Prologue

I'm looking through you
Where did you go?
I thought I knew you
What did I know?
You don't look different,
But you have changed.
I'm looking through you.
You're not the same
The Beatles - "I'm Looking Through You"

They had known each other since they were toddlers. They attended private school together, explored their neighborhood together. At one point, when they became around the age that things start to kick in in their minds about the opposite sex, they stayed away from each other and told others they hated the other. How could they hate each other? It was easier to express hatred than friendship for fear of rejection when they got so close that they felt more than friendship between themselves. Eventually they grew back together, drawn by the other's brain and cunning. They never ran out of things to talk about. They were sworn to secrecy by their parents when they received their letters, informing them of their academic destination for the next seven years, informing them of the powers that they always knew brewed from within. It was the powers that actually drew them together.

Lucius Malfoy pulled Draco to the side one evening as they were about to enjoy dinner together. Lucius felt uneasy addressing his son about the Mudblood he'd been playing with since he were a young boy. Everyday that Lucius caught sight of his son traipsing about with Hermione Granger, Lucius filled with anger. He felt the magical connection growing between the two. Lucius once again filled with that same anger when his son returned late to dinner that evening, having spent the day with the Mudblood and her Muggle parents. Crentists? Who has ever heard of such a ridiculous profession.

"Father?" Draco looked up imploringly at his father. Draco noticed his brow wrinkling in anger as the seconds grew into minutes.

"Hmm?"

"You said you wanted to speak with me," he replied. He brushed a fleck of dirt off of his trousers, having caroused in the grass with Hermione for the last hour. Bursting with wizard pride, he confessed to his friend where he would be attending school for the next seven years. He became concerned when he saw her eyes well with tears.

"Hermione? What's the matter?" he asked, bending his face towards her. A cool breeze occasionally blew through the leaves in the woods where they often explored, shaded from the summer heat. That was when he jumped back in surprise as Hermione covered his mouth with hers. When he looked at her face, she was smiling brightly at him.

"What was that for?" he demanded in mock anger.

"You fool! I got in, too!" she cried out. This time, Draco was prepared. When she leapt into his arms, he caught her and they fell to the ground, snogging until Draco realized he was late for supper. He gave her a kiss on the forehead before running off to his house. When he returned home, he was yanked by his arm into the study by his father.

"Draco, you need to stop with this nonsense," Lucius growled quietly.

Draco didn't believe he heard his father correctly.

"I'm sorry. What was that?" he asked him.

"Nonsense!" he roared at Draco. "Do not act ignorant! You know what goes on in this household. You know what we stand for! We do not tolerate Mudbloods! And you can no longer carouse with this Mudblood. And-" Lucius stops in the middle of his sentence. He thought it was a shadow that grazed his son's collarbone, but then he realized that the shadows weren't playing tricks on him.

Draco's heart thudded when he realized what his father spotted. Earlier, when he crossed the foyer into the dining room, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. Bits of her dirt and grass were embedded into his pale blonde hair. A flush peeked out from his cheek and his lips were swollen from Hermione's aggressive mouth tugging at his lips. Then his eyes caught something at the opening of the collar of his shirt. A faint bruise was visible on his collarbone. Draco hastily covered the bite mark with his shirt. Draco's throat became constricted as Lucius grabbed at his son's throat.

"How dare you!" he shouted, his face mere inches from his son.

"What do you want me to do? What do you expect me to do?" Draco cried out.

"Don't disgrace me!" he shouted. "You can give up the Mudblood and fulfill your destiny of becoming a Slytherin."

Color drained from his son's face. He had loosened his grip on him, but he had a feeling it was something from within him breaking, and not his windpipe. Defeated, Draco slumped his shoulders and nodded gravely.

Hermione returned home delighted, unaware of anything happening at the Malfoy mansion. Wild haired and warm, Hermione returned home to mashed potatoes and cod. Her parents badgered her about her day, but Hermione artfully dodged the questions like a professional. Her parents informed her that they would be sending her to get her books in London the following day. Hermione wondered if Draco would like to join her.

Before Hermione could even think of picking up the phone to dial his home, there was a tap at her window like the sound of a pebble hitting the glass. Tap! There it was again. Hermione pulled back her curtains and peered into the dark yard below. She pushed open the window, the light from the alley shining on Draco. A smile instantly crept to her lips.

"Can you come down a moment? I'd like to speak with you," he called out quietly.

Hermione nodded and without a word, shut the window and the curtain. She pulled on a zip-up hooded sweater over her nightgown, crept down the stairs and slipped quietly out the back door. She beamed from the porch at Draco standing under her window still.

Hermione sauntered up to him. "Well, hello." She moved her face to kiss him. He pulled back. It was only then that Hermione looked at his eyes and noticed they didn't have the warm glow to hem anymore. The light seemed to have gone out of them in the last few hours.

"Are you okay?" she asked, brushing the hair from his eyes.

"What do you care, Mudblood?" he asked her.

"What?" she recalled Draco called some people at school that he disliked greatly a Mudblood, but she never knew what it meant.

"You heard me. You're shit. I wish you had never kissed me," he replied, trying to dig deep for the most hurtful words he could find. "I think your parents think you're a freak, don't they?"

Hermione felt her lungs tighten. "N-no?"

"Don't sound so sure of yourself," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Don't you ever talk to me again, you hear? You're no good. I wish I never met you."

Hermione reached down and gripped a smooth rock in her hand. With all the might in her body, she hurled the rock at Draco's head, hitting him between the eyes. Hermione's own anger clouded her judgment as she stormed back into the house, never looking back at Draco. But one must question, if he really changed his feelings towards little Miss Granger, shouldn't he have retaliated? Only time will tell.