"Draco!" Just them Hermione jumped on him for a huge hug. "I missed you so much! I can't believe summer was that long." She let go and gave him a kiss. It was the best kiss he could have ever imagined. When she pulled away, it sounded as though she had never stopped to kiss him, but he could feel it on his lips. "I was thinking we could have a picnic by the lake and then go cuddle up in the library. Draco. Draco! DRACO!"
Draco woke up to his mom shaking him and shouting his name. "DRACO! Its time to get ready to leave. The train leaves in three hours and you still have to finish packing and we have to get you to the station. Your father and I will meet you downstairs in an hour."
"Yes mother." It had all been a dream...even the kiss. But after how last year ended he couldn't imagine Hermione wanting to run into his arms. Only one more year left before he has to face the facts and admit to himself that he will never see her again.
Two hours and three trunks later he had finally finished packing. He cast Leviosa on the trunks and began to walk down the stairs. When he was halfway down he heard his parents whispering. They sounded worried.
"Narcissa, are you sure he was mumbling the mud-blood's name? Maybe he was saying 'her I need.'" Draco didn't know what they were talking about. Who would be whispering Hermione's name?
"No, it was definitely her name."
"Then we can't let him go to school, what if he starts to mumble her name in his dorm room? It will be a disaster! The dark lord will be furious! We have to keep him home."
"Lucius, we cannot keep him home, that would be even worse. The'll wonder what happened to him and start asking questions. We'll just talk to Draco about it, he'll understand and we'll all be okay."
Draco couldn't believe he had been talking in his sleep, especially that he was saying Hermione's name. He had to be careful if he was going to be able to stay at Hogwarts to try and win her over.
He walked down the remaining steps and called out to his parents. "I'm all ready now, we can go."
"Oh, Draco," his mother jumped. "We didn't hear you coming." He felt guilty that he had startled them, they both have been jumpy since the dark lord had come back.
"We'll just have apparate there since you took so long. Let's go." His father grabbed his and his mother's arms and apparated the three of them and the trunks to the train station.
They were right by the train entrance and Lucius put the trunks on the train.
"Draco, this is going to be the best year of school. Its going to be your last year and you'll be able to do almost anything you want now that the dark lord is in charge of the school." His mother was trying to lighten the mood before she told him that she heard him this morning.
"Thanks mum. And I know that I was mumbling in my sleep this morning, but don't worry, it won't happen again." This seemed to pacify them enough to keep them from pressing the subject.
"Lucius, do you have anything you want to say to Draco?"
His father looked like he was far away, but he came back to tell Draco, "Um...study hard and don't give the new instructors a hard time." Draco already knew that none of the instructors would do anything to him, not now that Dumbledore wasn't headmaster. But this was his last year to see Hermione, so it would be a good year either way.