Disclaimer: I still don't own this. If you think that I do, you may need some sort of therapeutic help, so seek a professional opinion on that. It'll be beneficial.

"Aaaaaaah!" I hear a shrill shriek and wake with a start, wearily opening my eyes, confused. What is that noise, and who is making it? Bright red hair catches my attention and I see Ginny Weasley, one of my best friends, standing in my living room in the hearth of my fireplace looking livid. Beside me is a sleeping Draco (amazingly, he hasn't been woken by Ginny's loud shouting). We are entangled, but fully clothed and there are two empty wine glasses beside the couch—proof of last night's reminiscence.

"Ginny… Why are you screaming?" I ask her exasperatedly. She stares at me with wide open eyes and blinks once, as though I am an alien that has just appeared in front of her.

"I—you—that's Draco Malfoy!" is all she manages to say in an accusing tone. Then, she falls to the floor and looks dumbstruck.

"I know full well who he is, Ginevra," I inform her coldly. "I'm dating him." She looks like she wants to talk more—a whole lot more, if I know anything about Ginny—but at that moment, Draco stirs. "I'll tell you more later," I say to Ginny in hushed tones and she nods and very reluctantly moves stands up and moves over to my fireplace once more. She grabs a handful of the floo powder and quietly commands to go to the burrow.

"Was that Ginny?" asks Draco with a yawn, smiling and tightening his grip on me. I turn into him with a smile and nod sleepily.

"She was a little… anxious." I say dryly, trying not to roll my eyes at the blatant understatement. He laughs, and I know he was awake when Ginny was there. "How much did you hear?" I ask him with a smile, and he laughs again.

"Everything," he admits sheepishly. "I was awake for a minute before she got here; I was going to wake you but you looked peaceful…" he shook his head ruefully. "I don't think there's much of a difference between that extra minute of sleep you got and if you hadn't gotten it, but I wish I had woken you myself now. It would have been a bit more… quiet, than Ginny's wake up call."

"It's okay," I tell him with a laugh. "You're very good at pretending to be asleep," I comment. He shrugs and then unwraps his arms from around me.

"I don't know about you, but I am starving," he makes his way to my small kitchen and I hear him open cupboard doors and drawers. In less than 5 minutes we're sitting on my couch together eating Coco Pops from overflowing bowls drinking coffee and talking together, like last night. But now we're talking about school, and what lessons we used to like and just… memories. Happy ones. We haven't yet broached the harder topics, like our previous mistreatment of each other or the fact that I lied about who I was just yet, but I know that we will eventually have those discussions. For now, we're content to sit together eating muggle cereal and talking about the people we used to be.

Hogwarts… that was an age ago, wasn't it? Did I really have hair like that; did I really read so many books? Knowledge had been my friend, but now I found myself consumed with grief for my friends, for myself, even for the greater public—for people I had never met and now, never would. And he had been so proud, stubborn, set in his ways. We had changed into two completely different people—and here we were now in my flat, cuddling on my sofa. How many guys had I let on my coach before? Several. But I had never eaten breakfast with any of them, especially not after a relaxed night of catching up.

It was completely crazy! This had never been the plan, in fact, there had never even been a plan, but somehow I had gotten to this place. Something had changed again, shifted. It was a physical change in my sense of self, wasn't it? Too many thoughts were circling my mind, none of them constructive. I could sit here, hashing it out in my mind like an idiot… or I could forget about my crippling fears and take a chance on Draco Malfoy and live. Really live. It had been so long since I had lived, and now I was ready to be again, to live again. It was time to get myself out of my own head, out of the insanity, and start to live and be involved with life.

Starting from today, I'm going to live. Draco Malfoy has opened me up to new opportunities, opportunities I'd never known I could have. Now, I know I can live. I'm going to live for me.

A/N: End of January… last time I felt the urge to write this, it was 2010. Now it's 2011, and life is still as crazy as ever—and so is my twisted version of Hermione. This is going in places I'd never thought of. I hope you like it, because I'm not sure I do…