Changes

Chapter Two: Conversations

The rest of the ride to Hogwarts peacpeaceful. No other fights broke out, and no one had seen hide nor hair of Draco and his sister. Who knew Malfoy had a sister? Hermione thought as she stepped off the train. Hermione scanned the crowd for Draco and his sister. Hermione didn\'t know why she was so curious about Malfoy\'s sister. Maybe because no one knew she existed until today. The lost Malfoy. That poor girl, having Draco as a big brother. The girl would probably be in therapy for the rest of her life. Hermione snickered.... the doctor\'s bills are going to drive Lucius through the roof!

\"What so funny, Hermione?\" Ginny asked, stepping off the train.

\"Nothing..\" Hermione muttered, giving the tall red-head a hug. \"How was your train ride?\" she asked, walking over to the carriages. \"Snog Harry yet?\"

Ginny laughed. \"Hermione, I\'ve been over Harry for ages... I actually kinda like someone else.\"

Hermione watched as Ginny blushed. Her eye brows rose. \"Who?\"

Ginny laughed and waited until they were safely alone in the carriage. \"Do you know Blaise?\"

Hermione\'s eyes widened. \"Zabini? As in Slytherin Blaise Zabini? Slytherin beater?\"

Ginny turned a deeper shade of red. \"Yeah, that would be him.\" Ginny sighed. \"We sat together on the train, and Hermione, he\'s so nice and funny. He was making me laugh the whole ride. He gorgeous and sweet. He bought me something to eat off the trolly and told me what teachers to look out for this year. We have potions together, this year, did you know?\" Hermione shook her head. \"Well, I got into advanced potions, and Blaise said he would help me if I needed it. See, he\'s really bad at Herbology and I told him I would tutor him...\" She stopped abruptly, clapping her hand over her mouth. \"Hermione, you can\'t tell Ron... please Hermione, he\'d kill him!\"

Hermione grabbed her hand reassuringly. \"I won\'t tell him, Ginny... but you know that you are going to have to tell him eventually. Especially if you guys start dating. You don\'t want him to hear about you guys snogging in Hogsmeade. I think he might kill you both then.\" Ginny nodded, staring at her hands. \"Ginny.. do you really like him?\"

Ginny looked up at Hermione, a smile plastered on her face. \"I think I really do, Hermione. We.. we actually started talking at the end of last year... we owled during the summer... he\'s a really great guy, Mione. I\'m just afraid that Ron won\'t be able to see past the fact that he\'s in Slytherin...\" Ginny paused, tears forming in her eyes. \"I could love him, Hermione. I could really fall in love with him. He doesn\'t treat me like the girl who was kidnapped and possesed by Voldemort. I\'m not a poor little Weasley. I\'m just Ginny. You know?\"

Hermione did, indeed, understand. All too well. She had longed for the day someone would see her. Hermione was always someone\'s fri friend... a member of The Golden Trio of Hogwarts... a Mudblood...a know it all. She treasured her friends, her parents, her intellegence. But, just once, she wanted someone to look at her and see Hermione Elizabeth Granger. The girl.. the woman. All of her quarks and wierd habits. She wanted a man to look at her in every light and still want to be with her anyway. Much to Hermione\'s delight, she had found that kind of love, with or Kor Krum, only to have it ripped away from her when he died in the final battle with Voldemort, protecting her from a killing curse that had been aimed at her. Hermine\'s sighed, \"I understand Ginny. You know that I will always be there. You might need someone to soften up your brother beofre you tell him.\"

Ginny smiled. \"I knew I could count on you, Hermione.\"

~~~~

Meanwhile, in another carriage, another converstation was about to take place.

Draco looked out the carriage window at the grounds of Hogwarts. The grounds of his home. Malfoy Manner couldn\'t be called a home. Not anymore. Where there was once a house full of love and happiness, was now a house full of hate and anger. If he tried hard enough, he could remember a time when his parents loved each other.. loved him. Before his father was involved with Voldemort. That\'s why Draco was so protective of his sister. She had never felt the love of her parents. Oh, they loved them both, alright.. but they never showed it. Their idea of affection was a pat on the head and a small peck on the cheek. His sister deserved more than that. His sister deserved the best money and love had to offer. That\'s why the looks Granger and Weasel gave her pissed him off so much. They weren\'t fit to wipe her shoes.

Millie watched her brother stare out of the window. Draco was probably the one constant in her world. Her mother and father, the two people who were supposed to love her unconditionally, were almost never around. In retrospect, the only time she ever really saw her parents was when it suited them. When they would want to show her off to their friends, they would come and collect her. Any other time, she was with the house elf, Dobby, and her brother. After Dobby was freed, she spent most of her time by herself while her brother was at school. Sometimes, though, he would sneak her in his dorms and let her spend the night. Most of the time they did this by floo. She never asked how he got Dumbledore to open the floo network in the Slytherin common room, but she didn\'t really care.

All Millie wanted for Draco was happiness. She watched as he put himself through one disfunctional relationship after another. First with that dog Pansy in fourth year, then with Millicent Bulstrode year. She longed for him to find someone who loved him. Someone who didn\'t want to be with him just because he was the God of the Slytherin house. Finally, much to her delight, he had found the right person... much to his displeasure. \"You like her, don\'t you?\"

\"What?\" Draco asked, only to find himself pinned by his sister\'s eyes. \"What are you talking about, Millie?\"

Millie smiled. \"That Granger girl. You like her. Admit it!\"

Draco smiled at her. He just loved it when her eyes sparkled like that. \"No, Millie, I don\'t like her at all. Actually, she is the most insufferable woman I have ever met. She thinks she knows everything, she\'s always raising her hand in class to get the bloody Gryffindor\'s house points. She thinks she\'s better than me..\"

\"Is she? Better than you, that is.\" Millie smiled. This was so much fun.

Draco shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he cleared his throat. \"Well... shes mas make better grades that I do. She\'s at the top of the school. They say she is the smartest witch to ever attend Hogwarts. She\'s best friends with Harry bloody Potter, for God\'s sake.\" Draco was actually getting flustered. \"No, Millie, she isn\'t better than me. She\'s a muggle-born, for Merlin\'s sake!\"

Millie snorted. \"What does that have to do with anything? She\'s pretty, she\'s smart, she likes you for some unknown reason...\"

\"Why the hell would you say that?\" Draco interupted, his eye brows furrowing together.

Millie\'s smile was tremendous. \"Because she was trying to get that Ron boy off of you. She could have let him beat you..\"

Draco snorted. \"Beat me? Weasel couldn\'t beat his way...\"

\"Draco, you aren\'t listening. Besides, she wants to shag you.\" Millie told him.

\"Mileficent Octavia Malfoy!\" Millie said nothing, only a smile passed her lips. Two secoonds later, the carriage stopped. Millie took this opertunity to kiss her brother on the cheek and hop out of the carriage. Draco was so flabbergasted, he barely head himself yell, \"I\'ll see you at the feast! Good luck with sorting!\"

~~~~~~~~~~


An hour later, Draco sat at the Slytherin table, patiently waiting for Dumbledore to finish his welcoming speach. He could see his sister in the small group of first years, waiting to be sorted. He watched as she talked with other children, and when she saw him staring at her, she winked and smiled. Draco felt his heart to summersaults. He winked and smiled back. Millie turned back to her friend, just as Draco felt a tap on his shoulder. It was none other than Blaise Zabini. \"Hullo, Blaise. How was your summer?\"

Blaise sat down next to Draco and had the grace to blush. \"It was really good, Draco. I see your sister is finally at Hogwarts. Do you think she\'ll be Slytherin?\"

Draco smiled. \"Not a chance in h\"
\"

Blaise laughed, but his thoughts were once again taken by a certain red- head at the Gryffindor table. He smiled as he saw her laugh with Hermione Granger. Ginny had the best laugh. Her smile was enough to light the while hall, and it gave him shivers. How did it happen? he asked himself. The truth be told, he didn\'t really care how it started, just as long as it kept going this way. Everytime he saw her, he got flutters in his stomach, his heart started to pound... was this love? He didn\'t know, but it was a great sensation. If only they didn\'t have to tell her brother about thier new found relationship. He hadn\'t even kissed her yet, and he was already worried about her family\'s reation to the news. From what Ginny had told him, her family was really cool about her dating. Well, everyone but her brother, Ron.

Everyone knew about Ron Weasley\'s temper when it came to his sister. Ginny\'s last boyfriend was Dean Thomas, another Gryffindor, and Ron scared him so bad he pissed his knickers. No boy in Hogwarts could look at her for more than thirty seconds without Ron on their asses. He needed to find a way for them to be together without Ron as her personal chastity belt. He needed some advice from a master. \"Hey Draco... do you think I could ask you something?\"

\"Sure.\"

Blaise shifted around in his seat. \"Well.. you see... there\'s this girl...\"

Draco\'s eyes lit with amusement. \"That\'s usually a good thing, Blaise.\"

Blaise smirked, hitting Draco on the arm. \"I\'m serious, Draco. I really like her...\"

\"Have you shagged her?\"

\"Come on, Malfoy.. if you\'re not going to help me..\"

Draco smiled, this time it was genuine. \"I\'m just messing with you, Zabini. I\'ll help you.\" he smirked at the wave of relief that washed over his friend\'s face. Sipping his pumpkin juice, he studied his friend. So, Blaise fancied a girl. It was about bloody time. Draco had watched his friend spend many lonely years, never really caring about anything, much less anyone. But now that his father was in prison, he was free to live his life. He was free to be with whomever he chose without the constant worry about his father\'s reaction. \"So, who\'s the lucky lady?\"

\"Ginny Weasley.\" Blaise sighed, his eyes straying to the Gryffindor table. He caught her eye, winked, and smiled. He watched as she blushed to the roots of her hair. She smiled brilliantly and winked back.

Draco watched the exchange between Blaise and Ginny. Who would have thought a Death Eater\'s son and the Minister\'s daughter would have a relationship? \"Are you kidding me?\" Draco spat, his eyes going back and forth between the two. \"Have you lost your mind? You want to date the Minister\'s daughter?\"

\"Shut up, Draco!\" Blaise told him, looking around. \"Do you want these people to kill Ginny?\" he asked, gesturing to the people surrounding him at the table. \"It\'s bad enough I testified against my father at his trial, but I\'m not going to push my luck by bringing Ginny into their sights. God only knows what they would do to the Minister\'s daughter!\"

\"Is that what you need me for then? To try to sway the others into accepting Ginny?\" Draco asked, sipping his pumpkin juice.

\"It would be nice, but that\'s not what I need you for. I need you to help me get her brother ot accept me.\"

Draco stared at Blaise. \"Her brother? Not Weasley!\" Blaise nodded. \"What in Merlin\'s name makes you think that I can sway Ron to accept you? It\'s not like we\'re best friends! I hate him...\"

Blaise looked at Draco with hard eyes. \"If you don\'t help me, I\'ll tell your father you were snogging Granger.\"

Draco\'s eyes darkened. \"What are you talking about?\"

Blaise smirked. \"You can\'t believe that no one saw you on the train. The door was wide open anyone could have seen you...\"

Draco\'s look was of pure arrogance. \"I was only shutting the cow up. Besides, my father won\'t..\"

\"Won\'t care?\" Blaise\'s look was full of disbelief. \"It doesn\'t matter that Voldemort is gone, Draco. Your father still has the same beliefs t put purebloods.\" Blaise got up out of his seat and sneered at Draco. \"I\'ve seen the way you look at her. Help me and I\'ll help you.\"

Draco was left alone with his thoughts. What would his father say really? Maybe Blaise was right. His father would think he was too good for Granger. Maybe he was. Maybe he wasn\'t. Were bloodlines that important? Draco was pulled out of his thoughts when his sister\'s name was called in the sorting ceremony. \"Milleficent Malfoy\" The professor\'s voice carried through the hall and bounced off the stone walls. The entire hall went silent as Millie made her way to the stool and the hat was placed on her head.

The hat perched on her head began to move as he spoke. \"Another Malfoy... not like the other, but the same... not a bad mind... bravery...a thirst for acceptance. I know just where to put you, little one.. GRYFFINDOR!!!\" Then something strange happened. There was no clapping.. nothing... just silence.

Draco was shocked. He knew she wasn\'t going to be in Slytherin, but never thought she would be put in Gryffindor! His heart was pounding as he saw his sister, still perched on the stool, look at him for acceptance. Draco smiled at her. Of course he would accept his sister. Even if she was a bloody Gryffindor. Then, something stranger than the silence happened. Hermione and Draco stood at the same time, clapping for his sister\'s acceptance into Gryffindor. Ginny followed shortly, followed by Blaise, then Harry Potter. Soon, the whole hall erupted in applause. Millie smiled and ran over to Draco. He smiled, scooping up his sister in a hug. Kissing her cheeks, he set her back onto her feet. He cupped her face in his hands and said the words he had longed to hear as a child. \"I\'m proud of you.\"