It was early in the morning and the sun was just coming over the horizon. Hermione was asleep in her dormitory only to be woken up by her friend Ginny Weasley.
"Hermione! Wake UP! It's Christmas. We have to open Presents!"
Hemione lifted her head slightly and stared groggily at Ginny. Although her vision was a little foggy she could clearly see the outline of her friend and easily see her flaming red hair. She continued to look at Ginny in confusion.
"Hermione, GET ....UP!" her friend repeated as she pulled at her arm.
"Okay, okay I'm getting up." Hermione said forcing her body out of bed.
"Ron and Harry are already up. They are waiting downstairs for us. They want to open presents together...but their getting a bit cranky and they wanted me to come get you. So hurry up and get down to the common room!" Ginny said.
With that Ginny left the dormitory in something short of a run. Hermione stood up, stretched, and rubbed her eyes. Once she could see clearly, she walked out of her dormitory and followed the stairs down to the common room where her friends were waiting for her to arrive.
She looked at them all and smiled. 'They really are a sight.' She thought as she walked toward them. Harry, Ron and Ginny were all still in their pajamas and looked like they hadn't showered in months. Ron's astonishing red hair was sticking up at all ends and he looked like he had just gotten off a roller coaster. Harry's hair was matted to the sides and his scar that was shaped like a thunderbolt could be clearly seen.
"Thank you for the morning wake up call. What time is it," she looked at her watch and faked a surprise gasp "5:38 in the morning! You couldn't wait? You couldn't have let me sleep in on our Holliday?" she asked playfully poking Ron's arm.
"Sorry Hermione. I couldn't wait though." He said laughing as she began to tickle his sides.
"Okay then. Lets get started on these then. You already went through the trouble of waking me up, we might as well open them now." Hermione said pointing at the stacks of presents in front of them.
After they all opened their presents they went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Ron had his maroon sweater on and an armful of chocolate frogs with him as they went.
"May I ask why you are bothering to eat those while we are eating breakfast?" Ginny asked her brother in hilarious confusion.
"Well, I wanted to have desert with me. Plus...I'm still hungry after I eat breakfast." He said with his ears turning slightly pink.
"Well, isn't that the point of breakfast...to not be hungry afterwards?" Ginny asked with a bit of a chuckle in her voice.
"Yes...but I get tired of bacon and eggs and I want some chocolate" he said. His ears were getting to become a astonishing shade of red.
They all laughed and sat down at the table with only the annual snowball fight totalk about all breakfast.
"You're going to be in the snowball fight this time aren't you, Hermione?" Harry asked as he began to butter his toast.
"I might...but I might just watch too. I'm not sure." Hermione said remembering the last snowball fight she was in. She was covered from head to toe with melting snow. She didn't know if she wanted to relive an event like that again.
"Come on, Hermione. It won't be that bad. Besides now you know to run from the snowball." He said with a smirk on his face.
"Oh shut up, Ron. You know very well that I can compete in a snowball fight. I just don't want to spend hours in the shower again like I did last year."
"No matter how long you spend in the shower, Granger, you will never be able to wash the stench of your dirty blood from yourself." Came a drawling voice from behind her.
Hermione, Ron, and Harry all stood up at the same time and glared at a boy with blonde hair, and pale gray eyes that showed nothing but bitterness and hate.
"Malfoy. What do you think you're doing over here? You're presence only makes us look bad." Said Ron with as much hate in his voice as he could muster.
Malfoy turned to him with a smirk on his face that he only reserved for Ron. He knew it would get him annoyed.
"What's that weasel? Have you run out of pathetic comebacks again? Well maybe if you had more money you could afford some better ones." Said Malfoy with his smirk still plastered on his face.
"Sod off, Malfoy!" Harry said in return.
With that Malfoy left to sit at his table. He left with the smirk still plastered onto his face.
Hermione turned to her friends and they all sat down to continue their breakfast as they did before Malfoy intruded.
They made their way back to the Gryfindore common room. Hemione sat herself in one of the big, comfortable chairs by the fireplace when Harry and Ron cam in holding a big wrapped present in their hands. Hermione looked up from the fireplace and stared at them in confusion.
"What's that you guys?" she asked tilting her head a little to the side.
"Oh, well Harry and I saw this in a store the last time we were in Hogsmeade and we thought that you might enjoy it. Its from the both of us." Said Ron with a smile on his face.
Hermione smiled widely and took the present and began to unwrap it. When it was finally all unwrapped she looked at it and squealed in joy. It was a notebook that was made of red and gold crushed velvet. At the top it had her initials carved into it. She touched the parchment inside and smiled even wider. The pages felt soft. She looked up at her two friends and stared in amazement.
"This must have cost a fortune. How did you get it?" She asked.
"Well that's not the important thing. What's important is that you like it." Said Harry.
"I love it. Thank you guys." She said as she stood up and hugged them both.
They hugged her back and they both had a look of accomplishment on their faces.
Later that day Hermione gave into her friends and decided to join them in a snowball fight. They left around 6:00 and came back at 10:00 sopping wet from head to toe, and freezing. Although Hermione had to relive her other snowball fight she had to admit that it was a lot of fun. She wanted to turn in for the night desperately but couldn't. She had to patrol the corridors of Hogwarts. It was her duty at night because she was prefect and Ron was always too tired. She bid them good-bye and left the warmth of the common room.
Hermione was gone for about a half an hour when she came to the steps of the Astronomy Tower. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and saw a light flickering. A rush of panic swept over her as soon as she saw it thinking that something was on fire. She ran to the top of the stairs and saw a fireplace there that had never been there before. She looked at the fire inside it oddly wondering where it had come from. As she stepped closer she whirled around when she heard and loud sound in the corner.
"Who's there?" she said looking at the dark corner. But there was no answer.
She stepped closer to the corner when she saw a figure standing there, a boy about her age, and about a head taller than she. She stood surprised at first and then regained her composure.
"You might as well come out. I can see you." She said in a voice that obviously made her sound like an adult.
"This tower is clear, Granger. Go away." Said a familiar voice.
"Malfoy?" Hermione asked recognizing the voice quickly.
Draco Malfoy stepped out of the shadows of the corner and looked at her with hate in his eyes.
"I said this tower is clear. You can go away."
Although Malfoy was a prefect as well Hermione couldn't move because curiosity of why Malfoy was there was getting the better of her.
"What are you doing up here?" Hermione asked.
"Why is it you any of your business, Granger? I'm a prefect as well and I have every right to be here."
Hermione looked at him oddly. She had never seen him up close before and had never noticed how handsome he was before. She was blinded by hate for him that she never saw him as anything else but a monster, but now...when she looked into his eyes she saw something else. She saw sadness.
"Why did you make a fireplace, Malfoy?" she asked curiosity in her voice instead of the sound of authority.
"It helps me think." He said quickly.
He looked at her closely now as if trying to see if she was trying to trick him. She had never looked at him like that before. It was a look of curiosity and caring.
Hermione felt a tingle race down her spine as he looked at her harder.
' What was that' she wondered.
She immediately knew that it would be best to leave but something was keeping her feet where they were. She didn't know what it was but she knew she had to say something.
"What were you thinking about?" she asked.
Malfoy looked at her oddly again. Was she trying to make conversation with him? He didn't want her to. He already felt like he was in a puddle of mud just being this close to her.
"That's none of your business, Mudblood!" he said with sneer. All sadness that Hermione saw before in his eyes were gone and replaced with hate.
She shook her head as if wondering how she could have ever thought that he had other feelings other than cruelness in his body.
"I'll never understand you," she said with bitterness "You have everything you ever wanted and still the world hold no joy for you. You treat those who are inferior in your eyes as though they were peasants and you treat others around you as though they are nothing but filthy animals. You have absolutely no consideration for others and you ..."
"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SAY THAT ABOUT ME, MUDBLOOD!" Malfoy interrupted suddenly.
Hermione jumped at his words. She had gotten so mad...so tired of him calling her that name that she walked right up to him and slapped him across the face.
Malfoy stepped back obviously taken aback by her attack. He held his cheek in pain and looked up at her. She had tears in her eyes but she still walked toward him. This time, however, he was ready for the second blow. As she flung he hand toward his face he grabbed it and twisted it to wear she dropped to her knees and moaned in pain. Malfoy leaned down to her ear and whispered to her.
"You have no right to touch my face with your stained hands. Do you understand me?" he asked her.
She began to cry even more but he still held her wrist hard.
"Answer me." He said
She nodded only to make the pain stop. Malfoy was about to let go when he breathed in her scent. It was soft and smelled like strawberries. He lossened his grip enough for her to stand up but he didn't let her go. She stared at him thorough wet eyes and tried to pull her hand away but couldn't.
"Let go." She said through gritted teeth.
He still wouldn't release her hand. Her smell filled his senses and with out thinking he lowered his mouth to hers. She melted into him at once. She felt his arms go around her waist and she felt his tongue against her closed mouth. At once she opened her mouth and allowed his tongue to enter. She tasted so good to him. He pushed her to the wall and they continued to kiss. Her hands went up his back and he deepened the kiss. She moaned against him. But once she heard the sound come from her mouth she realized what was happening. She pushed him away and stared at him in surprise.
He stared back at her with wide eyes unable to believe what he had just done. She saw he place her hand on her lips and feel where they had just kissed. Without another word she walked passed him and went down the stairs to her common room without looking back.