Hermione woke early the next morning, keen to begin her lessons. She quickly pulled her robes on and made her way to the Great Hall. Students gawped at her as she walked by, and she shook her head to herself, knowing she would have to get used to the stares, and also knowing full well that they would grow bored in a few weeks.

She spied Harry and Ginny at the Gryffindor table and once again ignored the gaping students around her as she perched herself on the bench next to Ginny.

'Morning you two,' she smiled happily at them.

'You're looking cheerful,' Ginny commented.

'Well it's the first day of lessons isn't it? Why wouldn't I be?' She grinned as she helped herself to a bowl of porridge.

'So? What did McGonagall have to say last night?' Harry asked readily.

Hermione sighed. 'She just ran Ernie and I through our duties as Head Girl and Boy. She also explained that she wanted to give everyone a fair chance at getting their N.E. , which is why she's allowed the Slytherins back. She wants us to adopt the same attitude Dumbledore had, and if you ask me, I think she's right.'

'So you think allowing Malfoy and the others back is the right thing to do? After everything they did?' Ginny said, flaring up.

'Yes, I do. She's keeping a close eye on them, and we need to get along for the sake of this school!'

Cheeks flushed red in fury, Ginny opened her mouth to retort but Harry interrupted. 'Hermione's right, Gin. If we don't make an effort everything we did last year would have been for nothing. Everyone we lost died fighting for equality. It's what they wanted.'

'Exactly,' Hermione nodded in agreement. 'We're still on your side Ginny.'

'I guess you're right. I'll see you later,' she muttered, and with that she stood up and walked briskly out of the hall.

'Should I go after her?' Harry looked uncertain.

'Leave her be. She'll come round, it must be hard for her,' Hermione answered reasonably.

'I just don't know how I can help,' he frowned.

'Just be there for her. Like you have all summer.'

'Okay,' he nodded. 'What's your first lesson?'

'dTransfiguration. Yours?'

'Transfiguration!'

'Brilliant!' Hermione said happily.

They finished their breakfast and made their way to Professor McGonagall's room. As they approached the classroom, Hermione spied Ginny standing outside the door staring into space.

'Talk to her,' Hermione whispered to Harry.

'I thought you said-'

'Go!' She hissed and nudged him sharply in the ribs.

'Ow!' He threw her an indignant glare but made his way towards Ginny, who had snapped out of her daydream at Harry's yelp. Hermione watched as Harry muttered something to her and held his arms out, relieved when she accepted his hug.

'Are you okay Gin?' She asked gently, as she walked over to the pair.

'I'm okay,' she nodded. 'I had some time to think and I realised that you're both right. Fred wouldn't have wanted me to be miserable. And I'm not allowing that ferret Malfoy to ruin my year.'

'Good for you!' Hermione said brightly.

'See, we're always right,' Harry teased.

'Hermione maybe,' Ginny grinned.

'Absolutely!' Hermione agreed, giggling.

'Good morning class,' Professor McGonagall had opened her classroom door and was smiling at her students warmly. 'Make your way in please.'

Hermione eagerly sat herself down next to Harry, and was pleased to spy her other fellow Gryffindors perching themselves down at their desks.

'Have any of you Slytherins seen Draco Malfoy this morning?'

Professor McGonagall's question snapped Hermione out of her daydream, and she looked behind her curiously, noting Malfoy's usual seat was indeed empty.

'He's at the hospital wing Professor, said he didn't feel well,' Theodore Nott answered.

'Very well,' her lips were pursed in a tight, white line, and Hermione caught a flash of annoyance in her stern eyes. 'Let's begin.'

Hermione enjoyed her first lesson enormously. After successfully beating the rest of her class to transforming a quill into a crow in a matter a minutes, McGonagall had awarded her 10 house points for Gryffindor. She blushed as her Professor had told the class that if they were to aim for high marks in their N.E.W.T exams that they should be taking notes from her.

It ended up becoming a triumphant first day for Hermione, and after earning top marks in all of her classes, she found herself in high spirits as she made her way to Potions with Harry.

'It'll be interesting to see if Malfoy turns up this lesson,' Harry said as they entered the dungeons.

'If he has any sense he will,' she answered.

'Did you see McGonagall's face when he didn't turn up to Transfiguration?'

'Exactly.'

They came to a halt outside their classroom door, just as Professor Slughorn appeared.

'Mr Potter, Miss Granger! How delightful it is to welcome you two back!' His face had broken into a cheerful grin.

'And the rest of us?' Seamus Finnigan rolled his eyes and Hermione laughed.

'Come in, come in!' Slughorn waved cheerily at the class and they followed his lead.

Hermione, Harry and Ginny took a table to themselves and settled down.

'Now I'm absolutely delighted to see that the majority of you have chosen to re take your final N.E.W.T year,' Slughorn began. 'I believe each and every one of you will do exceptionally well this year if you all do as you're told!' He chuckled.

His laughter was interrupted however, as the classroom door opened with a loud bang and Draco Malfoy entered the room, scowling as he made his way to his seat.

'Ah Mr Malfoy! Thank you for joining us!' Slughorn beamed.

'Sorry I'm late,' Malfoy muttered, avoiding eye contact as he sat next to Nott and Zabini.

'That's quite alright! I was just explaining to the class what is needed for them to pass their N.E.W.T exams. Not that you need telling, being outstanding already!' Malfoy didn't answer, instead he stared fixedly down at his books.

'Very well!' Slughorn continued. 'Now for the next few lessons we will be learning how to brew Veritaserum. I trust you have all heard of this one.'

The class nodded, and Hermione piped up. 'Sir, isn't that a very complicated potion to brew? I've read it takes at least a month?'

'You are correct, Miss Granger. Which is why I want you all to work in pairs and you will also be completing an essay. If between yourselves you can brew an exceptional Veritaserum, you will be passing your N.E.W.T exams, no problem! Now, I want you all to get yourselves into pairs please.'

Hermione looked at Harry and Ginny and sighed, knowing that there was no chance of either of them pairing themselves up with her when they had each other. All of a sudden she felt the familiar lump in her throat rising as she found herself missing Ron. She swallowed hard and looked at the other Gryffindors, realising that they had all found their own partners too. She started feeling panicky, and looked over towards the Slytherins. They had all partnered themselves up, all of them except Malfoy, who was sat by himself staring into space.

'Miss Granger, are we struggling to find a partner?' Slughorn had waddled over and Hermione felt her cheeks burning.

'Umm, I-' she stammered but Slughorn interrupted her.

'Mr Malfoy, are you without a partner too?'

Malfoy glared at Slughorn, looking as though he wanted the ground to swallow him up, which wasn't dissimilar to how Hermione was feeling. 'Yes,' he muttered.

'Well there you go! Come over here Miss Granger and you can join Mr Malfoy!'

Hermione froze. 'W,what?'

'Come and join Mr Malfoy!' Slughorn repeated.

'Sir, couldn't she just join me and Ginny?' Harry asked quickly, shooting Hermione an anxious glance.

'And leave Mr Malfoy to work by himself?' Slughorn puffed up incredulously.

'It's fine Harry,' Hermione murmured, standing up and walking reluctantly towards Malfoy's table, who was staring at her with wide eyes.

'Fabulous!' Slughorn beamed.

'Isn't it just,' Hermione muttered to herself as she placed herself down on the edge of her seat timidly, extremely aware of the three pairs of eyes on her.

The rest of the lesson flew by in a blur for Hermione, and if you'd asked her what Slughorn had spoken about after pairing her with Malfoy, for the first time she would have struggled to give you an answer. She had found herself once again lost in her thoughts, fingering the smooth scar on her neck, Bellatrix's sinister grin flashing before her eyes. She had not dared to look at Malfoy and the silence between them was deafening.

'Hermione?' Harry's voice snapped her out of her dark thoughts, and she stared at him. 'Sorry?'

'I said did you want to walk to dinner with us?'

Hermione was stunned as she was finally took in her surroundings, realising the classroom had started to clear.

'Y,yes, of course,' she stammered.

'Are you okay?' Ginny looked concerned.

'I'm fine,' she nodded, trying to seem convincing.

Hermione remained trapped in her vivid memories as they made their way to dinner. How was she supposed to work with Malfoy? He was the one person she was trying to avoid, the one person who had the power to bring back the terrible memories of the war, of her torture at the hands of his aunt, Bellatrix. She took a place at the Gryffindor table, staring at the food which had now appeared on her plate, all of a sudden feeling as if she had no appetite.

'You know you could ask Slughorn if he could change your partner?' Hermione looked at Harry, who was smiling at her gently.

'I'm fine,' she whispered.

'Okay, so have you and Malfoy decided when you're going to get together and do your homework for next lesson?'

'Homework?' Hermione gaped at him. 'What homework?'

'There's your answer,' Harry looked at Ginny and she nodded in agreement.

'What homework are you alluding to?' She asked, panic stricken.

'Slughorn told us to collect ingredients for next lesson. He read out the list in class.'

Hermione looked at him, bewildered as he produced a roll of parchment which indeed had a list of potion ingredients scrawled across it in his untidy writing.

'I.. I must have missed that,' Hermione felt her cheeks burning. 'May I copy this down?'

'Of course you can. But 'Mione can't you see? This isn't good for you,' Harry said softly.

'I'm fine,' she muttered, quickly noting down Harry's list.

'I don't know what Slughorn's thinking myself. I mean, he knows as well as anyone what Malfoy is like.'

'He didn't meant to, there was no one else to partner up with,' Hermione said, wishing he would just drop the subject.

'And what's Ron going to say? He'll go mad!' Ginny exclaimed.

Hermione slammed her quill down, Parvati Patil squealing indignantly as ink flew everywhere. 'Guys, just drop it okay? I'm fine! I'll be okay! The war is over now and we have to move on. Plus Professor McGonagall wanted me to promote house unity and this is the perfect opportunity to do so!'

'Oh yeah, of course you're fine. You zone out of the rest of the lesson, miss out on the homework which is completely normal of you, and you have a scar which reminds you every day of what Bellatrix Lestrange did to you, yet you're fine that you've been paired with her nephew! Give us a break Hermione,' Ginny snapped.

'Right, that's it,' Hermione stood up.

'Where are you going?' Harry looked at her incredulously.

'To bed. I don't need to hear any of this,' she glared at the pair of them furiously.

'Come on 'Mione, ignore Ginny-'

'What?' Ginny scowled at Harry as she turned on him. Hermione took this as a distraction, turning on her heel and storming out of the hall before either of them could call her back.

She stopped as she reached the third floor, leaning against the wall and closing her eyes. Ginny's words were still ringing in her ears, and Bellatrix's face flashed across her mind again. She thought of Ron and how much she needed to hear his voice… A tear rolled down her cheek and she wiped it away furiously.

'No. I've been doing so well and I can't let Draco Malfoy ruin that,' she said to herself, swallowing hard and taking a deep breath before deciding on going to the Owlery to write a letter to Ron.

She was pleasantly surprised to find the Owlery deserted as she reached the top of the stairs. Shivering slightly in the cool breeze, she perched herself down on one of the benches and pulled her quill and parchment out of her bag, feeling slightly more relaxed as she wrote her letter to Ron. As she poured her heart out to Ron about Potions and how she'd been feeling, she began to feel more and more at ease. She finished her letter with a smile and stood up, trying to spy her favourite little barn owl. As she looked round she noticed a shadow appear at the door of the room, and her heart dropped as Draco Malfoy appeared.

She gaped at him, dropping her letter to the ground.

'I'll come back later,' he muttered.

'Wait,' the words were out of Hermione's mouth before she could stop them. He turned round and stared at her. 'Carry on. I'll be gone shortly,' she said boldly, surprised at her own courage.

'Thanks,' he grunted.

Hoots of the owls were the only thing breaking the silence as Hermione stooped to pick up her letter and Malfoy made his way to his owl. There was a great flapping of wings and Hermione heard Malfoy swearing as his owl flew away, hooting indignantly. She paused, looking at her own owl.

'Here,' she found herself pointing at her owl apprehensively.

Malfoy whipped round, eyes wide. His face broke into a scowl. 'I don't need your pity.'

'And I'm not offering any,' she replied coldly.

He glared at her, studying her for a second before sighing and picking up her owl. Hermione turned her back on him, selecting another owl and tying her letter to it.

'Thanks,' Hermione was startled as she heard Malfoy's quiet mutter. She turned to face him.

'No problem,' her voice was barely a whisper, and she found herself looking into his grey eyes, taken aback by the pain and the unsettling look of loss in them. He nodded at her slightly, before starting to make his way out of the room.

'Are you okay?' Once again Hermione found herself unable to control the words that were now ringing in the quiet room.

'What?' Malfoy was gaping at her in astonishment.

She cleared her throat, feeling her cheeks burning. 'I asked you if you were okay. Don't ask me why as of course I didn't expect a civilised answer from you, but forgive me if I'm wrong but I think we need to at least get along for our Potions grades sakes.'

Malfoy continued staring at her, a slight frown playing across his forehead. 'Why are you talking to me?'

'Like I said, I think we need to get along for the sake of our Potions grades,' she could see him studying her, his eyes falling on the scar on her neck and she suddenly felt self conscious as they remained there.

'I ruined your life, Granger. I spent 7 years trying to do so,' he spoke slowly.

'I know you did,' she glared at him. 'And many will think of me as a fool for even considering keeping our partnership in Potions.'

He narrowed his eyes at her. 'Why don't you walk away then?'

'Because I will not have my grades ruined because of you. Or my reputation as Head Girl of this school,' she watched as he turned his back on her, looking out to the grounds. 'And I don't think you're the same person as you were all those years,' she added softly.

He frowned down at the lake. 'I don't know who I am anymore.'

Hermione paused, then cautiously walked over to where he was stood, joining him in looking out to the now dark, haunted looking grounds. 'That's for you to work out.'

'How?' He made her jump as he raised his voice. 'People don't want to go near me. They all think I'm scum, that I caused him to come back! Even the teachers are wary of me! My father is locked away in Azkaban for the rest of his life, my mother is a heart broken mess living alone. And I've got this,' Hermione gasped as he pulled up his left sleeve of his robes aggressively, revealing the Dark Mark on his arm. 'Reminding me every day of what I've done!'

Silence once again rung through the room as Hermione stared at his arm, feeling slightly shaken. 'Roll down your sleeve,' she whispered, closing her eyes.

He looked at her, then quickly obeyed her words as he pulled the sleeve down. 'Still want to work with me?' He said bitterly.

'You're not the only one struggling.' Hermione said sharply. 'I lost friends in that war. Close friends, ones that I knew I could always rely on. The Weasley's lost their brother, their son. George lost his twin. And Teddy Lupin lost both his parents, he'll be an orphan for the rest of his life. I lost my parents, they'll never see me marry, have children. They don't even know I exist,' a tear rolled down her cheek and she wiped it away angrily. 'Plus I have this,' mimicking his words, she gestured at the long scar on her neck. 'This will always remind me of the torture and pain I went through at the hands of your aunt, at your home. I'm constantly having nightmares and flashbacks of that day. So I know exactly how it feels to be struggling right now.'

Malfoy seemed lost for words as he watched her wipe away another tear. 'I'm sorry,' when he finally spoke he sounded shaken.

'I know none of it was your fault,' she whispered.

'It'll always feel like my fault. And I know everyone else around me believes that too. I don't know why I came back here.'

'To give yourself a second chance. To let that ambitious Slytherin in you finish his exams.'

He looked at her. 'Maybe. But I don't feel like I deserve it.'

'Prove yourself wrong then,' she said gently.

There was silence in which Hermione could hear the clock tower chiming in the distance. This seemed to awaken Malfoy out of his daydream.

'I should go,' he muttered.

'Okay,' she nodded in reply.

He turned on his heel and began to make his way out of the cold room. He paused at the doorway and looked at her. 'I'm sorry about your parents. And the scar.'

'Thank you. I am too,' she replied politely.

He gave her a small nod, then he was gone. Hermione let out a deep breath and collapsed down into a bench, not quite believing what had just happened. Had she and Malfoy really had a civil conversation? Had they both just poured their hearts out to each other? She closed her eyes and shook her head, composing herself. She had not meant to mention her scar to him, and her parents… She stood up again, feeling slightly dizzy as she made her way back to the common room. Malfoy's apology was still ringing in her ears, and she felt anxious about the way she had spoken to him, a small part of her still worried somehow that maybe he hadn't changed… And what would Harry and Ginny say when she told them? She felt guilty as she pictured Harry's incredulous expression, and Ginny's look of betrayal, coming to the very selfish conclusion that she wouldn't mention their meeting to them just yet.

Quickly muttering the password to the Fat Lady and ignoring her exclaims about the 'Golden Trio', Hermione entered the common room, anxious to find Harry and Ginny and apologise about her previous behaviour. She smiled as she spied them sat in their favourite chair by the fire, and approached them cautiously. 'Hey guys.'

'There you are! We've been worried about you!' Harry exclaimed.

'I'm sorry,' she sunk down onto the chair, relieved to see them both looking pleased to see her.

'I'm sorry 'Mione, I didn't mean-'

'Stop,' Hermione held her hand up to silence Ginny. 'It was my fault, I shouldn't have bit your heads off. You were only looking out for me.'

'We still shouldn't have kept on at you,' Harry said. 'Besides, we know you of all people can handle Malfoy. I mean, look how you handled him in our third year,' he grinned at her.

'Yeah feel free to do that again whenever you want,' Ginny laughed.

Hermione smiled guiltily. She couldn't not tell them about what had just happened in the Owlery. 'I don't think he'll be bothering me somehow…'

'What's happened?' Harry was studying her curiously.

Hermione explained what had happened in the Owlery, how Malfoy had actually spoken to her like a human being and not something on the bottom of his shoes. As she finished speaking, she noted the angry glimmer that had appeared in Ginny's eyes.

'He's up to something, there's no way he'd have a civil conversation with you and not be,' she said bitterly to Hermione.

'I'm not sure Gin… he seemed pretty genuine,' she said reasonably.

'Maybe he has changed,' said Harry, who had been frowning into space. 'But you need to be careful, 'Mione. We cannot trust him or any other Slytherin for that matter. Not for the time being anyway.'

'But that's the problem, Harry. McGonagall wants house unity. And as Head Girl I need to be promoting that. I have to give the Slytherins the benefit of the doubt.'

'Just please be careful,' Hermione could see the worry in Harry's eyes as he pleaded with her.

'I will,' she whispered, then she found herself yawning. 'I must get to bed. I'm exhausted.'

'Okay,' Harry nodded and Ginny gave her a small smile, not hiding the anxiety which had now replaced the anger in her face.

She walked up to the girls dormitory, throwing herself onto her soft four poster bed and closing the curtains round her, giving herself some privacy. Thoughts of Malfoy were still running through her head, and she replayed the image of his scared, lost looking eyes. She found herself thinking of her parents, whom she hadn't seen since that fateful day in which she had wiped their memories from them forever. She hadn't spoken about them to anyone apart from Ron briefly one night, her friends somehow knowing not to speak of them. She found herself unable to control the tears that fell as she wondered what they were doing, and how they had no idea of the daughter that would think of them every single night. As her tears fell she let out all the pain that she was desperately trying to conceal inside her, the loss of her parents, the unforgettable torture she had suffered, the friends she had lost.

When her eyes had finally dried and she was taking deep, calming breaths she sat up, walking softly to the window next to her bed and looking out to the peaceful grounds, wondering if Draco Malfoy was doing the same.

Thanks again to those who have read this and favourited/followed it, and thank you so much to Half Blood Raven for reviewing, it means a lot to hear your opinion! I'm so sorry it's taken so long for me to update I've been so busy with work and I've been itching to carry on writing!