Draco had not slept much the previous night, not wanting to relive the horror again and again, he fought sleep.

Finally the dawn broke, the sun rising. He arose from his bed and entered the common room at six am. Walking to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee, he noticed Granger was sat at the table, piles of books in front of her.

She looked up at him from the text she had been reading.

"Morning" she said warily.

But he did not return the greeting.

Instead he made his coffee as quickly as possible and stalked back into his room. He had been hoping to spend some time alone in a room that wasn't filled with painful memories.

It seems he could not now.

As he approached his door, he noticed a message had appeared on his blackboard

"Mr Malfoy,

Kindly meet me at 9:20 am in the headmasters office

Best Wishes

M. McGonagall"

There was no point in trying to sleep now he thought. He drank his coffee slowly in his room and then went to take a shower in his private ensuite.

Hermione had gone by the time he had come out of the bathroom, he went back to the kitchen on the hunt for some breakfast after suddenly feeling very hungry.

He found what he wanted and went to wait in his room until his meeting.

The time ticked by slowly. He filled it with reading books that he had read a thousand times before. This was his way of escape.

Finally came the time for him to leave and he set off on his long trek to the other side of the massive castle.

He stopped at the large, ugly, stone gargoyle, it did not request a password as it usually did but instead just moved aside revealing the familiar stone, spiral staircase.

He knocked on the door.

"Enter" came the reply from behind the door

"Do sit down Draco" McGonagall said as he walked in.

He sat awkwardly not knowing what to do, usually in this situation he was in trouble, not seeking guidance.

"I do hope you are settling back in well"

Draco shrugged with indifference.

She noticed the grimace creep across his face and decided just to continue.

The boy before her had seen true horrors over the past few years and she was unsurprised that he was suffering.

She hoped the other returning students would not treat him too badly. He was not evil, his teacher knew, he was just thrust into that life by a forceful father. He had been bought up to be a death eater in the making and now that had collapsed she knew he had started to question his entire life, she could see it in his eyes.

"So have you given any thought to what career path you would like to follow Mr Malfoy?"

"Er no not really. "

"OK then we shall first discover what subjects you are passionate about and work from there"

"I always liked potions but other than that not a lot"

"I shall not take offense to that" she smiled at him and he returned it warmly.

"There are many career paths that require great potion skills and judging by your flawless reports from the past six years, you would be quite sought after."

"Not after they found out who I really was" he mumbled in reply, darkly.

"That is simply not true, Mr Malfoy. For now I think you should concentrate on potions and if you decide you would like to take any other classes once everything has settled we can reexamine your schedule"

"If I wanted to become a potioneer for medicinal studies, what qualifications would I need?"

This idea had been swimming about in his head for a while, he enjoyed the art of brewing, it was almost cathartic for him. Just lately though he had wanted to help people. Somehow he thought this may cleanse him of his many sins.

"Potions of course, anything below outstanding would not be considered but that should not be a problem for you. Any other requirements are just a good standard of education. Charms, Transfiguration, Defence against the dark arts."

He nodded, his face devoid of emotion but his mind racing. He did not know of he wanted to pursue all of those classes, his teacher continued however.

"Usually good OWL scores will suffice in these subjects"

His face broke out into an unusual smile

"OK thanks Professor, Potions is what I would like to continue with, is it still Professor Slughorn teaching?"

"Yes" she notice his face fall again "he speaks very highly of you, he will be thrilled to have you return. He has asked for you personally to become his apprentice teacher along with one other.

Speaking of which, have you given any thought to my proposition yesterday?"

"About a job?" He asked

"Yes"

"Not really" he replied

" I think you would be an ideal assistant professor, your skills in Potion Making are exemplary and your underclassmen would stand to learn a great deal from you."

He was speechless so carried on nodding his head.

"The wage is very small but it will enable you to earn your own money whilst here." She encouraged.

This was the statement that made his think seriously about the offer. Ever since the war had ended, Draco had hated using his families money, it was tainted, bloodied. Now he had a chance to earn his own, even if it was a pitiful amount.

"You shall be paid 10 Galleons per week and all expenses will be taken care of. You will be supplied with new brewing equipment and a small lab can be added to you dormitories should you so wish"

"Thank you professor. I am very grateful if this chance" he did not only mean the offer of employment but everything.

"So you accept except?" she asked delighted

"Yes I think I do" he replied laughing.

"Fantastic, I shall let Horace know, he will be so pleased. Now we have that sorted I believe you are free to leave. I shall see tonight."

He spun round and looked at her confusedly

"The start of year feast, I am afraid attendance is mandatory."

He nodded back and bade her goodbye.

The meeting had ended on a high, Draco felt as positive now as he had at the feast the previous night.

He had decided to retreat to his room to study his hundreds of potioneering books for the day, preparing himself.