A/N - This is the first of my Christmas one-shots this year. This story is a cute, fluffy piece inspired by Frozen. Enjoy!
Christmas had always been one of Hermione's favourite times of the year. She also loved the warm summer months, but her all-time favourite time of year was Christmas. When she was younger she used to look forward to Christmas from the second her birthday was over in September. Of course when Hermione was younger her Christmas consisted of receiving tons of games and toys and playing with them alongside her parents.
Then she went off to Hogwarts and her Christmases changed. The festivities in the school had always delighted Hermione, but it was the holidays she looked forward to the most. The Christmas holidays were the perfect opportunity to see her parents after the first few months of the term and catch up with them. Of course Hermione still received plenty of presents from her parents, but spending time with family became more important to her.
After leaving Hogwarts, Hermione's Christmases changed yet again as she left home and set up on her own. The first couple of Christmases after leaving school, Hermione spent with her parents but then she started dating Draco Malfoy and from then on Christmases were spent with the blond wizard. Initially the couple's Christmases consisted of romantic getaways and brief visits to their families. That trend continued even after they had married, but things changed yet again when Hermione gave birth to their daughter five years ago.
The second Lyra entered their lives, Draco and Hermione's Christmases became about family again. While a lot of their childhood years had been a completely different experience for the couple both Draco and Hermione had grown up with parents who loved them and showered them with attention. As such they wanted their children to grown up in the same way and they were determined that their children would have Christmases they would look back on with fondness when they were older.
The pair ensured their daughter had the best of both of her parent's heritages when it came to Christmas. They always ensured they did plenty of magical stuff and celebrated Christmas like Draco used to when he was younger, as well as doing muggle stuff and celebrating Christmas the way Hermione used to. Draco was initially hesitant about the muggle side of the celebrations, but these days he loved every second of the wizarding and muggle traditions they were building as a family.
One tradition the family had was to snuggle up on the sofa together and watch films with hot chocolate on days when it was cold outside and they had nothing else planned. Snuggling up and watching films together was actually something they did all year round but Christmas brought added hot chocolate and the addition of Christmas films to the mix.
Currently it was the weekend before Christmas and the snow was beginning to fall outside. Rather than go out in the wet and cold, Hermione had suggested they all stayed in and watched Christmas films all day. After a morning of watching films, the family broke for lunch before returning to their afternoon's fun. After the first film of the afternoon, Hermione headed to make the hot chocolate while Lyra and Draco picked the next film.
Rummaging through the hot chocolate box, Hermione found the flavours her husband and daughter had requested. She always kept a selection of flavoured hot chocolates in the house as when she was younger she always loved trying new kinds of hot chocolate and Lyra was exactly the same. Today her daughter had asked for white hot chocolate, while Draco had plumped for his favourite of mint. Picking out a hazelnut sachet for herself, Hermione set about making the hot chocolate.
When Hermione had made the drinks she added marshmallows to the mugs and topped them with chocolate sprinkles. She also added three festive biscuits from the batch she and Lyra had whipped up the previous day. Placing everything on a tray she made her way to the front room where her daughter and husband was snuggled up on the large sofa together. The beautifully decorated Christmas tree was standing in the corner and the colourful fairy lights on it provided the light in the room.
"Have you picked a film?" Hermione asked as she placed the tray down on the coffee table.
"Yep." Lyra nodded.
"Are you going to tell me, or is it a surprise?" Hermione questioned as she settled down beside her husband and daughter.
"Surprise." Lyra grinned at her mother as Hermione began handing out the hot chocolate and biscuits.
Once everyone had their drinks, Draco grabbed the DVD remote from the arm of the sofa and set the film away. When it began Hermione quickly ascertained they were watching a Disney from the trailers. Hermione had grown up watching Disney films and she'd introduced her daughter to them from a young age. Now at just over five years old, Lyra owned practically the whole collection of cartoon classics.
"Frozen, again," Hermione remarked when the film began and she recognised the start. Of all the Disney films, Frozen had quickly became her daughter's favourite and since the film had been released her daughter had watched it hundreds of times. "I thought we were watching Christmas films."
"Frozen has snow," Lyra pointed out. "Snow is Christmassy."
"You can't argue with logic like that," Draco chuckled.
"Yes, I can," Hermione said. "There is no mention of Christmas in this film, therefore it isn't a Christmas film."
"Ssh." Lyra frowned at her mother's talking. "Watch the film."
"Yes, watch the film Hermione." Draco smirked at his wife, who merely stuck her tongue out at him before turning her attention to the film she'd seen dozens of time already this year.
As she usually did, Lyra thoroughly enjoyed the film. She sang along to the songs, laughed at the funny parts and cheered when the film had a happy ending. Hermione had to admit it was good film and she would have loved it as much as Lyra if it had been released when she was younger, but as an adult she could do without having to watch it every few weeks.
"I want to build Olaf," Lyra declared when the film was over.
"I don't think the snow's deep enough," Hermione said to her daughter. "It's just starting to snow."
"If it keeps snowing, we can build one tomorrow," Draco promised his daughter when she pouted and looked as though she was about to cry. "But for now, let's watch one final film before you have to go and get a bath and go to bed."
After making Draco promise they could build a snowman the following day, Lyra settled down for another film. This time they actually watched a Christmas film and when it was finished Lyra had something to eat before she happily headed off to have a bath. Once she'd bathed and was in her pyjamas, Lyra headed downstairs to say goodnight to Draco before she settled in her bedroom and let Hermione read her a bedtime story.
"Let's hope it's stopped snowing by tomorrow," Hermione said to her husband as she returned from settling their daughter down for the night. "Otherwise you're going to be spending your Sunday in the back garden making a snowman."
"That's what magic's for." Draco shrugged, unconcerned about the prospect of spending hours outside in the freezing cold snow. With magic a snowman would be easy to build.
"Don't come complaining to me when you get frost bite," Hermione retorted.
"If I was cold you could warm me up," Draco said with a seductive smile. "We know plenty of ways of generating heat."
"Yeah, put the fire on," Hermione quipped.
"Now, I'm hurt," Draco replied, shooting Hermione a pitiful look. "My own wife won't even warm me up on a cold winter's day after I've spent hours making a snowman with my little princess."
"What a guilt trip," Hermione laughed. "You certainly know how to get your own way."
"Of course I do. I'm a Slytherin," Draco smirked. "And right now this Slytherin wants his wife to be wearing fewer clothes."
"Upstairs," Hermione replied as she leant over and briefly brushed her lips over her husbands.
Before Lyra the couple would have thought nothing of stripping off and having their fun beside the fire, but it wasn't an option with a five year old running around the place. Even though their daughter seemed sound asleep, she could get up at any minute and neither Draco nor Hermione fancied having to find an excuse as to why they were naked in the front room. At least in their bedroom they had the bedcovers to hide their nakedness if their daughter made an unexpected appearance.
Jumping up from the sofa, Draco ensured all the lights on the tree and in the room were switched off before he swept Hermione into his arms and whisked her away upstairs for a bit of adult entertainment.
Hermione was awoken the following morning by her daughter bounding into the bedroom, singing at the top of her voice.
"Do you want to build a snowman?" Lyra sang as she clambered up into bed with her parents. "Well, do you?" She asked her father, shaking him by the shoulders.
"In a minute," Draco grumbled, burying his head further into his pillow.
"Mummy." Lyra turned to her mother and gave her a smile before she opened her mouth and began to sing again. "Do you want to build a snowman?"
"Is it still snowing?" Hermione questioned as she threw back the covers on the bed and swung her legs out of bed.
Grabbing her dressing gown, she pulled it on as she made her way to the window. Pulling open the curtains, Hermione found the ground outside was covered with a thick layer of snow. While it wasn't still snowing it looked as though it had been snowing all night to have such a good covering.
"Can we go outside?" Lyra asked, jumping up and down on the bed.
"After breakfast," Hermione told her daughter. "You get your Daddy up, and I'll go and get started down in the kitchen."
As she left the bedroom, Hermione chuckled to herself as she heard Lyra begin to sing again. Heading down to the kitchen, she put the coffee on and began to make a warm breakfast for her family. If Draco was going to take Lyra outside, they needed something warm inside them. By the time Hermione was placing breakfast on the table she could hear Draco and Lyra coming down the stairs. Lyra was still singing at the top of her voice, only now she'd changed songs.
"Okay Lyra, stop singing and eat your porridge," Hermione told her daughter as she entered the kitchen followed by a half awake Draco.
"Ooh, porridge." Lyra licked her lips as she stopped singing and jumped up on her chair.
"It'll stop you from getting cold outside," Hermione said as she handed her husband a steaming cup of coffee to help wake him up.
"I don't get cold," Lyra said in between spoonful's of porridge.
"You're still wrapping up warm," Hermione warned her daughter. Ever since she was little, Lyra had hated to be bundled up in scarf, gloves and hat, but there was no way Hermione was letting her outside unless she was wrapped up.
Knowing better than to argue, Lyra focused on her porridge. While Lyra was finishing her breakfast, Hermione sat down to eat her own bowl of cereal. Draco meanwhile devoured a whole cup of coffee before he was awake enough to eat his breakfast. By the time Draco was fully awake and had finished eating, Lyra was itching to go and get dressed so she could play outside.
"Why did I agree to this?" Draco grumbled as the family headed back upstairs to get dressed. "I hate the cold."
"You agreed, because when it comes to your daughter, you're a soft touch," Hermione replied. "Anything Lyra wants, Lyra gets."
"She's just like her mother in that respect," Draco said with an affectionate smile. "She's also got me wrapped round her little finger."
"You're just a big softy," Hermione teased her husband. "Underneath that tough exterior, is a soft centre."
"Only with certain people," Draco replied. While he had no problem showing his softer side to his family, very few other people saw the gentler side of Draco. Most people considered him cold and intimidating, they never saw the loving family man he was at home.
"Mummy, come on," Lyra cried, interrupting her parent's conversation. "I need to put clothes on."
Leaving Draco to head into their room to get dressed, Hermione entered her daughter's bedroom. Lyra had already picked out her outfit for the day, but considering she'd picked a purple party dress, Hermione overrode her daughter's decision. Rummaging in her daughter's wardrobe she found a pair of warm trousers, a t-shirt and a jumper with a snowflake on. Lyra wasn't impressed with having to wear so many layers of clothing, but she relented when Hermione warned her that she couldn't go outside without being properly wrapped up.
Once Lyra had her clothes on, Hermione handed her over to Draco with the instructions that she didn't leave the house until she had all her winter outer clothes on. While Draco promised to ensure Lyra was wrapped up before they headed outside, Hermione was finally able to go and get dressed herself.
Once Hermione was dressed she popped into her daughter's room to gather the previous day's clothes. While she was in Lyra's room she peered out the window and was pleased to see her daughter looked to be fully covered up and was wearing her gloves, hat and scarf. Nodding in appreciation of her husband's delivery of his promise, Hermione left the bedroom and headed downstairs.
For a couple of hours, Hermione did housework, made some chicken stew with dumplings for lunch and used the opportunity to tidy up a bit before Christmas hit the following weekend. Every now and again she'd check on Draco and Lyra, but the pair seemed content in the back garden as they built their snowman. Finally, Lyra came flying in the back door begging Hermione to come and see their snowman.
Pulling on her boots and jacket, Hermione followed her excited daughter out into the back garden. Standing in the centre of her garden was a large snowman, wearing a Slytherin scarf. Hermione rolled her eyes at the choice of scarf and wondered how much influence her husband had over the decision or if it was purely down to Lyra. Their daughter tended to alternate between which parent she wanted to emulate, some days she wanted to be just like Hermione while other days she wanted nothing more than to follow in her father's footsteps.
"It's amazing Lyra," Hermione said to her daughter. "Have you named him?"
"Olaf," Lyra answered, looking at her mother as though she was stupid.
"Of course." Hermione nodded and shared an amused look with her husband. "Olaf is great, Lyra."
"He is," Lyra agreed. "He's just like the real Olaf. He likes warm hugs."
As if to demonstrate her point, Lyra wrapped her small arms around the snowman and gave him a hug. Hermione expected the actions would result in the snowman losing his shape, or the very least leave Lyra covered in snow, but when her daughter stepped back everything was in place. Lyra's jacket wasn't covered in snow and the snowman looked perfectly fine.
"Magic," Draco whispered to his wife. "I had a feeling she would want to hug the thing, so I enchanted it so she wouldn't end up covered in snow."
"Thank you," Hermione whispered back to her husband, shooting him a grateful smile.
Lyra wanted to play with her snowman for a while longer, so Hermione gave her daughter until lunchtime to spend outside. Draco remained with his daughter and the pair had a great time until Hermione called them in for something to eat. After lunch, Lyra waved at Olaf out of the kitchen window before she settled down in the front room to play some games in front of the fire.
Before going to bed that night, Lyra had to pop outside to say goodnight to Olaf and even when she got into her bedroom, she gave the snowman a final wave before settling down for the night.
"I love Olaf," Lyra whispered tiredly to her mother as her eyes began to shut. "I never want him to go away."
Hermione didn't say anything to her daughter as Lyra barely managed to get the words out before she drifted off to sleep. Giving her daughter a kiss on the forehead, Hermione hoped that Lyra had gotten over her attachment to the snowman before he began to melt. If she hadn't, it wouldn't be fun explaining to a devastated five year old that Olaf had melted.
In the days following Lyra's snowman building exploits, the five year continued to grow more attached to the figure in the back garden. When she was allowed out to play she always made a fuss of the snowman, and she was always waving and calling to it from out of the window.
Hermione had been hoping that the excitement of Christmas would help Lyra forget about Olaf, but the little girl carried on with treating the snowman like a friend. She was always poking her head outside and talking to the snowman and several times Hermione caught her showing her presents to Olaf. It didn't matter how much Draco or Hermione tried to distract Lyra, she wasn't forgetting about her snowman.
For a fortnight there was no issue with the snowman melting, as the weather remained cold and there was regular flurries of snow, but just before New Year the snow stopped and the temperature picked up slightly. A few days into January, the snow was rapidly melting and with it Lyra's snowman.
The second Lyra realised her snowman was melting she went into a sulk and would sit at the dining room windows, looking out at Olaf with a sad expression on her face. A couple of nights, she'd even cried herself to sleep as her snowman slowly melted in the back garden.
"We're going to have to do something about this," Hermione said to Draco as the couple watched Lyra staring forlornly out of the dining room windows. "In a few days the snowman will be gone, and Lyra will be inconsolable."
"I've tried explaining that snowmen melt, but it doesn't seem to be getting through," Draco told his wife.
"Maybe I should stay home and we can talk to her together," Hermione suggested. She was due to meet her mother to go shopping in the sales. Her parent's wedding anniversary was coming up and they were planning on taking a short break and her mother was hoping to pick up a few cheap bits for the break.
"No, you go and have fun," Draco said. "I'll try and cheer Lyra up, and when you get back we can talk to her together."
"Okay." Hermione nodded and gave her husband a quick kiss, before walking over to her daughter and saying goodbye to her.
Lyra barely responded when Hermione kissed her and told her to be good. However, she reluctantly moved from the dining room when Draco offered to make her a hot chocolate so they could watch a film together. As Hermione pulled on her jacket and grabbed her bag, she heard Draco asking what film Lyra wanted to watch. Hoping her daughter would have cheered up by the time she arrived home, Hermione exited the house before she heard Lyra choose to watch Frozen again.
Despite worrying about Lyra, Hermione's shopping trip with her mother was a success. Hermione's mother got several bargains for her upcoming break, while Hermione picked up a few bargains herself. Despite the fact Christmas was barely over, Hermione made sure she got a few treats for Lyra in a bid to cheer her little girl up. With the way the snow was melting, her snowman would be gone sooner rather than later and the way things were going her and Draco might not have gotten through to Lyra that snowmen weren't made to last before it melted completely.
When Hermione arrived home she expected to find her daughter was still sulking over her snowman. What she didn't expect was to be greeted at the door with a beaming Lyra, who instantly wrapped her arms around Hermione and gave her a large hug.
"Someone's happy," Hermione chuckled, dropping her shopping bags onto the hall floor.
"Olaf's better," Lyra grinned. "Come and see."
Tugging on Hermione's hand, Lyra led her mother through to the kitchen and out of the back door. The second they reached the back door, Lyra took off across the garden to where her snowman was standing upright and looking as good as new. Above the snowman's head was a small snow cloud and snow was falling all around it.
"He's got a flurry," Lyra cried happily.
"Draco!" Hermione yelled loudly, wondering where her husband was hiding himself.
A minute later a sheepish looking Draco entered the kitchen. Hermione glared at her husband, but before she had a chance to speak he held up his hands and apologised.
"What on earth were you thinking?" Hermione hissed at her husband. "How is this going to help her learn that snowmen melt, and she can't have him all year round?"
"I know it's not ideal," Draco admitted. "But she was watching Frozen again, and she got the idea from that. She begged me to save Olaf with magic."
"You could have said no," Hermione pointed out. "You could have told her snowman are designed to melt when the snow goes away."
"I tried, but she was begging me," Draco replied. "How could I say no to her? Just look how happy she is."
At the affection she heard in her husband's voice, Hermione's ire began to fade. Even though it probably wasn't her husband's wisest decision, she couldn't fault the motivation behind it. All Draco had wanted was to make his little girl happy, and by saving Olaf he'd brought a smile back to Lyra's face. Hermione had to admit, it was nice to have her bright and cheerful daughter back. The only problem was that now they had to work out how to end the spell and let Olaf melt without breaking Lyra's heart.
By the end of January, Hermione still didn't have any idea how they were going to get rid of Olaf. Lyra loved having her snowy friend around and she would spend ages playing outside with the snowman. Several times Draco and Hermione had tried sitting their daughter down and talking to her about her snowman, but she was adamant that the flurry was working perfectly and Olaf would be around forever.
"Hermione, why do you have a snowman in your garden?" Ginny Potter questioned when she popped round to see her friend and spotted the snowman while the two witches were having coffee in the kitchen. "The snow melted just after New Year."
"I know," Hermione replied with a sigh. "Lyra made it after watching Frozen. When it began to melt she got upset, and being the soft touch he is, Draco saved it using magic. It now has its own personal snow cloud and it never melts."
"Thank Merlin, I didn't bring James with me. He would be so jealous and next year he would want his own enchanted snowman," Ginny said with a laugh, before she turned serious again. "So what are you going to do? Have it in the garden all year round?"
"No way." Hermione shook her head. "It has to go, it's driving me mad. I just need to find a way to do it without breaking Lyra's heart. She's so attached to the damn thing, I can't just remove the spell and let it melt. She would probably accuse me of murder."
"I can just imagine that," Ginny said. "I guess the problem is she's far too smart to try and out manoeuvre her."
"Tell me about it," Hermione sighed. "I can't believe I can't outsmart a five year old."
"To be fair, Lyra's a little mini genius." Ginny pointed out to her friend. "Although what do you expect given who her parents are. In school you and Draco were miles ahead of everyone else intellectually, so it's only natural your daughter's a little brainbox."
"So basically you're saying this is my fault for marrying someone smart," Hermione said.
"Basically." Ginny nodded in agreement with her frustrated friend. "Although Lyra is smart, but her parents are smarter. Surely you and Draco can cook something up together. Draco especially should be good at outmanoeuvring people, he is a former Slytherin after all."
Hermione tilted her head to one side as she mulled over what Ginny had just said. Suddenly inspiration hit and she smirked wickedly at her friend.
"Gin, you're the best," Hermione declared. "I know exactly what I'm going to do."
"What?"
"I'm going to go all Slytherin on her. I'm going to trick or bribe her into giving up her snowman."
The day after talking to Ginny, Hermione took Lyra shopping in the muggle world. Lyra was used to shopping in both the wizarding and the muggle world, so she wasn't the slightest bit perturbed by her mother taking her to a large shopping complex filled with muggles. Hermione had picked the shopping complex because of the large Disney store it boasted, and within half an hour or arriving at the shopping centre, Hermione casually walked past the store with her daughter.
"Olaf!" Lyra cried, squealing with excitement as she saw the window display was full of toys from her favourite film.
"Do you want to go and have a look?" Hermione asked her daughter.
"Yes please," Lyra replied, bouncing up and down in anticipation.
Hermione took her daughter into the store and the pair made their way over to where all the Frozen merchandise was located. Lyra was in her element with all the toys and she spent ages oohing and aahing over things. While Lyra was busy looking at the toys, Hermione mentally scanned the Olaf toys. There were plenty of toys featuring the lovable snowman, but she quickly got her eye on a large soft toy that spoke when you squeezed its middle. Casually Hermione picked the toy up and gave its middle a gentle squeeze.
"I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs," The toy said.
Lyra instantly turned to her mother and gasped at the giant Olaf in Hermione's hands. Hermione handed the toy to her daughter and watched as Lyra hugged the toy, causing it to spew out another phrase. Giggling, Lyra squeezed Olaf several more times to hear him speak.
"Can I have him, Mummy?" Lyra asked, looking up at Hermione with her large grey eyes that she'd inherited from her father.
"Little girls can only have one snowman at a time," Hermione said, hoping her plan worked and Lyra would agree she could let the snowman in the back garden melt. "If I buy you the toy, we have to let the snowman at home melt."
"But he'll die," Lyra gasped.
"He won't die Lyra, he'll just have finished spreading Christmas joy," Hermione told her daughter. "Snowmen are only supposed to be here for a short time. You build them and have fun with them, but then they go away when the snow melts. I'm sure the snowman in our garden is missing the snow. Snowmen need snow to be happy. Why don't we let the snowman at home melt, and you can have a cuddly Olaf to take home with you. He can live in your bedroom and even sleep in your bed."
"Can I say goodbye to my Olaf?" Lyra questioned, biting her bottom lip as she chewed over her dilemma.
"Of course you can," Hermione answered. "When we go home, we can all go outside and say goodbye and you can thank him for being such a good friend. We can then let him melt so he can go home to be with the snow."
"Okay." Lyra nodded slowly as she came to a decision. "We can let Olaf melt."
"Good girl." Hermione smiled at her daughter. "Now let's go and buy you a big talking Olaf."
After leaving the shop with Olaf safely packed away in a giant box, Hermione took Lyra home. The second they arrived back home, Lyra pulled Olaf out of the box and ran off to find Draco so she could show her father what she'd gotten. Lyra found Draco in the front room where she proudly showed off her new toy, before settling down on a chair with Olaf.
"What were you thinking?" Draco hissed to Hermione. "Christmas was only a month ago, she doesn't need more toys."
"I wouldn't have had to do this, if it wasn't for you," Hermione shot back. "I bought her the toy as a trade for letting her snowman melt."
"She's going to let us melt the snowman?" Draco checked.
"Yes." Hermione nodded. "We're going to go and say goodbye, and you can remove your spell. You can also speed up the process of the melting as well, I don't want a snow puddle hanging around for ages."
"I can have it gone in a matter of minutes," Draco promised his wife.
"Good." Hermione smiled at her husband, before turning to her daughter. "Lyra, are we going to go and say goodbye to Olaf?"
Lyra looked up at her mother in uncertainty and for one awful moment Hermione thought her daughter was going to say no. However, Lyra nodded sadly and leaving her new cuddly Olaf on the chair she took hold of Hermione's hand and accompanied her parents out into the back garden.
"Goodbye Olaf," Lyra whispered to the snowman as she gave it one final hug. "You were a good friend."
"Are you ready?" Draco checked. When Lyra nodded her head, he pointed his wand at the snowman. "Finite Incantatem."
The snow cloud above Lyra's snowman instantly disappeared, and with a silent spell from Draco the snowman began to melt away. Lyra let out a few tears as her snowman disappeared, but when Hermione checked she was okay, Lyra nodded her head.
"He's gone back to the snow," She told her mother. "He's happy."
"He is," Hermione agreed, giving her daughter a hug. "Now let's go inside and have a hot chocolate in Olaf's memory."
Whispering a final goodbye to the puddle that had once been her snowman, Lyra turned and headed back into the house with her parents. While Lyra went off into the front room to play with her new Olaf, Hermione and Draco stayed in the kitchen to make hot chocolate.
"And next year, no enchanted snowmen," Hermione warned her husband.
"Don't worry, I've learnt my lesson," Draco promised.
"You better have," Hermione replied. "I swear, I'll kill you if you do this again."
Luckily for Draco, he never did anything like enchant a snowman again. Of course he did plenty of other things Hermione disproved of over the years when it came to their children and spoiling them. However, he loved them more than anything and to Hermione that was more important than if he occasionally indulged their children more than he should do.
The End.