Chapter 2
September 1st, 1991
Hermione was more excited than nervous as she made her way onto the Hogwarts Express. She had said her goodbyes to her parents and found an empty compartment to sit in and read. Just as the train was about to take off the compartment door opened and she recognized the bright blonde haired boy as the one she met in the bookstore last year.
“Draco, it’s nice to see you again.” she said, smiling up at him.
“Hermione, I see you took my recommendation” he smiled and pointed to the book in her hands.
“Ah yes, I’m not ashamed to say I’ve hardly put it down since I got it” she giggled “I’m pretty sure I have the entire book memorized at this point”
He laughed “I have to say it is a good book so I’m not surprised, it must be strange. You must have known all about the wizarding world in America and the school you would have gone to there if you hadn’t moved here, so it’s only normal to want to learn about Hogwarts.”
“Oh I knew nothing of the wizarding world in America, I knew I was different but I didn’t find out I was a witch until I got my letter last year.”
“So your parents aren’t wizards?”
“No they are No-Majs, or what you British folks call muggles.”
Draco wasn’t sure what to do with that information, his father had told him that muggleborns were ugly, dirty and filthy creatures with no class and no belonging in the wizard world. But Hermione was anything but.
“Umm, is that a problem with you?” she asked sheepishly.
“Oh, well um no. But I’m not going to lie and say that other people will take it well. Here in Britain blood purity is a big thing. People like my father think that pure-bloods are better than all other kinds of wizards because of who our ancestors are.”
“And your mother?”
“She won’t defy my father but I know she doesn’t have the same drastic opinions that my father holds. She’s the one who taught me about muggles, and not in the way my father taught me. But ummm we won’t be able to be friendly in the open at Hogwarts, my father would have my head if he found out I befriended a muggleborn.” He couldn’t look her in the eye, as he was embarrassed at what he just said but knew it was for the best.
“I understand Draco, just please don’t be cruel. I’m already an outsider as is, I don’t think I could stand the first person I made friends with be horrible to me because of something I can’t control.”
Draco looked up at Hermione, smiled and reached his hand out to her for her to shake. “I promise Hermione I won’t say a cruel word to you.” Hermione shook his hand and smiled back up at him.
Over the next couple months Draco had kept his promise to Hermione. He was never rude to her, unlike many of his classmates. Pansy Parkinson had been absolutely awful to her as soon as she found out that Hermione was muggleborn. It didn’t help that even the students in her own house thought she was a bossy know-it-all and didn’t want too much to do with her. She was an outsider and had never felt more alone.
Christmas break came and went and Hermione came back feeling better than when she left. Over the month of January she made two new friends, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter. They may have made fun of her in the beginning of the year but they proved to be loyal and would stand up for her whenever a student from Slytherin would be rude to her or throw an insult her way.
Hermione had also noticed that her magic was becoming stronger, even as a first year she was teaching herself how to do simple wandless magic. She could do the most basic simple spells without her wand and she knew that it wasn’t normal for someone so young. She kept that to herself though, she didn’t need to feel like even more of an outsider. The only person she confided her secrets to was Draco, they met up twice a week to study and when she accidentally wandlessly summoned a quill from her bag, she proceeded to tell him all about her new, stronger magic. He too thought it was wise to keep it to herself but also told her how amazing she was.
Draco knew it was dangerous but he was definitely developing a crush on the muggleborn witch. She may not be the most beautiful in their year, but she made up for it in brains and wit. She was better than any other pure blood witch in his entire house. He just knew he had to keep it that way, just a crush.
The year was coming to an end and Draco and Hermione’s friendship was very strong. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to write to her over the summer but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t miss her.