Hermione fought the overwhelming urge to giggle as Malfoy sputtered, wiping the offending snow from his face. His eyes showed his obvious rage and his jaw was set firmly. She wasn’t scared. Malfoy was all bark and no bite, no matter how hard he tried to prove otherwise.
“Granger! Why I ought to “ ” he started to walk towards her, pointing menacingly.
“What are you going to do? Hex me?” Hermione retorted with an air of innocence. Malfoy paused, seemingly musing over his options, and then looked around him. He smirked, and looked up at Hermione.
“Oh you’re so dead, Granger,” his eyes sparkling as he said this. Then, within an instant, he scooped up a handful of snow and lobbed it towards Hermione.
It missed by about three feet.
“Is that the best you can do?” she chuckled, and proceeded to throw another snowball at him. This one caught him square in the chest. Malfoy glared in her direction and heaved another one her way. His aim was much better this time and it hit her on her shoulder. A silent moment passed and Malfoy smiled smugly at his handiwork.
“Not bad.”
“Thanks.”
The pair locked eyes and burst out laughing. They darted around the grounds, throwing snowballs at each other in between fits of mirth. To any outsider it would have been an adorable moment. To any Hogwarts student or professor it would have been the strangest thing they had ever seen.
While this continued, Hermione wondered if this was really happening. Am I really having fun with Malfoy? Draco Malfoy? As soon as her thoughts ended, Malfoy stopped abruptly. The merriment on his face quickly flashed through an emotion that Hermione didn’t catch and then settled on stoniness.
“I’m going inside.”
Hermione stood there, confused as to why their fun ended so suddenly. Malfoy stalked toward the castle doors and clutched his cloak tighter around him. Turning around he shouted, “Oy, Granger, are you coming or are you going to stand there and freeze?”
She hurried to catch up to him and walked through the doors into a warm Hogwarts. Her day was already becoming quite interesting, and she could only wonder what the rest of it would bring.
As light as a shadow, she stole silently from tree to tree. Peering around a trunk, she looked in disgust at the sight before her. Draco was laughing and playing with this girl “ and she was a Mudblood for Merlin’s sake!
This won’t sit well with the others…no way in Hell will it sit well with them.
She watched on as Draco suddenly stopped and claimed that he was going inside. He must’ve caught himself having too much fun with the Mudblood. She saw the girl look confused “ or was it hurt? “ as he hiked through the snow back to the castle. She snorted at the girl; who was she to think that a Malfoy would actually want to run around in the snow with her? But then, Draco called for her to follow. He was certainly being peculiar….
She pressed herself against the trunk when Draco searched the forest one last time with his eyes before entering. Thankful that she was dark and wouldn’t be easy to spot, she waited a moment before peeking back around.
Cursing her allies, she wished that she could follow them now instead of waiting. Though, either way, he would be caught unawares.
That boy won’t have a clue what hit him…. Grinning devilishly, she stole off into the depths of the forest.
Draco cursed himself as he strode towards the castle. Dammit! Why did I do that? Malfoys don’t play in the snow. I had just said that! I can’t look weak. And yes we’re being civil, but she’s already seen enough. He hoped that she hadn’t seen the sudden worry on his face, even though the emotion was only present for a moment. Malfoys didn’t worry. And they don’t play in the snow, he chided himself once more.
Continuing to mutter incoherently to himself, he waited as Hermione ambled inside. Drying his shoes and cloak, he started off down the corridor.
“Where are we going, Malfoy?” her voice sounded sincerely curious and he didn’t hesitate to respond.
“The library.”
He didn’t need to look at her to see the happiness upon her features. He could practically feel the bright smile that graced her lips and he could sense the twinkle in her eye. Hermione Granger adored books; that was common knowledge. He wasn’t doing this for her, however. Draco liked the peacefulness of the library. This is for me, he told himself. For me. Not her.
Entering the vast room, Draco walked straight to the back between two book shelves. Settling himself down at a table, he propped his feet up and leaned back in his seat. Sunlight from a nearby window washed over his face and a small smile tugged at his lips. Closing his eyes, he breathed in the peace that the library offered. His worry began to slip away and the minutes slowly ticked on.
After a while he realized that it was far too quiet. He opened his eyes and saw that Hermione had disappeared. Putting his feet back on the ground, he called out to the seemingly empty library.
“Granger?”
“I’m over here!” Her voice came from a humongous stack of books on his right. Peering around them Draco caught sight of Hermione’s bushy hair. She was sitting in her most typical pose; nose buried in a book. Glancing at the title, Draco sighed.
“You’re reading that again?”
“It’s my favorite book.”
“Hogwarts, A History is your favorite book?”
“Yes. Is there a problem with that?”
“No, but there are better “”
“Shush, I like this part.”
Hermione shoved her nose further into the book and leaned back against a table leg. Draco, not particularly fond of books himself, settled his chin into his hand and stared out of the window. Eyes roving over the landscape, he couldn’t help but think of what Hermione had said earlier.
“You mean you don’t like the food? Or the decorations? Or the snow?”
He had answered no, but now that he thought about it, it wasn’t true. He did like the food, though his mother had never bothered to make Christmas dinner when he was younger. The decorations could be a tad bit over done sometimes, but they brightened Hogwarts when it was gray and dreary outside. His mother had never bothered having the house elf decorate when he was younger either. And the snow…he loved the snow. It could get mucky and slushy after a while, but he loved it. His mother always ordered the snow to be vanished away from the house.
Come to think of it, his mother had never shown any holiday spirit. Neither had his father. His house had always been silent and bleak during the holidays. The presents had always excited him “ what child hated presents? “ but his parents had tossed theirs to the side saying “Thank you, Draco,” or “That’s lovely, Draco,” without so much as a hint of a smile on their faces.
Draco had said he didn’t like Christmas on instinct. It had never been shown as a big deal to him. But watching Hermione now and seeing how her eyes twinkled with joy and the little bounce in her step, Draco knew that he had lied. He loved Christmas. It was his parents who hated it.
Letting out a sigh, Draco wondered if he would even get any presents this year. Doubt it…he thought. No one likes me anyway. Who would buy me a present? He looked around lazily, the silence lulling him into a deep peace. And I never got presents for anyone either…maybe this year I…no, who would I bother giving one to? Maybe…maybe…may-
Thump!
Hermione nearly jumped out of her skin at the noise and promptly smacked her head on the underside of the table. Rubbing tenderly, she looked up and saw that Malfoy was face down, asleep. Chuckling to herself, she closed Hogwarts, A History and sat in the chair opposite from the snoozing blonde.
“Malfoy…” she whispered. Instead of waking up he let out a small snore.
“Malfoy,” she said, a little louder. Again, he didn’t wake, but his hand swatted at something in Hermione’s general direction.
“Malfoy!”
“What?!” Malfoy bolted upright and looked around before his eyes finally rested on Hermione. She giggled and scratched at the corner of her mouth. After a moment of confusion, Malfoy slowly brought the heel of his hand to the corner of his own mouth and wiped away a spot of drool. He obviously looked disgusted with himself because Hermione only laughed harder.
“Is it really that funny to you?” he asked, scowling. Hermione managed to restrain her giggles and nodded.
“I bet you do it too,” he said, and he folded his arms.
“At least I don’t do it in public.” Malfoy glared at her before looking away. Hermione smiled. She was handling Malfoy very well if she didn’t say so herself.
Leaning back, Hermione watched Malfoy’s face tense up. His nose twitched, he bit his lip, and “ wait, were his eyes watering? Hermione’s eyes widened in shock. Surely she hadn’t made Malfoy cry.
“ACHOO!”
Nope, she didn’t make him cry.
“Er, Malfoy, is everything all right?” Malfoy glared at her with bloodshot eyes. He then looked around frantically as if trying to find something.
“Malfoy, really, are you all right?”
“Do I bwoody well wook awright?” he sniffed, “Oh Merlin, by dose!”
“By dose?”
“Not your dose, by dose!” he motioned to his nose, which sniffed very loudly. He sighed before asking, “Is dere a cat in here?”
Hermione burst out laughing, but no sooner had she done so did Crookshanks leap onto her lap. “Crookshanks, what in Merlin’s name are you doing here?” The cat mewed and rubbed up against Hermione.
“Is dat a cat?” Malfoy asked, and Crookshanks mewed again. “Oh Merlin dat’s a cat…Granger get dat ting outta here!”
“Malfoy…are you allergic to cats?” Malfoy sniffed before mumbling darkly, “Yeth.”
“Couldn’t St. Mungo’s do something about that?”
“Dey tweat howwific injuwies, bishaps, spells gob wrong, but dey can’t do a damn ting ‘bout awergies.”
“Well, I would’ve never guessed that,” Hermione said, stroking Crookshanks’s back.
“Nobody ewse dows tho don’t thay anyting.”
Hermione smiled and promised that she wouldn’t. Settling back, she watched Malfoy glaring at Crookshanks. If looks could kill, the cat would’ve been long gone.
Draco glanced at the big clock above Madam Pince’s desk. “We weally outta go to lunch before it’s all gone. Pwus I can get dat bwoody cat away from be.”
Gently pushing Crookshanks off of her lap, Hermione stood. The pair walked side by side out of the library, down a corridor, and headed for the Great Hall.
Peeking out of the corner of her eye, Hermione watched as Draco walked quietly beside her. Things aren’t going too badly today, she thought, smiling. Not too badly at all.
A/N: Sorry to everyone for the long, long wait! I was having computer issues and didn’t have access to my files for a while. I have also done some editing in the first seven chapters. It’s nothing major, so don’t feel required to check it out. For more info about it, go to my Author’s Page. Also, if you haven’t already, please take a look at my one-shot, Paradise. I’m very proud of it.