Disclaimer: Sorry, don't own anything but the plot.

Author's note: Here you go.

Previously: "Goodnight… Draco," she shut her door behind herself without another word.

"Who was that boy?" a voice asked.

"Draco Malfoy. Why are you here Jake? Just leave me alone."

"No, thank you, though. I'm here for you. Back to the real question though, are you serious about this Malfoy fellow?"

"Why?"

"Because you're mine," he was suddenly behind her, feeling her body up and then down again. She shivered, but it was barely noticeable.

"No, I'm not, and you need to realize that."

"You need to realize that you are and will always be mine." Someone knocked on Hermione's door.

"Hermione? Is someone in there with you?" It was Draco. How cute. Hermione felt suddenly cold. Jake was no longer present. She sauntered to the door carefully and opened it.

"No, no one."

"I thought I heard someone… a guy."

"Maybe it was those voices in your head," she pointed and laughed dryly.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"Yes, of course, why?"

"You look pale."

"I always look pale."

"Okay, paler."

"Nice to know. I'm as fine as ever and there's nothing more to it. May I help you with something else?"

"Uh…no."

"Okay, I do believe you need your beauty sleep."

"Comment or insult?"

"Comment. You said it first, though."

"Point there."

"Of course."

"Mmmhmm…"

"Standing here saying stupid, meaningless words or sounds is doing nothing to help you stay with or near me longer because as of now, I'm shutting my door." She slid her door quietly shut and went to her bed. She climbed under the covers that appeared to offer so much comfort. When she was under, her body never let go of the freezing cold. She just couldn't get warm. Soon, she gave up and let the cold envelop her body again, like a blanket. It made her warm in her own way.

Hermione woke up when her alarm wouldn't stop beeping loudly and hitting her occasionally. She gave it a disgusted look and turned it off, walking to the bathroom. The first thing she did involved taking a shower. She skipped back into her room with just a towel around her and opened one of her drawers in search of her uniform. She pulled in on and looked at herself in the mirror. With a short laugh, she waved her wand and made the skirt a few inches shorter.

Pulling her robe around her and her back on her shoulder, she set off for breakfast. She was eating healthily and chatting with her friends, Harry, Ron, and Ginny. She snuck a few looks at Draco who was staring at her. Surprisingly, an owl swooped down into the Great Hall, heading straight for Hermione. She took the letter and opened it.

Good luck in school was all it said. She frowned before plastering a big smile on her face. Throwing the letter in her backpack, she returned to talking and then pushed her plate away. She was suddenly to repulsed to eat.

After the schedules were handed out, Hermione headed to her first class of the day, Charms. It was Gryffindor and Slytherin, as were all of their classes. Dumbledore really wanted house unity this year. Hermione set up her things and wrote GO AWAY on a piece of paper. She called to her owl and sent it to find Jake.

"Responding to someone?" queried Draco.

"Yeah."

"Who?"

"Um… a friend, I guess."

"Guess?"

"Yeah, guess. I don't really know or think he's my friend, but you are so damn nosy that I'm going to say friend, happy?"

"I'm nosy for your own good."

"You're nosy because…?"

"I want to protect you."

"From what?"

"You won't tell me."

"Then consider that I don't need protecting and can handle it myself."

"No, you're as stubborn as ever and can get in over your head."

"But I always get out." The rest of the class walked in, ending there "creative discussion."

Class passed without interruption. Hermione didn't talk to Draco for the rest of the day but by Tuesday, she brushed the situation away. Draco let it slide when she refused to speak of it.

September slid to October, which became November. November ended, joyously bringing December. Holiday spirits rose as decorations filled the school.

On December 4th, a strange thing occurred, sparking emotions.

"Hermione, where are you going?" Draco asked as she walked past him in a twirl skirt and tank with only a light sweater to keep her warm. "Put some clothes on if you're going outside… it's freezing. Hermione rolled her eyes and suddenly smirked. She climbed onto Draco's lap, which turned him on, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Leaning in, she brushed her lips against his. He initiated the kiss soon after. A few minutes later, she pulled back.

"You can thank Fred and George Weasley for that… Invisa-toe. One of my favorites," she winked and left, not planning to return until late that night.

Blaise and Ginny, who had witnessed the passionate kiss, laughed lightly. Blaise pulled Ginny close and kissed her. They'd been dating for a week.

"Ginny, can I speak with you?" Blaise led her down an empty corridor before she answered.

"Sure," Ginny laughed at his actions.

"Okay, well," he stopped and watched as she leaned against a wall, propping on leg against it and folding her arms across her chest, "I was…." The words failed him as she flipped her hair in one swift motion. He put and arm on each side of her and slowly leaned in. He kissed her softly and pulled back. She stared at him in shock. "Ginny, will you go out with me?" She pulled him to her and kissed him. "Is that a yes?" he asked once they parted.

"Yeah, it is."

A week after the aforementioned kiss between Draco and Hermione, Hermione woke in the middle of the night. Her clock brightly read two a.m., but she didn't care. Something was going to happen. Her skin was tingling with anticipation. Without thinking, she dashed onto the balcony. The air was frigid and bitter. She welcomed it to envelop her body.

"What are you doing out here?" Draco's sleepy voice called from his door.

"Oh, did I wake you?" she turned to him.

"I'm a light sleeper. What are you doing out here? Come inside… you're going to freeze."

"Draco, it's going to snow," her face lit up like a child who just saw all of the presents under the Christmas tree.

"Seriously, you'll freeze."

"But, it's going to snow! The snow is magical… don't you remember?"

"Yeah," he walked out to join her. His body was against her back. She leaned into him, and he wrapped an arm around her waist. It was a custom between them now yet they were still only friends, unwilling to give into their emotions.

Snow began to fall seconds later. Hermione pulled away and twirled. Draco smiled, and Hermione stopped to look at him.

"What?" he queried.

"Nothing," she shook her head absently before permitting a smile to grace her own lips and twirling more.

"Okay, come on, Cinderella. The clock struck twelve and you need your beauty sleep."

Hermione laughed at the ongoing joke of beauty sleep and followed Draco into his bedroom. A wave of tiredness thrashed over her. She hugged Draco, finally realizing that he was shirtless and now frozen. Then, she returned to her own bedroom to sleep through the rest of the night.

An overall of seventy-four kids stayed behind over the holiday break. Twenty-nine from Gryffindor, twenty-three from Slytherin, thirteen from Hufflepuff, and nine from Ravenclaw. Harry and Ron stayed because Mr. Weasley had saved his money and taken his wife on a vacation over the break. Others either didn't want to go home or weren't wanted. Some seventh years chose to stay because it was their last year at Hogwarts.

Hermione was in the library, like most days, when Draco came in.

"Hey, I've been looking for you," Draco said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, Dumbledore wants us."

"Okay, she closed her book and packed her things. They didn't speak as they walked to Dumbledore's office. Draco said the password and allowed Hermione to go first.

"Come in," Dumbledore's voice carried through his thick door after they knocked. "Ahh, yes, good to see both of you. Now, I wanted to ask you something. Considering that so many children stayed for the holidays, I was wondering if you might both want to hold a dance on Christmas Eve."

"Yeah!" Hermione's eyes brightened with joy.

"Sure," Draco commented, quite indifferent to the matter.

A few days later, Hermione was walking around the grounds of the school. The dance was in a week.

"Hello, precious," a familiar voiced beckoned from behind Hermione. She turned around, frowning. "Not happy to see me?" he put a hand over his heart. "That hurts."

"You haven't bothered me in months, why now?"

"I've been… busy. I wanted to see you."

"Busy doing what? Torturing innocent girls?"

"No, dearest, of course not."

"Well, you play that card with me quite often." He took steps until he was half a foot away from her.

"Hey, Hermione," Draco was just coming outside.

"Hey," a smile tugged at her lips but the thought of Jake being there beat it away. Jake watched her reaction with a sadistic look in his eyes.

"Who's this?" asked Draco.

"Jake," Hermione glanced from Jake to Draco. "Um… excuse us." She pulled Jake until she figured she was out of ear shot for Draco to hear. She left her back to him too so he couldn't read her lips. "You're not going to hurt him."

"Why? It'd be fun."

"No."

"You like him."

"No, I don't. Why don't you just leave me the hell alone and go make a deal with some other girl's father?" Jake tried to advance towards her, but she stepped back.

"Suddenly standing up for yourself? This boy has an affect on you."

"So do you, and I'm tired of it. You don't own me. You can't control me. Just go away and leave me alone."

"Oh, now, I can't go and do something like that."

"Go to hell," she turned on her heel and walked away, rage flowing through her body.

"Who was that?" Blaise asked Ginny after Jake disappeared. They were sitting on a blanket in the snow where Hermione couldn't see them. They'd heard it all.

"I don't know. I don't like him though. Something's up."

"Maybe we should go talk to Hermione."

"Not now. She'll just yell at us to leave her alone. Let's just keep an eye on her."

"Yeah."

Author's note: Okay, there was another lovely chapter for all of my lovely reviews. :) I do hope you enjoyed it. If you did, review. If you didn't, review and tell me why. I am expecting 10 reviews. I mean, seriously, they only have to be one word long!

I'm still waiting on about four more reviews for Hidden Surprises before I update so if you've read the fifth chapter but haven't reviewed, go back and do it. I'll love you forever. If you haven't read it, it's not as good as this but it aiight. ;)

Uhhh… yeah, love you all,

Heather