Hey guys! New story from me! If you read my other story, that which lies under the surface, don't worry, I haven't abandoned it at all. I'm just giving birth to this particular brain child as it would not leave me alone. It probably won't be that long, but I hope you enjoy anyway. It's set after the war, but Dumbledore is still alive. Please review, I'd love to hear your thoughts! And without further ado, on with the story!

Disclaimer: I am in no way JK Rowling and I only own the plot

Time is a very fickle thing. When one finds themselves at the beginning of an awful situation, time races forward like a horse out of control. It only slows when awful events start happening, whereby it almost slows to a standstill. When one finds themselves trapped in the middle, they cannot help but wonder if it will ever end. And time, the ironic git that it is, will take that as a challenge and before you know it you've been spat out the other end and landed straight on your ass wondering what on earth happened.

This was what I was thinking as the train whizzed through the countryside taking us back to school. I had been on this train going to the same school for the past eight years and in that short span of time, a madman had rose to power and had been vanquished. All quite simple when put into one sentence, but in reality it had been enough to completely distract me from the passing of time and my passage from childhood to adulthood.

So here I am, on the train once more, wondering about my future. Since there hadn't been any real education last year, a temporary eighth year had been created so that anyone who wanted to complete their NEWTs could. Although it was optional, most of the year had returned in order to gain the necessary degrees for any future jobs. The two heads had also been chosen from the eighth years, and so they wouldn't miss out, deputies were chosen from the seventh years. I don't think anyone was surprised when I was chosen as head girl, but Dumbledore's choice of head boy had confused everybody. I couldn't wait to discover his explanation for his decision.

"Hey 'Mione," said Harry, plonking himself in the seat opposite me, "how've you been?"

I smiled at him, he seemed so much more happy now that the war was over, and so he should. You don't get the title 'saviour' if you aren't willing to pay hell, and Harry had paid that and more.

"I'm fine thank you Harry. How about-"

"Hi guys!" yelled Ron, barging both into the compartment and the middle of my sentence, "You won't believe what happened to me. The Chudley Cannons asked me to be their keeper!"

Harry rolled his eyes, "Yes Ron, I am aware after the three million owls you sent me."

Ron pouted and collapsed next to me, "Yeah, but 'Mione here didn't know, right babe?"

HI grimaced, "Ronald, I've asked you already at least twice. Don't call me babe!"

He huffed and squirmed, encroaching massively on my personal space, "Come on Hermione, we've been together for months now and you won't let me show you any affection at all! The best I can get is a peck on the lips."

"That's because your kisses are like being licked by a dog," I muttered to myself, subtly putting more distance between Ron and me. It was true we had been together for nearly three months now, but in all honesty I couldn't see it lasting at all. Maybe it was because I've known him for too long and didn't see him as anything more than a close friend, or maybe it was because I find him as sexually appealing as a chimpanzee.

Harry coughed awkwardly and in an attempt to change the subject gestured to the badge on my pristine robes, "I'd heard you'd made head girl, 'Mione, congratulations!"

I smiled at him, "Thanks Harry, but I'm surprised Dumbledore didn't make you head boy. Do you know why?"

Chuckling, he reclined further into his seat, "He did offer it to me actually, but I rejected the position. I've had enough of people looking to me for leadership, being a prefect's good enough for me."

I silently congratulated Harry on his maturity, but I had to say that if I was in his situation, I would feel exactly the same. Ron sighed dramatically, thrusting his chest out slightly as if begging us to notice the prefect badge pinned to his robes.

Groaning inwardly, I turned to him, "Well done to you too Ron, is your mum is happy for you?"

He shrugged, "I think so, but she's changed a lot since Fred's death. She can actually tell which twin is which now, though," his voice quietened.

Feeling a surge of sympathy for him, I threw her arms around his neck in a comforting embrace; it was so easy to forget with his confidant personality that he had lost family as well. I could forgive him for being a git with that in mind.

"Alright," he grumbled, going a bit red, "that's enough. Who exactly is head boy if it isn't you Harry?"

Harry coughed uncomfortably, evidently he knew. I shifted slightly, "Before we tell you, you have to promise not to get too angry, it's Dumbledore's attempt to promote house unity and everything after the war. I think it's a good idea personally."

Ron eyed her warily, "Well who is it then?"

I sighed, "Draco Malfoy."

"WHAT!?"

I winced slightly, throwing him a scathing look. "Yes, Ron. And you're just going to have to put up with it."

Ron spluttered, "But he's- they're- I-"

I put up a hand, "Stop right there, Ronald. Sure Draco has said some horrible things to us over the years, but he was just as much a victim of this war as we were. He just had the misfortune of being on the wrong side, and we shouldn't punish him for that. He was too young to break away from his family in order to escape; in fact I reckon he stayed to protect them."

"Good for him," Ron spat, "but that doesn't explain why you're defending him!"

I huffed and stood up, "I'm not going to put up with this Ron, I'm going to the Head's compartment. I'll see you later Harry."

Harry nodded his goodbye then looked back to a fuming Ron, "Let it go, mate. I plan to talk to Draco, but after that I'm done being enemies with him."

Nothing was the same anymore. Not my appearance, not my family, not my future, not my mind. All four of these changes were due to one war full of bloodshed, terror and pain. Blurred images of the war still played behind my eyelids whenever I attempted sleep, not that I ever got any. The simple fact was, Draco Malfoy had gone for good and the boy left behind him didn't know what to do.

Only I'm not a boy anymore. I'm seventeen now, a man in the eyes of the government. But I'm not all man, maybe a third of one. Another third remained the scared boy that had had to face Voldemort far younger than everyone bar Harry Potter himself. And that last third was a veela.

Yes, my seventeenth birthday had brought many surprises for my entire family. My mother blamed herself even though technically it was my Aunt's fault. My father took it in his stride, regardless of the consequences, and helped me stand back up after a spectacular blow down to my arse.

My father had changed drastically as well. Lucius Malfoy was still every inch the debonair pureblood with a permanently haughty expression on his ace, but he was working as hard as he possibly could to cast aside his previous prejudices in order to rebuild the Malfoy name. I knew personally how difficult it was to disregard one's upbringing, but the Malfoy name had been dragged through the mud and we were all sweating blood to clean it.

Part of this new view on life for Lucius was accepting that the historic pureblood line would end with me. Sure, there were other branches of the family that would continue the pureblood ways, but this particular line was literally cursed to end.

Bellatrix bloody Lestrange. It was all her fault that this had happened to me. That this part of me had been triggered. Apparently it had always been inside of me lying dormant as it did in all Malfoy men, but I really didn't want it to be me.

This curse went all the way back to the beginning of the Malfoy line, when some unfortunate man pissed off a female veela and in turn was cursed forever or something equally dramatic. However, in the short term, the veela failed because the Malfoy man found a way to prevent the curse affecting him. Instead he passed it down through his firstborn son and the son passed it on and so on and so forth. Down to me.

Unfortunately, all magic could be reversed, and the particular spell ending the block on the curse was apparently stashed away in a book in the Black library. And Bellatrix Lestrange had found it and used it. According to her, I was a disgrace to purebloods and the Malfoy name, and my children would be rejected from pureblood society. On the eve of my seventeenth birthday I would transform into a veela and it would be done.

Sure, there were plenty of perks to being a veela, including but not limited to physical perfection, heightened senses and increased magical ability. All of these things were great, but the reason why I had them was the one reason I wanted to go back to just being me. My mate. I didn't know who she was, but she was it. I physically couldn't have a relationship with any other woman and when I found her I was forced to be with her and protect her for life until she died. Then I would die too. Oh, and another thing, she definitely wouldn't be a pureblood, a perk of the curse. Apparently the reason the female vela was rejected by the Malfoy in the first place was because she wasn't a pureblood, so she guaranteed the end of this Malfoy line.

My mother had made many efforts to cheer me up, telling me things like: 'this girl is your soulmate, you're bound to love her' or 'At least this is the end of inbreeding.' My father had scoffed at that one.

The point was; I didn't want to live my life shackled to one girl. I didn't believe any of that 'soul-mate' bullshit, this was the universe's way of punishing me. My mate would probably be some random muggle girl in the far corners of the world. Oh yeah, I only have a year to find and 'claim' her, whatever the bloody hell that means. If I don't find her, I will die of heartbreak or something equally sappy and sickening.

I scoffed and kicked the floor of the compartment, causing Theo to look up and grin at me.

"Unpleasant thoughts?"

I gave him a death glare, causing him to chuckle and put his hands up in mock-surrender. "I don't see what your problem is, mate. You're a fucking sex-magnet; you can have any girl you want!"

"You offering, Nott?" Daphne asked coolly from beside me.

Theo rolled his eyes, "Cool it Greengrass, it's merely jealousy. I mean look at him, don't tell me you seriously haven't considered-"

"Finish that sentence and I will make you eat your balls," she said, huffing angrily at him. Daphne was perhaps the only female to not eye me up like a piece of meat, and I truly appreciated it. She was too like my sister for me to have formed any romantic feelings for her, and I knew for a fact it was the same on her end. Probably because her sights were set on the Italian heart-breaker sitting opposite us, but that could just be my imagination.

"We'll support you if you're gay you know," said Blaise, "I mean, you do throw massive bitch-fits to rival Pansy."

Theodore a middle finger up at Blaise, who countered with vulgar Italian. Daphne rolled her eyes and turned towards me, "So Draco, how does it feel to be head-boy?"

I shrugged, "I wasn't expecting it at all, and it's probably just one of Dumbledore's ploys to promote inter-house unity or some other bullshit like that."

"Your parents must be pleased," Blaise asked slightly hesitantly, knowing it was a sensitive subject. I could practically smell all of their eagerness to know how drastically my parents had changed.

"They are; my father says it's a good way to regain some respect for the Malfoy name. Before I left he told me all eyes are on us to see how we react, and we must show them that we can change. We have to, or we won't survive this new world. He said we have to adapt to continue living, for if we are good at anything its survival." I looked pointedly at all of them, "I think it would be wise to follow his advice."

With that I swept out of the compartment and made my way down to the Head's compartment. I kicked the door open and threw myself down on one of the benches, staring glumly out of the window. Not two minutes later, the door flew open again, revealing an equally agitated person who stomped in and collapsed opposite me. I looked over to see Granger staring out of the window, resolutely ignoring me. That was fine; it gave me freedom to observe her.

There was no doubt about it that she had changed. She was still short, 5'5 against my impressive 6'4, but that didn't make her any less intimidating when she wanted to be. Her hair was still slightly bushy, but it had somewhat tamed and was now flattering as opposed to overwhelming. Her face was pleasant as well; beautiful, clear skin over an exotic bone structure. Her eyes were the colour of warm chocolate flecked with hazelnut and framed by naturally thick lashes. Though covered by baggy robes, her figure was obviously slim yet tastefully curvy. All in all, that brilliant brain was wrapped in a rather pretty package. I guess I had never seen past my prejudices to her true beauty.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" she sighed, turning towards me. The second our eyes met she froze, looking like a startled deer. Her mouth parted slightly and her head tilted fractionally. Despite myself I grinned, relishing in the fact that Hermione Granger of all people found me attractive. I couldn't lie though, the feeling was mutual. Her eyes were so emotive, expressing every emotion she felt and broadcasting them to me. I felt my own eyes softening slightly, as my grin turned into a genuine smile.

She stood up abruptly, shaking her head as if to clear it, "What was that?" she managed to choke out.

I shrugged, my eyes still trained on her, "I don't know, you tell me."

She frowned out me and turned, glancing back as she escaped out of the door. No doubt to tell her little Gryffindor friends of this revelation. I wonder how Weasely would take her gushing about by good looks.

I would certainly have to investigate Granger a bit more.

Well there you have it folks! I hope you enjoyed, please leave a review to make me very happy.

GoldieXx