Okay so this is the first chapter of my first story and I hope you guys like it! Forgive me if it is awful, but please do not be too harsh in your reviews! Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I am not J.K Rowling unfortunately...

It was seventh year. The war was won by the light side the previous summer. Dumbledore was gone. Friends and loved ones were gone, but life still moved on. So there was the Golden Trio boarding the train to their final year at Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardry. Things were different though.

Harry still had not gotten over the fact that he had killed someone. Not someone, The Dark Lord. But that wasn't the only thing that he conquered. In a way, he had conquered death. He never really faced death, but the horcrux that lived in him had died, making him think he did too.

Ron was trying to move on from losing a brother. The family had come to realization that Fred was gone, but Ron still had nightmares about it. Not only did he lose a brother, but he lost the love of his life, Hermione Granger. He finally faced the reality that he and Hermione would never be more than friends. He loved her, but she didn't return the same kind of love.

And Hermione Granger had changed that summer more than the boys. She had obliviated her parent's memories and had sent them into hiding, so when she returned home after the final battle, she had nobody to talk to. She didn't want to bother Harry and Ron with her problems because she knew they had lost more than she. She could go find her parents and restore their memories if she wanted to, but Ron had lost a brother who would never be back. Harry had lost his innocence by using that dreaded Avada Kedavra curse and was suffering more than most. She thought back to the last few weeks of summer and remembered what had caused her change so much during the summer.

Hermione decided not to find her parents right away. She only had a few weeks of summer left and had no idea where to start looking. She knew they were in Australia, but had no idea what city. She didn't want to start her quest and not be able to finish it. Why hadn't she put a tracking spell on them? She asked herself that every day. She only had one year of school left and decided to start her search online and then when she graduated, she would start her search. She was going to spend this summer alone, or so she thought…

One day Hermione was working in her mother's garden, trying to make it look as beautiful as her mother did. It took her more time than her mother because she wasn't used to doing things like this without magic, but she was managing. She saw Crookshanks roaming around the back fence by the trash cans, when the cat suddenly ran back to the porch and tried to paw its way back into the house. Hermione wondered what got her cat in such frenzy so she went to investigate. What she found was something, or rather someone she wasn't expecting.

"Malfoy?!" she screeched. Draco Malfoy, son of Lord Voldermort's right hand man, nephew to his most loyal deatheater, heir to the Malfoy fortune, was sitting in the alley behind her parent's house in muggle London among the trash cans and did not smell very pleasant. 'What is he doing here?' she wondered.

He looked at her in utter shock. He was caught by Granger. How could he tell her he was hiding from his father and the Dark Lord's other followers who lived? Could he trust her? Would she tell Potter and Weasley? He knew if she told them, they wouldn't hesitate to turn him into the ministry. He hadn't done anything wrong during the war. After Dumbledore had died, he ran away and went into hiding. He could not stand the fact that Dumbledore was gone. Sure he couldn't stand the old bat, but still, when he was alive and headmaster, at least he knew he was safe. After Snape killed Dumbledore, he knew things were about to change. When he left Hogwarts, he never went home and did not plan on returning until his father and aunt were gone.

"Malfoy, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"Oh I don't know, just walking. I thought I dropped a few galleons so I was looking for them," he answered. He still didn't know if he could trust her, but by the look on her face, she wasn't buying his story.

"Tell me why Draco Malfoy, heir to the Malfoy fortune, would bother about dropping a few galleons. And why you are at it, please tell me why you smell so awful. When was the last time you took a shower?" she asked.

He had to tell her, he had no choice. Maybe she would help him. Maybe she would give him some money. Oh who was he kidding? After all the times he had called her mudblood and cursed her, why would she help him? Well the worst thing that would happen would be for her to laugh in his face, turn around and leave him to be on his way. He had been doing it for a month and a half already; he could handle it.

"Malfoy, seriously, what is wrong? We've been standing here for five minutes and you haven't shot an insult or curse at me. Are you feeling okay?"

"Well," he started, "Granger I am kind of in trouble." There, he had said it, part of it at least.

"What kind of trouble Malfoy?" She just had to ask him that question! 'How much can I tell her without telling her the whole truth?' he wondered.

"Granger I would rather not go into detail about it, but I am in hiding. Not from the ministry though." There, that was all he was telling her.

She stared at him with those big hazel eyes. He had never noticed how pretty they were before. Then he found himself looking at her, up and down. 'Hmm' he thought, 'she is rather pretty now. Has she always been this pretty?' He looked into her eyes again and saw something he hadn't expected. He saw compassion mixed with some curiosity. 'Is Granger feeling compassion for me? No she can't be.' The next words out of her mouth left him in disbelief.

"How can I help you?"

Author's Note: Just in case you were confused, the war took place at the end of sixth year in this story.