During the day, they study in the library, or take walks at Black Lake and the greenhouse, and occasionally visit Hagrid like today.
Hogwarts was empty and quiet because of the holidays, giving them more space to be alone and relax.
They also frequently visited Hogsmeade.
As Draco said, his previous contacts with the shop owners were beginning to show results.
As calls for Lucius Malfoy's election Minister for Magic grew louder, shrewd shopkeepers became even more convinced that accepting Draco's investment was a wise move.
Many shop owners successively finalized investment cooperation agreements with Draco, each with varying details, much to Hermione's delight.
Hermione also took this opportunity to actively lobby in Hogsmeade and to make contact with the House-elf of Hogwarts.
With Draco's financial backing and potential political influence, her push has already gone far too smoothly.
She even managed to persuade several senior House-elf in Hogwarts Kitchens to try accepting a weekly loyalty allowance of 1 Knut and to attend her evening classes on basic rights and magical common sense.
The last day of the holiday,
The two snuggled together, watching the snowflakes fall outside the window.
Hermione nestled in Draco's arms, then suddenly looked up at him and said, " Draco, this holiday went by so fast."
Looking at the wistful expression on the face of the girl in his arms, tinged with a touch of girlish melancholy, Draco smiled gently.
"Yeah, it goes by pretty fast. In the blink of an eye, I'll be sleeping all alone again. Sigh, just thinking about it makes me feel... the nights are long and sleepless."
He spoke with a straight face, even letting out a feigned melancholy sigh, but the mischievous smile in his eyes was impossible to hide.
Hermione's face quickly flushed an alluring blush, making her look especially charming in the warm light of the fireplace.
She should have expected Draco to always steer the conversation in this direction, and in a rather ambiguous way!
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Hermione punched his chest in embarrassment and anger. "Who, who wants to... do that with you! Go sleep in your cold, hard bed!"
"I'm not making this up," Draco chuckled triumphantly. "I'm just stating an objective fact—the holidays are over, and we have to go back to our respective dormitories. Isn't that right, Miss Granger? Or... are you actually reluctant to leave too...?"
"I'm not sad at all!" Hermione retorted immediately. "I... I can't wait to go back to Gryffindor Tower! My bed is so much more comfortable than the Room of Requirement! And I have my roommate, we can chat at night..."
Her voice grew softer and softer as she spoke.
Having grown accustomed to spending every day together during the holidays, accustomed to falling asleep peacefully in his arms every night, returning to the cold four-poster bed, just thinking about it, seems to already feel... empty?
"Alright, alright, our Miss Granger loves communal living the most, and misses her soft bed and her girlfriends the most." He went along with Hermione's words, "Then let's enjoy this last bit of... school time where we can chat with our roommates late into the night."
"Because... after graduation, after getting married..."
He deliberately emphasized the words "married," watching as her pupils contracted sharply at those words.
"... At that time, you'll have to sleep with me every night. You won't have anywhere to run away, and if you want to chat with your roommates... you'll probably only be able to chat with me, your roommate."
"Every night," "Sleep with me,"... these are words brimming with confidence in their future life together.
Hermione's cheeks turned bright red at an astonishing speed!
"You, you, you, you--!"
She could only utter a few meaningless syllables.
How could he say such a thing without batting an eye!
And, and "every night"!
This is... this is too... too shameless!
And... and he said he was "married"...
Although they had already tacitly accepted the future, the way he expressed it in such a vivid way...
The vague anticipation and anxiety about living together day and night after marriage made her feel like a teapot being roasted over a fire, burning hot and about to steam.
"I... I don't want to!" Hermione protested weakly, frantically trying to escape from him.
"Who, who wants to sleep with you every day! I, I can sleep in my own room! Yes! We can sleep in separate rooms even after marriage!"
"The book says that many ancient Pure-blood families have couples who sleep in separate rooms! To maintain... to maintain aristocratic dignity and privacy!"
She began to haphazardly quote half-true, half-false aristocratic customs she had picked up from who-knows-where, attempting to build a defense for herself.
Seeing her adorable expression, so embarrassed she looked like she was about to spontaneously combust, desperately trying to find a theoretical basis for her actions, Draco couldn't help but laugh.
He easily reached out and pulled Hermione, who was trying to escape, back into his arms, holding her tightly.
"Sleep in separate rooms?" Draco said domineeringly. "Don't even think about it, Miss Granger! My wife, of course she should sleep in my bed, in my arms. Forget about old-fashioned aristocratic decorum... In our house, I call the shots."
"My rule is that husband and wife must share a bed, so that I can take care of you at any time, and also to prevent you from having nightmares."
Hermione was held tightly in his arms, listening to his domineering yet tender words of love, and all her resistance turned into helplessness.
"Domineering... shameless... all you do is bully me..."
It was less a complaint and more a sweet surrender.
Draco hugged her tightly, completely satisfied.
The wheels of the Hogwarts Express clattered rhythmically against the rails, while outside the window, the Scottish Highlands were covered in snow, but inside the carriage, it was warm and cozy.
Like a brief but dazzling firework display,
Christmas is over in the blink of an eye.
The train whistle blared across the platform, carrying students who had just had a ridiculously short holiday, and clattered back to the castle.
As students dragged their luggage back to their respective common rooms, the air was filled with the languid atmosphere of post-holiday syndrome.
The new semester's schedule hasn't been officially rolled out yet, but discussions about what they saw and experienced during the holidays have already taken flight, taking place enthusiastically around the fireplace in the lounge and at the long table in the Great Hall.
Everyone seemed to have endless topics to discuss, from newly received gifts to the Christmas dinner at home, chatting tirelessly.
Ron waved his arms, spitting as he recounted his glorious exploits at the Burrow, how he almost angered his mother with Fred and George's new automatic dishwashing brush.
And then, on a snowy day, he finally managed to hit one of the twins on the back of the head with a snowball, and then suffered retaliation...
"... There was a Dungbomb hidden inside George's snowball!"
Everyone gasped and chose to keep their distance from him.
"I've gotten rid of the stench, Merlin! I took three showers to get rid of it!"
Ron tried his best to explain, but everyone decided to stay where they were.
Neville, who was sitting not far away, was also much more excited.
He carefully held a pot of somewhat wilted Mandrake and was talking incessantly about how his grandmother had forced him to spend the entire holiday in the greenhouse weeding plants.
Although it was hard work, he mastered new fertilization techniques.