Enjoy!

Chapter 11

Hermione and Draco had fallen into a comfortable routine; spending time together at least a few evenings a week, between their studies and their respective Prefect duties, in the Room of Requirement. Since Ron was still finding most of his time occupied by Lavender (or more specifically, by her lips), Hermione tried as often as possible to avoid the grotesqueness that the Gryffindor Common Room had become. She had taken to studying in the library with Luna Lovegood during the free periods that she shared with the petite blonde.

Luna was still just as eccentric as ever but, after spending most of the previous year in her company, Hermione had found that she quite appreciated the younger witch's outlook on most things, 'undiscovered' creatures notwithstanding. Additionally, being a Ravenclaw, Luna was quite dedicated to her studies, as well, and Hermione found her to be an excellent library companion.

In the evenings, after rushing through dinner, she would make her way to the Room of Requirement, usually mumbling vague excuses to Harry about the library to explain her absence. If she were being honest with herself, and she generally tried to be, she had begun to look forward to those stolen moments with Draco.

As for Draco, he had been feeling more and more withdrawn as Christmas continued to draw nearer; he couldn't help but think, almost nonstop, about what would be waiting for him at Malfoy Manor. Although he was anxious to see his mother, to assure himself that she was still safe and healthy and had not suffered too much under the Dark Lord's control, he knew that the Dark Lord would be there as well. The thought utterly terrified him.

He had chosen not to mention his apprehensions to Granger. He didn't want to cause her any unease when she should have been looking forward to enjoying the holidays with her parents, whom she had told him so much about. He knew that she could sense that something was wrong with him, though; could feel her watching him when they sat and read in the evenings, each curled up in their favorites seats before the fireplace, but he continued to pretend that nothing was wrong. Still, the nightmares that had been plaguing him all year grew steadily worse every night, and the bruises under his eyes had grown darker with each passing day.

Two days before they were set to be heading home for the holidays, Granger mentioned in passing while they sat reading that she would be going to Professor Slughorn's Christmas party the next evening. Draco had forgotten that she was a member of the Slug Club; his father's current disgrace meant that he had not warranted an invitation to Slughorn's elite inner circle. Feigning a disinterest he, shockingly, did not feel, he asked her who she would be going with to the party. She shrugged casually before answering.

"I asked Neville if he would go with me. I knew he wanted to go, but he's not a part of the Slug Club and wouldn't have been allowed to attend otherwise, so I invited him to go with me as a friend. Plus," she added, lips curled up in a moue of distaste, "Cormac McLaggen has been pestering me to go with him for weeks now, but he is such an insufferable prat, I would never go with him. It would be absolutely miserable! I'd rather go alone than have to deal with him."

Draco chuckled under his breath as she let loose at McLaggen's expense. He wasn't surprised that she found the self-important git to be not up to her standards. He was, however, a bit surprised by the unexpected sting of jealously that he felt toward Longbottom.

After a moment of thought, he decided that he might just sneak into the party to try and catch a glimpse of Granger all dressed up. After all, although he had never so much as hinted his opinion to anyone else and had barely even acknowledged it to himself before now, she had taken his breath away two years ago when she had shown up at the Yule Ball on the arm of Viktor Krum in a blue dress that had made her look much more grown up than her fifteen years. The thought of seeing her dressed up again brought a ghost of a smile to his lips for the first time in days.

The day of the party, after classes were over, Hermione sat in her room getting ready. When she had received the invitation from Professor Slughorn, she had immediately written to her mother to tell her about the Christmas party and to ask her to send some clothes for the event. Her mother, as usual, had not disappointed. Jean Granger had always had impeccable style, perfectly put together no matter the occasion, and she had chosen the perfect outfit for her only daughter. Hermione had gasped in appreciation when she had opened the parcel and seen the dress, shoes, and earrings laying inside. On the top had been a note, written in Jean's beautifully flowing script with just two words: Have Fun!

Hermione had gushed over the dress and thanked her mother profusely in the letter that she had written back. Now she stood in front the floor-length mirror that she and the rest of her dormmates shared, evaluating herself. The dress that her mother had sent her was a bright, bold red (Jean had never been one to miss an opportunity to sport the shade during the holidays, Hermione remembered with a grin) and matched the lipstick that Hermione had applied to her lips. The dress fell to the tops of her knees and featured beautifully intricate lace sleeves that came to just past the curve of her elbow and continued across the bodice as well, leaving her shoulders completely bare.

The shoes that her mother had sent were dainty, gold, heeled sandals with straps that wound themselves around her ankles and rhinestones on covering the straps the lay across the tops of her feet. They were a perfect complement to the gold earrings that dangled from her ears and hung almost long enough to brush the tops of her bare shoulders.

The only disappointment was her hair, which she had pulled back into a messy pony. She had neither the time nor the inclination to tame it into the sleek style she had managed for the Yule Ball two years prior, but with a shrug she decided it would have to do.

Just then, Parvati Patil came into the room.

"Oh, Hermione!" she said with a gasp. "You look amazing!"

Hermione smiled at the other girl warmly. She had always liked Parvati a lot. Even though she was best friends with Lavender, and Hermione had never been close at all with Lavender, Parvati had always been kind and friendly to her.

"Thank you, Parvati. I was just getting ready to head down."

"Oh," Parvati said, looking a bit unsure, "weren't you going to finish doing your…um…your hair?"

Hermione chucked.

"No, it's going to have to stay that way, I'm afraid. I really don't have time to do much else to it." She watched as the other girl's face brightened and a smile spread across her face.

"I could do it for you, if you'd like? It would only take me a few minutes."

Hermione hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Less than five minutes later, she stared at her reflection in the mirror in awe. Parvati had plaited a large portion of it back away from her face on the right side of her head and down to the base of her neck, then gathered the rest of her hair there and tamed it into an artfully messy bun. She had left a few strands free of the braid and they lay curled in front of Hermione's ear and to the side of her face. Hermione was nearly speechless.

"Thank you so much, Parvati. I didn't know my hair was capable of something like this!" She watched as a blush stained the other girl's cheeks.

"No problem, Hermione. Have fun!" Parvati said, beaming, then turned and headed toward her bed, which sat across from Hermione's. Hermione headed downstairs to meet Neville, who was waiting by the fireplace. She saw Ron sitting in an armchair with Lavender sprawled across his lap and turned her gaze away from the sight, but not before she saw his jaw drop at her appearance. Taking no small amount of satisfaction from the shocked look on his face, she felt a very Draco-esque smirk spread across her red lips.

"Ready, Neville?" she asked as she walked up to him.

"I'm ready. You look really great, Hermione!" Neville said kindly, and she smiled at him as she took his proffered arm, then the two made their way through the entrance behind the Fat Lady's portrait and down to the party.

Draco meandered through the empty corridors, following the sounds of music and laughter coming from the room where Slughorn was hosting his Christmas party. He really didn't care one iota about old Sluggy or his stupid Club. Ever since Granger had told him that she'd be there, however, he hadn't been able to get the thought of catching a glimpse of her out of his mind. Besides, everyone would be so busy dancing and eating that they wouldn't even notice him.

At least, that was his assumption, until a bony hand wrapped around his upper arm. Next thing he knew, Filch, the fucking cantankerous arse, was hauling him in front of old Sluggy himself, yelling that he had caught him trespassing or some such shit.

Draco scrambled, trying to think of a feasible lie to get out of this, a reason why he would be on this side of the school right now. Everyone here knew he hadn't been invited and wasn't a guest of anyone who had been. He finally decided to settle on a version of the truth that probably no one would believe, but that no one would question, either.

"I was gate-crashing, alright?!"

Filch offered gleefully to take him down to detention, but Slughorn decided that he would be allowed to stay. Draco was distracted from their conversation when he glanced to his left and saw Granger. She had moved to the front of the small group of people drawn by the, thankfully sedate, commotion that his and Filch's appearance had caused, and the sight of her nearly took his breath away. She truly was the physical incarnation of her House, all red and gold and bold, and if he had thought she had looked pretty in blue two years ago at the Yule Ball, it was nothing compared to the way she looked tonight. Her appearance screamed elegance and sophistication, like someone who did not need to try to look stunning; it came naturally. All things that he could never say aloud. She was beautiful.

He was pulled from his musings by a firm hand on his shoulder guiding him from the room. He looked up to see the inky black hair and sallow face of his godfather and inwardly groaned. Severus had been trying to find out what he had been working on all year, but Draco was afraid to tell him. He couldn't trust the man…could he?

"Draco, what are you doing? You must know that you need to be more careful than this. If you were to get in trouble enough that Dumbledore decided to expel you from Hogwarts, the Dark Lord would punish you severely," Severus scolded in a whisper, voice low and harsh and nearly inaudible as they walked swiftly down the hallway.

Draco was suddenly furious. Did this man, who had known him since birth, really think he was that stupid? He wouldn't do anything that could lead to him finding himself kicked out of Hogwarts. This was the only place where he was safe from the Dark Lord. He wished, for just one moment, that he could be free to do whatever he pleased without fear of the psychopath that haunted him, following one step behind at all times like Death himself.

"I can help you Draco," Severus said, his voice as close to pleading as Draco had ever heard from the older wizard. "Just…let me help you."

Draco was deaf to his godfather's appeal. He had to be.

"I don't need your help. This is my task."

Draco turned and stormed away. Although he wished he could turn to Severus for help, he simply couldn't be certain whose side the man was on. He was a Death Eater after all. But it wasn't just Draco's life and the life of his mother on the line anymore…it was Granger's life too. That alone made the risk too high to take. He would have to continue to distance himself from everyone to protect her. It was the only path that, for the moment, he could be sure was safe.

The next morning, before everyone headed down to the carriages to make their way to the Hogwarts Express and back home for the holiday break, Hermione walked through the silent corridors. She couldn't think of a single reason why Draco would be in the Room of Requirement, but she hoped that he would be. When she opened the door and saw him there, and his eyes met hers, her heart gave a funny little leap. She smiled at him.

He looked absolutely miserable, but she was happy nonetheless to see him before they headed home. Before she could say anything, however, he spoke.

"You'll be safe, right, Granger?"

He seemed melancholier than he had over the past few weeks: his eyes were a bit duller, his shoulders a bit more slumped, and his voice had a quiet, resigned undertone to it.

"You'll be careful?" he continued. She nodded.

"You too, Draco. Please be safe while you're at home. If you need me, I'm just an owl away."

She looked down at her watch, realizing that it was time to head back to Gryffindor to wrap up the last of her Prefect duties and then escort the first years down to the carriages. Before she left, though, she made a split-second decision. She rushed over to Draco and wrapped her arms around his trim waist, hugging him tightly and laying her head against his chest where she could just make out the steady thump of his heartbeat. She felt him hesitate for just a moment before strong arms wrapped around her and he hugged her back just as tightly. She breathed in the now-familiar scent of him, apples and parchment and fresh, clean earth, and sighed.

"Happy Christmas, Draco."

"Happy Christmas, Granger," he replied softly.

She pulled away and, with a small smile, headed for the door. Before she could pull it open and leave, she heard Draco's voice behind her say:

"You looked incredible last night, Granger. Every inch old Godric's Princess."

She turned back, a dazzling smile lighting up her entire face, and winked at him playfully before opening the door and making her exit, leaving Draco in the room by himself.

Song Inspiration: Stranger in a Room – Sara Hartman

Somewhere Only We Know - Keane

This is by far the longest chapter, and a bit different in tone than others that I've written before, so hopefully you enjoyed it! Next chapter takes place over the holidays.

sbz