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25th December, 1994
Hermione Granger sighed loudly to herself, grumbling and ranting about stupid Ronald Weasley ruining her evening as she left the castle and made her way angrily down towards the Black Lake. She found a spot near the frozen lake and sat down on the grass, pushing her legs towards her chest as she smoothed out the fabric of her periwinkle Yule ball dress against her legs. She sighed, staring out at the lake and waving her wand to create tiny snowflakes floating around her body. Hermione conjured up a pair of skates and placed them next to her, just in case she wanted to skate around on the frozen lake like she used to do at home with her mother and father.
"Not enjoying the party, Granger?" Draco Malfoy's voice called out as he walked from the castle behind her and then joined her down on the grass. He stared at the dress before looking into Hermione's face. He seemed drunk but maybe she was reading his face differently.
"Piss off Malfoy." Hermione wasn't in the mood for him to bully her right now. She was tired and wanted to be alone in the snow. "Just leave me alone." She turned her face away, looking back out towards the lake. Hermione puts her wand down and away, underneath her dress, the fake snowflakes disappearing from the air as she sighed to herself.
"No. I'm not leaving you alone, Granger." Draco stated, smirking as he moved closer. Hermione sniffed at the air and came to the conclusion that he wasn't drunk and just plainly wanted to annoy the muggleborn instead of partying with his supposed girlfriend, Pansy Parkinson. Draco leans closer to Hermione's face and was smirking larger at the curly-haired witch. "And she isn't my girlfriend." He raised his eyebrows as Hermione turned around and faced him, complete and utter shock was written across Hermione's face.
"How?" Hermione uttered.
"Your face always changes to one of pure disgust when you are thinking about Pansy Parkinson or are just near her. It is an easy read." Draco shrugged his shoulders, chuckling loudly. He then turned the conversation over to a new topic and stared at the ice skates that Hermione had conjured in front of her. "What are those?" Draco questioned.
"They're ice skates." Hermione smiled, staring at Draco's face. Reading the confusion that was painted across the blond's face made her realise that he didn't know what they were. "Do you not know what ice skating is? Wait—" She gasped loudly. "Have you never skated before?" Hermione questioned and was breathing heavily at the idea that someone can't have experienced the real fun of ice skating. Instantly the idea came to her head and Hermione conjured up another pair of ice skates, passing them over to Draco before lacing her own skates onto her feet. She rushed over to the lake and skated over the ice, staring out at Draco who was still staring down at the skates she had conjured up for him.
Hermione laughed to herself as she watched him stumble towards the lake. Then, finally, Draco was on the air and was annoyingly semi-good at skating. He also looks good. Attractive. Black tailored suit twirling around the ice as he moved closer towards Hermione. Draco smiled, reaching for her hands to Hermione's shocked face as he began twirling the two of them around the ice, dancing to the humming music that was coming from the castle.
Oh.
Oh.
Oh no.
Hermione ignored her heart but it was hard to ignore the feeling as Draco twirled her around. The two of them were dressed in extremely good-looking dresses and suits and strings were tying them together, keeping them close as they moved around the frozen lake. And here it was. The moment that she realised that she was in love with Draco Malfoy.
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