I do not own Harry Potter, or any of the characters, settings, etc.
Chapter 1: Anguish
An unmistakable green light burst forth, and in that moment, Hermione knew what was going to happen. Time seemed to stop as the spell crept towards her love. The sounds of the battle no longer reached her ears. Then, the world crashed. Ron fell, and a horrible, bloodcurdling scream broke the silence. Hermione fell to her knees, realizing she was the source of the cry.
She rushed forward, sending a quick, well aimed body bind curse at Dolohov. Hermione threw herself at the ground near Ronald and prayed that he was alive, that this hadn't really happened.
And then she woke up.
Hermione bolted upright, sweat dripping from every pore. She rocked herself back and forth, sobbing from the painful memory. She remembered every detail, even though she had lost Ron over a year ago. 14 months exactly.
The days had blurred into weeks, which blurred into months. She moved through the motions of life, numbly, at a snail's pace. She lost her desire to learn. Hermione was only eighteen. How was it fair that this should happen to her? Ron died when he was seventeen at the battle for Hogwarts. Harry Potter had won. The world rejoiced. But Hermione could feel nothing. Not even sorrow.
She and Harry, along with the other students that weren't able to finish their year at Hogwarts, returned to graduate, but the gaping hole left where friends, brothers, sisters, lovers once were was unbearable. Hermione finished her year and got a job at Flourish and Blotts, while Harry took up the position as DADA professor.
Hermione got out of bed, and headed to work, as usual. When she apparated onto the front step, she ran into someone.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," Hermione quickly stammered. Then she looked at the recipient of her courtesies.
"Stupid Mudblood," scoffed none other than Draco Malfoy.
"Malfoy," Hermione acknowledged curtly.
Malfoy turned on his heel and walked away with his nose high in the air.
Hermione stepped into work, feeling a bit more irritable than usual.
DMDMDMDMDMDMDM
Draco was shocked to see Hermione Granger. He hadn't seen her since the final battle at Hogwarts. She wasn't the girl he knew in school; eyes bright, ready to learn, insufferably knowledgeable, and constantly smiling around her friends, Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley. He had heard that Ron had died, and it was obvious that Weasley and Granger had had feelings for each other, but he never thought how hard it must be on her.
What was he talking about? She was Hermione Granger, the girl who always got better marks than him, and was constantly showing him up. He shouldn't pity her, but still…he felt something when he saw her like that. Similar to the way he felt when he saw her crying to Potter about how terrible Weasley was to her.
He resolved to go into Flourish and Blotts the next day to apologize to her.
Okay, so short first chapter. Lame, I know. And yes, I am aware that the beginning was rather depressing, but it'll get better, I swear. This chapter was just supposed to fill you in on the differences between my story and in The Deathly Hallows. Everything else is the same, unless later in this fiction I decide to change something.