DISCLAIMER! I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING RELATED TO HARRY POTTER OR ANYTHING THAT J. HAS PREVIOUSLY AND MASERMINDEDLY COME UP WITH! NOR ANY OTHER MOVIES OR BOOKS THAT ARE REFERENCED THROUGH OUT THE STORY!

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WELCOME HOME!

Chapter 1

Hermione stood on the platform of 9 ¾ looking over her luggage and checking off her mental checklist making sure that she had everything. In her hand was her Hogwarts letter requesting that she come back to finish her 7th year. The war had been over for several months now and things were slowly starting to feel like they were returning back to normal, whatever normal was now. She was sure that once she and her friend got back to school that everything would start to fall back into place. She just couldn't wait to get back to the place she had called home for the past seven years. Looking up at the station clock, and then down at her wristwatch that her parents had given to her as a "good-luck-on-your-last-year" present. They were both telling the same time, she sighed and shook her head. Those boys are always late for everything! She thought, the train leaves in two minutes! Hermione squinted slightly as she felt the strange feeling of being watched. This feeling caused her to look up and scan the platform. It wasn't until she locked with a pair of steel-gray eyes that she found the reason. She took a gasping breath as she realized who those eyes belonged to.

Draco Malfoy was standing on the far end of the platform, his hands in the pockets of his well-tailored black suit that he was notoriously known for. He was gazing in Hermione's direction, but given the distance that was between them, she couldn't be certain that he was actually looking at her. He didn't even seem to notice that she was looking back at him until his mother came up to his side and said something in his ear only Malfoy could hear. He tilted his head to answer her but kept his steel-gray eyes on Hermione, or in her direction anyway. "HERMIONE!" She jumped at the sound of her name and shut her eyes tightly, taking a breath. When she opened them Malfoy had his back to her and seemed to be engaged in whatever his mother was fussing about at the moment. Hermione hummed to herself, turning to see her two best friends running along the platform with their trunks in tow. "You two are lucky! The train is going to be leaving any minute! Come on let's go find our seats…" The three moved onto the train and found an empty compartment to themselves. After stowing their trunks away, Hermione sat across from Harry and Ron with the bench to herself. They hadn't even left the station yet when Hermione's eyebrows knit together as she watched her ex-boyfriend dig into the brown lunch sack his mother had indeed packed for him yet again, pulling out a piece of squished sandwich to shove in his mouth.

It was even more "charming" when he tried to talk around the bulge of food in his right cheek and accidently spit a small crumb of chewed up bread across the carpeted floor. She and Ron had come to the conclusion over the summer that they were better suited for friends than romantic partners. Not to mention that Ron didn't know two drops of a love potion how to be romantic, it was better this way. However, the way he acted like their dating life had actually never happened stung her pride just a bit more than she would like to admit. Turning to the book that she had kept out for the trip, she pulled it up so that the line of sight was broken and she no longer had to watch the grotesque way Ron devoured the rest of his sandwich.

A few hours later the train announcements chimed to alert passengers that they would be approaching Hogwarts station in a few moments. They all quickly changed into their school robes before the train came into the station, and started fussing about getting things put away and in order for the house elves to take their belongings to their rooms in the dorms. Hermione was completely buzzing with excitement! She did her best to hold it in, but she was ready to get this year started. This year she was finally going to buckle down and not let any distractions get in her way. "Let's get going, I'm starving! I can't wait to get to the first of the year feast!" Ron said as he made his way out of the train car door and down the corridor to the platform below. "Do you ever stop thinking about food?" Harry and Hermione said in unison. They chuckled to themselves as the followed Ron out to the waiting platform. The ride up to the castle was just like every other time, and Hermione loved it. The friends, now joined by Luna Lovegood and her boyfriend Neville Longbottom, chittered happily telling each other about things that happened over the summer. Hermione chimed in every now and then but mostly watched out the window for her first glance at the castle since the war. She was worried that it would be battle scared and disheveled, however, she was happily disappointed to see the magnificent view that greeted every student old and new every year.

Once they reached the main doors of the castle, everyone filed into the great hall for the sorting of the new first years. The three friends followed suit and took their seats at their house table. Hermione scanned the room smiling; it felt great to be back. After a few minutes of letting the students catch up with each other, Headmistress McGonagall strode up to the podium that had stood front and center of the main hall, never changing from what she knew, from reading "Hogwarts: a history" so many times that she could almost quote the book from beginning to end, cover to very worn cover. It was amazing how it seem untouched by the carnage that had happened here. McGonagall tapped her wand against the ancient wood and the low hum that was the student's voices seemed to fade as if someone had turned down the volume nob on Hermione's muggle radio back home. "I want to welcome all of you to Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry, be it your first year here… or last. I want to tell all of you… Welcome home!" She stated, full of sincerity as she looked over the rims of her glasses to the faces of the students before her along with a warm motherly smile. The Headmistress went on to discuss the expectations of the year, and make the announcements to the first years of the rules that had been in place since the school first began. Hermione could almost mouth every word along with her school's new headmistress: how the forbidden forest was just that, and anyone caught roaming around after hours will receive the correct punishments and so on.

Hermione's smile faded slightly as she felt the same feeling she had on the train platform at King's Cross station, she scanned the room to find the culprit. Just as before she took a sharp breath as she found the same pale gray eyes seeming to watch her from across the room. The look on the face that accompanied them was emotionless, and Hermione was taken back to find Draco Malfoy gazing off in her direction yet again from his spot at the Slytherin table. After a quick moment, she shook it off and shifted her eyes back up to the elderly woman addressing them, and engaged back into what their headmistress was informing the students of now, but not before chancing a quick glance back in the direction she had just turned from. Malfoy was now resting his cheek in the palm of his hand, looking down as he traced out marks on the table with the fingertips of his free hand. Something about his posture made Hermione think of a defeated man with too much on his mind.

As the feast started to whine down, Headmistress McGonagall came up to the podium once again, this time to address the prefects as well as the head boy and girl. Hermione was a little disappointed that she was not chosen to be head girl this year, but she did happen to land one of the prefect spots. She chocked it up to all the rule breaking and "trouble causing" that she followed Harry and Ron into in the past years. Prefect was better than nothing; at least it would still look good on her resume as an outstanding accomplishment, and the letters of recommendation she was planning on asking her teachers for would more than likely put her in good standings for any job she applied for as well…. She hoped… After fulfilling her prefect duties and showing the new first years to Gryffindor tower common room on the seventh floor of the castle, Hermione sat down on the edge of her four posted bed and took it all in. She hadn't felt this tired in quite a while and was looking forward to some well-needed sleep. Kicking off her shoes, she crossed over to her trunk that was placed at the foot of her bed by the house elves of Hogwarts. She then changed into her pajamas, thinking that she would get up early enough for a proper shower in the morning, and moved to pull the sheets back before climbing into her bed. She smiled to herself as she nuzzled down into her pillow, pulling the fresh sheets over her at the same time. With a small giggle and a little wiggle of happiness to finally be back at school, she closed her eyes to ready herself for sleep. That night she dreamt of silver gray pools, green grass, and fresh parchment.

In the morning, Hermione made her way down to the great hall for breakfast. She didn't even look up from her class schedule to know exactly where her normal seat was along the Gryffindor table, as she had done in her previous years here at school, she just followed her feet out of habit. Hermione briefly set the parchment down on the table next to her as Harry and Ron come up on either side to claim their seats, just as she had done.

She stretched her arm out to grab a scone from the middle of the table as her two best friends continued their discussion about who they thought should make the Gryffindor quidditch team this year. Hermione looked up at the main entrance just as Malfoy walked in. He was alone and his head hung slightly as he avoided looking anyone in the eye. It was such and odd thing to see him that way. The complete opposite of how he had been before the war. Draco Malfoy was anything but the quiet shy boy in the past, always with his head held high as if he were too good to be in anyone else's presence. The man she was looking at now was nothing like the shadow of his former self. Hermione watched as he slowly made his way over to his house table and took a seat that was quite a ways away from anyone else that happened to be already sitting there. "Serves him right, the ferret…" she heard Ron say, pulling her out of her thoughts. He had followed her gaze when she didn't respond to the question he was asking her about their new schedules. "He shouldn't even be allowed to come back here after what he did. Should have been sent to Azkaban with the lot of'm." Hermione turned to look at her ginger-haired friend as he spoke, a look of confusion on her face. "And what would you have done Ronald if you were put in the same situation?" They all knew that Malfoy had been acting out of fear for his life, as well as his families when he followed through with the Dark Lords plans. This had all come out in the Daily Profit shortly after Lucius Malfoy had been sentenced to life in prison for his part in Voldemort's attempt to overthrow the world, and it was stated that Draco along with his mother has been acquitted of all charges due to acting out of self-preservation and defense. Ron just shook his head and looked down at his plate full of food, shoveling another spoonful of porridge into his mouth so he didn't have to answer. With that Hermione stood up and collected her things, pulling the strap of her satchel up onto her shoulder and grabbing her schedule for the year. Without another word to Ron, she turned to Harry on the other side of her, bid him good luck on his first day and stormed off towards her first class.

Hermione had gotten to the potions classroom in the dungeons before anyone else and had her free pick of seats. Normally she would pick a table close to the front of the class so she didn't miss anything, but today, however, she felt more like blending in than anything, especially after she let Ron rile her up so easily. Even though Malfoy deserved everything he got for being the snoody little slimy git he used to be, Hermione could tell that most of his luster was gone after the war. Having been forced to do something against your will to save someone you loved, and then having everyone hate you for it couldn't be easy. She almost felt sorry for Him. Hermione huffed out a sigh as she pulled out what she would need for the beginning of class. Without noticing the other tables started to fill up, but the chair next to her stayed empty. It didn't bother her any, knowing that she would more than likely get everything done faster without having to move around someone else and fix their mistakes. Hermione pulled her textbook into her lap and started reading, ignoring everyone else. A few moments later she looked at her watch again and noted that Professor Slughorn would be walking in any minute, before turning back to her book. She was only brought back to the present when a bag was carelessly dropped onto the floor next to her, along with the sound of the chair scraping on the stone floor caught her attention. Hermione looked up from the book in her lap to see who the owner of the bag was, to only be left speechless as the tall toe-headed body that was Malfoy moved to occupy the seat next to her. "What do you think you are doing?" She hissed. Malfoy looked at her with those cool gray eyes, and her dream from the night before flew to the forefront of her memory. "Well one does usually sit in this contraption labeled as a chair, Granger, and seeing how it was the only one vacant, I am using it for its intended purpose." He stated in almost a whisper as he bent down to retrieve what he needed for the class from his satchel on the floor. Hermione just stared at him like he had just answered the unknown question of the universe before she could. Once Malfoy had everything out in front of him, he turned in his chair to face her. With one elbow resting on the table and the other on the back of his seat. Hermione cringed slightly out of habit, waiting for one of his nasty little comments about her hair, or her blood status. Instead, he just looked at her as if he wanted to say something but not being able to open his mouth to let the words fly. Just then the door was pushed open and Professor Slughorn shuffled in backward, his arms full of new ingredients and supplies for the classroom. Turing around to notice the full classroom, ol' Sluggy chuckled and looked to the closest student. "I say, dear boy, mind helping store these things away in the supply closet? That's a good lad!" and he dumped the load into the unready arms of the student off to his left. The Professor then toddled up to the front of the class and started writing instructions on the blackboard.

Once finished he turned to address the class. "Welcome!" he said with a smile that nearly hid his eyes with wrinkles. "Today we are going to start with a very simple potion, just to get everyone back in the swing of things, Yes? Ok now, the person sitting next to you will be your partner for the remainder of the year!" Hermione's hand shot up in protest "Sir!" Slughorn waved her off and turned his back to her to retrieve something from his desk. "Now, now Ms. Granger... It would do you some good to learn to work well with others." And with that, he launched into the assignment of the day. Hermione sighed and crossed her arms over her middle. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Malfoy's head hang just a little bit lower, and his shoulders slump slightly at her protest. It instantly made her remorseful, remembering how Ron had acted the same way about him just being here at all. She had defended Draco against Ron this morning, but then again she didn't think that she would be thrust into being partners with the man all year either. Hermione scrunched up her lips into the corner of her mouth thoughtfully as threw away her thought and looked up potion they were to be making today.

Truth be told Malfoy was actually a good partner, He didn't say much letting her take the lead, and only making minor interjections when he thought they were necessary. All in all, Hermione was not expecting this kind of reaction from the once prince of Slytherin. More than once she caught herself watching him as he worked silently next to her. With well over an hour left of class they had already finished the potion that Slughorn had assigned them, and with a well earned "Fantastically Excellent!" from their professor, the pair were given their homework assignment of a handwritten essay on where to find the main ingredient of their potion and let loose to "use their time wisely" before their next class. Hermione turned to pick up her notes and placed them in her textbook as a bookmark to save the page for later research and shoved her things back in her bag. Before she could even turn to actually congratulate Malfoy on a job well done, which she normally wouldn't do… especially to him, he was halfway out the door. She looked to the seat that He had just vacated in puzzlement. Malfoy was in such a rush that he had left his uniform cloak behind, she gathered it up and slung it over her shoulder along with her satchel strap, and ran out the door to try and catch him. She looked up and down the long corridor of the dungeons where their classroom was located, but Malfoy had already disappeared. Hermione humphed and turned to head back up to the first floor of the castle where the library was located. Potions happened to be her only class today, and she wanted to get a head start on the essay that Slughorn had just assigned. Tucking Malfoy's cloak into her bag making sure that the Slytherin crest was fully hidden to avoid any questions. There was already so much in there that the tail end of it hung out swaying back and forth as she walked.

Pushing the library door open, she smiled to herself when she saw how empty the room was. Just the way she liked it! Everyone was still in their first-day classes and it gave her the uninterrupted time to get started on her work. It was almost impossible to get anything finished when most of the classes had let out. Those who would come to the library always ended up asking her for help on one thing or another, be it homework or where a certain book might be hiding. Hermione unloaded her heavy bag on a table near the back, close to the windows. The sunlight was shining just right to warm the spot but not enough to make it hot. And the cushions were molded just right from her hours of shifting about while she studied there. Reaching into her bag she pulled out her textbook again, opening it to the page where she had shoved her notes previously for easy finding once she got to the library. Laying the book on the table, Hermione put her hands on either side of it, looming over the text as she scoured the pages for a place to start. Finding something promising in the lines of text, she tapped the spot on the page and turned to head to the correct section where she knew her answers would be. As she walked Hermione lightly ran her fingertips over the spines of books she passed, smiling as one or two let out a small giggle as if she were tickling them. I love magic, she thought as the giggling faded once she passed the tickled tomes. Coming up the section she was looking for, she started reading the titles of the old books, tilting her head to the side to read them better. Her finger moved up a row, then up another. "Ah ha!" she exclaimed as she found the book she was looking for, reaching up to try and pluck it from it resting place it was just out of her reach. Hermione stretch as much as she could and even went up on her tiptoes, grunting and willing herself to be just an inch taller. A long slender arm moved over her shoulder and took hold of the book she was trying so hard to get to, startling her. The pale hand, and long fingers wrapped around the spine easily, pulling it out and down to her level.

Hermione turned to face the person who helped retrieve the book just out of her reach, only to be caught in those steely silver eyes yet again. She was surprised, and shifted backward slightly, her back pressing up against the shelves behind her. Malfoy was only a few inches away, and DEFENTLY invading her personal space. Neither of them said anything as he held the book out to her, it took everything she had in that moment to look away from his eyes to the object in his hand. Hermione mumbled a small "thank you" having no idea what else to say. He stood there for a moment more as they both held onto the book. She could feel her cheeks heating up as they flushed, and tried to look anywhere but up at him. Draco had that look as if he wanted to say something, just like in potions class, but the words never came. He finally took a step back with a small nod and turned to go back to where his things were spread out on a nearby table. She watched as he walked away from her, she hadn't noticed he was here when she came in just a few minutes ago. Hermione's brain finally caught up with her, and she came back to her senses. Taking the book back over to her table to sit down, she opened to the correct chapter she began to read and jot down note for her assignment. Chewing on her bottom lip, her eyes wondered from the text on the page up and over to the other side of the room where she actually had a clear view of Malfoy. Hermione watched him for a moment as he scribbled something down on the parchment in front of him. Again she was perplexed about this new version of him. It was odd to see Draco Malfoy so quiet and without his brutes to follow him around. If she didn't know who he was in the past, Hermione could almost think that he was just another normal student here at school.

An hour had passed since she first returned to her table with the book that Malfoy had retrieved for her. Hermione tossed her quill onto the table, and with a groan of frustration, leaned back in her chair rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands. This was an easy assignment, so why wasn't she finished with it already! Truth be told, she was distracted. Hermione's mind kept wondering, leading to thoughts of what could have possibly caused Malfoy's full "moody" makeover. Aside from what she already knew, his father in prison, and everything else. The Draco Malfoy of the past would have ripped into anyone who even thought to look at him as though he was less than the prince he pretended to be, war or no war. Hermione sighed and rested her head on the table, closing her eyes. "It isn't that hard, Granger." She groaned inwardly as she lifted her head to look up at Malfoy, who was yet again in her personal space. She hadn't even heard him approach her as he moved to sit on the table adjacent to her. "Don't you have a first year to drown in the loo?" Hermione said a little too harshly as she sat back in her chair again crossing her arms over her chest. He looked at her, that smirk of arrogance that she was so used to seeing plastered on his smug face finally made its appearance. "Now, now Granger…" He used the same tone Slughorn had in class earlier, and it annoyed her even more. He shifted slightly as he moved to hold out a piece of parchment to her, scribbles all over the page. "What's this?" she asked leaning up to take what was being offered to her, but not without watching him closely for some part of the trick that she had not seen yet. "My notes for the assignment." Hermione took them and looked them over; they actually seemed to be very neat and thorough, quite a bit like her own. "Don't you need these?" She asked looking up at him from the page. "I finished 15 minutes ago." He stated as he got up off the table and moved to collect his things. Without another word, Malfoy walked out of the library leaving Hermione alone with her very confused thoughts.