Hello! I hope you all have been having a nice day! Again it's been a long time since I've updated, so very sorry about that. I already have an idea for the next chapter so hopefully it won't take too long for me to write it and post it. I hope you enjoy this chapter and this story. I know their relationship is starting off slow, but they are only 11. I also want to make it as realistic as I possibly can, as if it went along with the series. So after the Socerer's Stone, I'll be moving on to Chamber of Secrets...if that makes sense. Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter and the story. Read please! and review if you'd like. And don't forget to smile :)
Chapter 3(Mirror of Erised)
Hermione woke up early this morning to make sure she had everything packed. It was the start of the Christmas break and Hermione was headed home to see her parents. She was a little worried about leaving Ron and Harry though. Things were going smoothly between them and they were all getting along, but Hermione was still nervous that they were going to ditch her again.
She took a deep breath as she took out everything in her trunk, making sure she had everything she needed and then packed it all up. As she looked over to her clock she saw that it was 5:30 in the morning, breakfast wouldn't start until & so she had time to spare. Hermione took a glance out the window. The sun was just starting to shine through the clouds and wake up the earth, sparkling the new snow from the night before.
Hermione changed into her clothes for the day, grabbed her cloak hanging on the hook of her bed, and walked out of the dormitory. She took a glance back at the boys' dormitory debating whether to see if they were up but decided against it and to have some time by herself. She quietly walked down the Grand Staircases, cracked open the door letting the new sunlight and sparkling snow blind her.
The only marks in the snow were from Hermione's footprints and the various animals that passed through the night and early morning. The air was cold against her face but her scarf and cloak kept her snuggly warm. She made her way across the grounds toward the lake.
She heard that a giant squid lived in it, but she wasn't quite sure to believe the rumor or not. If a giant squid did live in the lake, she wondered what happened to it when winter came along. If the lake was deep enough for the squid to stay warm and still have enough room to swim around. Hermione stood pondering these thoughts that she didn't realize another person was coming toward her. It wasn't until the heavy breathing she noticed and turned to look.
His hair almost blended in with the snow, they were both bright with the sun shining against them. Draco was shocked to see Hermione out here; he slowed down his run to a slow jog, and then a walk before finally stopping in front of her. He was out of breath and didn't have enough air in his lungs to say hi. He didn't mind though cause he wasn't even sure what to say, but yet to his surprise she spoke first.
"Hello Malfoy." She said to smile politely. She wasn't smiling though and he thought that was strange, she always smiled at him. Usually she did anyway.
His breathing still evening out, he nodded in response with a slight smile across his face. Her hair was still just as bushy and her cheeks were rosy from being out in the cold. She was pretty he admitted to himself. They stood there facing each other for a minute or two more while he his breath became normal again. But before he could get a word out of his mouth she spoke again.
"What are you doing up so early?" giving him a curious look.
"I went for a run. Couldn't sleep very well last night."
She nodded, "are you going home for the holidays?"
"Yeah I am. My mum is making me, it being my first year and all away from home. She wants to hear all about it and all that stuff." He tried to say it nonchalantly, he didn't talk about his home life all that much with his friends. He had to be careful with what he said and if he said too much, most of his stories would end up being lies.
"Me too. My mum and dad are muggles and so they wanna hear about all this: the castle, my classes, my friends, and all the magic." She said warmly to him with a dreamy smile on her face.
Draco smiled at her and then glanced down at his watch. "It's almost time for breakfast and I have to shower and pack."
"You haven't packed yet! The train leaves an hour after breakfast you know." Hermione told him, stating the obvious.
"Haha I know, I'm a fast packer. I'll make it to the train on time." There was a lightness in his voice that Hermione noticed and she nodded to him.
"I'll see you at the train then," a slight smile spreading across her face.
"Mhmm, I'll race you back to the castle."
"You're on!" Hermione bloated around and dashed back the way she came, with Draco close on her heels.
Hermione looked out the window of her compartment; the countryside was just as beautiful with snow covering the fields. She smile and thought of how she'd be home back in her own bed for the first time in four months. Lost in thought of being home, she didn't hear the door slide open and shut.
"Beautiful isn't it?" He asked her.
Hermione whipped her head around to meet slivery blue eyes. She smiled, "you made it!"
"Haha, I told you I would. Plus remember I'm a fast packer. You excited to be going home?"
Hermione's cheeks held a big smile as her head nodded and her happiness spilled out in words. "Absolutely! I get to see my mum and dad. My dog too, I've missed my dog. She's a Golden Lab named Sori-"
"Sori?" Draco was a little confused about how to say the name.
"Mhmm, Sori. Like sore-ee or like sorry but instead of using a 'y' at the end it's an 'e'."
"Ah" and Draco nodded. He sat listening to her talk about her life at home and everything that happened before going to Hogwarts. He learned about her Primary school years; she apparently made a ton of friends but she thinks it was only because she had the best crayon box. Then as she grew up a lot of her friends stopped talking to her, she wasn't sure why at first but strange things kept happening when she was around. She never said what happened and that made Draco curious but he never asked. She did mention how after she got her letter from Hogwarts everything made sense after that.
"I think my parents worried about me when I was little. Cause I had so many friends at first then all the sudden none," Hermione paused; her faced showing sadness as she recalled that part of her life. She glanced at Draco and he looked just as sad, he felt bad for her not having much friends. She gave a light hearted laugh, "don't worry. I have friends, a few of them back home. They know nothing about Hogwarts but they did used to tease about how all the strange stuff that happened was cause of magic. They're good friends…" she trailed off in thought.
"Are you going to see them over break then?"
At this question Hermione immediately perked up with a smile on her face, "I am!"
"So where do they think you are? Since they don't know about Hogwarts and you can't tell them since it's against the rules. As I assume you know." Draco teased her with a slight smirk on his face.
"They just think I'm at a boarding school, it's not entirely true but it's also not a lie either."
He nodded; they talked for hours during the entire train ride in fact. It wasn't until now that Draco saw they were close to the city, they had a couple minutes until they reached it and then it would be five minutes until they reached the station. He gave a smile sigh; he enjoyed the train ride talking to Hermione. No one was here to interrupt them or judge him for talking to her and most importantly Harry Potter and Ron Weasley weren't there to steal her attention away from him.
They rode the rest of the way in silence; Hermione had a small gathering of butterflies in her stomach. But they disappeared when the train pulled up and she saw her parents standing on the platform waiting for her. Draco saw his parents too, standing sternly with authority waiting for him. He sighed glanced at Hermione and said a mental goodbye in his head. He quietly stood up and left the compartment, Hermione didn't notice she was waving excitedly at her parents. When she turned around she saw that she was alone, the smile on her face faded. But she knew that his friendly side wouldn't last forever, he did have the rumor of being rude and obnoxious.
When the train stopped, she grabbed her backpack and ran off to her parents' opened arms; smiles formed on all their faces. Draco walked up to his parents, who weren't far from Hermione's. His mother hugged him tightly and he hugged her back. His father gave him a nod and a slight smile, Draco knew he'd get a hug out of the station. His mother asked him how the year was so far, but he was busy looking at Hermione. Narcissa followed his gaze and nudged Lucius and nodded toward the girl. Narcissa smiled at Lucius and the look in his eyes returned the affection she had in her smile.
Hermione felt someone staring at her, so she turned around and found the blonde hair and sliver-blue eyes on her. He smiled at her and mouthed "see you soon". She was shocked and couldn't hide it, he just walked out of the compartment not even bothering to say goodbye then. But she wasn't the person to hold grudges if someone tried, so she gave him a smile too.