Disclaimer: Harry Potter and The Wizarding World are the property of J.K. Rowling and associates. I am not profiting from this fanfiction.

Author's Note: This story will be a slow-burn Lumione fic with explicit material of all kinds. Beware, ye who enter here.

September 1998

Hogwarts Express

"No." Hermione shook her head vehemently as Ginny Weasley stared at her across the compartment.

"Yes," Ginny said, raising her eyebrows. "It's him. It's actually him. McGonagall told Mum and Dad that it was part of the deal he made with the Ministry."

"That isn't possible." Hermione's eyes welled. "How could he, of all people, possibly come to our school and… and try to teach us? It's ridiculous. Absolute nonsense."

"Dad says that the Ministry won't hire him back until he's proven he's on the right side for good," said Ginny. "They forgave him, and his wife and son, because they defected and because she lied for Harry, but this is a penance. Just one term. That's what he's agreed to."

Hermione gulped heavily. "I think I made a mistake coming back to school if Lucius Malfoy will be the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Ginny."

"Well… think of it this way. How bad could it really be? I mean, those of us who were at school last year had the Carrows casting Unforgivables, so… at least McGonagall won't let Malfoy do that."

"But Lucius Malfoy is - or at least was - a Death Eater," Hermione hissed. Ginny nodded and looked out the window at the rain. Hermione shut her eyes and whispered, "So was Severus Snape, I suppose."

"I don't think Lucius Malfoy has much in common with Severus Snape," Ginny said tightly. "Snape turned out to be good in the end. Don't suppose you can say that for Lucius Malfoy."

"Well," Hermione huffed, "at least McGonagall is Headmistress. After all we've all been through, we've got a good strong witch running things, and that's good for all of us, I think."

"Right." Ginny nodded more vigorously then, and then her face darkened. Her eyes welled thickly, and her hands knit together on her lap. "It will be strange. Being back where the battle happened. Where Fred… where he…"

"Yes," Hermione agreed. "It will be strange. It will be difficult. But we'll make it. We always make it, Ginny, don't we?"

"Yeah," Ginny said, her breath catching audibly. "We always make it."

"Well, Mr Malfoy," said Minerva McGonagall in a prim voice, "I don't think I need to tell you that your presence at this school may not be well-received by many students. They know who you are."

"Who I used to be," Lucius corrected her, pushing one brow up. "Headmistress, didn't Minister Shacklebolt assure you I am devoted to earning my keep in wizarding society?"

"I know who you are," McGonagall mumbled. She narrowed her eyes at him, and her lips twitched. "I know what you did at the Ministry for Magic the night of that horrid battle. I know that you fought here before you defected. You went to Azkaban for him. For Lord Voldemort."

"And then," Lucius said patiently, trying not to sound condescending, "My family and I decided that obeying him was entirely the wrong thing to do."

"Only after it was quite clear he was going to lose," spat McGonagall. She pulled her chair forward, and all the eyes of the dead Headmasters behind her seemed to be glaring at Lucius from their portraits. Lucius' pale grey eyes settled on the portrait of Albus Dumbledore, who stared back knowingly. Draco had been there the night Dumbledore had died. Draco had tried to commit murder but had found himself unable. Draco Malfoy, Lucius' only son, was not built for murder.

"Draco didn't do it," Lucius said softly. "He couldn't."

"We are not here to discuss Draco," said McGonagall. "I know, Lucius Malfoy, what you have spent the last thirty years of doing - the Dark Arts. I know with whom your loyalty lay for decades - the Dark Lord. You are a Dark wizard, Lucius Malfoy, no matter what Kingsley Shacklebolt says of redemption."

"And you," Lucius told her, "are unforgiving. I can hardly blame you. So many were lost here, just months ago. Tragic."

"I'm sure you mourn the loss of your fellow Death Eaters just as much, if not more, than you mourn the students who perished here," trilled McGonagall, but Malfoy shook his head and declared,

"There wasn't an innocent among us. Not even Draco, really. But much innocent blood was shed here. Do not for a moment, Headmistress, think it lost on me that we stand on hallowed ground that has tasted much death."

"There are new ghosts," McGonagall said. "Colin Creevey wanders these corridors, carrying a translucent camera around and speaking of how he just wants to see his brother and parents again."

"Colin Creevey," Lucius said. He raised his eyebrows. "Not familiar with the name."

"Perhaps he would have disgusted you," McGonagall sneered, her lip curling, "being Muggle-born."

Lucius pursed his lips and looked away from McGonagall. "You know I won't have the option of being discriminatory as a teacher."

"That doesn't mean you aren't discriminatory as a wizard, Mr Malfoy," sputtered McGonagall. Her voice went shrill then as she said, "We all know how you feel about Muggle-borns. But I am here to advise you that I will not permit your biases and bigotry here at Hogwarts. You will treat all students equally, regardless of their parentage. Am I well and truly understood, Mr Malfoy?"

"Perfectly understood, Headmistress." Lucius let out a very long sigh and returned his eyes to Dumbledore's portrait. The old man had gone awfully serious in painted form, as if he were nonverbally reiterating what McGonagall had said. Lucius pinched his lips and thought of Narcissa and Draco, home at Malfoy Manor. He thought of the life of luxury he'd given up for a year spent as a Hogwarts teacher, all for the purposes of ingratiating himself back into the world that had won.

It was going to be an awfully long term, he thought, and it started now.

In the Great Hall, Hermione noticed that there were quite a few more students than there usually were. This was, she supposed, because Muggle-borns had not been allowed at Hogwarts the year before and wanted to finish out their education. She was in the same situation, she reckoned. Harry and Ron had opted to go straight to work at the Ministry and forgo their last year of study, but it was important to Hermione to graduate.

Up at the Head Table, she saw Lucius Malfoy looking profoundly uncomfortable. Horace Slughorn had agreed to stay on as Potions instructor this year. Professor Sprout was there, and Professor Trelawney and Hagrid. Hermione made eye contact with Hagrid, and he nodded deeply at her. She smiled a little at him, feeling weak as she contemplated what had happened in this hall just a few months earlier.

The school had been utterly destroyed in the battle, with rubble everywhere. Many priceless portraits had been destroyed. The courtyards had become killing fields. But somehow, it had all been put back together for the school term. Someone's powerful magic had rectified all the damage from the devastating battle. Hermione looked around the Great Hall and marveled at just how much it looked like the place she'd known and loved for six years, before this had been a scene of carnage.

"Hermione? Erm… Miss Granger?"

Hermione frowned and turned a little to see a seventh-year Gryffindor boy, a lad who was a year younger than Hermione.

"Weston Price, isn't it?" she asked politely. He grinned and said,

"I just wanted to say how brave it was, what you and Weasley and Harry Potter did. Real brave. We couldn't have… none of us would have made it without you."

Hermione felt her cheeks go warm. She cleared her throat and said tightly,

"There were a lot of people responsible for Voldemort's downfall, Weston. Harry and Ron and I were only three of those people. Three players in a very big game, you understand."

"Right. Well. Anyway, thank you." Weston slid back down the bench away from Hermione. Ginny elbowed her a little bit from her side and said,

"Suspect you're going to get a lot of that. Praise and thanks and whatnot. You're a war heroine."

"I'm not," Hermione argued, but Ginny's scarlet brows flew up and she scoffed.

"You absolutely are. You and my brother and Harry. All of you are… well. But as for him." She scowled up at the head table and glared at Lucius Malfoy. "I'll never forgive him for what he did to me my first year."

"In all fairness," Hermione huffed, "He was trying to get your father sacked. He didn't know you'd be possessed by Lord Voldemort for a year."

"Are you defending him?" hissed Ginny, and again Hermione's cheeks coloured. She shook her head and insisted,

"N-No. It's just… we all need to make clean, fresh starts, don't you think? I'm not happy about him being here, either, Ginny. Not even a little. But I mean to get good marks in his class, and I trust Kingsley about this. Kingsley sent Lucius Malfoy here to prove his worth. We ought to at least give him a chance."

"That's not what you sounded like on the train," Ginny said, narrowing her eyes. Hermione chomped her lip and said,

"Yes, well. I'm doing my best. We all need to do our best."

"Your attention, please!" burred Professor McGonagall from the podium at the front of the Great Hall. Silence fell among the hundreds of students at the tables. McGonagall's face was serious as she adjusted her pointed hat on her head and called out,

"Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy. We are gathered in this space to begin a new term of school, but also a new era. An era of acceptance and tolerance, and of true education. We have gathered here in an age without Lord Voldemort - an age in which he is really and truly gone. And so we begin anew. We begin again, all of us. But we remember those who died for the freedom of the wizarding world, those who fell for the cause of righteousness. We remember them today and always. Let us begin our ceremony with a moment of silence for those who perished here in May of this year, and in the war preceding."

A heavy hush descended upon the crowd of students and teachers. Heads bowed and hands folded on the table as everyone seemed to remember the faces of the lost. Hermione shut her eyes and thought of who she'd lost in the war. Albus Dumbledore. Nymphadora Tonks. Remus Lupin. Sirius Black. Alastor Moody. Hedwig. Fred Weasley. All the others. She reached for Ginny's hand and squeezed, and Ginny sniffled beside her.

"Thank you," said McGonagall, but her voice sounded tight, as if she were staving off tears of her own. She cleared her throat a bit roughly and then said, "I should like to introduce our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. I realise many of you may have strong feelings about this staffing decision, but know that Minister for Magic Shacklebolt has personally insisted upon this situation. I insist that each of you show your new instructor the respect you would grant anyone else. You will all strive to achieve your very best marks in Defence Against the Dark Arts this term, and you shall work to gain - not lose - points for your House in his class. Please welcome… Mr Lucius Malfoy."

Hermione looked around the Great Hall and realised that no one was clapping. Ordinarily, people would applaud the incoming Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. They never lasted, but that didn't mean they didn't at least receive a welcome from the community. But the Slytherins just glared at him, for he was a defector from the side of Lord Voldemort, and many of the Slytherins had parents in Azkaban. They'd been sentenced for serving Lord Voldemort, and their children weren't about to hoot and holler for the man who had fled Voldemort before the Battle of Hogwarts had even ended.

The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were silent, too, for the same reason as the Gryffindors. They just didn't trust Lucius Malfoy. How could they? He'd spent years serving Voldemort faithfully, committing egregious acts in Voldemort's name. Now he was a teacher at Hogwarts. The students who had been at the school under the Carrows had had enough of Dark wizards running the place.

Suddenly Hermione realised that Lucius Malfoy was a wizard lost between worlds. He was not a Death Eater anymore, and he'd turned away from Voldemort before any other Dark witches or wizards. But neither was he a true ally of those who had fought against Voldemort for years before The Battle of Hogwarts. Hermione tightened her mouth as she stared up at Malfoy. He looked profoundly uncomfortable for a long moment, and then he finally pushed himself to his feet and bowed his head.

"Headmistress," he said, so quietly that Hermione could barely hear him, "Thank you for the introduction. I look forward to the term."

"He should be in Azkaban," snarled someone from further down the Gryffindor table. Professor McGonagall's face went crimson, and she pointed a finger at the offending student.

"Bruce McKinnon! You be silent! Five points from Gryffindor."

The other Gryffindors groaned in dismay at having started the term at a points deficit. Hermione could have sworn she saw Lucius Malfoy smirk a little as he sat back down, and she flushed angrily. He was amused, she thought, by the idea that the Gryffindors had been punished for speaking out against him. But what was he going to do with the children of his former friends, Hermione wondered?

She supposed she'd find out the next day; Gryffindor and Slytherin had seventh-year Defence Against the Dark Arts as their very first lesson.

The Sorting Hat sang its song and then placed students into Houses. As Head Girl, Hermione made a point of going to each new Gryffindor to shake their hand. After the feast, she led her fellow Gryffindors to their tower and announced at the portrait of the Fat Lady,

"Resurrection."

"Correct," said the Fat Lady, and as she swung slowly open, she said warmly to Hermione, "Welcome back, dear."

"Thanks." Hermione headed into the tower and called out to the first-years who were waiting in the Common Room, "The girls' dormitory is protected by an enchantment that simply won't let boys in, so don't bother trying. Boys, your dormitories are that way. You'll find that your belongings have already been delivered to your rooms."

By House-Elves, she thought ruefully. She sighed and then said,

"Girls, come with me."

She dropped off the first-year girls at their dormitory and then headed down the corridor to the seventh-year girls' room. She slipped inside and found that the room had Expanded itself to include more beds, for this year there was an abnormal quantity of seventh-years. Hermione was joined by Sophie Roper, a Muggle-born from Hermione's year who hadn't been allowed to attend the previous term. Then there was Ginny Weasley and four other girls who were a year younger than Hermione but had aged into their seventh year. Hermione and Ginny had access to the Prefect's bathroom, but it wasn't always convenient, so as they walked into the dormitory bathroom, they noted with relief that an additional toilet stall and two extra showers had been added.

"So odd to be back," mused Sophie Roper. Hermione turned round and nodded.

"It is bizarre. And… sad. It makes me sad."

Quiet came over the dormitory, as weighty as a boulder, as the girls contemplated what they'd lost and how close everything had come to falling apart.

"Well, girls," Hermione said lightly at last, "Best get some sleep, eh? Tomorrow morning we've got lessons with Mr Malfoy."

"Ugh! Lucius Malfoy teaching at Hogwarts," moaned Ginny Weasley, slapping her forehead. "It's a nightmare. An absolute nightmare."

"Can't be worse than the Carrows," said another of the girls, Miranda Byron. She gave Ginny a grave look and said, "They put me in an empty room with no food or drink for two days because I asked a question in Dark Arts."

"Well, Professor McGonagall won't be allowing anyone to be stuck in rooms without food or water," Hermione promised. "We all know her. She'll keep us safe."

"Even from Lucius Malfoy?" Sophie Roper asked sceptically, and Hermione gave a firm nod.

"Even from Lucius Malfoy."

Notes: Believe it or not, this will be a Lumione fic, but it'll take a while to get there. We're playing around with canon just a little bit in order to achieve this storyline, but it'll mostly stay true to the events we know and love. Lucius is just repentant enough in this story to stick to Kingsley's plans for him, but he's still going to be his snarky, sarcastic bastard-of-a Malfoy self. Hermione will still be her brave and intelligent self.

Thank you so incredibly much for reading, and a hundred thousand thank-yous for any reviews.