Title: This Christmas
Category: Romance
Summary: Sequel to 'It's Christmas'. The Fates of our six couples are revealed on Christmas Days years after the ending of 'It's Christmas'. Not completely DH's compatible.
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author notes: It is BEST if you read It's Christmas first but I don't think it will be mandatory. I'm actually planning to do a one-shot for every couple (even those who DID NOT get the girl) in It's Christmas. It's going be like homage to the original story. The Theme of this Series of One-shots is my favorite Christmas music; every one-shot will be named for one of my favorite Christmas songs!
It's the END! I don't have enough inspiration to write an ending for Ernie/Gwen so it definitely won't happen. I know it's fluffy but I got carried away and lost the entire point of this one. This is an *NSYNC song off their only Christmas CD. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
This Christmas:
Installment 7: "Love's In Our Hearts"
+ December 25 +
It was so cold, so very cold. These December nights would chill you to the very bone if you didn't have the proper clothes on. Hermione shivered as she stood in her grand parlor, watching the snow fall from a window that she had always thought was too large for the demure room. It was Christmas morning all over again and even she, in her infinite knowledge, could not rationalize what was about this day that made every thing special. She wrapped her arms around her frame, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth. Christmas was always special time of year for her family but especially for her husband. Once the first snow of the season fell her husband was all smiles, she used to joke that he had a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder because he surely was never sad during the Christmas Season.
But it was this time of year that she only felt cold. Sure Christmas made everything seem warmer and seemingly more wonderful but it was always Christmas that made her reflect honestly on her life. It was Christmas and even she could not lie to herself on Christmas. This was the one time of year she could have every single person she loved under one roof. This was the one season she had to look at her children and see that they were growing further away from those babies she once adored so much. It was Christmas that Blaise would insist they travel to his family's ancestral home in Italy and to include his extensive family. But then there was that Christmas that he surprised her with this little estate just miles from his family's mansion. No more waking to the sounds of Zabini women rushing, hushing, and fussing at every child and man they ran across. No more waking to the smell of freshly brewed cider and fresh bread baking halfway across the house. For the last five Christmas' she would awake to the smiling face of her husband and the sounds of her two lovely children attempting not to wake their parents on Christmas morning.
No matter how many wonderful Christmas memories she had it was just something about this season that made her kind of sad. Her eldest daughter, Sienna, was getting closer to finishing her Mediwizard training and her youngest, Elizabeth, was in the middle of her fourth year at Hogwarts. How time seemed to pass with every Christmas morning that came. She remembered, with a grimace, the Christmas Sienna brought George MacMillian – the son of Ernie MacMillian and Gwen Thomas – to Italy for Christmas. Elizabeth was the only one who thought the pairing funny, Blaise took an instant disliking to the boy – he was too much like his father and too little like his mother, far too haughty – and Hermione felt like taking to her bed. The moment had finally come that her daughter was dating seriously, seriously enough to bring him home for a holiday. She felt cold at the mere thought of her Sienna married to anyone, much less to George MacMillian. But now, finally, there was Noah Weasley and Hermione could actually smile at the thought. Noah was the only boy she could think of giving her little girl to, she knew Noah since before he was conceived, it actually warmed her a bit.
"What are you in here stewing over, darling?" whispered a tenor voice, as two strong, olive colored arms wrapped them around her not so dainty waist.
"Christmas," was Hermione's only answer.
"It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" Blaise replied, placing his head atop her bushy mane as her head fell back into the curve of his neck.
"It is," she sighed, it was truly nothing like an Italian snow, "Sienna and Noah back yet?"
"Not yet," he answered, stiffly, "Elizabeth said Mother was still having tea with them when she left."
"How is your father taking his favorite granddaughter's first serious boyfriend?" Hermione chuckled. If there was ever a man that loved Sienna Jane Zabini with his whole heart it was Blaise's father. The moment Benito Zabini held the infant in his arms his cold, hard, exterior softened and she had held him captive every moment since.
"As expected," Blaise replied, gently squeezing his wife, "he likes it about as much as I do."
She turned around quickly, wrapping her arms around his waist, looking up at him like she did when they were teenagers. "It is time for Sienna to find her own great love but you and Benito will always have her heart you know."
"True," he smiled, placing a small kiss on her nose, "did you like my gift?"
"Did I?" Hermione grinned, thinking of the necklace, bracelet, and ring she received just hours earlier that featured the exclusive red diamonds. She had always admired her mother-in-law's red diamond collection – red diamonds sold for 1 million pounds per carat – and mentioned to her husband years ago how beautiful they were. This Christmas morning she had awakened to three wrapped boxes at her feet and when she opened the first she had cried, it contained the most elegant looking red diamond necklace she had ever seen, it looked like something a Queen would wear not her. But Blaise quickly reminded her that she was the queen of his heart. "I still can't believe I own one of the hardest diamonds in the world to buy or even find."
"Don't think it didn't take me years to get those to you as a gift," he said, placing another kiss on her nose, he always had a way of making her feel like they were newlyweds all over again. "That waiting list was damn near 15 years on that necklace alone but Draco and I pulled some strings and here it is five years later."
She chuckled. "Five is much better than fifteen. Elizabeth had already negotiated the bracelet for her first ball. I couldn't day no."
"No you couldn't." Then Blaise was hit with a sudden chill. "But let's not talk about my little girl at a ball with boys . . . the thought gives me palpitations."
"Oh, my darling," she cooed. "It's going to happen eventually, you must know that."
"It's Christmas and I will hear none of that!" he countered.
Hermione laughed. "Fine, fine, it is Christmas so we will just discuss it in the morning."
"How about next year?" Blaise asked, sending her the puppy eyes.
She placed a thin hand on his cheek. "Fine, next year it will be. I'll allow you to have a Merry Christmas."
"Good," he smiled. "Draco said he and Parvati were going to stop by to bring the New Year in with us."
"Are they bringing the kids? Elizabeth would love to have some company her age."
He shook his head. "I don't think so; Draco said they were in Sri Lanka with the Parvati's family for holiday break."
"Pity," she said.
Suddenly Blaise kissed her with all the passion that he had felt the first time he had ever placed his lips upon hers. He kissed her slowly; savoring every moment like it was the last. It was Christmas that reminded him how much he loved his wife, his family, and his life. It was something about the season that made him look upon his companion as the most precious thing that walked this earth. Sure he loved and adored his daughters – he would give the world if would make them happy – but it was his companion, his helpmeet that kept his feet from hitting the ground. Hermione made his heart beat like he was sixteen again and a simple touch from her could cause such passion to rise in him that it would seem as if he had never had her before. Her lips never seemed too familiar to him; they always caused him to feel a rush of excitement, her little moans always ready him for their adventures later. His Hermione made Christmas what it was to him.
Hermione pulled away with a little sigh, she laid her head on his chest as he tightened his hold on her. She had given him everything in the world that mattered. How could he feel anything else but love when he looked at her? Sienna had once remarked that all she wanted was to be loved as much as her dad loved her mum, theirs was a romance that never ended. He loved her for who she was and she loved him for who he was, there was never an inkling of discontent beyond the normal martial disagreements. The Zabini's were known to have never "fought" they had "disagreements" and "mis-communication" but they never went to be angry. It was a love that kept them together when their son died soon after birth. It was a love that kept together when Hermione felt "cold." It was a love that kept them together when their upbringings and perspectives threatened to dismantle the fledgling family. It was a love that taught them that love was so much more than those myriad of emotions that one feels when they connect with another for the first time. It was a love that taught them that what they felt for one another could barely be articulated into words. It was a love that Blaise compared to the Muggle Christian meaning of Christmas: "What greater has man than this . . . ."
"I love you," he whispered.
"I love you, too," she replied, her eyes closed as her head rested on his chest. She felt warm for the first time that day. "Happy Christmas, darling."
"Mmm," Blaise sighed, "it's always a happy Christmas with you."
