Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't make any money off of this. I own nothing! Not even the song which is by the totally awesome Supertramp.

Warnings: Um...nope. Just a word here or there...

Chapter Two

She was standing out side of the Heads' dorms trying to decide if she really wanted to do this. She had found him and followed him here. That was ten minutes ago and here she was nervously standing in front a door feeling stupid. He had been horrible to her and her friends. He even said that he wanted her dead! Did he really deserve the kindness she was going to show him? Did he deserve her forgiveness? She heard the sounds of people singing. They were getting closer. She tried to keep her mind focused.

"Give a little bit

Give a little bit of your love to me

I'll give a little bit

I'll give a little bit of my love to you

There's so much that we need to share

So send a smile and show you care."

The carolers wrung out their tune. Was she really going to do this?

"I'll give a little bit

I'll give a little bit of my life for you

So give a little bit

Give a little bit of your time to me

See the man with the lonely eyes

Oh take his hand, you'll be surprised."

She made up her mind. She said the password and the portrait swung open.

The common room was large to use the word modestly. The couch and chairs were large and plushy. The walls were lined with large bookcases that contained most if not all the books that could be found in the library. The colors were dark, warm and rich jewel tones that made the room feel alive. She felt very small in the room, but there was something very comforting about it. She wished she could spend eternity in this room reading every book, but she needed to focus on why she was here. Her target had promptly started a lovely fire in the large fireplace, found a seat on the giant couch and was looking at some expensive and meaningless gifts. Timidly she walked up to the couch and sat down at the opposite end and turned to face him.

"Hello, how's your Christmas?" She said kindly and brightly.

A look shock crossed his. Why was she talking to him? The look turned to a cold and questioning glare.

"What do you want?" He gave as a reply. He was cold and tried to be intimidating.

Fortunately for her, she didn't buy it. He only came off as annoyed.

She sighed. Did she really think this was going to be easy? She decided to be upfront and honest with him.

"I just thought I'd say 'hello.' It is Christmas after all…"

"Oh really? I hadn't noticed." He sneered sarcastically. She started again a little slower.

"And I hoped we could put the past behind us and just get to know each other and just talk."

She felt so strange to be so forthcoming with him. Stupid even. But there was no stopping now.

He was figuratively floored. He couldn't believe this girl. She was trying to be friendly! He couldn't have that.

"Shouldn't you be training your two dogs?" He retorted.

She closed her eyes, breathed deeply. What did she expect? A bit annoyed at his remark she continued.

"I'm just trying to make this day a good one as it seems neither of us are in a good mood." She said as bravely as possible. "And if my friends are dogs, your friends are lemmings."

She smiled non-maliciously to imply she was only teasing. She hoped it worked. A ray of hope came. She saw his smoky eyes twinkle a bit and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly. But as quickly as it came, it was gone. She sighed.

"What makes you think you can make any day a good one? And I'd rather be alone." He snarled.

He was trying to keep from chuckling at her very true remark.

She was slightly hurt, but more determined. She trudged on.

"Oh please. Do you think you can this day better by sulking everywhere? And by the way you looked at lunch, you don't really want to be alone." Big mistake.

"Who says I've been sulking? Have you been watching me?" He said as a small grin graced his long face.

He knew she'd been sneaking glances at him for a while. At first it bothered him and made him a bit mad. But eventually his anger gave way to curiosity. She looked at him like she…cared or something equally bizarre. He even began to sneak glances at her too. He honestly couldn't blame her though. He could fall in love with himself!

"Not that I blame you." He continued. "I am devilishly handsome and charming." He smirked.

Arrogant? Nope. Not a bit. He chuckled to himself. He knew. He just liked to get under he skin. He knew just where push, just where to pull to get a rise out of her. When she was angry she was like this large ball of energy wrapped up in a tiny little person that was only being contained by a three layers of human skin.

He had to say that looking at her blushing at being caught so stupidly was amusing in a way. She was pretty adorable when she was embarrassed, or angry, or smiling or…anytime she was doing something. Her dark eyes would become almost ebony when she was in a passionate rant of her ideas. When she was laughing with those around her, they sparkled with little flecks of silver. She was just as clever as he was and just as stubborn. He never admitted to himself, unlike she had, these feelings of attraction. For all his intelligence, he just couldn't accept that maybe he didn't hate her like he once thought he did.

She put her fingers to her temples and rubbed her head.

"He's just doing this to get a rise out of you, he's just teasing..." She thought. She was getting rather annoyed with him.

The sound of her voice broke him out of his reverie.

"As though I would. It's just painfully obvious to anyone who has eyes that you are wallowing in self-pity. I just want to help." She said a little more gruffly than she meant it to be.

His devilish grin slid off his face. A little more than peeved, he growled,

"Get out."

"No." She stated it as if that was the deciding vote on the matter.

He looked at her in disbelief. "Fine." That was all he said.

He got up and headed out of the door into the hall. He didn't get far at all when he heard soft footsteps coming from behind. He stopped and shook his head slowly. Clearly, she was more stubborn than he thought. He huffed angrily.

"Go away!" He raised his voice so quickly that she jumped. When she pulled herself together, she replied with the same force.

"No!" She yelled.

That was it. He had had enough of this. He turned around to see her only a couple feet away. He lunged at her and forcibly shoved her against the wall. She groaned.

"Why?" He hissed angrily.

Her back was now a little sore. Her arms hurt in his harsh grip. But she needed to continue. She needed to try to make up for all that was said, for the both of them.

"Since when do I do what you tell me, Malfoy? I don't listen to you unless I decide to. What's more, it's Christmas damn it! You are lonely. No one, not even you, should be alone on Christmas. Do you really want to turn away the only person willing to keep your sorry arse company?" She said so slowly, making sure he heard every word.

He was at a loss for words. There was so much conviction and honesty in her voice that he dared to believe her. Was she really doing this? He let her go.

"Why do you care? We hate each other."

It was said so faintly and softly, but the question was so loud and chaotic that it almost hurt her ears. Why did she care? She thought he was an arrogant, pompous jerk that always goaded her into a fight. But here she was trying to convince him that he didn't need to be alone today or any other day. She was sure what the answer to the question was, but it frightened her. She chose to try to dodge it for now.

"I don't hate you. To be honest, I don't think I every truly hated you. I only realized that I don't know you well enough to say something so strong as that. You are a human being. You deserve a chance at a little compassion. Plus, I didn't like how you looked at lunch. You looked liked you had given up."

He knew she was dodging his question for the moment. He didn't know what to make of that. He thought the most likely explanation was that it caught her off guard and she didn't know what she was doing here. He ignored it in favor of something that he could hold over her. His face stretched in an elegant grin.

"You were looking!" He said triumphantly.

"Fine, I'll admit it. I was looking at you. Happy now?" She huffed annoyed and rolled her eyes.

"A bit." He answered.

After a moment of awkward silence, Hermione decided to get her plan moving again.

"What do you say to spending the rest of the day with me, as a way of putting the past behind us?"

"As a date? No thanks."

He couldn't believe it. She was…pleading for him to agree. He didn't think he could turn her down.

"No! Not as a date! Are you mental?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. For a moment I thought you said, 'would you spend the day with me?' That sounds an awful lot like a date Granger."

"Well it's won't be one." She said indignant at the idea that he would call it date.

"Then what is it?" He asked.

"Two people keeping each other company on Christmas. Does it really need a name Malfoy?" He shrugged at her words.

"Look, I'll even let you choose the thingswe do today,but you are not getting rid of me."

He gave her a very unnerving look and said,

"Anything?"

She caught his meaning.

"With in reason you perverted psychopath!" She gave him a playful slap on hisarmand tried to keep the corners of her mouth from curling into a grin. She was shocked at what she had just done. He seemed a little awkward as well.

Silence grew. Draco's mind however wasgoing back and forth. If she was willing to give this a try, should he try too? Or should he have a go at her and make this as difficult for as possible? In the end he decided that he was going to give her a chance, but he was not going to easy on her. He knew she could hold her own against him and knew that she could takewhat he gave her. He wanted to see how far she was willing to take this.

"Fine." He said reluctantly. "We'll go to Hogsmeade. I'll meet you at the castle entrance in twenty minuets. If you're even a second late, this isn't happening."

Her face brightened immediately.

"I'll be there." She replied. He nodded.

They walked away from each other thinking, "What have I gotten myself into?"

Preview of Chapter 3: He saw her standing in the snow listening to the people singing. She was gorgeous. The way the wind sentthe fallingsnow dancing around her...how sad and beauiful she looked. Her head was bowed slightly but he could still seeher cheeks were rosey from the cold. Why was she sad? Did she not think her little "plan" wasn't working? He wasn't sure. He was too upset that he had called her gorgeous and that he was buying her a gift! He was getting sick of how thoughtful he was being towards her. He watched her heave a deep sigh and shake off her daydream. She walked back into the bookstore. Her long squirrely hair covered in snowflakes. He shook his head as the cashier called him over.

A/N: How do you guys like it so far? Do you think Draco gave in a little too easily? Do you think it's going too fast or not fast enough? Are you still not sure about something? Please feel free to opine! I am always interested in what you have to say. Those of you that may not know what a lemming is, it's a small rodent like animal that travels in packs. If the leader of the packhappens to go over a cliff, they all go over the cliff. I used that to desribe Crab and Goyle.