Chapter Eight: A Twist of Fate

"Every man has his own destiny: the only imperative is to follow it, to accept it, no matter where it leads him."

--Henry Miller

Hermione finished wrapping the last present and took her quill and neatly wrote 'Ginny Weasley' across the card carefully placing it into the pile next to her bed. The wooden floor was filled with wrapping paper, tape and small scraps. She took all of the presents and placed them underneath her bed and started clean the mess. Though she could've used her wand and wrapped them instantly, she insisted on wrapping them herself. She remembered as a child, sitting in her room and wrapping her presents while anticipating her parents' gifts, she smiled recalling her childhood memories. After cleaning she walked into the common room to find Ron working on his homework and choose not to disturb him. She left the common room and walked towards the Great Hall, the Christmas spirit was in full swing at Hogwarts. The house elves were helping set up the traditional twelve Christmas trees and the castle ghosts went around singing Christmas carols. The Hall was heavily decorated while the ceiling was bewitched so tiny snow flakes fell almost touching the trees yet disappearing just before doing so. She had to commend Harry on doing a brilliant job with the decorations, the Head Boy and Head Girl were in charge of decorating the Hall while the prefects attended to the hallways. She grabbed an apple and left to visit Harry before he murdered her. With her heavy expected coursework before every Christmas vacation, she didn't get a chance to visit Harry after he left Gryffindor.

She stood in front of the door trying to remember the password, Ron mentioned it to her a couple of times. As she was brooding, the door opened to reveal none other than Draco Malfoy. Hermione was caught off guard, she hadn't seen him for more than a month since their meeting outside in the library. Neither of them said a word but stood observing each other almost as if trying to remember one another.

"Malfoy," Hermione said. She had to break the silence, the tension between them was escalating . He didn't reply immediately.

"Granger," he replied. "Come to visit Pothead?" he added after a pause. Hermione glared at him, she realized the one Malfoy free month wasn't too bad. She silently walked past him without saying a word. He suddenly grabbed her hand and spun her around.

"I told you I hate being ignored," he growled.

"And I told you to get used to it," she replied, struggling under his grip. Just then Harry Potter and Pansy Parkinson walked out. Draco immediately released her hand and looked at Pansy who looked suspicious. The atmosphere tensed as Harry glared at Draco while Hermione gave Pansy an icy stare. Harry was nervous, he wanted to acknowledge Hermione about their inadvertent truce alone.

"Hey Hermione," he said casually, trying to ease the apprehension. Hermione smiled.

"Hey Harry, I just came to see you" she said.

"Alright, I'll just meet up with you later Harry," Pansy announced deliberately. Hermione spun around with a look of bewilderment and Harry just signaled her to stay calm and led her inside. Draco on the other hand didn't take it to well.

"Pansy, What the fuck?" he said furiously, he didn't want her anywhere near Pothead.

"Draco, please I'm sick of fighting," she said softly. This threw Draco off the edge, he grabbed her by her shoulders and shook her hoping to bring her back to her senses.

"So you befriend Potter!" he growled.

"Yeah," she said simply, she wasn't afraid of him she knew him inside and out. "I never said anything when you went around with Granger," she added.

"Who told you that? I never went around with that mudblood," he said

"People talk Draco," she stated.

"And you believe them?" he asked

"I'm forced to! I saw you with her that day outside of the library. I'm not blind."

"So you take revenge by talking to Wonder Boy?" he asked.

"If that's the way you want to take it, be my guest," she said, at least this way she didn't have to fabricate another lie to cover her truce with Potter.

Ginny Weasley took a sip of her hot chocolate while walking around the empty Quidditch field with Harry. It was cold but not freezing which is odd because it nearly Christmas but there were no signs of any snow fall this year. When he told her about Pansy's expeditious truce she was a little worried about her concealed intentions but soon knew she could trust Harry.

"I still don't understand," he said interrupting her thoughts.

"What?" she asked.

"Why is Pansy talking to me? I mean the truce was completely unpredicted,"

"Maybe she needed more friends?" Ginny teased.

"I'm being serious," Harry said. "It doesn't make sense, I don't trust her at all."

"Then don't," Ginny said and set her hot chocolate on the nearby bench and wrapped her arms around his neck. "We're talking a lot about Pansy these days, is there something I should know Harry? I mean you do live with her," she added innocently.

"Sorry, I don't kiss and tell," he played along.

"Looks like you learned a lot from the Slytherin," she said coyly. Harry closed the gap between them and kissed her gently. Ginny deepened the kiss as she leaned into his strong frame. He quickly unzipped her light jacket and snaked his arms around her waist while his lips danced towards the nape of her neck. Ginny moaned as she felt his hands move up her shirt.

"Harry, stop," she said. Harry immediately looked up with concern.

"Why, what happened?"

"Nothing, I just don't want things to get out of hand," Ginny said quietly. She wasn't ready and she knew it hurt him, she loved him more than anything but didn't want to take the next step. Part of her was afraid she'll regret it and the other part just wasn't ready. "Sorry," she whispered softly.

"No, no, Gin don't be sorry," he said, looking into her chocolate brown orbs. "Whenever you're ready," He kissed her forehead as they walked back into the castle.

Christmas was only two days away and was evident in almost every corner of the castle. The prefects really out did themselves this year with lavish decorations at every junction. Christmas carols could be heard throughout the castle, most students bore an unworried, relaxed expression while sauntering through the hallways excited about the holiday and the New Year. The library was nearly empty except for Hermione Granger who committed to her holiday homework a bit earlier than most students to say the least. She'd been vigoursly taking notes for Muggle Studies for the past hour and put her quill down and re-read her work while cracking her knuckles, a bad habit she couldn't get out of. She started packing her bag, this was enough for one day, and her mind reverted back to the masked man at the Ball. She knew it was impotent to be thinking about him which is partly the reason she kept herself busy throughout the day. She had to drop off a letter at the owlery addressed to her parents, she usually sent them a card but delivered the presents at a later point in time. She used to send them presents but a neighbor witnessed the owl dropping it off and complained to animal control about an owl dropping off a suspicious package. She walked through the hallways which were relatively empty, most of the student body was in Hogsmeade either enjoying their days off or buying last minute presents. Just as she turned the corner, she felt two strong arms cover her mouth and seize her hands, she panicked. Hermione's eyes scanned the hallway to see if anyone could save her but it was futile, her captor dragged her into an empty classroom and she spun around.

"Malfoy!," she growled, her body shaking with anger.

"Nice to see you to too, mudblood," he sneered.

"Let me out," she said making her way towards the door only to have his strong arms encircle her waist once more.

"Not so fast," he said. "Now, before I change my mind, shut up and listen to what I have to say,"

"Why should listen to anything you have to say, you self-centered prick," she spat.

"I love you too darling, but I don't have time for bickering" he said sarcastically. "I don't know why I'm confiding in you but I need your advice, I know something about you-know-who," he added silently. Hermione was startled at the seriousness in his tone, something that was completely foreign to her.

"What do you know?" she asked.

"I can't tell you but I need to tell Dumbledore,"

"Then why did you bring me here?" she questioned.

"Argh, don't you get it, I'm a Slytherin I can't just waltz up to Dumbledore and tell him everything I know, unlike you I have people to answer to and I can't betray my own" he said sternly.

"Your own?" Hermione questioned. "You're pathetic, telling Dumbledore is the right thing to do and you know it, you just can't get past that blasted ego of yours or maybe your scared." Draco was infuriated at her frankness, he wasn't sure why he was speaking to her about it but after seeing Pansy running after Scarhead he didn't know who to ask. He contemplated on whether he should tell her but decided against telling the Gryffindor anything.

"What did you find out?" she asked inquisitively, curiousity getting the better of her.

"Like I'll ever tell you," he snorted still lost in thought. Hermione didn't say anything, she wasn't hurt and was used to his impulsive, sharp comments. She was partly glad he was considering on telling Dumbledore, Maybe there's some good left in you Malfoy she thought. As she watched him thinking, she couldn't help notice a difference in his personality, he was hiding something. Her eyes noticed a familiar chain around his neck, she leaned it to get a closer look. Memories of the Ball came flooding into her head and she panicked. It was him, the mystery man. Her head started spinning as she heard her heartbeat racing. She finally looked up at him and was met with a puzzled expression.

"Granger, are you always this weird?" he asked.

"You," she managed. Draco immediately understood. "Why?"

"Don't go overboard Granger, unfortunately I didn't know it was you until after the ceremony," he explained. He took three strides and was a few inches away from her face. "Nevertheless, you were bloody gorgeous" he smirked as he watched her blush. "For a mudblood," Before she could protest, he seized her lips, oh god, he missed the taste of her lips it'd been so long, too long in his opinion. His hands quickly found that spot on her lower back which made her arch her back and moan in his mouth. His lips quickly traveled down her neck, savoring each and every inch of her delicate skin. Hermione's hands slithered into his robe and found their way onto his bare stomach, Draco hissed at the feel of her cold hands on his hot skin.

"Meet me in the Astronomy tower?" he asked while sucking on her ear lobe.

"When?" she asked, surprised at her response. Draco stopped and looked into her eyes, was this really Granger?

"Tomorrow night," he whispered as he nuzzled her neck.

"Draco?" Draco immediately released Hermione and pun around to find Pansy with tears streaming down her face.

YAY, another update, I'm fairly happy with this chapter. Hope Draco isnt to OOC in this!! and sorry for the cliffy ) but i couldnt resist. Ill try to update ONCE more before i leave but it'll probably just be a preview.

please read and review!! feel free to ask me any questions about the plot, im just figuring it out myself but things are starting to slowly fall into place..i hope... -.-;;;

bye! thank you soo much for the reviewers, soo encouraging!