Let's not talk about Christmas

They both knew the peace of Christmas holiday wouldn't last long. Evan knew Hermione's temper would soon enough make them end up on the receiving end of her wand. Hermione knew Lorry would be back and she didn't have a plan to get her to back off Evan.

The closer it got to everyone returning, the thicker the tension between them became. They spent some time together still, but opted to spend time in common areas where they didn't have to be close for Evan to technically be watching over her.

Hermione spends those moments watching Benjy with his girlfriend, wishing she was the one that could spend time with him. It would be wonderful to spend time with someone that was so easy to get along with, that laughed without a care. That had those beautiful green eyes…

The morning everyone is to return from the holidays Hermione and Evan are both sitting at breakfast staring at their food. The tension in their stomach makes it hard for them to eat anything. After staring at her food for about an hour and just sipping her tea until it becomes cold, Hermione gives up and goes outside.

Evan follows shortly after, his food abandoned too.

Hermione heads for the library, thinking she can catch up on some reading. They walk in silence down the halls, neither acknowledging each other or the tension that can be cut with a knife. When they reach the library Hermione stops and stares at it.

She sighs and then continues walking. If she went in there now to read she would just do the exact same as in the great hall. Sit still and stare at what is in front of her. Walking seems like a much better option to settle her nerves.

They walk through the halls without a destination in mind. Evan never asks for one, and usually that would soothe Hermione, knowing she doesn't have to justify her actions. But today is a day where they barely notice each other, some actions just second nature, like Hermione slowing down if Evan lags behind, and Evan always following at a distance.

When they reach the front halls again students are starting to stream in.

Hermione spots Lorry and gulps. She turns to look at Evan and notice he has the same terrified expression she surely has.

"Lorry!" she says with too much enthusiasm. She cringes at her own actions and hopes the girl is oblivious to her attempt at deception.

"Merry!" she returned and now Hermione couldn't hide her flinch at the horrible nickname. "I've missed you."

"Same!" She forced herself to smile at the girl. "Can we talk?"

"Sure Merry, I have to tell you what happened over Christmas!"

Lorry prattled on as Hermione led them outside. Evan followed at a distance before opting to lean against the castle walls once outside. Hermione sent him a thankful smile before catching herself in the action and turning back to pretend to listen to Lorry.

The girl never stopped talking though! She was so annoying, why the hell did Hermione even let her hang around with them? Hermione wanted to groan out loud to stop this girl from talking.

"Lorry!" she interrupted, startling the girl. Hermione forced another fake smile and changed her tone to a softer one. "I need to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Can you stop pestering Evan?"

"What do you mean pestering him? I am just trying to spend time with him, he is my- uh, my." Lorry paused and blushed. "He is my friend, and I like him, and I think he likes me."

"I don't want you hanging around him anymore."

"Why, it's not like you like him!"

Hermione stopped their walk, considering if this was the right way to get Lorry to back off. Tell her she liked Evan so that the girl would think it upset Hermione to see them together. But before she could decide, Lorry jumped to conclusions.

"You do like him! Wow, I thought you two seemed different after the break."

"I don't-" she started but stopped herself and sighed. This lie was better than anything else she could come up with anyway, and a lot of people already seemed to have this impression. "Don't tell anyone Lorry."

"I promise!" Lorry seemed overly excited about the news for someone that supposedly was in love with Evan. "I'll keep your secret Merry."

Hermione looked at her suspiciously, wondering what the younger girl had planned. But instead of trying to continue the conversation, Lorry updated Hermione on all the gossip that had happened over the holiday, not that Hermione cared.

When they walked back to the castle, Hermione spotted Evan still leaning against the castle. She was reminded of the posters of Muggle celebrities posing for pictures on magazines she had started sneaking in to annoy her father. She didn't actually read them, but they were fun to annoy Voldemort with.

She was shaken from her thoughts by the look on Lorry's face. It was smug and knowing and it bothered her immensely. There was nothing to know about her and Evan, she was just as annoyed by him as always.

Emily joined up with the two, having caught up with her other Ravenclaw friends. She also started chattering on about her holiday and how much she enjoyed Christmas with her family.

It almost felt like having friends, and it made her heart ache. Hermione desperately wanted to have friends, but they always seemed to prove her wrong in the end. They all just wanted to use her for some reason or other.

Authors Note: Hey everyone!

Its been what, 3 years? *hides in shame*

I know you all missed this story (judging by the wonderful reviews, thank you!) and I felt like I needed to update this before continuing on my other stories again, even though this chapter is rather short. Im having a bit of a hard time picking up on this story for a few reason: It is too sad, Hermione seems too OOC at times or OP, there are too many Slytherins (I need more of a balance) and I forgot some of what I had planned in my head but not written down. I will continue with this story (I wont promise to finish since the last time I did I didn't update for ages) But it might take a bit before it becomes regular updates. I want to finish "12 days of Christmas" and get most of "Allure of Darkness" fleshed out at least.

I will include a lot more teen/kid drama and fun. Its going to be a little cringe, a lot of hilarity and of course, a Dark Lord faced with a daughter he did not want. Warning, Lord Voldemort will continue to be OOC at times because this story is supposed to be funny xD Attribute the changes that Hermione might have from how Ive written her so far to her hormones getting the better of her? xD

Question: Would you rather have short chapter updates like this? Or longer ones?

Ty to my reviewers (since I last updated, cough cough sorry):
purple breeze, paredescharlene, Hermione Lyra Malfoy-Riddle, penelope90, Guest, Sam martinez, sanskrits, Guest, , LittleRedSiren3101, biggestfangirlever, CarysMoff157, 394egapotnrut, MoonflowerDaydreamer, Guest

Answers to my reviewers:
- No Hermione will not consider suicide. Even though this is a story dealing with Voldemort as a father, I want it to veer towards being lighthearted and fun. But I agree, she really does need some true friends ;)

-This story is mapped out until after her Seventh year and at least 2 years past that. The timeline after Seventh year is hard to say for sure how many years it will take exactly to finish it.

XX
Cara