She did her best to quench the all too familiar feelings of dread and fear as she looked up at the Manor, trying to block out the memories of Bellatrix leaning over her with a knife demanding to know how she had got in her vault. How had she ended up with this job? Couldn't they have given it to someone else? Anyone else? But she knew they couldn't have done. Her boss, Bob, had told her that Malfoy had become a model citizen. But then he had had to. The only alternative for him was Azkaban, and who would choose that over a year without magic and regular checks from the ministry? Indeed it wasn't Malfoy she feared. Hermione knew she could take him any day. A small part of her pitied him but the rest was still hurt from all the years of bullying she had taken from him. It was the house. Nightmares of it had haunted her for months after the time she spent there. There was a small silver lining from this job though. Ron had actually been bothered enough to remember that he still had feelings for her and that technically they were dating. It was the most she'd seen him care in forever. The scars from the battle hadn't healed for him as they had for her. The nightmares that still haunted him every night before he reached for the bottle had mainly left her thank God. Ron was a shell of his former self. She tried to protect him for the media attention that as a hero of the Battle he received but it was increasingly growing harder. No, that wasn't the truth. She was growing impatient with it. But every time that thought came into her head she shook it away. Ron was her soulmate and it was her duty to help him. Suddenly she realised that she had reached the gates of Malfoy manor which accordingly creaked open to admit her. The house towered above her, dark and menacing, overshadowing the light of the sunny day. Gathering her courage she knocked at the door. Minutes passed and she began to wonder if he had got the ministry notice that she would be coming. Grimacing to herself she thought that that might be the reason why the door wasn't opening. Just as she was debating forcing the door it slowly opened to reveal a figure behind it. She squinted, trying to see through the dust and darkness of the house.

"Lumos" she whispered.

Draco Malfoy stood in the doorway. He looked so... tired and uncared for. His once carefully gelled back blonde hair had grown down to his shoulders and it was matted and greasy. He was dressed in black robes that were too big for him and Hermione could see several places where the material had thinned.

"Why are you here?" he asked, his voice nothing more than a croak.

"You should have received a ministry notification that at precisely 2 pm on July 1st a ministry official would be attending Malfoy Manor to run over the terms of your return to using magic", Hermione winced at the coldness in her voice, she was taking professionalism to a whole new extreme, "May I come in?".

"I suppose so",

Hermione looked up and for the first time she really saw his face, his lack of emotion. She was suddenly reminded of Ron, he looked like this for much of the time when he wasn't drunk. Trying to block out anything which could hurt him again.

"Actually it's a lovely day why don't we go outside to run over the terms?" asked Hermione.

"Are you really that desperate not to come inside? Scared you'll be tainted by my... Unpopularity. I wouldn't want to ruin the reputation of the Gryffindor princess."

"You know what Malfoy I don't want to be here anymore then you want me here, so why don't you stop being such a child and we can get this over with! After all, I wouldn't want to harm your reputation as a slytherin snake" she heard herself snap.

She swore to herself. She should have stuck to being overly professional. She didn't want to show him any emotion. Raising his blonde eyebrows he shrugged and stepped outside. The sudden light made him squint and it certainly didn't do him any favours. She was shocked by the almost blue tinge of his pale skin and his lack of weight. Then she was shocked at herself for caring. What was wrong with her today? He walked slowly, hunched over, like someone who was carrying the weight of the world on his gaunt shoulders. The gardens of Malfoy Manor were overgrown, with weeds sprouting everywhere. It was so different to when she had last been here, when the garden was a well-kept lawn that looked like nothing natural ever grew on it. They reached a bench and she sat down next to him. She got out the papers and began reading them out.

"The ministry commend you on your behaviour recently and your acceptance of your punishment..."

She continued reading but found herself getting distracted by the feeling that he was looking at her. Looking up, before he quickly turned away, she realised that he had been staring at her.

"What is it?" she asked quickly, worried that she had dirt on her or something and he was about to make some kind of mudblood joke about it.

"Sorry, it's just you're the first person I've seen in a year" he said quietly.

Wait, stop a minute. Did Draco Malfoy just apologise for something? In all the time Hermione had known him he had never apologised for anything. Apologies were for people who cared and Draco Malfoy didn't care. Not about others anyway. Not about her. Something in her was shaken by his apology and despite her previous feelings she felt sympathy spring up in her like the first flower after a hard winter. Shaking off her new found sympathy for Malfoy she finished reading the papers.

"I have your wand" she said pulling it out of her bag.

His eyes lit up when he saw his wand.

"I thought they snapped it!" he exclaimed, "They told me they snapped it!"

"Well, they didn't. The ministry want to trust you Malfoy. They want to give you a second chance. From now on all the marks against you are gone, you can do whatever you want, go wherever you want. You're free." said Hermione.

He looked at her and she saw the hope in his eyes. It filled her with something she couldn't identify and she knew she had made the right choice, to give Malfoy his wand back. He wasn't evil, not truly and now he could make a fresh start for himself.

"Thank you" was all he said but for once in his life Hermione was sure he meant it.

She handed his wand over to him and as she was doing so his hand brushed against hers and she felt a sudden shock, like electricity. He jumped and he abruptly pulled his hand away and stood up.

"Goodbye Granger"