CHAPTER ONE

Hogwarts Express

September 1st at eleven o'clock sharp the whistle shrieked to signal the departure of Hogwarts Express from platform 9¼ of King's Cross Station to Hogsmead Station far north so that young witches and wizards could start a new year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Earlier that very year the historic events of the Second Wizarding War and the fateful battle between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort took place thus deciding the future of generations to come. Upon Voldemort's timely defeat, the Wizarding World entered a new era of peace. Witches and wizards came together restore Hogwarts to it's former glory along with the homes of many after the devastation and destruction of the war. Although there was still a lot of work to do and some places remained unfinished in their reconstruction, Hogwarts was deemed fit to reopen for the start of the new year.

The students hung out of the windows waving goodbye to their parents and carers as the train departed from the station. Once the platform had disappeared in the distance they sat down in excitement to discuss what great new things they were going to learn this year. Amongst the buzz of the new first year students and the clacking of the wheels against the rails there was one compartment of the train that remained silent. In that compartment sat only one tall, pale boy who slouched against the window with his face cupped in his hand and watched the scenery change constantly as they passed by. This boy was Draco Malfoy.

All of Harry Potter's year group were offered the opportunity to redo their last year of school due to the rather unfortunate circumstances in order to sit their Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests, otherwise known as NEWTs, by the courtesy of Minerva McGonagall who was new headmistress of Hogwarts School.

Draco had already received some puzzled and otherwise quite unpleasant looks upon boarding the train. But he chose not to dwell on it too much. By most people's standards he was a traitor. He had been a part of Voldemort's inner circle, after all, even bearing the Dark Mark on his left forearm. Draco had made the decision for himself to return for his eighth year with the sole intention of getting his grades. He had missed his entire seventh year completely, however he decided to use this opportunity to do well despite not knowing where he was going to go from this point. Draco knew this year wasn't going to be easy especially as half of his friends either chose not to return or were killed during the war, and the other half kept their distance from him knowing it would be 'social suicide' if they were seen being friendly with him. This left him all in his lonesome - though it was nothing he wasn't used to after these past two years. At least he had the opportunity to think and daydream for a while without being disturbed.

At least, that's what he thought.

Clack. He heard the door handle turn and slide open. Draco's body jolted slightly in surprise and swung his head over to face the doorway to the compartment. There stood a fair haired girl whose chaotic curls lounged over her shoulders and wore oddly coloured purple overalls with a t-shirt underneath that was a faded shade of blue. Draco knew exactly who she was - Loony Luna Lovegood. What was she doing here? His face dropped as he returned to his original position of looking out the window hoping she would get the hint and leave him alone. Draco wasn't much for starting drama nowadays.

"I see you've decided to stay on for another year too," she spoke softly as she closed the door behind her and sat down. Draco didn't answer. There was an awkward silence.
"Lovely day, isn't it? The air feels so much fresher now that the worst is over, don't you think?" she continued. No part of Draco's body moved apart from his eyes that glanced at her disapprovingly then back out the window. He hoped that if he ignored her long enough that she'd just bore herself to tears and go away. There was another awkward silence longer than the last. Draco could hear the rustling of Luna rummaging through her pockets but he continued to pay no attention. She had pulled out a peculiar looking chocolate. It appeared to have pink and yellow uneven dots and a matching brightly coloured wrapper to go with it. She extended her hand forward with a smile and continued in her efforts to make conversation.
"I bought these down at Diagon Alley before coming to the platform. They're quite strange, really. I heard if you eat it it will repel alp-luachra from crawling down your mouth when you sleep. Though I doubt you'll be sleeping next to a stream any time soon. Do you want to try a piece?" Draco squinted his eyes in disgust.
"No. I do not." he mumbled, feeling ever growingly more disgruntled.
"That's okay, " she said positively before taking a bite herself. Her lips wrinkled slightly as though she had just eaten an incredibly sour grape. "It's very salty," she stated.

Draco's patience was wearing very thin now. What was her deal? Why couldn't she just keep her distance and leave him in peace like everybody else? It seemed Luna wasn't going to leave any time soon. It was as though she could talk at him about useless things for hours.
"What is your motive?" he snarled shifting to sit up straight and face her, "You have no business talking to me." Luna seemed unfazed by his tone.
"You looked very lonely sat in here by yourself. I thought you would like some company-"
"I do not need company." Draco responded sharply.
"Don't be silly," she dismissed, "Everybody needs company now and then."

Draco found himself becoming irritable but he couldn't shake the confusion of her attitude towards him. Was she set up to this for a laugh? No, that couldn't be right. Loony Luna wouldn't be able to pull something like that, surely.
"Why are you acting so … friendly towards me? You haven't forgotten what happened a few months ago, did you?" During the Second Wizarding War Luna was kidnapped by Death Eaters and held hostage in the cellar of Malfoy Manor. The expression Luna presented seemed faintly more melancholy than it did moments before but her smile remained.
"You did what you had to do for your family. It's okay, I understand." Draco's eyes widened in disbelief.
"B...But you were held captive in my home! Why don't you hate me like everybody else does? Are you mad?"
"I wanted to hate you," she began, taking a pause before she spoke again, "Anyone else would have hated you, probably. But then I thought about how scared you looked. You were obviously not comfortable with everything that was happening. That was evident when you didn't identify Harry, as I was told, and you didn't signal Voldemort when asked." Draco's posture seemed to ease as he slumped back in his seat and bowed his head slightly, unsure what to think. He never would have imagined anyone could have forgiven him so easily. Not even he could forgive himself for what he had done. Not to mention his bad reputation as one to bully his fellow classmates. He was ashamed.

Before the boy could dwell too much on it, she spoke again - her voice slightly more cheerful then it had been.
"And besides, it's a new start, right? I've heard people have called this the 'Golden Era'. It's the beginning of great things! How can any of us expect to move forward if we keep dwelling on the past? It was a dark time for us all."
"So … You aren't bothered by the fact that I was a Death Eater?" Draco asked anxiously.
"I see a light inside you, Draco. Anyone can better themselves if they put their mind to it."

Unsure how, Draco found himself almost happy at Luna's approval of him. Although, he couldn't shake the overwhelming feeling of guilt. In fact, he was surprised he was even still talking her let alone in a civil manner. Luna Lovegood. It was no secret that she was out of the ordinary and Draco, along with many other students, would constantly taunt her calling her 'Loony Luna' for her bizarre ways. Even so, here they were talking to one another civilly. 'At least it was someone to talk to', Draco told himself, resigning to his desperation for at least someone to care. 'It can't be too bad, right? Even if it is Loony Luna.'

There was another silence. Although this time it was a more comforting silence. Draco had never been too great at expressing his emotions. It was almost alien to him to express any means of thanks or apologies. He wasn't sure how. The male had spent most of his time whining and complaining and criticising absolutely everything. Plus he wasn't ever allowed to question anything outside the moral boundaries he grew up with so it was almost scary for him to voice an opinion at all as it may push those boundaries. This meant he couldn't speak to any of his friends about any of his deepest thoughts in fear of being judged or rejected. As much as Draco wanted to show Luna his appreciation and tell her he wanted to better himself, all words escaped him.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" An elderly slightly hunchbacked woman had opened the door and stood with a cart of sweets and refreshments. The woman looked very short but gave off a friendly vibe as she grinned at the duo expressing a particular fondness of the young lady. "Ah, Miss Lovegood! Nice to see you sweetheart."
"Hello!" Luna smiled.
"Would you like some Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans today?"
"I'd love to but I haven't any money, unfortunately."
"I'll pay," Draco spoke eagerly. He may not be able to express his thanks through words but maybe he could gesture a thanks.
"I don't mind not having any, Draco."
"Are you really complaining?"
"Not really."
"I'll take-," Draco gestured at a large amount of sweets - specifically including a number of boxes of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, "-those, if you please."
"That was very kind of you, Draco" Luna smiled widely. Draco huffed and slumped back down after paying but could feel a small smile tugging at his lips.

Further down the train sat four Gryffindors: Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom. They all had already changed into their robes. Apart from catching up with each other for the first few minutes of the journey, conversation seemed almost non-existent. This year wasn't like any of their previous years. There were no secrets, no scheming and definitely no threat of Lord Voldemort. They found there probably won't be much to talk about until classes start again.

"I wonder where we will all be sleeping," said Ron in a shoddy attempt to spark conversation.
"Don't know," said Harry.
"Gryffindor tower, I expect," Hermione responded, not taking her eyes off the abnormally large book she was reading.
"Well you never know," Ron spoke in a subtly defensive tone, "I don't know where you've been but there was a bloody war on."
"Well, Ronald, they wouldn't have opened up the school again if there was nowhere for the students to sleep, now, would they?" Hermione snapped, shooting Ron an irritated look.
"What's got your knickers in a twist?" Ron huffed.
"There are no excuses this year. With no Voldemort there is no reason for us to meddle in anyone's business or put off studying! I'm trying to read this book on Arithmancy and I can't concentrate. I advise you boys do the same and start studying more."
"She's got a point," Neville added. Ron exhaled loudly and slumped back into his chair.
"They probably used magic anyway," Harry contributed in order to ease the tension a bit, "So we probably won't need to share a dorm with any other houses."
"Imagine rooming with the Slytherins," Neville contemplated aloud.
"I heard rumours that it was the only common room left untouched after the war," Ron snarled, "We all know why."

Conversation died down for a few minutes. The boys sat around bored for a while.
"I never really noticed how long this train journey was," Ron complained staring out the window.
"Maybe we could play a card game or something?" Harry suggested. Literally anything would be better than to sit for hours in silence.
"Yeah, sounds 'kay," said Ron as he lazily pulled his body off the back of the seat and to the attention of Harry who had just savaged a deck of cards from his luggage.
"You wanna play?" Harry asked Neville as he shuffled the deck.
"Actually I, uh… I was wondering if any of you guys saw Luna aboard the train. I was thinking about going to see her for a bit."
"Aww, Neville's in love," Ron teased playfully as Harry snickered.
"I saw her down the bottom of the train earlier," said Hermione, placing her book down next to her with a noticeable thud.
"Thanks," said Neville as he got to his feet. As Neville left the compartment Hermione slapped the giggling boys on the arm.

The long corridor of the train was always a busy nightmare. It was always full of students crowding the area having loud conversations and excited first year students wizzing from compartment to compartment talking to each other and making friends. It's lucky that Neville was no longer that snivelling, chubby and weak little first year any more. He was now a tall and more broad man than he used to be which is much to be expected he led Dumbledore's Army and destroyed the last horcrux. Getting down to the end of the train was a walk in the park nowadays. Students would see him and move out of the way to let him pass. He still wasn't quite used to the high level of respect he was shown but he did rather enjoy it - maybe a little more than he should.

Looking through the door windows from compartment to compartment Neville finally spotted Luna and pulled open the door.
"Luna!" he greeted hastily before noticing the other man. Luna Lovegood was sitting quite joyfully with Draco Malfoy eating sweets from the trolley together. Neville froze, unsure if he could believe his eyes.
"Hello, Neville!" said Luna merrily, returning the greeting while taking a bite out of a chocolate frog. She'd already made it through a box and a half of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. Draco similarly was chewing on a Jelly Slug sat opposite from Luna. Draco had shot Neville a glare as he barged in but chose to stay quiet and ignore Neville's existence. When Luna spoke, Neville jolted out of his trance of disbelief and turned his attention to Luna.
"Would you like a frog?" Luna asked gesturing to the packets she had next to her. Neville blinked, unsure what to say regarding the whole situation.
"Uh," he panicked, "A...Actually I forgot I have to do something," he blurted out messily as he turned away quickly and paced up the corridor to the compartment he was in before. Draco couldn't help but snigger to himself as Luna sat confused before shrugging it off.

Neville burst into the compartment similar to how he had done moments before and fell back into his seat slightly red faced. They all looked to Neville in confusion and curiosity. Hermione, who had joined in the card game while Neville was gone, was the one who asked Neville what had happened.
"You'd never guess who Luna is with right now!" Neville said, panting for breath. The trio looked to each other and then back to Neville.
"Who?" Harry asked eventually. Neville leaned closer to the trio as if it were some major secret.
"Draco Malfoy," Neville whispered, only to jump at Ron's sudden reaction.
"Draco Malfoy?!" he yelled, furrowing his eyebrows, "What does he think he's playing at?" Harry and Hermione couldn't help but share the feeling of concern.
"That's the thing!" Neville exclaimed, "They looked like they were... friends!"