A Winter's Kiss

by EgyptianAngel
 
 

Chapter 1
The Winter Confession
 

A loud gust of wind added to the chill of Hogsmeade Village. On this beautiful, frosty
December morning it was easy to forget the trouble's everyone was going though. It was
the type of weather that suggests a change, or a new beginning. However, the secret that
was going to reveal a new beginning was hidden within the swirls of the wind, and would
only be discovered by two unlikely souls. It was the type of weather that made it easy to
sip the worries away with hot chocolate and loved ones. That is, if you had anyone to sip
hot chocolate with. It wasn't that Harry, Ron and Hermione had drifted, all the adversary
had brought them closer together, but every now and then the differences of their gender
shined through. Harry and Ron were in Hogsmeade's new Quidditch shop, Bouer's
Brooms, and going in and out of Weasley Wizards' Wheezes to visit Fred and George.
The WWW store was flourishing now that Mr. Weasley had been promoted and become
one of the most brave, admired Wizards. Besides that, in these troubled times everyone
needed a good laugh once in a while.

Everyone that is, but Hermione Granger, it seemed. Another gust of wind passed through
Hogsmeade, loose papers dancing along the village, carried by the wind. Hermione shivered
and pulled her black cloak tighter around herself, folding her arms, trying to keep warm. She
found that it was becoming more and more difficult to read her newest book, A Thousand
Tricks to Perfecting Potions. She looked down at the icy floor of Hogsmeade and wiped her
ice-covered pleather boots with her gloves. The gold trimmed bottom of her cloak was also
coming to be covered in ice. She shivered again, and tried to focus on reading her book
once again.

~*~

Draco Malfoy walked along the deserted streets of Hogsmeade, in the cold weather and
moonlight, it was an eerie site. The cold weather forced most students to stay at the castle,
and the few who had come were all in the shops to try and keep warm. He wore his black
cloak trimmed in silver well, and it flowed elegantly behind him. His silver gloves matched
that of his hair, and the weather made him even paler, if that was even possible.

It was then he spotted Hermione sitting on the cement steps that led up to the archway
where couples would eat during the summer months. The ice was covering the archway
and the cement within, it was completely deserted. It would make a romantic winter
spot for couples, if any cared to visit Hogsmeade in these months of harsh weather.

Not to his surprise she had a huge book resting upon her knees. Her delicate fingers
turned another page of the golden book as thick brown curls fell before her face. She
pushed the curls back behind her ear with his slender fingers. He noticed that her nails
had been done in a French manicure, and in the icy setting they looked beautiful. She
crossed her legs, and he saw her pleather knee-high boots with a tall slender heel.
Hermione Granger had definitely changed in the past two years. She lifted her head,
not seeing Draco. Even from this distance he could tell her make-up was done in icy
colors. She looked like a Winter Goddess.

Draco scolded himself from idolizing Hermione like that, he shouldn't allow himself to
feel attraction to Hermione, he shouldn't allow himself to fall in l...No. That was ridiculous,
it couldn't be lo...oh, forget it. He was about to turn and walk the other way, another night
he didn't let Hermione know how he felt would pass. The days would turn into months,
and his chance would be gone to tell her. He knew what was in store for him when he
graduated Hogwarts. His father would make him become a death eater. He shifted
uncomfortably at the thought, he could still feel the aching scars the whip of his father had
given him. He wasn't even wanted by his own father, what made him think a girl would
love him for any other reason then his family's power and money. He was about to turn,
that is, when Hermione met eyes with him, and....smiled. She gave him a very warm
smile in fact....a very sweet smile...

~*~

Hermione couldn't believe what she was doing, was she really smiling at Draco Malfoy?
She looked at him standing there, and realized why she couldn't resist to smile. He was
very well built, and very handsome. She was attracted to him. She was attracted to Draco
Malfoy. What was wrong with her!? She couldn't be feeling this, it just wasn't right. A
weak smile can from Draco's icy lips, becoming a wide, gentle grin. Hermione had never
seen Draco smile before, maybe he really had changed. She set the book aside, and
stood up, and Draco began to walk to her, closing in on the distance between them
quickly.

It was then Draco and Hermione both became nervous, their stubborn personalities
almost ruining the perfect winter night. Almost. Within what had only seemed like seconds
Draco was very near her, stopping just before the icy cement steps.

"Potty and Weasel ditch you again Mudblood?" Draco spat, and then scolded himself
for doing so.

Hermione's smile faded, those weren't the words she had hoped or expected would
come from his mouth.

"I don't see your bodyguards aren't anywhere to be found, sure you wanna try to insult
me all on your own?!" She asked in a mocking tone.

"Ouch Mudblood. How clever we are tonight." he said with an evil smirk forming on his
face.

"Well, it's not exactly rocket science to be more clever than a Slytherin." she spat.

He placed a hand our his heart and than made a fist, making a hurt look on his face.

"That really hurt you know. We can't all be as stupid as Gryffindors you know."

"I'd rather be a Gryffindor than a Slytherin any day. We all know what becomes of a
Slytherin after.."

Draco quickly climbed the few steps that separated them, becoming very close to
Hermione.

"For your sake, Mudblood, you will not finish that sentence."

"For my sake!? How dare you threaten me!!" she almost yelled back.

"Tsk, Tsk, Tsk. Showing our temper are we? Not very becoming of a Head Girl I
must say."

"Oh can it Malfoy. Your clever eleven year old insults are hardly anything now."

"Oh, so cold coming from a Gryffindor." he turned around to leave, trying to end this
now and figure out what had gone wrong when he heard her say those words.

"Oh so pathetic coming from a death eater." she replied coldly.

He whirled around, a look of hate on his face. His anger even added a little cooler to
his face, making he cheeks red.

"WHAT did you call me?"

"Are all Slytherins hard of hearing? I called you a death eater."

"You will NOT call me that!!!" he shouted in response.

"And if I do? You can't do anything to stop me."

Draco balled his fists in rage and bit his bottom lip in anger. He had to keep himself from
striking her. It took all his strength to turn around and rush down the stone steps.

"Leaving so soon are we Malfoy? Tell the other death eaters we say hello, and that there
justice is coming."

Draco turned on his heels on the spot and calmly said, "I am no death eater." At that, he
turned around, little did he know that why they had been talking the snow had made the
ground icy, and he slipped and hit his head.

"Draco!" Hermione shouted, running towards him. On the last step her long heel broke and
she too fell, landing on halfway on Draco, who had not yet risen. Silence fell. None of them
no longer felt anger, and they didn't need words to apologize to each other, somehow, the
other just knew. Draco raised a gloved hand and pushed back a curl behind her ear. He
brought his hand to her cheek and caressed it softly, looking into her hypnotizing cinnamon
eyes. She starred back into his enchanting silver eyes. Just then, the hand that had been
propping her up slide on the ice and she was now laying on him completely. When she fell,
her smooth, frosty lips met with his dry icy ones. He slowly slide his hands around her back,
moving them up and down her back as their kiss became more intense. He parted her frosty
lips with his tongue, meeting with hers instantly. Her kiss and body warmed his instantly.
Warmth was never anything he had felt before. He had kissed other girls, been with other
girls, but they had all been so hollow. Hermione was so full of life, so perfect. He slowly
changed positions so that he was on top of her, and kissed her forcefully. He had never felt
this for a girl before, and it was something he didn't want to let go of. She pulled away
gently, suddenly becoming very aware of her surroundings. The pink color returned to his
cheeks. He got up, and planted his feet and firmly as he could to help Hermione, who almost
slipped again. She laughed and said, "If we had flat shoes, I bet we could ice skate." He
gave a weak smile, and held out his hand.

"Come on Granger." Draco said. Not Mudblood, Granger. It was an improvement.

"Where are we going?" she asked, not sure about taking his hand.

"There's something I wanna show you," he said, noticing her nervousness and added,
"trust me."

She did trust me, she didn't know why, but she did. She smiled at took his hand, which
he held onto tightly, almost protectively. They walked in silence for a while, until she
spotted a rock wall covered in vine. From the look Draco had on his face the rock most
likely revealed a passage way. She turned to him, smiled, and said, "and all I wanted
was a winter's kiss."

"And that you shall have," he said, taking her into his arms and kissing her again.
 
 
 

Don't worry, this isn't as instant romance as it seems. Give it a chance and you'll see what
I mean. Twists, tears and troubles ahead. Next chapter will be "The Secret Chamber".
 

Back to Prologue
Chapter 2