Hermione sat down at the Gryffindor table alone and stared up at the enchanted ceiling, taking in her favorite part of the castle. The night sky was clear and the stars were shining brightly enough that she could make out the big dipper constellation. Staring up at the stars had become a sort of grounding habit for Hermione during the last year on the run while camping in various parks. No matter what changed in their world, the stars stayed the same.

Ginny had agreed to be Head Girl this year and was off helping the first-year students prepare for the sorting ceremony at the front of the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall, now the Hogwarts Headmistress, had asked Hermione if she would be Head Girl once it was confirmed that she would be coming back, but Hermione had politely declined. Though it had been a dream of hers for years, she didn't want the extra responsibility or attention. She also knew Ginny would be great at it with her light-hearted sass and kindness. Hermione felt her own demeanor had become far too composed after talking to only Harry and Ron for most of the last year. Ginny had always been outgoing and popular, and she could hold her ground in any conflict. Plus, Ginny had been at school the previous year and the younger students had relied on her for safety and guidance when the Carrow twins were controlling Hogwarts. Head Boy was a Slytherin boy from Ginny's year whom Hermione did not know, Jackson Travers. Hermione knew that McGonagall had recruited a Slytherin to encourage house unity. The Slytherin's had always had a bad reputation and now that the war was over, there was sure to be prejudice among houses.

The Slytherin table had so few students it was almost comical. There were maybe 15 students in total, spread out over the long house table. Even the Gryffindor table had some extra room, enough that Hermione could sit off on her own without having to be involved in other students' conversations. She preferred it this way, though some of the Gryffindor's in Ginny's year had asked her to sit with them, she didn't feel up to dealing with the questions about the war they were sure to ask her.

It felt like a contradiction, being in the Great Hall again. The last time she had eaten here, there had been no house tables - the Order had set up a few smaller tables in the middle of the room during the reconstruction. The Great Hall felt wrong without her friends at the Gryffindor table and so many of the things she used to associate as Hogwarts, like Dumbledore at the front of the room. It was like walking into a parallel universe, a memory where everything was just slightly wrong. She looked back at the Slytherin table and noticed Malfoy sitting so far to the back of the Great Hall at the end of the table that he was barely visible. Like her, he sat separated from other students, but unlike her, he was much farther away. He was slumped over the table and his eyes were cast upwards to the ceiling, taking in the night sky just as she had been. Looking at him gave her some semblance of comfort. Everything about Hogwarts had changed for her, but at least there was one thing that stayed the same– and that was Malfoy sitting at the Slytherin table.

"BETTER BE HUFFLEPUFF" The sorting hat yelled, bringing Hermione back to the current events of the sorting ceremony. The last first-year student wobbled over to the Hufflepuff table as a cheer echoed the room. Ginny quickly walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down beside Hermione.

McGonagall stood up to address the room and a hush descended over the crowd.

"I want to thank each and every one of you for your bravery to return to Hogwarts. For many of you, the previous year at Hogwarts was not safe or enjoyable. You have all had to shoulder a burden much heavier than anyone your age should ever have to. Now that the war is over, you are the generation that will lead us into change. I want to take a moment to encourage house unity and let you know that prejudice will not be tolerated."

With a sweep of her hand, the house flags above each table morphed into the Hogwarts crest. "Each house holds qualities that are valuable in this new world. But it is only through working together that we can access each other's strengths and support each other's weaknesses. I encourage you to reach out to someone new from a different house and really get to know them. I would also like for us to take a moment of silence for the students, teachers, parents and friends that died fighting in the war. May they rest in peace and their sacrifice acknowledged."

Hermione fought to hold back tears. Her mind thought of the names of those whose sacrifice would be everlasting. Fred. Lupin and Tonks. Snape. Dumbledore. Lavender Brown. Colin Creevey…the list went on. Images of the battle began to cloud her vision and she had to close her eyes and take 6 deep breaths to calm herself down. She felt Ginny grab her hand under the table.

McGonagall spoke softly "Thank you. I am grateful to be your Headmistress this year. Hogwarts means a great deal to me and I know it does to you, too. Let us make this year a great one together! Please raise your glasses with me in saying, to a better world." The crowd echoed with the same words as glasses clanked. Hermione and Ginny looked at each other with wet, glistening eyes and tapped their glasses together with soft smiles. "Now enjoy the feast!" McGonagall smiled and the tables filled with food.

Hermione nibbled at her food but wasn't all that hungry. She ate very slowly, savoring each bite. As the feast came to a close, Ginny got up to direct the prefects and the first-years to their common rooms. McGonagall announced that she wanted all returners to come to the front for further instruction, so Hermione got up and headed to the front of the Great Hall. She thought it odd that McGonagall was calling up her and Malfoy but figured there must be a reason.

"Miss Granger, welcome back. I haven't had a chance to mention the updates to you yet. In the summer, before I knew how many returning 8th years there may be, I created a new common room area. The purpose of this being that any returners would be of age and therefore curfew and some of the other rules would not be applicable. I wanted any returners to feel independent and have privacy from the other students, given the circumstances. The bedrooms are much bigger, the common area has lots of study space and things are set up to support a mature student lifestyle. I am sure that you have realized by now that you and Malfoy are the only returners. If you are not comfortable with a shared living space, please let me know and I can set you up in the Head Girl and Boy quarters with Ginny and Jackson or in Gryffindor tower."

Hermione looked over to see Malfoy slowly stalking across the Great Hall towards them. She felt foolish for not considering the living arrangements sooner. She knew Ginny would have her own quarters. She hadn't thought much about where she would stay. After so much time on the run, she had stopped worrying about where she would sleep, it had become purely survival. McGonagall's arrangement made sense to her, though it would be very odd to share a living space with Malfoy. But she was sure they could keep their distance as it was unlikely he would

want to be around her either, and it was certainly preferable to having to deal with Ginny's protectiveness or the overly friendly younger Gryffindors. All she really wanted to do was focus on her studies and be mostly left alone. "That is no problem, Professor….er…Headmistress." Hermione gave a small smile. "I certainly prefer the idea of a more mature living and study space."

"Great, I thought so." McGonagall replied as Malfoy stopped walking and stood about a meter from them. "It is quite a large space so I am sure the two of you will be able to make it work." McGonagall looked over to him. "You're both adults now so I trust if there is disagreement it will be handled maturely." Hermione looked at Malfoy and nodded as he looked at the ground and bobbed his head. "I will show you to your rooms. Follow me."

McGonagall led them out of the Great Hall and up a few flights of stairs. It took them a few minutes with the enchanted staircase working again, as it was not connecting with the stairs in the direction they were hoping to go. Hermione looked at Malfoy expecting to see impatience, but his face was blank and he was staring intently above McGonagall's head. Hermione began to recognize the direction the further they went, as it was towards the guest living spaces, which is where they had stayed in the summer during the reconstruction.

They walked down a hallway and then towards an alcove with a large ornate black door. "After the reconstruction, I changed one of the Guest common rooms to accommodate mature students. I've enchanted it to reflect the returning students, so it should resemble both of your interests. The password is educere."

The large ornate door swung open to reveal a moderate sized common room, smaller than Gryffindor tower but certainly more than enough room for two people. The walls were painted a dark grey and there were golden accents around the room. A mix of mahogany and marble were used on the furnishings. To the right was a tiny kitchenette area with a few small marble bistro tables. On the far side of the room were built in bookshelves with a fireplace in the middle of the wall, above it hung a beautiful portrait of Merlin in a gold frame. A seating area with black leather couches and a few gold antique chairs were scattered around the fireplace. To the right of the room was a long wooden study table, large enough to seat about 8 people. Just beside the table there was a window overlooking the edge of the grounds towards the lake. Adjacent to the window was a staircase going up and a staircase going down which Hermione assumed was likely to their bedrooms.

"I'll leave you two to settle in. The House Elves know to deliver meals to the kitchenette up here in case you are too busy studying to make it to a meal in the Great Hall. As I mentioned before, curfew does not apply to you and you are also welcome to go to Hogsmeade or leave the castle whenever you please. The fireplace is set up to the Floo network as well, use it sparingly. You will have a lot of self-study courses provided but you can choose to attend classes with the 7th years for whichever subjects you like. I'll send you all the course information tomorrow morning. Granger, your room is up the stairs and Malfoy, your room is down the stairs. Good night." McGonagall exited, the large black door sweeping shut behind her.

Hermione took a few steps into the room to inspect it further, moving towards the large desk. It was truly a beautiful room and she felt a bit giddy thinking about the chance to study undisturbed. She turned around to look at Malfoy, who was staring at her sheepishly still standing by the door. He looked like he didn't know what to say, so Hermione mustered up the courage to speak first, "Look I know this isn't ideal but I am fine with it if you are. All I want is to study and be left alone and I am sure you want the same so I think we can manage this." She looked into his silver eyes and found that she couldn't look away. They stared at each other for seconds that felt like minutes. She began to feel uncomfortable waiting for him to respond and muttered, "Okay well I am going to go to bed now-

Just as he blurted out, "I'm sorry."

"Wha-What?" She replied, shock and confusion playing out on her face.

"I am sorry for everything. I won't bother you and I will leave you to study in peace. I want the same thing. Good night, Granger." Malfoy disappeared down the stairs to his bedroom.

Hermione stood frozen for a few minutes. She wasn't sure how to process what had just happened. Malfoy had never been the type to admit when he was wrong in the past. But then again, war changed people. And so did growing up. Maybe most of what she knew to be Malfoy was inaccurate to the man who had just been standing in front of her. She decided to worry about it later and headed up to bed.


Draco shoved open the door to his new bedroom suite at Hogwarts. The room was smaller than his bedroom at home but an upgrade to his previous Hogwarts four-poster bed in a shared room. Draco took in the deep green walls, the bed on the far wall between two windows that looked out onto the lake and the bookshelves along the right wall. There was a smaller desk placed on the right wall between the bookshelves. To the left of the room was the door to a bathroom with a clawfoot tub, shower stall, toilet and sink. Not bad. Part of him wondered what Grangers looked like and whether he would ever see it.

Idiot. He knew apologizing was the right thing to do and he wasn't about to go through a year of somewhat shared living with her without acknowledging the past in some way. But he had never apologized to anyone before - and it felt like some kind of Hufflepuff shit. And she just wanted to be left alone - he would try his best to not be seen or heard by her. It was the least he could do. He wanted the same thing after all, to not have to interact with students and just move on in some way. They both wanted an escape in education. It was surprising that she would choose to live with him in these shared quarters rather than with the Weaselette or in the Gryffindor tower. It was almost Slytherin of her to avoid people enough that she would rather stay with her enemy. He had always figured she was like Potter and Weasley, living in a black and white world of morality and making friends with the likes of anyone "good" for the sake of goodness. But, he realized, maybe he didn't know her that well after all. He didn't actually know what motivated her actions and choices.

He moved towards his bed where all his belongings were laid out, courtesy of the Hogwarts House Elves. He waved his wand to put his clothes away in the dressers under the window and slumped down on the bed. He figured he probably wouldn't be able to sleep tonight, like most nights, so he summoned a book from the shelf. He had slowly been working his way through some Muggle books this summer and had realized there was a whole world of information that the Muggles had uncovered. He began reading a Muggle Philosophy book by Aristotle. After a few hours of reading, he still wasn't tired enough that he would even be able to pretend to sleep, so he decided to head outside and go on a walk on the grounds. Maybe he could read outside in the moonlight and further ponder the philosophy in his book. He grabbed his bottle of firewhiskey, hoping to dull himself slowly into sleep over the next few hours with it and headed up his stairs to the common room. A few steps before he made it to the landing, he stopped as he saw Granger hit the landing first heading towards the exit of their quarters. Where was she going at this time of night?

Curiosity got the better of Draco, and after Granger had exited the common room, he decided to follow her. After a few minutes of trailing behind her quietly through the castle, he was beginning to feel like a creep. He was also beginning to realize that she was headed for the library, which should have been his assumption in the first place. He debated turning back to head outside like his original plan had been, but a nagging part of him wanted to know what she was researching at this time of the night. He heard her whisper "Alohomora" to unlock the doors and she slipped inside the dark room. Once she had descended into the stacks, he slipped inside as well and hid in the shadows. He heard her mutter an Accio to collect any books that mentioned memory charms. Why was she researching memory charms before classes had even begun? His mind spun with the possibilities.

Draco exited the library quietly and walked towards the entrance hall. He began sipping on his firewhiskey as he walked through the dark Hogwarts halls. His mind continued to wander. Granger could be doing a personal project, he wouldn't put it past her to try and invent some new spell in her spare time. But that didn't seem like it, especially given the timing. She was typically a witch with a cause, as he had observed over the years, but she was practical when it came to her interests. It was only when she was doing something for others – like solving all of Potter's problems – that she devoted herself so hopelessly to a cause.

He opened the large entrance doors, feeling a soft breeze as he exited the castle and headed towards the lake. It was fairly bright out as the moon was waxing gibbous and the sky was clear enough that he could make out the Draco constellation. In the dim light he could see the trees and navigate through the grounds safely. He sat down beneath one of the trees by the water and looked out at the moonlit lake. He picked up a couple of stones, cold in his hand, and began to skip them across the water, watching the still lake ripple out. He thought again of Granger. It must be something more serious than just research for pleasure. But then again, he was up in the middle of the night learning about Aristotle. He was sure such a situation would look crazy if anyone was observing him. Draco Malfoy reading muggle philosophy all night. Maybe she also couldn't sleep…Maybe he wasn't the only one haunted by the past.