How did it feel? It felt like he was barely holding it together. She, of all people, should shun him. Or yell at him. Curse him. Spit at him. Take out her wand and blast him off the face of the earth. It was crushing guilt and relief and confusion all at once when he looked at Hermione Granger. The monotony of Draco's daily routine had become both a lifeline and a noose. But this new habit of grabbing morning coffee with Hermione Granger is quickly becoming a reason to get out of bed and is unfortunately forcing him to re-evaluate his inconsequential existence. Hermione is living her life in fragments, separate pieces scattered about, and she can't find a way to step back and let the full picture form. Why is morning coffee with Draco Malfoy the only thing that makes sense anymore? *cover art created by @eternallyreadinggoodthings

Hermione felt the pounding in her ears again. She would see him for the first time since the Great Hall, gaunt and stricken at the Slytherin table with his mother clutching his arm. She hadn't meant to look for him. Not in the corridors, not beneath the white sheets of the fallen, not on the way to the Chamber of Secrets with Ron, but she was a stupid girl.

"Wha-How-how did you do that?" Malfoy questioned furiously. I gave him a cocky smirk. "Just a few simple jinxes. Guess I'm not that much of a Mudblood after all, hm?" His brow furrowed. "No-you're still a Mudblood. Do you not know what Mudblood means?" Her Muggle brothers never thought anything odd of Lainey Fitzroy until finding out that she's a witch at age eleven. Determined to learn and succeed, Lainey goes to Hogwarts, where she meets an array of life changing people, like the famous Harry Potter, the notorious Draco Malfoy, and the ever-faithful Ginny Weasley. Lainey has a few secrets, though, some she doesn't even know about, along with a plethora of decisions to make as her years pass at Hogwarts. Cover made by my lovely sister. I do not own anything in the Harry Potter world. All rights to J.K. Rowling.