Chapter Two
'''A puzzled look crossed Draco's face and the smoothed out as he realized who was standing in
front of him. His smirk returned, and he smiled wider than ever, and his eyes traveled up and
down Hermione's delicious curves. He looked up at her face and saw her eyes sparking with
anger at his blatant display of snarkiness, and she took a step towards him her cinnamon eyes
flashing in anger. She raised her hand in the air and delivered a sharp smack across the smooth
white skin of Draco's face.
'''Wincing, he rubbed his cheek, which was rapidly turning red, and glared at Hermione.
'''"Watch it Granger, just because you had..." his eyes caressed her body again, "plastic surgery
over the summer does not give you any right to dirty my skin by touching me, no matter how
badly you want to."
'''Hermione gasped in indignation. Malfoy had just accused her of having plastic surgery! "I'll
have you know, you ferret, that I did not have plastic surgery and that the day I touch you for
any reason other than a well deserved smack-"
'''"Touchy, eh Granger?" Draco interrupted. "Well, far be it from my duty to keep you from this
rather enjoyable little rant, but as I do recall, we do have certain duties to fulfill sometime before
the train reaches Hogwarts."
'''"Right. Well, how about I go check on the first years while you go take a nice bloody vacation
to hell, Malfoy!" Hermione stormed, marching out of the compartment. The door slid shut with a
bang, leaving Draco standing in the middle of the room, a pleased smile on his face.
-'-'-'-'-'-'-
'''Blaise Zabini open the compartment door to find Draco, smile still on his face, sitting on the
velvety cushion of the bench. Blaise was tall, at six foot even, and had hair so black as to appear
almost blue, which was gelled into a messy tussle on the top of his head. His eyes were a quiet
gray with flecks of green, and his handsome face was tanned darkly from a long summer
vacation in Greece with his family.
'''Laughing quietly at his best friend, Blaise waved a hand in front of Draco's face. Draco
started, and looked up into the amused face of Blaise Zabini.
'''"It seems you've met our new and improved Head girl," Blaise smiled.
'''"New and Improved? What the bleeding hell are you talking about Zabini? The only thing
different about her is she's actually trying to look decent. Not that it's working. Besides that
she's still the same know-it-all she's always been!" Draco spluttered.
'''"Draco, come on. Admit it, little Granger grew up over the summer."
'''"No." Draco said stubbornly, unconsciously pouting, a habit left over from younger years.
'''"Okay, whatever you say Draco. I'll see you later, I left Crabbe and Goyle alone in the
compartment...I'm afraid if I leave them alone too long, the train will explode of something,"
Blaise intoned smoothly before stepping out of the compartment.
-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-
'''Hermione stopped outside the compartment door, and took a deep breath. Great, she
thought, time for another encounter with everyone's favorite ferret...
'''Opening the door with a bang, Hermione found a startled Draco looking up at her. A think
book lay open on his lap, but he looked slightly bleary, as though he had just dozed off. He was
looking at her with an odd expression, and didn't say anything, just stared at her.
'''Tapping her foot impatiently, Hermione waited a full two minutes before sighing and rolling her
eyes.
'''"In case you're wondering, everything is fine, I've finished all our duties, and now I'm going to
spend the rest of the train ride in more pleasurable company," Hermione said quickly, turning on
her heel and walking out of the compartment.
-'-'-'-'-'-'-
'''Draco stared at the closed door, trying to shake the image from his mind of Hermione, her
eyes flashing, standing in front of him.
'''He had dozed off while looking through his potions textbook, and fell into a strange dream, in
which Hermione, clad in a flowing white gown, appeared before him like a vision. She smiled at
him gently, her hair flowing around her, reaching almost to the ground. As he looked at her, her
smile broadened in a delicate curve, and she reached her slim fingers towards his face. Just as
her fingers, radiating soft heat had almost touched his face; he had been awakened by a bang,
which announced the arrival of the real Hermione. As he looked at her blearily, her figure and
the receding figure of his dream interchanged themselves, and it appeared as though the dream
Hermione melted into the beautiful girl standing in front of him. He continued to look at her
dumbly, and when she left, he let his head sink into his hands.
'''Blaise was right, Hermione had changed. She had changed into the girl he had dreamed about
his entire life. Since he had been small, that very girl had appeared to him in the fevered dreams
he experienced in the nights after he had been beaten and tortured by his father. His father was
dead now, and he hadn't been visited by the soft white vision for over a year, and not until now
had he realized who the beautiful girl was.
-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-
'''Once again, Hermione paused outside the door of a compartment, this time stopped by the
sound of three voices inside the compartment. The voices laughed loudly, but suddenly became
quiet and intense. Hermione strained to hear what the boyish voices were saying, and she
gasped when she heard a deep voice saying quietly
'''"Listen mates, don't say a thing about this, but...I rather fancy Hermione."
'''A tint of red crept over Hermione's face, because the voice that said it was one she knew
well...it was the voice of...