Hermione Granger stood on Platform 9 ¾ waiting for her two friends, her school books clutched tightly to her chest belying her nervousness at the close proximity of a rather large group of rowdy Slytherin wizards. A shock of white blond hair betrayed the person standing in the middle of this group, naturally Draco Malfoy always had to be the center of attention. Hermione afforded herself a small sneer at the obnoxious pureblood. He returned in kind with a barely audible muttered "mudblood." She just sniffed disapprovingly at his continued juvenile behavior. Her expression changed drastically as she spotted a mop of red hair and a shaggy black mane. With a squeal of delight, she ran forward to greet her two best friends. Ron and Harry wrapped their friend up in a big hug, sunny smiles on both of their faces. Ron's expression darkened to that of a sneer when he noticed Draco Malfoy's presence. He turned towards Hermione.
"That git didn't bother you that much did he 'Mione?" Ron sent a dark look in Draco's direction.
"Other than the usual 'Mudblood' greeting, not so much. After all, he's not intelligent enough to come up with any witty remarks." She commented snidely. Drace Malfoy's head whipped sharply in her direction to send her a truly malicious look that didn't go unnoticed by either of the boys.
"I think you'd better be careful goading him this year 'Mione." Harry stated matter-of-factly. "After all, he did prove himself to be a Death Eater with that whole fiasco last year." Harry's eyes grew wistful as he remembered their great headmaster in his final moments. He had managed to convince Draco that he was not a killer, and in fact, it hadn't been Draco who sent the final Avada Kedavra at Dumbledore. Still, his obvious malicious attitude troubled Harry. Hermione jerked him out of his morose thoughts.
"Who is that girl?" A pretty strawberry blonde girl who looked to be about their age stood by herself about twenty feet away from the golden trio. As soon as she drew their attention, the boys gaped openly at the new attractive female. Hermione rolled her eyes. "If you're so enchanted by her Harry, go introduce yourself." She gave Harry an amused look as he had the decency to look sheepish. He gathered up his confidence but as he was about to walk over, Draco Malfoy stepped right in front and offered his arm to the petite girl. She blushed considerably before giving him a shy smile and taking his proffered arm. Harry grimaced.
"Damn, Malfoy has her marked as his conquest. Poor thing." He said darkly as Hermione put a consoling arm around him. Then she put her other arm around Ron and the three of them walked onto the train together.
In the Slytherin compartment….
Draco Malfoy lead Grace Parker into the compartment that he and his friends had taken. She sat down next to him as he introduced her to Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Blaise Zabini, and Theodore Nott. Grace felt a little uncomfortable in a compartment with all males, especially ones who were eyeing her up as if she was a particularly finely bred filly at the Keeneland auction. She swallowed nervously and afforded the leering boys a small smile. Draco leaned back and gracefully but discretely swept his arm behind Grace's head in one smooth movement. She gave him a strange look and he returned it with a rare smile.
"Where are my manners?" He stated suavely. "Here I am dragging you into a compartment with all of these animals," The other Slytherin boys sneered at Draco " When I haven't even asked you your name." Grace couldn't help but giggle softly. He was intimidating at first, but she had to admit he was certainly charming.
"Grace Parker." She said in her Kentucky accent. Draco raised one eyebrow in interest and smirked at her obvious foreign accent.
"So Grace, tell me a little bit about yourself." He smiled at her again. He was laying on the charm thick. How often is it that he could have an American girl? He smirked inwardly at the thought. Oh well, she didn't know anything about how Hogwarts worked. And this fact Draco Malfoy was going to use to its full advantage. Grace smiled nervously at the blonde.
"Well, I grew up on a Muggle horse racing farm in the heart of Kentucky called Magic River Stables. I started riding at a very young age at the insistence of my mother." Her eyes grew misty. Draco's wooing instinct kicked in as the tears didn't go unnoticed. Her put a well-practiced look of concern on his face as he asked Grace.
"Did something happen to your mother?" He asked gently. Inside he was grinning like a Cheshire cat. Man was she falling for it.
"She died." Grace stated very softly. "When I was ten." Draco wasn't expecting that. Narcissa had recently fallen prey to Voldemort, causing him to question everything his father stood for. He could empathize with Grace.
"How did she die?" Draco's demeanor changed from conquering to concerned. Grace didn't notice the subtle change but the other boys in the compartment did. Boy would he hear about that one in the boys Slytherin dorms. Damn he was going soft.
"She was involved in an accident on the track. She was training one of our racehorses one day when our tractor backfired as Sam was working on it. Midnight spooked and my mom lost her balance and fell. Her foot got caught in the stirrup and Midnight dragged her to death." Grace's voice broke imperceptibly but she held strong. Damn, Draco thought. With that kind of mental strength and bravery, she's sure to be in Gryffindor.
"Did you ride the racehorses too?" He asked. Anyone who was nuts enough to get on the back of a thousand pound animal that could kill you in one blow and run it as fast as it could go HAD to be stupidly brave.
"When I got older yeah. My dad finally let me start riding the quieter ones when I was fourteen."
"When did you learn you were magical?"
"When I was eleven. An older gentleman came to see me one day when I was riding my pony Magic. I remember him appearing quite suddenly. He spooked the shit out of Magic." She laughed. "My noble steed. He was a tiny little white Welsh pony and he was the biggest brat I've ever ridden. He's still tough to ride sometimes. But anyway, the gentleman introduced himself by the name, I think it was something like Dumberfore-"
"Dumbledore." Draco supplied.
"That was it. Dumbledore. And then he told me that I was a witch. Of course I scoffed at him. Who the hell believes in magic? I grew up in the race world. You have to be practical and realistic. But then he explained to me the voices in my head. Because I was magical, the horses were able to talk to me telepathically. Plus there were other funny little things. Like if Magic threw me like he does a lot, I would hover a bit then land slowly on my feet. I just thought I was losing it. But then I accidentally set the hay on fire when I was pissed at my dad for being overprotective. He wouldn't let me gallop Magic. And you know little things, like levitating brushes and breaking lightbulbs. So then Dumbledore had me homeschooled so I could continue in the racing world. My dad pulled me out of public school and I began my magical learning every day after I got home from the track. And I'm in my last year."
Draco nodded. "We are too. So you are a mud-muggle born?" He stopped himself from saying "mudblood". He long since stopped calling muggleborns this word. The only reason he still said it to Granger, he thought with a grin, was because it got such an entertaining reaction.
Grace shook her head no. "Dumbledore told me that I am a pureblood. That I am adopted. Of course I didn't believe him and cursed him off," Draco laughed inwardly at the thought of a ten year-old cursing off Dumbledore. She was a firecracker. "But then I realized he was right. My name isn't really Grace Parker." She said softly. Draco raised his eyebrows. "It's Persephone Parkinson."
I know evil cliffie, I have the basic outline of Grace's (or should I say Persephone's) character and story but not the details. Looks like Draco is trying to charm my little equestrian. But I have no idea what I should do pertaining to couples. I'm just leaving it completely open right now even though it's really suggestive of Draco/Grace. But I do love the Dramione ship so much...if anyone has any ideas feel more than welcome to give me any!
Oh and Magic is based off of the little Arab/Mustang I used to have. My pen name is after him. Yup, good ol' Traveler! He was a brat if you were going any slower than flat out LOL!