Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Harry Potter, except those that clearly aren't from J.K. Rowling's stories. And since I expect anyone reading this by now to be a complete HP aficionado, I'm sure you'll know which ones they are.

Chapter 11 — Hogsmeade

Today is Christmas!

The delight of that waking thought made Hermione sit straight up. In doing so, she knocked several presents to the floor that had been placed preciously at the foot of her bed.

I've asked Dobby not to do that, she rebuked, smiling as she stooped to pick them up. She deposited them on her covers and then sat cross-legged in her bed, surveying her small horde.

Of course, there would be nothing from her parents, Hermione thought sadly. She had modified their memories so that they didn't even know they had a daughter right now. Hopefully the day would come when she could take off the charm, but for now it was the only protection she could offer them.

There was, however, something from Mrs. Weasley. She opened the parcel to reveal a lovely pink cardigan. Hermione had never told Ron or Harry — mostly because she knew that some part of them always forgot she was a girl and would be shocked at her sense of taste — but she really did like the color pink. Swiftly she pulled off her nightshirt and donned the cardigan. It was deliciously soft. She must remember to thank Mrs. Weasley.

The next gift was from Ginny. She opened the box to discover a diary and a quill. There was a note inside.

Dear Hermione,

Merry Christmas! I wish you could have come stayed with us at the Burrow, although I understand why you want to avoid a certain red-haired git (he's my brother, so I'm allowed to say it, even if you won't), but even so, I miss my best friend!

Have you heard from Harry? I wonder if he even knows it's Christmas — but then, he's probably too busy trying to save the world to care (no Hermione, I am NOT crying). It's raining, that's all. Yes, in my room.

Anyway, I hope you like your gift. It's a Validity Diary. I know you like to keep your feelings inside you, but lately you've seemed troubled. This will help you work things out. Write about whatever's bothering you in here — the quill will read down to the deepest levels of your heart and mind and will write out what you truly think. I've found it an excellent way to work through my problems — sometimes it shows me things that I haven't even realized I've been feeling!

I've got to run. Fred's just set the tree on fire. Hope you have a good holiday. Go out and have some fun!

Love,

Ginny

Hermione smiled at the last sentence and put the note down, picking up the diary. She doubted that she would ever write in it — committing her deepest thoughts to someone else, even to a piece of paper, made her nervous. Still, it was a beautiful book, richly bound in black velvet with gold and scarlet embroidery across the front: Property of Hermione Granger. She cracked open the creamy pages and a small piece of paper fell out.

P.S. I knew you'd worry, but Validity Diaries are unique in that the first person to lay hands on one is its "Secret Keeper," so to speak. You're the first person to actually touch this, so now no one can read it without your say-so. Not even Lavender Brown.

If that was true (and Hermione had never known Ginny to lie), the complexity of the magic that had gone into the book astonished her. She had no idea how Ginny had managed to afford it. Reverently, Hermione set the diary aside.

Green and blue wrappings encased a small box from Luna that when opened, revealed a pair of turnip earrings. The Weasley twins had sent Hermione a Patented Daydream Charm ("I told you I'd give you one," Fred wrote) and her final present came from Neville — a book on Practical Potions with the note: Thanks for all your help!

There was nothing from Ron.

Keeping her thoughts carefully neutral on that subject, Hermione stowed away her new gifts and got dressed, choosing a black pleated skirt that complemented her new sweater perfectly.

Feeling determinedly cheerful, she skipped down to breakfast, humming a little under her breath.

"You look chipper this morning," Draco remarked as she sat down beside him.

"Well, it's Christmas," she said. "Isn't that reason enough?"

"Is it really?" he asked curiously. Only now did he seem to take in the holly wreaths and the large trees decorating the hall.

Hermione sputtered into her milk. "Wha — you mean you didn't know? Didn't you get any presents?"

"No," Draco replied without an ounce of self-pity. "Should I have?"

"I suppose not," Hermione said. She felt horrible. Not knowing that it was Christmas! I should have gotten him something, she realized. He's been trying so hard to be good — I don't think he knows I've noticed how many times he's bitten off something harsh he was going to say. And he hasn't called me Mudblood once.

"I was planning to go down to Hogsmeade today," Draco remarked casually. "Would you like to come?"

"Why not?" Hermione replied. Perfect! she thought. I can pick him up something while I'm there — no, I can't. He'd think I was giving it to him out of pity and he'd be right. Ugh!

-:-+-:-+-:-+-:-

The wind was blowing lightly as they stepped outside, sending small flurries of snow dancing across their feet. Since this wasn't an official Hogsmeade trip, they were going to have to walk the two miles into Hogsmeade village.

The journey passed quickly for Hermione and Draco, absorbed as they were in an amicable discussion about the magical properties of evergreens. Behind them, a black ball of fur leapt lightly from one footprint to another, disappearing in the drifts each time it landed.

Hogsmeade village at Christmas time looked simply magical. The triangular cottages and shops were iced with snow, appearing for all the world like giant gingerbread houses. Many sported huge holly wreaths or sheaves of mistletoe, and one even had fireflies enchanted to its treading that blinked on and off in unison.

"Is there anywhere in particular you would like to go?" Draco asked.

"Well, I do need some new quills and maybe some Secrecy Ink. I was thinking about translating our Horcrux notes so that no one else can read them…."

Draco let out an exasperated sigh and grabbed Hermione by the elbow, steering her down the street. "Just for today, can you please forget about that? Believe me, no one wants to hunt those things down more than I do, but for once I would like a day that Voldemort can't touch. Okay?"

"Okay," Hermione said as Draco pushed open the door to Honeydukes Sweet Shop.

A mélange of delicious smells assailed them as soon as they stepped inside.

"Watch out!" a young witch cried as her son grabbed at a bin of Exploding Bon-Bons.

Hermione laughed. She couldn't help it. One just couldn't be worried in Honeydukes.

"Ooh, I love these," Draco said, popping a Pepper Imp in his mouth. Immediately a two-foot tongue of fire shot out of his mouth.

"Impressive," Hermione said stoically as Draco proceeded to sample several varieties in order to see which one would produce the bigger flame.

"See, I'm a dragon," he said, breathing a small flicker in her direction. "Draco, dragon; oh, never mind."

He gave a Pepper Imp to Harry, who tried to chew it, but found it difficult for his small feline teeth to work the smooth chocolate. The cat gave a small hiccup and tumbled backwards as a tongue of fire longer than he was came shooting out of his mouth. He sat there looking positively stunned as Draco and Hermione laughed.

Hermione immediately felt bad for laughing at her friend, even if he did look funny rolling backwards like that. She looked around for a distraction to cover up her chagrin.

"Mm, chocoballs," she cried in delight, walking over to the spinning wheel that produced a new colored ball every two seconds. "Vanilla crème, caramel — I think I'm in Heaven."

They walked out of the sweet shop a long time later with several bags of candy each, Draco still occasionally spouting a small flame when he talked.

Hermione picked up the quills she wanted from the Quill Shop, and Draco tried to pull her into Dervish and Bangs in an attempt to get his hands on Re'em blood, which Hermione stoutly refused to do.

"At least come with me to Zonko's," he begged. "I owe a couple of your Gryffindor friends a treat…."

But when they got to Zonko's it was closed, its windows boarded up with a sullen, defeated air about its façade. Hermione didn't even have to squint in the dimming light to read the large white sign emblazed on the door:

Zonko's — Out of business. Coming soon: Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes!

"They've done it," Draco said in wonder. "Those red-haired maniacs actually put Zonko's out of business!"

"Did you ever doubt it?" Hermione laughed, heading down the street toward the Three Broomsticks. "Don't you remember their 'graduation?' Umbridge had a fit — she had to clean Grindelows out of the entrance hall for a month!"

The Three Broomsticks wasn't crowded, but it certainly had more people in it than either of the students had seen all day.

"Let's just order to go," Hermione said dubiously. "It's getting dark out and there's one more place I would like to visit."

"I'll get the drinks," Draco offered hastily. "Why don't I meet you outside?"

Hermione nodded and headed toward the exit, leaving Draco free to address the danger that was staring at him from the bar, a look of shock on its face.

"That was Hermione Granger!" the boy hissed, snatching at Draco's sleeve. Draco ignored him and signaled to Madam Rosmerta that he wanted two butterbeers.

"Didn't you hear me? That was Mudblood Granger you were talking to!"

Draco took the two steaming drinks in his hand and gave the innkeeper a silver sickle. "Whom I spend my time with is my own business," he said.

Blaise laughed lowly. "Only if you have a death wish! A mudblood, Draco? Your father will never forgive you for that."

"He is not going to know because you aren't going to tell him," Draco ordered.

"Who's going to stop me? You? Nice try, Draco, but your threats don't scare me. I've known you too long," the boy challenged, his arms crossed in front of him.

Draco let out a rueful chuckle. "No, you've never been afraid of me, have you?"

"'Course not, you're my man," Blaise said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Which is why I can't understand why you're spending your time with Granger."

"I'd try and explain, Blaise, but I'm not sure you'd understand."

"Is this one of Voldemort's plans to get at Potter?" Blaise asked directly.

"No," Draco said. He looked away.

"I see."

Tense silence filled the air between them for the several seconds.

"Very well. I'll keep this quiet for now and hope you come to your senses. But Draco," Blaise warned, holding up a finger as Draco beamed at him, "you'd better think very carefully about what's going to happen once school starts again. If you keep going around with Granger, people are going to notice and they're not going to like it. Not one bit."

"I understand," Draco said, simply happy for the moment that his secret was still safe. "Thanks."

Blaise watched as Draco left to join Hermione outside. His brows were furrowed and even the best Legilimens would not have been able to guess what was going on in his mind.

-:-+-:-+-:-+-:-

"Why did you want to come here?" Draco asked as they climbed their way to the Shrieking Shack.

"I've just never seen this side of it," Hermione answered, not really thinking about what she was saying.

"This side of it?" Draco's eyebrows shot up.

"Erm—" Hermione stalled, not sure what to say. They had reached the top. "Do you really think it's haunted?" she asked instead. Draco's eyebrows, if possible, rose even higher at the change of subject, but he accepted it for the time being.

"I know it's haunted," Draco told her, leaning against the rail. "Third year, I got to talking about this girl and out of the blue a ghost just attacked me."

"Sounds like a poltergeist," Hermione smirked, joining him. Of course, they both knew it had been Harry in his invisibility cloak — her two friends had told her all about it. "I hear they only do that to people who really deserve it."

"Personally, I think it got jealous," Draco said. "See, this girl was really pretty, and I rather think she likes me. Well, of course she would — she's smart…"

"Oh, you!" Hermione laughed, swiping a handful of snow at him. She was glad that her face was already red from the cold, because she was blushing.

Draco caught her mittened hand in his. "I wanted to give this to you in person," he said, pressing a small box into it. "It belonged to my mother."

"Draco!" she breathed, opening the box and lifting out a thin silver necklace. Small pieces of crystal lay within each link, winking in the lamplight, and its pendant was a lustrous silver serpent twining around a wand.

Draco took it from her hands and began to fasten it around her neck. Though she obediently lifted up her hair so that he could see, Hermione felt she should protest the gift.

"But if it was your mother's, you should keep it," she said, pulling on the chain even as she spoke so that the pendant lay within the hollow of her breasts.

"She told me it was mine to give to whomever I thought worthy to wear it. I think if she ever had the chance to meet you, she would agree that I made the right choice."

Hermione didn't know what to say.

"Thank you," she replied at last. "And to think that I still haven't given you anything!"

Draco smiled. "You've already given me more, Hermione, then I believe you will ever know."

His eyes were shining. As if on cue, the moon broke through the wintry clouds and lit on the bundle of mistletoe in the tree above their heads.

"Merry Christmas," Hermione whispered. Cupping the back of Draco's head, she pulled him towards her and kissed him tenderly on the lips.

"MeOW," Harry yowled.

Hermione laughed, breaking away. "I think our chaperone wants us to leave," she remarked.

"I thought he didn't remember anything," Draco said irritably. "Be quiet," he ordered the cat out loud.

Hermione opened her mouth to protest, but Draco captured her words firmly with his lips. They broke away at last.

"That," Draco told her, "was the best Christmas present I've ever had."

Placing her arm firmly in his, they embarked on the trek back to the castle, Harry following petulantly behind them.

Symbology: For you that don't know, the serpent around a staff is an ancient biblical sign for healing; the gift of the necklace (whether Draco knows it yet or not) is a symbol of how Hermione is helping to heal the scars of his past and give him hope for the future.

And yes, I know in the book it was Harry and Ron at the Shrieking Shack with Draco insulting Ron, but in the movie it was Harry, Ron, and Hermione, so I've decided to keep it the way it was in the book but add in some unmentioned conversation that included an insult to Hermione in it. Consider it a bit of AU.

Chapter 11 Summary:

Draco and Hermione go to Hogsmeade together, and each gives the other a special gift.