Needed Time

Chapter 1: New Beginnings

A/N: I own nothing except my mistakes.

Important note: this will be a long story. It will thoroughly go through the years at Hogwarts as they did in the movies, but this time with Draco and Hermione in the spotlight, and them getting a chance at being friends (and later more), instead of having that chance ruined at the very start. So, this is a story of Harry Potter sort of rewritten to make Draco and Hermione work. It will start with Year One, and I will slowly go through each year until the war. I hope you'll stick around with me for the long run, but for now, enjoy!

Weaving her way through a mass of parents that were waving their children goodbye, she managed to board the train just in time before it blew its whistles and set off. If it hadn't been for the busy streets in London, packed with people on their way to work, she would have been on time, but alas.

It's not as if she hadn't known where to go to reach the Hogwarts Express, that she had now managed to board just on time, because she had read it in Hogwarts: A History. It's a book she had purchased when she had gone shopping with her parents in Diagon Alley upon receiving a visit from Professor McGonagall when she learnt that she was a witch. And the platform to the Hogwarts Express had been perfectly covered: how you had to walk straight through platform 10 and 9, so you could end up at Platform 9 ¾.

It's a pity she had been that late, really, because in the hurry she had to kiss her parents goodbye at the car, and had to make a run for it herself to the platform. This way her parents hadn't had gotten a chance at being able to wave her goodbye. Although, looking through the small window that was seated in the door that had closed just seconds after she had boarded the train, she saw that it would have been impossible to have spotted her parents, regardless.

Taking a good grip on her luggage, she glanced inside several compartments, but found that, naturally, most of them were already completely packed. Each compartment held six seats, and yet, even though she had been walking for a couple of feet already, she had still not found a single open spot in any of them.

Nonetheless, she continued to walk down the long corridor, occasionally having to reach out to the glass windows on her side to stabilize her as the train moved over a bit of a wonky track, letting out a small sound of surprise, but other than that she managed just fine.

Looking inside, she saw plenty of students who were all excitedly talking to one another, hearing their voices boom even through the closed doors. Many were shaking hands, just meeting one another, but some already knew each other since childhood as well. And even others were of the older Years, chatting away excitedly as they had finally gotten a chance to catch up with one another again.

When she had almost given up hope that she would be able to find a spot, and was convinced she had already walked through almost half of the train, she had almost missed an entirely empty compartment as she had gotten lost in her thoughts. Luckily for her, however, she processed it in time and came to an immediate halt and turned back around.

Peeking inside, she saw three trunks stacked away on the luggage racks right above the seats, but noticed only one boy occupying the space. He was sitting near the window, carelessly glancing out of it as his blonde hair, that was firmly combed back, was slightly lifted up as it pressed against the window.

A coat lay on the opposite end of him, but she figured that she would be able to fit there as well, even if he was already sharing the compartment with others. Merlin knows where they were, though.

Putting pressure on the door handle, she heard a soft sizzling sound as air was released to open it, the door gliding into the side as to grand her entrance. Upon hearing a door opening the boy looked up lazily, clearly expecting someone else – perhaps the person whom the coat belonged to – and fixed his expression once he noticed that it was a complete stranger.

"D'you mind if I come and sit here? Everywhere else is full." Hermione asked, putting her hand on the door to push it back as it tried to shut itself again. The blonde haired boy shook his head, then pointed at the seat opposite him.

"Thanks," Hermione said and entered the compartment, huffing as she lifted her trunk so it could rest in the luggage rack. Glad to have gotten rid of that heavy thing – it contained more books than she would need for this year – she readily accepted the appointed seat as she let herself fall down.

Feeling rather awkward, for the boy hadn't said anything yet, and was only looking at her with a hint of curiosity, she figured it would only be right to introduce herself. "I'm Hermione Granger," she said, whilst offering him her hand.

He looked at it in contemplation whether or not it would be a smart thing to do to shake it, but then took it anyway and gave her a firm shake. "I'm Malfoy," the boy said, a big grin appearing on his face as if he took pride in his last name, "Draco Malfoy."

Hermione did not know if the name Malfoy held any weight in the Wizarding World, but with the way he carried it she had a hunch that if anything else, he for sure was not Muggleborn.

"Pleasure," Hermione replied, willing herself to smile, which came more natural as his grin eased into a more pleasurable smile. With that they both dropped their hands, momentarily distracted as the compartment darkened and everything outside the window disappeared – they were going through a tunnel. They were out of it as soon as they had gotten into it, however.

"Exciting, isn't it?" She said, feeling a grin well up on her face. Draco cocked an eyebrow at her, as if not knowing what she was talking about. "Going to Hogwarts, I mean." Hermione clarified, and at that Draco dropped his eyebrow.

"I s'pose so, yes," He spoke, rather absent-mindedly as his eyes drifted out of the window again.

"Nearly wouldn't have gone to Hogwarts," Draco spoke, breaking the silence that had consumed the compartment minutes ago. It had become clear to Hermione pretty soon that he wasn't much of a talker. At least not so much for small talk.

Before she could even ask why, he already continued his story, pulling his eyes from the window to her, letting an easy smile rest on his lips as he spoke. To be fair, it was a rather charismatic smile. Almost appealing in a way.

"Father had wanted to send me to Durmstrang, but Mother ought it to be too far from home, so they opted for Hogwarts instead." Draco explained, and Hermione wondered what could have attracted his father to Durmstrang. She hadn't had gotten the chance to read much on international wizarding schools yet, but Durmstrang had been briefly mentioned in Hogwarts: A History.

Knowing it would be polite to make some small talk, something she was actually looking rather forward to, she knew this was a great possibility to get a shot. "Durmstrang, I've heard about that. It's in Russia, isn't it?"

Draco almost seemed to lit up as he spoke. "Yes, west of it. Some of the greatest wizards have attended school there," he said. Then added on second thought, "Best thing is that they do not admit Muggleborns," the latter almost being spat out, his face scrunching up in disgust at the thought of them.

Though deeply disturbed by the sudden disgust, she couldn't help but notice the light feign in his expression. It looked almost more trained than natural. However, that wasn't her biggest train of thought at the moment.

Due to the sudden distaste of Muggleborns she was by now convinced he had to be a Pureblood, and perhaps the Malfoy family was indeed a highly spoken name of in the Wizarding World. It would explain his pride and the reasoning of his father.

However, being a Muggleborn herself, she didn't quite know what to do with Draco now. If anything, Hermione was desperate to make some friends. Back at home she hadn't had any, as her preference had always lied in books rather than people, and the people she did meet were almost freaked out by her ability to consume the books she read.

This time around, however, as excited as she was to be able to learn new things, she also wanted something else in particular: friends. She wasn't particularly gifted in making them, for she hadn't had much practice in the past. It's probably why you'll forgive her for simply ignoring his prior statement about Muggleborns.

Though she knew better, she simply chose to ignore what he had said. And most certainly decided to not let it slip yet that she was a Muggleborn herself. Not because she was ashamed to be one, not at all. She took pride in being one as much as he took pride in being a Malfoy. Her parents were absolutely lovely, and she hadn't wished to grow up in any different family than her own.

However, like she said, she was almost desperate to make friends, preferably at the start of the year, and to have someone who seemed at ease to talk to her, and didn't scold her or sneer at her from the very start, was most certainly an improvement. She didn't want to ruin that just yet.

Perhaps she even unconsciously hoped to be able to change his mind if she would get the chance to know him better. Perhaps if she just had a bit of time to become better friends she could show him how great Muggleborns can be as well, and perhaps when the time would come that she would share with him that she was one of them as well, he wouldn't take it so badly. That's what she convinced herself, anyway.

Knowing she had been a bit too quiet since he last spoke, she looked up to find him looking at her questioningly, readily opening his mouth to presumably ask why she wasn't responding when the door opened, saving her from having to answer a question that she knew she didn't want to reply to.

"There you are," Draco spoke, his attention drawn to the opening door, clearly already forgetting about their previous little conversation as he looked at the two boys coming in, both of sturdy build. They looked rather unsure of where to sit now, seeing as Hermione shared the booth with them as well now, but they eased up as Draco began to introduce them.

"Hermione, this is Crabbe," he said, pointing to a boy with chubby cheeks and a shaved millimetre haircut, who gave her a curt nod as he hastily sat down on the same bench as her, though made sure to keep his distance, using the coat that had been laying there to create a permanent barrier between them.

"And this is Goyle," he drawled, and the boy with a light wave in his hair mumbled a 'hello,' as he took a seat next to Draco. Both boys looked completely out of place once you compared them to Draco. As charismatic and outspoken as he was, as completely quiet and on the background they were.

Both fumbled with their pants as they straightened them out, looking anywhere else but at her. It was as if they had never been around another person before. Draco noticing their odd behaviour, and her curious looks, let a smirk fall on his face as he glanced between the boys and her. "You'll forgive me for their strange behaviour," he drawled, "you see, they haven't been around girls much."

At this Goyle protested, but only light-heartedly, earning him a booming laugh as Draco caught something that Goyle had said that Hermione hadn't been able to catch. "Your mom doesn't count, Goyle."

Hermione propped a smile, shaking her head at the little quarrel. "You three knew each other already, then?" Hermione asked, it being confirmed by a quick nod from Draco.

"Our fathers are well acquainted, so naturally we have spent some time together over the years." Hermione nodded in understanding, letting herself ease back a bit in her seat as she had only now noticed how tense she had been sitting. She had only been occupying the tip of the seat the past half hour, and was glad to now let her muscles relax as she didn't need to hold herself seated any longer.

The conversation died out on its own a bit, but Hermione wasn't too bumped about it. The silence felt quite natural, and besides, she only now had gotten a good chance to look outside and enjoy the scenery.

She knew that a magical future awaited her, something she was still trying to get accustomed to, but right now, what she was seeing outside – the trees in full blossom, a river sparkling as the sun sheds its beams upon it, birds twirling and playing around in the air with one another – was almost as magical as things could get right now.

It hadn't occurred to her at all that she had been looking outside for so long – after all, she had heard the conversation between Draco, Crabbe and Goyle begin after a while, only a vague murmur in the background – but when Crabbe made out a loud howl as he had won what looked like a magical set of a card game that they had been playing, she only now looked at the watch on her wrist to see what time it was.

"Blimey," Hermione whispered under her breath, but caught Draco's attention nonetheless. He looked rather grim and frustrated, slamming some useless cards on the empty spot next to him. He was clearly not amused about losing a game. "It's only about an hour before we arrive, I best get changed."

Draco, looking at his own pocket watch, cocked one single eyebrow up in mild surprise, then shrugged as he let it drop back into his pocket. "Plenty enough time," he said negligently. Hermione, however, wished to not have to change robes last minute, and figured it would be best to change right now. She could always come back and relax for a bit for the remainder of the ride once she had changed.

"D'you know where the loo is around here?" Draco shook his head, but then nodded at the boys next to them. "Didn't you two go off to find it?" He asked them, his voice deepening ever so slightly as if to make himself sound more superior. "Ye, it's right around the corner down the hall." Goyle spoke, and Draco drew his lips down in mild admiration. Almost as if he hadn't expected a full sentence out of him. Then again, the two didn't sound too bright.

Hermione nodded in gratitude, and then rose up to grab for her trunk. "Crabbe," she heard Draco say behind her back, "why don't you help her with that?" And with that the boy immediately rose up, fetching her trunk easily off the rack and handed it to her. "Thanks," Hermione mumbled, slightly taken aback. She didn't quite know what to think of Draco ordering his friends around, or even better, them willingly accepting it.

Crabbe gave her nothing more than a grunt before he sat back down again, and she figured it was his way of saying 'don't mention it'. Or at least that is what she hoped it would be.

Grabbing her school robes out of her trunk, she put it back in the rack a bit easier than it was to take it back off, and then said her goodbyes to the boys for now.

Leaving the compartment, she carried a smile on her face as she clutched her outfit to her chest. Not only did she successfully manage to try and make friends, but it wouldn't be long now until she would step into her new school. And not just a new school, but a wizarding school for that matter.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," a boy said, and Hermione winced as she rubbed her shoulder, one that he had bumped into rather forcefully. "I'm looking for my toad, have you seen it?" The boy asked, and Hermione noticed how his black hair was rather ruffled, his robes hanging rather clumsily off his shoulders.

"I'm Neville, by the way," he said, then offered her his hand and gave her a sheepish smile, displaying a set of teeth with a bit of a gap in between his front teeth. Smiling, she returned his handshake, "I'm Hermione." She said, then hoisted her clothes back up as they had almost fallen out of her grasp upon her shock of bumping into him. "I'm sorry, I haven't seen your toad, Neville. Would you like me to come and look with you?"

The boy gave a nod and pointed to the compartment behind him. "Someone just came in after visiting the loo, and before I knew it he had escaped from my grasp. I swear I hadn't meant to let him go, but it would be great if you could help and look, yes."

Nodding, she pointed to the corridor behind her. "How about you go down there? I have to go to the loo, so I might as well check it out straight ahead."

Neville grinned, then hurriedly slipped past her. "Thanks, Hermione!" He called over her shoulder, giving her a free clearance to proceed her steps.

Keeping her eyes peaked, she looked into several compartment to see if the toad had perhaps slipped into one of them, but to such extent no success yet. It hadn't taken long to reach the loo, and she figured it would be a bit more time-efficient to go ahead and get dressed first before continuing her search.

Having changed into her new school robes, she continued her walk until she had almost reached the far end of the train. At some compartments she had simply glanced inside, and at others she had opened to door to ask if people had come across a toad.

This one was no exception, as she opened another compartment door, holding only two boys in it. "Excuse me, has any of you seen a toad? A boy named Neville has lost one." She began, then saw as a redheaded boy began to produce a charm, his wand pointed at a scabby rat on his lap. "Oh, you're doing magic, let's see then." Hermione said, her interest peaked. She had read about quite a few spells already as she had lightly studied the school books she had purchased, and was curious to see what the boy would put into action.

The redhaired boy, however, produced a poorly sounding charm, and she doubted the authenticity of it. "It's not very good, is it?" At this she saw the two boys share a funny expression, though she paid it no mind. "I've tried a few simple ones myself, but they've all worked for me." Hermione said rather bossily as she easily crossed the distance to an empty seat in front of both of them.

Pointing her wand at a black haired boy, who had since not spoken a single word yet, looked rather frightened as her wand came rather close to her face. "Oculus Reparo," Hermione enunciated very clearly, and watched in satisfaction as his broken glasses easily fixed themselves and tucked away her wand again.

Noticing the scar protruding on his forehead once he looked from her to the other boy and back to her, she opened her mouth agape in surprise. "You're Harry Potter, aren't you?" Not expecting an answer, because she knew already, she went on. "I'm Hermione Granger, and you are?" She asked, looking at the redhaired boy.

"Ron Weasley," he said, his voice muffled as some chocolate was plainly visible on his tongue, him chewing on some candy. Hermione made a face, then stood up again and picked up the clothes she had been wearing before she went to change. "You two better change into robes. I expect we'll be arriving soon." And with that she left, making a last round through the train, before going back to tell Neville that she hadn't been able to find his toad, though he thanked her for looking.

For the remainder of the ride she spent it in silence with Draco and Crabbe and Goyle, the three of them having changed into robes as well when she was gone, and excitingly entered the train station once the train had finally gotten to a stop.

By now it had gotten dark outside, and her only guidance were some lanterns planted around and a literal half-giant carrying out, ordering them to follow him. Looking around in amazement, as all First Years did, she let out some impressed noises as she took it all in, seeing the castle in the far distance already.

They were seated in boats, her sharing it with Draco and some other two students that she hadn't met yet, and before she could enjoy the boat ride too much it had already come to an end and they were being led into the castle.

There a professor awaited them, who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, and instructed them on how the evening would continue. At this she had gotten separated from Draco, who had positioned himself in front along with Crabbe and Goyle, so she had found her place next to Neville, who so rudely interrupted Professor McGonagall's speech as he suddenly spotted his toad Trevor. Well, at least he could rest easily now knowing he had his toad back.

The woman excused herself as she would alert the others of their arrival, and Draco took this opportunity to try and befriend Harry. Speaking some rather unkind words of Ron in turn. He didn't look so pleased, however, when Harry turned him down. She supposed he wasn't used to rejection.

Hermione didn't quite know who to side with. It was rather odd to see Draco so cocky and proud as he had been rather laid-back and chill with her in the compartment. Perhaps because she hadn't insulted him like Ron had subconsciously done by snickering at his name.

Before she could give it too much thought, however, the woman had already returned and now led them to the Great Hall. There she gave some clear and rather simple instructions on what awaited them next. Though they were rather easy – after all, you simply had to go ahead and put on the Sorting Hat – they didn't feel so easy to her. After all, this was a determining moment. Wherever you would get sorted into now, would remain the House you would be in for the rest of your school career.

Numerous of students had been called out, but eventually Draco was the first to be called out from the people she had met thus far. The Sorting Hat had not only just touched his hair before it readily called out: "Slytherin!" at this Hermione bit her lip, wondering what to feel.

She hadn't heard great stories about people who had been placed into Slytherin, and Ron so easily confirmed that as she heard him whisper to Harry about how only evil people were sorted in there. Could it really be true? Was he evil? She had a hard time believing it from what she knew right now. Surely he couldn't be.

Whatever he was, however, was currently not the matter, because as he left the stool he looked very pleased indeed with himself. Throwing her a smirk before leaving off to the Slytherin table where he was readily welcomed by other students.

Next up it was Ron's turn, and not long after it was hers. Motivating herself all the way to the stool, she was relieved indeed when she heard it yell out "Gryffindor!" a House that she was secretly hoping to be sorted into. She liked to think of herself as courageous. If anything, that's what she really wanted to be. She didn't want to just be brains.

Glancing over at the Slytherin table, she hoped that Draco hadn't suddenly turned against her. It was no secret that Gryffindor and Slytherin had some ancient rivalry going on, just as werewolves and vampires were not supposed to get along. To her relief, however, she saw him give her a smile, one as easy and relaxed as it had been back on the train.

Hermione smiled in return, positive that this would turn into a great year.