Author's Note: I'm afraid that this has gotten away from the idea of a diary and has become more of a story format with chapter titles being dates. I've discovered that there is way too much dialogue in some of the entries. How in the world could Hermione remember everything that's been said? Thus, more of story format. I'm sorry that I've failed those of you looking forward to a diary.
December 11th
Ron and Harry had set off yesterday without knowing that I had spent the morning with Draco in the pool, just as I had known that they would. They hadn't noticed anything out of order at all. Well, Ron hadn't. I think that Harry suspected something because, before the train took off, he had hugged me close and whispered in my ear so that Ron couldn't hear. "Don't get yourself into trouble, Hermione."
I only smiled and waved them off. As soon as the train was out of sight, I hurried back to the castle. Draco had promised me a surprise when I returned and I was bubbling over with excitement.
I hurried into the common room, expecting to find Draco waiting for me. Instead, there was an owl perched on the back of the couch with a narrow piece of parchment tied to his leg. I quickly untied the paper and scanned it, ignoring the tawny bird as it flew off.
He wanted me to dress warmly and meet him in front of the doors that led to the Great Hall. Unable to contain my smile, I raced up the stairs and hurried to do as he had instructed.
I'm fully aware that I shouldn't be running around the castle with Draco when I'm in a relationship with Ron but I can't help myself. He makes me feel as though I were flying. He's exhilarating while Ron is steady. He has an affect on me that Ron never had in his life.
I saw him, standing by the great oak doors, and my breath was nearly snatched from my lungs. I don't know if I'll ever get over that.
He saw me and smiled, walking across to the stairs as I descended. "I was almost afraid that you wouldn't come."
I beamed back. "I never miss out on a surprise."
Taking my hand, he led me out the doors and into the winter wonderland beyond. I followed him to the Quidditch pitch and then around to the back of it. There was a stand of trees that had been cut off from the rest of the Forbidden Forest.
He stopped and I about ran into him. I looked over his shoulder. "I've never noticed this before."
"I know," he replied. "Neither have I."
I looked at him. "Then…why are we here?"
Draco was smiling again. "I thought that you would enjoy trying to figure out what it is. You know, get some field work before they set you behind a desk at the Ministry." I must have looked taken aback because he quickly added. "You are planning on getting a job at the Ministry, aren't you? In the Study of Magical Happenings Department, right?"
I didn't say anything. Even Ron didn't know that. And I couldn't bring myself to tell Harry as he's not really a big fan of the Ministry right at this point in time.
"Well, I guess not." He ran a hand through his hair nervously. "Merlin, I feel like a fool. We'll just go back."
Before he could turn around I found my voice though what I said wasn't exactly brilliant. "How did you know that?"
Sighing with relief, he looked back at me. "You can coax just about anything from Lavender Brown: Hogwarts Gossip Queen when she's caught rather smashed by the Headboy."
I had forgotten that I had told her I was considering the job. Now I regret it. I had told her that in confidence. I should have known better.
"Well, Miss Granger, what is the cause of this odd grove of trees?"
I pulled out my wand and began to assess the situation. I ran a few simple tests, compared the Forbidden Forest to the grove until I came to the conclusion that…"It's an illusion. This grove of trees is a mirror image of those right there." I pointed with my wand. "Every time a clump of snow falls over there, the same clump falls over here. It's a rather brilliant piece of work though I can't figure out why it's here."
"Well done, Miss Granger," Malfoy said, clapping quietly. "Ten points to Gryffindor."
"You can't give points for that."
"I'm Headboy. I can give points for whatever I want."
He had a point. Though it seemed to me an awful lot like abusing your position.
I picked up a handful of snow as he turned around and, packing it into a small ball, I threw it at his head. For someone who usually couldn't hit her mark if her life depended on it, I did surprisingly well, nailing him in the ear.
Unfortunately, I had been so busy with my own snowball that I had failed to notice what exactly he was doing. He spun around, his dangerous smile on his face and hit me head with his own snowball.
As I still had out my wand, I used it to the best of my ability. The snow was harder to control than water that I had been practicing on but my spell got the job done. Malfoy was soon buried up to his knees in snow and a rather large cloud was about to land on his head. I waited around only long enough to realize that he could escape and come after me before I took off running with a wide smile spread across my face.
I felt myself trip and fall headfirst into a soft drift. Then he was upon me, terrorizing me by tickling my sides. Squealing, I tried to roll away but I couldn't stop my body from rolling into a tight ball. "Draco," I shrieked through my laughing. "Stop. I can't breathe, I can't breathe."
It was partially true. I was laughing so hard that I couldn't get in a decent breath.
He rolled over onto his back in the drift beside me. Laughing, he said, "I haven't had this much fun in the snow…ever."
I had the sudden urge to build a snowman and, after voicing my craving, Draco readily agreed.
I don't know how long we spent out in the snow but, by the time we came in, there was a snowman and his snow-wife standing in front of the Hogwarts entrance. They were joined by their six snow-children, both sets of snow-grandparents and the family pet, Otto the Snow-Dog. They had an igloo mansion to escape any nasty weather and a lovely team of snow-unicorns to pull the oversized snow-sleigh.
We, of course, used a little magic to make them more lifelike. Neither Draco nor I had any sort of artistic talent I'm afraid to say. If we hadn't used a small amount of help from magic, they all would have looked like giant snowdrifts.
When we returned to the warm interior of Hogwarts, we were freezing cold and wet but we couldn't wipe the smiles from our faces. I didn't even care when Filch threw a tizzy because we tracked in snow as we ran all through the castle. I'm sorry to report that we scared a small group of first years out of their wits as we went barreling around a corner and nearly bowled them over.
Arriving at the common room, we collapsed onto the couch, laughing so hard we had tears in our eyes.
"Did you see their faces," Draco gasped, clutching his stomach.
I nodded rapidly. "I think they about wet themselves."
"They probably didn't think that the Headboy and Headgirl would run in the halls, traipsing snow throughout the school. It's not at all responsible."
Our laughing calmed down. "I believe that, seeing as this is a holiday, we are allowed to break a few rules."
"I agree. We needed a break from having to play role model to young witches and wizards world wide."
I scoffed. "Well, I didn't know that I was a role model. Just thinking about playing hero to young witches makes me tired. I think I'm off for a quick nap before dinner."
"Sleep well," he offered as I got off the couch. "I'll wake you when it's about time."
I nodded, not really registering what he was saying. My eyelids were already closing. By the time I reached my room, I collapsed face down on my bed and instantly fell asleep.
As to today, nothing really exciting happened. Though I did run back to see if I could figure out the tree illusion. Unfortunately, it had disappeared. I have the sneaking suspicion that Draco had something to do with it.