Draco-

"There have been, as I am sure you are all aware, some relatively prominent changes to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year."

The slippery voice of Severus Snape drifted out across the Great Hall. One glance around was all anyone needed to be able to judge the amount of support Snape had from the students at Hogwarts.

As this thought crossed my mind, I once again glanced up from my empty plate, and swept my eyes over the mass of students congregated in the Great Hall. It was evident from the glares of the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students that they all detested Snape with an agonising passion. I smirked.

The students of Slytherin house were gazing up at Snape with rapt attention- save for Crabbe, Goyle and I. I did not care for his petty start of term speech. What did I care if things had changed at Hogwarts? What concern of mine was it that Dumbledore no longer ran the Mudblood infested halls which a vast majority of the Wizarding population so laughably called a school?

Crabbe and Goyle were as usual following my example, and so their heads were bowed towards their empty plates also- although I knew that the only thoughts passing through their dull brains were those of when the food would be served. Disgusting pigs.

"I, Professor Snape, am Headmaster of Hogwarts now. I expect you to abide by my rules, which shall be as though they are law within these walls. Any disobeying them shall be punished in a way which is according to the severity of their crime. I myself shall not be head of punishment here. That obligation falls to our new professors, Professor Carrow of Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Professor Carrow of Muggle Studies."

As Snape droned on, my eye was caught by a flash of blazing red hair, and I turned to see the Weaslette shaking her head in what appeared to be disgusted fury. Her eyes were narrowed, and she was glaring at Snape with such remarkable hatred etched on her face that it hurt just to look at her.

As I was thinking this, she turned suddenly, as though sensing my stare, and met my eyes. I didn't look away, despite the fact that she was looking at me with a watered down version of the glare she had been giving Snape.

"One final notice before I allow you to eat. If anyone should hear anything of the elusive Harry Potter-"

Ginny's head snapped back to look at the front, and I saw an even deeper hatred burning on her face as Snape threatened her beloved Potter.

"- I… require… you to tell me, should anyone hear anything considered to be suspicious. I am aware that many of you, students and staff, present in this Hall at this very moment, are what several people are calling "Potter Supporters". This is incredibly stupid and dangerous. From this moment on, unless it is to relay information of great importance to myself or one of the Carrows, the name of Harry Potter shall not be mentioned in this school.

"You may begin with the feast."

Snape sat down in the chair which had previously been Dumbledore's, and I saw McGonagall, who sat beside him, stiffen and move slightly to her right, further away from him. He did not seem to notice, and instead lifted his goblet and drank, surveying the Hall and all the students that sat before him. As he was looking over the rim of his goblet, his eyes met mine.

The look that passed between us couldn't have been more different to the one that had passed between Weaslette and I. This look was fleeting, and it almost seemed as though there was no recognition in it. I didn't care.

The Hall was subdued. For one of the only times I could remember, save for the memorial of the Diggory boy in my fourth year and the days after Dumbledore's death the previous year, the Hall was virtually silent. No one except the Slytherins had applauded Snape as he finished his speech and sat down.

There was a slight murmur as the students talked in painfully hushed tones, but it was not the murmur that had filled the Hall during my third year, when we had been made to sleep in here due to Black being loose in the castle. That murmur had held excitement as the students discussed theories. This murmur was… cold. There was no other word for it.

Every single student from the other three houses seemed to be hissing furiously to one another about Snape, but not one of them was saying anything loud enough to be caught, and it was only a few small groups of students who spoke at any one time.

The Slytherin table was by far the loudest. Every so often a shout of laughter would rise from one point or another down the table. I was not included in these amusements. I kept myself to myself.

Although I frequently found myself glancing at her, the Weaslette didn't look at me again, and it was in silence that I left the Hall with the other students and headed to the Slytherin common room. I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I did not realise that many of the students outside the common room were there because I hadn't told anyone the password yet.

"Draco!" snapped Blaise from behind me, and he jabbed me hard in the back.

I jumped back to my senses and found myself surrounded by a throng of Slytherin students, all looking anxious to get to bed, and annoyed at my having kept them waiting.

"Oh, right," I mumbled, and I walked over to the wall where our common room entrance was concealed. "Parseltongue."

The wall slid open to reveal the common room, and the students began pouring past me into it immediately.

"Thanks, Draco," some said as they passed, and I nodded in acknowledgement.

After what seemed an age, Blaise, Crabbe, Goyle and I finally managed to get into the common room. Crabbe and Goyle turfed some first year students out of our old favourite chairs, and I watched as they scurried away hastily. Their scared faces did not make me smirk- for once, my mind was preoccupied with worries.

"So, Draco," started Blaise once we had all seated ourselves around the fire. I looked up at him inquiringly. "How was your holiday?"

I raised an eyebrow.

"Well, Blaise, as we both know my home is currently playing host to the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord," I answered, keeping my voice low so as not to alert anyone in our common room to the nature of our conversation. "Given the circumstances, it was not one of my better summer holidays. How about yourself? I did not see you around the Manor at all. Did not you deem it fit to show yourself before our master at least once over the past two months?"

"After Potter's escape at the beginning of the summer on his way to the safe house, I did not see a need for it. I was not required when it came to the crashing of the Weasley wedding, which was, to my knowledge, the only other major thing in which I may have been needed, and as I was not, I did not see fit to trouble any of your family with constantly reappearing at the Manor every few days," replied Blaise, resting his chin on his interlinked finger tips which rested on his knees.

"Understandable," I nodded before turned to Crabbe and Goyle. "I take it that, as Blaise wasn't needed, you two were also uncalled for during the summer?"

Both Crabbe and Goyle looked at me dimly. I rolled my eyes and tried again.

"Did either of you get summoned during the summer?" I asked, talking slowly as I addressed them. Blaise let out a snort of laughter, but Crabbe and Goyle didn't seem to catch on that I was being patronising.

"Oh, nahh, didn't get summoned even once, did we, Crabbe?" said Goyle, glancing at Crabbe beside him, who still had his mouth open slightly in a gormless expression.

"Nahh," he grunted, before returned to his previous vacant expression. I rolled my eyes again.

"Hard to believe they made it to seventh year, isn't it?" remarked Blaise in an undertone to me.

"Simply unbelievable, I thought they'd be kicked out after our first year- hardly passed their exams, but I'm still surprised they did," I said in distain. Blaise smirked and let out another snort of laughter before leaning back into his chair and letting himself relax.

I leaned back into my chair as well, and allowed the warmth of the blazing fire to wash over me, obscuring my senses. The blazing red reminded me of her hair…

"Draco!" said Blaise.

I jumped and snapped my head up.

"You were falling asleep mate," explained Blaise as I looked around, startled.

"Oh," I murmured, and I stood up sharply, rubbing my eyes on the backs of my hands. "I guess I'd better be off to bed then."

After bidding them all a quick goodnight and receiving only blank looks from Crabbe and Goyle, I ascended the stairs to the seventh year dormitory- the same dormitory we'd had as last year, except this year it read "Seventh Year Boys" on it, as opposed to "Sixth Year Boys".

Inside was much the same as ever- our trunks lay unopened at the end of our beds, and the four poster beds had elaborately carved serpents weaving around the posts. Deep green hangings hung from these beds, and the covers on each were deep green also, except a slightly lighter shade than the hangings. In one corner sat a small fire which blazed merrily in its minute grate. The only difference was that- because we'd only just got there- our belongings were not strewn haphazardly around the room.

I pulled off my robes, loosening my tie and unbuttoning my shirt, whilst digging in my trunk to find the pyjama bottoms I wore when I slept at the school. At home I never bothered, but at school it seemed improper to sleep only in boxer shorts.

Finally I collapsed into my bed. I breathed in the familiar smell that always hung about our room at Hogwarts- after shave, hair gel and toffee- the latter had only come about during our third year at Hogwarts, thanks to our being allowed to visit Hogsmeade and, as a result, Honeydukes.

I drifted off to sleep alone that night. None of the others appeared in the room until gone 1am, at which point I was deep asleep- comfortably asleep for the first time since I had left Hogwarts at the end of last year.

Ginny-

Mum saw me off from the platform, as usual. Only this time it was different. Dad couldn't come to say goodbye because of work, and instead of Harry, Ron and Hermione being on the train as well, it was only me, Luna and Neville.

We passed a majority of the journey in silence, and arrived at the castle in worse spirits than we ever had before.

Neville, who usually hovered near Harry, Ron and Hermione, sat with me at the Gryffindor table, looking uncomfortable and lost. His eyes were darting from side to side nervously and he was biting his lip every so often. I knew he was worried about what this coming year would bring.

A vast majority of students sat in silence, and when Snape stood up in front of the mass congregated in the Great Hall, rising from the chair which was unrightfully his, which he had snatched from its predecessor merely months ago, he did not need to call in his cold, clear voice for silence- we did not feel like talking merrily of our holidays when so many of them had been tainted by Snape, his master and his companions.

Snape gave to us what I supposed he thought was a motivating and yet also threatening start of term speech. I glared at him, not hearing the words, only seeing the man who had stuck down Albus Dumbledore and severed my older brother's ear from his head.

I paid less than no attention to anything but these details, which swam around my head in a confusing mess, making it hurt. To distract myself from the headache I felt building, I glanced around the Hall once- and my eyes met Draco Malfoy's.

Malfoy was sat with his head rested on his hand, and he was watching me across the Hall with an intensity in his cold grey eyes that made me feel frightened- at least until I got my bearings and remembered it was just Malfoy, the same slimy git who, every year, had tried to make our lives hell- and who, every year, had failed.

I didn't break his stare, merely stared back at him, feeling more confused than I had before when it was just thoughts of Snape's victims swimming in my head.

And then I heard him- Snape's voice broke through my defence barriers, and I heard him say Harry's name. All other thoughts, thoughts of Dumbledore, George and Malfoy's strange behaviour, flew out of my head as though they had never existed, and in that instant I hated Snape more than I ever had before.

How dare he mention Harry's name? How dare he mention it so casually and ask us to "turn Potter in"? Was he really that stupid that he thought any one of the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff students would turn Harry in if any one of us saw him?

I glared at him harder than before, furious at him. When he permitted the feast to begin I was unable to move from anger.

"Ginny, come on, it's no big deal- no one is really going to turn Harry in if he's seen, and besides, why would he come anywhere near Hogwarts now?" reasoned Neville. I turned to look at him and he flinched at the look in my eyes, which I sensed must be a burning and yet somehow still dead look.

"I know, Neville. I'm just furious that that… murderer can even find the nerve to say his name, let alone threaten him- and Harry's 10 times the man Snape will ever be," I whispered back, lowering my voice as I said Harry's name. I was in no mood to get in trouble this early in the year- better to leave that for a week or two into the first term, so I'd have time to come up with a plan of how best to infuriate the new Headmaster. There were definitely advantages to having Fred and George as your older brothers.

I didn't eat much that night. Instead I sat in silence, waiting and listening. The conversations around us were mainly very hushed and many students were subdued- except for the Slytherins, who were celebrating the return to the castle as loudly as they normally would. The sounds of their laughter made the Hall sound even more desolate than it already did, and the whispers that could be heard when the Slytherins quietened down for a moment made me feel as though I were deep in the Forbidden Forest and unfriendly creatures were sneaking through the trees, out of sight but menacing all the same.

Eventually Snape allowed us to leave the Hall and move along to our common rooms. I moved sluggishly, feeling tired and nauseous. Neville hung around behind me, following closely like a little lost puppy. I tried to smile at him reassuringly and he smiled nervously back.

On the way to the Gryffindor common room we had to pass past one of the Carrows, the female one, who glared at us menacingly with a sneer playing across her plain, pudgy face. Neville stunned me by staring back at her, his face twisting into a grimace of dislike. Later on I was to realise that this was his first show of defiance towards the new system, and he would only be more defiant from there on in- as it was, I was just stunned that he was showing any sign of emotion towards this Death Eater, seeing as we would all be forced to take lessons with her this coming year.

"What was that about, Neville?" I asked as we reached the common room unnoticed by Alecto.

"I couldn't help it. She's in league with Lestrange. It… it was like a knee jerk reaction, you know?" he said, quoting a Muggle phrase he'd heard Hermione and Harry mention many a time over the past years.

"Yeah," I replied, still bemused by his reaction- although it seemed more understandable now. Neville was hell bent on getting revenge on Bellatrix Lestrange for driving his parents into insanity by use of the Cruciatus Curse, and I knew I would have been if it had been anyone in my family who had been tortured. Whenever Neville thought about it, a dark shadow passed over his face, and he seemed to grit his teeth. I knew, any chance he'd get, he would try and get revenge for his parents who now didn't know who he was. I also knew that this fact, the fact that he was a stranger to his parents, cut him deep every day.

As I lay in my bed that night, the other girls in my dormitory breathing softly, already enveloped in their peaceful dreams, I thought about all the families the Death Eaters had mercilessly ripped apart, and I felt as though my heart could break. So many people, losing parents, children, brothers, sisters… it was almost too much to bear.

These thoughts plagued me until I was almost fast asleep, and then I found my mind drifting once again onto the peculiar behaviour of Malfoy. He'd never shown any emotion towards me except for hatred before, and vice versa. I fell asleep wondering at why he was behaving so strangely, and was relieved when I awoke the next day to find I'd had a restful, dreamless sleep for what felt like the first time in forever.