As he settled into his second year of Auror training, Ron found himself spending more time with Draco, both during training and outside of it. Thanks to their training they both knew they could forge a good working relationship if they ever ended up paired together, and outside of training a friendship was slowly blossoming between them.
Although their friendship wasn't the only thing blossoming between the former Gryffindors and Slytherins. Theo and Neville had also struck up a strong friendship, and Theo was keener than ever to land a job at Hogwarts once he had enough experience in the Potions field. Blaise was also striking up friendships with Ron's friends, and even Hermione who had turned down his romantic advances, liked the outgoing Slytherin and enjoyed his company.
And much to Ron's delight, the friendship between Hermione and Draco seemed to be progressing nicely. It was always easy to convince Hermione to join them for a drink at the end of a long day, and Ron always managed to ensure that she ended up sitting next to Draco. If either of them noticed what he was doing, they hadn't said anything and had instead just enjoyed getting to know one another.
The only slight issue was that as far as Ron knew, they'd never acknowledged the very obvious spark that existed between them. He'd drank with them often enough to know they flirted outrageously with one another, but that seemed to be as far as it had gone. He also knew other people had noticed, especially Draco's female friends, Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass, both of whom were part of the group that regularly went out drinking together.
A few weeks before Christmas, Ron was musing on how best to bring Draco and Hermione together when he was accosted by Pansy when he emerged from the men's room in the pub.
"Bloody hell, Parkinson you almost gave me a heart attack," he gasped as the raven haired witch virtually pounced on him and dragged him into the ladies bathroom. "Hey, I can't be in here," he cried when he realised where they were.
"Relax, it's empty and no-one will come in," Pansy replied, flicking her wand towards the door to cast a spell to prevent them from being disturbed.
"What do you want?" Ron asked warily. "Are you going to seduce me?"
As crazy as it sounded, Ron wouldn't have minded in the slightest if Pansy was about to seduce him. in recent months his focus may have been on bringing Hermione and Draco together, but he wasn't blind and he hadn't failed to notice how Pansy had blossomed since the end of the war. With Voldemort gone, and her family freed from the darkness she seemed to have burst into life, and while she was still sharp tongued, she was also funny and had the most dazzling smile. She was also far prettier than Ron had ever remembered, and he often had to stop himself from stroking her silky looking hair that hung below her shoulders.
"Hmm," Pansy hummed thoughtfully, her dark eyes roving over Ron's body. She also wasn't blind, and like Ron had done in her, she'd noticed the changes in him. Since Harry had left and he'd stepped out of the shadows, he was much more confident, and therefore sexy, wizard and Pansy had certainly noticed him. "That is a temptation," she admitted, flashing Ron a sinful smirk that. "But that wasn't why I dragged you in here."
"Oh," Ron muttered, feeling disappointment flood his entire being. "Why did you bring me in here then?"
"We need to talk about our idiot friends," Pansy announced, taking a step backwards from Ron so she could focus on the task at hand. Ever since he'd mentioned seduction, it was all she could think about, and it was taking all her self-control not to launch herself at him.
"Which ones?" Ron asked innocently.
Pansy snorted in response, loving the fact that Ron had pretty much called all of their friends' idiots. "Draco and Granger. I've never seen such a stubborn pair."
"Oh, so you've noticed it too," Ron remarked.
"You have to be blind not to notice it," Pansy snorted. "They only have eyes for each other. They do talk to other people, but they only truly come alive when they're interacting with each other. But of course they're both too damn stubborn to admit what it means."
"Tell me about it, I've been pushing them together for months," Ron complained.
"Making sure they sit together is not pushing them together," Pansy scoffed. "They likely would have gravitated towards each other even if you hadn't given them a helping hand."
"Oh," Ron whispered, not sure what to make of the fact that Pansy had spotted what he'd been doing, and then dismissed it as pointless. He rather thought he was ensuring Hermione and Draco had a solid platform from which to launch a potential relationship.
"It's not your fault, Ron," Pansy said, sounding the nicest Ron had ever heard her. "You can't expect a Gryffindor to be cunning enough to manipulate a Slytherin. For that you need a fellow Slytherin."
"You have a plan, don't you?" Ron asked, rather liking the mischievous glint that had appeared in Pansy's eyes.
"Of course," Pansy purred with a smirk. "Since it's nearly Christmas, I'm going to throw a party."
"We have attended parties, and they're still not together," Ron argued.
"That is because of none of those parties were mine," Pansy replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "And none contained enchanted mistletoe. I'm going to get some mistletoe for the party, and you're going to help me get Draco and Hermione underneath it. They'll be forced to kiss before they can move. And believe me, one kiss between those two will seal the deal."
"Okay, I'll do it on one condition," Ron said, a devious smirk of his own gracing his lips. "We also take a turn under the mistletoe."
"Oh, I was wrong, you're more cunning than I thought," Pansy laughed. "It's a deal. See you under the mistletoe, Ron."
With a giggle, Pansy blew Ron a kiss before releasing the spell on the bathroom door and heading back to join their friends. For a moment, Ron remained frozen where he was, hardly able to believe he'd been so bold with the former Slytherin. However, he quickly remembered where he was, and not wanting to be caught in the ladies, he hurried from the bathroom to re-join his friends, hopeful that Pansy's Christmas party wouldn't just be the start of something special for Hermione and Draco. Maybe he would also get a present just in time for the festive season.
Hermione sighed in frustration as she gazed down at the clothes piled on her bed. She was trying to get ready for Pansy's Christmas party, and just couldn't decide on the perfect outfit. She was hoping this evening would be special, and as such she'd wanted to look her best. However, fashion had never really been her thing and she seemed to find fault with every single outfit she'd tried on.
"You're just being ridiculous," she told her reflection in the floor length mirror that stood in the corner of her bedroom. "He won't care what you wear."
The he in question was Draco Malfoy, the wizard she'd been seeing in secret for the last two months. After first getting friendly over the summer, Draco had finally asked her out in October, but they'd kept it private as with their two sets of friends becoming so close, they didn't want to face constant scrutiny. However, it was hard to act as though there was nothing going on between them and Hermione was well aware that their flirtatious behaviour was getting worse when they were with their friends. To be honest it was a bloody miracle no-one had picked up on the fact they were crazy about each other. Although all that would end today as they'd both agreed that the party was the perfect place to announce their romance.
Although that wasn't all Hermione was hoping to come out of the evening. For all she and Draco had been dating for a few months, they'd yet to take the next step and sleep together. They'd done plenty of other stuff but had never actually had sex. But Hermione was planning on changing all that this evening, and she was very much hoping that when she returned from the party, she wouldn't be alone.
"You won't even get to the party, if you don't get a move on," she berated herself, turning back to her clothing dilemma.
Determined to find something to wear, Hermione once again began to sort through her clothes, replacing them in the wardrobe as she did so. Eventually she was left with two choices, a green and black print dress and a pair of dark blue jeans and a deep purple sparkling top. After a few moments' consideration, she settled for the jeans and top. The jeans were a new buy and were a snugger fit than Hermione's other trousers, but as she pulled them on, she had to admit she didn't look too bad in them. Pulling on the top she added some jewellery, spritzed herself with perfume, grabbed her bag and headed off to meet Ron so they could go to the party together.
Until he'd finished his training, Ron had decided to stay at home and save up as much as he could, and Hermione arrived at The Burrow to find Bill and Fleur were visiting with their young daughter, Victoire.
"Hermione, you look beautiful," Fleur gushed in her purring French accent.
"Thank you," Hermione replied with a smile. "And how is little Victoire?" she asked, smiling at the gorgeous baby in Bill's arms. "She is such a little cutie."
"She's not so cute when she's screaming her head off in the middle of the night," Bill laughed.
"I guess not," Hermione agreed with a laugh of her own. "So how was your first term teaching at Hogwarts?"
"I have to say, it felt strange to be back in the castle as an adult," Bill admitted. "I kept feeling as if I should be joining the other Gryffindors up in Gryffindor Tower or sitting with them during meals. And it was certainly odd being called Professor Weasley. When people just called me Professor, I spent weeks looking over my shoulder wondering who was behind me."
"I'm sure you'll get used to it," Hermione replied with a smile. She had no doubt that Bill would make an excellent Professor once he'd settled into the job and got used to the fact he wasn't still a student at Hogwarts.
Hermione continued to chat with Bill and Fleur, until a very put together Ron appeared in the kitchen. Ron's hair, which he normally didn't bother doing anything with, had been combed perfectly, and he was wearing a smart pair of black trousers and a deep green shirt which Hermione was fairly sure was brand new.
"Someone is out to impress," Bill remarked with a low whistle. "So who's the lucky witch?"
"There isn't one," Ron muttered, blushing almost as red as his hair.
"There will be after tonight, the witches won't be able to take their eyes off you," Fleur offered with a warm smile.
"We should go," Ron said to Hermione, clearly wanting to be away from his brother and sister-in-law.
"Don't do anything we wouldn't do," Bill called with a laugh as Ron and Hermione left The Burrow to head to their party.
The party was in full swing by the time they arrived at Pansy's childhood home. Luckily her parents were away for the weekend, meaning they had the run of the entire house. Although from the size of it, Hermione suspected her parents could have been at home and they would never have known.
"Bloody hell," Ron remarked with a low whistle as they entered the festivities. "I always forget just how rich these Slytherins are. You could fit The Burrow in here ten times over."
Hermione nodded her agreement as the pair headed off in search of refreshments. Before they'd even managed to cross the front room, Pansy appeared to welcome them to the party. She then pointed Hermione towards the kitchen, where the drinks were, and kept hold of Ron, claiming there was something she needed to tell him. Promising to bring Ron a drink, Hermione headed for the kitchen, where she found Draco.
"Hey," he greeted with a grin.
"Hey," Hermione returned, pleased that she'd ran into Draco so quickly.
"You look amazing," Draco said, his grey eyes running appreciatively over Hermione's body.
"Thank you," Hermione replied, trying not to blush at the way Draco was gazing at her. "You don't look so bad yourself."
"I know, I look hot," Draco said jokingly.
"That ego of yours is out of control," Hermione laughed. Even though she knew Draco was joking, she also knew that he was well aware of just how good looking he was, and more importantly he had the confidence to believe in himself.
"Just stating facts," Draco returned with a shrug. "Can I get you a drink?"
"Yeah, I'm also getting one for Ron," Hermione said. "Pansy waylaid him when we arrived."
"Ah, so that's who she's been waiting for," Draco laughed as he sorted a couple of drinks for Hermione and Ron. "She's been antsy for a while, constantly checking the door for new arrivals. I had no idea that she had a thing for Weasley."
"She's got a thing for Ron?" Hermione gasped, totally shocked by the revelation.
"It would appear so," Draco answered with a nod as he handed Hermione her drink and picked up his own and the one for Ron. "Let's go and find out for sure."
Draco led the way back into the front room, but there was no sign of Pansy and Ron. Since Draco knew his way around the Parkinson house, Hermione let him lead as they explored the other ground floor rooms where the festivities had spread. Eventually they ended up passing through a small library towards a door that led outside, and that was where they found Pansy and Ron, arguing over a bunch of mistletoe that was hanging over their heads.
"I'm telling you, this is too out of the way," Ron hissed. "You should have hung it in the main body of the party."
"But then everyone would end up underneath it," Pansy retorted.
"Where it is now, no-one will end up underneath it," Ron snapped back.
"Did you miss the part where we're in a library?" Pansy countered. "Trust me, Granger will find her way in here. She can sniff books out a mile off. All we have to do is watch for her coming in and get Draco to come in after her. We then lock the door behind them, leaving this as their only route out of the room. And then to actually get out of the room, they're going to need to kiss."
"It sounds a bit convoluted to me," Ron grouched.
"Me too," Draco remarked, alerting the bickering pair to his and Hermione's presence.
"Oh crap," Ron muttered as beside him Pansy swore quietly.
"Are you two trying to set us up?" Hermione asked, feeling the urge to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation.
"It's the only way to get you two stubborn fools to admit you like each other," Pansy cried. "If you weren't so pig-headed, you would have been together already."
"Oh, Pansy, how wrong you are," Draco laughed, putting down the two drinks he was carrying and reaching for Hermione's hand. "I don't need to be caught under mistletoe to kiss Hermione."
Proving his point, he plucked Hermione's drink out of her hand and crashed his lips into hers. Melting into the kiss, Hermione wrapped her arms around Draco as they moulded themselves to one another. Forgetting about their audience the couple lost themselves in each other until their need to breath took over and they reluctantly parted.
"That was not a first kiss," Pansy remarked with a low whistle.
"No, it wasn't," Hermione said, turning back to face their friends. "We've been seeing each other for a while now, but we kept it quiet until we were sure it was going to work out."
"And since we're now sure, tonight was going to be the night we came out," Draco continued. "But thanks for trying to bring us together, you're just a little late to the party."
"I can't believe you've been together for weeks, and we never picked up on it," Ron groaned. "How stupid are we?"
"Maybe you each had other things on your mind?" Draco suggested with a wicked smirk. "After all, the pair of you are looking very cosy under that mistletoe. I take it that it's enchanted, so now it looks like you're the ones who have been caught in a trap of your own making. Have fun."
Leaving Ron's drink, but grabbing his own and Hermione's, Draco steered his girlfriend away from Ron and Pansy, leaving them to sort themselves out in private. However, since Ron and Pansy now knew about them they saw no point in hiding, so they returned to the party hand in hand and were happy to tell anyone was asked that they were very much a couple.
Half an hour later, they finally spotted Ron and Pansy returning to the party. The pair were both wearing dopey smiles and looked rather flushed. And Ron's neat hair had been well and truly mussed up. Not that he seemed to care as with Pansy by his side, he seemed happier than Hermione had ever seen him. It would appear that both of them were going to have a very merry Christmas with their respective Slytherins.