"Hermione! Hey!"

Hermione startled on the steps leading up from the dungeons, but it was just Harry. She turned to greet him with a smile and he grinned back at her. It was so nice to see him relaxed and happy. Although she knew grief and trauma plagued him as much as anyone else, he seemed to be coping well. Him and Ginny only grew stronger through the war and it didn't take much time around them to see how in love they were. She knew they would last, she just knew it in her bones that they were made for eachother. She just wished she held the same convictions where her own relationships were concerned.

"Harry! Haven't seen you around as much as usual." Her friend ran a hand through his messy hair and bent his head to look at her.

"I know, my fault really. I feel like everyone is pulling me in different directions. Quidditch, slug club, aurorship, and the prophet is still hounding me for interviews-"

"I know Harry, it's fine, really." And it was. Hermione knew better than anyone what it felt like to be under such pressure to handle everything. Not to mention, that damn Rita Skeeter was pestering her as well, sending owl after owl for a tell all interview on Hermione's dating life of all things. I mean come on, she did help defeat Lord Voldemort just a few months ago. "Did you look at the books on PTSD I left in the Gryffindor Common Room? I thought they might be helpful for the students. There's some great new theories on healthy coping mechanisms and guides for finding the right mind healer-"

"I saw it. I don't know if anyone's picked it up yet," Harry said sheepishly. Hermione tried not to be frustrated. After years with Harry and Ron, she was used to her attempts at helping being brushed off or unappreciated. But she couldn't stop. It was just who she was and how she showed her love.

I think really, that it's most important to have friends to talk to, you know?. That's why tonight, you're coming to see us, all of us." His tone was playful but insistent and Hermione knew she wasn't getting out of this. It wasn't that she didn't want to see her friends. It was that she didn't know how to handle the waves of fear, fear that could crop up at any moment, in front of them.

"Harry, I don't know, I have a lot to do tonight, I-"

"We've barely seen you this week! We miss you. I know you're busy as ever, but can't you spare an hour and visit our lowly common room, head girl?"

She sighed. When Harry really wanted something from you, it could break your heart. But she never minded because she knew it wasn't intentional, was never manipulative.

"Yes. Yeah, of course I can. I miss you all too." He smiled and the relief on her face made her wonder if he actually thought she might say no. She didn't think that she had been isolating herself, but maybe she had been. "It's strange isn't it? For the past year we've been attached at the hip and now we go entire days without a conversation."

"I know. But it doesn't have to be like that. Come see us. Seamus managed to sneak in a keg of butter beer and some fire whisky, you know."

"Harry Potter, you cannot tell me these things. As your head girl, I am obligated to confiscate any contraband-" Harry held his hands up in mock surrender and she broke off into laughter.

"What time?"

"Nine," he answered.

"Alright, I'll stop by after rounds with Malfoy." Harry grimaced.

"And you'll have to tell me all about that because, wow."

She managed to cut him off with her goodbyes before a line of conversation opened up on that subject. She definitely didn't want to spoil a perfectly pleasant conversation with her friend by bringing up that utter prick.

In the infirmary, Madam Pomfrey greeted her by shoving a bottle of Skelegro and rolls of bandages into her arms and waved her towards a group of Ravenclaw quidditch players clustered around one of the beds. She started interning with Madam Pomfrey on the very first night back at Hogwarts. She needed something to occupy the already small gaps in her schedule. Her classes, while N.E.W.T level, just weren't challenging enough to distract her whirling brain. After a year on the run, where each day was a challenge, she found that she now needed to keep occupied at all times. If her hands were still for too long, they would start to shake with nerves, memories would creep in at the edges of her vision and she would end up a miserable lump under her bed covers for longer than she wanted to admit to herself. She had aided in triaging and healing the wounded after the final battle, sticking to Madam Pomfrey's side, but it still came as a surprise when she received an owl from Poppy over the summer offering her an apprenticeship.

Plus, she discovered she liked healing. And after patching up Harry and Ron enough times over the course of their friendship, she discovered that she was quite good at it. It took skill, magical knowledge and know how. Combined with compassion and the desire to fix things and well, it was an interest that she hoped to make a career out of once she left Hogwarts.

She patched up the student, a quidditch player who was knocked off her broom during tryouts, quickly and efficiently, shooing away her friends and drawing the curtains around her bed. She was just cleaning up her work station when a flurry of activity in the corridor caught her attention.

Male voices echoed off the stone walls as a trio of quidditch players rounded the bend in the staircase, coming into view. Malfoy and Blaise Zabini flanked a heavily limping Theodore Nott, his arms around their shoulders. All three of them were wearing Slytherin quidditch uniforms, but Nott's were torn and spattered with mud.

"Bring him over here. Set him down on the bed." She barked out the orders with authority in her tone and was amazed to watch Malfoy for once, follow them without question.

"I'm dying, Draco," Nott proclaimed dramatically. He scooted up on the bed Blaise and the blonde Slytherin deposited him on as Hermione gathered up the medical supplies she had just set down not even a minute ago.

"Shut up, you twat. You're fine." Malfoy rolled his eyes at the brunette and Blaise snickered behind him, but Hermione could feel tension in the room. She tried to swallow down any personal animosity towards Malfoy and treat the injured man objectively.

"What happened?" She waved her wand over Theodore Nott slowly and methodically, letting her imaging spell outline his entire skeleton to her eyes only. Zabini answered first, his voice holding a note of anger under feigned nonchalance.

"Cursed bludger. Got him in the leg."

A cursed bludger? Hermione could feel her eyebrows lift. Someone would have had to be intentionally targeting the Slytherin. But sure enough, the hazy outline of the boy's femur showed a nasty crack that nearly bisected the bone.

"Sweet Salazar, the pain!" Nott wailed.

"Shut up, Theo!" Malfoy and Zabini snapped at the same time.

"Well, how would you feel if you were lying in the infirmary, with your bones turned to dust by a cursed bludger?

"Your leg is not turned to dust, but it is fractured. You'll have to stay off it for a few days." Hermione poured out an appropriate dose of skelegro and handed him the cup. He sipped it gingerly, grimacing. She turned back to his companions.

"A cursed bludger is a major infraction of the rules. It's bold for a student. How do you know that's what it really was?" She simply had a hard time believing anyone would go through the trouble, just to knock Theodore Nott off his broom. The school took quidditch rivalries seriously, it was true, but this just seemed impractical.

"Are you suggesting we're lying, Granger? That bludger nearly took my chaser's arm off before it got Theo. You think that's normal?" Malfoy bit out his words at her. Of course he would meet her questions with defensiveness.

"That's not what I said," she argued back. "I'm just pointing out that it seems highly unlikely. I mean, why would anyone go through the trouble?"

"Oh, it's 'highly unlikely' says the head girl. Well I guess we were mistaken. Oops." He ran a hand through his platinum hair, his eyes hard. " Because of course, Granger knows exactly what happened even though she wasn't there, right?"

"Stop it," she snapped. "You're being a prick. I'm just trying to think of all the possibilities. Possibilities more likely than someone cursing a bludger in the first week of school."

"It's not such an odd occurrence," Zabini cut in smoothly. "Our classmates are, shall we say, not so welcoming towards those of us from families that were involved with the losing side of the war." He gripped Nott's shoulder and drew a chair up to the side of his bed.

Hermione didn't know how she felt about that. On one hand, she knew that it wasn't fair to condemn every student that came from a death eater family for the actions of their relatives. But on the other, she knew the sentiments most of the pureblood students held about blood supremacy during the war. Those views couldn't have changed just because Tom Riddle fell. So what if some of the other students wanted to take them down a notch? Why would she, a muggleborn who was tormented in school for her heritage, tortured by a madwoman, reduced to something less than human for being muggleborn, be torn up over bullying? Even as she thought it, she knew she didn't really feel that way. She didn't want anyone being attacked for being Slytherin. It was wrong and it went against everything she believed in.

"Then you should go to the Headmistress. If people are really targeting you, then it's gone too far. McGonagall will-" Malfoy's bitter laugh cut her off.

"Oh yeah, because I'm sure she'll be all torn up over it. We'll handle it ourselves." He was leaning against the window now. Hermione's eyes traced over his frame. His quidditch robes fit to his body perfectly, the blacks and greens making his skin and hair and eyes look even paler in the waning, evening light. He was wearing black leather gloves and arm bracers and suddenly she felt too warm despite the infirmary's chill. She wished his gaze wasn't pinned on her, but it was.

His words took a moment to register, but once they did, her brows furrowed. Malfoy was on probation. He couldn't raise his wand or his fists against another student, even if it was in self defense. Not unless he wanted to be sent back to Azkaban. He was lucky so many of the students already feared him. He actually was a death eater, not just related to one. Nott, apparently, wasn't in the same position.

"We'll take it under consideration, informing the headmistress," said Zabini. She noticed that he seemed to be the level headed, diplomatic friend, as opposed to Malfoy's temper. She nodded at him. She would work on Malfoy later about reporting these incidents. For now, it was nearly dinner time and she was starving.

"Well, thanks for patching me up there, Granger," Theodore said goodnaturedly. "I didn't realize you were Hogwart's new mediwitch. I must say, the uniform suits you." Hermione's hand went to her mediwitch cap and apron before she could think.

"Nott, that's enough," Malfoy grumbled. Theodore smirked. She tried not to show her confusion at the exchange. "We'll visit you later. If you think you can make it that long," Malfoy rolled his eyes.

"Oh, I'll hang in there just for you two." Zabini gave her patient's shoulder one last pat and stood to join Malfoy in exiting the infirmary. "Oh, and someone go back down to the quidditch pitch and get my broom. I don't care if it's broken, I still want it."

Blaise agreed to look for it and Hermione reiterated her instructions to Nott before leaving as well. She tried to catch up with Malfoy to attempt pressing him into giving her the prefect round schedule back, considering they were supposed to present it together that very night. Her Mary Janes clacked on the floor in her haste but he was already gone. She grumbled to herself about vile, infuriating, death eater Malfoy all the way down to dinner.

The great hall was already bursting with students when she got there. She dropped into he usual spot next to Ron, across from Harry and Ginny, who were lost in their own little world.

"Thank Merlin you're here, Mione," Ron intoned. "I was really starting to feel like the third wheel here."

Hermione chuckled and started spooning food mashed potatoes onto her dinner plate. She knew exactly how awkward it was being the odd one out when it came to Ginny and Harry's new and intense relationship.

"How was your day?" Ron asked. It was still strange, him all of a sudden seeming interested in her day to day activities. He had never shown this kind of attentiveness before in all their years at Hogwarts and it was a bit strange getting used to.

"It was fine. I had classes-double potions today, and I was working in the infirmary up until a few minutes ago." Ron took a huge bite of his chicken breast and she tried not to lecture him about table manners. "You?"

"Sinistra's already gone barmy and scheduled an exam in Astronomy. Next week. To assess our knowledge level and divide us up into groups." Astronomy was one of the few subjects Hermione wasn't taking this semester. She figured she should focus on more challenging electives and not to mention, the astronomy tower was not somewhere she liked to be anymore. "I don't remember anything from sixth year! She's gonna stick me with the remedials group."

"But there's still time to study, Ronald."

"I wouldn't even know where to start. You know I'm rubbish at this sort of thing." He spooned another helping of potatoes onto his plate.

"Well, I can go to the library and find some guide literature that I used for astronomy when I took it in fifth year." She mentally tallied the time the task would take her and figured she could fit it in, although it would be a tight squeeze.

"You know what would be even better? If you gave me your revision notes. I know you keep all your old parchment." He worked on her with that jovial smile. Whenever, him or Harry broke out the poor, helpless boy act, Hermione had a hard time resisting. Although she didn't think they had figured that out yet.

"Ron, those may be at my parents house. You'll have to make due with the primary resources." She also made a note to herself to see if her parents wouldn't mind sending her old notes to her via owl this weekend, knowing that realistically, Ron probably wouldn't get that far into the reading.

"Prefect meeting tonight," he mumbled around a mouthful of food."Any chance you put us together for rounds?" Ron returned as a prefect this year. Harry had been offered, but he declined, wanting to just relax his final year at Hogwarts.

"You know that I can't. Malfoy and I are supposed to do them together, as heads." She picked up her goblet and drank to let that statement land.

"That's mental. Making you walk around the castle at night with him. I mean, doesn't McGonagall realize that he's a death eater. He could kill you and not think twice about it." His voice was raising and she hoped he wouldn't make a scene. Thankfully, Harry seemed to notice the change in mood. He had stepped in a lot this summer when talk of Malfoy came up. Ron was not happy with either of them testifying for their former rival, but seemed to feel especially betrayed by Hermione. It had caused more than one argument between them since she stepped down off the witness stand.

"Ron, I'm sure Hermione can handle herself. And if there was ever an issue, she would let us know, right Hermione?" Harry broke in.
"Yes, of course I would. It's not so bad anyway. I'm sure we can both stay professional for an hour and a half of rounds."

"Well, you wouldn't know that since you haven't been on rounds with him yet. I just don't like the idea of it, Mione."

"Ron, please." Her hands were starting to clench. She hated being told what she could and couldn't do. "Let it go. I'm coming to Gryffindor tower afterwards to spend some time with everybody. I can't shirk off my head girl duties all night. I need to do rounds. It will be fine, okay?"

"Fine." He didn't look happy, but at least he seemed to be letting the issue go. She couldn't be mad at him, not really. He was still reeling from Fred's death and she noticed that sometimes that greif came up in instances where he felt like he was losing her. It was just taking a little while for her to be okay with that.

She walked with him to the prefect's lounge after dinner arriving well before the meeting started. Since she hadn't seen Malfoy's additions to the schedule, she decided she would have to call his bluff and hope that he hadn't changed anything, only filled in the remaining few slots. If he had reworked the entire schedule without telling her, she was going to be furious.

Slowly, the prefects started trickling in. Six from each house, until the room was about full. Hermione took her place at the small lectern at the front of the room and glanced at the clock. It was seven on the dot. No Malfoy to be seen. Luckily, she had the portion of the schedule she filled out memorized.

"Okay, everyone settle down. We'll just go ahead and get started then." The room quieted at the sound of her voice and she cleared her throat. Malfoy still wasn't here, but she wasn't waiting for him any longer. He was late and that wasn't her problem. No matter how bad it looked that there was clearly no unity between the head boy and head girl. Ron was in the front row and flashed her a thumbs up.

"Right, so, as you probably heard, there's meant to be a morale boosting activity planned for a few months from now. The headmistress has compiled a list of doable activities based on student submissions. I thought that it would only be fair if we held a vote among the prefects on which activity will be held."

She enchanted a piece of chalk to float to the board and write down the options as she spoke them aloud and conjured a ballot box to sit at the front of the room. When she announced a formal ball as one of the options, she saw Parvati give a small, sad smile. She knew her and Lavender would have been very excited at the prospect. Suddenly feeling shaken, she took a minute to conjure ballot slips and arrange them neatly next to the box.

"Please write down your vote on a slip of paper and place it in the box by Sunday night. That's two days from now." She walked back to the lectern and started calling out the prefect pairs and routes for the week's rounds.

"Hannah Abbot and Terry Boot will take the greenhouses and west wing..." She listed four more pairs before the door slammed open.

Malfoy strolled in as if he was perfectly on time instead of twenty minutes late to the meeting they were supposed to host together. His robes and head boy badge were nowhere to be found and his face was a mask of lazy arrogance. Those arctic grey eyes met hers and she fought the urge to yell at him right then and there.

"Can you repeat that last one Granger?" She gripped the lectern in front of her and repeated the five pairs she had already announced before he had bothered to show up.

"Hmm, I think you must have made a mistake. I have the schedule right here and that's not the pairs or routes for the week." His voice stayed flat, not even attempting feigned confusion or even sarcasm. This wasn't a joke. It was malice.

How did he know how much it would bother her to have her schedule changed last minute. To be made to look a fool in front of all the prefects? To most people, it would have been inconsequential, but to her it felt like the end of the world. Like failing an exam or answering a question massively, totally wrong in front of the entire class. And he knew it would. For some reason, Malfoy had a personal vendetta against her and he always had. War didn't change that. Her testifying to keep his ass out of Azkaban didn't change that. And he also always knew just how to get under her skin.

"Maybe I should read off the schedule to the prefects. If that's alright with you." He raised his eyebrows in silent challenge. She was backed into a corner. He knew she wouldn't want a scene in front of the prefects.

"Fine." She stepped away from the lectern and let him take her place, her cheeks warm in anger and embarrassment. Ron was in the front row looking livid enough for the both of them. He immediately began listing pairs of students and routes that clearly made up himself, without her input. Neville and Hannah together for one. She also noticed he gave Ron and his partner, Parvati, a much larger stretch of the castle to cover. It would take him much longer to complete his rounds than it should've. Hermione glanced at Ron just in time to watch him turn a violent shade of magenta. The more he spoke, the angrier Hermione became, until it felt like steam was going to pour out of her ears.

Control the situation. Control it. She grappled for a way to regain authority. He rolled the scroll closed and she jumped on the opportunity to direct the students again.

"Alright, everyone go complete your rounds and if there's any trouble, you kno-"

"Dismissed," he barked. She sputtered and waved her hands at the crowd of dispersing students but they didn't spare her a second look, already out half way out the door. Only Ron remained. He stormed over to them, cheeks red.

"You know, you're a real foul git. You slimy death eater," he ranted at Malfoy. The blonde gave Ron a once over, his disdain for her friend written all over his face.

"Get your dog on a leash, Granger. He's about to have a meltdown."

"Shut up. You deserve it, you vile arsehole," she hissed.

"Oh, because I interrupted your chance to tell everyone what to do?"

Ron brandished his wand suddenly, holding it up at Malfoy, but the Slytherin only scoffed at him. Hermione held no concern in her heart for Malfoy, but the last thing she wanted was for Ron to get in trouble, especially on her account. She stepped towards her friend and pushed his wand arm down to his side.

"Ron, it's not worth it. Don't." He looked at her quickly before pinning his glare back on Malfoy, who stood there, face blank and arms crossed over his chest, practically begging Ron to hex him.

"But Mione-"

"I don't want you to get in trouble, okay? Please." His face remained twisted up in a sneer, but she could see the tension leave his shoulders. She took a few deep breaths in and out, attempting to cool herself down for both of their sakes. "Parvati is probably waiting for you in the hall. Just go do your rounds and I'll see you later."

"I don't want you with him," he grumbled.

"I know, but there's no choice. Please."

"Come straight to Gryffindor tower when you're done." Hermione tried not to bristle at his tone and agreed. With one last glare at Malfoy, who smirked back at him, he finally headed for the door. The heavy oak slammed behind him, leaving her alone with Malfoy. She had been prepared to yell at him, but now she could feel the fight draining out of her. So instead, she turned for the door and left him there, leaning against the wall without a care in the world.

The corridor was silent, all the other prefects having departed on their rounds. Firelight flickered on the stone walls from the candelabras, stirred by the castle's unpredictable drafts. She set off on the route Malfoy laid out for the two of them, not bothering to wait and see if he would catch up. She knew he would. Because why not laud his little victory in her face. Really rub it in.

Sure enough, it was only a moment before she heard his expensive dress shoes hitting the flagstone just behind her. She was wrong before. She did want to yell at him.

"What the hell was that?" She whirled to face him, finding him only a few feet behind her.

"What the hell was what, Granger?" He sidestepped her like she was nothing more than a piece of furniture in his way and continued to strut down the corridor. She fought to keep pace with him but his legs were so much longer than hers.

"You know what. Showing up late, ruining my schedule. Undermining me." She was yelling and she didn't care.

"Undermining you. This isn't a N.E.W.T, Granger. Don't strain your vocabulary on my account." They walked briskly, quicker than she would have preferred through their assigned territory. A garbled sound of frustration slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it.

"Fuck. I didn't mean resort to inhuman noises. There is a middle ground, you know?"

"You are vile. Don't tell me I'm not allowed to be upset." He shook his head and parted his lips, but she was quick to cut him off. "You gave Ron the worst possible route and you did it on purpose. Because you have a personal vendetta against us and you always have."

"Oh, I didn't realize I was supposed to be looking out for Weasley. I thought you had that covered well enough."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she spat. Did he know about her and Ron? About their pseudo pre-relationship status? The idea of that made her very uncomfortable. The situation was so delicate, fragile. She didn't want it exposed to him as a potential weakness. Something for him to blow holes in. They rounded a corner into the library. It was just past closing, and should have been empty of students. Even Madam Pince was no longer at her desk.

"Like you can't put that one together. You're always making sure he has an easy ride through everything he does. Potter too. Tell me Granger, have you set a date yet?"

"Excuse me?" She stopped halfway to the restricted section, frozen among the shelves. She hadn't even been considering marriage yet. Although the way things were going for Harry and Ginny, there might be a wedding and a graduation to attend come June. But there was still so much she wanted to do first.

"I have to admit, I would've thought you'd have a ring by now. Weasley's a pureblood, for whatever that's worth anymore. We usually marry out of school." There was a note of cruel amusement creeping into his tone now, and she fought to keep her fists at her sides as he swaggered towards her. "And a simple-", his eyebrows arched with that word, "-man like Weasley. Well, I'm sure he has it all planned out already. The ring that you'll hate, the cozy little home to fill up with screaming ginger babies. But why isn't it happening yet, hmm?"

He stopped right in front of her, close enough that she could have slapped him if she wanted to. His grey eyes were silver in the blue light of the moon. She could smell his cologne.

"Cold feet, Granger? Or does he just not do it for you like you thought he would?"

His question hit too close to home for her. The whole issue with Ron was just too fresh on her mind already.

"Shut up. Just shut up. You have no idea what you're talking about."

"You have it all figured out, but you just can't get him to be what you want. Who would have thought Weasley would just continue to disappoint? Has he fucked you yet?"

"You have no right to ask me those sorts of questions, Malfoy!"

"Oh, he must have. I can tell. Probably fucking awful, yeah?"

Her rage was starting to boil over. The heat in her cheeks diffused into her brain, making her feel feverish. His words hurt so bad because she knew there was at least a modicum of truth behind them. "And what about you, Malfoy?"

"What about me?"

"You said purebloods marry after school right? Who are you lined up to marry. Probably some pureblood witch daddy picked for you, isn't she? Because that's the only chance you'll have. Your fortune was forfeit to the ministry. You're inheritance will run out sooner or later. You have nothing to offer. No one wants a death eater!"

Her voice broke on the last word but there was no time to be embarrassed. He bridged the gap between them suddenly, and put his face right next to hers.

"Don't you dare fucking talk to me about my father," he hissed in her ear. She knew she was in dangerous territory, but she couldn't seem to make her mouth stop moving. All the rage and grief and confusion of the past few months poured out of her in a way she hadn't been able to let happen yet. Not even to her closest friends.

"Why? Because he'll be so disappointed won't he? If you end up scraping the bottom of the barrel and marrying a mudblood because you fucked up your life so bad."

He pulled back to look her in the face. His jaw was set hard and his eyes glinted viciously enough that she should have felt a flicker of fear in the pit of her stomach, but if she did, it was no match for the anger still roiling under her skin.

"You fucking bitch. You don't know anything about me," he snarled.

"Filthy mudbloods your father wanted to kill, wanted to exterminate. Mudbloods like me. Who have never done anything but exist." Her eyes felt hot and wet. This was the dark emotion she tried not to feel. That she shoved down with the worst of what was done to her. The pure rage and bitter hurt stemming from the worst night of her life. Funny how it came spilling out in an empty library at the prompting of Draco Malfoy.

And she wanted him to feel it too. Wanted him to get a taste of the black well inside her chest that she walked around with everyday. Because he did nothing. Couldn't even spare her a look of sympathy. She was on the floor, clothes half shredded to the point it would've been enough for him to put two and two together and figure out what Greyback did. Especially when he threatened to eat her. Fucking eat her.

"Did you do it, Malfoy? Did you make daddy proud? Did you kill any mudbloods? No, I forgot you were a shit death eater, just like you're a shit person."

"Don't talk to me about the war. You have no idea." He broke off to inhale a deep breath. "Fuck you, Granger. You have no fucking idea." She was done arguing with him. The fight was draining out of her as quickly as it came, leaving her again with that shard of ice in her chest she was starting to get used to. They should have finished rounds by now. Her friends were waiting for her. And she really didn't want to look at him anymore.

"You can finish the rounds by yourself. I'm leaving," she said flatly, turning to leave him standing there, breathing harshly in a shaft of moonlight. He didn't follow her.