A/N: So, here's chapter two! I've decided to end the story here, guys! The only possible way that I might continue this story would be if I added another sequel or wrote an epilogue! But, for now, this is it!

I hope that you will all like it! I tried to make it as realistic as possible!

Special thanks to the oh-so-wonderful WeasleyForMe for beta reading this chapter! You did a fantastic job m'dear!

Oh, and thank you to all of you awesome people who reviewed chapter one! You guys are all really sweet!

Well, happy reading to you all!

Jess xx

Disclaimer: I still do not own anything regarding the Harry Potter universe. Sad, huh?

Chapter Two

Draco blinked in astonishment at the strange girl who had gasped his name.

"Do I know you?" he asked uncertainly.

The girl stared at him.

"I'm…I'm Hermione." She stuttered. She seemed to be in a state of slight shock.

Draco's brow furrowed in thought. Hermione…it did ring a bell. And her face was so familiar as well. He knew her from somewhere, he was sure of it.

But, where? He internally wondered.

"Don't you remember me?" she asked sadly, tucking a stray lock of wavy brown hair behind her ear and dejectedly looking down to the floor.

Draco's eyes followed the movement of her hand before resting upon the strand that she had hastily pushed away.

And that's when it clicked.

His eyes darted to meet hers. They were the same curious eyes in that peculiar chocolaty brown hue that he remembered so well. That hair was the same mass of alluring curls as well. Even her cheeks hadn't lost their rosy touch.

Draco smiled as the recognition hit him. She returned the same shy grin that had adorned her lips all those years ago.

"Hermione." He acknowledged softly, finally remembering as well.

She was the little girl from the park.

Hermione fidgeted nervously as Draco silently stared at her.

I shouldn't have exclaimed his name like that, she thought, mentally scolding herself. Of course he doesn't remember me! That day was six years ago! I don't even know why I remember him myself, come to think of it.

She apprehensively tucked a loose tress of hair behind her ear as he continued to observe her.

Maybe he froze, she thought, noticing that Draco still hadn't moved.

"Hermione." He suddenly whispered, recognition plain in his silver eyes.

Hermione beamed as she saw that he did remember her after all.

"Hi, Draco," she said quietly, grinning as he began to smile as well.

Her breath was suddenly knocked out of her as two strong arms threw themselves around her waist.

"I can't believe it's really you!" he exclaimed happily, spinning her around a few times.

Hermione laughed at his ecstatic reaction.

"Of course it's me! Now put me down, silly," she said gleefully, as he pulled her into his compartment and sat her down beside the glass jar.

"Draco? Is-is this the same butterfly from that day in the park? But, he has to be at least six years old! Did you cast an everlasting charm on him?" she asked, surprised to see the small creature and pleased that she had gone through the trouble of reading her schoolbooks and already knew what everlasting charms were.

"Yeah, my mom did it," Draco replied, smiling goofily. He still seemed a little stunned.

"Well, you've taken great care of him. He still looks perfect!" she said, bending down and gently tapping the smooth glass surface. The butterfly responded by slowly flapping its wings.

"Thanks," Draco said cheerfully.

There was a brief silence as Hermione continued to gaze affectionately at the small creature.

"Hermione?" Draco suddenly inquired.

"Yes?" she asked, sitting back up properly.

He looks confused, she thought, noting that Draco was looking at her through scrunched up and questioning eyes.

"There's something I don't understand," he said slowly. "We met in a park located in a Muggle neighborhood, right?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes, that's right."

"But, what were you doing in a Muggle neighborhood? You're a witch," he said, uncertainty still plain in his eyes.

Hermione's mouth formed a small "oh", as she suddenly understood the source of Draco's befuddlement.

"Well, I'm a Muggleborn, you see. So, when we met, I still lived with my Muggle parents and had no idea that I was a witch at all," she replied simply.

The color seemed to drain out of the already pale boy's face. He stared at Hermione, eyes widening in horror. Hermione froze as well, shocked at the drastic change in Draco's previously delighted expression.

"What did I say?" she asked nervously.

Draco couldn't believe his ears.

A Muggleborn. She was a Muggleborn.

How could it be?

One word kept on running through his head; one horrible word, screaming its way through his thoughts, punching and kicking and throwing a fight as it went.

Mudblood.

A low hiss escaped his lips as Hermione anxiously asked him a question, although he had no idea what it was that she had asked.

He had to get away. He had to get away right now.

What would his father say if he discovered that he was friends with a "filthy Mudblood"?

Oh, and he would find out, of course. Lucius Malfoy had his sources…

That damn father of his had actually threatened him on the subject before leaving the mansion, while his mother had been busy chatting with a servant.

He had grabbed Draco by the collar and whipped him around to face him right before exiting the house. "Don't give me any reason to kill you, son. I don't particularly feel like losing my only heir," he had said with a sneer. "I'll be watching you." He had added with a smirk before sweeping around to join his wife.

Befriending a Muggleborn was definitely something that would count in the murder department, by Lucius's standards.

He'll kill her, Draco thought bleakly. He'll kill us both.

Draco shakily got to his feet and started to repack his things. He just had to leave, before things got any worse.

"Wait, Draco! What are you doing? What did I say? Whatever it was, I'm sorry!" Hermione cried, jumping up as well, panic clear in her wide eyes.

"I-it's nothing you said Hermione. I just…I have to go, alright?" He was trying to sound stern but really just came across as a sad little boy.

"Please, you can't just go now! I've never forgotten you, all these years, and when I finally meet you again, you're just going to walk off? Us meeting again has to mean…something," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder and forcing him to turn around to face her.

"Don't go," she whispered miserably.

Draco felt his every muscle stiffen as she lightly trailed her fingers down his arm and took his hand in hers.

"Please," she added softly.

Draco sighed. "I-I can't…"

"Well, well, well! What have we here?"

Draco's head whipped around at the loud disturbance.

"Zabini." He acknowledged the boy with a sneer, keeping his demeanor cool but all the while internally cursing his bad luck as he glowered at the intruder, Blaise's evil, older brother. Draco had always hated the boy from the moment that his best mate had introduced them at one of the Zabini family dinners.

The malicious look in the boy's eyes right now did nothing but intensify that hatred. Especially since that look was aimed directly toward Hermione.

Zabini smiled a malicious smile at the both of them before slowly making his way toward the small girl, causing Draco to tighten his grip on her hand.

"Let's see now. Muggle candy," Zabini noted, staring at the pack of Lifesavers poking out of Hermione's pocket. "A Muggle watch," he continued, now encircling the pair and lazily pointing at Hermione's wrist, "and some sort of ridiculous Muggle contraption as well," he finished, smirking at the pair of headphones sticking out of Hermione's other pocket.

"May I conclude," he continued, coming to a sudden stop in front of the twosome, "that this girl is in fact, a Mudblood?" he demanded, grinning nastily as a look of panic flitted across Draco's face.

"Dear, dear, dear. Here I was, thinking that I'd pay a visit to my dear brother's best friend, fully expecting to find him with a pair of respectable Slytherins or a couple of Purebloods at the very least. But this, this can't possibly be true! Draco Malfoy, the Pureblood son of Lucius Malfoy, is holding hands with a Mudblood? This cannot be!" he said with a cruel, heartless laugh.

Draco immediately dropped Hermione's hand.

"She is of no importance to me," he said fiercely, hating himself as he felt Hermione cringe next to him.

Zabini's eyes widened in fake surprise. "No?" he questioned. "Well, if she's of no importance to you, then I assume that you won't mind if I cast a tiny little hex on her. After all, she's nothing more than a filthy particle of scum, not even fit to be on this very train." He spat, reaching into his robe's pocket and leisurely pulling out his wand.

Draco froze as he felt Hermione's hand grip his arm.

"Draco?" she asked shakily, eyes close to tears as they flickered between his face and Zabini's wand, pointed directly at her.

"Draco?" Zabini imitated nastily, advancing toward the terrified girl, an incantation already on his lips.

Draco didn't even have time to think. His instinct, or his heart, simply kicked in, full force.

In a matter of seconds, he had pulled his wand out as well, aimed the thing toward Zabini's heart and shouted the first spell that came to his mind.

Zabini's mouth fell slightly open before he seemed to completely stiffen, his every muscle now as rigid as a metal bar. He then slowly fell forward before slamming onto the hard ground, his nose cracking onto the floor.

Huh. Draco thought with surprise as he began to roll the boy out of the compartment, closing the door behind him, intent on just leaving him there in the hallway… preferably to get trampled on. I must have stunned him. I didn't even know I could do that.

He heaved a huge sigh as he turned around to face Hermione. She was looking at him through stunned and slightly terrified eyes.

"I…don't understand," she said weakly.

"What don't you understand?" Draco asked softly, sitting down and gently pulling her down to sit next to him.

"Why did he call me a Mudblood? And why did he want to hex me? And why did you say that I didn't mean anything to you?" she asked, her voice quavering slightly as she whispered the last question.

Draco closed his eyes and exhaled.

"I'm afraid that for many reasons, Hermione, we won't ever be able to become true friends. What Zabini did just now is a perfect example as to why our friendship could never work out. And as much as it pains me, I can't do anything about it. I'm sorry," he said, truly hating himself as he spoke the words.

"But, why? Draco, I don't understand," she repeated, her lower lip trembling as she spoke.

"I haven't the heart to tell you about the disgusting hierarchy my family as well as many others live by. You'll learn about it soon enough; too soon in fact. The knowledge shouldn't ruin your first day of school." He looked at her sadly.

Hermione nodded slowly, wanting to know more but sensing that it wouldn't be wise to press Draco for more information.

"So, this is it, then?" she asked, choking up slightly as the truth of her words hit her.

Draco looked up into her eyes. "Yes," he said simply, not quite able to say anything more.

Hermione sniffled. "Well then, thank you for saving me," she said quietly before leaning over to give Draco a kiss on the cheek.

He turned his head toward her at the very last second though, so that their lips made gentle contact instead.

They stayed that way for a moment, kissing slowly and tenderly, before pulling away and gazing at each other through glistening eyes.

"Here," Draco suddenly said, reaching over to pick up the shiny glass jar. "You keep him. So, if ever anyone's mean to you, including me, you'll have this little guy to cheer you up," he said, placing the jar in her lap. "You should probably go now," he continued quietly. "Zabini could wake up at any moment."

Hermione nodded. "Thank you," she said softly, staring at the tiny, purple creature.

They both got to their feet and slowly made their way to the door.

"Bye, Hermione," Draco said, knowing that he'd never be able to call her by her first name again.

"Goodbye Draco," she replied sadly, standing up on her tiptoes to plant one last sweet kiss on his lips.

She waited before the compartment door had completely slid shut before letting the first tear crawl its way down her cheek.

"Come on little Draco," she whispered, looking down at the small butterfly, "we've still got a toad to find."

And little Hermione tightly hugged the jar to her chest before walking off down the corridor in search of someone else's beloved pet, still sniffling and wiping an occasional tear away as she searched.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you thought!

Lots of love to you all!