Now, this chapter is half of Draco's POV and half of Hermione's POV. I just had to do it to give both sides of the story. I didn't want to separate the two. They're MEANT to be together. xD Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter.

Draco tapped his trunk impatiently as his mother fussed about with his eagle's cage. She had made special sweets for him which, undoubtedly, were blueberry flavoured. They tasted much better than the Blueberry Blissfuls from Hogsmeade and Draco was rather proud of the fact that they weren't elf-made sweets. As he turned to regard the swarm of people milling about Platform 9 3/4, a mess of bushy, brown hair caught his eye.

"Mother, I think that Granger's hair is too bushy for her own good," said Draco in his usual drawl.

"Draco, that's very rude!" reprimanded Narcissa. "It's not as bad as you make it out to be."

Draco raised his brows and continued to watch Hermione out of the corner of his eyes. She was rather tearful at parting with the Weasleys and her parents but there was also a sense of eagerness for another year at Hogwarts and a chance to meet with old friends – Hermione was now chatting rather excitedly with a Ravenclaw that Draco vaguely knew was in some of his lessons.

"Staring is considered rude, too, Draco."

Draco looked up to see a small smile playing on his mother's lips. "Yes, Mother."

"She's one of the brightest witches of your generation. Better than a certain blonde pureblood I know of."

Draco gaped at his mother. "Are you trying to criticise me, Mother?"

Narcissa gave a small laugh. "You'd be better off befriending her instead of trying to be her enemy."

Draco's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He hadn't expected his mother to broach the subject about befriending Hermione Granger. The thought about being friends with Hermione – or even Harry and Ron – had never crossed his mind.

"Befriend Granger?"

"Why not, Draco? Look at what following your father's ideas has led us to. I'm sure you don't want to repeat the same thing again."

True, he had been brought up to look down upon muggle-borns and strangely enough, that was one thing he never questioned. He questioned everything else that came to him but that was one thing he had just accepted. Perhaps, it was the inculcation of such mentality into him that made him this way. Draco shook his head. He wondered silently how he would have turned out if his father hadn't raised him the traditional pureblood way. Would he have been friends with the Golden Trio?

"What are you thinking so deeply about?" asked Narcissa, curious.

Draco shook his head. "It's nothing."

"I'm sure it's nothing," said Narcissa. "I know you so well, Draco. What is it?"

"Don't worry about it. I'd better get going now."

Narcissa looked reluctant to drop the subject but she simply nodded. "Have a safe trip, dear."

Draco gathered his mother in a tight hug and gave her a small kiss on her cheek. Then, straightening up, he lifted his cage and pulled his trunk towards the train. He waited till every other student in front of him had entered before hauling himself and his trunk into the train. He turned around to see his mother watching him with an unmistakeably tender expression her face.

"I love you," mouthed Narcissa as she waved at him.

Draco felt a warm feeling seep into him as he smiled as his mother. Then, he pointed at himself and held up two fingers – me too. It was something he had never seen anyone else do and took pride in the fact that he was smart enough to come up with something like that. He continued waving at his mother as the train accelerated and the platform moved out of sight.

"Hermione, are you coming?" asked Harry, looking expectantly at his best friend.

"Yeah, yeah, I just need to…" mumbled Hermione as she pretended to look busy.

"Hermione?" asked Ron as he hesitated behind Harry who was making his way to an empty compartment down the aisle.

"Go first, Ronald," said Hermione sternly.

"Are you sure? Who are you waiting for?" asked Ron, frowning.

"Just go," replied Hermione, staring hard at Ron.

Ron gulped and turned back, making his way after Harry. Hermione stifled a groan. Ron could be so insensitive and prying sometimes. The possessive nature of Ron bugged her to no extent especially since the two of them weren't even dating.

For now, she didn't want to be interrupted while she was doing something she didn't want both of them to know about.

The precarious task of observing Draco Malfoy.

Hermione couldn't believe what she had seen. It was not something she believe many people ever had the chance to see – the relationship between Draco Malfoy and his mother, Narcissa.

She watched discreetly as Draco and his mother shared a rather fond farewell. Seeing Draco hug his mother was very odd because he had always appeared to be a selfish, heartless person. Hermione's eyes widened in surprise when she saw Draco hug his mother. That she found really unexpected. And the kiss, too, was definitely not something she could have predicted!

As the train left the platform and Draco drew himself back in, Hermione quickly turned away and dragged her trunk behind her while trying to look for Harry and Ron. Her pulse quickened at the thought that Draco was probably walking just behind her and might have seen her abrupt turn.

"Granger."

Hermione froze. That voice could only belong to him. No one else. She turned around slowly, waiting for the worst.

"They're in here," said Draco, pointing to a compartment that was two compartments away.

Hermione's face reddened as she realised that she had missed it while being so deep in her thoughts. She nodded silently and walked back. She stopped outside the compartment, waiting for Draco to move on but he didn't. Instead, he just stood outside the neighbouring compartment and looked at her questioningly.

"What, Granger?" asked Draco. "Aren't you going in?"

"Yeah, I am," replied Hermione, finally finding her voice. "Aren't you moving on?"

Draco's eyebrows rose. "I'll be in this one."

"Oh."

Hermione slid the door to her compartment open and deposited her trunk in it. Harry and Ron were in the middle of a game of chess and only looked up briefly to see who was coming in.

"See you around."

It was just a little silver of a whisper but Hermione was so sure she heard it. She darted back out but Draco had already gone into the compartment. Confused, she went back into her compartment and shut the door behind her. Did Draco really say that? Or was it just an auditory hallucination? Hermione shook her head wildly. Having hallucinations about Draco Malfoy definitely wasn't a good start to the term. Don't think too much about it, Hermione, she told herself sternly.

But she couldn't help slipping her hand into her pocket to grasp the hawthorn wand.