As she got off the Hogwarts express on what was to be her last first day back to school she could only think of how different and unreal this all felt. People were hanging out, chatting, and dating all perfectly normal things to normal people but after the war, it just didn't feel normal to her. As she walked she saw young students hug each other hello and she was momentarily taken back to all those greetings with her boys. She never expected to have a school year without them but after the war, their lives were in different phases. Continuing down the path to the carriages pulled by Thestrals she heard Luna's voice over the crowd. "Please don't be scared they are friendly, just not used to so many people being able to see them." Hermione sighed, another sign of the war gone by.
The great hall was decorated in all its glory for the sorting ceremony and people flooded from every side. Ginny grabbed Hermione's arm and moved her to come to sit with her. Headmistress McGonagall gave a moment of silence for all lost in the war and everyone bowed their heads in respect. This gave Hermione a chance to really look around. To take a moment. As heroin of the war eyes were always on her so she treasured any moment without that except right now she could still feel eyes on her. She turned around and from the Slytherin table, two grey eyes met hers.
Malfoy didn't look quite like himself to her. She had only seen him twice during the war the first being at his family manor while being tortured by Lestrange. As if awakened by the memory the scar on her arm burned and she placed her hand on it to keep it at bay. She looked back up and the blond was not looking at her anymore in fact she could not see him at all. She thought of the last time she had seen him during the war. At the final battle. When all hope was lost and they said Harry Potter had died. She had seen him. He had looked just as broken as she felt at that moment. She couldn't think of why he would have felt that way but she remembers seeing it in his eyes.
That night as she lay exhausted in her bath, a calming activity she had picked up to deal with the stress of the war, she thought of the last year again. They had really done it. Three teenagers had brought down the most dangerous wizard known to wizardkind. She took her deep breaths reminding herself that it was all really over. This would be her first school year without having to uncover some evil plot set up to kill her best friend. This year could be normal she thought before sinking her head into the baths warm water. Normal? She surprised herself by even thinking that word. The war is over but for her, nothing could ever go back to normal.
The next morning early, before the sun had even started to shine, Hermione made her way to the potions classroom. She was going to brew herself some Sleeping Draught potion to help herself get through the nights when the past just wouldn't leave her alone. To her surprise, she was not alone in the classroom when she entered.
"Malfoy! What on earth are you doing here this early in the morning?" Draco looked up from the cauldron he had been brewing with a look that could convey "what does it look like I'm doing" without him having to say a word. She looked down that the potion brewing and immediately recognized the dark purple shade of a very well-made Sleeping draught potion. "Are you having trouble sleeping too?" She said out loud instead of in her head and suddenly the gray eyes were staring at hers again. "I actually came down to brew the same thing. " the blond male stayed silent just brewing away at his potion. Feeling a little bit awkward by the interaction and Draco's lack of communication she turned around and walked out the door. Where to she had not decided but just to get away.
After finding her favourite seat in the common room and opening a good book she thought back to the interaction with Malfoy. Why was he almost ignoring her? Normally his quick wit was fun to spar with. It must have had something to do with being on opposite sides of the war she thought. She knew Lucius was rotting away in Azkaban and that Harry had testified on behalf of Malfoy's mother at her hearing that he had never seen or heard of her personally doing Voldemorts bidding but when it came to Dracos involvement there were a lot of questions.
The days classes went by uneventfully. Hermione had always found education exciting and thrilling but after the last year and preforming magic only meant for the most powerful in the wizard world classes just did not have the same feeling it use to. As she unpacked her book bag in her room for the night a small vile with a shiny purple potion emerged out of her back. Shocked she looked it over, there could be no question who it was from but why would he share his potion with her? She opened the vile and drank it before letting it take her off to dreamland with his grey eyes on her mind.