Hermione entered the great hall, alone, Feeling guilty for cutting, ashamed of passing out, and grateful for that break to be starting very soon. Luna was sitting at her house table and smiled and waved as Hermione made her way down to where Harry and Ginny were giggling about something.
"What's so funny? What did I miss?" she asked as she joined her friends
"Good morning Hermione, I was just telling Ginny that Ron is plotting to break you and Draco up on Christmas. He plans to corner you and make you kiss him. We were just making a bet on how bad Draco is going to rearrange his face" said harry, Ginny continuing with
"I wouldn't think too much about it, I'm going to tell my brother off, I heard about your fight yesterday, he's not too happy that you talked to him like that. My stupid brother has it in his head that he's a tough guy, and that a woman is meant to be in her place…well I know you, your too smart and too pretty for my brother, you have a great guy with Draco." She smiled as her brother walked into the hall. "talk of the pig"
As Ginny's eyes looked up to see who had entered the hall, Hermione felt small all of a sudden. She took a deep breath, waiting for him to sit down near them, but instead he sat with Neville and Dean at the other end of the table.
"Looks like he's going to avoid you till Christmas" said Harry
"Good" spoke Hermione, in a plain, flat tone; Ginny gave her a stern look.
'Are you alright Hun?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just had a rough morning. I'm still getting used to the idea of not going home. Anything good for breakfast?"
"Toast and eggs for me, harry is eating quiche, it's the day before break feast, you can have whatever you wish Hun." Said Ginny.
"Ok…a soft-boiled egg and tea sounds good to me…perhaps rye toast?." as she finished speaking, with in a blink of the eye her food had appeared. The egg sitting neatly in a silver egg cup, toast points shingled on a plate and her teapot wrapped snugly in a tea cozy of her own making. A small note on it reading:
Thank you misses,
Although we do not like to accept your clothes for ourselves we have found use of them for service such as this. I am happy to serve misses,
happy holidays-
Snippsy-kitchen elf of Hogwarts School
Hermione stashed the note quickly in her bag, before the others could read it. Picking up her demitasse spoon, she cracked the top of the egg open, the shell fell to the sides leaving a perfectly cooked egg inside. Trying the wandless, speechless magic Draco had started to explain to her. She concentrated on the salt and pepper sitting on the table. She thought "move" and to her surprise they did, ever so slightly they slide on the table. She continued this thought pattern until her little egg was nicely sprinkled with salt and pepper. Once the shakers were back on the table Ginny interrupted her thoughts
"How the hell did you do that? Wand-less magic is forbidden in school"
"No it's not Ginny, it just isn't taught." Spoke Draco, sitting down next to Hermione, at the table.
"Well it's still not safe, she shouldn't be doing it"
"And why not, I do it all the time." Draco said in his defense, Ginny giving him a taken back look.
"That type of magic puts too much strain on the body; she doesn't need the extra stress, not with the pressure of everything else. Practice it on holiday, and after graduation, not at breakfast. It's known as dark magic now-a-days, that's why I'm upset" she tried to say in a rational tone, but seemed more on edge then helpful.
"I know the risks, but it's something that is useful, Hermione, if you want to learn, I can talk to Severus and we can arrange lessons. Harry if you want your welcome to join." Spoke Draco.
"no I think ill pass on the lessons, Snape and I never really got along. Im sure he has his reasons for hateing me, but im not too worried, that and im sure Gin, would prefer I didn't learn."
"No I don't want you to learn, thanks." She said
Hermione sighed, and looked at her friends "I'm not sorry for wanting to learn. If I somehow loss my wand or if it breaks when im getting my stuff from my I won't try again in front of you. You know me, I'm not into dark magic" Draco looked a little shocked
"You shouldn't have to hide anything about yourself, it's not fair to you" he said
"yeah, you might not be into the dark magic, but given the past…" she was interrupted by Harry
"Ginny, stop, ok? Hes not dark, hes not his father, I know your concerned. And maybe I should be too. But I trust him. I thought you did too."
"I do…its just hard to get used to..I'm sorry guys" she said
"But if it is something that affects my friends, I'll do without. I'm good at doing without.
"Speaking of doing without, you should eat your egg, now that it's seasoned, Dumbledore is about to speak, might want to finish before that." Said harry, wiping his lips on a napkin, then turning to kiss Ginny. She turned away, and he settled for kissing her cheek.
A spark of pain hit Hermione in the heart; she couldn't do that with Draco, even with Ginny being mad at harry they could still kiss in public. Going public now would ruin everything. They needed more time, and the holiday gave it to them. Hermione's arm may have been healed, but it still hurt, and it flowed guilt through her every vein. Draco took her left hand under the table.
"Not now, people might see" she said, between bites of the little egg.
"oh, hell, let them see"
"No Draco, I'm not ready for that. I want the ball to be our coming out to the school."
With that, she put her spoon down, after eating only half of the egg, and a slice of toast. Hermione pulled out the catalogs, and a note pad and quill from her bag.
"We know the theme is a masked ball, but what type of mask?" she asked Draco, Ginny's interest being sparked by the word "ball".
"I'm not sure, I've always been a fan of the old French style, but that's an over the top kinda party."
"No ,I like them too, it's part of one of my favorite muggle plays,"
"Mask balls make me sad, you never know who you're dancing with, and when you find out, they are some ugly guy no one likes and smells bad." Ginny said,
"Well then let's start the theme around an old fashioned French masked ball. I think there should be a mask for each student, and that mask has a mate. During the ball, they find the person with the matching mask, and that is their partner for the night."
said Draco
Harry became interested and began to listen, then commented "can we have masks that are matched, if we are already a couple, and not looking for someone?"
"idk, I think that spoils the fun of it, but we only just started planning, we'll talk more on Christmas."
"sounds like a plan" said ginny
Just then the headmaster stood up from his breakfast, and called for the attention of the students.
"good morning to you all, we are almost ready to travel out into the wintery wonderland, and enjoy another holiday with family and friends. For those of you remaining here for holiday, please remember to sign in with your head of house or designated teacher each morning. You will be allowed to visit Hogsmade, but only with a pass, and only when weather permits." He paused and gave a small smile towards Hermione and Draco
"our head boy and girl have begun plans for a special treat for when we return from our holiday. From what I have been told so far, make plans to break in your dancing shoes, and I will tell you more after the break. Travel by train is still allowed for now, the storm has passed, but snow is covering upwards of 4 feet deep. Once you have your bags packed, and have signed out with your head of house please meet here by 8 am tomorrow." He paused and took a sip of tea.
"The rest of the afternoon should be used for final study before break, and to finish packing or tidying up. Enjoy your lunch feast and dinner feast, and if I am called away, happy Christmas to all of you."
The students went back to eating and talking, with thoughts of the joy this holiday will bring. Hermione thought of how awful it would be if she went home, she would have to face her father, but on the bright side Draco would be by her side, and she knew he wouldn't let anything happen to her. She was interrupted by a tiny school owl.
"Draco, the notes addressed to the head boy and girl." Said harry, handing the note to Hermione, and giving the owl a treat.
"what does it say Hermione?" asked Draco, giving Hermione a moment to read it over first
"I don't belive it.!"
"What? what's wrong?"
"No..it's not something wrong…. The ministry of magic has assigned a small wizard taskforce to my case for when I go to retrieve my things from my house. Here ill read you what it says:
… due to the nature of your case, brought to the ministry's attention from an anon tip off, we do not feel that for your safety you should return to your residence alone. This taskforce will be available whenever you need them. I understand that this is a lot to understand, we feel that we, as the department that is meant to protect its citizens, has failed you. We hope that by continuing to keep you safe, we can redeem ourselves for any misgivings that might have been felt in the past. This is a time for new beginnings, and we hope to continue to do right by you.
Please enjoy your holiday
Department of Magical protection and law enforcement"
"that's great Hermione, now you don't need to worry about a thing!" said Ginny, a little too happy for Hermione's likings.
"No…I'm still worried…now people know….and I didn't tell them. I'm not a lost cause. But I feel like I am." She sighed and looked at Draco, she was about to cry but held it back, her heart beginning to race and the need to cut rising as the blood flow passed over the mornings marks. Under the table she pulled the rubber band and it snapped. It landed on the mark that had been made only a few hours ago.
"Hermione are you ok?" asked Draco.
"yeah, I'm alright. Just trying to be ok. I don't feel like being here anymore, want to continue the ball planning in the common room?" she asked Draco.
"sure, Harry, Ginny do you have any plans? Want to join us?"
So The small group spent the remainder of the morning in the Heads common room. The conversation took them from topic to topic. Topics of music and food, and of decorations passed lightly over the hours. Draco and Harry started to argue over the music, Ginny sat there listening to each of their sides, as Hermione sat there and closed her eyes.