A/n:

Examinations have passed and school is almost over, meaning I can finally get some personal time after a year-long of tiring teaching. I started this chapter 2 days ago and I didn't expect to finish it in such a short period of time. Writing this story has been on my mind 24/7. I even have 1 chapter in year 4 and 3 chapters in year 6 almost completed, just waiting for me to finish and to be published. I just can't wait to continue on this journey. It's really great to be back.

Update:

I have been thinking about slowing down the updates. Although I really enjoy writing this story and it is basically what I think about all the time, I do want to spend more time reading other stories and fiction to up my writing game. As mentioned at the beginning, English is not my first language so sometimes it's quite difficult for me to find the right words. Also, I want to learn to write more detailed descriptions of a place, a person or an action to bring my story to life.

I am still deciding whether I should change to updating regularly, say 1 chapter per week or 2 weeks. But for now, I will take my time with the new chapter. Most probably you should see the update next week.

26 August 1992

There were a few days before the start of the school year and Diagon Alley was flooded with young witches and wizards. Narcissa was busy with family matters so Draco went supplies-shopping with his father, Lucius Malfoy, this year. Their first stop, however, was not Diagon Alley. Their parents had been having small arguments in the past few days. They were talking about something related to raids but Draco didn't really understand. In the end, his father had rummaged through their Manor and retrieved some weird objects. All he had been told was that these artefacts had to be sold and their first stop was Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley.

It was the first time Draco went to Knockturn Alley. He usually stayed at the entrance with his mother waiting while his father went in with his business. The dingy alley was full of stores related to Dark Arts, with nasty windows and creepy displays. Draco found some of them a bit gross, but mostly amusing as he found them quite similar to some artefacts at home.

Borgin and Burkes was the largest store in the Alley. Curiosity was in a kid's nature, and so Draco was inspecting every item when he stepped into the store.

"Touch nothing, Draco," Lucius said as he slammed his cane on a wooden cabinet, missing Draco's hand by an inch.

"Yes, Father," Draco answered, putting his hands behind his back. They walked to the counter and called for the owner. Seeing the owner hadn't arrived, Draco wondered and asked, "Father, I thought you were going to buy me a present."

"Present? Don't be silly boy." He looked away from Draco while drumming his fingers on the counter. "I said I would buy you a racing broom IF you get into the house team. Harry Potter got into his house team last year. I expect nothing less from you."

Draco turned away looking sulky and annoyed.

Harry Potter. It was always Harry Potter.

"Answer?" Lucius stared at him with a side-eye.

"Yes, Father." Draco couldn't conceal his temper with his gloomy reply.

Lucius let out a long, disappointed sigh. "Where did you learn such bad manners? I hope I don't have to remind you that your duty now is to pick up your grades. Here I thought you'd be ashamed that you were beaten at every exam. You should be well aware of what a disgrace you are to fall behind a mudblood."

Draco's eyes dropped to the floor in humiliation and shame. He was second to Hermione Granger in every subject last year, even the Potions exam.

Draco still resented her from time to time due to her family background, but after the events that happened in the Forbidden Forest, he couldn't help but grow to admire Hermione. He had worked hard on his exams, but the results didn't surprise him much since her excellence was well expected. He knew there was no chance for him to get ahead of Hermione after seeing her with her wand, at least at this very moment. Despite being in the second, there was quite a gap between him and the third place so he gladly accepted his exam performance.

However, summer break had been a nightmare. His father was furious at him for his failure. Lucius declined every invitation from his friends and forced him to study from morning until late at night. He was allowed to fly, but only after he showed great improvement in his studies. At meals, his father constantly nagged him about how pure-blood families were superior to the rest of the world and why mudbloods were worthless stains on the wizarding world. Sometimes he would think of Hermione when his father complained, and wonder why a muggle-born like her could be such a genius, and so different from his father's depiction of muggle-borns.

Draco didn't want to continue the conversation so he wandered off to the other parts of the store. It didn't take long before Lucius finished with his business and they left for Diagon Alley.

Hermione was excited to go to Diagon Alley with her parents ever since she got her letter from school. Supplies-shopping was one of the very few magic-related things she could enjoy doing with her non-magical parents. She had been sharing all her great memories from the past school year, except for the troll incident and detention at the Forbidden Forest. Although her parents didn't truly understand her school life, they could tell that Hermione loved her wizarding life.

There were a few books that second-year students had to purchase. The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 was one of the required books, but Hermione already bought it last year and she had almost finished reading it during summer break. The rest of the seven books were from the famous wizarding celebrity Gilderoy Lockhart. Hermione had done some 'light' reading previously and she couldn't wait to get her hands on the entire collection.

As she left Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment after some treasure hunting, two familiar faces appeared around the corner. She rushed over and exclaimed, "Harry, Hagrid! It's so good to see you... What happened to your glasses?"

"Floo powder accident," Harry explained.

"Oculus Reparo." Hermione pulled out her wand and his glasses were fixed in a swift flick of spell. Knowing Harry would be safe around his friends, Hagrid left to continue with his business.

"You look...dusty. Where have you been?" Hermione asked.

"Knockturn Alley. I saw Malfoy and his father. They were selling something related to the raids. I bet Mr Weasley would like to know about it."

Her day got better when they finally met the Weasleys. Mr. Weasley was overly excited to meet her parents. At first, she was a bit worried about whether her parents would be uncomfortable with another wizard, but her worries were soon lifted as they had a great time exchanging muggle and wizarding culture. After spending some time around the block, they gathered at Flourish and Blotts for the book list.

The shop was packed with students, parents, and reporters. They squeezed their way in as they saw the famous Gilderoy Lockhart promoting his books. In the middle of the chaos, Lockhart saw Harry and brought him to the stage. Numerous photos were taken as Lockhart gave Harry a set of books free of charge and announced that he would be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts. After a few tries, Harry managed to escape from the spotlight and make it back to his friends. Knowing the Weasleys were short on coins for school supplies, Harry offered the free books to Ginny, making her blush.

"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter? Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page." A familiar voice appeared from the corner, looking at Harry sneeringly. Ginny stepped up to defend Harry as she stared at Draco in hostility. Draco laughed, "Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend!"

"Manners, Draco." Lucius appeared from behind and gestured his son away with his cane as he stepped towards Harry. He offered a handshake and introduced himself, "Mister Potter. Lucius Malfoy. We meet at last."

Harry reached for the handshake out of politeness but was caught surprised as Lucius pulled him closely and observed his scar. He parted Harry's hair and examined, "Forgive me. Your scar is a legend, as is of course, the person who gave it to you."

"Voldemort killed my parents." Harry pulled himself from Lucius, trying his best to contain his anger. "He was nothing more but a murderer."

"You must be very brave to mention his name, or really foolish." Lucius mocked with a wicked smile.

"Fear of a name only increases the fear for the thing itself." Hermione could no longer stand his heartless mockery and stood up against him, standing right in front of Draco. It had almost been two months since he saw her crazy brown curls. When she stepped up, he swore he could smell the scent of new parchment and a hint of lavender.

"And you must be Miss Granger. Draco has told me all about you and your parents," Lucius replied with amusement. "Muggles."

That's not true.

Draco turned away, looking unimpressed. Draco didn't have to mention a word about Hermione to his Father. By the time he got home for summer break, Lucius had already received the report of his school performance, along with reports from Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle exaggerating how a muggle-born outshined his son. Draco might have protested once or twice, saying that Hermione was favoured by all teachers, but for Lucius, they were only poor excuses. He gave up soon enough as his father never stopped scolding him for the same reason over and over again. Lucius did all the talking, and Draco never dared to talk back.

"You should be ashamed of yourself for losing to a girl with no wizarding family. A Mudblood."

Draco took a peek at the young witch. He wondered if she believed in what his father said, but he soon realised it didn't really matter to her. Only when she heard the word "Muggles" did she cringe a bit. Somehow Draco was a bit bitter about it.

Lucius continued teasing the Weasleys with his horrible sarcasm. Mr Weasley didn't hold back and they almost had a fight. They only ceased their heated argument as a swarm of reporters shifted their attention to them. Not wanting to cause a scene, Lucius turned and left without saying a word. Draco took another peek at Hermione. She never looked at him once during the confrontation. He wanted to say something but left the words hanging by his lips and followed his father.