A/N -- Okay, sorry this chapter may seem to go nowhere, but I think it's really important to develop Draco and Hermione's characters before they just suddenly love each other -- because we all know that would never happen! Anyway please read and REVIEW!! Thank you!
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Draco smoothed out the wrinkles in his sweater as he looked at himself in the mirror. The soft black fabric fit tightly against his stomach, showing off his well formed body and causing his chiseled features to appear even more distinct than they would usually. It was the 1st of September, the first day of his last year at Hogwarts, and yet he was the most nervous he had ever been. It wasn't the fact that he was head boy this year, or that he was one of the select few to be starting advanced auror training that had made him nervous, but rather, it was the mere thought of seeing Hermione Granger again that had caused the butterflies in his stomach.
Ever since the kiss that they had shared that day behind the book shelves in Flourish and Botts, Draco had been unable to forget about the halfblood witch that had previously been the object of his hate and frustration. At first, he tried to convince himself that his attraction to the witch was merely lust. She had, after all, developed into one of the most beautiful witches at Hogwarts over the summer, and that, combined with the sort of forbidden sense that came with her (she was after all, assumed by most of the student body to be Potter's 'girl'), would have been enough to entice the old Draco.
This, like most of the stories Draco made up to convince himself of things, had seemed to be true for a couple of days, until finally, he had realized that his attraction to Hermione was different. He didn't just want to 'have' Hermione and then forget about her, like he had done with so many withes at Hogwarts already, but it seemed to him, that he wanted to, in the broadest sense, date her. He wanted to talk to her, and hold her hand, and hear her opinions on things, and, of course, kiss her - basically, he wanted Hermione Granger to be his girlfriend. While this would have been welcome news to so many Hogwarts girls, judging from her behavior after the kiss, he was sure that Hermione would not be so receptive of his intentions. He could hardly blame her, after all, he had taunted and teased her for six years, and although after his father's imprisonment and his discovery about his birth, he had decided to move to the 'good' side, he knew that Hermione had no reason to believe he was now changed for the better. Draco sighed. If Hermione would find it hard to believe he had changed, then he would have to give her proof. He would just have to be civil to everyone - those were what the head duties included anyway, and besides, Draco always got what he wanted, and he wanted Hermione.
Two hours later Draco stood at the entrance of Kings Cross Station. Although he would never have admitted it to his Slytherin friends, there was something about Muggle ways that fascinated him. How they managed to get on with life without magic was a mystery to him.
"Hey Draco!" Draco turned to see Vince Crabbe coming towards him, dragging a large and heavy trunk behind him. "You'll never guess who I saw this summer! Remember how I told you there was that mudblood girl who stole my summer job?" Draco nodded curtly, it was a well known fact that the only reason Crabbe had actually managed to secure an interview for an internship at the Ministry of Magic was because his father had bribed Cornelius Fudge, yet at the last minute, the internship had gone to some witch who had apparently been 'more deserving'.
"Well," Crabbe continued on, "It was that know-it-all Granger, and Merlin, is she hot for a dirty stealing mudblood!" Crabbe elbowed Draco in the stomach, guffawing loudly while he waited for his response. Draco felt sick to his stomach. For the first time after his discovery about his birth, hearing the term 'mudblood' come out of one of his best friend's mouth had been somewhat hurtful and hearing Hermione being described as both hot and as a dirty mudblood infuriated him.
Breathing in to calm himself, he turned to face Crabbe fully and said in a quiet but determined voice, "She didn't steal your job – she earned it." Draco turned on his heel dragging his trunk with him, focusing intently on the barrier between platforms nine and ten as a very confused Crabbe stared gapingly at his retreating back, and a very shocked Hermione Granger emerged from the pole she had been eavesdropping behind.