In a Land called Diagon.

Chapter 1: Him.

From the time Hermione was twelve years old, he had been coming here. Every second Saturday of every second month. Eyes the shade of an approaching thunder storm, hair the colour of the midday sun.

Until the age of fifteen she, and all other muggleborn servants under a certain age were kept upstairs, away from the monthly meetings, for protection.

In the land of Gryffindor muggleborns servants had rights, safety, food, water, clothes, payment, education and eventually citizenship but in other lands like Slytherin they had next to none. So when Slytherins came to visit Lord James would hide all of his younger servants, for their safety.

But nearly every month Hermione saw him, from her window, from the gardens.

It wasn't until she was fifteen, when Lord James was short staffed that Hermione was unwillingly, asked to serve at the arranged gathering.

Lord James took care of the muggleborns especially as his wife was once one, he ordered two of the sixteen year olds to keep eyes on Hermione, so for every eye that landed on Hermione during the entire meeting, another eye would be on them.

Hermione stood with Dean and Cormack in the corner serving the other purebloods while they ate. She saw him turn to her not once, but twice, for no apparent reason.

Eventually he called her over and asked for more wine, grey met brown and all of a sudden Hermione, for the first time in her life, couldn't think straight.

Realising they were out of wine she left to go to the kitchen for more not realising she had a follower.

Returning with two bottles of wine in hand, she noticed he was gone. Lord Lucius Malfoy of Slytherin informed her he had gone for a stroll through the gardens and ordered her to bring it to him.

Stepping out into the freezing November night Hermione searched the dark gardens for the golden haired boy, coming to the conclusion that he wasn't there she turned around when a figure emerged from the shadows.

"What is your name?" He asked.

Hermione opened her mouth to speak but nothing was said.

"What is your name?" He repeated through the darkness of the night.

"Her-Hermione Granger, my lord." She answered bowing to him.

"Muggleborn?" He asked.

Hermione nodded. "Yes, m'lord."

He turned to a nearby wall with a climbing rose growing up its walls.

"I'm not a lord, at least not yet..." He trailed off.

Hermione found it hard to breathe. There was something about him that scared her, but there was something about him that made her feel alive, like her heart was beating a million miles a minute and that if tomorrow never came she'd be ok because she'd had that moment.

"I'm the Lord-to-be Draco Lucius-Abraxas Malfoy of Slytherin," He started. "But to you," He turned and handed her a rose. "...I'm anything you want me to be."

Hermione looked at the blood red rose in her hand, instincts kicked in. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Is this some sort of trick? A test?" She asked cautiously, without breaking eye contact.

He smirked. A smirk that made Hermione felt weak.

He took a step towards her.
Hermione's grip on the wine bottle loosened and it fell to the earth. Shattering to a thousand pieces.

She looked down towards the pieces of broken glass, but his smooth hand touched under her chin bringing her eyes back up to the stunning grey eyed boy.

"A trick?" He whispered seductively gazing into her eyes. "And why would you think that?"

Hermione stiffened and turned her eyes to the ground preventing herself from getting lost even deeper in the pools of grey.

"You're a lord, I'm a servant. You're a Slytherin, I'm a Gryffindor. You're a pureblood,...." She bit her lip and forced herself to say a word they said only in the land of Slytherin. "I'm a mudblood."

Draco put a finger to her lips.

"Blood doesn't mean anything." He whispered.

"You're a Malfoy. Malfoys despise us..." Hermione countered.

"Not all of them," He whispered. "not me." He said stepping closer again.

Hermione took a step back not realising she was nearly up against a tree.

"I've met every pureblooded girl out there, girls I've known for years. So how is it I'm mesmorised by a muggleborn girl I met two hours ago?" The platinum haired boy asked taking one last step.

"You've had too much wine." Hermione answered quietly but sarcastically.

The boy gave a small chuckle. "Well if it is because of my drunken self, I wish to be drunk the rest of my life." He said amused.

He placed a hand on her hip, on the light fabric of her scarlet coloured toga.

Hermione's breath hitched.

He leaned foward, unknowingly to Hermione she did the same. Inch by inch they came closer together, until their lips nearly touched, each other's warm breath could be felt on each other's skin, eyes closed, lips ready to meet when....

"Hermione?"

Hermione pulled back recognising the voice as Lord Harry.

The Malfoy boy pulled back as well.

She turned to take a step sideways when he grabbed her arm.

"Meet with me again?" He asked.

"What?"

"I will not be here for the next gathering, but in four months time meet me, here. When the clock strikes midnight." He pleaded.

Hermione was lost for words.

"Hermione?"

"Please?" Draco begged.

"Yes. I will." Hermione replied.

He touched the side of her face and placed his lips to her forehead.

"I'll be counting every moon until we meet again." He swore to her.

"HERMIONE?" She heard Lord Harry and Lord Ronald call.

"I have to go." She explained.

"Goodbye for now, my 'Mione." He said and swiftly returned to the darkness of the shadows.

Hermione ran to the back doors of the kitchen, making it there just in time before Harry and Ronald walked in.

"We were calling you 'Mione, did you not here us?" Ronald asked.

"My apologies, I dropped a bottle of wine." Hermione said showing them the glass she had picked up when running from the gardens.

Her alibi wasn't a total lie.

Lord Harry smiled. "Don't worry about it 'Mi."

The two young lords left the room.

Hermione was alone in the kitchen. Alone to everything but her thoughts about him.