A/N: Okay guys here it is my very first fanfic story! It's taken me a really long time to get up the courage to write this. I'm not too fond of long A/N's so don't expect many from me.

I own nothing but the plot for this story. All Harry Potter characters belong to JKR. I'm just borrowing them for my own pleasure. LOL

Chapter 1- What is this feeling?

"I can't believe we're actually going back."

Harry looked over at his best friend who was at the moment stuffing the remaining chocolate frogs he had gotten off the trolley into his mouth.

"I…kfrow da eelin mate" Ron managed to get out.

"I'm sorry..what was that Ron?" Hermione asked with a somewhat disgusted look on her face.

"I said..I know the feeling mate. Geez 'Mione I would have thought you could understand my "mouth-ful lingo" after 6 years of friendship." Ron actually looked hurt that Hermione didn't seem to understand everything about him.

Ignoring Ron's pouting, Hermione turned to continue her conversation with Harry. "How are you feeling about going back Harry? I know it's probably going to be pretty difficult with all the attention you're sure to get after defeating Voldemort."

"I know. Right now though I'm just too excited about returning to Hogwarts to get down too much about people bugging me. Six months ago if you had told me that we'd be sitting here on the train heading back to Hogwarts I would have laughed in your face. For once in my life I'll actually be able to have a normal year without looking over my shoulder every five minutes waiting for Tom or some random Death Eater to try and kill me. I can finally just be a normal 7th year with my biggest worry being my NEWT scores.

"Oh Harry! I'm so happy for you." Hermione lunged at the dark haired boy and wrapped him up in a tight embrace.

"Erm..thanks 'Mione…I couldn't have done it without you guys' help." Hemione's random bursts of affection always surprised Harry, and he wasn't exactly sure how to react, so he just awkwardly patted her shoulder. Ron looked on with a range of emotions flickering across his face, going from shock to confusion, to jealousy, to sympathy. Harry couldn't decide which one was more funny.

"So Harry…have you decided what classes you're going to take yet? I know you didn't get the required O in your O.W.L's to take potions but you could try and talk to McGonagall and maybe she could convince Snape to let you take his class." Leave it up to Hermione to ease the tension by getting back on the topic of classes.

"Yeah I was thinking about talking to her, but I'm not even sure if I want to be an auror anymore so whether or not I get into the class isn't really too important."

"WHAT?!?! Whatdoya mean you don't want to be an auror? You've ALWAYS wanted to be an auror mate!" Ron's outburst was to be expected.

"I just don't know whether or not I want to spend the rest of my life fighting the evil that's already claimed most of my life. I just kinda want a break from that lifestyle."

"That's completely understandable Harry. You definitely deserve a break. Doesn't he Ron?" The glare Hermione sent Ron's way begged him to argue.

"Sure mate…completely understandable!" he readily agreed.

"Thanks for understanding guys. It means a lot."

A short time later the trio changed into their school robes as the train pulled into Hogsmeade station. As they descended from the train Harry looked around the small village taking in the view as if for the first time. He found a new appreciation for the place after believing that he would never see it again 6 months ago.

His reminiscing was abruptly broken by Ron pulling on his sleeve. "Come on guys lets go grab a carriage before they're all filled."

The ride up to the castle was fairly uneventful. Everyone was anxious to be reunited after the horrors of the previous year. Upon entering the Great Hall for the welcoming feast Harry was enveloped by greetings and cheers from his fellow Gryffindors. Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas dragged him into a lively debate about the upcoming Quidditch season. Neville was showing off his new Monkshood plant he'd acquired during his vacation in Australia over the summer. Colin Creevey was busy snapping off as many pictures as he could. Overall the usual solmness attitude of the past 6 years was gone and replaced with lighthearted cheerfulness in everyone. Even the Slytherin table seemed more welcoming than usual.

As Harry looked over the hall his gaze landed on the blond headed lanky form of Draco Malfoy. The gray eyed Slytherin gave Harry a barely noticible nod, which he returned then turned his attention back to Pansy Parkinson. No one seemed to notice the interaction between the two.

The years of animosity and hatred that the two teens had once shared was gone. When the Malfoy family joined the Light Side just before the war ended there became a somewhat tentative relationship between the two boys. You really couldn't call it a friendship but it was far from their former enemy status. The risk that the Malfoy's took in order to spy on Voldemort made Harry grow to respect them. It bothered him tremendously that they refused to have their help in the war acknowledged. There was really nothing he could do to change their minds so he vowed to forget about it and respect their wishes.

After everyone had gotten eaten their fill their turned their attention towards the head table where Dumbledore was just getting up to make his speech.

"Welcome back students! Both new and old. It's a pleasure seeing all your faces once again under such happy circumstances. I'm sure you're all anxious to get up to your dorms so you can get a good nights rest for your classes tomorrow"…here there was a collective groan from all the tables…Dumbledore chuckled, "so I won't make a long speech. I hope now that the danger is past us we can all continue the unity that was shown during the troubling times. On that note..Goodnight."

Everyone got up to make their way to their respective common rooms. On the way up Ginny fell into step beside Harry.

"Hi Harry," she smiled up at him.

"Hey Ginny, happy to be back?"

"Yeah it's great being back here don't you think? I'm sure this year will be a lot happier than the last. Well hopefully not everything about last year will change." At this statement she glanced nervously over at him.

Harry knew what she was getting at. Their relationship had been put on hold over the summer for obvious reasons, but they hadn't discussed it since the final battle. It wasn't really that he didn't want to continue the relationship, he just didn't really have much time to focus on it. He still liked Ginny, but there was just this nagging feeling in the back of his mind that something didn't feel right. He pushed that thought away for the time being. It wasn't fair to Ginny to not give them a fair chance, furthermore it wasn't fair to him either. He deserved a shot at being happy too.

"Don't worry Ginny, some things about last year definitely haven't changed." He gave her a small smile and grasped her hand firmly in his. As he saw the bright smile that lit up her face he knew that he'd made the right decision by giving them a chance.

While he was focusing on Ginny, he failed to notice the frown on a certain Slytherin's face as he made his way towards the dungeons.

A/N

Hope you liked this first chapter. Please review and tell me what you think and whether or not I should continue. All constructive criticism is welcome!