After the war, Hermione had not expected him to return to Hogwarts. There was the high possibility that he wouldn't and yet he was there in the flesh. She thought that by now, he would go off and live in shame or the sort. But alas, he did not.
It was made public that Draco Malfoy and his mother be placed under house arrest for their aid in war crimes while his father, Lucius Malfoy, be sent immediately to the reconstructed Azkaban. However, the remaining Malfoys' sentences were short-lived that by the end of the summer, they were able to pack their bags and leave for France. Because of this, everyone including Hermione had assumed they would live the rest of their lives there and away from Britain's wizarding community.
Nevertheless, she assumed wrong as he sat right before her very own eyes.
Hermione stopped herself from looking over to his side of the carriage as she had no place to glare at him for the past things he's done because quite frankly she could've cared less, albeit she was a little surprised.
She wasn't the only one baffled by his appearance either as all the prefects, Head Boy and Head Girl snuck glances his way. Apparently, Malfoy was given his prefect's badge back and was there for the meeting as well. This meant that the Head Boy and Girl had to continue with their orders on slight adjustments for the older and newer prefect students.
The entire time, Hermione tried to make herself less noticeable and stood far behind some other Gryffindor prefects. There were supposed to be two prefects, each from years five through seven and from every house. This totalled twenty-four prefects for the entire school year, not including Head Boy and Girl. However, since the return of some previous seventh years, a scatter of prefects respectfully returned to their positions and now there was an abundance of students taking on the role.
Two Ravenclaws, two Hufflepuffs, Malfoy and Hermione were all together the extra prefects from her own year. In total, thirty prefects were to preside at Hogwarts in her eighth year. The Head Boy and Girl had made note of the addition and managed to assign everyone their patrolling schedules.
Hermione was actually quite relieved for more splits in the hours patrolling. She would have more time to study, do homework, and read. As boring as that sounded, she was far more expectant of the trivial things.
"You all may go," Ronan Davies, the Head Boy ordered before promptly leaving.
Hermione inhaled sharply before getting up to patrol the train's corridor with the others.
By early evening, the Express finally reached Hogsmeade Station. When Hermione exited the train alone, she was genuinely happy to see a certain half–giant call out to greet first-year students again.
"Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here!"
Hagrid directed most of the fearful looking children to the shady path that led to the fleet of small boats. Hermione figured because he was rather busy, she would greet him later when he had the time.
However, she didn't expect him to have managed to find her in the mass of students as he frantically yelled and waved at her.
"Hermione! Good ter see yeh!" He bellowed over the heads of the many frightful eleven-year-olds.
She beamed at the sight and kindly waved back, glad to see he was doing all right.
"Gotta take the firs'-years in, see yeh soon, alright!" Hagrid hollered last, before disappearing into the grove himself.
Hermione nodded in return and watched as his enormous figure gradually retreated. It wasn't until a light tap on her shoulder finally averted her attention away from the path.
"Ready to go?"
Ginny, Luna, and Neville had managed to find her in the cluster of older students left behind.
Hermione nodded once more and followed the trio to the carriages that awaited their arrival.
When they made it to the line of carriages, Hermione paused at the sight of the thestrals at the front of each vehicle. She could finally see the majestic creatures but at a disheartened price. Her heart began to pound in her chest again as the daunting images of the war evoked past memories. She had to close her eyes and take deep breaths to calm herself down again.
When she opened them, she noticed she wasn't the only one who had stopped before the carriages to stare at them in awe. Many, nearly all, of the older students stopped and watched the thestrals kick the ground or stand in their positions waiting to move.
The atmosphere grew dismal as everyone around went eerily silent. Her classmates stood still as if commemorating those lost at the Battle of Hogwarts. It was like dementors had come by and sucked all the happiness away from the area and she shivered again from the cold thought.
It wasn't until Luna and some other boys from the other houses started to pick out their own carriages did the gloom lift.
"We mustn't be late for the feast now," Luna said as she walked over to one of the thestrals and petted its neck, "I sure hope they have pudding."
Ginny and Neville followed her lead and started to pack the carriage chosen by the Ravenclaw with their luggage. Hermione followed in tow believing she had to get out of the depressing environment as soon as possible and was glad to have her friends there to keep a level head when she could not.
As she was about to step onto the carriage, she paused again and noticed something off in the distance that caught her eye.
Hermione could see a familiar head of platinum blonde stand not too far from where she was, staring at the same creature before his own cart.
She watched as the solemn features across Malfoy's face grew ever present. The boy stood upright with his hands in his coat pockets looking rather indifferent while Blaise Zabini, who was already in the carriage, called out to him. The blonde's attention shifted to the sound of Zabini's words and he started to move toward the carriage's entryway. But before he could step into the vehicle, he paused and turned his head Hermione's way, immediately catching her eyes.
It was like he had felt her stare from the distance, which startled her and quickly looked away. Her face flushed with slight embarrassment from the unexpected contact and instantly she regretted the awkward exchange. Hermione hurriedly climbed her carriage to escape the strange feeling and shook her head to clear her thoughts before finally moving once the four were completely in the confines of the carriage.
As Ginny and Neville began to talk amongst themselves, Hermione couldn't help but think about the days that were sure to come. She would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous because this would be the first time in her life she actually felt unprepared for school.
As the site of the old castle came into view, repaired and not in complete ruins, it astounded Hermione.
Again she took deep hesitant breathes that unknowingly caught Luna's undivided attention. Gently, without saying a word, the girl grabbed hold of Hermione's hand and stared off into the distance. Hermione steadily calmed down and quietly thanked the Ravenclaw for reassuring her everything was going to be okay and took one final deep breath.
Hermione mustered up all of her mental courage to see her attendance through. After all, she was finally back home, where it all began.