***Okay.... This chapter would have been out last Saturday, but ffnet was broken and I have been (and still am)
on vacation. So.... I'm sorry that it's a little late, but I swear that it wasn't my fault! Anyhoo, I know that I'm taking
forever to get these two together, but it will happen eventually, I swear!

Their Room

by aleximoon
 
 

Chapter 13
Shopping With Ginny
 

Hermione glanced eagerly at the clock on her bedside table. It was only five minutes later than when she had checked
it last, making it five thirty-five in the morning. Sighing with defeat Hermione rolled over onto her back and stared up
at the crimson canopy that covered her bed, the library wouldn't even open for another hour at least. She would have
snuck out to the library last night, Snape be damned, except that Harry and Ron had decided that she was spending
to much time there and had refused to let her borrow the invisibility cloak, opting instead to force her to play chess for
several hours.

Hermione closed her eyes and tried unsuccessfully to go back to sleep. Her sleep had been troubled before; visions
of dark gray eyes and ancient Arithmancy texts had danced around in her mind while she sleeping. Now, to think
about Arithmancy was fairly common for Hermione, but to dream of Draco Malfoy wasn't in her normal routine.

Finally deciding that going back to sleep just wasn't really feasible at the moment, Hermione climbed out of bed and
put on her slippers, they were blue and reminded her of something an old maid would wear, but Hermione had always
thought them wonderfully comfortable, especially so early in the morning in the winter when the flag stoned hallway
that led to the girl's bathroom felt like raw ice on naked feet.

The bathroom, not surprisingly, was deserted that morning and Hermione was able to secure the little bathtub in
the corner. Pushing aside the crimson and gold drapes that provided privacy she set her towel down next to the
large claw-footed basin. It was rather cold in here; the house-elves had only just recently lit the fires in the room.
Hermione selected a purple bottled bubble bath from the small shelf that was set against the wall and poured a few
drops into the tub. Purple foamy bubbles immediately sprang to life and the scent of lavender suffused the air.

She sank deeply into the water and closed her eyes, her mind beginning to drift.

Hermione found herself in a room that she hadn't been in before; a large bed was in one corner, covered in dark blue
silk. A brilliant fire was burning in the grate and a great door was against the other wall. The door opened suddenly
and Hermione saw Malfoy walk in, he smiled as he approached her.

"Malfoy? What are you doing here?"

Malfoy didn't answer though; he swept her up off her feet and kissed her deeply. Hermione could feel herself start to
melt into the kiss and then fought against it, finding her strength she pushed him away. Malfoy easily let go of her and
smiled lovingly down at her.

"Playing hard to get Hermione? And what have I done to deserve being called Malfoy?" A genuine smile played
across his face and he gently stroked her cheek.

"What's going on Malfoy?" Hermione asked nervously.

But he didn't answer; his hand had dropped from her cheek and found the clasp of her robes. Hermione gasped
softly as the cloth slipped from her shoulders and pooled around her ankles. Malfoy put his hands on her shoulders
and pulled her to him. His hands slowly slid down her body and he pressed his lips to hers.

Hermione woke up with a gasp sending a cascade of bubbly water of the lip of the bathtub. She scrambled out of
the bath. Her breathing hard, she glared at the porcelain tub, as if it was somehow responsible.

"Hermione? Is that you?"

Hermione stifled a gasp and quickly pulled her bathrobe back on, pushing the draperies apart, she gazed down the
large bathroom. At the other end a sleepy Ginny Weasley stood unbraiding a thick plait of red hair.

"G...Ginny, what're you doing up so early?" Hermione asked her, blushing hard.

Ginny covered her mouth with her hand and gave a great yawn.

"Ron and Harry want to get an early start to Hogsmeade this morning, so we're all leaving right after breakfast." She
replied.

Ginny pulled the last lock of red hair loose and gave Hermione her full attention. "Are you all right Hermione? You
look flushed."

"Oh I'm fine, was just in the bath for too long I think." Hermione said quickly and tried to smile at Ginny.

The young Weasley crossed her arms and looked Hermione up and down.

"What's going on with you and Malfoy?"

Hermione turned quickly and began to gather her things, deliberately not looking at her friend.

"Nothing is going on with Malfoy, we just have to work together on this project for Arithmancy, I've told you that Gin."

Ginny narrowed her eyes, "Ron and Harry might believe that, but I'm a bit more observant than either of them."

Something inside of Hermione cracked and she gave a soft wail and sat down hard on one of the small benches that
lined the wall. She buried her face in her hands and took a deep, reassuring breath.

"I don't know what's going on with Malfoy," she moaned.

Ginny sat down next to Hermione and gently draped an arm over her shoulder.

"So there is something going on," Ginny whispered finally.

Hermione pulled out of Ginny's embrace and leaned her head back against the wall.

"Yes," she said slowly, "there is something going on, but I don't know what."

"Do you want to talk about?" Ginny asked softly, worry obvious on her face.

Hermione shook her head, "no Ginny, thinking about him will only give me a head ache. You won't tell Harry or Ron,
will you?"

"Of course not, if they're not paying enough attention to figure things out for themselves, well then bludgers to them."
Ginny said with a grin.

"Thanks Gin, I had better go get dressed, see you at breakfast?"

"Yeah, tell Harry and Ron not to leave without me in case I'm late, they are in quite a rush this morning."

With these last words Ginny Weasley stepped into the shrouded bath area that Hermione had been sleeping so
fitfully in only a few minutes before and pulled the drapes behind her. Hanging her towel over her arm, Hermione
slipped quietly out of the bathroom and padded back to her room. The dream had faded somewhat in her mind
and Hermione had decided that it had only been the after affects of too many peppermint pasties at dinner the night
before. Her conversation with Ginny was still weighing on her mind though as she reached her room and began to
search for a set of school robes to put on. She knew that Ginny wouldn't say anything to Harry or Ron, but if Ginny
could notice, wouldn't they eventually? Hermione shuddered at the thought of their reactions if they thought that she
might like Draco Malfoy.

"Not that I do," she assured herself firmly as she pulled the black robes over her head.

Hermione reminded herself once again that Draco Malfoy was nothing but an egotistical, spoiled-brat who had
nothing better to do than torment her and her friends. But as she pulled her hair back from her forehead and fixed
it with a small, unadorned clip, she couldn't ignore the loneliness that seemed to exude from him sometimes, or the
warmth that she was almost certain that she had seen in his usually unreadable cold, gray eyes. Sighing deeply,
Hermione picked up her book bag and started down the stairs.

Ron and Harry were already there when she reached the common room. They smiled as she came to them.

"Oi! What're you doing with those?" Ron asked as he pointed at her bag.

"I'm going to the library after breakfast," Hermione told him.

"Oh no you're not," Harry told her while Ron nodded vigorously. "You're going to Hogsmeade with us after breakfast."

"Now really, I have things to do there, I think I might be on the verge of a breakthrough. I can't very well go traipsing
off to Hogsmeade." Hermione replied.

Hermione could see that this situation was only going to get worse as a look of resolve seemed to come over both
Ron and Harry. She tried to dart past them but her friends were quicker. Ron grabbed her arm and then pulled her
into a tight hug while Harry pulled her wand out of her pocket. She kicked out furiously at him but Harry just jumped
backward with a big grin on his face. Ron let go of her and Hermione started to lunge at Harry. But before she could
even move, Ron had grabbed her bag and pulled it off of her shoulder. Spinning angrily, Hermione glared at Ron
and then back at Harry.

"Very funny, now give me my wand, Harry."

"Hermione, you're spending way too much time studying, it's not healthy." Harry told her gently.

"Yeah, and it's really not healthy to be spending so much time with that git Malfoy." Ron spat in disgust.

At the mention of Malfoy, Hermione felt herself flush and glared at her friends with a vehemence that was surprising.

"Look Hermione," Harry said quietly, "we know that you live for school, and that you'd sleep in the library if Madame
Pince would let you, but we worry when you try to spend every waking moment there."

Hermione sighed and looked at the floor, she had been neglecting her friends, she knew that. Lately she had been
spending most of her time in the library working with Malfoy, not that he had anything to do with it, of course.

"I guess taking the day off to go to Hogsmeade won't hurt," She agreed finally, much to the relief of her friends.

"Yes, it will do you good to spend some time away from Malfoy." Said a voice from behind them.

Spinning around, Hermione found Ginny standing at the foot of the stairs that led to the girls' dorm. Ginny smiled at
Hermione and she fought against the blush that wanted to creep across her face. Hermione made a mental note to
slip Ginny a canary cream later on.

"Well if that's settled, let's go eat, I'm starving!" Ron said with a relieved grinned.

Much to Hermione's consternation he threw her book bag back onto one of the chairs near the fireplace. But before
she could say anything Ginny had stepped forward and taken her arm. The redhead beamed at her and pulled
Hermione through the portrait hole.
 
 

Arm-in-arm with Ginny, Hermione walked through the deepening snow as they strolled through Hogsmeade. A
snowstorm was blowing up from the south, but it wouldn't get heavy there until later that evening. At the moment, the
snowflakes fell delicately from the afternoon sky making the already idyllic town picture perfect in all of its Christmas
trimmings. Thick garlands connected the lampposts and wreaths of holly and ivy seemed to adorn every door and
window.

Hermione was glad that Ron Harry had forced her to come. They usually didn't have a Hogsmeade trip during the
holiday break, but again, special circumstances were present this year. With so many students littering the school,
the professors had decided that a visit to Hogsmeade would be a welcomed treat.

Harry and Ron were walking a few steps ahead of the girls, when they reached the main square the foursome stopped
and face each other.

"Well, err....now that we're here, Harry and I wanted to do some shopping on our own. If that's all right with you two."
Ron said nervously.

Ginny crossed her arms over her chest and glared disapprovingly at her brother.

"That's fine Ron, Ginny and I were going to look at new robes, right Gin? My parents sent me some money for
Christmas to buy some." Hermione said, cutting off the remark that was obviously on the tip of Ginny's tongue.

"Great!" Harry said, "Well then we'll meet with you in the Three Broomsticks in an hour?"

Hermione nodded and the two boys turned and walked away, talking in low voices.

"It would figure that they waited until the last minute to do their Christmas shopping." Ginny snapped. "I've been done
for ages."

"Come on Ginny, let's go to Gladrags, I've about outgrown my old school robes. Another half inch and I'll be in real
trouble."

Gladrags Wizard Wear was one of the larger stores in Hogsmeade, and like everything else, it was bedecked in
its Christmas finery. Ever-burning candles were lined up one after another on the eaves of the building, each one
enchanted to flash on and off. A trio of small green elves were even singing carols merrily by the doors. The whole
front of the shop seemed to be nothing but windows and the two girls stood outside for a moment admiring the
brilliantly colored robes that were on display.

Hermione had never been one for clothes shopping, which happened to be one of the many things she liked about
being a witch; simple robes were a mainstay. But the youngest Weasley obviously had a love for fashion and Hermione
soon found herself loaded down with a pile of black robes of varying shade and material.

"Ginny, I only need the standard school robe set." Hermione pleaded from behind the growing pile.

"Nonsense, the standard set is boring. What do you think of this one?" Ginny asked.

Hermione craned her neck in order to look around the stack of robes at the ridiculously shiny black robe that Ginny
was holding out to her. It looked disturbingly like some type of animal skin, one that would crawl. Or, as Hermione
made a face, slither.

"Ginny, I absolutely refuse to try on something made of snake skins." Hermione said firmly.

Ginny looked momentarily defeated and gazed past Hermione. A sudden smile spilt her face and Ginny pushed past
Hermione with a squeal of excitement. Hermione rolled her eyes and wished quite suddenly that she were in the library.
Hermione deposited the pile of robes into the arms of a young sales-witch that had been patiently waiting upon them.
Hermione turned quickly to avoid the disgruntled glare that the young woman sent her way and scanned the store for
Ginny.

Ginny was in the dress robe section of the store. She had pulled out a robe of dark violet and was holding it up to
herself and examined the effect in a near-by mirror. She glanced over at Hermione and motioned her over.

"What do you think?" She asked turning to face Hermione.

"It's pretty Gin, but I thought that you already got new dress robes this year." Hermione said admiring her friend. The
purple really did look good on Ginny.

"I did, birthday present from Percy, but it never hurts to look. Speaking of which, let's find some for you!" Ginny
return the robe to its rack and started pawing through the neighboring robes.

"I don't need new dress robes, I like the ones that I had last year." Hermione said plaintively. She had been very happy
with how she had turned out for last year's ball.

"Yes but you wore those last year," Ginny made sure to enunciate every word. "And anyway, if you've almost
outgrown last years set of school robes, them you must surely have almost outgrown last years dress robe."

"I..."

Hermione paused, she hadn't really thought of that. Ginny made sense though, the dress robe that she had worn last
year had been fitted to her, so it probably wouldn't fit. Hermione looked at the surrounding robes and sighed, this
was going to take more time that she had wanted to spend in here. Ginny certainly didn't seem to mind though; she
had already pulled out a robe or two to hold against Hermione.

Hermione turned from Ginny and began to run her hand over the fabrics, some were as smooth as glass, some were
rough and starchy, one was made entirely of dragon skin. Hermione was trying to ignore the mounting stack of dress
robes that Ginny was forming on the table near the mirror and concentrated instead on the rack in front of her. Her
eyes were immediately drawn to one robe in particular. She pulled it out to examine. The fabric was a warm crimson,
it reminded her of holly berries. The cloth itself was soft and smooth to the touch like silk but thicker. It had a matte
finish and the light didn't reflect from it the way some robes did. It was subtle in it beauty. The only detail that it
contained were sleeves that belled out slightly and ended in a thin band of shiny red trim. A smile spread across her
face and Hermione turned to show Ginny.

"Look at this one!" They said in unison.

Ginny was already holding out a robe to Hermione to see. With an exchange of oohs and ahhs, the two girls admired
the robes. The one that Ginny had found was a brilliant blue, light and airy, with material that seemed to shimmer in the
light. A delicate ruffle ran along the hem and the sleeves narrowed down to a fitted point on either hand. Hermione
stared at each robe and then grinned at Ginny, how could she choose? But Ginny had gone still, she was staring at a
spot over Hermione's shoulder.

"What?" Hermione began to ask as she turned.

Draco Malfoy was standing outside the shop watching them, watching her, through the great windows. The trio of
elves was singing around him but he seemed oblivious. Hermione wondered how long he had been standing there
watching them shopping and a deep blush spread across her face. He seemed to snap out of his reverie and realized
just what he was doing and turned away quickly, striding into the mounting snowdrifts.

"Well," Ginny said in a stunned voice, "that was certainly strange."
 
 

Hermione opened the door to their room and stopped, somehow, Malfoy had managed to beat her back to school.
He sat at the large table with his feet resting on a pile their used parchment, a book in his lap. He looked up at her as
she stood there and the details of Hermione's dream came pouring across her thoughts. She felt herself blush deeply
and took a steadying breath before pulling the door close behind her.

"Something wrong Granger? You look a little flushed." Malfoy told her, a hint of amusement in his silvery eyes.

Hermione refused to answer him, only walking stiffly past to the crate near the window. Extracting one of the illegible
tomes, she returned to the table and sat down silently. She continued to ignore him for several minutes, but the
knowledge that he was still watching her was beginning to get under skin.

"What?" She finally snapped in exasperation, "what can you possibly find so interesting?"

Malfoy grinned, obviously pleased with his ability to bother her. "Nothing really, just find it funny how much you
resemble Weasley at the moment. Didn't know you could get that red."

"It was cold out! And I prefer to think of it as rosy." She told him coldly.

"Whatever you say Granger." Malfoy smiled almost pleasantly at her and began to read again.

Hermione wasted one more moment to glare at his tousled head before immersing herself fully in her own book. The
minutes flew by and the sky outside darkened, snow falling in thick flurries now. At some point Malfoy left the room
without saying a word. Hermione watched him go out of the corner of her eye and shrugged to herself when he was
gone.

Hermione moaned softly and rubbed her temples with the tips of her fingers. She had been working for at least an
hour and the code still wasn't making any sense. Shivering slightly, Hermione pulled her robe tighter, thinking of the
warm cloak folded neatly on her bed right next to her new robes.

The door opened and Malfoy strode back in. He was caring two cups, one of which he set in front of her before
sinking back into his own seat across the table. Hermione looked down at the dark, steaming liquid and then up at
Malfoy who had already begun to drink from his cup.

"What's this?"

"What does it look like Granger? It's coffee." He told her sardonically.

"Yes, I can see that it's coffee, why do I have some?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"I was getting cold, figured I would pay my old house elf a visit and get something warm to drink. I thought it would
only be gentlemanly of me to get some for you as well."

Hermione looked from Malfoy back to her coffee and swirled it dubiously.

"You can drink it black, can't you? I know that some witches have too weak a demeanor to drink something so
strong." He smirked at her.

"Of course I can drink it black," she snapped at him, and as if to prove that she did not possess a fragile constitution,
she took a great gulp of the hot liquid.

The warmth spread through her quickly and Hermione returned to her tome, missing the slight smile that appeared
fleetingly on Malfoy's face.

Their silent study continued after that until Hermione, glancing at her watch noticed that it was almost time for the
library to close, and gave into her desperate need to figure out the books.

"Have you figured it out yet Malfoy?"

"What? You haven't gotten it yet Granger?" Malfoy answered her question with a question.

Hermione glared at him but swallowed her pride anyway, "No, I haven't yet. What does your say?" She said this in
a small breathless voice, the possibilities of what the books might say stretched out before her like a great adventure.

"I haven't the foggiest idea," for added emphasis, Malfoy snapped his book stuff and tossed it lightly onto the table in
front of him.

"What? But I thought...didn't you say... You are such a prat sometimes Malfoy." Hermione crossed her arms over her
chest and glared at him.

"I know, but I'm still devilishly handsome and that makes up for my shortcomings, few as they are." Malfoy smiled
genially at her.

Hermione only laughed scathingly and closed her own book. Deciding that she was too tired to continue she set the
book on the table next to her pile of notes. Quickly scanning these one more time in case there was something she had
missed. Hermione didn't understand why they hadn't broken the code yet; it was obviously there now that they were
looking for it. The number pattern was similar through out all the books. The unique grouping of fours and the virtually
always-singular eleven showed that. She stifled a yawn and decided that it wasn't going to do her any good to work
while this tired. Pulling her bag onto her shoulder she walked to the door.

"See you tomorrow Granger?" Malfoy called out after her.

"Of course," she replied sleepily before pulling the door shut behind her.
 
 
 

Back to Chapter 12
Chapter 14