Bushy Cat was at Hogwarts! Draco couldn't believe it. And it became harder to wrap his mind around that as he reread over her letters that he'd kept all these years. She was here. After receiving that heart breaking letter saying she couldn't write to him anymore and putting him in a right foul mood his first day on the train, she were right here. In Hogwarts. Hogwarts! He'd probably passed her and not even known. That just put him in a depressed mood.

Draco laid back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Bushy Cat. He remembered waiting for her letters when he'd been younger. The ad had been his last attempt at getting a real friend as he'd always been surrounded by idiots like the late Goyle. But Bushy Cat had been a god send. Finally, he'd had someone to talk to and tell about what he was really thinking. She'd enjoyed his stories of terrorizing the house elves, though he'd called them servants, knowing that she was muggle. And then she'd said she was going off to a boarding school and couldn't-Wait a moment! Draco sat up quickly, earning a head rush. He clutched his forehead as the room span. Muggle. That meant Bushy Cat was a muggle born girl. His first clue to find out who she was. Now, all he needed to do was to have Blaise keep him in the loop of what she wrote to him. Or...maybe he could write a letter to her? And find out who it is tomorrow at breakfast. Perfect!

With thought firmly in hand, he rushed over to his writing desk and pulled out a piece of parchment. He stared at it for a moment, gathering his thoughts, and then started writing. After he was done, he looked over it, was glad to find no spelling or grammar errors, knowing how she hated those, and then called his owl to him. He tied it to the bird's leg and said, "Don't deliver this until tomorrow at breakfast. Alright, Orin?" The owl hooted and then left through a hole in the wall leading up to the surface.

Draco smiled to himself and then climbed into bed after kicking his boots off. He stared at the ceiling again. Bushy Cat. Soon he would know who she was.

A beeping sound hit Draco's ears and he grimaced. Why did he set the damn alarm? He jerked up in bed as he remembered. Bushy Cat! Right, he was going to finally know who she was. He looked at his alarm clock. Crap! The mail was going to be there in twenty minutes He jumped to his feet and pulled a school robe over his slept in t-shirt and pants, pulling on his boots and hastily tying them. He reached for his school bag and raced toward the door.

He was a blur as he ran down the stairs and through the common room. He sprang through the common room door and hurried out of the dungeons. He was a few feet from the Great Hall doors and could hear the owls starting to arrive, when Professor Slughorn appeared from another corridor and spotted him.

"Ah, good morning, Mr. Malfoy," he said. "I was wondering if you would have a moment."

Draco paused. He knew he couldn't blow this teacher off, knowing that his class was the first of the day and not wanting to get into trouble before the first bell. He looked at the Great Hall longingly and turned to the professor a little reluctantly. "Yes, Professor?" he said.

"Well," Slughorn said. "I am starting the Slug Club up again and thought you would have a few suggestions of who should be in it. You and Ms. Granger, of course, as well as Mr. Zabini. You three are the top of your class, so a given. Not to mention the famous Harry Potter. But I cannot, for the life of me, come up with a list. Would you mind brain storming a few candidates?"

Draco blinked at the odd request, but said, "Of course, Professor."

Slughorn smiled and clapped Draco on the shoulder. "Thank you, my boy," he said. "Much appreciated. Now, let's get some breakfast before potions class, shall we?" He walked past Draco and into the Great Hall.

Draco followed and frowned. The post had already come and gone, leaving letters and packages at the absent students' usual spots. Draco sat down at his spot and ripped open his letter, angry that he'd missed his chance to find Bushy Cat. He unfolded his letter and read it.

Dear pen pal,

This is my second letter to you. I sent this one right after the last, since the last was a copy of the Quibbler. What do you think about the article about the Horned Pixie Mice? My father wants to know. You probably know who I am, so it's fine. I'll probably know who you are when you write back. Well, enjoy the Quibbler.

Stars

Draco rolled his eyes and shoved the letter in his pocket. He didn't bother to fold it. It didn't mean as much to him as Bushy Cat's. Geez. He had to stop thinking about her. He silently finished his breakfast and left, feeling terribly depressed and not wanting to talk to anyone else that day.

Hermione smiled at her pen pal's letter. It wasn't much, but it was a beginning.

Bushy Cat,

Weird name, but whatever. Well, I like Potions, hate History of Magic (snore fest), I'm extremely handsome and good looking, I'm not too excited about the school year (it's just school), can't sing worth a darn, and why do you want to know about shortcake? That's really random. You can answer the same questions. And I'm a guy.

Signed,

Sexy Beast (yes, that is my pen name)

Sexy Beast, huh? Didn't he think full of himself. Hermione folded the letter and slipped it into her bag before opening the other one. She nearly screamed in joy, but bit her lip just in time. It was from Fluffy Bunny!

Dear Bushy Cat,

It's been so long. I can't believe you're a witch. This is amazing. Now we can write to one another again. Just like the old days. Don't ask how I know that you're here. I have my ways. And, no, it wasn't from the house elves, though I'm tempted to paint the roses red again.

So, by now, you've figured that I'm a wizard and you can fill in the blanks from our past letters. And, just so you know, that last letter really hurt. I was so disappointed that I was in a mood all the next day on the train. I've kept every single letter you ever wrote. They're in a special box under my bed. If my room mates ever found them, they would never let me live down my old pen name.

And I'm in (here, it looked like he tried to write something else down, but couldn't) Damn! I can't tell you what house I'm in. This stupid project of McGonagall's won't let me write who I am or what house I'm in, even though we're technically not assigned penpals. But don't worry, I plan on finding you at breakfast when my owl delivers this letter.

Please write back, Cat. I've missed your letters.

Signed,

Fluffy Bunny

Hermione looked around frantically, looking for any sign of someone who was watching her. Unfortunately, no one was paying her any attention. They were all busy reading their own pen pal letters. Sighing, Hermione folded the letter with gentle fingers and slid it into a special pocket in her bag.

After seven years, she could write to Bunny again. Her childhood friend. He was at Hogwarts. What were the odds! Who was he, though? She'd probably seen him a dozen times and they'd never known. Not once. She could have even tutored them.

Hermione grinned down at her eggs. Bunny. So long.

"Hermione?" Ron said.

She looked up, still dreamy eyed. "Yes, Ron?" she asked.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked.

She nodded. "I'm just fine," she said. "I got a good letter."

"Must be one heck of a pen pal," Harry said, smiling.

Hermione nodded. "Yup," she said. She looked at her watch and gasped. "I'm going to be late for potions." She frantically began eating her food.

"Calm down, Hermione," Ron said. "We don't have to be there for another five minutes."

"You're on time if you're early and late if you're on time," Hermione said before dashing out of the Great Hall.

She raced down to the dungeons and paused outside the potion's room to catch her breath. She pushed the door open and slipped in quietly. Looking around, Hermione only saw Draco Malfoy sitting at a desk near the front, reading over a piece of parchment in his hands. He didn't seem to notice she was there. Quietly, so as not to disturb him, she sat down in a seat at the back, knowing that Ron and Harry were going to be her partners and they liked to sit at the back. She pulled out her potion's book, her notebook, her quill, and then Bunny's letter. She reread it and couldn't help but giggle. Just like Bunny to talk about the roses.

"Something funny, Granger?"

Hermione looked up and found Draco standing in front of her desk. She quickly put the letter in her bag and said, "A letter from my penpal. He's quite funny." She took him in, then. He was completely different than she remembered him last. Gone was the button up shirt and the perfect tie. He wore a dark green t-shirt and black pants with combat boots under his robe. His hair wasn't even slicked back like it had been. He looked like a normal muggle boy. "You look...different," she said. "In a good way," she added when his face changed to something that gave the impression that he didn't like her comment.

He shrugged and said, "Going against my old life, you could say."

Hermione blinked at the freely given information. That wasn't like the Draco Malfoy she remembered. There was no sneer or snide comment about her blood status. He even looked...open. No mask at all.

She couldn't hold the question back anymore. "Are you alright, Malfoy?" she asked. "You seem very different."

Draco shrugged again. Such an effortless motion, but seemed to look appealing on him. "I'm turning over a new leaf," he said. He tilted his head to the side and said, "Could you help?"

Hermione's mouth fell open, but she caught herself and said, "Uh..sure. How?"

"Just call me 'Draco'," he said. "It's a start."

She shook her head. "I don't think I can just start calling you 'Draco' out of the blue. I've always called you 'Malfoy'. I'll have to relearn," she said. Why was she taking this so easily? And she wasn't feeling any suspicious activity from him.

Draco nodded, considering what she'd said. Then, he smiled. "I know a way," he said. "It's what my one friend told me about. She said that, when she bit her nails, her parents demanded a coin from her so she would stop the habit. How about every time you call me 'Malfoy' instead of 'Draco', you owe me a sickle?"

Hermione blinked. That could actually work. But she was so use to 'Malfoy'. How was she to learn without going broke. Then the answer came to her. "Fine," she said, smiling. "But every time you call me 'Granger' instead of 'Hermione', you owe me a sickle. Deal?"

Draco smiled and nodded. He extended his hand. "Deal, Hermione," he said.

Hermione took his hand and said, "Deal, Mal-Draco."

He raised an eyebrow. "Darn. Almost got you," he said, smirking.

Hermione laughed. "I'm not going to lose that easily," she said, pointing a finger at him. Draco only smiled.

Just them, students began to walk in. They were chatting, but stopped when they saw Draco and Hermione talking as if they weren't enemies. They were frozen in place until Draco returned to his seat. Then they took their own and started talking in low voices, looking between the two of them. The class filled quickly, the gossip spreading like wildfire. By the time Harry and Ron came in, seconds before Slughorn, the whole class was a buzz about Draco and Hermione.

"What's wrong with the class?" Harry asked.

"Draco and I were talking about him turning over a new leaf and some of the others came in," Hermione said.

"You and Malfoy were talking? Civily?" Harry said in astonishment.

"Did you just call him 'Draco'?" Ron asked, jealously sending Draco a glare to the back of his head.

Hermione nodded. "Yes on both accounts," she said. "He said he wanted to turn over a new leaf and asked me to help by calling him 'Draco'. He said that every time I call him 'Malfoy', I owe him a sickle. But every time he called me 'Granger', he owes me a sickle."

"Now you're betting with him?" Ron said angrily.

Hermione stared at him. "I'm helping, Ron," she said. "Get over it. He wants to change. No, I won't forget what he was like in the beginning, but he changed sides, remember? He can change even more. Give him a chance."

Ron wasn't able to say anymore, for Slughorn started the class. "Now," he said. "Today, we will begin brewing healing potions. Madame Pomfrey has notified me that she is low on certain potions. Today, we begin with an easy fever reducing potion. It's on page 345. You will need partners,which I will assign now."

He read down the list on the parchment in his hands. "Ms. Granger and Mr. Malfoy," he called.

Hermione collected her things as the looks and gossip started up again. She ignored it, and the glare Ron was sending, and walked over to Draco's table. He smiled up at her and she sat down, turning on the flame under their cauldron. "I'll grab the ingredients," she said.

"I'll get the water going, then," Draco said, pulling out his wand.

Hermione nodded and headed to the supply pantry. She quickly got the things she need and returned to the table, ignoring the looks and murmurs that followed her. Draco looked up when she got near and took some of the bigger jars, setting them on the table. The gentlemanly action surprised Hermione for a moment before she took her seat.

They talked only for a few moments after adding the different ingredients at their respectable times. Soon, their potion had turned a light green color and smelled of peaches. Just like it was suppose to. They called Slughorn over and he smiled. "Excellent," he said. "Wonderful job, Ms. Granger and Mr. Malfoy. If you'll just put the lid on the caldron and set it up front with your names, you may leave early."

Draco wrote their names on a slice of parchment as Hermione put the lid on, and then they both left with their things. Hermione didn't miss the glare Ron threw at them. She knew it was for Draco, but she couldn't help but think it was meant for her, as well. Once they were out of range of the potion's room, Hermione let out the breath she was holding.

"You okay?" Draco asked, looking slightly concerned.

Hermione nodded, looking at him a bit uncertainly. "Yeah," she said. "Sorry. I'm just going to have to get use to you being nice, is all. I've got to adjust."

Draco nodded, not in the least bit hurt. "I figured that," he said. "Makes me wish that I had done things differently." He trailed off, his gaze fixed on a stone in the wall. His mind was wandering.

Hermione hated to interrupt him, but she reached out and patted his shoulder. He looked over at her. "You know, things will be rough at the beginning. But if you're serious about changing, just hang in there. Okay? It'll get better."

Draco smiled and nodded. "I should really thank you for your logic, Gr-Hermione," he said. He winked as if to say 'you almost got me'.

Hermione laughed and shook her head. "You'd be the first one," she said. "Everyone else doesn't really like it."

"They call you a know-it-all?" he asked, walking up the corridor. Hermione fell in step with him.

"Yeah," she said. "And yet they always come to me for homework problems."

Draco laughed, then and Hermione smiled. He had a nice laugh. It was smooth and silky. Almost like chocolate fondue. Then he snorted. Hermione giggled as he tried to hide his mouth, as if it could erase the snort.

He smiled, then laughed again. The two shared a laugh for a moment before calming down. They stared at each other and Hermione felt a sort of peaceful mist fall over them. This was strange and weird beyond anything she'd encountered, but it felt nice, as well. Comfortable. Like being in her favorite place; the library. She suddenly gasped.

"What?" Draco asked.

"I just remembered that there was a book I needed to check out," Hermione said, slapping her forehead. "I have to go get it for next class. I'll see you around, Draco?" She rushed off before getting a firm answer.

Draco just watched her retreat and said, sure she wouldn't hear, "Yeah, Hermione. Later."

"Great," Hermione said, popping her head around the corner. "I'll see you at lunch." Then she was gone again.

Draco only laughed and went outside to sit by the lake before his next class.

Fun, right? Hope you enjoyed the chapter.