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A Christmas Gift
Chapter 3: Double Truce
Written By: Dizzy

Draco turned a page restlessly. He really had no idea what he was looking for, and he doubted that "Would-Be" was the technical term. Thus far it wasn't in any index he'd looked through. Hermione seemed to be having the same luck, at least that's what she let him believe. If she found the volume too fast he would probably be a little suspicious of her wonder sleuth abilities. Her memory was supposed to be excellent, but not good enough to suddenly remember a small spell she was supposed to have read something like three years ago. She finally let herself emit a noise she hoped sounded like surprised discovery. Actually it came out more an eepp if anything. He looked at her, eyebrows raised.

"Find something?" She nodded, hoping she looked excited. She pointed to the book.

"It's right here," she got up, coming to sit round on his side. She pushed it towards him, pointing to the page.

"See? It's very simplistic," he nodded, his eyes raking over the page.

"But does it tell us how we end it?" She sighed.

"Yes, but it's not as if we can just wave our wands and presto chango we're back." She pointed to the bottom.

"See. A revelation and a lesson learned."

"I think we agree that I'm the subject of this...what did you call it?" He looked at her. "Demonstration. So I'm supposed to learn a lesson?" She shrugged again. "So we attend a class in Herbology or something, I realize who did this and we're back?" Again she shrugged.

"I'm just here for research purposes." His eyes raked the page again and he stopped, pointing to it.

"I think you're here for more then that." She looked to where his finger pointed, hoping he hadn't read the page too closely. "A guide? You're my guide?" She read the sentence.

"I suppose." She closed the book hastily.

"This tells us nothing," she said standing. "I don't think we're going to find out what lesson..whoever did this..wants to teach you by reading these."

"Well, that was certainly a wasted hour." She nodded in agreement. Although she had known it would be. She already knew all this.

"Well, what do we do?"

"We do nothing," she said. "You learn your stupid lesson."

"Which is?" She sighed.

"I don't know. Don't you ever try to do anything for yourself?" He stood up to face her.

"Well you're supposed to be my bloody guide Granger. Guide me."

"I don't know how," she grabbed her bag. "Look, we should get some sleep. It's late."

"And where do you propose we do that?" He snapped. "Your little muggle-born clone is probably fast asleep in your bed and if you've forgotten I don't even HAVE one." He said the words bitterly, tossing the book onto the table. Madame Pince didn't even look up. To her the library was empty, to her the table clean.

"I don't KNOW Draco." She glared at him. "I don't know what to tell you okay?" Most if it was guilt, but some of it was her lack of control. This wasn't something she had planned on, and while she knew what she had intended for Draco to learn she hadn't counted on all of this. Or for her to be so dependent on him learning the stupid lesson. Without him doing this they would never get back, and they would be stuck in this horrible place, alone, unseen and not mattering to anyone. She wasn't used to being out of control, she wasn't used to not having the answer. She didn't know what they were going to do while they were here, and she didn't know a way out of it. And she couldn't tell him. He'd kill her.

Draco looked at her.

"Well," he sighed. "I don't know either."

"Then figure it out," she turned towards the door. "I'm sick of being the one whose supposed to have all the answers here." Anger lashed at him and he followed her, matching her stride for stride, just behind her now.

"You're the smart one right? Little Miss Know-It-All with her top notch grades and her perfect spells." She stopped, turning to glare at him.

"That doesn't mean I know what to do here okay? We're not at OUR Hogwarts anymore if you hadn't noticed. Some girl who looks like me and acts like me is talking and laughing with MY friends, and sleeping in MY bed. You're not even HERE. The world is going on without us and we don't matter here. So excuse me if where we're going to sleep is not an answer I have." He reached for her, gripping her arm in what she assumed he thought was a gentle manner, a comforting manner. Truth be told it was more painful then comforting.

"Look-" he said. "-we don't like each other, let's make no mistake of that. But we're stuck here, and whether we like it or not we can only talk to each other. So-" he took a breath, as if what he was about to say was very difficult for him, "-I'm willing to put aside our differences in the interest of getting out of here."

"Oh wonderful," she spat. "So I get to be civil to you till we're out of here and then you can go on calling me Mud-Blood and insulting my friends after that, right?" She looked at him with disgust.

"All this civility in the interest of Draco Malfoy, right?" She pushed open the doors leaving him there. Not caring what he did, or where he slept.

"That's not what I meant," he said, following her. "You twisted my words."

"It doesn't matter." Obviously he was missing the point, and until he got it she was stuck here, with no one but him. She really wished she would have planned a bit beforehand.

"Listen to me!" He did that annoying thing where he grabbed her arm, whirling her around to face him, his face dangerously close to her own. He had a thing about control, there was no doubt in her mind about that.

"Look Granger, I realize you hate me. I can't say I feel much more for you, but we can't continue acting like this if there's any chance of us getting out of here. I mean Hogwarts is a nice place and all but I don't think I fancy being stuck in this particular version all right?" He was struggling with something, his face was twisted with the thought of whatever it was.

"I'm...sorry..okay? I mean, I can't offer much more then that." He was being sincere, that much she knew. Otherwise it wouldn't have been such a trial to say one little sentence. She nodded, accepting it.

"I guess, that's enough." She looked up at him. "But whatever you're supposed to learn here...it probably isn't going to be easy..and it might be awhile before we get out of here, so I suppose it'll have to be enough." They stared at each other, a momentary truce sparking the air between them in an almost palpable tension. He released her arm, using the arm to reach up and run a hand through his hair again. It did little to tame it; it still stuck out in those peaks and horns. The effect was amusing if not a bit adorable. It was just another thing to add to the list of oddities about this place, apparently here Draco's Cardinal Perfect Hair Rule didn't follow.

"Now." he said. "WE have some things to work out."

"Like where we sleep." He nodded.

"Food obviously won't be a problem."

"Well, my bed is out," she sighed. "And yours obviously." She looked away from his face, which registered surprise at the mere thought she would even consider sharing one of the two with him. It was gone as quickly as it had come and she pressed on. "Not exactly like there's a bunch of empty easily accessible bedrooms."

"We could go to Madame Pomfrey." Hermione looked at him like he was mad.

"She can't see us either."

"I know that Granger, but she had beds." He regarded her like the imbecile she was being. But he did have a point. She nodded, a flush on her cheeks. He motioned for her to follow him.
"We'll sleep on this tonight and tomorrow we'll start fresh," Draco was saying. "I mean how hard could it be? I'm smart, I think I can learn a lesson." Hermione snorted beside him. She wasn't so sure.

Hermione had no idea how girl's like Parvati and Lavender did this on a regular basis. She had no idea how her mother did it on a nightly basis. Sleeping with boys was annoying. Boys snored, they grunted and tossed and turned, fighting off imaginary foes in their brains and zipped around on brooms chasing stupid golden balls. She lay there, staring at the ceiling in the dim light from the windows. Draco's breathing was shallow and peaceful, broken only by the occasional mumble. It was impossible. Not only did she have his murmuring to contend with she had guilt. Hermione had gone practically her whole life without that particular emotion. She had never really done anything to warrant it. But now it was there, eating away at her. She sat up slowly. This was pointless. She tossed aside the covers and slowly put her bare feet to the cold wood of the floor. She was going for a walk.

Never had she allowed herself to indulge in such a past-time before. Wandering around Hogwarts at night was strictly forbidden and came with serious consequences. And of course Hermione had never suffered a serious consequence in her life save a few minor detentions. So it was actually freeing in a way to be utterly nonexistent. She could go where she wanted with no consequences. She pulled on her robes, and slipped into her shoes as quietly as possible, and looked over at him, a mere bed away. He looked almost normal. No scowl or look of contempt on his whole face for once. And from what she could see Draco's cuddling fetish extended beyond the Quidditch pitch. First her in the snow and now one of Madame Pomfrey's hospital pillows, not to mention a very lengthy list of rumored Hogwarts females that traipsed in and out of his bedroom like it had a revolving door. Few got stuck in it however if the rumors were true, and many tried a return trip but found the entrance blocked. She smiled. He wouldn't even notice her absence; his pillow was keeping him plenty of company.

Slowly she pushed open the door and looked out into the dark hallway. It was a bit scary, but she assumed there was nothing out there that would do her harm. After all if she couldn't harm anyone it was safe to assume she couldn't be harmed. The "if I can't see it, it doesn't exist" principle applied to her situation. She took a breath and stepped out into the hallway, drawing her wand almost immediately.

"Lumos," she whispered, a faint yellow light emitted from its tip, casting everything in dim ethereal light.

She let herself wander for about an hour and she had come to one conclusion. Hogwarts was creepy at night. The light from the wand made everything dark and shadowy, shadows that moved in and out, twisting around her, but she still pressed on. She was savoring this little rebellion for all it was worth. She peeked around a corner, her wand out. Why was she so frightened? That familiar pang and expectation of getting caught caused her stomach to flip every once in awhile, but there was no real reason for it. She just simply COULDN'T get caught, no way around it. Still, it didn't make anything less thrilling. She made her way down the hallway, realizing with a start that she had reached the Great Hall without incident. And then she noticed it.

The Gryffindor House Cup was gone, in fact so was the Hufflepuff's. In their places were two for Slytherin. Outrage crept into her veins and she pressed closer to the glass, just to make sure she wasn't hallucinating.

"Interesting." A voice said behind her. Shrieking she whirled, her wand flying from her hand to hit her attacker square in the chest. Draco smirked at her, catching the wand easily in his hands as it caught briefly on the folds of his robes before dropping into them.

"Nervous?" He asked, he held out her wand. She snatched it from his hands, embarrassment flooding her cheeks with red. But he paid her no attention, his focus was instead on the trophy case directly behind her.

"Don't tell me Slytherin's inability to get a House Cup is my fault?" He drawled. She looked backwards.

"Well, no." She thought a moment. "It's Harry's." He nodded.

"No argument from me on that one."

"Well, think about it." She looked towards the case. "Without you, Harry wouldn't be the Gryffindor Seeker. You threw the Rememberall that made Professor McGonnagle notice him."

"One of my few mistakes," he muttered. She shrugged.

"Interesting," She echoed his previous statement, if not a little less amazed. "What are you doing here anyway?" She looked away from the trophy case up to him.

"You move like a herd of elephants." She blinked, a bit taken back.

"What?"

"You have no stealth Granger. If I had been deaf I still would have heard you leave."

"Sorry." She looked a bit sheepish. He shrugged.

"I wanted to see what you were up to. Had to make sure you didn't try to sneak of without me."

"How'd you find me?" Draco shrugged again.

"I just did. I don't know. I just knew where you were," he looked at the Trophy case again. She couldn't place the expression that came over his face when he did. It was sad almost, a little guilty. Like he truly believed Slytherin's inability to win a House Cup had something to do with him.

"Malfoy," she started, but he had already turned away, acting as if he was interested in the standings board. After a moment she realized he actually was. He grabbed her arm, pulling her wand up closer to it.

"That's odd isn't it? Surely it's a mistake, or a joke." He pointed to the board. Hermione followed his finger. There, for all to see were the class standings, like they were every end of term, no surprise there. A list of the top ten adorned the board, just like every year. She still didn't get his meaning, was he just now noticing this? Then she realized he hadn't been talking about the board itself, but the names on it. She was proud to see her name at the top, apparently even in this world she was the best, but she knew that it still wasn't what he had been so intrigued about. Below hers, rather then Draco Malfoy, which had been there since before she could remember was Harry Potter's, and below that...she gasped. Neville Longbottom.

"So I'm to be blamed for Longbottom's stupidity too am I?" He sneered at the board. "Guess I'm an all around git aren't I? Causing eating disorders, ruining House Cup chances, causing stupidity. Jack of all trades. Only good thing I've ever accomplished by being around was to get bloody fucking Potter on the Quidditch team."

"Malfoy," she started once again, the guilt was stronger then ever now. This wasn't the lesson she had in mind, and the place he was taking it wasn't a happy one. For the second time he ignored her, his robes swirling out behind him as he turned on his heel. He continued on down the hall, leaving her there in front of the board, her wand casting the lobby in a creepy little glow of yellow light. This wasn't going at all as she had planned; she was getting used to it by now. She turned, her substantially shorter legs struggling to keep up with him.

"Look, it's not as bad as all that," she said, her voice strangely high pitched.

"Oh?" He cast her a look. "I fail to see how I'm wrong."

"Well," she struggled. "I mean, maybe if you were a bit...nicer to Neville his grades would pick up a bit? I mean it's not exactly like you take it easy on him now is it?" He glared at her.

"So you ARE saying this is my fault."

"Well, you don't want me to lie do you?" She snapped. He stopped abruptly.

"Oh, cause we're above that are we?" She glared at him.

"Ever since you got here you've made Neville's life hell. I know he's not that bad all the time. And I'm certain a lot of that has to do with you and your goons."

"Again, you admit that this place would be better without me?"

"Now I didn't say that. All I meant was that maybe if you were a bit nicer to Neville and not so controlling he'd do better. Maybe." He studied her for a moment, weighing her words.

"I'll consider it," his face was pompous and more then a little infuriating but it was the best she could hope for.

"We're both still a bit stressed I supposed," she said quietly. "Why don't we revert back to the original plan and think on this tomorrow?" He nodded shortly and allowed her and her wand to lead them both back to the hospital wing. They made the trip in silence, walking side by side regarding each other in little sidelong glances. It seemed their truce was reconciled.

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