DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter is owned by the great J.K. Rowling. Sadly, I am not her.
Hey, everyone! Sorry for the late update, I've been really busy these days. From Wednesday to Friday, school ends, and my dad brings us to my sister's to help her move, and we don't come back until 9 o'clock. I also haven't been able to eat until then, so I didn't have time to write. It takes me at least 2 days to write a chapter. Thanks for all the people who has been waiting!!!
Thank you: Draco-Fan (oh no, it hasn't been just a week, it's been about, at least, 3 weeks already, I've skipped some parts of the play so I skipped days, and yeah, it's DEFINITELY not just a week, sorry if you're confused. :P), xxxLittleMissLoonyxxx (thanks! I'm glad you think the characterizations are good, haha), Karate Chic, IheartDracoandRon (haha, Trevor coming back early? I'm not really thinking about that, but he will get suspicious, ;D), missygrace101, temarigirl116 (I'm glad you think it's cute! :D and you'll see what he's gonna get for her, soon), Terri (haha, that 'we' line is from a Disney Channel show, ;D).
Just so you guys know, I will not be writing the WHOLE Christmas vacation, probably only for 3 or 4 days.
On with the story!!!
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Summary: Hermione vowed to never fall for a Slytherin, especially for their vain prince. They both thought they hated each other, but can a school play change their minds?
11. The second Christmas day
Hermione was frustrated; twitching her eyes occasionally and pulling on a strand of hair frustratingly.
"What are you thinking?" she growled out.
Draco shrugged and moved again, smiling when one of her pawns was hit off from the board once again. His smiled disappeared as fast as it was plastered on his perfect face.
"I'm cold."
Hermione raised an eyebrow at his answer, and growled again when one of her knights had failed to hit his own off the board. Another few seconds of silence was followed, and Hermione lost another pawn.
"Now what are you thinking?"
Draco's eyes narrowed when one of his pawns was finally hit off from the board with a small screech. "I'm annoyed."
Hermione felt like ripping his hair out at that answer, but she decided that he was going to wail forever if she did that. And besides, he looked good with those beautiful locks of his.
"What are you thinking of, now?"
A pause.
Another yelp from a pawn along with a dramatic wail from its 'friends'.
"I'm bored."
Hermione felt a nerve pop.
Standing up, she swept up all the pieces from the board and dumped them into its box, ignoring the whining and angry 'hey's' she's gotten from them. Draco looked at her with an eyebrow raised.
"If you're just gonna keep up with that," Hermione said, her voice sounded threatening, "be aware of the food you're eating at dinner, you will never know what's gonna be in them."
Draco whistled, clicking his tongue two times as Hermione continued to glare at him. "Harsh. Who knew that the Gryffindor Princess could be this frightening?"
"I try."
Draco smirked.
"Alright then." he said, clapping his hands and standing up. "Whaddya want to do?"
Hermione stared at him for a few seconds, thinking, then picked up chess pieces from the floor and slowly placed them in the box. A lightbulb was suddenly turned on.
"Ah! We should go snowball fighting!"
Draco raised an eyebrow at her, his hands in his pockets. "Snowball fighting." he repeated, showing no sign of enthusiasm in his voice.
"Yeah! It could be fun!"
Draco scratched the back of his head and made a sound, clearly not too interested in her idea. "Why snowball fighting?"
"Because I want to."
"And I would do that because...?"
Hermione glared at him again, resting a hand on her hip. "Because if you don't, I am going to hex you and torture you until you beg for snowball fights in your afterlife."
"I'm in."
Now it was Hermione who smirked. "Good."
He watched as Hermione picked up a handful of snow and form a ball with it, smiling when she was finished sculpturing it and threw it towards his face when he was distracted. Still, he had fast reflexes and dodged it. Of course, snowball fighting wasn't really that fun, but seeing that content smile that was forming on her face, he knew it was worth it.
After all, she meant that much to him.
His pose from leaning against the snow-covered tree suddenly turned, within a few minutes, into smirking and throwing his own masterpieces towards her face. She gave out quite a few surprised laughs at his sudden change and attacks. She wasn't quite pleased, though, when Draco had cheated and threw a gigantic snowball at her with magic from his wand. Of course, he would never actually let it hit her, she would've ended up in the hospital if he did that.
"Hey!"
"Yes?" Answered an innocent Draco.
"That's cheating!"
"Wouldn't be if it was never a rule."
"Brat."
"I try." Hermione glared at him for mimicking her own words.
Suddenly, and without warning, she dropped the snow from her hands and fell.
She literally fell.
What the hell?
Ah, hey, that rhymes!
Ahaha! Okay, I'm gonna shut up.
Draco stood there for a few seconds, wondering what in the world she was doing. After a while, she hadn't moved, and Draco had started to panic.
"Um, Granger?"
Hermione didn't reply.
"Granger."
Hermione didn't move either. It was either she was ignoring him, or that she had gone dead.
Draco presumed that it was the second choice.
-insert sarcastic laugh here-
Jumping, Draco ran over to where Hermione was lying and knelt down next to her, staring at her worriedly. Oh no, she wasn't breathing. She wasn't breathing at all!!!!!!
"NOOOO!!!!!!" Draco yelled, his head raised to the sky and his hands poised next to him dramatically.
"What are you doing?" Hermione asked.
Draco dropped his hands and shrugged. "Thought I could play along."
Hermione almost rolled her eyes.
Draco, sighing, plopped down next to her with one hand over his chest, watching light flakes fall from the sky and listened to the soft breathing from Hermione's direction. Hmm, wonderful, he hadn't wasted his time today after all.
"Hey, Malfoy?"
"Yes?"
"Why was your friend, Zabini, giving me weird looks for the past month?"
"Blaise is weird. Just ignore him."
"That's nice."
"I try."
He yelped when Hermione whacked him on the arm.
"There's still gotta be a reason, though." Hermione said, ignoring Draco as he rubbed his arm.
"Maybe there just isn't."
"Malfoy, that's not possible."
Draco sighed and stopped rubbing his arms, his steely gaze focused on the sky once more. What's the deal? Why can't he tell her? It's not like she's gonna fall for Blaise, anyways.
"Blaise had a crush on you."
Silence...
And Draco started to worry again.
He turned his head towards Hermione, wondering why she hadn't retorted anything or laughed nervously. He had gotten quite use to that, but he wasn't used to the fact that Hermione continued to stare at the sky, looking totally unaffected.
That surprised Draco that it didn't surprise her since both he and Blaise thought she would be surprised but he was surprised that he was the only one who was surprised at the moment-
Okay, that didn't really make sense, did it?
Scratch that out!
"Granger?"
"Yeah?"
"You're not surprised."
"Nope."
"Why not?"
"Because it's a crush. Anyone can have crushes. I'm sure he'll stop fancying me by the time he comes back from vacation."
Huh. Really?
Not completely convinced, Draco plopped his head back on the ground again and closed his eyes, inhaling the cool air and listening to Hermione breathe again.
He jerked when he felt a nudge at his arm.
"Eh?"
"I'm making a snow-angel!"
Draco sat up and moved away, incase Hermione would whack him again or kick him accidentally on the shin. He had learned his lessons, never mess with Granger when she's in a happy mood.
Yup, never.
Hermione was still so childish, after all the years of knowing her, and her intelligence, he had never once seen a woman so devoted in everything she does. And when I mean devoted, I mean that she sat up from moving her arms and legs and started to trace the outline of her angel with her fingers, making sure that it looked clean and perfect on the ground. For her, of course, everything had to be perfect.
Draco didn't mind that. In fact, that was one of the things he liked about her.
And that's just one. There are still countless.
Smiling, Hermione jumped up and walked to Draco's other side, plopping back down again.
"Wanna play more snowball fighting?" Hermione asked, her childish and enthusiastic tone made Draco chuckle.
"Nope. Your skills are lacking."
"Hey."
Draco shrugged.
Hermione didn't protest either, in fact, she had gotten rather intrigued by the platinum-blond hair that was now wet on Draco's head. He never actually wore gel anymore. In fact, his hair looked like a much lighter version of Harry's in her opinion.
Not that she minded. She thought that he looked good.
Oh, Merlin, she needs to stop that.
"Hey, Granger," Draco suddenly spoke up, nudging Hermione with his elbow. "Wanna fly?"
Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. "Fly?"
"Yeah. On my broom."
"No way."
"Why not?"
"I told you I was afraid of height!"
"Well, you should conquer your fears and let them be in the past. Surely you should know that, you're a Gryffindor."
"At least I know that I will be safe instead of landing head-down on my head if I fall off."
"I'll catch you."
Hermione scoffed, but she felt her heart thumping when Draco continued to stare at her, his eyes almost pleading.
"Pweaz?"
Hermione felt goosebumps when Draco stuck his lower lip out.
"Fine."
"Yay!"
"Ugh." she started to wonder if this was a fake Draco.
"Okay, step in front of me." Draco ordered, Hermione hesitantly obeyed and launched her leg over the wooden stick of his broom, her back hitting his chest. "Don't worry, it's not that scary."
"According to you, that is." she mumbled, crossing her arms in front of her as Draco leaned and held the broom with his hands. The two had taken Draco's broom quickly and had ran to the Astronomy tower to start their flying. Hermione had never seen Draco so excited.
She was actually scared of him.
"Alright. You ready?" Draco asked against her ear, smirking when he felt Hermione tense in front of him with fright.
"No."
"Okay then. Let's go!"
And with a jump, the two went soaring through the air.
Hermione had started screaming once he made the hop, her yells became muffled as they soared through the air with wind blowing against their faces. It wasn't that pleasant in the cold, but it sure was a thriller.
According to Draco, that is.
"Calm down, Granger, it's not that frightening!" Draco yelled, hoping to calm Hermione down from her screaming.
"Easy for you to say. You don't have a fear of heights!" Hermione yelled back.
"Oi, can't you just stand it for a few minutes?!"
"I can't! Apparently, I'll die if I try to stand. There's no ground under me!"
"Think positive thoughts, Granger! Positive!"
Hermione tried. Does hexing Draco and forcing him to dance on his head count as a positive thought?
Yes. Yes it does.
After a moment of silence, Hermione was starting to get use to the feeling of not having the ground underneath her. Her breath had gotten calmer, but she could still hear the frantic beating of her heart when she opened her eyes to look around her.
What made her heart beat faster doesn't have to do with the environment around her at all.
Draco leaned further against her, his breath was almost tickling her ear. She wasn't too sure if it was the wind or from him, she hoped that it was the second option.
No wait. She didn't.
Feeling her hands being covered by his own wasn't helping the situation either. She tensed when she felt more weight against her back, but tried to relax when Draco wrapped his arms around her warmly, yet somehow making her shiver. She was now sure of the hot breath that was mingling against her ear was him. She liked it, she decided, she liked it very much.
She liked it even more when Draco had gently brushed his lips against his cheek. Whether it was intentional or not, she had no clue.
Well, she didn't want to have a clue.
Feeling him brush his lips against her skin again, her head had started to turn on its own towards him, her brown orbs staring into his own sliver ones through the corner of her eye.
That was when she felt a huge thump in her heart.
What in the world were they doing?
"Hermione, let go!"
Snapping out of her glance on Draco's lips, Hermione let go of the broom underneath her, yelping in the process when she realized she had controlled the broom's movement when she held it so tight. Luckily, Draco was able to save them from crashing against one of the towers ahead of them.
When they had reached back to the Astronomy tower, Hermione practically launched herself to the ground in attempt to hug it, muttering something in the lines of 'Oh, I love you so much, I will never leave you again' and 'I hate that arrogant ferret'. It wasn't long before she got back on her feet and glared at him.
"You," she growled, pointing a finger at Draco's face, "I can't believe that you actually made me agree to do this stupid flying thing with you! I am never going to fly on a broomstick with you again. Ever! This has been one of the most awful days of my life!" As Hermione continued to ramble on about how horrible the flight was and how she hated it, Draco waited patiently for her to calm down. When she did and stopped pacing, Draco didn't smile when he picked his broom up and stare at her suggestively.
"So, same time, same place tomorrow?"
Hermione had no idea what made her agree to that, either.
Haha, I loved writing this chapter, it was soo fun. XD
Hmm, seems like Hermione's starting to feel something towards Draco as well, huh? Well, that's up for you to imagine, peace out! ;P
Anyways, thanks for reading, and REVIEW PWEEEAAAZZZZ!!!!!!! I will update the next chapter as soon as I can!!!
'Til next time!!! :D