Disclaimer ~ All characters are the property of J K Rowling.
A.N.~ Well here is the next chapter. It definitely wrote itself. I do apologize for the lateness of it. I am in the process of moving into a new home and we are at the packing stage. I hope you like it and link to Hermione's outfit along with all of her other outfits is on my profile page. Enjoy!
"So what do you think? Draco? Draco?" Astoria stopped and looked up at her friend who looked down at her as if he had just remembered she was there.
"Oh... um yes of course. Good thinking." Astoria stared at him for a second knowing he hadn't the faintest idea to what she had said, so instead of calling him out on it she decided to have a little fun. She placed an excited smile on her face and bounced in place, clapping her hands together.
"Oh really Draco! I thought for sure that you would disapprove, I mean naming our first born child after Harry Potter didn't seem like..." Draco stopped suddenly, and turned on his friend in shock.
"What! What in the bloody hell are you talking about woman?" Astoria burst into laughter.
"I see I have your attention again. Where they hell did you go Draco? I've been talking about the possibility of having some kind of Valentine's Day event and you have been completely ignoring me." Draco stared down at the girl and sighed. Its true that he hadn't heard a word she had said, but that was only because he was on the verge of killing a certain ex-best friend of his. As if the confrontation he and Blaise had the night before wasn't enough he now had to worry about the fact that the arse seemed to be putting the moves on his Hermione. Yours Draco. Really. She can barely stand to be in the same room as you now and you think you have some kind of claim on her. Get. Over. It. His mind yelled at him trying to make him see the facts in this situation. After he had woken this morning he headed to Hermione's room in hopes of being able to explain everything that had happened, however he had found her bedroom door open and her gone. After searching the rest of the dorm room he figured that she must have gone down to breakfast, so he had headed down to the Great Hall to see if she would talk to him. When he walked into the Great Hall he had seen that he had been right, however he hadn't expected to see her sitting at the end of the nearly empty Hufflepuff table with none other then Blaise. He was about to walk over to ask him what part of stay out of it he didn't understand when he saw Blaise reach over and place his hand over hers. He stopped and quickly turned around and headed back out of the room, his heart feeling as if someone was squeezing it tightly. At first he didn't know what about the scene made him so upset until Astoria had grabbed his arm, startling him. She didn't flinch at his touch, he thought and that had been all he had been able to think about as he walked Astoria out to the carriages. When they reached them Astoria placed a hand on his arm, stopping him from going any further. "Whats wrong Draco? You know you can tell me." He shook his head and shrugged.
"Its nothing Tori. Just got a lot on my mind. First holiday away from home and all. You know, missing mother and such." Astoria smiled gently up at him.
"I see. Are you sure its that and not something to do with a certain beautiful room mate of yours." Astoria giggle as she saw the usual Malfoy mask slip from Draco's face and he turned slightly red. "Come now, I'm not stupid. I have seen the little glances you two throw at each other when you think no one else is looking. I saw the fear in your eyes when she entered the common room a few days ago. You know, when you threw me to the ground like one of your sweaty quidditch robes." Draco gave her a small smile as he pushed his hair back off his face.
"Yea. Sorry about that." Astoria shook her head.
"Don't worry about it no harm done." She paused for a second before retracting her statement with a sly smirk on her face. "Actually, I take that back, however a decent amount of pink coconut ice could help me get over the trauma." Draco rolled his eyes at her. It was hard to believe that someone as thin as Astoria could have such a sweet tooth. He had once watched her devour a whole case of pink coconut ice all to herself and then complain when it was gone that it hadn't been enough. He was about to say something when they were interrupted by the very person who he was angry with.
"Good morning Draco, Astoria. Where is that lovely sister of yours?" Draco scoffed, causing both Astoria and Blaise to give him a strange look.
"She should be here any second. Will you be sharing a carriage with us?" She asked. Blaise nodded and glanced at Draco, noticing the fact that he was still pissed at him.
"Astoria, dear would you mind giving Drake and I a moment please."
"Of course. I should find Daphne, anyways. I swear that girl is going be be late for her own funeral someday." She then walked off leaving Blaise and Draco staring each other down.
"What do you want Blaise?" Draco said crossing his arms in front of him and glaring at him.
"Calm down now, mate. I just wanted you to know that I spoke to Hermione and..."
"Yes I saw the two of you in the Great Hall. You looked quite cozy, holding hands and all." He sneered, letting his anger with his friend be known. Blaise looked at him with a bewildered look on his face.
"Holding hands? Me and Granger? Have you been hitting the firewhiskey again?"
This made him even angrier.
"I saw you Blaise so..." Blaise held up his hand.
"Yes you saw me place my hand on top of Granger's and just like when she saw Astoria in your lap, you have jumped to unnecessary assumptions! I swear you two are more made for each other then you think." He threw his hands up in frustration. "Now I know that you didn't want me to talk to her but I had to Drake. You are my best friend and even though you can be a right git at times, I still would do anything to see you happy and lets face it mate, up until recently you haven't been allowed to be happy. Your father has made you miserable your entire life, except for the few rare times that you were allowed to spend time alone with your mother. You deserve happiness Drake and you finally were, or at least on the way to happiness and I refuse to be the person who takes that away from you. She knows everything that happened and she feels horrible about how she treated you, but now you need to go to her and tell her how you feel so that this shit can end on a positive note." Draco stood there as Blaise finished his rant, not really knowing how to react, or what to say so he just stood there dumbfounded.
"Is everything alright?" Draco looked over to see Daphne and Astoria standing there staring at the two of them. "Because if so then we must be going, the rest of the carriages have started to leave." Daphne said before walking over and opening the carriage door. Blaise smiled at her.
"Yes Daph everything is just great. I was just telling our dear Draco that I hope he has a wonderful holiday." Daphne smiled over at Draco.
"Oh yes Draco, have a happy holiday." He smiled back at her.
"I will ladies and I wish the same for you. All of you." He said looking pointedly at Blaise who took it as the apology it was meant to be. "Now then off with you, don't want to miss the train after all." Draco watched as Blaise helped the girls into the carriage before climbing in himself. Before he shut the door he looked up at Draco and gave him a sly smile.
"Go to her mate, you won't regret it." With those final words he shut the carriage door and watched as Draco walked quickly back towards the castle.
Hermione headed to the common room, part of her hoping to find Draco, the other part praying that he wasn't there. She took a deep breath as the portrait opened to their dorm, and hoped that her nervousness didn't show. She walked in to find the common room vacant so she called out to him, waiting for a response. After not getting one she walked up to check the bathroom and his bedroom only to find them both empty too. She walked back into the common room and slumped down on the sofa, letting out the breath that didn't even know she was holding. "Okay Hermione. As disappointing as him not being here is, at least now you can think of what you are actually going to say to him when he does arrive." She said out loud to herself. Talking out loud to herself was a normal thing for her even though she usually only did it when she was in her own room at home. She had come to realize that she was usually able to figure out her problems that way.
If he even wants to talk to you.
"Of course he will want to talk to me. If he has feelings for me like Blaise said then something like this won't keep him from wanting to communicate with me."
True. If what Blaise said is actually true that is. Who is to say that he wasn't lying to you. That he wasn't just trying to get you to make a fool of yourself in front of Draco. Hermione shook her head trying to rid herself of the thought.
"No. Blaise wouldn't lie about something like that. I mean after all it would not only humiliate me but it would also humiliate his best friend and he wouldn't do that to him. Blaise seemed very sincere in everything he said to me today and in the few weeks that we have gotten to know one another." She stood up and started to pace the room, talking out loud as she went along. "Face it. You were a complete fool and it would serve you right if he never spoke to you again. I mean you just automatically went to the worst possible scenario where he was concerned, didn't even give him a chance to defend himself. How can you expect him to listen to you when you didn't listen to him. Then of course there is the whole issue with my own feelings for Draco." She said throwing her hands up in despair. There were so many things to factor in when thinking about what she felt for Draco. First there was the fact that she had been brutally raped and the fact that she was even thinking about possibly having romantic feelings for someone just felt wrong. Sure she knew that having these feelings did not mean that she wanted to jump into bed with him. Actually just the thought of that caused her flinch, remembering the pain that she had been caused. Even if she could get beyond the rape there was also the fact that Draco and herself had six long years of bad blood between them, or in her case mudblood. For six years her blood status had caused Draco to be nothing but a horrific, bully to her, calling her names, sneering at her, and making her feel worthless. How does someone move on from that and end up in the arms of the person who caused it all. In all honesty they had only been friendly for about two months and only because of what happened to her. Could she really trust feelings that were formed because of a one horrible event? Could she open her heart to someone who wasn't even sure if he had a heart himself? "Grrr! This shouldn't be so difficult! There must be something wrong with me."
"I would have to agree considering the fact that you are talking to yourself." Hermione jumped as she heard the voice speak. She was so into her own head that she hadn't heard the portrait open or Draco walk in.
"Draco! H..how long have you been there?" He walked towards her and smirked as he sat down.
"Long enough." He looked up at her and motioned for her to sit with him. "We need to talk." Hermione stepped forward and sat down, a little worried about what Draco was about to say.
"Um okay. I wanted to talk to you also. I feel there are somethings that we need to straighten out, most of which are my fault."
"Ladies first then." He said leaning back and looked at her intensely, waiting to hear what she had to say. He watched as she stared down at her hands that were perched on her lap and played with her fingers. She took a deep breath as if trying to calm herself and then she looked up at him.
"Well first of all, I feel the need to apologize. It was wrong of me to accuse you of betraying me but even more it was wrong of me not to allow you to defend yourself. Also I'm sorry for any wrong assumptions that I may have made where you are concerned. I know that I have been difficult, but I am hoping that maybe we can continue to build our friendship, if you want to that is."
"First of all Hermione, you haven't been difficult." She raised an eyebrow at him, causing him to smirk. "Okay maybe a little difficult, but its completely understandable considering everything you've been through." He stopped for a second, trying to get his next words straight before continuing. "I should also apologize. Even though I didn't tell Blaise I did know that he figured it out and I should have told you." Hermione shook her head.
"You have nothing to apologize for Draco."
"Yes I do. More then you know actually. I know that it isn't much but I'm sorry for everything I have ever done or said to hurt you in the past. I could sit here and blame my father and my upbringing for it all but I'm afraid I can't." Hermione gave him a strange look causing him to explain. "Now do not get me wrong, the whole blood purity thing really was all because of him, however my dislike for you was more then that, or maybe I should say it was more jealousy then anything."
"What in the world could you possibly be jealous of where I was concerned?" She asked curiously.
"You are a muggle. Up until you got your Hogwarts letter you knew nothing of this world, you hadn't been prepared for any of it. I on the other hand had been taught from the moment I could lift a wand on my own. I knew when entering Hogwarts that I was well ahead of everyone else, and that no other witch or wizard my age had even a quarter of the knowledge that I did. Needless to say it was quite a shock when you, a muggle-born, would continuously beat me in all of our classes. I felt that if I couldn't beat you in the classroom then I would do whatever it took to beat you in other ways and if that meant bringing you down mentally then so be it."
"So that is why you acted the way you did all these years, because you were jealous of the fact that I was just as good as you."
"No, you were better then me and it didn't make sense. I grew up believing that muggle-borns were lower then low. That they had absolutely no place in our world and that there was no way that they could ever be equal to us pure-blooded wizards. Then you come along and disprove everything that I was ever taught. It made me rethink things, made me doubt my father which I learned the hard way, is not something you ever want to do." He said remembering the brutal beating he had received after questioning his father about Hermione's skills as a witch.
"I see. What about now though?" She asked shyly.
"Now? Well I must admit that my feelings towards you had not really changed when we first saw each other on the train at the beginning of the year. I mean after all you did hex me the moment you saw me, even though I actually expected that to happen. I guess my feelings changed after I found you that night." He watched as Hermione's face dropped and she looked back to her hands. "I had never seen you look so unsure, so out of control, so scared. For the first time in seven years you looked like a normal person to me. You weren't the great Hermione Granger, the brains behind The Golden Trio, the brightest witch to walk the halls of Hogwarts since Ravenclaw herself. For once you were just an average girl in need of help."
"So thats it then. You only like me now because you felt sorry for me." She asked, her eyes tearing up as she said it. I knew it. He doesn't have any real feelings for me. Why did I ever listen to Blaise. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Draco shook his head quickly.
"What? No! I mean, I just saw you differently then. It helped me see who you really are, beyond the walls that you built up around you." He stopped for a second trying to find the right words. "Look Granger. I like you okay. I'm not really sure what my feelings for you are, but I know that I feel something for you. Something more then just friendship." He ran his hands through his hair. "I'm sorry." Hermione looked up at him confused.
"What are you sorry for now?" He got up and started pacing flailing his arms about in frustration.
"Because I am selfish. Because you are in no way ready for a relationship with someone, let alone me. Hell! I should be the last person that you should want to have feelings for, if you even feel the same." He stopped pacing and turned to her quickly. "Do you? Have feelings for me, that is. Any at all?" Hermione could see the panic in Draco's eyes as he said this. He had just put everything he was feeling out there for her to see and now he was panicking that it was all too much, too soon. Hermione stood up and held her hand out to him bringing him back over to sit next to her. She liked the feeling of his hand in hers, it was quite soft considering the visible callouses left from clutching his broom during quidditch.
"For the past seven years you have been nothing but an evil, little, stuck up prat. You basically made my life miserable," she paused, "but I would be lying if I told you that I hadn't grown fond of you these past few months. You've shown me a completely different side of Draco Malfoy, and to be honest, it scares me."
"Why?" He asked.
"Because I really like this side of you Draco. I really like it a lot, and even with everything that has happened to me, I feel like we could be something to one another. At the same time though I wonder if all of these feelings I'm having for you are real and not just a reaction to your help after my attack."
"I've always been a selfish person Hermione, I mean its how I was raised. I've always been the villain, never the hero, so when you trusted me enough to confide in, well it changed everything. I'll tell you what I told Blaise. It was nice to be needed for something other then my family's name and money. You trusted me. For once I was the hero and it felt good to know that I could help you. Still does." Hermione smiled at his sincere words. "I've never really had feelings like these for anyone before and if we're being honest here, I have to say that it scares the bloody hell out of me."
"So what do we do?" Hermione asked, her heart beating a little faster due to his words. Draco leaned forward and gently took her hand into his and stared into her eyes.
"We take it one day at a time. We have the whole holiday break together, so we can spend time together, get to know each other. Maybe even go on a date or two." Hermione's eyes widened at this.
"Really? You want to take me out on a date?"
"Yes, I do. You said that you think we could be something to one another, and I agree, but I also know that this could turn out to be very difficult for you after everything thats happened. I want you to know that if you want to persue this then we will go at your pace. I would never ever push you to do anything that you didn't want to do." Hermione smiled up at him, her eyes shining with unshed tears.
"I can't promise anything but I really would like to try and persue this relationship Draco."
"In that case I was wondering what your plans for Christmas dinner were." She looked at him oddly.
"I was just going to eat in the Great Hall like everyone else. Why?"
"Well as you know my mother is spending the holiday with my Aunt Andromeda and her family. I have been invited to join them that evening for the Christmas feast and I have been informed that I can bring a guest. Are you up for it?"
"You want me to join you and your family for Christmas?" She said softly, quite surprised at the invitation. When she thought of first dates she thought of watching muggle movies together in the common room on a transfigured television set, a picnic by the lake, hell, even Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop sounded like good first date material. Christmas with his family though, not so much. If she said yes then it would mean she would be meeting his mother, the one woman in the world who meant everything to him. Draco watched as Hermione held a silent debate in her head. He could literally see her inner struggle, so he decided to calm her a bit.
"I thought you might enjoy it. My cousin Nymphadora is going to be there along with Professor Lupin. I know that they are both very fond of you and would love for you to join us." Hermione look a little happier at this news and slowly nodded her head.
"Alright then. I would be happy to accompany you to your Christmas feast, Draco." Draco's face lit up with a brilliant smile causing her to smile as well.
"Wonderful, I will owl mother tomorrow and get all the details concerning dress and such."
"Dress?"
"Well we Malfoy's always dress up for events like these, or I should say we did. I'm just not sure if Aunt Andromeda is expecting the same. If so I will have to have mother send me something from Madam Malkin's." He looked thoughtful for a moment. Hermione felt a slight tug of worry. She hadn't expected to go anywhere special so she hadn't packed anything pretty to wear. "Hermione?" She looked up at him.
"Sorry. What did you say?"
"Its lunch time. Shall we go?" He held his arm out to her, which she took before letting him lead her out of the dorm and off to lunch.
The days went by and Draco and Hermione continued to learn more and more about each other. Draco owled his mother to inform her that Hermione would definitely be attending and was waiting for her response. The two were relaxing in their common room, reading when Draco's eagle owl tapped at the window. Draco let it in, took the rolled up parchment off its leg, gave it a treat and watched it fly off. He opened the parchment to read his mother's response.
My Darling Draco,
We were so happy to hear that Miss Granger will also be joining us
for Christmas. I have already floo'ed Albus and gotten both you and Miss Granger permission to leave school by floo on December 25th at 5:00.
Instead of just a dinner, Andromeda has decided to have a small Christmas dinner party and has invited a few extra people to join us, including the
Weasley family, Harry Potter, and a few others. She has requested semi
formal wear, slacks and button downs for the men and dresses or skirt
and blouse for the women. If you need anything please do not hesitate to
contact me. I love you my son, stay well and safe.
Love,
Mother
"It seems that my aunt has decided to have a dinner party and has invited Potter and the Weasley family." Hermione looked up from her book.
"Thats wonderful! I've been feeling a little bad about not spending the holiday with the Weasley's this year and now I'll have the chance to." She took the letter that Draco handed her and quickly skimmed the contents. Draco watched as she did and noticed her face drop slightly.
"Is anything wrong?" She looked up from the letter and gave him a small smile.
"No not really." She handed him back the letter before walking back over to her book. Draco followed and reached out to grab her hand. She turned to look back at him.
"Hermione." He said raising an eyebrow at her. She sighed and then shrugged.
"Its really nothing Draco. I was just hoping the dinner would be casual since I really don't have anything appropriate to wear." She paused for a moment. "I guess I could wear the skirt and top that I wore our first day back."
"Or you can tell me your dress and shoe size and I can owl Madam Malkin's and have her pick something out for you and send it here. After all she knows what you look like and she has helped you choose things in the past." Hermione shook her head.
"I don't have the money to waste on a new dress and shoes Draco. I'll just owl Ginny and see if she has anything I can borrow." He watched as she stood up and headed to her room to write Ginny. Well that won't do, he thought smirking to himself as he was hit with an idea.
Hermione woke up Christmas morning with a huge smile on her face. The past few days with Draco had been amazing. They spent almost all of their time together, learning everything they could about one another. They played in the snow with some of the other students who had stayed behind having snowball fights and she had taught Draco how to make a snow angel. The two had spent Christmas Eve decorating the common room with lights, garland, and even a fully decorated tree. They spent the evening eating homemade Christmas cookies, drinking steaming cups of hot chocolate, and talking about the little holiday traditions that their families had. By the time they had retired to their rooms for the night Hermione was the happiest she had been since she first boarded the Hogwarts Express earlier that year. Her nightmares were gone and she hadn't thought about her attack at all.
Hermione jumped out of bed, slipped on her robe and slippers and headed down to the common room. The first thing she noticed when she reached the bottom step was that under the tree was filled with presents of all shapes, sizes, and colored paper. The second thing was that Draco was also up and placing two plates heaping with food on the table.
"Happy Christmas Hermione" He said as he walked over and placed a light kiss on her cheek. "I've got breakfast for us. Figured we could eat and then open some presents." He had started to walk back over to the table dragging a shocked Hermione behind him. He kissed me! It was just on the cheek, but ... he kissed me! Hermione felt all giddy inside as she sat down in the chair that Draco had pulled out for her.
"Thank you Draco. Happy Christmas to you also. This looks wonderful." She said looking down at the eggs, sausage, grilled tomatoes, fried mushrooms, toast, and tea. They ate quietly, every now and then one of them making a comment about something random. When they were done they sat together and took turns opening their presents. Draco had received a brand new set of quidditch robes from his mother, a new broom from Snape, the newest edition of Quidditch Through the Ages. from Blaise, a bag of sweets from Astoria and Daphne, a set of personalized quills from Pansy, and a bottle of firewhiskey from Nott. Hermione received a new winter coat, gloves, and hat from her parents, a beautiful jewelry box from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, a set of moonstone jewelry from Ginny, a bottle of her favorite perfume from Harry and Ron, a large bag of sweets from the rest of the Weasley men, and a first edition copy of Hogwarts, A History from Blaise. They had both decided to open each other's gift last, so after they had opened up everything else they exchanged gifts. Hermione watched as Draco opened his first.
"Holy mother of Merlin!" He exclaimed staring at the autographed snitch. "I saw these when we all went to Hogsmeade to shop that day. I was pretty pissed when I found out that someone had already purchased Lynch's autograph. Thank you, but I must ask. How did you know whose autograph to get?" Hermione nervously pushed a piece of hair back.
"Um ... Ginny actually. She said you guys had a debate over which quidditch players were the best." Draco nodded as he remembered that day.
"Well thank you again. Now its your turn." Hermione looked down at the shiny purple and silver package that was in front of her. She slowly unwrapped it and found that inside the flat rectangular box were three more boxes. Hermione pulled out the smallest of the three boxes, opened it, and gasped. Inside she found a pair of flower shaped earrings. They were sterling silver with black petals, and the center of them were encrusted with diamonds. Hermione looked up at him wide eyed and started to explain to him that she couldn't accept such an extravagant gift, but he held up his hand and motioned for her to continue opening the other two gifts. Taking a deep breath she opened the next two boxes, finding a sterling silver and onyx bracelet in one and a four strand beaded onyx choker.
"So? Do you like them?" He asked her. She looked up at him and nodded unable to speak. "Oh good. I will have to send Madam Mirabelle my thanks." His words shook her out of her stupor.
"Who is Madam Mirabelle?"
"She owns a small boutique that my mother always visits when we are on holiday in France. She only carries the finest in clothing and jewelry, and she has a knack for knowing exactly what the customer wants." Hermione's face dropped.
"Draco, they are beautiful, they really are, but ..." Draco cut her off, knowing what she was about to say.
"But nothing. They are my gift to you and you are going to accept that whether you want to or not. Besides. I knew you would need some accessories to wear to tonights dinner party." Hermione's head shot up as he said this.
"Oh no! Ginny never sent me anything to wear. She said she would but she must have forgotten." She could feel her eyes filling with tears. Normally something like this wouldn't have bothered her, after all she wasn't that kind of girl, the ones who insisted upon having beautiful dresses and such. However Draco had gone out of his way to get her these lovely pieces of jewelry and she had nothing to wear them with.
"Maybe this will help." She looked up to see Draco pulling two large packages out from a spot behind the tree that she had not noticed. She gave him a questioning look, causing him to hold his hands up in surrender. "I'm sure Ginny had plenty of appropriate things for you to borrow but you deserve something of your own, not to mention I remember what she wore to the Yule Ball fourth year and well ..." His face scrunched up in disgust. "Lets just say her style doesn't suit you." Hermione shook her head, but took the boxes anyway. She opened them both and almost cried. Inside was one of the most beautiful dresses she had ever seen. It was a gray, crinkle silk crepe de chine dress with black floral lace applique under the bust, across the straps and the front of the dress. It was absolutely stunning. Hermione opened the other box and pulled out an equally stunning pair of black satin, t-strap, four inch heels. She didn't know what to say, the dress, shoes, and jewelry were all so wonderful. She couldn't have done a better job picking it all out herself, which brought a thought to her.
"This is all so wonderful Draco. I really love it all but I have to ask. How did you do this? I mean, these are the right sizes and everything." Draco chuckled.
"It really wasn't that difficult. At first I thought about just sneaking into your room and going through your things," He watched as her face dropped in a mixture of horror and anger, "but I decided that I didn't want to get hexed so I went with a better idea and owled the girl Weasley. I told her to ignore your owl and send your sizes to Madam Mirabelle along with a picture of you. As I told you before, Madam Mirabelle, just knows what will look perfect on someone. She chose all of this and sent it here yesterday." He paused and looked at her, his signature smirk forming. "So as you can see, I went through a lot of trouble to get you these gifts, so you have to accept them." Hermione giggled at his attempt to get her not to argue. They were lovely gifts and she didn't have anything else to wear that evening.
"Fine Draco. I will accept these gifts and not argue about how completely extravagant I find them or that they really are too much." She let out a laugh as she watched him roll his eyes at her.
"Ha, ha very funny." He said as he started to collect all of his presents into one large pile. "Lets put this stuff away and then see what everyone else is doing." Hermione nodded in agreement and levitated her stuff up to her room.
The two spent most of the day outside keeping an eye on the other students and throwing snow at one another. After a quick lunch in the Great Hall, they headed back upstairs to start getting ready. Hermione walked into the bathroom and started to fill the tub with steaming water, and honey scented foam and bubbles. After she had washed, shampooed, conditioned, and shaved she leaned back and let the hot water relax her. She really was looking forward to the party, happy to be able to see her friends and second family. Most of all she was looking forward to being Draco's date for the evening, though she was a little worried of how Harry and Ron would react. No matter what though she refused to let anything spoil this evening for her.
"Granger? You alright in there?" She heard Draco say. She looked over and saw that she had been in there for well over an hour. No wonder hes worried, she thought.
"Yes I'm fine. Just lost track of the time. I'll be out in a second." She climbed out of the tub, pulling the lever to empty it. She wrapped one of the large, fluffy, red towels around her and went into her room calling out to Draco, informing him that she was out. She shut her door and walked over to her bed and sat down. She dried every inch of her skin before taking a bottle of her favorite sweet pea body lotion and rubbing it all over her. She put her robe on and went over to sit at her vanity and do her make up and hair. While she decided to go simple with her make up, just a touch of mascara, black eye liner, and a shimmery lip gloss, she wanted to do something fancy with her hair. Taking the bottom of the dress into consideration she decided to wear her hair the same way she did for the Yule Ball, pinning it up on the side and letting it tumble down in soft curls. After that was all taken care of she slipped on her under garments, dress, shoes, and jewelry, waiting until she was finished to look at herself in the mirror. She was quite pleased with what she saw and so wasn't her reflection that kept telling her she looked stunning. She looked towards the door when she heard a small knock.
"Its time to head to Dumbledore's office Hermione." She heard Draco say from the other side.
"Coming!" She said back. She quickly dabbed a little perfume on herself, and grabbed the black shawl that had been in the box hidden under the dress, placing it over her arms. She grabbed her wand and slid it into her clutch and then headed out the door.
Draco sat in the common room waiting patiently for Hermione. He fiddled with his tie nervously. This was a big night for him and he didn't just mean the fact that he was about to spend Christmas with the aunt he barely knew and a group of people that pretty much hated him. No, none of that compared to the fact that tonight was Hermione and his first date. The past few days had been perfect. They had gotten to know one another, from their favorite colors to their greatest fears, and learning about her only increased his admiration for the young girl. She had already lived through so much, and handled it better then anyone could ever have been expected to. He just hoped that everything would go well tonight and that this would be the start of something great. He heard her coming down the stairs so he stood up, turning to greet her. The words however got stuck in his throat as he saw her. He slowly took her in, scanning her from her feet up to her head. He knew he was probably making her uncomfortable but he couldn't help it, she was gorgeous.
"Draco? Draco? Are you okay?" Her words shook him out of his daze. He looked into her eyes and smiled.
"You look absolutely stunning Mione. Absolutely gorgeous!" He watched as her face turned pink with her blush and she shyly looked down at the floor.
"Thank you Draco." She said timidly. Draco placed his finger under her chin and lifted it so that she was looking into his eyes.
"Don't be embarrassed. You are a beautiful woman, inside and out and you should be told so every day." Her smile brightened even more. "Now then. I believe we have somewhere to be. Shall we?" He said giving her his arm, which she took graciously.
"Lets." She said and they headed off to floo to the party.
So did you like it. Next up is the party.