teach you, then?"

"Somewhat. Once you finish your first few years of training and become an active-duty Auror, your mentor becomes less of a teacher and more of a partner. Kingsley makes a great mentor because he's very tough and he pushes me. Which means, unfortunately for you, I learned from him how to be tough on my mentors. That brings me to the next part of our workout for today: fighting!" Megan jumped off the log and turned to face Hermione. "That's enough of a break, right? Let's see how much you remember from yesterday."

Megan pulled Hermione off the rock and into the middle of the clearing. "All right, let's start with punches. Show me your jab." Megan held out her hand in front of her like a stop signal, motioning for Hermione to hit it.

Hermione stared at her outstretched hand. "Megan, I don't want to hurt you."

Megan laughed. "Hermione, don't worry. It's not going to hurt. Go ahead."

"Seriously, I don't want to hit you! What if it's too hard?"

Megan turned and quickly walked over to a nearby sapling tree. She looked it up and down and then suddenly hit it with the side of her hand, felling it in a clean chop. Hermione stared with her mouth agape as Megan walked back towards her grinning.

"See? You won't hurt me, I promise. Now practice your jabs!"

Hermione began punching her hand quickly, alternating between her right and left hand.

"Hermione? Have you ever seen a Muggle boxer?"

"Yes," Hermione replied, still punching.

"So you've seen how they move their feet before? Kind of like they're constantly skipping rope?" Megan demonstrated, shifting her weight lightly from one foot to the other. "Try doing that while you punch. The extra movement will give you more power in your hits, and it will keep your feet from becoming rooted, which will be good for later lessons when you'll have to learn how to duck."

Hermione pulled her fists up in front of her body and tentatively tried to copy the quick hopping motion Megan had exhibited. Once she had found a rhythm, Megan extended her hand again. Hermione punched it soundly, hearing the loud pop of her skin bouncing off of Megan's.

"Good, Hermione!" Megan cried. "See how much stronger it makes you? Now try to hit me even harder."

Hermione focused her energy on making her hits direct and forceful. Sweat dripped down her back as she punched harder, dancing lightly on her feet.

The morning sun rose higher in the sky, illuminating the trees on the Hogwarts grounds and the two young girls as they fought in the meadow.

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Hermione stole into the Great Hall for breakfast after her training with Megan, physically exhausted but mentally stimulated. She wove her way through the other students until she found the Gryffindor table.

Ron whistled at her as she approached. Hermione had elected to dress more like Megan after their first training session, and she sported a sports bra and tight spandex shorts. Her midriff was still slick with sweat from the morning training session.

"Hey, if this Auror training thing means you coming to breakfast every morning half naked, I could really get behind it," said Ron as Hermione climbed over the bench next to him. "On second thought, maybe not..." Ron frowned as his eyes fixed on Malfoy, who was watching Hermione from several tables away. Malfoy's eyes caught Ron's, and he averted his gaze.

"Don't mind him, he's probably just already horny since he won't be getting any for the rest of his life," Hermione joked, kissing Ron on the cheek as Harry and Ginny laughed.

"I thought you were gonna come down and hang out with us in the common room last night," Ron pouted. "What happened?"

"Oh, right," scowled Hermione. "I meant to - I stepped out of my room but ran into Malfoy in the common chamber. We kind of had a little spat, and then I was too angry to leave. I just stayed in my room and read spell books for the rest of the night."

"What did you fight about?" asked Ron.

"Oh, nothing really. Mostly grades," Hermione lied, looking down at her hands. "He was going on about how he's going to study much more this year and finally get ahead of me in school."

Ron and Harry snorted in unison.

"Don't even listen to him - he's clearly just trying to get a rise out of you. He hasn't even come close to matching you over the past six years. By the way, you missed the big news at Gryffindor last night," Ginny continued excitedly. "Lavender Brown came back last night."

"So?" asked Hermione.

"So look at her!" exclaimed Ginny. Hermione leaned over the table and looked to the side, trying to see Lavender.

"I don't see her."

"Yes you do. She's sitting right next to Parvati, to her left."

Hermione's eyes widened. "THAT'S Lavender Brown?!" Hermione hadn't seen her fellow Gryffindor seventh year since the end of the war. The girl's appearance had changed greatly. She seemed to have grown almost an inch and was no longer dumpy, but rather slender and graceful. Her hair had lost its frizzy quality and was now a sleek light blond, falling elegantly over her shoulders. Hermione noticed she was also wearing light makeup, and she moved with confidence. Her friends were not the only ones that noticed her transformation - the other Gryffindor boys sat across from her, apparently immensely interested in her detailing of her most recent shopping trip to Parvati.

"I know, she really grew up over the last few months, didn't she?" said Ginny.

"Yeah, Ron would never be able to get her now...I mean, because he has you, of course," Harry added hastily, as Hermione shot him a withering glare. "He wouldn't want to get her. How was training this morning?" Harry changed the topic, burying his face in his cereal.

"Good. Megan's really cool - she's so intense though, it's kind of scary. Oh, you guys will get to meet her by the way. She's going to be our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

"She is?" Ginny asked, surprised. "I thought you said she was really young, like early twenties."

"Yeah, she's twenty five. It's just an interim thing. Apparently they haven't been able to find a permanent teacher for the position, so she and possibly some other Aurors are going to fill in this year until they find a full time teacher. Anyway, I think she will make a really good teacher. She's really relatable."

"It'll be nice to finally have a female DADA teacher," Ginny said while nibbling on a carrot.

"What, Umbridge doesn't count?" Ron joked.

"Ugh!" exclaimed Ginny and Hermione together. "She really shouldn't count," said Ginny.

"You'll really like Megan," Hermione told Ginny. "She's nothing like Umbridge, I swear."

"Well that's a relief," said Ginny. "Hey Hermione, want to come with me to Hogsmeade today? I need to pick up some spell books that I forgot to get this summer. It might be fun to get off the grounds for a bit."

"Yeah, I'd like to come. Ron? Harry? Are you going?"

"Shopping with two girls? No way, I want to be back in time for dinner," Harry joked. Ginny rolled her eyes beside him.

"Luckily I didn't ask either of you."

"Come with me back to my room," said Hermione. "I need to change if we're going to go." The two girls headed off to Head Tower as Ron and Harry stayed behind to finish their breakfast.

"Hermione," said Ginny as they walked off, "how is it really, living with Malfoy? Are you okay with it?"

"Well, it's not like I enjoy it, but there's nothing I can do, really. He's Head Boy, and he apparently earned the spot. I don't really have any say about who they appoint as my partner."

"Yes, but...aren't you a bit frightened? I know I would be if I lived so close to him."

"Oh Ginny," Hermione sighed. "Ron, Harry and I have had to deal with Malfoy since our first year. If there's one thing we've learned about him since then, it's that he's all bark and no bite. I know he can seem scary, but he really just likes acting that way. He doesn't frighten me."

"Do you think he became a Death Eater?"

Hermione shook her head. "I don't think so. I've never seen the mark on his arm. And from what he told me when we got back, he wasn't in any trouble with the Ministry after the war. I think the official Ministry position is that his family was coerced into aiding Voldemort, although I doubt that's the whole truth," Hermione snorted.

"Do you think he's changed?"

"No. Not to his core, at least. He may seem more modest, but I bet it's all just an act."

"Maybe this year will change him, then."

Hermione paused. "Maybe," she agreed. The two girls fell silent as they climbed the rest of the stairs up towards Head Tower.

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The rest of the week at Hogwarts passed smoothly, if uneventfully. Hermione was progressing quickly in her physical training with Megan. She was pleased with her accomplishments, and Megan was even more so.

She hadn't seen much of Malfoy since their run-in in the common room. She suspected he was avoiding her, which was fine with her. The few times they had bumped into each other in their common area, they had both been civil to each other - Hermione took it as an attempt on his part to apologize for offending her the other night. She hadn't been spending much of her time in their room, anyway.

Hermione was beginning to enjoy spending a lot of her time outside. Most days she would take a walk around the lake's edge and sit with her feet in the water, mulling over her thoughts as she stared out across the water's flat surface. She was starting to depend on magic less. Last year she would have felt that going out anywhere without her wand was tantamount to suicide; this year she already noticed herself leaving her wand in her room more and more.

She treasured the last few days of summer that she spent with Ron, Harry, and Ginny. They rarely had so much time at Hogwarts before school started. The four of them spent the time together practicing Quidditch, swimming in the lake, and reading outside in the dying summer sun.

The Sunday before classes came much too soon. Hermione woke early and put on training clothes to go work out with Megan. They often started before six, stretching the training sessions longer and longer.

She met Megan in front of the castle, and the two took off on their morning jog. Hermione stayed a few feet behind Megan, watching her long brown ponytail swish behind her as she ran. Megan continued to throw out questions about their surroundings to their Hermione throughout the run.

"Hermione, feel the ground with your feet," she called out behind her. "See how soft it feels and how much give there is. How many hours has it been since it last rained?"

Hermione concentrated on her footsteps bouncing off of the dirt. "About five?"

"Yes! Good. It rained at one o' clock last night. Knowing the consistency of the ground is important when either checking for footsteps or making sure you don't leave any of your own, which could give away your position. Nice job!"

Hermione beamed behind her. It was her first correct answer - a small victory, but a big deal to her nonetheless. Every day she was getting better.

Megan started to slow after they had gone about five miles. Hermione followed suit, dropping to a walk with her hands on her hips. The girls walked in silence for a few minutes, catching their breath.

"Hermione, you're getting much better at noticing your surroundings. Do you feel it?" Megan asked, looking at Hermione as she walked beside her.

"Yeah...I think so," said Hermione between breaths. "It's still hard to pick up on all the things you notice though."

"You will start - you already have, a little bit. Remember, I've been trained to think this way for the last eight years. You've had less than eight days, and you're already doing quite well. Stretch."

Hermione bent over and touched the ground, lengthening her calf muscle as she leaned back. The morning sun evaporated the heat off from her hair, curling in a delicate steam as it rose from her head.

"So, are you excited to have me as your teacher tomorrow morning?" Megan joked as she stretched her right arm.

"Yeah, you know, I feel like we never get to see each other anymore," Hermione kidded, looking up at her mentor.

"You'll probably be the first Auror-in-training who drops out to get some free time away from their mentor," said Megan, twisting her upper body. The two girls were becoming fast friends. Hermione felt comfortable during her morning exercises with Megan, and she often talked to the older woman freely. Still, Hermione didn't feel confident enough to ask Megan what had happened to her former mentor. She vowed to ask her that question further down the road.

"Okay Hermione, today is going to be a much tougher day, physically. My other student is going to meet up with us here in about an hour, and then I'll begin training you two together. But before that, we're going to work on your fighting a little bit. Today, you're going to start off by fighting me."

Hermione laughed loudly. "Very funny, Megan."

"I'm serious!"

"That's bloody ridiculous, you know you could kick my ass with one hand behind your back."

"I'm going to be defending against you. You'll be using all the punches, kicks, and different maneuvers you know, trying to land a hit on me. I'll be defending myself against you and trying to avoid everything you throw."

"There's no way I'm going to land anything."

"You never know. You have to start somewhere." Megan walked out to the middle of the field and stood waiting, her hands on her hips. "You ready?"

"I guess," Hermione muttered, and walked towards her. She put her fists up and started moving her feet as Megan readied herself in a defensive stance. Hermione started by throwing a hook with her right arm. Megan blocked it with her left arm. Hermione threw a jab on the left side. Blocked again. She swung around and aimed at Megan with a sidekick, which Megan easily blocked using her leg.

"Fighting is creative, Hermione," Megan called out as Hermione continued to try to land a hit. "You're going to have to catch me off guard if you're going to land a punch. If you stay too predictable, I'm going to be able to block you every time."

Hermione nodded and whirled around to try to catch Megan with a left hook, but she was blocked. She brought her knee up to strike, but again Megan rejected her hit.

"You have to move quicker than you are. I can see you thinking and I can see you start to move. It's too easy for me to react to you."

Hermione tried to speed up her movements, but the whole process was exhausting. Her body ached and her mind was working at full speed to think about what move to make next - she tried to imagine what Megan thought she would do, and then perform the exact opposite move. However, try as she might, she couldn't land a hit.

Megan seemed to sense her frustration and tried to encourage her. "You're getting better, Hermione. Your movements are becoming quicker. Try not to think so much, just feel it." The two girls continued sparring for a while until Hermione tried to surprise Megan by throwing first a right hook and then a left uppercut. Megan grabbed both of her arms by the wrists and spun her around, twisting her arms behind her. Hermione struggled, surprised.

"This is a defensive maneuver often used to end the fight," Megan said, holding Hermione's arms more gently. "You'll end up trying to use it a lot during sparring." She released Hermione's arms, and Hermione turned around, panting.

"This is impossible," she said.

"You're not doing badly," said Megan. "It's going to take you a while to get used to it, though. It'll be easier when you're fighting against another student instead of a fully trained Auror. Speaking of which, here he comes now." Megan pointed off into the woods where a tall young man was barely visible, jogging towards them through the remaining morning mist. As he approached, Hermione had to blink her eyes rapidly to make sure she was seeing things correctly. But there was only one boy with that lithe, lanky figure and that mop of platinum blonde hair.

"You have GOT to be kidding me."