Hermione awoke early on the morning of Christmas Eve, though she knew Draco wouldn't be able to come until at least 9:00.
After much pleading from Hermione, her parents finally agreed to let her open her presents from them that day as well. They agreed it was fair, since Draco got to open his presents from them while they were together.
Finally, at 9:00, Hermione could wait no longer and bundled up in her winter coat to walk to Ro Park. As she and her parents arrived with Leo in Richard's arms, they saw Draco walking towards them. Hermione grinned at him but he walked straight past her towards Leo. He adopted a false stern stare and shook his finger at Leo.
"I thought I told you you couldn't grow while I was gone!" Leo gurgled happily at Draco.
Draco's face broke into a grin, "Oh, alright, I forgive you. Suppose it wasn't your fault."
Hermione giggled for a moment at the interaction before adopting a pout.
"Forgetting about me already, are you?"
"Of course not, Mimi. Happy Christmas!" He gave her a quick hug. He then turned to the Grangers.
"Hi, Mr. Granger, Mrs. Granger. How have you been?"
"Very well, Draco, thank you. Glad to see you." Mr. Granger responded.
"How about we head inside," Mrs. Granger suggested, "it's chilly out."
The happy group hurried towards the Granger home, motivated by the idea of a warm room. When they arrived, Mr. Granger made them all hot chocolates to thaw themselves. They sat by the fire and chatted about what they had missed in each other's lives in the time they had been apart. After sitting down to a formal lunch, because Draco couldn't stay for dinner, the children finally ran out of patience.
"Can we please do presents now?" Hermione asked anxiously.
Mr. and Mrs. Granger chuckled. "Oh, go on then."
After a heated debated over who should open the first present, they decided Hermione could open hers first. She started with her present from her parents. It was a fascinating book on the history of different languages and how they had formed and changed over time.
Hermione quickly flipped through the pages and after 5 minutes of being absorbed in the book, Draco finally cracked.
"Hermione, I'm sure the book's great. But can you open mine now?"
"So spoiled," Hermione responded snootily and laughed. "If I must." She quickly unwrapped the box and discovered the delicate silver necklace with the beautiful lion pendant. She gaped in a rather undignified manner for a few moments before snapping out of it.
"Draco, this is amazing!"
"I'm glad you like it." Draco looked rather pleased with himself. "I found it while in an antique shop and I thought you'd like it. Now you can carry a piece of Leo with you all the time."
"Thank you, Draco. That was really thoughtful."
"Yes, well I thought you'd appreciate it more than the dragon necklace I almost bought."
Hermione giggled, "You can be so egotistical sometimes."
Draco laughed as well, "I guess. But I have a reason to be," he added snootily. "We are best friends, after all."
"Was that a compliment, Dragon?" Hermione asked condescendingly.
"Don't let it get to your head. I just think you're a cool best friend, that's all."
"Thanks," Hermione responded as she beamed at him. "I guess you deserve to open your present now."
Draco quickly opened his present from Hermione's parents, a book about mythology and the constellations.
Mrs. Granger explained, "You told us about your mother's family's tradition of naming people after constellations and we thought you would find it interesting. Plus, of course, our Hermione's unique name will surely be in there, which is another reason we thought it a perfect fit. I'm sure there are many more interesting names and stories in there. You could use them in the future," Mrs. Granger slyly remarked.
"Mum!" Hermione shrieked, blushing.
Draco and Hermione looked at each other, aghast. Them…having children?!
"Yuck!" Draco spluttered, while Richard and Linda giggled to themselves at the children's matching horrified expressions.
Hurrying to change the subject, Draco said, "Can Leo open his presents now?"
Mr. Granger's eyes still twinkled humorously as he replied, "Of course. Hermione, why don't you go first?"
Hermione passed the present to Leo, who had remained occupied in Mrs. Granger's arms while playing with her necklace. Hermione patiently helped Leo unwrap the gift and eventually pulled it out for Leo to discover.
Leo quickly latched on to the small stuffed lion and began playing with it.
"Wow, 'Mione, did you make that?"
"Yeah. Took a long time too, I'd never sewed before. It's a little rough around the edges, but I don't think Leo'll notice."
"That's really cool! Did you give him a lion because of his constellation like why I chose my present for you?"
"Yep! Now I've got a dragon and a little lion."
"Aren't you lucky?" Draco laughed cockily.
"I guess I am," Hermione responded with a fond smile directed towards Leo.
After a few minutes of playing with Leo and the stuffed lion, Draco proclaimed that it was time for Leo to open present from him.
"Ready, Little Lion?" Draco asked Leo, who giggled in response. "I'll take that as a yes."
Draco repeated the process of helping Leo unwrap the gift. He was careful not to rip the canvas underneath.
Finally, the medium-sized wall hanging was on display for all the Grangers to admire. It was a very simplistic painting of a night sky with the constellations Draco and Leo positioned closely in the sky next to each other. Draco seemed unusually bashful as the Grangers observed his gift.
"I don't really make things very often, but I wanted to do something special for Leo, even if he can't understand it yet. I thought you could put it on his wall, if you like it."
"That's really beautiful, Draco. I didn't know you could paint," Mrs. Granger responded kindly.
"It's another thing my parents insisted on. Something about being cultured and refined. I had to learn French too."
"It's really good," Hermione assured him. "At least the lessons paid off. Do you paint a lot?"
"Only a little, but I think I'd like to do it more often. I'm not very good yet."
"I beg to differ," Mr. Granger responded. "We'd be very happy to put it up on Leo's wall."
"That boy is very spoiled between the two of you. Imagine how spoiled he'll be when he grows up."
"I don't think that's a bad thing!" Draco exclaimed.
"Well, you wouldn't, naturally, because you are spoiled," was Hermione's fiery response.
Draco pouted, "Maybe a little. But I have the feeling Leo will be amazing no matter how spoiled he is. I just don't think any Granger could be bratty. Speaking of, I want to open my present now!" Draco faked a snotty voice.
"Oh, alright. Such a prat, geesh!" Hermione giggled as he tore into her present.
Draco stared at the picture frame for a minute as he looked at the pictures, soaking in the sight of the happy people he considered family. The first picture of him and Leo made him smile as it showed Leo giggling up at Draco. Draco was still not completely used to muggle photos, which were still. However, he could still see the happiness in his own eyes and was glad he would always be able to look at this photo and feel the love of his brother in spirit. The second photo also warmed his heart as he saw how proud Mr. Granger was of him and Leo. He could see the strong bond the men shared from the photo. He hoped he would remember to also get a picture of just him and Mr. Granger to add to the collection.
He knew he was only really happy with the Grangers, and that they were really the only ones that he knew cared about him. They were the only ones he loved. He didn't know if he would ever be able to tell them, though. How was his life so twisted? He really hated his parents. They had made him incapable of expressing his love to the people whom he cared for most. And, if it weren't for them, he could spend as much time with the Grangers as he wanted. His parents were constantly telling him that he should hate the only people in the world who cared about him. Loved him, even. One day, he was going to be free of his parents and he would get to do what he wanted. In the meantime, he would just have to keep up with the pretense.
As these thoughts were running through his head, Hermione began to babble. "Sorry, I know it's not as much as what we normally do. But I thought you might like-"
"No, it's exactly what I want. Sorry, I was just lost in thought," he smiled at her. Draco turned towards Leo, "Look, Little Lion, you were so little." Draco pointed to the Leo in the picture. Leo seemed to have no idea what was going on, but smiled happily at Draco anyway.
"I'll miss you, Leo."
"He'll miss you too, Dragon," Hermione gently told him. It was about time for Draco to start heading home so he thanked the Grangers for his present and told them he couldn't wait until summer.
Draco and Hermione made eye contact and Hermione moved to give Draco a tight hug.
"I'll really miss you, Draco. Will we ever be able to just be friends all the time?"
"I don't know, Mimi. But I promise, I'll never stop being your best friend." He looked down at his bracelet, a reminder of the promise he made to always be her best friend. He would never give up trying to be her best friend. He had crossed his heart, after all. "One day, we'll be friends and everyone will know." Draco motioned with his hands, "Cross my heart and hope to die."
Hermione repeated the action, "Cross my heart and hope to die." She sighed longingly, "I can't wait for that day," Hermione smiled sadly.
"Me too. Have a good winter and spring, 'Mione. I'll meet you in the park sometime in late May."
"See you then, Draco."
"Au revoir, Grangers, Leo."
Draco returned to the Manor, counting the days until he could visit the Grangers again.