Chapter 3
The Train Ride
Draco was an outcast the rest of the week. Hermione, who indeed was supposed to sleep in the same room with Draco, was sleeping in Harry and Ron's room. The word spread to the other students on what happened the morning of the fight, so that left Draco alienated by them. Even the other Slytherin's were ignoring him. He had a very lonely week. He kept to himself in the room only leaving for meals. He didn't want to deal with the looks the other students where giving him and all of the whispers behind his back.
During one meal, Draco was on his way down the stairs to the kitchen and was shoved from behind causing him to fall down the whole flight and landed flat on his face in front of all of the adults in the kitchen. He looked back up the stairwell and saw Ron followed by Harry with smirks on their faces. Draco looked back at the adults and muttered he slipped as he felt his lip bleed and it started swelling slightly.
Finally the week was up and everyone was in cars, two students, an Order member and a driver. Draco came about the misfortune of riding with Hermione and Moody. They sat quietly the whole trip. Crookshanks sat on Hermiones lap and stared at Riley the whole time. Draco made sure that he held onto Riley's cage tightly trying to block Crookshanks view with his hand.
After a while, Kings Cross came into view. Draco quickly got out of the car and put his trunk and Riley on a trolley. Everyone made their way to platform 9 ¾ and went through one at a time when muggles weren't looking. The warm air hit Draco's face as he made his way through the crossing. He immediately headed for the Hogwarts Express. Once aboard he went to the Head compartment. He sat down on the blue cloth couch seat. This compartment was a lot nicer than the others. The seats where more cushioned and there was a little more room in-between the two. Draco laid down on the bench while he waited to see if the Head Girl would come or not.
The train had started moving at this point so Draco assumed the girl wasn't coming so he closed his eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep. Suddenly the door opened waking him up with a jump. It was worse than his alarm clock. Draco looked at who woke him up and let out a deep sigh of disappointment. It was Hermione. He looked at his watch and it was 3:30.
"Are you serious?" She exclaimed.
"Yes." A woman's voice said from behind her.
Hermione turned around to see Professor McGonagall. She motioned for Hermione to take a seat next to Draco. He sat up as Hermione sat down as far away from his as possible. McGonagall took the seat opposite the 7th years, took a breath, and started her speech.
"As you two are now aware of who the other Head is, there are just a few rules that you need to be aware of. You are both aware of the serious threat from Voldemort, so it is your job to bring the student body together in these dark times. We want you two to get along well and not be at each other's throats the whole time. That is why we have decided to alter the Head train compartment and dormitory a little. Also, you will need to change the password upon entering the portrait of Hogwarts. The jobs are the same as being a Prefect but you have to power to take five points from students if you see fit. You will also be in charge of school events. So I will leave you two alone now, I'm sure you have quite a lot to talk about." Professor McGonagall got up and left.
They both just sat there silently taking in all of the information just given to them. Finally Hermione stood up.
"You don't mind if I don't ride with you, do you?" She asked him not taking her eyes off the door.
He looked down and said, "No."
With that, Hermione took the step to the door and tried to open it. It didn't budge. She looked at Draco then tried it again. Still nothing.
"A little help, Malfoy?" She said to him.
Reluctantly he got up and tried opening the door. It didn't move an inch.
"Guess you're stuck in here, Granger." He said almost mockingly.
She rolled her eyes and went and laid down on the other seat. Draco went to return to his when he realized it was gone. He looked over at Hermione then back at the empty spot. What is going on? He thought.
"What's up?" She asked him.
"Don't know. Mind if I sit down, Granger?"
Hermione sighed and pulled her legs up and Draco sat down. They stayed how they were, not talking or looking at each other. It was going to be a long train ride. About an hour into the ride, Hermione couldn't take it anymore. She sat up slightly and looked at Malfoy taking in his features. His smooth, blond hair was somewhat slicked back and shorter than it usually was. A few small pieces fell just above his right eye giving him a tougher appearance. He was wearing a dark green t-shirt that was slightly pulled tight over his chest with a small silver 'S' on the left side of the front. On his dark blue genes rested his hands. Then she looked over the edge of the seat at his black sneakers.
Draco looked over at Hermione as she was looking at something on the ground. He followed her gaze and saw she was looking at his shoes. He stuck out his leg so she could get a better look at them. She blushed when she realized he knew she was looking at him. Quickly she went back to staring at the back of the seat.
He noticed she was turning red and staring at the seat. Her long bushy brown hair was over her shoulder of her dangerously low, red v-cut t-shirt. She also had on tight blue genes and white and red sneakers that were an inch from touching his thigh.
This time Hermione caught Draco staring and pushed on his leg with her shoes.
"Hey, don't do that, Granger! You'll get me all dirty." Draco yelled and took a hold of her shoe and pulled it off.
"Hey Malfoy, that wasn't very nice. Give me my shoe back."
"Not if you're going to have your feet on me." He smirked.
She stopped and thought for a second, then took her other shoe off and rested her feet in his lap.
"What do you think you're doing?" He exclaimed.
"Well, you said if I were going to have my feet on you then I had to take my shoes off."
"I guess you got me there." Draco put his hand on her ankle.
They were staring each other in the eye, neither of them moving aside from the movement from the train. All of a sudden there was a nock at the door and it opened up.
"Any sweets from the trolley dears?"
Snapping out of his trance, Draco answers, "Sure." He took some Chocolate Frogs, Cauldron Cakes, and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean.
"Thanks." He said as the candy lady left. He noticed the door was partially opened. "I guess you can leave now if you want to." He said softly and motioned towards the door with his head.
Hermione, to Draco's dismay, got up and went to the door. He looked down at the Chocolate Frog he had started opening and heard the door click shut. I can't believe she left. I didn't think I was being mean to her, I thought we were just playing around, maybe even flirting a bit. Now I'm going to spend the rest of this long trip by myself? Oh well, what else is new. "Well, aren't you going to offer me a Chocolate Frog?"
Draco looked up and saw Hermione standing in front of him. He couldn't believe his eyes. Without thinking he handed her the one he was opening. She gave him a weird look but smiled, took the frog, and sat down close to him, only about six inches away. Draco could smell the same sweet intoxicating aroma emitting from her. It drove him slightly mad. All he wanted to do was embrace her and never let go. Wait, that's not right. He thought. I shouldn't be thinking about her like that. She's a muggle, not a pure blood. But, she's looking so radiant in the lowing sunlight
Not realizing it, Draco started leaning towards her. He placed a hand ever so gently on her leg, which brought her attention to his slowly advancing face. Hermione stared into his soft gray eyes wondering why she had never noticed them before. His face kept coming but Hermione didn't pull away. In fact, she placed a hand on his arm that had moved to her lower back. They both tilted their heads and the space between them grew fainter. They were just an inch away when the train jolted and stopped almost immediately, sending both 7th years to the floor of their compartment in a heap.
"What the hell is going on?" Draco said as he slowly got up rubbing his head where it had hit the floor.
"The train stopped obviously." Hermione said a little annoyed.
"Well that I know. What I want to know is why?" He went to the door but it wouldn't open. "Damn this door." He looked out the window in the door down the dark hallway trying to see something.
Hermione got up and pushed him out of the way and looked down the hallway. Suddenly, without warning, Hermione grabbed Draco by the shoulder and threw him to the floor and shoved him under the seat. Then she proceeded to lay on top of him hiding his face from view with her arm. He could feel Hermione's heart pounding against his chest.
"What's out there?" He whispered.
"Death Eaters. I'm sure they're looking for you, but I'm not letting them get you."
Draco couldn't help but smile at those words. It had been a long time since anyone has cared that much for him. Actually, no one has cared for him this much before. It made Draco feel good, not to mention having Hermione laying on top of him wasn't bad either. It had been about six months since he had the pleasure of a woman on top of him. All of a sudden there was a noise at the door as it was trying to be opened. Hermione tightened her grip around Draco's head and shoulder; also she put the side of her face over top of Draco's. The compartment was dark so the only way they were going to be seen was if the Death Eater's actually got in and looked under the seat.
There were some muffled yells and more attempts to open the door but it never opened. After 10 minutes there were a lot of shouting and flashes of light. People must be fighting in the hallway. With every blast and scream, Hermione would flinch. Draco brought his arms around her in the tight area, trying to comfort her.
Finally, things grew quiet, but Hermione still held onto Draco. They stayed there for a few minutes, just listening to the commotion of people talking outside and doors being opened and closed. Finally Hermione slid off Draco and took his hand to help him out. She didn't let go of his hand as they both stood up and walked to the door. Professor McGonagall walked up to the window and saw them both there and let out a big sigh of relief. She smiled and moved onto the next compartment.
"Guess that's it." Draco muttered
Hermione let go of his hand all of a sudden and wrapped her arms around his next and held him tight. Draco returned the hug.
"I was so scared. I thought they were going to get you." She whispered in his ear. "I don't want anything to happen to you, Draco."
"Nothing will as long as I have you, Hermione."
The train started moving again with a jerk that almost made the two fall to the floor once again. They went and sat down once more, but this time Draco had his arm wrapped around Hermiones shoulders and she had her arms coiled around his middle. They stayed that way the rest of the trip, both falling asleep.
A/N: What do you think? Good isn't it? Thought so. But can this newly found love really last past the train ride? What are their friends going to say when they find out? Is the peer pressure going to pull them apart or make what they have stronger? Don't forget, Voldemort is still on the loose and is planning his next big move.
