Hermione's first lesson of the year was 'Regulation and Control', which she shared with seventeen other students. The seat she'd picked upon arrival was at the very front of the room, while no other students had elected to sit quite so far forward. The desks were spread evenly apart, in two lines with an aisle down the middle for their professor to pass through. The walls in here weren't so covered with portraits, instead two landscape paintings hung against the old wood. Both were on the back wall.
"Okay, so can anyone tell me the difference between regulation and control?" Their professor had told them at the beginning of the lesson to call him Geoff, which Hermione was very uncomfortable about. Her hand shot into the air, along with another sixteen pairs that were not quite as enthusiastic. "Well, I think we all know whose hand went up first. Hermione?" A pink tinge coloured the witch's cheeks as she straightened up in her chair and cleared her throat.
"Control usually refers to the authoritative influence and restraint over people's actions or an event. While regulation refers to direct rules and laws designed to govern conduct." It sounded like it came straight out of a text book, despite the fact none of the books on her desk were open yet.
"Precisely." Geoff nodded his praise, before scribbling a summary of what Hermione had said onto the whiteboard. She sat proudly in her seat, glancing back at the rest of the class. There was a mix of people looking pleased for her, and people who didn't look like they cared. That used to surprise her while at Hogwarts, but over the years she'd realised people just weren't into learning like she was. Although you might expect a bit more interest if people had to pass tests to get into Erudio Academy.
The lesson went on for a further hour and a half before they were dismissed. The timetable was sparse compared to her old Hogwarts ones. She had three lessons a day on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, then she only had one lesson on a Wednesday and two on a Friday. Where she had no lessons were free periods, and weekends were personal days. More time to study in her opinion.
"Hermione!" Grace appeared out of nowhere, Mildred close behind. Hermione jumped, having barely stepped foot out of her classroom.
"Grace! You made me jump." The startled witch held a hand over her heart for a moment, attempting to calm its erratic beating.
"Yeah, she'll do that." Mildred smirked slightly, obviously used to Grace's behaviour. "We wondered if you wanted spend break with us, get a coffee or something?" It was a nice thought, and considering Hermione hadn't met many people yet she took them up on their offer. They navigated the busy corridors, listening to Grace's description of her first Apparition teacher training session. It hadn't been very hands on apparently, mainly theory work. Hermione tried to explain the first few lessons would probably consist of just theory to prepare them, but Grace insisted it would be more hands on next time.
Mere seconds before another response could exit Hermione's mouth, she stopped dead in her tracks. This caused something of a domino effect, as Grace stopped abruptly too and Mildred smacked into the back of her. "Mildred!" The shorter girl whined, rubbing her back.
"Sorry! Are you alright? Why did you stop?" Mildred placed a hand on Grace's back, giving it a gentle caress too.
"I stopped because Hermione stopped." During this entire exchange, neither girl had noticed their new friend staring off into what could have been the bloody abyss for all they knew. They both finally turned to Hermione, brows furrowing in unison. "Hermione? What is it?" Two sets of curious, and slightly worried, eyes followed Hermione's gaze down the corridor. Grace didn't seem to see whatever it was Hermione was seeing, but Mildred did.
"That's Draco Malfoy, isn't it?" Her tone turned cold, and she took a step towards Grace. Hermione didn't answer.
"Where?" Grace didn't sound quite as icy as her friend, but her normal cheer was gone. Malfoy was talking to a short man, his face not giving away anything about his current state of mind. It was only when his face came into better view that Grace spotted him. "Oh." Was all she could find to say.
"You knew him, didn't you? At Hogwarts?" Mildred decided to be the inquisitive one for a change. Everyone knew the Malfoy name these days, and not for good things obviously. Hermione hadn't seen him since his hearing, which was more than four months ago. He looked the same on the outside, but something on the inside was different. She could just tell.
"I did." Words finally made it up her windpipe, and the witch dragged her eyes away from him.
"I hear he's not very nice." Grace frowned, crossing her arms. This made Mildred scoff beside her.
"That's an understatement compared to what I've heard." There was no mincing words with Mildred, she got straight to the point.
"What have you heard?" Hermione wasn't sure why she was asking, as her eyes were drawn back to the blonde. It was simply curiosity. Things at Erudio Academy were going to be a lot different, the pecking order had transformed. She was at the top now.
"That he's a complete arsehole. We all know what happened during the war, before the war. My friend Ben met him on the first day and said he was rude and obnoxious." That sure sounded like Malfoy, maybe nothing on the inside had changed. Maybe she was just hoping it had.
"Should we go and confront him?" Grace looked up at Mildred with concerned eyes, teeth nibbling on her nails.
"No!" Hermione answered before Mildred could get a word in. Luckily, the shaking of her head indicated she would have said the same anyway. The longer Malfoy didn't know she was here, the better. He probably wouldn't be happy to see her, and she wasn't exactly thrilled to see him. There had been one or two whispers about his application to study at Erudio. Ron had mentioned something about it during a meal at the Burrow, but no one had given it any heed. It didn't seem like the sort of thing Malfoy would do, his time at Hogwarts hadn't been particularly fruitful so why would he want to continue his studies somewhere else.
"Alright. Shall we go get some coffee then?" Grace was back to her normal self in seconds, excited to get coffee. The three witches turned a corner, and two of them let Draco Malfoy slip from their minds.
His lessons weren't so bad, a positive to being in this place they called an academy. Most professors were keen to go through the theory first, and didn't plan to get hands on for a few weeks. Draco supposed this was to be expected, it didn't look like many of his class mates would handle jumping straight in very well. There were an even amount of men and women, but most of the woman seemed to fit in better with the men anyway. All muscles, no make-up. Draco didn't mind this though, it wasn't like he was looking to meet a woman or anything. Most women these days knew who he was and kept well away. He could only hope people would forget what he did after a few years, then he could actively seek out a partner. Right now, he was fine on his own.
"I want a list of situations where you think your reversal skills would be needed, on my desk by Friday morning. We'll discuss them in the lesson." Professor Shore, the first professor Draco met, was a very tall man. That was the first thing anyone who met him would notice. The second would be his impressive beard, which reminded Draco, regrettably on his part, of the Hogwarts gameskeeper. It wasn't quite as wild as Hagrid's chin bush, the professor had obvious decorum that allowed him to maintain it appropriately.
This lesson had been the first in ten years, where Draco found himself putting his hand up and actively engaging with the professor. It didn't feel like just a lesson he had to do, it was interesting. In all honesty, it wasn't a lesson he had to take, he'd chosen to come here. Perhaps that hadn't been such a made choice after all. The other students still gave him a wide birth, but nobody said anything and his professor didn't seem to care about his past either. It was just before Draco left the classroom at the end of the lesson, that Professor Shore called his name. "Can I have a word?" The blonde nodded in reply and did a one-eighty back towards his professor. He didn't know what to say upon reaching the front desk, so didn't say anything. "I couldn't help noticing your hesitation when it came to answering questions, Mr Malfoy. I'm just curious as to why? You got all the answers right." This was not what Draco had been expecting, his hand coming up to wipe his brow.
"I don't know. I guess I don't want to draw too much attention to myself. What with everything that's happened." His mouth spewed these truths without any permission from his brain, and he begged the floor to swallow him whole. This wasn't something his professor needed to hear, or anyone else for that matter. It made him look vulnerable and weak, like he actually cared what other people thought of him. Which he didn't. At all.
"Ah, I see." Shore began to run his fingers over his beard, regarding his new student closely. "The past is the past, Mr Malfoy. We have all done things we wish we hadn't. See Erudio as a new start, everyone is here to learn and become the best they can be. Sure, some people will judge you along the way, but ultimately we're all here for the same reason and people forget." This little pep talk actually did make Draco feel better, though he tried his best not to change his expression.
"Right. Thank you, professor." He nodded, then glanced back at the door. "Am I alright to go now?" It might have sounded rude, but Shore didn't say anything other than yes.
The corridors were full of people on their way to lunch, which Draco planned on having up in his room. What was the point of giving people their own kitchens if they weren't going to use them? Plus, it meant less people to deal with, not so many pairs of eyes. Luckily, his shared quarters were empty, and he went about making himself lunch. Half the Muggle way and half with his wand, as some of the appliances wouldn't answer to his wand. A sandwich would do, and he sat with it on the sofa. Crumbs went everywhere, and Draco made a mental note never to eat a sandwich on the furniture again. With a few flicks of his wand, the mess was gone, but that wasn't the point. He'd make sure to tell the others next time he saw them. There was no way he was living in their filth. Not that he'd met the second occupant of their quarters yet anyway.
The rest of his day consisted of study time, which Draco planned on spending in the library. A nice quiet corner where no one will bother him, and he could make a start on his first piece of homework. It wouldn't be too hard to write a list of accidents younger witches and wizards could have, he'd had plenty himself when he was a kid. When his lunch was finished, he gathered his things and went in search of the library.
It didn't take him long to find it, he'd simply followed a studious looking girl carrying lots of books. She hadn't noticed him behind her, thank goodness. That could have proved awkward to try and explain. Draco weaved his way through the bookcases, picking out a few books from the accidental magic reversal section, before sitting at a round table in a secluded corner. He spread his books out around a quill and parchment, writing down the title and his name at the top. The list was getting lengthy as he skimmed one book after another. Three piles had formed on the table, the tallest consisting of books he wanted to read properly, the smallest including books he didn't, and the middle one of books he hadn't looked at yet. Some accidents he'd never heard of before, such as children transforming body parts into things that were most definitely not body parts. That was quite advanced magical development, as transfiguration was a difficult ability to master at the best of times. His own childhood incidents hadn't been half as bad.
Draco didn't know how long he'd been sat reading, both feet now resting up on the table as he lounged back in his seat. His concentration was so difficult to break, that he hadn't noticed someone watching him. It took her shadow falling over his book, to make him look up in surprise.
"Do you fu-" The words died in his throat yet again, she seemed to have that affect on him of late. Granger stood above him, silhouetted by the candle floating behind her. He didn't need to be able to see her face fully to know it was her.
"I didn't mean to startle you." Her voice was just how he remembered it, annoying. She was quieter now though, evidently cautious.
"Why did you sneak up on me then?" Draco scowled, before turning his attention back to his book. He wouldn't let her get to him.
"I wasn't sneaking, I just didn't want to disturb you from your book." She tried to get a look at what he was reading, her eyes scanning the piles of books.
"You were sneaking." The blonde countered, not raising his eyes from his book.
"I was not." Hermione snapped unintentionally, eyes growing wide in surprise at herself. She kept silent from then on, simply watching him with interest. The witch was sure she'd never seen him with so many books.
"What do you want?" Straight to the point, as usual. Draco didn't plan to sugar coat anything when it came to Granger. She was a grown woman now, with many new friends, if the other night in the hall was anything to go by.
"Nothing." That was literally the best she could think of, as Hermione really didn't know why she'd come here. There was just this bubble of curiosity around Malfoy, that she was desperate to explore. Plus, he was a familiar face in a place full of unfamiliar people. His presence was almost comforting, though she'd never admit that, not even to herself.
"Then why are you here? To annoy me?" Draco didn't care if he was being rude, he'd been rude to her for years before now.
"I thought you might want some company." Again, she had no idea what she was saying. Her head was completely scrambled and any old thing was spouting from her mouth to fill the void.
"Why would I want your company?" He spat harshly, glancing up from his book in time to see something flash behind her eyes. It could have been anger, or hurt, he didn't know. It was difficult to tell the difference sometimes.
"Because I'm the only person here you know." Hermione glared at him, crossing her arms. The answer to her earlier query was no, he hadn't changed. Not one bit.
"Well, you assumed wrong. So leave me alone." If Draco was honest, it was nice to have someone there he knew. But that didn't mean he wanted to spend any time with her, or even see her.
"We're not at Hogwarts anymore, Malfoy. You're allowed to talk to me, to be civil at least. Things are different now, things have changed." She was referring to the blood debate of course, and how most people no longer cared about heritage.
"You haven't changed." Draco stated simply, lifting his gaze to stare blankly at her. Hermione fell silent, not having expected that response and not knowing how to take it. What did he mean? Did he mean she hadn't changed as a person? Did he mean her blood was still dirty? She was confused, and angry, and hurt.
"Evidently, neither have you. People aren't going to put up with your shit here, Malfoy." The witch's voice had raised several octaves, and she decided to take herself out of the situation before things got worse. Hermione opened her mouth to speak again, but didn't bother. Instead, she turned on her heal and walked away. Draco watched her disappear into the darkness, closing his book and placing it on the read again pile.
"That could've been worse." He muttered to himself, before packing his things away and retreating back to the safety of his room.