Nothing Else Left

Chapter 7

Through the next couple months, nothing much happened. Nothing weird happened to Hermione, and basically she and Draco both tried to forget what had happened. They never found anything in the library, though they looked for weeks. Hermione tried to ignore the necklace, and things went back to normal. Almost. Hermione still couldn't touch the necklace, and whenever she did, it was a painful reminder that she wasn't free.

It was nearing Christmas, and with Christmas comes the yearly Winter Carnival, a take-off of the Yule Ball. (A/N There really is something called the winter carnival in my school.) The Winter Carnival is always held the day before Christmas. There is a series of competitions throughout the day, which any witch or wizard can compete in, so long as you sign up. There were a couple muggle activities that many students were fond of, such as the classic three-legged race. Most, though, were wizard tasks, kind of mini versions of the tasks in the Triwizard tournament. Fred and George, as usual, volunteered to set up and score the competitions. Sign up forms were available, and Hermione was nagging Draco to do one, even if they couldn't do it together.

"No! I will not make a fool of myself in front of nearly the whole school! Nothing you say will make me change my mind."

But Draco!" Hermione whined. It was unusual for her to want to compete, but for some reason, this year it appealed to her. A mischievous glint came to her eyes, making Draco tilt his head and cock one eyebrow. "Not even for my mom's famous fudge? Just think of it, an entire batch, just for you."

Draco was practically drooling. He kept his mouth closed just in case. Hermione knew him too well. Ever since he had tried them at Halloween when her mum sent some up to her, he had been bugging her to ask her mom for more. There, was just something about them. He knew that since both parents were dentists, they only made it once a year, for trick-or-treaters. (A/N this may be out of character, but work with me) She always added a secret ingredient that made the taste stay on your mouth for hours afterward, so long as you didn't eat anything else. Some people found this gross, but Draco thought it was mouthwatering.

"You want them, don't you?" Hermione coaxed.

"You know I do, but your mum makes them once a year. I don't think she would make an exception for me."

"Not even if I tell her I volunteered her to make them for the Gryffindor house Christmas party?" One corner of her mouth lifted in a perfect imitation of Draco's smirk.

"Uuughh," Draco groaned reluctantly. "All right. But, you have to be positive your mum will send it. No fudge, no deal."

"All right. I'll send her an owl tonight."

* * *

Anticipation of the upcoming events was high among the students. The Winter Carnival was only two days away. Not many students went home for the holidays with everything going on. Just as the Yule Ball had been, the Winter Carnival Dance was for fourth year students and higher. Hermione had just gotten a dress. It was pure white, tight fitting on the top and fanning out at the bottom. There was a strip in the middle shaped like a triangle that was sheer; you could see the belly button. It was long-sleeved, with the ends flared The collar was low-cut, but not at all exposing. The bottom of the dress just brushed the floor, even when wearing her matching strappy white shoes. She hadn't needed a necklace, obviously, due to the one stuck about her neck. She bought earrings, though, with little sterling silver suns, to match the necklace. Might as well match, right?

Draco and Hermione were, of course, going to the dance together. Harry was going with Scarlet, a gorgeous 6^th year from Ravenclaw. Hermione had always liked her. She had a very charming personality and was easy to get along with.

Ron was going with Lavender this year, and she honestly seemed to like him, although he, being a guy, didn't see it. (A/N sorry to you guys out there)

Ginny was going with Colin, whom she had started dating just a week before. He had finally built up the nerve to ask her out.

Fred and George were to arrive the next day. They were to stay in the Gryffindor house for the night, in the common room. They had been, after all, Gryffindors, not to mention both Ginny and Ron were there. Many of the Gryffindor's, though, were a little nervous about them staying there. Who knows what those two could do overnight?

Mrs. Granger had agreed to send up the fudge, so Draco agreed to sign up along with Hermione for an activity. There had been a small argument about that, but they had finally decided on the Relay Race.

* * *

On the morning of the Winter Carnival, Draco was waiting patiently by Fat Lady portrait for Hermione, just like they had agreed. Breakfast was to start in about ten minutes, but Draco was accustomed to her taking a little extra time to get ready, especially on a day like today.

When she finally did arrive, she was full of school spirit. Her hair was streaked with red and gold. She was wearing the Hogwarts shirt that was issued out to all 7^th years at the beginning of the school year under her robes. Her fingernails had painted on them in black the word "GRYFFINDOR" (one letter per nail) with bewitched nail polish flashing red and gold underneath.

"Well, I can take a wager on who you're rooting for," Draco remarked.

"Yeah, but what about you? Slytherin or Gryffindor?"

"Well, you don't want my whole house against me, now do you? I'm kind of obligated to root for them. Besides, I'm not very fond of all Gryffindors, remember. I need the familiarity of Slytherin every once in a while. Oh, and take a look at this while your at it." He grinned and pulled his robes apart. Hermione covered her mouth with her hand in surprise. He wasn't wearing a shirt underneath, but his smooth chest was painted with the Slytherin symbol. The snake was bewitched to bare its fangs every once in a while.

Hermione chuckled softly. She could only imagine how he was going to show that off. Ha.

"So, what do you think the faculty'll say when I break out with this?" He grinned wickedly, silently telling her they couldn't do much because it was vacation. They couldn't very well give him a detention or take off house points.

"You're too much. You know that though, don't you." She smiled at him and stood on tiptoe to kiss him. Then she took his hand and started leading him down towards breakfast. "Come on. I need something to keep me going throughout the day.

* * *

By the time breakfast had ended, faculty members were shooing the students out into the halls so they could quickly set up for the events. Fred and George hollered out a fast greeting before they had to help rearrange.

When they were allowed back into the Hall, they found that all along the sides of the walls, the floor was raised up to form steps for the students to sit on. The Relay Race was to be the first event. Hermione spotted Fred and George sitting in chairs by the scoreboard. She waved, then got up to get ready for her event.

The scoring was done in points of 1, 3, 5, and 7. Seven was given to the best of each event, and one to the worst.

The Relay Race was done in sets of three, three students from each house. Half of the race was of muggle origin, and half of wizard. Hermione would first be running along a track with several obstacles and hurdles, and would then pass the baton to Kori, who would be waiting on broomstick. She would be required to fly through a series of hoops, then dropping to the ground and passing it to the last person. He would sprint the last hundred meters to the finish line.

Each house went separately, and best time wins. Hermione too off her robe, under which she was wearing a t-shirt and running shorts. Kori would keep on her robes, and Dennis Creevey, their sprinter, was dressed similarly o Hermione.

Professor Sprout blew her whistle to signal them to their places. Gryffindor was to go first, so Hermione got into position, feeling only slightly nervous. Professor McGonnegal came up to her and gave her the baton, which was twisted with red and gold for Gryffindor. The whistle sounded again, sounding the runners to take their marks. Hermione had run track over the summer at her muggle school, so the was nothing. The next whistle would be the signal to go.

The shrill whistle sang, and Hermione started off. She could faintly hear the Gryffindors cheering, but she blocked that out, concentrating on the course in front of her.

She was flying, faster than she had ever run before. She met the first hurdle, clearing it easily. Three more hurdles went by, then he high jump. She executed a graceful flip over the bar, landing and rolling to her feet on one smooth movement, then proceeding to the next part of the race. In no time, she was done and handing the baton to Kori, who sped off.

Hermione jogged back to where her robes were, grabbed them, then jogged back to the stands, where Draco, Harry, Ron and Ginny were waiting to congratulate her.

Draco rose and hugged her. Surprisingly, Hermione wasn't even out of breath. She had never run such a good race, and she felt like she could go again. It was a great feeling.

"Brilliant race, Hermione. You were a blur." Ron clapped her on the back, smiling, then sat back down to watch as Kori handed off the baton to Dennis.

"Great job, Hermione. I don't think I could've done that well. And you look like you could do a hundred more!" He grinned and then turned his attention to Fred and George, who were about to announce the time for Gryffindor.

"Twenty-two point oh six seconds!" bellowed Fred. George was also holding up the time for those who had not heard.

Hufflepuff went next and got a time of 27.21 seconds. Ravenclaw got 22.19 and Slytherin took 23.01 seconds. The points were awarded accordingly. Slytherin would have received a much better time if it weren't for the sprinter, who had tripped only feet from the finish line. Draco had made excellent time, so he made up for some of it.

To Hermione, it seemed that the morning flew by. It was almost as if the events were ending though it seemed they had just started. Before she knew it, Ravenclaw was being declared winners (they were the most athletic out of the houses), then Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff. All of it took three hours, but it had seemed more like twenty minutes. Draco took Hermione by the arm and escorted her back to her common room, where food and drink were waiting. Draco said he would come at eight to take her to the dance.

It was nearly twelve, and Hermione was starving. She, along with Harry, Ron and Ginny sat down by the fireplace to eat and talk about the upcoming dance.

They were just starting on their lunch, when Fred and George made their appearance in the common room.

"Hey kids!!" was Fred's tactful entry, while George gracefully fell flat on his face onto one of the couches. Fred wandered over to where they were, and tactfully sat on Hermione's lap.

"Fred, I'm not sure if Draco would appreciate that much." Hermione grinned as Fred turned to give her an incredulous look, displaying utter innocence. Laughing, Hermione pushed him off her where he fell onto the floor. Even at twenty years old, those two hadn't changed one bit.

George made a show of falling off the couch an d crawling over to them, taking a sandwich when he got there. With his mouth full, he started to talk. "So, Hermykins, I'm assuming you're going with the ever-charming and lovable Draco Malfoy, right?" Hermione protested at the use of the word 'evil', but George rambled on. "So what about you three? Ronny? Who's the desperate lady you'll be taking?" Both twins grinned at the glare Ron gave George.

"I happen to be going with Lavender this year, and she asked me!" Everyone stared at him for that statement. "What? So I didn't wasn't you to think I was too chicken to ask a girl out again. Oh, stop it," he added when Harry started to laugh.

The twins shook their heads as if in shame, then moved on to Ginny. "Little sister, what about you? Are you and Harry married yet?" Both Ginny and Harry turned red.

Ginny was the first to speak up. "No, as a matter of fact, I'm going out with Colin."

"Oooh, baby Ginny has a boyfriend? How exciting! Is he a Gryffindor? We must meet him!"

Harry, feeling slightly put-out, told the twins he was going with Scarlet.

"Was she that girl with black hair" Yesterday, sitting next to that tall green-haired Ravenclaw?" Harry nodded. "What a babe! She's hot! Great catch Harry! Kudos!" Fred clapped him on the back appreciatively.

They all talked for hours, playing games of Exploding Snap and Wizards Chess, until five o' clock came around, and both Ginny and Hermione excused themselves to start getting ready, leaving the guys wondering why on earth girls need three hours to get ready.