The next three weeks flew passed Hermione in a whirlwind of end of semester tests and studying, and before she knew it, it was the day before Christmas. Everyone from Slytherin except for Hermione and Tom, went home, her friends leaving their presents under the Christmas tree in the common room. Hermione admired the tastefully done tree while she waited for Tom to join her so they could walk down for dinner together. The tree, of course, had only silver ornaments. They stood out against the green of the branches beautifully. The green flames from the fireplace and the green hue from the lake above gave the silver an eerie feel, perfect for the house.

Hermione turned around at the sound of footsteps, looking up to see Tom walk from the boys' dormitories, still dressed in his uniform. She shook her head as he approached. They had had this conversation before. Hermione would ask why he wouldn't dress casually when allowed and it was always the same answer, " If you want respect you must demand it." At this point, she just rolled her eyes and didn't ask again.

They walked down to the great hall in a comfortable silence. Once inside they were the only two sat at the Slytherin table, each of the other three having a sizable smattering of students. They ate again in comfortable silence, nothing needing to be said. This allowed Hermione's mind to wander. She thought about home mostly. If it was frozen, waiting for her to return or change it. She thought about what Harry and Ron were doing if it wasn't frozen, probably worried about her. she wondered how her disappearance was explained to her Parents- if it was explained. She thought it would make her sad, to think about these things but she had come to terms with doing what needed to be done.

She must have had an especially pensive look on her face. When she came back to reality Tom looked at her puzzled, " what were you just thinking about that made you drift off like that?"

She gave him a little smile, " I was thinking about how different this Christmas is compared to the others I've had." It wasn't far from the truth.

He nodded in understanding, " I understand it is probably very different but if I may be selfish, I am glad you're here. It will be nice to spend the holiday with a friend rather than reading."

And just like that Hermione's heart broke for the boy. She knew what he was going to become, she knew what he was going to do. Yet here in this moment she just saw a lonely little boy. He was thrown into this world not knowing anything. To anyone who knew the situation she was coming from, they might think her naïve, to forget the horrors that she came from. But he hadn't done them yet. He hadn't killed Myrtle yet, he hadn't split his soul he hadn't ordered anyone to do unspeakable acts. Right now he was a boy trying to find his place in a world he was brought into knowing nothing about. She was going to change the outcome of life and not only because of the countless lives she'd save but for his life as well.

She smiled at him, " I'm glad I'm here too."

He looked as if he wasn't sure what to say so he changed the subject, " If you're done would you like to take a walk around the grounds? They are lovely in the snow."

She nodded and stood up. They walked to the common room to get there cloaks and winter things. Once bundled up and outside, they talked about nothing. They talked about how classes were going, how tom was both upset and glad that he had something that could keep up and challenge him in classes. They talked about OWLs and which one they were aiming for. Hermione, of course, wanted them all except for Divination and Care of magical creatures. Tom, unsurprisingly, wanted the same. By the time they had reached the castle doors again, it was almost sundown. They turned and watched the sun descend behind the black lake before heading back into the warmth.

Once back inside they walked back to the common room. Hermione split up from Tom to go hang up her items to dry the muggle way, she always thought using a drying charm made her clothes feel too stiff. She grabbed a book from her wardrobe shelf and walked back into the common room. When she got there she stopped dead. She actually dropped her book in surprise. On the floor in front of the fireplace was a mountain of blankets and pillows. Standing in front of the Christmas tree was Tom, clad in green flannel pajamas.

Hermione was speechless. She tried to form words but none came out so Tom supplied an explanation, " when we were talking about traditions and I asked if I could borrow it, I decided I didn't want to wait. This is your first Christmas away from home and this is my first Christmas I am spending with someone I actually care about so I say we start this tradition early."

Hermione couldn't help but tear up. It was perfect. She walked over to tom and gave him a hug. He tensed up at first but relaxed into her arms and wrapped his around her too. She stood back and wiped the few tears that had actually fallen ad he bent down and picked up a long package wrapped in green paper, " by now you know what this is probably so open it and get changed I got all the Christmas books I could find in the library so they aren't wrapped."

Hermione nodded and opened the present he handed her. Inside was a pajama set that matched his. Dark green with silver lining. Hers looked to be of a lighter, more feminine material. She quickly ran back to her room, stopping to pick up the book she dropped and changed. When she came back out she noticed a house elf had brought hot chocolate and sugar cookies, her favourite. She settled down beside where Tom had sat, his back leaning against the seat of the couch. He handed her a mug of hot chocolate and opened the first book on the pile, the Little Match Girl.

When Hermione read the title she didn't know if she should let him read it, but as he went on she realized that this was not his first time. By the time he was done, Hermione was in tears again. She laid her head on Toms' shoulder. Again she could feel him stiffen at the contact but deflate just as quickly. He reached the next book and read. One after the other. Hermione began to drift off to sleep. With her head still laid upon his shoulder.

When she woke up, she was confused before the events of last night back to her. she looked around and noticed Tom asleep next to her. He was on his side facing away from her as if he didn't want to disturb her. she hesitated for a second but, thinking to her resolve to change him, from last night she impulsively decided to lay back down beside him, closer, so that when he rolled over he would be face to face with her. She had caught how innocent physical interactions had made him stiffen so wanted to get him more used to it. She laid down and scooted closer, she didn't have to wait long, as she closed her eyes to pretend to be asleep she could feel him stir. He rolled over and she could feel him halt almost violently in his tracks. It took him a few minutes to relax again. Once she could feel him relax, she shifted over more, as if rolling over in her sleep, until her head rested on his shoulder. She could feel him stiffen again but in less time he deflated and let her stay. She then opened her eyes and yawned, for his benefit.

She smiled up at him, " Happy Christmas Tom."

He smiled back at her, " Happy Christmas Hermione."

She rolled away and up from him and crawled over to the tree, he looked at her with a raised eyebrow. When she turned to face him again she sighed, " you don't think we camp in front of the tree than not open our presents right when we wake up do you?" As she waved her wand the gifts under the tree sorted into two piled, Hermione's and Toms.

They both dived into the pile. Unsurprisingly most of her friends had given her books. They ranged from beauty spells, from the girls to subject-specific ones from the guys. The ones that were more on the outside of their group had given her candy, which she was not upset with, she loved sweets in moderation.

She looked up and saw Tom with almost the exact same items. She giggled. He looked up from his package and questioned her. she responded, " Looks like our friends think all we like are books." And he laughed looking around at her pile as well. She opened another, this time from Dumbledore. Inside was a beautiful journal. I was old brown leather with a phoenix plume quill, a note attached to the plume indicated that the ink ran through the quill and never ran out as it regenerated like a real phoenix. In the bottom of the box held massive amounts of sweets and a jar of Sherbet Lemons. It was an odd pang of her time and he laughed. When he asked what was so funny she told Tom that Dumbledore always had these sweets on him when she was little and it just reminded her of home. He nodded in understanding.

Her second to last gift was from Evan. She opened it carefully and looked inside. Inside the box was a package of crèmes and lotions. Hermione could tell by the packaging and the delicate scent it was expensive. She couldn't help but think that this was awfully intimate for someone she just got friendly with.

She moved onto her last gift. She didn't notice that she had subconsciously left Tom's for last. As she looked up she noticed he had done the same with hers as well.

He looked up and met her eye. She smiled, " I hope you like it, Tom."

He nodded, " I'm sure I will, I have little doubt that you probably know me better than most. I hope you like what I got you as well."

Her smile widened and took to open the package. Inside was a dark wooden box. When she opened it a small owl popped up and spun in slow flight pattern like circles as a nameless tune delicately played. It was very pretty. The owl reminded her of Hedwig being it was a large snowy owl. It was clear it was a jewelry box. Well, it was clear after she found a small box in that box and opened it. Inside was a necklace. It was a book charm that opened like a locket. There were no pictures of yet but the thought was definitely there. She loved it. It was unique to her and thought has been put into it.

She looked at Tom and seen he was taking out the journal. She smiled, " I wanted you to have something that was just made for you."

He looked up and she could tell that he knew what she meant. He smiled and reached for the next item. She bit her lip, this was the nerve wrecking one to give. She knew he'd like it but she worried it would put him on his path faster. He unwrapped the book and read the title to himself: The Grey Wizard- Magic neutrality.

He smiled, " you really do know me better than most. Thank you very much, Hermione."

She smiled, " don't sell yourself short, you obviously know me very well as well. I love the locket Tom, Thank you. "

He smiled and nodded his head in acknowledgment. She gathered her items up and brought them to her room. She briefly looked back to see Tom already opening and reading the book. She smiled. If she herself had opened the book she would have thought twice about giving it to him. As she put her gifts away Toms fingered drummed along the journal she had given him as he read the first sentence ' there is no good or evil- just power and those too weak to seek it.'