CHAPTER 1

Hermione rolled over and then moaned when the bright sunlight streaming through the gap in her curtains hit her square in the face. She mumbled something inaudibly and pulled the covers up over her head. Then, the excitement began to set her in motion. Today was the day she went back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for her seventh and final year. She had been made Head Girl but she had no idea who the Head Boy was yet.

Hermione jumped out of bed, stretched and headed off to take a shower. She came out after freshening up and chose something that flattered her figure. She opted for a short, navy-blue A-line skirt and a white, cashmere, off-the-shoulder sweater. She topped it off with clunky white heels and a white Hawaiian flower in her hair. She sprinted downstairs and, kissing her mother on the cheek as she passed, flopped down at the table and pulled a plate of pancakes toward her. She shoveled them into her mouth, talking all the time.

'Mom, we have to get to Kings Cross early,' she said thickly through a mouthful of pancakes. 'You know that I have to make a good impression. I need to be prompt and ready and eager and…'

'Honey!' Mrs. Granger said loudly, cutting off her daughter. 'Take it easy. You haven't even gotten to school yet and your responsibilities don't start until you do.' Hermione nodded and kept shoving the pancakes into her already full mouth in her haste.

When she was done, Hermione dragged her trunk out to the car and got in. Her mother had to endure her almost constant babbling about her duties and all the privileges that she got as Head Girl all the way to Kings Cross Train Station and she was very incensed by the time they got there.

As soon as Hermione got to Kings Cross Station, she began searching for her two best friends of six years, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter. It didn't take long for her to find them considering it was very difficult to miss Ron's mop of flame-colored hair. She ran to them and through her arms around them, pulling them both into a bone-crushing hug.

'Hermione,' Harry gasped. 'Hermione, we can't breathe!' Hermione let go and beamed at them both. They had filled out considerably over the summer. Ron had gone from being a tall, lanky boy to being a tall, not-so-lanky man. Quidditch had really done wonders for him. Harry, too, had changed noticeably. He had gone from being a small, skinny boy to being a tall, muscled man. All those years as Seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team had given him lean, rippling muscles. They were both beaming at her.

'We missed you, too, Hermione,' Ron chuckled. His voice had gotten a tad lower.

'How was your summer?' Harry asked, his voice perceptibly lower as well, his beautiful emerald green eyes sparkling at the sight of her so happy. Hermione squealed with delight.

'Oh, it was wonderful!' she said enthusiastically. 'It was just me and my mum because my dad was off to a dentist's convention in Switzerland. We had so much fun! We got to do all the girly things that we never got to do when dad was there. Oh, it was pure bliss!' Hermione twirled around, her arms spread out and her face upturned. The boys sniggered quietly at her and she shot them a childish look and stuck out her tongue at them, her hands on her hips.

'Miss Granger, you look particularly lovely today,' said Harry in a mock prissy voice, holding his hand out to her gallantly.

'Why, thank you, Mr. Potter,' Hermione said in the same snooty voice, taking his hand. He twirled her in and then out again and Hermione giggled. All the while, Ron was laughing raucously at their antics and people were beginning to stare. Hermione kissed her mother goodbye and boarded the train with Harry and Ron, a huge grin plastered across her face. She was finally going back to Hogwarts.

The trio walked down the corridor talking about their summers and looking for an empty compartment. They found one about halfway down the train that contained only two people; Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood were holding hands and talking all mushy together. Or at least it look like it because when they entered, they let go of the other's hand and scooted a little further away on the seat.

Harry and Ron snorted with suppressed laughter as they sat down across from the new couple, shooting knowing looks at Neville, and Luna blushed scarlet. Hermione was about to sit down when she realized that she was late.

'Oh no,' Hermione said anxiously. 'I'm late! I'm supposed to be in the Heads' compartment right now to meet the new Head Boy. As long as he's not a total jerk, I'll be fine with him.' Harry nodded and Ron gave her a tentative thumbs-up. Neville and Luna wished her good luck and she turned to go back up the train.

'Okay,' Hermione thought nervously. 'As long as it's not someone like him, or anything! But considering the events of last year, it couldn't be him. It just couldn't be. I wonder who else they could choose?' Hermione pushed opened the door to the Heads' compartment just to see…

'Malfoy?!' Hermione gaped at the platinum blonde Slytherin boy across from her. He had one foot up on the seat next to him, resting his elbow on his knee, and the other dangling, his back up against the wall.

'Glad you could make it, Granger,' he said in a falsely cheery voice, waving merrily at her. 'Well, not glad, really but more of a mild disappointment and depression but that's beside the point,' he said, gesturing to the seat opposite him. Hermione sank into it, still staring disbelievingly at Malfoy.

At that moment, Headmistress McGonagall strode into the compartment brusquely. She turned to them and they faced her respectfully.

'You are the new Head Boy and Girl of Hogwarts, Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy,' she said curtly. 'You two will now be entitled to more privilege and more responsibilities than any other. You will be in charge of all school events and the dates of the Hogsmeade trips. You will have the ability to hand out detentions and take points if need be. But, there is something I didn't mention in your letters,' she added, looking nervously at them both.

'You two…you two will have to share a common room, bathroom and dormitory,' she said in a rush, closing her eyes and waiting for the explosion. McGonagall opened one eye slightly. Hermione was gaping soundlessly at her, too appalled to speak. Malfoy was staring at her as though she had sprouted a second head. She opened her eyes again and sighed heavily.

'It is required that the Heads share a dormitory to set an example of interhouse unity,' she explained, obviously annoyed at the reactions of the supposedly mature seventh years before her. 'If people see you two living together in one dormitory without fighting, hopefully they will be able to live in the castle together without hurting one another.' Hermione and Malfoy exchanged doubtful looks. McGonagall turned without another word and walked hastily out of the compartment. Hermione stared at Malfoy and he stared back, that annoying smirk on his face.

'You, a slimy evil git, are Head Boy?!' she said with revulsion. Malfoy nodded and spoke again.

'Manners, manners, Granger,' he said with the air of reprimanding a small child. 'You must learn to respect your superiors.' Hermione stood up quite suddenly, cutting him off mid-insult.

'You,' Hermione shouted, pointing a finger at his chest. 'are not my superior! You aren't superior to a slug much less another human! How they decided to put a git, who nearly killed Dumbledore last year, in charge of the school as Head Boy I'll never know! I, personally, do not approve of putting a Death-Eater in a position of power here…' Hermione rambled, taking a step closer to Malfoy. This time it was her turn to be interrupted. Malfoy stood up so suddenly that she let out a squeal and took a few steps back.

'You think I chose to do that?' Malfoy snarled. 'You think I want to be a Death-Eater? To live a life of fear with my father hovering over me, forcing me to do things that I never wanted to do in the first place? Having the most evil wizard of all time telling you to kill people and then act as though nothing happened? That it was fun? I never wanted that. It wasn't my fault!' Malfoy roared, his face barely an inch from hers. His thick six foot one build towered over Hermione's petite five foot six and she was now trembling and backing away from the now very frightening Malfoy.

It took a moment, but soon Malfoy seemed to return to his senses. A look of what seemed like fear flitted across his face. He turned and sprinted out of the Heads' compartment and out of sight down the corridor. Hermione stood there, very shaken, for a moment. Then she turned and walked out of the compartment as well and went to find Harry and Ron. They were just where she had left them, but they had been joined by Ginny and Terry Boot, a Ravenclaw boy in Ginny's year. They seemed to be deep in discussion about the way Neville and Luna had gotten together.

'Hey guys,' Hermione said happily, her mind back on her friends and off of Malfoy's strange behavior. They all crowded around her, begging to know who the new Head Boy was. Hermione glanced around at all their smiling faces and she couldn't bring herself to ruin the good spirits. She contented herself with shrugging casually.

'They wouldn't tell me,' Hermione lied, quickly. Surprisingly, considering Hermione was a horrible liar, no one caught the lie and they all sat down, looking mildly disappointed but continued their conversations anyway. Hermione was deep in thought but was pulled out by Malfoy sticking his head into their compartment.

'Granger,' he said, his voice full of loathing. 'You're supposed to be doing your rounds.' Hermione jumped up and brushed past Malfoy, trying to start her patrol the least late that she could. Malfoy smirked and disappeared down the corridor in the opposite direction.

Hermione's rounds didn't take long. Unlike the previous two years, the students seemed to be behaving fairly well. The only trouble was a fourth year near the front of the train that had been handing out 'Bailey's Brain Booster Elixir' that had turned out to be dried doxy droppings again. Hermione was on her way back to her compartment, when she heard a faint sob that caught her attention. She crept closer to the nearest door, trying to discern the words among the other sounds. She stood on tiptoe to look cautiously into the small window set into the top of the door. What she saw made her freeze, transfixed and mesmerized by the foreign scene before her.

Draco Malfoy was sitting alone in the compartment, his head in his hands and his elbows resting on his knees. His shoulders were shuddering with suppressed sobs but some were escaping his lips anyway. He was muttering under his breath but Hermione's ears seemed to be picking up every sound.

'It wasn't my choice,' Hermione heard him whisper, his voice trembling slightly. 'I never wanted this. Why can't she see that? It was all his doing. He made me do it all. It…it wasn't my fault,' Hermione's heart felt for him. She just wanted to comfort him, hold him and tell him everything would be alright but something, probably her common sense, held her back. She continued to watch him for a moment with a sort of morbid fascination; she couldn't believe that Malfoy, the cold heartless boy she had known for six years, was crying in such a public place, and muttering about how something wasn't his fault.

Suddenly, Hermione's insides went cold. Malfoy must have heard something as his head shot up and his cold, blue-gray eyes bored into her warm, cinnamon brown ones. Hermione suddenly came to her senses and turned quickly, sprinting as fast as her legs could carry her, until she was outside the door of the compartment she had left all the others in. She glanced back along the corridor but Malfoy was no where to be seen. She yanked open the door and hurried inside, closing it behind her with a snap, out of breath and flushed.

The others stared at her for a moment, wondering why she would look as if she had just run a marathon. Hermione glanced around the room awkwardly and then smiled, giving a small chuckle. Harry put a hand on her arm.

'Hermione?' he began concernedly. 'What's up? You look like you've seen a ghost…or something else that we don't see every day' he chuckled, trying to hide the uncertainty in his voice. Hermione removed his hand and leaned against the door, still smiling though her eyes were casting around nervously.

'Oh, no, of course not, Harry,' she said in what she though was a reassuring voice. Harry looked unconvinced. 'I just…wanted to get back,' she lied quickly. Everyone in the compartment knew immediately that something had happened; Hermione was a horrible liar.

'Hermione,' Ron said, frustrated, standing up and taking a step toward her. 'you couldn't lie your way out of a wet paper bag. We all know that something happened. Just tell us what it is that's got you all wound up.' Hermione shook her head, looking more flustered all the time. She couldn't tell them. Then they would go and make fun of Malfoy and he would know for sure that she had seen him.

'No, Ron,' she said condescendingly. 'Listen to my words. Nothing - happened - seriously - get - it - through - your - thick - head,' she said very slowly, as if talking to a small child with a learning disability. Ron's ears flushed and he sat down looking offended. Hermione felt a little bad but she had to get them to leave her alone.

'C'mon, 'Mione,' Ginny whined, pulling Hermione into the seat in between her and Luna. 'You can tell us anything and you know that. Well, you can tell us anyways,' she said jokingly, stealing a look at Harry, Ron and Neville, who looked insulted. Hermione giggled slightly. Everyone stared at her and she began to get uncomfortable, her eyes darting around wildly as if trying to find an escape. When none came, she finally let out a loud groan.

'Oh, fine!' she sighed, crossing her arms and biting her lip. 'I saw something in one of the compartments and it's left me a bit…shaken,' she said vaguely. Ginny gestured for her to elaborate so she sighed and went on. 'It was…oh, it was Malfoy! He was doing something most unlike himself,' she said wearily. The others stared at her blankly. 'He was crying! He was crying alone in a compartment down the hall and muttering about how it wasn't his choice and that 'he' made him do it but I couldn't make heads or tails of it,' she admitted. The others gaped at her. Then, suddenly, Harry and Ron burst out laughing.

'Malfoy?!' Harry asked, incredulously, holding his sides from laughing so hard. Ron seemed incapable of speech; he was rolling around on the floor, tears in his eyes. 'That's bloody hilarious!'

The girls shot them scathing looks and Neville's face remained impassive. Harry stopped laughing and looked thoroughly ashamed of himself while Ron, however, continued to howl with laughter. Hermione rolled her eyes and stood up, reaching high into the luggage compartment in search of something. She rummaged around for a moment before pulling out a long, thin leather case.

'Ooh,' Ginny said curiously. 'What's that, Hermione?' She looked shifty again and answered in a voice that was slightly higher than usual.

'Oh, it's nothing…nothing,' she said before hurrying from the compartment. She clutched the case protectively to her chest as she ran, as though trying to hide it from view, and rushed to the Heads' compartment and locked the door behind her. She sat down on the seat and, looking around to make sure that no one could see her, unzipped the leather case.

Hermione lifted the long, slender thing out of the case and placed her fingers in their respective positions, relishing the feel of the smooth, cool metal under her fingers. She lifted it to her lips and blew. Out came a pure, sweet tone that seemed to shiver in the crisp air. Hermione relaxed visibly, her eyes closed and an uplifted expression on her face. This was what she lived for, what had kept her sane through all the pressure and tests; her flute.

Hermione blew into the flute again and began to play a haunting melody that carried through the air and seemed to penetrate her to the core, making her feel renewed and refreshed. Hermione played for as long as she could without breaking the note off for a breath. It wasn't a real song, I guess, but more of just a melody. Some notes and rhythms strung together, that was all, but it made Hermione feel wonderful, like the world had been lifted off her shoulders. She neither knew, nor cared, that someone was listening at the door.

Malfoy slid the compartment door closed as softly as he could. He made his way shakily to the seat, sat down and put his head in his hands, leaning on his knees.

'How could I have let her get to me? That little muggle-born…no, no, mudblood. I can't keep thinking like this or I'm definitely going to get it.' Malfoy felt the familiar stinging pressure in the corners of his eyes. 'No,' he thought desperately. 'I can't do this here. Not now. I am a Malfoy and Malfoys don't cry. They just don't. At least not in public. I have an image to keep up.' But he couldn't stop the tears from falling. Soon his body was racked with sobs, his shoulders heaving and tears falling between his fingers.

'It wasn't my choice,' Malfoy whispered, unable to keep the quiver out of his voice. 'I never wanted this. Why can't she see that? It was all his doing. He made me do it all. It…it wasn't my fault.'

He heard a faint squeak come from the vicinity of the door. He froze. 'Just perfect,' he thought bitterly. 'The one time I let my guard down, someone has to see me!' He looked up and his eyes locked with a pair of cinnamon colored ones. With a jolt of horror, he realized who those eyes belonged to; Hermione Granger had seen him.

He stood up abruptly and swung the door open just in time to see the hem of her robes whip around the corner. He swore under his breath and followed after her, pausing at the corner until he heard the unmistakable sound of the door snapping shut behind her. He sat down and waited. She had to come out sometime and then, calmly, he would consult her and let her know that if she let that slip to anyone, she would have hell to pay!

It was about ten minutes later that Malfoy was interrupted from his thoughts by Hermione rushing out of the compartment clutching something to her chest. It looked like a black leather case, long and thin with a silver zipper along one side. He was about to call to her when he was permeated by curiosity. He had to know what was in that case.

Malfoy followed a good ways behind her so that she wouldn't see him. She ducked into the Heads' compartment. To his disappointment, he heard her lock the door behind her. Now he would never know what was in that mysterious black leather case. He sat down by the door, intending to wait until she came out to talk to her about what she had seen when he heard something.

Malfoy heard a note that sent shivers down his spine. The note flowed into more notes and a beautiful song was spun upon the still air. Where was that wonderful music coming from and what was making it? Then it dawned on Malfoy. He had heard that sound before but never so magnificently. The sound was that of a flute. He stood and pressed his ear on the door, all the better to hear. The music was indeed coming from the Heads' compartment.

'Hermione Granger plays the flute?!' Malfoy thought in disbelief. 'Really well, too. I've never heard it played this superbly!' Malfoy shook himself. He shouldn't have thought that. Granger was just another mudblood no matter how well she played the flute. It was a girly instrument anyway. Not anything proud like the saxophone…