Promise

CHAPTER 3

On the Hogwarts express, Hermione quickly found her friends. Harry, Ron, and Ginny were all sitting together in the same compartment.

"'Mione!" Ron called as soon as he saw her.

"Hey guys." she replied before going to join them. She gave each of her friends a hug before sitting down.

"I can't stay long, sorry." she told them. They all shared knowing looks.

"You have to get to the heads car, don't you?" Ginny teased.

"D'you know who the head boy is yet?" Harry asked.

"Not yet, I'm about to find out though." she told him.

"Make sure you let me know first, alright?" Ginny said.

"Of coarse. I'll see you lot at school." she told them before getting up and making her way to the heads compartment. When she got there she saw that the head boy wasn't there yet. So she took a seat and pulled out her Potions textbook and started reading ahead. Potions was her weakest subject and she was determined to improve in it.

"We're not even at school yet and you're already reading, Granger." came a voice from the entrance. Hermione looked up, and to her horror, there was Draco Malfoy.

"Only the head boy and girl are allowed in here Malfoy." she told him, trying to hold back her annoyance.

"That's exactly why I'm here." he replied. Realization hit her like a tidal wave. He was head boy.

"You've got to be kidding me." she mumbled to herself.

"Actually, Granger, I'm not.". She hadn't realized that he'd heard her. She decided to just ignore him. Even though he had changed since the end of the war, he was still obnoxious. After the war, his father had been sent to Azkaban for life along with all the other death-eaters that had been caught. Draco himself and his mother had been excused because of Harry's and her own testimonies that if they hadn't switched sides at the end, they would have all died. Since then, the Malfoy family, with the exception of Lucius, had become one of the few Pureblood families to openly accept muggle-borns as equals. The entire Wizarding World had been taken by surprise when Draco along with the Zabini, Parkinson, Knott and a few others had made the announcement. Even now, people were still gossiping about it.

"Like what you see, Granger?" the boy in question asked. She hadn't realized she'd been staring and looked away quickly while blushing.

"All I see is a slimy git, what's there to like?" she retorted.

"You wound me."

"Obviously not enough."

Hermione went back to reading her textbook. Improving her marks were infinitely more important than bickering with Draco bloody Malfoy. He also ignored her and they both sat in silence until someone came crashing through the entrance.

"Hermione Jean Granger! How dare you hide this from me. I had to find out from Luna of all people." came Ginny's voice. The redhead stood in the doorway, hands on her hips with her hair flying around everywhere. She looked ready to hex someone a million ways to tomorrow.

"Ginny, for the love of Merlin, calm down. What are you talking about?"

"Don't you even try to play innocent with me, Hermione. The head boy and girl have to share a dorm. How could you not tell me?" Ginny yelled.

"Wait. What do you mean we have to share a dorm?" Hermione asked.

"You didn't know? You honestly didn't know?"

"Of coarse not."

Ginny finally calmed down. She looked around for the first time and froze.

"What, pray tell, is Malfoy doing here?" she asked.

"It's a pleasure to see you too, weaslette." Draco finally said. He had watched the theatrics between the two Gryfindors and found it amusing.

"He's head boy, but who told Luna?"

"It was her bloody hipogriffs again. At first I thought about ignoring her but Luna's always right. Always." Ginny answered. Draco decided to help clear up the confusion.

"Well, loony Luna's right again. The heads are sharing a dorm this year to help promote 'house-unity'." he told them both. Just then, Harry and Ron both rushed through the door talking over each other.

"Hermione, we're so sorry..." harry began.

"We tried to stop her..." Ron continued,

"But she was bloody mad." Harry finished.

Hermione and Ginny looked at each other before they both started laughing. It was quite a sight to see both Harry and Ron panting and panicking because they couldn't control one little girl. When both boys realized what was going on, they both flushed. Ron turned a very unflattering shade of red and harry blushed all the way up to his ears. Draco was silent through out all of this. He just watched the group of war heroes and wondered how such an immature group of people could have possibly saved the wizarding world. Eventually, he got tired of being ignored and cleared his throat to let potter and weasel know he was there.

"What in Merlin's hairy balls is he doing here?" Ron exclaimed.

"Ew, Ron, unneeded visual." Ginny told him.

"He's head boy." hermione answered.

"He's the one you're going to be sharing a dorm with?" Harry asked.

"No way! That can't happen!" was Ron's reply.

"What's wrong weasel? Scared I'll steal your girlfriend?" Draco taunted.

"Only in your dreams Malfoy. She's not an object or one of your whores. She can't be stolen." Ron spat the last word. He went over and put his arm around hermione in a protective way. Hermione looked up at Ron and smiled. He, like everyone else, had changed since the end of the war. He had become more mature. He'd grown up. She was happy with their relationship now. She no longer felt like she was baby-sitting him.

"You guys, none of you are allowed in here. I suggest you all leave before I take points off from Gryfindor." Hermione told her friends.

"Yes mum." Ginny and Harry chorused while Ron planted a kiss on her forehead before leaving. When they were gone, Hermione sat back down. They hadn't even arrived at the school yet and already things were not going as expected.

"The weasel's changed." Draco commented.

"So has everyone else." Hermione replied. The encounter with her friends had drained her so she decided to take a nap before they arrived at the school. Draco watched the little lioness get comfortable and then drift off to sleep. He waited a while until he was sure she was fast asleep before getting up from where he was sitting. He went and sat right beside her. He put his arm around her shoulders and leaned her head against his chest. He felt her body immediately relax into him. He knew that if he had offered while she was awake, she probably would have hexed his balls off. Even holding her like this was dangerous but he couldn't help himself. He wasn't able to protect her before and so he'd lost her. After that, the only way to help her had been to pretend like he didn't know her. Even now when the war was over, when she wasn't in danger anymore, he still couldn't be with her. So he missed her. He really missed her.

X X X

He had forgotten to tell Hermione something so he went back. But when he saw that she was asleep through the window, he began to turn back but then he saw Malfoy move. He watched curiously as Malfoy shifted Hermione so that she was leaning on him. He was about to run in there and tell him to get his hands off her when he heard him whisper,

"I'll keep my promise. I swear. I'll stay with you because I love you."