CHAPTER TWO
When Hermione returned, Neville was practically pinning Ginny's arms behind her back, and Luna and Rolf were both trying to drag Cormac off of Draco, who was trying desperately to shield himself with his arms.
"Everte Statum!" she shouted, wand pointed at Cormac, who was thrown backward into Ginny. "What's going on?"
Cormac didn't acknowledge her. "Pependi!"
Draco crumpled to the ground, and let out a muffled "Protego!"
"Cormac, stop it!" Hermione demanded.
"Esserio!" a tomato flew from Cormac's wand and hit Draco (who was looking up in fear) right in the face. His shield had been defective. He pushed himself upward, wincing.
Ginny pulled free and tackled him. Draco yelled in pain as she punched him, again and again.
"Convello!" Luna pointed her wand at the two, and Ginny flew backward. She whirled on Cormac. "Sakaki!" A straightjacket materialized around him. Luna tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Hi, Mione." She dropped back onto her seat and started reading the Quibbler again.
"What just happened?" Hermione demanded.
"I-" Cormac began.
"Ginny! What was that?" Hermione exclaimed. Ginny looked away, skulking. She turned toward Draco. "Episkey." His face instantly looked a lot better; his split lip and bloody nose vanished. "You might want to go get some of the tomato off of you."
He gave a curt nod and scurried out of the compartment, casting frightened looks at Cormac and Ginny.
Hermione looked over at Neville. "Please step outside with me and explain what just occurred."
Neville nodded and followed Hermione out of the compartment. "Cormac and Ginny attacked Malfoy."
"I know that, but why?"
"Because..." Neville looked confused. "Er... he's Malfoy?"
"So he didn't do anything?"
"Actually, well, Cormac kept bugging him about his Dark Mark, so he finally pulled up his sleeve, and he jumped him."
"Why is Cormac even in our compartment?" Hermione crossed her arms. "He hit Harry with a bludger in sixth year... he was a jerk to... Ron."
"I think we were all kind of scared to ask him to leave." Neville suggested. "I mean... he's Cormac."
Hermione sighed. "Neville, you cut the head off of Voldemort's snake."
"Yeah, but... Cormac is, well, he's Cormac."
Hermione nodded. She glanced over and saw Draco coming back down the train. Neville headed back into the compartment.
"Hi," Hermione said when Draco was back. He had changed into his robes.
"Your friend's a lunatic," he replied. Hermione frowned.
"He's not my friend."
"Smart choice." His face was still a little red from the tomato.
"Um," Hermione scanned her mind for something to say. "I think it would probably be a good idea to go and sit with, you know, some Slytherins."
"Right," Draco nodded. "I think they're all somewhere in Norway or Sweden."
"Huh?"
"Most of them transferred to Durmstrang. I think a few of the girls are at Beauxbatons, too."
"You can do that?"
"Apparently." Draco shrugged.
"Well then..." Hermione's eyes drifted to his cheek. "Um, you still have some tomato on you. Right... here." She pointed to her cheek.
"Here?" Draco pointed somewhere else.
"No, here."
"Here?"
"No... oh, let me get it off." Draco held still while Hermione pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at the tomato. "There we go."
Draco grinned at her. "Thanks."
Hermione shook her head. "Stop doing that."
"Doing what?"
"Smiling and being polite. You're scaring me!"
"I'm sorry. Do you want me to make your teeth grow, again?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Who are you, and what have you done with Draco Malfoy? Why are you being so nice?"
"Maybe I've always been nice."
"Yes," Hermione said sarcastically. "You've always been the definition of sweet and innocent."
"Well, to be fair, I do have a heart wrenching backstory..." He pulled a ridiculously sad face and said, in teary-sounding voice, "My daddy never loved me, and Auntie Bella was always inviting a sadistic werewolf over for dinner." Then, in his normal voice, he added on, "I think they had something going on between them."
"Stop changing the subject."
Draco leaned against the compartment door in an obvious attempt to look cool. "Maybe I'm reformed. Maybe I even went to a support group. Maybe I'm just turning over a new le-"
The door was yanked open, and Draco narrowly avoided falling backward onto Rolf.
"Oh," Rolf smiled apologetically. "Sorry, mate. We're just going to go change our robes." Neville and Cormac followed him out, the latter glaring at Draco.
"Didn't he hit Potter with a bludger once?"
Hermione sighed with load relief.
"What?"
"Nothing, I was just worried you would start calling all of us by our first names, and frankly, that would be just as scary as your odd change of attitude."
"What, would you prefer Granger?"
"No, Hermione's fine. Does this mean I have to call you Draco?"
"Yes."
"Well, Draco, we need to have a serious talk about you letting Ginny, of all people, beat you up."
"I thought I was being responsible." Draco gave her a smirk similar to his old ha-ha-I-win smirk but more kind. "You know, refusing to fight."
"Refusing to fight is only responsible when the other person gives in. Where would we be right now if Dumbledore always refused to fight Voldemort?"
Draco mulled this over. "You would be dead or enslaved, Snape would be headmaster still, my dad wouldn't be in prison, and I would be ruling a small country."
"See? No, wait, bad example-"
"But on the bright side, I get to rule a country, Dobby and most of your friends would still be alive, and I don't get beat up by Ginny." He pointed to Hermione's left arm. "And... you know. That's better."
Hermione glanced down at her arm, and gripped it with her other. She'd never really realized that Draco knew about the scar his aunt had given her.
"You're making that alternate future sound terribly good, for something ruled by an evil dictator."
"Evil dictators are under appreciated." There was a sudden jolt, and Hermione fell onto Draco again. The train had stopped.
"I, um, think we're here."
"It appears so."
"That was really just a polite way of telling you to let go."
"Ah. Sorry." Draco righted Hermione. "I put your books away, just so you know."
"Thanks."
Luna and Ginny emerged from the compartment.
"Oh, there you are." Luna said in an almost wistful voice. Ginny looked anywhere but at Draco. "Did you see Rolf and Neville?"
Draco pointed.
"Thank you." Luna drifted off, Ginny following her.
"I think they hate me," Draco said with a carefree shrug.
"Well, Luna doesn't. And I think Neville's more scared of you than hates you."
"Are you?"
"What?"
Draco leaned toward her, eyes glittering. "Are you scared of me?"
"You keep putting me in awkward situations by saying random things I can't reply to, and acting like a vampire in a teen romance novel."
Draco was clearly thrown off guard. "What?"
"And no, no I'm not." Hermione started to head down the hall. "Do you want to get left on the train?"
Draco hastened to catch up with her. "Well, do you hate me?"
"I did. Right now, though, I'm questioning it."
"That's very kind of you. I don't hate you either." The two of them stepped off the train. A crowd of first years, led by a familiar figure, was headed over to the lake. Hermione waved, and the two hurried to catch the last, empty carriage.
Draco touched one of the thestral's manes. "Good horsey."
"You can see them?"
He looked down at his feet. "Charity Burbage. The old Muggle Studies professor."
"Oh."
Draco barged past her and opened the door. He gave her a mock bow. "M'lady."
"I am not your lady."
"M'person."
Hermione was getting used to rolling her eyes around this new Draco. She stepped into the carriage, and he followed her.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I forgot to mention I don't own Harry Potter. I wish I did, though. Thanks to TheAngelOnYourRight, draco-is-mine124 (even though I'd hoped Draco was mine), Blue eyes to 30, and LadySarahj for the reviews and following the story. I'm actually on chapter eleven right now, because I started working on this a week or two ago, but I'm trying to space out the chapters. Um, I posted chapter one this morning. I'm doing a bad job. Please review, and follow if you like!