healed (dramione)

26 : Draco

Song for the Chapter: On Top Of The World ~ Imagine Dragons

Draco's POV

Hermione Granger kissed me.

Okay, maybe I'm overreacting. It was kind of weird. I wasn't expecting it. When she started getting nervous, I wondered if she was going to tell me she wanted to have dinner again. That - I didn't expect. At all.

It was the Christmas holidays now, but they weren't letting us go home to see our families because of the "potential threat of un-captured death eaters." Apparently, surviving the Second Wizarding War didn't qualify you to be safe enough to go home for the holidays. 

But I didn't mind. I was tired of spending every Christmas either in the empty halls of the manor with gifts I didn't want, or in the empty halls of Hogwarts with gifts I didn't want. This year, it was going to be different. This year, I had Hermione.

"I need to go to Hogsmeade to buy presents," she announced, one foggy afternoon. I looked up and saw her striding into the great hall, wrapped up to her nose in two scarves, a knitted hat that looked suspiciously like the ones she'd been making for the house-elves, and a pair of gloves. She was like a snowman. An adorable snowman.

"Warm enough?" I asked her sarcastically. She whacked me in the head with her mitten in response.

"Are you coming?" Demanded Hermione impatiently, lowering her scarf and biting her freezing lips. "Harry and Ron won't go with me, and I don't want to ask Ginny in case she's busy. Which she is." Hermione inclined her head to the other side of the hall, where Ginny was being incredibly "busy" with a Ravenclaw boy.

"Right," I replied, slightly flushed. I pushed aside my breakfast. "Fine. I'll come. But I swear, if you make me wear one of those stupid --"

Hermione grinned and pulled a green and grey knitted hat from her pocket. "It's all covered, Malfoy. Don't worry." She shoved it into my open arms. "Meet me outside the gates in ten minutes."

I rolled my eyes and headed back to the common room for my things. I couldn't believe I was doing this. Barely a couple of months ago, I probably would have burnt the hat in front of Hermione's eyes, and then probably thrown it at her.

Then I strode around the corner and was about to step into the dungeons when I walked straight into two people, still with a stupid smile on my face which I quickly altered into a smirk when I saw who it was.

"Ah, Potter, Weasley," I sneered. "Unless you're a pair of Slytherin first-years, I'm assuming you don't want to go in. See, this room's got a snake on it." I pointed stupidly to our door and made a babyish face at them. "And you're not in this house."

"Yeah, we can read, Malfoy," spat Weasley sarcastically. "We've come to tell you to --"

"Stay away from Hermione," interrupted Potter angrily, raising his wand. "We don't want you near her, or talking to her, or anything. She's our friend, not yours. And - neither of us trust you."

"Last time I checked, you weren't Granger's mouthpiece," I returned, feeling anger boiling in my tight chest. I didn't want to fly off the handle again, like in potions. I'd end up in detention, or the hospital wing, or both. And in Hermione's bad books. "She can choose who she wants to talk to..." I eyed them both. "Or not, as the case may be."

"I've had enough of him, Harry," snarled Weasley impatiently, cracking his knuckles in what he obviously thought was a menacing way, but it ended up looking more painful to him than anything else. "Let's hex him. Right here."

He made a grab for Potter's wand. "Ron, no!" Cried Potter. "I don't think --"

"Oh, come on, Harry, don't you want to?" Weasley snapped. "After everything he's done? Give it." Weasley snatched the wand out of Potter's hand, pointed it straight at my chest, and shouted, "Stu --"

"Expelliarmus!" 

Author's Note: Hi! I was SO surprised when I opened Wattpad and saw 800 reads already! Vote and comment everyone, new chapter coming pretty soon <3