Title: Can I Keep You?
Author: 2booklover4
Language: French… only joking. English, of course
Verb Tense: Narrative past and dialogues in the present tense
Form: One-shot
Genre: Romance
Rating: T, just to be safe
Ship: Draco/Hermione
Summary: Hermione Granger, Head Girl of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, only has one wish for Christmas. And Draco Malfoy, Head Boy of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, granted it.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Not yours. Only JK Rowling's.
A/N: Hey guys, here's a new one-shot from yours truly. Enjoy! Review afterwards!
Can I Keep You?
Hermione groaned inaudibly once she entered the Gryffindor Common Room. Apparently, she had once again witnessed another not-so-private make-out session of Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley. She softly made some gagging noise as she briskly walked pass the couple, lips still firmly glued together. The Head Girl then climbed up the stairs towards the girls' dormitory, wishing to get her forgotten diary on top of her bed before she went back to the Heads' Dormitory (which she had to share with Draco Malfoy, by the way).
"Oh seriously, they should get a room," she mumbled under her breath as she opened the door with a soft squeak, making her flinch slightly.
Another groan escaped from her lips once her eyes landed on Lavender Brown's bed. There, on top of her, was none other than her other best friend, Ronald Weasley. Thankfully, they were still wearing clothes (though, Hermione has a suspicion it would be removed soon).
"Ugh," she said, face contorted in disgust. "All right, they are in a room but seriously, did they even know that you can lock a door?" she grumbled as she clutched her red diary and immediately turned around. She didn't even know how Ron managed to go inside the girls' dormitory. It was perfectly off-limits to boys and it was charmed so that no sneaky, sick, perverts would be able to peek inside.
"OH RONALD!" Lavender moaned loudly, making Hermione flinch again in disgust. She briskly closed the door, walked out of the girls' dormitory.
SHE. HAD. TO. GET. OUT. OF. HERE.
"Oh, Mione!" Ginny exclaimed whose lips were swollen and whose red hair was sticking out in every direction. "We haven't noticed that you came in!"
'Because you were bloody busy kissing each other,' she thought inside her head, forcing a small smile on her face. "Err… you both were quite… busy so I didn't have the heart to bother the both you."
Ginny and Harry turned into a deep shade of red. The male Gryffindor scratched the back of his head and sheepishly smiled at the Head Girl. "Hermione, what time is it?" he asked.
Hermione looked at her watch. "1:00," she said.
Harry suddenly shot up from his seat. "Oh blimey! I have Quidditch practice!" He bent down again and kissed Ginny fully on the lips. Hermione turned her head away, not wanting to witness another of their lovey-dovey moments. "Bye Gin, see you later. Bye Hermione." And with that, he strode out of the Gryffindor Common Room.
"I think it's best if I go out too, Ginny. Goodbye," Hermione said.
The redhead smiled at her. "Well, then, I'm going to take a nice, long nap in the girls' dormitory. See you later, Hermione."
The brunette clamped her lips tightly and walked out of the Gryffindor Common Room, dreading Ginny's reaction once she saw her brother on top of Lavender Brown.
"RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY!"
Hermione sighed and shook her head as she walked down the stairs. She had a feeling a fight between Ginny and Ron would soon brew.
The brunette then shifted her red diary and was now pressed tightly against her chest. She just didn't understand her best friends. Of course, she knew that all of them were madly in love with their significant others. But making-out in public? That was just downright disgusting and way overboard. They didn't have to bloody do some PDA's in people's watchful eyes.
Hermione sighed. Here she goes again. She was happy for her best friends. Perfectly happy, to be honest. But really, every time she saw them all cozy and lovey-dovey around each other, a raging monster would be unleashed from its caged inside Hermione's chest and would tear all of her internal organs. Especially, that beating muscle located at the left side of her chest just above her ribs.
She was jealous.
No, Hermione didn't harbor any romantic feelings towards Harry and Ron. It was just… they have Ginny and Lavender. And her? She didn't have anyone.
The brunette then looked at the floor, eyes creating weird patterns on the stone floor. It was almost Christmas already. A week more and then, it would be the time for Christmas. And it saddened this young brunette because while almost all of the students in Hogwarts had some significant others, she had none. And it had hurt her.
She was lonely. Utterly, positively, certainly lonely this Christmas even if it was supposed to be the happiest day of the year (on top of Valentine's Day, actually).
Hermione sighed. She was already ready for Christmas. She had bought gifts to all of her friends and wrapped them neatly. They were already placed under her bed, away from privy eyes. She had already bought some milk and chocolate chip cookies to place in front of the fireplace just for Santa Claus (yes, all right, she still believed in him).
Santa Claus. Yes, Hermione still did believe in him. Ever since she was little, her family would bake some cookies and pour milk in a glass to place it in front of the fireplace for Santa Claus. She then wondered if she had been so naughty this year. Would Santa Claus grant her the wish she had yearned for every since she watched that bloody Muggle movie? Would he?
The Head Girl sighed again and shook her head. It was impossible. Ridiculously impossible because her wish was not something material. It couldn't be grasped. It couldn't be tasted. It couldn't be felt. It couldn't be seen. It couldn't be touched.
It could be heard, though.
And really, it was a silly, stupid wish. Hermione now scolded herself for even watching that Muggle movie last summer. She shouldn't have watched it! She shouldn't have because it was the reason why she had this weird wish swirling inside her brain. It was also currently written inside her current diary entry that was why she was frantic when she had left it in the girls' dormitory. She was afraid someone would read it and think of her as a deranged lunatic. Which didn't sound good at all since there were the words 'deranged' and 'lunatic' put together, side-by-side.
Hermione now was cursing Felicity, her Muggle best friend, for forcing her to watch that Muggle movie. Felicity had looked at her amusedly when Hermione shamelessly bawled after she had heard that question uttered out by that hot young actor.
"Nothing's sad about that scene Hermione. Why the bloody burning hell are you crying?" Felicity had asked her that, making the brunette turn red. Hell, right now she was blushing furiously.
'I just found that question too sweet so I cried, all right!' she exclaimed inside her mind.
And thus, her wish formed.
Hermione Granger, Head Girl of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, only has one wish this upcoming Christmas.
She wished that that same question would be uttered to her by some guy.
The brunette stopped dead on her tracks. The hallway was getting quite familiar to her already. Hermione then looked up and much to her dismay, those damnable Christmas plants were hanging tauntingly at the ceiling.
Mistletoes.
Hermione brandished out her wand and pointed it at the plants floating above her head. Thankfully, she still hadn't passed one. They were magical mistletoes actually. Hermione would be forever stuck under one until someone was stuck underneath it, too. To break the spell, they should do it the traditional way.
Kiss.
The brunette was thankful she had memorized every hall that had mistletoes. She didn't want to be stuck underneath it and kiss someone random guys (especially if they looked eerily familiar like Goyle).
The Head Girl then brandished out her wand and zapped away the poor, poor mistletoes, gently falling down the ground.
While Hermione was walking, her gaze was fixed above, that was why she hadn't seen the Head Boy strolling casually from the opposite side of the hall.
Draco Malfoy stopped in his tracks once he noticed the Gryffindor, eyes gazing at the ceiling. A small smile formed on his face as he studied her from head-to-toe. As much as he wanted to deny it, he had started to like the Head Girl. Thankfully, they'd become somewhat friends after he switched sides. It was a reluctant relationship at first, but then, they just started to warm up against each other to the point that they would tell one another some of their secrets.
She was beautiful. Truly, she was. But see, Draco Malfoy was a coward. He was not in Gryffindor after all. And so, he couldn't bring himself to tell her that she was so breathtakingly beautiful in her own, unique way. He couldn't bring himself to ask her out on a date in Hogsmeade day.
The Slytherin looked up at the ceiling, too, wondering why Hermione was staring at it and blasting things using her wand. And to his great amusement, he saw the charmed mistletoes that Professor Dumbledore personally placed. The old wizard would feel devastated if he saw the mistletoes lying miserably on the floor.
And then, he chuckled. He couldn't help it. She was just so cute, blasting those stupid things off of the ceiling. And she was strangely endearing, too.
Upon hearing a chuckle, Hermione looked straight again not before colliding in someone's hard chest. Hermione stumbled and her rear end fell flat on the floor. The chuckling just grew quite louder.
The brunette frowned and looked up to see Draco Malfoy. She then broke into a small grin as she helped herself up and shook her head.
"Hey," she said, her smile growing.
"Hey yourself," Draco said, grinning at her. "What the hell are you doing, Granger? Seriously? Are you angry with the world or what? You're blasting the mistletoes off of the ceiling, Hermione."
The brunette smiled. They were already calling each other by their first names.
Draco and she had become friends ever since the start of the school-year. But as months passed by, Hermione didn't know if all she wanted from him was only friendship…
The brunette shook her head and dismissed those thoughts. She grinned again and said, "Well, I'm just being careful, Draco. I don't want to be stuck under the mistletoe and wait for someone to kiss me and break the spell. It's bloody annoying."
"Even if that someone happens to be a person who's devilishly handsome… like me?" he asked, a smirk growing on his face. Inside, Draco was shocked of himself. He didn't expect himself to say something bold like that.
To his astonishment, though, Hermione's cheeks grew warm.
"Dream on, Malfoy," the brunette spat back, though, still slightly smiling. "Anyway, I have to go. See you later, Draco."
"Yeah, you too," he said and watched as she walked away.
Draco sighed and shook his head. If only he was placed in Gryffindor, he would be walking beside her, his hand firmly yet gently enclosed around hers.
Too bad, he was destined to be a Slytherin.
And a coward.
The Head Boy sighed again and happened to look down. To his slight surprise, Hermione's diary was on the ground. He bent down and reached for it, calling out Hermione's name but she was already gone from his sight.
Draco frowned at her red diary, her name emblazoned in gold.
And then, curiosity took over him.
He flipped her diary open, feeling slightly guilty but ignored it. Curiosity was swallowing him whole already, it was impossible for it to spit him back.
And then, he started to read.
It was Christmas Day already and outside the Hogwarts castle, snow fell from the pitch black sky and fell on the already white ground.
Hermione sighed as she stared at the window. "Merry Christmas," she told herself, forming a fog on the glass window. The brunette then unconsciously wrote something on it, eyes still fixated at the white ground.
It was Christmas Day and apparently nighttime and Hermione had a feeling her wish wouldn't happen at all.
Maybe, she really was very naughty this year.
Glancing at her doodle, she was shocked at herself. Her cheeks started to grow warm as she looked around, seeing if the Head Boy was there. Because, if he had seen Hermione's doodle on the window, he would think she was bloody sick and hopeless.
DM+HG
It had said and Hermione was embarrassed. She quickly erased the writings on the window and leaned her head against the cool window.
She really was naughty this year.
Hermione was busy wallowing in self-pity to hear the portrait hole opening, Draco Malfoy stepping inside. To his delight, the Head Girl was already there in their Common Room, apparently oblivious to his arrival.
The blond clutched her diary and smiled. All right, he knew it was bad to read someone's diary but he just couldn't help it. He wanted to know what Hermione thought of… of him. And he was proud to say that all he had read was like reading his letter of acceptance to Hogwarts.
Reading her diary made him know more about her. Like how she was so in love with Jason Mraz and his music. Like how she reluctantly sneak to the kitchens every night just to give in to her cravings which happened to be chocolates and ice creams. Like how she ranted on and on about how she hated seeing her best friends making-out with their girlfriends.
Like how she hoped her wish for this Christmas came true.
Draco's smile grew as he heard her sigh. She truly was beautiful. She was wearing her green pajamas with red Santa Hats. Her hair was left down, reaching up until her back. Yes, for someone she would just look plain and ordinary but for Draco, she was gorgeous.
"Hermione," he said, breaking the silence.
Hermione jumped slightly and turned to look at him, her face red. Draco presumed it was just because it was quite cold today, which really was.
"I believe this is yours," he continued, showing her the diary she loved so much.
The Head Girl squeaked and rushed towards him, immediately snatching the little notebook from his hands. "Why is it with you?"
Draco just nonchalantly shrugged. "You left it when we bumped into each other in the corridors. I kind of forgot that I possessed it. I'm sorry I just returned it today."
Hermione's eyes narrowed themselves suspiciously. "Did you read it?" she asked cautiously.
The blond tried to be unnerved. "Well," he started, giving her a sheepish smile, "I only read the first page. That's all. I swear."
Now, who was he kidding? He had practically read the whole book!
The brunette still looked suspicious. "Are you sure?"
"Positive," he said, trying his best to conceal his guilt.
Hermione continued to stare at him suspiciously but then nodded. She walked towards the window again and gazed outside the window.
Draco stared at her, nervousness washing his body like a huge tsunami. He had to tell her. It was now or never. He looked left and right, afraid that some ghost would suddenly burst into their Common Room.
After the cost was clear, he softly approached her and…
… wrapped his arms around her waist. He was hugging her from behind.
He had heard her sharp intake of breath but Draco ignored it. He buried his head against the back of her neck and lightly kissed it. He was pleased to notice the goosebumps forming on her exposed skin. And then, he asked her that question.
Hermione stiffened against his hug. She was stunned, Draco was positive. Her hands started to tremble and for some fleeting moment, he thought that maybe she would say 'yes'. But then, she suddenly pushed him away from her and spun around, eyes ablaze.
"YOU BASTARD! YOU READ MY DIARY!" she shrieked and stormed towards her room, making sure that she made a loud 'bang' when she had shut the door.
Draco stood rooted on the floor. He was stupid! Absolutely! He just practically told the brunette that he had read her diary by granting her Christmas wish.
For the first time in his seventeen years in this world, Draco felt miffed and… heartbroken. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"So much for granting her wish," he mumbled to himself.
But after ten seconds, Hermione flung her door open again. The blond looked petrified as she made a mad dash towards him, thinking that she would punch him for being a nosy little git.
But he was wrong. Oh so wrong.
She crashed her lips against his.
Draco was pleased as he gladly returned the kiss, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist. Hermione also wrapped her arms around his neck while slightly tilting her head.
And then, Draco broke the kiss. He stared at the brunette, a large grin plastered on his face. The brunette was looking at him with an equal large smile, her cheeks tainted with red.
He asked her that question again. And she said yes, thankfully, before kissing him again.
Hermione Granger, Head Girl of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, only has one wish for Christmas.
And Draco Malfoy, Head Boy of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, granted it by asking that particular question.
"Can I keep you?"
A/N: And, end of story. Please tell me what you think. Review please!
Title seems familiar, eh? Yeah, I got it from my completed story Time's Up! "Can I keep you?" was practically uttered by Casper the Friendly Ghost twice to Kat. The scene where Hermione bawled was the time when Casper turned into a person and asked Kat that bloody sweet question and kissed her.
That's all. I hope you review. And MERRY CHRISTMAS!
With love,
2booklover4