He was the first to pull away and immediately Hermione missed the physical contact. What was wrong with her? This was Malfoy. Malfoy, who has hated her from the very beginning just because of her blood status, whose father supported Voldemort who had murdered so many people⦠and yet who had pretended that he didn't recognize her because he knew his crazy aunt kill Harry, Ron and her if he confirmed their identities.
Her arm slid down awkwardly to her side. She watched him as he strode over to the sofa and threw himself down. His legs looking ridiculously long as he crossed his ankles. When he turned his sharp eyes at her, she jumped as if caught doing something embaressing.
"Let's not be kids anymore, Granger. After all that's happened, I just want to get through this year properly and move on."
Hermione walked over and sat down primly across from him, hands neatly folded on her lap. "That's it? Let's pretend nothing has happened and all the years you've bullied and insulted me?"
"I won't make excuses for the things I've done as a child but I remind you, I was just a child." He made no further effort to continue and Hermione suspect this was as close to an apology as she was going to get. She had to agree to some point that she didn't want to argue anymore. Not now at least and she was tired, so very tired. Tired of all the fighting, all the blood and house prejudices.
The lulling of the train and the splatter of rain across the windows must've put her to sleep because Hermione Granger woke with a jolt. For a moment she felt disoriented as she tried to remember where she was. It was dark out so they must be getting closer. What was it she was dreaming about? Her parents. Her heart clenched. She was dreaming of them again.
She nearly jumped as she saw Malfoy watching her from almost exact same spot as before. How could she have fallen asleep without her guard like that? Her hand tightened around her wand which was still miraculously in her grasp.
"We're almost there. You better get changed." He said getting up.
"Do you mind going outside while I get changed?" She asked. Just remembering all the attention she had gotten making her way to this compartment made her not want to go all the way to the restrooms to get changed.
Malfoy nodded and left.
Hermione drew the curtains across the windows of the compartment. She opened her luggage and grabbed the uniform she had neatly folded at the very top. Putting her uniform on brought back memories of her first years at Hogwarts all over again. Once again she had to fight to push back the crushing feelings of how much she missed Harry and Ron. Keep busy, keep busy, she told herself.
After she was finished, she opened the door. Malfoy was just standing on the other side. She reached out to tap his arm. "I'm all finished," she said. He turned around and looked at her.
"Let's go gather the prefects and get ready to lead the first years to the boats."
She nodded and followed him.
The first years looked incredibly young and wide-eyed. They stared at Hermione with awe. Some of them asked her questions about Harry and Voldemort but mostly Hermione tried not to make eye contact. I was once like them, she thought. How long and very far away that seemed now.
"First years, first years!"
"Hagrid!" She was delighted to see his tall looming figure holding a lantern outside waiting for them. She launched a hug at her dear friend. The only one that seemed familiar.
"Hermione!" Hagrid shouted and returned her hug. "Good to see you!" he grinned. "I'll take these little ones off your hands now". As he led the little ones away towards the castle, Hermione stood there watching them go.
"Let's go Granger", Malfoy said. He strode towards the carriages. Hermione quicken her pace to catch up. How very strange it was to be back at Hogwarts. It was the place she had known as safe and also the place where a battle had taken so many lives.
Malfoy gracefully lifted himself into the carriage and reached out a hand to help her on. Hermione blushed at the contact of their hands. Despite the strangeness of everything, his strong hand felt familiar even though it shouldn't. She would have expected him to let go as she was getting on, just to see her fall down again. But he didn't. She snatched her hand back once she got on.
Sitting down next to him, she couldn't help but beware of how close their thighs were. Once the carriage started to move, they occasionally brushed. Every time they touched, Hermione couldn't help but freeze stiffly while Draco looked as if he couldn't give a care in the world. Neither of them bothered moving away and they rode in silence for a few minutes before she said, "I agree, let's get through this year on a truce. We'll be seeing a lot of each other as Heads and I'd rather not waste all my energy bickering with you".
Malfoy didn't respond for a moment. Then he nodded, "Glad to see you're coming around". When he turned his intense gaze on her, Hermione looked away. His gaze felt too strong, it was as if he could see into her thoughts. It was natural that everyone grew up after being in a war, but Malfoy seemed to have aged the most. He was clearly no longer the arrogant boy who glared at everything as if they were unwanted dust on his new shoes. It felt similar to how Harry had been after first witnessing the death of Cedric Diggory, and then again and more pronounced after the loss of Sirius. Hermione felt a pang of guilt as she thought of Lucius Malfoy. He had been tried and sentenced to Azkaban for his involvement and support of Voldemort. She had been part of the group who testified. Although it was the right thing to do, Hermione couldn't help but feel guilty. She knew the pain of being separated from parents. Her own couldn't even remember her at all now.
