Hermione stirred, her limbs stiff and aching at her sides. She lifted her head off the warm chest it had been resting against, gazing at the sleeping man beneath her. It would've been cliched for her to say that he looked peaceful when he slept, for most times he did not. He would twitch, grumble and shake, plagued by his nightly torments, but for once he looked completely at rest, hands thrown over her body in a careless sort of possession that made her stomach swoop.

He quirked one eyelid open. "Have you quite finished ogling me, witch?" Hermione blushed, hiding her face in his dress shirt.

"You're awake." She mumbled into his chest, attempting to move off him quickly.

At that, he rolled onto his side, strong arms pulling her flush to the entire length of his body. "Ah-ah, where do you think you're going?" His voice was cheeky, rich and melodious. It filled Hermione with an odd buzzing noise from tip to toe.

"Draco." She sighed softly, shifting on the sofa so she could look up at him. "We stayed out all night."

Draco only looked back at her, a lazy smile curling at his lips. "We stayed out all night." He reaffirmed, pulling her on top of him as he sat up so she straddled the swathes of blankets around his waist. Hermione kept her back taut and her eyebrows knitted. He laid a soothing hand on the small of her back and began to trace circles over the satin there. "Hermione, relax. We didn't do anything wrong." The way he said her name in his deep calming voice clouded Hermione's brain and she began to relax into his warm touches.

His hands soon began to wander, tracing up underneath her cardigan, onto the expanse of her bare back. The feather light touches sent Hermione's head spinning, and she melted into his lap, unable to concentrate on what she had been planning to say next.

He smirked again, hooded eyes flickering lazily across her face. "Cat got your tongue Miss Granger?" The careful roll of his ennunciation was all she could focus on, and she barely noticed when he slipped the soft grey knit from her shoulders. His hands sketched the outline of each freckle on her shoulders and upper arms. Hermione's mouth fell open with barely restrained tension and suddenly he lifted one knee up quickly, sending Hermione cascading closer to him.

He caught her lips deftly, kissing her lips gently at first but it soon became hotter, more intense. His ever rogueish hands drifted down her waist and gripped her thighs, running his palms along them just enough times to rile Hermione up.

It surprised him when Hermione tangled her fingers in his hair, because he groaned into her mouth, a hoarse desperate timbre that sent shivers down Hermione's spine and desperate to hear that sound again. She scraped her fingernails down his scalp and he groaned again. "Fuck. Hermione." His voice had turned gravelly.

Hermione gasped now for she felt his fingers touch bare skin once more. He had found the edge of her gown and dipped his hands underneath, his hands running across her thighs. His fingers sent flickers of electricity through her spine and jolted her into action.

"Draco." She groaned. He did not respond, tracing his fingers higher and higher. "Draco. Stop." Hermione fought for breath. "We need to stop."

Malfoy's hands stilled under her dress and he quickly withdrew his hands. He slowly opened his eyes, looking through hooded eyelids at her. His face was uncharacteristically flushed, chest heaving with breath and lips swollen and bitten. She had done that. Hermione felt her heartrate quicken and fought the urge to kiss him again.

"Merry Christmas Hermione." He whispered, voice low and teasing in his throat, eyes flickering with a hint of hidden mischief.

"Merry Christmas." She whispered back, barely trusting her voice to remain stable. She shifted off him and then wrapped her cardigan back around her suddenly chilly arms. It was now she noticed the small mountain of gifts underneath their rather sparse-looking christmas tree.

"Oh!" She gasped, rushing to the tree. She sat crosslegged and began shufflng through the presents, unawares of Draco's amused stare behind her. "This one's for you Draco." She intoned, waving a neatly wrapped box above her head. "And this one." She raised her other hand above her head.

She felt an unsure set of legs settle to her left and passed over the boxes. She could almost hear his frown.

"What's the matter?" She asked, neatly slipping a finger under the sellotape of her first present.

"Nothing." He mumbled, turning over the box in his hands. Hermione gave him a look.

"I just wasn't expecting anything this year really." Draco blanched, looking nervously again at the box, as if it would spontaneously jump out of his hands and start morris dancing.

Hermione softened her gaze, reaching out a hand to rest on his. "There are more people that care about you than you realise." She gestured to a smaller box by his knees. "That one's from me."

She looked away from him, suddenly shy, turning her attention back to the lumpy package in her hands. It was a pale orange hand-knitted jumper, courtesy of Mrs Weasley no doubt. She smiled in fond familiarity, slipping the jumper over her head. It was now she remembered that she was still wearing the champagne-coloured gown from last night, and resisted the urge to chuckle at the odd combination.

"H for Hermione?" Draco pointed towards her chest. Hermione wrapped her arms around her middle, feeling a little sheepish.

"Yeah. It's a Weasley tradition." She did not know why she sounded so embarrassed.

Draco did not reply, but she could've sworn she saw the corners of his eyes crinkle in a smile, if even for a second.

The next parcel Hermione opened was from Harry, a set of new quills in assorted colours. Draco eyed the blood-red one, smirking in amused remembrance. Hermione went the same colour as her quill.

From Professor McGonagall, a book on Gamp's Laws, from Bill and Fleur, a new set of enchanted knitting needles, from Ron, a rather uninspired second-hand copy of Advanced Transfiguration. She huffed. This was a OWL book, not that Ron had ever bothered to pay attention in Transfiguration, let alone read it.

There was one parcel left under the tree, and it occurred to Hermione that she didn't know who it was from. It was neatly wrapped in delicate silver paper, a far cry from the obnoxiously brash multi-coloured affairs she had opened previously.

She heard a voice clear gruffly to her right. Draco was staring open mouthed at his first box. Hermione leant over to look, gasping too. It was a large collection of dainty potion vials, all empty. They shimmered under the light of the candles. A single sheet of parchment rested on top of them.

Dear Draco,

Severus entrusted these vials to you in his will, it was his wish for you to have them.

Yours,

Mother.

Draco coughed again, rubbing his face with the back of his hand roughly. "I didn't know the greasy bastard liked me so much." Hermione placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. He was shaking slightly.

"He loved you like a son Draco, you know that. He made the Unbreakable Vow to protect you." She said softly.

Draco drew a sharp breath. "Yeah. I guess he did." He replied quietly, and Hermione knew the conversation was over.

She turned back to her mystery gift, plucking it from under the tree. She took the lid off carefully, almost reverently. Inside was a black jewellery box and she retrieved it, curiosity peaking.

Inside was a thin silver bracelet, made from a shimmering metal chain that actually seemed to ebb and flow with the light. On it was a single charm, a tiny snowflake.

"It's charmed. All sorts of protective magic, wards, charms, runes. That sort of thing." Came the quiet voice to her left.

Hermione gasped. "This is from you?" She asked.

Draco nodded slowly. "I thought you might like it. Maybe. I mean, it's functional and everything. Which is very you." His voice was stilted and awkward but Hermione leapt over to him and threw her arms around his neck, knocking him to the floor.

"I love it. Thank you so much Draco." She whispered, feeling his chest relax under hers with every word. She got up, feeling a little shiny-eyed. "Put it on for me?" Her voice was small as she held out the delicate piece of jewellery.

Draco took it wordlessly, and when his fingers brushed gently against her wrist she felt a spark of electricity shoot up her arm. It was remarkably intimate, vulnerable, the way he fastened the bracelet around her wrist. She felt the warm buzz of protective magic wash over her, and she sighed in contentment.

Draco began to open his present from her, and Hermione felt the hot bubble of anxiety well up in her chest. What do you get the boy who has everything?

"It's an enchanted mirror." She prompted. "Harry and Sirius used to use a similar pair when he was on the run, they're linked, you can use them to talk to eachother."

Draco turned over the ornate hand mirror in his hand. "There's only one."

"Well, someone else has the other." Hermione paused, feeling the well of anxiety crest and crash over her. "Andromeda Tonks."

Draco swivelled towards her, face blank and unreadable. Hermione began to panic.

"I mean, I know she's your aunt. She asked me if there was any way she could get in contact with you. She wants to be in contact with you Draco, wants to know you, be your family." Her voice swelled with passion as she got further and further into her tirade. "She's alone now you see, after Ted and T-" She choked on Tonks' name, unable to actually say it out loud. "Well anyways. She has a grandson. His name is Teddy. -Theodore really but everyone calls him Teddy. He's an orphan now, and he needs all the family he can-"

"Hermione." Draco cut her off, face stony and impassive. "I get the idea."

Hermione fell silent, before opening her mouth again. Draco raised a hand to silence her and she felt quite mollified.

"I'll think about it. Okay? This is a lot to take in." Draco continued to examine the mirror, furrowing his brow. Hermione remained silent, equally as furrowed. Was this a mistake?

There was just one present left by Draco's feet, and eventually, he reached for it.

"It's addressed to both of us." He said, surprise colouring his tone. Still, he lifted off the lid of the box only a little gingerly.

Instantly, he dropped the box, swears colouring his colourful exclamation. "What the fuck!"

Hermione wished she hadn't looked. She really wished she hadn't. But she leant over and let out a similar strangled noise. Inside the box was a single bloody mass. A heart. Hermione felt dread rise up like bile in her throat.

"Is that...?" Her voice was barely a croak, she could barely say the words.

"It's about the size of a house elf." Draco's voice was pained, if Hermione could've torn her eyes away from the graphic scene she would've seen him head-in-hand, pale and ill-looking.

"You don't mean?" Her voice was treacle, sticking thickly to her throat.

"It's on the note. I'm so sorry sweetheart."

Hermione could not hold her shaking hands still enough as he passed her a small blood stained fragment of parchment.

Poor Bingley. Doesn't he know that curiosity killed the cat?

Hermione ran for the toilet.

A/N: Finally a new full length chapter! Please review and tell me your thoughts and theories! Poor Dramione can never get any peace, can they? I'm so happy to be doing regular updates again, all your opinions are welcome! All my love, -BJ x