Back where it all began

DISCLAIMER: Needless to say, I do not own any of the characters that have already been mentioned in Harry Potter stories. Events occurring in the story are purely imaginary and created by a deranged fan girl a.k.a me. :D Any possibility of it being true is purely coincidental and must be credited to J.K.R. ;)

Draco's POV:

It had been four months since the battle and nightmares still tormented me. I had seen many people lose their lives and families and I knew I had been responsible for it too. Time was supposed to be healing. But it my case, it deteriorated me further each day. Every morning I would wake up from a nightmare to the same sinking feeling that had haunted me for months. If only I had resisted my father a bit, fought his hold over my life, things would have been different today. I probably would have been killed, but that would have been a better outcome than being riddled with guilt, spending my days wishing I were dead. I loathed myself.

And yet here I was, boarding the same train I had been journeying the past six years, returning back to my hollow life just so I could get away from another hollow place that I was supposed to call 'Home'. My father was gone locked away in Azkaban. My mother started to deteriorate after that. She shut herself away from the world and her interactions with me came down to few worded answers. I had been searching for a distraction when I had received a letter from Hogwarts stating that I could choose to return for my final year. I decided that I should probably complete my education at the very least.

King's Cross looked pretty much the same as each year, yet it was all somehow very different. Students from all over England still poured in eager to start a life in magic as I had seven years ago. Families gathered all around to say goodbyes to their kids and send them off. None of them spared me a second thought. A few older students did recognize me and threw a disgusted look in my direction but it hardly bothered me. Nobody could probably hate me more than myself.

I found an empty compartment and settled in it. I remembered all the times I had spent laughing and goofing around in this very train. It all seemed like a distant dream now. I had no friends anymore. Goyle refused to talk to me. He blamed me for what happened to Crabbe and that I had abandoned him during the final battle. And Pansy… well, Pansy went missing. There had been no sign of her or her family after the battle and there had been no contact with her.

I leaned my head against the window and took a deep breath. I felt empty inside. I felt no emotions anymore. All that was left was a nagging feeling of guilt. If I had just held on for a little while longer, I would have gotten away from all of it. 'Serve the Dark Lord, Draco! That is what we are meant to do. He will reward us endlessly!' the voice of my father echoed in my nightmares. I closed my eyes and tried to numb myself, something I had gotten good at over the summer. Just then I heard the compartment door slide open.

"Oh!" I heard someone squeal and I looked up to stare into a pair of bright brown eyes. The girl at the compartment entrance had large quantities of bushy brown hair framing her small face. Her eyes and set jaw radiated only one thing- hatred. I would recognize that face anywhere. Hermione Granger.

She stared back at me, frowning. Normally I would have come up with some snappy remark, but not today. I didn't feel like talking normally either.

"Hermione, I have found us a compartment! Come on now!" A girl's voice floated down the corridor.

"I am coming," Granger shot back. She turned to look at me one more time before she shut the compartment door.

I sighed and leaned back in my seat. This was going to be a long year.

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Hermione's POV:

I was back at the station, returning to Hogwarts for one last time, returning for my final year. I was determined to have a peaceful year for once, a one without fighting for survival. I wanted to complete my education and become a qualified witch before I did anything with my life. I stood staring at the walls, too aware of the nauseating public display of affection beside me. Ginny and Harry were so close that they appeared to be a single person. Ron stood at the other side, groaning.

"I'll miss you, Harry!" Ginny said, soaking Harry's shoulder in tears.

"Oh, honey, so will I!" he replied, gently stroking her hair. He took her face in his hands and planted a kiss on her lips, causing Ron to stomp his foot down in frustration.

"Bloody hell, I have seen enough of this! Ginny, he ain't going anywhere. Stop crying now, will you?" Ron asked, sounding rather pissed.

Ginny stepped back and sniffed. Harry looked embarrassed and gave me a small sheepish smile. I couldn't help but giggle.

"Relax, Ron! It is difficult for these too after being together all this time" I said winking at Ginny.

"I get that. But they can make it less disgusting to watch, right?"

"Oh, piss off, Ron! You are just jealous," Ginny snapped at him.

Ron opened his mouth to say something back when he was interrupted by Mrs. Weasley. She hurried over us with Mr. Weasley and my parents following behind her.

"You girls have everything you need? All stuff taken? Good." She pulled us both into a tight hug and planted a kiss on our foreheads, "Be safe you both. Take care of yourselves and I don't want to hear about any troubles this year."

"Oh come on, Mum. Harry is not going to be there. The school will be less eventful this year, I am sure," Ron said clapping Harry on his back. Mrs. Weasley glared at Ron making his grin melt into a poker face.

I walked to my parents and hugged them. I was beyond glad when Kingsley and Mr. Weasley explained to me two months back that my parents were going through memory restoration process. Apparently the spell I had casted on them had been slowly wearing off making them return to London in search of someone named Hermione. This had made it easier for the Ministry to track them down after I had mentioned about them to Mr. Weasley the night after the battle. I had spent most of my time with them, apologizing and making up for the lost time. They were glad that I was back with them and they couldn't stop telling me how proud they were of me.

"Take care, darling. Come back to us soon. We can't go through that again," my mother told me, her eyes tearing up.

"Come on, Evy, she will be fine," my father told smiling kindly, "It's our Hermione. We'll always get her back. Remember the time she got lost at the Carnival when she was five? We found her in that bookstore with her nose buried in some book. She has always been that way."

I smiled at my dad and kissed him on the cheek. "Bye mum, bye dad. Take care of yourselves. Write to me. Let me know how Japan is." My parents, now back to their jobs, were invited on a conference in Japan after which they were going on a tour around the country. They were to leave in two days.

"Come on, girls! It is about to be eleven. Get in the train!" Mr. Weasley said hurriedly.

Ginny hugged her parents and Ron and gave Harry one last kiss before climbing on to the train. I hugged my parents and moved to hug Harry and Ron.

"Hogwarts will not be the same without you two," I told them. "Have a nice time at your training, boys. Don't you dare stop writing to me or I'll send you a howler!" I warned and got on to the train just as the whistle sounded.

We waved to the lot from the moving train. They soon disappeared into the distance. Ginny stood gloomily at the door straining to look at Harry.

"Come on now, Gin. Let's find us a compartment. You can sulk then."

We trudged down the corridor checking the compartments for an empty one. I opened a compartment door that appeared to be empty but it was already occupied by the last person I wanted to encounter now.

"Oh!" I squeaked involuntarily and Draco Malfoy looked up. I expected a rude retort, the pompous bastard that he was but I got no reaction off him. His eyes reminded me of two grey stones. But the more I stared into eyes, the more it changed. Behind the stormy exterior was something I never expected from someone like Malfoy. Some sort of pain, fear and guilt dangerously close to surfacing.

"Hermione," Ginny called out, "I have found us a compartment! Come on now!"

"I am coming!" I replied and threw him another glance to ask him if he was alright. I cursed myself mentally and walked off.

Malfoy and pain? That was something close to impossibility. I was surely imagining stuff now. He had tormented me for five years. I would never forgive him for all the money in the world. I knew I hated him from the pit of my heart. But why did I want to ask him if he was fine? Seeing him like that, I felt some inner need to soothe him. Something was seriously wrong with me. Why would he return to Hogwarts now? He had some guts showing his cowardly face again, I'll give him that. I cleared my head and walked back to Ginny determined to not let anything ruin my last year at Hogwarts.

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A/N: Hey guys! This is my first attempt at a fan fiction and the first time I am to publish something I wrote… so I really hope you guys like it. Please do post your comments, reviews and suggestions for me to take 'em up. Thanks for reading. :D

P.S: Thank you msdamonsalvatore for being my beta reader. Your critique has always been important to me. xD