"Congratulations to this year's graduating class of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" Dumbledore announced, his booming voice carrying through the Great Hall like thunder that was quickly echoed by the electrifying cheering from the graduates.

Yes, their time at Hogwarts was quickly coming to a close.

Hermione, who was clapping so hard her hands were turning red, her cheeks hurt from smiling so much; looked around the room to the rest of her classmates. Some of these people she would never hear from again. It frightened her a little bit but she was more fired up with the anticipation of a bright future than anything else as she brushed small tears away from her face.

Finally, everything seemed to be perfect. Voldemort was only a memory that she would try to push to out of her mind to have it replaced with all the amazing memories that she had with her friends and being part of a school that had very much become her home. Most of her beloved friends had survived to the end. Harry and Ron stood on either side of her, just like it was supposed to be, just like it had always been. They had been the golden trio from the first day that they had stepped through the doors of Hogwarts, all the way to the end of their school years. She gave another smile as she remembered herself barging into Ron's and Harry's compartment on the Hogwarts Express the first time they met only to critique Ron's horrible spell to turn Scabbers yellow and stare in awe that she was sitting across the great Harry Potter.

"Well 'Mione, it's finally over. Hogwarts is over for us" Harry said to her, raising his voice so she could hear him over the crowd.

"It's scary, Harry" she admitted.

He laughed lightly before wrapping an arm around her shoulder and leaned into her to reply.

"Hermione, if anyone will be ok after school is over it will be you. You're brilliant."

She let her pink lips again come into a small smile. She knew that she would be ok but the thought of no longer waking up in the Gryffindor dormitories, going down to the Great Hall to eat breakfast to hear Ron complain about Snape's heavy amount of homework and Harry warmly cuddled up with Ginny and then going to her beloved library to pour over any amount of parchment that she could get her delicate hands on and even have the occasional bickering exchange of words between her and Draco Malfoy made her heart ache; the life she knew was about to change forever.

Students then moved from the seats that had been set up for the graduating ceremony to mingle and chat with fellow classmates.

Harry was quickly accompanied by Ginny who gave him a warm hug and then a light peck on the lips.

Her ginger colored hair was perfectly straight with her bangs done into a pretty French braid that was then tucked behind her ear. Hermione envied how nice Ginny could make her hair look; never a hair out of place. She had attempted almost everything on her own head of curly hair to have little success. The best she could do was making her hair curly without the amount of frizz that she had to endure the most of the time.

"Hermione, I'm so proud of you!" Ginny squealed as she wrapped around her and squeezed her body as hard as she humanly could.

"Well don't try and kill her, Gin. Let her breathe" Ron grunted.

Ginny released and then only rolled her sky blue eyes, disapproving of her brother's comment.

Ginny was then standing next to Harry, practically shaking with excitement; so much that you would think that she had graduated with them. Her fingers interlocked with Harry's.

Hermione saw them as the perfect couple. They had been through hell and back and had managed to both come out alive and together. Hermione remembered when Ginny had first told her about her fancying Harry. They were in the dormitory together, Ginny sitting cross-legged on Hermione's bed with a smile on her face that would only mean one thing. People had been bugging her for weeks about who she had eyes for before she had let it slip.

"What do you think of Harry?" Ginny had asked abruptly.

"He's one of the best people I've ever met" Hermione had replied, letting her lips slowly curve into a small smile.

"I would tend to agree" she replied

"Is this about anything, Ginny?" Hermione asked.

Ginny appeared to be in her own little world; eyes dazed and smiling to herself.

"What do you think of his eyes?" she had asked.

Hermione had never been asked a question like that about Harry, sure maybe at first people had wondered about how close they had gotten but everyone soon noticed that Hermione and Harry were more like brother and sister than anything else.

"They're nice… Ginny, what's this about?" Hermione had asked her.

Ginny bit down on her lip hard, trying not to spill her secret.

"I think I fancy him, 'Mione. He's …perfect"

From that moment on, Ginny and Hermione had become much closer friends and a week after that, Harry and Ginny had become an item for all of Hogwarts to see. They were the couple of the school. Not even Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson could dream of beating out "The Chosen One" and his beloved Weasley.

The party moved from the Great Hall to the Room of Requirement where Harry and Ron had arranged an endless supply of butterbeer and sweets from Honeydukes . The music cranked so high Hermione swore she felt the vibrations from her room when she had gone to change into simple jeans and a sweater instead of her graduation school robes.

"There's the Head Girl" Ron said, wrapping one arm around her shoulders as he turned to the rest of the growing crowd from all four houses.

She felt her cheeks flush out a little bit.

"Stop it, Ron" she said playfully, forcing him to take is arm off of her.

"Let's just hope the Head Boy doesn't show up" he said, ignoring her earlier comment.

Yes, she too hoped that Draco Malfoy wouldn't make an appearance. She had already had to endure working with him through their head duties all year, not to mention the poison that he had been to her for the past seven years. Having a Draco Malfoy free evening would be a much needed one. But knowing Malfoy, he would make an appearance.

Hermione made her way over to get a much needed butterbeer. Finally, she could relax. No more final exams. Her NEWTS were done and she had been accepted to her highly anticipated journalism post-secondary ambition; life just seemed great. She sank down into a leather sofa near the fire, letting her whole body relax and melt into the couch like it hadn't in a long time.

"The year book is out" Harry said, plopping a copy beside her before collapsing down on the armchair beside her while holding his own copy.

She picked up the leather book and placed it into her lap; looking at it curiously.

"There's a very nice one of you and Malfoy" he said, amused as a smile came across his face as he took a swig of his own butterbear.

Hermione flipped through the pages to find the picture that Harry was referring to, it had been taken in the Heads common room after a very heated argument between the two of them. Malfoy had kept the scowl that he had worn the whole time they had bickered as Hermione had forced her lips into a slight smile despite the urge she had had to copy the same scowl on Draco's face. As the picture moved, it would adjust from her and Draco entering another argument to the scowl and the slight smile.

"Well, it depicts what we were like with each other spot on" She mumbled as she observed it.

"That's what I thought" Harry said, still keeping the small amused smile on his face.

She flipped through more pages; it had truly been Gryffindor's year. They had won the Quidditch Cup and the House Cup. To Harry, that was the best thing he could ask for in his last year.

"Malfoy alert" Harry said abruptly.

Hermione looked up from the book of memories that Harry had given her to find that yes; Draco had just made his way through the door to the rowdy party. But as Hermione looked, she realized a fact that puzzled her; none of his friends had followed him. He was alone watching people from all the different houses having one final party as a whole before people went their separate ways.

I guess Ron doesn't get his wish. She thought.

Draco took a few weary steps into the room, people smiling and drowning in butterbeer while celebrating with their friends. The noise level bothered him; he'd never liked loud places. He preferred utter and complete silence. The only sounds being his own breathing and himself thinking.

He wanted to leave, but he knew that with being Head Boy he had to make an appearance. The worst part of that being that he would have to do it with the Head Girl.

Granger.

He looked around the room to find Hermione lounging on a leather coach Potter not too far away; her dark chocolate eyes staring directly on him.

Just say a few words to the class with the mudblood and then get the fuck out of there. Was the thought on his mind.

He then drew a deep breath and forced his long legs to make his way over to the wide-eyed Head Girl.

"Granger, do you want to just get this over with?" he huffed.

Hermione readjusted herself on the sofa, sitting up straight before standing up and fixing her shirt and jeans.

Malfoy looked at her for a moment, almost stunned with what he saw. She looked nice, no she's Hermione Granger the mudblood that is nothing more than a messy-haired know-it-all that could bicker about any topic she put her mind up to. She never looked nice right?

"Let's get this over with" she said coldly, walking past Malfoy to the middle of the room.

Malfoy snapped out of his debate with himself to find Potter still sitting in his seat, his eyes on Draco's face; almost giving him a smirk. Malfoy ignored it and slowly followed Hermione who had already silenced the room.

"Just a few words from your Head Girl and Head Boy" she announced.

Draco rolled his eyes.

"Thank you so much to everyone for putting up with us enforcing rules and supporting us through this year. It hasn't been all easy but we all got through this year together. Congratulations!" She said loudly to the whole room as everyone then applauded and hooted.

All eyes quickly moved to Malfoy.

Fuck.

He looked around awkwardly, trying to avoid saying a word but quickly realized that wasn't going to fly.

"Congratulations, have a nice life" he said quickly.

Have a nice life? Draco, are you really that stupid?

Right after he said it, he wanted to kick himself once seeing the wrinkled brows and shrugs from the class.

The music quickly shot back up and people went right back to partying, leaving Draco slightly pink in the face.

"Have a nice life?" Hermione said, turning to him.

"Oh shut up, Granger. I had nothing left to say since you practically took anything that could be said tonight." He growled.

Hermione only smirked at Malfoy's obvious embarrassment.

"Enjoy your night, Malfoy" she said sourly before turning and making her way to her companions.

She does look nice.

Malfoy shook it off and didn't stay long after that, he grabbed a butterbeer, opened it and then left back to his room where he would have that perfect silence.

The next day was their final one at the school and the seventh years were trying to take it in as much as possible, except Malfoy. All he wanted was to "get the fuck out of there" but made his way through the school to a few of those places that had been a haven to him during his duration at the school. He walked past the potions classroom, took one last walk through the Slytherin common room and his bedroom. He had one more matter of business to tend to before he made his way to the carriages.

He stopped for one last time at the Head's common room to pick up his end of the year papers that Dumbledore had told him would be there waiting for him on his desk.

He came through the portrait to reveal the sleek looking room that he had had the privilege in having this year, although he had to share it with Granger he had overall enjoyed it as a place to escape where almost no one could find him.

"I thought you would show up"

He looked up to find Hermione standing in the bathroom doorway, her face unreadable as she stared at him.

"Just making my last rounds" he mumbled.

She nodded in understanding, still standing there awkwardly for a moment.

Malfoy moved over to his desk to find the long envelope that he had come for and grabbed it from the desk and started to take one final look around.

"I guess this is it" she said, breaking the silence that Draco had come to very much enjoy.

He looked at her again, she had kept her unreadable expression on her face. She stepped away from the doorway and then stood in front of him.

"This is it" He said.

"Congratulations, Malfoy. Have a nice life" she said, a rotten smirk coming across her face.

Malfoy winced in disapproval as he felt his face start to turn red.

She then turned on her heels and started to make her way out of the room.

"Granger" he called.

She turned around, expecting a sly comment and maybe a sneer.

He was so tempted to have one last argument with the witch but out of mental fatigue or laziness blurted out another comment before he had time to think to restrain himself.

"Have a good life too"