A/N – This next festive story is another short story. It has 5 chapters plus an epilogue, making 6 chapters in total. The first 4 chapters will be posted this week – today, tomorrow, Thursday and Friday, and the final 2 chapter will be posted on Monday and Tuesday next week. I will then round things off next week with my final one shot of the year. I hope you all enjoy this fluffy little story.
As the owls departed The Great Hall after delivering their letters, Hermione Granger started to flick through The Daily Prophet which had just been delivered. Beside her, Ron Weasley was opening a letter from his mother, Molly, and across the table, Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley were busy whispering to each other and sharing secretive smiles.
"Hey, Mum wants to know who'll be going home for Christmas," Ron announced, shooting his sister and best friend an annoyed glare. As happy as he was that Harry and Ginny had found each other, he could have done without the fact they were barely able to keep their hands off each other.
"I guess we'll be there," Ginny answered with a shrug, barely tearing her eyes away from Harry.
"What about you, Hermione. Will you be joining us?" Ron asked, turning his attention to his other best friend, and giving her an eager smile. For months he'd been trying to turn his friendship with Hermione into romance, but so far she hadn't been very receptive to his romantic overtures.
"Actually, I've decided to stay at school for Christmas," Hermione replied.
"Why?" Ron gasped. He'd been hoping that sometime over Christmas he would be able to turn his charm on Hermione, and maybe the magic of Christmas would help aid in his mission of making her his girlfriend.
"With N.E.W.T.S this year, I decided some extra study time could prove useful," Hermione explained.
"And you don't study enough as it is?" Ron asked. "You spend every spare minute in the library."
"Yeah, but I don't have as much spare time as I used to thanks to my duties as Head Girl," Hermione said. "A few weeks alone in the Head Dorms, without having to worry about being Head Girl, is just what I need."
"But what about Christmas?" Ron asked in horror. "You can't be alone for Christmas."
"It's one year, Ron, I think I can cope," Hermione chuckled.
"I don't like it," Ron muttered.
"Don't worry, you'll still get a present," Hermione assured him with a smile.
"Yeah, but not the present I want," he whispered under his breath. If Hermione was staying at school and he was going home, then there was no chance that any romance would develop.
Not liking Hermione's decision one bit, Ron moped over the fact they wouldn't be spending Christmas together for the rest of the day. He'd been so sure that Christmas would be the turning point in his relationship with Hermione, but that was never going to happen now. Not when they were at opposite ends of the country.
Slowly a plan started to form in Ron's mind, and after sleeping on it, he made the decision to stay at Hogwarts with Hermione. It wasn't the way he would have chosen to spend Christmas, but it was worth it to be with Hermione. And maybe if it was just the two of them, they would get a chance to explore if there was something more to their friendship.
"I've made a decision," he announced over breakfast. "I'm staying at Hogwarts for Christmas."
"You're what?" Ginny gasped.
"Why?" Harry asked.
"I didn't want Hermione to be alone," Ron said, smiling at his friend.
"I don't expect you to stay here with me, Ron," Hermione protested. "I'll be fine on my own."
"I don't expect you to spend Christmas alone," Ron insisted. "My mind is made up, Hermione. I'm staying here with you."
"Christmas just won't be the same without you both," Harry said with a sigh.
"I'm sure you'll manage," Ron laughed. "Besides, you'll have the rest of the family to keep you company."
"I guess," Ginny muttered with a thoughtful frown, as Hermione tried to convince Ron that he really didn't need to stay at school with her over Christmas as she planned on spending the holidays studying.
"You can't study every hour of every day," Ron pointed out. "And certainly not on Christmas day. I'll be here for when you do have some free time."
"But then you'll be alone when I'm busy," Hermione argued. "I can't expect you to spend your holidays waiting around for me to be free to spend time with you."
"Anyone would think you didn't want me around," Ron grumbled with a pout.
"It's not that, Ron. I appreciate your offer, I really do, but I don't want to ruin your Christmas," Hermione said.
"My Christmas would be ruined if I didn't see you," Ron countered.
"And we both know why that would be," Harry whispered to Ginny. "He's besotted with her."
"I'm just not sure the feeling is mutual," Ginny whispered back. "I think Ron will be sorely disappointed."
"I just hope it doesn't happen over Christmas," Harry muttered.
"Speaking of Christmas, how would you feel about staying here with Ron and Hermione?" Ginny asked.
"Why would we want to stay here?" Harry questioned.
"Because we'd have more privacy here," Ginny answered, sliding her hand under the table and caressing Harry's thigh. "If we go home Mum will be watching us all the time."
"Yeah, but with Ron and Hermione gone, we'll both have rooms to ourselves," Harry countered.
"Rooms I'm sure Mum will be watching," Ginny argued. "Trust me, Harry, we'll stand more chance of getting some alone time if we stay here at Hogwarts. Or don't you want to take things further?"
"You know I do," Harry replied with a smile. "But what will your Mum say. I don't think she'll be happy if we all stay at school over Christmas."
"I can fix that," Ginny promised with a smirk. "I can suggest she and Dad go and visit Charlie or Bill. Trust me, Harry, I'll sort this and we'll have the perfect romantic Christmas here at Hogwarts."
True to her word, Ginny suggested that Molly and Arthur go and visit one of their eldest sons, and that took the sting out of the fact her youngest two children wouldn't be going home for Christmas. Not that Ron was happy when he found out Harry and Ginny would also be staying for Christmas. He'd wanted some time alone with Hermione, not more time with Harry and Ginny fawning all over each other. Still, the important thing was that he would be spending Christmas with Hermione and with the only present he wanted being Hermione herself, he was determined to get her. Come the end of the holidays, he would have a girlfriend, and it would be the best Christmas ever.
Draco Malfoy was making his way towards the library he was stopped by a very familiar voice calling his name. Spinning on his heel, he came face to face with his father, Lucius.
"Father, what are you doing here?"
"I had a bit of governors business to attend to, and I thought I would grab the chance to speak to you," Lucius replied. As the head of school governors he was often around the castle, but it was rare he sought out his son.
"Speak to me about what?" Draco asked in confusion, wondering if he'd done something to anger her father. Although if he had done something to incur Lucius's wrath, he had no idea what it could be.
"Christmas," Lucius replied. "I was wondering if you minded staying here at Hogwarts over the holidays. I wouldn't normally ask, but your mother and I have an anniversary over the holidays, and even though we usual celebrate in private, I was hoping to do something a bit more special this year. It's been a while since I treated your mother, and I think she deserves something special."
Draco arched his eyebrow at the suggestion that it had been a while since Lucius had treated Narcissa, as Draco knew his father was always showering his mother with trinkets and whisking her away for the weekend for no more reason other than he felt like it. As for the mention of an anniversary, Draco didn't want to think on that too much. He knew his parents wedding anniversary was early summer as they'd married shortly after Narcissa had graduated from Hogwarts, and their first date had also taken place over the summer. Which really only left one more memorable event they could be remembering, but it was something Draco didn't want any details about.
"I can stay here," Draco agreed. Staying at school wasn't his ideal way to spend Christmas, but he was more than happy to do so if it meant his mother got a special treat. "But what will mother think? Will she be happy with me staying here?"
"Just leave your mother to me, I'll take her mind off not seeing you over the holidays," Lucius replied with a smirk.
"I'm sure you will," Draco muttered with a roll of his eyes.
"I was thinking you could be the one to raise the subject of staying here," Lucius explained. "You could say you wanted to get some extra studying in before your exams at the end of the year. After all, you won't ever be the top student if you don't study."
"We both know I could study twenty four hours a day until my exams, and I still wouldn't be top student," Draco snorted.
Upon starting Hogwarts Draco, and Lucius, had held high expectations of Draco's academic performance and they'd both assumed he would be top of the class. However, they hadn't counted on Hermione Granger and her natural brilliance. For years, Draco had resented Hermione for outdoing him, and Lucius had pushed him to work harder as neither of them had been willing to accept that Draco was being beaten by a muggleborn. But the summer before fifth year, which was the year he'd taken his O.W.L.S, Draco had snapped and informed his father that no matter how hard he studied, and he did study hard, he would never beat Hermione. All he could do was try his best and be the best he could be, which was damn good as even though Hermione's results bettered his, his results bettered everyone else's. Over the last couple of years, Lucius had come to accept that Draco was right, and Hermione's brilliant school results did not take away from the fact that Draco excelled at school and had grades any father would be proud of.
"Even so, you can work to be the best you can be," Lucius remarked.
"Which is what I do," Draco reminded his father.
"I know," Lucius said, favouring his son with a brief smile.
"But I guess some extra studying wouldn't hurt," Draco assured his father. "I'll send mother an owl to let her know that I'll be staying here for Christmas."
"Thank you, Draco," Lucius said, clearly thrilled that his son was happy to go along with his plan so that he could treat his wife.
"Just remember what I've done for you when you pick out my Christmas present, I expect something special," Draco joked.
"I'm sure something can be arranged," Lucius replied. "You and Blaise will have a little something extra this year. Just remember to tell Blaise about the plans for Christmas. You don't think he'll mind, do you?"
"Not Blaise, he's all about the romance these days," Draco replied.
Chuckling fondly, Lucius said goodbye to his son and headed off to finish his business with the headmaster.
Deciding not to bother with the library, Draco turned around and instead headed down to the dungeons to let Blaise know about the change of plans for the holidays. Even though he now lived in the Head Dorms on the third floor, he still spent plenty of time down in the dungeons and as a Slytherin he still knew the password to the dorms. Entering the dungeons he found his friends settled in the best seats beside the roaring fire.
"We didn't expect to see you tonight," his best friend, Blaise Zabini, remarked. "Didn't you say you had some studying to do?"
"I've got plenty of time to study," Draco replied. "Especially since we're now staying here over Christmas."
"Why?" Blaise's girlfriend, Daphne Greengrass, asked with a puzzled frown.
"I've just ran into father and he wants us to stay here so he and Mother can celebrate some anniversary in style," Draco replied.
"Your parents have already had their wedding anniversary this year," Blaise pointed out. He spent most of his holidays at Malfoy Manor with Draco and his parents, and he could vividly recall the couple celebrating their anniversary over the summer as they'd all gone out to dinner at a fancy restaurant.
"It's not the anniversary of their wedding," Draco answered with a groan.
"Nice," Blaise remarked with a whistle of admiration. "I love Lucius's style. In years to come Daph, we'll remember to celebrate the anniversary of the night we consummated our relationship."
"We'll see," Daphne chuckled.
"Hey, if you're not going home I can't go either," Blaise suddenly declared as it occurred to him that Draco had been saying us not I.
"Not unless you fancy helping my parents celebrate," Draco snorted. "But father promised us a little something extra this year for staying away from the manor."
"He doesn't have to do that. I'm more than happy to give him and Narcissa some space for romance. We'll be just fine staying here over the holidays," Blaise said cheerily.
"You could come home with me," Daphne offered.
"Your father would love that," Blaise remarked with a dismissive snort.
Despite the fact Blaise and Daphne had been together since the previous year, and were serious about each other, Daphne's father didn't approve of Blaise. The main reason for Mr Greengrasses disapproval of Blaise was the fact his father had fled before he was born so they only had his mother's word for the fact he was a pure-blood. Although the fact his mother was rather flighty and had been married several times was also a black mark against Blaise.
"Then I guess I'll stay as well," Daphne offered.
"Well if you're all staying, Theo and I will stay as well," Pansy Parkinson added, speaking for herself and her boyfriend, Theo Nott.
"Definitely," Theo agreed with a nod. "We'll all stay and have the best Christmas ever."
"Greg and I can't stay," Vincent Crabbe offered with a sigh. "Our families are going to Switzerland for the holidays."
"Yeah, we're going skiing," Gregory Goyle added, rolling his eyes to let his friends know what he thought of the idea of a skiing holiday.
"No-one expects you to give up your holidays," Draco assured his friends. "Any of you," he said, making sure all his friends knew there was no obligation to stay at Hogwarts with him.
"We want to stay," Theo assured him.
With all his friends agreeing that they were more than happy to stay behind with him, Draco found himself looking forward to Christmas. It may not have been the same as if he'd been at the manor, but at least he would have his friends around him for the holidays. Maybe it was going to be a good Christmas after all.