Yeah I know, I haven't actually updated for a while. ((shrugs)) Sorry, guys. But I have been busy with family and karate and my new kitten and everything else that's become new in my life. Thank goodness I'm in my summer vacation days now. That means way more one shots! Sorry for not updating in like a month. I have actually put a lot of time into fixing the DH Shrine fan site back up. I'm still working on it, but it's almost done.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, Harry wouldn't talk about himself so much, Ron would be handsome and rich, Draco and Hermione would be dating, Cedric would still be alive and Lucius wouldn't have gone to Azkaban! And if ya can't tell Luci was kinda my favorite character besides Draco. )

And yes I call him Luci because during the second book reading I couldn't pronounce his name so now it's just a habit. Lol. Yeah I know…I'm a dork. Okay, for right now lets pretend in this AU one shot that Draco never attempted to kill Dumbledore and this is the end of their seventh year! Let's start this little one shot from there.

This had to be probably the longest-feeling train ride back to platform 9 and ¾ I had ever been on. Everybody was sitting with different people- people they usually didn't sit with. I had no idea where Parkinson or Crabbe were, but I did know Goyle decided to sit in some booth with a weird Hufflepuff. I really hope the girl he sat with was like a step sister of cousin twice removed or something…I saw the girl hug him! Ick. It seemed like everybody got to sit with different people they normally didn't sit with on the train ride. As for me, I was stuck in a booth with the three worst people ever- Potter, Mudblood and the poor one. I just wanted to get to home and never leave my house for the next few months…or years. I haven't decided yet. This was horrible. The three bloody twits all sat on one side of the booth and either started whispering in each other's ears or staring at me with their dark, beady eyes. It was creepy and annoying. But I was glad after I stepped out of that booth, I would never have to verbally, or physically, deal with Potter or the others…especially Granger. She was kind of annoying… basically I just hated her because one, she hanged out with the poor one and the vain brat, and the most important one- two, because she was a Mudblood.

I'm sure maybe deep, deep, DEEP down she was a good person, but I'm not deep enough to try and be nice to her and find out. Besides, as far as I'm concerned, which I am not, I'll never have to see or hear from her again…or any of my so called 'friends' ever again. My father said he actually told my mother how he felt when he thought he'd never see her again when he stepped off the train after his 7th year, never to return to Hogwarts again. That had to be the stupidest and most sickening love story I had ever heard. But it did make one think. Where would I be in my future? When I stepped off the train? Sure I'll be going home, but my house and parents would be there for shelter and directions forever.

It must have been a while I was thinking hard about my future. Either that or I had dozed off because when I opened my eyes, Granger and I were the only ones in that booth while outside the booth people were racing up and down the isle laughing and lugging their bags and everything else. I was still lying down on the seat, but Granger was struggling to get her truck off the stand. Then I did something freaky and unexpected that surprised me and Granger…but mostly me. I stood right up and lifted her trunk off of the stand and helped her and her truck down off of the seat. She choked a bit and pulled a single strand of brunette hair behind her ear while she muttered a small, "Thanks, Draco." as she strolled out of the booth. I quickly grabbed my bag and followed her out. I thought I'd be relieved to graduate Hogwarts to never return to that bloody school. But something was cornered in my mind and itching to get out. But I just couldn't put my finger on it. I just felt like I'd be missing something the moment I leave and turn my back on the Hogwarts Express, never to return again. And in a way, it sort of scared me. I felt like I was loosing it and I wouldn't ever be able to get it back. I never be able to think or see the thing- "Watch it, Malfoy!" Hermione barked at me.

There was a huge line congesting the hall of the train. This was truly annoying and I was about to punch the next person that smashed into my back with their suitcases or their own bodies. I felt like my whole mind was fogged up. I couldn't remember if the way off the train was ever this long. Everything was swirling around me, inside and out. I was beginning to feel claustrophobic. It was like I was loosing control of my body; I started moving without thinking of it. I was beginning to feel like my whole memory was being wiped away and I was getting amnesia. That or I was hallucinating because before I had figured out where I was, I was off the train and stepping on to the wet cemented sidewalk with bustling children hugging and crying and holding one another and saying their last good byes and following their parents out or trying to find their own way out looking incredibly confused.

But there was only one former student that I saw who was strolling out with her suitcase neatly tucked and heeling by her ankles as she searched calmly through the children and parents trying to find each other for the way out of platform 9 and ¾. And that one person was Hermione Jane Granger. Wait a sec- since when do I know her middle name? Or call her by her first name? And why aren't I calling her Mudblood? Or loser? Or any other insults I use especially for Herm- Granger. Great…that's the second time. That best not become a habit…of course I'll never see her again- why is that annoying me? It's just Granger! Just another wormy, pathetic, filthy Mudblood! I've always hated her. I always will hate her. In some ways I find it hard not to hate her. A long list would be how many ways I hate Granger. A shorter list would be on how many ways I don't mind that twit. And yet, I feel like something is stabbing me on the subject. Some that grasped onto the inside of me and wouldn't let go until I reached it. Am I stalking her? I'm walking toward her for the stupidest reason ever- because I had no clue or control over my feet. Until they stopped automatically as she disappeared onto the Muggle side of the platform. After that I just dropped my suitcase and raced through the old brick wall after her. "Granger!" She whipped around immediately but then gave me a nasty look right as she saw it was me.

"What could you possibly want from me now, Malfoy?" She asked me sharply as if I were just punched in the gut. I wanted to say I never wanted to see her ugly, nitwit disturbing Mudblood face ever again, but I didn't reply at all to her. "Out with it!" I still said nothing to her. "Oh, I get it. You're just trying to annoy me for the very last time." She answered for me. I felt my head shake slowly as a big breeze came by. "Fine, then. I have to go find my parents and leave to never see you again. So go back to the express and find your way home then, too." She said as she waved at me lazily, motioning me to go back to the platform. I swallowed hard and blinked and muttered "Fine." and then turned back to the platform's opening. "Wait, Hermione." I blurted out. I hear a screech of her shoes stopping short. I slowly turned around to find her slowly turning towards me too. I felt like I had heard her stutter a 'What?' to me. I felt my feet take steps closer to her. So close I could have reached out with a bent arm and brushed her shoulder lightly. "I-I just wanted to say- That's all I could say before she grabbed my face and pushed my lips into hers.

"Goodbye."

Dedicated to Princess Azula
Who knows that
Quality should always come
before Quantity