Harry was sitting on his bed, in the smallest bedroom at number four Privet Drive, thinking about the past few weeks. He was seventeen years old now and would be going back to Hogwarts for his last year. He had decided he was going to become an Auror so it wasn't a shock when the owl had brought his schedule and a list of books he'd need to pick up in Diagon Alley before September first. He also was not shocked that Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions were listed without professors. Harry didn't care what Snape had told everyone about Dumbledore begging him to kill him. Harry had thought it was possible Dumbledore might do something like that to save Snape from being discovered as a spy for the order by Voldemort, but Harry knew that Dumbledore would not leave him when he needed him the most, no matter what. He didn't care that everyone in the Order of the Phoenix believed Snape's story, he still didn't believe it. The only way he might ever be able to believe it was if Dumbledore came back and told him himself. And that wasn't going to happen.

Just a few weeks ago, on Harry's seventeenth birthday, he had finally killed Voldemort. He had been able to find and destroy all of the Dark Lord's horcruxes with the help of his friends. Harry's best friends, Ron and Hermione, had both had a huge part in the long awaited death of Voldemort. Harry could not have done it without them. Harry was not celebrating like the rest of the wizarding world. He didn't care about anything anymore. All he could think about was the death of his friend. Hermione had stood by his side through nearly everything for the past six years. Voldemort would still be alive if Hermione and her brains had not been beside him all these years. It had happened the night Harry committed the one and only murder he'd ever commit. No one saw it coming.

"Avada Kedavra" Harry shouted and took aim at exactly the right moment. Harry's wand shook violently as a jet of green light flew out of the tip and hit Voldemort directly in the chest. He was a crumpled mess at Harry's feet before anyone could blink. Ron's cheers were the first thing Harry heard.

"Harry, you did it! You're going to be even more famous now." He frowned slightly but was far too excited to be angry with Harry when he knew perfectly well that Harry had not asked for any of this.

Hermione came running from Harry's other side with her arms out and threw herself on Harry. "Oh, Harry. It's over! It's all over!" she said, bursting into tears. But Harry's misery was far from over.

No one heard the shout from a few feet away that ended her life, except Hermione. She looked towards the voice and saw the jet of green light headed straight for Harry. She threw herself in front of Harry, who was startled and she whispered the words that would ring in Harry's ears forever, "I love you." Before Harry could reply, she was a crumpled mess on the ground at Harry's feet right next to Voldemort.

"No!" Harry screamed, but it did no good. Hermione was dead. Harry looked up as he heard the words that had killed the two people at his feet for the last time that day. This time it was Ron who spoke them and he had his wand pointed at Lucius Malfoy.

Harry had woken up soaked in cold sweat and tangled in his covers multiple times each night since then. He woke up each time telling himself it was only a dream until he remembered it was real. Ron had owled him several times asking if he was okay. Harry had neglected to reply to any of them.

There was a tapping at his window. He turned and saw an owl perched outside the window tapping the glass with its beak. He knew it was from Ron so he ignored the bird, but the bird continued to tap on the window. "Go away," Harry shouted at the owl. His voice was hoarse from not speaking out loud for the past week. Harry waited ten more minutes, trying to ignore the owl, hoping it would go away but it did not. Finally, he gave up, opened the window, pulled the note from the owl and pushed it off the window ledge. He stared at the bird as it flew away and then turned back to his bed. He threw the parchment in his hand on the nightstand and went to lie down. On his way to the bed he glanced at the letter and noticed that the writing was not Ron's or anyone's that he recognized. Curiosity took over and Harry reached out for the letter, ripped it open and held it under the lamp to read.

Potter

I know you won't want to read this but I would like to apologize. Both for what my father did and for my own actions. I was forced to become a Death Eater by my father. You might not believe me, but I never wanted to become a Death Eater, nor did I want to become my father, but this was his plan for me. However, it was my choice to torment you for the past six years. I wanted to make your life hell even though I knew it already was and I knew it would only get worse without my help. Mostly I was jealous of you. This is my apology for the past six years. I know it's not much but it's the best you'll get from a Slytherin, especially a Malfoy.

I would also like to apologize for the death of Hermione Granger. I know that it wasn't my fault but my father killed one of your best friends and I do not blame Weasley for killing my father. You have my word that I will not do anything to either of you for the death of my father. I'm glad he's dead.

It is clear to me now that my father is not the person I thought he was. I used to think he was the greatest man alive. I wanted to be just like him when I was younger. I even wanted to be a Death Eater at one point thinking it was all dinner parties and laughs. But when I grew older and Voldemort returned, I realized what the Death Eaters did. As I'm sure you have heard if you read the Prophet, my father has had my mother under the Imperius Curse since they left Hogwarts. I only wish I had known and maybe I could have stopped him from killing your friend.

I'm very sorry. For everything.

Draco Malfoy

Harry read and reread the letter clutched in his hand over and over again. He couldn't believe the words written on it. He pointed his wand at it and whispered a spell that would tell him the author of the letter. The words ran across the top of the paper: Draco Malfoy. Harry stared, still unable to believe it. He had not read the Daily Prophet since July 31st and had no idea that Malfoy's mother had been under a curse all these years. He wondered if Draco had been as well and just didn't want to admit it. With this thought, he slowly fell asleep with the letter from his enemy clutched tightly in his hand.

Harry woke up on August 25th thinking about how he still hadn't gotten his school books yet. He got out of bed, went across the hall and took a quick shower. He took the steps down the stairs two at a time. His Aunt and Uncle were sitting in the living room watching a movie he did not recognize. Dudley was apparently not home. He looked at his watch. It was mid-afternoon. He had no idea he'd slept so late.

He cleared his throat letting his aunt and uncle know he was there.

"What do you want boy?" his Uncle Vernon said, looking up from the movie.

"I was just wondering if I could go to get my school things today."

"And how are you going to get there? Are those Weasels coming to take you away again? Are we going to be rid of you for the rest of the summer?" he questioned hopefully.

"It's Weasley," Harry said, annoyed, "and, no, they're not."

"How are you going to get there then?"

"Er…" Harry hadn't exactly thought of that yet. He didn't have time to think of a way either because the doorbell rang. "I'll just go get that."

"You will not. Look at you. You're a mess. Go do something to that hair," His uncle yelled getting up to answer the door. It was a moment before Harry heard his name being screamed at him. He was still standing in the same spot he had been before. "HARRY POTTER!" Harry jumped and then started walking towards the door wondering what he could have possibly done now. As he made his way into the hall, he saw a bit of red hair in front of his uncle and stopped, shocked.

"Red hair! You must be a Weasel," his uncle said, not knowing Harry was behind him. The person in front of him groaned and Harry recognized it as Ron's groan.

"Ron?" Harry said. And Vernon Dursley moved so that Harry had a clear view of Ronald Weasley. "What are you doing here?"

"Came to get you, of course. Mum and dad are out in the car." Harry just stood there staring at Ron. "What are you waiting for! Go get your things!" At this, Harry rushed up the stairs and threw all his things into his trunk. Hedwig was not in her cage so he grabbed the cage knowing she'd know where to find him. He ran down the stairs and saw that the door was shut and his uncle was back in the living room watching the movie he'd been watching before.

"Er… where's Ron?"

"Outside. Did you think I was going to let him inside?"

"Ugh. Bye," Harry said grumpily and got no response as he opened the door and left, slamming the door behind him. "Sorry," he muttered to Ron.

"Your uncle reminds me of Malfoy," was Ron's response.

Harry jumped, thinking about the letter that was now packed away in his trunk. "Huh?" aas all he could get out.

"Red hair? You must be a Weasel. That sounds like something Malfoy would say."

"Oh, yeah. My uncle's a bit of an ass," Harry said before they reached the car sitting in the Dursley's driveway.

"Harry, it's so good to see you. How have you been?" Mrs. Weasley said, pulling him into a hug.

"I'm…" Harry started but couldn't bring himself to say he was fine when he wasn't, "as good as I could be, I guess."

"Harry. It's good to see you," Mr. Weasley said, breaking the awkward silence that hung in the air.

"Hi, Mr. Weasley," Harry replied.

"Well we better get going. I'm sure you haven't gotten your books yet so we decided to pick you up before we went to Diagon Alley," Mr. Weasley said as Ron got into the car. Harry got in after him and saw Ginny. She had obviously been crying recently. Her eyes were red and her hair was a tangled mess.

"Hi, Ginny," Harry said. "How are you?"

"Oh, hi, Harry," Ginny gasped. "I'm…alright." And she turned to look out the window, embarrassed. They sat in silence the rest of the way to The Leaky Cauldron. When they got to The Leaky Cauldron, Mr. Weasley led the way through all the celebrating people who were gaping at Harry.

The first person Harry saw as they walked into Diagon Alley was the one person he was hoping not to run into, Draco Malfoy. Malfoy also saw him. At first he just stopped walking and stared like everyone else. Then he gave Harry a slight smile and nodded before he walked away with his mother.

"What the bloody hell was that all about?" Harry heard Ron's voice beside him.

"I'll tell you later," Harry whispered, not wanting to tell Ron's whole family about the letter he had received.

The first place Ron wanted to go was to Fred and George's new joke shop but Mrs. Weasley insisted they get their books first. When they stepped into the shop, it was, of course, packed with other Hogwarts students. All of them stopped what they were doing when Harry walked in and stared at him. "Ugh," Harry muttered under his breath. He was used to people doing this by now but it was still annoying.

Ron saw the look on Harry's face and shouted, "Stop gaping at him like a bunch of baboons." And everyone went back to doing what they had been doing before.

"Thanks," Harry breathed to Ron almost silently.

"Don't mention it."

Finally they had all their school stuff and they went to Fred and George's joke shop. The second they opened the door they saw that it was about ten times larger than the first time they had visited. Harry had heard from Ron when they had first got to Diagon Alley about how Fred and George decided to make the new and improved joke shop. They thought people would have time for a lot more jokes and laughs now that Voldemort was gone. Also, now that Voldemort was gone, it seemed that no one was afraid to say his name. Not even Ron. They had a hard time making their way to find either Fred or George through the large crowd in the shop but finally they found George.

"Hello, little brother," George said as soon as he saw Ron. "Harry," he added, nodding. "You can still take whatever you'd like, free of charge!" Ron grabbed something off a shelf and threw it in his bag. George stared at him, "Not you, Ron." Ron groaned and put the item back on the shelf. "It's weird seeing you two without Hermione," George said innocently. This was not what Harry wanted to hear at the moment. Before anyone could stop him, he ran out of the shop.

He ran out of the door and straight into someone and fell on the ground. "Watch where you're going." Harry looked up at Draco Malfoy. When Malfoy saw who it was he stopped where he was. "Oh, hi, Potter."

"Hello, Malfoy."

"Did you get my letter?"

"Yes."

"I really am sorry," Draco said, helping Harry to his feet.

"I know," Harry said, and he meant it. "But I don't think Fred and George will like you going into their shop. I haven't told anyone about the letter and, even if I do, I have a feeling they won't care."

"I saw Ron go in there. I wanted to apologize to him."

Harry laughed for the first time in weeks. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Why don't you write him a letter like you wrote me?"

"I did."

"Oh?"

"I got it back. Unopened. And it said "Fuck Off Malfoy" on it."

"Oh," was all Harry could think to say.

"Yeah," Malfoy answered.

"Sorry."

"Don't be," Draco answered and walked away.

The next few days at the Burrow were not fun at all. Every time Harry had ever been there he'd had fun. Not this time, though. Ginny would burst into tears out of nowhere and run to her bedroom. She'd be locked in it for hours before she'd finally emerge looking like she'd been to hell and back. Ron was grumpy the whole time. Harry hadn't even thought to show Ron the letter he had gotten from Malfoy, afraid he might explode if he had. Harry was very glad when September first came and he was on the train to Hogwarts. He was sitting next to Ginny with Ron across from him. Ron had decided that he didn't want to be a prefect this year. Harry suspected it was because Hermione was no longer there but didn't mention this to Ron or Ginny.

The compartment door opened but Harry didn't notice. He was looking out the window, thinking. Ron shouted, "Get the hell out of here Malfoy!"

Harry jumped and looked up at Draco Malfoy standing in the doorway. Malfoy nodded at him and walked away. Harry got up and followed him but, when he got out of the compartment, he didn't see Malfoy anywhere so he went back in and sat down. Ron stared at him, waiting for an answer. All Harry said was, "What?" and Ron went to glaring out the window.

They all sat in silence through the rest of the journey to Hogwarts. No one said anything to anyone else until they were sitting in the Great Hall and Professor McGonagall was announcing the new teachers, prefects and head girl and boy.

"Professor Weasley will be joining us for Defence Against the Dark Arts," she said, and Ron looked up to see his brother Charlie standing up to a huge amount of applause.

"Why didn't he tell us?" he said, turning to Ginny.

"He did, Ron," Ginny answered and then added "you just weren't paying any attention."

"Professor Snape will again be joining us as Potions Professor." At this, Harry looked up and saw Snape sitting at the Staff table looking annoyed. Harry couldn't believe it. How could McGonagall let him come back? Harry shook with rage.

"And our head boy and girl are Harry Potter and Pansy Parkinson," Harry's mouth fell open as he was pulled out of his spot at the Gryffindor table and pushed up to the front of the room.