Chapter 3


The walk to the castle was a slow one, with First Years constantly stopping and either herself or Malfoy having to go and bring them back to the group. Hermione could understand; regal looking towers, the grandiose stone guards, protecting Hogwarts from harm, were exquisite to look at. She remembered McGonagall leading them to battle, doing their duty to the school, which proved useless at some point.

Her eyes gazed upon the courtyard as they walked, the horrors of 5 months ago returning in flashes. Acromantula scurrying around attacking wizards and witches on both sides, the black cloaks of Death Eaters sweeping past her vision, firing Killing Curses as if it was a first year charm as bodies of the fallen lay around the rubble. Hermione could still feel the broken brick under her feet as she stepped. Then she spotted the alcove where Lavender's body was attacked by Fenrir Greyback. Her flesh ripped apart by the Werewolf claws, teeth and the monster's bare hands. The lifeless eyes staring at her still made her heart race.

A nudge to the shoulder woke her from her musings, turning to see Malfoy staring at her, concern written on his face. She gave him a strained smile and a shake of her head before returning her eyes forward, the Entrance hall in view. The back of her robes were tugged and her head swivelled and landed on a first year gazing up at her, eyes wide. "Yes?" She asked calmly.

"Are you really Hermione Granger?" The boy questioned, his gaze curious.

"Yes I am but-"

"Oh my god, I'm talking to Hermione Granger." His voice resonated throughout the Hall, grabbing the attention of every other child, before a thousand questions were launched in her direction.

"Are you really friends with Harry Potter?"

"Did you date Viktor Krum? The famous Quidditch Player?"

"Can I have your autograph?"

"Enough." The voices ceased as Malfoy's exclamation reverberated around them. "Now I know there's probably lots of things to ask Granger, but Merlin, now's not the time." He reprimanded, causing them all to be quiet. As they climbed the stairs, Hermione turned to him, her voice lowered. "Thanks by the way, back there. I just find all the attention a bit much."

"No problem, Granger. You looked like you were gonna attack the lot of them." A smirk appeared on his face as they approached the doors of the Entrance Hall, where Headmistress McGonagall stood. She relieved them of their duties, letting them into the hall before addressing the new students.

The walk to the Gryffindor Table was a familiar one to Hermione but she couldn't put out the flashbacks from her mind. The hundreds of white sheets, laying over the fallen, the screams and cries of their friends upon finding out who was gone, The Weasley's grieving over Fred and George on the floor next to his body. The memories clouded her mind, along with the panic, that she could barely feel the arms wrapping around her, guiding her to her seat. The rising weight on her chest, made her begin to pant, A soothing voice filled her ears, bringing her back to conscious thought.

"Hermione, it's okay. Breathe. It's all over now." The voice spoke calmly, hands rubbing up and down her back. Her eyes refocused on Ginny, who had a small smile on her face. "You okay?"

"Wha-What happened?" Hermione questioned, now realising she had been crying. She wiped the tear tracks from her face.

"You stopped at the end of the table, just staring. I came and brought you over." Ginny replied. Hermione looked around, noticing Neville giving her a worried look.

"I'm fine Neville." Hermione reached over and placed a hand on his arm, before watching the Sorting Ceremony. Many new Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws sat at the end of their house tables waiting, excitedly, to start their Hogwarts journey. The young Slytherins and older snakes however, sat in near silence, compared to the lively chatter of the other houses.

Her eyes scanned over the Slytherin table, of the frightened faces of the first years to the blank expressions on the Seventh and Eighth Years, who were used to the treatment. Hermione spotted a few snakes in her year. Theo Nott, Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, Daphne Greengrass and also Draco Malfoy, who was staring at her intently, silver eyes locking with hers. Even as the feast commenced, Hermione could still feel the eyes of the blonde Slytherin flicking towards her.


A nudge to his shoulder broke him of his daydream. His head turned to see Theo looking at him with a smirk on his face. " What, Theo?" He snapped.

"Nothing, just wondering why you're still staring at Granger. I know she's your partner this year but there aren't any other feelings, are there?" Theo replied, drawing the attention of their friends away from their dinners.

"What? No of course not and-" He paused, eyes landing on Theo "You knew?! You knew Granger was Head Girl and didn't tell me?" He questioned.

"Come on Draco, you're acting as if you couldn't have guessed. It's Hermione Granger for Salazar's sake! Of course she was going to get it!" Pansy exclaimed, catching the attention of their house mates. "What? Nothing to see. Unbelievable." She rolled her eyes before reading her magazine

"I'm not an idiot Pansy, of course I had my suspicions that it would be her, but I didn't know for sure." Draco replied, eyes flicking to the particular Gryffindor. Her brown curls framed her face like a lion's mane. Fitting with her house, Draco thought. His eyes passed her other companions, sitting at the far end of the Lions Den. He saw Weaslette beside her, talking animatedly about Quidditch most likely. Longbottom was tending to a plant while listening; And of course Granger was reading a book.

"I think you might be right Theo. He's got eyes for the Gryffindor Princess." Blaise whispered to Theo, catching Draco's attention.

"Fuck off Blaise." Draco replied, kicking Blaise making him fall to the floor, making their fellow Slytherins laugh. "I do not have feelings for Hermione bloody Granger so, shut up." He sulked.

"Guys leave him."Daphne said, sitting up from Theo's side.

By the end of the feast, the Slytherin friends were all full, sated and laughing as they left the Great Hall. Glares followed them as they walked through the corridors to the ever-changing stairs. By now, Draco and his friends were used to the glares and the threats, ever since the end of their trials.

Waiting in cells, awaiting sentencing for their 'crimes' for things they were forced to do, to protect themselves, their families and each other. Draco still had nightmares of all the despicable things he had seen the Death Eaters do and of cruel tasks he was required to partake in. The screams of all the prisoners still rattled through his ears and mind on a daily basis. The nights spent awake with his friends, closed up in his room after a meeting, drinking away their pains and problems till dawn.

Daphne and Blaise hadn't been put to trial like the others, with Daphne's family fleeing the country and Blaise's family not choosing a side; however they were treated the same as the others due to them all being friends. They only saw the 2 at school but they showed up at the Manor fairly often. Pansy's sentence wasn't too bad compared to Theo and himself, even with being a Death Eater herself. She committed no crimes on closer inspection and only with ratting out Potter at the Final Battle.

Draco and Theo's sentences were the worst, and most publicised cases out of the five. With their father's being inner circle followers of Voldemort's and well known Death Eaters, they were treated exactly the same. The nights in Azkaban and Ministry holding cells were awful for them. The charges against them were many parchments long, Theo's being shorter than his. The saving grace being Harry Potter testifying for him that saved Draco from spending who knows how many years in that hell hole of a prison.

Draco still thought of it now many months later wondering why? Why on earth would Harry Potter, his childhood enemy save him from jail? It would have been perfect revenge for how he had treated him in school, but he couldn't wrap his head around it. The calling of his name brought him out of his musings. "Draco, hurry up!" Pansy's voice resonated down the corridor leading to the meeting point for the Eighth Year students.

He quickened his strides and within seconds was met with a group of about 15 students milling about in small groups waiting for the Headmistress to arrive. He spotted a few Gryffindors, and a small spattering of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws in the mix, with the 5 Slytherins as far away from them as they could muster. Many glares were sent their way, but they didn't care. They had each other and that was all Draco needed.

The clearing of a throat down the Hall, made all the students turn, spotting the stern gaze of Headmistress Minerva McGonagall. Her beady eyes scanned the group before announcing, "Hello Eighth Years, follow me to your new common room." before turning and leaving the stunned group there. Then the group began to follow, rather quickly to catch up with her quick pace. As they walked to this 'new common room', Draco, eyes scanned the crowd more intently, recognising his classmates more clearly. At the front was Granger and her group of Gryffindors - Longbottom, Thomas, Finnigan, One of the Patil Twins he couldn't tell which and -

"Oh fucking hell!" He muttered, catching Theo's attention.

"What?" Theo questioned him, confused.

"Fucking McLaggen's here. I'm not dealing with his shit." Draco replied, his annoyance growing by the second.

Cormac McLaggen, in Draco's or any boy's eyes, was the biggest wanker and playboy in their year. Swaggering around the corridors with a new girl every other week made Draco feel ill, even though people referred to him as the same; and he was now standing beside Granger, trying to hit on her and by the look on her face, she wanted to be anywhere else.

Before they knew it they were standing with McGonagall in front of a portrait of Professor Lupin, standing in a library, books surrounding every inch of backdrop. McGonagall began to mumble rules about 'respect' and 'house unity' but he couldn't care less. All Draco wanted was to take a bottle of Dreamless Sleep and to finally get a good night's rest for once.


The first thing Hermione noticed when the portrait swung open was the lack of house colours. The furniture in the space was all in very earthy tones, Browns, Greys, White and blacks with pastel pillows depicting the houses. Banners of the 4 house crests were on the walls, the emblems stood proudly on their respective coloured backgrounds. To the left, a large fireplace stood with couches and armchairs placed around, a coffee table in the centre, making a comfy place to sit, or do homework. A large dining table was to the right in front of bookshelves that reached the ceiling,filled with ancient tombs that made Hermione's heart sing. At the far end of the common room, two staircases stood. Most likely to the bedrooms, her mind supplied as McGonagall began to speak to the group.

"Now your rooms have already been decided for you"- numerous groans surrounded the group - "and there will be no switching occurring." McGonagall stated as she pulled a scroll of parchment from her robes.

"For the Girls. Miss Patil and Miss Turpin. Miss Bones, Miss Bulstrode and Miss Brocklehurst. Miss Greengrass and Miss Abbott. And finally Miss Parkinson and Miss Granger." Hermione's eyes widened as her name was called. Pansy Parkinson?! Someone in the universe probably did this to spite her, she was sure of it. All the bad omens of her life were coming to bite her in the -

"Now for the boys." McGonagall's voice interrupted her racing thoughts. "Mr McMillian and Mr Boot. Mr Finnigan and Mr Goldstein." "Fuck." - An irish lilt muttered from behind her - "Mr Nott and Mr Thomas. Mr McLaggen and Mr Corner. Mr Zabini and Mr Finch - Fletchley. And Mr Malfoy and Mr Longbottom." McGonagall concluded, before returning her eyes to the stunned students before her. "Your trunks have been deposited in your rooms already. There will be a meeting tomorrow about your roles this year and do try to get along." She finished before sweeping from the room leaving a deafening silence behind in her wake.

No one moved for what felt like hours, until a muttered "I can't believe this" roused everyone from their stupors. Complaining, arguing and disagreements began to take place, filling the small room with chaos. A presence beside her made her tense before Pavarti's voice filled her ear.

"Poor Neville having to room with Malfoy. I'm so thankful to not room with any of those Death Eater's" Her voice was filled with hate.

"Leave them alone Pavarti, they were pardoned of their crimes and are harmless." Hermione replied, a sudden defensiveness filling her body,

"I don't think so. They're all the same. You'd do your best to remember that." Then she proceeded to head to bed with Lisa in tow, leaving Hermione stunned. The common room began to empty, only a few stragglers staying behind, so she headed up to her room. It had a similar colour palette to the common room, greys and beiges all around. 2 four - poster beds stood on either wall, with their belongings at the foot of each. Her eyes continued to scan the room, noting the large bookcases to shelf her extensive collection.

"Are you going to stand there all day Granger?" A female voice drawled from the other side of the room. Pansy Parkinson hadn't changed much since Hermione had last seen her. A sleek black bob that was cut off at her chin, not a hair out of place. Eyes that could kill you with a single look, her high cheekbones and sharp jawline gave way to the aristocratic look. Her nose had been fixed, making it appear less turned up and squished like a pug, as was the nickname Harry and Ron gave her. She lay on her bed, staring at Hermione with a bored expression, her eyes assessing her, making her squirm under her gaze.

"No. I'm looking at my environment."

"Of course you are." Parkinson rolled her eyes, laying down and turning her back to her, ending the conversation. Soft breathing soon followed, suggesting that she was asleep. Hermione moved further into the room, letting Crooks out of his change and prepared for bed.

As she lay there, looking at the ceiling, her mind continued to race. All the unanswered questions from earlier in the day returning. Why did Harry look so concerned? Did he know about Malfoy and didn't say anything? Was something bad happening?Why was Theo being so nice to her? DId he have an ulterior motive, or was he just being friendly? And why did she keep defending the Slytherins? Shouldn't she be defensive like everybody else? The questions continued until she fell into a fitful sleep, just like every night after the war.