Author's Note: So here's Draco for you all. Most of this is internal dialogue with some history. Hope you like it. :)

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns it all. I only own this plot.

Chapter 3: Regrets

3:16 p.m., Friday, August 4, 2000, Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire, England

Université de sorcellerie de Paris (Wizarding University of Paris)

Headmaster: Gaspard Dubois (L'ordre de Merlin, deuxième classe, Le conseiller de Wizengamot du ministère français de magie, présider membre de conseil de l'hôpital Pierre de saint)

Dear Mr. Draco Lucius Malfoy,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at the Wizarding University of Paris. Attached to this letter you will find a list of information and resources you may need during your educational tenure. Such resources include housing information, course availability and registration dates, faculty information, etcetera. Term begins on Monday, September 4th, 2000. We await your owl response by Friday, August 11th, 2000 to confirm your attendance at our school.

We truly hope that you will find your experience with us to be very enriching. We strive to provide the best education and training for all your future endeavors. We in return hope you will prove your mettle and not let our confidence down.

The entire Wizarding University of Paris welcomes you and wishes you all the best for your career. We appreciate your enthusiasm in our university and hope all your wishes are fulfilled by us.

Yours sincerely,

Louis Devereaux, Deputy Headmaster

Draco blinked when he read his letter for the first time and then had to reread it again.

And again.

And again.

Finally, a small smile broke on his lips. He still couldn't believe that he had just received his acceptance letter. After his interview last week, he was so sure he had blown his chances. Mostly because the headmaster seemed to be very aware of who he is (or was, rather). Before the interview even began, he had been greeted in a very stiff and grumpy manner. Then, during the interview, the headmaster mostly seemed to stare at him as he answered the interview questions, almost to the point of making him feel unsettled. And then, at the end of it all, the headmaster had simply concluded their meeting by telling him, "Thank you for coming. Please wait for my owl within a week with my response."

Needless to say, he had left that interview feeling pretty disgruntled. So once he Apparated back to England, he sat at his office desk at the manor and reevaluated his reasoning for attending the interview in the first place. All the while drinking down many glasses of Ogden's finest.

During his self-deprecating session, he couldn't help but think he was an idiot for considering further education as beneficial. He had honest to Merlin thought that doing so would help him get more fully trained and certified to run his family's business. Investments were sadly not his strong point despite his love for numbers. He even went as far as applying to the school that was strongly recommended because it was supposed to be unbiased and neutral despite one's personal history. Not to mention, it was away from the madness that seem to be ever present in the wizarding UK.

But it seemed that despite his efforts to remain away from the public eye (even finishing his seventh year of schooling at home), his history had a way of catching up to him time and time again. And he despised it. So, from that point of view, he didn't fully blame the headmaster for his initial reaction. He would hate himself on sight too, if he could.

There were already a few things that he regretted in his short life. The first was being manipulated by a madman into doing his bidding. At the time, he had really thought he was doing the right thing in order to protect his family.

But that just ended up proving how wrong he truly was. Not a day went by without him wishing he had taken the headmaster's offer that night in the Astronomy Tower. Things could have been so different for him, and he would have saved himself the stress and fear that followed him throughout that year.

Instead, all he had to show for it now was a bad reputation and a Dark Mark that wouldn't fully disappear.

That detestable tattoo...

He had gone so far as to consult with the most famous (and albeit expensive) healers to help him remove it. But to his misfortune, the answer was always the same: since it was made by dark magic, there was no way to get rid of it. If he fully wanted to remove it, his only solution would be to amputate his arm in order to avoid looking at it. And since Draco didn't fancy missing a limb, the Dark Mark remained.

In addition to that regret, he also hated being compared to his father. If anything was farther from the truth, that was it. He was nothing like him and hoped to never be. His father even said it himself, "You're too soft to be my son. Pathetic. Just like your mother."

Even as he took on the Dark Mark at the age of 16, he no longer truly held his father's convictions to heart. How his father, his aunt, or any of the other Death Eaters could believe in something so narrow-minded was beyond him. Especially when the man that was spouting such garbage wasn't even a pureblood himself. He couldn't believe that at one time he used to be just like them, a mindless idiot.

Actually, if he really thought about it, it wasn't until he began attending Hogwarts that he truly realized just how much of his father's theories and beliefs were complete and utter codswallop. Despite his father's careful education on pureblood supremacy, Draco had always had the tenacity to question things before he could fully accept them. Of course, he never voiced these opinions to his father in order to avoid backlash and punishment, but the questions remained with him as he matured.

At the time, all he really wanted was to win his father's approval and praise instead of his critique which was frequent. He had idolized him and even dreamed of being just like him one day. So he held it all in and did as his father bade. Amazing how time changed one's mentality…

Now, however, he liked to believe that he was not a mindless follower or a person with blind faith or conviction. He liked to have his facts straight before he invested his energies into anything consuming. Therefore, when he had daily interactions with a certain Muggleborn witch during his school years that seemed to be the walking contradiction to it all, he couldn't help but question, "Are purebloods really that supreme?"

Huh…that Muggleborn witch…

If he had to pinpoint his second regret, he would have to say that she was it. Granger.

Hermione Granger. That bird.

The most brilliant Muggleborn witch of their age.

If only he could get his hands on a Time Turner to go back and redo their initial introduction. Every time he took a moment to look back at his early years, he couldn't help but cringe at his behavior towards her; even though at times she did deserve his being a git when she provoked him.

He did not, however, regret his behavior towards Potter or Weasley. Those two were a pair of self-righteous pillocks through and through. And despite Potter's sacrifice to the wizarding world, he still couldn't help disliking 'the-boy-who-still-won't-die' for his personality alone. Not to mention the complete and utter new adoration with which the wizarding world was now garnishing him. As if he needed another reason to despise him. And as for Weasley? Well, who can stand that bugger to begin with? It was bad enough that he was now working at the ministry alongside his father and that ponce of an older brother of his, Peter. Or was it Penley? Well, whatever that prat's name is, three Weasley's working for the ministry was bad enough.

Granger, on the other hand, was a completely different story. Despite her choice of friends, he actually grew to admire and respect her. Especially during their verbal sparring matches on occasion. He even felt a bit attracted to her despite her not being his usual type.

Huh, who was he kidding? She was exactly his type. Well, despite her blood status but that shit no longer mattered to him.

Wait, what was he saying? He…oh yes.

He regretted her immensely.

When he had turned his back on Hogwarts and disappeared with that pack of deranged Voldemort followers, he had no idea how much he would miss her. Or their frequent interactions, though it was mostly unpleasant at times.

And oh, how he missed those verbal sparrings. She was so good at them. Even when he wasn't the one to bait her first, she was always so smart, clever and witty. He enjoyed them immensely. She was the first and only to challenge and stimulate him intellectually. It was refreshing.

Though he no longer despised her so much for her blood status, he just couldn't help but antagonize her for the fun of it. Besides, it would have been strange if he changed his behaviour after so many years of confrontations between her friends and his. In a way, he had fallen into a routine and didn't know how to get out of it. So he continued the pattern for old time's sake, despite his growing attraction.

And even though he would utter the word Mudblood, it was done without a second thought. To him, that word no longer held meaning, connotation, or belief. Instead, it was just used as another word he would use to call her like barmy or bint. Two other words which he had also used during their verbal wars.

If only he could have known beforehand how much she had affected him...

Or the year after when he was virtually being held prisoner in his own home and saw her being brought in with her two idiot friends. He still remembered vividly how his stomach had dropped to his feet when he saw them there in the Malfoy drawing room, being questioned excessively by his crazy Aunt Bella. And as if to add insult to injury, he remembered vividly how he felt nothing but horror, remorse and complete helplessness as he watched her get tortured and writhe on the floor in pain. Her screams made him feel no better about the whole ordeal.

At that moment, he felt he had sealed his fate at being 'Granger-less'. Why would she even think about him in that way after everything he'd put her through and witnessed? She would be nuts if she even considered it or even developed feelings for him. And he would be nuts to try and convince her otherwise.

But fate seemed to have a twisted sense of humor. Because in spite of his focused attention on running his family's business and applying to go to school in a foreign country, all in an attempt to move on, she had to go ahead and apply at the same place. Even run into him on the same day of his interview.

Once he saw her coming out of that office building, there was no doubt in his mind that she had been accepted.

He couldn't believe his luck. After almost two years of completely being off the radar so to speak, she was there. In the flesh.

And she looked wonderful.

One would have thought that after not seeing a person for so long, those previous feelings and anxieties would have passed on. What was that Muggle saying? 'Out of sight, out of mind?' Well, sadly that was not the case for him. In his case, once he laid his eyes on her, it was like breathing a breath of fresh air.

It wasn't, however, as if he had never seen or heard about her. He had actually run into her very rarely on occasion but their interaction was much of the same. And the Daily Prophet did a wonderful job in keeping up with her personal life and taking plenty of pictures. Through there, he had read about her returning to Hogwarts and of her refusal to work at the Ministry despite the great opportunity they were offering her. That last bit of news he still couldn't understand. Why didn't she want to work straightaway when the position was right up her alley? That made no sense whatsoever.

Besides learning about these tidbits, he also had the misfortune of hearing about her dating life and her current attachment to that pathetic galleon-less ginger. He had always known that the weasel would sooner or later lay his claim over her. It was only a matter of time. And that made him exceedingly jealous and frustrated. He had no doubt that his terrible behaviour towards her was fueled by it at times. He just couldn't help himself. Though if he recalled correctly, they were apparently having issues together and…

…according to a close source of his, they were no longer together…huh…

I wonder what happened there, he mused.

And then he cracked a real grin when he realized something. He looked down again at the acceptance letter in his hands.

He was going to get his chance to see her every day again. Reproachful consciousness be damned. He would make sure of it.

A/N: Please review! :)