Hope you like this, sorry it's kinda short! Please review and let me know what you think (:

His hand was pressed into the small of her back, bring her closer, closer. He nibbled at her bottom lip and she let out a small moan. He throatily groaned in return and brought his other hand up to cradle her jaw. She was kissing Draco Malfoy. Full on snogging, actually. And he was kissing her back, in fact, he'd started it. Her head was swimming, tsunami's of emotions crashing over and over against the shores. A wave of memories, carrying the word 'mudblood' that had escaped his lips drowned her and she hastily pulled away.

"Draco."

"Hermione." He wore an amused smile, his lips red from having just been pressed against hers. The snow continued to fall between them, it blended into his hair, which her hands were aching to run themselves through. Instead, she reached up to touch her lips, they were still tingling, remembering the way it had felt to have been against his.

"I should go."

"No. You shouldn't." He sighed and licked his lips, "But you're Hermione Granger. And I can already see the overthinking machine that is your brain going haywire. So I'm going to bed." The snow ceased with his final words and the temperature immediately returned to normal. She found herself disappointed more so in his words than the changes to the room. Was she that predictable?

He began to turn away from her but she grabbed his arm and pulled him back, so that her body was once against pressed against his. "Wait." She whispered.

"You know when I said I was going to bed, it wasn't technically an invitation…but I could oblige."

She laughed, eyes beaming into his own. "You're an arse Draco Malfoy."

"And?" He chuckled, his body vibrating against hers.

"And thank you for such a lovely Christmas." She stepped on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek, "Goodnight." With a slight blush on her cheeks, she turned from him, as her held her hand until she was out of reach, fingers grasping until there was nothing left but air.

The door shut quietly behind her and he felt himself take the first breath he could recall inhaling since he'd first met her lips. Every part of his body felt light, as though he had stood up too quickly and his head needed a moment to readjust to his surroundings. Perhaps, this wasn't so different.

He waited for the regret to settle into his stomach, but all that remained was wanting. Wanting to be close to her once more, to hear her laugh at something he'd said and then look into his eyes. He rubbed the back of his neck and began to walk over to his bed, wondering why she had broken it off before it had a chance to begin. The faces of the Order members whenever they looked at him, the feeling of potion being forced down his throat, the sound of Hermione telling him one of his best friends was dead, the taste of blood in his mouth from having bit down on his tongue in a desperate attempt to protect his friends and family, it all whirled through his memories. What had he been thinking?

Pounding on her door woke her far before she was ready. "Hermione! Come downstairs." Ginny's excited voice floated through the crack underneath the door. It wasn't often that any of them had something to be excited about at 7 in the morning. She had to admit, her interest was piqued.

Enthusiasm rippled over the kitchen as Hermione tiredly plopped down into one of the available seats. "It's the day after Christmas, isn't it a general rule to sleep in?"

"Who made you so cranky?" Hannah laughed lightheartedly, unaware just how little sleep Hermione had gotten due to the previous night. Goosebumps rose on her arms at the memory of how Draco's lips had felt against her own. Why had she pulled away again? In her sleepy morning haze, she was struggling to understand her own logic.

"Guess what Harry got me for Christmas!" Ginny's booming voice brought Hermione back into the present. Something told her whatever Harry had gotten for his girlfriend was the reason she'd been dragged down to the kitchen for a breakfast two hours earlier than she wanted.

"What did he get you?"

"A trip to southern France!" She took Hermione's hands into her own and pulled her up from the table to do a dance around the kitchen as she sang the rest, "just us girls! It's going to be you, me, Hannah, Luna, and Padma!"

Hermione raised a brow, "Is now really the time to be leaving the Order for a holiday?"

"It's only one weekend party pooper." Ginny feigned annoyance but the smile could not be wiped from her face. "We're going in three weeks!"

When Hermione still failed to join in on the dancing that now every girl in the room was taking part in, Harry and Ron each placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You deserve a break 'Mione." Ron said. "It's only two days away, it won't hurt anyone."

"And don't even start coming up with possibilities of things that could go wrong if you're not here." Harry had put up a finger to cut off Hermione who had been about to protest, "McGonagall, Kingsley, and Mad Eye all agreed to stay at headquarters that weekend to make sure we are still fully protected."

"What about Draco?" Her stomach swooped as she spoke his name. She found herself craving his touch once more.

"Him and I are going to be best buddies all that weekend, it'll be a joy." Sarcasm dripped off of Theo's tongue. "Speaking of our lovely guest," Theo grabbed Hermione's hand, "Can I speak to you Hermione?"

Nerves pressed onto her chest as she followed Theo out into the sitting room. "What is it Theo?" She hadn't meant for her voice to slightly shake, she felt like a child who had been caught in a lie.

"It's about yesterday, I don't think it was entirely fair for you to have him at our dinner."

Relief and annoyance simultaneously blew themselves through her lungs, she hadn't realized she was holding her breath, "What do you mean? He's a person and deserves to be treated as such."

"Look Hermione, it's clear as fucking day you two have some unexplored flirtation or feelings going on here." She opened her mouth to protest but he quickly cut her off, "So I understand why you invited him."

If only he knew how explored the feelings had been less than 12 hours earlier. She was startled to find she hadn't disagreed with the feelings aspect, only the unexplored. "I did not invite him because of feelings I have for him."

Theo's eyes gleamed with triumph at her failure to deny her emotions, "You did. But, that's not the point. The point is that no one else in this house besides myself knows him. They know he had a hand in killing people they love, has been loyal to the dark side of the war as long as he's lived, and is rude with every other sentence he speaks."

"He's been through a lot, and didn't have a choice with killing those people. We're not innocent either."

He sighed, "I didn't say we were innocent. But we aren't following a prejudiced mass murderer and we don't aim to kill every person we duel. We are different, as much as Draco seems to be clinging to his ideology that every person on this planet is evil."

"I agree with you there."

"I mean, I'd be a tad concerned if you didn't." He chuckled, "But consider how you would feel if someone killed Ron and then Luna tried to invite them to your Christmas dinner. The way Dean reacted wasn't fair, especially because it's been made damn clear Draco didn't have a choice and this war has turned all of us into fucking demons, but at the core of it, there was no need to upset everyone during their holiday."

"Everyone was upset?" She suddenly felt horrendous guilt, "I didn't mean to ruin Christmas. I just wanted people to be a bit more accepting and see the man I've gotten to know. He doesn't have anyone, Theo. The people he has, they're awful."

"To be fair, I think he'd say the same about the people in your life. And before you argue, please try to remember for one moment what a git that man can be." She snorted in agreement as he continued, "I agree people should get to know who he is and the kind of man he can be. But that man, it comes out in flashes Hermione. It's buried beneath trauma and prejudiced ideals and war."

"Because he puts on a ridiculous front for you, you haven't seen the way he acts when it's just me."

"Yes, but until he gets past his shit, no one else will see it either. And that man you see, well if only you see him, is he truly real? I'm not trying to attack you love, I understand where you're coming from. I mean he used to be like my brother. And I still see those flashes too, I see who he can be. But, you have to give the others time to come to those conclusions too, to see the flashes for themselves, instead of just blinking away the light."

"Luna seemed open to having him there. I mean, as far as things go, it could have gone a lot worse. It was mostly polite."

"God your Gryffindor pride still has such a strong streak." Theo grinned, "I agree with all of those statements. Just try to see it from the side that isn't lusting after the person in question."

"Lusting!" She barked, outraged.

"You heard me love." Theo patted her on the back as he left her spluttering after him, still not fully ready to accept the truth in his words.

He spent the entire morning in the library, researching anti-apparation wards. It turned out to be an excellent distraction from a certain brunette who kept trying to shove her way into his thoughts. It had occurred to him that now that he could use wandless magic, he could summon his house elf. He was almost giddy at the idea, for his desperate escape. But as much as he called out to her, she never came. It made little sense, but not much did these days. His wandless magic had greatly improved; he had even managed to successfully summon each book from the library to his bed in his room. It was as a fourth book zoomed into his hands that he heard her knock on the door.

"Hi Draco." She was worrying her bottom lips as she set down waffles next to the bed and sat by his feet. "Can we talk?"

"I get it Granger. It was a bad idea, blah blah blah, we come from different sides of a war and it'd never work, blah blah, our friends and families hate one another and you're an overthinking prude while I'm a damaged git so you can save the pity speech."

Her tone got dangerously low, "For one. I am not a prude, and even if I was, there is nothing wrong with that so stop being a sexist asshole. For two. My friends do not hate you, they just don't know you. And for three. All I was going to do was apologize for bringing you to Christmas dinner when you were clearly uncomfortable with the idea. So you can rest easy Malfoy, the pity speech has been saved."

"Typical hero Gryffindors, going around having to save everything." He smirked at the joke, but she was not amused.

"You are astoundingly infuriating." She put her hands on her hips as she stood from the bed, "Look. We were both emotional from Christmas and you've been locked in here with only me for company, it makes sense we lost our senses for a moment. Let's just move on from last night."

"Emotional from Christmas?" He was holding back laughter as he raised his brow, "Granger I could give two fucks about Christmas. That was all you."

"Well then why the hell would you decorate the entire library for it then?"

"Once again. All you." What was it with her bringing out his honesty when he least wanted to use it? Her lips remained parted in surprise at his words as she struggled for a response and so he continued, "But like I said. It was a bad idea. Not the gift part, it was the least I could do after the present you gave me. But the rest, it was a bad idea." The research on wards that he'd done, his increased accuracy with his wandless magic, and the image of his mother smiling at him as he returned to her soared across his mind, "So as you said, let's just move on."

She had been the first to say it, but hearing the words from him, seeing him eager to move past the previous night, she felt like her legs were cement slowly melting into the ground. More than anything, she wanted to close the distance between them and feel his arms around her once more. With great difficulty she went to leave his room, "Enjoy your breakfast Malfoy."

Theo came in for his breakfast as he quickly stowed the books about wandless magic beneath his pillow. It had been nearly a week since he and Hermione had kissed and if he was correctly keeping track, it was New Years Eve.

"Hermione needed to plan something with the girls, so I offered to bring up your food."

"You're such a giver Theo. Truly selfless."

"Whatever Draco, I'll be back in a few hours for your lunch." He opened the door halfway and then poked his head back around, "Oh and whatever you said or did to Hermione, can you knock it off? That girl does not deserve whatever mind games you're inevitably playing."

Draco was thrown for a loop; he hadn't realized anything was out of the ordinary. Curse that girl's skills for legilimency, he always struggled to get a reading on how she was feeling. Theo however, pure annoyance and frustration rippled off of him in waves every time he entered Draco's room. Sadness was usually mixed in, but the blonde tried his best to ignore that part. He suspected he was the cause for it and wasn't nearly prepared to dive into that black hole.

"Mind games?" He questioned.

"Oh for the love of god Draco don't play dumb, the girl has been blushing every time your name is mentioned, and she's been quiet, hasn't gotten involved in a single argument or debate in a week." He walked away from the door and settled himself at the chair of Draco's desk, "now I don't know if you knew this, but Hermione Granger tends to pounce on arguments, she tends to be the one winning them too, not the one on the sidelines." He held up his hands in defeat, "So what the fuck did you do to her?"

"What makes you think this has anything to do with me? Maybe Granger is just having a bad week, fuck if I know." The butterflies that seemed to have taken up permanent residence in Draco's stomach were roaring in triumph upon hearing about her reaction to hearing his name. However, the unwelcome attachment he was trying his best to ignore was less than thrilled about the change to her fiery personality.

"I don't know when the two of you are going to realize I am not as oblivious as the rest of this house." Theo chuckled, "Neither is Luna, by the way. She's just nicer than I am."

"Fine it's true. Granger and I. We've started a book club and we've just really been trying to keep to private. But god dammit Theo I guess you can join."

"And I suspect this book club involves snogging? Because I may be less eager to join if so." Draco cursed how well Theo still seemed to know him. Two years absent from one another's lives had not been enough to wipe away the history they had built.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Nott."

Theo's brows rose in amusement, "Ah, there it is." He stood from the chair; "I'll see you in a few hours, Malfoy." Draco swore as soon as the door had shut. If he didn't learn how to handle himself when it came to this blasted girl, he may as well take his legilimency and throw it off a fucking cliff. What good were his mental walls when his idiotic self spelled his emotions clear as day in the words he spoke? He sighed in defeat and went to return to his research.

By the time Theo had returned, he'd moved into the library and onto books regarding magical wards. His eyes were beginning to grow tired at the amount of pages he'd read and he attempted to focus them on his surroundings. The other armchair that used to so often house Hermione now looked empty, it's navy blue fabric worn from years of use. The bookshelves rose around him like a barricade, almost every one of them reaching the ceiling. They broke only for the window from which he consistently found himself gazing out of when the inevitable nightmares would wake him. His eyes glazed over the ancient wooden floor, semi covered by a dusty rug, and onto Theo, standing in the doorway between the library and his room.

"What're you researching?"

Draco considered lying, using his wandless magic to hide the title of his book and brush off the man who he once saw as a brother. He wasn't quite sure why he answered truthfully. "Magical wards."

At once, Theo looked suspicious, "What for?"

"I'm trying to determine how my mother allowed me to escape when I was being tortured. The wards were in put into place by Voldemort himself." The honesty continued.

The apprehension faded from Theo's features, his brown eyes now filled with concern as he walked over to sit in Hermione's chair. "She took down the wards all by herself?"

"She had to of, it was only her and my father in the house. I think we both know my father wouldn't have been eager to help." Draco chuckled humorlessly, "I've been trying to figure out how she did it."

"Why are you so desperate to know?"

"Do you see much else for me to do in this place?" Draco responded coolly, "it's a nice distraction from this," he held up his arm where Hermione's cloth was wrapped around his mark, "and it'd be nice to know if my mother did something that could get her killed."

Theo's eyes hadn't left the cloth on Draco's arm, "Who gave you that?"

"Who do you think?"

"Draco, you can't do this. She's going to get hurt." His jaw was clenched, as though he was biting his tongue.

"There is no 'this.' And even so, she's a big girl, she doesn't need the Order's protection from every little decision she makes."

"You don't know the full story of what she has been through."

"Oh then do enlighten me dear Theo. Story time."

"You don't have to be such a git, you know that right?" Draco opened his mouth to respond but then seemed to think better of it and returned to his book. Theo sighed and sat back in his chair, "Why are you so sure your mother could get herself killed?" He changed the subject.

"She defied orders from the Dark Lord. I know it's been a while for you, but do try to remember. He isn't the most understanding man. If he discovered who released his wards, he'd kill them." Rage rushed into Draco's lungs as if he'd swallowed fire as he continued, "But you see, I can't check to see if my own fucking mother is alive or not because the side that claims to be sent from the god damn heavens above won't let me leave their precious headquarters. So instead, I get to repeatedly research wards and pretend my own flesh and blood is just fine and dandy. Thanks for that, truly I owe you all a big hug."

"Draco it isn't that easy and you know it." Theo said, "if you were to leave you'd become a secret keeper for the order. You'd be able to tell the Death Eater's and Voldemort where Harry Potter is located, what our battle strategies are, who lives at headquarters and who doesn't. It's too dangerous."

"Your faith in me is endearing." Draco sneered, "Do you truly believe I would sell you all out to that psychopath?"

"Whatever ends the war, isn't that right?" Theo imitated Draco's statement he'd made months ago.

"It isn't like that. Not anymore." The blonde very nearly blushed from his statement, his pale skin only slightly darkening.

Theo snorted, "What because of her?" He gestured at the doorway leading to the hall, "You called her something I won't even repeat like three months ago. You agitated Dean at his own Christmas dinner; you're the man who killed his best fucking friend. And you've been playing for the dark side since you took your first breath. Excuse me if I don't place complete trust in you."

"How the fuck is that fair? You were breathing my same air two years ago Theo, don't act as though you're an angel. You know as well as I do that I had no fucking choice when it came to Finnegan and if I have to apologize for that one more god damn time I'm going to combust." He stood from his chair, agitation working it's way through his tensed shoulders, "I would never hurt her." Shock flew through his veins as he realized the undeniable truth to his words. He would never hurt her, he'd sooner put himself in harms way than her. The blasted butterflies were having a field day, fluttering up from his stomach and into his chest.

"I'm sorry it's like this Draco." His voice quiet, "I will speak to Harry about sending a spy to see how your family is doing." He made to leave the room and then smirked, "I'll see you next year." Draco rolled his eyes. Trust Theo to make some shitty joke despite the mood of the room.

"Fuck off Nott." The malice was absent from his voice. It was a step.

It was ten minutes to midnight; he'd conjured himself a clock after Theo had left. The frayed ends of his bedspread caught his attention as he tried to conjure scissors. His door burst open and made him lose his focus. Hermione was standing in the hallway, she was wearing a red dress that hit just above her knees and hugged her curves. His mouth went dry at the sight of her, but she hadn't seemed to notice the effect she was having on him.

"Hi…Draco." Her speech was slightly slowed and she nearly tripped into his room. She was completely and utterly wasted.

He struggled to hold back an amused smile, "Granger. You're drunk."

She giggled in response and tripped into his arms. "They bet I couldn't keep up with Ginny…but…but I did. Every. Single. Shot." Her hands were grasping his arms for support and he led her to the library couch and sat her down. He ran to get a glass of water from his bathroom and sat down on the couch next to her.

"Alright Granger, drink some of this water."

She shook her head furiously, "I don't want any water."

"Well, what do you want?"

"You."

His mouth hung open at her response, his brain was desperately trying to come up with a response. She hadn't seemed to realize what she'd just said as she was currently poking his skin on his shoulder, amused at the way it turned slightly red from her touch.

"Does anyone know you're up here?" The last thing he wanted was for her to need more help and him unable to call out to anyone, quarantined onto a floor no one else inhabited.

"They think I went to sleep. But I bet Harry will check on me soon enough." She shrugged and began laughing hysterically at the idea of her best friend finding her bed empty. Once she'd calmed down, she continued, "but it wasn't even midnight yet."

He glanced to the clock and saw it was now two minutes until midnight, "Clearly keeping up with the weaslette was not as easy as you imagined." She settled her head onto his shoulder and he found himself running a hand through her hair, "who would have thought Hermione Granger would be too stubborn to admit she was wrong?" Sarcasm drowning his words.

"I don't know what you're talking about…I…I kept up!" Her voice had raised an octave in her own defense and he hated himself for finding it endearing instead of annoying.

"Oh of course you did." One minute to midnight.

"I just wanted to see you, then I'll go back down to bed."

"Why did you want to see me?" His voice was low, the answer to his own question clear in the molten gray of his eyes.

"Happy New Year, Draco." Midnight.

Ahh sorry this is kind of a filler chapter...had a lot of stressful deadlines and an insane week so I couldn't write as much as I would have liked to. I did have fun writing this though, I hope you like it! Please please review, they really make my day and when I don't get a lot I get discouraged from writing as much. I just love to hear any kind of feedback! Thanks!