Usual disclaimer, I am not JK Rowling, these are my imaginings with her wonderful world and the characters who live in it. Thank you Rowling for giving us all so much inspiration.

"Hermione Granger and the Seventh Year"

a fanfic by Cerys Dewar

Chapter Four

Hermione found herself at a complete loss for words as she stared into the eyes of a boy whose face brought back her worst nightmares. The boy who introduced her to the word 'mudblood'. The boy whose aunt had carved that same filthy word into her left arm, as well as a straight line across her throat that occasionally caught on the collars of her shirts. Hermione had no clue what Draco was doing here; she didn't even realize that he had returned to Hogwarts.

Suddenly, Hermione found herself filled with anger and anxiety all rolled into one. What on earth was a Death Eater doing seated in the library with a few books and a cup of tea? The cup of tea told Hermione that he hadn't snuck in, the books told her he had returned as a student, but why did he have to be here, right now after she had just mourned the loss of a friend who had been murdered by one of this boy's associates?

Hermione had had enough in the war, and was not going to let him ruin her school year OR her usual habits. With a lift of her chin, she sat down and opened one of the books and began to read, ignoring him completely, not noticing the way Draco stared at her left arm or trembled as he flipped a page of his own book.

The two enemies read in silence, and finally, the clock struck eleven, breaking into the oppresive silence between them, making them both nearly jump out of their skins as they jumped up from their seats, wands in hands. Once more, they stared at eachother, torn between fight or flight. Golden brown eyes bored into steely grey ones, both sets of eyes haunted with dark circles underneath, both faces gone pale as ghosts. Hermione retrieved her books and slid them into her book bag without taking her eyes off him and then slipped out quickly. But not quickly enough. As she quietly fled the library, she heard a quaking, broken voice call out hesitantly.

"Granger..."

She returned to her dorm and slipped unnoticed into her bedroom, shaking like a leaf. Malfoy had just tried to talk to her. Why? As she donned her pajamas and housecoat, as she washed her face and brushed her teeth in the bathroom, as she conjured up glasses of water and sent each of her roommates to their beds, she puzzled over it. To relax, she finally sat down at the small desk in her room and wrote quick notes to Harry and Ron to let them know that they had settled in and telling them about the changes to the castle. She thought of writing another note to George but didn't know what to say. Finally, she settled on adding a P.S. to her note to the boys, asking them to please tell George that she said hello. That accomplished, she penned one more note to her parents and then sat in silence once more, too keyed up to sleep and still confused by what had happened in the library.

The first couple days of lessons passed on, and Hermione found that she was not behind very much at all in her studies. All her professors were more than happy to offer suggestions of what library books could help her catch up, and once again she found herself walking to the library, gently touching Fred's plaque on the way by, and sitting at her usual table in the restricted section. This time, there was no one seated at her table. However, there was an envelope and a small bag on the table, and the envelope had her name on it.

Hermione opened the envelope and pulled out a clipping from the Daily Prophet and a folded piece of parchment. She read the clipping first, and found herself once again staring into the haunted eyes of Draco Malfoy as he started up at her from the photo. It seems that Narcissa and Draco had testified against Lucius and had exchanged a lot of information and renounced the dark in order to secure their own freedom. As she read, she also discovered that both had been placed under an unbreakable oath to never engage in dark magic ever again.

According to the article, Lucius had abused Narcissa and Draco endlessly, and Voldemort's stay in their home had made it even worse. Hermione found herself looking at the photo of Draco with pity mingled in with her mistrust and revulsion. Was it possible that he could change at all? Was it possible that his upbringing had caused him to be the way he was? Hermione sat down and reflected on his picture, thinking about all of the encounters they'd had with him in school before the war. He had always been horrible, but so had Snape, and Snape had been hiding a side to him that no one had dreamed of. Suddenly, tucking the envelope, parchment, and books into her bag, she stode to the Headmistress' office and asked for admittance.

"Miss Granger, this is a surprise. I apologise but I am just on my way to a staff meeting, can we meet at another time?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, headmistress, I was actually hoping to speak to two of the portraits..." Hermione suddenly realized that perhaps this was something that might not be allowed and clammed up a little. "Would that be ok? I'm so sorry I didn't send an owl first to ask."

McGonagall's eyes immediately warmed and she squeezed Hermione's shoulder.

"For you dear, it is definitely alright. Please make yourself at home. If you would like to speak to me later about whatever is troubling you, you are also welcome to wait until I return or we can meet tomorrow after dinner."

"Thank you, professor, I will."

McGonagall nodded and stalked out the door, leaving Hermione alone with every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts. She only had one she wanted to speak to. In a darker part of the office hung the portrait of a professor she had never been able to like: Severus Snape. Snape's portrait hooked its eyebrow and Hermione nearly ran from the room at that point. For a moment, all she could do was stare at the portrait, hesitating.

"What is it, miss Granger?" drawled the portrait with a sneer.

"I was wondering if you could tell me something, sir."

"And what is it that Minerva cannot better assist you with? Surely she can handle your feminine products or boy drama with Weasley or your constant desperation to read yourself to an early grave."

"Sir. I am here to ask you something about Draco Malfoy. About Death Eaters."

The portrait rolled its eyes but said nothing, so Hermione proceeded.

"I know that you were a double agent, professor. I was just wondering if Voldemort ever forced anyone to become a Death Eater against their will. Especially someone underage."

"Miss Granger, the Death Eaters numbers' were more inflated than you could ever imagine with those who had unwillingly become followers of the dark lord. Whether by the imperius curse or by threatening or killing families of those who were taken into the fold, the dark lord knew how to get what he wanted out of those he wished to follow him."

"Is Draco Malfoy one of these, professor?" The portrait frowned deeply but answered almost immediately.

"My godson showed an interest in the dark arts at an early age out of fear for his pathetic father and a desire to keep his mother and himself safe. He joined what he thought would be the winning side but was given no choice in the matter, especially once the dark lord moved into Malfoy Manor as an operations base leading up to the Battle. He may have thought he had the makings of a dark wizard, but I believe what he witnessed frightened him more than even Lucius' treatment of him had."

Hermione nodded. She had no reason to mistrust what she'd been told, and she could verify what she'd learned with professor McGonagall tomorrow also.

"Thank you, professor." The portrait made no sign of acknowledgment, and Hermione stepped out of the headmistress' office and returned to her dorm. As she pulled her books from her bag, the article and forgotten parchment fell out. She cast a shredding charm on the newspaper clipping and sent it flying into a wastepaper basket. The parchment she picked up gently and unfolded. The writing inside was spidery but clear, the ink black as night but good quality, as was the parchment.

I wanted to apologize for what I did to you and what my family did to you. I don't expect anything from you; I just hope you can understand what was happening to us and forgive me.