This is a non-canon story. Different couples, different situations, etc. I am changing a lot from the book and doing it my own way. If you don't like it, you don't have to read it. If you do like it, then please, leave me some reviews because I love reading about what people think of my stories.

Disclaimer – I own nothing except my own ideas. Everything else belongs to Rowling.

Chapter 10

The air around the kitchen at 12 Grimmauld Place was dripping with nervous relief as everyone welcomed Arthur Weasley back home from his short stay at St. Mungos. Harry looked on as the entire Weasley clan huddled around Mr. Weasley, greeting him and assuring him of their love. He couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy as he watched how happy they all were together. He would never feel that sense of security that a family offered, but he was grateful for his friends at least. He peeled his eyes away from the family reunion and glanced around for Hermione. She had been acting very distant as of late and he was determined to find out why over the Christmas break.

He moved away from the kitchen and walked down the hallway towards the library. As expected, she was huddled near the fire with a huge tome opened in her small lap. He stood in the doorway, studying her for a moment. The way her body looked limped and drained, with her eyes looking dull with dark bags underneath them, made him realise that she was holding more back than he had originally thought. He'd never seen a stressed out or a depressed looking Hermione before, and he was jilted slightly. He cleared his throat and stepped into the room, but stopped suddenly as he watched her wipe tears from her eyes and cheeks before raising her head to give him a bright smile. A smile that he knew now was completely fake.

"Harry!" Hermione greeted. "Is Mr. Wealsey back yet?"

"Yes." Harry answered. "He's in the kitchen with the rest of them."

"Oh...then I should go welcome him home." Hermione closed the book and stood up, placing it on the nearest table before crossing the room towards the doorway.

"Why were you crying." Harry asked, making her stop midway.

"I'm not." she lied.

"Stop lying." Harry sighed. "You were crying in here alone. You've also been very distant lately, and I haven't been seeing you often after dinner at Hogwarts either. What the hell is going on, 'mione?"

"I don't know what you mean, Harry." Hermione frowned as she tried to walk past him.

"Talk to me, Hermione." Harry pleaded as he grabbed her arm. "You're always helping me and Ron. Let me help you now."

"There's nothing wrong with me." Hermione sighed and pushed past him. "I'm fine."

She turned on her heel and walked up the stairs to her room, instead of going to greet Mr. Weasley. But that just made Harry more certain that there was something wrong with her. She would never have dismissed Mr. Weasley's return if she was really alright. He frowned to himself and decided to follow her.

Hermione disappeared into her room and began pacing back and forth. Pacing had become her new stress reliever, and she had been found doing it a lot more than usual. She knew what was wrong. Her mind and heart were being tortured. She was worried about Draco, and couldn't stop thinking of the horrible things that his father was most likely putting him through. She was worried about her parents. She knew that they had wanted to see her this Christmas to affirm that she was really doing ok, and she couldn't deny that she wanted to see them too. But, once again, Dumbledore had decided that the trio should stay together at the Black's residence for the Christmas break, out of safety reasons.

In her mind, the safest place for them all would have been at Hogwarts, but with Mr. Weasley getting attacked, she knew that Harry and Ron would want to see him. So, she said goodbye to Draco, not liking the way his face looked distant and strained before she left, and came to Sirius' house for the break. But, in the entire time she'd spent in the house thus far, the only thoughts on her mind were Draco and her parents.

Everything seemed to be going well now with Harry and Ron. Since they had formed the DA group, they were all becoming more confident in their abilities. She knew that they all needed to thank Draco for that. He was the one who taught her new and advanced spells, which she ended up teaching to Harry, who then taught the rest of the group. Their group, as well, had grown from just a few close friends, to full club of 29 members. They were all becoming more powerful with each session. Even Neville was improving, and that alone made them all proud.

Knowing that everyone was fine for the time being, she was free to focus on the person who mattered to her the most, and that caused her to...pace. She sighed to herself and flopped down on her bed in frustration. She couldn't write to him, there was no way to call him, and she couldn't even use the floo network to check in with him.

A loud crack caused her to gasp in surprise, but she instantly smiled at the welcoming face of Dobby. The house elf gave her his usual nervous smile before handing her a large package wrapped in green and gold paper.

"Professor Snape sent Dobby to give you this, Miss Hermione Granger." Dobby explained. "And Dobby is to wait until you've opened it and read what's inside."

Hermione merely nodded her head and quickly unwrapped the package. A folded letter dropped out from the wrapping paper and was forgotten for a minute as her eyes widen from the book that was now in her lap. It was a first edition version of A History of Magic. She was never able to buy one before because it was so expensive, but she checked it out at the Hogwarts library every year. The bindings on this copy was in pristine condition, as were the pages, so she knew that the previous owner had taken meticulous care of it.

She gently placed the book down on the bed, as she wiped the tears, that she hadn't even realised had fallen from her eyes, and picked up the folded letter. She frowned slightly as she tried every which way to open the letter, but nothing happened.

"Dobby...what is this?" Hermione wondered.

"Well...Dobby knows of those letters, miss." Dobby backed away slightly. "Miss Hermione Granger needs to give...proof...before the letter opens, miss."

"Proof?" Hermione scrunched up her eyebrows together and began to think. It only took her a second to realise what she had to do.

She hopped off the bed and walked over to her trunk, pulling out the cutting knife from her potions set. She returned to the bed and closed her eyes, wincing slightly as she sliced her palm. She dripped some of her blood onto the folded paper and watched closely as the paper opened itself up to her. She looked up quickly as Dobby snapped his fingers together, a bandage appearing in his waiting hand. He gently pulled her damaged hand towards him and began to tend to it.

"Miss Hermione Granger needs to read." Dobby said softly.

She gave Dobby a grateful smile before looking down at the perfectly written letter.

'My Dearest Hermione,

I officially hate Christmas. I hate not being able to see you. I hate not being able to hold you or kiss you. I know that you're probably having a good Christmas with your friends, but I know you better than anyone else. I know that deep down...you're missing your parents. I wish to make you happy always. I promised you a long time ago that I would always be there for you. So...take Dobby's hand and accept my second gift. I love you, and I need you...but I can handle myself...for you…

Love, Your Dark Angel'

Hermione wiped the tears from her eyes as she placed the letter on her bed, next to the book. She sniffled as she looked down at Dobby.

"Where are we going Dobby?" she wondered.

"Dobby isn't allowed to say, miss Hermione Granger." Dobby gave her a nervous smile again and gently took her hand in his.

A loud crack sounded in her room as they disappeared. She closed her eyes to keep her dizziness under control and only opened them again once they were back on the ground. She glanced around at the brightly lit and decorated house as more tears came to her eyes. She looked down at a sheepish looking Dobby before bending down to kiss his cheeks softly.

"Thank you, Dobby." she whispered to him. "You are...by far...the best house elf anyone could ever have the privilege of being friends with. Happy Christmas."

Dobby's cheeks flushed slightly as he gave her a small smile before snapping his fingers again disappearing. Hermione gulped quickly and made her way up the front path towards the front door. Tears were freely flowing down her cheeks at this point as she raised her finger to push the doorbell.

"Dad." she breathed out as the front door opened to reveal her father, dressed in his cheesy snowman Christmas jumper.

Her father didn't say word as he grabbed her and pulled her into a crushing embrace. Hermione clung to him as her tears increased.

"Come on, you're mom's been waiting for you." he chuckled through his own sobs as he closed the door behind them.

Hermione followed him into the kitchen to find her mother, leaning over a bubbling pot of what smelled like beef stew.

"Mom." Hermione choked out.

Miss Granger dropped her spoon and made her way around the kitchen's island to wrap her arms around her only child.

"Oh, darling." Miss Granger kissed her head gently.

"I missed you mum, both you and dad." Hermione confessed.

"We missed you too, my dear." Miss Granger kissed her again. "This is now the best Christmas the Grangers have ever experienced."

"Yes." Hermione admitted. "This is the best...gift I've ever gotten."

"Better than the book?" Draco's voice caused her to stiffen instantly.

She pulled away from her mother as she turned slowly to stare at the white-blond haired young man, standing near her father. A fresh set of tears began to fall from her eyes as she quickly ran over to Draco.

He lifted her easily and spun her around, wrapping his arms around her as he returned her feet to the floor. Hermione looked up at him, noting his sunken eyes and tired expression before leaning up to slam her lips against his hard. Draco responded in kind as he pulled her against his body. A clearing of throats brought them out of their little world and back to reality.

"Oh." Hermione murmured as she pulled away from Draco slightly.

"She's even more gorgeous than your described, Draco." an unknown voice sounded from behind them, in the living room.

Hermione spun around quickly to face the person, pushing Draco behind her protectively. However, once she noticed the white-blond hair of the regal postured woman standing in front of her, she instantly relaxed.

"Mrs. Malfoy." Hermione breathed out as she stepped forward to the woman who had acted like her surrogate mother since first year, through correspondences.

"Oh no you don't darling." Mrs. Malfoy stepped up and grabbed both of Hermione's hands in hers. "You call me Narcissa. Draco didn't tell me how beautiful you truly are. Look at this thick curly hair!"

Hermione's face reddened from the praise, but she kept her wits about her.

"How…?" she wondered as she glanced between Narcissa and Draco.

"How are we able to be here?" Narcissa finished for her. "Well, Lord Voldemort is currently at our house and I decided to take Draco out tonight for a mother-son Christmas date."

"They weren't suspicious?" Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"Of course they were." Narcissa chuckled. "Which is why I allowed Lord Voldemort to read my mind. I'm very well trained in controlling my thoughts when it's being prodded. I'm sure Draco has told you, Severus Snape is an excellent teacher."

"How are you, though?" Hermione asked as she stared into Narcissa's eyes, revealing how much she genuinely cared for the woman.

"Ah...yes...you will be the perfect addition to our family." Narcissa whispered softly as she noticed the love coming from Hermione's expression. "I approved before, Draco, but now...I'm 100% sure. She's the one for you. I always wanted a daughter with your intelligence and magical abilities."

Hermione's face flushed again as she gave Narcissa a thankful smile.

"Now, I know that you want to spend some time with Draco, but we have lots to talk about first." Narcissa pulled her towards the leather living room couch.

They sat down, facing each other with smiles on their faces. Draco stared at his mother and the girl he had come to fall in love with and couldn't help but be relieved. He knew that his mother liked Hermione from the very beginning, despite her blood status. But seeing Narcissa interact so genuine and caring with her in person was a sight to behold. If any other aristocratic family could see this now, they would surely get a heart attack.

Draco moved to take the remaining seat next to Hermione while Mr. Granger sat in his arm chair, holding Mrs. Granger, who was perched on the arm of the chair with her hands wrapped around her husband's neck. Draco reached out and clasped his hand over Hermione's, and that's how they spent the rest of the evening. All thoughts of Harry, Ron and even Lord Voldemort, was temporarily placed in the back of their minds.

Harry Potter waited a full 5 mins after he heard the final crack from Hermione's bedroom before pushing open the door to find her gone. He had recognized Dobby's voice, but he couldn't understand what was going on. He glanced around the room until he spotted the pristine book and a letter sitting on her bed. He walked over to it and picked up the letter. Before he could read anything really, the inked words began to fade quickly. The only thing he could read was the person's signature. Now, the only thing on his mind was figuring out who 'The Dark Angel' could be.

A/N

Here's another one for you guys! Leave the comments below, letting me know what you think! Thank you for all the feedback. You guys are so freaking awesome! I'm glad you're loving this story! :)