December 1996
(*portion in asterisks is text from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince*)
The winter chill seeped into the cracks of the castle and Hermione was grateful for the two fireplaces in their study room. Lately, she'd taken to curling up on the couch to work on her translations. They only needed about a hundred or so more to go until the project was finished.
"So," Malfoy asked, kicking back in his chair. "Have you asked McLaggen yet?"
"Not yet. I was planning to do it when it got closer. This way no one will tell Ron ahead of time, and he can't cause a scene if he reacts the way I think he will."
Malfoy gave an approving nod.
"If you were in the Slug Club," Hermione said, returning her attention to their project. "Who would you take as your guest? Pansy?"
Malfoy frowned. "Why would I bring Pansy?"
"I thought you two were dating?"
"No," he said, returning to his work. He looked back up and raised a single, inquiring brow. "Why did you think Pansy and I were dating?"
Hermione opened her mouth to speak, then bit her lip. "Well, on the train, when Harry was…." Her voice trailed off as Malfoy scowled.
"When Potter was spying on me." He finished the sentence. "What he saw was Pansy being Pansy. She's very in tune with her friends and their emotions and she likes to comfort her friends. All Potter saw her doing was trying to help me relax."
"Oh," Hermione said, genuinely surprised to hear about this side of Parkinson, or the fact that Malfoy said anything at all about it. He was usually tight-lipped about his personal life.
"So, to answer your original question, no, I wouldn't take Pansy, or anyone else for that matter. I'm a bit too busy to worry about chasing after witches right now."
She stopped herself from asking what she really wanted to ask—what was he doing that was keeping him so busy? Part of her wanted to know and the other part was afraid of the answer.
A few days before Slughorn's Christmas party, Hermione finally asked Cormac to be her guest.
He eagerly agreed.
The look on Ron's face when she mentioned her date to her group of friends at dinner was priceless. She looked forward to describing it to Malfoy when they next met.
Cormac was ever the gentleman as the party started, standing by her side and getting her a drink when they first arrived. He must have gotten bored though because within thirty minutes of their arrival, he started boasting about himself—a trait she was rather annoyed by.
When he guided Hermione under the mistletoe, she figured a quick peck on the cheek would appease her fellow Gryffindor.
What she got instead was a mouthful of Cormac. His lips were on hers and he tried desperately to stick his tongue into her mouth.
Thankfully, she was able to escape and found refuge with Harry and Luna. From that point on, the better plan seemed to try and hide from her date.
When Filch came in dragging Malfoy behind him, she was shocked, but was even more surprised when his eyes found hers for the briefest of seconds before he looked away.
She swore the tips of his ears turned pink, though may have been due to the fact that Filch had grabbed them.
*"I discovered this boy lurking in an upstairs corridor. He claims to have been invited to your party and to have been delayed in setting out. Did you issue him with an invitation?" Filch wheezed.
Malfoy pulled himself free of Filch's grip. "All right, I wasn't invited!" he said angrily. "I was trying to gate crash, happy?"*
As Hermione watched the conversation between Filch, Professor Slughhorn, and Malfoy, she had a feeling she knew what had really happened—Malfoy had been heading to the Room of Requirement to study and got caught by Filch in the process. Of course, she couldn't say anything because it would cause more questions than answers, particularly from Harry.
Slughorn relented and told Malfoy he could stay, but then Professor Snape appeared and pulled him from the room.
Harry excused himself to use the loo, though Hermione wasn't daft—she knew he was going to spy on Malfoy and Professor Snape's conversation.
"I'm going to go," Hermione told Luna, giving the witch a hug. "Tell Harry for me?"
"And Cormac? Should I tell him you're gone as well?"
Hermione gave the witch a grateful smile. "If you wouldn't mind. See you Luna, and Happy Christmas!" she said as she left and quickly went back to Gryffindor tower.
On the train back to London, Hermione was doing her Prefect rounds when she found Draco sitting alone in one of the compartments towards the back. His eyes were closed as he rested his head on the back of the seat. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, Hermione slipped in and closed the door quickly.
"I already told you Weasley, fuck off, I'm not doing rounds," Malfoy grumbled.
Hermione cleared her throat.
"Oh, it's you." He cracked open an eye for a moment, then let it drift shut. "What do you want?"
"I, uh, I just wanted to give you this," she said as she reached into her pocket.
Malfoy opened his eyes and sat up as she pulled out a small box and enlarged it to its full size.
He looked at it hesitantly. "What is it?"
Hermine couldn't help but smile as she offered the gift to him. "It's a present. You know, for Christmas."
"I know that. But why did you get one for me?" he clarified.
Hermione felt her cheeks grow hot under his gaze. "Oh, well, I figured since we spent all that time together working on the Ancient Runes project and studying that I thought, well, I'd get you a little something." She bit her lip. "It's really no big deal."
Malfoy continued to stare at the gift and Hermione chuckled. She sat on the edge of the seat next to him. "Well, are you going to open it?"
Malfoy's eyes glanced over to her and she could have sworn she saw the briefest hint of a smirk before he untied the ribbon on the box.
Inside was a Muggle fountain pen and a Cauldron Cake. Malfoy took out the pen first to inspect it.
"I noticed that you've been using the pens more than the quill lately while we worked on the project," Hermione explained. "So, I got you your own. This one is a fountain pen. It writes most like a quill, but without needing to use an inkwell. You will have to fill it with ink when you run out, but I can show you how to do that when the time comes."
Malfoy gave a nod as he placed the pen in the pocket of his cloak then pulled the treat from the box. He teared into the packaging and took a large bite. "And, well, the Cauldron Cake," she laughed, "because I know you favor them out of all the sweets at Honeydukes."
He finished off the cake then looked over at her. "I didn't get you anything," he said at last.
Hermione shrugged as she stood. "I didn't get you a gift so I could get one in return." She walked over to the compartment door. "Happy Christmas, Malfoy."
"You too," he said with a nod.
As Hermione opened the door, Malfoy said, "Oh, and Granger?" She turned back towards the blond wizard. "Thanks," he said quietly.
Hermione gave him a small smile and a nod, then closed the compartment door and continued on her rounds.
Christmas at the Grangers' was always a quiet affair. Hermione's parents waited until she returned from Hogwarts to trim the tree and decorate the house. They spent evenings watching Christmas movies while drinking hot cocoa and most mornings were spent reading quietly in the living room together, with nothing but the crackling wood in the fireplace for sound. They baked cookies, cakes, and pies and delivered them to neighbors and friends as they caught up with various people, telling them all about the "school for gifted children" that Hermione attended.
Both of her parents had been only children so there wasn't a big, grand gathering of family around the holidays and Hermione found she quite liked it that way.
She loved the Weasleys, but the sheer amount of people at the Burrow made her crave her small family whenever she visited their home.
This year, between Harry speculating about Malfoy being a Death Eater and Ron dating Lavender, Hermione decided she'd spend the entirety of the Christmas break with her own family.
After a day of opening presents, eating too much food, playing board games, and putting together puzzles, Hermione climbed into bed, ready to pass out from exhaustion.
A tapping sound on her bedroom window made her bolt upright in surprise.
She had already received her gifts from Harry, Hagrid, and the Weasleys—all except Ron, of course. Perhaps, he had sent something after all.
She wasn't sure if she even wanted a gift from him, but she knew it would be rude to make the owl sit out and wait, especially if he'd sent Pig, who didn't need to be ignored just because Ron was a prat.
When the large, gray eagle owl flew into her room, Hermione stared at it with confusion.
The only person she knew who had an eagle owl was Malfoy, but surely he hadn't sent her anything.
The owl looked at her with wide, curious eyes as she walked over to him.
"Hello, there," Hermione said softly so as not to scare him off. "Do you have something for me?"
The owl stared at her for a moment more before he lifted its large leg out to her. Attached to it was a tiny package. Hermione untied it and stepped back, just in case he wasn't as friendly as the other owls she'd met.
"Thank you," she said. "Um, if you'll just wait a minute, I have some treats in my nightstand."
The owl watched her as she rounded her bed and took out a treat. She held her breath as she offered it to the owl, hoping he wouldn't nip her fingers like Hedwig and Pig did, for surely she'd lose a finger.
But the owl was gentle, and she watched with awe as he spread his wings and flew out her window.
Her heart began to race as she opened the box, wondering what Malfoy could have sent her.
The first thing she saw was a note on top and she picked it up to read it.
Granger,
I know how you have an affinity for old books so I thought you'd like this.
–DM
PS The fountain pen works well.
Hermione pulled an old book out of the box. Memory Modifying by Mnemone Radford. She gasped when she opened the cover to find it was a first edition. The book had to have been nearly 400 years old!
She'd heard of Mnemone Radford in Charms class of course. Radford was the witch who first developed the Memory Modifying Charm and became the first Ministry of Magic Obliviator.
Hermione wished Malfoy's owl had stayed a bit longer, so she could write him back and thank him for the amazing gift, but instead, she'd have to settle for thanking him once they returned to Hogwarts.
Back in bed, but now wide awake, Hermione opened her new book and began to read well into the night.
A/N: Thank you everyone for all the suggestions of scenes I should get for this fic! I have two in mind and now I just need to find an artist!
This chapter is one of the smaller ones for flashbacks, but I still hope you all enjoyed it! Next weeks chapter may be posted later in the day as that is the day after the movers deliver our stuff so I'll be busy unpacking. Wish me luck!
See you next week! xoxoHufflepuffMommy