Hope you enjoy :) Okay made a few changes, next chapter will follow soon.

"Why do you think they woke up?" Draco asked, watching the last of the souls disappear into the night, the brightness of them leaving little trails of colour on his vision.

"I don't know, maybe they weren't used to visitors at this time." Draco laughed at Hermione's suggestion, clambering to his feet and brushing down the back of his coat that was covered in huge chunks of snow.

"Trust me in the summer, just around this time, this place is heaving." Draco murmured. It was a tradition among young couples to visit the manor and exchange all the saliva they could in one of its many winding corridors or abandoned rooms. He himself had never actually been, preferring the luxury of Boden Hill that Theo had discovered, to the dark and dingy corridors of the Manor, now that he really thought about it though, both were a tad weird.

"Oh yeah, brought someone have you?" Hermione asked, her voice far more clipped than she'd intended. The thought of him at the Manor taking part in such activities with someone else made her stomach hurt. The thought of him doing those things with her on the other hand…

"Well, apart from you, I can't say as I have." His grey eyes glimmered with mischief and she found herself momentarily hypnotised by them. She wondered how he would react if she'd grabbed his hand and tugged him back toward the manor, pressed him against the nearest wall and gave in to all the things she'd been imagining for far too long. Her imagination ran a little flat however when she noticed the state of the Manor.

The pair of them had been so distracted by the lights and each other that they had not noticed the Manor slowly but surely folding in on itself, the tower being the only thing that remained and even that seemed to be swaying precariously.

"Did we do that?" She whispered, and Draco followed her gaze his eyes widening.

"Mural will not be happy about this." He shook his head, grinning slightly when Hermione gave him a panicked look.

"It can't be that bad right, the tower's still standing." Draco chuckled at her rather poor attempts to make herself feel better.

"Come on Granger, how long do you think that thing is really going to stay upright," as if to highlight Draco's point the tower seemed to lurch to the side, definitely leaning towards the ground as if it were desperate to fall. "Besides, it's a bad place remember."

"But the safe, all the artefacts, writings we have nothing to…" Hermione paused, her eyes lighting up as she ran off into the darkness. For one fearful moment, Draco thought she intended to re-enter the manor even as it fell down around her, but he sighed in relief as he watched her small beam of light bounce off around the corner. He shook his head, realising he had little choice but to follow her, they realistically needed to leave the scene of the crime as soon as they possibly could, but he knew Granger; if there was something that she wished to find, she would absolutely do it before they could go anywhere, otherwise he'd never hear the end of it.

"Granger?" He called out in the darkness, swinging his torch about hoping that no one else had come to assess the damage. Knowing Mural, she probably had a magical security system all over the place, alerting her to any goings on within the Manor, right down to a mouse fart. He supposed though, that no one had turned up yet, so either he was being overly paranoid, or Mural had fallen asleep listening to recordings of herself relaying historical facts, which was an actual fact he'd gleaned from the torturous times his mother had insisted he sit in on their conversations. Apparently, the old woman believed that listening to such facts in her own lilting voice, helped her remember them better.

He turned his torch to the furthest edge of the Manor gardens and froze when his beam of light highlighted a figure, who he quickly realised was Hermione. She was on her hands and knees before a great willow, cursing under her breath as she scrabbled in the dirt.

"You okay there, Granger?" He asked, ducking beneath the long finger-like branches that trailed the earth, as though protecting some hidden treasure closer to its trunk.

"It's here I know it, just…the earth is solid." Hermione wined, wincing and pulling her hands back to blow on her red raw fingers, hoping to get some life back into them.

"Shift over, Granger. You desperate to get frostbite?" Hermione gave him a curious look but shifted to the side, her mood darkening when he took out his ancestor's wand.

"You can't…"

"Don't even start," he muttered, ignoring her protests as he cast the spell. Molliterra, to soften the earth or so the book of old magic had recounted. It had told the story of a great wizard who had brought down a mountain upon his enemies using such a spell. He didn't even know whether that was possible, but relieving some soil of frost was definitely possible, and he smiled as he watched the earth begin to change, pulling away soft pieces of dirt till a small bundle was revealed.

"Did you find anything?" Hermione whispered, her head on his shoulder as he pulled the package from its confines, brushing off the dirt and casually handing it to her.

"And you didn't want to use spells." He admonished, watching as she bristled at his words.

"Yes, well, forgive me for not wanting to get you expelled."

"You're forgiven." He muttered, chuckling when she flashed him an angry stare, that was almost immediately forgotten when she opened the package and sucked in a breath. Amidst the folds of materials lay two daggers, small glowing stones embossed on each of their hilts and on top a large, thick, silver ring, with a rope looped through it, as though someone once wore it as a necklace.

"What are these?" She breathed, lifting the ring up by its rope and inspecting it as it turned in the air, gutted that she could find now engraving on its surface.

"Well, these are Edwards." He placed the tip of his finger on the blade of one dagger, grimacing slightly at the cold of the metal. "They look…they look surprisingly good." He admitted, lifting one up and examining the stone.

"You think maybe – well, that's magic isn't it?" Hermione asked, tapping the surface of the glowing rock. She remembered clearly the moment Mina and Edward had shared in the lake, the light from the stone making the water glow as Edward had carried Mina to the shore. She also remembered the way Draco had looked at her afterwards, as though there was so much he wanted, needed from her. Hermione shot him a quick glance, wondering if he were thinking the same thing, torturing himself over the tiniest details of their every encounter, but to her disappointment, he seemed thoroughly taken with the knives.

"They didn't look like this before though," Draco shook his head, handing a dagger over to Hermione so that she could inspect it. "The stones, they're a new addition…well," he grinned at her, "new in the sense that they're hundreds of years old." Hermione grinned at his joke.

"I have no idea what this is for." Hermione sighed, dangling the ring in front of him.

"Could be Mina's, I mean why else would Arden bury it with Edward's knives?"

"But I don't remember Mina having it."

"Perhaps there's more for us to find out. Merlin knows we have no idea what's up the Sensieve's proverbial sleeve." Hermione sighed, nodding her head slowly as she took the ring back, hesitating on a moment before lifting the rope over her head. It sat cold and heavy against her chest, but for some reason, she found its presence almost comforting. She wondered if she should tell Draco, but thought better of it, she had no idea how to explain such a feeling, especially not as it was new and unfathomable even to her.

Draco tucked the daggers into his inside pocket, marvelling at the sheer weight of them. Edwards memories had not been a proper indicator of just how heavy the things were, especially considering that Edward seemed to sling them about as though they weighed absolutely nothing.

"I suppose we should…" Draco paused as he heard a loud rumble, turning with Hermione slowly to look at the Manor. The tower that had been leaning now carried on its journey, falling with a great crash and sending a great cloud of dust and debris up into the air. Hermione knew that she should probably run away from the destruction as fast as possible, but she was stilled by the Manor simply being a pile of stone. She couldn't help but think that this was how it was always supposed to have been, that the Manor had been meant to fall and that Arden, in his last years of life had wished desperately that it would be so.

"It's gone now," Draco commented, as though he knew Hermione's thoughts, as though he could see into the very depths of everything she felt and put words to it all. She let out a sigh that developed into a peal of laughter.

"It really is." Hermione chuckled, ignoring the fact that Draco was staring at her as though she had grown an extra head.

"I think maybe we should go, all that accumulated dust has gone to your head." She followed him as he led them back to where his broomstick had been hidden, her thoughts wandering back to when Draco had shown her what her magic looked like when he'd saved her. She knew she should thank him, should tell him just how wonderful he made her feel, but again the words just wouldn't present themselves, they jumbled about within her but wouldn't form anything remotely coherent.

"What you say, Granger?" Draco had hopped on his broom and was floating a little off the ground, looking at her expectantly.

"Huh?" Hermione had been so lost in her thoughts of not knowing what to say to him, she had completely missed everything that he had said to her.

"How about you fly us back?" He asked slowly, flying towards her as he said it.

"Are you crazy?"

"Not really, no." Draco sat back, crossing his arms and Hermione felt herself a little jealous at how casual he was about his feet not being planted firmly on the ground.

"I can't…you saw…I don't fly okay."

"Well that's what you said before but, you flew here." He gestured around them, and Hermione wanted to slap the smug look of his face.

"Yes but, you were in control you were…"

"And I still will be," he slipped back on the broomstick patting the space in front of him, "come on, Granger, you just took on stone giants and won, you can do this." She wanted to point out that he'd actually taken them on, that he'd saved her life, but she realised he was trying to help her. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to learn how to fly, there was no telling when she would need it.

"You won't let me kill us?" She asked, sitting in front of him and trying not to shiver as he pressed himself behind her.

"Not if I can help it. Relax, you're going to do great." Hermione wasn't so sure, but the timbre of Draco's voice and the way it vibrated in his chest and against her back was strangely soothing and she found that she wasn't as near fainting as she usually was when sitting on a broomstick.

He took both her hands in his and placed them against the handle, holding them tight.

"You control this thing, okay. Wherever you want to go that's where it's going and if it all goes tips up, well I'm here."

"Very comforting." She scoffed at him and he chuckled in her ear in the most delicious way, his warm breath against her skin making it very difficult to concentrate.

"Now, all we need to do is kick off, preferably without hitting any trees."

"How do I not hit the trees?" Hermione panicked, her brain kicking into gear and actively talking her out of whatever crazy thing she'd gotten herself into.

"Don't aim for them." He muttered simply, and Hermione felt like screaming at him, it wasn't that simple.

"Relax, Granger and just kick off."

"It's easy for you to say, you're like a master genius at flying," she complained, deciding she should just bite the bullet and kick off the ground, focusing on her anger and frustration as they lifted off the ground. It was only when they were quite a way up that she realised that she'd actually done it.

"Fast learner, Granger," Draco commented, his hands leaving hers to rest on her hips. The action was both sweet and thoroughly distracting. Sweet, because it was obvious he trusted her to fly and distracting because his hands were warm and big and holding her and she had to fight the urge to sink back into him.

"Yes well, I am a genius." Draco chuckled at her.

"That you are, modest too so I hear." Hermione turned her head back to him, smiling at him warmly.

"You're a good teacher too." His cheeks had gone bright red and she wasn't sure if it was from the cold or from what she had said to him, "you just infuriate people to the point that they forget what they are doing."

"Well, it's an unusual method, but it does seem to work."

Hermione smiled, focusing on the warmth of him, how safe she felt with his hands gently resting on her hips, how much fun it was to poke fun at one another. For one in her life, she found herself wishing that the flight would not come to an end, that they would stay far above the clouds together.

The flight, however, did come to an end and Hermione felt sadness settling on her shoulders. The church clock told her it was eleven and she should probably get back. Ginny hadn't summoned her back, but she knew the red-head would be worrying about her. She knew all this and yet she turned to Draco and realised that she didn't want to leave him just yet. This time with him was so nice, he was just so kind and so like she knew that he could be that she wished she could stop time and keep them both there.

"Do you want to come for a drink?" Hermione quickly asked, biting her bottom lip when he turned to her, eyes wide.

"What?" He tipped his head as though he thought he'd misheard.

"Well, my parents and I we have this Christmas tradition where we got to the tall man and…well it is Christmas Eve and – well did you want to come."

Draco didn't know what to do with himself. Hermione Granger was asking him out for a drink, and he was physically having to stop himself doing the weird little dance that Theo always did when he got his own way.

"Yeah er…sure. I'll just…" He turned to survey the area, noticing a small archway that acted as an entrance to the graveyard. Casually he wandered over and placed his broomstick under the arch and headed back towards her, digging his hands into his pockets.

"Well, Granger, lead the way."

Mr Gregory, as far back as Hermione could remember, was famous for his Christmas parties, taking the time of year and everything to do with it, very seriously. The tall man bedecked the outside of his pub in as many lights as was realistically viable, without shorting out the entire village, wrapped tinsel round bannisters, beams chair and table legs and sometimes even patrons that had fallen into a drunken stupor and had not moved for a while. He hung baubles and boughs of holly off every available hook and positioned sprigs of mistletoe over doorways and tables, encouraging all patrons to get into the Christmas Spirit and partake in some good old traditions. It was a village-wide knowledge that on Christmas Eve, The Tall Man was the place to be.

Hermione had always enjoyed spending her Christmases there with her family, the only time of the year when the pub didn't petrify her. They would take a board game and her father would throw back pints of ale with abandon till his cheeks glowed and the room was filled with his hearty laugh. Her mother would sip gin and tonics and pull Hermione up to the dance floor, twirling her around to all the Christmas hits, singing them thoroughly out of tune and at the top of her lungs.

Mr Gregory had always hired the same band every year – 'Santa's Little Helpers – and though the band members seemed on constant rotation – so much so that there was no a single original member that remained – they always seemed to be pretty good. There had been one potentially disastrous year when the head elf (or lead singer) had got stupendously drunk and flopped into the crowd mid-set. The locals, however, having heard the collection of songs in the same order for some good many years, jumped to the rescue and took turn yodelling through each well-known number.

Hermione smiled to herself, glancing quickly at Draco's profile, she wondered whether he would actually enjoy it, she supposed that an evening spent at a small pokey pub in the middle of a village was hardly how Malfoy's usually celebrated their Christmases, but she wondered whether that would actually matter to him. She squashed all her worries, opening the door to the pub and smiling to herself at the familiar smell and din that greeted her. The fragrance of mulled wine and roasted chestnuts hung heavy on the air, brief notes of the ale that her father like to knock back, which she knew was a village favourite. Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas was being played, the notes cutting through conversation, laughter and the various off-key renditions of the same song, that people were singing to each other, arms slung over shoulders. Santa's Little Helpers had opted for two head elves, a man and a woman harmonising beautifully, matching green hats with giant elf ears sewn to the side of them.

Hermione moved quickly through the crowd toward the bar, glancing back every few seconds to check that Draco was still with her. She didn't know why she was worrying so much, Malfoy had been to a pub before now, heck she'd seen him in the Newts Tail and that was somewhat of a dive compared to Mr Gregory's place. She guessed though she had never seen how muggles acted during Christmas and from the look on his face, witnessing the spectacle was a real eye-opener.

Hermione finally made it to the bar, placing her elbows on the sticky dark wood and smiling up at Mr Gregory who had a Santa's hat sitting lopsidedly on his head. From the general glazed look in his eyes, Hermione guessed that he had been supping quite a lot of the mulled wine himself. It was put on every year and hardly anyone drank it, except of course for Mr Gregory.

"Ah, Hermione Granger if my memory serves me correct." Mr Gregory pointed at her and she smiled, feeling a glowing sort of warmth rather than the usual nerves she suffered from in his presence, "what can I get for you and your friend." Mr Gregory had turned his attention to Draco who was still glancing around the room, a look of mild amusement on his face as two men stumbled past, their arms slung around each other, tinsel wrapped around both of their heads. He thought that in actual fact the pub looked a little like the Slytherin Common room, right after the Slytherin games.

"Er…two pints of your finest ale?" She asked sweetly. Mr Gregory gave her a smile, a glint of mischief in his eyes as he poured their drinks, plopping it them down in front of her and waving away her attempt at giving him any money.

"Tis Christmas, enjoy," Hermione asked for a bowl of roasted chestnuts and insisted on paying for these, pressing the money into Mr Gregory's large palm with a determined look on her face. The large man laughed amusedly, and Draco cut in, giving Hermione a withering glance.

"I'd do as she says, she's not going to back down." Hermione knew that he was making fun but the fact that he knew that about her made her feel a little happy. She turned away from the bar lifting her head a little with pride and weaved her way through around the tables and other patrons till she found a cosy two-seater up the corner. Such tables were never really used at that time as many of the people that lived nearby came in large groups, walking in together and later stumbling home together.

"Well, this is nice," Draco commented, surveying the room before meeting Hermione's eyes, not a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

"You think?" She asked, nervously taking a sip of her ale, hastily wiping her top lip to remove the froth.

"Yeah, it's…" He seemed to struggle to find the right word, lifting his glass up to hover in front of his lips, "it reminds me of the Slytherin parties." He took a sip of his drink, eyes lighting up at the taste, nodding his head in appreciation. Hermione watched as he licked his top lip, removing the froth that had gathered there, it was distracting, to say the least. She quickly cleared her throat and leant forward.

"You guys have parties?"

"Every now and again. Most of us hate each other but, well sometimes you can get us in the same room and we can have a good time." Hermione smirked, thinking about the Gryffindor common room. The number of arguments and bitching that had gone on in there was unbelievable. She realised that things like that were less to do with the houses they were sorted into and more just to do with people. How many times had she pondered over who Lavender Brown had to bribe in order to be sorted into Gryffindor?

"You come here with your parents?" Draco asked, he was getting through his pint quite quickly and Hermione quickly took a sip of her own.

"Every year usually. We take it in turns to pick a board game then we bring it here and play it. It's nice really, sometimes people join in and it all gets a bit messy, but it's always fun." Hermione blushed when she realised that Draco was staring at her, an unfathomable emotion in his grey eyes. He seemed to catch himself, coughing briefly and scratching the back of his head, averting his gaze to a woman who was trying her best to dance in obscenely high heels.

"So, what about you?" Hermione asked, gripping her pint glass in both hands, the Christmas lights above their heads shimmering in the amber liquid.

"What about me?'

"What do you have planned for Christmas?"

"Oh, I'd say the usual, Mom will invite everyone who's anyone around our house and it will all be very civilised and ultimately boring." He muttered, wiping the condensation off his glass with his finger.

"Will…will Daphne be there?" Hermione asked, hoping that her question didn't sound obvious, but knowing all too well that it probably did.

"I'd imagine so, her mother and mine are really good friends. They like to drink sherry and talk about 'important' things." Hermione nodded slowly not really sure she wanted to hear the answer to the next question but asking it anyway.

"Isn't Daphne angry that you aren't spending Christmas Eve with her?" Draco's brow furrowed.

"Why?"

"Well, admittedly I don't know much about relationships, but don't you usually spend the holidays together?" Draco smirked at her question.

"I suppose, but I'm here aren't I." Hermione supposed it was a valid answer, but for some reason, it still annoyed her. she couldn't understand why he would be reluctant to talk about something that she guessed must be important to him, "besides, she broke up with me."

Hermione thought she must have misheard, spluttering over her ale and looking at him wide-eyed.

"What?" Hermione swallowed, feeling somewhat guilty about the swell of hope within her.

"We broke up." Draco took another sip, tapping his fingers on the wood of the table along with 'Santa's Little Helpers' rendition of jingle bells.

"But why?"

"She likes someone else." Draco shrugged, and Hermione searched his face for any sign of sadness. She guessed that he must have been hiding it behind his usual mask of indifference as she couldn't detect anything.

"Oh Malfoy, I'm so sorry," Hermione mumbled, tipping her head to the side and fighting back the urge to reach across and hold his hand in hers.

"Don't be, me and Daphne we-we wouldn't have worked anyway."

"Don't say that." Hermione admonished, not wholly believing it herself.

"Why not, it's true."

A rather drunk couple stumbled over to their table, the woman pausing when she saw them, leaning across their table and grinning at them both.

"Awww, Trev this is so sweet, they are on a date." She pointed a red fingernail at each of them in turn and Hermione blushed, opening her mouth to correct her, but before she could the man swooped in, a grin on his round face.

"Leave them Mel, its Christmas."

"But its soooo sweet and look they're under the mistletoe." Hermione followed the woman's gaze her eyes widening in horror when she noticed that there was in fact mistletoe above their heads. Both she and Draco looked at each other and instantly looked away. Mel had slung her arm over Draco's shoulder, grinning across at Hermione.

"You have to kiss her, it's tradition."

"Mel, come on, leave the kids alone." Trev, as he was referred to, mercifully saved them by dragging Mel away, waving a glass of wine under her nose as a distraction that blessedly seemed to work.

They were both silent for a while refusing to look at each other. Hermione felt a little better that she wasn't the only was who was bright red, Draco's cheeks had taken on a pink hue as he looked across at her and cleared his throat.

"It's a stupid tradition." Hermione nodded but couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. She mentally scoffed at herself, wondering what she'd actually imagined would happen; that he of all people would lean across and kiss her and finally realise that all this time he had secretly liked her.

"Yeah, stupid." Hermione clarified, taking another sip of her drink, watching as Draco drained his own and stood.

"You want another one, Granger?" She nodded at him, fishing out some money and handing it to him.

"No Granger, I've got this." He muttered, quickly shoving it back in her hands and disappearing off to the bar before she could remind him that muggle pubs didn't take Galleons. She figured it wouldn't matter too much though, Mr Gregory was obviously apart of the magical world and she guessed he would wave off the money anyway, being wonderfully sozzled and feeling particularly generous given the time of year.

Draco was back in no time, placing a pint in front of her and quickly taking a large gulp of his own. He seemed nervous and she wondered if it was being around lots of muggles. Before she could follow the line of questioning the band struck up again and she grinned.

"Oh, I love this song." She beamed, turning in her seat to look at the corner where the band were tucked away. "It was Christmas eve, babe."

"Granger what are you doing?"

"In the drunk tank. Singing, what's it sound like?" She began swaying along with the music, turning to Draco a glint in her eye that made him gulp.

"What?"

"Dance with me?"

"Er no." Draco looked away and took another long gulp of ale, hoping that the matter was closed.

"Come on, it's Christmas."

"Doesn't matter the time of year, I don't dance." The music got louder, and Hermione squirmed in her seat. It was her favourite song and there was no way she wasn't going to dance to it.

"Please?" She all but begged and Draco sighed, plonking his pint down loudly and standing.

"Fine, but you tell anyone about this…"

"I know, hexes will ensue, don't worry your secret is safe with me." She chirped, pulling him towards the dance floor, twirling to the music.

He moved surprisingly well which she found shocking, expecting his lack of enthusiasm to be more to do with his inability to dance. He chuckled at her as she sang the words at him.

"You're a bum, you're a punk, you're an old slut on junk."

"Wow, Granger are you just finding an excuse to insult me?"

"They're the words."

"Sure, they are."

"Happy Christmas, your arse I pray God it's our last." Draco dragged her closer, his arms around her waist, palm splayed on her lower back as he grinned at her. "The boys of the NYPD choir, still singing 'Galway Bay'."

"And the bells are ringing out for Christmas Day." His singing was more like a low rumble, but it made her giddy with happiness.

"Can't make it all alone, I've built my dreams around you." Hermione sang it while looking right into Draco's eyes, realising that slowly but surely she was building all her dreams around their adventures, around their time together. As she swayed to the rest of the song she realised that she had never quite felt that way about Harry or Ron and at that moment she didn't want to. It was for her and Draco and always would be.

The walk back to the Graveyard was a slow one with Draco relieving the funniest moments of the evening, doing a spookily accurate impression of Trev's drunk dancing. Eventually, their laughter died, and he smiled down at her, his grey eyes looking the tiniest bit silver.

"Thanks for inviting me, Granger, it was surprisingly fun."

"Surprisingly?" Hermione exclaimed in mock hurt.

"Well, you know I haven't had the best opinion of muggles over the years, but I've got to say, they know how to celebrate."

"Yes, some would argue that they take it too far."

"Pshhh, those types of people wouldn't know fun if it hit them round their head."

"I can't help but agree," Hermione muttered, thinking that she'd possibly had one too many pints, feeling a little giddy in the cool air. "That's twice I've got drunk with you." She said it to herself more so than him, but Draco laughed loudly, the sound echoing in the stillness of the night.

"Well, I am a bad influence."

Hermione would have always believed that the statement was true, but he had encouraged her to do things she never would have imagined herself doing, especially flying.

"You're an influence, I'll give you that, the jury's still out on whether it's bad or not."

"Well, you'll have to let me know how that hearing goes."

"You'll be the first," Hermione assured him, stopping beneath the arch, leaning back against the wood. Draco dug his hands in his pockets and kicked at the snow beneath his feet before speaking.

"I've erm…I've actually got you something."

"What?" Hermione gasped, berating herself for not getting him anything.

"Well I got you something for Christmas, you know, it's tradition to give presents this time of year."

"Ugh I know, don't remind me."

"You okay there, Granger?"

"Yes, it's just I didn't get you anything." Hermione covered her face with her hands groaning into them. She'd been so worried about making sure she wasn't caught sneaking out that she'd completely forgotten to buy anything for him.

"Well, I will remind you of your lack of thought at every given opportunity," Draco commented drily, and Hermione groaned again. "Seriously, Granger it's fine. Let's just call us even for Easter." Hermione peeked at him from over the top of her fingers.

"Really?"

"Yeah now, will you take this?" He held out a small package wrapped rather haphazardly in red paper. Hermione took it gently, opening it slowly. It was a book and she gasped when she opened the cover and Hogwarts a History was written in cursive writing.

"It's er…one of the original drafts, it has the authors notes all the way through it." Hermione flicked through the pages opening and closing her mouth as she saw the small neat notes that the author had made, bits that hadn't even made it into the actual book. "I thought I'd seen something like it in our library, and well I was right." Hermione could tell he was nervous and that she should probably say something, but words were failing her.

She went to look up, but something fell into her hands. The owl glinted gold as it dangled on the end of its chain and Hermione gasped again.

"This is, this is my necklace."

"I found it, the day after we fell down, you know…I thought about giving it back, but it never seemed, I don't know, right I guess." He shrugged, and Hermione looked up at him, tears glimmering in her eyes.

"Malfoy these are, you have seriously upscaled the gift giving." She chuckled, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him.

"Yeah well, we Malfoy's don't do things by half." Hermione pulled away and looked down at the presents again, shaking her head.

"Honestly, these are…thank you."

"You are very welcome, Granger." They were silent for a while and then Draco cleared his throat. "I should, I should probably get going." Hermione was disappointed, but she realised he was probably right, it was getting late and she needed to get back to Grimmauld Place. "I had fun toni..." He commented, freezing when he looked up above them.

"What's the matter?" Hermione followed his gaze and her breath caught in the back of her throat. There was another sprig of mistletoe dangling between them. Hermione gulped looking at Draco uncomfortably, choosing to mirror his words.

"It's just a stupid tradition." She chuckled, hoping that they could laugh it off and then she could sink into the despair of liking someone who had no interest in her.

"Yeah," he was looking at her seriously leaning a little closer, "stupid." The kiss was gentle, his hands remaining by his side as his lips covered hers, lingering there for a few moments before he pulled away.

"Merry Christmas, Granger." The words were breathed across her lips, making them tingle and she desperately willed him to kiss her again, her heart sinking when he reached for his broomstick, stepping away from her. She shook her head moving to follow him, she wouldn't let it end that way. As if reading her thoughts he turned, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"There was that Mistletoe at the pub, so I figure by that recko…" Hermione didn't give him chance to finish, tugging on the lapels of his coat and bringing his lips to hers. The broomstick thudded to the ground and Hermione was vaguely aware of the crunch of their feet in the snow as he backed her up and pressed her against the archway, tipping his head and opening his mouth against hers. Her fingers clutched at his hair that was so wonderfully soft as she held him to her, hoping that this was real, hoping that it wasn't some cruel trick.

"This - this one's you?" She muttered, completely breathless, his lips inches from hers pulling into a small smile.

"It's always been me." He was searching her eyes, the tip of his nose bumping against hers gently.

"What do you…"

"Shut up, Granger." He murmured and for once she listened to him because he was kissing her again and she absolutely didn't want it to stop, silently thanking God for stupid traditions.