A/N: I got here quicker than I thought, yay! And finally, we make it to Hogwarts...well, we make it through the train journey, Hogwarts is next chapter lol

Just a quick thank you to my reviewers, I'm really enjoying all your feedback :D and than you to every one who has read the story so far, I hipe you'll continue to stick with me through the process.

Hope you enjoy the next instalment (I have to apologise for my lack of imagination with the chapter titles, but my mind is just not coming up with anything clever or witty at the moment! lol) :)

xBx

~ Chapter 9: Returning to Hogwarts ~

It was two weeks before Draco was set to return to Hogwarts, and he was anxiously waiting in the newly improved sitting room – Gone were the dark greens and greys that used to adorn the walls, now replaced with warm earthy tones of creams and browns: His aunt had retained the dark leather couches, but brightened them with lighter pillows in shades of greens and browns that complimented the new walls. While Draco paced back and forth in front of the fireplace, his Aunt Andromeda sat patiently on one of the couches, glancing now and then at the antique carriage clock on the mantle-piece. Aurors would be escorting Narcissa to the manor, and should be arriving via floo any time soon. Andromeda had moved in the night before, and Draco had finally met her grandson, Teddy. He realised now, that Teddy was conspicuously absent.

"Where's Teddy?" He asked suddenly.

Andromeda smiled, "I took him to Grimmauld Place early this morning, he's spending the day with Hermione. I believe she spent the night there," Andromeda continued conversationally, Draco only nodded, he wasn't particularly interested in the day-to-day life of Hermione Granger, he was just making conversation.

Before they could lapse back into silence, the fireplace flashed green, and an Auror appeared, spinning in the fireplace. As the wizard stepped out, Andromeda's face split into a smile and Draco recognised Harry Potter.

"About time, Harry." Andromeda said, standing up, "Draco was wearing out the floors with all his pacing."

Harry smiled, "Sorry, last minute paperwork, but we're not late. I hope you haven't been stressing to long?" He said, as he hugged Andromeda. He then turned to Draco and held out his hand,

"Malfoy," he greeted formally, but politely.

Draco shook his hand, returning the civility, "Potter. "

"Your mother will be through in a couple of minutes," Harry assured Draco, then addressed them both.

"Just a couple of quick things: She is now under house arrest – she can move freely about the house and grounds, but she now has a modified version of the Trace on her, so as soon as she steps out of bounds, the ministry will be alerted and a representative will apparate to her location in moments." He warned, then looking particularly at Andromeda he said:

"You don't need to supervise her continuously, twenty-four hours a day. It's enough that you are living in the same house, so we expect you to be in her company a lot of time. But you are free to come and go." He told her.

Andromeda nodded, "Understood."

Harry then addressed Draco, "You should understand that this is for your mother's protection, as well as a court formality." He said, "The fact that your father is helping us, the name's he has given us, it's very common knowledge, which means your father has made a lot of enemies."

Draco nodded, "I had a feeling that would be the case. It's why I haven't left the manor much." He admitted.

"This being said, the ministry is reluctant to give an exact time frame for the house arrest: once the sentence is served, it still might not be safe for your mother to venture out freely, but we'll keep you informed. Narcissa knows all this, already." Harry said, now addressing them both, "but I thought I should make sure you knew everything as well."

At that moment, the fireplace blazed green again, and Narcissa Malfoy stepped out seconds later, on the arm of a ministry official.

Draco took in his mother's appearance quickly: She wasn't in as bad a shape as his father had been after his year inside, but the change was evident. She was pale and gaunt, and looked exhausted, but she managed to give her son a smile as she stepped over to hug him.

Harry cleared his throat, not wanting to interrupt the moment, but not wanting to really witness it either.

"Narcissa, we'll leave you alone now, let you settle yourself back in." He said to her, "A representative form Law Enforcement will check in with you every three weeks." He informed her, then headed to the fireplace, taking out a bag of floo powder from inside his robe.

Narcissa stepped forward, "Thank you, Harry. For everything you have done for me throughout this." She said kindly.

Harry shook his head, "I did what my job required of me." He said, but Narcissa smiled knowingly.

"We have been less than kind to you in the past, I am aware of that. I know you did more than your job required of you, particularly at my trial." She said.

Harry shrugged, "You helped to save my life in the forest, you got me back to the castle relatively unharmed. I can't forget that." He said as a way of explanation, before turning to the fireplace.

The other ministry representative followed Harry directly, and within moments they were alone again.

"Sit," Draco ordered his mother gently, "Mitzi!" He then called out to the room. Moments later an elf appeared at his side.

"Yes, Master Malfoy?" She asked, in a high-pitched squeak.

"My mother has returned, can you bring her some food, anything we have that can be rustled up quick, and some tea, please." Draco glanced at his mother, then looked back at the elf and said as an after-thought "And a large glass of Firewhiskey might be good for her as well, she's looking incredibly pale."

The elf smiled, "Of course sir, I will bring a tray as quickly as possible. Would yourself or Andromeda like anything?"

"Just some tea for us I think, thank you." He said politely, and the elf disappeared, allowing Draco to return to his mother, who was now conversing with Andromeda about the room.

"It's very different." She said honestly, "I thought, at first, I'd stepped out of wrong fireplace."

"Wait until you see the other rooms" Draco said, taking a seat. "They actually look pretty good," he admitted, causing his Aunt to smile.

"I didn't go over board," Andromeda explained, "Just two or three of the principle rooms. I thought I would leave the rest until you returned – something to occupy us while we're confined to the house and grounds. Just so we don't go stir-crazy."

Narcissa laughed weakly, and looked around again, "It is very different to what Lucius had done with the place. But I do quite like it. I suppose it would be good to do the house over, symbolic of a fresh start I suppose." She said thoughtfully.

She then turned to her son and the pair talked about his summer, and his plans. Draco told her his intention of returning to Hogwarts, and his reasons behind it, and when they had exhausted that topic (which didn't take too long) Andromeda told her about her grandson, whom she could talk about for hours. When Mitzi returned with a tray of food, Draco and Andromeda, allowing for Narcissa to simply eat the best food she had eaten in weeks, carried the conversation and Draco was pleased to see some of Narcissa's colour coming back as she ate.

Over the next couple of weeks Draco saw a marked improvement of his mother's health, and with Andromeda as her daily companion he began to see a different side to his mother: she was no longer as guarded in her manners as she had been with his father, she laughed more freely, she spoke more, and she apparently shared Andromeda's passion of renovating. Draco was becoming rather thankful that he was to return to Hogwarts in a couple of day's time; he had had enough of colour wheels and fabric charts to last him a lifetime.

###

The night before Hermione returned to Hogwarts, she spent the evening after dinner with her Father down in their wine cellar. After decanting some scotch for the library at the large wooden table, the pair had moved to the bar, where Anthony began rearranging the fridges, while Hermione sat on one of the stools.

"I can't marry Richard, dad." She said suddenly, taking a last ditch attempt at making at least one of her parents see sense. "After everything that has happened over the past year, I'm a completely different person than when this engagement was first talked of." Hermione told her father, honestly.

Anthony sighed, "You weren't always completely against the idea of marrying him" He pointed out.

"No, I wasn't" she agreed honestly, "but I never really took the thought seriously. He was my first love, and the way mother spoke about it, she made it sound like my destiny, and it was hard to say no to her: she made it sound like a fairy-tale. But daddy, fairy-tales are bull:" She stated frankly, causing him to let out a snort with a shake of his head.

Hermione carried on, ignoring the sound: "They're full of false-hopes and empty promises. I've got caught up in 'destiny' and prophecies, and 'what's-meant-to-be', and it's not beautiful. It's cruel, and it's ugly and it's hard. And now I want to be in control of my life. Now I have a life, and I know I'm going to live it. I survived, and now I want to do what I want to do, not what is expected of me-"

Here, Hermione's father cut her off, smiling, "Hermione, darling, you're starting to babble." Hermione laughed consciously, her father continued, "Take a breath, and why don't you go grab us some of those butterbeers you rave about. I'm growing quite fond of them."

Hermione smiled, took out her wand, and summoned a couple of bottles. Her father rolled his eyes, "Would it kill you to walk ten steps?"

Hermione laughed, "No, but why make extra work, magic is quicker and easier." She reminded him, opening the bottles, and handing one to her father, "Cheers." She said, and took a sip and then continued with a sigh.

"I just don't understand why Mother is so persistent in the match, when I'm so against it?" Hermione voiced "I thought that once she saw how Richard and I are together, how we're more friends than lovers now, that she would start to come around, but she seems more determined than ever." Hermione complained; her father sighed.

"She has her reasons. And she believes that this will make you happy, in the long run. I think she is still under the impression that you two are a happy couple, like the last time we saw you together. Sometimes we still have to remind ourselves that we've been absent for a year." Her father tried to explain, the he asked,

"Is there somebody else? Is that why you are so intent on breaking the engagement? Are you seeing someone in the wizarding world? Harry or Ron? I know you talk about them a lot,"

Hermione laughed and shook her head, "No daddy. Ron and I had our moments, a couple of years ago," she admitted to him: she had always been entirely open with her father, and she didn't see why now should be any different.

"I think our friends rather expected us to be together, especially his family: It would join us all together very neatly, Ron and myself, Harry and Ginny. Harry and I are already part of the Weasley clan, but pairing us with the youngest Weasley's would make us truly part of the family, I guess." She explained, "There was something there, between Ron and I, but it never seemed to be anything more than a spark – it never ignited. Throughout our last year at school there was an undercurrent of feelings I guess, but it never came to anything. And then Dumbledore died, our situations changed, and we knew we wouldn't be returning, and reality got in the way I guess. There was still a little something there, I think, when we went on the run, but things changed at Christmas: when he left, everything changed between us." She added quietly.

Her father gave her a quizzical look, this was the first she had spoken to him about anything that happened the past year in any kind of detail, and Hermione caught the look, "Don't ask questions, please. All you need to know was that due to certain circumstances, our dynamic changed. After that, after Ron disappeared Harry and I grew fairly close, I mean we've always been close – we've always had a deeper connection than Ron and I, I believe, though there was never anything romantic. But when it was just the two of us, over Christmas, we had our moments, I guess. I think it was a lot to do with comfort, more than anything. We certainly rely on each other, we're very comfortable with each other, and can tell each other anything and everything, but there's not really any romance there." She said truthfully.

"So with Richard, you've just fallen out of love?" Her father asked, trying to clarify his daughter's feelings

Hermione shrugged, "To be honest, I don't think I was ever in love with him, not truly. Don't get me wrong; he's a nice guy. He's charming, he's smart – not quite at my level, but still pretty intelligent" Her father laughed, and Hermione give him a small smirk and continued, "He's good looking, and funny, he has all the qualities any woman would want. But there's something missing. I don't feel that connection that I thought I did the last year – too much has happened in my life, too much has changed, I've changed. And he's a muggle." She stated.

Her father took mock offence, "and what, pray tell, is wrong with muggles?"

Hermione laughed, "Nothing, but come on. How do you think he's going to react when he finds out I'm a witch? I doubt he's going to take it well."

Her father laughed, "There is something in that, I grant you. But you never know until you try him, he could surprise you."

"Well I certainly wouldn't be able to keep it from him, not when I'll be working at the Ministry full time."

"So you do want to work there?" Her father asked, "What about joining us? Like we originally planned? You need to be prepared to take over."

"You and mother have plenty of years left in you yet. Once I get my career on track, my hours won't be non-stop. After a few years I'll be able to take time out and juggle both. And lets face it, the only work I would be doing would be admin. I'd be running the place from the outside. All that I can do from home, of an evening." She explained.

"So you're not intending to abandon the business all together?"

"Of course not!" Hermione assured him, "I know how hard the both of you have worked to set it up. I know how much you have thrown into it, believe me, I wouldn't want to loose all the hard work you've done. But lets face it, daddy, I'm not a dentist. I'm a witch. I need to make my own career. And I need a partner in my life who will accept my career choices, and understand them. They need to fully understand my past. They need to have some idea of what I've been through the past couple of years – and the only people who could even begin to understand, are those who lived through the same regime." Hermione told him.

Her father nodded in understanding, "In other words, you need a wizard, not a muggle."

Hermione smiled sadly, "Exactly. I just wish Mother could understand that. But you know her, she's more practical, and less of the romantic."

Anthony reached across the bar and took his daughter's hand reassuringly, "I will talk to your mother, but it's complicated. It's a long standing engagement, we're going to have to have a good reason to break it, and we can't offend our friends."

"It hasn't been that long, you only mentioned it to me a little over a year ago," Hermione countered, to which Anthony gave a non-committal shrug.

"But you'll try?" Hermione asked desperately, a ray of hope beginning to shine.

"I'll see what I can do." Anthony said, smiling sadly.

Hermione beamed, "Thank you dad." She said, standing up to move around the bar and hug him. "I should head to bed, tomorrow is going to be a long day." She said.

Hermione went to bed that night with a great sense of relief, and woke up the next morning smiling. Although Hermione was intending to apparate to the King's Cross, she was still up early, intending to be fully ready to go with plenty of time. After breakfast she triple checked her trunk, making sure she had everything on her list. She was feeling like she was forgetting something terribly important, at the back of her mind she knew she used to take something else extra to her trunk, after a moment she smiled.

"Crookshanks" she muttered to herself shaking her head. During her years absence, Hermione had left crookshanks in the care of Ginny, at the Burrow, and he had seemed so happy and content there this summer, Hermione decided to leave him there this year also – he would have no gnomes at Hogwarts to terrorize and Hermione felt Crookshanks would resent her for taking such an ample pleasure from his life.

As Hermione would be arriving directly onto the platform, and would not be negotiating through crowds of muggles, she decided to dress directly into her uniform. Just as she was fastening her robe, Victoria came into her room.

"You might want to take that off," she said directly, and Hermione gave her a quizzical look, "Richard is here." Victoria explained.

Hermione's shoulders slumped, wordlessly she removed the robe revealing her new take on the standard uniform underneath: A simple, high-waist back pencil skirt, with a white fitted shirt tucked into it – it was an outfit originally purchased for a business meeting she had attended this summer with her mother, and as it fit the school requirements, she decided to get her wear out of it this year at school.

Victoria now noticed the simple black ballet-flats Hermione was wearing and rolled her eyes. She silently went into her daughters closet and came out two seconds later with a pair of black pumps with a three-inch heel.

"They will look much better, and perfectly acceptable for school." Victoria told her daughter.

Hermione shook her head, but refrained from arguing, instead she kicked off her flats, tossing them into her school bag with her tie, slipped into the heels, and leaving her robe on her bed she followed her mother down to the drawing room.

"I hope this won't take long, it's past ten, I will need to leave soon." Hermione said.

Victoria shrugged, "I don't know, he said it would be quick, he was just passing. He's waiting for you in there," Victoria said, gesturing to the door on their right,

"your father and I are in the office, make sure you say goodbye before you leave." Victoria said before descending down to the ground floor.

Hermione took a calming breath and entered the drawing room with a smile.

"I didn't expect to see you today." She said as she entered.

Richard grinned, "I had to catch you before you left. That's your uniform?" He asked.

Hermione laughed, "In part, there is a school tie I need to wear, but I'll put that on when I get there. Is that why you're here? To critique my uniform?" she asked, probing him to get to the point.

"I have something for you." He said, taking the hint. "I was hoping to have gave you it sooner, but it wasn't ready, I had to go pick it up this morning." Richard pulled a box out his pocket and Hermione's mouth went dry, she felt she knew what this was.

"I had to make it official before you went back to school, you know." He said, Lifting the lid to reveal, as Hermione had expected, a magnificent engagement ring.

Staring up at Hermione was a large, five-carat cushion-cut ruby, set on a bed of diamonds, which trailed down a platinum band.

Hermione couldn't find any words as Richard removed the ring from its box and placed it on Hermione's finger. "Perfect fit." He commented with a smile.

Hermione stared at it; it looked even bigger on her finger. "Wow," she whispered, not sure what else to say. The ring was a little ostentatious for her liking, but she couldn't deny it's beauty.

"I wanted to give you something with colour, instead of just a plain diamond. I picked a ruby because of what it symbolises: it's said to be the most powerful gemstone, it brings contentment, peace, and passion; it's a symbol of love, vitality, and royalty. I think it fits us perfectly." He said. "And, I know you love your Tudor history: Henry VIII would give rubies to the women he courted-"

"Because they symbolised a virtuous woman." Hermione finished, with a smile – she knew Richard was being incredibly romantic so she didn't finish her sentence out loud. But she couldn't help but mentally comment that the women Henry had given rubies to were most likely the complete opposite of virtuous – at the Tudor court, a ruby seemed to symbolise a mistress he enjoyed so much that he intended to make her his next wife.

"You're quiet." Richard said after a moment.

"I'm sorry," Hermione mentally shook herself, and put a smile on her face, "Hectic morning. Thank you." She said. "The ring is beautiful, thank you. But I really need to go." She said, glancing at the clock, it was now ten-thirty.

Richard laughed, "Of course, I'm sorry, I don't want you to be late. And I should be going otherwise I will be late for a meeting" He handed her the box, saying "Just in case you need to take it off for any of your lessons."

Hermione took it and smiled, thinking she would be taking it off long before her first lesson, but she only said, "Thank you."

"Alright, I know, I've kept you long enough. And I said goodbye to you properly yesterday, so I'll leave you to it." He leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips, it wasn't intense, but there was an undercurrent of emotion from him, but still Hermione felt no spark.

Richard left quickly, leaving Hermione standing in front of the fireplace simply staring at her left hand. After her talk with her father last night, she had been hopeful about the engagement being called off. But now, that hope had vanished and suddenly a wedding next June seemed frighteningly real to her.

Hermione didn't realise how long she had been standing there, until she heard her Mother's voice from the doorway.

"Hermione? It's nearly ten forty-five. You need to be going." Victoria said.

"Crap!" Hermione bolted back into the present and whirled around. "Give me two minutes to get my trunk and I'll meet you in the entrance hall."

Hermione dashed back up to her room, tossed the ring box absent minded into her school bag, threw her robe back on and slung her bag over her shoulder. She picked up her wand from the table and levitated her trunk so that it preceded her as she dashed back downstairs.

In the hallway she said a hasty goodbye to her parents, giving them each a quick hug and kiss, and promising to write when she got there, before finally Disapparating.

Hermione appeared on the platform with ten minutes to spare, looking eagerly around; she finally caught a glimpse of a tall, dark head in the company of multiple redheads near the front of the train. She immediately pushed herself through the crowds to join Harry and the Weasleys, it was Harry who spotted her first:

"Hermione! Finally!" He said with relief.

"I'm sorry, there was a delay." She said evasively, dropping her trunk next to Harry and giving attention directly to Teddy, who was resting contentedly in Harry's arms, and sporting Harry's emerald eyes.

"Geez, 'Mione." Said Ron, who had come to see her, as well as his sister, off. "I've never known you to be cutting so fine."

"Leave her be, she's here now." Ginny said, "You can stop fretting."

As Ginny began to say her goodbyes to her family, Harry spoke quietly, "Is everything alright?" he asked, "You look a little flustered."

Hermione smiled, and went to take Teddy into her arms, "I'm fine, just rushed. I lost track of time."

As Harry handed Teddy over, Hermione's left sleeve of her robe fell back over her wrist displaying the ostentatious ring. A moment later it was covered again, but not before Harry had noticed it; Hermione was too busy cooing over her Godson to notice Harry's frown. By the time Hermione looked up, Harry had replaced his frown with a smile, deciding Hermione would tell him about the apparent engagement ring when she was ready.

"I can't believe I'm not going to see you until Christmas. It's going to be so strange, and I'm going to miss Teddy so much, I've gotten so used to spending nearly every day with him." She told him sadly.

Harry grinned, "I thought about that, and when you find out the dates for Hogsmeade weekends, let me know. I'll clear it with Andie and I'll bring Teddy up to Hogsmeade for the day."

Hermione beamed "You're amazing." She said simply.

Before she could say anything else, Ginny called out to her, "Come on Hermione, you don't want to miss the train" She said, making her way to a carriage.

"I know," whined Hermione as she handed Teddy, who had now changed his hair to emulate Hermione's, back to Harry. "But I don't want to leave him, I'm not going to see him for god knows how long. It's harder than I thought it would be," She admitted, picking up her trunk.

George laughed, "Yeah, Hermione you can't be late: that's not the example the Head Girl should be setting. Now put your love child down, Harry will take good care of him, I'm sure." He joked, earning a smack from his mother, as Hermione turned with a pained look on her face, "Seriously, George?! Did you have to say it so loud! There's going to be enough gossip about me as it is, without you adding unnecessary, and false, fuel to the fire." Hermione complained.

"Ignore him," Harry intoned soothingly, bringing Hermione's attention back to him and Teddy. "Don't worry about the gossip: you and Ginny will set them right in no time. And anyway, a lot of them will already know about Remus and Dora leaving behind a son, they'll put two-and-two together easy enough. Now go, before it leaves without you." Harry intoned fondly.

Hermione smiled at his reassurances, leant over his arm to kiss Teddy goodbye, then stood up on her toes to kiss Harry's cheek, not realising the perfect family tableau they were exhibiting, and already starting the gossip she had wanted to avoid.

"Hermione! Come. On!" Ginny reiterated from the train, "The train will be pulling out any second!"

"Okay, okay, I'm coming." She said, finally tearing herself away. After saying a hasty good bye to Ron, George, Molly and Arthur, she rushed to the carriage door Ginny was holding open for her, and jumped on board. Ginny let the door swing closed behind her, and Hermione turned to wave out of the window just as the train bellowed into motion.

As they pulled from the station, Ginny asked: "Are you heading straight to the front? Or do you want to come and find Luna with me?"

"I ought to go to the front, and Luna's deputy, isn't she going to be at the front as well?" She asked, still a little breathless from the non stop rushing of the last fifteen minutes.

Ginny shook her head, "She said she'd find us a compartment first, then head down. I'll see you later on, then, once you've finished your duties. Good luck." She added with a wicked grin.

Hermione frowned "Thanks." She said with a laugh, before parting.

Hermione made her way to the head's compartment, having entered the train at the back of the first carriage her walk wasn't long, and she entered the compartment before the last of the carriages had even left the station.

Draco Malfoy was already seated next to the window, his head in a book, his customary smirk no longer a permanent feature on his face, and looking quite at ease.

He looked up as Hermione entered, and greeted her without the malice she had become accustomed to in previous years. "Morning Granger." He said simply, returning to his book.

"Good morning," Hermione replied, dropping her schoolbag on the seat and lifting her trunk into the luggage rack.

"Quite the family unit you portrayed on the platform, you certainly got tongues wagging. Though I'm assuming it was your godson, Teddy, you were cooing over, and not your illegitimate love child with Harry." He commented, Hermione could here the laughter in his voice, though again no trace of malice seemed to underline it.

Hermione sighed and turned back to face Draco, "Yes, that was Teddy. I'm assuming you've met him by now?" she asked trying to be polite.

Draco nodded the affirmative, "Quite a talent the child has. I noticed his hair was your colour once you left his side." Draco looked up from his book, "It seems his favourite eye colour is green. At least, that was the colour he chose this morning." Here Draco's smirk came into play. "You can imagine what people will think when they see that combination."

Hermione tried to frown, but she couldn't help a small smile, as she had pointed this out to Harry the first time Teddy chose such a combination.

She nodded "I know," she admitted, "I've said as much before, to Harry. Sometimes he does look like he could be our child."

Draco shrugged, and looked back at his book, "Take it as a compliment. Teddy only emulates the characteristics of those he likes. I'm sure you'll be delighted to hear that he's never once emulated any of my characteristics." He said quietly, and Hermione thought she detected a hint of disappointment.

Hermione stood back up, and removed her robe to cool down, still feeling slightly flustered from all the rushing around, saying as she did, "That's probably because he doesn't know you. He's got to know Harry and I very well the past couple of months. Once he gets to know you, I'm sure he'll go through a blonde phase." She told him truthfully, as she folded her robe and placed it over the back of the seat, before hunting in her school bag, for her tie.

Draco looked up, surprised at the sincere reassurance without any trace of sarcasm; he was sure she would have said something scathing, if anything at all. He then couldn't fail to notice the figure hugging attire she was dressed in, looking more like a business woman than a school girl, in clothes that spoke quality and expense to the trained eye. Draco couldn't help but survey her, looking her quickly up and down, recalling Blaise's comments from earlier in the summer: Granger did have a very good figure. He mentally shook himself, before his thoughts went any further, and he was about to comment on her recent lack of hostility, when he noticed the giant stone glinting on her left hand, which was holding open her bag. He raised his eyebrows, then smirked,

"Nice rock Granger." He commented,

Hermione turned to him, in confusion, "What?" she asked, momentarily forgetting her hunt.

"The ring," he nodded toward her hand, "And on a very important finger too, you really are going for a proper family unit aren't you?" He smirked.

Hermione looked down at her left hand, and her calm suddenly transformed into frustration,

"Bollocks" she stated, as she tried to pry the ring from her finger.

Draco chuckled, "Not wanting people to know that you and Potter are getting hitched? I suppose it will only fuel the baby gossip." He assumed.

This made Hermione look up in even more confusion, "What?" Hermione didn't know what to say, how did he ever reach that conclusion?

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but that looks like an engagement ring. You and Harry looked quite cosy on the platform, and a rock that size, a ruby no less, something tells me Weasley wouldn't be able to afford that. But maybe I'm wrong." Draco shrugged, taking in Hermione's surprise at the suggestion.

"I'm not engaged to Harry," Hermione assured him, returning to her struggle of removing the ring.

"Weasley has more money than I thought, he kept that fortune quiet" Draco said, with a hint of approval in his voice,

"Not engaged to Ron either." Hermione answered, rolling her eyes, not looking up from her hand, and beginning to mutter obscenities under her breath, at the ring's refusal to budge.

"So who gave you the ring?" Draco asked, his curiosity spiked to the point that he actually put down his book to become fully absorbed in the conversation.

"It's really none of your business, Malfoy – yes! Finally!" she cried, as the ring came loose. She dug out the box from her bag and placed the ring in, closed the lid, and threw it carelessly into her school bag, earning her a raised eyebrow from Draco. She pulled her tie from the bottom of her bag, and began to tie it loosely, around her neck, noticing halfway through the process that Malfoy was still looking at her inquisitively.

"Yes?" she queried tensely, "Why are you so interested in the ring anyway?"

Draco held up his hands in a defensive manner, "Just making conversation. I am intrigued now though, as to whom else the mystery fiancé is, if it's not Potter or Weasley. Maybe some rich muggle you've been keeping a secret?"

Hermione cut him off before he could continue; raising a hand to signal for his silence, Hermione spoke clearly and calmly: "Can we please drop it? No one knows, and no one is going to know. As far as I'm concerned it's a farce, it's not legit. So you can forget you ever saw that ring, because as far as everyone here is concerned, I am not engaged."

Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep calming breath, after a couple of minutes she felt some of the tension leave her body.

Draco shrugged his shoulders and left Hermione alone, returning once again to his book; if she didn't want to talk he wasn't going to force it, even though his curiosity had been ignited. After a while, Hermione opened her eyes, and spoke.

"We have to speak to the prefects at some point, when do you want to go?" She asked, all traces of her past anger and hostility completely dropped from her manner and tone.

Draco put down his book, and looked at his watch, "We've only been going twenty minutes, give them another ten?" He suggested, equally as polite as Hermione had been, determined to put their previous conversation to the back of his mind for a later date.

"Let them catch up on their gossip after the summer. Then we might as well get it over with. That will give them a long, uninterrupted train journey to gossip about the scandal of my return." He finished dryly, causing Hermione to laugh.

"You won't be the only one: I'm sure they'll gossip about me too." Hermione assured him, "I've been MIA for over a year, and the rumours I have heard about what I apparently got up to are incredible."

"Speaking of, I've heard a few rumours myself. And I'd love to know the truth." Draco smirked.

"That's nice to know" Hermione said, echoing his smirk in return, her look letting him know she was not intending to share the truth any time soon. Draco gave a curt nod, letting Hermione know he fully understood her meaning, and refrained from pressing the subject.

Hermione continued after a moment of thought, "I wonder who'll be the source of more gossip?" She asked thoughtfully, "The returning son of notorious Death Eaters, whose trials were front page news -" Hermione started with a tone of derision.

"Or the Gryffindor Princess; one-third of the Golden Trio, and a saviour of the Wizarding World." Draco finished her sentence, echoing her tone, and Hermione laughed again.

"Rather an eccentric choice for the head positions I think," she said, shaking her head.

Draco shrugged, "Not as eccentric as the choices for our Deputies" Draco countered: right on cue the compartment door opened, and Luna Lovegood appeared, closely followed by Zacharias Smith.

"We've been sat in there with the prefects for fifteen minutes now," Zacharias complained, "Are you two going to show your faces anytime soon? Or are we going to do your jobs for you?"

Hermione scowled; she had never been a huge fan of Zacharias Smith, and she was currently in no humour for his self-assumed superiority over everyone.

"Smith," she said, shortly, "Our letters may have said we all have the same level of authority, but we-" she indicated between herself and Draco, "are your social superiors in age talent and understanding. So get a little less superiority, and a little more respect in you tone when you speak to us." As she spoke, Hermione stood up and tossed her bag up onto the luggage rack, then began to pull her robes back over her uniform.

Draco couldn't help but smirk at the eloquently, yet waspishly spoken put-down, particularly as she had even included him as an equal superior. Zacharias, however, looked less than happy at being spoken to in such a way and looked ready to argue. Deciding to diffuse the situation, Draco stood up and said, curtly:

"Smith. Zip it. Granger has a point, and she put it more politely than I was going to. Now, lets go talk to the prefects, and then maybe I can have this carriage back to myself." He said, a hint of his old disdain colouring his tones again, he signalled for the others to precede him out of the compartment. After the two deputies departed, Draco stood aside to let Hermione pass first.

"After you." He prompted politely. Hermione was slightly surprised: first he backed her up, now he was being a gentleman. She gave him a friendly smile and followed Luna into the next compartment, where the prefects were gathered. So far, being in Draco Malfoy's company hadn't been nearly as bad as she anticipated: granted, there were moments when she couldn't help but think of what had happened in his home, months ago, and she was painfully conscious of the mudblood scar, but aside from that, there seemed to be nothing but civility between them - that, and an apparent joint dislike of Zacharias Smith.

The briefing of the prefects took less than half an hour: The heads introduced themselves quickly, and then Hermione gave a quick overview of their expected duties throughout the day, before moving onto a brief explanation of their duties during term.

"Your duties throughout the school year are pretty simple." Hermione told them, "Patrolling the corridors on an evening is the main one, then of course helping with decorating the castle for Halloween and Christmas."

Draco took this moment to put himself forward into the conversation, before Hermione could take complete control.

"We will have meetings once a week, Monday lunchtimes, where we will discuss any issues that arose the previous week, and anything that needs particular attention in the coming week. We won't hold a meeting tomorrow, frankly there's no need: there will be nothing to tell you tomorrow that you haven't heard today. An initial rota for your corridor duties will be up on you notice boards tomorrow morning. If there are any major issues seek one of us out, but if you can handle the issue for one week, save your complaints for the first meeting."

Draco said this in such a way as to intimate that saving the complaining would be the better option of the two, unless the prefects were determined to test his patiences in the first week. Draco turned to Hermione, "Anything to add?"

"Yes, actually." Hermione said, thoughtfully. "I think it's pretty safe to assume that Inter-House Unity is going to be key this year, which means that you guys – and us – will all be expected to lead the example. In other words we all need to put aside our differences and get along. Or at the very least, appear to get along."

With nothing else to say, and no questions to answer, the four heads left the compartment. Smith headed directly back up the train without a backward glance, while Draco returned to the head's compartment. Luna and Hermione lingered only momentarily, for Hermione to say she would join her and Ginny further down the train in five minutes, Luna then followed in Zacharias' footsteps, and Hermione turned to follow Draco.

When Hermione returned to her compartment, Blaise Zabini, who had obviously come down to the front while Draco and herself were briefing the prefects, greeted her.

"Granger," he greeted, friendly enough, with a grin on his face. Hermione was a little taken aback by the open friendliness, but she hid it well.

"Will you be joining us for the journey?" he asked conversationally.

Hermione smiled and took her robe back off – the prefect compartment had been stuffy and over-crowded and she was now far too warm to sit in her school robe.

"No," she said, tossing her robe aside, and stepping up onto the seat to reach the luggage wrack. "Just grabbing my bag, then I'm going to join Luna and Ginny." She informed them, as she rumagged in the rack.

As Hermione had stepped up onto the seat, Blaise had cocked his to the side and openly admired her figure with a grin. Draco rolled his eyes when he saw him nodding in approval at what he saw as his eyes raked from head to foot, and when Blaise showed no sign of desisting Draco picked up his book and hit him hard across the shoulder.

Blaise let out a yell of pain, grabbing his shoulder he exclaimed "What the fuck, man?! What did you do that for?"

Draco simply gave him a less than impressed look, as Hermione stepped down from the seat with her bag in hand. She shook her head at the sudden drop in maturity level, "I'm not even going to bother to ask," she said picking up her robe, "Enjoy your journey, boys." She said politely, with only a hint of patronisation on the stressing of the last word.

As Hermione made her way up the train she was acutely aware of the stares and whispers that followed her; while she figured it was something she would have to get used to, she was still extremely thankful that Ginny and Luna had managed to grab a compartment in the front half of the train, and Hermione could escape the stares relatively quickly. The rest of the journey to Hogsmeade Station passed away much as any other journey she had taken to school, though it felt incredibly strange to be undertaking it without Harry and Ron.

When they had reached the station, Hermione smiled as she stepped onto the platform, hearing the familiar sound of Hagrid, calling out "Firs' years! Follow me!" Suddenly, all the dramas of the past couple of months with regards to her parents and Richard, all seemed to fade away as if they had been nothing but a dream and she was filled with a sense of hope and optimism at being fully back where she felt she belonged. She led Ginny and Luna towards the waiting carriages, but stopped short when she came up to the first carriage, staring at the winged horses she could now clearly see harnessed up.

This was the first time Hermione had truly seen a Thestral, she should have expected it, but she couldn't help the lump that formed in her throat as she remembered the main instance that resulted in this ability to see. Within seconds she had gathered herself together and hopped into the first vacant carriage followed immediately by Ginny and Luna.

"Are you alright?" Ginny asked while they waited fro the carriages to fill.

Hermione nodded, "It was just a bit of a shock seeing the Thestrals." She admitted.

Luna, who had been able to see them since her first day at Hogwarts took to staring dreamily out of the window, but Ginny nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, it was a bit strange. But not surprising, we saw our fair share of death in the final battle." She said quietly. "Colin was the one I remember vividly though," Ginny said suddenly, "I was fighting near him when it happened."

Ginny looked up at Hermione, and asked quietly, "What about you, who did you see?"

Hermione looked at Ginny, "Severus." She answered barely louder than a whisper, as three more students climbed into their carriage. Ginny let the conversation drop, not wanting to discuss it in front of the younger students. Hermione turned to look out of the window, as the door was closed upon the and the carriage jerked into motion. Hermione's caught a passing glimpse of Hogsmeade as they pulled away from the station, and her mind instantly took her back to the Shrieking Shack, where she watched the Headmaster's life flow from his body. Hermione took a breath ad cleared her throat, trying to dislodge the lump that had returned there: as she watched Hogwarts grow clearer the nearer they approached, the excitement she had been feeling at returning suddenly disappeared, and was replaced with anxiety, and for the first time Hermione started to regret her decision to return – perhaps this wasn't the right thing to do after all.

A/N: There it is, I finally made it to Hogwarts, where the real fun can begin. I will be starting work on the next chapters at the end of the weak, but I've been neglecting some other stuff while I finished these updates, so once I get those sorted, I will get back to it.

Until then, I hope you've all enjoyed the story so far, please review, and let me know your thoughts :)

xBx