Hermione and Draco - There is never a bad morning for owl post! I require your assistance today, for a matter of a few hours. I'll just need some help checking random things around the castle that our dear caretaker might overlook. I request your presence in my office after lunch. -Prof. Dumbledore
Not sure how to react, Hermione handed to letter to Draco.
"Damn. Looks like we won't be able to have much alone time today..."
"Oh I just realized that too. I wonder why he's asked us."
"It's Dumbledore, is there really any other reason?" He poked her ribs and she laughed, thinking that she was happier than she'd been in years.
At one, they climbed the stairs to Dumbledore's office hand in hand. Once inside, Dumbledore walked out from around a corner. "Ah, I've been expecting you both. I see my assumptions were correct..." they dropped hands and blushed, he laughed. "Ah, no need. However, it seems that our caretaker Mr. Filch has missed a few decorations from around the castle, and it would be wonderful if the two of you could roam the halls and attempt to round them up for me... that's all I needed. It should only take a few hours..." The pair split up and set off around the castle, but they soon learned that Filch had missed way more than just a few things. By dinnertime, they were just finishing the last of the forgotten items. They met up in the Great Hall for dinner, and afterwards he left for his dormitory, too tired to do anything else. He kissed her goodnight and she walked up to the room of requirement, settling into a large chair by the fire again.
In a strange turn of events, she had gone from loathing Draco Malfoy to... well, maybe not quite LOVING him. She told herself that it honestly could not be that fast. She'd obviously had something with Viktor two years ago, but besides that she'd never really had a real relationship... this seems pretty close to it, if not the real deal. She ran through the break in her head. Getting mad when she thought he was just trying to play a trick on her by signing up... him actually helping, "You can call me Draco, you know."
Then on to the plans. The pictures of them setting up the tree, which were now tucked safely away in her trunk. The first sledding test runs, and that crash. Sitting down and writing all of those plans. And then the challenge... the first kiss. The conversation with Dumbledore about Draco having more to him than meets the eye. The night on the couch. The baking, and present wrapping, and more sledding. Every moment, every smile, had been with or because of Draco. Yes, there had been that slight awkward misunderstanding, but it had been more than smoothed over, and now things were better than ever. It was comfortable, and she liked it. Before bed, Hermione decided to finally reply to the letters from the boys, and to give them a little surprise of her own.
Harry and Ron,
Sorry I don't have much time to reply to each of you separately. You've been staying out of trouble, I hope? Christmas around the Burrow sounds fantastic, and I do wish I could have been there. Everything around here went particularly well, everyone had fun and it was most pleasant. I really do want a copy of that picture of you all in the sweaters, I wore mine all day on Christmas and I've been wearing it whenever I go out as well, I really don't see why you both complain so much about them sometimes as they really are quite warm and comfortable. Ron, tell Molly thank you for me again, I love mine. I do think that I have a little explaining to do, I should probably let the both of you know something before you come back -
Hermione stopped. She couldn't write it. Not to Ron and Harry, not to her best friends. She settled for enclosing just a copy of third picture she had taken that night not so long ago, of all of the students gathered in front of the roaring fire, arms around each other and smiling. Not surprisingly, Draco was standing just next to her, his arm tight around her waist. The best part of this picture, however, was the fact that while everyone else was looking directly into the camera lens, Draco's eyes were fixed on her. She re-wrote her letter.
Harry and Ron,
Sorry I don't have much time to reply to each of you separately. You've been staying out of trouble, I hope? Christmas around the Burrow sounds fantastic, and I do wish I could have been there. Everything around here went particularly well, everyone had fun and it was most pleasant. I really do want a copy of that picture of you all in the sweaters, I wore mine all day on Christmas and I've been wearing it whenever I go out as well, I really don't see why you both complain so much about them sometimes as they really are quite warm and comfortable. Ron, tell Molly thank you for me again, I love mine. I've enclosed a photograph taken from a few days before Christmas, while we were all decorating. I feel that it will explain things much better than I could ever do with words. I look forward to seeing both of you in just four or five days, I'll explain more later. Send my love to the family.
Yours, Forever
Hermione
She figured that was as good as she could get without telling her two best friends that she was fraternizing with the enemy. Hermione was going to have a very interesting time when term began again...
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