The Leaky Cauldron. That's where Harry Potter was staying. And Hermione didn't like the place one bit. It was old, messy, dirty, and carried an odd odor. But she didn't mind too much, for they weren't staying there for long.

Hermione arrived with the Weasleys when they got the memo that Harry was there. She had brought her brand new cat, Crookshanks, along with her. She loved her cat, but Ron hated it. Crookshanks was always trying to get Scabbers, Ron's pet rat. But Hermione didn't pay much attention to this. She just wanted to get Harry and leave for Hogwarts.

And they did just that; the day after. Hermione loaded her trunk onto the Hogwarts Express and waited for her friends. She was just looking around when her eyes met a pair of silver ones. Draco Malfoy. She smiled automatically at him, when Harry and Ron came up to her.

"What are you smiling at?" Ron asked. Hermione turned to him with an irritated look on her face.

"Nothing, Ronald! Let's just get our seats." He looked at her like she was crazy and then exchanged glances with Harry. They shrugged and boarded the train while Hermione looked back at Draco. But by now he was gone. She sighed and followed the two boys.

Draco and Hermione's relationship started at the end of last year. He didn't know why, but Draco regretted ever calling Hermione a 'mudblood'. He apologized towards the end of their second year and she reluctantly forgave him. They soon became friends. Although, nobody knew about it. He knew that she liked to study in the Library in the afternoons, so he would always follow her there. At first she would get mad and tell him to leave her alone. But, he never did. And soon she began to enjoy their little meetings. Then, an odd thing happened. It was the last day of school and Draco wanted to meet her in private. She agreed and met him in a deserted corridor. He approached her and embraced her in his arms. She was definitely surprised.

"Wow, that was unexpected." She chuckled as he let her go.

"How could you?" he asked, hurt very clear in his voice.

"How could I what?" she asked back, really confused.

"You got petrified! How could you be so careless?"

"Draco, I didn't ask to get attacked! What's your problem?" she asked, getting mad.

"Do you know how scared I was? Were you just wandering around looking for the Chamber of Secrets? You could've died!" He shouted.

She then realized that he was worried, not mad. She was the closest thing to a friend that he had and she almost got killed. Her face softened and she smiled.

"Draco," she said.

"I mean I know I said I wanted it to be you to get killed, but I didn't really mean it!"

"Draco." She said louder.

"I just said that to Crabbe and Goyle so they wouldn't get suspicious."

"Draco!" she yelled.

"What?" he asked, now looking at her. She quickly leaned in and met his lips with hers. Now he was the one who was frozen. She pulled away and looked into his eyes.

"Look at me; I'm fine. I'm perfectly alive and well. So just calm down." She smiled. He kept staring and she laughed. "Say something!"

All he did was lean in and kiss her again. "I don't know what I do if I lost you." He whispered after. He then finally smiled and she thought it was perfect. She reached inside her robes and pulled out a piece of parchment. She put it into his hand and smiled at him before walking away. He looked down at the paper and saw that it had her address written on it. And below that it said, "Please write this summer." He smiled, put the paper in his pocket, and went to find Crabbe and Goyle.

"Let me get this straight. Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban to come after you?" Ron asked Harry.

"Yeah." Harry stated, looking down.

"But they'll catch Black, won't they? I mean everyone's looking for him." Hermione said with her eyebrows scrunched together.

"Sure, except no one's ever broken out of Azkaban before and he's a murderous, raving lunatic." Ron said.

"Thanks Ron." Harry said sarcastically.

Suddenly the train abruptly stopped. The three looked around, very confused.

"Why are we stopping?" Hermione asked. "We can't be there yet."

Harry got up and opened the door, looking for an answer. But the train jerked again and he fell back onto the seat.

"What's going on?" Ron said as the door slid shut.

"Dunno, maybe we've broken down." Harry said. Suddenly the lights turned off, leaving the three to sit in darkness. Hermione's heart was racing when Ron said, "There's something moving out there." He put his hand to the window when ice started to form on it. He then whispered, "I think someone's coming aboard."

Back across the train Draco sat in a compartment with Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson. Pansy was clinging to Draco's arm and she whispered, "I'm so scared!" But the only thought running through Draco's mind was Is Hermione okay?

He got up out of his seat and was about to open the door when Crabbe said, "Malfoy, where are you going?"

Pansy looked at him and whined, "Yeah, Draco come back over here by me! I'm too scared and I know you can protect me."

He sighed. All he wanted to do was run to Hermione and make sure she was alright. He sat back down and waited with bated breath. After a while the lights came back on and the train was moving again. Although he still wanted to see Hermione. The rest of the way to Hogwarts was very long for Draco.

Finally they reached the school and Draco was the first to exit. He looked in every direction when he saw her. He felt relief wash over him when he saw she was okay. He then returned to his usual cocky self and went back to Crabbe and Goyle.