This is an edited and improved version of my first fanfic. I initially wanted to correct some typing mistakes, but ended up changing too much so I decided to repost it again. The original story, "Human", initially had 17 chapters, but was not finished. I intend to keep posting until it's finished.

Since English is not my mother tongue, there are bound to be some spelling mistakes, so please feel free to point them out!

Please review! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters and the world of Harry Potter.

It was a week before school started and a certain know-it-all was already back at Hogwarts. It had been a year since she had stepped inside the school and last time she did so, things had escalated into a battle between the light and darkness.

When she made the no-brainer decision to join Harry and Ron on their quest to find and destroy Voldemort's horcruxes, she had always known she would eventually return to finish her education if they somehow managed to survive the war.

Although difficult, considering the things that happened inside the school's walls during the final battle, she couldn't stay away for too long. As soon as she was mentally prepared to return to Hogwarts, a letter from the Headmaster arrived. Said letter informed her she got the Head Girl position that she secretly always wanted and she was required at school for some last minute preparations. Truth be told, the position didn't seem to hold the same meaning as it once did, but she really was thrilled about finally finishing her education.

After the war, the trio was presented with the opportunity to go back and finish their seventh year. To Hermione's surprise and disappointment, she was the only one willing to go back and finish her education. She was extremely happy about the possibility for the three of them to roam once more through the chilly corridors, this time spending their time actually focusing on their studies and not having to worry about dark wizards wanting to kill them at any moment.

Although sad Harry and Ron were not with her, she knew Auror training for Harry and Quidditch for Ron were the best choices for them as they were never too passionate about academics anyway. Harry was grateful his efforts in the war had at least earned him his position without having to go back for his NEWTs. As for Ron, well, his talent as a keeper was enough to earn him a great position, but he could have easily joined Harry for Auror training. She could have probably pursued something as well, but there was not a doubt in her mind about returning to Hogwarts.

As for her and Ron, even though she missed him, she knew they could make the distance work in their favour if they really cared about their relationship. And they most definitely did. It had not taken Ron more than a couple of months after they started dating to propose. She was too stunned to speak at the time and a million possibilities ran through her mind, but in the end she just couldn't accept it. She knew she wanted to marry him one day, but she couldn't see herself starting a family without at least finishing her education. To her relief, Ron had taken her response quite well and decided they'd wait until she had finished her seventh year. Of course, she hoped that he would be open to her starting some sort of career before they started their family, but that was a discussion she hoped they would have in the near future.

Hogwarts was a very quiet place this time of year without the screaming and running around children, but Hermione knew that it wouldn't last for too long. In a week, the students would come back and all the peace and quiet would dissipate. But until then, she would enjoy her little time alone in the castle. Well, not entirely alone for there were professors as well around. Also the prefects. And the Head Boy, Draco Malfoy. She still couldn't understand how he got that position. After the Dark Lord's fall, she heard he had changed, but in her eyes, that did not make him suitable for that position. She just had to see with her own eyes how he had changed.

The first person that she saw when she got back to the castle was her Head of the House, professor Minerva McGonagall. The older witch welcomed her and then helped her find her new rooms. Being the Head Girl was a privilege. She got new quarters, she could stay after curfew a bit more, spend more time in the library. The only thing that bothered Hermione was the fact that she now had to share her quarters with him, the most arrogant Slytherin, Draco Malfoy. Well, maybe not the most arrogant as she was sure professor Snape held that position still, but a close second nonetheless. He might have changed, but it was not like she could easily forget his behaviour towards herself and her friends over the years.

When the two witches got to the new quarters, she was surprised to find that the common room was painted and decorated in the two houses' colors. Even though she did not like him and most of the Slytherin house, she had to admit that the Slytherin green and the Gryffindor gold created some kind of harmony that was pleasing to the eyes.

As Hermione stepped inside her new bedroom, she was surprised to see that it was five times larger than her old room in the Gryffindor Tower which she shared with three other girls! Instead of her old small four poster bed, she now owned a large double bed with a velvet headboard draped in the Gryffindor colors. On the wall to the left side of the bed, she saw a door that must have led to her own bathroom and on the right, there was her own library. There were at least four bookcases lined against the wall and her only thought was to sit in front of the fireplace opposite the bed and read a book from her own private collection. She immediately fell in love with that room. She was about to grab a book from the shelf when a knock on the door interrupted her. Hermione was so amazed by her new quarters and by the fact that she now had a private library, beside the small one she owned back at her parents' house, that she almost forgot about the professor who waited for her outside the door.

"Hermione, dear, I'm sure you will have time to read that book soon, but I'm afraid that we are expected to be in the Headmaster's office in a few minutes. We must hurry dear."

Hermione blushed slightly and then added "Of course, professor. I'm sorry, but I was so amazed by all of this that I almost forgot".

"Don't you worry! I'm quite pleased that you like it. I took the liberty of arranging and rearranging everything. If you should need anything, please do come and tell me. Or even if you do not, my door is always open and I would like someone to talk to beside Albus and Severus." Hermione thought the professor was going to roll her eyes at that.

She chuckled at that and she responded "Thank you, professor. I certainly will." Then they left for the Headmaster's office.

"Hermione, dear," her head of the house started again on their way, "have you given any thought to your future? What are your plans after this year?"

The girl thought for a second before answering "Well, yes professor. I thought about it a lot actually. I think that I would like to start an apprenticeship here, at Hogwarts. I always saw myself pursuing a career in academics and there is no better way to do that than teaching the next generations of wizards and witches. Plus, I love this castle and I am not ready to leave just yet." She didn't want to bring Ron into discussion as it was not something they had properly discussed yet.

"Oh! That's wonderful my dear." The woman responded excited. "Have you decided on the field? I know you would do well in Transfiguration…" she continued. McGonagall hoped that Hermione would choose to be her apprentice. The two of them were very much alike and she wanted the best for the younger witch.

"I don't know, professor. I like Transfiguration, but I also like Charms." Hermione thought for a second before adding "...and Potions." She thought about professor Snape's reaction on that matter. He would not like it.

After the war, professor Slughorn went back into retirement, finally being able to settle down as he was no longer on the run and professor Snape went back to teaching Potions. Since the Dark Lord was banished, the DADA position was no longer such a mandatory field of study, but Dumbledore elected an Auror to come to the Castle a couple of days to teach that class. Out of all the classes, DADA was the only one Hermione dropped right from the start. She felt she had enough knowledge and experience to last her a lifetime. Just the thought of going back and even talking about Dark Arts made her stomach turn.

She knew that her Head of the House and professor Flitwick were very fond of her, and she was fond of them, but with Snape was another story. She always wanted his approval and that made her study harder, but he never acknowledged her, no matter how hard she tried. In class, he always looked annoyed and irritated when she raised her hand to answer his questions and he practically ignored her. She once wanted to confront him on the matter but she had never been brave enough to do it.

After the War, she got a glimpse into his mind when Harry showed her and Ron his memories. That's when her opinion of him immediately changed. She was absolutely sure that if he knew at that moment that he was not going to die he would not have shared those extremely intimate memories with Harry, but that doesn't change the fact that they did see them. At that moment, they were unaware if he was going to make it, but it all started making a lot of sense. It was then when they stopped seeing him as the enemy and started seeing the misunderstood, brave man that he was. Some of his actions towards them and especially Harry were still questionable, no doubt about that, but Hermione couldn't help feeling sorry for the professor. Having seen what horrors he went through throughout his life, she was happy to know that he could now have some light into his life. She just hoped she no longer irritated him as she did before and could possibly have a normal conversation with him at some point.

"Oh, I'm sure professor Flitwick would be more than happy to have you as his apprentice!" Minerva interrupted her thoughts. "He always said that he was proud of your performance in class and that he admired your ambition. As for Severus, I am sure that he would like to have you too…" the woman paused, distracted by a thought before ending, still distracted "When you have made your decision, please let me know so that I can help you."

"Of course, professor, thank you". Hermione responded. She noticed the pause in the professor's reply and she understood what she thought of. Professor Snape would not like to have her as his apprentice. But she still had a full year ahead of her before she had to make a decision and she wanted to focus on her exams first. Hermione continued hoping to end the discussion on the matter.

Minerva nodded, then she stopped in front of the gargoyle outside the Headmaster's office and whispered "lemon drop". The statue moved aside, letting the two women climb on the circular moving staircase up to Dumbledore's office.

Minerva didn't have time to knock and the door opened. The room was full of people: all the prefects were there, the Head Boy, the Headmaster, professor Flitwick and professor Sprout. Professor Dumbledore motioned Hermione to sit down on the chair in front of his desk, next to Malfoy. She sat and turned her head to the left and caught Malfoy as he was staring at her with a strange look on his face. She wondered what was going through his mind. Physically, not much seemed to have changed in the Slytherin. The only thing that caught her attention was the fact that his face seemed more relaxed, he was even smiling from time to time!

The four prefects were scattered around the room and they were chatting with their Head of the houses. That was when she noticed that Snape was not present. She then realised that the last time that she saw him, he was dying by Nagini's bite. As soon as the snake had disappeared and they were left alone with him, she quickly cast her patronus to alert her Head of the House. His injuries were so severe that only a miracle could keep him alive. Even though Harry and Ron needed her, she wanted to stay and help him, to do something. All she managed to do was close his gaping wounds and empty into his mouth a few healing and blood replenishing potions she had been carrying in her bottomless satchel. She couldn't just watch him die, something made her act right away. They then had to hurry away, so she wasn't sure her efforts even paid off until after the Dark Lord was banished and professor McGonagall informed her he was being treated at St. Mungo's. The effort to save him was apparently great, but successful due to the fact that they had already developed an antidote of sorts to Nagini's venom after it had attacked Arthur Wasley. In the end, professor Snape ended up spending a couple of months there before returning to teach at Hogwarts.

The Headmaster cleared his throat, interrupting Hermione's thoughts, and all the eyes were fixed on him as he started talking. As he did, her thoughts flew away again, thinking of the time he had made them all believe he was dead. What they had learned after the war was that he got the idea to fake his own death in order for Draco's mission to succeed and make Snape look as if he was on Voldemort's side completely. What they didn't initially know was that the Dark Lord was extremely dissatisfied with Snape's performance ever since the Death Eater's failure at the Ministry even though he did not partake in that mission. But he had to do a great gesture to secure his position. Him being the Occlumens that he is, he managed to fool the evil master to believe he actually killed the Headmaster. Nobody suspected anything since the spell Snape used was Avada Kedavra. But they had planned for months a way for Dumbledore to survive by using a device to entrap the magical force of the spell into it instead of the Headmaster. The professor just had to make sure he targeted that tiny device they created instead of Dumbledore. His fall and the 'dead' state was easy to fake and no Death Eater bothered to check his 'corpse' anyway.

As the Elder wand was retrieved by Snape and given to Voldemort after Dumbledore's 'death', the spy rose to be the second in command. That was until the Headmaster resurfaced at the Hogwarts battle out of nowhere and with him he brought the tiara horcrux of Rowena Ravenclaw which they immediately destroyed. He then also informed Harry his belief that the boy himself was a horcrux. When Harry found out that information, he decided to go after Voldemort alone and surrender, but Hermione and Ron never left his side. That was when they came upon the horrible scene in the Shrieking Shack. Harry retrieved Snape's memories and they got back to the castle.

"My dear students and colleagues." the Headmaster started and Hermione had to really make an effort to focus on his words. "I think you are all aware why I gathered you here today. As you well know, a new year is about to begin. The last one was a difficult one. We have suffered, we have bravely fought, we have lost friends, family, colleagues, but alas, life, as it always does, it moves on, never faltering. We can only be grateful that in the end, we have won and we did not have to live to see the world in a different light. Now, to return to our present, I think you already know your duty as prefects. " At the last sentence, the prefects nodded slowly." As for the new Head Girl and Head Boy, please let me congratulate Miss Hermione Granger and Mr. Draco Malfoy. I hope that the two of you will be an example for the other students and you will try to extinguish the fire between your houses." he said with a small smile.

At his last remark, Hermione came to realize how it was that Malfoy got the position after all. It was common knowledge that everyone seemed to hate on people who had connections to the Dark Lord. It didn't matter that not every Slytherin was affiliated to him, the house as a whole was regarded as corrupted due to Salazar Slytherin's convictions and due to the real statistics that most people in Slytherin did join Voldemort's ranks. In the case of the students currently studying at Hogwarts, it was mostly the case of their parents or other family members, but the prejudice against them remained. So it had seemed like the Headmaster was aware of said prejudice and wanted to do something about it by setting an example. After all, if he could forgive the persons who were supposed to have been his executioners, everyone could put aside their bias towards the Slytherin house.

Hermione saw a sparkle in Dumbledore's eyes when he added "May I count on you too, Minerva? Severus?" At that, Hermione turned her head and saw Snape standing in the doorway and she thought that he might roll his eyes at the Headmaster, but his expression remained unchanged.

She rested her eyes on him for the first time in a year. Nobody knew what he was up to in those months when the school was shut down, but the man looked somehow younger. Hermione was not sure what it was, maybe it was the fact that his resting face no longer seemed to be stuck in a permanent scowl, or that his hair no longer looked that greasy. Or maybe it was the fact that the stress serving two masters and of being considered a traitor was no longer weighing on his shoulders. It might have also been all in her head, Hermione realized. After all, she never dared examine his face very closely. She wondered if she only dreamt that he almost died in the Shrieking Shack.

She heard Minerva say something, but she was too busy staring at the man in the doorway to listen to what the others were talking. She blushed when he caught her eyes on him, and the well known scowl returned on his face, making her look away. She heard him pacing back and forth in the back of the office while the Headmaster was finishing his speech.

When everything was finally settled, the gathering was dismissed; the only people asked to remain were professor Snape and professor McGonagall. The door closed behind the group of students and Hermione found herself standing by herself next to the gargoyle in front of Dumbledore's office. Everything was quiet around her. Outside it was almost dark and she narrowed her eyes to distinguish anything in front of her. She cast a spell to help her find her way back through the darkness and she started walking to her new quarters. Normally, Hermione wasn't afraid of the dark, but the place brought back so many bad memories from the fight, so many losses, so many tears, such darkness… Now, for the first time, she wondered if she did the right thing by coming back to the castle. Everything had changed. She had definitely changed as well.

A while later, she was distracted from her thoughts by a hand on her shoulder and she jumped back, almost knocking the other person down. When she turned with the wand at the level of her eyes, she was surprised to see the Potions Master. His hands were crossed under his chest and he had the same scowl on his face. He was certainly not happy. She immediately lowered her wand, her heart still beating like crazy after her shock.

"Did I scare the Gryffindor Princess?" he asked in a low voice with a small curve of his lips. Was he smiling? Hermione was at a loss for words and not only because of the fright. She had never seen him smile. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Even though it was dark, he probably noticed her shock for he continued "It seems like I actually did." he snorted and then continued in his low voice, almost like a whisper. "Come, I will lead you to your quarters." With that, he started walking and Hermione had to run to catch up with him. When they were close to the portrait that led to Hermione's new quarters, he stopped and she almost bumped into him again. He turned to face her with a sneer and Hermione had to take a step back. She opened her mouth to apologize for almost knocking him over again but he broke the silence instead "I trust you can find your way from here." and then he took off.

Hermione was left there and she finally said "Thank you.", but he was already far away, only his footsteps could be heard from where she stood. She sighed and then went to whisper the password to the wizard in the portrait.

The Gryffindor walked in the common room and she was surprised by the sight. On the couch, in front of the fire, her new roommate, Draco Malfoy, was soundly asleep with a book on his chest. She had to admit, she never pictured him reading, ever. From the look of the cover, although Hermione could not read from where she stood what it said, it looked of muggle origin. The thought of Malfoy owning a Muggle book, let alone reading it, shocked Hermione to no end.

She was tempted to get closer in order to spot what he was reading, but instead, she took a book she had been carrying in her small backpack and threw it loudly on the table next to him, causing him to jump from the couch with a panicked look on his face.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to wake you" she started innocently.

"I'm sure you didn't…" he responded after he took in his surroundings and figured out what happened.

Hermione noticed that he was hiding his book at his back and she once again wondered what it was that he was reading, so she simply asked "What are you reading?"

He looked away, blushing slightly. "Nothing, just something I borrowed from a friend of mine, it's none of your business.", he responded in his well-known defensive tone.

At that, Hermione started getting angry. By his suspicious behaviour, he did not seem changed or remorseful. Also, what was the matter with him? It was just a book. She decided to let it go and tried again "How come you returned to school?" she asked bluntly, hoping to get a different behaviour.

He thought for a second before answering "Father wanted me to finish my education and made me return to Hogwarts. He also said something about family tradition, blah, blah." he rolled his eyes.

"So you didn't want to return to Hogwarts." She voiced her thoughts.

He frowned. "Not really, no."

"I hate to say this but I actually agree with your father on that one. Education is very important!" she said as she paced back and forth in front of the Slytherin. He watched her with a worried look on his face. She looked like she was going to kill him and he sensed there was more to it than just the education comment she made.

He didn't want to talk about that anymore, afraid that he might say something that he will regret later and he tried to change the subject instead. "I see that your beloved friends haven't returned to school." he pointed, hoping that she will let it go.

She shot him a quick look of disapproval before responding with a frown on her face "No, they had… other things to do." she sighed.

"I see. Look, I didn't really have the opportunity to speak with them after the war, or to you, for that matter, but I really want you to know that I apologize for everything. I am really sorry for all the bad things I did and for all the… unkind words I addressed to you. I will try to make up for everything if you give me the chance. And I would like them to know that too."

The Gryfindor watched him in silence. She wasn't expecting that confession and she didn't know what to say. She wanted to believe him and let everything behind them, all the bad things and words, she wanted to forget them all, but it wasn't that easy. All those years, she never heard a good word from him and now she couldn't forget and forgive him so fast. Maybe in time she thought and then started "I hope that what you say is true and you are truly sorry, but I can't just erase everything that happened and I'm sure my friends can't either. I only hope that time will make it better."

He listened to her carefully and only nodded as she finished. She was obviously right, but he really wanted their forgiveness. He promised to himself that he would gain her trust and hopefully the others' as well. He would do anything to make it all go away. "I understand," he started "and I hope that this situation, the living together, isn't very tiresome for you." he knew that it wasn't easy living with what she thought of him until almost a year back, the enemy. Actually, for all he knew, she was still considering him the enemy. He hoped that she didn't, though. Even though they were only sharing the common room, the situation could be considered irksome for others, him included. Being the only child in the family could have that effect on him.

"Well, I would be lying if I'd tell you that I enjoy this, but sharing a common room isn't so difficult. I think that everything will work out just fine. " she said as she let out a sigh.

"I think so too," he agreed.

Suspicious behaviour from Mr. Malfoy here. What do you guys think he's reading? No right answers here :')