The snowfall was getting heavier as Christmas loomed closer, which meant the clouds above were bloated and pregnant with snow that had yet to fall. Luckily, the gloomy weather seemed to mirror Hermione's mood as she took her seat in the compartment on the Hogwarts Express for the ride back to the platform. Everyone took the train back to the platform so to meet their parents and get to where they needed to go for Yule Break. Usually the train ride wasn't so bad, in fact Hermione often enjoyed herself but she had the sneaking suspicion that this train ride was going to be both awkward and annoying.

It was that realization that had her pulling down the blinds for the door of the compartment. Maybe if Draco didn't know she was here, he wouldn't sit with her and then she wouldn't have to listen to him the entire ride home. But before she could even fully process the thought the door slid open and Draco stepped in before shutting it behind him.

Hermione eyed him as he took the seat across from her, crossing her legs she looked out the window as the train started to move. The snow covered country side didn't offer any kind of solace for the fact that she was sitting across from Draco Malfoy. Or worse, that she was taking him on vacation with her and her parents against her will. It made her sick to her stomach to think that he may actually enjoy making her uncomfortable.

"I didn't know you could keep your mouth shut, Granger," Draco said nonchalantly, as if he hadn't just insulted her.

"How about we both try it? I know how much you like to hear yourself talk, but let's do both of us a favor and not speak," Hermione retorted before huffing softly.

"You don't know how to play nice do you?"

"Nice? Nice? You don't even know the definition of nice, Draco. You're privileged and full of yourself. Nice to you is just letting me speak to you."

"That is nice, you aren't often allowed to speak to me and get taken seriously."

"Allowed to speak to you?" Hermione asked disbelievingly as she glared at Draco. "You're a prat."

"So you constantly remind me," Draco said in a bored tone.

"Would it kill you to not hear yourself speak for a bit? Do your parents not listen to you enough that you feel the need to fill every silent moment with the sound of your voice?"

Hermione had expected some wisecrack from him but instead she felt the moment growing thick with silence. It was the first time she'd actually said something that got Draco to shut his mouth and that might have actually been something to celebrate, but then she remembered his father was in Azkaban. Her stomach fell so when she looked at him and saw the troubled expression etched into his features she felt guilty. Bringing up his family was a low blow because thus far he hadn't bothered to mention her parents or the fact that he would be spending Yule Break with her and her family rather than his own.

There was a brief moment when their eyes met, but Draco quickly pulled his attentions away toward the window. It was no surprise that in no time that guilt that Hermione had felt moments ago had her hands wringing with one another as if she was trying to squeeze that feeling out of them. But Draco wasn't saying anything, he was merely scowling at the window and avoiding her gaze.

It could have been worse, right? Well, he could still be insulting her and then she'd be wishing he was quiet. But he hadn't really insulted her this time as much as annoyed her, not to mention that she was the one to throw the low blow this time around. Moral dilemmas, something she wondered if the son of Lucius Malfoy had ever had one. A part of her doubted it, but she had to wonder if it wasn't just her own dislike for him that made her assume that he had no redeeming qualities.

The train was speeding down the countryside at an alarmingly slow pace, or so it felt to Hermione. Her hands were a bit sore from being wrung together as she tried to ignore the tension heavy in the room. Draco, on the other hand, was still sitting pretty and just reached to push some of his blond hair away from his forehead. Hermione caught herself staring at him and nearly squeaked and jumped out of her seat when someone knocked on the door of their compartment.

"Food cart, loves!" Called the plump witch that pushed the cart.

She had half the mine to tell her to continue on, but she wasn't allowed to say anything before Draco got to his feet and slid the door open.

"I'll have a sugar quill, some jelly slugs, and a couple bottles of butterbeer," he said in that same stern voice of his, like he was giving an order rather than a request.

The portly witch merely smiled and gathered up all the snacks that Draco had asked for, one of her hands out for the ten sickles and two knuts. He didn't bat a lash at losing the money, in fact he just dropped it into her palm and took his goodies before sliding the door shut. He sat back down and placed the items next to him on the seat before taking a bottle of butterbeer and holding it out to Hermione.

"Here, take it."

"What?"

"It's not poisoned, swear. Plus it'll give you something to do with your hands, I can't stand the incessant sound of you picking at your nails," Draco said with a sneer.

Hermione took the bottle from him and pulled the cap off before taking a small sip just to appease him, but it wasn't like he was looking at her anymore. In fact, he was busying himself with sucking on the feather end of the sugar quill as he opened his own bottle of butterbeer. The silence was less tense, but it wasn't as welcomed as Hermione thought it would be. Yet, she didn't dare break the silence instead she sipped at her drink and looked out the window.

There was no thinking about it for too long because just as soon as her thoughts started to consume her she nearly jumped out of her skin as something fell into her lap. A package of jelly slugs lay unassumingly in her lap. They were her favorite and for a moment there she toyed with the idea that Draco knew this, but she then had to wonder how he could possibly know. She nearly laughed, but managed to silence herself with another drink of her butterbeer.

"Didn't your parents teach you to say thank you, Granger?"

"I-…Thank you, Draco."

"You're welcome," he said with a hint of sarcasm.

"You didn't have to get these for me."

"I know."

"Then why-"

"Why does it matter? I'm being civil. I wager if I'm to have only you for company I may as well behave cordially."

"Okay, Draco."

"What are your parents names?"

"Why?"

"So you'll be able to skip that when we get there."

"Erm, Hugh and Elene Granger. They're dentists."

"What?"

Hermione pursed her lips together in thought before smiling to him. "They fix teeth by muggle means. Or think of them as Healers that specify in teeth and oral care."

"Why would anyone want to do something disgusting like that?"

"I don't know. Mum and dad were always big on it since I can remember. They wanted to fix my teeth the muggle way, but I couldn't stand to wait."

"Oh. S'that what you did then?"

"You noticed?"

"Hard not to."

"I thought you were trying to be civil."

"I am being civil."

Hermione glared at him for a moment, trying to read his features but he was back to chewing on the end of his sugar quill. Not sure what to think about what he said, but considering it came from the mouth of a Malfoy he was undoubtedly insulting her. Maybe doing it without even realizing he was doing it, but he was insulting her and that was not okay. But she didn't want to start another argument between them so she just let it go this time, perhaps he hadn't meant it as an insult.

There was something off about the way that she tilted her head as if she were trying to hide her eyes from his. Did she honestly think that he could read her mind? Or rather did she think that he would care enough to see what she was thinking? Draco scoffed to himself before taking another bite from the sugar quill and sucked at the piece on his tongue. He shouldn't have even bothered trying to be nice to her, it was going to give her false hope and apparently she didn't know how to be grateful for it.

Though Hermione had been the uncomfortable one most of the ride, she had no idea that Draco wasn't any more comfortable than she was. Now he was just watching her, trying to read her face as she chewed one of the jelly slugs and stared out the window at the snowy countryside. He didn't have to be a genius to see how unsettled she was, but knowing just why was another matter and he really didn't want to strike up another conversation with her. It was hard trying to keep the conversation civil when all he wanted to do was be the boy she knew. The boy with a loudmouth, sharp tongue and pureblood regime that had no heart in him to actually act human.

Maybe she was right, he wasn't human. He could never be anything more than the boy that his parents raised him to be.

The train had arrived at King's Cross Station before sunset and everyone was happily milling out onto the platform. Students and their families hugging and kissing before apparating out or moving through the wall back onto the muggle platform. It seemed that as soon as the platform had been full of people it had become barren and Hermione was left standing by herself.

Of course, this had been the plan Draco had devised to make sure that no one had seen him with Granger. So as soon as he was sure no one else was around, he finally exited the train and moved to Hermione's side with his dragonhide duffle bag at his side. He had half expected her parents to be standing there with her, but instead he found that Hermione was by herself waiting for him to come out of hiding.

"The coast is clear, you know. It has been for ten minutes," Hermione said with a sigh as she headed toward the wall that led to the muggle platform. "Come on."

"Wait…what?" Draco asked, his face flashing a look of a fear before it fell away. "We're going into the muggle world?"

"Well, in order to get where we need to go, yes. I promise they don't bite."

Hermione sighed before going over to him and taking his hand without bothering to ask for permission. The usual knee jerk reaction to pull away from her touch was overcome by the resonating fear that moved through his mind. Draco didn't want to go into the muggle world because he had always been taught that they were barbaric. But he held to the brunette's hand as he put his hand into his pocket so to hold to his wand as he was pulled toward the wall.

Gray eyes closed as he was pulled through it, hoping he would meet something solid rather than actually be forced into a world he knew very little about. As soon as he stepped through the wall it was as if a breeze pushed over him to remind him that he wasn't in the wizarding world anymore. Sheltered beyond belief, Draco had not really spent much time in the muggle world and with good reason because neither of his parents approved.

Though when he opened his eyes and found that people weren't staring at him like he was odd, he looked around. Many people were pushing carts while others were merely carrying briefcases. Children ran about the platform to find their parents and Draco was still clinging to Hermione's hand. So harshly that it was almost painful but she didn't say anything about it, instead she pulled him along through the throngs of people.

"Excuse me," Hermione repeated over and over again as she pulled Draco along.

One would think he had never seen the world with the way he looked around at the various people. The parents talking to and carrying their kids onto the trains. The conductor that welcomed people onto his train and waved as he caught Draco staring at him. It was as if he had never seen a regular dog when a spaniel in its cage barked at him with knobby tail wagging craving attention.

When he caught sight of a couple holding hands with their fingers intertwined, he instinctually linked his fingers with Hermione's. At the feel of his fingers threading with hers, she pulled her hand away feeling a bit uncomfortable as they exited the station completely. Using the excuse that she had to flag down a cab as her reason for pulling her hand from his, Draco didn't seem too disturbed by it. In fact, he just stuffed his hand into his pocket and sneered as the cab came to a stop before Hermione.

"What's this?" He demanded before he could bother to curb his tone.

"It's called a car, Draco. We get in it, it takes us where we want to go."

"I'm not getting in that metal death trap."

"Well, I suppose you could walk to my house. It's about twenty-three miles from here, have fun," Hermione said as she climbed into the back of the cab.

Draco sneered after her before looking to the cabby waiting for him to get into the car and then back to Hermione, who was no longer looking at him. A groan of defeat and discomfort left him before he slowly moved into the backseat of the cab. Closing he door behind him, he visibly flinched when the metal door shut because he was feeling like a caged animal.

He had been so distracted by his surroundings that he hadn't heard Hermione give the cabby the address of their destination. Instead, he tensed up as the car started moving before he looked over to Hermione. She was sitting pretty watching the other cars and the buildings moving passed them as they moved through the streets of London. It was annoying to see how at ease she was here, and yet his hands were curled into fists so tightly that his knuckles were white.

"How can you look so at ease in this thing?" Draco asked, making sure to keep his tone as even as possible.

"It's a muggle talent," Hermione said jokingly before laughing. "Oh, come off it, Draco. It's not that bad, just relax. Nothing is going to happen."

"I can't. This bloody thing is so loud. Talk to me, Granger. What are your parents names again?"

"Hugh and Elene. They're dentists and nice people, so don't be cruel to them."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"I find that hard to believe."

"I thought we were trying to be civil."

"Oh, right," Hermione said rolling her eyes.

"You don't have any siblings?"

"No. Just like you, I'm an only child."

"It must get lonely then."

"Not really, I have muggle friends from school."

"You mean from Hogwarts?"

"No, I mean from the primary school I went to before Hogwarts. We muggleborns actually attend school before going to Hogwarts, I'm sure your lot mostly get taught at home."

"I was taught at home by my mother," Draco said lightly, a soft sigh leaving him. "I'm leaving her alone this Christmas, I feel rather bad about it."

Hermione didn't know what to say to that exactly so she just evaded the subject. "What did she teach you most about?"

"Charms, she is very good at charms. She doesn't have to do any of the housework, or didn't have to till Potter set Dobby free."

"Good. Witches and Wizards shouldn't enslave those poor creatures," she said, having to bite her tongue against the words that threatened to come next. She knew just how badly they had treated Dobby and couldn't be more glad that he was free from that.

"It's what they like to do, Granger."

"Not all of them and the ones who do like doing it for the praise not the punishment, Draco."

"How do you know that?"

"Because no one likes being belittled when they try their hardest to please someone, that's how I know!"

The fact that she had almost shouted at him made the statement drive just a bit deeper into his heart. What the hell was going on with him? He knew that Hermione didn't know just how him and his father worked, but still he felt like she had said that purposely to get a rise out of him.

"Sometimes that's what it takes."

"It's never okay to belittle someone to make yourself feel superior. Never," Hermione insisted.

"I'm wagering you were the type to always make your parents proud."

"I do make my parents proud and I want to continue making them proud. They support me in all that I do with praise and love, nothing less."

Just as Hermione had finished that statement the cab rolled to a stop before a suburban home that was two stories and so close to its neighbor it looked a bit smothered. But it was nice, the neighborhood seemed quiet enough as kids played in their own yards with their dogs. People drove passed in their cars and watered the lawns, everything done without the use of magic and had he not grown up with the use of it and thinking the lack of it meant barbarism he might have appreciated the majesty of it.

"Some of us didn't get that lucky," Draco said just as he opened the door of the cab and slid out.