*Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, am not JK Rowling and do not own the wonderful world of Harry Potter. This story was written for only for fun and hopefully your enjoyment!*

A Midnight Encounter

After the war, the eldest students were shuffled into a previously unused tower designed like all the rest. They shared a common room, decorated with Hogwarts banners and deep colors neutral to all the houses. Throughout the room, there were small touches of every house's colors: in the embroidery of a pillow, in the clothes of someone in a painting- but never enough to see a dominant theme. House Unity became the theme- the school they fought to protect become the decoration.

While the goal may have been house unity, the Headmistress didn't think it wise to combine the students in one dormitory. Each floor represented a different house. As always, the girls' dormitory on oneside, boys' on the other. Hufflepuffs took up the first floor, closest to the burrow level; Slytherins took up the second, next closest to the ground; Ravenclaws the third; Gryffindor the top most level.

After three months of living together with minimal arguments, the Eighth Years have found a sort of peace in each other, a feeling of strength within each other so much so that nothing could break them apart again. The cold indifference towards the Slytherins had first morphed into anger and hostility, but then became something much more passionate as well as surprising: friendship.

New relationships began to form- both friendship and romantic. Some of them were quite open, too open depending on who you asked, and some of them secret. Even though so much sadness still reined the school, it seemed the Eighth Years were trying their hardest to keep their feet moving, their heads held high, their motivation running. It was this attitude that kept the fights aside and spirits up. It was also the threat of new gossip that kept everyone on their toes.

One cold December night, Hannah Abbot crept out of the Hufflepuff Dormitory and made her way to the top floor. Careful not to trip and make too much noise, she was watching her feet and was shocked when she ran into a warm body. Strong arms gripped her and kept her from falling. Hannah looked up and met slightly shocked and amused grey eyes.

"Well, well, looks like Hufflepuffs don't always follow the rules. How's it going, Abbot?," Draco Malfoy said with a joking tone that normally would have set her off except that she was smart enough to know that she had some bait on him as well. They started walking up the stairs again when Hannah replied. "Looks like you are out of bed as well, Malfoy. Where are you headed anyways? One Saviour of the Wizarding World, perhaps?" Hannah replied with a smirk on her face.

Draco came to a full halt, allowing fear to shine in his eyes for a quick second before his mask hardened again. "Oh please, calm down, Malfoy. Not that it isn't completely obvious but I wouldn't tell anyway," Hannah stated, trying to get back to the nice tone of voice they had a second ago. "I'm serious, Malfoy. Hufflepuff's honor. Come on, or someone will hear us."

But Draco Malfoy was not having it. He sat down on the stone steps and looked down to his knees. Hannah sighed and sat next to him. "I promise, Malfoy. You know I am going to see Neville and I am pretty sure you also know how much I hate getting into trouble."

"You had better not tell, Abbot. I know we have established some sort of weird truce but…" Draco finally replied, his voice strong despite the shakiness in his eyes.

"Are you guys happy?" Hannah asked somewhat nervously. She liked having this weird sort of friendship with the Ice Prince. She didn't make friends easily and learning the ways of a Slytherin was completely new to her. She liked feeling trustworthy, like Draco's walls were breaking down a little.

Draco smiled just a little bit, but even that small gesture went all the way to his eyes. "Yeah, we're happy. We're just not ready to tell anyone yet, I think. Just kind of enjoying each other without all the inevitable drama."

Hannah couldn't help it- she giggled. "Hehe sorry. That's just so cute and so weird coming from your mouth. I'm happy for you guys. You know, even though I don't really know you too well, I think its adorable and so perfect," Hannah gushed.

"Merlin, is this what all Hufflepuffs are like?" Draco drawled. Seeing Hannah's face, he added, "Don't answer that.

"Well, let's go then. You are turning me into a Hufflepuff and it's late and we've got classes in the morning, Abbot," Draco stated.

They began their walk up to the top floor, both lost in their own ponderings. Hannah couldn't help but think that even though she loved the Hufflepuff den, she really like being a tower and hearing the wind and rain on stormy nights. Draco couldn't really think of anything besides the fact that he was definitely turning into a Hufflepuff because all he could think about was being in Harry's arms for some nice, warm snuggling.

They finally arrived at the boys' dormitory and Draco carefully opened the door. Both the Hufflepuff and Slytherin walked in quietly, nodded to each other with small, cautious smiles, and went in opposite directions- Draco to the right, Hannah to the left.

As Hannah opened to curtains and crawled on to the bed, snuggling into Neville, smiling when she felt his arms wrap and tighten around her and his lips pressing softly against her forehead. "What took you so long?" Neville whispered, already falling back asleep. Hannah just smiled, resting her head on Neville's shoulder, and sighing in contentment.

"Oh, nothing…just making a new friend," she replied softly, closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep; thinking about how nice it was that she wasn't the only one wrapped in the arms of someone they loved.

The End

I hope you enjoyed it! This was new to me, as most of writing usually is, but it wasn't too hard because I like to think of myself as Hannah Abbot, even though she is barely mentioned in the books. A girl can dream, can't she? Anyway, I hope this brought some type of smile to your face and reviews are always appreciated!