Hermione groggily opened her eyes the next morning, her head was pounding dully, and she was still held tightly in Draco's arms. An unbeknownst smile played across her lips as she looked at Draco through her dark hungover eyes. Maybe there was more here than she had originally allowed herself to believe, it was clear to her that there was something here that was not here before. She reluctantly moved from his comforting grasp to reach for the glass of water she normally kept at her bedside. As she reached out to the nightstand it clicked. This was not her nightstand, and this was not her room. Draco had taken her to his room last night. As her eyes adjusted to the much dimmer room she finally noticed all the emerald and silver décor. Of course, she thought to herself, he was not able to get her into her room while she was passed out. He would not have known the answers to the questions her knocker would ask. How could she be so stupid?

This new realization left her with only one thought, what now? She could get up and go across the hall to her own room to get some water and go about her day like normal. Or she could give in to this new feeling and stay in bed with Draco for as long as she could. Did she want things to stay as they have been or was she ready to see where this was going? It was a lot to think about first thing in the morning when you were hungover, but she was going to have to decide. She loved the friendship they had developed; would she love whatever else might be developing? Maybe it was too late anyway, maybe leaving and trying to keep things as they were would be just as damaging as seeing what else might be here. All of this made her extremely nervous, she was not exactly good at things like this.

"Good morning Granger," Draco said softly as he sat up behind her.

"Morning," she said with a smile, turning around to look at him. "Thanks for taking care of me last night," she added genuinely.

"Anytime," he smiled back at her, "How are you feeling?"

"Hungover to say the least," truer words could not be spoken.

Draco grabbed his wand from his nightstand and conjured two glasses of water and two small potion vials. She recognized them as the same one he had left out for her at The Three Broomsticks.

"Cheers," Draco said as they each took one popping the small cork from the vial and tipping them back.

"Thank Merlin I have you to take care of me when I've been drinking," Hermione said innocently enough. It was true after all, though she probably would not have even been drinking if it were not for Malfoy.

"Thank Merlin I have you to take care of me when I have nightmares," Draco smiled back.

"I guess we make a pretty good team," Hermione said sweetly laying back in Draco's bed.

"I guess we do," Draco replied, their eyes fixed on each other.

Just then an urgent tapping at the window broke their gaze. Malfoy's head turned to look, flourishing his wand, swinging the window open. One of the most beautiful owls Hermione had ever seen flew in and perched at the foot of his four-poster bed, a small scroll tied to his leg. Draco reached across the bed and untied the small scroll from around his leg, a deep emerald ribbon wrapped around it. He opened it up, his eyes moving across the parchment as he read. When he got to the end he sighed softly, putting the parchment down on the bed.

"Thanks, Knox," Draco said sweetly as the small northern white-faced owl hopped on to the bed and over to him.

Draco smiled once again flourishing his wand, conjuring a small jar of dried crickets in it. He opened it up, holding a few out for Knox to take. After the owl finished his treats he hopped back up to the foot of the bed before flying out the window. Once Knox was safely out of the room he closed the window again and laid down on the bed next to Hermione.

"Everything ok," Hermione finally asked after laying next to each other quietly for a few moments.

"Yea, my parents just aren't going to make it back to the country for Christmas. They are still abroad helping the ministry. So, I guess I'm going to be spending break here." He clearly had mixed feelings about not going home for Christmas.

"I'm sorry, I hated being away from my family for Christmas," she empathized. She let the silence sit between them for a moment before she had an idea. "You could always come with me for break, I'm going home to see my parents."

Draco rolled over and looked at her, his beautiful silver eyes hiding whatever was going on behind them. It took him a few moments to say anything, clearly contemplating the situation.

"Um, I mean, are you sure that would be okay?" he finally stammered.

"Of course," Hermione smiled as she rolled over to face him. "I'll write them later to let them know."

"Oh, ok, great, then that's all sorted," he replied almost doing a good job of hiding how uneasy he was.

Hermione smiled reassuringly at Draco. This morning's hangover finally fading thanks to Draco's hangover cure.

"Well Granger, as much as I would love to spend all day in bed with you, I have some errands to run," Draco said slyly. "Want to meet at The Three Broomsticks for lunch?"

"Sounds good to me, I have a few things I need to get done this morning as well." Hermione smiled back.

"Perfect," Draco replied as he finally got out of bed.

Hermione sat up, but before she could get to her feet Draco was there with an outstretched hand, waiting to help her up. She smiled up at him as she placed her hand in his, allowing him to help her to her feet. Once she was up he let her hand go walking with her to the door.

"I'll see you at lunch, don't be late," he called as she walked across the hall to her own room.

"Me, late? You are hysterical Malfoy," she called back sarcastically before opening her door with a quick knock of her golden lion knocker.

"What did Albus Dumbledore leave to you in his will?" the golden knocker asked just loud enough for her to hear.

"The Tales of Beedle the Bard," she answered swiftly.

Her door swung open with her answer and she quickly walked inside. As she turned to shut the door she noticed Malfoy was still watching her from his doorway.

"I'll see you at lunch," she called to him from her doorway.

"See ya at lunch," he called back before finally closing his door.

Hermione grinned as she too shut her door. With a flip of her wand, she started her shower, flopping down on her neatly made bed while she waited for the water to heat up. Her mind raced with everything that had happened since Draco had woken her up in the middle of the night. They had spent the last two nights in bed with each other, and although nothing had physically happened between them something emotionally had. At least something emotionally had happened to her. She tried her hardest to push it to the back of her mind, overthinking was a serious fault she had. The last thing she needed right now was to overthink what was happening between them and ruin the friendship they had built this term.

She took a deep breath as she rolled out of bed and moved over to her desk. Grabbing a neat square of parchment and a quill she quickly wrote out a note to her parents letting them know that she would be bringing a friend home with her for the holiday break. She sealed her note in a matching square envelope, their names and addresses neatly written on the front. She placed the note on the bed along with her bag and the outfit she planned on wearing to meet Draco for lunch. By now she was sure that the water streaming from the shower would be warm enough and she made her way to the bathroom, so she could get ready for the day ahead. After the last two days, there was no telling where today would end up going, and that was certainly exciting.

It didn't take Hermione too long to get ready, which was good since she had a few things she wanted to do before meeting up with Draco for lunch. Her first stop was to the owlery to get her letter off to her parents. After that, she stopped by the library to grab a few obscure books on charms and then started on her way to Hogsmeade. She had some Christmas shopping she wanted to get done before she got too caught up in end of term exams.

Her first stop was to the small potions shop, inside she found a variety of interesting potions she thought her parents would get a bang out of. She loved bringing them little pieces of her world. It was weird not knowing if she would see the boys this year, or the rest of the Weasley family. She decided that she would just order something for them in case she did not see them during the Holidays. It was crazy to think that this time last year her and Harry were on the run, hunting down Horcruxes and getting closer to their visit to Godric's Hollow. Everything really had changed since then. Literally everything.

Now she just needed to find something for Draco. She would never have believed she would be Christmas shopping for Draco Malfoy. What a fucking concept. And what a task, Draco was still a spoiled prat who had the best of what money could buy. What could she possibly give to him? She could always get him a bottle of fire whiskey, but that did not seem like a Christmas present. They were buying alcohol together so frequently now she was not sure that it qualified as a present at this point.

She popped into the bookstore and began browsing through the familiar titles. Maybe something in here would catch her eye. Unlike Harry and Ron, if she bought Draco a book he was interested in he would actually read it. That thought brought a small smile to her lips as she continued perusing over titles. She could have stayed hidden away looking over book titles all day when she finally stumbled on a pair of very old Alchemy texts that she found to be very intriguing. One book was a set of translations of ancient Latin texts, and the other was written by various members of the Egyptian Centre for Alchemical Studies. Worst case if Draco did not enjoy these she would. They had not spoken a lot about Alchemy since the class was not being offered this year, but she knew it was something he was interested in.

She let another small smile creep across her lips and she quickly checked out and hid his Christmas present in her book bag along with the potions for her parents and the books she grabbed from the library earlier that morning. Before heading over to The Three Broomsticks to meet Draco for lunch she stopped and grabbed some wrapping paper and ribbon as well as a few bottles of fire whiskey to replenish what they had gone through the last few nights. With everything tucked neatly into her book bag with her very much illegal undetectable extension charm. It was not nearly as large as the one on her handbag, it was the first one she created when working on the charm for the handbag. It was perfect though for some light shopping and keeping all of her school worked neat and organized.

By the time she made it over to The Three Broomsticks Draco was already waiting for her in their usual corner booth. He had several large shopping bags with him that peaked Hermione's curiosity.

"Finally," Draco said sarcastically as ever, "For a moment I thought you might stand me up, or even worst the ever-punctual Miss Granger might actually be late!" He grinned slyly as Hermione took her seat across from him.

"Very funny," she shot back at him as she took her book bag off and placed it next to her. "I see you've been doing some shopping."

"No, I just like carrying large bags around with me," his sarcasm practically dripping off his tongue.

"That makes perfect sense. I should have known," she retorted matching his sarcastic tone.

They smiled at each other across the table before they were interrupted by Madame Rosemerta bring them lunch and butterbeer.

"Thanks, Draco," she said slightly surprised he had taken the initiative to order for them both. Part of her should have known, but it still was not something she was used to.

"It was easier to just go ahead and order while I was waiting, but you are very welcome," his sly grin made Hermione smile.

They both tucked into their meals, chatting casually as they ate. It did not take them long to finish and head back to the castle together, Draco toting his shopping bags. There was something about him carrying his shopping that made Hermione grin the entire way back to school. He eyed her amused grin the whole way back, making smug comments as they walked. Their playful banter was something else Hermione had really come to love about their friendship. She really did love their friendship.

"So, what's your plan for the rest of the day?" Hermione asked casually as they headed into the eighth-year dormitory.

"Well I have some stuff to sort out and then I am not totally sure, it is Saturday night after all. Might have to grab a drink or six," he laughed, "Obviously you are invited if you want to join me."

"Drinking three nights in a row? What have you done to me?" she laughed as they started up the spiral staircase to the landing their rooms were on.

"Could I have possibly made your weekends a little more fun? Not that studying all the time isn't a blast," the sarcasm hung in the air as they grinned at each other.

"Well you know where I'll be when you are ready to grab that drink, or six," she smiled as she knocked on her door.

"I'll see you later tonight then," Draco replied as he too knocked on his door.