This is my first fanfiction, about Draco in his sixth year at Hogwarts. I just wanted to change a little bit the plot (or more than a little ), so the Horcruxes don't exist, Snape is still the Potions teacher, Dumbledore doesn't die and so on. Every place, character, spell belongs to J. K. Rowling, except for my own plot.


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Chapter One: "Bottle fame, brew glory, put a stopper in death..." - Part one


"But," professor Binns said hesitantly, "try without the Unforgivable Curses, please."

A group of tiny second years shuddered only at the thought of the Unforgivable Curses. Neither Draco, nor Harry, said anything. It actually appealed like a great idea to Draco; his father and the Death Eaters, or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself, had taught him all the Unforgivable Curses. Harry was also wondering on whom he might have practiced the last one.

"Wands at the ready -"

"Remember our first duel, Potter?" Draco asked, with that usual smirk on his face. "Don’t you want another snake?"

"How sweet of you," said Harry, struggling not to frown. "Remember who the one who killed the Basilisk was?"

Draco was quiet now, because it was true. Harry had killed the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets in their second year at Hogwarts. After a few moments, they both glanced at the transparent form of professor Binns, who preferred to stay out of their personal issues and who now had a You-Can-Start-Now look.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted, but Draco seemed to be prepared for this and said casually "Protego."

"Really, Potter? The Dark Lord was right. It really is your basic spell," said Draco, starting to get on Harry’s nerves. In fact, that was exactly what he wanted. "Impedimenta," he continued, with the same casual and bored tone, while Harry had immediately frozen. He was completely immune to anything Draco wanted to do to him.

"And I think we have a winner," said professor Binns, to Harry’s great relief, while the Slytherins started to shout Draco’s name. However, something seemed strange. They were always a pair in the Duelling Club because Draco was well known for his Dark Arts knowledge and Harry was good enough to handle him. But it felt different this time.

"Oh, Draco, I didn’t think you could get even better at duelling," started Pansy Parkinson in a very dramatic way, but he didn’t actually listen. He was looking at the frozen Harry, surrounded by his best friends, and then noticed Hermione, who whispered "Ennervate", and he was back to normal. In Draco’s case, Crabbe or Goyle would’ve never probably known that spell. There were a lot of things on the young man’s mind, as he was watching the cheerful Slytherins.

Without saying anything, he walked out of the Great Hall, while Neville Longbottom and Susan Bones – a very shy girl from Hufflepuff – were preparing to duel.

"I want to walk by myself, Goyle," said Draco after a few moments.

"But -" Goyle paused and stopped following him, shocked. "How did you know -"

"It’s your shadow, Goyle. I think you’ve managed to become the tallest and the biggest bloke in Hogwarts’ history."

With these words, Draco succeeded in keeping Goyle away from him. Who knows what stupid thing he was going to say. He was now outside, the sun making his silver – almost white – hair shine.

* * *

Quick links:
Chapter one, part one
Chapter one, part two
Chapter one, part three
Chapter two, part one
Chapter two, part two
Chapter two, part three
Chapter three, part one
Chapter three, part two
Chapter three, part three
Chapter three, part four
Chapter four, part one
Chapter four, part two
Chapter four, part three
Chapter four, part four

DRACO I saw his name so I read it and now I think I'll keep up with it. Good job with this part!

Firstly, interesting title choice, the Hogwarts motto, 'never tickle a sleeping dragon'. I don't see how it is relevant to the story so far but *shrugs* you never know!

Anyway, on your actual story, I LOVE Draco! Great writing so far also! You've kept them all pretty much in character so thumbs up for that! Great job!

Thank you, it means a lot!


Thank you! And the title... I wanted that dragon from the motto to be Draco, so it could somehow mean "never tickle Draco" --> "never annoy Draco".

Awesome job and i love the title however it can be so much fun to tickle a sleeping dragon! I can't wait for more

Thank you!

Here is the next part; I hope the plot is not too boring, now at the beginning.


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Chapter One: "Bottle fame, brew glory, put a stopper in death..." - Part two


The next day in the morning, Draco was thinking about his first class. Potions, with the Gryffindors. "That’s just the greatest way of starting a day," Pansy’s voice sang in his ears while she was spinning around, as a response to his thoughts, who mysteriously appeared next to him.

"Pansy, would you mind if I’ll ask you to stop following me? Please?"

"Maybe I shouldn’t have said it that way," he mumbled just for himself, the moment Pansy ran out of the Slytherin common room, probably crying. At least that was going to keep her away from him for a while.

He slowly made his way to the Potions class, which was not far from the Slytherin dormitories. There were a few Slytherin students, Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger. Nobody seemed to notice his presence, so he sat down at the table he usually sat at. The door was swinging every second, the room starting to fill with students. The last person who entered the room was wearing black, flowing robes, had a hooked nose and black, slimy hair. Professor Snape.

"Put away your wand, Crabbe. How many times do I have to tell you I do not want to see foolish wand-waving in my classes?" The potions master spoke, actually addressing to the whole lot of students. That was a kind of "Good morning" for him. "Open your books at page three hundred and forty seven. You will be brewing the Elixir to Induce Euphoria today. And I am warning you, if it is not perfect, you will be drinking it. Maybe we will have some fun seeing some new effects," said Snape almost smiling, looking at Neville. Poor Neville. He was always mixing something up. "You will find all the instructions you need in your books and the ingredients in the cabinet from the back of the room. You may start."

Draco was quietly adding the ingredients to his Elixir, while the other Slytherins looked like they had never had a potion to brew before. He was also watching Pansy, as she dropped one Mint Spring on the floor. She was usually good at Potions, but not that day. Not after what Draco had told her. He also took a look at the Gryffindors, seeing Hermione as she was helping everyone as usual, especially Neville. There was a moment she looked at him, blushed and turned her face quickly, seeing his grey eyes already looking blankly at her. "What’s wrong with her?" Blaise Zabini asked all of a sudden, who seemed to watch Hermione as well. But Draco didn’t say anything, just went to the cabinet for Shrivelfig.

"Um... Hi," a voice said from behind him. He wasn’t exactly familiar to it, so he eventually turned around to face Hermione.

"Yes?" Draco said with one eyebrow raised, sounding a bit colder than he meant to. "I’m sorry. Hi," he continued, amazed of what he had said. Why was he apologizing to her?

"So, how’s your Elixir?" Hermione asked as she was nervously fiddling with a dark curl.

Draco looked puzzled at her. What question was that? "Good, I hope," he finally said. "And yours?"

"Oh, I’m almost ready."

That was an odd conversation. Draco was still asking himself why he was so polite to Hermione, Harry Potter’s best friend, the one whom he used to call a mudblood for six years. He suddenly felt sorry for everything he told her in the past years. "I have to go -" he said, not sure how to continue.

"To add Shrivelfig?" Hermione asked, and he could clearly notice the blood rush through her cheeks.

"You’re right."

The young man went back to his cauldron, leaving Hermione at the cabinet to search for who knows what ingredient. He kept asking himself whether there was something wrong with him. It looked like all the Slytherins were asking themselves the same question. "What are you looking at?" Draco asked annoyed, looking at Blaise.

"You should have had enough time to finish the Elixir," said Snape after a few moments. "Now put some in a vial and I shall examine them. And I said you had enough time, Longbottom. Miss Granger, stop helping him or you will lose points for Gryffindor."

The students quietly put their Elixirs in vials and left the dungeons, while most of them couldn’t wait to get out of there.

"We will see tomorrow who is going to try his own Elixir," Snape added after a few other moments.

* * *

I hope you like it. And have a happy New Year!

AWESOME!!!!! I can't wait to see who drinks what...umm what could go wrong? Happy New Year to you too

Oh I don't want to disappoint anyone but I didn't write anything about that Potions class. But you'll see what's going to happen next.

Awesome chapter!

I'm glad you liked it!

Here is the last (and the longest) part of chapter one. I originally intended to make two parts from this one but... oh well. I hope you'll like it.

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Chapter One: "Bottle fame, brew glory, put a stopper in death..." - Part three


"He’s mental, that one," Ron said at lunch, in the Great Hall. He was obviously talking about professor Snape.

"Ron, he’s not that bad," said Hermione, shocked of her own words.

"On whose side are you?" Harry asked, trying not to burst into laughter.

"You know, Weasley, she’s actually right. Just because you can’t understand what professor Snape teaches in Potions, it doesn’t mean he’s... what did you call him? Oh, it doesn’t matter. And I was not listening to your lovely chat, just passing."

"What was that all about?" Ron asked with a slight shrug. "Malfoy just loves being in the center of attention."

"Stop it, Ron!"

"Hermione, what’s wrong with you? Since when are you on Malfoy’s side?"

She didn’t say anything. Harry was looking at Ron with a Just-Let-It-Go look, while Hermione got up and almost ran out of the Great Hall. "You don’t think -" the red haired boy started, but didn’t continue, because his best friend was thinking about the same thing he did. "All right, that’s it -" he said angrily, getting up and following Draco outside. "Ron!" Harry tried to say, be he was already gone.

"Malfoy!" Ron shouted, when he could finally face him alone.

Draco wanted to pretend he didn’t hear, but turned around to face Ron anyway.

"What did you do to her?" Ron asked, still shouting. "Since when is she on your side?"

"On my side?" Draco puffed, as Ron had clearly managed to catch his attention. "Maybe she’s not that stupid after all. Maybe she can tell who’s wrong and who’s not."

That was it. Ron was about to explode.

He punched Draco, first in the face, and then in the ribs.

"What’s your problem?" Draco asked as he was rubbing his left cheek, but not fighting back.

"I was wondering the same thing, young Mr. Malfoy," said Snape, hissing every word patiently. "In fact, I am wondering what is Mr. Weasley’s problem for six years. And where is Mr. Potter? They are usually together in everything."

"I’m here," said Harry, "but -" he paused, shocked. "Ron, what did you -"

"I think your friend here was practicing a muggle duel. Too bad he chose a student from my House," said Snape satisfied. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and a month of detention with me, Mr. Weasley. You should be grateful you are not in Slytherin."

Ron didn’t even dare to open his mouth, because that might cost him another fifty points from Gryffindor and about a year of detention.

After that, Draco thought about looking for Hermione. He was walking towards the Great Hall, hearing Harry and Ron’s conversation behind him. "How many times do I have to tell you he’s not worth it?" Harry’s voice said. "How many times do I have to tell you I hate the guy?" Ron’s voice interrupted.

Draco simply shook his head, deciding to ignore them. Now, where would Hermione be?

The library, of course.

It took him some time to get to the fourth floor, but at least he was right; Hermione was in the library. She was just sitting alone at a table, face-to-face with Hogwarts, A History, but not actually reading. Anyway, she must have read that book at least twenty times.

"That’s a great book," said Draco as he took a seat beside her, with one eyebrow slightly raised. "But I thought you already knew it by heart."

A pair of brown eyes looked around to see whose voice it was. She had red circles around her eyes, like she had been crying, but the girl actually laughed. "Did you read it?"

"Of course I have."

"Wow," said Hermione, really surprised. "You’re the first one, except me." Draco was almost blushing, but that was impossible, of course; his skin was too pale for that. "So, are you alright?" He asked, in a very unexpected way. "Your friend Weasley almost broke my ribs for you," he added with a big grin on his face, before she could ask him whether he cared or not. It was weird seeing Draco smile.

"What did he do?"

"Almost broke my ribs," he repeated patiently, still smiling. "Oh, and my face too."

"Oh my God," she muttered for herself. "I’m so sorry."

"Don’t be. But anyway, what’s up with you? You don’t seem to be very... yourself lately."

"It’s... nothing," she hesitated, and then looked away from Draco. She was expecting him to ask more questions, but he didn’t. He was just looking at her for a little while, then glanced around, trying to fix his eyes on Most Potente Potions. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t stop thinking about Hermione, but he also didn’t want to annoy her with stupid questions. After a few moments, he decided to leave the library.

"Hey, Draco," he heard Hermione’s voice, when he was about to leave. "Do you want to... hang out?"

He looked up at her, amazed of what he had just heard. She called him by his first name. She called him Draco. He spoke without even thinking. "Now?"

"It’s fine if you have something better to do -"

"Sure. Why not?" He smiled again. Hermione was simply amazed. She had never seen him smile so much in all these years. "Coming?" Draco added, waking her up, probably from her day-dreaming.

"Oh, yes."

They walked around the school grounds for hours, without saying a word. "Draco?" Hermione suddenly whispered, looking up at him and noticing that his grey eyes were already fixed on her.

"Yes?"

"In the library, you told me I’m not being myself lately. How do you know how... I am like when I’m being myself?"

"Just because we’re not friends, or we weren’t, it doesn’t mean I can’t watch you being yourself," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "And, you know, you’re not hard not to notice in classes, when you always know the right answer," he said, laughing, but then suddenly thought that he might have said something wrong, as Hermione seemed to have turned red. "Did I say something -"

"You didn’t- N-no, no. It’s just -" she paused a moment, "we weren’t friends?"

"Well, I guess we are now. Or going to be," he said. "Or not?"

"Oh, no. It’s just weird. Us. Friends."

"Yes, I’m really ashamed of this," said Draco, trying to sound serious. "And I’m joking," he added, seeing Hermione’s face. She would have even hugged him if he was Harry. But hugging Draco... no, it was too much for the same day.

"I suppose we should go inside," he spoke all of a sudden; glad to break the awkward silence. "Professors Snape or McGonagall are not going to be happy to see their favourite Prefects outside at this time."

"You’re right," the girl agreed with a weak smile on her face.

* * *

I was writing earlier and I think I made a mistake putting this FF in the Character category. It's still about Draco's life but it also becomes a romance and I don't know what to do. What do you think? Should I ask a moderator to move it?

Great!! as for moving the story...you should do what you want but I think it can be in either one.

Firstly, awesome chapter! Nextly, it should be fine in the character stories, though it really could be in either.

Okay, then I'll leave it here.


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Chapter Two: "I’ll leave you alone if that’s what your friend wants." - Part one


He was walking along a tunnel... and walked... and walked... and walked... and it looked like the tunnel had no end.

"Oh God, I'm dreaming."

"Yes, you are, Draco," a voice suddenly spoke in his head. It took him a few moments to realize whose voice it was. The Dark Lord's.

"Get out of my dream, please," the young man said, sounding incredibly calm.

"But I did not get into your dream just to hear your lovely voice. I wanted to talk to you and show you a little bit of my power. You can be as powerful as I am. You know my only condition," he was speaking slowly, and almost hissing every word.

"Forget it."

"You do not have to tell me right now. I will be patient and I will wait. And in your case, I am willing to wait for as long as you want."

"In my case? Why me?"

"Because you are special. Even more special than Harry Potter."

"Special? What do you mean?"

"I am glad I made you curious. Join me and I will teach you anything you want."

And he was gone.

* * *

"Are you sure you’re okay?" Theodore Nott – a Slytherin student from Draco’s year – asked. He wasn’t actually interested, but asked anyway.

"Nott, are you going to let me eat breakfast or not? You asked me the same question for about ten times this morning," the blond haired boy said, annoyed. He stood up and walked towards the Arithmancy classroom, but, after a few moments, he felt like someone was following him.

"Please don’t ask me if I’m okay," he said when they got out of the Great Hall.

"Did you know it was -"

"Who else takes Arithmancy classes and wants to talk to me?" Draco pointed out, this time smiling, as he turned around to see Hermione.

"Oh, I guess you’re right," the girl said, blushing. "Anyway, I wanted to ask you if there was something bothering you, not if you are okay," she added with an innocent look, and it looked like she made Draco laugh.

"Alright. I’m not okay. I’ll tell you later."

"Promise?"

"You have my word," Draco said.

* * *

A bit boring but I hope it's okay. There's some bad news for me, I had a lot of ideas and I wrote them all and now I really don't know what's going to happen next. But good news for you, I still have a lot to post here.

Its not boring! But it doesn't matter if you know whats going to happen, sometimes making it up as you go along can be pretty fun!!!!! P A M S

Amazing chapter and it wasn't boring at all!

I'm glad if you liked this part as well. Anyway, I won't be able to write much because I don't even have time to breathe because of the school and there's an English contest coming and a lot more. But I'll post more soon.

New part!

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Chapter Two - "I’ll leave you alone if that’s what your friend wants." - Part two


"What happened?" Hermione asked, right after they left the Arithmancy classroom.

"Well, being the best student in our year, I suppose you know -"

"And you are the second best," said Hermione, grinning. "Sorry, go on."

"So, I was wondering if you know something about... hearing voices and weird dreams."

Hermione remained simply amazed. "Did I say something wrong?" Draco added, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh no, sorry. It’s just… When things like this happen to Harry, I have to almost torture him to tell me what's wrong. But enough about Harry," and Draco seemed pleased to stop talking about him, "what kind of voices and dreams?"

"Are you sure you want to know? Okay," he added, seeing Hermione’s face. "It was the Dark Lord, talking to me. He wanted me to join him, and of course I said no. And he also said something about me being 'even more special than Potter'. But he was gone after I asked him for more details. Um... Hermione?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry, I was just thinking -"

"He can’t get into my dreams, can he?"

"I- I’m afraid he can. Of course, you have to be very powerful to do that. Have you ever heard of Occlumency?"

"Yes, I have. My father taught me how to shut down my thoughts to anyone else. But with - him, it doesn’t seem to work. It’s like... we’re connected... somehow."

"Oh God, I’m so scared," the girl stated, almost whispering and looking away.

"Hey, I’m the one who should be scared, not you," Draco tried to say, but Hermione was scared anyway. "You shouldn’t worry," he added, unconsciously getting closer to her, trying to find her dark eyes, hidden by her curly hair. She didn’t say anything, but Draco guessed the answer. "Don’t worry, I’ll be fine," he said with a large smile on his face. But he could say anything, because Hermione was still worried.

And that was it.

He got closer and closer to her, and hugged her gently. He was so cold as he wrapped his arms around Hermione, and he even got even closer to her. It felt good, feeling the warmth of her body, feeling her arms around his waist and her face buried in his chest. He felt like he didn’t want to ever let her go. And that actually worked.

"Hey! Get your hands off her!" Ron shouted madly.

Draco leaned down over her left shoulder to whisper in her ear. "I’m going to fight back this time if he wants to break my ribs again," he said, laughing, and still holding his arms around her.

"Hermione, what did he do to you?" The red haired boy yelled, while his face was turning as red as his hair.

"What did he do to you? And that was called a hug. Since when is hugging… illegal?" Now Hermione was the one shouting.

"Hugging him is worse than illegal!"

"Hermione, I’ll leave you alone if that’s what your friend wants."

"Draco -"

He winked and she didn’t say anything; just watched him go. "Happy now?" Hermione asked, turning around to face Ron.

"Yes, I am. But why would you hug Malfoy? And what did I miss? You’re calling him by his first name now?"

"You know what? It’s not your business, and I’m not going to tell you. So, if you’ll excuse me -" Hermione interrupted him and left, walking towards the Gryffindor common room.

Once she got there, an eagle-like owl was waiting for her, with a small scroll carefully tied to its leg. A silver and green ribbon was wrapped around it and Hermione immediately recognized the neat handwriting.

Hermione,

I hope you got my little "signal" earlier. Don’t worry, I left just for Weasley to calm down, since he looked like he was going to explode there. But anyway, I don’t want to bother sneaking out with you, if that’s alright with you too. He’ll probably have to accept our friendship, whether he likes it or not. So, the sooner, the better.

I’ll wait for your letter,
Draco

The girl read it twice, and felt her heart beating faster and faster, threatening to get out of her chest. She grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill and scribbled something as fast as she could.

* * *


P.S. Maybe you noticed, maybe you didn't, but I changed the chapters' titles, each has a quote from the chapter, except for the first one.

P.P.S. Still couldn't write something new. Starting to freak out. Someone stole my inspiration.

No one is going to steal your inspiration! I don't think you need to write anything "new" just keep writing! P A M S !!!!!!!!!!

I thought that was AMAZING! I'm very very VERY curious about Draco's connection to Voldemort. I can barely wait for more! Awesome writing!

Oh WOW! I am veeeeeery, very intrigued by this! And Draco, has a connection with Moldy-Voldy?! This can't be good.
And Hermione and Draco being friends, YIPPEE!
All VERY awesome! I love it.. Really truly!
pams please
-Gabbeh

I will, I'm actually starting to have ideas again.

Thanks!

Thank you! And yes, they are kinda connected somehow... You'll see. And you'll also see what happens with Draco and Hermione. (glad I have a new reader!)

New part! Sorry it took so long, I was kinda distracted with the RPG and forgot about this.

Here's the last part of the second chapter.


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Chapter Two - "I’ll leave you alone if that’s what your friend wants." - Part three


Draco was still outside, because the Slytherin dormitories didn’t have any windows, so no owl could get inside. He was glancing at the Gryffindor tower and suddenly saw his owl returning with a note.

Draco,

Of course I got your signal. If you’re okay with Ron wanting to rip your head off every time he sees you, it’s alright for me as well. And you’re right, he’ll have to get over... this.

Hermione
P.S. Great acting. I almost believed you.

Draco was now laughing, still holding the piece of parchment rolled in his hand as he was returning to his dormitory.

* * *

Draco was walking along the same tunnel. He suddenly stopped, but every attempt of waking up failed. "Please let me sleep," he said, feeling ready to beg, if he needed to.

"I just wanted to know if you made up your mind. But I will still -"

"I already told you. Forget it."

"You must be brave. No one dared to interrupt me. Never." He was talking slowly, hissing.

"How could I join you, trust you, without knowing the reason you want me to?"

"Very well. I will tell you. You are Salazar Slytherin's descendant, Draco. He always dreamed of a descendant of his, who was going to be even more powerful than he was. Someone able to finish everything he started a long time ago. It is an extremely powerful, ancient spell. I have his journal. There is everything you need to know. Of course, not just everything, you have to be a Parselmouth as well and, as you surely know, it is a very rare gift. He had everything he needed, until the day that fool Godric Gryffindor destroyed everything he had. Destroyed him. And now, you have Salazar's powers."

"I have... That can’t be possible. And Slytherin didn’t have many descendants. I can’t be one of them. The Gaunt family, your family, they can’t be my ascendants."

"I hope this is going to make you change your mind."

And again, he was gone, before Draco could say anything else.

* * *

"I can’t believe this," said Hermione desperately, the next day in the morning. "He’s such a -"

"Evil psychopath?" Draco finished for her, smiling sweetly.

"Uh... yes. And... does that mean you are... You-Know-Who's cousin or something like that?" Hermione asked terrified. "You can’t be."

"How can you tell? Maybe we really are related. Maybe I really am Slytherin’s descendant. Remember our first day here? When the Sorting Hat put me in Slytherin without even touching me?"

"Yes, I remember. But back then you were a -" She stopped herself, almost tempted to clap her hands on her mouth. "I mean, you were different," she added, turning red. Draco started to laugh.

"You’re saying I’ve changed?" He asked, still laughing. "Don’t answer that," he mumbled, seeing Hermione’s face turn every shade of red. "Okay, let’s change the Me-Having-Crazy-Dreams subject. We’ll talk about it when the Dark Lord is going to get bored and come after me anyway. Are you going tomorrow to Hogsmeade?"

"I’m not sure," Hermione said hesitantly. "Harry and Ron said they’re not going and I really don’t want to stalk boys with Lavender and Parvati, so -"

Draco chuckled. "I think I’ll stay here too, maybe study all day long."

To her great disappointment, he didn’t ask her out, or anything that was on her mind that moment. "I have to go -" she said all of a sudden, sounding insecure. "Charms class."

"We have Charms together, remember?" Draco grinned, but didn’t get up to follow her. It was clear that she wanted to be alone. He walked to the Charms classroom after a few minutes but Hermione was not there.

* * *

That day has been pretty weird for Draco. He didn’t see Hermione all day long, and of course, he had another dream.

"Why me?" He asked directly.

"I told you, Draco. You are special. More special than Harry Potter could ever dream. I don’t need him anymore. I just needed him for his blood. I can touch him now. I can harm him. I can do anything I want to him."

"And you need me... for what? You are very powerful. You don’t need my power."

"You are so wrong. But I told you enough. Join me and you will have an answer for any question."

W. O. W! Amazing chapter!

oooohhhh scary!!! P A M S

Chapter Three: "A Muggle Christmas?" - Part one


After that last dream, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named didn’t get into Draco’s dreams anymore. In fact, he didn’t dream at all. And there was one day left until the Christmas holiday. Going home – at the Malfoy Manor – was the last thing he wanted, now that Hermione barely talked to him.

He glanced blankly at his trunk and carefully put his clothes in it.

* * *

"Are you sure you don’t want to come over this holiday?" Ron asked for the sixth time. "Harry is, and there’s Ginny if you need some girl talk and -"

"Ron, thank you, but I’ll stay home this holiday," said Hermione and went upstairs to the girls’ dormitory after a couple of minutes. She added a few books in her trunk, and found a small piece of parchment.

But anyway, I don’t want to bother sneaking out with you, if that’s okay with you too. He’ll probably have to accept our friendship, whether he likes it or not.

She kept reading that part. Did he really care about her? Whether he cared about her or not, he had been nice to her and she ignored him for the past few weeks. For what? She kept asking herself. Because he didn’t read her mind that day, most probably.

She closed her trunk and ran downstairs. She had no idea where to go. Somewhere in the dungeons, most probably.

* * *

Draco wanted to go for a walk, even though it was freezing outside, but accidentally bumped into someone in the hall.

"Watch where you’re -" he said, then paused, looking at the familiar figure. I missed you, he thought. "Hey," he went on, seeing Hermione.

"I’m sorry," Hermione said quickly, as her cheeks were turning bright red. "I was looking for you, but I didn’t expect to bump into you like that."

"Don’t worry about it," he said, but not smiling, like he used to, lately at least. Just when she was about to run away from him, he spoke again. "So, is everything okay?" He asked, with the same blank voice.

"You know, I think I should better go -"

"Well, you obviously came down here to say something, unless you miss the creepy places. Tell me," he said, this time trying to smile, which made Hermione a little more confident.

"Okay then," started Hermione, after taking a deep breath. "First of all, I am so sorry I ignored you lately. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. You’ve been so nice to me and I -"

"Hey, stop apologizing. I must have said something."

"Oh, no," said Hermione quickly, and felt her cheeks turn red again. Draco looked at her with his charming smile on his face, making him look like a whole new person. It was nice seeing him like that.

After a few moments, Draco was the one who talked. "I guess you didn’t come here just to apologize."

"Well, I got a letter from my parents a few days ago," said Hermione slowly. "They said they'd love to have a friend of mine over this holiday and I was wondering if -"

"A muggle Christmas?" Draco asked, laughing. "Sure."

"What?"

"I said 'sure'," he repeated patiently, smiling.

"How did you know I was going to ask you?"

"Well, you know I'm not interested in Potter or Weasley and you wouldn't talk to me about Lavender or Parvati or any other girl, so that makes me your next option," said Draco, grinning. Hermione was simply amazed.

"But I thought it is a little late and -"

"Don’t worry about it. I’ll just go and send my mother a letter to let her know and everything is going to be fine. And I think it’s going to be interesting. Me in a muggle house. My father would kill me if he knew," he said, laughing, but Hermione didn’t seem so amused.

"And your mother?" Hermione asked concerned.

"She’s not like my father. Not even close," Draco assured her.

"Then... I’ll see you on the train? I’m sorry but I have to go, I’ve got a few things left to pack."

"Sure. We’ll meet there."

* * *