Signum Vitalis (a dramione story)

In which there is a Santa

She fought hard to swallow down the hurt and bewilderment and followed him towards the shop door. Despite Draco's closeness and her own warming charm, she couldn't seem to shake the cold that had seeped in from the night.

...

The next few weeks were a chaos of studying and sort-of-avoiding Draco. She was scared; she could admit to herself. She wasn't sure how much she could take of his colder attitude. He still wasn't his nasty past-self, but he wasn't making it difficult for her to avoid him. It was a relief in some respects but it also hurt to see him nearly every day and not have his smile or a friendly word. She was surprised that she had come to count on them.

Still, she didn't have too much time to dwell on this as she was trying to cram as much studying in as she could. She didn't study with Draco anymore or with Shandra and John as much because they tended to study with Draco. Daryn studied late at night when the others were already gone and so Hermione and Daryn became more frequent study partners. Given anyone, she was glad it was him. She felt comfortable with him. Safe.

On one of their nights, she woke up to find her head resting on several closed textbooks. She sat up, rubbing her forehead to try to erase the crease-mark she was certain was there. Across from her, Daryn lay sprawled across his report. She reached over and shook him awake. He groaned, pushing himself off of the table, and the report stayed attached to the side of his mouth.

She stifled a laugh and pointed to his face. He frowned down at the paper and pulled it off but it had left some ink on the side of his mouth. She broke down into a giggle.

Rolling his eyes, he rubbed at his face. Then, looking down at his drool-soaked report, he said, "I guess we should call it a night."

Hermione glanced at the clock. "The janitor will be here soon, anyways."

As they packed up, Daryn glanced towards her and said, "I do appreciate you studying with me, and especially tutoring me on the parts that I slept through." At this, he rubbed the back of his head guiltily. "But, is it really good for you to be losing so much sleep?"

Hermione shook her head. "I have to stay awake until I'm completely exhausted in order to sleep without the potions. It's no trouble."

His eyebrows furrowed but then he nodded. "Is taking less potions helping?"

She shrugged. "My magic is coming back."

His head jerked up and she realized she hadn't told him about the incident at the Young Wizard's Club. He hadn't known that her magic had been gone.

She tried to distract him by asking, "I've been wondering... why you are staying up so late every night?"

He followed her lead in the conversation. "Oh, I just spend most of my Fridays and Saturdays on the band's gigs. I have to make up for it during the week."

"Why are you still doing it if it's hurting your studies?" Hermione couldn't help but ask.

"To me, my music is just as important as my studies. This is a really crucial time to continue performing. We've cornered the market. There's not a lot of young Wizard bands right now. If we don't continue to build our fan-base now we might loose our momentum."

She could understand it. The entertainment business was tough. She couldn't help worry what it would do to his professional life. Still, it sounded like it really was his passion so she said, "Once final exams are over, please invite us to another of your music gigs."

He returned her smile. "I've got one the weekend before Christmas and a New Year's gig. I'll give you the times to both."

They walked quietly for a moment before Daryn tilted his head back to her. "But, is everything really alright for you?"