A/N: This is my very first fic that I'm writing and I'm super excited! I've been shipping Dramione for a while now and this idea just popped into my head. Story is pretty self-explanatory in the summary, but just an fyi, the timeline is in HBP, and it goes with the story. This first part is just the prologue of how they met. I think it's cute!
Anyways, I hope you guys like it, and also review if you can? :)
6 years before present day
September 1st – King's Cross Station
Hermione Granger stood on the edge of Platform 9¾ feeling oddly confused. It was her first real time interacting with…wizards and witches (the idea still seemed strange to her), and the experience was way too overwhelming. She felt completely out of place standing on the platform by herself wearing her…what was it called…oh yes…Muggle clothing.
It was a shame that neither of her parents could make it this morning – both had to attend a very important dentists' convention. It had something to do with a life-changing procedure and it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Hermione understood. But as she stood amongst the crowds of people, she wished that there was someone – anyone – that could help her. Truth be told, she was hopelessly lost.
From the corner of her eye, she spotted a young boy, maybe her age, standing by his lonesome too. Deciding that actually getting to the school on time was more important than her nerves, she approached the boy shyly.
"Hi," she squeaked when she got to an audible distance.
The boy, blonde haired and greyed eye, turned to Hermione and frowned. "Hi."
Hermione shifted nervously in her spot, her knuckles turning white from the death grip that she had on her trolley. "I was wondering if you could h-help me. I'm a bit lost…"
"Oh," said the boy, looking a bit taken back. "Is this your first time here?"
Hermione only managed a small nod before staring at her feet again.
How embarrassing!
She knew she should have paid more attention when Professor Dumbledore was talking to her about September 1st. Instead, throughout the length of their conversation, she had been working hard at mastering her magic abilities. This was her chance to do something extraordinary and she was going to do it right.
Sensing her nervousness, the blonde piped up again. "Don't worry. Father says that the train comes at 11 o'clock sharp, and there's only a few minutes left."
"Oh," Hermione replied, glancing at the clock. The boy was right; there were only a few minutes left before 11. After a few silent seconds, she turned to the boy and asked, "Where is your father?"
Hermione didn't know if it was here eyes playing tricks on her, or if it actually happened, but she could've sworn she saw the boy stiffened with anger.
"He and my mother had…previous commitments," he said angrily.
"Oh," was all Hermione could say again.
Thankfully, a loud blare, signalling the arrival of the train vibrated through the air and ended the awkward atmosphere that was settling between the pair. When the train came to a complete stop, Hermione saw the blonde haired boy heading for one of the doors. He climbed up a step and turned back to look at her.
"Well," he said. "Come on, now."
Scared of being left alone, Hermione quickly followed into the train. Because many of the other students were still saying goodbye to their family, her and the boy were one of the only people already wandering down the corridor. Hermione trailed behind him, careful not to get lost, and slipped into the compartment he had chosen.
She watched in awe as he flopped down onto the seat, comparing his nonchalance with her own stiff posture. The comparison seemed so ridiculous to her that she allowed herself to relax with comfort.
The boy smirked at her unease. "So, what's your name?"
Hermione felt flustered. The boy was kind of cute, not to mention the mischievous glint in his silver-coloured eyes. "H-Hermione," she replied, barely able to say it out loud. "Hermione Granger."
"Granger? That's an odd wizarding name."
Confused, Hermione cocked her head to the side.
"I guess you must be foreign or something the," the boy continued. "No matter. I'm Draco. Draco Malfoy."
"Nice to meet you, Draco Malfoy," Hermione said, putting on her biggest smile.
Draco's smirk grew bigger and he sat upright, leaning against the window for support. The light of the sun shone through the window and reflected off his hair so magnificently that they almost looked transparent. Hermione had never seen someone with such a naturally neat head of hair before – or maybe she was just blinded by the unruliness of her own mane.
"It's my first year too," Draco told her proudly.
Hermione nodded, thinking of how lucky she was to find someone like her on the first day. Maybe they could be friends, and she wouldn't be alone for long.
"Have you already thought about which house you want to be sorted into?" he asked.
"Uh, not really," Hermione admitted.
She had read all about the school, Hogwarts, in the book Hogwarts: a History but never really thought about which of the four houses she could be sorted into. To her, they all seemed the same and all she wanted was to make some new friends and of course learn, learn and learn.
Draco regarded her with a quizzical expression. "Well, I want to be in Slytherin. Everyone knows that's the best house."
Hermione shifted in her seat. "I read that the other houses are pretty good too."
"The other houses?" Draco scoffed. "You can't be serious. Are you telling me that those spineless Hufflepuffs, brainy Ravenclaws and stupid Gryffindors are pretty good?"
"Uh…"
Their conversation was interrupted by a tap on the glass door of the train compartment.
"Anything off the trolley, dears?"
Thinking back to how she didn't get enough Galleons because her parents couldn't work out the money exchange system, Hermione shook her head. Draco, however, pulled out a big bag filled with coins and started picking things off the cart.
When he sat back down, he laid the bunch of treats next to him and handed Hermione a Chocolate Frog. "Want?"
Hermione shook her head. She wasn't going to eat something that she hasn't before and make an even bigger fool of herself.
Draco shrugged and opened a box of jellybeans, stuffing a few into his mouth. "You really must be bonkers. My family has been in Slytherin for centuries and you can take my word for it that it's the best house. Were your parents in Slytherin?"
"Uh…I don't know," Hermione said. She wasn't entirely sure whether or not she should tell Draco that her parents had never even heard of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry until she got the letter a few months ago.
"You don't know?" Draco repeated confusedly.
"We don't talk about it much." Hermione squirmed, unable to look at the blonde who was now watching her intently.
"Huh. Strange parents. Well, what do they do? Father's a school governor at Hogwarts, quite an important job, if you ask me."
"My parents?" Hermione thought for a second. A dentist isn't such an unusual job. Wizard or no wizard, everyone needs their teeth fixed once in a while, right? "They're dentists."
Draco made a face. "Dentists? What on earth are those?"
Uh oh, wrong play Hermione.
"They're people who fix your teeth," she replied, hoping he'd understand.
"Isn't that some sort of Muggle job?"
"Yes but—
"What do wizards need Muggle jobs for? Even blood-traitors like those filthy Weasleys don't have – wait. You're parents aren't Muggles, are they?"
The way he said it made Hermione self-conscious. It was almost as if there was something wrong with being Muggles. She remembered how Professor Dumbledore had said that it was perfectly natural – and common – for kids without magic parents to be witches or wizards and that there was nothing wrong with her. Had he lied?
When Hermione didn't reply, realization dawned on Draco's face.
"You're a Muggle-born. Your parents…they aren't magic, are they?"
Hermione couldn't bring herself to look at her. The way he made her feel by saying that…she felt so much more out of place than she had before. "That's okay, isn't it?"
The look on Draco's face proved her guess – it wasn't okay. At least, to him it wasn't okay. But the answer he delivered baffled her.
"Yeah, it's okay."
Feeling as if a great weight has been lifted off her chest, Hermione looked up and offered a small smile. Draco smiled his lopsided grin in return. They two sat in silence for a while, each looking out the window, thinking their own thoughts – Hermione, about how maybe Hogwarts would be better than she expected and Draco, about how maybe his father was wrong about Muggle-borns. Neither of them noticed when the door slid open and two more students walked in. The girl sat beside Draco, while the boy gave Hermione an appraising look and then decided to sit in the empty seat beside her.
"Draco! We've been looking everywhere for you. My mum wanted to say goodbye to you before the train left," the dark-haired girl said, tugging on Draco's sleeve.
Draco waved a hand dismissively. "You can send her my regards when the owl posts arrive at Hogwarts."
The dark-skinned boy beside Hermione paid no attention to their exchange and turned to Hermione instead. "Who're you?"
"That's Hermione Granger," Draco replied. "She's a first-year too."
Hermione didn't fail to notice how he left out the part about her parents being Muggles.
"Oh, really? Maybe we can be friends. But only if you're in Slytherin, okay?" the boy said, winking at her.
She grimaced and Draco laughed nervously. At that moment, the sliding door opened again and a chubby face poked through the sliver.
"Has anyone seen a frog?"
The train compartment remained silent as the four kids stared at him.
"What does it look like?" Hermione blurted out, earning peculiar glances from the boy and the girl and a troubled look from Draco.
"Well, his name's Trevor…"
Out of impulse, Hermione stood up abruptly. "I'll help you look."
As she reached the door, she realized that none of the others got up and offered help. When she turned around, she found that all three of them were staring at her.
"I guess I'll see you when we get to Hogwarts, then," she said, looking at Draco.
She wished that he would get up and say that he would help too, but that seemed very unlikely. True to her word, Draco nodded and went back to looking out the window.
Following Neville down the corridor, Hermione scanned her surroundings for any sign of a frog, occasionally stopping at compartments and looking in. The more she walked, the more frustrated she got. There were too many things confusing her, like Draco's reaction to her being a Muggle-born and his hesitation to help Neville. It doesn't hurt, being helpful, does it?
By the time she neared the end of the train, Hermione was too confused and upset to think properly. Without meaning to, she slid open the next door harder than she expected.
"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she asked, rather haughtily.
The two boys sitting in the section turned to look at her in surprise.
"We've already told him we haven't seen it," the red headed boy replied, his wand quivering in mid-air.
"Oh, are you doing magic?" Hermione asked, staring at his wand. Maybe if she proved herself capable of doing magic just like any other kids on this train, she wouldn't get the same reaction for being a Muggle-born from everyone else. "Let's see it then."
Taking a seat next to the boy, Hermione looked at him expectantly.
"Er, all right," he said, clearing his throat. "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."
They waited a while, but nothing happened.
"Are you sure that's a real spell?" Hermione asked. Even she could do better than that. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practise and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard – I learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough – I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"
She let it all out in a rush, waiting for their reaction. To her surprise – and delight – neither of them cringed when she had said that nobody in her family was magic, but they both did have a very stunned expression on their faces. Maybe they were impressed.
"I'm Ron Weasley," the red-haired boy replied.
Hermione remember Draco saying something about the Weasley family being blood-traitors, but she couldn't be sure if he was talking about the same person. Then again, she had no idea what blood-traitor meant in the first place.
"Harry Potter," said the other boy.
"Are you really?" gasped Hermione. "I know all about you, of course, I got a few extra books for background reading and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."
"Am I," replied Harry, less excited than Hermione had hoped. She hoped that maybe that would've struck some common ground between her and the two boys, and maybe they could be friends.
Well, I'm not very good at making friends today, now am I, she thought glumly to herself.
"Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it were me," she said. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad." She didn't mention Slytherin because as she found out, many kids weren't so fond of the house. "Anyways, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."
With a curt nod, Hermione turned and walked out of the compartment. She didn't know what had gotten into her. She had never sounded so arrogant or intellectual before in her life, but when she was in there, she had this dying urge to prove herself. It was easier than she had expected and most of the kids weren't as well read as she was, so what was the problem? It seemed to her like she couldn't be a bad wizard without being judged, or a good wizard without being judged. And that whole thing with Gryffindor…true it sounded like a spectacular house, but like she said before, they all sounded the same and she couldn't fight that little nagging wish inside of her to be in Slytherin as well.
"Hermione?" called Neville, a few feet away. "Are you coming?"
Shaking her head, and dumping her thoughts, she grudgingly followed Neville down the rest of the corridor.
Maybe Neville could be her friend.