Till The End | h.p

yule ball

Christmas Eve rolls around quite quickly. Hermione and Sam wake up, but decide to take the day one step at a time. They sit up and lean against their headboards as they talk.

"So," Sam wiggles her eyebrows, "Viktor Krum?"

"So," she deadpans, "Harry Potter?"

"Okay, first of all, that's a completely different situation."

"I mean, I wasn't surprised, I was only shocked it took you both this long."

"Well, he asked me, but I don't know if he meant as friends or... something more."

Hermione hesitates before asking, "Do you want it to be more?"

"It's all so complicated. I mean, yeah I do, but-"

"There are no buts," Hermione interjects, "it's either you do or you don't."

They sit in silence as Sam thinks, "This summer, when we had the day of Quidditch and fireworks, Harry and I were sitting in the tree and nothing special or important happened, but there's just something about sitting with him and talking with him as the sun sets. Watching the fireworks and chasing each other with sparklers," they both chuckle, "Even taking his picture... it's like we can just be normal teenagers, we can just be ourselves together. Dancing with him, it gives me butterflies and I never want to stop. I never want him to let go..."

Hermione smiles as she looks out the window, "You love him."

"Of course, I do, but am I in love with him? And does he feel the same way?"

"Let me ask you this," she says as she moves from her bed to sit next to Sam in hers, "when all the boys started flirting with you and asking you to the ball, did you even look at them twice?"

"No, I was always paying attention to Harry. But that doesn't mean anything."

"So if they asked you out, would you say yes?"

"I would rather spend time with Harry."

"Why do you have to make everything so difficult?"

"You make me think too much, I don't know what I'm feeling, I just want to be with him."

"I'm sorry- you what?"

"I just want to be next to him. I want to be with him. I want him."

Hermione smiles, feeling accomplished until Sam blurts out, "But none of that matters if he doesn't feel the same way."

"I'm sure you'll know by the end of the night."

Sam rolls her eyes, "Come on, let's go get breakfast."

They roll out of bed and make their way to the Great Hall, talking the whole way about what they're going to do with their hair.

"So, is it true, about Malfoy?"

Sam sits beside her as she adds to her plate, "What do you mean?"

Hermione turns away from her plate and looks at the Slytherin table. She notices that Malfoy is staring directly at Sam, "He's staring at you."

Sam looks up and as she makes eye contact with him, he looks away, "No, he- he fancies me for some reason."

Hermione says nothing but continues to eat. She knows how Sam feels, but there's something about the way she wasn't repulsed by this information that surprised her. Sam continues to eat, but every once in a while she catches Draco's stare and she feels bad for some reason. She didn't want her rejection to hurt him, but she didn't know why.