A/N: I keep forgetting to mention that my most frequent reviewer, potterhead (love the name, by the way), is amazing and it feels really good when I get reviews, so how about one or two for the end of school? Pretty Please?

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling is infinitely better than I am, so stop mistaking me for her. You're boosting my ego too much.

As you head off to the war

Neither of them mentioned it, they just knew it had happened. Hermione thought that he was in the heat of the moment, and Draco knew that she knew who he wasand wasn't sure he should have kissed her. It was only 3 days into the school year and she was a stupid mudblood! So, weeks and weeks went by without them acknowledging what had happened. They were civil to each other, they were kind to each other, but they weren't quite friends like they had been.

Christmas was approaching, and the famous Harry Potter was coming back to Hogwarts for another unknown reason. Oh, how things would change.

Hermione was in the common room, the fire warming her chilled bones, wearing her flannel clock pyjamas. She pulled her iPod earphones into her ears and pressed play, glad that she'd had the gumption to ask Professor McGonagall for the spell. The room was decked out in red and green, Christmas colors, and, she noticed, the Slytherin and Gryffindor colors. There were wreathes along the walls and the fire was a festive red, little green specks sparking up occasionally. She'd have to learn that spell.

She was sitting cross-legged on the deep green couch, her textbooks in front of her, a foot of parchment being scratched upon by her quill. She didn't want to get behind in studies even if it was the holdays.

She felt it before she saw it, a presence behind her. She continued, as she knew of no one else it could possibly be. He plopped onto the couch beside her, splayed out on the cushions.

"What is our queen doing today?"

Her lips lifted just a bit.

"Shouldn't it be 'Your grace'? And I'm trying to study, as our N.E.W.T.S are going to be within the next 6 months! I should get started so I have time later to celebrate," Hermione said, determined not to let him phase her.

"Oh, your highness, couldn't you simply enjoy all the Christmasiness about it? It is the most wonderful time of year, after all."

"Draco, where exactly did you hear that song?"

He didn't answer, he just started singing it with a smug, condescending sneer on his face. That expression combined with those words made for fun times.

Hermione didn't laugh, she didn't smile, she didn't do anything of the sort. Instead, she acted mad.

"And who, exactly, are you to be slandering that song?" She asked, an eyebrow raised. For once, Draco looked unsure. She was victorious.

"Uhh, Malfoy, I believe, Granger."

And she laughed and he knew everything was alright.

Harry potter entered Hogwarts to many whispers and winks, and he started towards the Gryffindor table. He greeted ginny with a kiss on the cheek, to many gasps, and Hermione with an uncommonly large bear hug. This was followed by scandalized looks. Apparently they had nothing better to do than to gossip about him.

"Hermione, how have you been? Has Malfoy gotten to you yet?" He asked anxiously, his face a mixture of anxiousness and apprehension. His hair was as crazy as ever, his glasses askew. Hermione smiled. He would never change.

"Malfoy is surprisingly...different, though the same. He's still smug and aristocratic and haughty, but there's something else, too. I can't place it," said Hermione. At this, Harry raised an eyebrow. He looked unbelieving, though his eyes had something similar to smugness in them.

"Malofoy is being polite?" Hermione chewed her lip.

"Actually, he's being...friendly." Hermione smiled. "He's considering me a...friend of sorts, I believe."

Harry became incredelous. "Well, Hermione, if you say so. Just...watch him, will you?"

"Of course, Harry. So, why are you here?"

At this, Harry got nervous.

"Well, I'm on a mission for the ministry. They think that some remaining death eaters may be able to get inside the grounds with artifacts similar to the vanishing cabinets. I'm here to extract all of them, and...well...we have no clue what they might be," his eyes grew wide," Make sure you don't tell anyone this! The whole school might be running around like with Sirius. No one wants to be locked inside, be useless. This way, no one will grow suspicious and try to hide everyone or anything."

They finished eating breakfast as a group, talking about their lives and catching up. Hermione had no classes until after lunch, so she went back to the common room to study.

Draco trudged up the stairs after Divination, completely annoyed at the bat-eyed fake. 'Broaden your mind,' was a load of shit. He scraped his toes along the stair's edges, dragging on and on. He reached the top and heard soft singing.

"They handed us down a dream
To live in this lovely town.
But nobody hears the music,
Only the echo of a hollow sound.
Where do the children go,
Between the bright night and darkest day?
Where do the children go?
And who's that deadly piper who leads them away?
Together we make our way
Passengers on a train.
Whisper a secret forever.
Promises in the rain.
We're leaving it all behind,
While castles are falling down.
We're going where no one can find us.
And if there's a heaven,
We'll find it somehow.
Where do the children go,
Between the bright night and darkest day?
Where do the children go?
And who's that deadly piper who leads them away?"

Draco wasn't quite sure what the meaning of the song was, but it made his eyes ache, which he knew meant he would have to supress tears. Hermione was sitting on the couch, and he saw something glisten, like a tear, but he couldn't be sure. He saw her quietly set the iPod thing down and put her notebooks down. She set them on the table in front of the chairs and stood up. She went up to her room silently and shut the door with barely a sound heard.

Draco didn't know what to think. He knew it would be awkward comforting her, but he had a strange, silly urge to do it. He couldn't get those words out of his head. It wasn't necessarily the words themselves, it was their unintentional second meaning. It was how he knew she was up in her room staring quietly at a wall. After hearing something like that after what she'd been through, there was nothing else to be done. He knew the feeling.

Hermione was sitting in her bedroom, hoping no one bothered her, staring quietly at a wall. She didn't know why she felt numb, she just did. She had never expected that song to come on, and for it to effect her so much. The song had been just what she felt, it embodied her feelings. She felt as though she had something she never knew she had and then had it silently ripped away, leaving her confused as to what had happened in the first place. She knew this feeling. She'd felt it after the first dream, after the final battle.

She was sitting there for five minutes, or ten, or twenty, or a day, when she heard the squeak of a door opening. She didn't acknowledge it, just flinched a bit. She knew who it had to be.

"Hermione?" He called softly. She didn't answer, but he didn't care, apparently. He just walked right in. The bastard.

"Ever heard of knocking, Malfoy?"

He didn't say anything. He picked her up by her arms, sat her on her bed, and sat next to her. He didn't make any physical contact with her, just sat there. And she was grateful.

A/N: Guys, sorry it's so late, and I promise I haven't dropped this or my other fic. Just, it's been really hectic lately and I'm having writers block and other stuff. Thanks for your support and, again, please click that lovely, gratifying button at the bottom and make me a happy girl!