DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, nor do I own any other characters in J.K. Rowling's original series. I merely am here to demonstrate a different approach to the plot, characters, and overall experience in the world of witchcraft and wizardry.
Author's Note: I am so sorry that this update has taken so long! I've had the busiest week, and with my last school year approaching, it looks like updates may be less frequent. But I promise that I will try my best and hopefully be able to have updates much more frequently. That aside,another wonderful Dramonie chapter. I'm so excited that everyone has enjoyed this story so far, and the praise for it is the only thing that keeps me writing it – that and the fact that I enjoy writing it as well. Here's the eighth chapter, and the question that lingers with all of you I'm sure is – Will Hermione and Draco ever got along long enough to become a couple? We'll see. Keep the reviews and praise coming!
Chapter Eight:
Christmas
Hermione lifted her head off her pillow and rolled over to lie on her back once more, sitting up and sighing as she rubbed her forehead. She had to sort out her priorities in life, and the situation with Draco Malfoy was definitely high on the list, but not first. Therefore, she rolled off the bed and straightened her robes, having decided to go and see Harry and Ron to explain to them her new dormitory for the rest of the year.
Once her foot hit the bottom of the stairs that lead up to her room, she looked around for any sign of Malfoy – she could have sworn she heard him say her name upstairs. The common room was empty, and the window nearest them showed nothing but a pitch black sky and a flurry of white snow. The flicker of the fireplace was the only thing illuminating the room.
Shrugging, Hermione pushed open the portrait open and climbed out of the hole it left in the tower's stone wall, ignoring Dumbledore's eyes lingering on her back as she walked down the spiralling staircase and towards the Gryffindor common room.
Hogwarts was eerily quiet as she sauntered through the hallways, nodding her head briskly at Colin and Parvati, who were patrolling the halls for the night. She climbed the staircases up to the seventh floor, chanted the password to a groggy Fat Lady, and climbed in the portrait hole. Harry and Ron were sitting cross-legged on the floor by the fire with Ginny perched on an armchair behind Harry, his head resting on her knees as they enjoyed the warmth of the fire. The sound of the portrait hole opening made them all look over their shoulders to see who had entered.
"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed, scurrying to get to his feet and dusting himself off clumsily. For some reason, this action made Hermione very curious – it was as though Ron was trying to hide something, as if he was trying to hide the blushing red on his cheeks or look at anything besides Hermione's face. "Where have you been? We looked all over for you, couldn't find you."
Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted as a squealing sixth year girl came running down stairs, laughing and her wavy black hair frizzy and messy. Her robes were lopsided on her shoulders, and she turned to face the second person who was coming down. To Hermione's disgust, horror and sorrow, Draco Malfoy came sauntering down with a lopsided grin on his face. Her mixed feelings grew stronger as she watched Draco smack the girl firmly on the rear and give her a sloppy wet kiss.
"Eugh," Ron said, faking a gagging noise as he witnessed the public displays of affection. Hermione stood there, his hands in balled fists as she looked over Malfoy. His hair was messy; his white button-up shirt un-tucked and his lips red and sore looking. Obviously, he and the sixth year girl had been messing around in her room. Hermione's stomach tensed and her heart sank at the thought.
"I'll see you later, Gladia," Malfoy said hoarsely, winking over her shoulder at Ron but pausing mid-step as he saw Hermione. Unsure of how to react to her presence, he looked down at his feet and gnawed on his lip, nervously shifting from foot to foot before hurrying out of the common room at a quick run.
"What was that all about?" Ginny asked, her eyebrow arched questioningly at Hermione. Hermione shrugged Ginny's question off, her chest rising and lowering as she processed what she had just seen.
Gladia, a dreamy look still on her face, skipped back upstairs to her dormitory room and Hermione heard her slam the door before she turned back to her friends to tell them all about the Head Tower.
"So you'll be stuck in the same dormitory as Draco Malfoy for the rest of the year?" Ron asked after she had explained the situation to them. He crossed his arms with a frown. "I-I don't like it."
Hermione looked at him, confused by his stuttering, but was distracted as Gladia came sauntering back downstairs, settling herself in an armchair in the corner with a book. She had changed from her robes into a pink flannel pyjama set and her hair had been knotted at the back of her hair in a complicated braid.
"Why would McGonagall think it would be a good idea to shove you two into the same tower together?" Harry asked, his brow furrowing at the thought.
Hermione shrugged, her mind somewhere else as she thought of what she had just witnessed. Obviously, she had been correct about Malfoy – he really didn't have any feelings for her if he had been snogging Gladia the sixth year only five minutes ago. The scene she witnessed completely solved every answer she had about her true feelings for Malfoy. She knew, once and for all, she would be able to continue on with her life and her school work as she knew it.
Maybe.
Two weeks passed, and the Christmas holidays had finally arrived at Hogwarts. Hermione had wrote to her parents the day beforehand, telling them that she would be staying at Hogwarts this year, and had sent them the letter via a school owl. Now, on the first day of the holidays, Hermione sat on the marble stairs in the Entrance Hall wearing a cable-knit moss green sweater and jeans tucked into calf-high boots, sipping a piping hot chocolate as she watched the lines of students who were waiting in the Entrance Hall. Everyone was bundled up tightly in their clothes and looked about five times their size from the layers of clothes they were wearing to protect themselves from the freezing weather outside. Filch, who was equally bundled up and looking angrier than ever, pushed open the doors to Hogwarts to shove the students out. A blast of cold air and snow came in, rushing in their faces as they hurried down to the carriages.
Hermione sighed and took a long sip of hot chocolate, staring into the frothy brown liquid absentmindedly. The two weeks that had passed had been excruciating. Not only had they all been given extra homework to do over the holidays, but she had four essays to write and was forced to face Draco Malfoy in the common room of the Head Tower every single evening. Fortunately, Hermione had spent very minimal time in the tower and only returned there to sleep for the evening, waking up at eight and rushing hurriedly so she could jet down to the Great Hall for breakfast. This left very little time for her to spend in the common room, and she was perfectly satisfied with that.
With Harry and Ron playing Wizard Chess in the Great Hall, Hermione had nothing to do and no one to talk to. The two were so involved in their game that she had left without them even noticing to come and watch the rest of the students leave for the holidays. Ginny was in the Great Hall still, chatting happily to Luna Lovegood – she and Hermione had never been that close to begin with.
Sighing deeply, Hermione swallowed the rest of her hot chocolate and left the mug on the steps, retreating up to the library. Perhaps she could find a book she had actually never read before, which was highly unlikely. Although that had always been the answer to her problems – read a book.
The library was extremely empty, and the only people occupying it were the librarian and a seventh-year Hufflepuff who had his nose shoved into Hogwarts: a History. Pleased by the little crowd, Hermione strode past the librarian and into a section of advanced spells; perhaps she could work on some harder spells over the Christmas break.
The door to the library opened slowly but creakily, and Hermione – who was standing on tip-toe to reach a book higher up – glanced over her shoulder to see who had come in. Amazed to see Draco Malfoy gazing around the library, she lost her balance completely and fell off the desk that was pushed against the bookcase, falling on her back roughly.
The Huffleboy boy and the librarian raised their heads to see what had happened, and Malfoy's head snapped towards Hermione. A mixture of a grin and a frown spread across his face, and he walked over to help her up.
"I'm fine," Hermione muttered, raising herself off her back and taking a sharp intake of breath. A burning pain rose from her tailbone, up her spine and spread across her shoulders. The ache was so bad, but Hermione attempted to shrug it off by biting her lip and closing her eyes tightly.
"Are you okay?" Malfoy asked. His hands were shoved in his pockets and he was looking down at her nervously, unsure of whether or not she really needed help.
"Never better." Hermione stood up and turned away from Malfoy to hide the tears of pain that were streaking down her cheeks. She furiously wiped them away on the back of her sleeve and turned to face him. "I thought I told you to never talk to me again," she growled.
"I was… never mind." He shook his head and glanced over the outfit Hermione was wearing, his eyes finally settling back on hers. "You look great in green, Granger." Without another word, Malfoy turned his back and made his way over to another section of books with a wide grin on his face.
Hermione could feel her cheeks reddening as she rethought what Malfoy had just said to her, grabbing the book that had fallen out of her reach and hurrying over to the librarian to sign it out. As the librarian stamped the card inside the book with an ink pad, Hermione glanced over her shoulder carefully. Malfoy was looking right at her. Blushing even deeper, she yanked the book out of the librarian's outstretched hands and marched out of the library, her heat beating wildly in her chest.
While walking back into the elaborately-decorated Great Hall, Hermione's heart didn't slow down until she had sunk into the seat beside Ron once more. She was grinning from ear to ear, though neither of her best friends noticed, and quickly hid it behind her hand as she turned her attention to their chest board; Ron was, as usual, destroying Harry.
"Checkmate!" Ron yelled, standing up so fast that he lost his balance. The back of his knees hit the side of the bench, and he toppled over backwards onto the Great Hall floor. Laughter roared from the remaining students in the castle.
"Oh, shut up!" Ron mumbled to a first year boy, who was in hysterics. The boy immediately shut his mouth and turned back to his older brother.
Hermione had stopped laughing, though her smile was wide once again, and she reached a hand down to help Ron up. He looked up at her with a nervous smile, swallowing hard as his hand latched onto hers – it was cold and clammy. Puzzled, Hermione pulled him to his feet.
"Are you ill, Ron?" she asked, her tone concerned.
Ron wiped his hands quickly on his pants. "No, I – I'm fine, Hermy… Err, Hermohnee…. Oh fuck, Hermione!"
Harry chuckled and Ron shot him a threatening look, shutting him up instantly. Hermione stared up at Ron, completely confused and a frown spread over her lips.
"Really, perfectly fine," Ron muttered. "I've got to go… wrap gifts." He quickly gathered the Wizard Chess board and pieces into the velvet box he kept them in, rushing out of the Great Hall in long strides. Hermione stared after him, frowning before she turned to Harry.
"What's wrong with him?" she asked.
"Nothing," Harry said with a smile. "I'm sure you'll find out soon enough, Hermohknee."
Hermione smiled a small smile, shaking her head as she glanced over at the Great Hall doors. Ron was acting odd, odder than usual. Had she done something to upset him? Or was there something he wasn't telling her? She hoped that Ron wasn't going to pull something stupid on her.
The next morning, at five o'nine…
Hermione groaned and rolled over, grabbing a handful of blankets. She had only slept three hours in total and was not even remotely tired anymore. She had no idea why she couldn't seem to want to fall asleep, but her eyes flew open and she sighed exasperatedly. She attempted to adjust herself under the blankets when her foot hit something at the foot of her bed.
Sitting up and grabbing her wand, Hermione muttered, "Lumos Maxima," and stared down at the end of her bed. A large pile of presents was awaiting her, glittering in the light emitting from the tip of her wand.
An enormous smile spread across Hermione's lips as she scrambled to the end of her bed, sitting cross-legged and resting her wand on the bed next to her so a light would shine on the gifts. As long as she was awake, she may as well begin opening gifts. Grabbing a silvery white present from the top of the pile, Hermione began to tear off the paper and pried open the flaps of the box with her fingers. The gift was from her parents, and she reached in to extract a beautiful long, white blanket made of satin and cashmere, her initials stitched in the corner. The blanket was extremely warm and felt soft against her skin. Under the blanket was a smaller box filled with homemade sugar-free candy canes, a speciality of her mothers.
Hermione wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and grabbed a candy cane from the top of the box, sucking on it merrily as she reached for the next gift. The messy scrawls allowed her to know it was from Ron, and she removed the wrapping and pried open the box. Inside was a rectangular velvet box on top of a large book and a box of Sugar-Spun Quills. Hermione took the velvet box out and opened it slowly, gasping as she saw what it held inside. It was a beautiful gold chain with a pendant on the bottom, shaped like a star. Opening the pendant, Hermione jumped as it emitted bright red and gold sparks, followed by a misty image. The image was moving and showed Hermione, Harry and Ron sprawled on their backs in the snow, catching snowflakes and laughing; the same scene she had been in two weeks prior.
Beaming, Hermione placed the pendant aside and read the title of the book, smiling even wider as she recognized it was a book she had been dying to get for ages – A Thousand Simple Spells to Success in School by Robert Dragonforth.
After unwrapping most of the gifts, Hermione was pleased with the outcomes – Harry had given her a brand new quill, phoenix feather and bright red, along with a elegant bookmark that was charmed to dance along the lines of a book as you read it, and a beautiful purple and silver scarf; Hagrid had sent his usual treacle fudge and a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans; Mrs. Weasley had given her a jumper with a wand sparkling stars on it, in white, and a variety of homemade sweets; Ginny gave her a golden pillow with a roaring lion's head on it, and a collar for Crookshanks; and Neville had been kind enough to give Hermione her own Remembrall. Now, the only thing left on the bed was a present wrapped in emerald green paper that shimmered in the light of her wand.
Curiously, Hermione picked up the present and shook it. She could not even think of someone else who would have given her a present, and did a quick checklist in her head to make sure everyone had been mentioned. Sure enough, she had received a gift from everyone she was close with – who else would send her one?
Slowly tearing the paper off, Hermione stared at the plain white box under it for a minute before she nudged open the flaps of the box. She peeked over the brim and her brow furrowed as she saw what the box held. Sitting at the bottom of the box was a single white note lying on top of a silky fabric.
Hermione extracted the card, which read her name on the front, and opened it to read:
For everything I have done in the past, I will not apologize for I know that no words will ever make up for the things that I said. However, I can only hope that this will give you an idea of my true feelings for you. I am fearful to express myself to you. But perhaps now is the time to tell you the truth.
I think I am falling in love with you.
It is an emotion I have never experienced before, and something that will forever scare me. But it is the truth.
If this letter and gift has done nothing towards the way you have felt about me, I will take your continued silence to mean exactly that.
Happy Christmas.
I'm sorry.
D.M.
Hermione sat completely still at the foot of her bed, her heart pounding loudly in her ears as she reread the letter multiple times. Her eyes skimmed nine words in particular over and over; I think I am falling in love with you. If this was true, then why had he decided to be so hateful towards her before in front of his friends? How did she know that Draco Malfoy would not do the exact same thing he did to her before, leaving her to cry her eyes out and imagine love to never exist. How did she know that he would not just hurt her again?
Yet, something about the letter intrigued Hermione. Obviously he cared enough to even bother buying her something. Quickly remembering the fabric under the note, Hermione set the white paper aside and reached into the box. Her breath caught in her throat as she pulled out an unbelievably gorgeous scarf, made of pure silk. It had the same watery effect as the Invisibility Cloak had, and was laden in so many deep colours that it was hard to know where to begin. It fell to the floor of her bed in a swirling pool of silk, and she slipped it through her fingers over and over as she looked at it.
"It's beautiful," she whispered to herself, lifting the scarf again and winding it around her neck. The fabric hung softly down her front in watery waves, and it felt unnaturally smooth against her skin. She held it under her nose and breathed deeply. It smelt like some sort of flower, though Hermione had no idea which.
Suddenly, it hit Hermione like a ton of bricks – what was she doing? She threw the box aside and leapt out of bed, throwing open her bedroom door and running down the stairs with the scarf flowing behind her. She knew her hair was a mess, she knew she was still wearing only a extra-large white shirt that fell to her knees, but that didn't stop her as she ran up the stairs to Draco's rooms and smashed her fist on the door.
Hermione waited until his bedroom door creaked open, and a tired Draco stood before her in green boxers and a black shirt. His hair stood up on end and his eyes were half-open as he adjusted to who was in front of him.
"Hermione? What –"
But he was cut short with Hermione swinging her arms around his neck and pressing her lips right against his. He seemed to know exactly what she was about to do as he caught her in mid jump, his hands in her hair and their mouths never leaving one another's. Tears streaked Hermione's face as she pulled away finally, staring up at him.
"Please, don't ever leave me like that again," she said in a strained voice to keep herself from breaking out into sobs.
Draco smiled, his own eyes watery as he took handfuls of Hermione's waves in his hands. "Why would I ever let you slip through my fingers again?" he murmured.
Author's Note: Short chapter, mainly because it's 12:30 in the morning and I have to be up at 7 – but I couldn't leave you guys waiting a day longer! The next update will be up much sooner, I promise. Review and let me know on your thoughts! Will Draco stay this way finally?
