Another Encounter

Warm rays of Sunshine fell across the face of a young brunette. She turned over to the other side and promptly fell asleep again. She had been through far too much over the last year and now was the time for her to relax. Hermione's sleep was yet again disturbed by Mrs. Weasley calling everyone down for breakfast. Shielding her eyes from the bright sunlight she headed for the bathroom to get dressed for breakfast. She could hear Mrs. Weasley fussing over Harry and Ron downstairs as she made her way down to the kitchen. "Just a little more dear," she said to Harry and then to Ron, tipping a few more sausages into their plates, " You both look terribly weak," she said looking at them fondly, her gaze full of motherly love. Mrs. Weasley had always considered Harry to be like one of her sons and Harry too respected her and cared for her dearly.

"Oh Hermione dear, come here and have some breakfast," she said coming over to Hermione with a plate in her hand. The food was delicious as always and to the three of them who had to survive on meager meals over the last year when they were on the run, this felt like a feast. After breakfast the three of them went out into the backyard as Harry and Ron decided to play a game of Quidditch with the rest of the Weasley brothers and Ginny. Hermione sat under a nearby tree with a book in her hand. Some things will never change, thought Harry as he gazed over to where Hermione was seated with her nose buried in a book. She had been his source of strength and had supported him at a time when he had been more alone than ever before, the time when Ron had left. He loved and and respected her like a sister. He silently promised himself to always be there for her and support her the way she had supported him.

Hermione looked up to see Harry staring at her with a dazed look, as if he had something going on at the back of his mind. He gave her a smile and she smiled back knowing that he was probably thinking of the past. She would always be there for him and Ron as they were there for her. She suddenly found herself thinking about a pair of grey eyes that bore into her as she stood beside her friends after the war. She remembered the look on Draco's face and was greatly surprised that he didn't leave with his parents. She had been watching him and was able to catch a bit of the heated conversation they had going on. She had heard how Draco had refused to return with his parents and how Lucius had threatened him. She wondered where he must be and what he must be doing. Had something changed? Had the war changed him? She pulled up her sleeve and looked down at her arm which was now healing quickly but still had the scars of the word 'Mudblood' carved in by Bellatrix. He had stood by and done nothing. But she also remembered the look on his face. He had been absolutely horrified. His eyes had been filled with shock and maybe...sadness. It touched her to think that after tormenting her for so many years, he could actually feel such an emotion for her. She hoped that wherever he was, he was looking forward to starting over, and as that thought crossed her mind she made a decision to do her best to give him a second chance at a fresh start.

"A penny for your thoughts," said Ron as he scuttled down next to her. "Oh its nothing," she said and smiled at him sweetly as he leaned over to kiss her. Somehow the kiss didn't feel the same way felt before. "What you doin Hermione?" asked Harry as he sat down next to the two of them, beads of sweat dripping of the edge of his nose. "Just trying to finish this book," said Hermione. "I want to go to Diagon alley today," she said standing up and brushing the grass off her clothes. "Why?" asked Ron following her into the house. "Is there something you need?" asked Harry a they climbed up the staircase entering a room on the first floor. "Well, I need to get myself some books from Flourish an Blotts," said Hermione as she plopped herself onto the bed. "What books?", asked Ron"don't you already have enough of them here? You can't possibly have finished reading all of them?" he asked staring at the two huge piles of books in the corner. "Of course I have Ron, ages ago," she said giving him an exasperated look. "What do you think I've been doing all throughout last year?" she cried. "Ok we'll all go down to Diagon alley together today, I wanna visit Fred and George as well," said Ron scratching his neck. "You comin too right Harry?" "Sure," said Harry, "Its been a while since we've been there," he said looking at them.

After a quick lunch, the three of them apparated away to Diagon Alley. They turned up just outside the Leaky Cauldron. the pub was quite busy for that time of the day. Tom the bartender smiled at the as they passed by, bowing a little as Harry passed. Harry was now regarded as the saviour of the wizarding world and pub went silent as people realized who had just entered. "Um...we'll just be heading off," he said nervously, glancing at the people around.

They made their way quickly to the brick wall and tapped it waiting for the archway to form leading them into Diagon alley. Once they stepped out into the busy street, they made their way to Gringotts to withdraw some of their gold. "What should we do first?" asked Ron staring at Hermione. She eyed him suspiciously and knew what he wanted. "Its ok, lets split up, I'll go down to Flourish and Blotts and you two can go look around. We'll meet up in about an hour at Fred and George's shop." said Hermione. "You're the best Mione," said Ron hugging her tight. She gave him a small smile looking at the excitement on his face. "You sure you'll be fine Mione?" asked Harry. "Of course I will, you two have fun ok," she said smiling at him. She watched the two of them walk down the street before heading down to the bookstore. In a matter of minutes Hermione found herself lost as she grabbed a few books and sat down to take a quick look through them. There wasn't anyone else in the bookstore as it was late in the afternoon and she was pleased to be able to move around the tiny book shop exploring several new books on display. The tingling sound of a bell at the entrance of the store caught her attention as someone else entered the store. Someone with silvery blonde hair tucked beneath a woolen cap. Malfoy.

Done with the second chapter...this one was a bit slow but I plan of covering a lot so going over lots of the background in detail...would love to hear you comments and reviews so please leave me your comments about this piece so far. Sorry its taken a few days for me to update but been really busy with work. I will be updating another chapter soon. A big thank you to sshanholtzer44 and Anjion for your comments and motivation. It felt great. Thanks to all my readers and followers for your support. Love to all Dramione fans...

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER.