Last Christmas
I gave you my heart
But the very next day you gave it away
This year
To save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special
~ Last Christmas x Wham!
Chapter 29: Oh, Holy Night
Blaise was sitting in the Slytherin common room, waiting for Tobias LeStrange to walk in. Seeing as there was absolutely nothing to do during the holiday, the tan Slytherin was sure that his target would have resulted into staying in the common room for the night. But he was quickly proved wrong, as there was no one in the common room except him—even Nott was nowhere to be found. He sighed, lifting up his copy of the Daily Prophet his mother sent him. He smirked as he read the title of it: INQUIRY AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC. Lucius Malfoy was calling for Weasley Senior to resign from the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department ever since the flying car incident. It was about time somebody did something about that low- life degenerate of a wizard. Blaise remembered his mother saying that Weasleys working in the Ministry would only lead to destruction.
The door to the common room opened, and Blaise was unmoved as LeStrange walked inside. He put down his copy of the paper and watched as the boy walked closer to the table. Either this was the real Tobias LeStrange or Malfoy was really good at acting. But it didn't matter, Blaise had already come up with a strategy to ensure he didn't get caught up in his own deception.
"Butterbeer." He said quickly, trying to mock the eagerness of Theodore Nott.
LeStrange sat down. "Lacewing flies." Blaise lifted his paper back up—this was Malfoy.
"I've looked everywhere." The boy went on. "I can't find him."
Blaise rolled his eyes. "Obviously, you're not looking hard enough. Have you read the paper?"
"Yeah."
"It's about time your father did something productive." Blaise said from behind the paper, and Draco had to resist the urge to punch him in the face. "If Arthur Weasley loves muggles so much, he should just go join them—I'm sure there are many colonies that would take him and his washboard family."
"What have they done to you?" Draco sneered, his heart dropping once he realized what he just said. Blaise set down the paper, eyeing the boy carefully.
"Are you sure you aren't LeStrange?"
Draco nodded. "It's just—I should be the one complaining. My father has to deal with his father for most of the day, and now this."
"Point taken." Blaise turned a page. "I'm surprised the Daily Prophet hasn't reported all these attacks yet. Probably Dumbledore's way of trying to hush it all up—mother always said Dumbledore was the worst thing that ever happened to this place. These muggleborns wouldn't even think of coming to Hogwarts if we had a decent headmaster."
Draco had to hold his tongue at that. If Dumbledore wasn't headmaster, he would have never met Hermione or Creevy, despite how annoying the boy was. He felt a pain in his chest as he thought about her. She was the reason why everything was the way it was now. But deep down Draco knew it was his fault. Hermione was his friend, and he ruined that. For what? He clenched his fist.
"What's the matter with you?"
Draco snapped out of his trance to see Blaise staring back at him. He quickly un-balled his fist, trying not to look as angry as he felt. He stood up.
"I'm going to look for Nott again." He said as calmly as he could.
Blaise nodded, returning back to his copy of the prophet. Draco turned away from the table, trying to gain control of himself. He didn't know how long he could do this anymore—the anger had subsided months ago, but he had been far too ashamed to return back to Tobias and the rest. He cringed at the thought of making amends with Weasley, but he longed to apologize to Hermione. But the question was: would they even bother to listen to him?
Pansy stormed down the corridor, her robes whooshing behind her. At this moment in time, she knew two things: 1) Daphne Greengrass was a completely idiot and 2) She was going to kill Hermione Granger. She never minded the bushy- haired witch—she was Tobias's friend which had to count for something. Pansy would have been jealous until she noticed the looks Granger sometimes gave to Malfoy when he wasn't looking. So Pansy was fine with her crush hanging around the girl Gryffindor, even more when the group broke apart. But today, at this moment in time—Hermione Granger had crossed a line.
It was indeed out of character when Daphne wanted to stay up in the girls' dorm all night instead of going to find Theodore, but Pansy didn't question it—maybe the girl had finally realized that Theodore didn't fancy her. But then Daphne wouldn't shut up about Theodore, and even worse—Tracey was adding on to the conversation and Tracey never participated in Daphne's talks about boys. But again, Pansy brushed it off, being relieved that Tracey was talking about something else other than Quidditch. Everything started to make sense when Pansy noticed that Daphne was wearing Theodore's Weasley sweater he'd gotten last year. She remembered the Weasley boy asking for it back when the group went their separate ways. How did Daphne get it?
So after some convincing—or what like Pansy like to call "aggressive motivation"—Daphne finally spilled the beans. Granger had given her the sweater and in return, Daphne would have to keep Pansy in the Slytherin dorms until the next day. Why did Granger need her in the dorms all night? A better question would be: What was Granger up to? And where was Tobias—she hadn't seen him since this morning. There was no doubt that Granger probably suspected him to be the Heir of Slytherin since the Justin incident and devised a plan to find out herself—or worse, make him confess to Dumbledore. Granger may be smart, but she wasn't that smart—no one in their right mind would trust Daphne Greengrass to do anything. So Hermione Granger, prepare to endure the rage of one Pansy Parkinson.
Pansy made her way down the corridor. She shivered a bit when she walked passed the wall that Filch's cat was petrified by but kept walking. She was stopped when she heard a faint sniffle coming from the bathroom. She assumed it was just Moaning Myrtle, but then she heard the ghost laughing and another voice. Granger. Pansy turned around and burst through the door, her wand at ready.
"Come out, Granger!" She hissed. "I know you're in here."
Moaning Myrtle glided through one of the stall doors, an amusing smile on her face. Pansy felt nerved by the sight of Moaning Myrtle being so happy.
"Oooooooooh, wait till you see," She said. "It's awful."
Pansy lowered her wand a bit as she heard Granger sniffle some more. "Granger?"
One of the stall locks clicked open, and Pansy's wand shot back up. Granger stepped out of the stall, her robes over her head. Pansy could tell that she was still crying. She wanted to feel sorry for the girl, but she couldn't. She needed to know where Tobias was first.
"Where's LeStrange?" She asked. "Why did you make that deal with Daphne?"
Granger sniffed again. "I needed y-your hair."
"My hair?" It then clicked. "Were you making Polyjuice Potion?
"Yes." The Gryffindor nodded. "I needed your hair to make my transformation. That's why I asked Daphne to keep you out of the corridors."
"Why?"
"I don't think I should tell you."
Pansy scoffed. "You took my hair, I have every right to know what you wanted to use it for."
"We were supposed to be investigating Malfoy tonight. To see if he was the heir of Slytherin."
"And you thought Malfoy would talk to me?"
Granger shook her head. "No, but I figured Zabini would."
"Zabini?" Pansy raised an eyebrow.
"I had my assumptions set on Zabini, I was going to use you to talk to him."
Pansy was silent. Well played Granger, you're not as stupid as I thought. But there was still another question.
"So what happened?"
"Huh?"
Pansy rolled her eyes. "Why are you in here? With your robe over your face? And don't tell me it's because of how I look because obviously—that's a lie."
There was silence and then Granger let her robes fall. Pansy took a step back, trying to hold in the laugh that was dying to come out of her mouth. Once again, well played Granger.
"It was cat hair." The girl said softly. "The hair I took from your robes wasn't yours."
Pansy groaned. "You took it from my robes?"
"The night of the dueling club."
"Granger, those weren't even my robes. Millicent let me borrow hers because mine were in the laundry—they were covered in cat hair!"
"Well, how was I supposed to know?!" The girl squeaked. "And the potion isn't supposed to be used for animal transformations!"
Pansy sighed. "Calm down, Granger. It's going to be alright. Let's get you to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey never asks questions anyway."
Granger nodded, returning her robe over her head. "Why are you helping me?"
"Because Granger, you need at least one girl friend in your life—and seeing as your best friends are five boys who don't even talk to each other, I volunteer to be yours."
The two girls walked out of the bathroom, Pansy checking to make sure no one was lurking about. They then made their way down the corridor to the hospital wing.
"Were you going to hex me earlier?" Hermione asked.
"Of course not." Pansy lied. "Rule number one, Granger: Friends don't hex friends."
"So you two made Polyjuice potion as well?"
Theodore, Tobias, Ron, and Neville were sitting in an empty classroom, a precaution they took just in case the real Crabbe and Goyle broke out of their broom cabinet prison. They weren't sure how long the potion was supposed to last so they all agreed to stay in the classroom until it did. It had become obvious that both groups used Polyjuice Potion, and now the question was: Why?
Ron nodded. "We wanted to know whether it was Malfoy who was attacking the muggleborns. What about you two?"
"Zabini." Said Theodore.
Neville frowned. "Why not Draco?"
"I know, Draco." Tobias cut in, shooting a look to Ron when he scoffed. "He wouldn't do something like that."
"Like you knew he wouldn't hurt Hermione?" Ron grumbled.
"Zabini's messing with his head, I know he is." Tobias shook his head. "He was going to apologize to her."
"Too late for that."
Theodore raised an eyebrow. "Speaking of Hermione, where is she?"
"She told us to go without her." Neville shrugged.
"Any reason why?" Tobias asked.
Ron shook his head. "She wouldn't tell us."
Tobias and Theodore looked at each other.
"What?" Ron asked, unable to read their faces.
"You guys do realize you left Hermione Granger," Theodore began. "the Hermione Granger, in a bathroom, alone?"
Ron seemed confused. "What's the problem?" He frowned. "There's another troll on the loose, isn't there?"
"Oh Merlin, no." said Theo. "It's just—ya know—"
"She can be a little mischievous when she wants to be." Tobias added in.
"Meaning?" Ron asked.
Theodore rolled his eyes. "Thick I tell you."
"Meaning," said Tobias. "She might've told you to go on, because she had an ulterior motive."
Neville gulped.
Ron chuckled nervously. "Hermione? No, she wouldn't do something like that."
"Like we thought she wouldn't lie for us last Halloween?"
Theodore nodded. "Or like we thought she wouldn't sneak an illegal dragon through the school?"
"Oh, no." Ron said under his breath. "Maybe she did lie."
"Maybe she went after Zabini." Neville blurted out, and soon turned a dark shade of red when the other three boys snapped their heads at him. Their expressions on Crabbe's and Goyle's faces made the two Slytherin boys look much scarier.
"Zabini?" Tobias screeched.
"What the bloody hell is she doing going after Zabini?" Theodore snapped. "Answer me, Longbottom!"
Neville's hands began to shake. "She told me the other day how she thought it may be Zabini attacking the muggleborns."
"And why didn't she tell me?!" Ron roared.
"Because you wouldn't listen!" Neville snapped, and everyone was startled by his tone of voice. "You've been so focused on Malfoy! That's all you want to talk about!"
Theodore snapped his head towards Ron. "I thought you were supposed to be protecting her!"
"I am." Ron growled.
"Could've fooled me."
"Enough!" Tobias screamed. "That's not the point. What else did she say about Zabini, Neville?"
"She didn't say anything else." Neville explained. "She just thought he was up to something."
Ron shook his head. "I doubt it. Zabini wouldn't kill a fly. It's Malfoy we should be worried about."
"Here we go." Said Neville.
"His dad was here fifty years ago when the chamber was opened the first time. There's no doubt that he's sent Draco to do it now."
Theodore frowned. "Who told you that wad of crap?"
"Lucius Malfoy didn't go to Hogwarts fifty years ago." Tobias said, his eyebrow raised. "And who told you the chamber's been opened before?
Ron turned red. "Well, Hermione told me about the chamber."
"Dobby came to see her again." Neville added in.
Tobias crossed his arms. "And the information about Lucius Malfoy?" Ron's face went even redder.
Theodore put his head in his hands. "Ron tell me you didn't. I thought Pansy was lying. "
"Did what?" Ron squeaked. "What does Parkinson have to do with this?"
"Who did you get the information from?" Tobias said lowly.
Ron felt his insides clench. It was all coming together now, Zabini had been lying to him. He had told him all these things about Malfoy and his father, and now it turns out they were lies. He felt even sicker that now he would have to admit that he made a deal with Zabini—a deal that was probably the reason all his friends were scattered now.
"I got it from Zabini." He said softly.
"Oh, bloody hell." Theodore groaned, lifting his hands to his eyes. "Hey, my clothes are too big!"
Tobias touched his hair, which had returned to its normal state. "The potion's wearing off." He then turned back to Ron, whose nose was returning to its original length. "Why are you getting information from Blaise Zabini?"
Ron scratched the back of his neck. "I don't know. At the time it seemed like a good idea, Malfoy was acting strange and everything was happening with the muggleborns. Zabini said he knew things about him."
Tobias frowned. "Things like what?"
"Things about his father." Ron shrugged. "But I see now they were all lies. He only told me those things so I could continue to blame Malfoy."
"But Zabini's been hanging with Draco." Neville seemed confused.
"Probably to convince Ron that he was on his side." Tobias groaned. "I knew it. I knew Zabini was messing with him."
"And Malfoy doesn't even know." Ron said sadly. "I feel like an idiot."
"You should." Theodore snapped. "Trusting Zabini with anything is like trusting the killing curse to not to kill you."
Ron groaned. "But what does Pansy Parkinson have to do with all this?"
Tobias's interest was piqued, he turned towards Theodore. "Theo?"
"I don't want to break the girl code, but it seems like I'll have to." Theodore sighed. "Pansy found out about Zabini's plan."
"His plan?"
Theodore nodded. "He wanted all of us to split up. Pansy found out when she saw Ron talking to Zabini one day."
Tobias frowned. "Why didn't she tell me?"
"Well, that's also a funny story." Theodore ruffled his hair. "Zabini's blackmailing her."
"With?" asked Ron.
Theodore took a deep breath. "Pansy has a crush on you, Tobias, and she didn't want you to know, but Zabini was going to tell everyone if he found out that you knew about his plan. That's why she told me."
Tobias groaned. "And why didn't you tell me?!"
"I thought she was lying." Theodore shrugged. "Everyone can't be trusted these days."
"So what now?" asked Neville.
Tobias jumped off the desk he was sitting on. "First, we go find Hermione before she gets hurt."
"Then, we get to Draco." Theodore said.
Ron slammed his fist into his hand. "Next, Zabini pays."
Draco was walking down the corridor, his hands in his pockets. The Polyjuice Potion had worn off a few minutes ago, but the blonde Slytherin was trying to avoid returning back to the Slytherin common room. He didn't want to see Blaise—whether he was still polyjuiced as his cousin or not. He was so desperate for friends, that he became friends with the most hated person in the school. And what was worse, all his real friends looked better off without him. If only he knew where Granger was, he would apologize. To be honest, he missed her—he missed all of them.
He began walking towards the hospital wing—he was going to ask Madam Pomfrey for some Pepper- Up Potion for his stomach. Then after, he would go up to Gryffindor Tower and demand to speak to Hermione. He didn't care if he had to fight Weasley, or the whole Weasley family—he had to see her. He had to apologize. He had to get his friends back.
The doors to the hospital wing opened, and Draco ran to make sure that it wasn't Madam Pomfrey leaving for the night. He sighed in relief when it was only Pansy. She turned in his direction once she heard his footsteps approaching her. She frowned.
"Well, look who it is."
"Piss off, Parkinson." Draco breathed out.
Pansy rolled her eyes. "Where's your friend?"
"Zabini isn't my friend. He's a slimy git."
"You're just now realizing that?" The girl crossed her arms.
"I mean I knew before." The blonde Slytherin explained. "It's just gotten intolerable."
"It was always intolerable. You just didn't care cause you were too busy being mad at your real friends."
Draco nodded. "I know that now. I've been an idiot-"
"-Can't argue with that-"
"So I'm going to apologize to them. Granger first, and then the rest."
Pansy crossed her arms. "This isn't some plan of Zabini's, is it?"
"No. This is serious. I can't take this anymore."
Pansy stared at the boy for a moment. He seemed sincere, and it was about time that he realized Zabini was full of crap. She flipped her hair, finally deciding that he wasn't as bad as she thought he was. Give Draco Malfoy some time, and he'll actually turn out to be a good guy.
"Well, you're in luck." She said, dropping her arms. "Somebody's waiting for you inside."
Draco seemed confused. "Who?"
Pansy rolled her eyes again. "Just go inside."
"But what's in there? It's like midnight."
"Just consider this a late Christmas present." She then walked off.
Draco stared at the hospital wing doors. He didn't completely trust Pansy Parkinson—he didn't really even know why she was in the hospital wing to begin with. But he became curious—what was waiting for him in the hospital wing? Well—who was waiting for him in the hospital wing? He burst through the doors, looking around to find someone familiar. His heart dropped, but his face also frowned once he noticed who Pansy was talking about.
He wasn't really sure it was her at first, but the bushy hair gave it away. It was Hermione, but she looked like one of Millicent Bulstrode's cats. He walked over to her bed.
"Granger?"
She snapped her head up. "Draco!" She squeaked.
He sat down on the hospital bed opposite of her. "What happened?"
Hermione laughed softly. "It's a long story."
"I'm all ears." Draco smirked.
"We made polyjuice potion, and I thought the hair I had was Pansy's but actually it was from one of Millicent's cats."
"That wasn't long at all."
Hermione sniffed. "Seemed longer in my head."
"When you say 'we'," Draco said slowly. "You're talking about Ron and Neville, right?"
Hermione nodded.
"Why?"
She then turned to look at him, and Draco wasn't so bothered by her cat appearance—she still had her brown eyes, and that was all that mattered.
"Promise you won't be mad." She said nervously.
Draco laughed, raising his right hand. "Scout's honor."
"No, pinky promise." Hermione held out her pinky, and the blonde Slytherin took it.
"I promise."
The witch sighed. "We were using it to spy on you. To see if you were the one attacking the muggleborns."
"What?!" Draco seethed.
"You said you wouldn't be mad!"
"How can I not be mad, Granger?! You guys—you thought I was Heir of Slytherin?"
"No!" said Hermione. "I thought it was Zabini—but Ron—"
"—of course—"
"—he thought it was you, and there was no convincing him otherwise. I'm really sorry, Draco."
The blonde Slytherin sighed. "It's fine. So you don't think it's me?"
Hermione smiled. "I never did."
"Even after what I said to you? When I called you—a—you know?"
The witch then frowned, and Draco felt all his chances of apologizing float away.
"What you said did hurt." She said softly, sniffling once more. "But I hoped—still hope—that you didn't mean it. But to answer your question, no—I still didn't think it was you."
Draco sighed. "I didn't mean it—I know I'm months late—but I'm really, really, really sorry about what I said, Hermione. And you don't have to apologize to me about that, I don't care. I just miss my friend."
Hermione raised an eyebrow, and Draco could've sworn he saw her whiskers quiver. "I thought Zabini was your friend?"
"He isn't— you're my friend. Tobias is my friend. And so is Theodore, and Neville, and even Weasley."
Hermione smirked. "And it took you this long to figure it out?"
"What can I say?" Draco shrugged. "I'm an idiot."
The witch laughed. "But you're my idiot."
Draco head shot up. "Does that mean you forgive me?"
"Yes. But you'll have to make it up to me."
The blonde Slytherin groaned. "This can't be good."
Hermione was glad that it was nighttime, Draco couldn't see her blushing. She was glad to have her friend back—these months without all of her friends seemed like a nightmare. But it was no doubt that she had missed Draco the most. He was her special friend—it was something about him that made her smile, she just couldn't put a finger on it.
"Well, it's still Christmas." She said softly.
Draco turned a deep red. "Oh—I—uhh—I didn't get you anything, Hermione."
"I know." She laughed. "Which is why this present won't be so hard to get."
"What is it?"
"I want you to stay with me, for the night." She looked around the room. "It can get lonely in here."
Draco nodded eagerly, a smile growing on his face. "Yeah, yeah. Of course—I'll go tell Madam Pomfrey I have a stomach ache or something." He then got up and ran to the medical witch's office. Hermione blushed once more as she watched him.
The four boys ran as fast as they could to the Slytherin common room. Their hearts were thumping against their chests and they could feel the blood pumping in their veins. It was already bad enough that Hermione had some ulterior motive to the Polyjuice plan—it was even worse that she was no longer in the bathroom when Ron and Neville returned. They all figured she must've gotten to Zabini, and only Merlin knew what he could've done to her—especially if he found out that the Pansy Parkinson he was talking to was really Hermione Granger.
Theodore yelled the password, not even caring that two Gryffindors were with him. They burst through the door, finding a calm Blaise Zabini sitting on the couch, the Daily Prophet in his hands. He looked up and raised an eyebrow.
"Where is she?!" Ron growled.
Blaise set down the paper. "What on Earth are you talking about, Weasley? Ah, I see you've brought friends."
"Cut the crap, Zabini." Theodore snapped. "Where's Hermione?"
"Granger? Why would I know where she is?"
Theodore opened his mouth to say something else, but Tobias stopped him. "You don't know where she is?"
Blaise stood up. "I haven't seen Granger all Christmas holiday." He looked at Ron. "Weasley you should really learn how to keep up with your pets."
Ron pushed through, snatching the tan Slytherin by his robes. "Look here you little—"
"Your threats don't scare me, Ronald." Zabini spat. "I don't know where she is."
"Let him go, Ron." Said Tobias. "I believe him."
Ron let him go, and Zabini dusted his robes down. "I see you all are back chaps again—meaning you all must know." He tutted. "Parkinson will never learn."
"Save it." Tobias snapped. "I already know—and she didn't tell me. Meaning that you can't tell everyone her secret."
Blaise laughed.
"I hate it when he does that." Theodore grumbled.
"Actually, I can. See I told Parkinson if she kept her mouth closed—which obviously, she didn't—I wouldn't tell."
Ron rolled up his sleeves. "Then I guess we'll have to convince you to keep yours shut, aye?"
The common room doors opened, and Crabbe and Goyle burst through. Blaise smirked.
"Right on time, boys. Seems like we're about to have ourselves a common room brawl."
Ron scoffed. "Hardly. It's four on three."
"I hope you aren't counting Longbottom in this." Blaise spat.
"And what if he is?" Neville stepped up, but Zabini only smirked, seeing as the boy's fist were trembling.
"No!" Tobias said. "We're not fighting."
"You're joking?" Theodore said through gritted teeth.
"I'm not. He's going to tell everyone either way."
Zabini smirked. "Smart boy."
Tobias ignored him. "Come on, we have to find Hermione." The dark- haired Slytherin walked out of the common room, Ron and Neville behind him. Theodore stayed behind, glaring at Zabini.
"Forgetting something, Nott?"
Theodore smiled. "Very poor choice of words." He cocked his fist back and punched Zabini in the jaw, causing the Slytherin to fall back onto the couch.
"Theo!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming." Theodore yelled back. He ran out of the common room before Crabbe and Goyle could catch him, laughing on his way out.
Pansy didn't go back to Slytherin common room—she didn't want to. It was Christmas, and all she ended up doing was helping everybody. She helped Zabini; she helped Granger; she even helped Malfoy. She felt like bloody St. Nick. But who was going to help her? She was still being blackmailed by Zabini, and even if she wanted to tell Tobias, she couldn't. Everyone would then know her secret—everyone would know she had a crush on Tobias LeStrange.
"I know."
She quickly looked up, a rock splashing down in the pit of her stomach. There he was—her betrothed standing before her. She cleared her throat.
"Know what?" She said. "And why are your robes so big?"
Tobias sighed. "Long story."
"I've heard that line enough for one night."
"What do you mean?"
Pansy shook her head. "Nothing. What do you know?"
"Your secret." The boy softly, as if there was someone else lurking through the halls. "Your crush."
The Slytherin girl felt her cheeks go red. "Tobias, I—"
"It's fine. I know all about Zabini blackmailing you for it."
She put her head in her hands. "Great. Now he's going to tell everyone."
Tobias raised an eyebrow. "And what's wrong with that?"
Pansy lifted her head up. He could not be serious—but that look in his eyes told her that he was. She groaned.
"Because you don't….like me back." She said the last part at a whisper, secretly hoping that he didn't hear her, or that this conversation wasn't actually happening.
He sat down beside her. "What if I told you I did?"
Her heart stopped. "But you—you like Ginny."
"Like she'll ever give me the time of day." The boy laughed. "But yeah, I do like her, too."
Pansy narrowed her eyes. "You can't like us both."
He laughed again, and Pansy had the sudden urge to thump him. "Actually, I can. I would just have to choose."
"And?"
"And I choose Ginny." He said, and Pansy felt her heart break. "But only because you're one of my best friends—and what if we dated, broke up—and then hated each other for the rest of our lives? I would rather let that happen with me and Ginny than you and me."
Pansy shook her head. "You're a prat."
"But I'm your prat." Tobias chuckled, wrapping his arm around her. Pansy then laid her head on his shoulder, smiling when the boy didn't tense up at her touch.
"So what do we do about Zabini?" She asked a few moments later.
Tobias shrugged. "I don't know yet. Know anybody he has a crush on?"
"I know a few." She chuckled. "One of them you won't like. But he's absolutely barmy for her."
He laughed against her. "Just thought of a plan."
Pansy sighed. "Tobias?"
"Hm?"
"You're my best friend, too."
The boy didn't say anything back, but Pansy almost melted when he laid a kiss on top of her forehead. Right now, she didn't care if Zabini told everybody—Tobias liked her back, even if they couldn't actually be together. But Tobias was right, he was her best friend—and she wouldn't have it any other way. Happy Christmas, Pansy.
"What do you see?"
Ron was peeping through the doorway of the hospital wing. Theodore suggested that they look inside for Hermione, but seeing as it was past midnight, they wouldn't be able to barge in without an excuse. Ron looked around the hospital wing, discovering the outline of Hermione's hair in the moonlight. He also noticed someone else in the hospital bed beside her. From the silver glow, he could tell it was Malfoy. He could also tell that the two were holding hands. He closed the door.
"She's in there."
Theodore sighed. "Oh thank, Merlin."
"Shouldn't we go in there?" Neville asked. "She's alone."
Ron shook his head. "Malfoy's in there, too."
Theodore and Neville exchanged looks, surprised at Ron's calm tone at the mention of Malfoy.
Theodore raised an eyebrow. "And you're okay with that?"
"You were right, Neville." Said Ron. "I wasn't listening to Hermione. She tried to tell me that it wasn't Malfoy and I wouldn't listen. Draco's our friend, and I shouldn't have turned against him."
Neville smiled.
"So, you still don't want to go in there and make sure?" Theodore egged on.
Ron laughed. "I'm sure. She's well taken care of."
Author's Note: And the gang is coming back together finally! Dramione! Tobias/Pansy! It's a Christmas Miracle! Follow, Fav, and Review!
~ TheeStoryTeller
