Disclaimer: as always - i own nothing you recognize

AN: i actually got reviews - yay. special thanks to my first reviewer dracodolenz. and to SlytherinHunny13 and andii() too. lol - yea thanks nora and andii. but sorry to anyone who does decide to read this if my grammar or spelling isn't perfect. i like english and am good at it but not perfect. spell check is one of the greatest inventions on the computer. even before that there was a dictionary - though i never really got the point of looking up how to spell a word if you didn't know how to spell it in the first place. oh well some things remain a mystery. just like why i got my ears pierced...lol. yea i just got my first holes last night - i never saw a real reason to get them done but i finally just did. well yea okay im babbling ... without farther adue here's the third chapter

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Chapter 3 – Diagon Alley

After a few rounds of insults being passed around the group, a face appeared in front of them, it was no other then Mrs. Weasley.

"Mum?" Ginny asked questioningly.

"Yes, dear, it's me. You're probably wondering why your father and I have yet to join you," She began, though none of them had realized seeing they were preoccupied with Draco. "Just as Hermione left we got an owl saying that a meeting of the..."

"Okay, Mum. We'll see you when we get home then." Ron said, cutting her off and shooting a glare to Draco. Mrs. Weasley noticed him then for the first time and tried to mask her disgust but had a hard time in doing so as it showed on her face quite obviously.

"Oh, alright then. Just get your school supplies and come right home, don't cause any trouble." She then sent a pointed look at Draco, and disappeared.

The group then went back to spitting out insults towards each other. After a good while of doing so Draco decided he'd had enough. He turned to walk away saying he had better things to do but Harry, Ron, Fred and George wouldn't let him go that easily.

"Just where do you think you're going Malfoy?" Fred spat.

"To buy school supplies with money that you obviously don't have, not that it's any of your business to begin with." He shot back, again turning to leave.

"Oh you're asking for it," Ron muttered advancing on him. Harry caught him just in time or he would've punched Draco.

"Oh I wasn't asking for anything, though that nice view of Granger's lace wasn't too bad." He said with a smirk. Hermione immediately blushed and looked away from him, while the guys stood there confused. Ginny being the only other one who got it, glared at him. But that had confused himself, what was he saying? Did he just say that the view up Granger's dress was nice? What was getting into him? Then again even he couldn't deny she looked good this year.

"And just how would have seen that Malfoy?" Ginny asked with the same tone her brothers had used when addressing him, interrupting Draco's thoughts.

"Her dress happened to go up in my face when we landed." The guys now getting what he was talking about grew very angry.

"Well Malfoy," Ron said spitting out his name as if it were poison, "You had no right to look at MY girlfriend like that!"

"Well well well, Granger and the Weasel, can't say I didn't see that coming. But Weasley," he spat back with the same disgust, "Jealousy won't get you to a women's heart. It's not my fault I've seen what you obviously haven't." Both Hermione and Ron blushed at that comment. "Not even you have the class to see that."

That was the last straw for Ginny; she walked up and slapped him right across his face. "You have absolutely NO right to talk about Hermione or any girl like that you arrogant perverted prat!" and with that she grabbed Hermione's arm and stomped away dragging her along. Ron, Harry, Fred and George stood there in shock for a moment before coming back to reality and sprinting to catch up with the girls.

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"Ginny that was bloody brilliant." George exclaimed patting her on the back. "I didn't know you had it in you."

"Just shut up, don't bother me about it. It's over and done with now can we just get our school stuff and go home?" Ginny replied, obviously exhausted. All her energy was gone and she just wanted to go home.

"Sure Gin, we'll see you later guys, we'll meet you in the Three Broomsticks like we planned before." Hermione said and started to steer Ginny in the direction of Flourish and Blott's to get the necessary quills, books, parchment and such.

Fred and George went their own way too, to their joke shop down the street to check on how everything was going without them around. They hadn't been at the joke shop in a couple weeks. It had been a couple of years since they had opened a shop in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. Mostly they worked at Hogsmeade during the school year but Diagon Alley during the summer.

Harry and Ron decided to get all their necessary school supplies first so they could spend as much time as possible in the Quidditch store. It was like their heaven in there, nothing could compare to it. They both were overjoyed to see the new broom that was out, the Blaze. Though neither of them was going to buy it, it was enough for them just to look.

The time quickly passed and soon they found themselves all meeting in the Three Broomsticks. Harry and Ron had all the required supplies but they said they had yet to stop by the Quidditch store so they were going to do that after lunch. Fred and George were going to go back to their shop after lunch to give some of their employees a break. Hermione and Ginny had gotten all their school stuff but they still wanted to go to Madam Gladrags to get new robes and then the pet store to get some food and toys for Crookshanks.

They ordered lunch and talked about every topic they hadn't yet covered. Seeing as they were all extremely hungry their lunch was finished very quickly. They then left the necessary coins on the table and proceeded to do the rest of their shopping.

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Draco walked into The Rose and looked around for his parents. He didn't really like the mood of this restaurant particularly; it always made him feel like he was being watched. Having spotted them across the room he made his way over to the table and joined them.

"You're late," his father said in a warning tone, "that being the case we already ordered everything."

"I got held up a little this morning sorry, and thank you." Draco replied trying to keep the frustration out of his voice.

"Don't make excuses," his father spat. The conversation went on with the same uneasy feeling to it. Until the dishes were brought out and their attentions were focused elsewhere.

Narcissa seemed to be the only one in a fairly good mood and tried to keep up the conversation. Soon enough they had all finished and the plates were taken away. Lucius pulled out his moneybag and put the right amount of coins on the table, including a few extra for a tip. He then rose and indicated for Draco and Narcissa to join him, together they walked out of the restaurant and into the sunlight on the streets.

"Did you get all your school supplies Draco?" Narcissa asked.

"Yes mother I did," he replied softly, after all she was just doing her job as a mother and at least she cared about him, "But I wanted to go to the Quidditch store to look around a bit."

"Good then boy, your mother and I will go back to the Manor. I have business to attend to anyway and will be leaving, unfortunately I won't be able to see you off at the station in a few days, I'll be gone until next week." Lucius said with not a hint of sorrow in his voice.

The three of them made their way to a deserted alley and Lucius and Narcissa aparated back. Lucius made his way right up to his room to pack the necessary things as he was to be leaving any time now. The carriage had yet to show up to take him away and he was getting annoyed. He wanted to take it out on Draco like he always did but he wasn't home yet. Finally it came and he was gone, Narcissa were relieved to see him go. Once the carriage was out of sight it seemed like a huge weight had been released from her shoulders.

Draco made his way to the Qudditch store to look around. He was extremely relieved, he wouldn't have to deal with his father for the rest of the summer.

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It was late in the afternoon when Hermione and Ginny finished getting their robes. They had both needed new school robes and dress robes and finding just the right ones was more than time consuming. They made their way to the Quidditch shop where they knew they'd find Harry and Ron.

As they walked in a bell chimed but Harry and Ron didn't even acknowledge their presence. Hermione and Ginny decided to give them a little scare. They snuck up behind the boys, Hermione behind Ron and Ginny behind Harry. After a few seconds they were directly behind them and on the silent count of three they pounced onto their backs sending all four of them onto the floor. The result was both Harry and Ron looking as if they were about to murder. Ron cursed under his breath but when he saw just who it was his frown turned into a smile. Next to him Harry's expressions were just about the same. Harry was shocked and joyous at the same time, it was Ginny who had just jumped on him. Hermione and Ginny got up off of them and offered their hands. Harry and Ron took them and got up off the floor.

"How nice of you to join us," Ron said with a smile.

"More, how nice of you to scare the hell out of us." Harry whispered though both Hermione and Ginny heard him.

"Hey!" Hermione exclaimed. "It's not our fault you were too involved with your Quidditch to notice us."

"Yes, you look at those brooms like you want to take them with you to bed." Ginny cried trying to contain her laughter. Finally she nor Hermione could hold it in any longer, they both burst into a fit of giggles. Harry and Ron just stood there looking at them as if they were mad.

After a few minutes they regained control and remembered they still had to go to the pet store. Hermione and Ginny made their way there leaving Harry and Ron to their Quidditch again.

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Draco made his way into the Quidditch store stopping to admire the new broom that was in the window. His father refused to get him a new broom if he couldn't beat Potter in at least one game so he was still stuck on his old broom.

Walking to the back of the store looking for a new broom servicing kit he stumbled upon Harry and Ron. Simply glaring at them and continuing by he made his way to the shelves of kits.

Harry and Ron were trying to decide what to do when they saw Draco Malfoy enter the Quidditch shop. But when he walked by them he didn't even comment just sent a glare their way. They figured something wasn't right, he'd never let them off that easily. So they decided to start the insults and see if he would do anything back.

Going over to where Draco was standing Ron spat the first words. "Malfoy what are you doing in here?"

"It's a store Weasley some of us come in here to shop you know." That was it, the war of insults began.

After a good ten minutes or so Ron got fed up with just insulting Malfoy he wanted to cause him pain. He wanted to do anything to hurt the little bastard. He punched him before Harry could even see it was happening and stop him. His fist collided with Draco's nose and made a sickening crack. Of course Draco wasn't just going to take that, he too threw a punch at Ron hitting him straight in the jaw and causing him to stumble backwards a little. Harry then decided to join and socked Draco right in the eye, it would probably turn into a black eye later on. The fight continued on...

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Hermione and Ginny were done at the pet store and went back to get Harry and Ron. Upon entering they saw the manager trying to get a group of kids in back to stop fighting. Making their way over they saw just who it was.

"Harry! Ron! What are you doing?!" Hermione exclaimed running up to the boys trying to pull them away from no other than Draco Malfoy. Ginny followed her immediately and together they separated the three.

"Just what do you think you were doing?! I thought we had enough of this this morning!" Ginny said accusingly.

"Well...uh...see..." Harry muttered trying to put into words what happened without having Hermione and Ginny kill him and Ron.

"Weasley punched me and I hit him back, it was simply self defense." Malfoy said calmly, his smirk returning to his face. Then he lowered his voice so only Hermione could hear, "I think you need to keep your boyfriend on a leash Granger."

"Well Malfoy, I can clearly see you didn't just administer self defense. You did to them as much as they did to you." Hermione responded, completely ignoring his last comment.

"Why did you punch him in the first place Ron?" Ginny asked him.

"Well...umm...you see...I'd rather not repeat everything that was said." Ron finally got out.

"Ronald Weasley! First you start a fight then you won't even explain why!" Ginny exclaimed in a tone that sounded almost identical to Mrs. Weasley when she was mad.

"But Ginny, it's Malfoy I don't need a reason."

"Ron don't even get me started. Of course you need a reason to start a fight!"

"But..."

"Never mind, we'll talk about this later. Hermione can you tell what happened to each of them?"

Hermione approached Draco and muttered "shonus iniures". A white light appeared just over his head and slowly descended down his body stopping in certain places to change colors. "From what I can tell he has a broken nose, a cracked rib, a black eye and a couple bruises here and there. I can mend it all but it will take me a few minutes."

"No that's quite alright Granger, I don't need you to play nurse to me." Draco said stepping away from her.

"Fine Malfoy, I won't. I'll leave your pain and let you suffer." Hermione said defensively. Then walking over to Harry she muttered the same spell. Again a white light shone and changed colors as it descended. "Harry you have just a couple of bruises here and there, you didn't get hit too bad. I'll heal those for you, just lay down."

Harry did as he was told and the pain was soon gone. As he looked down he didn't see any remains of the bruises that were there just a minute ago.

"How did you do that Granger?" Draco asked accusingly, while looking slightly shocked.

"I took a course in healing this summer, one of my career options."

"Oh."

Hermione then walked over to Ron and preformed the spell a third time. "Ron you have a dislocated jaw and shoulder and of course bruises. This is going to take a little more of my energy but I can do it, lay down."

Ron, just like Harry, lay down on the floor and waited for Hermione to do whatever it was she was going to do. After a few minutes his pain was completely gone and he felt fine but as he looked up he saw it had taken a lot out of Hermione.

"'Mione, you didn't have to do that, look at you, you lost all your energy."

"No Ron, I'm fine. Now let's go get Fred and George and then we can leave." She said, standing up and offering a hand to both him and Harry. Together the four of them started to make their way out of the Quidditch shop. Harry, Ron and Ginny stepped out onto the street and stood waiting for Hermione. Just as she was about to step out and join them a hand was placed on her shoulder. She turned around to see it the hand belonged to. Staring back at her was Draco Malfoy.

"Granger, I know I said I didn't want your help but uh...that was because I didn't know you could actually do anything...and uh...I was wondering if you could maybe uh..." Draco muttered trying to get the words out.

Hermione stood their shocked. Draco Malfoy was standing in front of her asking her for help and stuttering. Not once in her life had she expected this to happen. "Yes I'll heal you Malfoy. Stop your blubbering. Now come over here and lie down."

He was reluctant but did as she said and soon he felt the pain leaving his body. The shock was evident on his face as he looked up at her. But when he saw how drained she looked he felt a pain in his stomach, almost like guilt. He immediately pushed that thought away. "Well uh...I guess...thanks Granger." He said and stood up walking past her and out of the store.

Her day was started to shock her. Not only had he asked for her help and all but he had actually thanked her. She thought she was going to faint and she did.

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Harry, Ron and Ginny had been watching the whole scene unfold in front of them. Ginny and Harry had to restrain Ron from going back into the shop and taking Draco's head off. Then they saw Hermione faint, all three of them rushed to her side. Ron picked her up off the floor into his arms cradling her.

"'Mione? 'Mione wake up." Ron was muttering trying not to panic.

"Ron she's not asleep, she fainted." Ginny said in an exasperated tone. She quickly conjured a glass of orange juice and a damp washcloth. She put the cloth on Hermione's forehead and parted her lips slowly draining the juice into her mouth. Hermione came back to conciseness after a moment and they were all relieved.

"'Mione are you okay? You gave us all a quite a scare." Harry asked.

"What? Oh I'm fine, just a little tired that's all." She replied, trying to wiggle her way out of Ron's arms so she could stand on her own. Finally she got free and turned to Ginny. "What do you say we go get Fred and George and then go back. I think we've all had a long day."

"It's like you read my mind." Ginny replied.

They then dragged the boys out of the Qudditch shop to go find Fred and George. As the group entered the joke shop their arrival was noticed.

"Ah, customers, to what do we owe this pleasure of ours?" Fred began as he came out from the storage area.

"Cut the act," Ginny said, "We just came to get you, we're ready to leave."

"But Miss, I do not know what you are talking about." George exclaimed with an innocent smile on his face. By this time all the real customers in the shop had turned and were watching the group with curious expressions. Most of them had realized they were related, the Weasley red hair gave it away, but some were still confused.

"Fred, George, you know exactly what Gin's talking about. Just come on, I think we're all dying to get home and find out..." Ron started to say but was cut off.

"To find out how the dinner we left cooking back at the house had turned out." Hermione said sweetly not acknowledging the looks she was getting from all of them. Without hesitation Ginny picked up on it and grabbed Fred and Harry while Hermione got George and Ron. Together they again resorted to dragging the boys out of the shop into the street. Once they were out there the two girls then went back into the shop and told all the customers it was closed and to come back another day.

The group then made their way back to the place they had come to Diagon Alley that morning and one by one they flooed back to the Burrow.

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Draco being shocked at his behavior and sudden feelings decided it was time to go back to the Manor. His father would've left by now and he and his mother would be alone. He went to a dark alley and apparated back.

He ended up in the parlor where his mother was sitting reading a romance novel. She looked up at his arrival and asked him if he wanted any tea because she was just about to get some. They had their tea and afternoon snack together and spent the rest of the day discussing Draco's final year at Hogwarts and any other thing that their conversation stumbled upon, simply enjoying each other's company. After a few minutes they had both relaxed, they could never do this sort of thing when Lucius was around. So they just settled for doing it when he wasn't or just sending owls back and forth while Draco was at school. Lucius never had to know just how close mother and son were to each other.

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thanks again to everyone who reviewed - i hope you review again (please)

here's some comments i have...(i might do this every chapter i might not)

dracodolenz: yea i think my story line is a little different from what i've read so far too but different is good sometimes. i don't want to give away who the father is but i'll tell you it's not lucius.

SlytherinHunny13: obviously you can see i updated before you left. we have to hang out too before you leave. but i didnt really get what you meant by the whole thing you wrote. i have no idea what you were talking about. i'm guessing it's nora lingo or whatever but i didn't get it this time like i usually do lol.

andii(): yea i don't really like pansy much either. i'm considering killing her and all but i'm not sure yet. we'll see...

oh and i'm not very good at insults and fighting scenes - sorry i just don't like all that stuff. i hope i did at least a pretty good job. but then thats what reviews are for - to tell me how i did...go ahead you can review. and i'm having a problem with the indenting of paragraphs - on the word document they're fine but when i upload them some of the indents go away. any way to fix this? well review and i'll post another chapter soon...