AN: Here's the next chapter; it's really just a filler chapter.

Disclaimer: I still don't own this wonderful series called Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling still does.

The Great Hall was slowly morphing into the Christmas spirit. Everyday, there would be a new decoration added to the large hall. While staring at the sparkling glitter that covered every surface, I absently bit into a piece of toast. I was beginning to stress out about the coming holidays. Not only am I unsure as to whether I'm even welcome at the Burrow after the breakup, but I don't know what to get Draco for Christmas!

Being Hermione Granger meant that I usually had a tidy list of the people that I would be buying gifts for, along with what I would be getting them. The only problem is that I usually make said list the first week of December, which I spent worrying about the threats. On top of that, I would be getting Draco a gift this year, and had no idea where to start. Maybe something quidditch related? Candy, perhaps? What do you get for someone who has everything? I groaned out loud at my musing.

An amused voice spoke. "Something wrong?"

I started and turned towards the redhead sitting beside me. "Ginny! You scared me; when did you get here?"

Ginny gave me an odd look. "I scared you? Hermione Granger not aware of her surroundings?" She snorted. "The Prophet would implode on itself if it knew that their 'ever vigilant' war heroin wasn't 'ever vigilant!' But seriously, what's up? I don't think I've ever seen your mind wander off like that."

I rolled my eyes at her. I seem to be doing that a lot lately. "I was just thinking about the fact that I have no clue what to get anyone for Christmas! I didn't plan it like I usually do, what with all of those threats."

Ginny threw her head back and laughed. "I thought something was seriously wrong. Hermione, Christmas is two weeks away; you'll find everything you need. I'm sure of it!"

I nodded back at her unsurely. I can ask her about Ron and if the Weasleys are angry with me. "Ginny, have you heard anything from Ron? I don't want to step on any toes by coming to the Burrow for Christmas break."

Ginny's face fell at the mention of her brother. I told Ginny about the breakup the night that we arrived at Hogwarts at the beginning of the year. She had been sad that I wouldn't be her sister-in-law any time soon, but never got angry with me. I guess that face means that I'm not going to the Burrow. Ginny tried to gently tell me the situation. "Hermione. He's still hurt from the breakup, from what I gathered; you should probably just stay away from him for a while, at least for the time being."

I tried to smother the disappointment that I had been bracing myself for a while. At the sight of my downtrodden face, Ginny looked sad for a moment, but perked up quickly. "Hermione! I know! I can stay here for the holidays!"

I tried to tell her that she didn't have to do that for me, but she wouldn't let me tell her no. "It's settled; I'm staying here for the holidays. It's my last year here; it'll be easy to explain why I'm not coming home to my parents. I'll promise them Easter! You're not about to be left here to sulk all alone on Christmas! Malfoy won't be here, will he?" I shook my head. She continued. "Good! We can stay in the Heads' common room and have a two week long slumber party! This is going to be great!"

I smiled at Ginny's enthusiasm, and felt grateful to have such a good friend. Since it was a Saturday, I had no classes, and headed up to the Heads' common room after breakfast to continue reading one of the books that I had found in the bookcase in the common room. I've gotten through nearly half of them; hopefully, I'll have them all read by the time we graduate.

I entered the common room and headed immediately for the window seat where I had left my latest book opened. The warm sun shining down on me from the window made me smile. My smile widened when Crookshanks joined me moments after sitting down.

I had been lying in the same place for nearly two hours when Draco came down the stairs groggily. I nearly opened my mouth to greet him, but I realized he hadn't seen me. A smirk graced my face as I saw the always cool and collected Head Boy look so… normal. I had learned quickly that Draco Malfoy did not wake up early if he didn't have to.

I realized he was fully dressed, minus his boots. My smirk widened. Time to have fun. I had seen his boots peaking out from under the large couch in front of the fireplace when I came in. I pulled out my wand and slowly summoned the shoes away from their resting place and into my hands. I watched his frustration increase until I was hearing small growling noises and the occasional curse coming from him.

I guess I should put him out of his misery. I spoke in a loud voice. "Looking for these?"

Draco simultaneously jumped, yelled, and cursed. "Granger! How long have you been there?!"

I was doing my best to reign in my Cheshire grin. "Long enough to see you check the same place three separate times for your boots."

A faint blush dusted his cheeks. "I did not check for them in the same place that many times." He looks so much more attractive when he is like this. Flustered is a good look on him. Then again, most anything is. My smile slightly wavered at that thought.

Trying to get back on topic, I smiled at him in a placating way. "Of course you didn't." I let out a chuckle at his glare before continuing. "To answer your question, I've been here for about two hours now. I decided that I wanted a productive day and had an early breakfast with Ginny this morning before she started quidditch practice."

Draco shook his head in disbelief at me, causing his hair to fall slightly in front of his eyes. "Crazy Gryffindors, the whole lot of you! How can you possibly get up that early on a Saturday?"

I snorted at him while stretching my jean-clad legs across the window seat. I saw his eyes follow my legs, causing me to blush. Trying to clear up the awkward tension that had just sprang up, I replied. "Well, it wasn't that—" My mind caught up with my thoughts. Sprang up. I turned red. Oh Merlin! How old are you? Twelve? Then I realized that I had just stopped talking in the middle of my sentence. Tomatoes everywhere must be jealous. I felt like I could die.

Draco was looking at me strangely. "Granger? Are you okay? You look like you're about to spontaneously combust."

I felt like I was on fire. I hopped up from my place in the window seat, fidgeted nervously, and ran up the stairs to my bedroom. Good move, Hermione. That definitely didn't just make things even more awkward. I groaned as I flopped down onto my bed.

My mind has been swirling with thoughts of the kiss that we shared a few days ago. It was a fluke. Both of us were stressed out mentally and physically. It didn't mean anything. I groaned again at how, no matter how much I told myself that the kiss didn't mean anything, I didn't believe myself. This is just splendid Hermione! You should not be thinking of Draco Malfoy like this! I'm sure he isn't pining after me!

I rolled over on my back to stare at the roof. How can I have a crush on Draco? Yes, he has been wonderful for the past months, but it's too soon. I just ended my relationship with Ron; I shouldn't be thinking about anyone like this. Ron would be livid if he knew what was going through my head. I held my hand out towards the roof before letting it fall beside me. I need to talk to someone about this.

A frown appeared on my face as realized that I didn't have any friends at Hogwarts, other than Ginny, Draco, Blaise, and Pansy. I can't speak to any of the Slytherins about this; they'll tell Draco. Maybe I can talk to Ginny during the holidays about it? I'll fill her up with her favorite chocolates from Honeydukes, and then tell her. At least it'll cushion the blow. I cringed at my plan, but realized it was the best chance I had if I wanted to talk about these new feelings.

I was broken from my musing when I heard voices down in the common room. Quietly, I crept towards my door. I recognized the voices to be Blaise and Pansy. They had started coming to the common room quite often, just as Ginny had.

I heard the stretching of the leather couch as they sat down. Pansy was speaking, and I only caught the end of what she said. "… is Hermione, Draco? Isn't she usually up bright and early during the weekends?" My face flushed as I realized what Draco would undoubtedly tell her. Pansy and I may be on better terms, but she still would harass me mercilessly over this.

I heard him laugh. "I don't know, I haven't seen her this morning. She's probably roaming around outside in the snow making snowmen and snow angels, like all of the other Gryffindors." He's lying for me. I had to stop myself from slapping my forehead. Of course he would, he never was as thick as Harry and Ron about these kinds of things. Of course he had to add an insult to the end of that, but he wouldn't be Draco Malfoy if he didn't.

The Slytherins' conversation moved onto more boring subjects, losing my interest. I nonverbally cast a silencing charm on my room and climbed back up on my bedwith a small smile on my face. He didn't tell his best friends about my embarrassing catastrophe of a reply!

Ginny and I trudged through the thick snow in Hogsmeade, hoping to finish our Christmas shopping. The streets of the small village were crowded as students tried to finish their shopping for the holidays. I was dragged by an overly enthusiastic Ginny into Spintwitches, the sports shop. Ginny's reasoning for dragging me in was "you'll be able to find something for Harry and Ron in here, for sure." I knew that she really only wanted to look at the newest Firebolt that had been released, though.

I unhappily followed Ginny around the store. Ginny continued excitedly chattering as she led me towards the display model of the broomstick. I heard the bell above the door chime and caught a glimpse of silvery-blonde hair before I was pulled away by Ginny. I blushed at the thought of meeting Draco after the disastrous meeting this morning. Well, if I keep an eye on him, I will be able to avoid him easier. I frowned at my pitiful excuse, and snuck away from Ginny. Yeah, I just want to make sure I don't accidentally run into him. No other reason.

Luckily, Draco had stayed on the bottom floor of the shop while I was on the top. I quickly found his signature hair near the broomstick tune-up kits. He had been looking at one in particular for a while now, and seemed to be contemplating buying it. In the end, he shook his head slightly and walked away from it. I watched as he quickly paid for his items and left the shop.

When I was sure that he had left, I headed down the stairs and towards the tune-up kits to look at the one Draco had been studying. The kit must've been high-end if the glossy wooden case was any indication. I pretended to study the case before simply taking it to the register. Well, I might as well not even pretend like I understood what I was just reading. Maybe I'll get a book on broomsticks and quidditch; not understanding something is rather unpleasant.

I stopped on the way to the register and grabbed a gift for Harry. Feeling slightly guilty, I turned back and grabbed something random for Ron from the shelves. Even if I did break up with him, he's still my friend.

Apparently, the tune-up kit for Draco was more expensive than I thought. I didn't want to look like an idiot, so I sucked it up and paid for the expensive kit. The git better be happy about this. After paying for my things, I marched back up the stairs and dragged a complaining Ginny away from the Firebolt. We headed over to Honeydukes and picked up a lot of candy and chocolate for gifts, and for our "slumber party", as we had taken to calling it.

Ginny and I were exhausted by the time we left Honeydukes, and slowly made our way back towards the castle. I went with Ginny to the Gryffindor common room so she could put her gifts away. Looking around at the familiar common room made my heart ache. I spent so many nights in front of that fireplace studying; I can't believe I only have a few months left here.

Ginny returned to me and we made our way towards the Heads' common room. Ginny made herself at home in front of the fire while I went to my bedroom to put away my gifts. Just as I turned to leave my room, I decided that I should hide Draco's gift. He's always been nosey; it wouldn't hurt to hide his gift. In fact, it'll probably be fun watching him try to find it. I shrunk down the gifts and put them inside of a small box. Then I put that small box into my bag with the Undetectable Extension Charm on it. Satisfied that he wouldn't find his gift, I headed back down the stairs and sat down beside Ginny.

We chatted about inconsequential things for a long time. It felt good to gossip like a normal teenage girl, and not have to worry about anything else… well, other than the fast-approaching finals, that is. It was late before Draco arrived back at the common room. He glanced at Ginny and I before giving us a weary look and fleeing to his bedroom. Seconds after hearing his door click shut we exploded into laughter.

Ginny left at around midnight. I tried to make her stay so she wouldn't be out after curfew, but she just laughed and told me that it wouldn't take her but a minute to reach the Gryffindor common rooms, as the Heads' common room was on the seventh floor too. I sighed, but relented and sent her on her way. What would the Headmistress say? The Head Girl letting students walk around after curfew; Draco's a terrible influence on me. I sniffed haughtily before turning away from the portrait.

I climbed up the stairs and headed to my room for the night. I didn't bother turning on a light when I reached my bedroom as I intended to go straight to sleep. While walking towards my bed, I flicked my wand at my clothes and transfigured them into a nightgown before flopping down into my bed.

I shrieked as I hit something that was decidedly not my bed. A pained wheeze came from beside me and I flicked my wand towards the noise. "Lumos."

I immediately had two silver eyes squinting back at me. "Draco! What are you doing in here?!"

Squinting his eyes shut, Draco moaned. "Turn that light out, Granger! I was waiting for you to come up so you could get your bloody cat! The beast has taken up residence in my room and won't allow me in without a blood sacrifice. I fell asleep while waiting, apparently."

I was immediately embarrassed. "Oh no! I'm sorry! He doesn't usually act like that; I'm going to go get him right now!" I hopped up from the bed before Draco could say anything and headed towards his bedroom. I cracked the door open and realized that this was the first time that I had ever seen the inside of his room.

I had thought that his bedroom would've been decked out in green and silver; instead, it looked identical to my room. I would have studied the room longer, but was interrupted by growling and hissing that was coming from the center of the bed. "Crookshanks! Don't you dare hiss at me! This is Draco's room, not yours! You cannot run him out of his own room, mister! Get down from there, right now!"

At my scolding, Crookshanks stopped hissing and growling, but didn't move to get up. I threw my hands in the air. "Oh fine, you lazy cat." I walked over and picked up the kneazle and walked back into the hallway, only to run straight into Draco's bare chest.

Crookshanks began hissing again at the sudden reappearance of his least favorite person. I blushed. Again. Thank Merlin it's dark in the hallway. Draco didn't look impressed at Crookshanks outbursts. "Granger." I frowned at the use of my last name. I thought we were past last names. "Your pet is a monster. A large, ginger monster." He brushed by me, and stopped just before shutting the door. "Good night." The soft click of the door seemed extremely loud in the silent hallway.

I scurried back into my room and fell into the sheets. I was immediately wrapped up in a smell that I could only describe as Draco. I snuggled my head deeper into the blankets; with his comforting scent around me, I was asleep in moments.

AN:This chapter isn't really that long (compared to my other chapters), but I just did this as a bit of a filler chapter. I just read over this before uploading and realized how much I used the word "I". Sorry about that; I'll try to keep it in check next time!

I realized how rushed the last chapter was, and I honestly hate it. I wish that I would've separated the threats up into a few chapters and gone into more detail, but I think I know how to salvage the situation. I also realized how rushed their friendship was; again, I wish that I would've gone into more detail, but I didn't. I'm trying to make up for it with a bit of Dramione interaction in this chapter to show that both of them were caught up in the heat of the moment in the last chapter. They felt threatened and confused. Now in this chapter, you see that it has created an awkward tension as neither of them are approaching the subject! Yay tension! I just felt that this chapter needed to be here to clarify the feelings from the last chapter, and to show that they won't be saying they love each other anytime soon!

Sorry for the big explanation, but I really felt it was needed after that terrible chapter. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to FAVORITE and REVIEW!