Disclaimer! I do not own anything.

Everything around Draco had begun to blur. He heard shouts in the distance, and saw the tell-tale sparks of curses being exchanged. There was an increase in heat on his left side, and he felt something warm and sticky drip down his arm. All he could do was close his eyes and reminisce on the day that had forever thrown his life into chaos.

The train's whistle sounded in the background as an 11 year old Draco Malfoy stared out the window of the compartment into the English countryside. Had he been a normal boy he would have been excited to start his first year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry; but alas, he was not a normal boy. Being raised in a family of pureblood wizards tends to stifle any excitement of being sent off to a school for magic. He grew up expecting to be on this train once he was in his eleventh year, so there was no great shock when the owl dropped his letter off at the manor this past summer. Being in a family full of slytherins also meant he had to learn never to show emotion; emotion was a sign of weakness, and weaknesses were taken advantage of and exploited.

His two companions, or lackeys as Draco thought, made some grunted remark about "what was taking the trolley so long to reach them" and "going to look for some sweets." Draco waved them off with as little effort as possible. Those imbeciles' brains must function on rubbish, and their reserves are getting low. He chuckled to himself, which caused him to miss the knock on the door. He continued to stare out the window with a bored look upon his face. Little did he know that the brightest and most stubborn witch of their age stood outside his compartment, slightly affronted at being so blatantly ignored.

She slid the door open and cleared her throat, finally successful in shocking the Malfoy heir out of his melancholy. His head whipped around so fast, she thought that it might go flying off, as he prepared to give who ever dare disturbed him a thorough tongue lashing. He, however, was stunned into silence before the first insult left his gaping jaw. Before him stood the most fascinating young witch he has ever seen. He couldn't help but see beauty in her homely features. His eyes were first drawn to her caramel colored hair, that was bigger and wilder than he ever thought possible. He had never met anyone in his eleven years of life who had not been completely refined, with every single lock and curl in order. Beneath that incredible mane was a small heart shaped face. In the middle sat a button nose, sprinkled with freckles. The rest of her complexion was as smooth as glass and blemish free. Through her eyes, that which were the color of liquid gold, he could see a small glimpse of the endless fathoms of knowledge she possessed. Her half smile exposed only the top row of pearly white teeth; however, he did have to admit they were a bit too big. Draco quickly recovered his composed while a blush adorned her face, and she began to look a bit agitated

"A boy named Neville has lost his toad, have you by chance seen him?" Her voice sounded so sweet to his ears.

Without skipping a beat Malfoy stood, and walked a few steps forward so that he was standing directly in front of her. His mouth moved into his signature charming smiling, and let his charisma radiate out. "No, I'm afraid I haven't. However, I have finally found my manners. You'll have to forgive me, as you see; your beauty has disarmed me. My name is Draco Malfoy." He took her hand from beside her, and brought it up to graze a light brush of his lips across the back of her hand. "And you are?"

The brunette was clearly flustered, and grew pinker by the second. Hook, line, and sinker, Malfoy thought. Not even hesitating for a second despite her embarrassed state, she answered "My name is Hermione. Hermione Granger. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Malfoy couldn't help but to appreciate the quick wits on this one. "Oh, believe me, the pleasure is all mine." His smile broadened.

"I look forward to seeing you around school. It was nice meeting a gentleman. In one of the compartments I checked earlier there was this boy with dirt on his nose who could stand to learn a thing or two from you." She smiled and his heart skipped a beat. "Now if you'll excuse me, I promised I would help find that missing toad."

Just like that she left the compartment, although she stayed in his mind the rest of the train ride. Even after the two gorillas came back to sit with him with a few bars of chocolate, commenting on how they stole it from some smaller kids after not being able to catch the trolley, she still remained the forefront of his thoughts. He gazed out the window again, but this time his thoughts were uncharacteristically positive. As the trees and hills blurred by below him, Draco's thoughts began racing in his mind. He imagined what it would be like to have this magical witch by his side. He would be surrounded not only by his mindless followers, Crabbe and Goyle, but his loyal witch. The more he envisioned it the more his fantasy evolved. Soon he was thinking of what it would be like to rule the school as seven years together. He would be the Slytherin Prince, and she could be his Princess. He thought about how to go about making her his girlfriend, but decided that he could just ask her later in the common room once they had both been sorted into Slytherin. It never once occurred to him that she would be in any other house but his own, since clearly she has both class and intelligence. Instead, he pondered upon what he would write to his mum later this week and how soon until he should start planning to have her over for the winter holidays to meet his parents.

That day, for the first time in his life, while staring out the window on the Hogwarts express Draco Malfoy ghosted a true smile upon his lips. Little did he know that there was a reason that crushes were named "crushes."

His world came crashing down with one word.

"Gryffindor!"

He couldn't believe it. He was beside himself on how someone as perfect as her could be sorted with that lot.

"I'm surprised she wasn't put in Hufflepuff."

"What are you talking about Pans; GryffinDORK is full of half-bloods and blood-traitors, so a muggleborn like her would fit in perfect."

"You're right Milly! I heard her say her parents' were dentist. As in they clean other people's teeth. How disgusting!"

"They must be horrid at it, since they can't seem to fix hers." The girls dissolved into laughter.

Draco's fist began to shake under the table. At the fact that his dream girl was a muggleborn, or at the way these two fellow first year Slytherins were talking about her he wasn't sure. Draco began to sink back into his lonely despair, and harden the block of ice he keeps around his heart. When all of sudden she turned around and flashed him that enchanting smile of hers; successfully melting that coldness away and leaving his heart open and bare. He couldn't do anything but stare wide eyed back at her for a moment before quickly looking downward. He knows no matter how much he yearns to see that smile focused at him every day, he could never truly have her. Although he feels vulnerable on the inside he masks his outward expression. When he brings his face back up from staring at the wooden table to meet her worried gaze it's full on contempt and fixed with sneer. Not sure what brought about the change in his demeanor, she turns back around and finished her dinner obviously upset.

That night Malfoy knew that he would never be able to forget this first love, but he could never voice these feelings out loud. This was not only for his sake, but for the serious ridicule and threats she would receive if he ever went public with his sentiments. This love was best expressed silently and from afar.

As the weeks flew by Draco came to realize that Hermione really did store great amount of knowledge in her head, and he also discovered that she loved to share that knowledge with everyone else. She became a laughing stock, even within her own house. Malfoy hated seeing her so bullied, but had his hands tied. If he interfered or stood up for her then he would be exposed. Although, he remembered those who were particularly nasty to her during class and sent hexes their way from a distance later on. One of the idiots that topped that nasty tosser list was the Weasley git. He clearly was just jealous of her ability to perform difficult tasks that he couldn't even begin to comprehend.

He hated Potter for refusing his offer. He hated Weasley for being Weasley. Mostly, he hated them most for what they did on Halloween that year. Quirrell had come into the Great Hall during dinner raving about trolls in the dungeon, sending everyone into a panic. Everyone quickly retreated into their house common rooms. All Malfoy could think about however, was the fact that Hermione was missing from dinner that night. He had overheard some of the Hufflepuff's earlier saying that the Weasel had been mocking her fiercely and she had overheard. They had said she was last seen in the bathrooms crying. Draco prayed that she had decided to go back to the Gryffindor tower, and was no longer wandering the halls unaware of the danger loose around the castle. Draco lay in bed that night, unable to sleep due to worrying over his precious muggleborn.

The next morning he arrived early in the Great Hall for breakfast. He absent-mindedly pushed around the cold lumpy oatmeal in his bowl as he watched the door for signs of Granger's bushy mane. When his distress was about to reach its peak he finally caught a glimpse of the brunette walk in, all in one piece. Malfoy let go of a breath he hadn't even realized he had been holding. He was glad she was okay, but concerned at the fact she had walked in with Potter and Weasel. He watched mystified as the trio acted like they had always been best friends, sticking close to each other's sides.

Later that day, in Snape's potion's class, he overheard what had transpired the night before. That day, Draco Malfoy swore he would never forgive Potter and Weasley for being the ones who did what he couldn't. He wished with all his heart that he could have been the brave hero who had saved the day and therefore forged a bond with Hermione that would last a lifetime.

The weeks and months flew by. Draco spent his time admiring Hermione from afar, hexing those who crossed her, and hating Pothead and the Weasel with every fiber of his being. His favorite past-time was making their lives harder. Malfoy tried his best to get those two in trouble every day and in any way he could. So when he found out their moronic plans to hand off the illegal dragon the groundskeeper, Hagrid, had to Weasley's brother on the astronomy tower in the middle of the night; he knew he had to help Filch catch them.

The plan, however, backfired on him. Somehow he landed Hermione and himself in detention along with Potter and some wimpy Gryffindor named Neville. The worst part wasn't that they would serve it with Hagrid, or being in the creepy FORBIDDEN forest at night. Like come on. I thought students were never supposed to even be in here! The absolute worst part was the fact that Hermione now resented him for snitching and making her miss time to study and he couldn't even get five minutes alone with her to explain the situation. Draco Malfoy was the perfect example of frustration. At one point while walking with Sniville, as he called him, he began to bang his head against a tree. Draco figured he'd have a little fun, and scare the poor boy, thinking that it might make Hagrid end this wretched night a bit early. Instead, it landed him partnered up with Potty. At least his walk around the creepy forest with Potter was more exciting. They ran into some human shadow feeding on a unicorn.

Draco's first thought was that he had to get back to the others so that he may warn Hermione about the liquid form of death oozing around the forest floor, and get her safely back to the castle. Although, Harry adamantly believes to this day that Draco was running to save his own skin.

The rest of the year practically flew by while Malfoy was silently pining after Granger. He was preparing himself for a lonely summer back at the manor without even Granger to look at. Then the unimaginable happened, and it shook his world. The idiotic duo had somehow dragged his precious Gryffindor into some life-threatening situation. The whole school was abuzz with the story of how they had faced off with the Dark Lord's shattered being living off Quirrell's body. As soon as his brain comprehended the words Hermione, faced off, and Dark Lord in the same sentence his body just reacted and took off sprinting towards the infirmary. Somehow, he knew he would find her there. As he rounded the corner his body came to a screeching halt.

There she was.

She was leaving, and concentrating on not making too much noise and wake up her sleeping friends on the inside. So she didn't notice the boy standing there, practically scorching her with his stare. In fact she didn't note his presence until he swallowed her up in a tight embrace. Hermione stood there shell-shocked at her supposed nemesis being so intimate with her. He had not acted this friendly since the first day they had met. She was lost in a state of confusion when something wet hit her face. She looked up at the Platinum blonde boy in front of her, and noted the tears filling up his steel grey eyes and running down is pale smooth cheeks.

"I thought I lost you." Those were the first words out of his mouth.

"Why would you care what happens to me Malfoy." She stood there looking dumbstruck. He had moved back slightly.

"Just trust me Granger, I care a lot more than what you think. Just wait. One day you'll see what I mean."

He leaned forward again, and Hermione closed her eyes. He brushed a feather light kiss on her forehead, and she faintly heard him whisper "Just wait."

When she opened her eyes again, Hermione was alone. Left standing there, she couldn't help but to wonder if it had all been a dream. At least that was until that afternoon when she went to go finish packing her suitcase, and upon entering her room she saw a pink rose lying on her neatly made bed. She picked it up, and noticed there was a note attached. It contained a simple message, but it held so much meaning behind those few words.

Be safe

– Your faithful watchdog

Tell me what you guys think!? I have a whole longer story planned, a different chapter for each year. I worked all night to finish this first chapter! Review please! Don't be too harsh on the spelling/ grammar I wrote this on like no sleep! haha

Love always,

Elizabebe3