Hey!
First fanfiction out here, just wanted to let you know that I'm not a native English speaker, so please bear with me? :P Also, let me know if there are any mistakes, so I can correct them.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything, our queen J. K. Rowling does. :)

For Christmas break that year, Hermione had initially decided to go home. It was, after all, the first Christmas since the war had ended, and she could actually spend it with her parents, who had even promised to take her to their place in Australia. She had been planning on asking Ron and Harry to come too, though she never could find the time to write them a letter. If only Ron had put a bit more effort in learning how to use a cellphone, she thought, things would have been easier. But then again, Harry hadn't shown any interest in using the Muggle tech either.

'It's not like the Dursleys ever let me near that thing anyway, he had said. As far as I can remember, owl has been the only way of communicating for me.'

Anyway, Hermione had still not found the time to owl her friends when it happened. Later, she would tell herself it was lucky she never got to, it avoided her the trouble of having to explain to them why she couldn't make it on Christmas break. Frankly, she was embarrassed that it even happened, so talking about it would just make it worse.

It was one week before the break, and students were expected to let the school know whether they were staying at Hogwarts for the holiday or going back home. Hermione had her form all ready, warm and safe in her pocket, and was heading to McGonagall's office when she ran into someone.

See, normally when you run into someone in the hallway, you just step back, apologize, smile and get going to wherever it was that you were headed to in the first place. This time, things got a little messy. As Hermione and the other student collided, the other student dropped a small flask filled with some brown, weird-looking liquid. Well, obviously, in a school of witchcraft and wizardry, any liquid would look weird - but that's not the point. So when the little bottle fell on the floor, at first nothing happened. Then the liquid started glittering and turning into a golden smoke that slithered towards Hermione and the other student, whose face Hermione was too stunned to look at. By the time she tried to reach her wand, the other student had already muttered a quick spell and with a wave of his wand, he made the smoke freeze and then get back to a new flask where it turned to liquid again.

'Malfoy?' Hermione realized who was standing right next to her and suddenly she wasn't so sure she wanted to know what potion had just been spilled to the ground. The Slytherin boy looked both concerned and annoyed.

'Of course', he stated. Who else would be walking around without lifting their nose up from their book?'

'I wasn't reading anything', Hermione argued.

'Whatever', Malfoy shrugged. 'I've got better things to do than stand here and talk to you right now, Granger. Try not to kill anyone on your way to the library, will you?'

And with that he walked away and disappeared as quickly as he had appeared. Hermione stood there for a minute, looking at the place where the potion had hit the floor, wondering what the ferret could possibly be up to. Then she shrugged and trailed off to her dorms. She had just remembered she had a potions essay to write for the next day, and while she was mentally slapping herself for not doing it earlier, she had completely forgotten about the Christmas break.

Draco entered the Slytherin common room and looked around cautiously. As he had expected, there were no students there at this time of the day, everyone was in the Great Hall having lunch. He let out a sigh of relief. The last thing he needed right now was someone asking him questions or worse, trying to make a conversation with him.

'That stupid Granger almost ruined everything' he muttered to himself, taking the potion from under his robes to check on it for the fifth time. It was still brown as the potions book said it should be, and its texture was slightly shimmering, which according to the book was a very good sign. He couldn't help but feel proud of himself. Maybe the only reason why he used to be Snape's favourite student was not his father's influence or money. Thinking about his deceased teacher made Draco feel a little bitter, but deep down he suspected Severus wanted things to be that way. He wasn't sure what the man would've done after the war. Teaching at Hogwarts again ? No way, it would have reminded him of Dumbledore and the memory would have been too painful.

Draco shook his head, trying not to think about it anymore. He could feel the headache coming, trying to sneak into his head. But he quickly smirked it off. Because with this potion, he was going to have some fun. 'The fun of your life', the book had said.

The Slytherin boy headed towards his room upstairs - he wasn't sure why, but McGonagall had chosen him as a prefect, along with another boy he didn't even recall ever seeing at Hogwarts, some dude named Ethan. Ethan was pretty cool, he knew to stay out of people's businesses. Draco placed the precious bottle in one of his drawers and carried on to the bathroom. He took a long, steamy shower; he was so relaxed he almost fell asleep. He spent the rest of the afternoon in his room, reading and writing his potions essay.

Soon enough he heard students chatting on their way to the common room and realized class was over. He looked into his drawer to make sure the potion was still in it and then got back to reading. If any of his old friends saw him now, he thought, they wouldn't believe it. Draco Malfoy, reading? 'Yeah sure, who hexed him?' But as it turns out, Draco really enjoyed reading. After the war, everyone had been in bad shape, but the Malfoys had to cope with all the guilt on top of everything - well at least Draco and his mom did, his father never talked about it. They couldn't go back to the manor because of its dark history, but the house they moved in to was just as gloomy. Nobody ever spoke, they ate in silence and spent all day in the living room doing nothing. So Draco started reading, especially history and potions books. Eventually he became a true bookworm, which seemed to really amuse Narcissa and Ivy, who would whisper to each other, point at him and giggle.

Around 10 PM, Draco stood up, shook his sleepiness away and put his ear on his door. The common room was quiet. He put on his robes, took the flask and tiptoed out of the common room.

He moved around the castle as quietly as possible and reached the Gryffindor common room entry without a trouble. He looked around him to make sure no one was there and gave the password to the Fat Lady's portrait, who slid open with a suspicious eye. After making sure the place was empty, Draco entered the room and grinned, satisfied. Now, where was...

'What on earth are you doing here ?!'
'Damn it.' Draco turned around to see Granger, standing there in her robes, both hands placed on her hips. Why did she always act like some old grumpy woman? 'Well Granger, you caught me.'
'Obviously' she retorted self-sufficiently.
'You're such a buzz killer' he sighed. 'Alright, let's make a deal.' He reached for his wand very discreetly, but apparently not discreetly enough, because Granger was already pointing her own wand at him.
'Seriously Malfoy, you really think I'm that stupid?'
'Could've fooled me' he muttered. 'Fine.' He was boiling with anger. 'I'll see myself out then!'

He was about to leave when she called him back. 'Wait.' He turned around and eyed her suspiciously.
'What?'
'It's got something to do with that potion, right? Tell me what it is.'
He stared at her blankly. Really? She dared ask him for an explanation? 'I'm not going to just tell you!' he laughed. 'That would ruin everything!'
'Oh come on.' She rolled her eyes. 'You've been caught already, just spit it out!'
'No way I'm telling you anything. I'd rather try again later, thank you very much.'
'I'll just be here waiting for you then' she crossed her arms, a determined expression on her face.
'You won't stay here day and night to...' he stopped, suddenly realizing something. 'What are you doing up so late anyway?'
She looked caught and shifted uncomfortably. 'That... is none of your business.'
He smirked, taking a closer look at her. She was dressed to go out!
'You? Breaking the rules to go out after curfew ?' he laughed so hard he was afraid the whole castle would wake up. 'Wh... Where are you going? To the library?' He couldn't breathe. 'Going... to read... something inappropriate?' Suddenly his voice was cut off by a spell and he was just laughing silently. The thought of how ridiculous he must be looking cut him short and he stood up, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. 'Okay, remove the spell now' he mouthed. For an awful moment, Granger did nothing, she just stood there smiling.
'I think I would do the world a big favor if I just left you like this, don't you?'
His face went white and it was her turn to laugh. She waved her wand without uttering a single word and Draco got his voice back.
'I'm going to...' he started, but she interrupted him.
'... to head back to your dorm before I turn you into a ferret.'
The threat brought back memories he'd rather have forgotten, and Draco stormed out of the room, barely making it out without tripping over his own feet. When he finally locked himself in his room, he leaned his back on the door and tried to catch his breath.
'That atrocious know-it-all...' he muttered angrily. 'Wait until I get back to you, Granger... Just wait...'

Hermione decided to go to sleep after Malfoy had left. She had actually planned on going to the Owlery, but of course Malfoy had to ruin everything. She couldn't risk going out after he saw her; he might as well have alerted Filch. So instead she just went back to her room, cursing herself for not having given her form to McGonagall yet. What was wrong with her? She kept forgetting things lately! Luckily the next day was Saturday, so she could sleep all morning and regain some energy.

Except things didn't go the way she had expected - Harry was so right about that, things never go as planned. The next morning, Hermione woke up at 9 and was feeling well-rested. She sighed, yawned, smiled, sat up and stretched out. Ah! everything was perfect. Today, she thought, is going to be great! She pushed her covers aside and slipped her feet in her slippers.

She stood up and stretched her arms again. She was feeling so vigorous, like she could lift up tons!

She went to the bathroom, turned on the tap and washed her face. When she touched her face, something felt off. She raised her head and took a look at the mirror hanging over the sink.

At first she didn't understand what she was seeing. She thought she was still sleepy, so she closed her eyes, pinched her nose, shook her head and opened her eyes again. Nothing had changed, she still didn't understand what she was looking at.

'Merlin's beard...' she whispered, but the voice that came out wasn't hers.

And the face that was looking at her with a bewildered expression wasn't hers, either.

It was Draco Malfoy's.