A/N: Another little one-shot. Merry Christmas everyone. Dx
'You're Hermione Granger, aren't you?'
Hermione stared at the small boy, probably a first year, who was holding his hand out towards her. He was carrying a small black box with a tiny silver gift tag attached which had her name inscribed on it.
'Yes, I am. Thank you.' Hermione took the box from him. Curiously she asked, 'Where did you get it?'
The boy pointed across the room. 'I just noticed it under the Christmas tree, now all the presents have gone.'
He walked away, leaving Hermione to examine the box. She had no idea who it was from as she had already opened the presents her friends and family had got her; she was sure someone would have mentioned it if it had been missed earlier. There was nothing on the outside to give any idea of who the sender was.
Intrigued, she opened the lid and stared at the contents for a moment, then pulled out the folded scrap of parchment. She opened it and read the words it contained. She thought for a moment, then read it again. It was a clue of some sort, although what it led to she had no idea. If she was right then it was telling her to go to the Library.
Hermione folded the parchment and put it back in the box then placed it in her pocket. She looked around suspiciously, trying to spot whether anyone was playing a trick on her, but no one seemed to be paying any attention or even looking in her direction. Harry and Ron were still in the corner playing Wizard Chess so it obviously wasn't anything to do with them. She stood up and put the book she had been reading in her bag then made her way to the portrait hole. She figured she might as well go down to the Library and take a quick look around as she had nothing better to do with her time.
A few minutes later she entered the quiet Library, the only person apart from Madam Pince to be in there on Christmas Day. The librarian looked up from the book she was mending, glared at being interrupted, then realised it was Hermione and her face returned to a more neutral look.
'What are you doing here, Miss Granger? It's Christmas Day; surely you should be with your friends celebrating not here in the Library.'
'I thought I would come and say Happy Christmas, Madam Pince,' Hermione replied with a smile, suddenly realising with a pang of sympathy that the woman was all alone even though it was Christmas. She opened her bag and pulled out the book she had stashed in there earlier. 'As I was coming I thought I would return this book as I've finished with it, and I might get a new one while I'm here. Do you mind if I look around for a few minutes? I won't be long, I promise.'
Madam Pince indicated that Hermione should go ahead so she placed the book she was returning onto the desk and walked further into the Library, trying to work out what she was looking for. As she moved her eye was caught by the Christmas tree in the centre of the room and she couldn't help but wonder whether her mysterious gift provider had used this tree, too.
She wandered over to it and looked down at the base, but there was nothing there. Disappointed, she went to turn away then realised there was a black box, the same as the one in her pocket, attached to the tree almost at eye level. She reached out to take it, noting the glint of the silver label with her name carefully printed on it.
Her heart raced and she was tempted to open it immediately, but she knew Madam Pince would be looking for her soon and wouldn't take kindly to Hermione taking something from the Christmas tree even if it was addressed to her, so she put it in her other pocket and made her way back towards the door.
'Did you choose a book, Miss Granger?' Madam Pince asked as she passed, obviously worried that Hermione was trying to leave without checking it out.
Hermione shook her head. 'I couldn't decide what I wanted, and you're right – I should be celebrating with my friends, not reading a book. I'll come back tomorrow and get something then. Have a good evening, Madam Pince.'
'You, too, dear,' Madam Pince said gazing at Hermione with approval.
As soon as she was outside the door Hermione retrieved the box from her pocket and opened it to reveal another piece of parchment. This one directed her towards the Great Hall. She was obviously following a trail, but she still had no idea what she would find at the end of it. For a moment she wondered whether it would be worth the effort she was putting in, but then she remembered that whoever was sending her these clues had put even more effort into it and for that, if nothing else, they deserved her attention. Anyway, she didn't have anything better to do with her afternoon and it beat sitting around watching the boys play chess.
She walked down the corridor heading for the Great Hall as she tried to work out how she was going to get her prize. There were always people in there and someone would be bound to spot her if she tried to take something from one of the Christmas trees. For the same reason, she wouldn't have long to look for it. As she walked through the door she surveyed the room, glancing at each of the massive trees in turn and trying to work out which was the third one and whether its placement in the room had any significance.
As she moved further in Hermione realised the third tree was the one just to the right of the fireplace on the right-hand side of the room, the tree nearest the Gryffindor table. That didn't help as it meant it could be anyone. As she walked towards the tree she could already see the black box, looking out of place amongst the gold decorations but only if you knew it was there. Hermione glanced around to make sure she wasn't being watched, then reached out and plucked the box from the twig with another hurried look around. It didn't seem as if anyone was looking at her or had noticed her taking something from the tree.
She sat down at the Gryffindor table for a moment, certain that this wasn't the end of her hunt but needing to be prepared just in case, especially if it turned out to be a nasty joke. After a couple of seconds of looking at the box, she opened it. Relieved that it wasn't a trick, she removed the parchment inside and unfolded it, now eager to know where she had to go next.
Hermione stared at the parchment for a few seconds as she worked out the clue, then added the box to the others in her pocket and left the Great Hall heading for the kitchen, wondering if they had a Christmas tree in there. Hopefully, here she would get some answers as to who was sending her on this wild goose chase. Surely the house-elves must have seen whoever it was who had left the box.
She waited in the corridor outside the kitchen for a few seconds while a group of Hufflepuff girls wandered past her, talking excitedly about the presents they had got for Christmas. Once the corridor was clear Hermione tickled the pear in the painting of a bowl of fruit on the wall in front of her and the kitchen door appeared.
Dobby came to greet her almost immediately and seemed extremely pleased to see her.
'Happy Christmas, Dobby. Do you have a Christmas tree in here?' Hermione asked, looking around her.
'Yes, Hermione Granger. Professor Dumbledore is giving the house-elves a tree. It is over by the fireplace.' He indicated somewhere deeper into the room. Hermione remembered it from the time they had found Winky there, drunk on butterbeer.
'Did someone come down here and leave something on the tree for me?' she asked.
Dobby thought about it for a few seconds but then shook his head.
'Dobby is not knowing of anyone who is leaving something for Hermione Granger.'
'May I look at the tree anyway?' Hermione asked.
Dobby nodded and led her over to the fireplace.
'Dobby had gifts under the tree this morning,' he said happily, pointing at the tree. There was still a brightly coloured parcel with a big red bow sitting unopened underneath it. 'He had a gift from Professor Dumbledore and one from Harry Potter.'
Hermione pointed at the gift. 'Is that your present, too?'
Dobby shook his head sadly. 'No, that is Winky's present from Professor Dumbledore but she won't open it. She is still not adjusting to being a free elf, Hermione Granger.'
'I'm really sorry to hear that. I was hoping she would be happier by now,' Hermione said sympathetically.
She looked at the tree and soon spotted the black box with its silver label. She reached out to take it down. Dobby stared at it, looking excited.
'Is this the present you is asking about?' he asked.
Hermione nodded. 'Can you see if anyone knows who left it, please, Dobby?'
Dobby took the box and went back into the main kitchen.
'Is any elf knowing who left this box for Hermione Granger?' he asked loudly.
The house-elves stopped what they were doing and stared at him but all shook their heads and returned to work within seconds.
Dobby handed the box back to Hermione with an apologetic look.
'Dobby is sorry, Hermione Granger. Many students come into the kitchen,' he explained. 'Any could be leaving it and the elves would not know because they is busy preparing the Christmas meal.'
'Hermione smiled. 'That's fine, Dobby. Thank you for your help. I'll see you later.'
She left the kitchen and opened the latest box. This next destination was an easy one to work out, although yet again there were likely to be a few people around so she would need to wait for an appropriate moment to retrieve the box — assuming the next prize was a box. It was a short walk from the kitchen up to the Entrance Hall and, as expected, there were plenty of people milling around. There was also another large Christmas tree, placed close to the statue of the Architect of Hogwarts and Hermione could already see there were no presents beneath it.
Trying not to be obvious about it, she wandered towards the tree, attempting to scan for the box without getting too close, but there was nothing. She wandered around the tree to the other side but once again could see nothing. Then she turned her attention to the statue itself. The golden-coloured architect held a miniature Hogwarts in one hand and a rolled-up copy of a plan of the school in the other. As Hermione stared at the statue she realised that the plan pointed towards the tree.
Hermione walked over to the statue and sat down on the base as if she was waiting for someone. Then, when she was sure she wasn't being watched, she casually looked up towards the tree where the plan was pointing.
She was right!
The box was there, only a few centimetres from the end of the plan. Hermione really wasn't sure how she was going to get it without anyone noticing. To reach it from where she was she would need to stand on the statue and reach round, and that would be far too obvious with so many people still in the vicinity. She could wait and hope the Entrance Hall cleared out a bit but now she was into the game she didn't want to have to hang around; anyway, she didn't know if this clue hunt had a time limit.
After considering the problem for a couple of minutes she surreptitiously pulled her wand from her bag and pointed it at the box.
'Accio box,' she whispered.
Hermione waved her wand, gently guiding the box from its place on the tree to her hand, hoping that as she had given it such a slow descent people might not have spotted it. Her hand closed around the box and she hurriedly put the wand away, sitting back nonchalantly as she looked around the room as if looking for someone. When she was certain that she hadn't been spotted and that no one was watching her to see what she was doing, she opened the box.
The latest clue suggested that she needed to visit Hagrid's hut, although Hermione couldn't believe they actually meant her to go inside unless the box-planters were Harry and Ron. It was quite possible it was them as they had access to all the places she had visited so far, and Harry could have asked Dobby not to say anything to her, but she had no idea why they would have done it except to give her this stupid run around for the afternoon.
Hermione wasn't sure she wanted to leave the castle as it was pretty cold out there; the temperature had dropped as the afternoon went on. Then again, she hadn't come this far to give up just because of a little cold weather. She went back to her dorm room and found her scarf, gloves and thick winter cloak, then told Lavender, who was lying on her bed reading, that she was going for a walk. Outside the dorm, she transferred the boxes to her bag as her pockets were now full. Surely there couldn't be that many more clues before she reached her final destination, could there?
She shivered as she left the castle. It had started snowing again, big fat flakes that began to settle on her cloak. The tracks made by the hordes of students joining in the earlier annual snowball fight were already being covered. Hermione made her way down the hill to Hagrid's hut, thinking how beautiful the school grounds looked covered in snow and how much more magical the falling snow made everything seem.
There was a tiny tree outside Hagrid's hut, a small runty thing in a heavy pot which contained only a couple of sad pieces of tinsel and a large bow in place of a star at the top. Hermione knew before she even reached it that this was not the Christmas tree she was looking for. Hagrid had to have one in his hut, and she obviously needed to see it. She reached out and knocked on the door, setting off Fang, who barked uproariously. She heard Hagrid tell him to shut up, then a few seconds later the door was pulled open and the half-giant peered at her from the doorway.
'Happy Christmas, Hagrid,' Hermione said with a smile. 'I decided to go for a walk and thought I'd stop in and see you on the way.'
Hagrid drew back to allow her into the hut.
'Where's 'arry and Ron?' he asked as he closed the door and joined her. 'Do you wan' a cup o' tea?'
'I left Harry and Ron playing Wizard Chess in the common room. Don't worry about the tea. I wanted to continue my walk for a bit longer but the weather's getting worse so I might have to cut it short and go back up to the castle instead,' Hermione told him.
'Well, 'ow about a lil somethin' to warm ya up before ya go?' Hagrid asked. He lifted a bottle and shook its contents.
Hermione was looking at the Christmas tree rather than at Hagrid. It was almost as badly decorated as the one outside, although there were a few more ornaments on it. She moved closer to it as Hagrid continued to shake the bottle.
'Eh, 'ermione?' he asked.
Hermione turned to look at him and then at the unknown bottle with some trepidation. 'Erm, what is that, Hagrid?'
She knew from experience never to accept anything from Hagrid unless you knew exactly what it was.
He looked at the bottle. 'It's apple brandy. I made it myself. Should be pretty good as it's been restin' for a while.'
Hermione considered for a moment but not wanting to be rude she finally accepted that she was going to have to drink at least a little of the brandy.
'A really small one for me, please,' she said using her fingers to indicate a tiny measure. She knew it was unlikely that she would get a small measure from Hagrid but at least she had asked so when she couldn't drink it she would have an excuse for leaving it.
Hagrid poured the brandy and passed Hermione a glass containing a large measure, then he held out his own much fuller glass so they could clink them together in a toast before drinking.
'Merry Christmas, 'ermione!' Hagrid said jovially and took a large mouthful of the brandy.
Hermione took a much smaller sip, trying not to cough as the strong drink worked its way down to her stomach. Wow, that was strong, but it didn't taste too bad once you got the first sip out of the way.
'Tha's not bad,' Hagrid said, holding his glass up and examining it in the light. 'Quite smooth, considerin'.' He stared at Hermione, who was steeling herself to take another sip. 'Are you alrigh', 'ermione?'
Hermione nodded. 'Yes. It's just very strong. I don't think I should drink too much of it.'
She moved closer to the Christmas tree, taking the opportunity to check it out while Hagrid got some biscuits from the cupboard. He put the tin on the table and picked up his glass as he sat down on a large wooden chair.
'It was nice of you to come and see me, 'ermione,' Hagrid said as he took another swig of his drink. 'Course, I could go up to the school. Professor Dumbledore would be 'appy to see me, but I don' wan' to leave Fang alone. Not fair on Christmas Day, is it?'
Hermione took one final small sip of her drink, then placed the glass on the table. She walked over to Fang to stroke him as this brought her closer to the other side of the Christmas tree. She couldn't see anything but it had to be here somewhere.
'Do you wan' a biscuit?' Hagrid asked.
Hermione shook her head. 'No, I should be going soon. As I said, I only stopped by quickly to say hello.'
'Oh, I jus' thought, there're presents for you three under the tree,' Hagrid said, waving his big hand in the general direction of the Christmas tree. 'You might as well take 'em with you, 'ermione.'
'Thank you, Hagrid,' Hermione said sincerely.
She bent down to take the three presents that still remained and as she did so she spotted the box. Quick as a flash she grabbed it and put it in her pocket before rising, holding the presents. She put them in her bag.
'See if the others wan' to come to tea on Saturday,' Hagrid said as Hermione prepared to leave. 'It would be good to 'ave a catch-up.'
'I will,' Hermione promised. 'Thank you again, Hagrid, for the presents and for the brandy. I think that'll keep me warm all the way back to the castle.'
Hagrid chuckled and looked at the glass again. 'It ain't bad, is it?'
'See you later, Hagrid,' Hermione said, and she opened the door and stepped back out into the snow, closing the door behind her.
The sky was darker now and Hermione knew she didn't have long before it would be dark. Maybe it would be too hard to follow the clue hunt then, if it continued outside. She opened the box and peered at the parchment. She was being directed towards the Forbidden Forest, but if the next clue said she had to go in there then she was going to give up and go back to the castle. She didn't like the place at the best of times, but with the snow falling and the light fading, there was no way she would go in there on her own.
She reached the meadow in front of the forest and stared at the large Christmas tree blazing away in front of her. This was Hogwarts' largest decorated tree; it was always a spectacular sight but now it was even more so with the soft snow falling, the silence surrounding her like a blanket.
Hermione stopped and looked around. This was definitely the place the sixth clue had said, but there didn't seem to be anything or anyone around except for the huge tree, covered in lights and dancing crystals that sparkled like the snow. She moved towards it looking for another box but there was nothing there. She wandered around the whole tree, taking her time to look up and down as far as she could, but there was no box. She was sure her gift provider wouldn't have placed it too high for her to be able to see it.
By the time she had covered the entire circumference of the tree Hermione knew there was no black box here. Either she had misread the clue or the gift hunt was at an end and she was at her destination. But if so, then she had absolutely no idea what the point of the hunt had been. She still didn't have the faintest idea who had lured her out here, although now she was here she was beginning to wonder whether it had been a good idea to come alone.
She walked around the tree once more, scanning it for potential presents in some form other than the black box she had expected but still she was unable to find anything.
Hermione's heart sank at the thought that she had just wasted a good couple of hours following clues that led to absolutely nothing. She suspected that somewhere, probably not too far away, the phantom gifter — or should that be plural? — was watching and laughing at what they had got Hermione to do. When she found out who it was she was going to hex them into the back end of next week for being such prats. She really hoped it wasn't her so-called best friends, Ron and Harry, otherwise their lives weren't going to be worth living by the time she had finished with them.
She was feeling cold now. Hermione decided that she wasn't going to waste any more time on this stupid hunt and turned to go back up to the castle, where she could get a nice hot cup of tea and warm her chilled bones by the fire. Hearing a noise, she stopped and turned towards a small stand of trees from which she thought the sound had come. As she peered through the darkening late afternoon light she felt a shiver run down her spine when a twig cracked. She was definitely not alone.
Hermione pulled her wand from her bag, holding it out in front of her just in case, then made her way towards the trees.
'Who's there?' she asked, trying to keep both her voice and wand arm steady although her heart was pounding fit to burst. 'Come out and show yourself.'
There was silence.
Hermione waited for about a minute, then said, 'There's no point in hiding. I suggest you come out now.'
She took a couple of steps closer, now standing just inside the copse.
'Are you the one who sent me the boxes with the clues?' Hermione asked, hoping this would draw out whoever was hiding.
'You mean these?'
Draco Malfoy stepped out from behind a tree. He was holding a black box of the same type as the others in the palm of his hand. He held it out to Hermione.
'This is the final one, if you want it,' he told her mildly.
Hermione stared at him suspiciously, then quickly looked around to make sure his friends weren't closing in for an attack while she was focussed on Draco.
'You don't have to worry, there's no one else here so you can put your wand away,' Draco said as he took a step towards her. 'Do you want the box or not?'
Hermione lowered her wand and took a couple of steps towards him, but then stopped.
'Why have you lured me out here?' she asked suspiciously.
Draco smiled slyly. 'Look up.'
Hermione did as he suggested and saw that she was standing under a clump of mistletoe that seemed to be hanging from the tree. She tried to move and found she couldn't.
'Happy Christmas, Hermione,' Draco said softly.
Hermione frowned. 'Draco, what are you—'
He moved closer and wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing himself against her.
'I've wanted to do this for such a long time,' he admitted quietly.
Before Hermione could say anything Draco kissed her, his arms wrapping around her tighter as the kiss intensified. One hand was now on the back of her head, his fingers twining through her bushy hair; the other was in the centre of her back pulling her against him. His heart soared with joy as she slid her arms around him in return and didn't let go immediately when the kiss finished.
'I might just take the opportunity to sneak in another kiss as the first was so good,' Draco told her.
He grinned, then kissed Hermione again.
'. . . and maybe we should go for one more.'
'You want to kiss me three times?' Hermione sounded surprised.
Draco smiled and shrugged expressively. 'You realise seven is a magical number, don't you?'
'You want to kiss me seven times?' Hermione sounded even more stunned now.
Draco pulled her close again. 'Seven thousand seems like a better number to me, actually. But seven will do to be going on with.'
He kissed her again and then a fourth kiss followed that, which ended with Draco holding Hermione tightly to him as if he never wanted to let her go.
'But why did we have to come out here in the cold?' Hermione asked.
She was feeling quite disorientated by the kisses, especially as they were exceptionally good. Was that four or five they'd had now?
Draco shrugged again but still made no move to release her.
'It's rather beautiful out here with all the snow . . . very romantic, don't you think? Anyway, no one will see us out here.'
A sudden burst of anger flared through Hermione and she tried to pull out of Draco's arms.
Sounding disgusted, she said, 'Oh, I see. You want to kiss me but you don't want anyone to know about it. What's the matter, Draco, are you worried what people will say if they find out you fancy a Mudblood?'
Draco refused to release her, instead pulling her back against him, his superior strength fairly easily combating her feeble attempts at escape.
'Calm down, my little firecracker,' he told her, sounding and looking amused. 'I actually don't care who sees us — I was thinking of you. I don't think you want everyone knowing that I kissed you, do you? Although it would be great to see how your idiot mates react to that. I can already imagine the look on Potter's face, and the Weasel would be off into the stratosphere by now. But if you want to go indoors we can — the Great Hall will be pretty warm and I'm sure I can conjure up some mistletoe in there without too much problem.'
Hermione stared at him in disbelief. 'Do you honestly think I don't know what you're doing, Draco? It's so obvious it's ridiculous. You're trying to make out that you're doing me some big favour by keeping it a secret when really you're just trying to cover your own back.' She gave a bitter snort of laughter and tried to pull away again. 'I know for a fact that you wouldn't want your precious Slytherin friends seeing you with me. They would be horrified, wouldn't they, and not just with me, either.'
Draco shrugged again. 'I don't really care what anyone else thinks, Hermione. I just want to kiss you.'
His lips searched for hers again but Hermione tried to back away.
'Come on,' Draco whispered seductively. 'I know you want this as much as I do.'
His hand caught Hermione's chin, holding her in place as his mouth swooped and captured hers for another kiss that took Hermione's breath away.
'Your father,' Hermione panted, her voice huskier now. 'What would darling Daddy say if he knew what you were doing?'
'If he had any sense he'd congratulate me for bagging the prettiest, most intelligent and strongest witch in the school,' Draco replied without a moment's hesitation. 'He's not blind, Hermione, just overly prejudiced but even he appreciates a pretty woman when he sees one, regardless of her blood status.'
'He's always hated me,' Hermione said.
Draco sighed. 'True, alas, but that's mainly because you beat me in classes. Anyway, it doesn't matter because I don't really care what he thinks, either.'
'That's a lie, too,' Hermione told him. 'You spend your whole life emulating your father, Draco, so don't tell me you don't care what he thinks.'
Hermione had now managed to wriggle out of Draco's grasp, mainly because he had given up trying to contain her.
'Okay, so there are some issues that need sorting out there,' Draco admitted. 'But the fact remains that I want to kiss you and I really don't care who sees us.'
Hermione shook her head in disbelief. There wasn't even any point in arguing.
'You don't believe me?' Draco said. 'Come on then, Hermione, let's go back to the castle and then we'll see who's lying.'
He took hold of Hermione's hand and started pulling her out of the copse.
Hermione shook him off. 'Stop it, Draco. I'm not going anywhere with you.'
'So I was right. You don't want anyone to see us together,' Draco crowed smugly.
'No, of course not, because I'm not willing to make a fool of myself in front of the entire school,' Hermione retorted.
'Make a fool of yourself? How are you going to make a fool of yourself?' Draco asked, sounding confused.
'Because I know what you're like, Draco, and while I don't understand how or why you did it I know that this is just you winding me up, like you always do. What happens when we get back to the Great Hall? Are all your friends there waiting, ready to abuse me for falling for your crap come-on? Bet that would really make your Christmas Day complete, wouldn't it, me being severely embarrassed in front of everybody for believing your lies?'
'Hermione, that's not what I want or what will happen,' Draco said, sounding frustrated. He moved towards her, running his hand through his hair. 'I really do just want to kiss you, and I'll do that wherever you want. The Great Hall was just a suggestion as you didn't seem keen to stay out here and didn't believe I had a pure motive for wanting to be with you. None of this was done to embarrass you. It was an attempt at romance, something magical for Christmas Day, and I thought you would enjoy the clue hunt and appreciate the privacy. I'm sorry, I was obviously wrong.'
'I'm going back to the castle,' Hermione said.
'Good, that's what I tried to get you to do, wasn't it?' Draco pointed out.
He moved another step closer but Hermione backed away, shaking her head.
'I'm going on my own. I need to go back to the Gryffindor common room.'
Draco looked dismayed. 'But what about the kisses? You still owe me two.'
Hermione closed her eyes for a moment, not knowing what to say or do next. She knew she should leave, should go back to the common room and forget about the boxes and the clue hunt and Draco bloody Malfoy and his wonderful kisses, but there was something in the tone of his voice and the fact that he was so close that played with her mind and stopped her from thinking clearly.
What if he was telling the truth? What if he really didn't care who saw them kissing? Would that change things between them? Draco was right about her not being keen on Harry and Ron finding out, as they wouldn't be at all happy, but was that any different from Draco not wanting his friends to know? What chance was there of having a proper relationship if they had to keep everything a secret all the time?
'Please, Hermione, don't go yet.'
Hermione opened her eyes and realised that Draco was standing directly in front of her. He wasn't touching her yet, but it was clear he wanted to. She stared at him, biting her bottom lip nervously as she debated what to say.
'Please kiss me,' he begged, his pale grey eyes staring deeply into her dark brown ones. 'Please?'
Hermione reached out her hand to stroke his cheek. Draco closed his eyes and an expression of pleasure crossed his face as he obviously enjoyed her touch. She took a deep breath as she decided, then pressed her lips against his. She gasped when Draco grabbed her, his tongue sliding into her mouth as he wrapped his arms around her once more. Hermione relaxed and kissed him back, enjoying the sensation. A tingling feeling in her stomach worked its way around her whole body as the kiss developed; she no longer cared about anything but the kiss.
'We can work this out,' Draco told her afterwards. He was holding her again and Hermione, no longer having any desire to fight him off, held him just as tightly. 'We have to because I don't want to stop this. I like you too much.'
'I don't know how. There's too big a division between us,' Hermione said.
'Only because we created it,' Draco pointed out. 'So we have to get rid of it. I don't want the kissing to stop, not ever.'
They kissed for the seventh and most magical time, the two of them clinging to each other, not wanting it to end although eventually, they had no choice.
'I really do need to go back to the castle,' Hermione said finally, sounding apologetic. 'I'm sorry, Draco, but I'm getting really cold and it's getting dark, so people will wonder where we've got to.'
'Don't apologise. I shouldn't have brought you out here in the first place . . . although I'm extremely glad I did. You're even more amazing than I thought you would be.'
As they broke apart Draco opened his hand to reveal the seventh black box.
'Do you want to take it?' he asked. 'It's yours.'
Hermione took the box, her hands trembling slightly, partly from the cold and partly because she was suddenly anxious about what the final box contained. She opened it and gasped. Inside, snugly gripped in a bed of black velvet, was a silver ring with the letters DM worked in flowing script around several small green stones that Hermione assumed were emeralds.
'I want you to wear my ring,' Draco said. 'I was serious about wanting to be with you. I will sort it with my father, just as we'll both have to sort out our friends. Please, Hermione, take the ring.'
Hermione stared at Draco for what seemed like an eternity. Her heart was beating so fast she thought it might burst. Draco was so handsome and she really enjoyed kissing him and holding him and—
'Okay,' she said quietly.
She pulled the ring from the box and slid it onto the ring finger of her right hand, watching as it magically resized itself to fit.
Draco beamed as he grasped her hand, staring at the ring, then he brought it to his lips and kissed it.
'Now we can go back to the castle,' he said, still holding her hand as they left the stand of trees. 'Do you want to go to the Great Hall? We could make a start on those seven thousand kisses.'
'Don't push it,' Hermione warned. 'We need to take this slowly. I don't think today is the right day for dropping bombshells.'
'Oh, I don't know. I'd have thought it was the perfect time with all that goodwill and peace to all men stuff going on,' Draco countered with a grin.
Hermione rolled her eyes. 'That stuff doesn't apply at Hogwarts, not with our friends, you know it doesn't. Please, Draco, let's just take things slowly. I'm having enough of a problem with it and I want it to happen. Remember you've had longer to get used to the idea of us as a couple than I have.'
'Shame. I was looking forward to livening things up a bit, but I suppose I can wait,' Draco told her with a smile. 'It will be worth it, I know it will.' He squeezed her hand. 'What about holding hands? Is that too much?'
'You know that would be as shocking as us kissing,' Hermione said with a small chuckle.
'In that case, we should just go straight for the snogging and have done with it.'
Hermione stopped walking. Draco stopped, too, looking at her with concern.
'Perhaps this isn't a good idea, Draco.' Hermione stared at him, anxious and unsure.
'It's a great idea, Hermione, just something that's going to take people a little while to get used to, that's all. I know you want to wait but I really think we should just get it over and done with and then everyone can get over themselves. In a couple of days we'll be old news and no one will care,' Draco told her soothingly.
'I don't care if my friends don't like you — actually, I'm glad they don't otherwise I'd probably have more competition — but what they think doesn't affect how I feel about you. I'll be damned if I'm going to sneak around like some criminal because of worry about what our friends are going to think. It's Christmas and I want to spend it with you — and I want to be in the Great Hall, not hidden away in some dusty alcove trying to hope that no one notices us.
'Whilst I understand that you're nervous, I don't think waiting will make anything better. However long we wait we'll still have to go through the same reactions of shock from everyone. So let's just do it now, get it out of the way and enjoy the rest of Christmas together as a couple. Anyway, it's not like anyone can stop us.'
'Your father,' Hermione mumbled miserably.
Draco sighed and shrugged. 'He'll either accept it or he won't, and if he doesn't we don't have to see him. I'm not worried about a few Howlers.' He smiled at Hermione and squeezed her hand again. 'Come on, Hermione, be brave — you're a Gryffindor. Let's go and make this Christmas Day a day to remember.'
'You just want to kiss me again,' Hermione said.
Draco grinned. 'Well, yes, of course . . . and I'm getting cold, too, but I'm serious about us not hiding away. We're going to go in there holding hands, and once they all get their knickers in a twist about that I'm going to kiss you, which should really start the fireworks. While everyone freaks out we can get some hot chocolate and sit in front of the fire telling each other about the presents we got for Christmas, just like any normal couple. Eventually, they'll get bored with us and we'll be just like any other happy Hogwarts couple.'
'You make it sound so easy. You know it won't be like that.' Hermione's voice contained a mixture of wistfulness and tension.
'Yes, it will, because we're going to make it like that,' Draco told her. 'We're not going to get involved in the discussion. It's just going to be you and me enjoying our Christmas together and ignoring any crap that goes on around us. I bet the initial outburst is over in five minutes when they realise we're not interested in their drama and then no one will care, except for the odd few friends who can be dealt with later.' He pulled at Hermione's hand. 'Come on, let's go. There's warmth and a hot drink waiting for us . . . and seven thousand kisses.'
'I am not kissing you seven thousand times, especially in the Great Hall,' Hermione told him as they walked back towards the castle.
Draco considered for a moment. 'Not today, maybe, but I reckon between now and when we leave school we can easily reach that number. Just think, by the time we've been married for fifty years it could be seven million times.'
'Married!' Hermione spluttered. 'We've literally only just got together and you're already talking about our fiftieth wedding anniversary?'
Draco gave her an easy grin. 'I may have considered it once or twice. I told you I was serious about this relationship.'
'Well, let's not run before we can walk, eh?' Hermione said, although her heart was racing at the thought that Draco was serious enough about this to have already thought of them being married. 'Getting through this first step is going to be difficult enough.'
'It'll be something to look back on and laugh at,' Draco assured her. 'Now come on, stop stalling. There's a not-so-cosy bench with our name on it just waiting for us to arrive.'
Hermione let out a huge breath, then gripped Draco's hand tighter. 'Come on, then. If we're going to do this, let's get it over and done with.'
'Yes!' Draco said, sounding jubilant.
Still holding hands, Draco and Hermione walked across the quad towards the door to the castle as the last of the twilight disappeared into darkness, the snow falling silently as they went.