Hermione was walking on the corridor alone, again. The whole castle was ALMOST deserted, because, of course, it was the first day of Christmas Break. All the students in Gryffindor left except for her, Ginny and Harry. On the upside, Draco and Blaise were also staying, and Luna was, too.

She went into the library, completely forgetting that Madam Pince now closes her sanctuary in time of School Breaks. She faced the oak doors and laughed her head off. Really, can Christmas make you that narrow-minded?

She hurriedly went away, when something wafted through her nose. It became stronger as she took another step. Once at the end of the corridor, there was someone… giggling?

A tinkling of bottles was heard. One rolled out and stopped right in front of Hermione. 'Cooking Sherry?' she thought, reading the label. Then, it hit her.

Oh, shit.

A woman with a hunched back, giant eyes, wild hair, and heavy shawls jumped out, making Hermione let out a bloodcurdling scream. The woman, Professor Trelawney of Divination, spoke in a seemingly sweet and bitter tone.

"Hello, dear," she said, "I missed you in my classes… or shall I say my half-classes, because of that troublesome DOBBIN wrecking all what I earned for in 16 years!"

The professor stopped ranting, went rigid, and fell over. Hermione caught her and felt her shaking.

"Help!" she screamed down the stairs, "Help!"

"What happened?" Draco's voice said. Moments later, he appeared, took one look at the two women, and levitated the Professor to the Hospital Wing, Hermione tearfully in tow.

She wobbled, and Draco put an arm around her shoulders. She sobbed silently, tears pouring down her face as Professor Trelawney would writhe occasionally.

Hermione slept badly that night. She dreamt she was in the library, reading a colossal book. Then all of a sudden a snake came and cooed in her ear. Then the snake turned into Draco, and the book vanished. She was outraged. Now she won't have any reference! She blamed it on Draco, and he just smiled wickedly.

The dream changed.

She was walking on a dark, narrow lane. Her mind kept screaming 'No!' as her feet dragged her whole body another step forward. She was unconsciously walking, staring into nothingness. Her body felt controlled by another mind, and she would jump at perfectly normal times.

A curtain was opened, and a spotlight beamed on her face.

She was wearing pink and black pants, boots, and top. She had black hair that was tied into pigtails, some loose strands hiding a part of her right eye. Her hair was highlighted pink at some parts. Her sleeves were hooked by thin threads that brought her arms painfully skyward. Soft music began to play, and another rustle could be heard at the other end of the platform.

Seconds later, Draco the pale marionette appeared.

He was wearing the same clothes as Hermione was, but the pink parts were colored black. His hair was also black, and only some parts were streaked white. He had a calm, cold, and indifferent expression on his face, but when the strings made him look at Hermione, he lost it.

"Hermione, what are…?" he shouted before the mysterious puppeteer dragged both of them dangerously close before pulling them apart again.

There was an evil cackle from above, but somehow, even as they willed their minds to look up, they kept their eyes on each other, purposely ignoring the invisible crowd. They twirled, jumped into each other's arms, and posed chest-to-chest. The puppeteer looked down expectantly, though his face was still shadowed because of the spotlight. The two marionettes were about to make their lips meet when they were pulled roughly away from each other. They screamed the other's name, having a nagging hunch they would never see each other again.

Once Hermione, the pink marionette, glimpsed the last of Draco's streaked hair, she broke down onto the floor and cracked into a million splinters.

Hermione screamed. She didn't care if she was waking up the other two Gryffindors. Right now, she was out of her wits.

Her tears started to fall when Harry bounded in, mounted on his Firebolt. He discarded it right away and clutched her firmly as she rocked and cried on his chest. Ginny came in moments later, and she, for once was speechless.

"Gin, smuggle in Draco from the Slytherin dorms. Fetch my Invisibility Cloak…" Hermione heard Harry order amidst her sobs, and Ginny's feet pounded on the floor. After a few minutes, the steady creak of the portrait hole opening was heard. She just cried there while Harry soothed her back and calmly spoke words of reassurance into her hair.

After a quarter of an hour, she was still crying, but her sobs were dry. Harry was now cursing what in the world Ginny was doing.

"We're… here!" Ginny panted from below.

"Get up here!" Harry shouted at the floor. Hermione heard a whoosh and Ginny arrived with a damp back, Draco shaking on his own Nimbus Two Thousand and One. He and Hermione took one look at each other and literally jumped on one another's chest, crying again.

"Sorry we took so long," Ginny muttered to Harry, "According to Blaise, Draco was bawling and muttering, 'Hermione', 'marionette', puppeteer', and 'splinters'."

"Strange… Hermione was saying that, too, except for her name, she said 'Draco'," Harry replied, eyeing the two interestingly.

"I hate wizard chess."

"That's because you always lose!"

Draco grumbled, crossing his arms childishly. Ginny was dancing around, beating Draco three times in a row. Hermione soothed her boyfriend, saying she didn't win in wizard chess, either, and Draco smiled at that. Harry was looking out the window, breathing deeply so that he misted the glass. Blaise Zabini, having been invited to the Common Room by Ginny, was yawning and lounging on his chair.

"Man, it really is better here up top," Draco said, sitting beside Hermione, "We were freezing down there."

"Hello, everyone," said a dreamy voice. Blaise's eyes widened and he turned his head so fast he cricked his neck.

"Oh, good, Luna finally arrived," Ginny remarked, smirking knowingly at the back of Blaise's head.

"Yes, I've been very busy today," she replied, sitting on the floor and caressing an overexcited Crookshanks, "And my father just told me that Ronald is crying in his room."

They laughed, and she even emitted a giggle when she found Blaise winking at her.

The afternoon passed by with a furious snowball fight with the girls against the boys. Of course, they were evenly matched, and after an hour they finally trudged up the steps, with Draco and Blaise having half a mind to take off their soaked shirts.

"Hey, Harry, be careful!" Ginny shrieked as Harry stepped onto a piece of thread.

"Hey, these are cute!" Luna mused, taking the two wooden forms. "They are, aren't they?"

"Get them away from us, Luna," Hermione and Draco said, eyeing the marionettes warily. They were wearing what they were wearing in their dreams. Sure, they were wooden, but all was covered with cotton as stuffing, like a doll.

"Hey, there's a needle!" Blaise said, picking it up.

"And the pink one needs a stitch!" Ginny remarked, threading the needle and plucking the end of it on the marionette's sleeve carefully.

The effect was instantaneous.

Hermione's skin bled, and a wound was shaping into a stitch on her upper arm. She screamed and Ginny stopped immediately. The wound was still there, bleeding, and, for once, Hermione didn't want it to heal magically. The wound was deep, she could feel it.

She wrapped her arm cautiously with her scarf. Luna held the marionettes at arm's length with her forefinger and thumb. "So these are cursed dolls?" she asked, disgusted.

"They're called voodoo marionettes," Harry said, eyeing all of them darkly.

A/N: Hehe. I had a lot of fun writing the next chapter. And it isn't even finished yet, imagine that. :))

Sorry, guys, if I hadn't been updating or typing today even though we have no classes for 4 days. It's just because I got hooked on watching

'A Very Potter Musical' last night and I am currently trying to not fall in love with Draco Malfoy's character. I mean, Laura is really BRILLIANT!

Review please. :D