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Author's Note: Reviews have just made my day! Thank you to everyone! xx More reviews are always welcome!
Chapter Seven
Draco awoke the next morning with Hermione sleeping in his arms. As soon as he recalled the memories from last night - rather, early this morning - he smiled. He couldn't believe that he'd finally kissed Hermione. He couldn't believe that he'd finally told her he loved her. He couldn't believe that she'd said it back.
Draco was happy.
Something he hadn't been for years and years on end.
He heard Hermione murmur quietly in her sleep and he kissed her forehead. He watched her eyes flutter open and closed until they were wide and staring at him.
"Good morning." he whispered to her.
"Draco." she mumbled.
"Happy Christmas, Hermione." he said to her, kissing her forehead again.
She gasped in surprise and then grinned at him.
"Oh yes! Happy Christmas, Draco!" she exclaimed, pushing her lips upon his with excitement.
Draco sat up, pulling her with him. They broke away and simultaneously caught sight of the pile of presents at the foot of the bed.
"Oh, Merlin!" Hermione exclaimed, biting her lip with excitement.
Draco watched her face and suddenly tried to picture her as a younger Hermione on Christmas morning. He wondered about how excited she would have been.
He suddenly wanted to know everything about her.
"Shall we open them?" Draco asked.
She nodded quickly and grinned at him. "You open one first!"
"Why me?" he asked with a laugh.
"Because. One of my favourite things about Christmas is watching other people open their gifts." she explained.
Draco felt lucky to have found someone this amazing to be in his life.
"Well, alright then."
He reached forward and grabbed a present. Attached to it was a piece of parchment.
Draco,
I am very sorry that you could not come home to the Manor this Christmas. I miss you dearly.
Love,
Mother
"I don't understand." Draco thought out loud.
"What?" Hermione asked, moving closer to him and reading the quick note from his Mother.
"I don't understand why she wouldn't let me come home this Christmas." he admitted.
"She wouldn't let you?" Hermione asked him, concern filling her voice.
"Yeah." he said simply.
He tore open the package and discovered a book. A journal. It was leather bound and had the Malfoy crest upon the spine. Inside, there was another note.
Draco,
This is a set. I have the other one at the Manor. You write in here, and it appears in the other one. It's a way for us to correspond without having to send an owl. I do hope you enjoy it. It'll save us both some time, dear.
Love,
Mother
"Very practical, Mum." he sighed, though he was sort of pleased with the gift.
"Draco, that's beautiful." Hermione said, running a finger over the spine.
"Yeah." he sighed again. "You open one now."
Hermione bit her lip and searched in her pile of gifts. She picked up one wrapped in purple paper and smiled while reading the card. Draco looked over her shoulder and read.
Hermione,
I miss you. Christmas is never the same without you. Hope Malfoy isn't being a prat. See you soon!
All my love,
Harry
"Well, I hope I'm not being a prat." Draco grumbled.
Hermione giggled and kissed his cheek, causing a smile to appear upon his face. She tore open the package and uncovered a light brown suede shoulder bag. Hermione gasped with excitement and Draco smiled at the look on her face.
"Merlin! This must have cost Harry a fortune! How sweet!" she grinned.
Draco was annoyed with Potter buying her such a nice gift. But, then he remembered what she said. The thought of her and Potter was repulsive.
They continued alternating opening gifts, with Hermione's pile larger than Draco's as expected.
Hermione accumulated a knitted Gryffindor coloured scarf from Mrs. Weasley, a bracelet with a circular locket charm from the Weasel, a lengthy letter and two new jumpers from her parents as well as a perfume from the Weaslette.
Draco had received a scarf from Pansy, which he immediately tossed aside, and a book about Dark Magic from Aunt Bellatrix.
"We can get rid of this. I don't need it." he said immediately to Hermione upon opening Bellatrix's gift.
She nodded slowly and grabbed the note that she had attached to it.
. . .
Draco,
I do hope that you're having a nice Christmas. I heard from your mother that you are having to share a space with the Mudblood Granger. If she's giving you too much trouble, just let me know and I'll finish her off for you. Isn't her arm brilliant looking? Now the world will know just who she is. A filthy, little mudblood. Happy Christmas, darling.
Love always,
Aunt Bella
Hermione felt sick upon reading Bellatrix's note. It was hard for her to even fathom anymore that Draco and Bellatrix were related. They were so completely different.
"Hermione... let's just get rid of both of them, alright? Let's throw them in the fire." he suggested, prying the letter from her hands.
She nodded, his words sounding distant. Bellatrix could easily kill her. Easily. Hermione felt herself shake and Draco was instantly wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close.
"Hermione... it's okay. She won't ever hurt you again. I'll make sure of it, okay?" he whispered into her ear.
She nodded and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Let's not let my stupid Aunt ruin Christmas for us, okay?"
She nodded again and tried to snap out of it.
"The Weasel got you a nice gift." Draco commented.
"Yeah. I honestly don't know how Ron afforded that. And do not make any jokes about him being poor." she thought out loud.
Hermione,
I hope you're having a Merry Christmas. I'm sorry I'm an idiot a lot of the time. Hope you like it.
Love,
Ron
Hermione reread the note with Draco looking over her shoulder.
"Well... he is an idiot a lot of the time." she agreed with a laugh.
Draco was silent and Hermione looked at him. "I've got a present for you!" she exclaimed.
Draco grinned at her. "I've got one for you, too."
Hermione grinned, touched that he had gotten her a gift. She really hoped that he would like his. He was a hard bloke to shop for.
"Can I give you yours first?" Hermione asked.
Draco nodded at her. She got out off of the bed and hurriedly ran out of the room into her own. She located his neatly wrapped gift and carried it back into Draco's room with her. She hopped back onto the bed and handed it to him eagerly.
He raised an eyebrow at her and smirked. She watched him read her note and she interrupted momentarily. "Keep in mind that I wrote it before last night, okay?"
He nodded and she watched him look down at her words.
Draco,
I have grown quite fond of you this year. You've changed, and it's really been lovely. I do hope that you like your present, and that you're having a splendid Christmas. You're a great person.
Yours,
Hermione
"Yours." he repeated with a smirk.
"Oh, shut it." she laughed.
He tore open her gift and she watched him grin upon viewing it.
"Hermione..." he said quietly.
Hermione had gotten him a first edition of Quidditch: Through the Ages. He had gone on and on about how he'd wanted the original copy, but could never find it. She'd also talked to Dumbledore and managed to acquire the first Snitch that Draco had ever caught.
"That's the first Snitch you caught, you know." she explained.
"I really... I don't know what to say. This is amazing." he said, sounding in shock.
Hermione grinned, happy that he liked it. He placed the present down and leaned over to kiss her.
"Thank you. Thank you so much, Hermione. But how did you even...?" he asked once they broke away.
"Well, the people at Flourish and Blotts like me quite a bit, and managed to track a copy down for me. They say I'm their top customer." she explained.
"There's no surprise there." he chuckled.
"And as for the Snitch... I talked to Professor Dumbledore. He seemed quite surprised that I wanted to get you something like this, but he agreed." she explained.
"It's really very very nice of you." he said, leaning over and kissing her again.
"I love you." Hermione said simply, the words flowing naturally off of her tongue.
"I love you, too." he grinned.
He passed her his present and she immediately read the note attached.
Hermione,
I really do hope that you have a lovely Christmas. You're splendid, Hermione. Spending all this time with you these months have really opened my eyes. I know who I want to be now. I want to be a better person. I'd like to think that I've already made a start. Happy Christmas, Hermione. I hope it's all you imagined it to be.
Yours,
Draco
"Yours." Hermione repeated, just as he had. She felt her eyes water in happy tears. She was happy that he had thought this much of her. The note alone was just so sweet.
"Of course." he said with a smile.
Hermione tore open the packaging to find a book and another box. She turned the book over to find a first edition of Hogwarts: A History.
"Oh, Draco!" she squealed.
"Great minds think alike, I guess." he said happily, smiling at her.
"I've always wanted this, Draco. Thank you!"
"I know you have. You're always reading that bloody book."
She gently swatted at his arm and smiled before placing a kiss upon his cheek. Then she opened the box and gasped in surprise.
Inside the box was a gold necklace with a G charm at the end encrusted with diamonds.
"Holy..." she trailed off, lifting it out of the box and resting the charm on her palm.
"G for Gryffindor, G for Granger." he explained, smiling at her.
"Draco... it's so beautiful. This is the most thoughtful gift I've ever received! Thank you, so much!" she exclaimed. "Put it on me?"
Draco grinned and nodded. He took the necklace from her hands and sat behind her. He lifted her hair up from her neck and Hermione felt chills. She bit her lip with excitement. Once he'd fastened the clasp, she turned to him, kissing him enthusiastically.
"D-do you like it?" he asked.
She nodded quickly. "Draco, I love it!"
He smiled, pulling her in for a hug.
. . .
"After all you went through, I just wanted you to have a marvelous Christmas." he explained shyly.
"This has been my best Christmas ever." she said.
Draco grinned at her, so happy that she liked his present. He was amazed by hers. She must have gone through so much trouble to get it. It was the most thoughtful gift he'd ever received.
He stood up, pulling her with him. Once standing, he pulled her in for a slow, passionate kiss. He would kiss her every moment of every day if he could.
"Come on. We have some burning to do." he whispered, reaching down on the bed and picking up Bellatrix's present.
She nodded slowly, her eyes full of fear and concern. They made their way into the Common Room and headed to the fire place.
"Would you like to do the honours?" he asked Hermione.
She was silent. He looked down at her and noticed a few tears slipping down her cheeks.
"Hey, hey... no crying. It's Christmas." he whispered, wiping a tear off of her cheek.
"I know, I know... it's just... what if she comes for me?" she whispered.
Her voice reminded Draco of all the times he had woken her up while she was screaming. Bellatrix had done a number on her emotionally.
"She won't. And if she does... well, she'll have to go through me first." he vowed.
"But, Draco... she's your Aunt."
"And you're my..." he started, not really sure what to call her. Was she his girlfriend? He'd never had a serious labelled girlfriend before. "You're Hermione. I wouldn't let anyone or anything hurt you."
She nodded, sniffling quietly. Draco pulled her in for a hug, grateful again for the turn of events last night. He kissed her forehead and held her close.
"Come on. Let's do it together, then." he whispered.
They held Bellatrix's letter in their hands.
"One... two... three!" Draco called out slowly.
They dropped the letter simultaneously into the fire, watching it burn. He noticed a whimpering sound come from Hermione. He swung his arm around her and pulled her close to him.
"Ready?" he asked and she nodded immediately.
"One... two... three!" he repeated.
They dropped the book in the fire and watched it slowly start to burn. A few puffs of black smoke and low screams came from it. Draco didn't even want to know the contents of it.
"Wait right here." Draco said.
He quickly ran into his room, grabbing the blankets and pillows off of his bed. Next, he went into Hermione's room and did the same. He made his way back over to her, placing them all on the ground.
"What... what are you doing?" she asked.
He arranged the pillows and blankets in front of the fire and pulled Hermoine down onto the floor with him. He pulled her against his chest and wrapped his arms around her. They gazed into the fire and Hermione pulled a blanket over them.
"This is lovely." she whispered.
"You're lovely." Draco mumbled shyly.
They were quiet for a moment, just calmly watching the fire when a funny thought appeared in Draco's mind.
"Remember when you punched me in the face?" he asked Hermione.
She exploded into laughter and Draco smiled. That had hurt, and he had hated her for it, but now he was glad that it made her laugh.
"How times have changed." she murmured after laughing.
Indeed how they had.
Author's Note: I thought that they deserved just having another sweet chapter together! I hope people are enjoying this! Please read & review! xx
