Chapter 5:

"Draco! Stand still so the lady can measure you okay?"

"Yes Mrs Granger." Where is his mother? She said she'd be quick. Why must she go and speak with Mr Ollivander, they already paid for their wands.

"Mother! Can you help me please?" Hermione wailed from one of the many fitting rooms of Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Hermione and Draco were getting fitted for their first year robes and getting their standard grey ties. Hermione was having some very female problems, namely; she looks hideous in these baggy robes! How will she ever be able to keep Draco's eyes on her when all the other girls were so pretty and tall and some are even blond!

"Mummy, how can I be beautiful like you? I don't want other girls thinking they can steal Dray away. And they'll want to mama!"

"Oh shush now darling, if I know Draco, and I think I do, he won't even noticed that there are other females. They'll all just be great big grey blurs to him. And if you're so worried, why don't you just get Blaise to steal all the girls' attention away?"

"I… I never thought of that. Do you think Blaise would mind the extra attention?"

Her mother chuckled lightly, Blaise was as much an attention whore as Lucius Malfoy and Emma combined. She knew he would not have any problems with the attention of extra girls and maybe that will even help him get over his crush on Mione?

"I'm positive he'll be happy to help." That's not a lie. Blaise is always happy to help Mione whenever she needs it.

Meanwhile outside the dressing room, Draco noticed Madam Malkin steering a skinny looking boy, in a much too large shirt, to the stool next to his. Trying to be polite Draco greeted the funny looking boy next to him;

"Hullo, Hogwarts too?"

The other boy must be shy, just like Mione, because he could barely hear the softly spoken "Yes"

"My father's next door buying books and mother's up the street looking at wands," Draco said, trying to make conversation until Mione and Mrs Granger get back. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms." While Hermione goes into the book shop and gets lost. "I don't see why first-years can't have their own." It's all horribly unfair; he loves to ride brooms and will only get the chance to do it again during holiday. "I think I'll bully my father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."

The tiny boy just looked at him in distain, Merlin! This kid can't take a joke.

"Have you got your own broom?" Draco egged for a response. This kid seemed a bit dim witted. No, maybe just really shy.

"No." Ah! He speaks!

"Play Quidditch at all?" Draco tried to keep the conversation moving. It's hard talking to shy people when it's not his Hermione.

"No"

Is that the extent of this boy's vocabulary? Maybe if I tell him something about me he'll feel more relaxed;

"I do – Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree." The boy was still staring at Draco, "Know what house you'll be in yet?" Draco thought changing the subject would get him to open up more.

"No" The boy looked pained by the answer; Draco tried to cheer him a bit.

"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been – imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

The only response that got him was a soft "Mmm"

Hermione has to hurry up. This is getting a tad bit awkward.

"I say, look at that man!" A girl's voice suddenly exclaimed from their side, looking past Draco towards the window where a large man was standing holding ice cream cones.

"That's Hagrid, he works at Hogwarts." So the boy would talk to his Hermione, would he? Well, he can't have her!

"Oh, I've heard of him." Draco tries to look important in front of Mione, puffing his chest out a little. "He's a sort of servant, isn't he?" He heard Hagrid serves Dumbledore at Hogwarts, wonder why the Hermione-stealing boy was with him.

"He's the gamekeeper" The boy replied in a huff, glaring back at Draco.

Draco remembered his father saying something about how Hagrid keeps the centaurs away from Hogwarts and also all the other dangerous animal. He must be able to talk to animals, just like that savage Tarzan you hear about in muggle society.

"Yes, exactly. He must be a savage -"

"I think he's brilliant." The unnamed boy interrupted him coldly.

Hermione was giving him a fierce glare, how dare this intruder interrupt one of Dray's theories?

"Do you?" Hermione asked with an attempted sneer, "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"

"They're dead" was the blunt reply. Hermione immediately covered her mouth, unshed tear coming unbidden to her eyes. But before she got a chance to properly apologize, Madam Malkin stood up and told him he was finished.

"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose." Draco called after his retreating back; he too wanted to apologize for judging the poor boy. He couldn't imagine what it must be like to not have parents.

Stepping down from the stool, Draco took Hermione's hand down from her mouth and kissed her knuckles.

"We'll ask for his forgiveness when we see him on the train, but remember, Mi, it is not your fault. You did not know about his parents, neither of us did."

"So what you're saying is we have to walk through a wall to get to this platform?" Mrs Granger asked feeling very sceptical. Disappearing in mid-air is something she has yet to get used to and now it is expected of her to walk through what appears to be a solid wall.

"Yes Jane. All you have to do is walk." Lucius gestured for Narcissa to walk through first with Draco following her and Hermione following them. After Hermione successfully walked past the barrier, Lucius turned to his closet friend and his wife.

"Now, there are some wizards who are, for lack of a better word, racist to muggles and muggleborns. I myself used to be one of them, but as proven by our close friendship and my desire to become your daughter's future father-in-law, I have changed. Please be prepared for what might be."

Just as he finished saying his peace, they could hear a woman's shrill voice loudly commentating on how the train station was, "packed with muggles"

To avoid being seen by the rather plump red haired woman, the Granger's and Lucius quickly walk through the wall.