The Year's Tradition

Hello everyone! I'm back with a new story, and I hope you like it! Enjoy~

Don't forget to leave a review! This will be a 5 chapter story, stay tuned! ; )

oOo

Every year, on the 23rd of June, at the first ray of dawn, Hermione Granger would walk up to the old hollow tree that marked the entrance of the Forbidden Forest. She would take something that would have reminded her of the most important event that happened to her that year.

It was something she and her father used to do every year back in England, but ever since she attended Hogwarts, she continued the tradition there. On her first year, she took the old red and yellow scarf she received that year and stuffed it into the old chest she conjured up during Configurations class. The next year, she put the mirror she was looking into when she first saw the Basilisk. The next year after that, a gray feather was added to the collection of memories. It was Buckbeak's. Her hand tingled after caressing it and she was reminded of when she first rode him with Harry. It was extremely terrifying and traumatizing in a way, but it was the first time she actually saw things in another perspective, apart from when she rides a plane or a broom. On her fourth year, she brought a small patch of her dress during the Yule ball. It gave her bitter tears when she first ripped a part of it came off when she angrily took it off after a terrible night, but now she just silently smiled. It was a part of her year she would never forget. The next year however, was a difficult one. She didn't really know what to put in that year and she had a small feeling of not really wanting to. That year was full of many mistakes and pain for her, but nevertheless she did put in one thing she achieved that year. Taking the small Prefect's badge, she put it in, after having begged it from Professor McGonagall. She lightly traced the small engravement. '5th Year Prefect, Hermione Granger'. Sixth year also proved to be a problem, she couldn't decide WHAT to put in. The 'Slug Club' invitation Professor Slughorn gave her when she completed a particularly hard potion one day while Harry misplaced his mysterious book. The sharp leaf she charmed to attack Ron while he was snogging with Lavender in the hallway. Or the first journal she kept for that long and tedious year with all her jealous ramblings on Ron and Lavender and Harry's beating her in Potions. Sure they were best mates, but that didn't stop the ugly green beast from roaring its terrible head. She decided to go with the journal, which she carefully put in a Ziploc just in case some dirt got into the chest. As an after thought, she also locked the journal for only her to read just in case someone found her little collection.

Today was January 16th.

'It's going to be my last year. I wonder what I'm going to put in this time.' Hermione wondered. So many things had happened and it proved to be a year she would never forget. She only had a week left before one last visit to the old tree, and she still had nothing to put in. She had a few ideas, but didn't really think they really stood out.

She was on her way to the Astronomy Tower to think for awhile, but remembered that in her haste had forgotten to bring her wand. She turned around and ran back towards the castle. Her bright red jacket stood out in the green of the scenery, so it wasn't easy to miss her.

Draco Malfoy was also on his way somewhere, but it was nowhere near the Astronomy Tower. It reminded him too much of what he almost did there. It reminded him of the dead Headmaster and his failed mission. He thanked whoever it was out there that he didn't push through with it. He would have regretted it for the rest of his life, and though it ashamed him that he failed (yet again), it also brought him relief. He may be an arrogant bastard, but he still had a conscience, even if he never really listened to it most of the time.

That morning, he had received a letter from his mother. The first letter after many months of not knowing where she was. It turns out she was with his father in their old chateau back at Grasse, France taking a well deserved break from the bustling and gossiping wizard community. They expected him to be there right after he arrives in Malfoy Manor. Though he missed his parents, he wasn't really in a hurry to see them again. He wrote back that morning after requesting a week of rest before he rejoined them. 'Needing to sort things through' was his excuse of the week. Excuses. Never really liked doing it, but when he needed to get out of something, he could think of many of them and most of them are very imaginative though very inappropriate.

After rounding a sharp corner of the corridor in the halls, he bumped into someone.

"Watch where you're going! Unless another Dark Lord is rising up, I think we all need to take a break." He snarled. He looked down to see Granger already getting up and rubbing her back. She fixed her jacket (he idly thought she would look better in green, but slapped the thought away) and gave him an annoyed look.

"Not all of us can afford the luxury of rest Malfoy. I have a lot to do, and I don't really want to linger here and exchange pleasant remarks with you. Now if you don't mind, I'll be on my way." She took a side step and moved past him. He smirked and listened to her footsteps.

"I agree. Not all of us are blessed with the Malfoy name. Oh and who cares about pleasant remarks? Let me be blunt with you Granger, the war just ended. Voldemort is dead. What else do you really need to do besides celebrate?" he casually remarked. He turned towards her and leaned against the stone wall.

She looked different today. Her wild curly hair wasn't in its usual ponytail or sidebun (not that he really noticed). Her face was flushed, so he knew she was probably rushing somewhere. Her fists were scrunched up together on her sides and she was taking deep breaths. Ever so slowly, her eyes turned into sharp slits so he could barely see her eyes.

'Chocolate.' He remembered. He recalled when he was about seven years old when he got up and stole his mother's expensive chocolate. He had never tasted them before because his father said a real man doesn't need sweets. It was honestly the best thing he had ever tasted in his entire life and from then on, he got his mum to smuggle him some whenever it was his birthday.

He was snapped out of his daydream when she began to speak again.

"I'm getting on with my life Malfoy. Life won't stop just because the war just ended. It'll keep going, whether we don't want it to. Oh and by the way, not all of us would even want to be a Malfoy." With that, she turned around and left, disappearing after rounding another corner.

He wanted to say that not everyone was qualified to be a Malfoy, but she had already gone. He shrugged and kept going. Whatever was bothering her was certainly eating her out, he idly thought. 'Must be her period or something.' He laughed at that and went on his way.

oOo

They didn't see each other for another two days. Monday was especially grueling for Hermione since she hasn't heard from Ron or Harry in more then three months. She still didn't know what to put in the trunk and she was distracted all day. Since it was their last week, all they were doing was going around having the teachers sign their clearances. If the teacher singed their scroll, then they didn't have any missing work. If they didn't, you'd have to complete all the missing work, even if it was a small essay or a big project you failed to submit. Being Hermione Granger, all the teachers singed her scroll. She had missed work while she was away fighting Voldemort with Harry and Ron, but she had finished all that in no time after she came back.

Draco had already finished with his clearances by Monday afternoon. What he was going to do after that he did not know.

'Five more days and I'm going home. What in Merlin's name am I going to do now? Run the family business? Why in the bloody hell should I? We have enough money to support us for more than one lifetime.' He rolled his eyes and headed towards the kitchen. 'So what if we have billions of galleons? I'm talking as if the future generations won't need it. Besides, what the hell am I going to do all day if I don't work? Yeah, sitting on my arse all day is a really good way of making myself useful.'

He finally reached the kitchen doors, then he pushed his way in. The first thing he saw was her eating a delicious looking slice of hot apple pie with vanilla ice cream. The happy smile on her face was wiped off after she saw him. It was replaced with a look of confusion.

"What are you doing here in the kitchen, Malfoy?" she pointedly asked. Everyone knew of his prejudices, especially her. She had been on the receiving end of them for many years.

"Getting myself a bite to eat Granger, isn't that what it's made for?" he countered back at her. She narrowed her eyes and decided to ignore his comment. She had just finished getting every teacher she had that year to sign her clearances and she was tired. And very, very hungry.

He hopped on a stool and leaned on the large counter. He made sure he was far enough away from her so they could both eat in peace but close enough to see her. He knew this would annoy the hell out of her. He still didn't like her but he did have some sort of respect for her, of course nobody knew about it. She practically was Potter's brains throughout the entire time. She had decoded the old man's book and survived his aunt's Cruciatus curse. He had experienced it from her once, and he made sure he avoided her at all costs after that. Now that she was dead, he could freely walk into a room without having to listen for her high and shrilly yells of sadistic pleasure when torturing prisoners. She was halfway finished with her pie now and he realized he had yet to order one. He snapped his fingers and he heard a loud pop. A young looking elf had appeared and he was bowing very lowly.

"What c-c-c-can Briny ge-gett for you Young Master?" he asked in a meek voice. He thought for a moment and said he wanted whatever 'the girl' got.

"Of c-c-c-course Young Master, I'll bring it b-b-b-back in a m-m-m-moment. P-p-please excuse Briny." He bowed and another loud pop resounded throughout the large kitchen.

When he turned around he caught her staring at him, and she quickly looked away. He cocked an eyebrow at her and gave her a smug smirk.

"See anything you like Granger?"

"Not really. Just you Malfoy. Why did you order the same thing as me?" she asked. Ahh, so that's why she had been staring.

"I'm hungry, that's why. If I had asked him what else they had, it would have wasted me another few minutes and I still wouldn't have anything to eat." She rolled her eyes at that comment and heard her mutter something.

Briny appeared again and he floated the plate with the large slice in front of him. Another pop later, he left. Draco took the fork and began to eat. He saw her looking again from the corner of his eye. She wasn't as obvious this time, but through the years he had learned the art of observation. It was fairly useful, especially during times like these. He loved to rattle her nerves and smirked when an idea formed into his head.

He'll make sure if she was really looking at him or not. Taking the fork, he took a small piece from the pie. Then he put some ice cream on it and then ever so slowly, he brought it up to his mouth. A bit of ice cream stained the corner of his mouth and started to lick it. He saw her look a bit uncomfortable and then realized what she was doing so she looked away. She looked extremely embarrassed and looked like she was berating herself in her head. She was sitting sort of stiffly now and was eating a bit faster. So she WAS looking at him. He was glad he could still have this effect on the opposite sex and was about to gloat to her but then she dropped her fork a bit too forcefully on the plate and got off the stool. If she wasn't going to enjoy the show, he might as well make her suffer. He looked at her questioningly and put his finger to lips to look like he was shushing her. Her eyes widened in surprise and she looked absolutely furious.

Hermione didn't know what to do. He had done nothing wrong. In fact, he just fulfilled a secret fantasy she had come up with about a year ago and was hoping Ron would do it. But Life decided he would mess with her today. Make the man who made her entire school life a living hell do her fantasy and look like he was enjoying himself while doing it! It embarrassed her to no end and was feeling utterly guilty for even allowing herself to enjoy it!

Then he just had to lick his lips. Why the hell did he do that? Did he know just how that bothered her?! Maybe he did. He was a Malfoy after all. No matter how vile he could be, he could still look like a Greek god while doing it. Merlin help her, she needed to get out of there and unleash all her frustration on some poor thing.

She gave him her coldest glare and walked out of the room.

Oooh, what will Draco do next? How will Hermione take her revenge? What will Hermione put in the chest? How will these two even get together?!

Stay tuned. ~LK~