Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; he will remain with JKR forever.

This story is set after the war… after rounding up all death eaters, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny return to Hogwarts. Due to the war, the times have been frozen to allow Death Eaters to be rounded up. They have returned to the year they would have been in, and everyone else to the year they would have been in.

A/N: Please READ AND REVIEW! Planning on uploading at least once a week, but will change if I don't get reviews!

Chapter 3

"Did you just hit me?"

"Wow Draco, thought you'd recognise a slap when you got one!"

"Ginny! That's enough!" Ginny scowled in Harry's direction. Harry just stared back. He held a blank look on his face and didn't seem to be processing the conversation at all. Ginny wasn't going to back down, she was a sucker for staring competitions, and she always won. They turned away when they heard the door being blown off its hinges. Draco had found a way to get out; sheer force. A flick of black was the only sight as he ran down the corridor full speed, eyes straight ahead.

"What a jerk!" Hermione said.

"How dare he?"

"Ron, calm down."

"Calm down, Hermione? We saved his life. TWICE! And he goes and does that? What is he…?"

"A maniac?"

"Suicidal?"

"A plain right idiot?"

"Okay, I get the picture. I need to calm down."

"You do, Ron. Seriously mate. He's not worth it. We've wasted enough blood, sweat and tears over that guy."

"Tears? I don't remember tears."

"Ron! That's not the point. The war's over and we're happy. He's the one that should be angry. He's been left with nothing and that doesn't sit well with Draco Malfoy. He can't change things Ron." Neville silently took Luna's hand. "Not alone, and we'll be there when he does." Neville turned and smiled at each person in the compartment.

"Don't see why we couldn't just throw him through the veil too. Just like his good for nothing father." Ron sat grumbling to himself.

******The War Continues******

Harry opened the daily prophet; he was fed up with things. You'd think that by defeating the dark lord he would get a break, but apparently fate didn't work that way. Harry rubbed his scar, it hadn't hurt for months. Why did things keep happening around him? Draco was an idiot, he knew that, but if he couldn't accept what had happened, he'd be an absolute nightmare.

"Harry…"

"Ginny."

"Why did you stop me?" Harry turned to look at Ginny. Most wouldn't think she was angry with Harry's actions; her body language just showed mild interest, but her eyes gave her away. There was a fire burning, and Harry knew he only had a matter of seconds before the anger was directed at him.

"Ginny, he's not worth it, simple as. You know what he did with Hagrid. As everybody seems to be reminding us today, the war's over. No need to go crazy over things out of our control."

"But, Harry. It's Draco Malfoy. Surely…"

"No Gin, I just want to relax. I'd actually like a normal year at Hogwarts for once." A giggle passed through the compartment, but seeing Ginny's face, Harry knew this was far from over. He reluctantly put the prophet down; he would have to deal with that later. Harry spent the rest of the journey trying to convince Ginny not to go and hex Malfoy into oblivion. The only way he managed to get out of it was by assuring Ginny that with even a step out of line Draco would have the 'Boy who lived TWICE' to answer to. That seemed to calm her down. Honestly, Harry just didn't see what all the fuss was about. He didn't want to be worshipped for defeating the Dark Lord, as far as Harry was concerned, it was just something that somebody had to do and he just drew the short straw; he wished everyone would just find somebody else to stress over. His plan for this year was to learn more about magic, not because he had to because the fate of the wizarding world rested on his shoulders, but because he wanted to. Because the world he lived in he knew hardly anything about, there was so much to learn and he just wanted to immerse himself in books, even if it was something Hermione would do. He remembered the Dark Lord making a comment once, about the fact that Harry didn't understand magic, and until he did he could go nowhere. The Dark Lord didn't get much right, but this seemed to be one of those insane times when he did. Harry didn't understand the concept of magic; how it worked, where it came from, and how it could be controlled in a way that didn't involve channelling it with a wand. It was something that had drove him crazy for the last year. This thirst for knowledge occurred when he was on the run and had no access to the books that could surely grant him this information. So, this year was the time for answers, but mostly a time to spend with his friends and Ginny, without fear and without fate's clock ticking in the background.

How wrong Harry was.