~All JK Rowling's
A few days later, Hermione found herself in Diagon Alley once more, this time with Ron, Harry, and Ginny. The other three had to get their school supplies and Hermione had agreed to accompany them. Hermione couldn't help remembering the unusual encounter she had had the last time she had visited Diagon Alley. Malfoy had seemed different, wounded almost. She had told none of her friends about her encounter. While she despised Malfoy just as much as Harry and Ron, she had always been more practical, never seeking a fight the way they did. She knew that Malfoy was the way he was because of the way he'd been raised, and so she didn't hold his behavior against him the way that Ron and Harry did. She knew that they'd flip if they even knew she had sat next to Malfoy.
It was when the four friends were in Flourish and Blotts getting school books from the seventh year section (Ginny was in seventh year now too) that they ran into him.
"Malfoy! You're going back too?" Ron blurted out.
"Ah look who it is. Potty, Weasels and the Bucktooth Know-it-all." Malfoy drawled.
Ginny glanced at Hermione and Hermione knew that she too had noticed the downgrade of Malfoy's insult. He always referred to Hermione as Mudblood. Hermione couldn't help wondering if it had anything to do with their encounter the other day. Ron and Harry were too riled up to notice.
"Piss off Ferret!" Harry snapped.
"With pleasure Pothead," Malfoy replied. "I have better things to do than waste my time on you four." As he said this he glanced at Hermione. Then he whirled around and walked away.
"What was that about?" Ginny whispered to Hermione.
"I have no idea." Hermione replied.
Draco mentally cursed himself. He had caught the glance exchanged between Granger and the Weaslette. He hoped that they weren't reading into his toned down insult. Just because he wasn't as bigoted as he had once been didn't mean that he'd had a sudden change of heart and wanted to get all chummy with Granger. He was still a Slytherin, she was still a Gryffindor and annoying to boot. He simply wanted to separate himself from You-know-Who's ways now that he could. He was still very much arrogant and Slytherin in his behavior, he simply didn't want to be looked at as a death eater or like his father. He'd have to make up for his mistake by insulting her the first chance he got once they were back at school. He knew that she was so nosy that she'd want to poke around and find out why he hadn't called her a Mudblood. She probably thought that she could 'fix' his behavior now that the war was over and Draco was having none of it. He wanted to be left alone by everyone this year, especially Granger and her sidekicks. Draco was only going back to school so that he wouldn't be alone until his mother came home. Yes, he'd have to make it very clear that even though the war was over, he was still Draco Malfoy Slytherin Prince.