Whatever caused that dream was not normal, she knew, and she never wanted to see it again. There was no doubt there was a memory. Disgruntled, she warily turned her gaze away from Draco Malfoy who was walking slowly to her bedside.

"Shhh! Now drink this and come with me." Draco rushed, keeping his voice low. He held out a goblet of a deep aubergine purple liquid. "Quickly! It's-"

"Yes, I know what it is! So who do I turn into?" Hermione hesitated. She was in a warm comfy bed and had no idea how she had gotten there, wondering if Draco had changed her clothes. She blushed deeply at the thought, and hoped that hadn't been the case.

"Georgina Bridgewater. Now, drink up and I'll explain later."

She swallowed it in one go; it had the taste of strong liquorice, vile and digusting on her tongue. She grimaced and drained the last drop.

"Get on with it!" Draco looked away, glancing towards the door as footsteps approached.

She felt herself grow an inch or two, her hair straightened and turned a dark violet shade. The robes she had grabbed from beside her she pulled on whilst examining her new hair colour. She wondered why she had to change her appearance, considering there wasn't any need in her opinion, and she asked Draco. "A Metamorphmagus, I expect? Now tell me, what's going-"

But a tall woman wearing black and silver robes strode in, her blonde, and slightly greying hair was twisted into a bun on the crown her head. Hermione felt her blood boil at the thought that Draco wanted to hide her from his mother, regardless of what would happen. Did he really value her as unworthy to his mother's eyes?

"Mum! Welcome back!" Draco exclaimed, a smile plastered onto his face, his eyes making gestures at Hermione to play along.

"I'm glad to be back. That journey back was awful." Narcissa let her hair tumble out of the bun, curling slightly around her high cheekbones.

"You must be Georgina then. Malfoy's told me all about you." She smiled. What had Malfoy told her? Wha- I don't care, I hate him right now.

"Good morning, Mrs Malfoy." Hermione said politely. Even though Narcissa was the sister of the demented witch that tortured her, she felt some sort of unknown respect for her. She had been through so much, as had Draco through the war, and she felt she owed Narcissa that much to listen to her. And yet, a small nagging murmur in her mind told her that if Narcissa Malfoy knew who she really was, she would not really be so nice.

"Draco dear, can you take my things up? I would like to speak to Georgina in private." She said, before she turned without looking at her son's shocked face.

"So, Georgina, has Draco been good?" She said.

"Why- yes, yes he has." Hermione frowned, and tried to hide a laugh at the idea Narcissa still treated Draco like a little boy. "Why would that be a problem?"

"If my ears don't deceive me, apparently Draco messes girls around sometimes, which is not what I want."

"I- well-I-" Hermione stopped herself from blushing as badly as she would have, and passed off a cough. "No, he's nice."

"He seems to have a specific interest in you. You're very bright for your age, I hear."

"Why, thank you, Miss-"

"Please, call me Narcissa." She directed Hermione to the white leather sofa by the fireplace.

"Thank you, Narcissa, Draco has spoken highly of you too."

Merlin, I'm stretching the truth a bit here, aren't I? And Malfoy? A player? I wouldn't expect very much better than that actually. She clenched her fists together for a moment in frustration at him.

"I'm slightly worried - see this is why I came back early. Has Draco…well…been himself lately? When I left him he seemed a bit distracted…almost possessed in a way…"

Hermione smiled slightly at the thought of his mother thinking him possessed. Oh if only she knew…

"He's been fine. More happy than usual actually."

"I'm happy to hear that. Now, I'll be staying until Boxing Day. And, from what I can see, you have kept the house spotless." She smiled another one of her genuine smiles and stood up as Draco walked in.

"Dear, as I've told Georgina here, I'll be staying over Christmas then staying with Aunt Clarice for a while. She's having a tough time with her potions business."

She then strode to the door, giving Hermione a little wink.

"What was that about?" Draco asked, curiously.

"Nothing. It doesn't matter. Now explain."

"Okay." He checked the door and sat down. "Mum sent me an owl last night saying she'd be back early. She can't know you- of all people- are here. So for now you'll have to stay like this. You're Georgina Bridges, a pureblood, you were in the same year as me at Hogwarts and a Slytherin-"

"Fine. Then there's no other reason to talk to you." Hermione said before turning away, scowling and storming out the door.

Girls. What's wrong with them?

Hermione relived that dream for the next week, until Christmas Eve, and avoided Draco as much as she could. The one flaw of this facade was that every time she decided to eat lunch, at the precise same time, Draco would be in the kitchen. As with many other places of the house. Four times had she been in the library and Draco would try and find out what was keeping her away from him. Bored on Christmas Eve, for the first time in her life, she decided to go for a walk. The garden was full of crisp white snow, fresh from the day before. It wasn't as cold as Hermione expected so she skipped down the hedgerow trying to think clearly.

How do I feel about Draco?

Do I hate him? I can't hate him. He's saved my life…twice.

That just makes it sound cooler. It wasn't like that.

But he cares about me.

Does he really?

The fresh air didn't help clear her mind but made her more confused. She kicked some of the snowflakes off of her shoes and sat down on one of the stone benches. The next thing she knew a snowball hit her back. She turned around to see Draco, the same stupid smirk he always used to have, especially for her.

"Please, I'm not in the mood." She snapped, and wrapped her arms around her body for warmth, and throwing away the thought that she would ever want to hug Draco for warmth. He threw another one that barely passed her shoulder.

"Touchy."

"Ha! Missed. You have a rubbish aim."

"And you have better, have you?"

Turning her frustration into the tightly packed snowball she made she flung it through the air and it landed straight onto Draco's head. "Told you so."

"You're not getting away with that!" He laughed, shaking the snow out of his hair and off his shoulders. "You okay?" He said, the smirk had gone and was replaced with the same sweet smile he gave her when she first came here.

"Perfect." She pulled a face. "I think I should tell you why I've been avoiding you-"

"That would be a start."

"It's just, I've been having the same dream, of that day last year when I was captured and brought here. It's only just happened and I've only just realised that... anyway, could you check the wards around my room?

"Probably. There are some jinxes that hide in the higher rooms. I've never really noticed many. Do you want me to fix it?"

"Yes, but…it's more than that. I don't want to have that thought in my head. You're not a bad man Draco, you've just made a lot of wrong choices and I want to forgive you for them." She wiped the tears that fled from her eyes and glistened on her cheeks. "Dobby died on that day and I really want to blame you for it."

"What? Dobby, our old house elf?"

She nodded.

"That was Aunt Bella- not me- I…"

"I know, but this goes against everything I've done for SPEW." She mumbled almost to herself, and then sighed at Draco as he frowned in confusion. "The Society for the Protection of Elfin Welfare. It's to help set house-elves free or at least give them better rights. Honestly, haven't you heard?"

"You're really dedicated to your work, aren't you?"

She looked puzzled, wondering if he was teasing her or was genuinely complimenting her. Pulling her scarf around her neck, she bit her lip.

"I meant that in a good way. You're really smart for some Muggle-born." He placed his hand on hers. She tore hers away furiously. Merlin, I've gone and made it worse.

"Some Muggle? How am I just some Muggle-born?" Hermione shouted, wiping her hand as if he had a contagious disease and stomped across the blanket of snow, picking up a handful as she hurried.

"I didn't mean it like that! I-" A snowball hit him again in the face. "Oi! Stop it!"

"See who's touchy now!"

"Ooft! Fine, a truce! A truce!"

"Oh no, you started that. I'm going to get you back!" She scurried around to gather a tightly-packed snowball and jumped to her feet. Face to face with Draco Malfoy.

And he pressed his lips against hers, the chilling cold of the snow being replaced by a satisfied warmth within him. She melted, like the snow around her soon would, in into his kiss. It was slow, sweet and harmless, purely something that may make Hermione smile. He stood there, momentarily dazed, looking at her so closely, her eyelashes - although technically not her own - glued together with damp snow and tears. Crystal clear tears.