Hello, you beauties. Big thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I'm seriously going to miss you guys. I only have one last chapter and an epilogue to write *sobs uncontrollably*. This chapter, I have included challenge words from the amazing unimaginablyevilguycalledbob (who is seriously hilarious, and ALWAYS encourages me to write smut) and the wonderful BelleBelles (who gives me challenge words when I want them, and is always really nice with the reviews).

I hope you enjoy this baby, she's a bit longer than the others.


Hermione woke up on Christmas Eve morning happier and brighter than she'd been in days. She was the only girl left in her dormitory, because everyone else had gone back home. She sat up and looked at her clock, smiling when it sang out 6:30am. A bright white light suddenly interrupted her vision, and she pulled back the curtain on her bed, padding over to the window. Hermione's usual sight of the school grounds and the Forbidden Forest were completely blanketed in white snow. She beamed and clapped excitedly, like a child, and dashed over to the bathroom, hopping into the shower to have a scalding, and extremely quick shower.

Hermione dried herself magically, not bothering to put any clothes on as she dashed back into her dormitory, considering that there were no 6th Year Gryffindor girls still around. Only Dean Thomas remained from the boys in her year. She pondered the significant lack of Gryffindors staying behind this year as she dressed in a long-sleeved navy blue t-shirt and jeans, and tied a woolly jumper around her waist. It was her favourite, red, and it fell to the middle of her thighs. She left her curly hair down and picked up the large backpack with everyone's presents. As a second thought, she put her jumper on, put her coat over her arm, and double-checked that she had her scarlet hat, scarf and gloves in the smaller pocket of her bag.

Hermione made her way up to the headmaster's office and spoke the password to the gargoyle, who wished her a Merry Christmas as she climbed the spiral staircase to the office. She gasped when she saw Dumbledore's office, for it looked like a blasting curse had been cast on a tinsel factory. The tinsel in question was strewn everywhere in different colours, including on the small golden tree that stood beside Dumbledore's desk.

"Good morning, Miss Granger. Are you ready to go to the Burrow?" Dumbledore asked, grinning rather widely at her. Hermione nodded and smiled, returning the greeting as she pulled on her coat, scarf and gloves, and made sure the backpack was secure on her shoulders. She took Dumbledore's outstretched arm and felt a tug.

A split second later, Hermione found herself alone outside the Burrow, and she smiled, looking up at the many-storeyed house. She bounded forward, ignoring the bite of the snow on her cheeks and knocked on the door. Hermione only saw the door open, before she was pulled into a huge hug by Molly Weasley, who, as Hermione had predicted, put a huge plate of food in front of her.

"Hello, Hermione dear. Why haven't you come to stay for the entire holiday? You are more than welcome, if you wanted to change your mind." Mrs Weasley said, patting her on the shoulder as she began to tuck into the lovely hot breakfast in front of her.

"I wanted to stay at Hogwarts this year, Mrs Weasley. Thank you so much for the invitation though; I'm grateful that you offered to have me here." Hermione said, before spearing some more eggs onto her fork.

The rest of the morning passed in a blur, as all of the Weasley's ate breakfast together, chatting happily. After breakfast had been devoured, the twins grabbed an arm each, waved their wands to put her coat, hat, scarf and gloves on her, and dragged her outside to join their team in the snowball war that was taking place outside. In their team were Hermione, Fred, George and Charlie; in the other team were Ginny, Ron, Harry and Bill. Percy was in his own flat in London with his girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater, so the teams were even.

The twins had waved their wands to make the snow form a tightly packed wall that protected them from the pelting of the hard snowballs from Harry, Ron and Bill; Ginny was evidently making them. Hermione began to make snowballs of her own, and Charlie was bewitching them to fly over Harry and Ron's wall and hit them on the heads. Every dull thud made the Twins cackle manically, and then they both flashed Hermione equally mischievous smirks as they built a huge snowman, and then made hundreds of small snowballs, which they piled into the snowman's giant hands. Then Fred, George and Charlie began to put various spells on the snowman, and it sprung to life. It charged towards the others and pelted them violently with the balls. The resounding cries of "ouch!" ringing through the air made the four of them leap up and high-five each other. They had won two of three snowball fights before being called in at four o'clock for snacks and to warm up.

Hermione caught sight of her reflection in the mirror above the mantle in the sitting room and sighed. She had a huge grin sliding from her face, and her cheeks and nose were bright pink from the biting cold outside. Her hair had become extremely bushy again, and there was a happy twinkle in her eyes that could have rivalled Dumbledore's. She sighed again and called Charlie into the living room.

"Hermione, what's up?" Charlie asked, walking into the room with a sausage roll in his hand.

"I need a favour, Charlie, if it's okay." Hermione said, writing the hair-taming charm on a piece of parchment.

"Er, alright. What do you want me to do?"

"Say this, and flick your wand at my hair." Hermione said, thrusting the parchment into his hand. Charlie grinned bemusedly.

"Okay then. Stay still. Domare comae, crus illud plana et," Charlie said, and he flicked his wand at Hermione's head, while her eyes were tightly shut. When she opened them again, she looked in the mirror and released the breath she was unaware she had been holding. Much to her delight, her hair was tamed once again. Charlie looked pleased with himself. Hermione was about to thank him when she heard Sirius' loud laugh in the kitchen. She gave Charlie a quick, thank-you hug and then sprinted into the kitchen, where she threw her arms around Sirius' neck (Remus was being fussed over by Mrs Weasley).

"Sirius, how are you?" Hermione asked, once she'd released him.

He beamed at her and said, "I'm fine Hermione, you?"

"Not too bad, thanks." She then turned to Remus and hugged him tightly before murmuring in his ear, "Remus, you might want to take yours and Sirius' Christmas presents now, before you announce it."

He nodded. "Thank you, Hermione. I sent your present to Hogwarts already, so you'll get it in the morning." Hermione beamed and handed over two finely wrapped gifts, and she watched happily as he squeezed and shook the one with his name on the ribbon. Her grin spread even wider a few minutes later, when he shrunk it and put it in his pocket, looking highly disgruntled.

"I've placed a charm on it, so that you can't open it until tomorrow morning, Remus. You'll just have to wait." Hermione grinned and pulled Mrs to one side. "Mrs Weasley, I brought all of your presents with me, so you may want to take them off me now."

"Oh, Hermione, you didn't have to do that." Mrs Weasley replied warmly. She took the presents from Hermione somewhat reluctantly, and then patted her on the shoulder gently. "While you're here, dear, I was wondering if you could tell me why Ron, Harry and Ginny have been so anxious since Remus and Sirius arrived."

"No, Mrs Weasley, it's not up to me to say anything. I promise you though, you'll find out very soon." Hermione replied, and then walked back into the kitchen. She had arrived just in time, because it looked as though Sirius was about to open his mouth to talk. He'd flung an arm around Remus' shoulders, and while it appeared to be a friendly gesture to everyone, the four youngest Gryffindors knew differently and immediately grew tense. Remus shot a quelling glance at the four of them, who had stood together, all of them gripping the wands in their pockets. This action was not missed by Bill, who subtly nudged Charlie, and the two of them silently drew their wands and held them loosely at their sides.

Hermione shot a worried glance at Sirius, who shook his head gently and pointed his wand to his throat, muttering a spell that she knew to be Sonorus. "Could I have everyone's attention please?" Sirius asked, his voice booming through the entire house. Everyone converged in the kitchen, and Hermione moved to stand closer to Remus, still gripping her wand in her pocket. Harry had done the same with Sirius, and they shared a brief look. They were going to do their best to protect the couple if it all came to blows. Sirius moved slightly closer to Remus, but removed his arm from his shoulder.

"Right, well, as you all know, Remus and I have been best friends since we were eleven years old. Despite the twelve year separation," here sniggers were heard from the twins, and Mrs Weasley cleared her throat disapprovingly (whether at Sirius' words or the chuckles of the twins, it was unclear). "We even live together, as we did when we left school at seventeen. You all know us pretty well, and know that we are closer than ever. Well, there's a very good reason for that."

Hermione gripped her wand even tighter, tension radiating from her in waves. She shared another look with Harry, who nodded glumly, and she looked at both Ron and Ginny pointedly. Evidently, they got the message, because they began to position themselves behind their parents, who were near the back of the Weasley group. It occurred to Hermione that all four of them would get into huge amounts of trouble if they did have to use magic against the adults, but she brushed the thought aside. Friends were more important.

Remus stepped closer to Hermione and whispered in her ear, almost inaudibly, "Hermione, it's not worth it. Stand down."

"No, Remus. You're one of my best friends, and Sirius means a lot to me too. I will not, and I doubt the others will either, especially Harry." Hermione breathed, just as quietly. Remus pulled a face and stepped closer to Sirius again.

"You have stood by us through thick and thin, and been entirely non-judgemental concerning Remus' lycanthropy, knowing what a softie he is." Sirius said, and gentle laughter sang out in the room.

"It's time to tell you all, we've stalled long enough. I do hope you will all still care about us the same as you do already, and I hope you all can understand. Sirius and I are in a relationship. It is one that was reconciled after Harry, Hermione and Ron proved Sirius' innocence three years ago. We are engaged, to marry, though we haven't set a date." Remus said, and he was greeted by a deafening silence. The twins were wearing identical expressions of shock, Charlie looked impressed, Bill seemed stunned but happy, like his father and Mrs Weasley was in silent tears.

"Molly, are you okay?" Sirius asked tentatively, gripping Remus hand tightly. He never got an answer though, because Mr Weasley bounced forward and wrapped the two in a hug, congratulating them and telling them how glad he was for them. Remus' tense expression softened as he grinned back at Mr Weasley. Bill and Charlie followed suit, congratulating them whilst shaking their hands and pulling them in half-hugs. The twins laughed in delight, and disapparated from the room, apparating back in seconds, carrying huge crates of Filibuster's No-Heat Wet Start fireworks. They set them off, and yelled their own congratulations as they did so. Ron was helping Fred and George with the fireworks, Harry and Ginny were chatting with Sirius animatedly. Bill and Charlie were adding their own decorations to the Christmas ones the Weasley family had put up, but only Hermione followed Remus' gaze to Mrs Weasley, who was standing still in the middle of the din, tears still streaming down her plump cheeks and focussing on some far-off point. Hermione walked over to Remus, grabbed his wrist, and dragged him over to Mrs Weasley, wand still in her hand.

"Molly?" Remus said quietly. She didn't answer. Hermione let go of Remus' hand and put her own hand on Mrs Weasley's shoulder, making her jump violently, and her hand was halfway towards her wand, when Remus caught it and held it tightly. "Molly, I'm sorry if we gave you a shock. We didn't want to tell anyone until we were sure that it was for real. We were together almost all through school and up until James and Lily died. When things picked back up between us, we didn't want to say anything. Hermione here was actually the first to know. She caught us kissing last Christmas in Grimmauld Place."

"Okay. I'm happy for you both, you know that. It was just a shock. Come; let's get back to the party." Molly said. She grinned, and gave them a Firewhisky each. "Hermione dear, considering the celebration, I'll give you one this once."

"Thank you Mrs Weasley." Hermione said. She stood on a stool and cleared her throat loudly. "Attention, you lot. Remus Lupin is one of my very best friends, and I couldn't be happier for him. I know that Sirius is perfect for him, and I know that Sirius would do anything and everything in his power to make Remus happy. I'd like to toast their happiness and their love, and I hope they have luck in all of their endeavours: to Remus and Sirius!" Hermione cried, raising her glass towards her two friends.

"To Remus and Sirius," echoed throughout the room, and everyone raised their glasses, matching grins on every single face in the room. A few hours passed, filled with drinking, dancing and laughter. The next time Hermione looked at the clock, she saw that it was nearly midnight. She looked around the room and spotted Harry and Ginny holding hands in a corner, drinking happily. She ran over to Ron, hugged him briefly, and then walked over to Harry and Ginny, pulling Harry in a hug, and then Ginny, who she also kissed on the cheek. She made her way around the room, hugging everyone, including Fred and George, who looked surprised. Finally, she hugged Sirius, whispering a 'merry Christmas' in his ear, and then kissed Remus on the cheek and hugged him tightly.

"Merry Christmas everyone, have a wonderful day, and I hope to see you all soon. See you in a couple of weeks, Harry, Ron, Ginny. Write to me, you two," she added to Remus and Sirius, before grabbing a handful of glittering grey Floo powder, throwing it down into the fire and stepping into it. She looked at the whole Weasley family. Harry and Ginny were holding hands and grinning at her; Ron, Fred and George were drinking Firewhisky and singing 'Odo the Hero'; Bill and Charlie were waving at Hermione while laughing at their three youngest brothers; Mr Weasley had his arm around Mrs Weasley and was smiling lovingly at her; and Sirius and Remus were hugging, and both of them were beaming at her. She was reluctant to go back to Hogwarts, but she bellowed "Gryffindor Common Room!" and span away from the Burrow and the celebrations there.


Light seeped through Hermione's eyelids at 8am on Christmas morning. She could hear several people laughing down in the Common Room and she grinned. She looked down at the end of her bed and saw a huge pile of presents at the end of it. She also saw a small scroll of parchment there, and she lunged for that first.

Hermione,
I am going to be in the Great Hall at 9am for breakfast on Christmas morning, if you'd like to meet me. If you happen to miss me, then I'll wait for you outside. I'll probably be partaking in a snowball fight, so dress warm. I hope everything went well at the Weasley home last night, but you can tell me when I see you.
I love you, my petal,
Draco.

Hermione grinned and set the parchment aside. She picked up the first present she came across, which was from her parents. It contained ten Galleons and a box of new quills in many different colours. She put the tag aside and reached for the next present. Eventually they were all unpacked and she was happy. She got a book on the Founders of Hogwarts from Harry; a book about the history of Transfiguration from Ron; a crate of Wonder Witch products from Fred and George; a Weasley jumper and a large box of mince pies from Mr and Mrs Weasley; a new set of beautiful black and silver lingerie and a book filled with useful beauty charms; a pretty silver and moonstone headband from Bill and Fleur; a new pair of Dragonhide gloves from Charlie; an enchanted diary that she could write in (it needed a drop of her blood and a password she could decide on, and it would open only for her, which was a little disturbing) from Sirius; and a beautiful set of gold and ruby earrings and a matching bracelet from Remus. The jewellery was accompanied with a large thank-you letter and a note. She unwound the tight scroll and read it.

Hermione Jean Granger,
I give you these earrings and this bracelet as a gift. I inherited them from my mother in the hopes that if I ever had a daughter, she would be the one to have them. You, however, are the closest thing I will ever have to a daughter, though you are indeed my best friend as well. Hermione, these items of jewellery have been passed down in my family for hundreds of years – my mother actually received them from my paternal grandmother, for she never had a daughter of her own. The jewellery is goblin made, so it will continue to be in perfect condition for hundreds of years to come. I want you to wear them, Hermione, and when the time comes, give them to your daughter, should you have one.
I love you like my own family, Hermione.
Merry Christmas,
Remus John Lupin.

She smiled, though her eyes were prickling with tears. She looked in the mirror by her bed, the one she'd taken to keeping with her since her second year, and put the earrings and bracelet on. She checked the time and realised she only had five minutes to meet Draco, so she cast a freshening charm on herself, put on her new emerald lingerie (she could wear the set from Ginny tomorrow), threw her new Weasley jumper over that and put on her jeans and Converse sneakers. Hermione jogged down the stairs, yelled a quick 'Merry Christmas' to everyone in the Common Room and sprinted down to the Great Hall. She grinned widely as she ran up to Draco and threw herself into the seat next to him. Hermione plunged a hand in her pocket and retrieved the black velvet box that his ring was nestled in. At the same time, he reached into the pocket of his robes and brought out a larger, scarlet satin box.

"Merry Christmas, my love," said Hermione, kissing him before handing him the box.

"And to you, petal," replied Draco quietly, placing the box gently in her hands.

Hermione could barely contain her excitement as she opened the box, and her first thought was 'thank goodness he thought of rubies, it matches Remus' gift perfectly!', and then she gasped. It was a gold flower with a large ruby in the place of the pistil. It was placed on a pretty gold chain, and with some prompting from her boyfriend, turned it over. An intricate D was carved into the back. Her eyes filled with tears as she turned around, moving her hair out of the way. Draco got the hint and took the pendant from her hands, fastening it at the back of her neck. He tenderly kissed the spot where the fastening rested, and a shiver ran down her back.

"This is what you spent so long making?" Hermione whispered. Draco nodded, looking triumphant.

"There's one for me, too," replied Draco, and he revealed a silver and emerald pendant. His emerald was much smaller than her ruby, as it was in the eye of the silver dragon. He turned it, and Hermione drew a sharp breath when she saw an H as intricately carved as the D on her pendant. "I should probably tell you what it does, hmm?"

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, and she felt her brow furrow in confusion.

"Lay your index finger on it and say my name. You'll see what I mean," said Draco. Hermione did as she was told, feeling the gold grow hot under her fingertip and jumped when she heard Draco's voice in her mind. She knew it was in her head, because his lips were tightly shut.

Hermione, petal, is everything okay? Draco thought at her.

Er, yeah. This is an amazing piece of magic, Draco. No wonder you had no time to spend with us!

"It did take quite a while, my love. Do you like it?" Draco said, out loud this time.

"Of course I do! It's perfect, sweetheart. Open my present now," said Hermione, poking him. She watched with delight as he opened it and his jaw dropped open in shock. He slid it on his right middle finger and sighed wonderingly as the dragon shimmered slightly and coiled tighter, moulding itself to the size of Draco's finger.


"Why don't you use what you and Ginny were talking about the other night?" Draco whispered seductively. Hermione looked at him, confused. She wasn't confused as to what he was talking about – she knew perfectly well that he was talking about the tips Ginny had given her. What she didn't know was how he knew. She put her index finger on the pendant he'd given her and whispered his name.

How did you know about that? Hermione thought at him accusingly.

I sort of listened into your conversation with her, petal. I'm sorry, babe, honestly. If it makes you feel any better, I didn't hear the entire conversation – just the end bit.

"Hmm, okay." Hermione replied out loud, letting her irritation shine through, and then leant in to kiss him again. She was topless, and Draco had loved the emerald underwear. His hands began to roam down her torso, to the button of her jeans, which he tugged open, and he broke off the kiss to slide them down her smooth legs. He took in the satin panties and sighed audibly, making Hermione's confidence soar through the roof. She reached her hands down to his shoulders and pulled him up to kiss her again. As he lay across her, Hermione felt his rock-hard erection press against her thigh.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked as Hermione gripped the hem of his robes. His question was answered, as, with a huge tug, she slipped the robe over his head.

"Too many clothes," muttered Hermione before pulling him in for another searing kiss. Draco's hands began to wander again, and Hermione shuddered when his thumbs lightly brushed her ribs, just below her breasts. Her chest rose up from the bed, and Draco took the chance to quickly unhook her bra, pull it down her arms and away from her body. She jerked when the cold air hit her nipples, making them stand alert. In the next second, her right nipple was engulfed in moist warmth as her boyfriend's lips wrapped around it and sucked. She writhed as the warmth shot straight down to her wet centre. Somehow, Hermione found the strength to roll over and kiss down Draco's Quidditch toned body, until she reached the light trail of dark blonde hair leading down towards the huge, straining erection just waiting for the attention of her mouth. She smiled, somewhat sadistically, and hooked her thumbs into his metallic grey silk boxers, pulling them down his muscular legs. Hermione reached out her right index finger and lightly brushed down his rock hard penis, her smirk widening when it twitched.

At a gasp from the Slytherin hunk, Hermione replaced her finger with her tongue and flicked it over the head of Draco's penis, tasting the bead of salty precome that had welled up there. A deep, guttural moan ripped out from her sweetheart's throat, and Hermione took him inside her mouth, letting her throat relax and taking him as deep as she could. She hollowed out her cheeks on the upstroke, sucking as hard as she could, and she felt Draco's stomach begin to tense with him coming orgasm. Hermione instead massaged his balls in her left hand, alternating between hard squeezes and feather light strokes. She drew him in again with another huge pull and with a shrieking moan; Draco shot his load down her throat, nearly choking her. Hermione continued her assault upon his penis, almost milking him.

"Oh baby, baby, oops I did it again. Hang on, I know something better! One two three, Peter, Paul an' me, gettin' down with three peeps, everybody loves me," sang Hermione softly.

"You what?" Draco asked, bemusedly. His eyelids were drooping from the force of his orgasm.

"Nothing, honey, I was just singing." Hermione replied.

"Oh, okay."

"You're exhausted," said Hermione, looking at him. Amusement laced her voice as she crawled up the bed to lie next to him. She smiled as he wrapped an arm around her, and she pulled his head up to lie on her chest.

"Mm. That was one of the most intense orgasms of my life." Draco admitted sleepily.

"Merry Christmas, my dragon," said Hermione, pulling the covers up to cover them both. Draco sighed and pulled her tighter against him. She giggled as his hair tickled her neck.

"Merry Christmas, petal. It's been my favourite so far, you know." Draco smiled softly. "I love you."

"I love you too." Hermione let her own eyes drift shut as Draco's breathing evened out in sleep. The steady rhythm of her lover's breath sent Hermione drifting into her own slumber. The last thing she remembered was thinking about how much she agreed with Draco. It was her favourite Christmas so far, too.


You like? Right, no slacking. There are only TWO chappies left to write, so PLEASE give me challenge words. Come on, beauties, share the love. I'm still taking suggestions for the epilogue, so they are welcome too.

Please review, you know you want to.

Yours, as ever,
Lottie.