A/N: Hey guys! So I just wanted to clarify a few things about this story. This is largely going to be canon compliant, with certain shifts in the timeline, think of it like everything got pushed a year later. This story will have two parts, Part I will be at Hogwarts pre-war and Part II will be post-war/during war.

I do not own Harry Potter.

Reviews=love.


The first time she'd fell in love was when she was 11. It was everything she'd imagined it. Her heart fluttered, breathing was forgotten, and her mind was consumed with nothing but thoughts of the object of her affection, the Hogwarts Express.

It was where everything had finally fallen into place. She was a witch; she had magic, and she was going to a school to learn more. It had all seemed so real when she'd stood on the platform and said goodbye to her parents before skipping to board the train.

Some things could never change. The minute she'd stepped foot on the platform she'd relaxed. Odd, since every fiber of her body told her to be alert. She may not be looking forward to the impending doom that no doubt awaited in the upcoming school year, but at least she wouldn't face it alone.

Finding Ron and Harry had been easy, and as she settled into her seat she found their conversation quickly slipping into safe topics; Quidditch, who'd they'd seen in Diagon Alley, and any other gossip Ron had managed to find out before boarding the train. She was content to let the train ride go with them talking non-stop while she drifted deeper into her thoughts when Ron shook her.

"So is it true 'Mione." Ron said. She blinked and turned her head toward them. "What's true Ron?"

"That Malfoy's Head Boy." Harry said with a grimace. The signs of betrayal were still written on his face. He'd expected the title, and the disappointment at having not gotten it was clearly painful.

She nodded. Unable to speak. "You know." Harry said leaning back hand running through his untamed head of hair, "I don't think I even saw Malfoy get on the train." Ron frowned at that and seemed to focus as he tried to recall having seen that familiar but despicable head of platinum hair. "Come to think of it, neither did I."

Harry nudged her. "Well, what do you know Hermione, you may have lucked out. Maybe Malfoy won't show, and he'll be replaced."

She smiled weakly, but turned away as soon as the topic drifted to the new DADA professor, or rather lack thereof. She glanced as she watched tree after tree pass. Somehow she doubted that she'd be that lucky.


The feast was excellent, as it always was, but other than the taste of the food or the strange looks Luna seemed to be sending her, Hermione couldn't for the life of her remember anything else about it. The entire evening was turning into a blur. Everyone was moving around her, but it seemed she was watching from the outskirts of all the action. The border looking in. She bit her lip focusing on her plate. What was wrong with her?

"And I heard Malfoy's father wanted him to sit for the NEWTs early, but the school refused and…"

"Wait." Hermione snapped to attention. "Malfoy was going to take the NEWTs early? But they're not scheduled until June." Lavender shrugged her shoulders. "That's just what I heard." She tilted her dark head toward the Slytherin table. "Well I think that's ridiculous." Ginny said before returning to her food, "Why would the ferret even consider taking them if his dear old dad is going to simply buy him whatever job he wants?" Again Lavender shrugged, though her eyes drifted above Ginny's head. "Speak of the devil and the devil will come." She muttered before shooting Ginny a mischievous grin.

"Why don't you go ask him?"

Hermione craned her neck, following Brown's gaze. Sure enough, Malfoy's familiar blonde head was discretely making its way to the Slytherin table. He seemed to slip in easily between Pansy and Blaise. "Something seems off about him." Ginny quipped. Hermione found herself nodding. There was, but she couldn't seem to put her finger on it. The entire energy he'd always had around him was subdued, and though the two other Slytherins were talking to him, he didn't seem to be responding. He was there, but not there.

She felt her own chest tighten at the thought.

It wasn't long before the same blonde could be seen sneaking away from the table and back from where he came. He hadn't eaten anything.

"Well, I'm sure you'll have the opportunity to ask him Hermione." Lavender said before taking a sip of her drink, "After all, you will be living together."

Her cheeks flushed. "The dormitories are private."

"But everything else is shared." Lavender retorted with a wicked grin stretched across her lips. Leave it to Lavender to think of shagging the most despicable Slytherin as perfectly acceptable roommate behavior.

"Lav!" Padma shrieked joining the conversation. She hit the other girl teasingly on the shoulder. "Don't get me wrong, he's a right git." Lavender said, "but I think anyone with eyes can admit that sharing a shower with Draco Malfoy may not be the worst thing in the world." Lavender allowed a small smile to spread across her face, "At least if all the rumors are to be believed." Padma looked absolutely scandalized, while Ginny was choking on her food. As for Hermione, she was pretty sure that her cheeks were now eerily reminiscent of her Gryffindor scarlet bedsheets.

"That is bloody disgusting Lavender." Ginny said, having recovered her breath. Though she didn't miss the slight flush in Ginny's cheeks. No. Not disgusting enough.

Lavender turned her fork in her hand before taking it into her mouth and slowing pulling it back out. "We'll just let Hermione be the judge of that."

Merlin help her, if the Earth had cracked open and swallowed her then, she would have died willingly.

She was practically rejoicing when the conversation shifted and thoughts of shagging, Draco Malfoy, and a shared dormitory were quickly forgotten. Though, her mind kept drifting to the way he'd come into the Hall and then left abruptly. The pang of curiosity was unmistakable, but if Lavender had said anything true then it was that she would have time to find out.


She joined the rest of the Gryffindors for the welcome back party in the Common Room, but when the clock was in danger of ringing in the early hours of the next day she begrudgingly tore herself from the sea of scarlet and gold and drifted toward the Head's Dormitories. She whispered her password to the statue and walked up the steps of the tower with dread.

Come on Granger. It's only Malfoy. You have nothing to be worried about.

The mantra echoed in her head as she glanced around the common area. Empty. Maybe he'd stayed at the Slytherin dormitories. Though the idea was banished as quickly as it formed when the bedroom door on the left opened. Draco took one glance at her. "Granger." She was too dumbfounded to speak that by the time she'd even regained awareness of her mouth, Malfoy had passed into the kitchen and had returned to the doorway to his room with a glass of water.

He tilted his head slightly. "You might want to close your mouth before you catch flies Granger." She promptly yanked her jaw shut. A weary smile seemed to pass over his face, but it was quickly gone.

"Right so, this is my bedroom." he said, "The second one's down the hall, and the shared bathroom is the door in between. So unless there's anything else you need to do besides gawk at me from the entrance, I'm going to go to bed."

"Wait, Why…." She stammered unsure which of the millions of questions that were lingering on the tip of her tongue she should ask. Draco stared at her patiently. Once he found that she was in no condition to voice a coherent thought, he took over. "Look Granger, we have to work together let's not stretch our necessary interaction past the bare minimum." he said coldly before disappearing back into his room.

She stood for a minute after his door had shut. Her arm went to her cheek and pinched it slightly. No. Still awake. Unfortunately. She shook her head and huffed. If it was the bare minimum, she could live with that. She walked quickly over to her room, pausing only at the doorway to steal another glance at Malfoy's room. She shook her head again and closed her own door before collapsing on her bed. It wasn't until later that night, after a fitful tossing and turning that she even realized.

His tone hadn't held a trace of disdain. He'd been civil. She wasn't sure if she should be relieved or worried. Surely her snake of a roommate was biding his time and hatching a plot. The alternative was that his sentiments were genuine, and that downright terrified her, because it meant that maybe, she didn't actually know what she was getting into.