Draco's throat ran dry as he felt all the student's eyes on him. He didn't know why he asked the question but now he was desperate for the answer. Professor Williamson's eyes lingered on the Slytherin for a minute, as if trying to read his mind. He hesitated, not sure if he should answer the question but broke the silence with a small cough.

'Necromancy is a lie designed to give hope to grieving people.' The professor said, not breaking eye contact.

Draco felt his shoulders drop as he breathed out, not realising he'd held it for so long. He was disappointed to say the least. Professor Williamson turned back to address the rest of the class.

'It is said to raise the dead. It is a dark art and it is a branch of magic used to create Inferi, charmed skeletons and zombies. It is also a fallacy. Do not think for one second that you can bring a loved one back using this type of magic, not only is it forbidden AND illegal, it is an idiotic decision to make. If you tried to bring back a loved one using this magic, not only will it remove all personality traits and intelligence from said person, it will also remove their soul. It will be an empty vessel of what they once were. Don't try and bring back anyone.' Their Professor warned seriously, and turned to Draco, 'Preserve the memories you have of them, both good and bad. Does that answer your question Mr Malfoy?'

Draco nodded hesitantly, 'Yes Professor, thank you. Although I do have another. Is there any other way to bring a person back, with their personality and intelligence, and preferably their soul? As in blood magic?'

'Not that I know of, Mr Malfoy. I would advise checking out a couple of books from the library to answer any of your further questions. If that doesn't work you could always try time travel!' The professor roared with laughter, amused at his own joke. The rest of the class giggled nervously, not really understanding what was going on.

'After that informative discussion, who else would like to discuss their chosen topics?' Professor Williamson asked the class, hands shooting up from all over the room.

Harry and Ron eyed the blonde suspiciously. A shiver ran up Harry's spine as he watched Draco elbow both Blaise and Theo who were making fun of his participation. When the Slytherin started to make notes, Harry turned to his best friend and raised his eyebrows.

'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?' He whispered to the ginger.

'Draco asking questions about bringing people back to life?' Ron whispered back.

'Voldemort' They both said in unison, which made Hermione turn around.

'Oh, now you want to speak to us!' Ron said to Hermione who frowned at him and motioned towards Pansy who was sat next to her.

'Be aware of what you're speaking about!' She whispered to him and turned back around to listen to their professor.

Harry and Ron nodded at each other in agreement and left the conversation alone, yet they both thought about it until the end of the lesson.

—

'I'm telling you Hermione, Malfoy is out to bring Voldemort back.' Ron said quietly.

The defence against the dark arts lesson has concluded pretty quickly after Draco's question. The atmosphere had become too serious and their professor had sent them away to research into new topics, ready for their next class with him. Ron had immediately pulled her and Harry into a nearby corridor in order to be out of earshot from anybody who was potentially listening.

'Voldemort's dead, Harry made sure of that. Maybe he was just interested in the topic?' Hermione bit her lip. She knew Voldemort was dead but she couldn't help thinking that Malfoy might actually be up to something. She mentally kicked herself for being so biased.

Ron scoffed, 'Malfoy isn't just interested in anything. If I didn't think him and his death eater friends were up to something before, I definitely do now!'

'I have a bad feeling about this, Hermione.' Harry said, looking into her eyes. 'Now that Lucius Malfoy is in Azkaban, maybe he's asked Malfoy to carry on his legacy?'

'I think you're both being ridiculous, but if you insist on being so suspicious of Malfoy then we need to know if anyone else is involved.' Hermione mischievously raised an eyebrow.

'Anyone else?' Ron titled his head, quizzically.

'Like other students, or even…' The brunette bit the inside of her cheek and furrowed her eyebrows 'teachers?'

Harry and Ron both looked concerned and looked around as students and teachers started to pass them.

'It's the end of our last lesson, we should go see Hagrid.' Harry said, gathering his books and lifting his bag strap higher onto his shoulder.

'Okay, but I want to make a stop at our dorm to drop our things off.' Hermione decided, grabbing her boyfriends hand and started to walk in the direction of the astronomy tower.

They strolled through oceans of students who were hurrying to their own common rooms or next lessons, chatting about the different classes they had taken over the course of the day. Approaching their dorm, they bumped into Neville and Luna who were deep in conversation about their herbology lesson.

'No Luna, you can not make friends with Venomous Tentacula.' Neville looked at the blonde, worried.

'Why not?' The Ravenclaw whined.

Neville spluttered, 'W-Why not?! The clue is in the name, it's VENOMOUS!'

Luna sighed and frowned, 'It's just misunderstood, poor thing.'

Neville's eyes widened in disbelief and looked around when he caught the eyes of the golden trio, 'Hey guys!' He ran over in order to save himself from the difficult conversation, 'How was your first day?'

Harry approached the portrait of the little blue boy who had disappeared just as they arrived, 'Brackium Emendo.' He whispered and pulled it open, 'Not too bad, I already have a shit ton of homework though.'

The remaining four followed Harry in to their dorm and they were greeted by the four Slytherins gathered round the fire whispering.

'Oh shit, they've finally cracked and are having an orgy' Ron joked, not taking his eyes off of Draco.

Their heads whipped round to meet the five who has just walked in and quickly stepped apart. Theo coughed awkwardly.

'So how was your day, children?' Blaise grinned widely, crossing his arms in a mother-like fashion.

Ron rolled his eyes and dropped his bag on the floor next to the dining table, 'Don't even pretend like you care.' He walked to his bedroom to put away his books.

'Do you enjoy taking the piss?' Neville asked, pushing his way to the front of the group.

The Slytherin's looked taken aback for a moment, before Draco snorted with laughter.

'Oh my god, Longbottom's finally got some balls!' He exclaimed, stepping forward towards him as his friends sniggered behind him.

'Mate, I killed a snake. I hope you don't want to go the same way.' Neville spat back at him, not breaking eye contact.

They stayed staring at each other for a moment, before Draco smiled, 'I see potential in you, Longbottom. Maybe you'll be useful after all.'

Neville snorted and started to walk towards his bedroom, not even entertaining the rest of the conversation. Theo shook his head and laughed.

'I can not believe a Gryffindor just won an argument against you, Draco.'

The blonde looked at him in surprise, 'Excuse me?'

'You got to admit, that was pretty good!' Theo laughed and looked at Pansy and Blaise to see them both laughing too.

'Whatever!' Draco huffed and stormed to his bedroom, bumping into Ron on his way out of his own room. The slam of the Slytherin's door echoed throughout the dorm, making Luna jump.

'The fuck's wrong with him?' Ron side eyed the three remaining Slytherins.

'Neville just ripped the shit out of Draco.' Blaise laughed, still in disbelief, 'Anyway, I better go stroke the poor boys ego.' He nodded at the golden trio, flashed a smile at Luna and walked towards the bedroom that Draco was sulking in. Theo and Pansy trailed behind as the Slytherin girl gave a quick wave to Hermione and Luna, who waved back.

'Is it true?' Ron asked, as he watched the three go into Draco's bedroom.

'Neville was pretty brave there. I better go check on him, make sure he's not having a panic attack. I'll see you guys at dinner!' Luna said quietly, and squeezed past the group.

'We're going to Hagrid's, did you not want to come Luna?' Hermione asked, placing her books down on the table and dropping her bag next to Ron's as Harry did the same.

'No, it's quite alright. I have a bunch of homework to do.' Luna waved them off and disappeared down the hallway to look for Neville.

Hermione smoothed her hair down and sighed, looking at her two best friends, 'Ready?'

The two men nodded and followed her out of the room, shutting the portrait behind them. Ron threw an arm round Hermione's shoulders but she shrugged it off, groaning something about not being in the mood. He frowned and stuffed his hands into his pockets, now feeling awkward.

'You can put your arm around me, Ronald.' Harry said, putting on a high pitched voice and holding his arms open. 'Come here my baby.'

Ron laughed and shoved his best friend as he came towards him making kiss noises, 'Oh my god Harry, we said we'd keep this a secret!'. He threw his arms round Harry and pretending to snog him, making Hermione snort with laughter.

'Okay, okay! Off my boyfriend!' She exclaimed, wiping away a tear from her cheek from the heavy laughter. She took Ron's hand and held it in her own. They all sighed and the happy atmosphere drifted away.

Hermione looked down at the floor as they continued to walk through the school's hallways. They were empty and lifeless as many of the lower students were still in class. She sighed again, preparing herself for the question she was about to ask.

'Do you ever feel bad?'

Ron looked at her confused but Harry knew exactly what she was talking about, 'Every time I'm here.' He shook his head in despair, 'Every time I round a corner, every time I sit at the tables, even every time I laugh. I feel awful. I feel so bad that so many of the people we knew are never going to do the same.' They stopped dead in the hallway and just stood in silence for a minute, as if to honour the people who had suffered.

'They'd be happy though.' Ron broke the silence and his friends turned to look at him, 'They'd be happy that we won, and that we're now free to do what we bloody hell want to! Wasn't that the whole point of the war? So Voldemort would just fuck off?' Ron was bright red at this point, his anger boiling over. 'And when Malfoy brings him back, It will all be for nothing!' He squeezed Hermione's hand as she cupped his face with her other.

'Hey, we don't know that yet.' She looked into his eyes.

Harry stepped forward, 'Yeah mate, we can ask Hagrid to keep an eye out for anyone. We don't even have any evidence to prove that's going to happen anyway.' He rubbed his scar and continued walking, his friends following closely.

'I don't know Harry, I can feel it. Malfoy is definitely up to something and with his past, it really can't be good.' Ron gripped Hermione's hand tightly.

'Don't be so quick to judge. Let's just get to Hagrid's and catch him up with your Malfoy obsession.' Hermione frowned and slipped her hand out of Ron's, nursing her sore knuckles.

Harry laughed as his two best friends started bickering. It somehow made him feel at home and he welcomed it, somewhat of a light in the darkness that consumed them last year. Hermione and Ron continued to butt heads all the way to Hagrid's hut, Harry staying out of it as he knew he could not take a side without the other getting annoyed at him. Standing at the door, the two finally calmed down from their argument and knocked.

A tall figure answered it with a huge smile on his face, 'Harry! Ron! 'Ermione! Yer here!' Hagrid ushered them in with his oven mitt clad hand into the warmth and glow of the fire. 'How are you all?'

He sat down on his large chair and the trio sat down opposite him, all happy to see their old friend, 'We're good thank you Hagrid, considering the circumstances.' said Harry, pushing his glasses up his nose.

'Yeah, I know what yer mean. I still get nightmares to this day, yer know.' Hagrid smiled weakly and looked at the man he once carried.

Hermione shifted in her chair, uncomfortable, which made Ron take notice of her. He reached over and squeezed her hand.

'At least something nice came out of it.' Hagrid nodded toward the couple. He smiled and leant on his knees as he rose out of his seat. He opened his oven to check on the meal he had cooking.

Harry coughed, 'We actually came here for a reason, Hagrid.' Their old professor looking back at them and furrowed his brow, 'We have some suspicions about the possible practice of dark magic.'

The groundskeeper gasped, 'You-Know-Who's dead, Harry, you know that. What could be going on?' He shook his head and sat back into his chair.

'We - ' Hermione shot the ginger a look, 'Okay, I have a feeling Malfoy wants to bring him back. He was extremely curious about necromancy in defence today and even asked about blood magic.' Ron whispered, leaning in.

'Is that really enough to go on, though?' Hagrid asked, looking confused.

Hermione shook her head, 'That's what I said! I told them they shouldn't jump to conclusions.'

'Yes, but we need to know, we need to be prepared in case of the worst.' Harry looked at her, pleading with his eyes.

Hagrid nodded, 'I guess yer right, it's better if you know first before anything serious happens. So why yer telling me for?'

'That's where you come in, Hagrid. We need you to keep an eye on people, professor's mostly. You're the eyes and ears of Hogwarts, you know everyone who comes in and out and we'd really appreciate it if you could do this for us.' Harry urged, almost desperate.

The bearded half giant thought in silence for a moment before a sparkle appeared in his eyes, 'I'll do it, but only cos you three asked me. If it was anyone else, I'd be reporting yer straight to Headmistress McGonogall.'

The trio smiled, 'Thank you so much Hagrid. I'm willing to bet you won't see anything but these two will not stop going on about it.' Hermione chuckled as a loud beep interrupted her.

'OH ME PUMPKIN PASTIES' Hagrid yelled, leaping up from his chair and running to open his oven just in time to take out his dinner.

'We'll leave you to it, Hagrid.' Harry said, hiding the small disgust on his face from the slightly charred pastries the groundskeeper was putting on a plate. He signalled to Ron and Hermione that they should leave as he got out of his chair.

'Yer sure yer don't wanna stay for dinner?' Hagrid said, throwing a pasty to Fang who caught it in his mouth.

'No thanks, we're just about to go to the feast in the great hall anyway.' Ron smiled, patting his stomach. He had been looking forward to this the whole day. Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head, knowing she would always come second to food.

The trio waved and said their goodbye's to Hagrid as they made their way back to the great hall, briefly discussing what they had spoken to their old professor about. Popping into their dorm first, they picked up Luna and Neville, the latter still shaking from his encounter with Draco.

'It just came out, I promise!' Neville said nervously.

'But you were brilliant, Neville! Ron always said you needed to stand up for yourself!' Luna beamed, nodding to the ginger.

'Exactly, I'm proud of you my son.' Ron laughed, ruffling his hair.

'You're literally 4 months older than me, you idiot.' Neville joked and stood up straight, 'I'm also taller than you!'

'Shove off!' Ron elbowed his friend as the approached the great hall, all five of them in stitches.

The four Gryffindors sat down as Luna went to join the Ravenclaw table. Hermione was sad to see her go, being the only girl in the group now.

'I wish Luna could sit with us, I always forget we have to sit with our respective houses. You would've thought they got rid of that rule after they got rid of houses competing in quidditch.'

Harry and Ron's heads snapped to look at her, 'THEY WHAT?'

Hermione looked at them confused, 'Did McGonogall not tell you? To prevent segregation and bullying based on houses, we now have four teams made of players from all houses.'

Her two best friends started arguing with her and each other, both outraged at the idea.

'Alright, don't Avada Kedavra the messenger. I'm just telling you what I heard!' She huffed. The two boys started to argue again but was interrupted by their headmistress starting their feast. Ron's eyes lit up as food appeared in front of them and, like he was starved for several weeks, he picked up as much food in his hands as he could.

Hermione couldn't help but look disgusted. She would gladly love and protect this man for as long as she could but she definitely could not get used to the way he ate. She picked up her food and stabbed a piece of chicken, not really feeling that hungry anymore. Her eyes flickered around the room as she put the fork into her mouth and her eyes eventually fell on the Slytherin table. She saw Pansy, Theo and Blaise laughing about something as they ate but noticed that there was an empty spot where a familiar blonde should be. She didn't know Malfoy that well, but she knew that even when he was becoming a death-eater, he never missed a meal.

'Malfoy isn't here.' Hermione wondered out loud.

Harry and Ron stopped eating and looked at each other. Harry then turned to Neville who was sat across the table from him.

'Neville, did you happen to hear anything while you were in the dorm?' Harry whispered.

Neville put down his fork and looked up in thought, 'Now that you mention it, I did hear Blaise mention to Draco that he would save him some food for when he came back.'

Ron's eyebrows raised, 'Back from where?'

'I don't know where exactly, but I remember finding a note on the table excusing Draco from his last lesson. It was signed by headmistress McGonogall.'

Ron shoved a load of food in his mouth before getting out of his seat, Harry following suit. They looked at Hermione.

'Are you coming?' The two questioned as they began to speed walk out of the great hall.

'Where are they going?!' Neville asked, worryingly.

'I have no idea, but I have a feeling that I'm about to find out.' Hermione smiled as she rose from her chair and hurried after the two, not knowing what trouble was coming but gladly following her best friends into it.

Ron and Harry were whispering to each other when she got to their dorm. They turned their heads to meet her as she burst through the door.

'He's not here.' Harry determined, his flittering around the room as if he was going to catch Draco cowering in a corner. 'Where else would he go?'

Ron's brow furrowed as he fell deep into thought and stared into space. Harry started to pace, rubbing his scar and frowning. Hermione stood in place and observed for a second before a thought popped into her brain.

'Maybe he went to see his parents?' She looked at her two friends as the same thought arrived in their heads. 'Maybe…'

'He's gone to Malfoy Manor.' the trio said in unison, a shiver trailing its way down Hermione's spine.

Ron looked at her, 'You don't have to come if you don't want to.' He said, approaching her to stroke her arm.

She tore her arm away in frustration, 'How many times do I have to tell you, I am coming with you both! You're on drugs if you think I am letting my two best friends walk into potential danger. Let me grab some things before we go, Harry make sure you have your cloak, I doubt they'll welcome us in with open arms.' The brunette demanded, as she stormed into her bedroom.

Picking up her bag with a first aid kit and healing potions, she slung the strap over her shoulder. Leaving her room, she noticed a pile of new books sat on a table in the corner of the hallway. Her eyes flickered over the titles as she walked past, meeting with Harry and Ron in the living room.

Time magic? She thought, I wonder..

She thought back to her defence against the dark arts lesson, specifically the comment that Professor Williamson made.

'You could always try time travel!'

She shook her head, pushing the thought to the back of her mind. Linking arms with her boyfriend, the trio set off to Malfoy Manor.

—

Harry threw the cloak over the three of them as they approached the steps of the manor.

'I feel like this was a whole lot easier when we were actual children.' Ron whispered through gritted teeth. 'Hermione! That's my fucking foot!'

'Sorry!' Hermione whispered back, 'Godric, I wish there was a spell that would just turn me invisible.'

'Guys, just shut up and look.' Harry said, motioning to the front windows.

Narcissa Malfoy strolled across the room with Draco about a foot behind her, shouting something they couldn't make out.

'We gotta hear what they're talking about. Hermione, if we get to the front door can you unlock it?' Harry asked.

'Alohamora doesn't exist for nothing, you spoon.' Hermione jabbed him in the side with her elbow as the three edged toward the door, the shouting from inside getting slightly more audible. 'Alohamora' She whispered, pointing her wand towards the lock. They all held their breath as the lock clicked open and the arguing seemed to stop for a minute before continuing. They all breathed out.

'Okay, lets just get in quietly, see what they're talking about, and get out.' Ron whispered as he slowly pushed the door open. It creaked slightly as they walked through it but the arguing Malfoy's didn't seem to notice.

'You are NOT staying!' Narcissa's voice rang through the hallway and into the trio's ears. The three of them stepped slowly towards the voices, making sure they all stepped together in sync. They approached the doorway to the room the arguing was coming from and stood in it, observing the shouting people.

'But Mother!' Draco started.

'How dare they let you fraternise with the lower class! I'm going to have very strong words with your headmistress.'

'Yes, yes I know Mother but,'

'No but's Draco! You have a meeting with your father's business associates in the morning and you need to be prepared instead of involving yourself with people that you know that they dislike.'

Harry, Ron and Hermione all looked at each other before backing away slowly. Creeping to the front door, they managed to get out without being heard. Throwing off the invisibility cloak when they were far enough away, they were silent. They stared at each for a moment before Ron spoke, softly at first.

'I knew it. God, I knew he was up to something but continuing to be involved with death eaters? I knew he hadn't changed, the absolute bastard.' He ran a hand through his ginger hair.

'Let's just get back before Headmistress McGonogall notices we've been gone after curfew, the feast ended ages ago and Neville and Luna can't cover for us forever.' Hermione worried, biting her lip.

The two boys nodded and the golden trio disappeared into the night.

Draco rubbed his neck before speaking, 'Mother, Father's associates may dislike them but you didn't see what I did. After the battle, I went back there, back to Hogwarts. Their blood, it looks exactly like ours! They look exactly the same!' His voice getting louder as he finished his rant.

His mother's eyes bore into his soul, the look of fury upon her face.

'Mother don't look at me like that! Imagine seeing that! Do you understand how confused I am, I feel like i've been lied to my entire life!'

'How DARE you speak to me like that! I am trying to do what I think is best for you, Draco. So I am going to march into that school of yours and speak to McGonogall about this situation. If you want to do well in life and follow in your dad's footsteps, then you need to listen to me!'

The blonde man scanned his mother's face in confusion. He didn't understand why she wasn't listening to what he was saying.

'Mother are you even hearing me?'

'Draco please.' Narcissa pleaded, rubbing her temples. 'Just leave my sight, I'll make an appointment with your headmistress tomorrow.' She waved him off with her hand and turned around to sort some paperwork that was cluttering the desk behind her. Draco huffed and left in a strop, stomping off to make sure his mother heard his frustration. He grabbed his robes and his bag, slinging it over his shoulder and left to return to Hogwarts.

Watching her son march down the path through the window, Narcissa sighed heavily and ran a hand over her jawline. She didn't like to admit it but she knew. Even if it was deep down, way deep down, she knew that her son was right.