December 25, 1996
"Waffles are ready!" Dad called from the kitchen.
"What do you say?" Mum asked. She snuggled up on the couch next to me and flipped the TV on, surfing through the channels, landing on a black and white screen. "'It's A Wonderful Life'?"
I smiled, resting my head on her shoulder. We watch the movie every year. "Sounds great, mum."
An owl flew through the window, dropping a small package on my lap and exiting through the other window. My smile grew when I recognized the scrawled handwriting. Tearing the wrapping paper, I took the lid of the tiny white box.
A golden charm the size of a pea sat inside. It was a crescent moon. I picked it up, holding it in front of me. It seemed to glow all on its own. Still smiling, I clipped the charm onto my bracelet, right by the earbud charm.
I unfolded the tiny piece of paper in the lid, a short note in that familiar script:
To remind you how beautiful the moon is.
Happy Christmas, Granger.
____
Draco Malfoy sat at his black marble desk in his room, muttering to himself as he read Lord of the Flies. These Muggle books were getting disturbingly interesting. I mean, he had never heard of such a thing, a group of young boys stranded on an island together. If they're anything like the stubborn boys he's grown up with, chaos would surely take hold, he thought with amusement.
Narcissa Malfoy kissed her son on the cheek, sweeping towards the door. "I'll meet you for some tea and Christmas cookies in the Library in an hour, dear?"
"Sounds great, mum," Draco gave his mother a soft smile and continued to read, flipping the page with enthusiasm.
"Maybe you can play something for me on the piano," Narcissa thought aloud, keeping her smile at bay. "Maybe that song Hermione loves?"
Draco's lip twitched, knowing exactly what his mother was up to. "Alright." Narcissa smiled to herself as she left the room.
An owl swooped in, dropping a large package in front of Draco on his desk. He immediately recognized the neat handwriting and tore the present open. He tilted his head, examining the black leather notebook. Leafing through a few pages, his breath caught. He glimpsed dates at the top of the pages, his name flashing in almost every passage. He opened the front cover, where he found a short note in the same writing:
To familiarize yourself with the material for the future. You know, since you don't have the pleasure of having a photographic memory like I do.
Happy Christmas, Draco.
Draco sunk back against his chair, running his hand through his hair. She had made a copy of her diary. He wondered if it updated whenever she wrote in it. Turning to the first blank page, his mouth fell open as he watched Hermione's writing appear on the page in real time: "You're welcome."
____
Every morning, I rushed to gather the post, sifting through to find those addressed to me.
Every single letter came from him.
Draco wrote of how his mother was doing, how he spent his time reading in the Manor Library, and his very strong and detailed opinions on the Muggle books I was making him read. He said his mum heard so much about me that she knows me almost as well as he does, and that she can't wait to finally meet me. He told me that I would love the library, and that someday it would be mine. His opinions on Lord of the Flies consisted of phrases like "revolutionary symbolism" and "recurring theme of hierarchy and injustice". My thoughts exactly, Draco.
He also had quite a few reactions to reading my diary.
You make me sound like a Greek god. Rightfully so.
This doesn't seem like a diary, honestly. It's more like the Draco Saga.
I like that word you use for the color of my eyes. Quicksilver. Much better than grey.
Why do you think my skin is so hot? Do I really make you that nervous? Well you make me nervous too, Granger.
That's what turns you on? Tilting my head and my hair falling over my eyes? Noted.
He never talked about Death Eaters, or his father, or Voldemort. I don't blame him.
I replied to every single letter. I told him about some Muggle Christmas traditions my family partakes in, such as opening one present on Christmas Eve and putting candy canes in our hot cocoa. I told him how my parents were careful to never spark a fire, despite it being winter. Thank Merlin for electric heaters. I told him not to worry about me, and that I was doing much better.
Yet nothing could stop the nightmares, forcing me to relive everything. The pain, the screams... I woke up in cold sweat, only calming down when mum laid with me and rocked me back to sleep, singing lullabies under her breath.
I made sure to think ahead. Before Rita Skeeter could get a jump on writing an article about my freedom, delving into details the public shouldn't know, I sent her a Howler threatening to keep her in a jar again if she ran the story. That would keep her mouth shut.
I told Draco about that, too, and he said I should be careful; my Slytherin side was showing.
___
December 31, 1996
I looked down at my parents from the balcony. They were standing in the backyard with an arm around each other, each of them holding glasses of champagne and staring into each other's eyes with an almost overwhelming amount of adoration. A twinge of sadness shot through me, missing Draco a little extra. The radio crackled beside me, turned to full volume, the New Years countdown cutting clear across the crisp night air.
"One minute left."
I whirled, and Draco was leaning against the doorframe with his arms and legs crossed. My breath caught when I took in the sight of him: He looked incredible in a classic black tuxedo, and the first few buttons were undone as always. His hair was neatly combed with gel and looked a little shorter. His nails were painted electric blue, making his eyes appear even brighter. And I felt embarrassed when I cast a quick look over myself and realized how I must look in comparison in my denims and white tank top.
"Draco!" A grin spread across my face. "How are you here?"
He stepped onto the balcony, sliding his hands into his pant pockets, his eyes dragging over my entire body. "I slipped away from my mother's party for a minute to supposedly use the loo."
"Only a minute?"
He shrugged. "Maybe two."
I laughed, gesturing to my attire. "I'm a bit underdressed for you."
Draco shook his head and hummed, running his hands down my arms and leaving goosebumps in the wake. His eyes held the same devotion I glimpsed in my parents. "You're perfect."
I blushed, looking up at him through my lashes. "Are you going to make a new year's resolution?"
"Of course."
"Tell me."
"Well then it won't come true."
I giggled. "I think that's for birthday wishes."
"Either way, I'm not taking any chances."
I smiled, glancing down at my parents. "I'm not making a resolution."
He tilted his head. "Why's that?"
I locked my hands around Draco's neck, drinking him in. "I have everything I need."
The countdown closed in, ten seconds left. With each passing second, Draco leaned in closer and closer, bowing his head. When the last second ticked, his lips brushed mine, a featherlight kiss.
"Happy new year, Granger," Draco murmured, breathing into me.
I couldn't take his teasing anymore, and I pulled him hard against me, crashing our lips together, devouring him. Fireworks burst both within me and in the sky above us.
____
January 26, 1997
"Let's get out of here," Pansy suggested.
We were lounging in the Slytherin common room after another school day. Draco and I occupied one couch, my legs strewn perpendicular across his. Pansy and Theo were on the couch across from us, her head in his lap as she stared thoughtfully at the ceiling. Blaise sat in his usual chair, his legs wide so Luna could sit between them. We had all quickly changed out of our robes after class ended, eager to get into more comfortable clothes. We had gone through a few rounds of Wizarding Chess (I beat Draco, much to his dismay), and we were utterly bored, given that our professors remarkably didn't give us any homework over the weekend.
"And where would we go?" Draco responded, his eyes flitting to Pansy curiously.
An image pushed its way through my mind. "I have an idea," I offered.
Pansy glanced at me sideways. "All ears."
"There's a park in New York that I think everyone would love."
"New York?" Theo perked up. "As in America?"
Pansy rolled her eyes. "What other place could she possibly be talking about?"
"I don't know, somewhere that's in the same country as us, or the same continent at least?"
"Granger and I are great at Apparition," Draco added, smiling crookedly at me. "We can come back and forth and Side-Along everyone."
Everyone agreed enthusiastically, so we quickly made our way off the school property to exit the Apparition wards. The air was crisp, feeling sharp in my lungs. It was already late at night, around nine o'clock in the evening, and the moon seemed to watch us and grow brighter as we ran across the grounds.
"Thanks for Apparating me, mum and dad," Theo joked, grinning.
I laughed, waving him over in a motherly fashion. "Come to mum, son."
Pansy paled slightly. "I'm not gonna be your daughter, right? Because then that would mean I can't date Theo, thats incest."
"I don't quite understand why we're playing house, but I'll happily be your mother, Pansy," Luna said kindly, offering her a warm smile.
Blaise laughed, a clear ringing sound that only came out with Luna. "Behave yourself, daughter," he scolded, playing along and pointing his finger at Pansy.
"I hate you. I'm running away from home."
Draco took Blaise and Theo while I took Luna and Pansy. I made sure to describe the park to Draco in vivid detail so he could Apparate easily. We were in a clearing, a vast expanse of snow stretched underneath our feet. The time zone was a few hours behind, so the sky swirled with oranges and magenta. It was warm, with a slight chill as sunset steadily approached. We were surrounded by tall, grand trees of different varieties, oak and maple and elm, coated with a light layer of snowflakes. The buildings reached towards the clouds just beyond the park, glittering in the light.
"Wow," Draco whispered. His eyes had glazed over in admiration, his hands deep in the pockets of his grey pants. Minuscule snowflakes drifted, scattering across his white collar, his black crewneck sweatshirt, his blonde lashes, his pink cheekbones. A snow angel.
"What do you guys think?" I asked, turning to my other friends, who wore similar expressions of wonder.
Blaise shrugged. "Not too shabby, Granger."
A puff of white powder burst across Blaise's right cheek, who flinched and whirled in the direction it came from. Theo's eyes blazed, tossing up another snowball in the air and releasing a low laugh. "Got you!"
"What are we, five?" Blaise complained, and Luna wiped the snow off his cheek with her thumb affectionately, a thoughtful look on her face.
"Five or sixteen, you can't escape me and my wrath of snowballs!" Theo had managed to make multiple, and whirled one at each of us, his aim ringing true as each of us were struck with snowballs.
Pansy grinned, dropping to her knees to create snowballs. "Oh, it is on!"
And so began an elaborate and very serious snowball fight, with fortresses and alliances and planned attacks. It ended up being the girls against the boys, laughing and yelling as we hurled snowballs at one another as the sun melted into the skyline. It got completely dark, the only light the bright crescent moon and shimmering stars, and still we played, tackling one another and rolling in the snow.
It was no doubt one of the greatest nights of my life.
___
We finally tired, settling at a picnic table under the trees. "Spider!" Pansy warned, glaring at the insect crawling across the table.
"Don't kill it," Theo urged, his arm around her. "It has a life, a soul."
"It's not human."
"Maybe it used to be."
She looked up at him at this, surprise clear in her eyes. "Do you believe in that? Other lives after this one?"
Theo's face was thoughtful, his brown eyes distant. "Yeah, I think I do. My mom did. She said she wanted to come back as a bird, because she always wanted to fly." A sad smile.
"I don't know." Pansy shook her head, her expression conflicted and doubtful. "I don't know if there's anything after this. If this is it for me." Her eyes bore into Theo's. "If this is all I get."
For once, his face wasn't full of humor. His gaze was stern, and he wrapped her short hair around his fingers, twirling it. "There will be other lives, Pans."
"I don't know."
"I know."
"I believe that my mother reincarnated as a Crumple-Horned Snorkack. Her spirit has always been a free one, she would flourish in that form," Luna said dreamily, her eyes fixed on the stars.
Blaise nodded. "I bet she is, and she's very happy." Luna beamed at him.
I stared up at Draco, our hands interlocked under the table, his foot holding mine. "That would be nice, don't you think? To find each other again in different bodies?"
His silver eyes glinted with complete certainty. "I could find you from a million miles away, Granger."
My cheeks turned pink, not from the cold. "You really think so?"
He kissed me, fierce and hard. "I know so."
I didn't like that he stopped kissing me. I leaned forward eagerly, but he continued, "Your unwarranted opinions and arguments are loud enough to hear across the world, how could I not find you?"
I giggled, rolling my eyes and shoving his face away. Arse.