The steady rhythm of the train was very relaxing for Hermione, who was sharing a compartment with Ginny. Ginny was already writing a letter to Harry, which Hermione thought was a bit early but didn't judge her friend.
Ginny and Harry were practically inseparable after the battle, spending as much time as they could with each other before both he and Ron left for Auror training. Hermione and Ron also started their relationship, though theirs was much more understated than Ginny and Harry's. Hermione didn't mind though; she was never really one for constant affection and touching. Ron would try every once in a while though to have a snogging session but Hermione was just never fully into it. She didn't want to admit it, but she was somewhat relieved when their training had started in the middle of July.
Hermione looked over at her friend to find the red head staring out the window, her pen tapping quietly on the page. Hermione smiled and asked, "Stuck?"
Ginny looked over and smiled in return. "A little bit. It's so weird with them not here."
"Yeah, it's going to be very different," Hermione sighed. "Maybe now at least everyone will be able to have a proper school year."
Ginny laughed at that. "We'll see; something's bound to happen though."
"Well let's hope whatever does happen isn't anything bad," Hermione muttered.
They were silent for a little while longer until Ginny sighed and put her letter to the side. "I'll have to finish that later. How are your parents, by the way?"
"They're doing great," Hermione smiled. Shortly after the boys left for training, Hermione left to go to Australia to find her parents. They had settled down and Hermione was able to find them easily after about a week, and after undoing the memory charm she had placed on them she stayed there for another month. "Last I heard from them, they were planning a trip to Europe."
"That's good!" Ginny grinned. "I take it they're still trying to travel everywhere?"
Hermione nodded. "They've always wanted to just pack up and go somewhere new. I might join them for a few of their trips after we graduate."
"Speaking of graduating..." Ginny shifted in her seat, pulling her legs up to cross them. "What are you planning on doing after we leave Hogwarts?"
Shrugging, Hermione looked out the window and said, "I'm honestly not sure yet. I definitely don't want to be an Auror though. Maybe a Healer, or working in the Ministry."
"What about going back as a professor?" Ginny suggested. "You could easily do that and I'm sure McGonagall would love to have you back."
Hermione laughed at that. "Maybe; I'm not sure what I would teach though."
"You could always get McGonagall's opinion," Ginny said.
"True," Hermione sighed. "I suppose working at the Ministry would be easier though, and I'd be closer to Ron."
Ginny raised an eyebrow at this. "You're not planning your life around my brother, are you?"
"No, absolutely not!" Hermione answered. Then she thought about it, and groaned inwardly. "I guess I was a little bit there, wasn't I?"
"Don't take a Ministry job just to be closer to Ron," Ginny said. "It's fine to do it because you want to do it, but honestly, you two seemed a little awkward before they left."
"It was a bit awkward, if I'm honest," Hermione grimaced. "I mean, it was wonderful finally being with him and everything, but he would try to move rather quickly sometimes and I wasn't sure about it yet."
Ginny frowned. "I had a feeling. Are you sure you want to be with him?"
"Absolutely," Hermione nodded with a smile. "I think it's just because we were just friends for so long that we're still trying to move out of the friendship phase and more into the relationship phase. I mean, I haven't had a real boyfriend yet, and his only relationship was with Lavender."
There was a small moment of silence at the mention of Lavender, but Ginny soon picked the conversation back up. "I just think maybe you two might have rushed into things. But if you're happy then that's all that matters."
"I'm very happy," Hermione said with a smile. "It's just a matter of figuring out what works best for us and we haven't gotten the chance to do that yet."
"That's understandable," Ginny nodded.
There was a knock on the compartment door and Hermione stood up, realizing that it was Professor McGonagall on the other side of the door. Hermione opened it and smiled as she said, "Good morning, Professor."
The older witch gave her a warm smile in return. "It's wonderful to see you again, Miss Granger. Especially under better circumstances."
Hermione nodded and Professor McGonagall went on: "If you could please follow me, it is time to go over your duties as Head Girl."
Giving Ginny a quick wave, Hermione shut the compartment door behind her and followed Professor McGonagall down the hallway to the next coach. They continued walking in silence until they reached the very front of the coach, where Professor McGonagall abruptly stopped and opened the door to a very large compartment.
Her heart stopped though when she saw the familiar blond head of Draco Malfoy staring out of the window. He turned around as he heard the door open and they stared at each other for a few moments. She noticed that he looked much more relaxed than he had earlier in the summer after the battle, and he looked much more rested and like the old Malfoy.
The corners of his mouth tightened after a few moments and he looked past her at Professor McGonagall, who moved in front of Hermione to stand in between them.
"Now that I have both of you here," She started, "It's time to go over your duties. This is the Head Compartment; you will use this to tell the prefects their patrol orders for the train ride. I'm sure you are aware that there are twenty-four prefects other than you two; six from each house and two from each year starting with fifth years. There should be patrols done every hour through all four coaches, so this allows each prefect to patrol at least once."
Hermione nodded while Draco stayed silent, leaning against the window. Professor McGonagall went on: "When we reach Hogsmeade Station, you are to assist in leading the first years to the boats. There will be a carriage waiting specifically just for you two to take you to Hogwarts when you are finished. You will also be responsible for nightly patrols starting at ten-thirty, to make sure that students are not out of bed. I will let you two delegate that task yourself."
She looked between the two of them and then sighed. "I understand that you two may not have the most amiable history, but I sincerely hope that this year will be a more unifying one. Please gather the rest of the prefects and begin the patrols. You may return to your compartments when you are not patrolling."
Then she left the compartment, leaving the two of them alone together. Hermione cast a quick glance at him before sighing and looking back towards the door. "Guess we should go gather the prefects."
It wasn't too long afterwards that Hermione and Draco were both standing in front of the large group of prefects. Hermione was happy to see a few familiar faces, including Ginny and Luna, which helped ease her nerves as she began to speak.
"Alright, good morning everyone," She started.
There were a few mumbled replies and she swallowed the lump in her throat before continuing. "Okay, for patrols since there are twenty-four of you, each coach will be split between the houses, and each prefect will patrol once every hour. Gryffindor prefects, you will take the first coach; Hufflepuff the second; Ravenclaw will take third; and Slytherin prefects will take the last coach. Fifth years will start with the first patrols, and then each year will proceed in order after that. You can decide with your year mate who will go first. After patrolling, please send a note to me letting me know of any incidents and that you are finished. Any questions?"
There was silence and a few shaking heads, and she nodded. "Alright, you can return to your compartments until it's your turn to patrol."
Everyone filed out and Ginny gave Hermione a concerned look, glancing quickly at Draco before leaving the compartment. After everyone had left, Hermione started making her way to the door.
"Nice of you to include me in those orders."
She turned to see Draco scowling at her, and she raised an eyebrow. "What? Did you want to do it differently?"
"Don't you think they should report to both of us, since we're both Heads?" He asked, raising an eyebrow in return at her.
"You could have jumped in at any time to correct me, Malfoy," She stated. "And besides, I wasn't sure if you were going to take it seriously or not since you didn't exactly take your previous prefect duties seriously."
"No, but you shouldn't assume that I wouldn't just because of how I used to be," Draco retorted.
"It's kind of hard not to assume that," She scoffed before turning around and leaving the compartment.
Draco stared at the door, scowling. He let out a frustrated growl and ran a hand through his hair, staring up at the ceiling. While he couldn't really fault her for thinking he wasn't going to take his duty as Head Boy seriously, it was extremely frustrating that she didn't seem to want to give him a chance to prove himself.
There was a knock on the door and when he saw that it was Blaise he nodded for the other wizard to come in.
"What's up?" Draco asked as Blaise shut the door behind him.
"Nothing, just needed to get away from the other compartment," Blaise answered with a shrug. "Pansy and Theo decided to have a snogging session as soon as she got back."
Draco grimaced at this and nodded. "Just stay in here then."
Blaise immediately made his way over to the cushioned couches as Draco went back to the window and leaned against it, staring outside.
"What are you brooding on about?" Blaise asked, raising an eyebrow.
Draco rolled his eyes and looked over at his friend. "I'm not 'brooding'. I'm thinking."
"Whatever." Blaise shook his head. "What are you thinking about?"
"Just trying to figure out if it was even worth coming back," Draco sighed, looking back out of the window again.
"And what is making the Head Boy question this?" Blaise grinned. "Would it be a certain brunette not returning his affections?"
Turning away from the window, Draco glared at Blaise. "I do not like her, Blaise. And she clearly doesn't like me; besides, pretty sure she's with Weasel."
"Didn't you have a crush on her in third and fourth year?" Blaise asked, raising his eyebrow as he continued to grin. "If I remember correctly, you wouldn't stop staring at her at the Yule Ball."
Draco continued to scowl but couldn't come up with a retort. Blaise wasn't lying; he did have a bit of a crush on her during third year. And when he saw her at the ball...of course, she was with Krum at the time, and then practically only had eyes for Weasel after that night. But it was better for both of them that Draco didn't reveal any of his feelings, especially after fourth year.
"It doesn't matter either way," Draco said, shaking his head. "It's better that she hates me."
"It was better that she hated you back then," Blaise replied. "The war is over."
"So what, everything's just going to be smooth sailing now?" Draco asked angrily. "There is years of hate built up between us, and that's not going to go away any time soon. So there's no point in thinking anything is going to change."
"You don't know that," Blaise shrugged. "Just try being nice to her. If anything, you two could at least be friends."
Draco sighed and turned away again, rolling his eyes. He wasn't sure why Blaise was so persistent about it; it's not like he was pining for Hermione or anything. After Voldemort's return at the end of fourth year, he knew it was hopeless to think anything would happen between them, especially with her status as a muggleborn. Of course, he could have provided some protection for her, but who knows how long that would have lasted. No, things were better the way they had turned out, and any feelings he had for her were nothing more than possible friendship.
But the thought did linger in the back of his mind: maybe now that everything is over, things could get better. He didn't expect anything serious, but he let himself think about the possibilities as silence fell over the compartment.
"Malfoy is seriously Head Boy?" Ginny asked in disbelief.
Hermione nodded slightly, grimacing. "I have no idea what McGonagall was thinking on that one. Normally I trust her judgement, but this? The only possible reason I can think of is because of his grades, but he let those slip majorly in sixth year."
"And he almost killed Dumbledore!" Ginny added before leaning back in her seat and looking up at the ceiling. "I don't know, she clearly has her own reasons and probably won't tell us."
"Yeah, well," Hermione shifted in her seat. "If he starts to slip up, I won't hesitate to let her know."
A small note came buzzing through the compartment door and Hermione grabbed it, opening it up. "Gryffindor's done with their rounds."
She folded up the paper and then looked out of the window. "You know he confronted me about not consulting him about the patrol duties after all of you left?"
Ginny laughed. "I wish I could've seen that."
Hermione tried to hold back a grin. "I mean, it wasn't anything spectacular. Just a bit of going back and forth before I left the Head's compartment."
"Maybe that means he does want to take his duties seriously, since he brought it up to you," Ginny shrugged.
Hermione scoffed. "Right. The last time he was given any sort of power, he abused it severely with Pansy."
"Did you see she's prefect again?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah, her and Blaise Zabini," Hermione sighed. "Hopefully they actually try to be good role models. I seriously doubt it though."
"I mean, with McGonagall in charge things might be different," Ginny shrugged. "Dumbledore had a habit of just letting things run their course, but I think if McGonagall sees anything she doesn't like, she'll fix it."
Hermione shrugged. "Maybe. I guess we'll see what happens."
A/N: Hi guys!! I've been wanting to start posting this for a little while but haven't been able to until now. This one's going to be a normal AU with different couples and characters, and I hope you all enjoy it! This one is going to be a once-a-week posting until after Valentine's Day most likely, but I will be sure to keep this one and CLT updated every week. Enjoy everyone! Love you all! <3