Hermione watched Malfoy sleep on the couch as she started to collect her pile of finished snowflakes. She'd never seen him this way. He'd always been cocky, arrogant, and, yes, she'd admit it; sexy. But now, his clothes were wrinkled, his face was a bit paler than usual, and he had dark circles under his eyes. She wondered what was causing him sleepless night.
Maybe it's you, a voice in the back of her head said.
Hermione shook that away. No way would Draco Malfoy, the Slytherin Sex God, loose sleep over her.
Hermione summoned a stepping stool. She started taping up snowflakes, her mind wandering aimlessly as Christmas music played from the boombox.
Pansy said that he liked you, the voice said. Hermione almost groaned. Stupid voice. Wouldn't it just leave her alone so she could decorate while pretending Malfoy wasn't asleep across the room?
No the voice answered. Think about it. Pansy says he likes you and warns you away so he doesn't get hurt. Then, he shows up all tired and exhausted. He must have had trouble sleeping because of you.
Hermione shook her head. Boy, did she have an imagination on her. She taped up another snowflake and moved on to the next spot on the wall. Malfoy was attracted to only himself and loose girls with no brains. She felt sorry for some of them, but, for others, she didn't really care. They should have known better. She winced at how harsh that sounded, even to her. Maybe she was just testy because no boys ever noticed her like that. That was the price to pay for being her.
Admit it, the voice said. You want Draco to like you.
She paused and let out a frustrated breath. 'Yes. Alright,' she thought to the voice. 'I do want Draco to like me. He's the only guy that has ever given me some sort of attention that wasn't connected to homework. I like it. Will you shut up, now!' The voice was silent.
"Granger," Malfoy called from the other side of the room. "I'm trying to sleep. And I wasn't saying anything."
It was then that Hermione realized that she'd yelled out the last part. She looked over her shoulder and saw Malfoy's tired eyes watching her. "Sorry, Malfoy," she said. "Just thinking to myself."
He raised an eyebrow. "Sounded more like an argument," he said. He brought his arm up and tucked it under his head as a pillow. He shifted on the couch and said, "So, what's the dress code for the party? Pansy's been asking me non stop since Dumbledore asked me to help in front of her."
Hermione chuckled at the annoyed tone of his voice. She taped another snowflake up and said, "It's semi-formal. I think it would suck if everyone were dressed up in their Yule dress robes for such a simple occasion, wouldn't you?"
Malfoy raised his head and looked at her. "You just swore. For the second time."
"What do you mean, second time?" she said, going back to hanging snowflakes.
"You said 'damned' about three times on the stairway a few days ago. Now you're swearing again," he said. He smirked. "You've got a wild side, Granger. I like it. Reminds me of the strip tease."
She snorted. "That was because you wouldn't give back the parchment. Besides," she said with a small smile. "I got back at you, remember?"
"Yeah," he said. "I got stiff all over."
Hermione chocked on a laugh as her mind went into the gutter. She leaned against the wall as the full memory hit her, and, for some reason, she couldn't stop laughing. She tried to calm herself and her laughter turned to giggling. She reached for another snowflake, but lost her balance and fell back. She braced herself for the hard floor, but was caught by two powerful arms. She looked up and smiled at Malfoy. Actually smiled. "Thanks," she said.
He shrugged. "Be more careful next time," he said. "And why were you laughing so hard?"
Hermione stood up and giggled. "You got stiff all over," she said. "My mind went into the gutter for a moment."
Malfoy was quiet for a moment before his lips twitched. He grinned and chuckled. "And people call you prude," he said.
Her smile frowned and she looked away. "Yeah," she said, suddenly loosing her cheer.
Malfoy stared at her for a moment and picked up a snowflake. "Where do you want this hung?" he asked.
She looked up at him and saw him wiggle his eyebrows. Hermione laughed at how stupid it looked on him, and said, "Just on the walls. Any where's fine."
He taped it up above his head and moved down a bit. "How many of these things did you make?" he asked, looking at the huge pile on the floor.
"Enough to cover almost every inch of this wall," she said. He gave her a 'really? You were that bored?' look and she held her hands up in defense. "Hey, I had nothing else to do."
"You could have gone out to Hogsmead," Malfoy said, taping another one up. "Gone with some friends or something."
Hermione shrugged. "Not really," she said. "I don't have many friends."
From the corner of her eye, she saw Malfoy look over at her. He blinked, then shocked her by saying, "You want to be friends?"
She turned to him and said, "Are you sure you're alright, Malfoy?"
He gave a weak smile and said, "No. But, I'm tired enough to mean it. Want to be friends? Start over?"
Hermione raised a cautious eyebrow. "Why?" she asked.
Malfoy sighed and said, "Look, I'm just trying to do something nice." He looked at the snowflake in his hand and continued to tape it up. He smoothed his hands over it as he said, "Something's come up to make me rethink everything. I don't want to be the git anymore." He looked at her. "Give me another chance?"
Hermione stared. This was surreal. Malfoy had been tormenting Gryffindors for years and now he wanted to turn over a new leaf? She half expected this to be a joke, but the look in his eyes was real. He wanted to start over. Maybe he'd be a better person?
"You better hurry with an answer," he said. "I'm probably only going to be this tired for a while, so take the offer while I'm still offering."
She smirked at his smugness, but extended her hand. "I'm Hermione Granger," she said. "What's your name?"
He smiled, flashing his perfect white teeth. "I'm Draco Malfoy. Nice to meet you, Hermione."
They spent the rest of the day decorating the room. Hermione showed Draco how to make a paper snowflake and paper chains. He actually looked like he was having fun. After they'd decorated the room within an inch of its life, they headed down to the Great Hall for dinner.
Heads turned as they walked in, still chatting about what to serve for the party. Hermione paused at her usual seat, unsure if she should invite Draco to sit, as they still had a lot of planning to do. He fixed her dilemma by saying, "Come. You'll sit at the Slytherin table." Hermione looked over and saw Pansy, Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle watching them. "They won't bite," Draco said, putting a hand on the small of her back and steering her to the table.
They sat down and Hermione felt her heart beat faster. She may have made up with Draco, but that didn't mean she trusted the other Slytherin still here for the holidays. Pansy gave her a pointed look before turning to her salad and her Young Witch Weekly magazine. Blaise raised an eyebrow before ignoring he and turning his attention to Crabbe and Goyle. It sounded like they were thinking of presents to buy.
"Hey, Drake," Blaise said, looking at Draco. "What's the limit again?"
Draco made a face as if trying to remember, and turned to her. "What was the limit again, Hermione?" The Slytherins all looked at him strangely, except Pansy.
Hermione felt her cheeks burn with the attention. "Um...Five Galleons," she mumbled.
Blaise rolled his eyes. "What's there to purchase for five galleons?" he said.
"That's what I said," Draco said.
Hermione felt like she should say something. "Um...well..." she said. They looked back at her. "You could always get a...a gag gift."
Crabbe looked confused. "What's a gag gift?" he asked.
She met his eyes and felt a little better. Crabbe wasn't the most intimidating person to talk to. She relaxed and said, "You know, a joke or something. They're inexpensive and they're fun. I've seen tons of cool pranks in Weasley's Wizard Wheezes that only cost a few galleons."
His face lightened a bit. "You mean like that Canary Cremes?" he asked.
Hermione smiled and nodded. "Yeah," she said. "When Fred and George were testing them out, Harry got one by mistake. It was a prototype, so, instead of turning back to normal, he was stuck as a canary with glasses for three hours."
The Slytherins laughed. Pansy even chuckled at the image. Just like that, the tenseness from the table vanished and they started talking about other products the twins had thought of.
"Do you know what they're going to make next?" Blaise asked.
Hermione shrugged. "Fred said something about some sort of candy that makes the eater's eyes, hair, and nails turn different colors," she said.
Pansy looked up. "Really?" she said. "Do you know how that could help with those times when you have no idea how to do your hair and nails? It'll sell like caldrons."
Hermione smiled. "I'll tell him that he should go with it," she said.
"Do," Pansy said. "That's a big money maker." She looked at the magazine and spread it out in front of Hermione. "What do you think of this dress for the party?"
Hermione leaned forward and saw the dress. It was really short and really, really pink. She winced and said, "It's...very pink."
Pansy nodded. "I'm trying to see if there's any pink that I can wear. Apparently, nothing works with my skin tone."
Hermione looked at Pansy's face and said, "Maybe a hot pink dress? With a black sash around the middle. Sun dress style might be good for you. If that doesn't work, maybe a shawl?"
Pansy flipped through the magazine and pointed to another dress. "This?" she asked.
"Yeah," Hermione said. "And you could curl your hair. It'd look really pretty."
Pansy gave a small smile. "You know, I never pegged you as a fashion person," she said.
Hermione blushed as the other Slytherins looked at her. "I never had much chance to do it," she said. "Quidditch practice and stuff."
Pansy smiled, as if she had a great idea, and leaned forwards some more. "You know, what? Tomorrow, we're going into town. We're going to buy our new dresses and we'll have some girl time, okay?" She gave a wink. "I could use another person to go over clothes. Blaise and Draco suck at it."
Hermione blinked and smiled. "Sure," she said. "I'd like that."
It was unbelievable. In one day, she'd befriended Draco Malfoy, gotten the approval of the other Slytherins there, and had found a semi-friend in Pansy Parkinson, a girl she'd never thought could ever be a friend before. It was like something from the Twilight Zone, but, instead of being creepy...it was nice. It felt like she had more friends.
Draco watched Hermione talk accessories with Pansy. At least she'd saved him from that fate. He couldn't care less which earrings looked 'darling' with what purse. But, as the two girls flipped through the magazine, Draco could see Hermione come out of her shell and get into the conversation. He was surprised how knowledgeable she was about clothes.
His plan had worked perfectly so far. Hermione had gravitated to his wounded and tired play almost immediately. She totally bought the 'turn over a new leaf' Draco; and it kind of helped that he'd used Legimency and made put her thoughts in her head about if she liked him or not. But, if he had to admit it, he liked having her as a 'friend' and calling her Hermione. It rolled off his tongue nicely. She'd even gotten on Blaise's good side. That was a feat in itself. This plan was the best he'd ever come up with. But, why, a voice said in his head. Do you suddenly feel like you really do want her to be your friend?
AN: hey, what do you think? Cool, huh? Well, hope you liked it. Oh, if you got confused: The conversation between Hermione and the little voice in her head? The voice was Draco. He put those thoughts there. Snakey, I mean, Sneaky man, huh?