Broken But Beautiful~Dramione

Chapter fifty one

The castle of Hogwarts was silent at first light; the only movement being from security patrols. Snow that greatly resembled sifted powdered sugar fell from the sky and stuck to the ground.

That peace and quiet was soon to be changed, as this particular day was Christmas. The day that all of the students would be opening presents from their friends and family.  Already, students were waking up from alarms that were set the previous night.

In one particular dormitory however, a man and woman were sitting awake in their respective rooms. The woman was up from paranoia and stress, and the man from being concerned for her.

Hermione saw the Yule Ball as a way to redeem her lack of helping the staff out during the year due to the numerous things that happened to her. She had been up the whole night to finalize the last details. Even if she tried to sleep, she wouldn't have been able to.

The lack of trouble and abundance of peace had made her overwhelmingly paranoid that something bad was going to happen. Her nightmares had become more frequent and she didn't want to trouble Madam Pomfrey by asking for a dreamless sleep potion, so she resorted to not sleeping. That way, she wouldn't bother Draco at night either. She knew he always woke up when she did. Little did she know, Draco knew exactly what she was doing and couldn't bring himself to sleep either.

Draco walked over to Hermione's room and knocked. Sunlight was now streaming into his room, and knew it was a reasonable time for Hermione to believe he had just woken up. "Hermione?" he knocked.

"Come in." Hermione leapt into her bed to act like she was sleeping the whole night.

"Merry Christmas. Do you want to go open presents together downstairs?"

"Sure." Hermione agreed. She faked a yawn, but to her misfortune it turned into a real one - one that clearly gave away how tired she was. She hadn't been eating much either, and felt exhausted.

Draco knew that if he commented on how tired she seemed, she would only get defensive and it would do no good. He led the way down the stairs, and they walked over to the small Christmas tree they had set up.

They handmade many of the ornaments themselves, with some paint and wooden balls. Draco had never encountered such a messy substance before, and got it all over his hands. He made a mental note to wear gloves or something like that next time.

"Look!" Hermione grinned and pointed to the presents that were piled up at the bottom of the tree. She had always loved the spirit of gifting during Christmas, but unwrapping presents was almost just as fun.

"What's this?" Draco handed Hermione a lumpy looking package.

"Oh it must be a Weasley sweater." Hermione sighed. She had told Molly not to bother making one, but she did anyways. It turned out to indeed be a hand knitted sweater with a "G" on it to differentiate hers from Harry's.

The both of them unwrapped each present, and Hermione found she had received a lot more than she had gifted to others. Even Viktor Krum had sent her a gift, and she felt bad that she didn't do the same.

"Here's yours." Draco smiled and handed her a small box.

"Thanks Draco!" Hermione gave him a swift peck on the cheek, and opened it. "Wow. It's beautiful." She breathed.

Inside the box was a necklace. It had a slim chain, and a silver lion and serpent were intertwined with each other, the eyes of the lion being small emeralds, and the eyes of the serpent being small rubies.

"Well you know I was just thinking - since we're so different - the Gryffindor and Slytherin thing - but we're together now and-"

"I love it." Hermione said warmly. "I have one for you." She handed him the last present under the tree.

Draco untied the ribbon and looked into the box to find two books, a photograph, and a watch.

"I hope you like the books. One's about Quidditch, and the other is The Tales of Beetle the Bard. I know it's a bit childish but it's my favorite. Also you've never worn one, but I was thinking a watch could be helpful for patrols and whatnot. And there's a photograph of us. I know it isn't much compared to what you got me, but I hope you like it." Hermione said nervously.

"Hermione even if you got me a toothbrush, I'd love it because you got it for me. But I actually was thinking of getting a watch, and now it'll mean so much more since it's from you. I love all of these things you got for me...but you know who I love even more?" He whispered.

"Who?" Hermione knew in her heart what he was going to say, but wanted to hear it all the same.

"You."

Draco reached out and gently stroked the side of her face. Hermione leaned in closer to him, and her heart began to race. She closed her eyes, and their lips met.

He was gentle, and careful in his movement so she felt safe and in control of what was happening. The two pulled away still smiling, and Draco held her close to him. Moments like those where Hermione didn't get triggered were few and far between.

"Hey look. There's one more." Draco reached to the back of the tree and pulled out a slim box. "It's for you. Who's it from?"

"I'm not sure." Hermione unwrapped the box and peered inside.

There was a beautiful mask that if she was honest, went together perfectly with the dress she chose for the Ball. As it was masquerade themed, she could use it that night.

"Looks nice." Draco commented.

"I think I'll wear it tonight." Hermione decided.

"Won't the person who sent this to you know who you are? It's supposed to be a secret."

"It was probably just Ginny. She helped me pick out my dress, and wasn't a fan of the mask I chose." she shrugged. "Now come on! Let's go to breakfast."