a/n: heyas people… its me again. Thanks for all the reviews… I appreciate all the nice reviews and as for the criticism… well I appreciate them too. Thanks for pointing them out to me… I'll try not to do those things again…
Oh yeah… the person at the end of chapter 2 WASN'T Ron… so much for a surprise. I'll try hard to find a BetaReader… thanks for the suggestions. I'm like SO not a grammar person. You can ask my English teachers… on another thought… don't.
I don't know if this is a plot that is overused… but I'll try to make it a bit more original… sorry about that…
I'm not someone that can describe well either… I admit… but I'll try my hardest! Also, I tried fixing up the error about the spacing! Sorry about that too!
Hope you all enjoy this chapter… please read and review!
~*~*~ Chapter 3: Confusion ~*~*~
Hermione's POV
"Hey watch it! Are you okay Granger?"
"Sorry…" Hermione stuttered while looking up. Malfoy?! Asking me if I'm Ok? What is this world coming to??? She thought.
Malfoy looked at her with a look of concern. Him? Concerned about me?! This is really weird.
"Are you alright?" he said again. What? No Mudblood? No insults? It's either me or him that's going nuts.
She felt really sad and wanted someone to talk to. But he doesn't seem like the old Malfoy anymore. Maybe…. Maybe… could he have changed? What's happening? Why is everyone so different?
She didn't know what to do. What if it's a trap? What if he's trying to trick me? What if…
She couldn't take it anymore. She was so confused. So she ran off, still crying. This time, tears of confusion.
"What the hell happened to her?" Draco thought.
~*~*~
Draco's POV
This summer had really changed Draco Malfoy a lot. Words could not have described his feelings. His mother had 'mysteriously' died. But Draco knew why. It was all because of his father. He wasn't scared of Lucius. He knew he would never hurt him. He needed him as Voldemort's heir. He needed him to gain place in Voldemort's eyes. He remembered his mother's dying wishes.
----- Flashback -----
"Draco, come with me. We will be out tonight. We will be paying some Muggles a visit." Lucius' lip curled into a cold, cruel smile.
Narcissa and Draco both knew what that meant. Since the beginning of the Summer, Lucius had been taking Draco with him while he tortured Muggles in different parts of the country.
This cannot go on. He can't keep affecting the thoughts of our son! Narcissa thought. Bravely, she spoke up. "Lucius, Draco is not old enough! You can't keep on doing this! You…" she was interrupted with a loud slap.
"Shut up! Who are you to tell me what to do! He is my son and I can order him to do whatever I want!" he struck her again, harder this time. She could barely stand.
"Crucio…" Lucius laughed while Narcissa screamed and fell onto the floor.
"Promise me one more thing Draco…" Narcissa's voice was very weak, she was barely whispering.
"Anything mother, anything." Draco's eyes searched his mother's for the last time. What he saw was pain, hurt and sadness.
"Promise me you will do what you, yourself want and not what someone else wants you to do. Follow your heart. Please… promise…"
"That is quite enough." Lucius said in a bored tone.
A green light filled the room and Draco closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he saw his mother, her beautiful face, lifeless. He remembered the times his mother and he played games in the forest, finding each other behind the trees, having fun together and hiding from his father, too scared to do anything, having only each other to hold onto. His eyes shed a tear at the thought of them not being to see each other again.
"Draco! What is the first thing I taught you a death eater should not do?!" Lucius stormed.
Not to show any emotion. Ever. Since the day the summer holidays began, Lucius had wanted to change Draco's mind.
"And another thing, you're getting married to Pansy at graduation. So you'd better get ready for that." Lucius smirked.
"What? But I don't even like her, let alone love her."
"There is no such thing as love. You will marry her and that is that."
~*~*~
This news had affected Draco on the inside, but he was determined to not show it. He had a reputation that he had built over the six years to support, and he wasn't going to ruin it.
But when he saw Her-Granger, he could not help but feel sorry for her. He had seen the feeling in those toffee brown eyes before, and he could not help remember his mother, how her eyes had been.
He had shown real concern to her, but somehow that seemed to scare her away. Although Draco thought that she was a bit mean to him, he knew that it was weird to her. I know how she feels like. Having a complete enemy for six years, then suddenly they turn nice. That's really odd, he thought.
He shrugged it off, before looking for his best friend, Blaise Zabini in random Slytherin carriages.
They had been real friends since they were little kids. They both were a little afraid of their fathers, and they knew that both did not want to become Deatheaters like their fathers. They shared their lunch, their crayons and their deepest secrets; they trusted each other with everything.
~*~*~
Hermione's POV
She ran into a compartment that only a few third years occupied. They only slightly noticed her come in, but she didn't care. She was too absorbed into her own thoughts.
What is up with Malfoy? Why did he go so nice all of a sudden? Did he just ask me if I was all right?? Ok… this is really weird… and did he actually look sad when I ran away? Why do I care so much? It must be my new look. Damn Jesse and what she made me look like now… now all guys look at my appearance rather than how I am inside…
Hermione was depressed. Now she wouldn't know if someone wanted to be her true friend, or just someone who liked her looks…
Suddenly, she remembered. She had changed her hair to its bushy appearance when she was talking to Ron and Harry, and hadn't changed it back before Malfoy saw her. So maybe he really changed… he hadn't seen the 'new' me after all…
"But he's still the Ferret that has teased you and your friends since your first day at school! He is and will continue to be the annoying, mean and dumb Ferret-face Malfoy!" A voice in her head told her in a very bossy way.
I guess so… Hermione thought.
"But," Another voice in her head, "Everyone deserves second chances. Who knows, he might have changed. You should never judge people before you know them."
But I don't want to know him! Hermione thought angrily.
"How do you know he changed?" the first voice asked.
"How do you know he hasn't changed?" the second voice retorted.
"Because I just do!"
"And how do you know that I don't know?!"
"Stop it!"
"You stop it!"
"YOU BOTH STOP IT!!" Hermione screamed, unfortunately and unconciously, aloud.
The third years stopped talking abruptly and looked at her as though she was insane.
"ARGH! I'm going mad!!" Hermione screamed once again, before she ran out the carriage.
"She has gone mad, you know…" a third year said to his friend.
"Yeah… must be seventh year pressure…" he replied, while flicking through his chocolate frog card album.
~*~*~
a/n: so.. how was it? Good, bad, good, bad… what do you think… I've got it beta read… so it should be better in grammar and spelling… I think… thanks to:
~ Mel
~ Irene
for beta reading this chappie!
Anyway, REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!
Cyaz!
~mysticrystal
ps:
this is something I found really cool… so I decided to tell you all! Here it is!
Aocdrnicg to rsecareh at Cmbagrdie Uinervtisy,
it denos't mtater waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are,
the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae.
The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm.
Tihs is bcuseae the human mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef,
but the word as a wlohe.
Amazing huh?