Fidelity
"Ronald Weasley, you the most insensitive prat I've ever had the misfortune to know!" Hermione cried slamming shut her book and causing a few strawberry tarts to fall to the ground. As she bent down to pick one up, Ron finally figured out some retort.
"And you're a right little know it all," Ron retorted, his face flushing a deep scarlet.
Hermione looked around for help. Most of the other students in the common room were pretending not to hear her and Ron's argument. Harry was in detention, and Ginny was off with her boyfriend. Hermione gave a cry of frustration and pulled out her wand. "You…you…!" Ron had jumped out of his chair and was scrambling for his own wand in an attempt to protect himself from the enraged girl before him. Just as Ron pulled out his own wand, Hermione noticed a couple of small spiders scurrying around the table between the two. "Engorgio!" Hermione cried, directing her wand at the two insects.
Hermione heard Ron's cry of fear even through the closed portrait. She fumed as she stormed out of the castle into the cold December snow. Christmas Eve and she had chosen to get in a fight with Ron. It was sure to be a great Christmas indeed. Now, deep down Hermione knew that she shouldn't have gotten quite so mad at Ron. It wasn't his fault that she was having such an awful week, after all. After having only gotten an E on her Ancient Runes test, running out of lacewings to complete her Potion on the last day of class, having her parents' sudden letter about leaving to go skiing for the holidays, and Crookshanks shredding one of her favorite books, Hermione found herself lacking the Christmas spirit, or indeed, any patience for the red head boy she left inside.
Hermione had stomped over to a tree by the lake's edge and plopped down on the cold bit of earth left under the tree. She watched the giant squid crash its tentacles up through the thin ice near the lakes edge for some time as she tried to calm down. Hermione was overheated with anger, and so the cool air felt rather pleasing to her. Engulfed in her thoughts as she was, Hermione didn't notice the sound of crunching snow, and was quite bewildered when the forgotten strawberry tart flew out of her hand.
"Ron, I'm still mad at you, so leave me alone." Hermione didn't even bother to look around. The only other people who would have known where she was likely to go were Ron and Harry, and the latter was still in detention. Snape had a vindictive streak in him, and Harry would be lucky to get out of the dungeons by dinner. Again, Hermione was nonplussed when the voice that answered her quip was neither Harry's nor Ron's, but instead a colder, smoother one.
"Fighting with your boyfriend, Granger?"
Hermione closed her eyes and counted to ten slowly. This was not something she needed right now. What she needed was a nice hot bath and maybe even a back massage. Perhaps if she didn't look at him, Draco would simply go away. "Go away, Malfoy." There, she hadn't looked at him, now he would be sure to depart. The third shock came to Hermione when she heard him sit down beside her. As she turned around to give Malfoy a piece of her mind, Hermione found her strawberry tart stuffed into her mouth. She took the bite, just to free her mouth, and was again about to tell him off when Malfoy interjected.
"You'll catch a cold, sitting in the freezing air without a sweater," Draco commented mildly, popping the rest of the tart into his own mouth.
"And that would be a great tragedy to you, how?" Hermione asked dryly. Draco merely shrugged his shoulders and watched the giant squid as it began tossing Grindylows into the air through a rather large hole it had made in the ice. Hermione sighed resignedly and turned her eyes to the lake so as to watch the squid play as well. "What do you want?"
Draco didn't answer. He merely glanced at her and then looked back at the lake. "You look lonely."
"It's no concern of yours. Shouldn't you be happy that I'm so miserable?"
Draco shrugged his shoulders again. "It's seventh year. I don't care about much." He stared sideways at Hermione. "Don't you have any girl friends to talk to?"
Hermione opened her mouth to tell him it wasn't any of his business if she had one friend or a hundred, but her retort died in her throat. She'd just noticed the pink hand print on his cheek. "What happened to you?" she asked, inclining her head to see the slap mark better.
Draco touched his injury gingerly and grimaced. "Pansy." Hermione snorted and Draco threw her a reproving look. "Yeah, you can laugh now, Granger, but you wouldn't be laughing if Ron had slapped you after your fight."
Hermione deferred immediately. "Sorry." Hermione thought for a moment before asking him, "Where are Crabbe and Goyle?"
"Search me," Draco replied. "Not like the gits care about anything other than food. Probably pigging out in the Great Hall. They love holidays."
Hermione couldn't stop that smile from reaching her face. However, the smile quickly turned to a frown when she recalled whom she was talking to. Draco Malfoy, only her best friends' arch enemy. There was something terribly wrong with the world if she, Hermione Jean Granger, was having a civilized conversation with pureblood fanatic Draco Malfoy. "Yes, well…" Hermione began, searching Draco's face for some clue of how to respond. Her eyes locked onto his and in that instant she felt a huge and complete sense of loneliness overwhelm her. Draco apparently didn't have too many friends. Hermione could find no response so she quickly looked away from those melancholy grey eyes and at the Forbidden Forest. "Maybe I am a little lonely. It's what comes of having two best guy friends. Though how much better girl friends are, I'm not so sure."
At Draco's confused "Oh", Hermione continued, "Well, all they ever do is gossip and talk about guys and clothes and, well, rather inane things in general." Hermione wasn't even sure if she understood this, much less if Draco did. However, Draco nodded his head, and so she continued, "So yes, it is a bit lonely at times, especially when I fight with either Ron or Harry. Then they are both mad at me."
"So why did you fight with Weasley?" Hermione felt her cheeks heat up, and she mumbled something that Draco couldn't comprehend. "What was that?"
"Because he lost my copy of Hogwarts, A History," she reiterated louder and clearer.
Draco stared at her incredulously. "Well, that book is very important to me; it's taught me everything about the wizarding world." Draco was still looking at her as if she was stark mad, and so Hermione continued, "And I also had a bad week, so I wasn't happy with this new development."
Draco nodded his head in an understanding way. "You need more friends," he said again.
Hermione stared at the pale, blond boy before her. "And so do you," she replied.
Draco looked out at the great lake for quite some time and the silence stretched between the two. The he abruptly turned around and held out his hand for Hermione to shake. "It's good to meet you, my name is Draco Malfoy."
More out of utter shock that this was happening than anything else, Hermione took his hand in hers and shook it. "Hermione Granger."
Draco smiled at her and looked, at least in Hermione's own opinion, slightly less lonely for the first time that day. Draco didn't immediately let go of her hand, and Hermione was content to just stare in his eyes for a moment longer. Draco's face was rather pale, she'd always known, but his features, though rather sharp, were softened when he smiled. Hermione finally blinked and shook her head. "Something wrong, Granger?"
Hermione looked back up at the blond boy and her old suspicions came back. "This is too absurd," she replied, thinking perhaps that he was once again up to his old ways. There surely must be something amiss if Draco was talking to her, let alone being friendly.
Draco stretched his arms over his head and yawned. "I've already told you, I don't care anymore."
Hermione let the silence lengthen between them before she suggested, "Let's make a snow man." Draco got his wand out and waved it in a circular motion, causing a large patch of snow to roll itself into a ball. Hermione tsked at the man and said, "The normal way. Without the magic." She stood up and walked over to the large ball that Draco had made with his wand. "Though I do suppose, since it's already here of course, we could use this one."
Draco merely lifted his eyebrows and followed Hermione to where she stood. "Why on earth you would want to make one with your hands is utterly beyond me," he told her. Noticing her gooseflesh and slight shivers he removed his cloak and threw it around Hermione. "Can't have you freezing to death on me, wouldn't look good at all on my record."
Hermione stared at him in mild shock. That's all that she seemed to be doing with Draco so far, staring in shock. "Thank you," she said, feeling confident that he would believe the pink hue on her face was due to the nippy air and nothing more. She moved to scoop up an armful of snow and placed it next to the first large ball of fluffy white ice. "Well, you could do something to help, Malfoy. Maybe mold this into a ball," Hermione suggested in half amusement.
Draco sighed and shook his head. "Girls always want to do things the hard way," he muttered. A second later a snowball hit him square in the face, and Hermione laughed delightedly. Instead of answering, Draco scooped up his own handful of snow and, forming it into a ball, threw it back at Hermione. The latter ducked behind the primary large bundle of snow that was made for the snowman, and threw back a few more snowballs. Draco stopped for a moment to make a few more snowballs before ducking around the snowman's body to pelt Hermione. One caught her in the back and she began to fall forward.
Hermione let out a squeak of surprise and fear, and closed her eyes, expecting to fall headfirst into the snow, but instead felt arms encircle her and pull her up. Hermione knew who had done this, and yet she was loathe to see his face, or to even move from their position. It was all at once so warm and perfect, and yet the tingling of her body had naught to do with the snow covering her. Hermione couldn't bring herself to move first, feeling the color quickly rising in her face, and Draco hadn't made the slightest indication of wanting to let her go either. His embrace was tight, and she was sure that he'd never hugged anyone like this before, even from behind.
Hermione's heart was palpitating and she slowly turned her face up to see his. His eyes were closed, and for the briefest moment, Hermione thought he looked so at peace, just as if he were sleeping. But he had felt her movement and Draco's eyes flew open as he let her go immediately. He too seemed shocked by his actions, and he wouldn't quite meet her eyes when Hermione said thank you. "Yeah," Draco muttered and took a step back from her.
Clearing her throat to try and lighten the mood, Hermione turned back to the incomplete snowman. "Well, I suppose it would be nearly the same if we used magic," she commented. Draco suddenly seemed lighter, and he whipped out his wand and proceeded to create two more snowballs. He helped Hermione lift each one on top of the other, their hands brushing each time. Each carefully avoided the other's eyes and then stood back to look at their snowman. "He needs a hat," Hermione suggested.
"And a face," Draco added. He checked his watch. "It's lunch now. We could grab some food to make his face with." Hermione nodded her agreement and the two began to trek back to the castle. Neither said a word, but as they walked in a somewhat uncomfortable silence, their hands brushed as they swung back and forth. It didn't seem entirely intentional, but then it did happen quite often. If anyone were to look down on the scene, it would appear as if the two were new lovers, just after confessing their feelings, but still too scared to actually touch. As they reached the doors, Draco let Hermione walk in first, and they glanced at each other for a moment before walking in opposite directions to their separate tables.
"Hermione, I love your new cloak. When did you get it?" Lavender asked as Hermione sat down some three seats away from her.
It took Hermione a moment to register what Lavender meant, but when she looked down at herself, she noticed that Draco's dark cloak was still fastened around her with a shiny silver clasp. "Er…just recently," Hermione said evasively. She heard some talking and laughing behind her, and was relieved to see Harry walking towards her, but far less happy to see Ron with him.
"Hello, Hermione," Harry greeted. He sat down next to her, and Ron sat next to him. After glancing between the two, and a few moments of increasing tension, comprehension dawned on Harry. "Oh," he said. "It's Christmas Eve day, you two really shouldn't be fighting," he commented.
Hermione didn't reply, merely took the serving spoon and placed some chicken potpie on her plate. "Your detention went well then?" she asked Harry, indicating the fact that he had gotten of several hours earlier than either expected him to be.
"Yes. Apparently, Snape doesn't much care for watching me pickle frog hearts when he could be off doing something more interesting," Harry replied dryly. "As for me, I hope he's taking a bath." Hermione merely rolled her eyes at Harry. "When did you get that cloak?" Harry asked her, his brow furrowing. "I could have sworn I'd seen it on someone else."
Hermione choked on her food, and took a sip of pumpkin juice before saying quickly, "Just recently. Which reminds me, you both did get something for Hagrid, didn't you?" Hermione asked, trying to change the subject and in her flustered state forgetting that she was still yet mad at Ron.
As the both made their replies enthusiastically as to what they got their friend, Hermione chanced a glance at the Slytherin table. Draco met her eyes for a moment before turning away quickly and talking to Goyle. Hermione turned her attention back to Harry, who was asking her what she had gotten Hagrid. As she answered his question, Hermione slipped a carrot and a couple cherries into her pocket to save for later decorating of the snowman.
Hermione didn't seem to have a chance to meet with Draco again until just before dinner. His cloak was still wrapped around her, and she took an odd comfort in it. The soft fabric reminded her of his soft embrace, and there was a faint smell of pine, a mysterious smell she'd known couldn't have belonged to the tree earlier that day as Draco held her. Hermione had happened to catch his eye as he passed in the hallway, and he "accidentally" bumped into her in order to whisper, "Let's go finish our snowman."
Hermione's heart skipped a beat and she turned away to talk to Harry. "Listen, Harry, I've got to go finish some work. I'll see you at dinner then, shall I?" Before Harry could argue with her, Hermione had turned around and practically ran out of the castle doors. There was just enough light left in the lazy afternoon for her not to be breaking any school rules by staying out too late. When Hermione finally arrived at the snowman, panting and winded, she noticed that he had a green knitted hat on his head. She grinned and saw Draco up in the tree breaking off a couple branches. He jumped down with two medium length branches with several small twigs sticking up from their ends.
"Can't have a snowman without arms," he explained.
"I've brought his face," Hermione said, pulling out the carrot and cherries. As Draco placed the arms in the snowman, Hermione adorned his face. Hermione stepped back to look at him and frowned. "He needs a mouth."
Draco shuffled around in his pockets for a moment before pulling out a small box of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. Hermione looked delighted as she picked a few out of the box and formed the snowman's smile. "Happy now, Granger?" Draco asked her, standing back and admiring their work.
"Very," she replied. "Is that hat yours?" she inquired.
"It's Goyle's," he replied. Hermione raised an amused eyebrow at him and he shrugged, amusement dancing in his eyes. "His head's too fat for it anyway." Hermione snorted, finding this statement too true to contradict.
The light was failing fast, and Hermione was beginning to feel cold again. "Sunset is beautiful," she sighed, her breath making a fog appear before her. "Even in the bitter cold," she added, laughing lightly. Not sure if he would pick up on her subtle hint to move closer, Hermione stared determinedly at the sinking sun in diffidence of her remark.
Draco took a half step towards the brunette, and then paused. As much as he'd changed, he wasn't quite sure how Hermione would react if he put his arm around her, let alone come close enough to touch her again. But then, why not, he thought. Draco moved closer to the shivering girl on his right so that their shoulders brushed. Hermione stole a look at him and felt her heartbeat rise. Ever so slowly she eased her hand down so that it touched his. She could feel the warmth radiating form Draco, something she thought wouldn't ever happen. He'd always seemed so cold, after all.
Not quite sure what was taking over her, Hermione glanced at their hands and up at Draco, only to notice that he'd done the same. Never breaking their gaze, Draco slowly took Hermione's hand in his. Her hand was cool and small compared to his, and Draco enjoyed this fact. Hermione drew ever so slightly closer to Draco and finally broke their eye contact by staring back out at the sunset. The sky was cast in a pinkish hue, with orange blended in nicely and yet, the sun seemed to be going down faster than necessary, and all too soon the moon was the major light giver, and the stars twinkled above the two.
"We should go in," Hermione said reluctantly. "Dinner is going to be starting soon." Draco nodded his head, though he didn't make a move to go. Hermione was warm against him now, soft and fragile, something he'd never quite experienced before. She made to let go of his hand, but he reasserted his grip on hers. Hermione didn't protest, but allowed herself to be led along the path back up to the castle, never being far enough from Draco to feel cold. The snowman left behind was soon lost in a spell of flurries.
The walk back to the castle seemed immense, and yet it was over before either of them knew it. Hesitating by the door of the castle, they looked at each other. Draco quickly took his hand away, and Hermione stared anywhere but at Draco. "I suppose we ought to go inside," Hermione suggested, her voice a bit higher than usual, and a pink flush on her cheeks.
"Potter and Weasley are probably wondering where you are," Draco offered. Neither wanted to make excuses to go inside, but it seemed the pertinent thing to do.
"Pansy is probably regretting that slap by now," Hermione added. "Yes," she added, nodding decisively. "Right then." Hermione moved to open the door, but stopped as her hand was on it. "Oh!" She quickly went to unclasp Draco's cloak and handed it to him. "Er—thank you, for the cloak. I wouldn't want to take it from you. It's really very nice." Was it just her, or was Hermione suddenly sounding…stupid.
Draco stared at the cloak that Hermione had placed in his hands as if he'd never seen it before in his life. "Right," he said blankly. Draco cleared his throat and tried to regain some of his swanker. "Looked awful on your anyway. You're so small. Well, Granger, better get inside before Weasley comes charging out, accusing me of something preposterous and irrelevant once again."
Hermione half smiled. "Please, Malfoy, even if you were to try anything, I'd have hexed you even before you thought to take out your wand." Draco merely grinned and pushed open the door and let Hermione inside.
Dinner was a nice affair that night. Not too many students had stayed at Hogwarts over the holiday. There was Harry, Ron, Hermione, Lavender, Draco, Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle, several Hufflepuff students and a Ravenclaw or two. Once again the House tables were pushed up against the walls and one large, circular table replaced them. Hermione took her place next to Harry, who had saved her a seat. And Malfoy sat across from her diagonally, the two being separated by Slughorn, McGonagall and Hagrid. Ron leaned over the table and caught Hermione's attention.
"Listen, Hermione. I know I can be a right git at times, but it's nearly Christmas. And, well, er…" he began, turning red at the end and mumbling.
Hermione sighed and resigned herself. "Yes, I know. I don't want to fight either." She extended her hand as a show of good will. Ron immediately shook it and went about grinning. Hermione looked across the table and could see Pansy cooing at Draco once again, as if the whole slapping ordeal had never happened. For some reason, it rubbed Hermione the wrong way. Shaking her head vigorously, she decided, that no, there was no way she was jealous. Absolutely not. And yet, Draco kept fiddling around with his cloak's clasp and even sent a quick smile her way when no one was looking.
Hermione found herself inclined to asking him to pass the potatoes or indeed anything else she could just to talk to him. And Draco reciprocated her actions, asking her for the salt, some Yorkshire pudding and eventually if she just had a spare napkin. No one else at the table found their behavior odd; it was practically Christmas after all, and all were in good cheer. Hermione found herself staying at the table long after she finished, listening only half heartedly to Ron and Harry's conversations, merely lingering stay within close proximity of the Slytherin boy she had so loathed until just today. Suffice to say, her own actions were enough to interest Hermione. Never before had she thought of Draco with anything but contempt, but now, now she hardly knew what to think at all.
I'm definitely reading too much into this, Hermione thought with a yawn. Presently she found herself dozing lightly on Harry's arm, and Harry himself shaking her awake gently. "Hermione, we're leaving," he told her softly. Hermione blinked drowsily and looked around. The only people left at the table were Slughorn and Hagrid singing some old wizarding tune rather off key and a sour looking Snape instructing his Slytherin students to get to bed. Shaking herself awake, Hermione followed Harry and Ron to Gryffindor Tower, glancing back once to see Draco doing the same. As she crawled into bed twenty minutes later, the silence and absence of snores from most of her fellow dorm mates pressing in on her, Hermione wondered briefly if it had all been a dream, and upon waking the next morning if she would find herself never having even made that snowman at all.
Hermione woke up to excited yelling of her name from the Common Room. From their excited voices, it seemed clear that Ron had gotten a new favorite book on the Chuddley Cannons and Harry 'the best sweater in the world!' from Mrs. Weasley no doubt. Hermione groaned and rubbed at her eyes. A moment later they flew open and she grinned despite her tired demeanor. It was Christmas after all, and that meant presents! Hermione fought her way out of her covers and pulled her hair back in a rather messy ponytail. Slowly drawing back her curtains, she squinted at the bright light of the morning sun. She climbed out of her bed and slipped on some fuzzy socks before dashing down the stairs of the girls' dormitory. Sitting there on the couch and on the floor were Harry and Ron. "Merry Christmas!" she told them happily.
They turned to her joyfully. "Merry Christmas, Hermione," Harry replied.
"You've got your presents here," Ron told her, throwing her one. "Looks like mum sent you a sweater again this year too."
Hermione smiled happily and sat down next to the tree adorning the room. Ron was busily stuffing chocolate frogs in his mouth and Harry dined on treacle fudge while the two exclaimed over their haul this year. Carefully opening a good sized white box, Hermione grinned at the cauldron cakes stacked neatly inside. She lifted one out and bit in. It was rather traditional of the trio to snack on their Christmas sweets rather than actually going down for breakfast. It was a couple hours later when it was decided that the three ought to visit Hagrid, and after changing into a warm, long sleeved, green turtle neck and jeans, Hermione met the two at the entrance of Gryffindor Tower.
The day would be a good one, Hermione mused, grinning slightly as Harry toted his Firebolt over one shoulder, and Ron his own broom over the other. Hermione glanced around the halls as she passed, hoping for a glimpse of Draco, but was rather disappointed to find that she saw no mention of the boy. It was already lunchtime, and the three trudged down to Hagrid's hut in hopes of something other than rock cakes to eat. Luckily, Hagrid seemed prepared for them and had even taken the liberty to have a good round of butterbeers ready for them, along with some sandwiches.
"Merry Christmas!" Hagrid boomed happily as Fang barked excitedly, his large tail thumping heavily on the table in the center of the room. Harry, Ron and Hermione greeted Hagrid back, and sat down to begin some lunch while Hagrid went to make a pot of tea. "Oh, tha' reminds me," Hagrid said, joining them at the table and picking up a couple sandwiches. "Malfoy wen' lookin' fer you." This was directed at Hermione, who promptly choked on her tea.
"What would he want with her?" Ron asked, instantly getting indignant. The three of them rounded on Hermione who squirmed slightly under their accusing looks.
"Er—search me." She shrugged her shoulders in a non-committal way and took a quick gulp of butterbeer to divert suspicion from herself. The others seemed to take her answer as true and set aside the somewhat odd dilemma. Hermione answered and joined in conversations often enough, but most times her mind was preoccupied with the thought that Draco was looking for her. The burning curiosity that had risen in her wasn't squelched, and Hermione knew it wouldn't be until she saw Draco later at dinner.
The rest of the afternoon was spent in a rather happy way, and small talk occupied the four friends for several hours. The sandwiches were long gone, and the tea getting cold. The sky outside was darkening, and Hermione felt herself becoming anxious to get on to Christmas dinner. Her glancing out of the window every few moments eventually caught the attention of the three men she was spending time with, and Hermione found herself smirking in triumph as Hagrid bustled them out, throwing on his great coat and walking up with the three students to the castle. The night air was rather biting that night, as it had been the other few nights, and Hermione found herself wishing she had Draco's cloak once again. At long last, far too long for Hermione's liking, they entered the castle with pink faces and cold bodies.
Hermione felt the warmth of the large fire emitting from the fireplace off to the right of the room wash over her, and noticed the large round table set up once again. Around the room were large pine trees decorated with twinkling fairies and garlands of holly strung the place. Mistletoe was hung at the odd corner or dorrway, and gold, red and green baubles levitated in the air, charmed by Professor Flitwick no doubt. Instead of the usual torches, numerous silver candles illuminated the room, casting a slightly romantic lull over the place. Hermione's eyes darted around the table and locked on Draco's.
Hermione felt her heart flutter and she looked away quickly. Nevertheless, the only seats left were next to Draco, and Hermione obliged to sit next to the boy, knowing that the bitterness between her two best friends and Draco would surely cause a scene. She tried hard not to look at Draco and set her eyes on her plate in front of her. There were little touches here and there, and Hermione couldn't help the slight start she received at each soft brushing of their hands. Hermione could feel Draco's eyes glance at her often, and she knew that the Slytherin was trying to get her attention. As Hermione leaned over to grab a roll, Draco's hand shot out at the same moment, and they connected. Brown eyes met grey and Hermione was momentarily lost in those deep pools.
Quietly, just barely loud enough for him to hear, Hermione breathed, "You were looking for me?" Hermione delicately moved her hand to the roll next to the one she had been reaching for, and picked it up.
Draco looked slightly uncomfortable. "Yes." Hermione raised her eyebrows at Draco and he glanced around at the rest of the table. Ron was happily stuffing his mouth with fried chicken, and Harry was helping himself to another serving of stuffing. To their left, Hagrid was drinking out of a small bucket full of some mild mead, and on their right were Crabbe and Goyle, impatiently tapping their plates with their utensils while waiting for dessert to arrive. Pansy was sitting to Draco's immediate right, but was currently engaged in mutilating her pork roast. "Later," he commented, taking a bite out of his roll.
Hermione furrowed brow, but she nodded her head slightly and returned to her dinner. Their hands met and eyes locked a few more times, but that was it until the crackers were served. As Hermione reached out to take one and offer it to Draco to help her pull, Pansy interjected. "Draco," she cooed. The boy turned, somewhat irked, to her. "Pull a cracker with me," Pansy whined rather obsequiously. Draco glanced back at Hermione, but the Gryffindor had quickly turned to Harry instead, and was pulling a cracker with him. Draco obliged, more out of perfunctory than anything else. Another cracker was pulled with her, and Draco complied to take the large flower over the tiara and grabbed a lemon tart to munch on while he waited. The dinner table slowly dispersed with many a thank you and final holiday greetings. Harry and Ron got up to go, but Hermione excused herself, saying she would be up in a moment, and that she really only wanted a quick word with McGonagall.
Pansy had long since retired to bed, and Crabbe and Goyle were still gorging on some final slices of pie. Hermione glanced at Draco and hurried out of the room, passing through the doorway and turning right into a deserted hallway. She didn't have long to wait until he followed after her, his swagger much less pronounced, and a nervousness hanging about him that she'd never expected to see.
"Nice Christmas, Granger?" he asked her.
"Very," she replied. "And yours?"
"Not too bad."
Hermione felt rather silly making such small talk, especially after their bold moves towards each other the other day. Draco's eyes seemed to look at anything besides her: the suit of armor, the painting of an empty field of flowers, the classrooms to their left and right. Draco cleared his throat and looked somewhere just beyond Hermione. Hermione's curiosity was building to an almost unbearable point. She couldn't much longer take simply standing there like a twit, doing nothing but commenting on their day. But then, she reasoned, she wouldn't push him. It seemed odd enough that he had been searching her out, ten fold more so that they were standing in an empty hallway with nearly everyone else gone to bed.
Draco seemed to be steeling himself for something. What exactly it was, Hermione had no clue. He pulled a package from his robes and held it out to her. Hermione took it, surprise clearly written on her face. Draco Malfoy, her once sworn enemy and tormenter all these years, was giving her a present? "T—thank you," Hermione managed to stutter, still too shocked to make anything more than a coherent word of thanks. He stood there waiting, and Hermione thought that perhaps he wanted her to open it. She did so, carefully removing the white bow and unwrapping the blue paper. Inside lay a rather familiar dark cloak with a shiny silver clasp in the form of a Celtic knot. Hermione's mouth opened in surprise and she held it up. "This is…"
"It really looks rather nice on you," Draco said quickly, still not quite meeting her eyes. "And though you seem to be the brightest witch our age," he mocked, some of his old self coming back, "you don't seem quite bright enough to carry a cloak with you, or even a sweater to keep from being cold."
Hermione was more touched with his thoughtfulness than anything else. And it occurred to her that he had probably never given a girl a gift before, let alone talked to one other than Pansy or fellow Slytherin girls who were likely to be in love with him anyway. Hermione smiled up at him and noticed the slight embarrassment on his face. "It's rather nice of you," she said. Hermione tilted her head to the side, an amused smile on her lips. "Who would believe, of all people, Draco Malfoy being nice to a muggle born."
Draco's mouth opened in protest before he closed it, catching on to her joke. He shrugged in a rather conceited way and shuffled his feet a bit. "Well, that's all I really wanted to give you," he said, slowly inching towards the way they had entered, the Slytherin Common Room being on the opposite end of the Great Hall. Hermione followed him out, and noticed that by now everyone had done to bed and the candles were burned down to near nothingness, giving just enough light to see the person in front of you. The fairies were now flying about the room, quite at their leisure since the Hogwarts residents had gone to bed. Hermione couldn't help but feel the romanticism of the entire thing, and suddenly longed to stare up into Draco's eyes, and very seriously, snog him senseless. Shaking these absolutely preposterous thoughts from her head, she bumped into him the next moment. "What—?"
But Draco was looking up above them at a clump of yellowish flowers with white berries. Hermione followed his gaze and her heart palpitated once again. It seemed to be doing that more often recently. She looked back at Draco and saw that he had turned to face her. There was a silence in the room, charged with the attraction the two felt for each other, and both wanting the same thing, yet neither quite courageous enough to take the initiative. Hermione was rather silent, and so was Draco, and the two stared at each other for quite some time before Hermione very carefully said, "You know Luna Lovegood? Well, she claims that Nargles live in mistletoe, and that we ought to be careful whenever it is near."
Draco had moved closer now, and Hermione's breath seemed harder to come by. "And do you think that we'll soon be attacked by Nargles?" he asked, a slightly sarcastic tone in his voice. He was very close now, his head bending down towards to her.
"No sooner than you'll become best mates with Ron," Hermione responded rather breathlessly. Silence ensued as Draco closed the distance between them, and Hermione's heart beat erratically. She could feel his lips pressed against hers, soft and warm, and his hands drew her in closer. He kissed her almost shyly at first, not quite sure of what was happening, but soon that kiss turned into something more heated. Hermione responded with the same passion, and soon their tongues entwined and she felt her body shiver. The pressing need for air drove the two apart, but they stayed close, their foreheads pressed together, and Draco's arms around her waist, holding her close to him.
"That," he replied after some time. "That has got to be the best Christmas gift I've ever received."
Hermione smiled into his shoulder. "Yeah," she agreed.
How long she stood there, fit perfectly against him, neither was quite sure. There were no words said; there was nothing to be said. The silence was enough for the two. Fairies drifted by much closer than they had before, attracted to the pair, and every now and then landed on one or the other. Hermione stayed in Draco's embrace as long as she could, until her slowly drooping eyes and stifled yawns told her it was time to go. All the candles except for a few were burned out, and Hermione watched lazily as the fairies settled down on the Christmas tree's branches for the night. Hermione pulled away from Draco, a soft smile on her face and a pull tugging at her heart.
"Best Christmas ever," she said quietly.
"Perfect," Draco agreed, a rather sheepish grin on his own face. They parted ways, glancing back at each other every so often.
And as Hermione lay in bed that night, hardly believing what had happened, she chanced a look out of her window. And she swore, if she looked hard enough, she could see the faint and distant outline of a snowman with a little green hat, a carrot nose, cherry eyes and a Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans smiling face.
A/N: There you have it. I hope you enjoyed the story, thank you for reading!