Rating: PG

Summary: Malfoy loves having all the glory, but saving old women? That's Potter's job. Suddenly, rumors are flying about Draco and the only one smart enough to doubt them is Hermione. D/Hr

Disclaimer: I wish they were mine, does that count?

Hogwart's Hero

By Plucky

The heated whispers swept the train. Smirks, raised eyebrows and looks of pure wonder were plentiful on this year's voyage of the Hogwarts' Express. It all started with Pansy Parkinson, who'd overheard her mother speaking. She told Blaise, who told Cho, who told Susan, who told Lavender, and pretty soon the whole train knew. That is to say, everyone but Draco Malfoy.

Hermione enjoyed the advantages of being a prefect. For one, it was the perfect excuse for eavesdropping. Hermione had been making her rounds patrolling the train, when she overheard a particularly interesting exchange coming from a compartment occupied by a group of fifth year Ravenclaw girls.

"I heard Malfoy saved the whole square! Imagine if the sign had fallen, hundreds would have been killed!" "Lucky he was there, that's for sure!"

'What's this about Malfoy?' Hermione wondered. She leaned in closer to the door, hoping to gather more from their conversation.

"You're both wrong!" She heard a third voice exclaim. "I heard he wasn't able to stop all of it from falling, so he had to jump down and save a baby from being crushed." "How heroic!"

Hermione was now pressing herself firmly to the door, a futile attempt to hear more. "Does something interest you, Mudblood?" a cold voice drawled from behind her.

'Of all the positions to be caught in,' Hermione groaned inwardly. She turned around and fixed the silver haired Slytherin with a cold look. "What do you want, Malfoy?"

"Same thing as you," Malfoy explained in his sickeningly superior tone. "I want to know what the hell those Ravenclaws are going on about."

"You mean, you don't know?" Hermione asked, her eyes going wide in surprise.

"Of course not, Mudblood, or why would I be here talking to you," He said, illustrating that he'd rather paint Hagrid's toenails than talk to her willingly. Hermione just ignored it, she'd come to expect this kind of behavior from Draco Malfoy.

"But surely you must have done something for them to think that—"

"That's none of your business!" Draco yelled furiously, his grey eyes narrowing in anger. The commotion in the hallway quickly drew the attention of the Ravenclaws, who flung open the door of their compartment in order to see what was the matter.

Hermione spun around at the sound of the door opening. The Ravenclaws stuck their heads into the hallway, curious to see what was going on.

"Go back into the compartment," Hermione instructed. "There's nothing to see out here."

The Ravenclaws gave Hermione a skeptical look and grudgingly reentered their booth.

Hermione turned to resume her conversation with Malfoy, only to realize the hallway was empty. 'Typical,' Hermione complained.  'Speeding off as soon as I start asking questions.'

Hermione sighed and began walking down the hall once more, after all her shift wasn't over yet.

When Hermione finished her rounds, she walked down to the north end of the train, in the direction of the compartment she had been sharing with Ron and Harry. She opened the door, and was greeted with the sight of Harry doubled over in laughter, and Ron, as red as a tomato, grinning from ear to ear.

"What have you boys been up to?" Hermione asked smiling.

"Not much, Hermione," Harry answered. "Just talking about Quidditch."

"So, I guess no visit from Malfoy this year?" Hermione asked, sitting down beside Harry, and across from Ron.

Hermione noticed the mischievous smiles that blossomed on the boys' faces.

"What?" Hermione asked looking from Ron back to Harry.

"Well Hermione," Ron supplied. "We expect the git won't be showing his face around us for a while."

"Excuse me?" Hermione asked, still confused.

"Just before you got here, Dean showed up and had a pretty juicy piece of gossip about dear Draco," Harry explained. "Apparently, when Malfoy was getting his books in Diagon Alley, a cart holding some magical amulets got away from its owner. It began to roll down hill and started to pick up speed. It was heading straight for this old woman, but Malfoy pulled her out of the way just in time. It turns out the woman was Hannah Abbott's friend's sister's cousin's grandmother, so now the whole school knows. "

"What's so bad about that?" Hermione inquired.

"Right after he pulled the old woman out of the way, she started thanking him, and yelling out that he'd saved her life. She asked for his name, and when he told her she started yelling that one day she'd repay her drakie-poo for the good he'd preformed. Colin Creevey said he was there in the alley that day. According to him the woman just kept shrieking and shrieking. Malfoy tried to get away from her but the woman pulled him into a hug, and kissed him on both cheeks, leaving great lipstick marks. Then she just walked away as if nothing had happened. Colin said it was brilliant!" Harry finished. "I wish I had been there," He added, with a wistful look.

"It must have been dreadfully embarrassing," Hermione remarked, frowning upon the fact that they could take so much pleasure in Malfoy's discomfort. After all, he had saved the woman!

"That's the funny thing," Ron stated. "When he got on the train this morning he looked as proud as ever, as if it hadn't happened."

"Maybe he's faking it?" Harry suggested.

"I don't know Harry. I overheard some Ravenclaws talking earlier, and it sounded as if they'd heard a different version of the story," Hermione explained. "What if this is all just a rumor?"

"But it can't be!" Ron exclaimed, reluctant to let go of the thought of Malfoy's embarrassment.

 "Dean said he'd heard it from a reliable source," Harry pointed out.

"Alright," Hermione conceded exasperatedly. "We're almost at Hogwarts, we better get our robes. We don't want to be late for the start of our sixth year."

Harry and Ron nodded their agreement. Soon their Sixth year would begin, and who knew what could happen, but mostly Harry and Ron were just looking forward to seeing Malfoy.

A/N: Well, I hope you all enjoyed it. If you're confused by the two different versions of the story, don't worry, you're supposed to be. The whole plot is that people keep spreading these rumors about Malfoy, so they get more and more outrageous. You'll find out what actually happened at the end of the story. It'll only be a couple chapters at most. Oh, and all that depressing stuff that happened in OotP? Yeah, forget it ever happened. This is supposed to be a fun piece. I don't want to address any serious issues. sheepish look Well, I hope you enjoyed it. sends subliminal message for reader to REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW