i A/N - this chapter rated pg - 13 for mild language. Lol. Mild… /i

Chapter 1

i Full of Surprises /i

Hermione Granger ran downstairs in response to her mother's yell for assistance. Mrs. Granger was pregnant and about to go at any time.

"Go find your father!" She gasped as Hermione drew nearer. "I think we need to go now!"

Hermione, eyes wide in surprise, obliged to her mothers wish and ran outside to find her father.

He came running in, hair flying and glasses slipping down his nose.

"Hold on honey!" He practically yelled as he tripped up the stairs to get her readily packed suitcase, only to trip back down again.

"I don't know how long we'll be gone for, Hermione," he explained as he led his wife to their car. "When you were born, we were there for almost a week! Yeah, you were a stubborn little winch!" He laughed.

Hermione laughed as well, and bade them goodbye, all the while thinking about what she would do in their absence. The hospital was a good forty-five minutes away from her house, and her dad would call before they left, so she would be well warned of their return, whenever it be.

She wanted to invite some people over, and her first thought was of course Harry and Ron, her best friends.

Hermione Granger had changed over the summer. Her hair finally lost it's bushiness, and was now long and wavy. Her smooth skin was slightly tanned from the hot summer sun, and it complimented her new curves. She also wore a bit of makeup.

Harry and Ron had teased her about how she never did anything bad, ever. So, she decided she would get them over and take them out. Presumably, partying. Show them how Muggles do it. So she hoped.

She went to the phone and dialed Harry's phone number.

"Hello, Dursley residence, Vernon speaking," said a gruff voice on the other end.

"Hi, may I speak to Harry Potter please?" She tried to sound like an adult.

"Who is this? What do you want?" snarled Mr. Dursley.

Hermione knew she wasn't getting anywhere, and probably wouldn't.

"Listen, Mister," she said, manner changing instantly. "You let me talk to Harry now or I'll hex you into tomorrow-" Mr. Dursley probably didn't hear this last part, on account of Harry interrupting her in mid-threat.

"Hello? Hello? Who is it?"

Hermione burst out laughing. "Harry, it's good to hear your voice!"

"Yeah, you too! How've you been?"

The conversation went on like this for some time, then she asked if he wanted to stay for the rest of summer break, him and Ron.

"Of course I'll come, it's not like I wouldn't! It will be great to finally get away from the Dursley's anyway. I'll contact Ron as soon as I can. Haha, I cant' wait! I haven't seen either of you in so long!"

"Of course, you'd better notify Dumbledore that your coming, otherwise…"

"Oh my god, Hermione, stop worrying! I will. And it's good to see some of that old Hermione still there. At least you didn't change that much."

They both laughed, said their goodbyes and hung up. Then Hermione set about cleaning up the house for their arrival.

At 5 o'clock, her father called from the hospital.

"Yeah, honey, the nurse said it was a false alarm." She tensed up. "--But she also said she could really go as early as tomorrow afternoon! So we'll be staying here until it happens."

Hermione let out her breath and slumped to the floor in relief. "Honey? Are you alright?" Inquired her dad.

"Yeah…Yeah I'm fine. Um, Harry and Ron were supposed to come tonight, remember?"

She knew clearly well they weren't, but her father had a knack of forgetting that kind of thing.

"Uhh…." He paused. "Yes! that's right. It'll be good to have other men in the house for a while! Ask them to stay for the rest of the summer!"

"Yep. It's all arranged. Thanks Dad. Bye." She hung up the phone quickly. Then she slapped her head. She had wanted to sneak out and surprise Harry and Ron by doing so. Now her parents knew she was going out. But not where, she reminded herself. Usually when they came over it was just a movie on TV or something.

Just then the phone rang again and Hermione dived for it. "Hello?"

"Hi, Hermione? This is Janey."

"Oh my god! Hi! How are you?" It was Hermione's old best friend before she got her letter to Hogwarts.

They caught up on old times, then Janey asked, "Yeah, my parents left for Cuba for 3 weeks, not ten minutes ago, and I was going to throw a party tonight. Wanna come?"

"Of course! Um, my friends Harry and Ron are supposed to be arriving tonight, can they come too?"

"Harry and Ron…Ok, sure! Both guys, aren't they?" She laughed. "See you at eight then?"

"Sure! Bye." She hung up the phone. "Yes!" she exclaimed loudly. Perfect. If they wanted some real spontaneity, she would take them to the party…and probably get her hands on something better than Firewhiskey, for Ron more than anything…

She grimaced at herself. Alcohol…What a disgusting word. She decided maybe to pass on that.

Just then, the phone rang again. It was Harry. "Hi, I just sent an owl to Ron. I'm going to floo him over and we're going to take a taxi or something to your house."

"Great. Listen, you're staying 'till the end of summer, right?"

"Um…Yeah I guess! Cool!"

"Alright, see you then." She hung up. It was quarter to six then and she decided to eat something and shower, maybe do a little more cleaning.

After eating a hearty meal of peanut butter and jam sandwiches, she got a quick shower and blow dried her hair. She decided to straighten it, and, using her mother's clothes iron, did a pretty good job. (also with the help of a bottle of hair-care potion). She admired her hair a little before changing.

She put on a pair on new light blue jeans that rode dangerously low on her hips and a light green camisole. She threw on a little white sweater over it and applied her makeup. She had gotten used to wearing makeup that summer.

At the moment she was done getting ready, the phone rang yet again.

"Oh my god!" Hermione yelled in frustration. "I'm gonna rip that goddam phone out…" she snatched up the receiver.

"Hello?" She snapped.

"Hermione? It's Janey again." She sounded worried. "Um…I have a problem. I was getting the house straightened up when I heard someone yell something. Then I go outside and there's this guy in my backyard. He said something then collapsed. I dragged him into the house, he's on the couch now"

"Oh my god…" Hermione whispered. "What did he look like?"

"Well, he has really light blond hair and he was wearing this long black coat thingy. He's actually i really /i hot."

Disregarding the 'hot' part, Hermione covered her mouth to stifle a yell. It sounded like…No but it couldn't be.

"Yes? Keep going…" She choked out.

"Well, he did wake up once, wondering where the hell he was. But he eventually fell asleep again. Funny, he said something about me being a Muggle. Wouldn't let me touch him after that."

Hermione yelped, worst suspicions confirmed. "Don't move, I'll be right over." She slammed down the phone, rote a quick note to Harry in case she wasn't back by their arrival, and ran out the door.

Five minutes later, she breathlessly stumbled into Janey's house and made her way to the living room, where Janey was standing silently, watching the sleeping form on the couch.

Janey was pretty, with long curly blond hair. She was fairly thin, and looked old for her actual age.

"That's him." She said, without looking up.

Hermione tensely made her way forward to the sleeper on the couch and peered into his face. She grimaced and bit her lip, keeping the curse she longed to yell inside her.

"Malfoy." She breathed lowly, sinking into the nearest chair.

"I know. Isn't he incredibly hot?"

"No, it's not that," Hermione snapped unexpectedly, surprising herself. Then she put her head in her hands. Janey stooped down in concern. "It's just…I kind of…know him."

"So he was talking about you."

"What?" Hermione looked up sharply.

"Oh…Before he collapsed, he said…" She screwed up her face in concentration. "…Warn Weasley and Granger. That's all I got. I assumed he was talking about you so that's why I called. Plus I never saw him before."

Hermione was more puzzled than ever at that moment. She stared at him in wonder, trying to figure out what it all meant.

But she just got lost in her tangle of thoughts and concentrated on the figure of Malfoy. She couldn't help but notice the way he was sprawled out on the couch, which was almost too small to hold him lengthwise. His robes were open, revealing black pants and a i slightly /i tight gray t-shirt, which i slightly /i showed off his very flat stomach and defined chest. His head, which was slightly turned, was covered by the same platinum blond hair, falling straight and loose around his eyes. He looked troubled even in his peaceful sleep, as if to an escape from his life troubles.

Hermione jerked away suddenly. Why should she be having these thoughts about a person who thoroughly hated everything about her? She never liked him either, but deep down she knew he would never be like his father, he was not a killer.

"Hermione?" She was brought crashing back to earth by Janey's inquiry.

"Care to tell me how you know him and what he's doing here?"

"As for the latter, I have no sweet clue what he's doing here. And how do I know him?" She snorted with sarcastic laughter. "School. I think we've pretty much hated each other from day one."

"Oh, 'Mione, how could you hate something so angelic-looking?" Janey pouted in his defense. Hermione was forcibly reminded of Pansy Parkinson.

"Looks aren't everything, honey. Didn't you talk to him at all?"

"Well, yeah, but --"

"What did he say?"

Draco Malfoy staggered through the unknown woods he had apparated to, hoping he'd lost his pursuers. His rib-cage ached terribly; he was sure he cracked a few. As well he had banged up his knee pretty bad.

Suddenly a house loomed up in front of him, one of many that formed a street. He gave a cry of relief and limped towards it, finding himself in the backyard of the beautiful two story white house. He felt incredibly weak with relief just then, and collapsed onto the warm, dry ground. Before he blacked out he managed to yell "Warn Weasley and Granger!" Then everything went dark.

When he woke up he found he had been taken inside the house and was lying on a small couch. He groaned and sat up, cursing the immediate throbbing that formed in his head.

"Where the i fuck /i am I?" he said out loud. There was the sound of a throat clearing, and he spun around in surprise.

There was a girl standing there, he couldn't help but notice, a very pretty girl.

"I'm Janey," she said in a small voice.

Draco looked around, realization dawning upon his features. "Oh my god, you're a Muggle!" He laughed out loud. "This is rediculous." The laugh turned into a loud, rude exclamation as he got dizzy and fell back on the couch.

Janey rushed over and sat beside him. "Are you alright? And what's a Muggle?"

"You are! Don't fucking touch me.Oh -- " Realizing his mistake, he tried to cover up. "Never mind. Just a…Code," he finished lamely. It seemed to work for her.

He looked up and was startled by the icy-blueness of her eyes. Muggle or not, she was attractive. Ahh, but she was i still /i a Muggle, he reminded himself. Off limits.

Janey, too, was startled by his eyes. They were a cool silvery gray that seemed to change, shifting with the shadow.

"Sooo…where am I?" Draco inquired, looking around, but careful to hide his disgust and slight amusements at simple things such as the television. He had no idea what it was.

"Um…Fifteen minutes from London if you want to catch a train," Janey said helpfully. Draco chuckled.

"I don't want to leave yet. There's so --" He stopped in mid-sentence, and things started to flood back to him. The manor, his father…His mother… i escaping /i …

He put his head to his hands. "You know what? I'm just going to sleep for a while, then I gotta get out of this dump." He abruptly turned around, and not so much as a word to Janey, turned his back on her and fell quickly into a troubled sleep, filled with dreams of him running and running, away from something he could not identify.

Hermione watched Malfoy's sleeping figure as Janey repeated what he had said to her. She was amazed he had not done anything about the fact that Janey was Muggle, and therefore should have treated her like the absolute grime of the world. But he probably had his reasons. He had, after all, not called Hermione Mudblood the last time he saw her before summer. But he had been having an argument with Harry at the time, so it was probably the least of his worries.

"And then he just went to sleep…" Janey trailed off. There was a brief period of silence. Hermione started to speak, but stopped abruptly when Malfoy stirred suddenly and opened his eyes.

He stared at her for a second, then jumped up as if the couch had scalded him.

" i Granger /i ? What the fuck?! What are you doing here?!" He practically screamed.

Janey decided at that moment to leave the room, and went upstairs, sensing something coming.

"I live near here, Malfoy." She said coolly. "I might ask what i you /i are doing here, in this i different /i part of town?"

He mumbled something incoherently. "Excuse me?" said Hermione.

"I'll tell you later." He said lowly, though Hermione still did not hear him.

"What? I can't make out a word --"

"I-will-tell-you-later!" Draco said loud and slow. "For now, what the crap am I going to do?"

"Why don't you just go back to your i Manor /i and abuse your House Elves? Or why don't you go pout to your Father?"

Draco turned away sharply. "Don't talk about my father."

"Why n --"

"Just i shut /i up, ok?!" He roared. Hermione shrunk back. Draco let out a long slow breath, willing himself to calm down.

"I'm sorry." Hermione opened her eyes wide in surprise; she never in her life heard him say he was sorry to her, or to anyone. She turned her face neutral as he looked at her.

"it's just…" His voice turned unusually quiet. "I have things to tell you, but I'm not ready yet." Hermione gave him a puzzled look.

"Janey told me you said something about warning Ron and I about something." She said quietly. Draco whipped his head around.

"That's what I need to talk to you about," he said, somewhat darkly.

"Why do I get the feeling you are tricking me, Malfoy?" She said slowly.

"Listen Granger." He was talking in an extremely low and dangerous voice, and Hermione had to lean closer to hear. "I don't want this to be hard. But I really have to talk to you. I, uh… Know this is seeming a little strange, it is for me too. But something's happening, and I i need /i help. I don't want to end up like… Him…" He trailed off, unexpected tears filling up his eyes.

He blinked rapidly to keep them away, but not before Hermione saw them.

"Draco." He looked up startled at her speaking his first name. "Don't worry. I'm listening."

WOOT! k, watch'all think?!? i reaaaaaly want reviews! just to see how it all is, you know? constuctive criticism is welcome, no offence taken! thankyou all so much!!

luv, jessica :)