Finally, she thought as she dotted the “i” and crossed the last “t” in her sentence.

After 5 hours and countless days of studying, she was the first to finish her NEWT exam. Proudly, she strode up to Professor McGonagall to hand in her hard work.

“Well done, Ms. Granger,” McGonagall said with a wink and knowing smile.

Feeling exhausted from all the preparation, Hermione made her way to the Gryffindor common room to relax. As she passed through the Great Hall, a group of girls were laughing loudly in the corner.

“Well my father has some work already lined up for me at the Ministry. I’ll be working as an assistant to the new Under Secretary.” Sounds of awe and approval came from a few of the girls in the circle.

“Well, my parents had already arranged for my marriage after I was born,” said another girl.

“I’m surprised they still do that,” said her friend.

“Well, my folks still cling to their Pureblood beliefs. Which is fine, I guess, considering my future husband is very wealthy.”

The raucous laughter from the bunch sent Hermione in another direction to get away from the senseless noise.

“Good grief. You’d think they would want more out of their lives,” she mumbled to her self. Hermione had an idea on what she wanted to do in her life. But it had been hard for her to pin down her career path since her options were so wide open. Yet still, she firmly believed that whatever her choice was, she knew she was going to make a difference in this world in some way, shape, or form.

After a few steps, she realized that she was in unfamiliar part of the castle. Maybe it was unfamiliar to her because of all the repairs that were done after the war. But the hall that she stood in looked different and quit deserted.

“How can I be lost?” she said in disbelief. She opened a nearby door to see if it went to someplace known. Instead, she found an empty room with a large mirror sitting at the opposite end. But something in the mirror beckoned her to come inside.

As she walked closer, she saw a little boy and girl making funny faces at the mirror. They waved frantically, trying to get her attention so they could make her laugh. Which worked, since all Hermione could do was smile at their tiny cute faces. Just then, an older woman walked into view to take the two away. Hermione looked into the woman’s eyes and saw her own smiling back at her. A redheaded man, who greeted the woman with a kiss, joined the woman and children. He waved at Hermione too as he walked away with the group.

It was like they were one big happy family.

“That’s a pretty sight.” Hermione spun around to see Ron standing beside to her.

He flashed the same smile as the redheaded man in the mirror