Draco's Christmas.
Summary:
Draco has his first Christmas with Hermione and kid.
Author's note:
Well all I can say, that mornings are very strange and great for ideas when you least expect them! I hope you guys enjoy this one-shot.
The little adventure that Hermione and Draco go on is after the war has ended. They got a long journey to go on from Hogwarts to Wales. Short story here. Nothing too big since I already have 3 or more fics going on.
Happy Holidays everyone!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter books, they belong to JK Rowling and I do not make any kind of money from this.
Please read and review, thank you!
Alonia143.
Draco's Christmas:
A few days had gone by; where people were still helping clean up the mess from the massive battle between Harry and Lord Voldemort.
Hermione tried her best to keep it together for the grieving families but, she was just 18 years old. She had been fighting this war since she was 11 years old.
Some parts of the castle were still in mountain rubble. Some areas were also on fire.
Hermione couldn't understand why one pile out in the courtyard near where Lord Voldemort's body still lay drew her attention. To Hermione, she felt like he should be in the ground. It doesn't take two wrongs to make a right or left or whatever.
She walked over to the burning pile of rubble and with a charm so that the flames wouldn't hurt her, she started to dig.
"What are you doing, Granger?" a voice behind her asked.
Hermione stopped digging, turned around and replied "Helping with the clean up, Draco. I think you would easily figure that out?"
"I do have eyes. But why are you?" he snapped back.
"Why am I what? Helping?" she asked him confused.
"Yes. You're a war hero. Shouldn't you be doing press junket like Potter and Weasley?" Draco asked, rolling his eyes.
"What?" She asked him in disbelief.
Draco shook his head and then conjured up a radio and turned it on.
"Now, Mr. Potter, probably you can tell us why Miss Granger isn't here?" a reporter's voice came through.
"I've already stated this before: We all handle the war very differently. If you cannot take my statement into account, then we are through forever," Harry's voice snapped at the reporter.
Hermione could hear Ron's laughter and said "Yeah. She's at Hogwarts cleaning up. Feels like she needs to be there,"
Shock ran through Hermione's body as she felt so suddenly, abandoned by them.
"I take it they didn't inform you on this?" Draco softly asked her.
"No. We just got over a battle….a second war on blood prejudice…why?" she tried to explain.
Draco nodded and then said "If you would allow me to help you, I can. If you want to be left alone, I can do that too. Just right now…."
"I don't mind you helping me, Draco," Hermione said back, looking at him.
Draco nodded and then turned to the burning rubble.
They dug through the rubble quietly. It was a very rare thing since both of them grew up together and as enemies.
Hermione gasped as she found this white with green specks egg.
"What is that?" Draco asked her, looking at it warily.
"That is a Welsh Green Dragon's egg. And from the looks of it, we need to head to Wales," Hermione informed him with dread.
"What? Why do we need to go?" Draco asked, panicking now.
"Because the egg is broken and the Dragon just opened its eyes, staring directly at us," Hermione informed him again.
"It what!" Draco shouted.
True enough, there was the pale gray shimmery with green dragon with purple eyes staring at them both.
Draco started to shake his head and said "You can go to Wales, I'm staying here,"
"Fine. I always knew that you didn't hold up to your word," Hermione commented back, gently taking the baby dragon into her arms and walking away.
Draco was fuming.
"Alright, Granger. I'm coming with you," He snarled low at her.
"What? All because I called you a coward? My, my, my. I didn't know that I could get under your skin that easily, otherwise I would have done this a long time ago," she sweetly said back.
Draco walked over to her. Dwarfing her with his tall lean body frame.
"Get one thing straight: Just because I had that," he said, pointing to the dead body of Lord Voldemort feet away from them "in my house, doesn't mean you have the right to bully me into going in this yampy of a quest!"
"I'm not bullying you, Draco. It's just so happens that a baby dragon, of all species, bond with the person or the first thing it sees as its mother. We are extremely lucky that this is just a Welsh Green. Getting Sheep for food won't be that hard to do," Hermione countered him with a glare.
"They…they do?" he asked her curiously.
"Yes. It is also called imprinting. It also helps the babies survive. Of course, I understand that you want to stay here…I honestly do not," she replied, conjuring up a metal blanket for the dragon.
"Why don't you want to stay here?" He asked, looking at her strangely.
"I too have lost people that I love and care about," She said, looking up at him.
Draco didn't quite understand why the image of Hermione holding the baby gray dragon looked so inviting. Also so wrong too. Wrong because Draco, for some unknown reason, wanted her to hold a baby human, not a baby dragon.
'And possibly, me be the father,' he thought to himself but shook his head.
"I'm sorry," He muttered, looking at the ground.
"Nothing to cry over but, we are wasting daylight. I would like to spend some time away from here as much as possible," she said, walking away from the courtyard.
Draco soon walked after her and asked "You are sure that you want to do this?"
"Yes? Nothing is here but dead bodies and a castle being rebuilt," she replied, looking up at him.
Draco heavily sighed and then said "Wait for five minutes over near the edge of the bridge. There,"
Hermione nodded as Draco disappeared with a crack.
The baby dragon made whimpering and crying sounds as it wiggled to where Draco left.
"Shh. Shh. It's okay," Hermione worried.
It was difficult when the baby dragon was squirming and hissing low at Hermione.
"It's okay. Daddy will be right back," she tried to calm the little thing.
"Did you just say that I'm its Dad?" Draco nearly stumbled as he held two backpacks.
"Ah! You scared me, Draco!" Hermione shrieked out of fright as the baby dragon growled in dislike at that.
"Sorry. But seriously Granger?" He said, looking her over.
"Well…we are its parents in a very odd way," she blushed heavily.
The baby dragon started to purr when both of them weren't arguing at one another.
"Want to put him or her in this?" Draco asked, holding up her backpack.
"It will tear it to shreds," she said, looking at him as if he was nuts.
"Granger, we're a wizard and a witch. Are we not?" he replied, smirking.
"Uhg, fine. You sound like Ron," she muttered, taking the backpack.
"Nothing like Weasley," Draco huffed.
"Sure you're not," she teased him, gently kneeling down and putting the baby sleeping dragon into the backpack.
"I told my mother that I won't be able to reach her or father. Potter was there too. I told him that you were coming with me on this quest. He said that it reminded him of his first year," Draco said, looking at her questioningly.
"Norbert! Oh I had almost forgotten about him. He was heavy though," Hermione said back, shaking her head.
"Wait a minute. That was you, Potter and Weasley who got that little-"
"Yes, we did, Malfoy. We wouldn't betray Hagrid like that," Hermione cut in, leveling him with a nasty glare.
Hermione left him be as she conjured up a map and looked to the closet wizarding town.
Draco walked over and looked over her shoulder.
"Pernrith, Loch Lomond and Trossachs National park is after that," Hermione muttered to herself.
Draco looked at the map and then said "Sticking to small towns and national parks?"
"Yeah. So that if something happens, we can flee from there," Hermione nodded to him.
"Where to now?" He asked her curiously.
"Pernrith," Hermione told him.
"Have you ever been there?" he asked worriedly.
"No, but using a portkey wouldn't hurt either. Come on," Hermione said, walking into the forest of the Forbidden Forest.
Draco followed after her and then took her hand into his. Hermione looked up at him with calmness. Before either of them could say anything, the world around them began to spin and then they were off.
When they appeared, Draco stumbled and knelt down.
Hermione landed on her feet as she gently took off the backpack to check on the dragon.
"Are you alright?" she asked into the backpack.
All she got was light snoring.
"Its fine," Draco grumbled out to her.
"I am just curious, Draco," Hermione snapped back.
He sighed as he looked around. They weren't that far away from Hogwarts, but probably several miles.
"I've never been here," he stated to her.
"Of course you haven't, neither have I. I just know that Pernrith is a wizarding town. You brought any money?" she asked him, walking through the field.
"No?" he replied, giving her a glare.
Heavily sighing Hermione then said "We can go to Diagon Ally to get some. I wish the Wizarding world had little ATMs,"
"What is an ATM?" Draco asked her confused.
"It's a little portable bank for muggles. You can approach it at any time that you need some money, withdraw from the machine and off you go about your day," Hermione explained to him.
Draco stared at her and said "Muggles are really weird,"
"No, you just don't understand how they live," she replied back.
"I'm not getting into an argument with you, Granger," Draco hissed in warning.
"Fine," she said, walking away from him.
It was still the same time as Hermione suddenly disappeared from Draco. He didn't hear the normal cracking sound but when glanced over to the right, he understood why.
It was a muggle town.
If they heard a thundering cracking sound with no clouds or rain, they would get suspicious.
So Draco just stood there, waiting for Hermione to reappear.
Forty five minutes later, Hermione appeared and was kneeling down, looking very pale-green.
"I hate those rides," she muttered as she popped a candy into her mouth.
"Where did you go?" Draco asked her.
"Diagon Ally. If we are going to spend the night or even a few days at an inn or hotel, we will need some money," she told him.
Draco heavily sighed and asked "Why can't we just go to Wales?"
"Because I'm not willing myself to do that to Arenn," she snapped at him.
It was only then that Draco realized that her backpack was not on her. Instead it was on the ground right next to his feet.
"Arenn? Who's Arenn?" Draco asked her.
"The baby dragon. It's a male and I named him Arenn," She said, getting up after her dizzy spell had disappeared.
Draco saw that her pale-green look was gone as well.
"What was that that you took?" he asked her curiously.
"Oh, Luna made up a potion to make dizziness go away. Along with upset stomachs, whether it's from too much stomach acid or when you're pregnant. It's truly a genius of a potion," Hermione explained to him.
"And it's in a form a candy?" He asked, looking into her eyes.
"Yeah. That way muggles don't know what you're eating and it's portable. There was always a really good reason why she was in Ravenclaw," Hermione replied, smiling.
Draco nodded as Hermione took her backpack and picked it up; placing it back onto her shoulders.
They walked onto the main road and headed into Pernrith.
It looked almost like that of Hogsmeade; houses and building clustered close to each other with shops that were for nearly everything that you could think of, of needing.
Hermione had to pull Draco away from the Quidditch shop by the scruff of his coat.
"Awe, come on, Granger!" he whined, walking backwards.
"No. We're not here for that," she countered him.
"But, it's the latest gear! I need that!" he protested more.
"When we're finished, we can come back and you can buy it," she said, still pulling him backwards.
"But, my babies! They need me!" he whined some more.
"No, Draco," she firmly told him, walking down a street as the shop was finally out of sight.
Draco heavily sighed and said "You're no fun,"
"Of course not," she retorted, letting him go.
Before she could do anything, Draco ran back to the shop.
"Uhg! Men and their stupid love for this stupid barbaric sport," She grumbled to herself.
A few minutes later, Draco came back, smiling with bags.
"You just had to get them, didn't you?" Hermione huffed.
"Oh yes and I got you something too," Draco sweetly replied, smirking.
Hermione looked up at him and said "What?"
"Since we are dealing with ….something dangerous, I figured that you handling it, you would need these," Draco said, handing her the bag.
Hermione took it and looked inside.
"Look at it when we're in the bedroom of the inn, dear," Draco said, gently looping his arm around her own.
"You didn't have to get me this," she muttered.
"I know, but you can never be too sure," He replied, leaning down and softly kissing her forehead.
Hermione froze and looked up at him.
"We have to play the parts of being boyfriend and girlfriend. Otherwise, we'll never get this dragon home," Draco whispered low to her.
"I always wanted to date you anyway," she whispered back, smiling.
Draco moved away from her face, looking away from her as she giggled.
When they got to the inn, Hermione soon quickly realized it wasn't an Inn.
From the outside it looks warm, modest and rustic. Small stones and carved pillars make up most of the building's outer structure. It's difficult to see through the stained glass windows, but the cheerful sounds from within can be felt outside.
It was a tavern.
"Hello," An older woman greeted them.
"Hello, do you have rooms here?" Draco asked her politely.
"We do. Would you and your girl like a room together?" she replied, getting drinks ready for the customers.
"For tonight please," Draco said as the older woman nodded.
"Room 12," she said, handing over the key.
"Thank you," Draco said and then both he and Hermione walked to the stair case.
They walked to room 12 and unlocked the door.
Hermione looked around the large room with a single king size bed.
"Is that little monster awake?" Draco asked her curiously.
Hermione walked inside, closed the door with a lot of charms, spells and wards as she took out Arenn.
"If there is a store or meat shop nearby, get sheep meat," she told Draco, handing him over several galleons to him.
"Why do-"
"Would you like to watch him?" Hermione cut him off.
"No. Fine, I'll get the meat, but if it cost more, then I'm putting you on my list," Draco replied, walking over to the door and slipping out.
Arenn looked at Hermione sleepily.
"We're only just begun on this quest and already I'm just about wanted to turn Draco back into that annoying bouncing ferret," she grumbled to herself.
She turned around for one simple second when she heard rustling of paper. She spun back around and gasped.
Arenn was a little mischief and torn the paper apart.
"Arenn," she hissed low, walking over to the ripped bag.
Arenn growled low as she cleaned up the mess. Looking inside of the bag now, she saw that there were gloves, a harness and a shrunken cage.
Hermione was stunned but, also she knew that they would need these things later on. However, how did Draco get these from the Quidditch shop?
'Unless he didn't actually go in there.' she thought to herself.
Forty five minutes later, Draco walked back into their room and then said "You are on the list,"
"What? How could it cost that much?" she asked him, lying on the bed with Arenn on her lap.
"Knowing how much he will need, I got well over 400 pounds of it," he replied, holding out a bag.
"400 pounds!?" Hermione exclaimed, looking at him.
"It's a Dragon," Draco stated.
"Fine, give me some meat," Hermione said, holding out her hand.
Draco shrugged and took out his wand. Several pieces of meat floated up and landed on a plate, which then floated over to Hermione.
Arenn was too calm as Hermione got up and put the plate on the floor. With a simple swish of her wand, Arenn sprang from his spot and darted to the plate.
Hermione took the bag and put spells on it as she saw Arenn was still gorging himself on the sheep meat.
"Who's going to sleep on the couch?" Hermione asked Draco.
"You can," he said, shrugging.
"You know, you are a right foul git," Hermione told him.
"I've been told a lot worse, Granger," Draco retorted back.
"Right, the infamous bouncing ferret," Hermione said, locking eyes with him.
Draco swiftly walked over to her, pushed her until she hit the wall with her back.
"Just remember that you were tortured in my home by my mad bent aunt," he reminded her.
Hermione glared up at him and said "At least I didn't follow a lunatic,"
Draco's eyes turned hard and grayer as he leaned forward, but then moved quickly away from Hermione shrieking. Hermione looked behind him as she saw Arenn growling and trying to produce fire, but all he could do was produce a flame ball.
Draco was hopping, shrieking, and whimpering "My bum is on fire! My bum is on fire!"
Hermione just picked Arenn up, sat on the bed and just watched Draco run, hop and dart about the room until he ran into the bathroom.
With a swish of her wrist, the door was locked and warded up.
"Granger! Let me out!" Draco yelled at her.
"No, I don't think I will," she said, putting a silence charm on the room.
Arenn nodded with a huff, cuddling into Hermione's arms.
"Come on, Arenn, bedtime," she sweetly said to him.
If there was any banging on the door to the bathroom, Hermione and Arenn didn't hear it.
That night, Hermione slept in the bed with Arenn sleeping in his cage; though he didn't like it at all, and Draco slept in the bathroom.
Draco was thankful that Hermione had put a silence spell on the entire room, but felt useless when he heard her screaming out.
The next day, they checked out of the tavern and headed south.
They camped near the national park and even though he didn't like her, the screaming from her nightmares was chipping away at his heart.
Arenn kept close to Hermione out of protectiveness.