Welcome to my new story…well not only mine! This time my best friend (Legolas_Stelstar) and I are working on it. We really hope you guys enjoy this story. We have been planning this story for months, making sure that every single detail is almost perfect. Also thanks a lot to my beta ScarlettBlush. I'm sure she's going to make this story so much better.

Disclaimer: We own nothing! Everything belongs to JK Rowlings.

September 1, 1998

September the first. The start of the first term at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. First years would be scared to enter the mysterious castle, especially after the events that took place at the end of the last academic year in June. The seventh years were excited to be the big guys in the arena; the oldest and therefore the more experienced students. However, they were in for a big surprise because the Ministry of Magic declared that any student who attended his or her seventh year during the war against Voldemort could go back and finish their last year without the terror and stress that previously kept them from finishing their year. Suddenly, the new seventh years wouldn't be the hottest piece of magic on the land because the previous seventh year students would be joining them.

Such was the case for Draco Malfoy. In spite of his brains and top grades, his last year had been a total waste of…well, everything. And even though he already knew much more than any young wizard should know –he was, after all, an ex Death Eater whose home had been the lair to the Darkest Wizard—he found himself packing his things away to go back to Hogwarts for take two at his last year as a student. Draco had many reasons for not going back to school. Most people hated his guts and his family, and now that they had fallen from grace, there was nothing that would stop students from treating him like mud.

He couldn't even count on his fellow Slytherins who didn't take betrayal nicely, and he didn't know how his part in helping Harry Potter would settle with them. There were two groups in Slytherin: those who fully supported the Dark Lord and those, who in fear, meekly stepped aside. Both were cowards who were too afraid to go against the powerful wizard. And Draco's sudden jump from Death Eater to Potter Helper wouldn't settle well with the students in Slytherin. If both parties rejected him, who would be there for him? His friend Crabbe died in the war and Goyle didn't answer his letters. He didn't know if Pansy or Blaise Zabini would return. And the only professor who ever helped him was dead.

'So why am I going back again?" he muttered angrily, closing his suitcases with his wand. He heard a feminine voice talking to his father a few rooms next to his.

Ah, yes…mother. It was his mothers request that he finished his last year of education, and because he loved her, because she was all he had, he went.

He waited in his house to apparate to King's Cross station. His mother was going to accompany him alone, considering that his father, Lucius Malfoy was under a self-imposed exile since the war ended, and refused to face the world. He wasn't ready for the rejection he was sure to receive.

"Mother, it's almost time to get to the damn station. I don't want to be late." Of course, internally he was thinking, I don't want people looking at me like I'm some sort of weird creature.

"Draco, I'm coming, I was trying to convince your father to join us, but he won't listen," she said with sadness in her eyes as she reappeared into his room. Out of all of them, it was surprisingly Narcissa who didn't care what people said about them. The way she saw it, she helped Potter live. She could have killed him, but she had decided to help him. And for that, people should be grateful! People made mistakes, horrible mistakes, worse than what they had done. So who could blame them for being loyal to Voldemort? It was that or death. In her not so humble opinion, all the bad things she had done should be forgiven immediately after she saved the life of the war hero. Unfortunately, people loved to hold grudges and she couldn't do anything about that.

"Father isn't coming, because he lost more than what you lost mother," he said feeling annoyed with her persistence. When was his mother going to understand that they were still the bad people, and not just that, they were considered cowards.

"Nonsense, I lost my sister! We have lost money, our house was a killing chamber and the ministry is constantly watching us!"

"Mother, he lost his job, the trust of the Ministry, he lost his friends…."

She interrupted, "Your father didn't have friends. Severus, Dolohov, Bellatrix and the rest weren't his friends. And if you are talking about Goyle and Crabbe, well I don't understand why they don't talk to him. It's not like your father has done anything to them," she said in frustration.

"Exactly! Goyle and Crabbe are still hiding, and if father walks out of this house they could find out and kill him," Draco said softly, trying to control his tone since he didn't like screaming at his mother. But this conversation was too repetitive; they had fought about the same thing over and over. When they went to Diagon Alley to get Draco's clothes for school they had argued over this, when they went to a restaurant two nights ago they had the same argument again and so on and so forth. When was she going to understand that despite the fact that the war was over they still had a lot of enemies?

"Are you scared for yourself son? Are you scared that Goyle will do something to you at school?"

"That's if he goes back," he sighed.

"Are you scared?" his mother asked again, concern echoed in her voice.

"Well, yes….Goyle was my friend. Even though I bullied him and treated him bad sometimes, he was a loyal friend."

"Oh, darling….Goyle is not going to do anything to you. He knows that you had nothing to do with your father's business…"

"Mother, I was a Death Eater; I had everything to do with it," he said resolutely.

"No you didn't. You did it because the Dark Lord threatened you. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Any other son would have done exactly the same for their mother."

He nodded but said nothing. Yes, any other son would have done it, but another son, a less cowardly one, would have fought without taking the easy way out. Who was he kidding!? He knew very well that he wasn't going to kill Dumbledore, he knew that the Dark Lord believed he was going to die trying, it was all just a ploy.

"Are you ready mother? I think we have wasted a lot of time here already," he sighed, grabbing his stuff and heading to hell…that is, King's Cross station.

---------------

In other cases, students returned to school because even though the Ministry didn't think they needed to, they just wanted to finish their year like everyone else.

That was the case of war hero, Hermione Granger. She didn't need to return to school. The Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt had offered her and her two best friends jobs at the Ministry without finishing school, but she just felt that it wasn't right. And since it wasn't right for her she forced her friends to say no to the offer and go back to school to complete their education.

Yes, she knew a lot about magic, more than some teachers. She was the smartest witch of her time and knew about every potion and spells the magic world had legally. And even some that she wasn't supposed to know, but had read about at Hogwarts. Her friend Ron knew as much as her, that was certainly the case when it came to curses and Harry…well….he was the war hero and knew everything there was to know about curses. But they still needed to know how to make a number of potions, how to use their magic for other things besides fighting…like cooking and healing, and cleaning, definitely cleaning. For that reason she forced her friends to go back, and after a huge fight they realized that she was right, as usual. They were going to have a job at the Ministry eventually, but what if they decided they wanted to head towards a different direction, something outside the Ministry? They needed their last year to get those particular job offers.

After the war was over and everything got back to normal –well, as normal as it could get-- Hermione didn't waste time and went to Australia to get her parents back. It wasn't easy convincing them that they could trust her, but once she had them near, she cast the spell to bring back their memory. What happened? Well it didn't turn out as perfectly as she'd hoped. Neither of them remembered much about their life. Mr. Granger remembered being married to Mrs. Granger, he remembered that he was some kind of doctor but couldn't remember what kind. Mrs. Granger was another case. She could only recall having a happy life with her husband. But what was much worse than forgetting their professions was the fact that they had forgotten they once had a daughter. After bringing them back to 'normal', it was even more complicated to convince them that they could trust her and that she had once lived with them. But for Hermione it was even harder to address them as Mr. and Mrs. Granger, just for the sake of their condition. Hermione had called many witches and wizards to check on her parents, but none of them knew what went wrong. This was one of the main reasons why she'd decided to go back to school. She needed to learn more, to find a way to bring her parents memory back.

She knew that things at Hogwarts wouldn't be the same. They were a lot of bad memories in that castle. So many people had died there; people that she loved dearly lost their lives, people she didn't know, people she didn't like. Like Crabbe for example, she could remember all too clearly the scream of agony that came from him before being consumed by the flames.

She sighed. Going back to school was going to be hard, but she was a tough woman and she could finish this year.

She was in her room finishing what little packing she had left. Her parents weren't going with her to King's Cross out of precaution. Since they couldn't remember anything, she had stopped using magic in the house and didn't want to take them to a station packed with wizards and witches. What she did was get them a nurse that could watch over them while she was at school.

There was a soft knock on her door. "Hermione?"

"Come in," she said putting her wand in her pocket before the woman saw it. "Hey, you're here just in time. I have to go."

"Are you sure you want to leave your parents in my care?" the young woman asked.

"Yes…Cindy, I know that you can take good care of them. I have read your résumé quite thoroughly and I know that you are just the perfect person. They don't need you here all the time, because they have learnt to have a 'normal life' without the memory they have lost, but they do need some company and I know I can trust you to do that."

"Yeah…I mean, I need the money after all, and a place to stay since I lost everything in that weird fire."

The fire caused by the Death Eaters. But Cindy didn't know that.

"Yeah, what have you learnt about that?" Hermione asked.

"The firefighters don't have a clue about how it started," she said half-smiling.

Hermione nodded grimly. "Well…don't worry. I read that the government's starting the reconstruction of the place so you will have your apartment soon."

"I hope so."

"Hmm….well, I'll see you in December. Cindy, if you need me please, please write to me at the address that I gave you." She had given Cindy the muggle address of the Ministry.

"Okay."

Hermione sighed and walked out of her room with her stuff. "Mrs. Granger? Mr. Granger?"

"I'm in the kitchen," her mother yelled.

"Mrs. Granger" She walked to the kitchen and hugged her. "It's time for me to go."

"Oh, darling…we will miss you! You have been like a daughter to us. But we understand that you have to go back to the boarding school that you talked to us about!"

"I'll miss you guys, too," she said with great sadness. "Where's Mr. Granger?"

"Oh, he's in the garden. You know how obsessed he has become with the flowers."

Hermione chuckled.

"Hermione, are you sure you don't need a ride to the train station?" her mother asked after a moment of silence.

"I'm sure. I have my own way of getting there," she said grinning. Apparation was faster than cars!

She kissed her mother goodbye and headed outside to say goodbye to her father. "Mr. Granger, I'm leaving now, so do you want to leave your roses alone for a minute and kiss me goodbye?"

"Of course," he said smiling broadly. "Who's taking you to the station? You didn't call a taxi."

"I have my own way of getting there. Really! Now give me a kiss 'cause I have to go," she said returning his same sweet, broad smile.

He laughed out loud and kissed her goodbye. "I love you da…...Mr. Granger. I'll see you at Christmas. And please try to be nice to Cindy, I know Mrs. Granger is going to give her a hard time," she said before walking out of his sight to apparate at the apparition spot at the train station.

--------

"I can't believe so many people are returning to Hogwarts!" Narcissa said the minute they got to King's Cross station. The place was crowded with parents, students, their luggage and even their pets. She sniffled with annoyance at the lack of space. "I mean, I believed parents were going to be a little afraid."

"People are curious mother," Draco mumbled, guiding his bags with his wand.

"Oh yes. I'm sure a lot of the people that came today are here just to see if the Boy Who Lived is returning," she said sourly.

"I bet some of them are going to feel more secure knowing that he's returning to school," he said annoyed. Why did people idolize Potter so much? It was obvious that he was still alive because he was a very lucky guy. Honestly, who battled the Dark Lord and lived without using dark magic? Only one very lucky bastard, that's who. "And talking about wonder boy, here he comes!"

People started murmuring and moving with curiosity to have a better look at Harry.

Draco could tell he looked uncomfortable, as if he didn't want to be there right now with so many people asking for autographs and taking pictures.

"I wonder where his sidekick is?" his mother asked.

"Weasley's probably not returning. He lost a brother at school. Maybe he doesn't feel ready…"

"Oh please, Draco, the Weasley's will do absolutely everything to have some spotlight."

Draco continued watching how Potter got into the train swiftly and hid himself from the people. It must be annoying to have people all the time wanting to have something from you…but then again, it's not as bad as having people reject you for your wrong actions…

"Well, mother, I'm going to get a compartment," he said after the crowd calmed down. "I'll see you in December." He kissed both her cheeks.

"Take care Draco, and write to me every single week," she said patting his cheeks softly. "I love you."

He smiled softly. "I love you too, mother."

-------

"Ginny, have you seen Harry?" Hermione asked while positioning in front of platform 9 and ¾.

"He came earlier because he didn't want a lot of people asking for pictures and stuff like that," Ginny said angrily. She was sick of people not giving any of them their space. Even Neville had a fan club.

"Poor Harry," Hermione sighed. "And how are you doing, Ginny?

"I'm okay," she gave her a humorous smile.

"I know what you mean."

"How are your parents?" Ginny asked.

"Fine," Hermione said not looking at her. She hardly talked about her parents during the summer. It made her sad and angry to admit that she screwed up big time with them. "Well, I'm going in first. I'll see you in the train."

Ginny was right, the waiting crowd was big. Thank God she put on a jacket with a hoodie and covered her face until she got inside the train.

Inside the train, it was a different scenario. Everything was calm and quiet. She sat down with Harry, Ron and Ginny. Neville and Luna were talking (well, Luna was talking) with some girls about Nargle's. And Dean and Seamus were apparating at Hogsmead later in the week. Now that she thought about it, why didn't they apparate at Hogsmead too?! It would have saved Harry the trouble.

"I'm so sick of people asking all this rubbish," Harry snapped out in anger. "Can't they understand that I don't want to talk about it?"

"It's normal they want information Harry," Hermione said softly. "They've wanted information about you ever since you defeated Voldemort when you were a year old. Now they just want to know how you destroyed him for the second and last time."

"They've had enough from me already" he said coldly.

"You don't owe them anything Harry," Ginny said.

"Bloody right he doesn't!" Ron agreed.

Hermione smiled and picked up a book to read. "Hello." A soft voice said from the compartment door.

She looked up to see a sweet, smiling girl. She was as tall as her, with green eyes that had hints of brown and short black hair. "I'm Melanie."

"Hello," Harry said rolling his eyes. Here we go again! he thought bitterly.

The girl hesitated before speaking. "I wanted to have Hermione Granger's autograph. I've read everything about her. I've been following her work and accomplishments since I started at Hogwarts and—"

Ron masked his laugh with a cough and Harry elbowed him.

The girl scratched her throat and continued. "And uhm…my sister…yes, my sister, she wants your autograph and I promised to get it the moment I saw you."

"What year are you in?" Ginny asked. "I don't think I've seen you."

"I'm in my fifth year. I'm a Ravenclaw. Luna knows me," she smiled confidently.

"Err," Hermione looked at her, blushing a little. Although it was flattering, she wasn't familiar with all this attention, and she didn't feel comfortable with it. "I…"

Her words where cut short when she saw the person that stood near their compartment. Draco Malfoy looked at them and nodded once before walking away from their sight.

"What is he doing here?" Ron asked.

Hermione frowned thoughtfully. "Same thing as us, I suppose. To finish the seventh year properly like the Minister suggested. Merlin knows he needs it."

"He doesn't deserve to come back. After all he has done," Ron said resentfully.

"Come on Ron! Things have changed. I think Malfoy was just misunderstood all these years, and we should listen to what Dumbledore wanted before. To have school unity!"

The four of them fell silent at the memory of their former Headmaster.

"So, can I have that autograph?" Melanie asked again, grinning and looking at Hermione excitedly.

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