A New Draco

The Slytherin common room was dark, but Draco didn't go to sleep. He was the only one still up, a fact that didn't bother him at all. He enjoyed being alone. He enjoyed not having all of those mongrels at his tail all the time. The only person he really, truly wanted to be with, wanted absolutely nothing to do with him.

He had been up all night, trying to figure out, what to do with this infatuation in Hermione Granger. After hours of thinking, he had come to a decision. He had a feeling deep in his bones that a relationship with Granger would be the best thing that had ever happened to him. If only he could make her see who he really was.

He laughed at that last thought. Who he really was? How could he make Hermione see that, when he didn't even know it himself. Was he only kidding himself, trying to tell himself that he was more than just insults and crude jokes? Could he possibly be worthy of Hermione Grangers love?

It was at that moment he decided that even if he wasn't that right now, it would be his goal to be a better person before it would be his goal to make Hermione his own.

The thought soothed him and he decided to go to sleep.

--..--::--..--

The next morning he found that being a new and better person was nowhere near as easy as it sounded. All of his 'friends' stared at him, when he had let the Weasley girl walk right past him without even saying a word to her. They all started asking him, if there was anything wrong with him. He couldn't very well say to them 'sorry guys, I've decided to drop this whole mean thing in order to win over Hermione Granger so I can make her my girlfriend'. No, that would disturb them even more than what just happened with Weasley. So his plans had to change, he realized. If he thought changing his personality would be hard, this was going to be even harder.

He would have to remain the same foul person as he had always been when he was with the other Slytherins, and only be the new improved Draco around Hermione. But the problem remained that he was hardly ever with Granger without his or her friends, meaning that she would only ever see the foul Draco. He would have to get her on her own, somehow.

Again, another thing that was tremendously hard to do. At breakfast he searched the Gryffindor table for her. When his eyes found her curly, brown hair he sighed and stared at her, ignoring the company around him and the food in front of him. She was sitting between Potter and Weasley with the Weasley girl in front of her. She was talking to Potter and laughing when the Weaslette suddenly leaned over the table and whispered something to her. Draco saw how her back tensed. Slowly she turned to return his stare, a look of misbelieve and confusion in her eyes. He tried to comfort her with a smile, but this only turned the confusion to anger and she turned her back to him again.

He had never before realized just how much she hated him, making the entire thing seem impossible. He clenched his fist as a sudden determination swept over him. He would be damned, if he didn't turn her around!

When Hermione suddenly rose from her seat and left the Hall alone, Draco did the same thing. He followed her outside, where they were alone.

"Granger," he called to her, making her stop. "Hermione," he added more softly. It was the first time he had called her by her name. She turned with angry eyes and shot him a nasty glance.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" she asked, sounding slightly annoyed and indifferent.

"To talk," he said truthfully and stopped in front of her.

"Talk?" she asked astonished, her deep, brown eyes widening. "Talk? Okay, what about? My bloodline? My Muggle-parents? What?"

Her words hurt him more than he wanted to admit.

"No," he answered softly. "I want to apologize." He had already decided that if she was ever going to see the new Draco, he needed to apologize for being the old one. But it didn't work out as he had planned it.

"Apologize?" she almost spat out the word. "Let me tell you something, Draco Malfoy. I don't need your phony apologies! And better yet, I don't want them! So whatever you hoped to accomplish with this, consider it failed!"

She turned on her heal and walked with long, angry steps towards Hagrid's cottage.

"Granger," he called at her with desperation in his voice.

Without turning to face him she yelled back at him, "Leave me alone, Malfoy. I really don't want to have anything to do with you, your larger-than-life ego or your Pureblood pride."

He sighed deeply when realisation hit him. This was going to be the hardest thing he had ever done. But he was a Malfoy, and no matter how cruel they were believed to be, one thing about them could not be denied; Malfoys didn't give up!