So Dramionie fans, I'm back! i know, i know, what took me so long? right? well I'll tell you. i have had this story around for a few weeks, but i wanted to have enough chapters so that i could surprise you with frequent updates. your welcome! well hope you enjoy it. don't forget the review button at the bottom!

~FlamingRose

She was never one for trains, but when the time came for her to ride one to school every year, she had grown used to the whole thing. She was always antsy on trains. She felt she should move about and be useful, but there was never anything to do. She mounted the train. From all directions she received stares. Stares of awe, malice, envy, even of embarrassment or excitement. She tried to ignore them, but it was difficult. she wasn't used to this. There was a reason Harry was the friend who got all the publicity. She didn't like it. she couldn't handle it. Yes, Harry was her best friend. Yes, she was aware of all that happened at the ministry the year before. No, she didn't want to talk about it, especially not with a member of the press. She hurried past all the stares and ran onto platform nine and three quarters. She knew she would only get more stares here, but she didn't think it would be as bad as the first years and their parents lingering outside the magical threshold. At least she knew these gaping faces. She was wrong. It was worse.

She searched desperately for Ron and Harry. She couldn't find them. She felt holes being burnt into her back from prying eyes. She kept her head down as she walked onto the platform. She saw a flash. Someone had taken a picture. She saw another one. she looked up to find a herd of photographers and reporters, like lions on the prowl, and she was the isolated zebra. She looked about nervously. She took a few steps. They followed her, circled her. one abrupt move and she was going to be ambushed. She slowly and deliberately made her way to the train. She heard whispers. "it's that Granger girl, Potter's friend." "do you really think there is something between them?" "rumor has it they were caught in a broom closet once." She walks in a straight line towards the train. They are closing in on her. she quickens her pace. They match her step. She can't take it anymore. she bolts and takes a run for it. she leaves her trunk with the conductor and just runs. She runs as far and as fast as she can. They follow her. she sprints, and they take after the chase, flashing cameras everywhere, questions from all directions. She won't listen. She jumps onto the train. A few reporters hastily pay students to get information on "The Granger Girl". Without hesitation they run after her with questions. She searches for a place to hide, anywhere. She sees a compartment marked "private", runs in, and locks the door behind her. the blind is drawn and she rests her head against the door, waiting in anticipation to hear the shuffling feet go away. She hears their running and then they keep going, missing her position. She relaxed and the tension in her body was replaced with relief.

"What are you doing in here?" said a sharp voice behind her, "It's labeled private for a reason." She turned around to be faced by Draco Malfoy with a peculiar look on his face as he protectively and tightly held onto his arm as if protecting it from the elements of the cruel world. He had a murderous look on his face that made it clear she was not welcome here. She was shocked and blubbering and lost for words. She didn't expect to see him here, and she couldn't seem to stop staring at his arm.

"I-I um," she stuttered as she tried to collect herself.

"What's the matter with you Granger, can't you talk?" he said harshly. He followed her gaze to his arm and hastily let go of it and moved it to the other side of him so as to keep it out of her view.

"What are you staring at? Never seen an arm before?"

"I'm sorry," she said meekly.

"You should be," he said venomously, "how dare you barge in here." She snapped her head up and stared at him defiantly.

"well I'm just looking for somewhere to sit peacefully. Is that a crime?" it was his turn to be taken aback. He stayed silent. She was satisfied with his shock.

"Well I can understand that," he said softly, looking down at the floor.

"go ahead, have a seat," he said as he gestured to the seat across from him. She looked at him blankly as he returned her gaze steadily and unchanging. She hesitated.

"you, you mean you want me to sit there?" she asked dumbly.

" yes, I don't see why not," he said calmly. She took a few jerking steps towards the seat, not sitting down, and wondering if it was all a joke.

"Are you broken?" he asked her rhetorically, "sit down. You're making me nervous." She sat down on the edge of her seat. She looked nervously at him, and then away, not sure what to do or what to say.

"It's okay, you can relax," he told her as he himself uncoiled and lounged in his seat lazily. She scooted back and rested her back and her head on the cushioned seat. She looked out of the blind of the private room, carefully so as not to draw attention to the window and looked nervously down below at the sea of reporters. It was disgusting, how they were looking in windows, trying to catch a glimpse of a story, any story. The filthy muckrakers. They ought to be ashamed of themselves. She was so preoccupied in staying hidden from the press she did not notice the young Malfoy watching her.

"Is something worrying you Granger?" he asked, with curiosity and almost concern. Her eyes flitted nervously to him and back to the window. She looked like a twitching nervous wreck.

"What are you looking at?" he asked her firmly and with curiosity brimming over the surface. He scooted to the window and peeked out of the blinds. He saw the swarm of people, the amoeba called the press. His eyes looked to her nervous face and back at the swarm of hunters.

"Are they who you're hiding from?" he asked her. she nodded mutely. Her eyes shifted about the room. He let go of the blind letting the view of the press disappear behind it.

"Did they ambush you?" she nodded again, biting her lip.

"What is it they want to know this time?" she shifted her gaze around the room and then back to him. She didn't answer. He studied her face and nodded in understanding. He got up from his seat and opened his trunk. He rummaged through it as if searching for something and then closed it, not finding what he was looking for. She watched him confused and curious of what he was doing as he looked under the seat, on his robes, around the room, on the window, the blinds, the door, the shelves, the small cracks in the compartment, everywhere. Then he turned to her and sort of smiled. not his usual sneer or smirk, but smile. He came towards her. she shifted in her seat not knowing what to expect and fearing the worst. He silently came and sat down next to her leaving an ample amount of space between them respecting her personal bubble.

"It's okay, you can talk." He said, "I checked. No fruit fly animaguses. It's safe." Her lips parted in a small smile. So he knew about that did he?

"so why were they bothering you?" he asked.

"well," she started off softly. She cleared her throat and began again.

"They wanted to know everything, just like they always do."

"Like what?"

"They want to know if I was at the ministry," she said. She looked at him and saw he was patiently watching her waiting for the rest of the story. She continued, her voice getting more hysterical and angry and loud as the list went on.

"they want to know if I knew about any of the things going on in the ministry, did I know anyone the prophecy spoke of besides Harry Potter, could I recognize any of the death eaters who attacked us and were they part of the ministry, were they big influences on the ministry, did they have money, did I have any kind of sexual relationship with Harry Potter, what about that time you were in the broom closet with him Miss Granger? What about the fellow Ron? Do you think Harry is just a publicity scare for Voldemort to get a big splash, a big bang? And my personal favorite, how does that make you feel?"

He looked at her patiently, understanding, amused, and not at all Malfoy-ish.

"well," he said, adjusting his position slightly, "I wouldn't worry about them. Just don't answer. Even though it does make them talk more. I find it works most of the time with a lot of patience. They get bored easily. Short attention spans." He smiled at her like they shared some sort of secret, and she couldn't help but join in with her own smile. His smile was contagious. He studied her face, almost intensely like he was trying to memorize every line and curve. He was closer than she remembered, a little too close for comfort, and she didn't like the way she found herself staring at his own features; his nose, his defined jaw, his soft lips… she sat up and stared ahead and he looked away and down as he repositioned himself to be farther from her. The train jolted to a start and went into motion.

"Why are you being so nice to me?' she asked not looking at him. She thought she heard him sort of chuckle before he answered.

"Honestly?" he asked her. She nodded slightly and hesitantly, not sure whether or not she wanted to hear his answer.

"Because when you ran in here, you looked scared, and frustrated, and tired." He said quietly to her even though he was staring at the ground.

"I've seen that look before. On my mother's face when my dad gets in some kind of press scandal or when I make a fool out of myself."

"I see it on my own face a lot lately." He added softly, barely audible. She turned her head slowly to look at him. His head was hanging down, tired. His shoulders were slumped, tired. His eyes closed, tired. His hands folded loosely, tired. He was so tired. He looked as if he was just tired from whatever happened to him every day. She didn't know what that was, but she could tell it was taking a lot out of him. If not that, then something else, but whatever this thing was it was sucking the life out of him mercilessly.

She reached a hand out, carefully, slowly, cautiously, tentatively. She didn't know what to say, but she felt like she needed to help somehow. Her hand wavered in the air for what felt like forever until she finally decided what to do with it. she softly put her hand on his loosely folded ones. Her hand was so lightly placed there he barely even felt its weight. He looked at her from his position and saw she was still staring at her hand on his, trying to figure out what in all of hell, heaven, earth, and purgatory she was thinking. He looked back at her hand and slowly intertwined his fingers with hers, not sure himself what he was doing or what possessed him to do such a thing. He hated Granger. Why was he doing this? if his father saw him, if any of them saw him right now, he would be dead, but he couldn't help but stroke her hand with his thumb as he intertwined his fingers with hers.

Why she was sitting shoulder to shoulder with Draco Malfoy she couldn't explain. She stared down at their intertwined hands. If any of their friends or family were to find out about this, they would both be dead, and yet, she liked the feel of his hand in hers. She stared at their hands and still couldn't understand why he would take her hand so gently, and why she would allow him to. She knew it was wrong, but she couldn't help but rest her head on his shoulder as she sat shoulder to shoulder with Draco Malfoy.

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The steady rocking of the train had lulled them both to sleep. Draco Malfoy was leaning against the window, and sleeping peacefully with her head against his chest was Hermione Granger stretched out on the bench, their hands still intertwined. His arm around her shoulder and his hand holding hers to his heart. Her other hand was tucked underneath her resting on his stomach. The whistle blew, signaling an unexpected stop, and they stirred awake. He only knew he liked holding the girl close to him and she only knew she liked being in the boy's arms, but once they had their wits about them, they realized what kind of position they were in, and they both bolted upright. Their gazes shifted about the compartment, going everywhere except in the other's general vicinity. Draco was the first to speak.

"What the hell Granger?" he said hoarsely, "why the hell did you have to do that?"

"Me?" she said incredulously," you can't seriously think this is my fault! You were the one who was being so nice to me!"

"Me?" he exclaimed, "you seemed to take it quite nicely. I seemed to remember you putting your hand on mine!"

"well you didn't protest! I seem to remember you taking my hand in yours!"

"you didn't pull away either! may I remind you, you put your head to rest on my shoulder, and you were sitting extremely close! Maybe a little too close to comfort!"

"Well I would think you found it quite comfortable seeing as you didn't pull away!" they were silent. What is one to say after all of that. It was clear to see they were both at fault, and they truly had no idea how they had ended up getting so physically close. They both looked awkwardly down at the ground and shifted their weight from side to side as they tried to figure something, anything, out.

"look, Granger, I don't know what happened, I don't really know anything right now," he said gruffly, "but I'm willing to try something." She looked at him skeptically.

"okay," she said cautiously.

"um," he cleared his throat, " I think that er, well, I've learned a lot about you today. More than I ever wanted to know, but I'm glad I learned it anyways. And I think we have both come to an- an understanding, a deeper understanding of one another, so, er, I'll try to keep that in mind."

" I'll try to be kinder to you, you know, not call you mud blood and all that other stuff, no more hexes, and you can be kinder to me, you know, by not hexing me and punching me in the face and stuff." He said as he awkwardly looked at her as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"So er, what do you think?" he asked her, as he looked at her anxiously for approval. She looked skeptically to the side and crossed her arms haughtily, pondering her decision. She looked back to him.

"Would we have to even talk to each other at all?" she asked grudgingly.

"No, no. not at all," he said putting his hands up defensively, " we don't have to be friends, we don't have to talk, we don't have to even look at each other. we just won't be nasty to each other." he looked at her to see her looking back at him with her mouth scrunched up and her brow furrowed in uncomfortable dislike.

"But, you know, I might look at you. I mean, I can't promise that," he said cracking a smile in attempt to lighten the mood and put his hand out for her to shake. She looked at his smiling face. She tried to hold back a smile, but she gave in and took his hand.

"Deal," she said as she smiled back at him. She wasn't planning to smile, but his smile was contagious.

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The train ride continued and they talked. Nothing much, just small talk. They didn't go into anything deep. The whistle blew again to signal it's stop at Hogwarts and they got up to get off the train. They waited a while until they knew the hall was crowded and then walked out together. They got off the train together and walked in opposite directions. Before he lost her, he took her hand in his.

"You're sure you're going to be okay?" he asked with concern. She gave him a small smile.

"I'm sure," she said, and his features smoothed out in relief. He let go of her hand, letting his fingers linger a little longer on hers before turning away and going in the opposite direction as her. she turned around and found Ron and Harry not too faraway and ran to go join them.

"Hey Moine," said Ron, "where were you? We were looking for you."

"oh, hiding," she said lightly.

"So you found the press too?" said Harry.

"they found me," said Hermione. They nodded in understanding and left it all at that.

Draco watched the brown haired girl walk away with her friends as his own approached him.

"Hey Draco," Crabbe said, " where were you. We told you which compartment we would be in. you said you'd come join us after your dad was done talking to you. What happened? He keep you in that room? Lock you in?" he huffed in amusement.

"Don't be ridiculous," he drawled, " I just fell asleep. It's er, it's been a tiring day. Needed some sleep." They nodded in understanding. Being initiated was sure to take a lot out of a person.

"Come on," he said as they walked towards the carriages and he was their leader once again.

so how as it? favorite part? least favorite part? let me know. I love your feedback. :)