~Perfect Harmony~

A/N: So my email has been blowing up with more people following and favoriting this fanfiction since I posted the last chapter, so thank you all for your love and support! It really means a lot. It's helped motivate me to upload a new chapter as soon as possible, so I ended up taking my notebook with me and writing this down while I was at work! Hahaa xD I really hope you all enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters. I only own the possibilities of what could have been.

~Welcome Back~

As Draco packed the rest of his belongings into his trunk, there was a glow about him that Dobby the house elf found very intriguing. What was it exactly that had the young master so eager to return to school? It was peculiar, indeed, but not unwelcome in the slightest. It had been too long since he had seen young Draco Malfoy so happy. And so, when asked for a glass of water, Dobby obliged with a soft smile and a tender gleam in his giant eyes.

As soon as Dobby disappeared, Draco immediately ran over to his desk to empty the letters into his trunk. No way was he leaving them so close to his mother OR his father. His mother may try to snoop and see what he and Hermione talk about, and he feared to even imagine what his father might do if he somehow came across one.

His movement stopped as he went to pack the neatly wrapped box with no name on it. He didn't need to put a tag on this gift to know exactly who this was for. After all, there were only two gifts he had actually taken the time to wrap himself, and the other had already been wrapped and sent off to the Zabinis' household.

Hands shaking slightly, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Calm down, you wimp, he scolded himself. You're a Malfoy. Malfoy's don't get nervous over silly little gifts. And you're not even handing it to her yet! Be a man! She's just a girl. It's just bloody Granger. Bloody Hermione Granger…

"She must be a lovely girl, young master." Draco nearly jumped out of his skin as he turned to the voice behind him, almost dropping the box in the process. "Forgive me, sire, if I startled you," Dobby smiled, taking the young Malfoy aback. He hasn't seen the house elf smile like that in quite awhile. "It's just…I've seen a change in you, young master. This girl must be a wonderful friend."

The platinum blonde boy was at a loss for words. "Um…well…how did you…" After moments of stammering, the young heir simply nodded. "Yes. Yes, she's a…a good friend."

"You didn't really need this cup of water did you, sire?" When Draco failed to reply, Dobby the house elf smiled, nodded, and left without another word, leaving the young master to his thoughts.

As Hermione entered Platform 9 ¾ once again, she was immediately greeted by the Weasley twins. "Hello there, little one," they grinned, each placing a chaste kiss on her cheeks. Fred put his hand on her shoulder as they made their way down the aisle in search of an empty compartment.

"How did your holidays fair?" George asked, craning his neck as they passed each compartment in hopes that an empty one would show up soon. He was tired from last night's adventures. After all, how else do you celebrate Christmas without trying to create a real life, animated and highly dangerous Abominable Snowman before your mother finds out what you were doing and chases you around the entire yard? And shouldn't she be proud that you managed to find a way to get it to shoot laser beams out of its nose like Super Man? Although, after a chat with their father, they realized that Super Man shot laser beams out of his eyes instead.

Hermione Granger was not thinking of abominable snowmen. Instead, she was thinking of snowball fights; rather, she was thinking of her snowball battle with a certain Draco Malfoy. "They went…well, thank you," she replied, a tint of pink appearing on her cheeks. Her mind drifted to the letters she'd packed away in her trunk, and then to the neatly wrapped box she had hidden underneath.

Fred had immediately sensed her change in attitude, and became quite curious as to what had caused the bright young Gryffindor princess to blush. Quirking an eyebrow as a mischievous smirk graced his lips, he teased, "Do I detect a secret?"

George caught on to what was happening and decided he, too, wanted to join in on the fun. "Secrets, secrets are no fun—"

"Secrets are for everyone!" they both sang together, causing unwanted attention.

Hermione just rolled her eyes and laughed at their antics. How had she made it through the holidays without them there to remind her how crazy a pair they made? As her laughter began to die down, however, she made contact with a pair of striking grey eyes and stopped her giggling immediately.

The twins turned to see where she was looking only to see a sneering Malfoy, and they felt inclined to sneer back. "Don't worry about that one, 'Mione," Fred said. "All Malfoys have a face only a mother could love."

Hermione suddenly went rigid as Draco Malfoy snapped his head to glare at the Weasley twin, then back at her before turning away. But he hadn't looked away fast enough, for she could see the slightest hint of sadness reflected in his eyes. She wasn't sure why he was sad, considering the fact that he always acted like he didn't care what others thought. And she didn't know what came over her, but she turned to Fred and huffed, "That was rude." She picked up her pace, passing Draco with a small nod of her head which he returned, before finally finding an empty compartment. "Here's one!" she called, and they smiled and entered. Fred seemed to be over her small pout, but George couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more to the story. He would be keeping a close eye on that one.

Draco Malfoy stared after her once the Weasel-twins had passed and smiled the smallest of smiles. She had stood up for him; maybe not in so many words, but she had stood up for him. No had ever done that before, and so he was grateful. For a moment there, he feared that she may just laugh right along with them and let them say more stupid insults about him and his family. But she hadn't. She'd told them off, and he almost wanted to laugh at the face they made at her. He wasn't even sure why their insults had bothered him in the first place. He never cared what people thought before. Perhaps it was a pride thing?

Blaise Zabini watched the entire ordeal take place, and almost laughed at the perplexed look that came over the Weasley twins when Hermione Granger called them rude, not missing the suspicious look that appeared upon George Weasley—or he thought it was George; the two were nearly perfectly identical—before they followed the muggleborn girl into the empty compartment. He looked over then to see that Draco had turned to stare at the compartment she'd disappeared into and wondered what was on his mind as a faraway look overtook him. It probably wouldn't be good to let anyone see a Malfoy like that, and so he decided to interrupt it.

"Draco, how were your holidays?" he asked as he finished throwing his carry-on bag on top of the carrier above their seats.

The Malfoy heir looked over, instantly snapping out of his thoughts as his friend began to talk about the holidays. He became animated, talking about the ball that his mother had thrown for Christmas and all the people who had shown up, and he talked about his mother's idea to make the ice figurine look like a Christmas tree and…well, he talked a lot about his mother. He explained that his father had been away frequently at the Ministry so he didn't see much of him, but nodded and said that his father was very responsible and had duties to attend to, so he understood. He kept out the part about him being very relieved about it.

Blaise wasn't surprised that he didn't mention Hermione Granger at all, but found it interesting when he mentioned that there was a girl he'd been writing letters to because his mother had suggested it and when a Malfoy woman suggests you do something, you do it. Blaise almost laughed; they both knew that Malfoy women could be overbearing and sometimes scary when they didn't get what they wanted. Blaise was almost positive that he had told his mother about the muggleborn girl and that she had almost forced him to start writing to her because he didn't have the guts to do it himself. She was a special sort of woman, Narcissa Malfoy was.

"Oh, Drakie," came the annoyingly sweet sing-song voice of none other than Pansy Parkinson. She waltzed in, plopping right down beside him. Blaise looked at him in amusement as the poor bloke sighed in misery. "How were your holidays? Were they as horrid as mine? After all, we were apart for so long, and I just—"

"Parkinson," he growled. He quirked an eyebrow at Blaise before turning to smirk at her. "My holiday…was wonderful. You know why? Precisely because you were not a part of it." Then he got up and walked out, saying he needed some air.

Pansy turned to Blaise with a pout before sighing, "Why won't he just admit his feelings for me?"

Blaise blinked a couple of times before shaking his head at the daft Slytherin girl.

As Draco neared the back of the train, he saw that someone was already there. A certain bushy-haired girl looking as though she didn't want to be found. When had she walked back here? he wondered before opening the door and stepping outside.

Hermione had been getting smothered by the Weasley twins' antics. She loved them, she did, but she needed to get away and clear her head. It didn't help that Neville Longbottom hadn't brushed his teeth before entering the platform, and so between the three of them she felt she would be sick if she didn't get out and get some fresh air. She hadn't been aware that a certain pureblood heir would be joining her.

"D-Draco!" she nearly screamed in fright. Thankfully the tracks made it hard to hear, or they might have attracted unwanted attention. Blushing, she cleared her throat and nodded at him with a smile. "Um, hello, I mean. How are you?"

He shrugged and sighed. "That stupid Parkinson girl won't let me alone. She's so obnoxious." He moved to lean against the railing, but she pulled him back almost immediately. "What?" he groaned in irritation.

"You shouldn't lean over rails when the platform is moving so quickly," she stated simply, her cheeks flushed from the onslaught of fear that overtook her for just a moment. Draco Malfoy was confused by this. Why was she so scared? Perhaps it had something to do with her acrophobia. They were going over the bridge at this particular moment.

Stepping forward, he hesitantly placed a hand on her shoulder and asked, "Are you okay?" She gulped and nodded, but her eyes still held fear and she had pressed herself as close to the door as possible. He sighed and rolled his eyes, trying to shake off the compassion and concern he'd recently developed. It was unnatural and confusing for him. "Why are you out here then, if you're so afraid of falling off?"

She glared at his seemingly unconcerned façade, but couldn't truly be mad that he was trying so hard to act tough. After all, she was being weak and needed someone to tell her she was overreacting. She shrugged, and let out a deep breath. "I dunno. I guess I just…um…really needed the air and forgot about that bit. I'm going back inside. This place isn't exactly secret and we wouldn't want you getting caught being friendly with a muggleborn, would we?"

She left before he could say another word, leaving him alone to his thoughts. People seemed to be doing that a lot today…

"Hermione!" Harry and Ron both exclaimed when she entered and sat right beside them in the Great Hall. Harry spoke up first. "We're sorry, Hermione, we couldn't find anything on Flammel while you were gone."

She just shook her head and smiled. "No, it's perfectly fine. How did the rest of your holiday fair?"

"I' wuzsh greaf!" Ron grinned with a mouthful of food that Hermione frowned at. Once he swallowed, he blushed and apologized. She could only roll her eyes and turn to Harry, having no more words for the doofus she called her friend. Then she realized Harry picking at his own food.

"Harry, are you alright?" she asked, placing a hand upon his shoulder.

He snapped out of his thoughts and nodded at her. "Wha—yeah, I'm fine. It's nothing, really…"

Her eyes softened. Ron had written and explained what Harry had seen in the mirror. "Harry…I'm sorry," she said, and she really meant it. "I can't imagine what you're going through; what you've been going through, but you know that mirror wasn't good for you, especially if Dumbledore had to hide it. Seeing your parents and the rest of your family like that…it would have only torn you apart."

Harry pursed his lips and nodded his head in agreement. "I know that. I just…it was nice. Seeing them and all. To see them actually moving and smiling at me and…it just made me feel like they were really there again. I didn't feel so alone, I guess."

Ron had stopped his incessant eating to pat his back and nod in sympathy, but he was never good at this sort of thing so he was happy when Hermione took charge once again. "Well, you're not alone," she smiled at him, and they both looked at her. "After all, you've got us. I know it's not the same as having your parents, but you do have us. We'll always be here when you need us to be, and quite possibly even when you don't want us to be. You're stuck with us. You won't ever be alone so long as we're around!"

Now Ron chimed in, "Yeah, Harry! You're my best friend. My family is your family. And you too, Hermione," he added, blushing just slightly after saying it.

She beamed. "Thank you, Ron. That means a lot." And she meant it.

Draco Malfoy glared at her and her stupid little friends in disdain, nearly jabbing at his food in silent rage. It wasn't until Blaise Zabini tapped him on the shoulder to point out what he was doing that he took a deep breath and started to actually eat like a normal-tempered human being rather than a raving animal.

"Thanks for that, Zabini," he sighed. "I know I've been acting strange lately."

Blaise Zabini just shrugged and offered a small smile. "No problem, mate. You ever need to talk to someone who isn't after your wealth and whatnot, I'm here for you. Oh, and thank you for the Christmas present you sent me," he added. It wasn't uncommon for Slytherins to give gifts as potential business partners, but the letter the young Malfoy had sent along with his present told Zabini that his gift had been more than sealing a business partnership. "I would have sent a thank you letter except I thought it more appropriate to tell you in person. Did you get the one I sent you?"

Draco nodded and his mood seemed to brighten up. "Yes, I did. Thank you for that, as well. Sorry I didn't send a thank you letter, either. Honestly, I just sort of forgot. I became a bit preoccupied with the holidays, but I really appreciate it." Blaise smirked.

"So, I saw you in Diagon Alley buying a gift with your mother, and I know it wasn't for me because mine had already arrived. Who was it for, if I may ask?"

Draco could see that Blaise was only teasing, but he still blushed in embarrassment. "Just a friend. Well…more of an acquaintance. Okay, sort of in the middle. It's complicated." Sighing, and hating the fact that he wasn't making any sense, he started again. "It's for…a girl. Nothing like that, Zabini," he grinned as Zabini started to make weird googly eyes at him. "No, she's just helped me out a lot during this first half of term. You know how my mother is? Well, she's sort of like that, only way blunter and she doesn't squeal as much as my mother. To be honest, being here hasn't been everything I thought it would be. It's been a bit rough, but she always says the right thing at the right time and she…well…oh, stop looking at me like that!"

Zabini had been wiggling his eyes suggestively at him, and the young blonde couldn't help but laugh. "Don't sweat it, mate," he winked. "You're secret crush is safe with me. You don't even have to tell me her name. Like I said, anytime you need to talk, I'm here."

Draco smiled. "Thanks. I just don't know how to get this stupid present to her without anyone else seeing, and I definitely don't want anyone to know it was from me. How do I go about this?"

Zabini just shrugged and thought for a moment. "Why not just sending it to her the same way you sent it to me? Owl. Though you should probably send one of the loaner owls if you don't want anyone to know it's from you. I'm sure she'll know who it's from, but you could put a letter in it and just not put your name on it."

Draco nodded at this and decided he liked the idea. "Yeah, that's a good plan. Thank you, Zabini."

Zabini merely smiled and said, "It's Blaise, mate." Standing up to head back to the dungeons, he said, "Good luck with your crush, Draco."

Draco smiled a real smile this time. "Thanks…Blaise." Then he furrowed his eyebrows and blushed. "And she's not my crush!" he called, but his friend was long gone, and he had attracted unwanted attention from not only his house table, but from the tables next to him. His eyes met chocolate brown irises filled with amusement, and blushed before he, too, decided it was time to leave.

Hermione Granger watched as he left, almost laughing at the look on his face. He really was horrible at being a Malfoy.

From the corner of his eye, George Weasley furrowed his eyebrows at the silent exchange, wondering what exactly was going on between the two. He would find out, he would.

A package was waiting for Hermione on her bed the moment she stepped foot in the room. Lavender Brown had pointed it out to her, quite curious to see who it was from and Hermione had to struggle not to roll her eyes at her incessant nosiness. Her mother wanted her to be like that? No thank you.

When Lavender had realized she wasn't going to get anything out of her, she decidedly got bored and walked out to mess around with her friends in the common room. And good riddance, Hermione shivered, praying she would never be that desperate for attention.

Now to address the package ordeal, which she was curious about, indeed. She hadn't been expecting anything at all, especially since she had just returned to school earlier this evening. She picked it up, giving it a quick assessment.

"Oh, this is stupid," she groaned to herself. "Just open the darn thing, Hermione." She carefully undid the brown wrapping to reveal a neatly wrapped box. A present? The wrapping was a beautiful emerald green with a silver ribbon placed around it. "What on earth…" The Slytherin colors? "It couldn't possibly…" Her heart began to race thinking about the possibility that it could be from a certain Slytherin boy.

Hands shaking, she carefully undid the pretty wrapping, trying to keep it intact. Finally, she removed whatever had been wrapped within it and tilted her head. It was…a book. A wizarding book? "What is this?" Looking at the title, she read, "The Tales of Beedle the Bard. A storybook?" She was intrigued.

She opened it and scanned to the back of the book and something fell to the floor. She picked it up, seeing that it was an envelope with her name on it, and she smiled. It was definitely from him, the handwriting confirmed it. She took out the letter he'd enclosed and began to read:

Hermione,

Happy Christmas. You said you liked good books, so I thought this would be a fitting gift for you. This book contains the childhood stories we wizarding folk grew up hearing, much like your…what were they called? Fairy tails? What a stupid name, no offense. Everyone knows that fairies don't have tails, and what does that have to do with princes and princesses and evil queens that cut off people's heads? And how morbid your stories seem to be.

Anyway, I grew up with a different rendition of these tales than some of the other wizarding folk thanks to my father, so I thought it more appropriate to give you the normal version instead of the…well…pureblood version. You do like to learn about different cultures after all. You might as well start learning about the culture you were brought into.

Also, I know you said you like simple jewelry. I really wasn't planning to get anything like that, but Mum and I walked into this store after you and I had our little tumble in the snow and I saw something that I thought you might appreciate. Don't think too much of it. It's not like I went searching for the perfect piece for you or anything. Hope you like these. A Malfoy doesn't give presents to just anybody.

Happy Christmas, Hermione.

She tilted her head, confused by that last bit. He hadn't given her…unless…She reached into the envelope once again and pulled out a necklace. Taking a closer look, she noticed the pendant hanging off the chain. It was a simple emerald gem encased in silver, and it was beautiful.

She would thank him the next time they met up, definitely. She folded the emerald wrapping paper neatly and stuck both it and the letter into her trunk before snuggling into bed. It had been an exhausting day.

As she drifted off to sleep, she wondered if Draco had gotten his present yet.

Draco waited until everyone was asleep before pulling out the package he'd found lying on his bed when he got back. Blaise had been the one to point it out to him, but he didn't question it when Draco had decided to hide it until later.

Sneaking to the window so he could use the moonlight to see, he carefully opened the package and saw the brightly colored wrapping paper with various Christmas trees all over and smiled lightly. Of course, she would use this sort of packaging. Undoing the wrapping cautiously, trying to keep it intact, he pulled out a journal and an envelope with his name written on it in her neat handwriting.

Draco,

You said you liked good books, correct? Well, what book could be better than one that lets you put whatever you want in it? It's hard for us to talk whenever we want, especially with us being in rival houses and being of different blood statuses. So whenever you want to get something off your chest, I think it would be a good idea to write it down.

When I was going through a really rough patch in my life, my father gave me my very first journal and told me to write something in it every day. Write one good thing that happened and why it was such a good thing. Write one thing you'd like to improve, or something you'd like to learn about or how to do. Write about anything and everything that comes to mind. Let everything out, and hold nothing back. After all, who else should you trust to be completely honest with other than yourself? And if you're worried about someone reading it, find a good hiding place. You're a Slytherin; I'm sure you can come up with something.

Speaking of hiding places, I enclosed another gift within the envelope—

Draco didn't even finish reading the letter before he reached inside and pulled out a chain of some sort. Oh, it's a necklace. He took a moment to amuse himself with the irony that they had both pretty much given each other the same gift. The necklace had a black chain with a ring hanging in the center. When he looked closer, he saw that engraved on the outside was the word 'strength'. Well, that was sort of cool. But what did that have to do with hiding places? Curious, he returned to the letter in hand.

Speaking of hiding places, I enclosed another gift within the envelope. It's a ring on a black chain with the word 'strength' engraved around it. When you wear it around your neck, that's all it will look like to anyone, so it won't be suspicious. But when you take it off the chain and wear it around your finger, the engraving will change to the word 'compassion'.

I want you to carry this around with you, and when you feel like you're losing yourself I want you to put it on your finger and remember that you're not the cruel sort of person you think you need to be. Be strong when you need to be strong; but be compassionate when you need to be compassionate. I've seen the compassion in you, Draco, and I really like that person. That's the sort of person I can see myself truly appreciating.

Remember who you are in the darkest of times, Draco Malfoy, and I will always be there to help you.

Happy Christmas, Draco…

Your friend

Draco stared, speechless. Then, wordlessly, he placed the necklace, the journal, and the letter in his drawer and put the wrapping paper up before climbing into bed. Tomorrow was going to be a good day. He wondered what she'd thought of the Christmas presents he'd given her, and couldn't wait to talk to her.

A/N: Yay, another chapter done! Hope you all enjoyed this one! Again, please review and give me feedback on what you liked, what you didn't like, what you think I could improve or what you want more of. I'm open ears. So happy that I'm back to actually updating this story! Follow, favorite, do all that great stuff. Thank you for your love and support.