Saturday, December 19, 1998
"Mum is going to throttle me for not forcing you onto the train. You know that, right?"
Hermione rolled her eyes, smiling, "Gin, I'll miss you all as well. I just need some space this Christmas, you know? After everything…I need some time to myself."
The redhaired witch nodded, "I understand." She said quietly before hugging Hermione goodbye. "I'll see you when I return. Oh! Here's your Christmas gift!" She smirked, handing over a small, wrapped parcel before quickly getting on the train with Luna and Neville.
Hermione sighed, looking down at the gift. She watched as The Hogwarts Express chugged along, leaving her alone at Hogsmeade Station.
She slipped the gift into the pocket of her coat and began to stroll back to the castle, enjoying the near silence that surrounded her as snow began to drift down from the clouds above. She pulled her coat tighter around her body as her boots crunched through the snow that layered the path to the castle.
As she neared the castle, she spotted a few other students who had also stayed at Hogwarts for the holidays. They were laughing as they played a magical version of a snowball fight.
Walking past them, the brunette witch smiled and went inside the castle, slowly making her way to the 8th Year Dormitories. It wasn't a long walk, but it was nearly as quiet as her stroll from Hogsmeade Station.
When she entered the 8th Year Common Room, she expected to find it empty. She was surprised however to find Draco Malfoy sitting in one of the lounge chairs beside the large, crackling fireplace, reading a book.
Upon hearing her enter, the Slytherin wizard looked up from his tome and met her toffee eyes. His grey orbs held the same surprise that she felt.
"Granger?" He said, setting his open book down on the table beside him. "I hadn't realized that you would be staying here for the holidays. I figured you'd be with the Weasley family and Potter."
She swallowed and nodded, taking note of his more casual green jumper and black jean trousers as she walked over.
"Yeah. I chose to stay." she replied, pulling off her coat and laying it across the back of a chair. "I didn't really want to witness the cheerful, happy family dynamic of the Weasley holiday celebrations."
Draco nodded, "I can understand that." He said with a knowing look in his slate eyes.
She sat down in the chair near him, exhaling. "How about you? Why are you here rather than at your home for the next few weeks?"
With a quiet sigh, the wizard replied, "Malfoy Manor isn't, nor has it ever been the sort of place anyone would want to spend the holidays."
Hermione let out a quiet huff, unable to hide her complete and utter dislike for the place.
Draco looked over at her with a knowing look and nodded, "I'm sure you agree."
The brunette nodded, but simply said, "So, instead, you decided to stay here for the holidays? All alone?"
"Well clearly I'm not alone." He replied with a slight smirk.
She smiled, rolling her eyes, and nodded, "Yeah. Well, I was going to head to The Great Hall for lunch. Care to join me?"
A small, yet completely genuine smile formed on his face, surprising her.
He nodded, standing up. "Sure."
Together, the pair of them walked out of the 8th Year Common Room and began making their way toward The Great Hall.
When they arrived in the nearly empty Hall, they glanced at each other before Hermione asked him if he'd care to join her at the Gryffindor table.
The wizard raised his brow in surprise before shrugging, "Erm, sure. So long as you think it's okay."
Nodding, the witch grinned, "Of course it is."
They were halfway through lunch when Headmistress McGonagall walked over to them and asked to speak with Draco. He nodded, though he was obviously confused, and stood up, walking away with the Professor.
When Hermione finished eating, she left The Great Hall and walked back to the Common Room alone.
She went up to her dormitory and grabbed a quill, inkwell, and her wax stamp as well as a few pieces of parchment and an envelope. When she returned to the Common Room, it was still empty.
The brunette walked over and sat down at one of the several tables that were scattered throughout the room. Tapping the end of her quill on her bottom lip, she thought about what to say to Viktor and how exactly to word it.
Their relationship had been on and off since the Yule Ball. After the war, he had come to her home and explained that he was in love with her and wanted to be with her. With all the confusing and overwhelming emotions swarming through her, she had agreed to it at once and they had spent most of the summer in bed together, simply grateful to be alive.
Looking back on it all, she knew it had been a massive mistake. Viktor had been nothing more than a bandage on a wound that needed much more care. The sort of care that Viktor Krum couldn't offer her.
How could she have been so dim?
Hermione groaned frustratedly, running her hand through her hair, feeling stressed and angry…mostly with herself.
"Are you all right?"
She looked over, shocked that Draco had entered the Common Room without her hearing him.
Swallowing, she nodded, "I'm fine." She replied.
He furrowed his brow but nodded, sitting back down in the chair he had occupied earlier.
Hermione looked over at Malfoy for a moment, lost in her own thoughts before turning back to the parchment in front of her. She began to write, explaining her true feelings, worries and concerns about their relationship.
When she finished, she signed the bottom and folded the letter before slipping it into the envelope. She jotted down his name and address. With a quiet exhale she sealed the envelope with some purple wax and her wax stamp which had an elegant 'H' in it.
"I've got to take a letter to the Owlery." She told Malfoy while pulling her coat on.
He nodded, glancing at the letter in her hand before saying, "I'll be here. I'm actually about to get out a bottle of Firewhisky. Care for a glass?"
She nodded, exhaling, "When I get back…absolutely."
Hermione headed out of the Common Room and made her way to the Owlery. It didn't take long for her to give the letter to her cinnamon-colored Barn Owl named Cassia and watch the bird fly off in the snowy sky.
She made her way back to the Common Room, finding Draco pouring two glasses of Firewhisky. She slipped off her coat and sat down in the lounge chair near him.
They remained silent for a while until Draco cleared his throat and spoke up, "You've been having a good school year so far?"
She nodded, "Yeah. Though, it has been…different without Harry and Ron here and after…after everything that happened."
He nodded in understanding, taking a sip before letting out a slow exhale, "Yeah." He muttered.
"How about you?" She asked, looking over at the wizard. "Has everyone been treating you all right?"
He shrugged. "There's the occasional person who tries to curse me in the corridors but other than that, it's been all right." He said before taking another sip.
"I'm sorry." She said quietly before taking a sip of her drink.
He furrowed his brow. "Why?" He asked bluntly. "I was dreadful to you. More dreadful to you than to anyone else. Why would you be sorry about people treating me like shite?"
She looked at him pointedly, still holding her glass of the amber liquid, "You know why."
He blinked and looked away from her, nodding, "Well, Granger, all I did was block a curse during the battle. It wasn't anything to be all that proud of."
The brunette set her glass down and turned toward him. "Draco…" She said, surprising him by using his first name. "You saved my life, and you bloody-well know it." She said in a biting tone. "Don't act as if you don't."
Malfoy swallowed, and looked down at his lap, shaking his head, "You didn't deserve to die. If I could have saved everyone that day, I would have, but it was by sheer happenstance that I was there…in that moment."
She nodded, biting her bottom lip before asking, "Was it dreadful?" she sighed, "It must have been."
He raised his brow in question.
"When the curse bounced off your protection shield and killed him instead." She said. "I mean, yes, he was the one that was trying to kill me, but he was also one of your closest friends. It's odd for me to say this, but I am sorry that you lost him that day."
Draco jutted his jaw to the side in thought before he nodded, "Blaise knew better than to do such a thing. I haven't got a clue why he was trying to kill you, but the right person lived, Granger. Don't feel bad about it."
She was stunned by his words. Unsure of how to respond so she simply said, "Thank you." and picked up her glass once more, taking a sip.
He nodded and took a larger sip of his own drink.
They both remained silent for a while before Hermione asked, "So, is your mum okay with you not going home for Christmas?"
He huffed, "She's likely grateful to not have to bother with getting me a gift or speaking to me as if she cares at all. With me not there, she can drink all the wine she wants and not feel as if she needs to act sober."
The brunette frowned, "I'm sorry that your parents make you feel that way. It's not right." She said quietly.
Shaking his head, Malfoy replied, "It's fine. Once I graduate, I'll be able to officially move out of Malfoy Manor and get my own place. I have a bit of money saved up, though not much, but I'll get a job. I've just got to escape that bloody place as soon as possible." He said before looking over at her. "What about you, Granger? After graduation, what are your plans?"
She shook her head, "I'm not so sure anymore. If you had asked me two years ago, I'd have said that I would get a job or an internship at the Ministry of Magic. Now though…well, I have a four-bedroom house all to myself because my parents left it to me in their Wills. I have a decent sum of money because I sold their Dentistry practice and I have this strange desire to take a year or two off and perhaps…travel a bit or pick up a hobby."
"Bloody hell, Granger. You're practically an entirely different person than before the war." He said, looking over at her with a strange expression.
"Losing loved ones and witnessing the terrors we have can do that. I know you understand because you too are nothing like you were before the war." She replied pointedly, looking at him with a raised brow.
He huffed and nodded, taking a sip of his Firewhisky.
"Besides escaping Malfoy Manor, what do you want to do after graduation?" Hermione asked. "I mean, if you could choose your dream job, what would it be?"
The blond wizard exhaled and thought for a moment before saying, "You know what's strange…no one has ever asked me that before. And honestly, I never thought I'd live long enough for it to be a factor in my life."
"And yet, here you are." She smirked.
He huffed and nodded, taking another sip while considering her question, "If I could do anything with my life…any job…anything…" he blushed, shaking his head. "You'll laugh."
"I won't." She said honestly.
With a sigh, he said, "I'd want to learn to do some sort of artistic skill. Non-magical."
"Really?" She said before asking, "Like painting or sculpting?"
He nodded, "Yeah." He exhaled. "Something completely different from the world I've grown up in."
She smiled and nodded, "I think that's brilliant."
A slight tinge graced his cheeks as he took another sip of her Firewhisky.
She licked her lips, "It's nearly time for dinner."
"To be honest, I'm not all that hungry." He said quietly, rolling the glass between his palms.
Nodding, the witch replied, "Me neither."
There was a long moment of silence before Draco looked over at the brunette quizzically and asked, "Do you know how to play Wizards Chess?"
She shook her head, "I never thought it was worth the time to learn. Why?"
He smirked.
An hour later they were sitting across from one another, laughing as Draco's queen destroyed Hermione's king for the third game in a row.
"Okay, well, you're getting better." He grinned as the board reset itself once more.
"Draco, you've beat every single time. How am I possibly getting any better?" She laughed.
"Well, you're destroying more of my pieces each time, and you're getting sneakier with your moves. Trust me. You're getting better." He said honestly, looking at her.
She smiled and nodded, "Okay. If you say so."
He grinned.
They spent most of the evening playing Wizards Chess until it was nearly midnight and Hermione decided to go to bed.
"I'll see you in the morning. Night Draco." She said as she grabbed her coat and walked over to the staircase that led up to the girl's dormitories.
"Goodnight Hermione." He said, making her smile as she ascended the stairs to her dormitory, knowing he was watching her.
When she arrived in her dorm, she tossed her coat over onto the lounge chair in the corner before hearing a buzzing sound.
Furrowing her brow, Hermione walked over and pulled out the small, wrapped parcel Ginny had given her. She unwrapped it, discovering a gift that she hadn't expected and wasn't quite sure she wanted. Clearly, though, Ginny felt that she needed a vibrator.
"Oh Merlin." She muttered before noticing the small note in the box.
Mione,
I know what you're thinking, but if you're serious about ending it with Krum, you'll need something to assist you at night. I have one just like this and it's remarkable!
Just enjoy!
Happy Christmas!
Love,
Gin
"Happy Christmas…" Hermione muttered, examining the gift.