AN: I am so so sorry about the delay! I actually gave up on getting this typed out on a computer so I found a program for my phone and...Well, here ya go.

Disclaimer: we all know what goes here so let's don't and say we did.

Hermione began her trek to the pond bare-footed and already weary. Not even a week in and already she was sick of the people and the looks they gave her. The only ones who treated her like a human anymore were Neville and, surprisingly, Malfoy's little gang. Then again, if any of them so much as sneezed the wrong, they'd be on a one-way floo to Azkaban. Well, all of them except for Zabini. For some reason it seemed as if the Zabini's somehow managed to not choose a side for the entire War, instead choosing to stay neutral. They were the only European family she knew of who got to stay that way, and no one knew how nor why.

The feel of sun-warmed grass was soothing and before long, she felt her worries lifting away like a heavy winter cloak as the seasons changed. Before long, she came across the pond and seated herself where grass turned into sand and met the water, reminding her of vacations to the beach with her mum and dad. The sand warmed her toes as she dug them in, smiling as she watched the reeds rustle from a passing fish. This was where she felt happy, where she felt safe, where she felt wanted. Out in nature, there were no nasty rumors, no idiots gossiping, no whispering that unsurprisingly stopped each time she walked by. Out here, she was free.

After a short while she slipped into a trance; her body relaxed, mind became peaceful, and her soul opened itself. She hadn't tranced in such a long time, yet it came to her as if it was just yesterday that she had done it last. She felt a deep red light textured like thick velvet enclosing her form from toe to hair and expanding out about her, pushing against the whites and deep greens surrounding the life forms around her. However, the longer she sat there, uninterrupted, the more she could see a dark chocolaty color tinged with soft swirls of a green-silver throughout it push at the red around her fingers and toes. It seemed as if the new color was coming from within, as if it were battling its way out of suppression. The longer she sat uninterrupted, the more peaceful and calm she became.

º.º

"So, what exactly happened this morning?"

"Lavender nearly got herself scalped. That's about it."

"Don't lie to me Draco Malfoy, I know that's not the whole truth!"

"Nope, that's about it."

"Draco Malfoy, you stop trying to play me for a fool right now!"

"Merlin! Pansy, nothing happened. Nothing that anyone needs to know happened. I promise, they got in a fight and luckily Blaise and I showed up at just the right moment." Pansy had grabbed him by his tie and jerked him to face her. She still wore a doubtful expression, but knew he wouldn't tell her a thing more, and Blaise was the only male in Hogwarts whom she couldn't manipulate through fear or otherwise.

Draco jerked his tie from her hand and stalked off towards a small orchard he had spotted earlier from his bedroom window. He had seen the tips of what looked to be reeds a bit farther to the north and could only hope that no one else found a pond before he had the chance to lay claim to the area

.

Pansy followed with a huff, Theo and Blaise trailing behind. By the time they reached Draco, he had already seated himself on the raised roots of a giant apple tree and was leaned back on it relaxing. Blaise conjured a small blanket for the rest of them to sit on and motioned for them to leave Draco to himself. They knew he needed a bit of time alone so they sat a good 15 feet away and quietly talked.

Pansy knew she wasn't going to get anything out of Blaise so she quickly turned to describing in detail how she thought the house was going to turn out with all of the stress and violence. They had less than two weeks before their first home evaluation if Hagrid was right about the twice a month visits, and if they kept getting violent and rude, the house wasn't going to respond very prettily.

One thing she knew for sure though, was that one way or another, her room would be beautiful. It was going to do it on its own and take the easy way, or she was going to put blood, sweat, and tears into it. Sadly, Blaise couldn't care less about how the house, nor even his room looked and, so it would seem, neither did Theo

.

After an hour or so, they came to the conclusion that Draco had went to sleep and decided the best thing to do was to let him sleep and come back for him when the sun began setting, if he wasn't up already by then. The three friends walked back to the cabin, bumping hips and laughing at each other, enjoying their life free from Voldemort's rule.

Draco hadn't wanted to hit a girl for nagging him this badly since...well, since the last time Pansy nagged him. He knew that if he could make it to his destination and pretend to be asleep, his friends would leave him be. He also knew that if he didn't get that solitude quickly, he was going to blow a fuse with Pansy.

He made his way to the orchard and quickly found a raised root system that ran as if it were created for someone to sit and relax on. Malfoy closed his eyes as quickly as he could so his friends wouldn't bother him. His plan worked, but unlike he wanted, they just moved a few yards away. He cursed his luck but remained as he was, slow breaths, eyes closed, relaxing into the giant apple tree.

What he didn't notice, was the energy and magick within the tree slowly crawling along his arms, trailing a wispy finger across his neck, curling itself around his legs. The power was seeping into him, replenishing and filling him, making Malfoy stronger and more complete than ever before. It was a slow process, one that couldn't be done in one sitting, one that would take half a life time to complete if the person never had a clue what was happening.

He slowly sunk into a trance for the second time in his life. The last time he had done so was on accident and he never wanted to see himself like that again. His body and everything near him had been awash with what looked like thick tar edged in crimson. He had immediately snapped out of it and had never let himself go there again.

His eyes stayed closed and he could sense a heavy silk lined cloak of deep purple, nearly black but not quite. It extended from his body and gently but firmly pushed against the white and rich greens of the surrounding trees and plants. Whenever his friends finally let him be, he soon sank deeper, his worries curling away from his mind like old paint. With that lifting came a tickle of pale blue gently speckled with a soft lighter-than-lavender purple and warm amber whiskey. It came from beneath his cloak of color on his extremities and gently brushed against the dark purple, a timid child trying to find its rightful place. If no one disturbed him, he was sure he could sit there for days watching what he recognized as his aura dance across his skin.

AN: well, whatcha think? Yes I know, shame on me for waiting...5 months...Damn, 5 months! Buuuut I. Said I'm sorry lol. So, let me know what you think/how you feel about this in a review in a message with a favorite or with a follow. Merry met, merry part, and merry meet again.

P.S. You readers wonder how much I love y'all? Go try to copy and past then edit from a fucking phone. Do it. It makes you want to break things. Fragile things that shouldn't be broken. Sooooo angry right now. This site needs to be more phone friendly. Stressed me out enough in five minutes to be equivalent to three months with a lying stealing conniving meth head roommate.

P.P.S. I just edited this finally on a computer and am working on a new chapter which may not turn out how I hoped seeing as my laptop that has ALL my notes runs slower than a legless lego Legolass with his legless lego lass holding a lego Eggo waffle all riding lego Legolass' legless lego horse. Which is all my excuse for not updating for a year. Please forgive?