Chapter One

Hermione Granger shivered slightly as the door to the store opened and a man walked in. She felt a sort of unease swift over her even though there was nothing to feel uneasy about. It was as though someone was watching her. A quick scan around the store told her that no one was, in fact, watching her. Paranoia was affecting her mind after the war, she supposed.

Hermione was entirely unaware of the grey eyes staring at her from behind the shelves as her entire focus was shifted to the red haired boy in front of her. She sighed and shook her head, getting ready to scold Ron. It had been a very long time since they had been in this store and there was no reason to be here! They were just killing time and it was starting to bore her.

‘Ron, you're not seriously thinking about getting that, are you?’ Hermione asked, with a hint of masked amusement in her tone. She was annoyed that Ron dragged her around Diagon Alley to look at random stuff in countless stores. Although she knew he just wanted to spend some alone time with her since the Burrow was too full all the time. 

Ron was holding a Nose Biting Teacup and inspecting it. He looked at Hermione when he heard her familiar bossy tone, who stood with her lips formed into a line to stop her from laughing. She thought it was really amusing how he held it and was examining it with clear focus on his face. If he gave even a tiny amount of focus into his exams that he gave into that teacup... ‘Well...?’ Hermione raised her eyebrows and Ron stared at the teacup which was dangerously trying to snap at him, and then back to Hermione, ‘Ron, put it down and lets go.’ There were only two other people – that they could see – in the store with them. A tall, slim man studying an interesting object, which he was totally immersed in, and a woman paying for her shopping, clearly eager to get out of the shop as she grabbed her bags and left without looking back. Hermione didn’t notice the blonde haired boy who was still hiding behind shelves and staring at her with intensity and jealousy burning in his eyes. ‘Hermione... learn to live.’ Ron joked but put down the teacup since he knew Hermione would throw a fit at him if he spent too long here. Ron came over to her, placing an arm across Hermione’s waist, kissing her on the top of her head. Hermione smiled; a sweet gesture like that always made her smile. The boy spying on them raged with an uncontained jealousy. He couldn’t trust himself to not cause a scene, so he discreetly walked out of the shop, hoping they wouldn’t notice him. He walked down the road, not caring about the products in the shops even the spectacular broom that was on a rare sale. He felt jealousy take over him as he took a left into the alley way. The jealousy burned him and blinded him, his grey eyes clouding over a little. He panted heavily and growled under his breath as he thought of that arm around Hermione and that kiss...

He aimed a punch at the brick wall, needing to get rid of some of his anger, not caring about how much it hurt even though the pain coursed through his knuckles and into his arms. He hated seeing her with that oaf of a boy, Ron Weasley. He was jealous but he didn’t care, he was past the point of caring. His feelings were too strong now. He punched the wall several times, wincing as it collided with the bricks. He didn’t stop until a voice spoke up, catching his attention. ‘Draco...’ The voice spoke softly, filled with pity. He recognised it immediately but didn’t look up. Draco’s eyes followed the splattering of his blood from his bruised hand onto the ground below. He hadn’t even noticed that he had hit his hand so hard. The voice spoke again and he let out a shaky breath that he had been holding. Draco looked up and saw his mother standing over him, only a little bit taller than he was now. Her hair was down and set on her shoulders and her eyes were filled with motherly love that Draco had grown accustomed to seeing at times where he needed her the most. ‘Mother... I...’ Draco looked down to his clenched fists and saw them bleeding. He hated the sticky and hot blood. Without a word, Narcissa Malfoy took out her wand and healed her son's hands, gently turning them around so that she could heal all of his bruises. Draco wondered how long Narcissa had been with him. Had she seen him spying on Hermione? Pounding his fists in the wall? Panting heavily? ‘Mother...’ ‘Do you love her?’ Narcissa asked, lifting her eyes to look at him. Draco looked at his mother, his eyes burned with curiosity to find out if she would approve of this or not. Hermione was, in fact, a muggle born. He felt his heart thud as Narcissa encouraged him to tell the truth, raising her eyebrows slightly. After a minute Draco spoke out clearly. What use was there of hiding the very obvious fact?

‘Yes, I love her. Of course I love her!'

----

The next morning, the Burrow was hectic with everyone rushing about getting ready to go to the Hogwarts train platform. Pancakes flipped themselves, eggs were fizzling and toast was popping out of the toaster. Most of the Weasley family were seated and talking loudly while others stared down at their breakfast, ready to fall back into a deep slumber.

‘Ron, hurry up! We need to be there by eleven!’ Mrs Weasley called up to Ron in a stern voice, while ensuring breakfast was being made for the rest of her family.

Molly Weasley was the mother of six boys and one girl. Even though her figure was plump and short, no one would want her to change. Mrs Weasley could settle the family down in one big shout and no one would step a toe out of line after her shouting. Although they still loved her.

‘Mum! Hermione's not down yet either! Merlin's saggy left buttock,’ Ron muttered darkly, clearly thinking his mother wouldn’t hear him over all of the commotion at the breakfast table.

‘Ronald!’ Mrs Weasley shouted, having heard him quite clearly. She didn’t let anyone use foul language in her house. Although Fred and George would say the occasional swear... and get a beating for it.

‘Sorry mum,’ a very red Ron muttered, getting to the last stair, as his mother slapped him on his arm.

Upstairs and along the narrow hallway, to the right, was a room where Hermione was grunting as she tried to shut her trunk. Books and clothes made it hard to shut but there was no way she could leave anything behind. She had definitely packed everything she could need at Hogwarts. Hermione was still trying to shut her trunk when Harry walked into her room that she shared with Ginny Weasley, his girlfriend now.

Harry has sparkling green eyes, that held too much sorrow, and his messy hair was a jet black colour just like his father, as he had been told on countless occasions. Hermione's eyes strayed to his forehead where a lightning shaped scar rested. Hermione stopped briefly to smile at him.

‘Hey. Do you need help?’ Harry asked, leaning against the doorway and crossing his arms over his chest. His head was hurting slightly from the commotion downstairs and other things were bothering him too.

‘No. I've nearly got it’ Hermione grunted, shutting her trunk and zipping it up finally, smiling briefly at Harry, ‘Thanks anyway.’

‘Congratulations on getting Head Girl, by the way,’ Harry said, walking into the middle of the room. He stopped there and ran a hand through his messy hair, ‘that was the ultimate dream for you. You deserve it.’

‘Thank you, Harry,’ Hermione beamed at him, very proud to have had gotten Head Girl. It had definitely been what she had been hoping for after accepting to come back to Hogwarts for her last year after the war.

Harry stood awkwardly in the middle of her room as Hermione turned to face him. He looked up into her soft brown eyes and felt a need to protect her, after everything Ron and Hermione had been through for him. They were great friends, he knew that, and he would never have forgave himself if anything happened to them.

‘Ron told me about your chess game last night,’ Hermione chuckled, shaking her head, ‘and he was boasting about how great he is at chess and how the-boy-who-lived would never be able to beat him.’

Harry smiled slightly, although he didn’t feel like himself so Hermione noticed the difference in his smile. Hermione frowned, ‘what is it, Harry?’

‘Malfoy got Head Boy,’ Harry blurted out before he could think of the implications. Harry held up a hand when Hermione widened her eyes, ‘sorry, I should have let you know sooner.’

Hermione dropped her trunk onto the floor with a bang and stared at Harry. How could Draco Malfoy get Head Boy? He's a bully and was a death eater as they all knew. It made absolutely no sense! McGonagall had obviously made some sort of mistake when she chose the Head Boy! Hermione was raised by her parents properly, so they had told her not to judge anyone because of their past. But she couldn't help but think of Draco as a death eater. After all, he did try to kill Dumbledore and that was sort of hard to overlook. Harry sighed at the expression on her face once again.

‘I need to know you can take care of yourself. And I'll be with you most of the time, so will Ron. I won't let him hurt you.’ Harry spoke while picking up Hermione’s trunk from the floor. He looked at her intently, ‘the war is over. We don’t need to live in fear, Hermione.’

‘Harry -’ Hermione was cut off by Ron’s voice floating upstairs.

‘Harry, Hermione! Come on!’ Ron called up the stairs, sounding annoyed.

With a last look at each other, that held too many emotions for Harry to handle, Hermione and Harry picked up their trunks and made their way downstairs. They sat at the table and Hermione took her seat next to Ron, who was looking very sullen. He glanced at Hermione as she glanced at Harry. The Weasley family chattered away while Ron, Hermione and Harry sat in silence and ate their toast.