Ch. 13

In the morning Malfoy left before she woke up so that he could get ready for the day and process what Hermione's reaction to him was. She was actually able to comfort him and he was able to spend the rest of the night sleeping.

They kept up the same routine and there were times when Hermione woke up and he comforted her as well. It made him so sad to see her in pain that he wished he could take it all away.

The winter holidays were fast approaching and he would be returning home for the first time in about five months, since school had started. He would have about two and a half weeks of being by himself or spending time with his mom and dad. He wasn't looking forward to being back in the house that held so many horrible memories. Hermione had knocked at his door and was ready to go, so they walked off together to the great hall.

When they got to the great hall and sat down, he broke their usual quiet breakfast by asking her what plans she had over the break. He poured a drink for her and set it by her before pouring his own.

Hermione had gotten used to this action now and, and with the recent turn of events it made her feel something she hadn't before. It made her feel happy and then her heart felt heavy. She couldn't think of Draco that way, they were just friends. She had to stop reading into everything he did, of course he would be nicer now that they were friends. "I hadn't thought about it too much. Probably go home and then visit the burrow." She took another bite of toast.

"The burrow?" He had never heard the nickname for the Weasley's house.

Hermione knew that Draco was getting along with her, but wasn't sure if he still held a grudge against her friends. Would he make fun of them if she told him?

"That's the nickname the Weasley's have for their home…it's really charming on the inside."

He smirked and let out a quiet snide laugh and she threw the rest of her toast down and got up and left. He didn't have to ask because he knew why she was irritated.

He headed down to his lesson in the dungeons and planned to teach the students how to brew something fun before most of them left for the holiday. He begun to collect the ingredients as his first group of students arrived and showed them how to make the potion so they could try to re-create it.

"This potion is called Amortentia. It functions like a love potion but doesn't cause someone to actually love you. It can cause infatuation and obsession if used in large doses. Notice the steam when it comes off the top of the potion," He motioned the students to come closer to the potion. "Smell the steam," he was farther away from the potion, walking behind the students as he explained. "The steam will tell you who o what you love, regardless of the effect of using the actual potion. That is the true test. What do you smell?" he asked the class.

The students shared what they could smell, pumpkin juice, loved ones, fresh baked cookies.

"Now, you will brew this potion as best you can and finish by the end of class. Directions are on page 163 in your books." He said as he moved up to the front of the class to bottle some of the potion for his next few classes.

He couldn't help but smell the steam as he hovered on top of the potion. He smelled lavender tea and a soft vanilla scent, then someone touched his arm. "Granger!" he called out in surprise as he turned around. It was Maria. She had a shocked look on her face, but most of the students hadn't been paying attention to him to even hear what he had said. He apologized to the student.

"What can I do for you?" he offered.

She handed him a paper that he had left on her work station, his lesson plan for the other classes that day.

"10 points to Slytherin for being helpful Ms. Chadwick." She smiled and skipped back to her desk.

He turned back around and felt a sick feeling in the bottom of his stomach. Even if he did like her, he knew better than to think she would ever want to be with him. How did this happen? Now he knew, for a fact, that his feelings for Hermione were more than what he thought they were. He had several emotions racing through him, fear, hope, and happiness. He had trouble even admitting it to himself. Then he thought of the idea of her being with someone else and his heart felt jealous and his feelings were no longer avoidable.

When his classes were over for the day he had a few bottles of the potion left over and he put them in a bag so Hermione wouldn't see them when she came to meet him. He waited for a long time and Hermione never did come to get him.

Draco decided to take a walk up to see her in the transfiguration class. He couldn't fathom how any of their families or friends would take the news if they did actually get together, and he had to remind himself that Hermione wouldn't feel the same way. He began to accept that there was no way Hermione could or would ever have feelings for him, and that he should just appreciate what they had. He'd rather have her in his life than her be gone and have nothing at all. In the past he wondered how his Godfather could have based his choices in life around a woman that he loved sixteen years ago, but that was suddenly starting to make sense to him too.

When her classroom was empty he started to get concerned and then remembered that she might still be mad at him for laughing at the name of the burrow. "Seriously, even if they did have 20 kids, who would name their house that," he thought. He didn't have anything personal against the Weasley's, but knew they had a reason to hate him since one of their kids died in the battle of Hogwarts, a battle which started when he let death eaters into the school. Out of all of the acts in the war, he felt his had to be the worst. Because of him so many people were dead. He also knew Hermione was very touchy when it came to her friends.

He went to check the great hall to see if she was already there and she was waiting outside of it for him. When she saw him she turned and went into the hall without acknowledging him. His heart jerked when she turned away from him and he couldn't help using her name. "Hermione," he called after her. He never used her first name in public and rarely in private."

She stopped in her tracks and came back to where Malfoy stood and raised her eye brows at him, as if to ask what he wanted.

"I'm sorry if it bugged you when I laughed. You need to know that I don't have a problem with your friends. Who would call their house a burrow?"

Hermione didn't know whether to believe him or not and looked at him skeptically.

"What, you don't believe me?" he asked.

"No, I'm not sure that I do." She said in a softened tone. He didn't usually apologize if he didn't mean it. "it's not like he goes out of his way to spare my feelings…" she recalled.

He shrugged his shoulders and moved past her as he walked into the hall and took his seat at the table. He knew that although she wasn't happy with him at the moment, he had her attention, and that was all he needed. They both ate and he kept attempting conversation with her.

"It's weird that this will be our last night in the castle for a couple weeks," he began.

"I know, it will be weird not seeing you every day," she admitted. "Will you write to me?" She tried to hide the emotion in her voice. She knew she came to depend on him and his friendship, his sarcastic attitude, and his honesty.

"Umm…maybe." He hadn't considered that she would want to write. "Oh," he threw in but was worried about her reaction, "I'm not sure you should write. I'll be at my house, with my parents." Draco made an embarrassed face.

"Makes sense," she added in a low voice. She wasn't sure she'd even want to send an owl there after what happened to her at that house. It was hard to imagine that the Draco she knew now actually lived in that house of horrors. Her heart felt heavy all over again and she felt sad. "Why am I feeling this way?!" She berated herself for being so emotional. She didn't eat the rest of her food but just picked through it to give her the appearance of eating. It didn't escape Draco's attention.