A Cold Snap.
It was Christmas Eve and Hermione Granger was sitting at her parents' kitchen table, despondently watching the light snow falling outside. Being back home in the muggle world for Christmas wasn't how she'd expected to spend her festive season, but here she found herself. And worst of all, it was all her own fault. If she hadn't been such a stubborn, selfish cow she could be curled up in front of the fire with her gorgeous boyfriend, Draco Malfoy. But no, she had to go and ruin everything by flying off the handle and storming off like a petulant child.
It had all started a few days ago, when Hermione had filled Draco in on their Christmas plans. Hermione always spent part of her holidays with her family and her friends, and she knew from the previous year that Draco did something similar. So for their first real Christmas together, she wasn't counting their first as they'd only been together a few months and they spent most of the holidays apart, Hermione had tried to fit all of their friends and family into their schedule. However, Draco was not impressed that she'd managed to fit visits in to all of their family and friends, yet she'd failed to schedule them any time alone together.
In hindsight, Hermione knew all Draco wanted was for them to spend some time alone together over the holidays, but Hermione had taken his comments to mean she'd made a mess of the festive arrangements. Annoyed and frustrated, the pair had let things get the better of them and they'd ended up having a blazing row. Draco was refusing to spend his holidays traipsing from house to house just to visit people they saw every day, while Hermione was refusing to back down and not visit her friends and family just because Draco wanted her all to himself.
In the end, Hermione had stormed out, informing Draco that he wouldn't have to worry about sharing her as she was going to spend Christmas with her parents. Almost the second she arrived home, Hermione had known she'd made a mistake by walking out on Draco. Speaking to her parents, and finding they both agreed that Draco wasn't being unreasonable in wanting to spend time with her, only confirmed her suspicions that she'd acted rashly and made the wrong choice.
However, admitting she'd made a mistake and fixing the mistake were two very different things. For several days now, Hermione had thought about going back home to the penthouse she shared with Draco, but when it came down to it she was just too scared to back down and admit she was wrong. Deep down she was worried that she'd blown things with Draco, and now she'd left he would come to his senses and realise he could have any witch he wanted, and none of them would be as much hassle as she was. And the longer she stayed away, the harder it seemed to be to admit she was wrong and go and apologise to Draco.
"Are you just going to sit there moping again?" Jean Granger asked her daughter as she entered the kitchen, carrying bags of presents that needed wrapping.
"I'm not moping, I'm lamenting where my life went wrong," Hermione retorted.
"Don't be so dramatic girl," Jean tutted. "All this could be fixed if you just swallowed your pride and apologised to Draco. All the poor boy wanted was to spend some time with his girlfriend over the holidays, just what was so wrong with that?"
"Nothing," Hermione glumly admitted. She knew she'd been a complete and utter bitch to Draco, she just didn't know how to fix it.
"Then fix things," Jean ordered. "Don't sit here moping, go home and sort things with Draco."
"I wish it was that easy," Hermione said with a sigh as she got up and wandered over to the window that overlooked the Grangers large back garden. The snow had practically stopped falling now, but the ground was covered in a thick, untarnished blanket of white.
"It is that easy, Hermione," Jean insisted.
Knowing her mother was right and she was just being irrational, Hermione leant her forehead against the cool glass of the window. She stood just staring into nothingness for almost ten minutes before the sound of the front doorbell jolted her from her depressing thoughts.
"Get that, Hermione," Jean said, her hands full of presents, scissors, paper and sellotape.
"It'll likely just be carol singers," Hermione said with a sigh as she made her way to the front door.
However, when she opened the front door, it wasn't carol singers standing on the doorstep, it was Draco. Her boyfriend was wearing a warm looking black coat over his trousers and jumper, and he had his old Slytherin scarf wrapped around his neck.
"Hi," Hermione said softly, not sure what sort of response she was going to get from Draco.
"Hi," Draco returned, equally as softly.
"Do you want to come in?" Hermione asked.
"Actually, I was hoping you would come for a walk with me."
Readily agreeing to the idea, Hermione quickly pulled on her boots and coat, and after quickly informing her mother where she was going, she headed out of the door with Draco. Silently they left the Grangers front yard and began to slowly meander down the street. Hermione wasn't sure where they were going, but right now she couldn't care less. All she cared about was the fact Draco was back and they would hopefully sort something out.
The silence carried on for nearly five minutes before Draco broke it just as they reached the small park Hermione used to play in when she was a child.
"Merry Christmas."
"It's not Christmas until tomorrow," Hermione pointed out.
"You're always arguing, Granger," Draco said, although his small smile indicated he was only joking.
"Sorry," Hermione whispered, knowing that there was a grain of truth in Draco's joke. It did seem as though she was always arguing with him, even when she tried not to she still ended up bickering with him.
"Don't be sorry for being you," Draco said. "I knew when we got together what I was signing up for. I've always known you love a good argument."
"Right back at you, Malfoy," Hermione replied. As much as she was guilty of arguing, so was Draco, it wasn't like he was Mr Laid-back and didn't start unnecessary arguments.
"I think we can agree arguing is in our nature," Draco said with a small smile.
"Sadly, yes," Hermione replied with a sigh. "It doesn't make for the easiest of relationships, does it?"
"Who wants easy?" Draco snorted. "Nothing worth having is ever easy to achieve."
"Does that mean you want to try again?" Hermione asked hopefully.
"I wasn't aware we'd stopped trying in the first place," Draco replied with a frown. "I thought this was just another fight."
"A fight doesn't normally lead to me storming out," Hermione pointed out.
"I thought you were just being dramatic," Draco admitted as he stopped beside the frozen pond in the lake and turned to face Hermione.
"I was," Hermione confessed. "I never should have left, I was just being a stubborn cow."
"I shouldn't have been so harsh on you," Draco returned. "I'm sorry I accused you of caring more about other people than me, I know that's not true."
"I'm sorry for not taking your feelings into account," Hermione said quietly. "I would love nothing more than to spend the entire festive period locked away somewhere just the two of us, but I've spent so long being the responsible one, the one who makes sure no-one feels left out over Christmas, that I'd forgotten it's my holidays as well. I deserve to spend some time with the person I love more than anything."
"I'm pleased you feel that way," Draco said as he suddenly dropped to one knee and pulled a velvet ring box out of his pocket.
"What are you doing?" Hermione hissed.
"Trying to be romantic," Draco retorted. Giving Hermione a silencing look as he could see she was going to start talking again, he flicked open the ring box to reveal an elegant diamond engagement ring. "I know I'm not the easiest person to live with, Hermione, and I know I can sometimes be a right bastard, but I love you more than anything. If you marry me, I'll spend the rest of my life trying to be the man you deserve."
"You're already that man," Hermione said, a smile breaking out over her face.
"Is that a yes?" Draco asked.
"You haven't asked me a question yet," Hermione retorted teasingly.
"For Merlin's sake Hermione, it's bloody freezing down here. My balls are going to drop off with the cold," Draco growled, rolling his eyes at his girlfriend. "Hermione Granger, will you marry me?"
"Yes, yes, I'll marry you," Hermione answered with a girlish squeal as she launched herself at her boyfriend, joining him on her knees in the snow.
Grinning happily, Draco slid the ring out of the box and onto Hermione's finger, where it magically adjusted to fit her perfectly. Hermione looked down at the ring before wrapping her arms tighter around Draco as she gave him a deep kiss.
"Hermione," Draco muttered as he broke the kiss.
"Yes?"
"I wasn't joking about my balls. If you ever want kids, I need to get up out of this snow."
Laughing giddily, Hermione jumped to her feet and helped Draco to his. "I should get you home and check you over for frostbite."
"I do feel a bit chilly in certain areas," Draco returned with a saucy smile.
"Don't worry, I'll warm you up," Hermione promised.
"All of me?" Draco asked.
"All of you," Hermione confirmed with a sly grin as she rubbed her hand over Draco's crotch.
"Don't start something you're not prepared to finish," Draco warned, grabbing Hermione's hand before she did any more than rub him.
"Who says I'm not going to finish it?" Hermione asked with a pout.
"Right here, in the middle of a snowy park?" Draco questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"I admit, it's not ideal," Hermione said with a nod. "Let's go home."
"What about your parents?" Draco asked. He was dying to take Hermione home, but he didn't just want to whisk her away and leave her parents worried about her.
"They've been urging me to go home since the second I arrived," Hermione admitted. "We can always drop by later on just to let them know we're all sorted. But right now, I've got some icy balls to inspect."
"Let's get inspecting then," Draco said with a grin as he wrapped Hermione in his arms and spirited her back home where they spent the next couple of hours thoroughly making up and celebrating their engagement.