I'm back! Hope you enjoy the chapter. Thanks a lot to Kayla and Aashna for helping me with the correction!

Chapter 2

Well you look like yourself / But you're somebody else / Only it ain't on the surface.

Flora Cash - You're somebody else

HERMIONE

Hermione entered the office of her superior, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, John Scholz. Scholz had been transferred to the English Ministry of Magic from Germany a year earlier, where he was a star auror. In Munich he had been as well known as a celebrity at only twenty-six. His track record as an auror was flawless. Hermione knew it and for that she respected him.

Things had changed a lot in the last three years. She did not return to Hogwarts for an eighth year, as many of her classmates had. She only had to sit for her final year exams in order to graduate from Hogwarts. She then immediately began working at the Ministry of Magic as a member of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She worked closely with the Auror Office, of which Harry and Ron were part. All three had gained great recognition after the second Wizarding War when Harry had finally finished off Voldemort, restoring peace to the Wizarding World.

"How are you, Hermione?" Scholz greeted her.

It still seemed strange to her that he addressed her by her name. It took her some time to get used to doing it too, it seemed almost disrespectful to talk like that to her boss. She was used to keeping a certain distance from everyone in the Ministry.

Still, she recognized that Scholz's youth was a good enough reason for him to feel that he could be friends with her. After all, Hermione was recognized as one of the best witches in the entire UK.

"I am well, thank you," she replied. "And how are you doing Mr. Scholz?"

John looked up for a moment, about to ask her —once again— to call him John, but he decided against it. He smiled softly and let it go. Scholz was handsome, really handsome. He had blond hair, dark eyes, and an oval face with a perfect, well-groomed beard. Hermione knew he was tall, although most of the time she only saw him sitting in his office chair. She walked over to him and Scholz handed her an envelope.

"I'm fine too. Here you go, Hermione, it's the newest addition of PROFSDAR."

She grabbed the envelope, nodding. She had heard that it would be her job to take care of the rehabilitation of a former Death Eater and she had slept very little that night, imagining what it would be like to help another former Death Eater rejoin the magical community

"Who?" She asked.

"A young boy," Scholz replied. "The project comes from the Auror Office, it was supposed to be Potter's responsibility but I'm afraid he has managed to get rid of it. He said that he did not think it was appropriate to be his guardian on the project."

Hermione clicked her tongue. Harry was usually the most professional person at his job, what happened to him to reject such a project? She had to admit that neither he nor Ron had much desire to participate in PROFSDAR, the animosity they felt towards the Death Eaters was greater than the faith they had that rehabilitation was possible. Hermione was different: she believed that some former Death Eaters could change, she firmly believed that. But she knew that there were very few who could do it and even fewer who deserved a chance to try.

She opened the envelope silently. What could be so serious that Harry would have rejected the case? She was not too happy to do work that was not originally intended for her.

She pulled the first paper out the envelope and a chill ran through her. It was a photo, a photo that she would recognize at any time in her life, even if fifty years had passed. That blonde hair, those cold gray eyes... Draco had dark circles and an expression of utter apathy in that photograph, as if he had been forced to take it. And Hermione suspected that it had been.

"He's some Draco Malfoy boy, do you know him?" Scholz asked, then he continued speaking. "He is the son of Lucius Malfoy... yes, I have heard of them. They were a thing to see during the war, or so I have been told."

Scholz had only arrived a year ago, so he had only been able to hear gossip or read newspaper articles to understand the reality of the Malfoys. That wouldn't be enough, he hadn't been there, he'd never know what a Malfoy really was before the war.

Hermione closed her eyes for a moment, barely hearing Scholz's voice, who kept talking about the few things he knew about one of the most important pureblood wizarding families, at least until three years ago. And she couldn't believe it, she had to be the one to help Draco Malfoy. Precisely her.

It took her several seconds to be able to speak, and when she did, she interrupted Scholz, though she didn't even realise she had just done it.

"Harry knew the case would come to me?" She asked.

Because if Potter knew... she swore he was going to find out...

"Of course not. He just turned it down, but Draco Malfoy could have been assigned to anyone in the Security Department, there are dozens of options available." Scholz noticed something was troubling the witch's mind and narrowed his eyes. "Is there a problem, Hermione? Something happens?"

Yes, there was a problem. That helping Malfoy wasn't an option, it never had been. But she couldn't do what Harry had done before: reject him. What if everyone, one by one, refused to treat Malfoy? Scholz would probably think they were a bunch of incompetent aurors who didn't have the guts to face Malfoy, who had only been a kid during the war. A Death Eater, yes, but also a kid.

Draco Malfoy was one of those guys who stood right on the line between deserving a chance to remain in society and deserving a life sentence in Azkaban. But which one would tilt the scales?

"No, it's fine," she replied. "I'll take Malfoy's case."

She couldn't even believe that she really had just said that, that those words had left her mouth. Did she feel pity for Malfoy? If no one wanted to take his case, that wasn't her problem... but she, in a way, felt compelled to accept it.

She wasn't in this job to get involved with Death Eaters that she liked. She did it to ensure that there was a chance that some of these people could rehabilitate. Hermione strongly believed in second chances. That is why she had decided to enter the Security Department.

"Good luck, Hermione."

She managed to fake a smile and, focusing on walking without hesitation, Hermione took Draco Malfoy's envelope between her fingers and walked out of Scholz's office. She tried to take a deep breath and got on one of the elevators that took her to the penultimate floor of the Ministry: Communications with Azkaban.

Hermione Granger walked down the dark, empty corridor of the Ministry. The floor was black and shiny, perfectly clean. Hardly anyone went up to that floor, who would need to communicate with Azkaban? There were no people working in that jail, just dementors. A small handful of officials could go sporadically to Azkaban to leave prisoners there, to grant an important visit or, as in this case, to free someone.

It didn't usually happen, few people left Azkaban. Perhaps because many lost their minds and died right there. Hermione flipped through the documents Scholz had given her. She read some important facts: Draco Malfoy, born in 1980, sentenced to three years in the magical Azkaban prison for practicing dark magic, performing Unforgivable Curses, being part of the Death Eater organization... the list was huge, reflecting every little crime he had ever committed. She knew them all without having to read that paper. She had known him since they were children, almost from the first time she had discovered there was magic inside of her.

She made it to the end of the hall, then opened the last door. She entered the room and it was obvious that they had already been waiting there for a few minutes. This illustrious and spacious room was the only room in the entire Ministry of Magic where someone could apparate to and from Azkaban. The only spot that connected both places, as if they were the two ends of a long thread.

She first noticed the official accompanying him, first of all. She didn't feel ready to see him.

"Ferdinand..." she greeted.

Ferdinand nodded politely.

"Miss Granger."

And then she knew she couldn't put it off any longer. A few seconds was the only time she had been able to gain. Hermione took a deep breath and she turned her head towards Draco Malfoy. What she found surprised her as much as if she had suddenly found someone else there instead of Draco Malfoy. And, in a way, it was like that. That tall white figure was very slim, much slimmer than he had been three years ago. She kept her eyes on the Azkaban's uniform, which Hermione did not approve of at all. It seemed to her that those clothes dehumanized the prisoners of Azkaban: the jumpsuit was so old that it seemed that the striped suit had been in use since the very year the prison was built. She was afraid to get to his face, really afraid. What was she going to find there?

She swallowed hard as she moved her eyes upward. She saw a light, ragged beard, almost as white as his hair. It wasn't long, but she had never seen Draco Malfoy with a beard and that was not what she expected to see. His hair was slightly longer than it had been three years ago, touching his chin, straight and tousled. His face was still symmetrical and angular, although his cheekbones were much more pronounced than before, due to the thinness, and he had deep dark circles. His eyes were the same as ever: gray, cold, insensitive. Cruel

She could see in Malfoy's eyes the same surprise that, no doubt, she had reflected on her face a few minutes before, after receiving the news that he would be the Death Eater she would have to help. That surprise took several seconds to fade, but it finally did, and his eyes ended up looking as uninterested as they used to look during his years at Hogwarts: as if nothing mattered and nothing had any effect on him.

"I must go," Ferdinand announced. "Do you want me to remove the handcuffs, Miss Granger?"

Hermione noticed those magical handcuffs that binded Draco's wrists, looking like a million of bright white threads. It was terrible, it seemed like an unnecessary torture but all the Department officials who came to Azkaban frequently placed them on all the prisoners, as if they were afraid not to. Draco Malfoy had just been released on a conditional basis, of course he shouldn't have to remain handcuffed like a prisoner.

"Yes, yes, please," she said quickly.

The man held his wand and looked at Draco with some sort of warning on his face, as if Draco was going to rebel against two members of the Ministry's Department of Magical Security. Hermione found herself wondering if that could ever happen, maybe Malfoy was crazy enough to do something like that.

The reality was that, after three years, she no longer knew anything about him. Absolutely nothing.

Who had Draco Malfoy become?

See you very soon! Thanks a lot to starcrossreylo, esterlita, louann0217, ditte3, lilliangoes and Aryvel for your reviews/comments :)