A/N: The Christmas spirit has overpowered me! I have decided to write several different Christmas fluffs. The first one will be h/h, but look out for some l/j, h/g, d/h, and r/h!

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Shimmering white snow gently carpeted the Hogwarts grounds on the night before Christmas.  In the Gryffindor common room, an uncommon amount of people chattered excitedly about the day to come while playing chess, sitting by the warm fire, or just standing idly.  An alarming amount of people were up at such a late hour – eleven-thirty.  In fact, quite nearly all of them were, save a few girls who had refused to join the fun.

I looked up from my muggle book "A Christmas Carol" and smiled. I absolutely loved this time of year, especially here at Hogwarts. The warm crackling of a fire, the silence of the snow outside, the music, the feeling of happiness everywhere you went…it's just…magical, isn't it?  Well, I think so.  On this particular Christmas Eve, I sat on an overstuffed red armchair, buried in my beautiful book.

Of course, I thought heavily, lifting the cover and closing it, Christmas isn't a time for reading.  It's a time for kindness and happiness, friends, and family and love.

Love?

Now where did that come from? 

I looked around the room, wondering if anyone else was feeling as sappy as I was, right at that moment, and realized that they were all simply having fun, chatting, laughing, and genuinely enjoying themselves.  I bit my lip.  It seemed no one really thought the way I did, no one took time to consider life and its meaning. No one worried quite so much about…well, everything – not the way I did, anyway.

Sighing, I felt the previous warmth and happiness seep away from my body, replaced with a cold feeling of depression.  I didn't know why I did these things to myself.  Thinking too much and too often, that would be the death of me, but it was really all I had to do.  Not being the most popular girl in school by far, and not being one of those people who just instantly makes friends, I often had time to myself.  What else to do but think?

And think I did.

Of those brilliantly green eyes, and that beautiful raven-black hair, and…

WHAT?

I mentally slapped myself.  There I went again.  Lately I found that all I had been able to think about was a certain…a certain boy who, really, should not mean anything at all to me.  It seemed he had weaseled his way into my thoughts, and refused to come out!  Everything I could possibly think about was related to him, and I was beginning to think…well, this is just ridiculous…but I was beginning to think that I was in love.

In love?

Quite impossible. No.  There must be some other, perfectly logical explanation for this. I'm not… I'm not supposed to fall in love, after all. To me, I was always perfectly capable on my own, with absolutely no need of some other soul from the opposite gender to help me through life.

And yet…

And yet I find that, when I feel most depressed or most agonized, I long for his carefree look on life.  I long for his laugh, and his jokes.  I even long for his ignorance, which is so simply adorable.  And then after that, I long for his touch, for his words in my ear, for his eyes looking deep into mine…

No!

No, no, no! It can't be!  It simply can't! I would never fall in love!  I couldn't!  I don't want to fall in love, I don't need to fall in love! 

But I have, haven't I?

Oh dear. Dear, dear, dear.  You've done it now, Hermione.  You've lost total and utter control of your emotions. You foolish, foolish girl. Ah, well. I suppose there's no use in denying it now, is there? Perhaps I'll just revel in my little fantasies and imagine that, for a brief moment, he loves me as much as I love him.

"Hermione?"

I jumped.

"Oh, Harry! It's you! Scared me for a second there.  Got a bit…er…dazed, didn't I? Heh. How odd, don't you think? Yes, wonder what I possibly could have been dream – I mean thinking about, don't you? Ahaha. Yes. You do, don't you?"

He gave me the oddest, cutest, most adorable look in the world (but then again, aren't they all?) and took my hand, sending shivers though my back.

"Whatever you say, Hermione.  Could you come with me for a minute?  I have to show you something."

My heart could have leaped right out of my chest as my brain whirled with images of a romantic, moonlight kiss, or the declaration of his never ending love, or a sweet kiss under mistletoe.  I did my best to push them down – I knew they were never going to happen – but for some oddly strange reason, some tiny part of my melted heart still held a glimmer of hope for the impossible.  It's ridiculous, of course, but I simply couldn't get rid of it.

Harry led me by the hand to the boys' dorm room – at which point I could not help but giggle, since I found it quite an odd place to be – and led me up a staircase.

I was slightly intrigued, as the girl's room had no staircase of the sort.  In fact, I doubted the students were even supposed to know about it, as Harry had pulled back a tapestry and tickled a rock before leading me up the stone steps.

Once more my heart fluttered and leaped, but once more I forced myself to push it down.  That glimmer, though, that tiny glimmer I could not seem to get rid of, grew larger. I scolded myself for such petty thoughts, but had absolutely no control over them.

After what might have seemed like hours, but only seemed like minutes to me, lost in my thoughts, Harry finally reached a heavy wooden door, which he pushed open gently before leading me outside.

And outside we were.  The cold was stinging, but fortunately there was no wind to make it worse. Little snowflakes fluttered around us, and several lanterns illuminated the edge of the tower.  The view was breathtaking. Below, I could see the icy lake, with the dim shape of the giant squid visible every now and then.  Further away, the Forbidden Forest stretched almost endlessly over the white earth, and ended in a foggy sheet of swirling snow.  Lights from all around Hogwarts were just sparkling dots in the distance. It was so quiet I was afraid to breathe. I closed my eyes, taking it all in. Harry…a tower…Christmas…I bit my lip heavily. There was nothing to do, those false hopes had sprung up again. I braced myself for a heartbreak, but resolved to make the magical moment last.

"Harry," I said, awed. "Harry…where are we?"

Harry smiled and blushed, then scuffed the rock with his foot.

"I…er…well, I was bored one day – Ron was off playing some chess tournament, you know – and I was looking around the common room when…when I noticed that tapestry…er…down there." He gestured vaguely towards the ground. "Well, there are no other tapestries in the dorm, you know, so I though maybe this one was special in some way…." He shrugged. "Guess I was right."

I stood slack-jawed at him. He just happened to find a secret staircase that no one else knew about? And…Wait.

"Harry," I said cautiously," does anyone else know about this?"

Harry shook his head.

I nodded numbly.  No one else knew about it. It was secluded, romantic. Snow..Christmas…I was the first to know about it…he led me up here by the hand…so romantic…

It was too much for me to bear. I swooned just slightly, but caught myself and hoped he didn't notice.  Squaring my feet, I decided there was no use in prolonging the inevitable. He had probably just brought me up here to admire the view. Yes, that was it. The beautiful view. Beautiful, just like his eyes…

I sighed.

"So, Harry…Why'd you bring me up here?"

He looked slightly taken aback by the question, as though he had not been expecting it, but quickly recovered.

"Ah, well, I wanted to show you something…Besides this, I mean. Here, it's this way."

He took my hand again – making my breath catch – and showed me over to a squared part of the tower. It was simply a prettily carved arch over a piece of stone that jutted out.  Quite pointless, really, I thought, but who knew? It might serve some magical purpose.

Harry pulled me under the arch and blushed again.  He seemed to be doing an awful lot of that lately.  Then, without a word, he slowly lifted his hand up and pointed to the top of the arch.

It was mistletoe.

Without waiting for my reaction, he gently leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on my lips.  I let myself melt in his embrace, feeling shock after shock of electricity rush though me.  My mind didn't know what to think. I felt as though I had twenty some fireworks exploding in my head, all at once. It was all I could do to stay up straight.

Harry pulled away and glanced at his watch.  A grin illuminated his face and accentuated the little snowflakes stuck in his hair.  He held the watch out to me.

12:01.

"Merry Christmas, Hermione," he said softly.

I could have died of happiness.

***

A/N: Overly sappy? Yes. Cliché? Yes. I'm a hopeless romantic? Yes. Ah, well. What are you gonna do, eh?