After saying goodbye to Vincent and Goyle, Draco pushed open the compartment door and stepped into the corridor of the Hogwarts Express.
The laughter and chatter of young wizards mingled from time to time, creating a lively, bustling scene.
Walking slowly along the corridor, Draco glanced through the windows of each compartment door, taking in everyone inside.
As he reached one compartment, he caught sight of Pansy talking to Daphne Greengrass.
Spotting Draco out of the corner of her eye, Pansy immediately stopped talking and looked straight at him with her bright eyes.
It was too late to avoid her, so Draco simply stopped and gave her a slight nod, showing just the right measure of approval.
At this, Pansy's lips immediately curved into a smug smile. She raised her chin slightly, accepting Draco's greeting with an utterly haughty air.
Draco moved on, hearing her resume her discussion with Daphne behind him.
He went all the way to the end of the train and checked every first-year compartment, yet still saw no sign of Hermione Granger.
Draco frowned slightly, wondering to himself, Could she be running late today?
Or, being new to the wizarding world, had she failed to find even the entrance to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters?
At that thought, Draco hesitated no longer and turned to head off the train.
On the platform, Draco threaded through the crowd, scanning every corner, but there was still no sign of Hermione.
It seemed she really had not arrived.
With that thought, Draco turned toward the platform exit, deciding to try his luck on the Muggle side of the station.
As he crossed that invisible boundary, the surrounding din abruptly changed.
The faint sounds of wands and the hooting of owls were gone, replaced by Muggle conversations, the rumble of suitcase wheels, and the clear voices announcing trains over the loudspeakers.
The moment he stepped out of the passage, Draco looked around, quickly searching the moving crowd.
Before long, he spotted three rather awkward-looking figures by a wall not far away.
It was the Granger family.
Hermione stood between her parents, looking somewhat out of place in her brand-new wizarding robes.
She was standing on tiptoe, curiously surveying everything around her. Her intelligent eyes were full of inquiry, yet also held some of a newcomer's bewilderment.
Her parents looked equally confused, glancing up at the signs from time to time and talking quietly, clearly disoriented by the unfamiliar station.
Draco inwardly sighed with relief. Fortunately, he had made it in time.
With Hermione's intelligence and perceptiveness, finding Platform Nine and Three-Quarters was only a matter of time, but leaving her to work it out alone would inevitably mean more trouble.
Collecting himself, Draco straightened his robes and approached them at an unhurried pace, stopping a few steps away.
"Miss Granger?" Draco called, sounding a little surprised. "What a coincidence, seeing you again. We met at Ollivanders just the other day."
The instant he spoke, every muscle in Hermione's body tensed, like a small animal suddenly put on alert.
She had not even turned around, presumably because the voice was all too familiar.
The figure she had seen in Ollivanders that day must have been resurfacing in her mind now.
Hermione slowly turned sideways, then turned her head to look at Draco.
Her clear eyes were now like ice-cold probes, piercing straight at him with undisguised scrutiny and wariness.
Draco remained where he was, maintaining an impeccable social distance, a gentle, friendly smile tinged with surprise on his face.
First, he nodded slightly to Hermione, then turned his gaze quite naturally to her bewildered parents. "Good day, sir, madam. I'm Draco, Draco Malfoy. I take it this is your first time seeing Hermione off to Hogwarts?"
As he spoke, Draco gave Mr. and Mrs. Granger a proper, restrained bow of his head.
"Platform Nine and Three-Quarters is rather mysterious to new students' families. It's quite common not to know where to begin on your first visit."
Hermione's jaw tightened further, her sharp eyes fixed on Draco as though trying to see right through him.
This was nothing but a carefully staged performance, she thought, a perfect demonstration of 'the manners of an ancient pure-blood family,' put on for Muggle parents.
The confusion on Mr. Granger's face quickly faded, replaced by unmistakable gratitude. Mrs. Granger's eyes, too, took on the warm, approving look reserved for a "polite, sensible young person."
"The entrance is in that wall." Draco pointed to the seemingly ordinary brick wall a short distance away.
"Just walk straight through. There's no need to hesitate. Many new students' families are just as confused the first time they come."
After a pause, Draco changed tack and offered a choice that seemed casual but concealed a subtle maneuver.
"If you like, I'm heading back to the platform myself, so I can go first and show you."
"Or, if Hermione would like to try it herself,"
Draco turned his gaze back to Hermione. "I can wait here a moment to make sure you get through safely."
Cunning.
That was Hermione's inward assessment.
This fellow had handed the initiative straight back, carefully wrapping it in courtesy and consideration and leaving her parents to make the decision.
And with their Muggle way of thinking, they would clearly favor the safer first option.
Sure enough, Mr. Granger immediately breathed a sigh of relief, a relieved smile spreading across his face as he hurried to say, "That would be wonderful! If you could show us, sorry for the trouble... thank you so much!"
After a slight nod, Draco offered no further pleasantries.
He simply turned and walked toward the brick wall.
The Granger family followed close behind Draco, watching with nervous curiosity.
Upon reaching the wall, Draco did not pause for even a moment. As though passing through a thin veil, he slipped easily into the brickwork and disappeared from their sight.
Beyond the bricks lay the familiar steam and bustle of Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
Draco walked slowly out, then turned and stood beside the wall, waiting quietly for a moment.
Before long, the brick wall rippled slightly, and Hermione appeared holding her mother's hand, with her father close behind.
All three wore expressions of astonishment as they passed through the invisible magical curtain with pounding hearts and stood firmly on the platform.
Draco stepped forward, his expression betraying no attempt to claim credit. "That's all there is to it. The Hogwarts Express is just ahead. It'll be leaving soon."
As he spoke, Draco raised a hand and pointed to the scarlet train not far away.
"Well, I won't keep you." Draco bowed to Mr. and Mrs. Granger once more, then turned to Hermione. "Once again, have a pleasant journey. See you at Hogwarts, Miss Granger."
With that, Draco lingered no longer. He turned and melted into the crowd on the platform, tactfully leaving the family time to say their goodbyes in private.
The bustle behind him gradually faded.
Mr. Granger was the first to draw his gaze back. He let out a long breath, a warm, relieved smile appearing on his face.
He raised a hand and patted Hermione's shoulder. The slightly forceful gesture made Hermione, whose body had remained tense, give a small shudder.
"Well, what a fine young fellow, wouldn't you say?"
His tone held nothing but admiration, along with the relief of having their problem solved. "Very polite, and he explained everything clearly. It seems children in the wizarding world aren't all as odd as the rumors suggest. They have manners, too."
Mrs. Granger's gaze lingered for another two seconds in the direction Draco had disappeared, her eyes holding a more discerning scrutiny than her husband's, along with a touch of distinctly maternal gentleness.
"Yes, he was certainly very well-mannered." She turned to Hermione beside her, her tone a little gentler than her husband's, with a barely perceptible note of inquiry. "Hermione, darling, is he the boy you met when you were buying your wand at Mr. Ollivander's shop? You mentioned him a little. It sounded as though you had quite... an in-depth conversation?"
Mrs. Granger had clearly noticed Draco's easy familiarity when he mentioned "Ollivander" earlier, and remembered her daughter's discussion of wand cores after coming home that day.
Only when her parents spoke did Hermione allow the suffocating tension in her shoulders to ease, ever so slowly, by the slightest degree.
But her arms remained rigid around the wand box she held, its cold wooden edges pressing against her palms, keeping her from losing her composure in this unexpected encounter.
Without looking at her parents, Hermione lowered her gaze to the steam drifting around her feet, as though studying the faint, barely visible patterns formed on the ground by the condensing moisture.
To her, her parents' praise felt like tiny needles gently pricking at the heart she had fortified with Professor McGonagall's warnings.
They saw only the surface of the performance, while she saw Draco's carefully disguised gentleness and breeding.
They did not understand the weight of the name "Malfoy," or the stance and prejudices that surname represented.
"We just happened to be at Mr. Ollivander's at the same time." Hermione raised her eyes and calmly met her mother's gaze. "We only discussed a few basic principles of wandlore. It was a purely academic exchange."
After a pause, Hermione added, "His behavior just now was merely in keeping with the basic courtesy one should show strangers in public."
Mr. Granger failed to notice the deeper meaning in his daughter's words and laughed. "An academic exchange! Listen to that, darling. Our daughter hasn't even started school, and she's already having 'academic exchanges' with people."
He patted the top of Hermione's head, beaming. "Well, in any case, he did us a great favor. I hope you make friends like that at Hogwarts. Clever and polite-how lovely."
Hermione's expression offered no response to her father's words, neither agreeing nor objecting.
She merely looked once more into the depths of the drifting steam, where the Hogwarts Express was belching thick white smoke and sounding a low whistle.
Then she said softly, "Friendship requires a fuller understanding of someone and shared values, Dad. One chance act of help doesn't define a person."
Then Hermione glanced at the train. "It's almost time. I should get on."
Mrs. Granger keenly caught the distance in her daughter's tone, along with a caution beyond her years.
A flicker of worry crossed her heart, but she asked no further questions. She simply stepped forward and gently smoothed the stray hair at Hermione's forehead, suppressing that concern.
"You're right, darling." Her voice was gentle yet full of strength. "Go on, and take good care of yourself. Remember, whatever happens, Mum and Dad are always behind you. Remember to write to us when you reach school."
Hermione nodded and said nothing more.
She turned and walked toward the train, her back straight, with a measure of youthful stubbornness and aloof pride.