Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

~Hermione's Perspective~

"What do you think you're doing?"

Hermione Granger was in the Hogwarts library doing some research for her transfiguration paper due the next day. She was just going through an oversized, dusty volume of Transfiguration for the nifty wizard, a guide from A – Z, when suddenly Draco Malfoy sat down in the empty chair next to her.

"Well Granger, this is what us civilized people call sitting down." Malfoy stated with an annoying smirk on his face.

In the months that followed the final battle Harry, Ron and Hermione had helped to rebuild Hogwarts and had returned to finish their 7th year, which they had missed due to the search for the horcruxes they had to destroy in order to defeat Lord Voldemort. It helped them to deal with all their loss and pain, after the funerals of their loved ones.

It was decided that there would be one big funeral where all those who died in the war were honored with a beautiful ceremony. They were all buried at the Hogwarts grounds, so the next generations would not forget their selfless sacrifice for freedom. After all the death and pain they had seen in the last year, Hogwarts seemed to be the only place where the kids could just be teenagers again and so they went to finish their education and attempt to restart their lives. To their big surprise Draco Malfoy had also returned to Hogwarts.

When the golden trio returned to Hogwarts and realized Malfoy had returned, as well, they - at first - were really angry. The sorting ceremony was just finished when Malfoy walked in.

"How dare he show his face here!" Ron had shouted when Malfoy entered the great hall and swaggered over to the Slytherin table.

"He tried to kill all of us! Why did they even let him return?" He was fuming with anger and his face turned a bright red to match his hair.

"Don't you think so Harry?" He asked trying to find some backup.

"I don't know Ron." Harry replied, looking thoughtful for a moment "I don't like him walking around here one bit either, but I guess that they have a reason allowing him to come back." He stated.

"Well it better be a damned good one!"

"Ron, I think Harry is right." Hermione intervened before Harry could respond. "I say we just leave it be as long as Malfoy leaves us alone. I say we just avoid him as much as possible." She stated.

"Hmpf."

"Oh come on Ron! You know Hermione is right, please just do us all a favor and listen to your girlfriend." Harry stated, obviously irritated by Ron's stubbornness.

"Ok, I guess, but only because it's you 'Mione." He said, smiling at Hermione.

"Thanks Ron" She replied and kissed him on his cheek.

After their little discussion at the Gryffindor table Hermione and her friends returned to the Gryffindor common room, where Hermione took a seat near the fireplace. It wasn't lit, it was way to warm for that, but the chairs were just a lot more comfortable then the chairs at the tables.

Hermione was curious as to why Malfoy was allowed to return. So she sat there at the fireplace trying to come up with a reason why he was allowed back. After a while she decided that it was probably because his picking Voldemorts side wasn't a choice, it was more like an order. Voldemort had threatened him and his family, which left him with no choice. That didn't make her dislike him any less though. Forced to do it or not, he did horrible things and she hated him for it.

After having that sorted out for herself she decided that it was time for her to go to bed. Tomorrow the classes would start early and it was already getting late, close to midnight. She said goodnight to Ginny and Harry, who were also still sitting in the common room, snogging in a corner, and went upstairs to her dormitory. She dressed down and just stepped into bed, too tired to visit the bathroom first. As soon as her head touched the pillow she was asleep.

~~o~~

The following days were nothing special. The lessons started and it proofed easier than they expected to fall back into the rhythm of schooldays. They also succeeded in avoiding Malfoy as much as possible as he also seemed to stay away from them. The only exception being their potions and transfiguration classes, but even there he left them alone. This was a relief, as Malfoy was usually there to make their lives miserable every chance he had. Maybe he had changed. Maybe he realized how wrong he had been and wanted to change. Maybe he would just leave them alone. With all the peace and quiet around him and all the schoolwork she had to catch up with, she soon forgot all about him.

That was until now.

"Don't act stupidMalfoy,you know perfectly well what I meant." - She hated it when people called her by her last name, though it was probably better than being called a mudblood, which was usually his word of choice –

"Why are you sitting down next to me?"she asked sharply, looking at him suspiciously, trying to read from his face what he was up to. Surely he was up to something, she knew it, why else would he sit down next to her?

"Don't think I'm sitting here for you, Granger. This is simply the last available chair." He stated seemingly annoyed by her lack of attention to her surroundings. He seemed to mean what he said. Or at least she couldn't detect a lie. When he met her staring eyes she quickly looked away. His eyes were like steel, impenetrable.

Hermione quickly scanned the room only to notice that he was right, it really was the only chair that was available. He hadn't been lying. Ouch, she thought and immediately felt her face turned bright crimson. There was no hidden motive behind his sitting down next to her. He wasn't scheming or manipulating her like he always used to do. It was just a stupid coincidence. How could she be so stupid?

"Now, If you would please excuse me, I have better things to do then talk to you." He continued icily, without even looking at her, obviously annoyed by her staring at him.

Suddenly Hermione was furious. How dare he, that stupid little slime ball! How dare he be so rude to me! Hermione thought to herself. He hadn't changed one bit.

"Well suit yourself then, Jerk!" And with that Hermione stormed out of the library, leaving Malfoy staring at her back and then walking away, without having read his book.

When Hermione stormed out of the library she noticed that everybody had been staring at them, it was so embarrassing! She couldn't blame them though; it wasn't exactly classified information that they couldn't stand each other. As she passed the tapestry of the handless maiden she stopped. She had left her book in the library! How stupid of her! But she couldn't go back now, she thought to herself, not with Malfoy still there. On the other hand she really did need that book for her transfiguration paper! She could not afford to hand it in late, not with their new teacher.

Since McGonnagall had taken the position of headmistress after Snape had died, a new transfiguration teacher was needed and luckily they found someone. To everybody's surprise their new teacher was still very young - in her late twenties, but was almost as good a professor McGonnagall had been.

But even more than being very young and very talented she was the most beautiful woman you could imagine. She was tall and slim, but in a very feminine way, with curves in all the right places. Her waist-length raven black her was sleek and shiny and curved her oval shaped face perfectly. She had a very fair, almost translucent skin and her high cheekbones almost seemed to probe through it. She held herself in a very controlled though almost sensual way and when she walked she almost seemed to float. The most intriguing thing about her though, were her eyes. They were a dark rimmed bright green and were in perfect contrast with her dark hair. When you looked into her eyes it felt as if they just pierced into your brain, seeing all your darkest secrets, which made Hermione, and probably pretty much everyone else, feel highly uncomfortable.

Of course, when she was not looking at them, all the boys couldn't take her eyes of her. To them she was sex on legs. No, more like their best possible fantasy come true. All they could talk about nowadays was Professor Nedra . Even Ron found it difficult to take his eyes off of her when she walked by the in the great hall on her way to the teacher's table. Hermione couldn't blame Ron, but it did bug her. Wasn't he supposed to only have eyes for her, his girlfriend? Not that they had been doing great lately, but still. It pissed Hermione off and made her dislike the new teacher.

I guess I'll just go have lunch now and return afterwards to get my book. Surely he will be gone by then. She thought to herself and turned left to go to the great hall.

Author's note:

Hey Everyone, this is my very first fanfic ever! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I know it's a bit short, I'm sorry about that. It's actually only half of the original first chapter, but I decided to split it in two, you'll see why ;)

I am not a native speaker of English, which means that there will probably will be some typos and grammar errors, but i'll change those if you point them out to me.

EDIT: Also, a big thanks to my new wonderful Beta: WritingFreaksAllTheWay

Please tell me what you think and what should be improved, I want to know :D