December rolled in with snow and that first weekend was spent outdoors. Hermione had managed to patch up things with her friends, but she could tell that her constant absences were bothering them, especially Ron. Luckily, Quidditch practices and games had consumed much of his time as well, so she had been able to sneak away unnoticed during the day. Nights, however, were a different story. The potions turned out to be much more advanced than originally expected and such were the times in which it needed to be tended to that more than once Hermione had been forced to spend a night at Malfoy's room or the both of them had stayed in the lavatory. During the time, they had not fed Easter once and yet, a week after the first quidditch match, he had started growing again. They were both a little on edge about it, but Easter's temperament did not change and Draco suspected the pause in Easter's growth had to do with the change in weather.
During lulls, they had done some reading. A few more cats had popped up with similar physical descriptions to Easter, but none of them were specific enough mostly because they were all described as being 'so dangerous that survivors are rare'. One in particular, the bakeneko, caught their attention. It was given the highest danger classification under the Japanese Ministry of Magic, said to maul and swallow whole its victims. It contained some other unknown magical abilities, making it as much of a mystery as the others. Hermione hoped Easter was one of the less dangerous ones they had researched.
"Let's take him outside," Draco suddenly said as he lay sprawled on the floor. Hermione was tending to one of the four cauldrons they had set up. She wafted some of the smoke towards her to get a sniff.
"How do you suppose we do that?"
"I don't know. I just need to get out of this bloody bathroom."
She cut up some herbs and sprinkled them into the bubbling light blue concoction. "I can't imagine us getting very far with him, even if he stayed in the shadows, which I doubt he will."
"Well, we need to do something!" He propped himself up on his elbows to look at her. "We've been at this for a month. I need to get out of here."
"You can go. I need to get caught up on my Arithmancy homework anyway, so I'll stay here and watch the potions."
He stared at her for a minute before returning to lying on the floor. She glanced at his prone form with a small smile. In the last two weeks he had taken to coming around when it was her turn to tend the potions and she had begun doing the same with him. It was just nicer with company and, to her pleasant dismay, Draco was not too bad when he forgot he was pureblooded and she was muggleborn. Their conversations had actually moved beyond Easter and the potions to topics relating to school, though they avoided discussing her friends as much as possible so as not to incite any bad feelings.
"I need to get out of here," he said twenty minutes later. She rolled her eyes.
"How are we going to get him out?"
He sat up, eyes bright with a scheme. "Windows."
"What about the windows?"
"We sneak him out one of the ground floor windows."
She smiled and stood. "Okay."
His eyes widened. "Seriously?"
"That's the only thing that might work and I want to get out of here, too. I haven't been out in the snow yet."
Twenty minutes and a tumble from a window later found them on an unoccupied side of the castle. Hermione and Draco stood near the wall, watching with smiles as Easter looked about himself with obvious awe. Now the size of a lion, he was too large to come to Hermione's room at night, so he stayed with Draco. This arrangement forced them to let Blaise in on the situation. Blaise stopped coming around his bedroom, not much of a cat person. He did, however, treat Hermione much better during Potions.
Draco had conjured a lead to put on Easter, not wanting the creature to stray to far. It lapped up some freshly fallen snow before releasing some huffs and leaping into a snowdrift, pulling Draco with him. Hermione laughed as Easter poked his dark head out from the white mound, looking around for Draco. He huffed, pawing at an oddly shaped drift and unearthing Draco's head.
"It's not funny, Granger!" he snapped as Hermione doubled over. Easter was circling Draco, huffing and nosing snow up against Draco's face.
"I think he wants you to play with him!"
"Knock that off!"
Hermione came over, pushing Easter's head away from Draco so that she could dig him out. He dried himself off with a wave of his wand before glaring at Easter.
"That's not funny."
Tail flicking wildly, Easter took off to through snowdrifts and roll about in the cold ground coverings. Hermione picked up some snow, packing it together. Draco shook his head, backing away.
"No, Granger. You put that down!"
"No, I don't think so."
"Granger, you put that down!"
He scooped up some of his own snow but still got a face full before he had the chance to make a snowball. Growling and wiping his face, he sprinted towards her. She raced away, laughing and dodging snowballs. She tumbled down a slope and Draco released a yell of triumph. Easter came over, licking her face with his warm tongue. Smiling, she wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his dark fur. He radiated so much heat despite it being so cold, yet the snow did not melt beneath his paws. His chest thrummed pleasantly and she pressed her ear against it to hear the greatest sound, like a beating drum in the midst of a canyon. It echoed and reverberated through her.
"Malfoy, come hear this," she whispered. She turned around to see him standing a few feet away. He had that same strange look on his face that she remembered from their trip to Hogsmeade. Like he had seen something to give him pause.
She had never thought of herself as being a romantic and suspected Draco was not one to be given to romantic tendencies. But, sometimes things are set up in such a way that there was nothing to be done about it. She was slightly flushed and covered in snow, standing there next to some rare, potentially dangerous beautiful creature, and all was still around them.
Hermione could barely believe how fast Draco had crossed the space between them. She had even more trouble believing how warm his lips were as they pressed against hers, his hands clutching her arms tightly as he pulled her into him. Her heart burst in her chest and her mind completely shut down, unable to keep up with the amount of screaming it had been doing. Good thing, too, because it would hardly have been able to hold it together when her fingers curled around his scarf and her body moved closer to his. Yes, a very good thing. It certainly would never survive the thrill in her stomach at the feel of his arms surrounding her or his tongue brushing against her teeth, tentatively requesting entry.
Oh Lord, was she glad her mind had shut down.
She glanced over at him as she took her dripping coat off and hung it up of a stall door. He had his back purposefully turned to her as he got out of his coat. Easter had collapsed underneath the sink, the only thing visible were his large padded feet and occasionally the independent white barb. Hermione turned back, touching her lips thoughtfully. They were a little bruised but still warm and a little tingly. Her stomach seemed to still think they were still outside as it would not settle down and her heartbeat was still a bit erratic. She closed her eyes, struggling to remember those moments but to no avail. She only recollected when he released her, because she had stumbled back into Easter in a daze. He had muttered something incomprehensible and then walked back up the hill.
"Granger."
Her last name suddenly sounded so forced. She took a deep breath before facing him. He was leaning against the sink, staring down at the tap with some trepidation on his face.
"You should go to lunch."
She flinched. What the hell was that? A dismissal? Was she being dismissed?
"Malfoy-"
"Just go to lunch!" he snapped, turning to her. His expression softened at the hurt on her face and he sighed. "Granger-"
Easter's loud hiss interrupted them. His paws disappeared, as did his tail. There was low growl from the shadows underneath the sink and Draco backed towards Hermione. The growl grew faint and Hermione's eyes widened.
"He's outside!"
She started towards the doors, but Draco pulled her to a stop. "And what the hell are you planning on doing?" he snapped. "If he's in the shadows-"
A shriek cut him off. Hermione's heart leapt in her throat as Draco paled. They rushed out of the lavatory towards the sounds. Down the corridor, a first year was pressed into a corner, screaming. Hermione crouched down beside her.
"What happened?"
The girl just pointed, sobbing uncontrollably. Draco sprinted around the corner and gasped, tripping to the ground in an attempt to backtrack. Hermione rushed over, eyes wide at the bloody mess in the corridor. Easter stood in the midst of the hall, growling and hissing into the shadows. Blood dripped from his jowls and from the plethora of gashes that covered his body. He slammed the side of his body into the wall, causing a quake that dropped Hermione to her knees. Draco scrambled out of the way as Easter repeated the action, scratching up his sides in a blind rage before leaping into dark corner. Hermione helped Draco to his feet, the both of them staring where Easter had disappeared.
"We're dead," Draco muttered. "We are dead."
"Mr. Malfoy! Miss Granger!"
They turned around to see McGonagall speeding down the hall, professors and students behind her. Hermione released Draco quickly, stepping away from him when she saw Harry and Ron amongst the group. Even Nott and his friends had shown up. Madam Pomfrey knelt down beside the hysterical first year while McGonagall approached Hermione, unable to hid her horror at the bloody corridor's appearance.
"What happened here?"
"I don't know," Hermione managed out. "We just got here-"
"It was a monster!" the girl screamed. "It attacked me!"
Hermione and Draco exchanged panicked looks. Hagrid came to the front of the group, kneeling down to pick up some clumps of fur. While other professors were busy looking around, McGonagall pulled Hermione and Draco to the side.
"What did you two see?"
"Nothing!" Hermione insisted, trying her best not to hyperventilate. "I heard the girl scream and ran over. The hallway was empty."
"Mr. Malfoy-"
"I didn't see anything," Draco snapped, pale face becoming unreadable. The Headmistress gazed at Hermione before turning to Hagrid.
"What is it, Hagrid?"
The large man stood, examining the fur closely. "Never seen this type of fur before, 'Eadmistress."
"Madam Pomfrey, is she able to speak?"
Nodding, the Healer led the still crying girl up to McGonagall. "Go on, dear."
"It was a monster!" the girl cried. "It was so big and scary!"
McGonagall leaned down. "What did it look like?"
"Like a tiger. It was huge! It came after me and then went over there!"
Though all the students began to murmur amongst themselves, Hermione noticed an odd reaction in a group of students, more specifically Nott. They all got pale and started whispering frantically to each other. Nott was snapping something to all of them, glancing over at the bloody corridor. His gaze passed over her briefly, dark from some unknown irritation.
"Alright, that's enough," McGonagall snapped. "Hagrid, if you would please look about the corridor. Professor Vector and Madam Sprout will assist you. The rest of you will go directly to the Great Hall. Professor Flitswick, if you and the other professors would make sure all the students assemble in the Great Hall. Filch, you will do a sweep of the castle, starting with the towers and working your way down." When nobody moved, she pulled out her wand. "Now!"
Hermione turned to Draco. "Our things are still in there!" she whispered, glancing towards the lavatory. "If Filch goes in there…"
"I'll deal with it," he muttered before striding away. Ron and Harry appeared near her, both nervous as they moved down to the Great Hall.
"I wonder what it is," Harry mused aloud. He glanced at Hermione, frowning. "How'd you get up here so fast?"
"I was already up here when I heard the girl," she said. "Where were you?"
"Just came in from being outside."
"Did you go outside?" Ron asked, touching Hermione's wet hair. "I thought you had to do work?"
"I was doing work."
"Then-"
"Why are you asking me so many questions, Ron?"
His eyes darkened. "I just wanted to know, that's all. You wouldn't come out with us, but your hair's wetter than mine. And what was Malfoy doing up here with you?"
She slapped his hand away, glaring. "Since you're not my parent, you're not entitled to know all my business, Ronald. How you decided that you could demand information from me like I am a child is ridiculous! So, why don't you leave me alone?"