Chapter 1-Hello Again

A/N Okay, this is my first fanfc ever. So I hope you like it! Reviews would be greatly appreciated but not necessary. Enjoy :)

Hermione Granger's summer had been exceptionally…different. After saving the whole wizarding world with her best friends Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, her life had taken a turn for the better.

Or had it?

She wasn't really sure. People were constantly giving her attention, stopping her on the street, and everybody knew her name. She didn't know if she really liked all the fame though.

She constantly had to live up to people's expectations and she was sick and tired of it. Instead of having the quiet life she used to live, she now lived in a glass box without a key. She was trapped inside and everybody could see her.

But, of course she couldn't let people see how much it was getting to her, she had to keep her cool. She wouldn't give the press the satisfaction of seeing another celebrity crack under pressure. She knew she was better than that.

So it was quite understandable that she was quite nervous to return back to school to finish her education in the fall.

~X~

Draco Malfoy's summer had been the weirdest summer ever. Even more so than the summer he received his mission that would allow him to join the death eaters. Probably because that was expected of him. He had known for a while, deep down inside, that he was eventually going to have to follow in his father's footsteps. And he did just that. He acted like the perfect little solider, just like he was told. But then, something inside of him changed, and he realized, his life didn't have to be like that. He realized his parents had picked the wrong side, and he didn't have calmly walk to his death like they were.

The war was hard for everyone and Draco wasn't denying that, but it just seemed extra hard for his family. No one wanted to align with him in the slightest way. They were all frightened of him, which was what his father liked.

But not what Draco liked.

He would never tell anybody, but he needed a friend. He needed someone who he could talk to, or have fun with. But of course he couldn't have that. He was a Malfoy and Malfoy's didn't need friends. Especially when they were serving the dark lord and were certain people would be bowing down to them any day.

So it was weird when he decided to return to Hogwarts and give up on caring about blood status. He was going to make friends and have fun, like he should have from the beginning. He wasn't going to let anyone stop him.

But…it was probably helpful that both his parents were going to be locked away in a cell for the next 30 years…

~X~

Hermione walked into the familiar bookstore alone, letting the quiet chime of the bell take her back to the memory of her first year at Hogwarts, and the first time she ever came here. Back when she was so very eager to learn-not that she wasn't anymore-and succeed. Looking down at the list of books she needed for that year, she made her way over to the shelf she thought 'Standard Book of Spells: Year 7' was on.

She grabbed the book off the shelf, opened to a random page and smelled (yes, smelled) the inside of this clean new book. She loved the smell of new books mixed with fall air. It reminded her of school. Which she loved.

She had been so engrossed with smelling her book that she hadn't even realized someone was standing in front of her.

It was none other than Draco Malfoy.

"Granger, what are you doing?" He said with a sneer.

"Smelling my book…" She muttered inaudibly.

The blond haired boy just stared at her with his steel gray eyes. She noticed how nice his hair looked when it wasn't slicked back. His eyes were also something she hadn't noticed before. They were beautiful. They were blueish grayish and very mysterious. Like you couldn't tell what he was feeling just by looking at him. But when he smirked, there was a certain twinkle in his eye, like he was trying not to laugh out loud.

"Merlin, you're weird." He said as he turned around and walked away, shaking his head.

Hermione watched as he walked away. She hadn't really seen him in a long time. She had seen him on the street from a distance, and saw a picture of his family in the Prophet when his parents had been sent to Azkaban. They had turned themselves in and they were to be locked away for 30 years.

Hermione could almost relate with that.

After the war, Hermione went to find her parents in Australia, where she had left them before the war. She had half expected not to find them at all. But she did find them…divorced and living out completely different lives.

New families, new jobs, new lives.

She couldn't just come in and say 'oh yea, I'm your daughter and you're going to have to come back home with me and jump back into your old lives!' She couldn't take them away from their new lives.

They were happy without her, and she wasn't going to take that away from them, even if it meant she had to go on without them.

~X~

As Draco walked into the bookstore, he noticed Hermione Granger standing by the exact bookshelf he needed a book from.

He really, really didn't want to talk to anybody. That's why he came to Diagon Alley as soon as he received his letter. He didn't want people staring at him, giving him pity.

He didn't need anyone's pity.

His parents were death eaters. They had killed and tortured innocent though he didn't like not having parents, he knew they deserved what they got.

He walked over to the shelf Standard book of spells: Grade 7 was on quietly, hoping Granger wouldn't see him and he could quickly find the rest of his books and leave.

But when he saw her smelling her book he just had to ask.

"Granger, what are you doing?" he sneered. Perhaps a little bit more vicious than originally intended.

Then she mumbled something, but he didn't really care how she explained herself, he saw what she was doing. So he just stared at her.

She had changed a lot from the last time he saw her.

Her hair wasn't quite as bushy and unruly as it once was. Her clothes were nice. She actually had a nice figure. And her eyes…

Her eyes are really pretty. He thought to himself.

Do you realize whom you're talking about? This is Granger. Snap out of it! He mentally slapped himself.

"Merlin, you're weird." He said to Granger as he turned and walked away. He had forgotten to get his book, but didn't really care anymore. He decided he needed to clear his head. He couldn't be thinking about her like that.

But why not? You told yourself you weren't going to bother with blood status anymore, and you said it yourself. She has changed a lot. He thought to himself as he made his way out of the shop.

Because it's Granger! Gryffindor princess. Bookworm. Know-it-all. Best friend of Potter and the weasel. He argued with himself.

Maybe you should start looking at things differently. Do you really not like her just because of who she's friends with? Or is it just that you are too stubborn to let go of childhood grudges.

And with that said, Draco made a decision.

He was going to befriend Hermione Granger.

~X~

Hermione apparated to King's Cross by herself. She located and ran through platform nine and three-quarters by herself. She stepped onto the train and found a seat.

All by herself.

It had never even crossed her mind that she would be going back to Hogwarts alone. She had waited a couple years before she went back because she thought she deserved a break to figure out what direction she wanted to take in life. So while she was taking her nice, relaxing break, all her younger friends that she could have gone back to school with were finishing there 7th year.

And so, Hermione sat all alone in her compartment. Praying that every time she heard footsteps outside the door, it would be Harry and Ron coming to sit with her just like old times.

~X~

As Draco made his way onto the train a thought hit him.

Where was he going to sit?

He had no friends yet, and nobody he really wanted to sit with. He knew that he had a slim chance of getting a compartment by himself because they were usually all full. He figured he could just sit with someone but not talk to them.

So he got on the train and walked slowly up and down the corridor looking for an empty compartment, but of course, just his luck. There were none. So he stopped at the last one and peeked inside.

There sat Hermione Granger looking quite lonely.

Draco smirked to himself. He figured he should be a gentleman and go keep her company. After all, the train ride was pretty long...

~X~

Suddenly Hermione heard the compartment door slide open. There stood Draco Malfoy looking as cute as ever.

Wait. What? No! You don't think of him like that. She mentally yelled at herself.

"Mind if I sit here?" he said in a very un-Malfoyish tone. There was no sneer on his face. He was being sincere.

Weird.

"Erm, sure." Hermione said. She was not expecting to sit with anyone. She was actually planning on sitting all alone, mopping and feeling sorry for herself. Something she rarely did. She felt she deserved some self pity every once in awhile.

She didn't really know if she even wanted to make friends this year. Maybe it would be a good idea if she just immersed herself in her studies and didn't think about anyone else. It would certainly be easier that way. But did she really want to do that?

No.

She wanted to become friends with some one. But she couldn't really think of anyone from when she was at Hogwarts.

But maybe, just maybe, the answer was sitting right in front of her.