Chapter 1

Hermione was determined to have a proper year at Hogwarts this year, as it would be her final one. She stepped onto the train with renewed vigor, though her thoughts were quickly dampened at the thought of being alone for the first time in eight years without the two dunderheads she loved dearly. Her life, for nearly a decade, has been surrounded be Harry and Ron. Now, as she sat in a compartment alone, she felt like two parts of her were missing. She tried to remind herself that she would see them in a few months for Christmas, but she felt that was a long time to wait. She shook those thoughts from her head and focused on of the learning she was going to achieve this year.

She stared out the window at the station outside until the sudden opening of the door caused her to turn her head. She had to stop herself from calling out Harry's and Ron's names.

Striding into the room, the young man dropped himself into the seat next to him. He was taller than she remembered him to be. His hair wasn't as properly kept as he used to care for it. She noticed that his tie was loose around his neck, and he overall just looked unkempt. He didn't look over at her, not at first. He leaned his head back against the wall. He took a deep breath and turned his head towards her.

His steel grey eyes certainly contained more warmth then the last time she had seen him. Her breath caught in her throat as she looked at him. She found herself angry that he thought he could waltz into her compartment and-

And what?

She reeled back at her thoughts. She was turning into one of them. She knew she had a thousand reasons to hate him, but to throw him out for taking a seat next to her. He hadn't said a word to her. He hadn't done a thing to her in this instance. She would be just as bad as him.

She refused to stoop to his level.

She turned her head away from him and returned to staring out the window.

The train had just started pulling out of the station and the door to the compartment slid open again, adding two more occupants and filling up the rest of the seats.

She frowned when she saw them. The first was Daphne Greengrass. Hermione had quietly collaborated on many projects dealing with ancient runes and were often partners in the class. Despite being a pureblood, she never saw Hermione as anything less than that of a competent witch.

The other one was Pansy Parkinson. Aside from Malfoy, Pansy was Hermione's second biggest bully. She teased her just as ruthlessly. She was awful to her.

Daphne sat across from her, with Pansy taking the seat across from Malfoy. Daphne ignored the daggers Pansy was shooting at Hermione and greeted her with a small smile.

"So, what's been going on with you, Hermione?"

Hermione stared at her in shock. It had been an unspoken rule that they weren't to be friendly in front of each other's houses. They both knew it would only cause pointless fighting.

Daphne frowned at Hermione's lack of immediate response as she followed her gaze to the other two occupants in the room. "Pansy, remember you promised me that you'd be nice to all my friends this year." There was a silent threat of punishment in her voice that made both Pansy and Hermione shiver.

"Yeah, well, this mudblood can't be one of them."

At this Malfoy stood suddenly, and reached to pull Pansy up out of her seat by her collar. "You will not call her that filthy name in my presence ever again." He pushed open the door and tossed her out of the compartment. He ceremoniously shut the door and took a seat next to Hermione once more. She stared at him in shock.

Daphne frowned slightly at him before shrugging. "Well, you did warn her."

Malfoy turned his head and looked at the ceiling above them.

Daphne smiled and continued to engage Hermione until they were interrupted by the food trolley. Malfoy quickly bought up three of everything on the trolley and the whole stock of the sugar quills. He promptly dropped the whole lot of treats into Hermione's lap and nibbled on a sugar quill as the girls kept up their complex conversation on runic symbols. When they were about twenty minutes from Hogwarts, they both stood and looked at Malfoy expectantly.

"Draco, it's time for you to leave."

He looked up at both girls with half a sugar quill in his mouth. He nodded as Daphne gestured that they still needed to change. He stood and waited outside.

As soon as the door closed, Hermione closed in on Daphne. "What is going on with him? Is this his new way of bullying me? Is he trying to make fun of me?"

Daphne giggled at Hermione. The stress was so visible she could almost cut through it. "Hermione, calm down. He has his own reasons for doing what he's doing. No one knows what goes on in another person's head unless you ask them. Try that." She gave Hermione a knowing smile that she wasn't quite sure she liked. "I'll give you two some space. I need to go check on Pansy."

Before Hermione could say anything, she was alone. A miniscule moment passed, and Malfoy had stepped back into the compartment. He took the seat next to her without saying a word.

"Hey, Malfoy," She started, channeling her Gryffindor bravery.

"Draco." He corrected. "We've seen the worst of each other. We should at least be on a first name basis."

She nodded. "Draco, I have a question."

"I'm sure you have several."

"Why are you acting like this towards me?"

He stared at her for what felt like eons. She felt nervous already, but his stare only amped up her anxiety. He stood and knelt before her.

"I am essentially an orphan now. My mother is in Azkaban for the rest of her life and my father is set to be executed in a month's time. I have been given lots of time to reflect by living in that manor alone. I know it was you who saved me from a life sentence, Hermione. You and Potter stood at my trial. I know he said the words, but I know they belonged to you. I recognized your ticks in his speech. You are the one who made everyone see that I didn't have much choice in my side of the war. That I was yet another dumb, unfortunate kid tossed into the war, the wrong side of the war at that. Therefore, as a token of gratitude, I am giving you my life. You may do with it as you see fit."

His voice started out strong and steady and very matter of fact, but as he continued his voice grew quieter and lower. She had to strain to hear the last bit, but still found herself shocked at his words anyway.

"What?"

He swallowed and looked directly into her eyes. "I will give my life to you. I will protect you from all harm that shall come your way-"

Hermione vigorously shook her head. "Merlin, Draco! I'm not some princess you can pledge your knighthood to. I only did what was right and I do not need you to shower me in your wealth either!" She pointed to the stack of uneaten sweets. "And I most certainly don't need you to protect me!"

He stared at her for a moment before laughing. "You don't think you're a princess? That's exactly what you are, Hermione! Every family worth a damn and has a son will be gunning for you. You're bloody Hermione Granger for Salazar's sake, a bloody war heroine, the brains of the Golden Trio, Order of Merlin First Class. Merlin, you have got to be kidding me that you didn't see that coming?"

She gawked at him. "You're full of yourself, Draco." If she were being honest with herself, she would have guessed that would have been a possibility for all three of them. While Harry had Ginny, they hadn't gone public with their relationship yet, so no one outside of Hogwarts knew. As for her and Ron, this was a very real possibility, while Ron was a male, and thus expected to find a suitor, Hermione was a female. Suitors would flock from all over the world for a war heroine. She swallowed hard. "There's no way."

"Ah, see, there's that big brain of yours working hard."

The train came to a stop and the students were beginning to get off. She quickly stood and found herself blocked from the exit. Draco held his arm in front of her. "Wait a moment, if you leave now you'll get swarmed."

She pushed his arm aside. "You're being ridiculous."

She stepped outside the compartment, and she immediately felt his presence behind her. She wanted to turn around and yell at him not to follow her, but she found herself being dragged forward by Daphne, who had come from nowhere. "Come on, Hermione. The carriages are waiting."

Draco kept up close behind her. They came to be one of the last few students to arrive. She found herself standing between Draco and Daphne. She peeked at Draco and found he had kept his face expressionless. He had gelled his hair back and fixed his tie while she wasn't looking. She found herself liking him better this way. She could deal with tidy Malfoy over unkempt Draco.

She searched the crowd of students for any familiar faces. She found that Neville and Luna were just boarding a carriage with two younger students. As they pulled away, Hermione spotted Ginny talking to a few second years. She noticed that they were crying and staring at the carriages with horror.

The thestrals were no longer invisible to all of them. Every one of them could see the undead horse creatures.

Hermione looked down at her feet. Draco coughed and nudged her towards Daphne who was leaving them behind to take a seat in the carriage. She followed mindlessly as the crowd began to take notice of her.

Then the whispers began. She heard the other students' comments.

"Look there's Hermione Granger, why is she with the Slytherins?"

"I bet Malfoy is just trying to curry favor with her since she's the minister's adopted daughter."

"My grandmother told me that she's Wizarding Britain's most eligible bachelorette and that any bloke lucky enough to snag her as a wife would be set for life because the Ministry owes them for doing their jobs."

She wanted to correct them, to tell them that was not at all how she saw it. Sure, following the war, Kingsley offered her a room in his home, and he did technically ask her if she would allow him to adopt her, but it was because she no longer had parents. She only agreed because despite only being together in a short few months, he treated her much like a daughter rather than a heroine. They had quickly become a family the months following the war. He even came to see her off for her final year. And like a true father, he made her promise to write once a week.

She turned away from the whispers and climbed into the carriage. She sat across from Daphne, with Draco taking the one next to Hermione. They waited on the last person to climb into the carriage and was stunned to find the lanky form of Blaise Zabini.

"Well, Well, Well, look at this. The Ministry's princess has graced us with her appearance." He laughed at her frown.

Draco coughed, and Blaise quickly stopped. "Oh, are you taking up for her now?"

"I will not allow you to disrespect her, Blaise, not even you are exempt from this."

"Are you still prattling on about the whole 'I owe her my life' thing?" He scoffed. "I wouldn't want a tosser like you following me around to fight my battles. What do you say, Granger? Come be mine and I can get him off your back."

She frowned at him. "I'll have you know that I am my own woman and I can handle myself thank you!"

Blaise stared at her before teasingly smiling at her. "Ah, so you enjoy having a puppy following you. I can adapt."

Daphne nudged Blaise. "Leave her alone, Blaise. She just realized the implications of being thrown into the spotlight. She doesn't need anymore blokes like you hounding her."

"Hounding? I'll have you know-"

"Just be quiet, Blaise. We all know about your festivities since our fourth year." Draco smirked.

Blaise crossed his arms and leaned back. "Yeah, yeah, Draco." He brushed his friend aside and turned back to Hermione. "So, tell us, Granger, why were you adopted by the new Minister?"

"You don't have to answer that." Malfoy said quickly.

She looked at him and gave him a small smile. The look in his eyes told her that he knew of her parents' fate. Of course, he knew, he was close to Voldemort during the war. "No, it's alright." She turned back to Blaise, not entirely sure why she was opening up. Kingsley told her that she should try to make new friends this year and she was going to attempt at it. She was done fighting. She no longer wanted to see everyone as an enemy. She took a deep breath. "When Harry, Ron, and I set out to destroy the horcruxes, I erased my parents' memories of me and moved them to Australia. I did it to protect them and save them from being tortured. Well, when the war ended, and all was done, Kingsley and I tracked them down and I found that there isn't a way to reverse it. So even though they're alive, I've been orphaned. Kingsley offered to take me in and give me a room when we got back to the Ministry. So, after a few months, he asked if he could adopt me. We finalized the paperwork a couple months ago. I'm grateful to call him a part of my family."

Daphne was the first to speak. "But you're of age, right? Couldn't you just go get a place of your own?"

Blaise shook his head. "Would you be able to stand on your own after a year in the woods, fighting the battle of your life, and then finding that your parents will never know who you are?"

Hermione nodded. "Besides, its nice to have a place to call home."

Daphne smiled. "What's it like having the minister as a father then? Is he super strict?"

A sly smirk overcame Hermione's features. "He's actually very involved. He was an enormous influence on Professor McGonagall reopening the school for this term. We all agreed that some normalcy would do us all some good. He made me promise to write him once a week, though."

The four of them burst into laughter.

"So, after the war, it was just the two of you?"

Hermione nodded. "He was there for me, but he gave me space too. This wasn't his first war, so he gave me what he wished he had, peace. He said he was overwhelmed with people asking for war stories he wanted a place where he could simply just exist. He provided that space for me."

The carriage came to a stop and Blaise was the first one out, helping Daphne down. Draco hopped down after her, extending his hand to help Hermione down. She took it on good faith and gently let her feet touch the ground. She had a moment of peace before Ginny nearly toppled her over. "We need to talk. Now."

Malfoy caught Hermione before she could fall and pulled her away from Ginny. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, so this is where you were when we needed you? Hanging out with bloody Death Eaters?" Ginny roared. "We were looking everywhere for you! We sent you a thousand owls, and what did you do? Vanish!"

Draco calmly made sure Hermione wasn't hurt before turning around and laying into Ginny. "First of all, how dare you point your damn finger at her betraying you when you didn't once consider her feelings after the war! She needed time to fucking cope with her personal losses. Did you even bother to ask how she was feeling? How her parents were? That brings me to my second point, you little hussy would know had you asked, that she no longer has parents!" Malfoy took a deep breath, but Ginny interrupted.

"She knew that was a possibility! What about Ron, huh? He needed you when Fred died! We all did!"

Hermione looked down at her feet and gently laid a hand on Draco's shoulder, shaking her head slightly. "Ginny, we can talk when we get to our dorm." She gestured to for Draco to follow her and she made her way inside the castle with Draco quickly on her heels. Daphne sent Ginny an icy glare as she made to follow them. Blaise was much more verbal, going as far as to call her a few names before striding after the others. It seems that Hermione now had a following of Slytherins. And to her surprise, she found she didn't mind.

She stepped into the Great Hall and was met with all kinds of looks as she made her way to the front of the group. Professor, now Headmistress, McGonagall stood at the front, waiting for the rest of the students, sans the first years, to arrive. Once the doors finally closed, she gave them all a warm, motherly smile.

"The Great Hall is now a place of unity! Therefore, there will no longer be anymore house tables. You may sit where you like. This change had been brought to light due to the recent events that took place this past May as well as the returning eighth year students."