AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you to hoshiakari7, obsessedteenagefangirl, Neakco and daswhoiam for reviewing the last chapter.

I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Please review!

This chapter is dedicated to obsessedteenagefangirl, J.44, Dino97, bjuarez60, Sora Loves Rain, SereniteRose and AngelOfDarkness505.

Rosemary

Draco slumped slightly as he walked around Diagon Alley carrying the large pile of books he would need for his third year at Hogwarts. Ever since his father had inadvertently freed Dobby at the end of the previous school year Draco had discovered just how much he had relied on the house elf for menial tasks such as carrying heavy things for him. Not that the books were too heavy for Draco, he just felt like this kind of thing was beneath him.

The past few months had not been the best summer for Draco. After Lucius had realised Draco must have slipped Hermione Granger some sort of information to stop her from being killed by the basilisk he had beaten his only child without mercy. Narcissa was the only one who was able to somewhat control Lucius so he hadn't spent the whole summer caning Draco, but he had been ordered to spend the entire summer locked in either his room or his father's study if Lucius wanted to keep a closer eye on him. Any trust between father and son had been lost the moment that Draco had torn that page about the basilisk out of the book in Flourish and Blotts, and it was only just beginning to reform.

Draco had been surprised when Lucius had trusted him enough to let him go to Diagon Alley without supervision, but he wasn't complaining. He knew that his father wouldn't be happy if he stayed for longer than he had to, so with that in mind he straightened up and picked up the pace. He'd already bought his school books but he'd outgrown his old Quidditch robes over the summer and needed to be fitted for new ones.

As he headed for Madam Malkin's he heard a very familiar voice laughing somewhere behind him. Without thinking about it he ducked into a small alleyway before peaking back around. Sure enough there was Hermione Granger walking around and laughing with her Muggle parents.

Draco swallowed nervously as he watched. He couldn't stop the relief he felt from swelling up inside of him. Even though Hermione had been brought round with no problems after she had been petrified Draco had been terrified over the summer that something else may have happened to her. Of course he would never admit this to anyone, especially not to Hermione herself. Draco knew he would have to be especially cruel to Hermione this year in order to satisfy his father and the thought made Draco's heart sink.

As Hermione and her parents passed by Draco's hiding place Draco had to clench his fists and not look at her in order to stop himself from running out and calling after her. Once he was sure she had gone he let out a breath he didn't even realise he had been holding and gave himself a shake.

"Stop it," he hissed to himself. "Stop thinking about her. Stop it."

After taking a few deep breaths to clear his head Draco stepped back out into the main street of Diagon Alley and continued on his way to Madam Malkin's.

Draco emerged around an hour later with his brand new Slytherin House Quidditch robes folded up in the same bag as his textbooks as he headed back towards Knockturn Alley to meet his father. Before he reached there however he passed by Magical Menagerie. He stopped walking and glanced in to the window, a small smile forming on his face as he recognised one of the animals in there.

The ginger cat that Hermione had spotted when she and Draco had been running around Diagon Alley before their first year was still there. He'd meant to convince his father to ensure the cat wasn't sold until Hermione was allowed to buy it but he'd completely forgotten with everything that had happened during his time at Hogwarts so far. Thankfully it seemed like he hadn't had to do that anyway as the cat was still there, staring at Draco cautiously with its bright green eyes.

In that moment Draco made a decision, and simply hoped his father would never find out. His mind made up he walked into Magical Menagerie.

Draco managed to find the inn Hermione was staying in without much difficulty. There were only two problems. For one, she was surrounded by the Weasley gaggle, and two, the damn cat wouldn't stop squirming in his arms. He had one hand clamped firmly over its mouth to stop it from making any noise but it was now trying to claw its way free.

Draco had hoped he could give the cat to Hermione in person but he couldn't now that the Wealseys were all there. Sighing heavily he placed the cat down in the floor and gave it a little shove with his foot in Hermione's direction before he rid back behind the corner. The cat gave a little angry mew at the gentle kick which gained Hermione's attention.

"It's a cat!" she practically squeaked before bending down and scooping the ginger puffball up into her arms.

"What's that around its neck?" Fred asked, coming over the scratch the cat behind the ears.

"Looks like a rosemary flower," Hermione replied, untying the small lilac flower from the thin collar around the cat's neck.

"There's a tag on the collar," Ron pointed out. "It must have run away from someone."

Hermione turned over the tag and gasped. "It…it says my name on it!"

"Huh?" the Weasleys cried out before they gathered around her.

"Look, right there! Hermione Jean Granger," Hermione showed them. "He's…he's mine!"

"How does that work?" Ron frowned.

Hermione shrugged. "I have no idea but I'm not complaining! I'm going to call him Crookshanks."

Ginny was beaming from ear to ear. "Let's go tell mum!" she grinned before running off.

"Ginny! Don't just run away! We're responsible for you!" George called out, the twins and Ron running after her while Hermione stood where she was planting little kisses on the cat's head.

Draco smiled to himself, still hiding behind the corner. He was happy that Hermione liked the cat and that she'd gotten the rosemary flower, even though he couldn't ever tell her that it was him who bought it for her. Draco hoped he could cope knowing this was the last kind act he would probably ever be able to do for her.

"Thank you Draco."

Draco's heart stopped when he heard Hermione speak again. It had been so quiet that he could have imagined it but somehow he knew he hadn't. He wanted more than anything to walk round the corner to see her but he couldn't bring himself to move. As he heard Hermione's footsteps as she walked away he relaxed slightly before mentally kicking himself for being too scared to face her. But as he stood there getting his breath back he began to smile, finding himself happy that Hermione knew the cat had been from him.

As he left the inn and walked back to Knockturn Alley, Lucius frowned at the happy smile on his son's face, but Draco found that he didn't care at that moment what his father thought. All memories of the painful summer that had just passed were, for a while, forgotten thanks to the thoughts of Hermione's smiling face.

AN: Hope you enjoyed this! Please review!