Ups and Downs

"Your uncle?"

"Yes, my uncle."

"I didn't know you had an uncle."

"You don't know anything, Stupid."

"Don't call me stupid!"

Neville rolled his eyes and lay down on his bed. Dean and Seamus were back to their old habits of calling each other names. And it was only the first night. Neville had just informed his roommates that Professor Longbottom was his uncle.

"I had no idea your uncle was a professor," Ron said, staring out the window. He seemed more calm than usual.

Neville shrugged. "It never really came up in conversation, did it? I just had no idea he'd ever work here. But Dumbledore asked me to ask my uncle to send Dumbledore an owl about the job last June. Right after ... you know."

The dorm room went silent for a moment, as though in memory of the losses from last May, when another close call had happened, and a few more loved ones were gone.

Dean cleared his throat. "Excited for Quidditch try-outs?" he asked Harry, attempting to light up the situation.

Harry shrugged. Compared to Ginny, Quidditch was nothing. But since she wasn't there, it was one of the few things he had left. "There's only one spot open," he drawled.

"Oh, right," stuttered Dean. "Ginny's spot." Ginny had been one of the Chasers on the Gryffindor team since the previous year.

Seamus stared around at his roommates' gloomy expressions. He jumped up from the floor where he had been sitting. "Why are you all looking so depressed!? This is our last year! After this year no more Snape, no more stupid school rules ... we'll be free!" He looked eagerly at Neville, who smirked a little, then glanced at Ron, whose mouth also curled up a little. "Listen," continued Seamus, "I know Ginny's gone this year, and that's heartbreaking. But we can't let that bring our spirits down!" Harry gave Seamus a sullen look. "Right, the whole You-Know-Who thing. I have to admit, it's not exactly something we look forward to every year. But how many times have we been through this crap? Since our first year! We should be used to the pain and suffering by now!"

"Nice, Seamus, nice," noted Dean sarcastically.

"Sorry, that came out wrong. All I'm trying to say is that we can't spend our last year being depressed. We'll just regret it in the future."

"It's not that easy, Seamus," said Ron. "You remember what happened in May. That's not something we can just forget."

Seamus closed his eyes and took an aggravated deep breath. "I know. But we've been through this sort of stuff before. Remember our fifth year? We didn't exactly end that year with laughs and smiles." He eyed Harry nervously. "But we got back to normal in our sixth year, remember? We got through it!"

The others looked at him a little unsure. "Fine," he said, as if settling the matter. He turned to Harry. "Give us the heads up, Harry. What's the deal with You-Know-Who?"

"He's still out there," Harry said blankly. "You know that."

"And the Order?" Seamus asked. He the others had learned of the group at the end of their sixth year. "Do they have any leads?"

Harry nodded. He had been told that the Order, among others, were on Voldemort's tail. The search for him was narrowing now that he was much weaker. Even though Harry knew he'd have to be the one to kill him, the Order still had power to capture him. And according to the experts, they weren't far behind Voldemort and the last of his followers. The ones who weren't in Azkaban. It was Ginny he was so depressed about. He had had his ups and downs so far that day. He would be happy one moment, depressed the next.

Harry reassured his roommates that they did have leads and Hogwarts was very safe, especially with Dumbledore still there. Their reactions were different when Harry said the words.

"You see?" Seamus said, smiling with satisfaction. "Let's try to enjoy this year, okay? You-Know-Who is weaker, as we all know. It won't be long now. And we can all send Ginny letters. We'll get the whole House to send her letters!"

Seamus's energy was very contagious. Neville and Dean grinned at each other while Ron walked away from the window and nudged Seamus approvingly in the arm. He didn't feel half as bad now to concentrate on Hermione. He didn't want to appear as happy as he felt because of the Voldemort issues. But Seamus seemed to have made it all right for him to enjoy his growing relationship with Hermione. "I'm going to sleep," he announced, reaching into his trunk and pulling out his night clothes. The others followed his lead.

Down the stairs and up another set of stairs was the seventh year girls' dorm room. Lavender, Parvati, and Hermione were all seated in a circle in the middle of the floor. Parvati and Lavender were playing a casual game of cards while Hermione sat staring at a large book in her lap.

"When are you going to tell us about Ron?" Lavender asked Hermione, trying to catch her off guard. Hermione didn't fall for it.

"There's really not much to tell," she teased. Her eyes didn't move from the pages of the book.

"I guess we'll just have to ask Ron then," Parvati said, winking at Lavender, who stifled a giggle. Hermione wasn't falling for that, either.

"He'd just tell you bug off," said Hermione, yawning. She finally shut the book and leaned forward, lazily watching the game.

Lavender passed her a few cards. "You can play if you want."

Hermione shook her head. "No thanks. I have a lot of studying to do before tomorrow."

Parvati groaned. "We had summer homework, didn't we? Are either of you taking Advanced Ancient Runes this year?"

Both Hermione and Lavender shook their heads. "I had a lot of stuff to do for Potions, though," Lavender said, leaning back and straining to reach into her trunk. She dragged out a heavy book and a few pieces of parchment. "It's not done yet. Do you think Snape will be upset?" She looked at the two girls with hopefulness. "Right, stupid question."

Hermione laughed. "You two will be fine. You never did your summer homework before now, and you've passed your classes." She stood up and stretched. "I'm going to get lots of sleep tonight. Busy day tomorrow!"

Parvati sat up on her knees and shook her head mournfully. "Pity you can't stay here with us anymore," she said to Hermione, who had just opened the door. "You really get your own room?"

"I do," said Hermione, also feeling a little put down. Those girls were almost her complete opposites, but they had lived together for so long. Now that she was Head Girl, she was granted with her own dorm room. She had no idea how much she'd miss being kept awake by Lavender and Parvati. "I'm not that much fun, anyway," she joked.

"You're loads of fun," said Parvati, walking up to Hermione. Then she did something she had never done before. She gave Hermione a hug. "Just thought I'd tell you before we graduate." She winked at the bushy-haired girl. Hermione laughed, but only to cover her urge to cry. She said goodnight to both of them, then went out of the room and shut the door behind her. She climbed a small set of stairs across the way and found her room tidied and waiting for her.

It wasn't a very large dorm room but, then again, she was the only one sleeping in it. It reminded her of the Gryffindor common room with its battered but softened sofa and the gold and red walls. It even had its own little fireplace. Her bed was against the far wall under a large window, which had its red curtains pulled back to reveal the dark rain clouds looming in the sky. Hermione sat down on her bed and studied her surroundings. Her trunk was at the end of her bed, waiting to be opened. A dresser was on the other side of the room, along with her very own body-length mirror. The mirror fascinated the Head Girl.

The crystal clear glass was surrounded by a thick border. The border was made of hair-thin strands of gold twisted together in swirling patterns. Hermione slowly stood up from her bed and walked across the room to the mirror; she looked almost hypnotized. She stood before the mirror and titled her head a little as she examined herself. The rain had made her hair even bigger than before, and her school robe was dragged low from dampness. "Still the same," she mumbled, neither approvingly nor disapprovingly. In her eyes she saw the same Hermione that boarded the train back in first year. The adult form she had developed and the mature features in her face weren't visible to the young woman standing before the mysterious mirror. She turned away and got ready for bed.

***

The following morning, everyone arrived to breakfast in much more upbeat moods than the night before. Hermione found a seat next to Ron, but her attention was completely taken by Neville. "Well?" she asked her plump friend, who was seated across from her. She began buttering a piece of toast.

"What?" Neville asked, somewhat confused.

Hermione nodded at the staff table. "Who is he? Professor Longbottom."

"My uncle," Neville said, louder than normal. He looked a bit tired from explaining and wanted to make sure no one else asked him. Hermione nodded, sensing Neville's tension. He obviously didn't want to talk about his relative very much.

Several Gryffindor Prefects were walking beside the table, handing out everyone's class schedules. The moment Hermione's landed on her buttered toast, she grabbed it and read it very quickly.

"Checking to see if you'll have to use the Time Turner again?" Ron asked her, smirking. She rolled her eyes.

"No, Ron. I'm just making sure everything's here. I don't want to miss out on any classes." She eyed Ron's schedule, which he had barely even glanced at. She slowly picked it up and compared their classes. Her heart sank when she noticed they only had Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, and Care of Magical Creatures together. "You're barely taking any classes this year," she said disapprovingly. Ron snatched his schedule from her hand defensively.

"I'm taking what I need."

"Owls!" Harry said with a little too much enthusiasm. He had been having a conversation with Parvati, but his attention was now one hundred percent on the ceiling. He searched the swarm of owls for a particular white one. Hedwig came soaring down and dropped a single envelope on his plate. Harry opened it quickly and his eyes flew to the bottom of the letter. He grinned. "I'll see you in Defense," he said vaguely to his fellow Gryffindors, not taking his eyes off the letter. He got up from his seat and left the Great Hall, reading.

"Ginny," Hermione said plainly, sticking her fork roughly into her scrambled eggs. The bell rang. "Come on!" she exclaimed, grabbing Ron by the arm and pulling him up from the table. "We get Hagrid first today."

Ron felt his stomach grumble and stared down at his nearly full plate of food. He barely had time to grab his bag before Hermione had him halfway across the Hall in a race to the doors. "A little excited?" he asked her, stumbling along. His foot nailed the back of her heel.

"Ow!" she cried, stopping.

"Sorry!" he said almost frantically. But a smile was creeping onto his face. He tried to hide the grin as Hermione glared at him.

"Abuse," she mumbled, a smirk playing lazily on her lips. She and Ron reached the doors, but not before Draco Malfoy and his two body guards.

"Absolutely ridiculous," Hermione and Ron heard Malfoy grumble, as they followed him out of the Great Hall. He hadn't seemed to notice them. They trailed behind him towards the front doors. "If my father wasn't in Azkaban, I'd be Head Boy this year. It's all that Potter's fault and his Muggle-loving posse. I swear, this world is going to Hell because of them. I'm sure they had something to do with the Slytherin deal. I'll bet Dumbledore made sure that stupid Hat wouldn't send anyone to Slytherin."

Hermione and Ron looked at each other, each trying to hold back their laughter. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle found their way to the Greenhouses as Hermione and Ron went their own way to Hagrid's cabin. They were the first to arrive.

"Ron! Hermione! 'Ow was camping?" Hagrid asked, greeting them with a large smile.

"It was fun most of the time," Ron answered, he and Hermione following Hagrid to the door of his cabin. The half-giant reached just inside the front door and dragged out a large cage covered with a dirty sheet.

"I heard 'bout Ginny," Hagrid said, placing the cage in the middle of his garden. "A shame, really. You two look a'right, though!"

"She'll be coming back, that's why," Hermione said. But even Hagrid didn't fall for the unsure statement.

"'Ere they come!" Hagrid exclaimed, staring over Ron and Hermione's heads. The two Gryffindors looked over their shoulders and saw the rest of the class making its way down to the cabin. There weren't many taking that class by the looks of things.

There were many things that felt different as a seventh year, but the most noticeable change involved their classes. It always felt so comforting to have everyone in the same age group and House together in a class. Everyone shared the same homework and same pains from the teachers. But now they were lucky to have one or two friends from their House in the same class. The lessons were very challenging and the number of students small. Fortunately for Hermione and Ron, there were only three Slytherins in their Advanced Care of Magical Creatures class.

"Welcome ter Advanced Care o' Magical Creatures!" Hagrid exclaimed, beaming at the students gathered around. Hermione and Ron looked at each other and grinned. The year was starting out fairly normal, just the way they liked it.