A/N: Hey there! This is my first fan fiction and I'm a bit nervous about how it'll turn out. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story and let me know what you think! :]

It's your fucking nightmare.

-Avenged Sevenfold

Chapter 1: Nightmare

It had begun as a normal day, or as normal of a day as Hermione could have. She had gone to her job at the Ministry, as usual, but what awaited her there was not near as usual. Now that she was seated on her couch at her flat, with her feet resting on the table and a glass of wine in hand, she wondered how it had gotten out of control. With a sigh she replayed the days events in her mind.

Her job, while she was not away with Harry on Auror business, seemed simple. She was in charge of the vast library the Ministry owned. Surprisingly, quite a lot went into running it, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. Not to mention she was able to take home however many books for however long.

The job, however, was mainly a cover. After fighting a war with her best friend and her boyfriend, she had realized something important about herself. She was a fighter. It wasn't that she wouldn't pick studying or reading over fighting, but she wasn't one to sit around and do nothing while there were problems out in the world—and they all knew there were plenty of them. Therefore, while the press sat around and wondered why she had picked tending a library rather than being an Auror, she simply smiled and said she preferred knowledge to fighting, which was not a complete lie. To Hermione, the pursuit of knowledge was still her passion. However, she didn't see anything wrong with fighting for good (as cliché as it sounded) as well.

So there she was, on her way to check in with Kingsley, in order to see if he needed her to go on any special business. As she reached his office and lifted herhand to knock, the door opened and a male with white-blonde hair raced out. Hermione's eyes widened in shock and she whirled around to see if she could catch sight of his face. As he rounded the corner to leave she saw a glimpse of the cold blue eyes.

"Come in Hermione," the grave voice brought her out of her shocked induced paralysis and she shook her head, trying to clear her mind that was racing in every direction.

"Hello, sir," she said upon entering, her manners at their best. Kingsley chuckled, a deep sound that shook his frame.

"Will you not call me Kinsley after all this time? After all we've been through?" He asked, beckoning for her to have a seat. Hermione blushed slightly and ducked her head. It was an ongoing battle with her and Kingsley to get her to call him by his first name. The man chuckled again and then sifted through a pile of papers on his desk. Hermione, in the meantime, glanced out the window, her brow furrowed in concentration.

"Something on your mind, dear girl?" startled, she jumped and gave him a shaky grin.

"Not at all, sir. Anything for me?" she hastily changed the subject, anxious to get out and get to work—to escape that one nagging thought.

"Doesn't look like it, nothing for Harry, either. Do you mind if I send him your way?"

"Not at all. Good bye sir!" she hurried to the door but stopped before she walked out. Kingsley looked at her expectantly and she opened her mouth, closed it and opened it again, "I'm sorry, but was that Draco Malfoy that was in here before me?" the question was hesitant, she wasn't sure if she wanted to hear the answer.

"Why yes, it was. I was setting up his schedule. He is a new employee after all," the Minister of Magic replied easily. Hermione's eyes widened and she felt a surge of anger and betrayal.

"Bu- why? How?" she sputtered before sighing, "I'll be going now," Kingsley didn't have much time to analyze the dejected voice before she was gone. The man shrugged and returned back to work.

A mixture of emotions ran through Hermione as she walked to the library—shock and anger being the most prominent. Betrayal was present as well. After all, Kingsley knew what Draco had done and what employing anyone with the Malfoy name entailed. In the Wizarding World the Malfoys were treated like dirt, hardly talked to, barely acknowledged and cursed. While it was true that quite a few times the degradation went almost too far, it was hard for people to get worked up about the abuse. An unwelcome feeling of pain and guilt hit her as she remembered one incident. It had involved a couple of youths and Lucius Malfoy being beaten badly enough to need an emergency visit to St. Mungo's.

Hermione herself hadn't taken part in it, but she had stood by and watched, secretly cheering. Now guilt took a painful stab at her. She squashed it down and made sure that it did not resurface under any circumstance. The Malfoys were a selfish, power hungry and cruel family, they deserved the treatment they got. Later Hermione would wonder what had brought about the uncharacteristically explosive anger at the Malfoys, but she chose not to question it right then.

Suddenly a tall, masculine figure appeared in her view and she jerked to a stop, almost colliding with her best friend.

"Sorry Harry! I didn't see you there!" she apologized, rubbing her face. Harry put a hand on her shoulder to steady her and smiled, an amused glint in his eyes.

"Yeah, you looked pretty intent on racing the floor there. It almost looked like you were winning," he laughed, grinning when she crossed her arms in annoyance.

"Well Mister Potter, it looks like you're under my jurisdiction today, so no snide behavior," she retorted, sticking her nose in the air in mock condescension.

"My apologies Your Majesty," he muttered, before walking into the library.

"Harry!" she cried indignantly. However, rather than chase after him, she stood in front of the library doors for a moment longer. The elegant design carved onthe door held her gaze while her mind traveled back to Draco. Again, the anger flared, memories struck her, bit by bit, causing her to clench her teeth against a scream of outrage. The torture, Bellatrix's insane laugh and all the events that had happened at Malfoy's house were things she had yet to come to peace with. Her eyes raked over the door almost desperately, trying to find some shred of comfort and familiarity with which to break away from her pain.

It was definitely not going to be an easy morning.

After a minute more of standing, Hermione strode towards the doors and threw them open. She reminded herself over and over that she was a woman of action, not one to dwell on past pain—that the days of torture were behind her, and the nightmares that haunted her constantly were nothing. She was alive and well and those memories had no influence over her life.

Boy, could she lie to herself.

"Orders for the day, ma'am?" one of her workers asked, speaking for all of his peers.

"Nothing special, carry on with the usual," she smiled at him, with all the poise and grace that she had learned through the years. Then when he went off, the smile slipped off her face and a look of weariness took over. She sighed and went to find Harry.

Things went fine until the two went out to grab lunch. For the past couple of hours, Hermione had noticed that Harry seemed more agitated than usual and quite a bit more distracted. When they got their food at a café nearby and sat down, it was even more obvious.

After several moments of watching Harry pick at his food, Hermione raised an eyebrow and he glanced at her with an apologetic expression.

"I guess I'm just a little, off today," he said lamely, in answer to her unspoken question.

"You expect me to believe that? Come on, Harry, tell me what it is," she coaxed, trying to be as comforting as she could.

"Nothing," he averted his eyes and tapped his fingers on the table in agitation.

Then, Hermione, being the brilliant witch she was, put two and five together, "You know about-"

"Yeah," he interrupted shortly, still avoiding eye contact. Her eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared, he knew something and wasn't telling her.

"What aren't you telling me, Harry James Potter?" his fidgeting became more prominent and he gulped loudly. Hermione was shocked, Harry Potter, the one who had killed Lord Voldemort, was afraid of telling her, his best friend, something.

"Harr-"

"I got him the job and I invited him to come eat lunch with us because he's not as bad as he seems and I've been talking to him for a few weeks now," he blurted out, his words stumbling over each other almost faster than Hermione could catch. The girl paled and gripped her fork so tightly the skin over her knuckles turned white.

"You what?" her screech sent birds flying and made everyone seated outside turn to look at her. Harry flinched and finally met her fiery gaze.

"I'm sorry!" there was a hesitation, a frightened look in his eyes that made a small hidden part of Hermione if she was really that terrifying.

"If you think that I will ever be civilized with that barbaric son of a bitch, you are very wrong Potter! I will never deem him worthy of my attention!" she cried, not paying any attention to the direction in which Harry's eyes were flickering. She was far too gone in her anger, even calling Harry by his last name, something she only did when beyond furious. Her hands were shaking and her face took on a reddish hue.

Harry coughed and shifted uncomfortably then subtly pointed behind her.

"What?" she snapped before turning to glare at whoever was behind her. A moment later her mouth dropped open in shock and her eyes widened for the third time that day. Her stomach churned and the unsettling feeling of guilt returned to it.

"Nice to see you too, Granger," said Draco Malfoy, his ice blue eyes finding hers.

It was too much for her. It was like a waking nightmare, and one that was only the beginning of her day.