AuthorsNote:

Hey everyone! I'm like...crazy blown away at how many notes follows and favs and reviews and wow hey, totally cool. Thanks so much you all are awesome! I'm super duper sorry tho, that it took me so long to update. I've had a few issues, (like getting kicked out of my house, trying to find a job, being sick) come up lately and all I want to do is lay in bed and do nothing. Lol. But here's the next chapter! I'll try to update more often. (Probably every other week. Maybe.) So you all don't have to wait as long. I hope this chapter is good, I had a little difficulty writing it cause I wasn't 100% sure about where I wanted it to go, but here it is. I hope you enjoy! And please don't forget to review! Cause those are really nifty to read. :)


There was absolutely, one hundred and ten percent, no bloody way, she was going to walk out of her dorms looking like this, Hermione thought as she eyed herself in the mirror. The silver and green tie around her neck seemed as if it was choking her with the puckered look of distaste on her face, and the Slytherin crest on her new robes was mocking her. She was sure of it. The whole ensemble looked absolutely horrifying on her, and Hermione huffed in frustration just as Pansy walked in from the bathrooms. She took one look at Hermione and stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening.

"They actually suit you a bit Granger." she walked over to Hermione and twirled her finger. She rolled her eyes and spun for the Slytherin girl, "Suit me my arse, I look absolutely horrid." Hermione cried almost shrilly and a voice spoke up from the doorway.

"I second that."

Hermione glanced up from her shoes to see Daphne Greengrass gazing at her with narrowed eyes.

"And to think our house was once of noble breeding." She sighed and pushed herself off the doorway, walking over to her trunk, giving Hermione and Pansy a wide birth. Hermione glared at the girl but before she could speak, Pansy laughed.

"Oh right, like you're one to talk. Your vest makes you look pregnant on your best days, Daph. Or is it that you're just finally showing?" Pansy asked sweetly, and Hermione jumped when Daphne slammed her trunk closed and roughly slung her bag over her shoulder. She shot a glare at Pansy, "Don't fucking start with me Parkinson." She said and stormed out of the room with a parting glare at Hermione.

"She's pregnant?" Hermione whispered incredulously, and Pansy snorted. "No. But she had a scare awhile back that I just love reminding her about." She winked and Hermione grinned.

"What's all the noise about now?" Someone from the beds asked and the two girls both turned towards the last bed that still had the covers drawn. A face peeked through the curtains and then were thrown open the second she recognized the one unfamiliar person in the room.

"What in the bloody hell is the Gryffindor Princess doing in my room? The SLYTHERIN dorms? And are those our house robes? Blimey Pans did you slip someone a polyjuice potion or something?" Millicent said as she scrambled to her feet and shuffled over to stand in front of Hermione, she eyed the girl warily, not sure as to what she would do if she realized that she indeed were the real Hermione Granger.

Pansy laughed and shook her head. "Always late to the party, as usual Milly. It's Granger alright, what makes you think I could brew a Polyjuice potion? I'll just leave that to brainiac here, my skills are needed elsewhere." Pansy nodded her head at Hermione, grinning from ear to ear. She shot Pansy an exasperated look when she felt a sharp pinch on her forearm. "Ow!" she yelped and glared at the grinning witch before her. "What the hell are you doing?" she asked, and Millicent laughed. "Sorry! Sorry, I was just pinching to make sure I wasn't still asleep. Isn't that what muggles do when they want to wake up?"

"Well, yes I suppose, but usually they pinch themselves to make sure. Not someone else." Hermione grumbled rubbing the sore spot on her arm.

Millicent frowned. "Now where's the fun in that?" she asked "I would imagine it would hurt. Merlin, muggles are so weird sometimes." Millicent shook her head and Pansy laughed. "You're one to talk. Now hurry up and get dressed. We have potions in ten minutes."

"Oh bloody hell!" Millicent cried and ran into the bathroom. "Why didn't you say so earlier?!" she asked frantically, and Hermione heard the water turn on for the bath.

Pansy shook her head and grabbed her and Hermione's bags off their beds. She walked over to her and frowned at the look on Hermione's face. "What's that look for?" she asked, and Hermione took her bag,

"I just…she wasn't what I thought she would be." Pansy sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

"Yes, well. She's always been a little loopy, but after the war she really did become a bit nutty. No thanks to bloody Goyle, fucking prick."

Pansy glared ahead of her and Hermione bit her lip, wondering if she should ask what happened or not. Pansy's glower lifted and she grimaced at Hermione.

"I know you want to ask, but it's best to let her tell you on her own terms." She started walking towards the stairs and smiled. "Let's get going then. I'm dying for the others to see you."


Breakfast was a nightmare, and because she wasted so much time messing with her new house robes, all she and Pansy could do was grab a bit of toast and dash out of the hall. But from the shock and looks of disbelief on a few of the student's face, she was sure that they had caught a glimpse of her. It was no better when Hermione walked into the potions room, which she shared with her former Gryffindors. It went completely silent and everyone was gazing at her with various looks of astonishment, confusion, and more than a little disgust from a few of Theo's group. However when she caught Harry's and Ginny's stare she froze, at first they seemed to be looking at her as if they didn't recognize her, and then Harry offered a comforting smile and Ginny gave her two thumbs up and a wink. Hermione smiled but shuffled nervously in the doorway before she was pushed into the room from behind.

"Come on Granger. You're blocking my way." Malfoy said and grabbed her arm steering her over to a desk where Pansy had already seated herself. She sat down next to Pansy and glared at Malfoy who sat himself on her other side.

"You don't have to push and pull me, Malfoy. I'm not a mule." She said and he muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like "Could have fooled me." Her eyes heated furiously and she was just about to lay into him when he shot her a cutting look.

"Oh get off it, Princess. I was just trying to get you out of the spotlight, but if you want to be oogled and gawked at by all means, take center stage." He gestured to the front of the room and Hermione sniffed, turning away from him and instead to Pansy who was grinning from ear to ear.

"What?" Hermione snapped and Pansy laughed.

"Oh nothing." She said and Slughorn took that moment start class.

"Good morning everyone! Welcome to your first day of classes for the start of your last term! You all must be terribly excited, so let's start right away, shall we?" He said cheerfully and clapped his hands together in excitement. Hermione struggled to pay attention to his lecture, but found it difficult. The cutting glares and outright hostile stares from Theo, Daphne, Goyle, and Crabbe made her nervous. Hermione understood that they wouldn't like her, but why did they have to be so forthcoming about it. It was making her upset and she felt her heartbeat skyrocket upward. She shifted in her seat and tugged on the Slytherin tie, trying to calm herself down, the last thing she needed was an anxiety attack in the middle of her classroom.

"Stop fidgeting" Malfoy hissed into her ear and Hermione jumped slightly and shot him a cutting glare.

"I'll fidget if I bloody well want to Malfoy. Besides, you're not the one being contemplated as victim for a murder at the moment." Malfoy glanced over at Theo and Hermione saw him give a sneer.

"Yes, well. That's unavoidable. Not everyone's left the old ways, Granger. You'd do good to remember that." Malfoy sounded exasperated and Hermione shot him a curious glance. His eyes carried over hers for the briefest of moments before he leaned back to speak to Pansy. Hermione then realized that while she was trying not to have a meltdown, Slughorn had already excused the class to start work and she had no idea what they were working on.

"Oi, Pans." She heard Malfoy call behind her and Pansy tilted her head towards Malfoy while still writing down the list they'll need for the potion. "What?" she asked and looked back up at Malfoy.

"Pick up the ingredients will ya? I don't want to leave the Princess here unsupervised," Hermione felt herself puff up in indignation. "What with those glances Theo and them are giving her." Malfoy finished and Hermione deflated just a bit, still glaring daggers at him.
Pansy smirked and hopped off her stool. "You're lucky I hate the right people, Draco." She said and walked towards the storage unit.

Hermione saw Pansy smile and say hello to Harry while she was over there before Hermione twisted to glare daggers at Malfoy.

"I can handle myself against a few minor children of death eaters, Malfoy. I don't need your help. Why are you even going out of your way? I thought I wasn't worth much more than the speck of dust on your robes." She huffed, and Draco shrugged, getting the ingredients and cauldron ready for brewing.

"It's my head on the chopping block if anything happens to you, unfortunately. I protect my investments." He says and Hermione scoffed. "You, protecting something other than your neck. Now that's a first."

Malfoy whipped around and glared at her. "You would be surprised at the lengths I go to protect the things and people I care about protecting Granger. There are reasons some Slytherins returned and others didn't." he said angrily and Hermione just glared at him.

Pansy returned just then with a pink flush to her cheeks and a small smile. Hermione noticed why when Harry was behind her, carrying a few of the ingredients they would need.

"Harry! What are you doing here?" Hermione asked, and jumped up to give him a hug. When she pulled away, she took the ingredients from his hands and he shrugged.

"Pansy was having some difficulties carrying it all, so I offered to help." He said, and smiled hesitantly over at Pansy. She grinned at him and wiggled her fingers. "Thanks Potter." Harry's smile grew just a fraction and he nodded. Hermione smiled a secret smile herself but then heard fake gagging noises coming from Malfoy. She kicked his chair, making it wobble dangerously and Malfoy gave a small shout and gripped the counter. Hermione smirked at him, then turned back to Harry who had an odd look on his face.

"Right, well. I also wanted to know how you're doing. No trouble I hope?" he asked and Hermione debated whether or not to tell him about the incident with her scar. She knew he would get angry, and most probably start a scene in the middle of potions, and that just wasn't something Hermione wanted to do. She wanted a smooth, relatively normal day.

"No trouble." Hermione said warmly, and ignored the sharp look from Malfoy. "Just odd, and a bit chilly down in those dungeons, but nothing terrible. We've made them out to be much more ominous then they should be." Hermione laughed and Harry smiled.

"I'll bet. I gotta get back to Ginny now, before she blows up the cauldron. I'll see you at lunch Hermione."

Harry nodded his head, "Malfoy." And shot a smile at Pansy before walking off towards a waving Ginny.

"Why didn't you tell him?" Pansy asked when Hermione sat back down and started mincing lacewing fly like the directions said too.

She shrugged, "I didn't want him to worry." She said finally and gestured back towards the ingredients. "I still don't know what we're brewing." She said exasperated, and Pansy laughed.


After Potions Hermione had Advanced Arithmancy, to which Pansy cringed.

"Why are you taking Advanced Arithmancy? That's got to be more boring than Professor Binn when he goes on one of his rants about Merlin."

Hermione laughed, "It's actually interesting. Factual. I like it." She said and Pansy shook her head, "Yes well, you go have fun. I have Charms." Pansy bit her lip, and shifted her bag from one shoulder to the next. "You stay safe, yeah? Keep your head down? I know it's difficult, what with that swotty mouth of yours, but it would probably be in your best interest if you keep it shut for once."

Hermione scoffed indignantly but then frowned at the truth to Pansy's words, "Yeah, I'll be fine. See you after class." She waved and left a worried Pansy standing in the hall.

When she reached her class and walked in, she noticed two things immediately. One, that the professor wasn't there yet and she realized she had arrived ten minutes early to class. The second being that there were a Slytherin boy and Gryffindor girl dueling in the middle of the classroom.

"What the bloody hell is going on here?" Hermione yelled and had to dodge a stray spell that looked like a real nasty stinging jinx. The two students, however, didn't notice and continued to throw spells at each other. They were going at it furiously, and Hermione was a thrown off at the viciousness of it all. They cursed and shouted at each other almost as if they were to wound the other with only their words and it made Hermione pause, thoughts flashing back to a similar scene between two equally angry opponents. She had paused too long, however, when she heard a shout from the two in front of her as well as one from behind her.

"What the hell do you think you two are doing?" and that snapped Hermione quickly enough out of her reverie to draw out her wand, but before she could cast a spell "Expelliarmus" was shouted from behind her, and she spun to watch as Malfoy caught both of the wands out of the air. She looked back at the two students, only to find one collapsed unconscious on the ground and the other white as a sheet from a bloody nose. Hermione gasped and rushed over to the bleeding one, pulling the Gryffindor's hand away from her face.
"Someone go get Madame Pomfrey from the Hospital wing. Now!" she heard Malfoy order, and she focused on getting the girls bleeding to stop.

"What do you two think you're doing? Having a duel in the middle of a classroom, you're out of your minds! 15 points from Slytherin and Gryffindor. Explain yourself!" Hermione said in a rush, and the girl tried to open her mouth to answer, but found out that she was unable to speak. Her eyes grew wide and she tried shouting louder and Hermione could start to see the panic in her eyes.

"Calm down. It's just a jinx. Madame Pomfrey will have you two fixed in no time and then you can explain yourselves and serve detention together for the next two weeks. Is that understood?" Hermione said sternly and she saw the flair of defiance ignite in the girl's gaze. Hermione set the girls nose with a pop, and she saw the anger melt into pain. Once she saw the girl was okay she rushed over to where Malfoy stood over the unconscious Slytherin Boy.

"Stupify." Malfoy answered Hermione's unasked question and she nodded and sighed, she could feel her hands shaking and heart beating furiously. She took a couple deep breaths before she turned to look up at Malfoy.

"What were you even doing here?" she asked, and Malfoy looked her over before turning to squat down near the boy. "I also have Advance Arithmancy, Granger. You are not the only one who has some smarts, you know." He said and Hermione frowned. Just then Madame Pomfrey bustled into the classroom, along with the Professor. Malfoy spoke to him while Hermione helped Madame Pomfrey levitate the Slytherin boy.

"Third fight I've had in my wing today and it isn't even lunch yet." Pomfrey said and Hermione started, "Third?" she asked with astonishment and Madame Pomfrey nodded sadly. "Yes, there is still so much anger and mistrust in these halls Ms. Granger. The war may have changed the face of the wizarding world, but sadly. People are still people, and they still hold grudges like nothing I've ever seen." She sighed and made her way out the classroom, the Gryffindor girl trailing after her with tears tracks on her face. Madame Pomfrey paused at the door, and turned slightly back to Hermione. "By the way dear, your potion is ready for pick up when needed." She said softly, and Hermione nodded. "I'll be by at the end of the day to get it, thank you." Hermione smiled and watched as the older woman walked out. She turned to catch Malfoy staring at her with an odd look on his face, and she felt a spark of annoyance sprout in her chest. "What? Why are you staring at me?" she asked, and she watched as he folded his arms over his chest. "The Professor has called off class. We have a free period." He said flatly and Hermione nodded.

"Why did you freeze?" he asked, and Hermione stood very still.

"Yes, like that. Why did you do it? You had more than enough time to disarm them, and put them in their place before it got as bad as it did. Why didn't you?" He asked and Hermione sighed, rubbing her forehead. She could feel a headache beginning to sprout and wanted nothing more than to escape to the library.

"I don't know."

"Bollocks." Malfoy said and Hermione shot him a glare.

"I don't know why, Malfoy. I just did, okay."

"What's the potion Madame Pomfrey has for you?" he asked.

"That's none of your business Malfoy." Hermione said angrily and turned away from him.

"It is if it makes these students in danger." He said angrily and Hermione turned to look at him. "You can't just run away into your own head when there's a major issue happening in front of you Granger. That puts you and everyone else in this school at risk. Something that is my concern considering I still attend Hogwarts. Now what is that potion?"

Hermione glared at him furiously, "It's something to keep myself out of my own head, so you don't lose your precious blonde one. Now leave me alone, and go to hell." She said, turned around and stormed off down the hallway towards the Library.

She stopped about halfway though, and ducked behind a loose curtain to cry. She had every intention to hide out in the library for the rest of the class period, maybe even the rest of the day, getting lost in things that she could do to help this school get back to normal. No dueling, no residual anger, just something to fix the halls of Hogwarts.

But right now, she needed a good cry and maybe she could find a way to fix her head.