Blah blah blah, standard disclaimer stuff, I don't own this, blah blah blah, have no money, blah blah, for entertainment purposes only. Thank you.

Return to Hogwarts
Chapter 04

Imagine that. Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger had a decent, civil conversation. Hermione never would have thought it was possible, had she not just been there. Even now, she somewhat doubted her sanity. Even thought Malfoy was nowhere near the Muggle-hating bastard that his father was he still had given her a hard enough time during their years together at Hogwarts.

Gone, however, was the jerk that had called her all sorts of disgusting names. They actually had a conversation that lasted over a half-hour without any sort of insult slipping from his lips. She had even tried to provoke him. She was a bit ashamed at that, but when it proved unsuccessful, she found herself to be almost relieved.

Hermione had forgotten all about Draco's position as one of the governors of the school, something that he had taken over when his father had lost his power and position in the ranks of Voldemort. Draco had never gone over to the darkness completely. He had started, but then pulled away and rebelled, much to his father's dismay and anger. There were rumors that Lucius had tried to kill Draco -- his own son -- but they had never been substantiated. Certainly Malfoy had never hinted towards it himself. She wouldn't have been surprised, though. She could almost see Lucius Malfoy's bloodless face become red as the anger rose.

All-in-all, she supposed it was not necessarily a bad thing that he was dead. She didn't like the loss of any human life, especially since there were so many attempts to take hers, but Lucius was a monster. She'd thought Draco would grow up to be just like him, and though her opinion of him wasn't exactly the best, tonight gave way to the possibility that he could be likable.

Hermione stripped down, preparing to step into the shower. The water was running and she was fussing with it, trying to get the right temperature. At least it was comfortable in her bathroom.

She finally got the temperature right and stepped into the sprinkle of water. It was just the right pressure. She smiled to herself and began to lather up her hair. The vanilla scent of her shampoo relaxed her even more. It was one of those "happy" smells.

She still was a bit surprised at what had transpired earlier, but she attempted to rinse the thoughts away with the suds in her hair. Efficiently, she finished up her shower and stepped out to dry off. She plucked a fluffy white towel from its bar and bent over to dry her legs off. Her brain only half-registered the slight squeak of hinges.

"Hey, Granger, you forg--" ... long pause.

Malfoy? She froze, then realized that her bare bum was to the door. Straightening up slowly, she took her time in wrapping the towel around herself. Don't let him see you blush. And whatever you do, don't freak out. Count to ten. She turned around. "What are you doing in my private bathroom, Malfoy?" she inquired, trying to will her breathing to quit being so erratic. At least she didn't have a blush on her face. She hoped. It didn't help that Draco's normally pale complexion was flushed, making him look not quite so porcelain. It made him look... sexy. Malfoy? Sexy? What in the world had gotten into her mind?

"I, uh, forgot, um," Malfoy stuttered, then seemed to realize that he was staring. He yanked his gray-blue eyes away from her slight form. So, Granger has a nice shaped arse... He could've smacked himself for thinking like that. Get back on topic. Or something. Just get away from thoughts of her rear! And she has delicate collarbones. Delicate collarbones? Oh, yes, he could bloody well imagine complimenting her by that way. Hello, Granger, you look lovely today. I must say, your collarbones are particularly spectacular. Damn it. Well, it was better than saying that she had a nice arse. He doubted he'd get very far with that one.

Hermione wasn't furious or indignant, oddly enough. She had started out with a flush of raw anger, but it had quickly morphed into mischief when she saw how very discomfited he was. Even thought part of her was horrified at what he had seen, and at what he might be thinking, the other part was curious. Curious enough to instigate pick at an open wound, so to speak. Though she rather hoped that he did not associate her with something so gross. "You forgot or I forgot something, Draco?" she asked, radiating innocence. She widened her eyes slightly, giving him her puppy-dog look.

Oh, Merlin! He hadn't expected to walk in on her toweling off. He had no idea this was a bathroom. He had seen a door, thought that she was through there, and opened it. Prat. Next time, he'd learn to knock. He forced himself to look at her again, and immediately his gaze went to the water that was dripping from her hair in rivulets down her skin to be soaked up by the fluffy white towel that was wrapped around her. Okay, maybe next time he would knock. He took in a deep breath. "When we were talking earlier I had forgotten to give you the survey."

She nodded, amazed at how much of a thrill she was getting from Draco's embarrassment. How very sick she was getting in her old age. She couldn't help but to add to the fire, though. She bit her lower lip thoughtfully, gently. "Survey?"

His eyes fixated on her mouth, just like she had planned. "Y-yeah. The one that ... the teachers are doing it, here!" he finished suddenly, thrusting the paper down on the countertop. He then fled the room and, she assumed, from her entire apartment as she heard the door slam. Too bad. She was really starting to enjoy herself. Ah, well.

She picked up the piece of paper. Regular, boring stuff, she noted. It was marked with questions about how she liked her job, complaints, salary, so on and so forth. Someone must've complained. Every once in a while, she had heard, some member of the faculty would complain and surveys would be dispatched. People would come and visit the school, and when they were reassured that everything was okay, everything would go back to normal. The worst part was that every member on-staff was required to fill it out, thus making it the perfect way to get back at another person who was being irritating. She wrinkled her nose and began filling the form out.

The last thing on Draco Malfoy's mind was paper. He couldn't help but to see Hermione naked over and over again. Blast it! He should've known something was going on from the moment that Dumbledore sent him to take that stupid survey with that twinkle in his eye that something was going to go horribly wrong! And then for him to run away like a scared little girl just wasn't right! He took a deep breath, then frowned. Dumbledore, for all his mischief, certainly wouldn't send him to go see Hermione's naked bum... would he? Draco laughed out loud at the thought. It made him feel better, at any rate.

Whoa. He had just seen Hermione Granger naked. Well, her bare rear, anyway. Bloody hell. Of all the women to walk in on, he had to walk in on Hermione-bloody-Granger. Well, thought his traitorous conscience, at least she has a nice bum. Nonono, he argued, that's just because you have been, er, short of rear ends for a while now!

But, it whispered, even so... Exasperated, Malfoy hit his head against the wall.

"Mr. Malfoy, whatever the reason for your annoyance, I am sure it is not worth abusing either my walls or your head over," Dumbledore said, smiling at the blonde haired man.

Malfoy stiffened, then looked down. "Sorry, sir."

"Quite all right. Did you deliver the paper to Hermione?" His eyes held a bit of mirth in them, as if he knew the answer.

Damn it, damn it. Dumbledore had to know. "Yes, sir," he replied tightly, hoping that he betrayed none of his inner thoughts.

A low chuckle let him know that he had little-to-no hope of hiding anything from the Headmaster. "Very well, Draco. I suppose that you wish to retire now, hm? Shall I show you to your room?"

Draco nodded, then followed Dumbledore through the maze that was the school. Once safely alone in his room, he felt the need to "abuse" his head again. This time, though, he slammed his hand against it. "Stupid muggle born! I'm sure she had that planned!" He knew this was even more ridiculous than thinking that Dumbledore had meant for him to walk in on her, but he didn't care. He could just imagine her, waiting maliciously, her ear pressed up against the door. As she heard him reach said door, she scramble into position and wait for him to open it. Damn! Mental image again! He growled.

He had sworn off women for a while. Not to say that he was going to be batting for the other team, but he just wanted to clear his head. Pansy had been quite disappointed, though what they had was nothing more than sex. He detested her otherwise. Her haughty appearance and her downright bitchy attitude got to him almost as bad as his father did. In many ways, she reminded him of his father.

Lucius. He didn't know that his much-despised father was thought about tonight by the same person who he had walked in on. More than general irritation pushed its way through his mind. He hated his father, plain and simple. He hated the things he had done while under his father's control. Some people said he could've broken free earlier than he had. Some people just didn't know.

Draco wrapped himself up tight in his robes, shivering though the room itself was a comfortable temperature. His hatred for his father was part of what stopped him from getting close to any female. He was almost positive Lucius was enjoying this from beyond the grave. He almost didn't care. Let the bastard laugh in the afterlife.

The next day was quite uneventful, much to Hermione's relief. There had been no sign of the governor. She wasn't sure if she should be even more relieved or disappointed. She had rather enjoyed the discussion that she had with Malfoy last night, despite the fact that they were once bitter rivals. She had never noticed before had intelligent she was.

Good grief! Am I thinking good thoughts about Malfoy? She blinked, then flushed when she noticed that twenty pairs of eyes were staring intently at her. She had, she realized, quit talking in the middle of a sentence. She scrambled desperately to recover. "So, yes, that's how you handle, uh, right." Oh, great, Hermione! Real smooth.

She cleared her throat and tried again. "Since this is the last day before Christmas break, I'm going to let you all go early. And, since every one of my classes did so well on their quizzes, I'm also going to give you a break on homework. Just be sure to study up here and there during the break! Have a great holiday."

A few of the students cheered, but a few more gave her yet another strange look. As they filed out, she returned to her thoughts. Draco Malfoy, of course, was the main topic. He was going to be here for another stupid day. And that meant that it was almost inevitable that she would see him again.

The fact that Christmas was only a few days away did nothing to calm her nerves. She had yet to send a reply to her mother or Harry, though she had them written out and on her desk. Her mind ran over what she had written.

"Dear Mum,

I am sorry to say that no, I will not be coming home for Christmas. There is so much to do here, being my first year and all. Next year won't be so hard, as I will already have an idea of what I plan to do. Keeping ahead of these children isn't as easy as I had thought! Some of them almost remind me of, well, myself. That's not a bad thing, but for a teacher, it's not exactly a good thing. I now understand why Snape used to get so annoyed with me. Sort of, anyway.

Give dad my love. I hope you two have a great Christmas, and in a few days some items should be arriving by Muggle mail. Sorry they'll be late.

With lots of love,

Hermione"

At least, she comforted herself, she had sounded somewhat genuine. She did have work to do, after all. Her letter to Harry was much more real, though.

"Harry --

"I'm sorry. I know that you wanted to warn me and I thank you for it, but it came a little too late. Ron's letter arrived the same day that yours did. I cried a little, and remembered a lot, but I've gotten over it. It's only been a day, I know, but I think that the months of time inbetween had something to do with it, also. And I miss you, too.

"Snape is still somewhat of a git, but at least he's tolerable now that he can't take points away or give me detention. I can even irritate him without him being rude, seeing as how we're on the same footing. He attempts to annoy me back, but I smile at him and that makes it even worse.

"Hogwarts is much different now that I'm not sneaking about with a couple of idiots. I don't worry about getting in trouble or breaking the rules, and I enjoy my classes even more than when I was student. I'm always learning, and I have access to all of the books in the library -- including the ones in the restricted session! No more getting "autographs" from idiotic teachers for me! The best part is always having what I need on hand. It wouldn't be any trouble to brew a polyjuice potion this time. I really do enjoy my job, though I'm sure you can't imagine doing anything like this yourself. That's okay. I wouldn't want to deliver any kids into your hands anyway. Speaking of kids, are you and Ginny ever going to get married and have some?

I'm not coming home for the holidays. I suppose I'm hiding out, but I'd rather hide out here than be confronted with something I'm just starting to deal with. I'm sorry. I guess it seems cowardly of me, but still..."

Here she had paused, wondering if it was wise to mention Malfoy. She decided against it.

"I hope that I get to see you soon, you and Ginny both. I hope she does not hold this against me. Much love to the both of you.

Hermione"

She decided to send the letters before she lost her nerve. She tied them both to Ceres' leg, each with a different color ribbon. After very carefully explaining to the owl which was to go to who, she send her beloved pet off, promising a treat when Ceres returned. Afterwards, she sunk down in her chair and thought a bit about Christmas. This time last year she was decorating the tree with her friends and family. This year, the house elves had done it. She had offered to help, but was ushered away. Dumbledore had put on the finishing touch, a star tree-topper, and everyone had admired the lovely sight.

Even Hermione was feeling less jaded. Not all of the wizarding world celebrated Christmas, but since she was of Muggle and Christian heritage, she celebrated it. There had been a time, she mused, when she had celebrated it wholeheartedly. Perhaps being a witch had jaded her. Whatever the reason, she no longer was enchanted by the sounds and sights of the holiday season.

Still, she decided that it was worth getting into the holiday. And her first decision was to go down to Hogsmeade. She was the only person with permission to go who hadn't. She was also tired of being reclusive and elusive. Her conversation with Draco and her letters had forced her to realize just how tired of being alone she was. She was not naturally inclined to be by herself, so it was time to quit fighting her nature and to start getting out again.

She packed some things in a pouch and made her way to the nearby village. Her eyes widened as she took it all in. She had quite forgotten how wonderful the small community was, especially to someone who was confined in the towers of Hogwarts. The school itself had a special magic, but this place was just, well, fun. She could get whatever candy she wanted, she could go into whatever store she wanted, and she could have as much butterbeer as she pleased! What to do first, though?

Her gaze swept around, and she felt another pang. The last time she had been here was with Harry and Ron. The Three Broomsticks, Honeydukes, and Zonko's looked exactly the same... but those times were over! Just because it looked the same didn't mean that she had to experience them the same way! She stepped into the tavern and ordered herself a mug of butterbeer. At the first gulp, she felt a tingly warm sensation. A tingly, warm sensation that turned into a hot, embarrassed sensation as she came face-to-face with Draco. Instead of feeling the incredible rush that she had last night, she took one look at his startled expression and instantly felt whatever warmth had been in her whole body travel to two places -- her cheeks.

"Er, about last night," they started at the same time, then broke off. A few more moments ticked by in silence.

Finally, Hermione had enough. "Oh, geez! It's not like you've never seen a naked woman before!" she snapped, then smiled to soften her words. "I know I'm not the most pleasant of sights to a Malfoy, but you did walk into my bathroom just as I was stepping out of the shower."

He snorted, his mind flitting back to the thoughts that he had entertained after the peek show. "I had it all planned, Granger," replied he dryly.

She nodded, a sparkle in her eye as she regarded him. "I knew it. That surprised look on your face was priceless," she said, then added, "Rather like when you were a ferret."

He groaned. "Bloody 'ell, Hermione, why'd you have to go and bring that up?"

She smiled again, but inside her stomach did some sort of weird flip-flop thing when he called her by her given name.

"Ooh!" one of the students in the tavern crowed. "Lookie Professor Granger!"

Hermione's gaze snapped around. Leigh Patil was the girl's name; she was cousin to Padma and Parvarti. "What is it, Miss Patil?"

"Nothing much, Professor," the girl responded, smirking. "Just that you and Governor Malfoy are standing under what I believe to be mistletoe."

Simultaneously, Malfoy and Granger looked up, then at one another. The absolute shock that Hermione felt was echoed in Draco's features. They looked away from each other.

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" The sentiment seemed to be coming from all the patrons in The Three Broomsticks.

"It's all right, Malfoy. I quite understand you not wanting to kiss a Muggle born." Hermione's voice was thick and unnatural.

"I'd understand you not wanting to kiss a jerk of a Malfoy like me, Hermione," he returned.

"It's tradition!" Leigh shouted out.

Hermione wanted to strangle her.

And Malfoy... laughed? She stared at him in disbelief, then anger. Oh, he was laughing, was he? Well, she'd show him!

Mustering all the courage that she had (considerable amount, considering that she was a Gryffindor), she grabbed a hold of the front of his robes and hauled his face down to hers.

---

Well, there you go. As stated above -- I own not Harry Potter (or Draco Malfoy, much to my dismay. Even if he is a bit younger than I am in the latest installment of the HP series). They belong to the wonderful JK Rowling. This story merely passes the time while waiting for the fifth book to come out. Much thanks go to Jared for giving me the "would you rather me compliment your butt" thought. ^_^ As always, reviews are appreciated and, if you ask something, I'll answer it. Hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas!