Chapter 6:
"Holy shit! Hermione is that really you?" Blaise exclaimed upon seeing his best friends. Without even glancing in Draco's direction Blaise swept past him to grab Hermione in a fierce hug. She was lucky he eased up quick enough or she'd have suffocated.
"Surprise?" Mione said shyly, blushing because Blaise still had his arms around her waist and he wasn't going to let go of her anytime soon. Draco bristled, Blaise knew better than to hold her in front of him, heck! Blaise knew better than to hold her period! She was HIS.
"And what a surprise this is. I'd have never guessed you'd be a witch! I never even saw you doing magic." He has yet to let go of her, in fact it looked to Draco as if he was moving his hands up and down, rubbing her back. Not on his watch!
"I only tended to do strange things at night. I thought it was my imagi-"
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER ALREADY!" Draco couldn't take anymore. Hermione was just about to put her hands on his arms. She'd have been touching Blaise! She'd almost touched another boy!
"Whoa sorry there Mi didn't even notice." He looked away with a fine dusting of pink on his tanned cheeks. Hermione found it adorable and giggled behind her hand.
"It's alright Blaise."
"Just don't do it again mate, you know she's mine." Draco further warned his so-called best friend.
Biting back laughter, Hermione gently took Draco's hand while Blaise guided them to an empty compartment. Hand holding usually calmed him down. She absolutely loved when he got possessive over her, maybe mum was right. All the girls will just be great big grey blurs to him.
After almost three hours of Blaise and Draco trying to cram their limited knowledge of the Do's and Don'ts of Hogwarts and a very brief explanation of the four houses (where Hermione had to keep correcting their facts) she excused herself to use the little ladies room.
As she was walking back to her compartment an older student called her over;
"Hi there, are you a first year?"
"Yes." Feeling very shy in front of this tall boy Hermione hoped she didn't start stuttering.
"Will you mind helping Longbottom here find his blasted toad? It's gone and I don't have the time to help right now. I have prefects to find." They older boy stomped off.
"You-you don't have to-to help me. I-I'm sure I can find him before we reach school."
"Oh, it really isn't a problem. I feel like my legs could use a good stretch. My name is Hermione, and you are?"
"Neville Longbottom."
"Well Neville, where have you looked already? What is your pet's name? And what does he look like?" Hermione rambled of some of the question she knew were important when trying to locate something. They went their separate ways to locate Trevor the missing Toad after Neville quickly explained all he knew while tripping over words and thanking her in every other sentence.
1 hour later…
"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one."
The red-haired boy holding a rat replied that they have already informed Neville that they have not seen his toad. Hermione then spotted the boy next to him; it was the boy from Madam Malkin's!
Rushing out of the compartment Hermione sprinted back towards her own.
"Dray! I found the boy from the shops. We can apologize to him now!" She was slightly out of breath, but got out the whole sentence with a bright smile on her face.
Standing up, Draco smiled at her and motioned for her to leave first.
"Then let's go Mi. This time we cannot let him get away." Grabbing his hand, she started leading the way toward the compartment at the far back of the train car.
Not stopping to knock on the door, she burst in, Draco following behind her. The two boys inside the compartment were so startled by the sudden entrance of the new comers; they dropped their chocolate frog cards. The dark haired boy locked eyes with Draco and gasped, "You're that boy from the robes shop!"
Glad to see he found his voice. Awkwardly scratching his neck, Draco shuffled his feet, he has never apologized to anyone except Hermione and he doubted that the boy would want flowers and hot chocolate.
"We came here to apologize to you for what we said in the shop. We didn't know… about your parents. Will you please forgive us?" Hermione was well adapted in the form of asking-for-forgiveness. She just hoped she didn't make a new enemy.
"It's alright. I- I forgive you. Ummm do you want a chocolate frog?" The boy held a small blue box out toward Hermione.
"Yes please! I love chocolate." She practically lunged forward to grab the box from him; she was what one would call a chocaholic and she was proud! Draco could see the red-haired boy looking at Mione with a strange expression on his face; "Do you know who this is?" He asked, pointing his thumb over his shoulder to indicate the skinny boy next to him.
Hermione looked over to the boy seated closest to the window, he lowered his and rubbed his hands over his eyes, he was so embarrassed! It was so cute!
Seeing no answer forthcoming, the taller boy sat up confidently; "Well Malfoy," sneering Draco's surname as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. "This is Harry Potter." Trying (and failed) to look important he puffed out his chest and crossed his arms in front of him, smearing chocolate onto his robe's sleeve.
Hearing the name of the boy being announced so haughtily, Hermione's mind instantly jumped to Hogwarts: A History, last chapter; The Boy who Lived, Harry Potter, born on 31 July to Lily and James Potter. Both parents murdered by Voldemort. Harry survived the killing curse at the age of 1 'Voldemort disappeared, many believe him dead, and some people believe he will return' – Foot note made by Albus Dumbledore.
"It is a pleasure to finally meet you properly Mr Potter, my name is Draco Malfoy and this is Hermione Granger," Draco looked Harry in the eyes before stating, "my future wife." Knowing that this Hermione-stealing boy was The Harry Potter made him a bit nervous, Hermione would definitely choose a famous wizard over him. He had no choice but to claim her, at least verbally, so Potter would know not to try and court her.
"And I'm Ronald Weasley. Pleased to meet you Hermione." Ronald stuck his chocolate covered hand out towards Hermione, without waiting for her to offer her own hand; he took it and pulled her fully into the compartment, trying to kiss her knuckles as Draco has done so many times before. Before his lips could make contact, Draco pulled her away from his grasp, growling a possessive "Mine" before turning on his heel and stalking out of the compartment, Hermione jogging to keep up with his haste.
"How dare that swine think he has a right to put his lips anywhere near your person?" Draco fumed and Hermione just let him get all his indignant huffs out of the way before trying to reassure him her standing as his future wife has not been compromised in the least. This train cannot go any faster, she mentally sighed.
Barging into the compartment they vacated earlier, they spotted Blaise leaning on the window, softly snoring, oblivious to the world around him. Draco sat down on the bench opposite his sleeping friend, pulling Hermione down next to him. He cuddles into her and soon he joined Blaise in La la land, holding her hand securely in his. Hermione looked down to see pure white hair, soft as feathers under her chin. Sighing happily, she thought that this moment will be one to remember, just her and her two best friends. What more could a girl ask for?