Ch 1.
It's so good to be back! Hermione thought as she smiled contentedly. Here she was sitting in the Great Hall beside her two best friends at the start of a new year. She breathed a sigh of contented relief as her gaze moved up to the clear blue ceiling, cloudless and bright like the sky outside of the newly restored windows. Her eyes landed happily upon classmates returning after the hardest year of their lives.
The war was over; won for the side of light, and the world was beginning to heal. The Order spent the year since Voldemort's death hunting down the remaining Death Eaters with the help of many of the surviving students from the battle at Hogwarts. She glanced down the table where she sat and her smile faltered. So many faces that used to be there were now absent, lost far too young fighting a battle they shouldn't have needed to fight. She felt a pang in her heart looking around at other tables that also lacked familiar friends. Definitive holes littered the benches of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, but none more so than Slytherin. Only a small handful of students bore silver and green on their robes this year, most of them having perished in the war or were still on the run with their Death Eater families. Her heart sank as she scanned the benches, holding her breath.
"You alright, Hermione?" She blinked and quickly turned her attention to the freckled face of Ron Weasley beside her.
"Hm? Oh, yes. Just looking about. So many people are gone. It's odd to see the Hall so empty." She cast her eyes down at the newly empty golden plate sitting before her before feeling a warm hand cover hers. She looked up into the emerald eyes of her other friend, Harry.
"But look at all the people who have returned." He squeezed her hand, offering a small smile to accompany his sad eyes. She knew he blamed himself for the deaths of their friends. She turned her hand upward, lacing her fingers with his and squeezing tightly before returning that smile, eyes twinkling at the repetition of the words she'd said so many times to him.
"Welcome, students." Headmistress McGonagall called. She paused as silence fell from the students as all attentions were drawn to her.
"I am so happy to see so many of you, safe and well. This past year has been undoubtedly trying but I am pleased to see so many of you return to continue your educations. And to those first joining our ranks, we are pleased to see you. In light of recent events, this year will be focused on rebuilding. Not just ourselves, not just our houses, but the school as a whole. The ones returning to this school to retake last year are here because you're strong, you're brave and you're survivors. It is these characteristics that we need to bring Hogwarts back to its peak. Now, some new rules for this year…"
Hermione looked back down at her plate. She was Head Girl; she knew these rules already and allowed herself to become immersed in her thoughts.
She was aching to find someone, to finally end the torture and find out what happened to them. There was just too much death, too many casualties, for the Order to know exactly who lived and who died, who was hiding and who was in Azkaban. They knew quite a lot, but by no means did they know the status of every Death Eater in the world.
"And lastly, I know the 8th years are going to find this rule trite, but the ten o'clock curfew still stands. No excuses! Now, as our esteemed ex-headmaster would have said: Tuck in!" The tables, once empty groaned under the sudden weight of the food that popped up through the surface. Immediately, chatter erupted around them as people started piling their plates high with food. The three friends sat in silence, reservedly filling their plates and setting them down in front of themselves.
"It's odd being back here again, isn't it?" Harry murmured. She looked up into the green eyes of her friend, sadness lingering just beyond the surface.
"It's not so bad. Everything's been rebuilt exactly the way it was before. It's no different than it was."
"It's almost wrong to know that Snape won't be giving me hell this year."
"Well aren't you both excited for Quiddich? Harry, you'll be captain again, won't you? And Ron, you'll be keeper?"
"I don't know that I'll be able to play again this year, 'Mione." Her eyes widened at the red head.
"Well why ever not?" Ron shrugged ducking his head a little lower.
"Fred." Hermione's heart clenched a little at the name of the lost Weasley. She knew Ron still hurt over it, and quite right too.
"Ron, can you imagine what Fred would say to you if he knew you were thinking of quitting the Quiddich team just because of him?"
"He'd say 'don't be stupid, you great prat. You're good at it and if Gryffindor loses the House Cup this year because you took yourself off the team, I'm going to put Puking Pastilles in your food every day for the rest of your life."
"Now listen here, you two. No more moping. You were both so eager to come back. And now that we're here, it's time to move forward just like McGonagall said. And look at all of those who have returned. There are still quite a lot of familiar faces around and they'll all want everything to go back as normal as possible. Do you understand?" They both nodded obediently as they slowly started eating their food.
"You would both be completely lost without me." She joked only to have both Ron and Harry scoff before diving into a conversation less serious. That's how it always happened. Once they breached the barrier of 'comfortable' to 'painful' they would then talk about something mundane and unimportant in comparison. And that didn't bother Hermione in the slightest. When they had eaten their fill of dinner and dessert (the Treacle tart had been completely consumed by Ron in a matter of moments) the students slowly started rising and making their ways up to their beds to fall into a pleasant food coma.
"Right, then I must be off to my Dormitory. I'll catch up with the two of you later." She gave them both one more lingering smile before spinning on her heel and heading down a different corridor than the other two boys.
The Gryffindor tower wasn't completely out of the way and it only took her a few minutes to get there. She came to what looked like a large expanse of blank wall adorned only with 3 torches. She came upon the first one, withdrew her wand and tapped three below and four over, whispered "Mandrake root" and stepped back. The blank wall quickly shifted itself into a stone archway which led into her new common room.
Hermione smiled to herself as her gaze raked across the room. Right in front of the archway was a hugely ordinate fireplace, logs crackling away, flanked with two mahogany colored book cases. She stepped closer to examine the designs, running her fingers over the lion, badger, eagle and serpent carved into the wood, intricate spirals of ivy surrounding them and the Hogwarts crest in the center. She smiled at the lovely shag carpet lying out in front of the fire with a divine leather couch and deep maroon winged-backed chairs off to the side of the room sitting on either side of a chess table. To the right of the fireplace were a set of stone steps that she assumed led up to the bedrooms. As she ascended them she came to a lovely little bathroom, much like the prefects bathroom with the huge bathtub with hundreds of spigots. Her happiness faltered a little bit when she realized that she would be meant to share that bathroom with the Head Boy but quickly pushed that thought from her mind.
You haven't even finished exploring this place yet and you're already worrying, she chastised herself. She continued up the stairs and came to a landing at the top with two oak doors on either side. The door to the left intricately inscribed 'Head Boy' and the other 'Head Girl'. She smiled, relieved that she wouldn't have to barge into the rooms to figure out which one was hers. She pushed open the door and her breath caught in her throat.
She stood in a huge beige room with floor to ceiling golden yellow sheer curtains. She ran her fingers along the beautiful marble topped wrought iron vanity sitting by a window that had an exquisite view of the lake and the Forbidden Forest. Her wardrobe stood on the other side of the window from the vanity, white with black handles and gold accents upon its white surface. Upon opening it, she saw that her clothes were already hung in there and her shoes neatly lined up along the bottom. She just noticed that her trunk sat at the end of her bed when she finally laid eyes on the main focus of the entire room. Flanked by two beautiful white and gold bedside tables, her bed was beautiful. Four-poster, black wrought iron, and more subtle yellow sheer curtains surrounding it. Feather pillows adorned the top with intricate golden embroidery along the edges that extended onto the down comforter. Eyes wide, Hermione gently laid back and felt herself sink sublimely into the softness of the mattress. She felt as though she was lying on a cloud. She sighed in contentment letting her eyes drift shut in pure bliss.
Now this is the life, she thought as she drifted off into a much needed nap.
She was sprinting through the forest, her heart pounding, her breath coming in ragged gasps. She could hear them yelling behind her, curses and hexes striking trees behind her as she weaved between and over the shadows of the woods.
She had to keep running, move faster, keep weaving. They couldn't get a clear shot of her if she kept moving back and forth like this but she also didn't have the energy to stay ahead of them if she used it all by remaining a moving target.
"STUPEFY!" she called over her shoulder, rewarded by hearing the thump of a body hitting the forest floor and shouted curses as someone tripped over the fallen body. She turned her head forwards again, running for her life, taking advantage of their delay.
Ahead of her she saw an opening in the trees, a clearing. She was almost there; she just had to keep going before they caught her. Once she got there, she'd be safe. She just had to keep going.
Suddenly, she tripped. She felt her body sprawl out on the forest floor, her wand flying out of her grasp leaving her defenseless, with them coming to get her. She scrambled into the underbrush, praying they wouldn't find her. Her eyes scanned the floor in search for her wand as she tried stilling her breath.
Then they were there. A dozen pairs of feet surrounding her, walking around her hiding place.
"Where did she go?"
"I saw her trip; she couldn't have gone too far."
"That way! She went over there! Don't let her escape!" she froze. She didn't know whose voice that was or where the person was pointing, but she prayed it wasn't toward where she was. Then, eyes wide, she watched as they ran in the opposite direction that she came from. All of the feet around her were gone. Except one. One pair of feet stopped right in front of her hiding place, slowly turning toward her. Her heart started pounding, her breath hitching in her chest as terror gripped her. His knees bent beneath the dark robes he was wearing, white hands reaching out toward her. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping against hope that she would be spared. She felt a hand press harshly over her mouth and pull her forwards.
Hermione's body jerked awake with a scream, her eyes flying around her rapidly trying to figure out where she was. Slowly she recognized the sheer yellow curtains of her bedroom. Her body was shaking, her heart racing as she sat herself up. Her robes were twisted around her body and she felt a layer of sweat covering her body.
It was just a dream, Hermione. Get a grip on yourself. It's over, she thought over and over to herself. She made her way to the bathroom to splash some water on her face, wiling her terrified nausea to subside. After sliding her robes off her slender shoulders, she stared at herself in the mirror, noting the dark circles under her eyes. Even though the war was over, the nightmares still haven't gone yet.
Once her breathing returned to normal, she glanced out the bathroom window. It was dark now, long past sunset. She wondered just how long she was asleep and why the Head Boy hadn't come to the dormitory yet. Slowly she walked back up to her bedroom but when she reached the landing she just stood there for a moment, staring at the other bedroom door. Her hand itched to turn the handle and discover what that room looked like too but she didn't want to snoop, especially considering she didn't even know who would be sharing this dormitory with her. She strained her ears trying to hear if anyone was in the common room before she took two silent steps across the landing and pressed her ear against the wood. When she was satisfied that she was alone, she easily turned the knob and swung the door open silently.
This room couldn't have been more different from her room. The walls were painted a dark mossy green color, the furniture made of dark woods with silver handles. The windows and deep mahogany bed were also surrounded with sheer curtains, but dark grey. And this bed was far from empty. Through the open curtains she could see the long form of the boy who she would be in close proximity with for the rest of the year. His long legs were covered by black dress pants leaving his chiseled torso bare, milky white skin in direct contrast with his dark surroundings. A strong, long fingered hand draped itself over the edge of the bed leading her eyes up his strong arms to his face. Her eyes widened as she took in the soft pink lips, elegantly straight nose, and dark eyelashes fluttering against his pale cheeks, platinum blonde hair gently sweeping across his forehead. Her eyes lingered curiously on his face, peaceful and vulnerable, both expressions unfamiliar to her on this face. Slowly and silently, she retreated out of the room and swung the door closed again. She closed her eyes and leaned against the door as her heart fluttered. She now knew who the Head Boy was and she couldn't help but feel fear, trepidation and a little thrill of excitement. Stubbornly, she pushed the positive emotion away as she finally admitted something to herself that she'd been afraid to say.
She was going to be sharing her dormitory with Draco Malfoy.
Please review! This is the first fanfic that I've done, so your input would be fantastic :)