Something There.. (Dramione x Beauty and the Beast)

Three - Hexed

The following morning was a snowy Christmas Eve. Hermione woke up startled by Crookshanks jumping onto her bed, and purring loudly by her face. She gave her cat a warm-hearted smile, and pet its fuzzy, ginger head. Crookshanks curled up next to her, and she hugged him while acting as if she was asleep. Like crashing through the roof, however, all of the memories from the day before came pouring back to her. She immediately remembered how Harry and Ron (and Lavender, but who cares) were all leaving to Ron's place at noon.

"Oh Merlin! Harry and Ron are leaving today, Crookshanks!" she exclaimed, pretending that her cat understood what she said. Crookshanks merely stared at her while bobbing his head from side to side. Hermione hurried out of bed, brushed her teeth, put on a pair of jeans and a shirt with a sweater, and bolted down the stairs to the Great Hall for breakfast. There, she found Harry, Ron, Lavender, Ginny, Seamus, and Dean sitting at the Gryffindor table. Ron was feeding a big spoon full of his pudding to Lavender, while Harry and Ginny, and Seamus and Dean were having their own separate conversations. Harry turned around first as he saw Hermione approaching.

"Blimey, someone's late this morning," he joked.

"Sorry, I overslept. But I rushed down here right away. I didn't want you guys to leave without saying goodbye, of course," she beamed.

"You should come with us, Hermione!" Ginny blurted out. "It would be so much fun with all of us together!"

"I wish I could, Ginny," she lied. Hermione really didn't want to see Ron and Lavender snogging each other all break. "But I need some catching up to do with my classes."

Seamus and Dean glanced at each other in disbelief, and giggled under their breaths. "Really, Hermione, it's the holidays! Learn to relax a little!" Dean asserted. Hermione simply let out a fake little laugh at his words. She couldn't tell him or anyone besides Harry and Ron about why she needs to stay at school. She sat down next to Ginny, facing the Slytherin table, and it took her no time to spot the back of the pale-blond boy with the stormy gray eyes.

Draco seemed to be dressed a lot neater than the night before and his hair was sleekly combed again, although he failed to hide his tired, pink, droopy eyes and dark circles. He looked a lot whiter than usual, and for once he wasn't fooling around with the other Slytherins. Pansy Parkinson was sitting next to him with her arm wrapped around his.

"Draco, you should come home with me for Christmas! Come on, it'll be fun with just us two!" Pansy tugged his arm.

"Let go of me, Parkinson!" Draco snarled. He swiftly pushed her arm away from his while facing her. "Why the bloody hell would I wanna come with you?!" From the side of his face, he managed to get a quick glance of Hermione who didn't seem to notice him at all. His head jerked back again after he realized it was her, and stared. He felt the guilt rising over his head again about hurting her last time, and just felt the need to sort of apologize. He--Draco Malfoy-- wanted to apologize. Something he never did and would never do to anyone else. Hermione caught him after a while, and quickly looked away at Ginny pretending as if he didn't even exist. On top of that, Pansy couldn't have failed to catch their eyes locking, of course. She squinted her eyes at Draco, who could've cared less, and crossed her arms bitterly.

--

It was already half past eleven when Hermione watched Harry, Lavender, and the Weasleys run back and forth between their dormitories and the common room packing their stuff. In fact, almost every Gryffindor was leaving for the holidays. Hermione groaned in envy. She imagined how she could have been opening presents with her family the following evening, and how she could have been helping her mother make dinner and just having a good time at home. Besides that, if she couldn't go home, she'd love to be here in the company of her best friends. Though, she won't be living with either case this Christmas.