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A Christmas Gift
Chapter 5: The Candy-War
Author: Dizzy
Disclaimer: I own nothing.

The trip to Hogsmeade had been the worst ever. They took it in silence, the tension between them at an all time high today. The clouds had disappeared, the sun was shining, making the ground sparkle, but not even the beautiful day could break the awkwardness.

Draco hadn't said more then two words to her since they'd left the library. It was disconcerting to say the least. Usually he'd have something to say, be it negative or not. But he just sat there across from her in the carriage they shared with two fairly boring Ravenclaw third years. They were girls who, like Draco and Hermione, weren't speaking to each other. The carriage rocked gently back and forth as it made its way to the small village, and the only sound was the wheel's gentle swish as they made their way through the snow.

Hermione found herself glancing at him, catching his eyes on her more then a few times. He continued to regard her in that searching way, as if looking for something, and the moment her eyes met his he'd look away again, his jaw clenched, a muscle ticking away in his cheek. She couldn't figure out for the life of her what she had done to anger him so much. They had been getting on fairly well these past couple of days, a minimum of fights, even an understanding. And now...now she didn't know.

"Will you please tell me what's wrong?" Frustration made her words angry, and Draco glared at her.

"No."

"Why?" Draco ignored her, continuing to act completely interested in the passing landscape. She twisted in her seat, glaring at him.

"Fine," she snapped. She crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back in the seat, pouting like a petulant child. Draco looked at her, an eyebrow raised. It was almost cute, her face screwed up in annoyance, her lips pursed in frustration, looking for all the world like a three year old who was being forced to take a nap against its will. He almost smiled.

"Don't be like that," he said gently. She continued to glare at him.

"I could say the same to you," she snapped. Draco growled at her.

"Look. If I wanted you to know I'd tell you all right?" He snapped right back at her.

Hermione grumbled something that sounded like "stubborn arse" and then looked out the window. Draco shrugged to himself, if she wanted to be that way it was no concern of his. Except it was. His mind went back to that horrible passage, the one he wished he had never read. The one that was troubling him more then anything about their situation thus far.

"This lesson-" he found himself saying before he could stop himself. "is fairly obvious isn't it?" Hermione looked at him now, her eyes still angry.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean it's obvious what they wanted me to learn." Hermione leaned forward a bit, interested.

"Oh?"

"Yeah," Draco shrugged. "They wanted me to see how much better the world would be without me." Hermione shook her head.

"Malfoy, I don't think that's-" He ignored her and went on.

"Why else wouldn't I be here?" He shrugged. "I won't dispute that it's better for everyone else with me gone. I mean look at what I've cause by being here."

"I think you're missing the point-" Hermione started again.

"Am I?" Hermione shrugged, suddenly remembering that she was supposed to know nothing.

"I think so."

"All I know is that we have to solve it fast," he said, looking at her in that way again.

"I don't know. It seems we have all the time in the world here," Hermione looked out the window again. Draco shook his head.

"We don't." His voice was so forceful, leaving no room for argument she jumped a bit startled.

"Well, why shouldn't we?"

Draco swallowed. "We just don't okay?" And once again they slipped into the uncomfortable, untrusting silence of before.

Hogsmeade was alight with activity. Students bustled too and fro, laden with packages bought with their Christmas money, laughing and chatting about nothing of vast importance.

Beside her Draco walked, close but somehow so far away. She kept casting concerned glances at him, wondering what had changed.

"Let's go in here," his tone was clipped and sure. His hand reached down, gripping her wrist in the almost familiar gentle firmness, pulling her towards it. Sighing, she followed him into the familiar candy store, it was useless to struggle. He was used to getting his way. Used to control, and sadly she was becoming used to it after only two days in his exclusive company.

He pushed open the door of the shop, which was only moderately full, a majority of the students had already been here, and had moved on down the way. There were a few stragglers, ogling the candy, a few casting wistful glances at the more expensive varieties. She wondered absently where Ron and Harry were, if they had been here already.

Draco, like all the other boys she knew pushed right passed the prettier, decorative candies, past the more the pleasant bonbons and went right to the back, where all sorts of boy friendly candies lay. There were Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, Sour Serpents, Whirling Wasps, an assortment of what looked like very realistic bugs, and a thousand tiny pellets of multicolored sweetness perfect for flicking at unsuspecting victims, and on a rack just beyond those was a display of slingshots in varying sizes just for that purpose. Draco released her wrist, and picked up something she had never seen before, a smile coming over his face.

"Have you tried these?" He looked over his shoulder at her, holding the box up so she could see it. The box itself was a bright shiny sliver, small and palm sized, a black ribbon tied securely around it. She shook her head, stepping a bit closer to examine it. Draco held it down at her eyelevel, and she could see through the small window covered in filament. There was a tiny brown dragon, pawing at the cardboard ground, breathing little puffs of white smoke.

"What is it?" Draco smiled.

"Only the best candy in this bleedin shop," he picked up one for her from the shelf, where written in small red letters were the words "Dragon Tongues". "They're like chocolate frogs, only much, much better." He placed it in her palm. Slowly he opened his own.

"You put them on your tongue," he said.

"And then what?" There was a glint in his eyes she really cared nothing for. The same glint the Weasley twins got when they had invented some new charmed food for some poor unsuspecting victim to try.

"Just do it." He sighed.

"You first."

Draco shrugged, reaching into the box, his fingers closing around the twisting Dragon's middle. It tried to snap at him, but it's movements were slow and stiff.

"Won't it bite you?" Draco shook his head, that same mischievous smile on his face that she had seen whenever he had a particularly nasty prank in mind. She didn't trust him a bit.

Draco opened his mouth, and placed the tiny dragon on his tongue, between his perfectly straight teeth, closing his mouth around it. She thought she heard him snort, his mouth moving at odd angles for a minute, as he struggled not to laugh.

The Dragon was tickling him he realized, and the thought that Draco Malfoy could be ticklish was an odd one. He continued to let the Dragon frolic in his mouth, his cheeks puffing out on one side and then the other as the Dragon ran about, and then she heard a hiss and Draco closed his eyes in something she recognized as pure pleasure. She blushed at the look of ecstasy on his face and look away. He swallowed.

"Best parts the last part."

"I can see that."

Draco motioned to her box. "You try."

She looked at it warily, but steeled her nerves. If Malfoy could do it she could do it. Slowly she reached in, trying to grasp the squirming dragon, who darted from one side of the box to the other, her fingers missing him every time. She growled in frustration, her fingers twirling around the box. She felt like an idiot. Draco shook his head, sighing.

"Remind me to never partner up with you in Hagrid's class. You're useless when it comes to moving things," he took the box from her, dipping his fingers inside and expertly plucked the dragon from it.

"If you think I' m eating that after your hands have been on it you're crazy," she said, watching the dragon squirm between the long pale fingers.

"Just DO it Granger," Draco growled in frustration.

"I don't know where those have been." She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Frankly I don't want to know." Draco rolled his eyes.

"If you didn't make such good marks I'd think you an idiot." She glared at him, fully prepared to take her leave but he stepped in front of her. "Live a little." The mischievous glint was replaced by daring now, and superiority. He didn't believe she would accept his challenge. She held out her hand. He placed the dragon in it, but before she could close her palm to catch it, it skittered away, falling to the floor and running under the shelf. Draco snorted.

"Like I said, useless." He grabbed another box. "Let me handle this Granger." Again he plucked the Dragon from its box with an ease that made her blood boil. "Open." He commanded, holding the new dragon squirming in his fingers. Against her will her mouth fell open, holding her breath. Draco wrinkled his nose in feigned disgust.

"For a girl with muggle dentists for parents you sure aren't much on dental hygiene."

Hermione's mouth snapped shut with and again she started to push past him. But he chuckled. She wondered for a moment how he knew that bit of information.

"A joke Granger," he stood in front her. "Now open up." Sighing, knowing he wouldn't leave her alone till she did, she let her mouth fall open once more.

He placed the little dragon on her tongue, the act itself strangely intimate. His fingers brushed her lips as she tried to close them to prevent the dragon from leaping out. She blushed, looking away, choosing to concentrate instead on the squirming thing in her mouth.

It did tickle. She could feel its tiny feet on her tongue, on the roof of her mouth, the inside of her cheeks and she couldn't help but giggle. Her hand went to her mouth as she did so, the tiny sounds uncontrollable, but she didn't want her mouth to open because of them and lose it, which would make her look like a fool.

Draco was almost smiling now. She looked so surprised, her eyes full of mirth as tiny sounds of laughter emitted from her closed mouth. His eyes twinkled as he waited for what he knew would come.

The dragon tasted of chocolate, and a spice she couldn't place, and as it squirmed she could feel the magic that charmed it slowly wearing off as its movements became slow and sluggish. Then she heard the hiss and she almost fell over from the sensation.

It was a taste so sweet and rich it fair knocked her off her toes, the feeling of released air in her mouth, sweet air, air that had her closing her eyes trying to savor the sensation, the flavor of it just as Malfoy had done seconds earlier. It was indescribable.

Draco looked at her, eyes closed, making uncontrollable hmming noises. He did smile then. After the taste faded away her eyes opened again, looking at him in surprise.

"That was so good," she breathed. Draco nodded.

"I know." She looked at the display again.

"What was that? At the end?" Draco leaned down, pointing into the window of a box at a snorting dragon, the fine mist coming out of his nose.

"When the magic wears off the dragon lets out a little puff of that mist, which is supposed to be its fire."

"And what's the mist?" Draco shrugged.

"Whatever you want it to be."

"No wonder they're so expensive," she looked at the price, one of these would be more then half of her Christmas money. Draco nodded.

"They're even kind of rich for MY blood." He said. Hermione raised an eyebrow, seriously doubting that. "But they're free today." He grabbed a few of them, shoving them into the black messenger bag that, like her bag, was ever present as his side. Although she didn't think it was laden with school books and extra quills and ink pots like hers. Probably it held a slingshot like the ones on display and a million little shootable candies, not to mention whatever else teenage boys carried with them.

"That's stealing." She said finally. Draco looked at her like she completely insane.

"No, it's not."

"It is." She looked at him. "You didn't pay for them."

"Yeah, but technically they're still there, aren't they?" He shoved a couple more in his bag. He had a point. Hermione took two, putting them in her own bag, and then moved on down the line, a few chocolate roses, and those cute little hot cocoa spoons with the marshmallows on them that if you dipped in hot milk and swirled them around they made the most delicious hot cocoa she'd ever tasted.

Draco began to grab whatever he could, little beady candies, a slingshot, a few chocolate frogs, a box of Bertie Botts, a few of the Wasps, and a couple of the Serpents. They were like kids in a candy store.

Hermione was bent, trying to decide if she really wanted to eat one of the cookies or if she just found them pretty, with their almost lifelike pictures. She had never had one before and she was trying to decide if now was the time to do so when she felt a tiny tap on her head, and then another on her back. She whirled.

Draco was innocently bent over the multicolored lollipops, studying them with more interest then necessary. She glared at him and crossed the room, grabbing a slingshot of her own and a handful of the little pellet candies, which she shoved into the pockets of her robe for easy access. She returned to the cookies again, daring him to try it again as she debated with herself. She really wanted to display the cookies as pretty as they were, she'd feel guilty eating them. She felt the little tap again, on her back and she whirled, fumbling in her pockets for a little pellet. She drew out a yellow one, readied the slingshot and fired.

She struck him right in the face, just under his eye on one of those haughty aristocratic cheekbones. He glared at her, his eyes giving her the unmistakable impression she had entered a war. He held up his own slingshot, already loaded with a red pellet and nailed her right on her shoulder. She let out a little eep of indignation and drew out a green one, loading her own, sending it flying where it bounced right off his nose.

He shot again, but she ducked behind the case of chocolate bonbons just in time, and it pinged harmlessly off the glass. He let out a growl and went to a new vantage point. Hermione reloaded, pulling back the rubber, and then sent a blue one flying towards him. But he dodged it easily, sending back a maroon one which bounced off her forehead.

Hermione let out another little eep and then they began attacking each other ruthlessly. Shots flying across the shop as fast as they could load them, the ping of snapping rubber and the tiny little taps as the candies hit everything but their mark. They didn't even bother to aim, just shot in the general direction of their opponent, cheeks flushed with the desire to win and out of breath from running back and forth over the small expanse of the small shop.

It was great fun while it lasted, but soon Hermione found herself without ammo, and on the other side of the store completely. Malfoy smiled in triumph, gesturing to the bin of the little pellet candies that was no more then 4 feet away from him.

"Do you yield?" He raised his slingshot, a red pellet glinting dangerously in the light, aimed right for her forehead. She sighed and nodded. "Say it." He commanded, punctuating each word by a wave of the ready slingshot.

"I yield," she growled in frustration. He gave a cocky triumphant grin and held up the slingshot high the air. She rolled her eyes, picking up her bag, which had fallen unnoticed by the display of pastries. Draco tossed his slingshot beside her forgotten one on the display case.

"You fought bravely Granger, but alas the better man won." She smirked.

"Oh yeah. You've proved your candy war prowess with this one Malfoy." He nodded, puffing his chest out.

"Too right."

"Are you quite finished?" She snapped and he nodded, still grinning.

"You're certainly a sore loser Granger," she sighed, ignoring him

"What now?" She asked. Draco shrugged, still elated from his win, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his robes.

"I suppose we should get some dinner." Draco said. "And I know just the place."