Chapter 1: A New Day

Draco Malfoy was fed up; fed up with his father, with his life, but most of all, Draco was fed up with himself.

For as long as he could remember, Draco had wanted to make his father proud of him. Even though it seemed wrong to him, he made fun of muggleborns, and he acted like a true Slytherin prince. Now, as Draco readied himself for his journey to King's Cross Station to start his new term at Hogwarts, by himself, he decided that he no longer cared what his father thought. This year was going to be different, he vowed. He was going to be different.

"I HATE my LIFE!" screamed a very wet, young woman as she struggled to drag her very heavy trunk up the (freaking) stairs that lead to the entrance of King's Cross Station. As she was pulling with all her might against her trunk, she began speaking in a very high, mocking voice.

"Oh, it's so exciting, Jen, you're going to England! You'll get to see all the sights, and you'll meet hot British James Bond wannabes, and you'll be the first American to bridge the gap to the British wizarding community! Isn't that just fan-fuckin-TASTIC?" she growled. Indeed, up until this point, she had been very excited about starting her semester at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. However, between the impossibility of finding a cab in London, the torrential downpour, and how RUDE all of the people who passed her by—and didn't even bother to offer assistance—were, she was starting to regret her decision in transferring to Hogwarts. At least if she was home, she'd be nice and snug inside of her best guy-friend's car while his older brother drove them just north of Boston, where they would enter the hallowed halls of the Salem School of Magic without pause or question. There she would be greeted by her greatest friends in the whole world, all of whom she had to leave behind by coming here—

Suddenly, her internal rant was interupted when her grip on the handle of her trunk slipped and she fell backwards, crashing into an innocent bystander, who thankfully caught her before she hit the pavement.

Draco was suddenly brought back down to earth as he collided into someone, sending her falling backwards. Only a lightning fast movement on his part prevented her from hitting her head hard on the pavement.

"Are you alright?" he asked, hearing her mutter what sounded like curse words under her breath. "Miss?" She looked up at him, and as his eyes connected with a pair of stunning amber colored irises.

The world seemed to freeze around them. The hustle and bustle of people rushing to get out of the pouring rain faded away; even the raindrops seemed to slow in midair as he stared into the amber eyes of the beautiful stranger in his arms.

The girl stared back at him for a moment before she smiled, brushing wet strands of dark auburn hair out of those enchanting eyes.

"Yeah…I'm okay." She said, stepping away from him—not because she wanted to put space between them, but because he looked delectable and he smelled amazing, and she could just tell that if she didn't, she was going to make a fool of herself. "Sorry 'bout crashing into you. I, uh, lost my grip on my trunk." She said, indicating the item in question, glaring at it for a moment while Draco took the opportunity to examine her more closely.

She was medium height, somewhere around five foot five, and her skin was a smooth alabaster white. She was wearing a strange type of raincoat; it was pure black, had a plethora of silver zippers, and seemed to be made of a waterproof leather material. The coat was hooded, and it reached all the way down to her ankles, concealed by a pair of black leather boots. The coat's hood was currently up, and for some reason, Draco felt the urge to pull it back himself, to see just how long her dark red hair went down her back. He shook himself forcibly from his daze, and put down his own trunk in order to help her with hers.

Once they managed to get the damn thing unstuck, she turned and smiled at him; a bright, blinding smile that seem to warm every part of his heart.

"Thanks a lot." She said, as she began dragging the heavy piece of junk towards the doors. "I thought I would never get it unstuck."

"No problem." He said, proud that his voice remained steady even though his heart was beating at the speed of light. He moved ahead to hold the door open for her, following her in as she entered the station. Once inside, she threw back her hood, shaking out her hair, which Draco could now see reached the girl's shoulder blades. She fished in her pockets and pulled out her ticket, looking at it in obvious confusion.

"What the fuck is a platform?" she muttered to herself. "Is that where the train is? Oh, where is Jillie when I need her?" she groaned, pressing the heel of her hand against her forehead.

"I'd be happy to help you find your train, Miss." Draco said, in an extra effort to be charming. He peered at her ticket from over her shoulder, and was temporarily distracted by the smell of vanilla sugar that emanated from her. "What platform?" he asked when he had composed himself.

"Um…" she looked from him to the ticket and back again. "Okay, so you're gonna laugh at me, but I'm really desperate at this point. I'm looking for Platform…Nine…and, uh, Three Quarters?"

His eyebrows rose. So, his beautiful stranger was not only a witch, but a classmate as well. Perfect. "You're in luck. I happen to know exactly where that is."

"Really?" She looked hopeful, then suspicious. "You aren't making fun of me, are you?"

"Wouldn't even dream of such a thing." He said honestly, picking up his trunk with one hand and using the other to gently grasp her hand. "Draco Malfoy, at your service." He said gallantly, even going so far as to brush his lips across the smooth skin on the back of her hand.

She giggled softly, that blinding smile emerging once more. "Jenny Rovalt." She said. "I guess it's lucky I crashed into you after all. I would have been wandering around for hours; I'm terrible with directions. So, you go to Hogwarts too. I'm a new transfer student, that's another reason why I'm so hopelessly lost." She babbled as he began to lead her away. He smiled, inwardly thinking that her nervous chatter was very endearing.

"I did notice the accent. Where are you transferring from?" he asked.

"Salem School of Magic. It's in America." She answered, looking at little sad as she said it. He recognized that look.

"Long way from home, right?" he asked. She nodded, and he placed a comforting hand on her back. "It must be tough, moving from one school to one on a whole other continent."

"You have no idea. I feel like I've been transported to the freaking moon."

"Why?" Draco asked, looking confused. "America can't be that much different…"

Jenny was so glad that growing up with her older brother and his friends had given her the ability to keep a conversation flowing while she thought about something completely different, because she was slowly sinking into lala-land as she stared at the boy walking along beside her. He had gorgeous blonde hair, with a few strands that fell over his silver eyes in the sexiest way. It reminded her of Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie Titanic.

Yum.

"It is in the magical sense. See, even after the muggles gave up on isolationism, the wizards still clung to it. I have absolutely no idea what's happening on this side of the world. Also, the wizarding community in America is, oddly enough, much smaller than that of Europe. I think it's got something to do with the Salem witch trials. Apparently, those muggles were better at finding witches than they think." She blinked, the pale skin on her face flushing pink as she realized that she was babbling. "But I'm probably boring you with my ramblings, so I'll just shut up now." The last thing she wanted was to drive him away, because she still needed to get to the stupid train and there was no way in hell that was happening on her own.

Not to mention that he was one of the hottest males she ever had the pleasure of seeing.

Draco opened his mouth to tell her that she wasn't boring him in the slightest, but, as they had reached the enchanted wall concealing their platform, decided against it. He took a step away from her, only to turn and hold out his hand for her to take. "We're here."

"Um…is this a joke?"

"Nope, the platform is straight through that wall." He said. She narrowed her eyes at him, her hands on her hips.

"Okay, ha ha, very funny." She said sarcastically. "Now, seriously, where is it?"

"I am serious." He said, pulling her towards the wall. "Look." He watched her face light up with amazement as his hand phased through the seemingly solid rock.

"That is the fucking coolest thing I've ever seen!" she whisper-screamed. He smiled at her, dimly wondering why her obvious excitement was making him feel something akin to pride.

"After you, Princess." He said, nudging her towards the wall. "Just walk straight through. Don't stop, or you'll get stuck. I'll be right behind you."

"Uh…Okay." She said, nodding. Carefully, she reached out, first putting her hand through, and then walking in all the way. Draco followed her, almost falling back through the wall as Jenny launched herself at him as soon as he crossed over, wrapping her arms around his neck in a bone-crunching hug.

"That was so cool!" she squealed, while a nagging voice inside her head screeched at her reckless actions; a voice that was silenced instantly when Draco wrapped one arm around her waist, returned the embrace. After what felt like forever (but somehow, didn't seem to be long enough), Jenny let go, forcing Draco to release his hold on her as well. His grin still intact, he placed his hand on her back again, and began to lead her over to one of the train doors.

"Come on; let's find a compartment." He said, hoisting both his and her trunks onto the train, ignoring her protests.

"You don't have to do that; I perfectly capable of doing that myself-"

"Too late." he said, jumping up himself, and holding his hand out.

He had had no idea that the feel of her small, smooth hand in his would feel as good as it did; that that simple gesture would rock his world the way it did. Because the feeling of her hand in his woke up parts of his heart that he thought had died long ago, and inspired feelings he had thought himself incapable of.

She blushed and squeaked softly in surprise as he lifted her with ease onto the train, her blush deepening when he refused to release one of her hands as they searched for an empty compartment.

They found one about halfway along the train, and almost immediately after they seated themselves across from each other, a loud whistle blew, and the train slowly began to depart.