Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the plot.
Well it's not a long wait for this chapter. Hope you liked the last one and I hope you like this one too. On with the story.
Peace and Unity, Forever.
Chapter Nine: A Party Here, a Parting There.
Once Harry was ready he made his way down to the entrance hall to wait for Astoria with her father. The two stood there in uncomfortable silence, neither knowing what to say to other. They were soon joined by Daphne's date for the party Adrian Pucey a former Slytherin Quidditch player who was two years ahead of Harry and Daphne.
"Adrian," Mr Greengrass exclaimed upon seeing the man, "Welcome back. May I introduce Harry Potter? He's young Astoria's boyfriend." He told the man.
"Good to see you again Harry. The Slytherins giving you a run for your money in Quidditch this year?" he asked, curious if the Gryffindors had lost there winning streak yet.
Harry chuckled, shaking the older boys hand, "We haven't faced them yet, but they've annihilated Ravenclaw. Draco's done a great job training them up this year." He told his former rival. Adrian laughed jubilantly, glad that his old house were now taking the game seriously.
"Well good luck with that, this might be there year" he told Harry smiling. "Say 'hello' to Draco for me will you when you get back. When do you go back by the way?" he asked, curious as to how long the younger boy would be staying with the Greengrass'.
"Harry and Astoria will be going back Boxing Day night. Daphne is staying the whole holiday however." Mr Greengrass interrupted the two of them. Before anything else could be said however, Mrs Greengrass began to descend the stairs, looking regal in old-fashioned styled cream and gold dress, her hair pilled high on her head. "You look beautiful my dear" her husband told her, taking her left hand and kissing the back of her fingers.
Next down the stairs was Daphne, who was dressed in an empire waist green dress that stopped just below her knees. Her hair was also piled on her head, but in a much smaller, less ornate version of her mothers. Adrian walked over to her and took both her hands in his, kissing both of them. "You look wonderful Daph" he told her before kissing her forehead gently. The two couples then moved towards the ballroom together, leaving Harry to wait for Astoria on his own, something he was actually grateful for when he saw her.
Astoria was dressed in a royal blue, one-shouldered silk dress that fell to the floor. She's curled her dark brown hair so that the soft ringlets fell down her back in waves, pieces pulled away from her face using diamond flower hair clips. Her Christmas present from Harry rested on her chest was shining in the candle light. She looks amazing Harry thought as he tried to pick his jaw up from the floor where it had fallen when he saw her.
When Astoria finally reached him at the bottom of the stairs, instead of just reaching his throat in height, she was now only slightly short of eye level. Placing his hands on her hips he leaned down and gently kissed her on the lips.
"You look amazing, Astoria. Absolutely breathtaking." He told her in a whisper, unable to speak any louder than that at that moment.
Blushing Astoria quietly thanked him before taking his hand and leading them towards the ballroom.
Walking into the ballroom, Astoria got the affect she wanted. Everyone seemed to take stock of the youngest Greengrass child, while Daphne didn't get the attention she received at previous parties, although she didn't seem to mind overall. It meant that she and Adrian could sneak off with each other whenever they wanted. Astoria meanwhile, ignored the majority of the looks she received and concentrated on spending time with Harry. When the music started up, it was Harry that pulled Astoria onto the dance floor first. She was surprised to see that he could really dance rather well.
"When did you learn to dance? I got the impression that your family wasn't one for dancing." She asked as they waltzed around the dance floor, Harry occasionally spinning her away from him and back in.
"Last year. Hermione taught me in the tent to pass the time. We got bored just the two of us and it stopped us worrying about our friends and family" he told her smiling at her surprised face. The two continued to dance the night away, until it was the end of the party.
Walking her back up to her room, Harry left Astoria at the door with a long, passionate goodnight kiss that left both of them breathless.
Back in is room, Harry undressed and quickly climbed under the covers. He was just on the brink of sleep when he heard a soft knock coming from the door on his left. "Come in" he mumbled, not having the energy to get up to answer it. He was initially concerned when he saw it was Astoria. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing" she told him, looking down at the ground all the while slowly moving towards Harry and the bed. "I just wanted to ask. Can I sleep in here with you?" she asked shyly, now stood next to the bed, her fingers playing with the duvet.
Taking a minute to think about it, Harry shifted across the bed and lifted the duvet so she could climb in. "Come on then" she said. Once Astoria was in she moved towards him and put her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arm around his waist, sighing when she felt Harry wrap his arms around her and kissed her head.
"Thank you" she whispered, before snuggling into her boyfriend for a good nights sleep. And to think it'll be like this for a lot of Christmases to come. Perfect and that was her last thought before she drifted off to sleep, safe in the arms of her Harry.
Back at Hogwarts it was Christmas celebrations as usual. Hagrid had been busy dragging half a dozen trees up from the forest to be place in the Great Hall. Flitwick had charmed the lights to shine and glow night and day and Professor King had created numerous new ornaments from bits and pieces found around the castle.
The only difference between this Christmas and Christmases of the past was that there were even less students there than ever before. Now that the war was over, families were spending more and more time with each other, savouring all the time they had together.
Hermione and Draco were the only two of their group that remained at Hogwarts completely during the holiday, and that suited them just fine.
It was Christmas Eve when Draco walked up to Hermione sitting on the sofa in the heads common room. In his hand, he held a blanket and an empty jar. Standing in front of her, he took hold of her hand and pulled her up onto her feet and summoning her coat, hat, scarf and gloves. Once she was a bundled up as he was, he pulled her out the common room and they began to make their way down the corridors of Hogwarts. When Hermione realised that he was leading her outside she looked up at him, curious as to what he had planned.
"Where are we going?" she asked him as they walked past the stones leading to Hagrid's hut.
"I thought, that instead of staying coped up in to tower all day, that we would have a picnic by the lake. I've asked a house-elf to prepare a basket for us, that should be waiting for us down there." He told her with a smile fully intending on sharing his favourite time of year with his favourite girl.
Hermione smiled and wrapper her other arm around the one that was holding her hand. Leaning her head on his shoulder she told him "That's so sweet Draco. Thank you. But what's the jar for?" she asked, wondering what possible use the jar could have at a picnic.
"I figured that we'd both get cold at some point, even if we are bundled up in hats and scarves. The jar is so we can conjure up some blue fire to keep up warm." He told her, his thumb unconsciously rubbing the back of her hand as they carried on walking down to the lake. "And it'll stop us from accidentally setting the ground on fire if we become distracted" he added with a smile making her giggle as she realised just what 'distraction' he meant.
When they finally reached the shore they quickly scanned around them to find the basket. When Hermione saw it she pulled Draco along until they reached the tree the basket was under. Draco then handed her the jar to hold while he spread the blanket on the ground, vanishing and drying the ground first. When he turned back round he saw that Hermione had already cast the blue fire in the jar and place it down on the ground near them. They sat down on the ground, Draco leaning against the tree, Hermione leaning against Draco, they cracked open the basket and began to eat all the treats they found inside, talking and occasionally kissing between bites. It was a perfect Christmas Eve by all accounts, and they could wait for tomorrow.
When the sky began to darken and the cold began to creep past the enchanted flames the two decided that it was about time to head back inside. Since neither of them wanted to part yet, the decided to lie down together on the floor in front of the fire in there common room.
Relaxing together, neither felt the need for conversation. They were both happy just being together. Eventually Hermione leaned up and rested her head in her hand and looked down at Draco, who had his eyes closed and a lazy smile across his face.
Leaning over, she gently kissed him on the forehead, before slowly kissing down the centre of his face, his nose and then lips. When there lips met he took no time in wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her on top of him. Wrapping his hand within her hair he kept her lips locked with his as he gently turned them over, so that he was now leaning over her, careful to keep his full weight off Hermione.
Eventually their hands began to wonder up and down the torsos of each other, causing the both of the moan slightly in each other's mouths. Before it could go too far however, the two pulled apart, simultaneously, breathless but happy. Rolling back onto his back at Hermione's side, Draco stared up at the roof of the common room, both trying to catch there breathe. When there breathing returned to normal Draco stood up and held out is hand to Hermione to help her up. They parted at the bottom of the stairs leading to their rooms, sharing another kiss, to keep of the chill of night.
Meanwhile in Ottery St Catchpole, Blaise had just apparated to the outskirts of the Lovegoods new home. He didn't fully understand why, but he did know that he needed to see Luna. Walking around the garden of the house he eventually saw her leave through the door, heading down the dirt path to the small village at the bottom of the hills. Sighing in satisfaction that he'd seen even a climps of the girl, Blaise took a deep, calming breath and disappearated back to Zabini Manor. He didn't notice that Luna had seen him stood on the outside of the garden and was looking over her shoulder at him, hoping that he'd follow her. With what she was about to do, she would have appreciated his support.
Making her way towards the Burrow, Luna could hear the raouctious laughter that always seemed to flow from the oddly shaped building. Great she thought to herself as she made her way to the front door, that makes what I'm about to do so much harder. And meaner she thought as she knocked. She had to wait no more than a couple of seconds before the door was thrown open and she was pulled into a tight hug by Mrs Weasley.
"Happy Christmas Mrs Weasley" Luna said politely. She followed Mrs Weasley into the kistchen and was greeted by all the Weasley family. She looked around at all the smiling, cheerful faces. Eventually she found the face she wanted to see. Ron was stood in the doorway leading to the living room. Walking up to him saying hello to everyone on the way, Luna pulled him into the living room with her. Closing the door and turning around she saw that he was sat on the sofa, staring at her with resigned eyes, as though he somehow knew what she was about to tell him. Sighing sadly Luna sat down next to him on the sofa.
"Ron, there's no easy way to say this. I think we should end this now instead of prolonging the innevitable. We don't spend anytime with each other and when we do there's little to no conversation. And when there is conversation all you talk about is Slytherin conspiracies. And I'm tired of defending my friends to you, nothing works." She told him looking up at him to see his eyes looking at something over her shoulder. When she turned her head to look at what had Ron's attention she didn't see anything. Turning back to Ron she saw he had a small silly smile on his face.
"Ron?" she asked, wondering where in his mind he had escaped to. When his eyes returned to her's there was a slight white glow around his pupils that seemed to swirl around his irises. "Do you understand me? We're breaking up." She told him, hoping that his famous Weasley temper wouldn't rear it's head. She was shocked when he eventually replied.
"I understand Luna. No hard feelings. There's someone who understands anyway." And with that he stood up and walked past her and around the sofa before making his way up to his room. Frowning slightly in confussion she looked down at his hand when she realised that it was slightly behind his body, shaped as though he was holding someones hand, despite the fact that there was no one there. Shaking her head, thinking she'd imagined it, she bid her goodbyes to the rest of the family and made her way back home, hoping that Blaise had visited again and was waiting for her.
She was very dissapointed when no one was waiting for her outside her house.
Back at Greengrass Manor, Harry was just beginning to wake from a peacful, comfortable sleep. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he soon realised that there was an added weight to his chest. He was seconds from panicing before he remembered that Astoria had come into the bedroom and the two of them fell asleep.
Looking down at the girl in his arms he saw that she was still asleep, with a small, content smile on her face. She looked so peacful and beautiful that he couldn't help but place a gentle kiss on her head, hoping that it wouldn't wake her. He was too happy watching her sleep for her to wake just yet. With one arm still wrapped around her back, cradling her to his chest, his other hand made it's was slowly into her hair where his fingers entangled themselves in her dark brown hair. Hearing her content sigh, Harry smiled and closed his eyes again before gently resting his head near her's and trying to get a little more sleep in.
Nearly and hour later Astoria woke up from her slumber and remembering that she was in Harry's room, Harry's bed and harry's arms, she couldn't stop the silly grin that spread across her face as she burrowed her head into Harry's bare chest, waking him slightly in the process. Acting quickly before he woke up completely, she leaned up and kissed Harry gently on the lips before pulling back to see him opening his eyes and blinking quickly to get the sleep from them. When he saw Astorias smiling, somewhat blurred, face above him he could help but smile back before pulling her back down for another kiss, this one lasting quite a bit longer than the other.
Eventually the two broke apart when the need for oxygen became to much. Smiling at each other the moved up the bed so they were leaning against the headboard. Distangling himself so he could reach for his glasses, Harry's smile brightened considerably when his eyes came into sharp focus and the first thing he saw was the smily face of his girlfriend.
"Merry Christmas Harry" Astoria said before she kissed him again. When he responded in kind she snuggled back into his arms, closing her eyes in happiness. Soon however she realised that her parents would be expecting the two of them in the living room soon. "I should go get dressed. They'll be wanting us in the living room soon. We have presents to open!" she told him, practically jumping up and down on the bed in excitement.
Harry couldn't help but laugh at Astoria's anctics. "You're adorable you know that?" he told her with a smile causing her to beam at him. "Now since I don't think you're parents will be happy with you coming out my room, why don't you sneak back to your room to get dressed? I'll meet you in the hall" he told her.
After fifteen minutes the two met up in the hall way and made there way down to the living room where the rest of the family as well as Adrian was waiting for them. Harry's presents had been brought over from Hogwarts and the small extended family spent the next couple of hours opening presents, intermidedly itterupted as hugs of grattitude passed form one to another.
The rest of the day passed uneventfully. The only real noteworthy incident was that while everyone had gone on to do their separate things, Mr Greengrass and Harry had got to know each other and by the end of boxing day the two could converse with no awkward pauses, much to Astoria happiness.
Back at Hogwarts, Hermione and Draco decided that they were going to spend the entire day in the Heads room, only leaving for dinner. The two opened and exchanged all their gifts together in the common room, which inevitably led to kissing as they showed there appreciation for the gifts each other got each other.
The day passed uneventfully for the two of them, and all too soon the rest of the school arrived back for a new year. Even though neither of them said anything, they both knew that something was going to happen this year; they both just hoped that they would be able to help each other through it when it arrived.
Right that was chapter 9. I had no real idea what to write for Hermione and Draco's Christmas so that's why it's so short and not really personal.
What did you think of Ron? Kind of weird, huh? And Blaise sneaking to see Luna. So sweet (if I do say so myself).
On another note, there probably won't be another update until after Tuesday (I've got a job interview that day so my mind won't be in writing mode (more like worry mode).
Anyway. Till next time
