'This is just great,' Draco thought. 'Here I am stuck in Diagon Alley with only Angela to talk to.'

He happened to be escorting his little cousin while she shopped around a little bit, since he already had his school shopping done. It was three weeks before school was supposed to start. At the moment all Draco wanted was someone his own age to talk to.

'Right now I wouldn't care if Granger showed up.'

As luck would have it, she walked out of a shop just then and almost slammed into him.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said with her nose buried in a piece of parchment.

"That's quite alright" came the answer in an all-too-familiar drawl.

"Malfoy! What are you doing here?"

"My cousin asked me to take her shopping. Angela, this is Hermione Granger." He said politely.

"It's nice to met you Angela." Hermione said, shaking the young girl's hand.

"Are you Draco's girlfriend?" She asked so innocently.

They both blushed ever so slightly and Hermione said "No I'm not. We're just friends from school."

"Speaking of which, have you gotten your books yet?" he asked as if they really were friends. She wasn't sure if he was serious or if he was just trying to make them look like friends for Angela's benefit. Either way she had always believed that honesty was the best policy.

"I just finished actually. Why do you ask?"

"Because I was thinking if you weren't bust right now, maybe you'd like to join me and Angela for a bite to eat?"

She thought about it for a minute and saw that Draco was looking rather hopeful.

"Fine," she said. "As long as you let me pay my own bill."

"I certainly will."

And they began walking. As they walked they got used to each other's company and were finally able to have a real conversation. People that knew who they were probably thought it looked very weird. Draco was just happy to be talking to someone his own age and rather intelligent. As for Hermione, she was simply glad that he was treating her like a human being, as opposed to when he would act like she wasn't worth the ground she stood on. Then there was a sudden jump in the conversation.

"So where are Potter and Weasley today? I thought they would be here with you."

Hermione thought about how much fun everyone was probably having at the Burrow, and a small pang of jealousy hit her. But again she had to tell the truth.

"I was vacationing in Italy with my parents and we just got home yesterday."

"Oh, okay. Did you like it in Italy?"

She smiled and they continued talking to each other as if none of their past had ever happened. Finally Angela interrupted.

"Draco can we get going again? I wanna get some more stuff!"

"OK, Angela. Hermione, would you care to keep me company while I become bored out of my mind?"

"Hey!"

"I'm kidding Angela! Hermione?" He had asked so nicely that she found it impossible to resist.

"Sure. I've got time." She said with a big smile.

As they neared Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, Angela began jumping up and down.

"Can we go in there? Please, please, please."

Draco looked to Hermione as if to ask 'Is it OK?'

"OK, OK. Let's go." She said, laughing.

Angela jumped once again for joy and grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her into the store with Draco not far behind, but far enough to lose them. Fred and George saw her walk in and since they weren't very busy, went over to talk to her as Angela ogled the merchandise. Draco was browsing absentmindedly until he noticed the time. He found Hermione and asked her if she was ready to leave.

"Yeah. But you might have to pry Angela from the racks." She answered.

As Draco went off to do that, Fred and George pulled Hermione aside.

"What are you doing hanging out with Malfoy?" Fred asked.

This made her blood begin to boil. Since when do they get any say in who she spends her time with?

"I bumped into him on the street as I was finishing my shopping and he invited me to eat with them. Is that OK with you?" she snapped.

"Hey, hey. We're just trying to look out for you." George said trying to calm her down.

"Well don't. I can take care of myself!" she said

"Trouble in paradise?" Draco asked as he brought Angela over to pay for her stuff.

"It's nothing. Let's go." Hermione said glaring at Fred and George.

They walked along in silence for awhile, when Hermione suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, yeah! Did I tell you I made Head Girl?"

"No shit! I'm Head Boy!"

"Really? Wow."

"Don't be excited for me or anything. But at least it's not Ernie Macmillan."

"I'm sorry. And you're right. You are far better than Ernie."

"Ooo, careful. That almost sounded like a compliment."

"Oh, shut up!" she said, blushing a little. "And remember, I have no problem with taking it back."

"Oooo, threat. But I thought Hermione Granger was never wrong?"

"On rare occasions, yes, I am wrong."

As they continued on their way to the Leaky Cauldron, Hermione thought about how easy it was to talk to Draco now. She had even stopped calling him 'Malfoy' in her thoughts.

"So where you headed now?" he asked with genuine interest.

"Well, I'm gonna go home for a few days. But then I'm going to stay at the Burrow until school starts."

"Oh, OK." He said. And Hermione thought she detected just a hint of disappointment in his voice. But she couldn't be sure.

They finally reached their destination and were about to go their separate ways when Angela spoke up.

"Will I see you again Hermione?"

Hermione looked at Draco as she tried to figure out the best way to answer. But she didn't have to because Draco spoke for her.

"I'll see what I can do, Angela." He said, with a look at Hermione. And the glimpse of his eyes that she got told her that he really meant that. And that meant the world to her.