Hour Eight (10pm):

Hermione gently closed the door behind her and cleared her throat. 'The alarm's stopped.'

'Finally!' Draco shouted, 'Incompetent idiots.' He started pushing things off his desk and into his bag.

Hermione stepped forward. 'I was kind of thinking I would stay here.'

The look on Draco's face was almost comical. 'Stay?'

'It's getting late. And I've seen you napping on the couch before, so it can't be that uncomfortable. It would just be easier if I…'

Draco sighed and let go of the bag, which fell to the floor with a bang. 'Alright. We'll stay.'

'We?'

Draco ignored her and pulled a bigger duffel bag out from under his desk. 'Camping supplies. Let's just say this isn't the first time I've pulled an all-nighter here.'

Hermione didn't mention the fact that they never had enough work to occupy the normal working day, let alone the night. She knew Draco had his demons, and he knew she had hers. What sane person would want to stay in a musty old bunker with no windows or magic or electricity when they had a perfectly nice home to go to? 'Then lead the way.'

Hour One (3pm):

'Want to play some cards Malfoy?'

'What, like exploding snap? No magic.'

'There are hundreds of Muggle card games. I'll teach you.'

'I guess I've got nothing better to do.'

Hour Two (4pm):

Hermione flung the five of hearts into the air, scoring a direct hit on Malfoy's nose. She had been aiming for his hair, but he didn't need to know that. 'You cheated!'

'How did I cheat? There's no magic.'

'Muggles cheat all of the time! There's no way you won four games in a row without cheating. And your nose twitched during that last round.'

'It was itchy! The humidity in here is awful. Your hair clearly agrees with me.'

'Grrr.' Hermione stomped off to her desk, leaving the cards scattered all over the floor. Malfoy and his stupid twitchy nose could clean them up.

Hour Three (5pm)

Hermione got back from her latest patrol of the corridor to find Draco snooping through her desk.

'Hey!' she shouted, reaching for the pile of papers he had discovered in her bottom drawer.

'Is this supposed to be me, on a broom? My nose is not that pointy. Is that blood?'

He had uncovered the doodles she had drawn in her many bored hours. She had improved a little over time. Her human drawing skills were still terrible, so they were mostly just stick figures. But her landscapes weren't wholly awful. Of course Draco seemed to be focusing more on his character's bloody nose, rather than the fluffiness of her clouds. 'He was hit by a bird. See that shape over by the right corner? And that could be anyone. You're very self-centred.'

'It has a title at the bottom. Draco vs. Pigeon.'

'Oh.'

He flipped through the rest of the drawings. 'These show some really violent tendencies. Should I be concerned for my safety?'

'Always. I could easily take you.'

'I agree. These are pretty unflattering. Look, the broom's clearly swerving all over the place. My flying skills are excellent! And my hair is never this messy.'

She chose not to mention that she had drawn that one from life, after she had found him napping on the couch on her very first day in the office. 'Would it make you feel any better if I showed you the ones I drew after my fight with Ron last week?'

'Yes. Show me!'

'Hmm. But these are very private, heartfelt drawings. What do you have to offer in return? Secret poetry? A nerdy coin collection?' She hadn't found anything when she had snooped in his desk, but he was a Slytherin. He probably had all kinds of things hidden throughout the office.

'Nevermind. I'll find the drawings on my own. Then my vindictive pleasure will be well-earned.'

Hour Four (6pm):

'Granger. Granger. Granger.'

Hermione really wished she could cast a silencing charm. She had been stuck on the same page of her book for five minutes because Malfoy would not shut up.

'That stupid voice is still screeching away out there.'

Hermione gave him a dirty look. 'Maybe they should have hired you for the evacuation message. Five seconds with your voice and everyone would be running for the hills.'

'I'm sorry. I shouldn't have compared your hair to a bird's nest. Would you forgive me if I promise to get you a Christmas present? A real one? I just didn't want you to get all sappy and bring out the tears and the hugging.'

'No chance of that.'

Draco stuck his nose in the air. 'I'll have you know I'm an excellent gift giver. If I deigned to use my formidable talent on you there would be hours of happy weeping. Hours.'

Hermione flipped to the next chapter of her book. Her head snapped up when she felt a sharp pain from her head. 'Ow! Did you just pull my hair?'

Draco shrugged. 'And if I did?'

Hermione slammed the book closed. The author was only re-treading old ground anyway. She reached under her desk discreetly and whipped out the spray bottle she had put aside for hot days. Before Draco knew what hit him, she had pulled the trigger three times and sprayed water in his face. He blinked as water dripped down his hair and face, looking like a drowned ferret. She only had a few moments to appreciate the sight before he used his seeker reflexes to grab for the bottle. She twisted away with it just in time and he grabbed her instead. She broke free by stepping on his foot and then he was limping after her, chasing her around the room. He was fast, but Quidditch wasn't much of a tackling kind of sport, so he couldn't keep a hold on her. In the middle of their fourth lap around the room, she just stopped and burst out laughing, taking in the ridiculousness of the situation. She was mucking around with Draco Malfoy like a child. It was harder to comprehend than the morning's dancing. That had been fun, but restrained by the formal postures and steps. Two strangers at a ball could dance that way. For the last five minutes she had lost all sense of dignity, tripping around and shouting, not caring if Draco thought she looked like an idiot. It was a thousand times more intimate than merely dancing.

Draco apparently didn't realise that the game was over. While she was lost in her thoughts he finally got in a successful tackle, knocking her to the floor where they collapsed in a tangle of limbs. She shifted out from underneath him before things could get awkward, then sat back on her knees. She considered him thoughtfully for a moment before leaning in and giving him a kiss on the cheek. She handed him the spray bottle. 'Here. Choose your moment for revenge carefully. I have a few ore tricks up my sleeve.'

She stood up, dusted off her clothes and went back to her book. She had one more chapter to read. When her mind had cleared away that weirdly adorable look of confusion on his face, she would try to work out what she was going to do about Draco Malfoy.

Hour Five (7pm):

She shook her head at Draco's questioning look as she walked back into the office, indicating that the alarm was still on, loud as ever. She passed him the pile of papers she had found in the hallway. She had shuffled through all the scraps from bored Ministry employees waiting out the lockdown and left the interesting ones on top. 'There are fewer than normal, so I think people must have developed a sudden fear of paper. There's a draft memo from HR warning employees not to panic as the "pecking incident" is investigated promptly. Some pathetic scribbles from the Auror department, who apparently have no leads at all.'

Draco skimmed over the papers. 'Nothing from Percy Weasley?'

'No. We've never had anything come through from Percy, have we? Or the Minister, for that matter. Because they know better than to leave any extraneous papers around to get zapped. So why aren't they knocking on our door yet? Percy's no idiot. He can put two and two together.'

Draco shrugged. 'Maybe he took the day off? '

It was a nice thought, but Hermione wasn't convinced. That wasn't like Percy at all. She wondered if he was showing mercy. Giving her a chance to run or to hide the evidence, for the sake of their broken friendship. She had no doubt that she could outwit the Ministry's lockdown procedures. But she was staying right here until the lockdown was lifted, like a good little employee. She wasn't scared.

'You shouldn't waste time on guilt Granger.'

It seemed he had misread her mood completely. 'I'm not feeling guilty. I should be, but I just can't conjure up the emotion. I could claim it was for a good cause. A protest against privacy invasion or inadequate security. Against Percy Weasley. Against bad handwriting. Those things are all true in their way. But mostly I just wanted to try out a challenging piece of spellwork. It was elegant, wasn't it? I've never made anything that intricate before.'

'It was a beautiful spell. We should write a paper. Patent it. Sell it to the highest bidder.'

Hermione smiled. 'That's all well and good, but the spell feels over now. What I really want to do is feel that rush again. I want to make another one.'

'Sure. But let's wait until we're not in a magically dead bunker, hiding out from the law, alright?'

Hermione shrugged. 'We're not hiding. We're exactly where we're supposed to be. But you're right. Let's take a break for the holidays. If we're not in jail, let's meet up at my apartment in the new year. Conjure up some real magic.'

'If you're up for it then so am I. Can't let you have all the glory.'

Hour Six (8pm):

'Do you have any more food hoarded away Malfoy? I'm starving.'

He threw her a pack of potato chips, which she missed catching by a mile. She picked them up off the floor and examined the packaging. 'Muggle potato chips?'

Draco shrugged. 'I do all of my shopping in the Muggle world. Wizarding folk aren't exactly fond of me these days. If they see me they walk the other way.'

Hermione munched on some chips. 'Not bad. I can't remember the last time I had these. My parents were into healthy food, makes me feel guilty if I eat too much junk.'

'What?' she asked. 'Stop staring. You're the one that game me the chips. If you want some just ask.'

He wheeled his chair over to the other side of her desk and stole a few chips. 'Isn't this the part where you tell me that you don't think I'm a repulsive leper? You know, as the champion of the pitiful and downtrodden.'

'You're neither pitiful nor downtrodden. You had an appropriate punishment for criminal activities and now you still have a fortune most people would envy. A week ago you were a bit zombie-like, but now you're eating real human food and you have friends.'

Draco rolled his eyes. 'Friend, singular. Pansy's the only person who will deign to even acknowledge my presence.'

Hermione threw a chip at his head. Boys could be so stubborn. 'Friends, plural.'

He looked a little shocked at first, but then smug. She could see right through it. She knew enough about boys not to push for a talk about feelings and insecurities. Instead she just fought fiercely with him over the packet of chips, as though her life depended on it. She could take pity on his mental confusion and give him the last chip, but the really friend-like thing to do was to keep it for herself.

Hour Seven (9pm):

'I hate this place. I hate this place. I hate this place.' Hermione muttered as she tried to think through the problem of how to pee in a bucket without suffering complete and total humiliation.

Soon Malfoy joined in, just for fun, and they were both screaming at the top of their lungs.

'I HATE THIS PLACE. I HATE THIS PLACE. I HATE THIS PLACE.'

As far as mantras went, it wasn't very inspiring, but it helped with her frustration. Draco never asked what set off her fit, but ten minutes later she worked out a plumbing plan that neither of them would ever speak about again.

Hour Eight (10pm):

'I was kind of thinking I would stay here.'

Hour Ten (Midnight):

Hermione rolled over carefully so she wouldn't fall off the narrow couch. 'Draco?'

She didn't know why she was whispering. They were the only people in the room. Probably the only people left in the Ministry. 'Draco? Are you still awake?'

'No.' The grumpy voice came from the floor on the other side of the room, where Malfoy was using a sleeping bag. She had surrendered one of the cushions from the back of the couch to make up for hogging it. It really wasn't big enough for two people.

'I'm sorry.'

'Sorry for what?' He was whispering too.

'For dragging you into this mess. I still don't care about the consequences, for me. But you've had this job for months. And you're still on probation. You could get fired, or worse. I might have just ruined your life.'

'You have.'

Her guilt grew ten times higher. Draco had been sitting in this office, a model citizen, until she had come along. Then she had been a bad influence and incited him into committing a crime. Who would have guessed?

She heard rustling as Draco shifted around in his sleeping bag. She couldn't see anything at all in the dark, but she had the sense that he was facing her.

'Thank you for blowing up my life Granger. It was a crappy one. The next one will probably be awful too, but at least I can say I had some fun in between.'

She shook her head even though he couldn't see the gesture. 'There has to be something out there better than this. I'll help you find it. I promise.'

'It's adorable that you believe that.'

'I'm not being naïve, just determined. I know my own powers and I know yours. I can do it. We can do it.'

'Whatever. I'll have even more fun proving you wrong.'

She gave up on convincing him. He would see. They all would. Maybe she was a little arrogant, but she knew she was capable of brilliant things when she put her mind to it. Her phenomenal N.E.W.T scores and years of successful adventuring were proof of that. There was a way for them both to come out of this smiling, and she would find it.

'And Granger?'

'Yes?'

'Merry Christmas.'