Trains had been a large fascination for a lot of children. Steam trains held a particular fascination for one Hermione Granger. And so, the Grangers often found themselves at the station, just watching the trains come and go.

Hermione was sitting and watching people board and disembark the trains while her mother sat on a nearby bench reading a book. Hermione was doing as best she could to draw a train as her five-year-old hands would let her. She was so absorbed in what she was doing that she nearly screamed when a blond boy sat down next to her.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people," she nearly squeaked.

"You can see me?" He looked astonished at that revelation.

"I'm not blind," Hermione said turning back to her sketchpad. Her drawing wasn't bad. It almost looked like the engine could start moving at any moment.

"You're not a muggle," the boy declared.

Hermione sighed and lowered her sketchpad. It seemed like he wouldn't let her be any time soon.

"I don't even know what that means," she said as evenly as she could. She wasn't sure she liked this boy, for all that he was intrigued by her.

He swung his legs back and forth, looking bashful. "Father says bad things about muggles," he admitted.

"You call your dad father?" Hermione asked. It was so formal, so strange. She hadn't heard any of her friends call their parents mother and father.

"What do you call your parents?" he responded in kind.

"Mum and Dad. Just like all my friends."

He paused, thinking about it. "Theo calls his father father as well. Blaise doesn't have a father. Just his mother."

"These are your friends?" Hermione asked. She felt a sudden pang of something for the boy he called Blaise. As if she wanted to scoop him up and take him home with her.

"The ones I like. Mother and Father want me to be friends with Pansy, but she's…" he trailed off and shuddered. "She only wants to play with me. And when we do play, she is always the princess and I have to be the prince. Sometimes I want to be the dragon."

"Well, if you want to play with me, you can be the dragon," Hermione said.

His face lit up. "My name means dragon. It's Draco, but that's Latin for dragon."

"I'm Hermione. It's Greek. Don't know what it means."

They shook hands, and Mrs. Granger came up at that moment, looking a little concerned.

"Hermione, what are you doing?" she asked.

"Talking to Draco," Hermione said looking confused. "Can't you see him?"

Mrs. Granger shook her head. "Dear, there's no one there."

Hermione turned to Draco. "Why can't she see you?"

"Father put a notice me not spell on me so that the muggles wouldn't ask me questions. If she can't see me, then she's a muggle," he explained.

Hermione frowned. "What's a muggle?"

"Dear, don't make up words," Mrs. Granger said.

"I'm not. I was asking Draco what it meant," Hermione insisted.

Mrs. Granger sighed. If Hermione had developed an invisible friend, which seemed strange for her, there was little that she could do to dissuade her. Hermione was a fairly stubborn child, something she had inherited from her parents.

"A muggle is a non-magic person," Draco explained.

"And I'm not one," Hermione said.

"No, but your mother is one," Draco said. "Is your father a muggle too?"

"I think so," Hermione said. "He's never used any magic. We just do things the way that everyone else does. Well, maybe not everyone."

Mrs. Granger turned back to her book. It seemed as if Hermione had finally developed an imagination that went further than trains and people walking into walls. And she wasn't sure that she wanted to hear all her daughter's conversation. Especially since she only could hear half of it.

The two of them talked until a tall man, who also appeared to have a notice me not spell on him, came to collect Draco.

"Don't talk to the muggles," he said. "They can't hear you."

"But she's not a muggle Father," Draco said. "She can see and hear us."

"And she," Hermione said, "would appreciate it if you wouldn't talk about her while she's standing right here."

The blond man looked down at her. He considered her for a moment, almost looking at her as if she was a bug. "And who might you be?"

"Hermione Granger," she said. "It's nice to meet you."

She held out her hand for him to shake, and was surprised when he kissed it instead. He had to bend down quite a way, which amused her to no end.

"I haven't met your parents," he said.

"Well, my mum's over there," Hermione said pointing to where Mrs. Granger was trying to act as though her daughter's actions were totally normal.

"I take it she's a muggle," Draco's father said.

"Draco said so. She can't see you," Hermione admitted.

"Nothing to be ashamed of," Draco's father said. "Not everyone can come from a pureblooded magical family. And sometimes you would be surprised how powerful muggleborns are."

Draco looked confused. He whispered something to his father, clearly confused.

"Will you be here in the future, Miss Granger?" Draco's father asked.

"Sometime next week, if my mother agrees to it," she said. "I like to watch the trains."

"Then we shall see you soon. We'll send an owl inquiring your visit."

Hermione was curious. She'd never heard of anyone using an owl for what sounded like a telephone call. But she hid her confusion and thanked them before going over to her mother.

"Are you ready to go?" Mrs. Granger asked when Hermione walked over to her.

"I'm ready."

"And Draco isn't coming with us?"

Hermione shook her head. She wasn't sure what her mother thought, but she supposed it was hard to believe in something you couldn't see. "He went home with his dad."

Mrs. Granger breathed a sigh of relief. She tried to do so quietly, but she was sure that just about everyone around her saw and possibly heard her. It was hard enough to go along with an imaginary friend. It was much easier if they weren't around.

"What's for dinner?" Hermione asked.

A/N: So this is the new story that was brewing in my brain. I found it difficult to stop one it formed. Ahh. Hopefully I can keep up with these chapters. And I'm not sure if I'll start a new story for book two or not. (Probably not. It's easier to just keep it all in one spot.) We'll see.