Slightly AU fic, the war never happened, it ended the night on the tower in 6th year. This picks up at the start of 7th year. Enjoy.

Updated 4/9/20*

Chapter 1

She had done it; she had finally done it. She had reached her last year of schooling at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The last six years seemed to have taken forever, but finally the last first day of school was here. Hermione Granger boarded the Hogwarts Express with her best friends, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, and proceeded to look for an empty compartment. They walked halfway down the length of the train before they finally found one, and promptly flopped down in the seats to make themselves comfortable for the train ride.

"So, when do you have to go to the Prefects' meeting 'Mione?" Ron asked.

"It's set to start thirty minutes after we leave the station, but I'm going to change into my robes and head there a bit early," She replied.

"Aw, come on, you don't have to go so soon!"

"Harry! I'm Head Girl, it wouldn't look very good to arrive late to a meeting that I'm supposed to be leading! Besides, I have a few things to go over with the Head Boy before we start."

"I still can't believe Malfoy made Head Boy…" grumbled Ron.

"Really Ron, what else were you expecting? He is second in our year, just after me. And he's not quite as abrasive as he once was, he really was the logical choice," Hermione huffed, rolling her eyes. Really the boys, or at least Ron, was determined to hold on to this grudge.

"I know that! But that doesn't mean that I have to like him."

Hermione just shook her head and opened the book she had sitting on her lap. She wasn't going to let Ron ruin her train ride only five minutes in. He took that as his queue to drop the subject, turning to Harry instead to talk about the upcoming Quidditch season.

After everything that had happened at the end of their sixth year, Hermione was just glad to have things back to normal. Or at least almost normal. They would be having McGonagall as Headmistress, and Remus was coming back teach Defense Against the Dark Arts this year. The summer had given everyone enough time to grieve over the loss of Headmaster Dumbledore, and celebrate the end of Voldemort's reign. It was almost by sheer luck that Harry had managed to defeat him that night on the Astronomy Tower, not long after Dumbledore's fall.

The locket they had retrieved that night happened to be the last of them, and it had been destroyed with Dumbledore. It wasn't long after that that Harry had cast the final killing curse that would end so many years of terror at the hands of Voldemort. Snape had grabbed Malfoy and dissapperated after that, and Harry made no move to stop them, knowing that neither one actually posed any threat, as he once had thought. It had only taken minutes after that for the news to spread through the school, and then the whole wizarding world that it was finally over.

Hermione had spent her summer trying her best to stay out of the spotlight, choosing instead to spend as much time with her friends and family as possible. It took her quite some time to really be able to accept the fact that there was no more running, no more fighting, no more looking over her shoulder every few seconds to make sure that she wasn't being followed.

She checked her watch, pleased that she still had ten minutes to read before she had to change into her robes for the prefects meeting. Even though she knew he had changed a lot over the summer, she still wasn't sure about having Draco Malfoy as Head Boy. With his father now in Azkaban for life, he had reportedly strayed away from the hardcore pureblood rhetoric, but he was still Malfoy. The same Malfoy that had tormented her for years. She tried to push those thoughts aside, determined to enjoy the muggle romance in front of her while she could.

In the very back of the train, a certain pale haired wizard was having similar thoughts, ignoring the conversation going on around him. Draco Malfoy occupied a cabin with his two closest friend, Blaise Zabini and Theodor Nott. Now that he was free from his father's grasp, he got to experience having real friends, instead of followers, like Crabbe and Goyle had been. Blaise and Theo were perhaps the only people that really understood what his life had been like, having a similar upbringing with their fathers. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you looked at it, both of their fathers had died serving Voldemort. Blaise was left with just his mother, while Theo was left with no one. Because of this he had been living at Malfoy Manor over the summer, not wanting to live in his family home all alone.

Draco certainly had changed quite a bit over the summer. No longer under his father's control, he had made some drastic changes to his life. With his father in Azkaban, Malfoy had inherited the entire Malfoy fortune, and had promptly used some of it to remodel the Manor a bit. He completely removed his father's old study, not wanting to have a constant reminder of all the unpleasant things that had happened there. Instead he had it turned into a beautiful library for his mother. He had also made sure to remove every trace of his 'dark' upbringing, not wanting to live in the past any longer.

He had never really believed in all the pureblood supremacy he had grown up with. Not really. He saw no reason why purebloods were any better than half-bloods, or even muggleborns. It had always seemed to him that it didn't matter your blood, he knew purebloods that were almost useless with magic, and muggleborns that had amazing skill with it. He had never agreed with Voldemort's crazy plans, and it was his biggest regret that he had been forced into all of it. He was determined that this year would be the year he got to be who he really was. He had tried to distance himself as much as possible from the man his father had wanted him to become.

Along with the changes to the Manor came changes to his appearance. His hair was now a bit longer, and not so slicked back anymore. He had spent quite a bit of time over the summer in muggle London, and had discovered weightlifting. He found that it was a good way to escape his thoughts. He had always been lean, his participating in Quidditch had kept him fit, but with the added exercise he had filled out a bit more. No longer could he be considered 'wiry', but now quite fit and muscled. He sat in his compartment already in his school uniform, black slacks and a crisp white button-down shirt that fit him just right. He had the top few buttons undone and his tie just draped around his neck, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

"Hey man, don't we have that meeting soon?" Blaise said, as prefect for Slytherin.

Draco looked up, snapped out of his thoughts, and replied "Yea, we better get going, it's in the front compartment."

He buttoned his shirt up, tied his tie, and made sure to roll down his sleeves, double checking the left side to make sure it completely covered the Mark underneath.

The two boys made their way up the train, with the female Slytherin prefect, Daphne Greengrass joining them along the way. Nearly halfway up the train he caught a flash of brown hair ahead of him. He frowned, recognizing the Head Girl and his soon-to-be roommate, Hermione Granger. He couldn't help but notice that she had also made some changes. They were subtle, but they were there. Her hair wasn't so frizzy, but then again it hadn't been since around their fifth year. She seemed to have filled out a bit more, or maybe her clothes just fit better. Her skirt was still the same just above the knee length, but her school shirt seemed to fit a little tighter, showing off just a little hint of her figure. Aside from all of that, she just appeared to be happier, less stressed. War ending would have that effect on a person.

"Damn, you think now I can try getting close to the Gryffindor Princess?" Blaise said, letting out a low whistle. Neither boy could help but notice the way Hermione's skirt swished with the movement of her hips.

"Ugh, really? Could you get your head out of the gutter, I'm still here, remember?" Daphne mumbled behind them, she had been hoping Blaise would be looking at her, not the brunette in front of them.

"Yea, come one man, she's still the goody-goody Gryffindor, no way you could get near that," Draco laughed, "besides, I thought you had something going with Pansy?"

"What year are you in? I ended that halfway through sixth year, and no way am I going back!" The group laughed, and then settled down as they reached the Prefects compartment.

Hermione had spent a few more minutes in her compartment before changing into her Hogwarts uniform and heading towards the front of the train for the Prefects meeting. Nerves were starting to set in, she had secretly expected to be selected as Head Girl, but to now actually have to fulfill those responsibilities seemed like a daunting task. Harry and Ron wished her luck as she left their compartment and had gone to find the trolley. Hermione started making her way to the front, noticing a certain blonde Slytherin and his friends a few steps behind her. She gave them a small smile, and started off down the corridor.

Being Head Girl meant living in the Head's dorm. She knew that Malfoy had been selected as Head Boy, in was included in her Hogwarts letter, but it was just now setting in that this meant she was living with him too. Sure, they had separate bedrooms, and separate bathrooms, but they would be sharing a common room. Hermione entered the Prefects compartment, biting her lip slightly, as she mulled over how that arrangement might work over the next year.

She went to stand at the end of the compartment, waiting as the prefects from the other houses trickled in. Draco took her lead, and leaned up against the wall next to her, while Blaise and Daphne took seats to his left. He gave her a look with a raised eyebrow as way of greeting, which she returned in kind. Draco looked like he was about to open his mouth to say something, when he was interrupted by a small red headed girl skipping in, followed by a reluctant boy with dark hair and blue eyes.

"Hiya 'Mione! Have you met Paul? He's the other Gryffindor prefect."

"Hey Ginny, no, we haven't met yet. Hi Paul," Hermione greeted them both with a warm smile. Ginny and Paul took the seats closest to Hermione, while the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff prefects filed in, taking the remaining seats. As soon as everyone was settled Hermione launched into the short speech she had prepared.

"Hi everyone, thanks for being here on time. I just wanted to go over a few things before we get to Hogwarts. Tomorrow evening we'll be starting the prefects' patrols. I'll make sure you all get a copy of the schedules before then. McGonagall wants us to start promoting the idea of being unified as a school, not just as the individual houses, so you will be patrolling with someone from another house, not your own."

She ignored the grumbles from those around her, and continued, "I know a lot of us have been affected by the happenings of last year, so I just want all of you to know that you can feel free to talk to me if needed. I ask that you may extend this policy to other students as well. I think that's everything I wanted to cover, Malfoy, do you have anything to add?"

"Nope."

"…. Well ok then, I guess you are all free to go. I will have the patrol schedules to you by dinner time tomorrow, and our regular weekly meetings will start Friday after dinner."

Hermione waited for everyone to file out before turning to Draco to ask what that was about, but before she could say anything, he stood up from the wall he was leaning against and started for the door.

"See ya Granger," He called over his shoulder, as he sauntered back down the train towards his compartment. Hermione shook her head and started making her own way back a few paces behind him. This was going to be a long year.

A/N: I am in the market for a beta, if anyone's interested. This story will continue on!