A/N: Okay so yes this is a rewrite of my first fic Chances but it's going to be slightly different. I'm talking more chapters, longer time period and a lot more smut. This story will be written in third person unlike the original piece and hopefully less mistakes. I'm sort of going to stick with the story line, parts will be added and parts will be taken away. Chances will not be taken down after this story is finished. TW- Self harm, depression, PTSD, addiction
In his eyes, she could see his stone-cold heart. In her eyes, he could see the fire in her soul. People say that opposites attract. A north and north repel. She was addicted to alcohol. A south and south repel. He was addicted to sex. Together they make a north and south, a pair. They are fire and ice.
Chapter 1: The golden trio
After the war, everything changed for the better. But for her, everything was gone... destroyed. Despite everything she'd done to protect her parents, she failed to save them. The Death Eaters had tracked them down to find Hermione for information about Harry, they hadn't known anything because of what she'd done to them. They were dead.
Now she was addicted.
After the war, everything changed for the better. But for him, everything was different... unconventional. Despite everything he'd tried to do to change his ways, he'd failed. He'd been to too many trials for himself, his mother and father. His father had been charged; his mother had been saved. He'd sentenced... in a way.
Now he was addicted.
Which is how she found herself locked away in her bedroom at Grimmuald place, drinking away her sorrows. It's how he found himself in a bathroom stall of a muggle club with a muggle girl on her knees before him.
He needed fire and she needed ice.
She was fire and he was ice.
"I'm going to miss you." Hermione smiled at Harry as he took her hand and squeezed it. "It's going to be quiet in this old dusty house without you."
Hermione laughed, "I'm sure you and Ron will be too busy with your training, you'll be glad I'm not around to nag you all the time." Harry shook his head, a glimmer in his eyes. The three of them hadn't been apart in months, not since they went on the run. After the war they planned on going their separate ways, of sorts, Ron was going to go back to the Burrow, Hermione to Australia to find her parents and bring them home while Harry moved into Grimmuald place. But the three just couldn't go their separate ways.
Yet now, four months after they first moved into the Black family home, they were going their separate ways. Hermione off to London, and Harry and Ron into separate Auror training programs. The two boys would still see each other what with living in the same house and so forth but they wouldn't be seeing the witch until Christmas.
"Promise you'll write every day?"
Harry snorted and shook his head in response, "Every other day perhaps." the pair shared a laugh and hug before Hermione picked up her truck whispered a good bye and apparared to King's Cross Station. As she appeared with a crack in a side alley, she slumped against the wall. Her and Ron had shared their good bye the night before, things had been strange between them after they kissed. It had been an in the moment thing that neither regretted but it had shown them that they weren't right for each other. They were best friends, nothing more. But they had shared that moment, meaning that when Harry or Ginny weren't around, they didn't know how to act around each other.
They'd been sat in the living room long after Harry had gone to bed, she'd been reading a book while he listened to the radio. Like how it was in the tent. Ron had told her he wouldn't be around the next morning, that he would miss her and it wouldn't be the same without her in the house before falling silent again.
Pushing the memory to the back of her mind, the witch stepped out of the alley and made her way into the station, and through to platform 9 3/4 where she began her hunt for Ginny, Luna and Neville. It was fairly easy to spot them due to the fact they were an hour early for the train.
"There she is!" Ginny cheered pointing at Hermione, "The head girl!"
Hermione laughed, "Better than being Harry and Ron's personal assistant." the two witched hugged before Hermione turned to greet the other two. Hermione hugged Luna and Neville, "I've missed you guys."
Neville nodded in agreement, "We have a lot to catch up on during the journey." the three girls nodded in agreement. Before the group decided it would be best to hop on the train and find a compartment before it began to get busy.
But Hermione didn't move towards the train with the rest of the group, she was rooted to the spot. Something had caught her eye moments before, turning towards the wall that connected the platform to Kings Cross she watched as Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy made their way towards the back end of the train. And it seemed she wasn't the only one to get distracted and not get on the train with their friends.
Slowly Draco turned, from across the platform their eyes met.
It wasn't the first time they'd seen each other since the battle of Hogwarts. Hermione had been at Narcissa's trial, she'd been at Draco's. Testified on their behalf, but after that, she never thought she'd see Draco again. Especially on platform 9 and 3/ 4, she knew he would be there but she didn't realise the full extent of the situation until she saw him there. It hit her in that moment, how real the decision McGonagall had made.
He was broader than when she last saw him, his hair shorter and his face as pale as always. He was in his classic black suit, hands in his trouser pockets with a sad expression on his face. Pansy appeared, jumping off the train she stepped towards him, resting her hand on his shoulder. Hermione watched as the witch said something to him, pulling him out of whatever trace he was in. Slowly Draco turned to look at her, nodded his head and looked back at Hermione for a second. The raven-haired witch followed his line of sight, her dark purple pained lips giving a genuine small smile before placing her hand in Draco's and leading him on to the train.
Hermione stood there for another minute or so, processing everything before getting into the train and heading in search of her friends. When Hermione arrived at the compartment they were in, she took a seat next to Ginny without saying a word. The red head placed her hand on the brunette's arm, "You look like you've seen a ghost."
Gulping Hermione turned to face Ginny, "Something like that." she muttered before pulling a book out of her beaded bag that was hidden in her pocket and zoning out while the other three conversated. It wasn't until the train began to move that Hermione finally pulled herself away from the pages in front of her.
Neville stared out the window for a moment, watching as the train pulled out of Kings Cross station and began the journey to Scotland. "It's going to be strange without Harry and Ron."
Ginny laughed, "I'm hoping the chances of death this year are slim to none." her humour was lost as the four began to think about the last time they were at Hogwarts. Hermione blinked back her tears, pushing the thoughts of Malfoy Manor to the back of her head. Out of everything that she'd witnessed, everything she'd been involved in during the war, the memories of Malfoy Manor were the thing that kept her up at night.
She'd tried all she could to get rid of her scar, both muggle and magical ways, but she had no luck. And in her darkest time of need, she'd dealt with it a way she never imagined herself doing. Yet, after one exceptionally bad night, Hermione had found herself in the bathroom, sat on the floor holding the blade of a razor in a shaking hand and a bottle of Vodka.
"I should get going," Standing and stretching, Hermione placed her book back in her bag. "I won't be long hopefully." Were her final words before opening the door and making her way to the prefect's carriage bathroom where she planned on changing into her school robes.
Hermione splashed cold water onto her face. It was refreshing, calming... The calm before the storm. She stared at herself in the mirror, trying to recognise the person she'd become over the last two years. The brightest witch of her age, brains of the golden trio, Harry Potter's mudblood. But that's not who she was, she was her own person, Hermione Granger. With a sigh she placed her beaded bag in her pocket and left the bathroom, surprised to see she was no longer alone in the carriage.