Disclaimer: Don't own 'em.
Her face hurt from smiling, her gut ached from laughing, her toes were numb, but still, she didn't want the night to end.
It had been a tradition in the Granger household to stay up all night on New Year's Eve and watch the sun rise together. Hermione had loved doing it, spending all night outside; building snowmen and snow forts, having snowball fights, going skating on the pond …. The tradition had died when she went off to Hogwarts. She wasn't quite sure why they had stopped, either.
It seemed that the tradition had simply died when she wasn't watching.
This year she had decided to revive it.
Her parents hadn't been able to make it. They had claimed that they weren't up to all-nighters any more, but she suspected that they were still upset with her for sending them off to Australia during the war. That had hurt, but she hadn't let it stymie her.
Instead, she had invited her closest friends—Harry, Ron, Neville and their current significant others. She would have invited Ginny as well had the redhead not been on her honeymoon, but perhaps the Goyles could be included next year.
There were eight of them gathered around her bluebell flames including herself and her own boyfriend, talking and sharing stories, joking and laughing. Years ago, had this group assembled in such a way, there probably would have been bloodshed. Four Gryffindors, two Slytherins, a Hufflepuff and a Ravenclaw—it sounded like a recipe for chaos.
Actually, based on the snowball fight they had had earlier, it was. The teams had been boys versus girls, yet it soon had soon broken into an everyone against everyone match when Ron dumped a handful of snow down the back of Draco's coat, and Luna had just fired snow at everyone, regardless of who they were.
Hermione and Pansy had teamed up to take Luna down, but then turned on each other at almost the same moment, each getting a face full of white powder. Ron came to Luna's aid, only to be attacked from behind in a retaliatory strike from Draco.
Hannah had remained loyal only to Neville throughout the fight, viciously attacking anyone who threatened him. Harry, who had been hiding in the boys' snow fort for most of the battle and only popping up to throw missiles at whoever was closest, got a load of snow dumped on him by the Hufflepuff when he accidentally landed a snowball on her head.
Even so, Luna had ended up with the wettest clothes—although that might have been because she simply fell over halfway through the fight and started making snow angles.
They were now in a giant snow castle—constructed with magic, of course—warming up, sipping hot butterbeer and toasting marshmallows.
The purebloods, save Ron, who had been previously introduced to marshmallows, were a little suspicious of the puffy white confections at first. However, after Hermione stuffed one into Draco's mouth to get him to stop complaining about Ron's snow attack, and he gave them his seal of approval, they were soon being fought over fiercely.
Towards five A.M., it was starting to get quiet. Luna had fallen asleep; Neville and Hannah looked close to following her, cuddled together watching the east horizon; Harry was talking quietly with Ron, Pansy leaning against his shoulder contentedly.
Hermione pulled on her ice skates, walking out towards the pond. None of her friends knew how, nor had they been interested in learning.
Gliding out onto the glassy surface of the pond, she smiled, remembering when he father had first taught her to skate. She had never wanted to skate again after her first attempt. She had been flat on the ground more often than not. But her father had taken her out again, and she hadn't fallen once that time. Ever since, the three Grangers had always been on the pond when the sun rose over the horizon.
The soft crunch of snow underfoot made her look up, grinning when she saw Draco leaning against a tree, watching her. He had the skates she had conjured for him earlier over his shoulder. She had tried to coax him into learning how to skate, but he had refused.
"Going to join me?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Given the choice between this or listening to Potter and Weasley discussing the Chubby Cannons?"
She laughed as he brushed snow off a stone bench, starting to lace up his ice skates. "Are they really talking about Quidditch at six in the morning?"
"They're probably asleep by now, actually, but I didn't want to listen to their snoring, either."
Hermione chuckled. "I'm close to joining them, honestly. I just want to see the sunrise first."
Draco eyed the ice distrustfully. "So what's the point of this, again?"
"The point is to have fun!"
When he stood, his arms windmilled for a moment before he caught his balance. "Did your definition of 'fun' expand to include 'watch me fall on my arse' sometime when I wasn't watching?"
"Hmm," she hummed in mock-thought. "Yes, I'd say it has."
He scoffed. "You'll regret that."
She smirked at him, "You'll have to catch me, first."
The blond lunged for her, but she darted out of reach laughing. He tried to come after her but overbalanced, falling, as he had predicted, on his arse. She couldn't help but snicker at the expression on his face as she glided in a wide circle around him.
"All right?" she asked, offering him a hand.
"Just fine," he grumbled, taking her hand. Though instead of him being pulled up, she was pulled down into his lap. She squealed, trying to get away, but he had her firmly. "Now, let's discuss that definition of yours," he murmured before catching her lips in a searing kiss.
He pulled away when it was getting good. "Regret it yet?"
"Mmm … no," she answered playfully.
He growled, nipping at her lip before kissing her again. She moaned softly as his warm fingers began to knead the back of her neck, traveling up into her hair. It felt good. He pulled away again, taking most of her air with him.
"Now?"
"Mmmaybe," she panted, wanting more.
He kissed her forehead, slowly making his way to the tip of her nose, torturously progressing to the corners of her mouth and finally capturing her lips again. She sighed into his mouth, enjoying the heat between them and wishing she didn't have gloves on so she could actually feel his skin. They pulled apart again, and this time it was enough.
They reclined on the ice together, watching as the sun began to peek over the horizon. As it ascended higher into the sky, Draco said something that made her world freeze.
"You know, Hermione, I can't imagine another year of having you as my girlfriend."
Her gaze snapped to him in alarm, her eyes wide. His face was impassive, emotionless.
Was he dumping her? What had gone wrong? She'd thought—
His mask broke into a smirk. "You're adorable when you panic." He caught her face in his hands, kissing her fast and darting back before she could react. "I'm not breaking up with you, Granger."
She growled, "You prat. Don't say stuff like that if you don't mean it."
His smirk grew. "And you're stunning when you're angry. I did mean it."
That explained so much about their relationship in school. "Explain."
"I went to the Manor yesterday."
She waited, worry worming its way through her anger. His parents had never been very accepting of their relationship.
"Mother gave me something that, I hope, you will accept in turn."
Her breath caught as he dug something out of his pocket, presenting her with—a ring box.
"I don't want to spend another year as just your boyfriend. Hermione Granger … will you marry me?"
As the finally came all the way into view, lighting the scene in pink and orange, there was only one way Hermione could answer.
She smacked him. "Don't ever scare me like that again, you arse."
Then she told him yes.
A/N: Happy new year!