Yay! A new chapter is out about 2-3 days after the last one I posted. I've decided that I'll get chapters out as soon as I write them. Thank you so much to the guest reviewer. Nice reviews honestly make my day great :) I would also like to say thank you to those who added this story to your story alert list! Anyways... Enjoy! (Also heads up, the story may or may not be the tiniest bit boring when the prefects get their badges, but I promise it gets better afterward, so read the chapter until the end!)

Chapter 2: Hogwarts Once Again

When the train had stopped, Hermione had joined Harry, Ginny, and Ron for the ride up to Hogwarts. However, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione were shocked at what they saw next.

"A-Are those...thestrals?" Ginny shakily asked, pointing at the front of the horse where a tall, bony horse was standing.

"Yes, creepy at first, but they're fine once you get to know them," Harry answered, climbing into the carriage, "although I have to admit, I'm glad I'm not the only one besides Luna who can see them anymore. I thought I was crazy, seeing things others didn't."

"So you're happy that everyone else has seen death now? How selfish are you?" Ron seethed.

"Ron...that's not what he meant!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Whatever," Ron scoffed, climbing in the carriage and sitting opposite Harry.

Hermione sat next to Ron and Ginny sat next to Harry. They all sat in silence until they got to Hogwarts, and made their way to the great hall. Sitting down, they patiently watched the sorting take place, and Professor McGonagall started her speech.

"Welcome and Welcome back everyone! I hope you all are doing well. Now, last year was everything but normal, and I don't expect everyone to be the same, but if there is anything I or the professors can do, please reach out to us. Now, without further ado, I will be announcing this year's prefects. This year there will be one perfect per house. Please stand up when I call your name… Ginny Weasley!"

Everyone applauded as Ginny stood up with a huge smile on her face. A red and gold badge appeared on her robe that had the word "prefect" engraved into it.

"Justin Fletchly!"

Justin quickly stood up in excitement as a badge similar to Ginny's appeared on this robe, except in Hufflepuff colors.

"Padma Patil!"

Padma stood up and chattered with her friends as she watched her blue and black badge appear.

"Finally, Blaise Zabini!"

Blaise stood up with a slight smile towards Professor McGonagall as his badge appeared. After the applause was over, all the prefects sat down.

"Congratulations to our prefects! Now, I will announce this year's heads! From Gryffindor, we have Hermione Granger!"

Everyone clapped loudly for Hermione as she squealed in excitement and stood up quickly. She had imagined being head girl since her first day at Hogwarts. If only she could tell her parents about this. She looked at her robe as a red and gold badge appeared with a lion and the word "head girl" engraved into it.

"From Slytherin, we have Draco Malfoy!"
The hall went silent. Draco awkwardly stood up as a look of confusion washed over his pale face. How in the world was the head boy? He looked to his robe and saw a badge with a snake and the word "head boy" engraved into it. Suddenly, someone in the hall shouted.

"How could you make HIM the head boy?"

This sparked a wave of replies from the whole hall. Draco could only hear a few replies over the others as he listened and looked around in anguish.

"He was a death eater!"

"His kind took my brother away from me!"

"He shouldn't even be here!"

"He belongs in Azkaban!"

"SILENCE!"

The last word from Professor McGonagall echoed through the hall as all conversation came to a stop.

"You all should be ashamed of yourselves. Mister Malfoy deserves to be here just as much as any of you. He also deserves the role of a head as much as Miss Granger. You will treat him with the respect he deserves or spend nights in detention. Congratulations to BOTH of our heads. Both prefects and heads, please see me after the feast. Now…"

Nobody really listened to the rest of the speech except the first years, and after the speech, the feast showed up. As everyone ate, they also sent occasional glares to Draco.

"Has Mcgonagall gone as crazy as Dumbledore?" Ron inquired as he took a bite out of his chicken.

"Perhaps," Hermione began, putting a fork in her half-eaten potatoes on her plate, "or maybe she thinks we have a chance of achieving house unity for once."

"Mione, how in the wizarding world are you so calm about this? Your gonna have to live with the ferret out of all people. If I were you, I'd go up to McGonagall and do anything to get her to change her mind," Harry questioned, giving Hermione a curious look.

This caused the whole 7th and 8th year Gryffindors to stare at her, including Ginny. Hermione turned to meet her gaze with one eyebrow up. Ginny dramatically put her hands up.

"Don't look at me, I agree with him this time around."

Hermione sighed but turned to address everyone.

"I suppose I do have to live with Malfoy for a while, don't I? Well, I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's something off about him."

She shifted her gaze to a pale boy with bland blonde hair sitting in front of an untouched plate of food at the end of the hall, poking at it nervously and looking around. He looked scared… almost vulnerable. Their eyes met, and their gazes were like that for a few seconds. As much hate as she previously had towards the Slytherin, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him and everything that had happened in that one day. Draco looked away, and Hermione did as well. It was an odd event, but she let it slide. She refocused her attention on her friends and classmates at her table as she heard someone speak.

"Whatcha looking at?" Harry inquired.

"Oh, nothing. I thought I saw something and zoned out a bit. Anyways… He came to talk to me about something on the train, but something went wrong and he left. I feel like he could have changed, even the slightest."

The rest of the table seemed unsure but nodded as a way of signaling they had acknowledged her observations. None of them were really in the mood to start an argument. Ron had different plans.

"Mione, have you gone mad? This is Malfoy we're talking about. He has called you a mudblood day by day, sided with the dark forces during the war, and you're just gonna dismiss this because you think there is a slight chance that he's changed? Also, when were you planning on telling us about the train?"

"Yes, because I don't want to have my last year of Hogwarts destroyed by a used-to-be death eater who bullied me day and night. If he's changed, there's still hope. By the way, you don't control me, and therefore you don't need to know every little thing happening in my life."

The whole table sensed the tension and decided not to intervene. However, Harry couldn't resist the temptation.

"Ron's right though, you're not thinking straight."

"Do you all not trust me?" Hermione asked, raising her voice, showing she was upset.

"Well maybe after everything that's happened, you're not the best at thinking straight anymore Hermione, ever thought of that? You're too forgiving and there's a problem with that," Ron argued.

As if on cue, the food from the feast vanished and was replaced with dessert. However, Hermione wasn't in the mood.

"Thank you for expressing your concern, Ronald. I know better than anyone what happened to me during the war. Now shut up and leave me alone before I hex you into oblivion," Hermione snapped.

Ron opened his mouth to continue speaking, only to be stopped by deadly glares from Harry and Ginny. The rest of the feast was spent in silence for the Gryfinndors, with occasional murmuring from their classmates.

He couldn't eat nor leave. He was paralyzed. His thoughts were going miles per minute. For whatever reason it may be, sharing a dorm with Gryfinndor's golden girl wasn't his main concern. In fact, he had plans to try and maintain peace between himself and Granger, or rather, Hermione. His worries were focused on other things. Why was he made head boy? Why was he honored with Hogwarts highest student role?

His classmates looked at him as if he were poisonous, their eyes engulfed with hatred. Could he blame them? He looked around for something or someone that looked as if they could welcome him. His silver eyes met chocolate brown eyes. Although he couldn't quite figure out the exact reason behind this, he took comfort in these eyes. However, seconds later, he realized these eyes belonged none other than Hermione Granger herself. He looked away.

As dessert came, he thought, "What was that?"

He knew this year was gonna be strange, but he didn't know just how strange it was going to get.