Three hours later, Draco was still sitting on the bench outside Flourish and Botts.
"I have to forget about this!" He thought in vain, his mind still replaying the events of the summer over and over again. He looked up from the bench desperately trying to think of something other than his father and his real mother. Suddenly, a blur of brown hair caught the corner of his eye, and he turned to see a very flustered and red Hermione Granger running into the book store. It was curiosity more than anything else that caused Draco to stand up abruptly and follow her into the store – he had never seen her look so upset and troubled in all of his six years of knowing her. True, he had never actually paid much attention to her in his six years of knowing her, except of course to comment on her 'disgraceful' birth, or her bushy hair, or occasionally other aspects of her appearance, but over the past year her bushy hair had become smooth and wavy and her whole appearance had become more than pleasing to the eye. As for her birth, Draco realized with a grimace, well, he had no right to criticize his own kind. A sudden wave of anger rippled through him as he thought about the way his father had treated his birth mother.
"She was just another 'mudblood whore' to him", he thought, making his way through the crowd of wizards and witches at the bargain book table, "He didn't even care about her. He used her." Swiftly, Draco's anger was replaced by a sudden spasm of shame as he thought about the way he treated Hermione – as he thought about the name he had called her and the way that his father would have encouraged his behavior.
"I will not become my father," he decided deliberately, "I'll apologize to Hermione"
Finding Hermione was not difficult despite the large size of the book store. Following the sounds of sniffling and crying, Draco found her curled up between the "Modern Muggle History" and the "Ancient Muggle History" shelves in the back left corner. Her face was tear streaked and red and she was clutching her knees to her chest.
" Hey Grang..." Draco began, as she turned her blotchy face up to him, "I mean, umm, Hermione..."
"What do you want Malfoy?" she barked, cutting him off, "Come to gloat have you? So you found Hermione Granger crying did you? Well good for you, Malfoy, good for you. You've seen what you came here to see, now you can go off and tell Parkinson and Crabbe and Goyle all about it!" Hermione glared at him before she once again broke into uncontrollable sobs, placing her head in her hands. Draco turned, what was he thinking apologizing to Hermione Granger? He might as well become a Gryffindor and best friends with Potter. It was crazy! It would never happen - it wasn't supposed to happen. It just wasn't the way things were. But then again he thought, he wasn't supposed to be a mudblood. He wasn't supposed to hate his father, and he definitely wasn't supposed to find Hermione attractive. Draco frowned at this last realization – he found Hermione attractive? Pushing this question to the back of his head, he turned back around. He wasn't going to give up this easily.
"Hermione, I just wanted to say I'm sorry", he said, crouching down beside her. "I had no right to call you what I did before in Madame Malkins." Hermione looked up, clearly surprised.
"That's...that's really funny Malfoy" she stammered, obviously not sure what to make of his apology, "But I'm really not in the mood for your cruel jokes – I just need to be alone." She pulled out a tissue from her bag and began wiping the newly formed tears around her eyes.
Crazily curious now, Draco sat crossed legged on the floor across her. The only thing he ever thought would make Hermione cry was a failing grade, and seeing that school hadn't started yet, it obviously wasn't that. Trying to remember what he had seen from secretly watching hours of soap operas, he tried to think of what to say.
"What's wrong Hermione?" he asked finally, "Is it Potter?" Draco congratulated himself at his brilliance – it was clear from Hermione's facial expression that he was right, which, of course he knew he was - the problem always had to do with relationships on "The Young and the Magic".
"How...how did you know?" she asked. Draco just shrugged as she continued to look shocked.
"Tell me about it," he urged, strangely angry at Potter for whatever he had done to make her cry. Draco didn't know whether it was the time or the place, but for some reason, Hermione started to tell him the whole story. From what he grasped, she had thought Potter was head boy, and also thought he was going to ask her out, but after hearing it was Ginny who he loved, she had run out of the Leaky Cauldron crying, without so much as a word.
"I mean, was I so wrong in thinking that he liked me?" Hermione continued. Draco sighed. When he had asked her to tell him what happened he hadn't thought she would talk for this long. She kept going, she was saying something about giving up Viktor Krum for Potter. He focused on her lips, who would have thought giving a simple apology would last for so long? No wonder his father never apologized. Her lips kept on moving, how to make them stop? Now she was talking about Weasley – he apparently had an amazing relationship with some Gryffindor girl. Draco racked his brains, trying desperately to find a way to make her be quiet. Finally, he did the only thing he could think of to make her stop talking, he lowered his lips over hers and kissed her.