A/N: Thank you much you guys. I would love to answer your reviews but I can't. Ugh, too busy at the moment but anyway, I hope you'll like this chap. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, yeah. Lol. You guessed it, I don't own HP.

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Chapter Four

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"I need not to pretend anymore,

Thy sorrow had come to pass on my mind,

For as I will love you forevermore,

Can thou not pretend like as I did now?"

- a part of my poem.

A day before Christmas Break begins, Hermione and Draco agreed to stay at Hogwarts and work on their projects. Of course, the two had pretended to be displeased and disgusted at the mere thought of it around their friends but in actuality, both were quite excited and jovial. Hermione hastily made Harry and Ron get their things out of the Gryffindor common room and place it on the carriages. Harry shook his head and sighed.

Harry was supposed to spend Christmas with Hermione, just to look out for her when she was with Malfoy but Mrs. Weasley had kindly proposed for him to spend the holidays with them instead. He was thoughtful if he wanted to oblige but Hermione was ecstatic. She insisted for him to go there.

Harry was slightly hesitant but agreed nonetheless. After a day or so, Hermione became snappish and irritated when the carriages were posponed when she was so excited for them to just go away for even just a short time. After that day, she was telling them to be on their way. The two were asking her as to why she was so excited when she was going to spend all Christmas with Malfoy but she paid them no heed.

"Come on," she breathed. "Of course, it will be all about my wonderful project."

They were skeptical but they dared not question her sanity. They were handling Hermione Granger, for heaven's sakes. Everything she does makes sense. They sighed as she bid them farewell.

"Good luck with Malfoy, Hermione," Harry said, smiling at her warmly.

"Yeah, 'Mione," Ron agreed. "If ever he does something that you don't like, owl us and we'll come back as soon as we can."

Hermione gratefully smiled at them. "Thank you, guys. Now, take care."

She waved them goodbye and went on her merry way towards her new destination: nowhere in particular.

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Draco snapped at Crabbe and Goyle as they kept questioning him whether he had gone insane to stay at Hogwarts just to spend the holidays with the mudblood, finishing their project. He told them with a huff that he was just doing it for the grade. They nodded dumbly of course, who wouldn't? He was Draco Malfoy and nobody dared to defy any of his wishes.

"Are you sure you don't want us to stay, Malfoy?" Crabbe asked, staring at him with twinkling eyes. "We could torture the mudblood and all."

"Yeah," Goyle nodded his head. "Much better that way."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Just go inside the bloody carriage and leave me alone."

"But Draco, are you really sure about that?" A voice purred at his ear but sounded like someone howling instead, obviously a failure to be seductive. "I can stay here if you want."

Draco brandished his hand carelessly. "Just go away, Pansy. It'll be one heck of a Christmas without you here."

Pansy sighed and attempted to give him a peck on the cheek but stumbled forward instead. She humphed, stomping her feet angrily on the ground. "You'll miss me, Draco and when you do, you'll regret to ever deny your love for me."

Draco glared at her and waved her off. "Whatever."

He turned his back on them and sauntered off towards the Slytherin Dorm. As he walked there, a familiar voice flooded the senses of his ears.

"What if he suddenly notices that I act differently around him?"

Granger.

"Ugh, what's a girl to do? This predicament is so foreign to me."

What the heck is she talking about? Draco peered through the corridor sidewalls and saw Hermione ambling with her head down, muttering coherent words under her breath. Seeing that she was quite busy with her musings, he decided to listen some more of her ruminations.

"I mean, I fancied Harry before but it was different then. I knew him, and Draco isn't exactly the storytelling type."

Draco froze. His mind reeling as she spoke her next words.

"Why did I fell in love with Draco Malfoy in the first place?" She strode forth, not noticing Draco's presence behind the shadowy corners of the corridor. She then stopped suddenly, her eyes wandered aimlessly around the hallways. As she saw that nobody was there, she slowly sat down on the cold floor and pondered some more, with her eyes glazed over. "Falling in love with Draco, I never knew I will speak such words in one sentence." She laughed, the laugh that Draco Malfoy had once adored.

Draco shook himself out of his stupor and decisively thought that it's the right time to be brave enough to tell her his feelings. He took a step forward and congealed, his father and pride would definitely not allow such things. He stood his ground. This is just another obsession. It'll come to pass.

And if it doesn't... Draco took another look towards the girl that he admired. She should be the one to crack before he does.

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End Note: As you can see, this was another short chappie but I'm quite busy. I have work and all that other stuff. It's pretty hard to squeeze on writing the next chapters in my tight schedule so please bear with me. Slave For You, Diary, and Not Everything Is Easy would be on hold for quite a while but please don't abandon my stories. I'll try to update as soon as I can.