Disclaimer; I don't own any of Harry Potter, or his friends. Thank you to JK Rowling for creating this world for us to explore.

Home for the Holidays

Draco awoke that morning, feeling more tired and drained than he ever had. He had not wanted to wake up. He had tried to prevent it, but he woke just the same. Of course he had that dream again last night. It caused him to toss and turn in his sleep and break out into a cold sweat. These dreams were becoming so much more real, and he feared his face would betray him if he stole even the tiniest glance at her today. This was the first day of winter holidays, but he was remaining at Hogwarts. He had nowhere else to go. His home was gone, but even if it had remained he had no one to go to. He sighed, missing his family, they were not perfect, far from it in fact, but they were all he had known.

He walked down into the common room and saw that the house-elves had decorated it for Christmas. His tree was decorated in silver, green and black, hers in scarlet and gold. The room was festive and cheerful, but he felt very alone. "Well, I guess this is my life now, and I will just have to get used to being alone." he sighed. Just then, she walked down the stairs. Looking lovely, flushed and fresh, in a red and gold dressing robe. She smiled at him, and sat down on her favorite chair and opened a book.

"Don't you ever stop reading Granger?" he asked, raising his eyebrow in amusement.

Surprisingly, she smirked at him, "I am in too good of a mood to let you ruin it for me Draco."

His mind caught that slip, in his dreams she had always called him Draco, not Malfoy, not ferret, not anything else. He loved it when she said his name. It sounded so feminine and breathy on her lips, like she was trying to seduce him with it.

"Just making small talk." he said quietly, not looking at her directly.

And then, she did something that startled him, she actually smiled and started talking to him, as if he were her equal.

"Are you going home for the holidays?" she asked and at once realized the mistake she made.

"No, I don't have anywhere to go. McGonagall said that I could stay here over all of the holidays, and she would help me find somewhere when school was out."

"Oh" she said quietly.

"Are you staying?" he asked her

"Yes, my parents have to work, so I would be alone at the house for most of the holidays. Besides, I have so much work to do for school, that it's better if I stay here and use the library for my research and to prepare for N.E.W.T.S."

He smiled at her.

"Well, looks like this is our home for the holidays."

She grinned at him and it made his whole face beam.

I couldn't believe it. I was sitting here, in the common room, having an actual, normal, civil conversation with the man that I secretly made love to in my dreams every night. He was acting very pleasant and talking to me as if we were old friends. The dream I had last night had been very nice, and it must have made me restless, because when I woke up, my nightgown was torn. 'It must have gotten caught on the poster of the bed' I thought to myself. I had to admit to myself, that I was very turned on by these dreams and wondered what he would say if I just walked over to him and seduced him here in the common room. But here we were, chatting and laughing. Making it seem like we had never argued in our lives.

"Have you been studying much this semester?" I asked him.

"Lots," he replied "it's not as if I have much of a social life anymore"

I could hear the bitterness in his voice, but he put on a slight smile

"I don't need to ask you the same question I guess."

"Well," I said "I have tried 3 to 4 hours a night, but I haven't been getting a lot of sleep."

"Is your room uncomfortable?" he asked me.

"No," I replied "I think it is just the stress of my final year here, I want to get all outstanding N.E.W.T.S."

He laughed. "I wouldn't expect anything less from you."

He had such a beautiful smile, I wished I could see it more often, but these days he was more withdrawn and quiet.

"I have an idea" he said with a grin "I know that past events have formed your opinion of me already, but for the holidays, why don't we pretend that none of that happened and that we are friends. That way we both will have someone to spend the holidays with. Unless, you plan to spend it with someone else."

"Draco…" I blushed when I said his name out loud, it felt strangely intimate. "I don't feel that way about you anymore. I know what you did and what you sacrificed for the cause. I have forgiven you for your childish ways in the past and have moved on. I would like nothing more than to be friends with you, not just pretend to be. And no, I have no other plans, Ron and Harry are going back to the burrow for Christmas, they invited me, but I had too much to do here."

His heart leapt.

"Thank you, Hermione." he said with genuine heartfelt.

He had said my name. Oh, how I had waited for him to say it. I blushed.

"You're welcome Draco."

I had a feeling that this Christmas would be the best one yet.

We continued our light friendly conversation until my stomach began to ache.

"Have you eaten yet?" I asked him.

"No, I just came down a moment before you did; I had a rough night too. I think I started sleepwalking, because I woke up and found a red mark on my shoulder, like I ran into something.

I just stared at the mark he was showing me; it was in the exact spot that I had bitten him in the previous night's dream. Could it be that these weren't dreams and that we were in fact nighttime lovers? No, it was just as he said sleepwalking and nothing more.

"Why don't we call up for some breakfast and eat it here, I don't feel much like getting dressed and going to the main hall, besides, I am enjoying the company." I smiled at him.

"Alright, I will take care of it, what are your favorites?" he asked.

"Anything, I am starving" I said, and I was. All of a sudden I was famished.

He walked into the hallway and returned a minute later with a huge tray overflowing with everything you could think of for breakfast. Eggs, toast, scones, bacon, sausages, oatmeal, juice, coffee, tea and muffins. My eyes widened at the feast before us. There was also a single rose in a vase at the center of the tray. He took it out of the vase and handed it to me.

"Here is to the beginning of our new friendship." he said, and then he leaned in to kiss me on the cheek. "Just a kiss between friends." he said and winked at me. I felt my cheek burning, and my body was on fire. It was just as soft and wonderful as in my dreams. I smiled at him, made myself a plate of food and ate hungrily.

"Draco, since we are friends now, I wanted to tell you how sorry I was about your parents' death. I didn't know your mother, and had only heard things about your father, but I know how I would feel if I lost my parents. Anyway, I really am sorry." I had felt bad about this for months now. I knew he was alone, the last of the Malfoy's, and he had no one to talk to about it.

His face was blank and sad.

"Thank you, I'm getting used to it now. I didn't always agree with them, but they were all I had in the world." he said, looking down at the floor.

"Well, you have me now, and I can be there to listen to you anytime you need me" I was sincere; I really had grown to care for him these last few months. Even though this was our first true conversation, the honesty in our dream encounters had made me feel things for him. Of course, I would never tell him about these feelings. Being friends was what he wanted, and that was good enough for me.

"Thank you again" he said, taking a drink of coffee.

The next week before Christmas was too good to be true for him. They talked every night in the common room, ate meals together, went for walks on the grounds and made every opportunity to get to know each other better. They went to Hogsmead over the weekend and went window shopping. She looked at books, school supplies and beautiful dress robes. He made notes of things she liked, determined to buy her something unexpected for Christmas. They had agreed to a small gift exchange and he wanted it to be perfect. She looked so happy when they were together, her faced flushed and pink from the cold. Her amber eyes sparkled when she saw some new book or quill that she wanted, and she was smiling and laughing more than he had ever seen her do. 'She is beautiful' he thought, 'how could I not have seen it these many years.' He reached out and grabbed her by her gloved hand and held it, just to see if she would pull away. She didn't.
'He's holding my hand' I thought. I felt a warmness in my stomach, and didn't want him to let go. 'He's probably just trying to keep me from getting lost in the crowd.' He had become very considerate, and helpful this past week and I had to admit, I was having the time of my life with him. It was different than hanging out with Ron and Harry. They were my best friends, but it was very emotionally demanding being friends with them. The constant pressure I felt to help them with schoolwork, to keep from hurting Ron's feelings, and to emotionally support Harry had taken a drain on me. Just being with him this last week had let me feel a release, and I was happier than ever. I wanted to pick out the perfect give for him to express my gratitude. He made me feel life again, and I would always be in his debt. I looked at his lovely face and studied it intently. What would he want for a gift? I didn't just want to give him some cliché gift; I wanted it to be from my heart. I had almost a week until our Christmas Eve get together. I would watch him and see if anything peaked his interest.

We walked the streets of Hogsmead hand in hand, laughing and talking about anything and everything. He admitted to me that he had been betrothed to Pansy, up until the time of his parents' death. He said that he had sat her down after that and told her that he didn't love her like that, and he didn't want to be married to someone that he didn't love, just to please others. She was crushed, but wanted to remain friends. He also admitted to something that shocked me.

"I have only been with one girl." he told me as we were sitting enjoying a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks.

"That was too much information…" I laughed.

"I just wanted you to know Hermione; the rumors around the school were not true."

"Well, that's good to know, but it's your private business." But secretly inside I was happy. I would have of coarse preferred him untouched, but life works in mysterious ways. And the so called Slytherin sex god was just a normal teenage boy with every hope and fear that came with adolescence. And if I thought he was sexy before, this boosted him over the top. Now all I had to do was find some dress robes for our Christmas Eve dinner, and the perfect gift.

A/N Well, i must say this story has taken over my life for the moment. Any suggestions? I have a pretty good grip on the story for the next 8 chapters or so...so if anyone has any suggestions, or if they think some of this is not passionate enough...let me know. PS. I LOVE EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED THIS STORY. YOU ALL ROCK!