Synopsis: MMMMMMMMMmmmmmk, last chapter, Draco and Hermione had dinner w/
Lily and Narcissa, and I think that was it
A/N: Sorry this took so long, but MY INTERNET IS FINALLY BACK UP!!!!!!! Everyone give a round of applause to Mark from technology ~applauds~ And this chapter is 2661 words long, so it's a good length!!! Thanks at the end
Disclaimer: You know it, I know it…. ~bangs head on keyboard~
The next morning, Hermione awoke and was surprised not to see the usual pile of present at the foot of her bed. She scuffed into the study, and saw them all piled up on her chair, and Draco's on his. Since Draco was not up yet, she plopped down on the couch, and magicked up a fire. In a few minutes, Draco emerged from his room, looking very sleepy, his hair was a mess, and one side of his face was pink for where he'd been sleeping on it.
"Morning Draco."
"G'mrning"
He sprang to life when he saw his gifts on the chair, Hermione smiled.
"Thought I'd wait for you to wake up," she said.
He nodded and stumbled over to his chair, and sat on the floor next to it, like Hermione had. They eagerly began opening their gifts.
From her parents, Hermione got a new school robe, Mansfield Park, a few jumpers, and a black light weight woolen pea coat. The note attached read, "For when you're out roaming the streets of Venice!"
"Function, function, function," she mumbled.
"What?"
"My mum and dad are forever buying me functional presents, never anything for fun, really. I'm surprised I didn't get the usual supply of toothbrushes and floss this year."
She continued on, opening the gifts from her friends. From Harry, she'd gotten a new Gryffindor scarf, hat, and glove set, as her old ones had worn out. Ron got her a set of Sugar Quills as well as a lovely leather-bound journal with her initals embossed on it. From Ginny, she received an enchanted hanger that could always pick out a perfectly matching outfit, so one didn't have to spend time in the morning doing it. She also received the standard package from Mrs. Weasley, this year she'd gotten a sweater with "HG" on it, and Hermione wasn't sure if it stood for "Hermione Granger," or "Head Girl." When she was done unwrapping her gifts, she looked over at Draco.
His pile was surprisingly small. He'd gotten a few books, a new set of Quills, and a higher-grade cauldron from his mother. He had not gotten any presents from his old friends in Slytherin.
Draco inhaled and stood up, "Well, shall I give you your presents now or later?"
"How about later? We can spread it out a bit. What time is it?"
"Wow, it's almost a quarter past noon! We slept a long time," he told her.
"Well, I've got to have a shower, and so do you. Shall I go first?"
"Sure, I'll just clean up the paper."
"Thanks, Draco," she said, disappearing into the bathroom.
An hour later, both of them were dressed and ready, Hermione stuck her head in the Gryffindor Common Room, and since no one was there, she and Draco walked down to the Great Hall. There they found Harry and Maya watching Ron and Ginny play chess.
"Where have you two been?" asked Harry, waggling an eyebrow at them.
"We were shagging on Filch's desk," Hermione said passively, sitting down.
"You WHAT?" Ron spluttered.
Hermione laughed, "Ron, I wasn't being serious," she said intentionally patronizing him.
"Thanks for clarifying that, Mione."
Draco cleared his throat, "Well, SHE may very well have been thinking about that, but we just woke up late and were opening presents and taking showers….. separately." He smirked over to Hermione.
"Sadly enough, it's true," Hermione said mock-wistfully. "So, mates, anything on the agenda today?"
"I think we should have a good old fashioned snowball war," Ginny said.
"That'd be great!" Ron said, "What should teams be?"
"Not boys versus girls, we'd win too easily. I've got it! Me, Ron, and Draco versus you three," Ginny said
"Why those teams?" Harry asked.
Ginny chuckled and smiled slyly, "Why, purebloods against non-purebloods, of course!"
Hermione grinned, and looked over at Ginny, "You are SO on, you long- established wizarding scum," she threatened jokingly. "Meet outside the entrance at two o'clock. Malfoy and I still need to tuck in a bit."
"Fine by me," Ron said, standing up, "But no poisoning his food."
"If I haven't already, I won't now," she retored with a smile. "See you then!"
The four others left, leaving Draco and Hermione to eat, as a House Elf brought them sandwiches and juice. They ate quickly and silently, and made their way back to the room to get dressed properly.
Draco and Hermione emerged bundled up, she in her Gryffindor colors, he in his Slytherin.
"Lets go," she said.
"Ready to get your arse beat?" he challenged.
"Bring it on, Malfoy, you are mine."
"What, are you going to waddle after me?"
Hermione frowned and looked down. She'd put on about five layers of clothes, and was indeed, waddling. She glared at Draco, who was grinning and twirling his wand around, looking considerably less puffy than she.
"Oh! …..Shut up Draco."
"What?" he said, smirking, "I didn't say a word."
She threw him a withering look, and turned her wand on herself.
"Compactio." Her clothes shrank down so they were about as thick as one layer. "Lets go," she told him.
The two walked down, and met Ron, Maya, Ginny, and Harry outside.
"OK, each team will have fifteen minutes to prepare, then it's a free-for- all," Harry told them. "So, teams have till two fifteen, go!"
Harry, Hermione, and Maya hurried over to one side of the field, and began piling snow for a fort, and making snowballs, and Ron, Ginny, and Draco did the same.
Sooner than they knew, the six of them were chasing eachother around, shrieking, and pelting snow at eachother.
"Ron, that was an ice ball, no fair, that hurt!"
"Stop being such a BABY, Maya!"
"Oh, you're gonna get it now, Weasley!"
Ginny was chasing Hermione around a large pile of snow. They were on opposite sides, both gasping for breath.
"Hey, Gin," panted Hermione, "I think we should get Maya and gang up on the guys!"
"Ooh, good idea, Mione!! You go tell her. But wait, what should the signal be?"
"I'll cough twice, and then we ambush!"
"Brilliant."
Hermione ran off, and pulled Maya away from chasing Ron.
"Maya," she hissed, "When I cough twice, me, you, and Gin all gang up on the guys, ok?"
Maya snickered, "Fabulous plan! Now, go act like we're not conspiring," she laughed.
When Hermione finally chased Draco over to where Ron, Ginny, and Maya were with Harry, she coughed loudly twice.
The girls all unearthed huge pile of snoballs that they'd tucked in pockets and hoods, and began pummeling the boys.
"What are you doing? Hey, stop it! Gerroff me! Ginny, you traitor!!"
"Sorry, Ronniekins," she giggled, pelting snow at Harry.
"Hermione, you're fraternizing with purebloods! Ginny, stop!! That went down my back!" Harry exclaimed
Hermione was now stuck in the same position with Draco as she had been with Ginny. He was grinning wildly at her.
"What're you gonna do now?"
"I'm going to beat your arse, scummy pureblood," she smiled sweetly at him, making Draco laugh.
While he was laughing, she charged over the top of the snow mound, and bore down on him, thowing her frozen ammunition. On the way down the other side, she slipped, and knocked Draco over.
"Can't even ~grunt~ stand up straight, mudblood?" he laughed, and he pinned her to the ground.
Hermione blew her dissheveled hair out of her face. "Well, I wasn't aware that gravity didn't affect purebloods such as yourself," she retorted haughtily.
"Slytherin comes out on top again!" Draco replied.
It was only then, that Hermione realized that he, literally, was on top of her. She could feel his breath on her face, it smelled like peppermint. He was so close. Inches away.
'Just a few short inches,' she thought, 'A few inches to….. to…..'
"Ooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhh, what are YOU two doing?" came Ginny's singsong voice behind them.
Hermione and Draco both blushed and sat up.
"Nothing," they both said at the same time, defensively.
Looking up, they saw Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Maya looking down at the two of them, smirking like madmen. Draco quickly got up, and brushed himself off, he was trying his best to hide the fact that he was a bright shade of red.
"Well, I think it's safe to say that the purebloods won," he said, his voice squeaking a bit.
"Lets all go get some hot chocolate," Hermione added quickly, "It's freezing out here."
Hermione turned and walked rapidly towards the castle, Draco followed behind, and the others trailed behind.
Inside, they peeled off most of their soggy clothes and headed to the Great Hall. The House Elves soon brought them all steaming mugs of hot chocolate, which they drank in relative silence. Hermione checked her watch.
"It's almost five, I didn't realize we were outside so long."
"Well, you know, sometimes you just get lost in the moment," Ron said with a smirk. Ginny kicked him under the table.
"Errrr, so, is anything going on tonight?" Maya broke in.
"Well, there should be a big dinner in here, maybe after we could all do something," Hermione said. "But, I think I need to go take a shower, and I hope all of you think the same."
"Yeah, Mione, you do smell pretty bad," Harry said with a grin.
She rolled her eyes at him, "You know what I meant!" She stood up, "I'll see you all back here at six."
Draco stood up, too, "Bye guys."
Their friends bid them goodbye, and Hermione and Draco gethered their soggy clothes and trekked back to the room.
"I get to shower first!" Hermione called as soon as they'd walked in.
Draco sighed, "Fine, but hurry up!"
"Yes sir," she said, bowing to him.
He plopped down in his chair, while she went to her room. She emerged seconds later, and walked into the bathroom. Draco heard the water turn on, as he began looking through the Daily Prophet.
"Ahem," he heard from behind him.
He spun around to see Hermione, in her bath robe, holding out her shampoo bottle.
"You used my shampoo!" she said, with a smirk creeping over her lips.
"I-I did not!"
She walked over to him, and sniffed his head, "Strawberries."
"Well, mine was all gone!"
She looked at him with her eyebrows raised, "Whatever you say, Draco!" She walked back into the bathroom, smiling.
Draco heard the water turn off a few minutes later, and put his notes aside. As he walked to his room, Hermione walked out of the bathroom and past him. He sniffed, something smelled decidedly masculine.
"You used my soap?"
"Mine was all gone!" she said innocently, and walked into her room.
A half hour later, Draco was ready, and he went out into the study to find Hermione looking at his Potions notes.
"No wonder you're Snape's favorite. These notes are more meticulous than mine are!"
"Well, only in Potions, it's the only subject I really like, well, that and Ca- another one."
She looked up at him, "WHAT other one?"
"Nothing, just Potions."
"You were going to say Care of Magical Creatures, weren't you?"
Draco looked at his feet, "So, what if I was?"
"That's so cute!"
"It's not CUTE!" he said disdainfully.
"You're right," she said in mock seriousness. "That's very masculine… I'm kidding, Draco. I think it's nice that you like that subject. But, I mean, I wouldn't peg you for it. Especially with that whole hippogriff deal third year."
Draco shrugged, "Well, everyone makes mistakes, you know. Hmm, that was right around the time you slapped me."
"Ooh, uh, sorry about that."
"No hard feelings, I was a pretty big prick."
Hermione cleared her throat, "No comment. Let's go, it's almost dinner time."
They arrived in the Great Hall to find the professors, and their fellow students all there.
"Well, our Head Girl and Boy have arrived, so, everyone: enjoy!" the Headmaster said.
They all sat eating and chatting contentedly. When they were finally done, Harry spoke up.
"Well, since we're the only Gryffindors here, do you want to just go up to the Common Room?"
They all filed upstairs, and into the Common Room. The six of them spent the next few hours playing Chess, Exploding Snap, and Gobstones. After getting squirted for about he fiftieth time, Ron stood up.
"I'm about done with this for the evening, it's getting late. Anyone else want to go to bed?"
Harry stretched from behind the chess board, "I'm up for sleep."
The other four nodded, most of them yawning.
Hermione stood up from the other side of the chessboard, "Well, good night, everyone, see you tomorrow."
"Good night, mates," Draco said.
The two of them exited through Hermione's portrait hole.
"So, should we exchange gifts now?" Hermione asked when they got into her room.
"Yeah, I'll go get yours, come out into the study."
Hermione grabbed Draco's presents, and went into the study.
He emerged from his room, holding three wrapped packages.
"Here," she said, "You open first, I insist."
He tore off the wrapping paper. He smiled broadly at the Beatles compilations, and nodded approvingly at the classical music. Next, he began opening the books. He raised his eyebrows at Hermione and smiled, but truly grinned when he got his copy of Matilda.
"Thanks, Hermione, this is really too much, but they're all great. Really, thank you," he said sincerely. "OK, you now."
Hermione took the packages apprehensively. She carefully opened the first one, it was a black box with 'MM' on it in scripty gold lettering.
"Oh, this isn't your Christmas gift, it's a thank you gift. The other two are for Christmas."
Hermione clicked her tongue, "Draco, I told you-"
"Just take it, Hermione!"
She shook her head, and opened the box. Inside she saw a very high-quality black school robe. She looked at Draco quizzically.
"It's for the one you ripped to bandage my arm," he explained. "Go on, there's something else."
She lifted up the robe, and smiled. She pulled out the orange Chudley Cannon shirt.
"Thanks, I was starting to miss it," she told him.
She shook her head in astonishment, and continued. The next package also turned out to be a black box with the gold letters.
"Draco, Madam Malkin's is expensive! You really should not have."
"Hermione, get over it, you can't even accept presents without an argument! Just open it."
She lifted the lid, and pulled out a heavyweight deep blue cloak.
"It's beautiful, Draco! Wow, I mean, it's beautiful, I can't accept this, it must have cost-"
"I swear I am going to kill you!"
"Sorry, sorry, I know. But, wow, THANK you, this is just gorgeous!"
"I picked it out all by myself."
She smiled, and took the last package and unwrapped it. It was a large leather-bound novel. It smelled very old.
"Pride and Prejudice," she read off the title page, with a smile. "This is- oh my God! Draco, are you insane, this says eighteen thrteen on it! That would mean that this is an-"
"Original copy," he said proudly. "It was my great-great-great-great- great grandmother's or something. I remembered seeing it on a bookshelf when I was little. I had my mum bring it. And you're keeping it, so don't argue!" he added as an afterthought.
Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but found that she couldn't seem to say anything. Instead, she grabbed him and hugged him tightly. Draco was surprised by the gesture and gave her that awkward patting-the- back thing that guys do instead of hugging. (~cough, dumb chuk and bean, cough~)
"Thank you, it's really too much," she said.
He shook his head, "It's really not, but you're welcome. Now, I think it's time for bed. We have a meeting tomorrow, remember."
Hermione nodded, "OK," she said, standing up, "Good night, Draco, and thank you."
They both headed off for their rooms.
"Hermione?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for spending Christmas with me."
She smiled back at him, "It was my pleasure. Night."
A/N: Mmmmmmk, Please R/R, it really makes my day to read them all, and I do read every single one of them! I have almost 900!!! Can you guys believe that?? You're all the greatest, especially the ones who've been with me since the beginning! So, on to the thanks!
(Just so you know, if I just list your name, then I wanted to thank you, but don't necessarily have something to respond to, if I write you a sentence, that's just b/c I thought something needed a response, it's not that I like certain people better and I wanna give them longer thanks, fyi)
Soooooooooooo thanks toooo:
~Slavy, Dragona, Robyn, Priya-Chan, Aphrael, Lexi, Sianna Jay Felton, ~Roxy~, Jessie, porkypop, Starlight, Reese, akiri pie-chan, ~*Draco'z chick*~, cat, RaliNeoBlade, Ryoko, whatever22, Cool Cat, grizziestar, Mjade, arian, carrie, p.e.n.n.y, ~*~Sugar Plums~*~, Material Girl, Mariella, Aerion, Night Spirit, PrincessDarkness, Daya, Jenna Malfoy, lydia, Chrissy, LilyAyl, Rachel Hunt, Bluebubblegrl, Piri Malfoy, DarkAngel009988, Beauty Full, Alanna Roseguard, McGranger929, Manda Black, Lily Isabel, Tara, Jordan, allee kat, Erika Moonbeam, blackkitty, Kstar74, and hemlock
~Ghost- ~frowns~ Sorry, I know that wasn't the most interesting chapter, but I hope that doesn't deter you from reading, I'm trying to make it as good as I can! ~ Sandy Summers- Honestly, I can't put a date at the end b/c I usually have NO clue when I'll be posting again. As of the moment I post this, I have about half of 26 written, so it might be a few days, but it's usually never more than a week unless I'm exceptionally bad ~ Khatt- I should have about 10 more chapters left in me. I do have the ~cough~ most important chapter written, and the epilogue (which is too fluffy and needs tweaking) ~ Fleur- I had to laugh when I read that b/c all I can picture is Fleur Delacour running around madly asking me to post again….. anyhoo, sorry for the delay! ~ Trav- wow, thanks for saying so, but we all know the JKR isn't gonna stick good ol D and Hr together ~sighs~ oh, well ~ Veronica- no worries, they will end up together, I have that chapter written and everything! ~ Holly- they're coming, they're coming….. (the kisses I mean) ~ Constantine1453- Thanks for the long review, I love them!!! Now that my internet is up, I'll try to go read your stories, ok? Thanks for reviewing! ~ :P – I am a DMB fn, btu I used to like them a lot better before they got super trendy-popular ~ Sumi-chan – Hey, I'm all for constructive criticism, so could you give me some examples from the story for what to work on, maybe? I'd really appreciate it, thanks! ~ moom- LOL, I'm glad we upstaters are acceptable! And thanks for saying that about my musiucal taste and slang, yay, that means a lot to me!! ~ OREO OF LOVE- There I put you in caps lock! I feel so bad for omitting you! Thanks for your kind reviews!! ~ Kearie- you know, I kind of feel bad for not writing that Mxas Carol… maybe I will for next chapter! ~ katelyn- I have a few other fics in progress, a Snape one to run parallel to this story, a Fred/Hr one (Just b/c it's ALWAYS G/Hr, and I think Fred deserves some play, too!) aaaaaand, when we get to it, Squinny and I are writing a HP/ Pride& Prejudice crossover ~ Nuada- lol, I was wondering like 'where did vogue come from?' but, I don't read it, but I have heard the phrase before ~ krissy- I know he's OOC, but I kind of gave a reason, sooooo, I dunno, this'll never happen anyway, so why not take some liberties! ~Amaiko- LOL, sorry, no drunkenness! ~ firefaerie96- it's pretty much the equivalent to bullshit
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, of course, to Squinny- who you can all thank b.c she emailed me and told me to get my rear in gear and post, otherwise I prolly woulda been too lazy! I don't have anything to say to you, of course, except GO FOR JONNO!!!! ~winks~
Side note- I think the car keys/khakis thing was a bit confusing, and my explanation made it sound a bit too southern…… but that's irrelevant, really….
Soooooooooooo PLEASE R/R I'll love you foreveraneveraneveranever!!
I bid thee adieu until 26!
A/N: Sorry this took so long, but MY INTERNET IS FINALLY BACK UP!!!!!!! Everyone give a round of applause to Mark from technology ~applauds~ And this chapter is 2661 words long, so it's a good length!!! Thanks at the end
Disclaimer: You know it, I know it…. ~bangs head on keyboard~
The next morning, Hermione awoke and was surprised not to see the usual pile of present at the foot of her bed. She scuffed into the study, and saw them all piled up on her chair, and Draco's on his. Since Draco was not up yet, she plopped down on the couch, and magicked up a fire. In a few minutes, Draco emerged from his room, looking very sleepy, his hair was a mess, and one side of his face was pink for where he'd been sleeping on it.
"Morning Draco."
"G'mrning"
He sprang to life when he saw his gifts on the chair, Hermione smiled.
"Thought I'd wait for you to wake up," she said.
He nodded and stumbled over to his chair, and sat on the floor next to it, like Hermione had. They eagerly began opening their gifts.
From her parents, Hermione got a new school robe, Mansfield Park, a few jumpers, and a black light weight woolen pea coat. The note attached read, "For when you're out roaming the streets of Venice!"
"Function, function, function," she mumbled.
"What?"
"My mum and dad are forever buying me functional presents, never anything for fun, really. I'm surprised I didn't get the usual supply of toothbrushes and floss this year."
She continued on, opening the gifts from her friends. From Harry, she'd gotten a new Gryffindor scarf, hat, and glove set, as her old ones had worn out. Ron got her a set of Sugar Quills as well as a lovely leather-bound journal with her initals embossed on it. From Ginny, she received an enchanted hanger that could always pick out a perfectly matching outfit, so one didn't have to spend time in the morning doing it. She also received the standard package from Mrs. Weasley, this year she'd gotten a sweater with "HG" on it, and Hermione wasn't sure if it stood for "Hermione Granger," or "Head Girl." When she was done unwrapping her gifts, she looked over at Draco.
His pile was surprisingly small. He'd gotten a few books, a new set of Quills, and a higher-grade cauldron from his mother. He had not gotten any presents from his old friends in Slytherin.
Draco inhaled and stood up, "Well, shall I give you your presents now or later?"
"How about later? We can spread it out a bit. What time is it?"
"Wow, it's almost a quarter past noon! We slept a long time," he told her.
"Well, I've got to have a shower, and so do you. Shall I go first?"
"Sure, I'll just clean up the paper."
"Thanks, Draco," she said, disappearing into the bathroom.
An hour later, both of them were dressed and ready, Hermione stuck her head in the Gryffindor Common Room, and since no one was there, she and Draco walked down to the Great Hall. There they found Harry and Maya watching Ron and Ginny play chess.
"Where have you two been?" asked Harry, waggling an eyebrow at them.
"We were shagging on Filch's desk," Hermione said passively, sitting down.
"You WHAT?" Ron spluttered.
Hermione laughed, "Ron, I wasn't being serious," she said intentionally patronizing him.
"Thanks for clarifying that, Mione."
Draco cleared his throat, "Well, SHE may very well have been thinking about that, but we just woke up late and were opening presents and taking showers….. separately." He smirked over to Hermione.
"Sadly enough, it's true," Hermione said mock-wistfully. "So, mates, anything on the agenda today?"
"I think we should have a good old fashioned snowball war," Ginny said.
"That'd be great!" Ron said, "What should teams be?"
"Not boys versus girls, we'd win too easily. I've got it! Me, Ron, and Draco versus you three," Ginny said
"Why those teams?" Harry asked.
Ginny chuckled and smiled slyly, "Why, purebloods against non-purebloods, of course!"
Hermione grinned, and looked over at Ginny, "You are SO on, you long- established wizarding scum," she threatened jokingly. "Meet outside the entrance at two o'clock. Malfoy and I still need to tuck in a bit."
"Fine by me," Ron said, standing up, "But no poisoning his food."
"If I haven't already, I won't now," she retored with a smile. "See you then!"
The four others left, leaving Draco and Hermione to eat, as a House Elf brought them sandwiches and juice. They ate quickly and silently, and made their way back to the room to get dressed properly.
Draco and Hermione emerged bundled up, she in her Gryffindor colors, he in his Slytherin.
"Lets go," she said.
"Ready to get your arse beat?" he challenged.
"Bring it on, Malfoy, you are mine."
"What, are you going to waddle after me?"
Hermione frowned and looked down. She'd put on about five layers of clothes, and was indeed, waddling. She glared at Draco, who was grinning and twirling his wand around, looking considerably less puffy than she.
"Oh! …..Shut up Draco."
"What?" he said, smirking, "I didn't say a word."
She threw him a withering look, and turned her wand on herself.
"Compactio." Her clothes shrank down so they were about as thick as one layer. "Lets go," she told him.
The two walked down, and met Ron, Maya, Ginny, and Harry outside.
"OK, each team will have fifteen minutes to prepare, then it's a free-for- all," Harry told them. "So, teams have till two fifteen, go!"
Harry, Hermione, and Maya hurried over to one side of the field, and began piling snow for a fort, and making snowballs, and Ron, Ginny, and Draco did the same.
Sooner than they knew, the six of them were chasing eachother around, shrieking, and pelting snow at eachother.
"Ron, that was an ice ball, no fair, that hurt!"
"Stop being such a BABY, Maya!"
"Oh, you're gonna get it now, Weasley!"
Ginny was chasing Hermione around a large pile of snow. They were on opposite sides, both gasping for breath.
"Hey, Gin," panted Hermione, "I think we should get Maya and gang up on the guys!"
"Ooh, good idea, Mione!! You go tell her. But wait, what should the signal be?"
"I'll cough twice, and then we ambush!"
"Brilliant."
Hermione ran off, and pulled Maya away from chasing Ron.
"Maya," she hissed, "When I cough twice, me, you, and Gin all gang up on the guys, ok?"
Maya snickered, "Fabulous plan! Now, go act like we're not conspiring," she laughed.
When Hermione finally chased Draco over to where Ron, Ginny, and Maya were with Harry, she coughed loudly twice.
The girls all unearthed huge pile of snoballs that they'd tucked in pockets and hoods, and began pummeling the boys.
"What are you doing? Hey, stop it! Gerroff me! Ginny, you traitor!!"
"Sorry, Ronniekins," she giggled, pelting snow at Harry.
"Hermione, you're fraternizing with purebloods! Ginny, stop!! That went down my back!" Harry exclaimed
Hermione was now stuck in the same position with Draco as she had been with Ginny. He was grinning wildly at her.
"What're you gonna do now?"
"I'm going to beat your arse, scummy pureblood," she smiled sweetly at him, making Draco laugh.
While he was laughing, she charged over the top of the snow mound, and bore down on him, thowing her frozen ammunition. On the way down the other side, she slipped, and knocked Draco over.
"Can't even ~grunt~ stand up straight, mudblood?" he laughed, and he pinned her to the ground.
Hermione blew her dissheveled hair out of her face. "Well, I wasn't aware that gravity didn't affect purebloods such as yourself," she retorted haughtily.
"Slytherin comes out on top again!" Draco replied.
It was only then, that Hermione realized that he, literally, was on top of her. She could feel his breath on her face, it smelled like peppermint. He was so close. Inches away.
'Just a few short inches,' she thought, 'A few inches to….. to…..'
"Ooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhh, what are YOU two doing?" came Ginny's singsong voice behind them.
Hermione and Draco both blushed and sat up.
"Nothing," they both said at the same time, defensively.
Looking up, they saw Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Maya looking down at the two of them, smirking like madmen. Draco quickly got up, and brushed himself off, he was trying his best to hide the fact that he was a bright shade of red.
"Well, I think it's safe to say that the purebloods won," he said, his voice squeaking a bit.
"Lets all go get some hot chocolate," Hermione added quickly, "It's freezing out here."
Hermione turned and walked rapidly towards the castle, Draco followed behind, and the others trailed behind.
Inside, they peeled off most of their soggy clothes and headed to the Great Hall. The House Elves soon brought them all steaming mugs of hot chocolate, which they drank in relative silence. Hermione checked her watch.
"It's almost five, I didn't realize we were outside so long."
"Well, you know, sometimes you just get lost in the moment," Ron said with a smirk. Ginny kicked him under the table.
"Errrr, so, is anything going on tonight?" Maya broke in.
"Well, there should be a big dinner in here, maybe after we could all do something," Hermione said. "But, I think I need to go take a shower, and I hope all of you think the same."
"Yeah, Mione, you do smell pretty bad," Harry said with a grin.
She rolled her eyes at him, "You know what I meant!" She stood up, "I'll see you all back here at six."
Draco stood up, too, "Bye guys."
Their friends bid them goodbye, and Hermione and Draco gethered their soggy clothes and trekked back to the room.
"I get to shower first!" Hermione called as soon as they'd walked in.
Draco sighed, "Fine, but hurry up!"
"Yes sir," she said, bowing to him.
He plopped down in his chair, while she went to her room. She emerged seconds later, and walked into the bathroom. Draco heard the water turn on, as he began looking through the Daily Prophet.
"Ahem," he heard from behind him.
He spun around to see Hermione, in her bath robe, holding out her shampoo bottle.
"You used my shampoo!" she said, with a smirk creeping over her lips.
"I-I did not!"
She walked over to him, and sniffed his head, "Strawberries."
"Well, mine was all gone!"
She looked at him with her eyebrows raised, "Whatever you say, Draco!" She walked back into the bathroom, smiling.
Draco heard the water turn off a few minutes later, and put his notes aside. As he walked to his room, Hermione walked out of the bathroom and past him. He sniffed, something smelled decidedly masculine.
"You used my soap?"
"Mine was all gone!" she said innocently, and walked into her room.
A half hour later, Draco was ready, and he went out into the study to find Hermione looking at his Potions notes.
"No wonder you're Snape's favorite. These notes are more meticulous than mine are!"
"Well, only in Potions, it's the only subject I really like, well, that and Ca- another one."
She looked up at him, "WHAT other one?"
"Nothing, just Potions."
"You were going to say Care of Magical Creatures, weren't you?"
Draco looked at his feet, "So, what if I was?"
"That's so cute!"
"It's not CUTE!" he said disdainfully.
"You're right," she said in mock seriousness. "That's very masculine… I'm kidding, Draco. I think it's nice that you like that subject. But, I mean, I wouldn't peg you for it. Especially with that whole hippogriff deal third year."
Draco shrugged, "Well, everyone makes mistakes, you know. Hmm, that was right around the time you slapped me."
"Ooh, uh, sorry about that."
"No hard feelings, I was a pretty big prick."
Hermione cleared her throat, "No comment. Let's go, it's almost dinner time."
They arrived in the Great Hall to find the professors, and their fellow students all there.
"Well, our Head Girl and Boy have arrived, so, everyone: enjoy!" the Headmaster said.
They all sat eating and chatting contentedly. When they were finally done, Harry spoke up.
"Well, since we're the only Gryffindors here, do you want to just go up to the Common Room?"
They all filed upstairs, and into the Common Room. The six of them spent the next few hours playing Chess, Exploding Snap, and Gobstones. After getting squirted for about he fiftieth time, Ron stood up.
"I'm about done with this for the evening, it's getting late. Anyone else want to go to bed?"
Harry stretched from behind the chess board, "I'm up for sleep."
The other four nodded, most of them yawning.
Hermione stood up from the other side of the chessboard, "Well, good night, everyone, see you tomorrow."
"Good night, mates," Draco said.
The two of them exited through Hermione's portrait hole.
"So, should we exchange gifts now?" Hermione asked when they got into her room.
"Yeah, I'll go get yours, come out into the study."
Hermione grabbed Draco's presents, and went into the study.
He emerged from his room, holding three wrapped packages.
"Here," she said, "You open first, I insist."
He tore off the wrapping paper. He smiled broadly at the Beatles compilations, and nodded approvingly at the classical music. Next, he began opening the books. He raised his eyebrows at Hermione and smiled, but truly grinned when he got his copy of Matilda.
"Thanks, Hermione, this is really too much, but they're all great. Really, thank you," he said sincerely. "OK, you now."
Hermione took the packages apprehensively. She carefully opened the first one, it was a black box with 'MM' on it in scripty gold lettering.
"Oh, this isn't your Christmas gift, it's a thank you gift. The other two are for Christmas."
Hermione clicked her tongue, "Draco, I told you-"
"Just take it, Hermione!"
She shook her head, and opened the box. Inside she saw a very high-quality black school robe. She looked at Draco quizzically.
"It's for the one you ripped to bandage my arm," he explained. "Go on, there's something else."
She lifted up the robe, and smiled. She pulled out the orange Chudley Cannon shirt.
"Thanks, I was starting to miss it," she told him.
She shook her head in astonishment, and continued. The next package also turned out to be a black box with the gold letters.
"Draco, Madam Malkin's is expensive! You really should not have."
"Hermione, get over it, you can't even accept presents without an argument! Just open it."
She lifted the lid, and pulled out a heavyweight deep blue cloak.
"It's beautiful, Draco! Wow, I mean, it's beautiful, I can't accept this, it must have cost-"
"I swear I am going to kill you!"
"Sorry, sorry, I know. But, wow, THANK you, this is just gorgeous!"
"I picked it out all by myself."
She smiled, and took the last package and unwrapped it. It was a large leather-bound novel. It smelled very old.
"Pride and Prejudice," she read off the title page, with a smile. "This is- oh my God! Draco, are you insane, this says eighteen thrteen on it! That would mean that this is an-"
"Original copy," he said proudly. "It was my great-great-great-great- great grandmother's or something. I remembered seeing it on a bookshelf when I was little. I had my mum bring it. And you're keeping it, so don't argue!" he added as an afterthought.
Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but found that she couldn't seem to say anything. Instead, she grabbed him and hugged him tightly. Draco was surprised by the gesture and gave her that awkward patting-the- back thing that guys do instead of hugging. (~cough, dumb chuk and bean, cough~)
"Thank you, it's really too much," she said.
He shook his head, "It's really not, but you're welcome. Now, I think it's time for bed. We have a meeting tomorrow, remember."
Hermione nodded, "OK," she said, standing up, "Good night, Draco, and thank you."
They both headed off for their rooms.
"Hermione?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for spending Christmas with me."
She smiled back at him, "It was my pleasure. Night."
A/N: Mmmmmmk, Please R/R, it really makes my day to read them all, and I do read every single one of them! I have almost 900!!! Can you guys believe that?? You're all the greatest, especially the ones who've been with me since the beginning! So, on to the thanks!
(Just so you know, if I just list your name, then I wanted to thank you, but don't necessarily have something to respond to, if I write you a sentence, that's just b/c I thought something needed a response, it's not that I like certain people better and I wanna give them longer thanks, fyi)
Soooooooooooo thanks toooo:
~Slavy, Dragona, Robyn, Priya-Chan, Aphrael, Lexi, Sianna Jay Felton, ~Roxy~, Jessie, porkypop, Starlight, Reese, akiri pie-chan, ~*Draco'z chick*~, cat, RaliNeoBlade, Ryoko, whatever22, Cool Cat, grizziestar, Mjade, arian, carrie, p.e.n.n.y, ~*~Sugar Plums~*~, Material Girl, Mariella, Aerion, Night Spirit, PrincessDarkness, Daya, Jenna Malfoy, lydia, Chrissy, LilyAyl, Rachel Hunt, Bluebubblegrl, Piri Malfoy, DarkAngel009988, Beauty Full, Alanna Roseguard, McGranger929, Manda Black, Lily Isabel, Tara, Jordan, allee kat, Erika Moonbeam, blackkitty, Kstar74, and hemlock
~Ghost- ~frowns~ Sorry, I know that wasn't the most interesting chapter, but I hope that doesn't deter you from reading, I'm trying to make it as good as I can! ~ Sandy Summers- Honestly, I can't put a date at the end b/c I usually have NO clue when I'll be posting again. As of the moment I post this, I have about half of 26 written, so it might be a few days, but it's usually never more than a week unless I'm exceptionally bad ~ Khatt- I should have about 10 more chapters left in me. I do have the ~cough~ most important chapter written, and the epilogue (which is too fluffy and needs tweaking) ~ Fleur- I had to laugh when I read that b/c all I can picture is Fleur Delacour running around madly asking me to post again….. anyhoo, sorry for the delay! ~ Trav- wow, thanks for saying so, but we all know the JKR isn't gonna stick good ol D and Hr together ~sighs~ oh, well ~ Veronica- no worries, they will end up together, I have that chapter written and everything! ~ Holly- they're coming, they're coming….. (the kisses I mean) ~ Constantine1453- Thanks for the long review, I love them!!! Now that my internet is up, I'll try to go read your stories, ok? Thanks for reviewing! ~ :P – I am a DMB fn, btu I used to like them a lot better before they got super trendy-popular ~ Sumi-chan – Hey, I'm all for constructive criticism, so could you give me some examples from the story for what to work on, maybe? I'd really appreciate it, thanks! ~ moom- LOL, I'm glad we upstaters are acceptable! And thanks for saying that about my musiucal taste and slang, yay, that means a lot to me!! ~ OREO OF LOVE- There I put you in caps lock! I feel so bad for omitting you! Thanks for your kind reviews!! ~ Kearie- you know, I kind of feel bad for not writing that Mxas Carol… maybe I will for next chapter! ~ katelyn- I have a few other fics in progress, a Snape one to run parallel to this story, a Fred/Hr one (Just b/c it's ALWAYS G/Hr, and I think Fred deserves some play, too!) aaaaaand, when we get to it, Squinny and I are writing a HP/ Pride& Prejudice crossover ~ Nuada- lol, I was wondering like 'where did vogue come from?' but, I don't read it, but I have heard the phrase before ~ krissy- I know he's OOC, but I kind of gave a reason, sooooo, I dunno, this'll never happen anyway, so why not take some liberties! ~Amaiko- LOL, sorry, no drunkenness! ~ firefaerie96- it's pretty much the equivalent to bullshit
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, of course, to Squinny- who you can all thank b.c she emailed me and told me to get my rear in gear and post, otherwise I prolly woulda been too lazy! I don't have anything to say to you, of course, except GO FOR JONNO!!!! ~winks~
Side note- I think the car keys/khakis thing was a bit confusing, and my explanation made it sound a bit too southern…… but that's irrelevant, really….
Soooooooooooo PLEASE R/R I'll love you foreveraneveraneveranever!!
I bid thee adieu until 26!
