Chapter 1...
She sat alone at a table in the dining car of the Hogwarts Express, reading her favorite book, Hogwarts: A History, ignoring her surroundings. Students bustled in and out of the dining car around her, excited for the new term, but she stayed riveted to the book she'd read thousands of times. She heard the opposite part of the booth seat creak under the weight of another person. She didn't need to glance up to know that person was the same blonde haired snake she'd been seeing in secret for several months before the Second Wizarding War had enveloped them all. It had started shortly before the Slug Club's Christmas party, and ended right after Death Eaters had stormed the castle. But she didn't dwell on the details of it all. After Dumbledore's death, knowing he'd had a hand in it, she had realized that things could never be how she had pictured them with Draco. She had picked the light, he had chosen the darkness. She was a muggleborn and he was a pureblood. They were complete opposites, and so they should remain. Now she was with the man she had spent her formative years harboring a schoolgirl crush on and even if he wasnt returning to Hogwarts with her, she would make it work.
"Hermione, I..." he began quietly, leaning closer to her while still surveying the room to make sure there were no eavesdroppers. She rolled her eyes and groaned internally. She couldn't deal with this. She snapped her book closed and looked up into his grey eyes angrily.
"Draco, don't." she bit out sharply. Draco recoiled slightly as if her words had actually injured him.
"Don't. Don't what? Don't miss you? Don't think about you? Don't want to kiss you and touch you? Don't remember the noises you used to make when you lay beneath me while I was buried deep inside you? Don't remember nights laying in your arms wishing things had been different?" he whispered harshly, trying to reach for her hand.
"Yes, don't. You can't. I'm with Ron now." she whispered back, pulling her hand away slightly. She stuffed her tome into her beaded bag and stood.
"Accio robes." she muttered as they flew into her hand out of the beaded bag. She turned to walk away. Draco stood as well and grabbed her wrist gently. She turned to look at him and tell him off but when she looked into his stoic face she couldn't will her lips to retort back, so he spoke for her.
"Can't. Won't. I'm not going to push it but I'm also not going to pretend. I loved you Hermione, I still love you. I know I made a bad choice but I want to remedy it." he replied, trying to convey his love with just his eyes. She finally wrenched her arm away and walked out of the car, to go change into her robes. As she entered the changing stall she thought about her one main non-academic goal this year...avoid Draco Malfoy at all costs.