**Authors Note- I apologize for the almost 2 year gap in this story, life has a crazy way of preventing us from doing things sometimes and currently life has prevented me from writing. I used to have the next two chapters wrote out and ready to update and just hadn't been able to post them but somehow I lost them and will be starting over from scratch. I still know the ending and how I want to get there but once again I am unsure of the words and the bits in between the big parts. This chapter is just going to be a filler between the previous chapter and the big Christmas party, so I can try to get back into the swing of things**

The next two weeks of school seemed to fly by as Hermione prepared to spend her first holiday with her mother. On top of all of her school work, she and Ginny had been trying to prepare for her grand party. As Blaise had originally told her it was true that she would be shut off from the rest of the world before her party and having talked it over with her mother it was decided that Ginny was gong to be her hand maiden of sorts and be the one friend locked away with her. Hermione was beginning to find the humor in this, she was beginning to realize why it was called coming out. After being locked away in the wing of the manor for a week with no one but the house elves, her mother and Ginny, Hermione was sure that it was going to be amazing to come out and hopefully not have to do anything like this again. Hermione was sitting in the common room of the Heads rooms making her last minute list of things to pack when the portrait door opened and in walked Draco, Blaise and a pouting Pansy.

"But Drakey, I want to go with you to the ball," Pansy was whining. "You promised me last year that we would go together to a dance and this is the one that I want to go to with you."

Rolling his eyes at the whining, which had obviously been going on for a while now, Blaise made his way over to the couch that Hermione was sitting on. He picked up the books and papers that littered the part of the couch that was not being sat on and placed it on the table so that he could sit down and talk. "So how's my favorite date doing today?" he asked with a smile.

"Why Blaise, if I didn't know any better I would say that you are flirting with me right now," Hermione replied with a smile of her own before nodding to the argument taking place near the kitchenette. "So how long has this been going on today? Should we save him from his misery?"

Blaise laughed and shrugged. In the past two weeks since Ginny and Hermione had received their dresses in the Great Hall, Pansy had been making more of a fuss to anyone that would listen, not taking Hermione's warning to not get on her bad side. Hermione didn't mind much though, it gave her plenty of opportunities to make Pansy even madder but accusing her of being jealous. That however did not benefit Draco in the slightest being that it only caused Pansy to become more attached to him and more insistent on getting him to be her date. It seemed that it wasn't just the escort of the person coming out that mattered but who's arm anyone was on and Pansy wanted to be seen in good light amongst society. Hermione would have found this completely hilarious had she not been feeling bad for Draco lately.

While Hermione did not know everything that was going on and only had the few details she had overheard to go by, she was beginning to sympathize with the annoying blond ferret. She knew that he was apparently betrothed to her cousin and that he was unable to find a way out of it like he wanted to and honestly she felt bad. During her talks with Blaise she found out quite a bit about her youngest cousin, to whom Draco was betrothed. She now know she was a horrid bore who found looks and status to be more important than intelligence. That she wanted money and fame and hated that her long lost cousin was returning and taking away some of her status. It seems that while Astoria had an older sister, Daphne, she was the one that her parents doted on and spoiled. That all made Hermione loathe the idea of really getting to know her cousin and had made her start feeling bad for Draco. Coming out of her thoughts, Hermione decided that she had enough of the whining currently taking place.

"Merlins beard woman, can you not take a hint already? No one cares to listen to your obnoxious voice already, leave!" Hermione commanded, turing towards the kitchenette, causing both Draco and Pansy to jump.

"How dare you, you filthy, disgusting little mud blood. You have no right to speak to me like that, you need to learn to mind you superiors, tell her Drakey," Pansy responded.

"Superior?" Hermione laughed. Picking up a paper and quill, she started a letter to her mother. "You obviously don't know the meaning of that word and I will not have you in my common room speaking to me like that. Malfoy and I have some Head duties to go over so you can excuse yourself now. Blaise, Malfoy let me know when the pest has left."

Not bothering to wait for a response, Hermione left to go to her room, the sounds of Pansy's yelling echoing until her door closed. Ten minutes past before Blaise peaked in and told her it was safe to return. Finishing up her letter to her mother, she tied it to her owls leg and sent it of with a laugh. Blaise, knowing that look asked what she had done and Hermione, who was sitting back into her spot on the couch laughed as she explained. While she needed to write to her mother anyways, to go over some last minute details, there was one finally detail that most be done, Pansy and her family would be formally uninvited to the ball and her parents would know that it was because of their daughters appalling behavior at school. As she finished telling them what she had done, she was greeted to two stunned faces.

"What?" she asked. "Didn't I just save you both from that horrid bint?"

"Never thought I'd say this, but thanks Granger, you took care of one problem in my life." Draco said with a relieved sigh. The three of them sat in a comfortable silence for a while, Draco still not completely sure what was going on with Hermione other than the fact that she was somehow a Greengrass. He had too many other things going on to deal with to truly pay attention. It was only when Hermione yawned and said she was calling it a night that the three of them parted ways. Hermione promising to owl Blaise if she was allowed any contact with the outside world once they left in the morning for home and with that, she went to bed knowing that the joys of Christmas break were right around the corner... How bad could it be? She thought as slipped consumed her.