This is my first fanfic, so I hope it's not too bad... Any mistakes are solely my own, as I don't have a Beta. (If you would like to Beta for me, PM me!) Also, it'll get better, I promise.

Disclaimer: No, I am not the wonderful JK Rowling. (But maybe if I could get my hands on some Polyjuice Potion...) All characters and setting are hers. The plot and personification of the charecters in solely mine, though.

Chapter One ~ Prologue

Hermione stared around at the rubble of the once magnificent castle. She had come often to the old castle, helping to clean up the destruction that the Final Battle had left behind. She was standing in what remained of her beloved Gryffindor Tower. She still, after two weeks, had not been up to see what had happened. It seemed, after the horrible events and killing of the past year, that all of her mighty Gryffindor courage was gone. Truth be told, she was scared. Scared of how she would feel. Scared of what she would remember. Scared of what she would see. All she saw was ashes. The comfortable chairs were overturned and ruined. Windows were shattered, and broken quills, among other burned belongings, were scattered upon the ground. She slowly headed up the crumbling stairs, heading to her old dormitory. She was afraid of what she would see.

She slowly pushed open the door and had to fight back the urge to scream. For there, splayed across her bed, was Crookshanks. There was no doubt about it, her beloved companion was gone. She was so shocked and wounded that she was unable to realize that this had been done recently. All she could do was turn around and walk out, and travel down the staircase.

As she reached her old common room, she stared at the fireplace, the place where the Golden Trio had spent so much of their times, and so many memories. All of the sudden, the memory of the day after the Final Battle popped up in her mind.

It was dreary and rainy as if Mother Nature had somehow sensed the mood of the day. For today was the day that all of the people who fought in the war would be laid to rest. The good and, yes, the bad people. Every one of them had lived, fought, and died, for what they believed in. Hermione has asked Harry and Ron to meet up with her in what was left of Gryffindor Tower. So there she stands waiting by the broken fireplace, with tears streaming down her face. Silently, without a word, they both came up and hugged her fiercely. Harry let go after a while, leaving Ron and Hermione in a tight embrace.

"'Mione, I'm so, so sorry that you had to go through all of this." He mumbled into her hair.

"Yeah, well, I'm not the only one that's suffered. We've all seen the people we love die. I'm not sure if I'm strong enough for this." Ron flinched at her mention of deceased loved ones.

"Of course you are," Harry spoke up, "You're Hermione Granger, a 17-year-old War Heroine. You're one of the strongest people I know." he had told her. And so she had gone to the service, gone and wept, and thought about leaving.

Yet the single that made her stop was Malfoy. Draco Malfoy was standing near the front, crying unashamedly. The sight was so surreal, so unusual, that she stopped. Hermione stood in place and paid her respects for the fallen. It was weird to think, that in the end, Malfoy was the reason she had been strong.

Hermione sunk to the ground, sobbing. She was lost, and alone. She had nobody now. That was the moment when Hermione Granger began to break.

Chapter One ~ Part One

Draco Malfoy looked around the bustling Great Hall with a mask of sneering indifference. They had managed to mostly restore the castle. The Great Hall looked as splendid as it had before the war. On the inside, he was a complete wreck. He was nervous about how his peers would treat him. He was even more worried about how the professors would treat him. They all loved to complain about how the "bad guys" were prejudiced assholes, yet here they were, prejudiced about a young man they thought was a former Death Eater.

Draco Malfoy was, in fact, not a Death Eater, nor had he ever been one. It was true, he had agreed with his father's morals about how "Purebloods were perfection", but he had never seen eye to eye with his father on the whole "Let's kill all of the Mudbloods" plan. In Draco's opinion, what was the point? If they had killed all of the Muggle-borns, there would be no superiority. All there would be is Pure and Half-bloods. As he was running this through his mind, he noticed something. All of the students, even the freshly sorted First Years, had their wand in reach and were scanning the Hall for signs of an exit. The poor children looked so scared, lonely, and afraid. It was so, so, sad. (Not that he'd ever tell anybody this, or even let it show.)

He peeked over at the Gryffindor Table, and was unsurprised when he saw Potter, Weasel, Longbottom, and Patil back for their "eighth year". What did surprise him was that there was no sign of the bushy-haired beaver. He looked again. Yep, Hermione Granger was nowhere in sight. And what intrigued him more, was that nobody seemed to care. Not even the other two-thirds of the Golden Trio. He knew for a fact that she was still alive. It would have been all over the papers, and the world would be thrown into chaos. It wasn't that he cared about Granger, he was just curious. What in the world had happened?

He tuned out as the Headmistress began a huge speal about the past year. He was jolted to attention when he realized everybody was staring at him. He looked around, wondering what was going on. He looked at the Head Table to see McGonagall beckoning him. He stood up and strode over the where she stood. He realized that she was holding out a badge.

'What?' he thought, 'What is this?' His silent questions were answered a moment later.

"Draco Malfoy you are hereby declared Deputy Head boy." There was an explosion of voices at the statement, many of the students had stood up to voice their opinions.

"He's a Death Eater!"

"He killed Dumbledore!"

"He let Death eaters in!"

"He should be in Azkaban!"

"SILENCIO!" the Headmistress roared, waving her wanding. The yells ceased at once. "Now, as I was saying. This is mainly the same as the Head positions for the 7th years. The 7th year heads are Ginevra Weasley and Colin Creevy." (A/N: In this story Colin is alive. All other canon deaths are in relevent here. Also, Lavender Brown and Padma Patil died in the Final Battle.)

'Hmm, Weaslette managed to get Head Girl? Odd.' he thought.

"Unlike the 7th years, you and the female head will be required to share a common room, have the same classes, and be required to sit together for one meal every week. You will patrol together every weekday, while the Heads get the weekends." she declared.

'I hope it's not Loony.' he thought grimly. She was the only female Ravenclaw back, as Padma had died in the Final Battle. He also could not see Parvati getting the position. 'Hmm, maybe it'll be Bones. She wouldn't be horrible….'

"Mr. Malfoy, if you would please take your badge." the Headmistress said. He took it and pinned it on his robes.

"Now it is time to announce the Deputy Head Girl."

'Here it goes.' Draco thought apprehensively. The Headmistress next words almost caused him to fall over in shock. 'But, but… She's not even here... What? Oh, no…' He had a million thoughts flying through his head.

For the Headmistress had just said, "Will Hermione Granger please come up and join us to accept her badge?"

A/N Please Review! (I'll give you cookies!) I'll respond to each other them personally, ecspecialy if you have questions! I appreciate critisism, it'll help me improve! (Compliments are fine too!) ;) Please don't flame, it'll just drag me down! Please, please, review, and/or favorite!

Peace ~

Awletea