Chapter Two

Hermione woke up early for classes the following Monday. She jumped up out of bed, excited for the day. She quickly gathered her school clothes together, laid them out on the bed, and walked toward the door in her room that connected to the bathroom she shared with Draco Malfoy. Hermione hovered at the door for a moment and listened hard. She didn't hear anything. She opened the door a crack to look—it was empty. He was either already gone down to breakfast or not up yet. Relieved, she walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

The bathroom they shared was between the bedrooms, with the door leading to his room just a few feet away from where Hermione stood. In this shared space was a long counter with two sinks. Next to the counter was a large cupboard filled with towels. To Hermione's left was a door that opened up into the toilet and shower. Hermione grabbed a towel and went to the shower. She turned the water on, feeling the temperature as it warmed up. When it was ready, she undressed and climbed in. Hermione let the warm water rush over her, and thought about the day ahead of her. She was excited for her classes, although she couldn't help but have mixed feelings about Potions. Professor Snape would not be there. No, she had not been a huge fan of his, but he was her teacher for years. When she added in what she knew from Harry about Snape's memories, well, she couldn't help but feel a little strange. Potions was her first class of the day.

Hermione turned off the shower when she finished, and grabbed her dark maroon towel. She towel-dried her hair, then wrapped it around her body, taking care to make sure she was well covered before she opened the door and stepped out into the open. She stared helplessly at her reflection while she desperately tried to make her hair presentable. When her hair looked as good as it was going to get, she went back into her bedroom and closed the door. Hermione let the towel fall to the floor and lotioned her body before getting dressed. When she finished putting her shoes on, she made sure her sweater sleeve was pulled all the way over her scar, and hung up her towel. She went to her mirror, put on a tiny bit of mascara and chap stick, then left her bedroom.

Hermione took a moment to marvel at the common room that was hers to share for the next year. It wasn't as large as the Gryffindor common room (probably because there were only two people using it, she figured), but it was still beautiful. The staircase leading down into the open was made of a dark, rich wood. There was a large table and chairs on one side of the room made of the same dark wood. Tall bookcases along the wall were absolutely covered in books. Hermione made a mental note to browse the bookcases later that evening. On the other side of the common room was a large fireplace decorated with candles and House memorabilia. There was one couch that looked like it would be wonderful to sprawl out on, and two cozy armchairs. A large deep green rug covered the wooden floor between the couch and fireplace. Hermione thought the room looked very warm.

At breakfast, Hermione sat by Ginny. They compared schedules and were pleased to find they had the majority of their classes together. Hermione ate her eggs and toast and her eyes couldn't help but search the Great Hall for Malfoy.

"Who are you looking for?" Ginny asked.

"Hmm?" Hermione's attention was brought back to her friend. "Oh, no one really, just looking around. I'm happy to be back." She smiled at Ginny. It was a real smile that she so rarely gave out these days.

"Me too! I'm excited to have classes together for the first time!" Ginny could hardly contain her excitement.

"Um, Ginny. I need to tell you something," Hermione started, taking a drink of juice. "It's about being Head Girl."

Ginny waited for her to continue. Hermione felt hesitant, but Ginny was one of her good friends, and she just had to talk about it to someone.

"Draco Malfoy is Head Boy," she spluttered out. "I found out the day we arrived. We have to share a common room and a bathroom." Hermione peeked at Ginny's face, unsure of the reaction she might get. She anxiously pulled at her shirt sleeve.

"What? How is that even possible? With everything that he caused!"

"I know. I haven't really seen much of him since we arrived. I'm not sure what to think, honestly. That's not even the worst part. We have to patrol the castle together!"

Ginny's eyes were huge. She had stopped chewing.

"We have to work out a schedule together and share a bathroom and to be honest, it's a little awkward. I can't even look at him without thinking of the past. That war just about broke me, Ginny. How am I supposed to work with him?"

Ginny gave Hermione a hug.

"How am I supposed to tell Ron? Or Harry?"

Ginny couldn't help it. She laughed in the midst of depressing conversation. "I can just picture his face!"

Hermione smiled, and eventually laughed with her friend. The two got up and walked towards Potions together. As Hermione walked with her books, she couldn't help but marvel at the walls, the moving staircases, even the floors. She could feel time ticking slowly, but quickly, and she knew that her last year at Hogwarts was already starting to end.

In Potions, Hermione sat up straight with her supplies laid neatly in front of her. She was listening intently to Professor Slughorn talk about Draught of Peace. "This potion is difficult to make. Any mistake made can have drastic consequences. Adding too much of the ingredients can and most likely will put the drinker of this potion onto an irreversible sleep. This is why we only brew this particular potion with 5th, 6th, and 7th years. The person who brews this potion correctly will win their house 20 points. The directions are on page 72 in your books."

Hermione immediately started working.

Hermione left Potions that day rather pleased with herself. She, of course, had done the best at brewing Draught of Peace and had earned Gryffindor House 20 points. "It is good to be back," she whispered to herself as she walked on to her next class—Transfiguration.

The rest of the day passed smoothly and she felt more at home with each passing minute. The normalcy of going to classes, then lunch, and to the library left her feeling more safe and ordinary than she had felt in the past year, and she couldn't get enough of it.

Hermione enjoyed dinner. She laughed more with her fellow Gryffindors and hadn't felt the need to pull down her sleeve once. As she ate and chatted, her eyes couldn't help but find Malfoy. He was eating near a few Slytherins, but not necessarily engaging in any conversation. He was quiet, eyes on the table, and Hermione couldn't help but feel that this was rather odd for him. This Malfoy was not the one she was used to. She turned away and went back to her conversation.

That night, in the common room, Hermione was curled up on the couch with a textbook and a blanket. The fire in the fireplace was roaring and warm. It was quiet in the room—the only sound that could be heard was the crackling of the fire. Suddenly, the door to the common room opened and Hermione froze. Her heart was beating so loudly she was sure Ginny could hear it across the castle. This was the first time she had encountered him alone since they met in Professor McGonagall's office. She didn't know what to say or do.

He walked past her, almost as if he didn't see her. He started to walk up the stairs, and stiffened the moment Hermione spoke.

"Malfoy," she started, much more confidently than she felt. She was trying to keep from running from the room, anxiety taking her. He hadn't turned his body. He merely turned his head and looked down, not making eye contact with her.

"Um, we need to talk about our Head Boy and Girl duties," Hermione began. "We need to decide on a schedule. We could pick different nights, or the same and split up."

Malfoy was looking at her strangely. It wasn't necessarily hate, as she was so accustomed to over the years, but it looked like confusion and… something else she couldn't quite place.

When he spoke, she was surprised, and his voice was low. "Splitting up is fine," he said, and immediately started to go back up the stairs.

Hermione took a deep breath, willing herself to keep speaking. "When should we start?" she called out. There, she was done.

He tensed.

"Granger," he spat. "I just can't. Stop." He quickly climbed the stairs, went into his room, and slammed the door.

Hermione stared at her textbook, not really reading it. She didn't know what to think. She was used to him calling her names, belittling her, and jumping on any opportunity to put her down. This Malfoy was different. No, he was not pleasant to be around, but he kept to himself. He did not strut about as he used to. She knew war had changed all of them, but had he really changed that much? She put any strange feelings to the side as she got out some of her parchment and a quill. She supposed she needed to get this over with and tell her friends.

Dear Ron, she started, and smiled to herself as she thought of her boyfriend and how crazy it still was to be able to call him that. She wrote about her first day of classes and asked how he was doing. At the very bottom of her letter, she wrote:

P.S. Draco Malfoy is back as well. He is Head Boy.