The courts tentatively decided to grant custody to mothers who wanted it. The titles and estates of the old families were stripped from the fathers, and the surrogates were granted control of the estates until their children came of age. The surrogates who did not want custody of the children were given “compensation”, and the children placed into fosterage or an orphanage set up specifically to raise them to eventually take up their family's seat.
There had been talk of razing Hogwarts and building a new magical school, but Ginny refused to hear of it. It had been the first home of Harry Potter and the birthplace of Dumbledore's Army. Hogwarts would be rebuilt; it would have classes that taught about what had happened so that the atrocities of the Wizarding War would never happen again and never be forgotten.
When there were whispers about the curse on Hogwarts' DADA position, Ginny announced her intention to become the professor.
On the island, life adapted to Ginny's absence. James and Aurore grew intensely attached to each other to the point that Draco and Hermione often cast worried glances at each other when they observed it.
“She's not going to handle it,” Hermione said while she watched Aurore and James wading at the beach. Padfoot was racing up and down the shore, barking madly at the seagulls. “She's so possessive. I don't know if it'll be better or worse to begin preparing her for it.”
Draco nodded slowly. His hand was gripping Hermione's, but his eyes were intently watching Aurore as she went bolting down the beach after James, dragging a long piece of kelp behind her.
Ginny returned before James' sixth birthday. The reunion was joyful. She had brought back old pictures that had been recovered, photos of Harry, Ron, and Hermione at school.
James was overjoyed to see his mother, but Ginny was not there to stay. She was going to take James back to Britain. They were going to live in the rebuilt Hogsmeade village and help with reconstruction before the Hogwarts School was reopened the following year.
“Come back with me, Hermione,” Ginny said while Draco was away checking the wards. “You should come back. Everything I'm saying and doing are all your ideas. I'm just repeating them. You'd be better at this than me. All the ways you used to want to change the wizarding world — you could do most of it if you come back. People should know you're the reason it was even possible to kill Voldemort.”
Hermione's chest tightened, but she forced herself to give a small laugh. “I think you and Draco had something to do with it too. How exactly would that work? Would I bring Aurore with me and have her there while I try to clear Draco's name, or just leave them both behind?”
Ginny's expression grew strained, and she looked away. “You can't clear his name. I know you think he's a tragic hero, but that's not how anyone else will ever see him, even if you explain why he did what he did. I've worked with the aurors and lawyers. I've seen the records. Hermione, do you know how many people he's killed? The lists are so long—”
“I know,” Hermione cut her off.
Ginny crossed her arms tightly. “He's like Voldemort was when we were kids. People whisper when they say High Reeve. No one even says Malfoy if they can help it. His signature is all over the trial records. It's not like Voldemort signed anything. The way the regime's records come across, you'd think he was the one actually in power post-war. Everything that happened, he was at least informed about.”
Hermione's stomach twisted but her jaw grew tense. “It's hard to destabilise a regime without being informed,” she said in a dry voice.
Ginny gave a resigned sigh and looked away again.
Hermione looked at her from the corner of her eye. “I'm not going to leave him, Ginny. There's no version of me surviving the war without Draco. Believing in the other person is the only reason either of us survived. I'm too tired to try to rebuild the wizarding world based on a lie about how I managed to live through it.”
Ginny stared at Hermione, and her lips twitched as though she were debating something.
“Hermione—” She drew a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “Hermione, I know I said I wouldn't say anything else, but I have to say all this at least once before I go and leave you here.” Her throat dipped as she swallowed. Her scar had reddened and stood out starkly the way it always did when she was upset. “You're all the family I have left besides James. You're more important to me than just about anyone else in the world. I owe you my life and I love you, and Harry and Ron loved you; so I have to say this once. I know you love Draco. I just — I don't think you realise how inhumanly cold he is to anyone who isn't you and Aurore. The rest of the world could burn, and he'd barely care. It's not like it was some simple spell he used to kill all those people. You have to mean the Killing Curse—”
“I know what he's like, Ginny.” Hermione cut her off. “It's the reason you and I are alive.”