Disclaimer: I own nothing here except for the plot.

Just a short summary (I forgot to mention that they're both head boy and head girl [since they're in their last year] because it's a big thing later on) : Draco saves Hermione and takes care of her until she recovers and before she notices him, he leaves. but what happens when they return to Hogwarts?

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It was a snowy evening and a girl with bushy brown chestnut hair was walking down a dimly lit street and she was clutching a brown paper bag filled with all the goods she just bough from the grocery store. Her name was Hermione. She playfully kicked the snow as she walked but she was still quite angry because she had to stay at home during the Christmas break.

"I wish I was with Ron and Harry." She whispered her breath clearly visible due to the cold atmosphere.

It's already been over a week since their Christmas break had started and she asked her parents if she could spend her vacation time with her friends especially since they were going to Holland. Ron's big brother Bill was going to show them some dragons. She didn't really care about the dragons because she was never interested in such creatures; she just wanted to spend some time with dearest friends. It was as if the times they spent together in school weren't enough. She was so excited about it but upon hearing that she couldn't go, Hermione was furious deep inside but being the little obedient girl that she was, she just ignored it. But she became hysterical when her parents told her the reason why she wasn't going to be allowed.

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"Daddy please can I go?" Hermione pleaded.

"Honey, a no is a no." he said

"But daddy.. I ju"

"You're 16 and turning 17. I do believe that you know I mean no when I say no" he said with a serious tone.

"Mom please.." she said turning to her mom who has been quiet throughout the whole conversation. "He just I was 16. Mom I know what to do. I can be trusted I will.. I won't do "things". Besides they're my best friends!!"

Her mother just smiled at her. "It's not that sweetie"

"Then what is it? I demand an answer" she said raising her tone just a little bit.

"I'm expecting a baby." She said.

"Really mother?" Hermione squealed. She rushed towards her mother and started patting her tummy. "For how long now?" she asked still patting the tummy gently.

"This is the fifth month already." Her dad said.

"Whaaaaaaat?" Hermione said clearly surprised. "How come I never noticed?"

"Well, for an instance you spent your summer with your friends at, what is their home called again? The Berrow?"

"The Burrow daddy." At this she blushed a little. She hardly ever stayed home anymore.

"Oh yes, so we couldn't really tell you while you were in school because we knew you were busy and we didn't really want to tell you through owl. Figured we'd surprise you." He finished.

"Well you did." She said smiling a big toothy smile. "buut.. I still don't see the connection on why I should stay here and not be with my friends. I mean I do love spending time with you and mother but it's still different."

Her mother sat down on the couch and grabbed a story book. She started reading to the unborn baby in her womb while she stroked her tummy completely shutting herself off their conversation.

"Your grandmother took care of your mother while she was conceiving you and she insists on taking care of your mother now that she's conceiving a baby again. She feels like the baby would be born a healthy one especially since she has given much needed attention toyou're your mother and baby."

"But how come she just couldn't come here? Wouldn't that be better? I mean she can spend time with, with all of us." she reasoned out

"Your grandmother is ripe with her age. You wouldn't want to give her the hassle of flying from Finland to here in London. We're scheduled to leave 5 days from now. And this is also part of your preparation to adulthood. You know being independent and living alone."

"But I am independent! I study at Hogwarts and they teach you how to be independent since you are living away from not exactly your family because you can have siblings and all but I'm an only child so I never really had a family over there. Except for my friends whom I consider my family but they're still not you guys. It's not the same. I've been independent since I started studying there. I've been independent since I was 11." She said kind of breathlessly. She hardly inhaled while saying her long speech.

"Yes I know but this is completely different. We're just going to be gone for 2 weeks and we'll be back just in time to celebrate Christmas. Your grandmother wouldn't be here of course. But we're still together."

"Hermione." Her mother said. "Can't you see what we're trying to say?" Dark circles had surfaced her face and looked as if she was extremely tired because of taking care of herself and the baby.

"I think you should get your sleep now, honey" her father told her mother.

"Father what about me?"

"What about you? It's always been you has it? Can't you see how tired your mother is and I think she needs your grandmother's help. You should think about her not yourself." He said angrily. Taking a step towards her.

"But daddy.."

"End of conversation."

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It's been 3 days after her parents left for Finland and now she's home alone. Living independently as she constantly and sarcastically reminded herself. "Stupid parents." She said softly. Really now Hermione, you should be a little less selfish, said a voice in her head. "You think I don't know that?" she told the voice irritably. She stopped walking for a while to pull her bonnet closer to hear head. It was ridiculously freezing tonight. She struggled to keep the goods she bought in the heavy paper bag she now clutched with one arm. She found her thoughts drifting on what her best friends could be doing right now. Whatever they're doing I know they're not freezing and not struggling with a brown paper bag! She thought.

"Aaargh!! I should stop being so somber about this!!" she screamed to no one in particular. She just wanted to let it out.

"A pleasant evening to you Miss" a figure fully cloaked in black apparated from nowhere. It was spoken in a low voice and Hermione assumed it was a man who had just appeared a few meters before her. The coldness of the voice sent chills down her spine.

"And who may you be?" she asked trying to sound polite. She squinted her eyes so that she could see the face of this cloaked man but to her dismay, the hood completely covered his face.

"No one you know but someone undoubtedly sending chills down your spine, eh? I hold you life now muggle." he hissed. He hasn't moved at all. He just stood there looking at her. Was he even looking at her? She couldn't be sure. She couldn't see his facial expression.

"I.. I don't know what you mean." Hermione said taking a few steps backward. She looked at her surroundings checking if there were any muggles around and assuming that there were none, she slowly and carefully took her wand out from her sling bag.

"You will soon enough" and as soon as he said his last word he suddenly lifted a few inches from the ground and started running, no gliding towards her. Hermione dropped her grocery bag and smashed a few bottles here and there and she started to run away from him. No point in using this yet, she thought gripping her wand. He thinks I'm a muggle so he shan't be expecting me to be able to use a wand. I'll just go with this cover and when I drive him into a corner, that's when I attack. She grinned a victorious grin. I just hope this plan will work. But somehow she a thought came surfacing into her mind that this one was something just so devious. Even if she was the greatest student Hogwarts has ever seen and mastered tons of charms and spells, she was never really in a combat that she handled alone. It was always one with either Harry or Ron always there checking if she was alright. She even admitted to herself that she was frightened somehow.


Just as she turned to a dark alley, a cold hand gripped her wrist making her lose her balance and skid over some of the melted snow. But the hand that still painfully held her hand and kept her from falling face first to the ground.

"Saved that pretty face of yours didn't I?" he said. He raised her higher from the ground. She winced in pain and also at the fact that the hand that was holding her was so cold. It was almost as if he was dead.

"What the fuck do you want from me?" she shouted. Wait just a little more. Just a little more Hermione. She thought hiding her wand behind. Thankfully, he had grabbed the hand that wasn't holding the wand.

"Now, now agitating me with your anger isn't exactly something advisable to do right now". By now she was face to face with him and she had to look at his face but it wasn't a pleasant sight even if she could hardly see the lineaments of his face. But she still could see the man's pathetic excuse for a face. It truly is a creepy face that cannot be described by words but the eyes are the worst. They had no pupil and it was black. It seemed as if they could see through you. It was plain evil. But one eye was scarred and the scar was still fresh. Hermione mustered all her strength in her to be able to snap out of the horror she felt. She spat at his scarred eye and he was startled. He lost his grip and Hermione came falling to the ground. She quickly stood up and decided to give him a stunning spell. She learned that if you're in a life threatening situation such as this one and you didn't know yet what your capabilities are, the best thing to do is stun your attacker and run. Run as fast as you could. She managed to stun him once then again but there never was a third one. He broke free from both as if he was never stunned.

"You bitch!" He roared. "Crucio!" he bellowed and the pain hit Hermione instantly. She was writhing in pain for like forever. This is it. Six fucking years in Hogwarts and I couldn't even protect myself. Am I even a witch? She questioned herself. Then suddenly someone shouted something. She just lay there stunned and motionless, eyes closed, her breathing uneven. Her attacker screamed a low pitched scream and fell to the floor with a loud thud. It was bloodless and she knew that someone had just performed one of the Unforgivable curses.

"Mindless git." The man spat at Hermione's attacker. "Wasting his precious time on something like this." She felt a pair of cold hands touch her and brush of some her hair of her face. Then she blacked out.

"This woman looks familiar. Draco come over here." A man cloaked in black ordered.

"Yes father." Draco murmured as he obediently came close to his father. He was clutching his black the silky material of his clothing. He just witnessed another death in the hands of his father.

"I thought this woman was another Death eater so I planned on saving her. After all, a lot of us are being sent to Azkaban and I don't really want losing anymore of us. Can you identify this woman?"

Draco looked at the girl and his eyes widened. Granger? Shit.

"Oh, I remember now. It's one of your mudblooded fellow students in Hogwarts. No point in keeping her alive then." He said darkly. Just as he raised his wand and pointed it at her to perform another curse Draco spoke.

"Father, no point in wasting our precious time like this. Portelli over there actually did us a favor. Wouldn't it be better if we left her alone to die here. It will be a slow and painful one." He smiled mischievously.

"You bastard!" Lucius said as he slapped his son. "I am under the impression that you want to save this woman here."

"Father, I would never do that. Haven't you told me that mudbloods like her are the lowest of our kind. They, born without even a drop of magical blood were preposterously allowed to live amongst us and permitted to practice our arts. I was raised by you to never look at them with respect and to make their lives a living hell in Hogwarts for that is all that they deserve. To be treated just like the very mud that flows in their veins. I just wanted to make her last minutes in this earth a miserable one. To die a slow and painful death at this weather that is freezing." He said with gritted teeth. His father took a step near him and looked straight in his eyes. After judging him he said, "You are lying to me." He slapped him once again this time with force that sent him down next to Hermione.

"I am not father! I am not!!" he screamed. "Shut up boy!" his father bawled. Then there was silence. He was listening to their surroundings. He then heard whistles. The muggle police were near since a few muggles reported a fight in that alley.

"Enough mess for tonight." Lucius said. He grabbed Draco by the collar and brought him to his feet. "If ever I prove that you have lied to me you will suffer the consequences. You know them don't you?" Draco nodded with a stern face. How he despised his father for treating him like this. Exactly like a mudblood. "Very well. You know how I am when I am lied to don't you?"

"Yes father" Draco mumbled. "Good" he's father said letting go of his collar. "You will clean this mess up. She is close to death anyway." He said looking at Hermione with pure disgust. With that, he apparated.

"Fuck you" Draco said to the thin air that his father occupied just seconds before. He just realized that it had stopped snowing and the clouds gave way to the moonlight. It shone to Hermione and Draco then realized how badly bruised the girl had been.

"Who goes there?" asked one of the muggle police peering through the darkness of the evening. All he could make out was a girl around her teens badly hurt on the ground with a hooded boy standing next to her. The policeman had a dog with him and it was a black Labrador that kept barking at the two youngsters. "What in heaven's name have you done to that lady!"

Draco didn't pay attention. He just scooped Hermione from the ground and just like he was mocking the policeman, he made a salute sign and disapparated into thin air. The policeman was indeed puzzled. Where had they gone? He scratched his head.

"Oh well Muffy." He said patting the dog's head. "I guess I've drank quite too much tonight." He left the alley.

And just like that, it snowed again. This time, it was less harsh. More serene in a way.

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A/N: I changed some parts here for the people who read before because I just noticed a fatal mistake (very fatal!!) when my friend edited it for me. I'm grounded so I couldn't really correct my mistakes right away but well they're corrected here. So. did you like it? hope you did!! Thanks to the people who reviewed! They really made me smile especially the one who pointed my mistakes out!