After Hogwarts had been rebuilt and deemed proper enough to accept students, Hermione was the first person to raise her hand and offer to return to finish her seventh year. The war brought so much change and unrest and she couldn't stand the idea of not graduating because of it. To know that she could finish her formal education and go back to a place where she felt so safe and accepted was a great help in getting over the shock that the fighting was over. Of course people were still in support of the Dark Lord but as a person, as a real threat, he was washed away and a new era could be brought to light.

Hermione was able to restore her mother and father's memories and was happy to spend time at home. She missed her friends but everyone had their own loose ends to tie up. Hermione spent time reading both muggle and magical books in her free time. When it was finally the start a new year, she was packed and ready to go, ready to put her energy back into her future as a witch. Still, she wasn't sure what she wanted to do once she officially graduated. Would she want to work in the Ministry of Magic or would she prefer doing something else? Honestly, she wasn't sure. With conflicts popping up so much, she hardly had time to think about the future when she, Harry and Ron were dealing with other issues.

Now that things were settling down, she had more time to focus on herself and figure out where her passions were. She loved to work on more rights for House Elves but she wasn't sure if she wanted a career out of it. She wanted to advocate for them but she wasn't sure if she could be happy for a lifetime in that field. Perhaps she could teach somewhere. Hermione wasn't sure but now that she was back at Hogwarts, she felt safe. And in her mind, she was almost back in the past, able to slow down and take her time. There wasn't anyone trying to kill her or her mates or take over the world. In fact, she and Luna Lovegood were making new progress at school by putting together a newspaper run by students.

She and Luna were growing close. Closer than her and Ginny anyway. Hermione was never able to really connect with the girl, and now that she and Ron had broken romantic ties, Hermione was sure that any chance of finding common ground with Ginny, was dashed. But Hermione sort of felt obligated to get to know the redhead since she and Harry were sort of together. Hermione felt weird thinking about those two so she was happy to throw her energy into the newspaper. It was simple and would be distributed the first of every month. It would have bits of everything, comics, opinions, weather, current events in and outside of the school, tutoring connections and such. 

School had started three weeks ago and for the first week, she and Luna were just discussing ideas. Then they got things into motion and began to recruit people to contribute and help write and design the paper itself. They had a good turn out but they needed one or two more people to fill spots, that's when Draco showed interest though he flat out said that it was because he had to and not because he wanted to. So Hermione couldn't make too much of a fuss and welcomed him to the team. They had a week to throw their first issue together and so far people were making good progress. She and Harry were working a series of photos of those they wanted to honor who died in the battle.

While many people were able to go back to their families, Draco Malfoy didn't have anyone to turn to. After the actions of his parents, Draco was confused. He wasn't sure what path to take and he was slowly starting to see how misled he had been, how clouded his judgement was in the past. Harry had saved his life, after all the crap he gave the boy-who-lived, he still spared him. It stirred something inside Draco which had made him question his life and what he thought he had been entitled to.

He had been questioning things ever since he was given the task of killing the Headmaster. He didn't want to do it. The old man did nothing to him and yet it had to be done. To prove his worth to his father, he had to kill him, he had to earn the title of Deatheater. But when the moment came he couldn't do it. He just couldn't do it and he had Snape do it for him. Draco hated himself in that moment. He hated that he couldn't be man he was expected to be but he also hated that he had no say in what he wanted to do with his life. Due to his father's influence, Draco wasn't one to stand up for himself.

Despite his cocky attitude, Draco didn't have as much freedom. He got whatever he wanted but it came at a price and that was his freedom. Any ideas of his own were generally stamped out. And due to Draco's mask, no one suspected that his home-life was lonely and distant. All he ever knew was deception and deceit and it would take some time for him to break away from his habits. He got a hotel and lived on his own. He had enough money stashed away to not need his parents' support. Even so, he did stay in contact with his mother but he was too ashamed and angry with his father to approach him.

Draco kept the letters he exchanged with his mother close to him, they were one of his few possessions. When time came to decide whether or not to go back to school, he decided it would be better to do that than to try and get a job. He needed to figure his life out and he had a better chance with a degree from Hogwarts than to use his name to influence people, since it seemed that would be a poor move now that the smoke from the war was clearing.

When he got back to Hogwarts, he was distant from his old mates though they seemed happy with it just as he was. He was told by the Ministry and by the Headmistress that he would need to do a lot of extra work to make up for his actions. He knew he needed to so he didn't put up a fight in the matter. The first three weeks were hard, he ate by himself and only spent time with people when he was working on the stupid Hogwarts Times. He decided to do an anonymous column to help people who needed advice. After some submissions, he was about ready to hand it to Granger and Lovegood.

It was currently a warm September Sunday evening. Most kids were hanging outside before they had to come inside, due to the curfew given to them. Draco was in the library where the team usually met to talk about their progress. He looked up and saw Hermione and Harry heading off to go somewhere, likely to get something to eat. Dinner was wrapping up but those two had been working so hard, they had almost missed. He wasn't really hungry, nor did he want to be around a lot of idiots in the Great Hall.

Looking over her shoulder, Hermione couldn't help but pity Draco. He was doing well in school but only because he was so isolated. None of his old friends were around and if they were, it seemed some rift had formed between them. While Hermione wasn't ready to trust Draco entirely, she was still hopeful that he could turn his life around. "I think our tribute to those we lost is going to turn out great." She mentioned to Harry as they headed down the stairs.