Seeds of Seduction

Chapter 15: Christmas

Hermione mumbled as the rays of sunlight hit her eyes. Rubbing her eyes with her hands, Hermione pushed herself up and then flopped back down on the couch. After her eyes adjusted to the light, Hermione pushed herself back up and looked around her. It took a few heart stopping seconds for her to realize that she was still in Draco's house.

Yawning, Hermione extracted herself from the blankets that were wrapped around her feet. Throwing the blanket on the sofa, she stood up and stretched. The fire had died during the night long ago and a pile of ashes remained scattered over the polished brass fireplace. Hermione and Draco's clothes were thrown over the room and Hermione blushed as she remembered last night. But this time, she didn't feel dirty or weird. She felt perfectly normal. The two glasses of champagne had vanished and Hermione presumed that Draco had removed them when he woke up.

For the few minutes, Hermione walked around the room, cleaning up. She quickly picked up her and Draco's clothes and the blanket and folded them. Leaving them on the couch, she straightened the table and the books that were now scattered over the rich plush beige carpet. Wrinkling her nose, she placed her hands on her hips. Where had Draco gone?

Her question was answered by the tinkling of glass across the corridor. Hermione tiptoed across the dark green tiles and stood in the doorway of the kitchen quietly. Her gaze swept over the comfortable looking kitchen. From where she stood, the sink was in front of her. Around the sink was a granite countertop in an "L" shape and was made of silver granite. The wooden shelves lined the walls and were made of the bark from maple trees. A swirly pattern of leaves and branches outlined the chest of drawers and each knob was in the shape of a narcissa. A display cabinet stood on the far wall. Through the glass door, Hermione could make out the expensive and obviously good quality china, crystal wine goblets, and silver silverware. The refrigerator stood next to Hermione. Its steel doors were immaculate and Hermione could Draco's reflection. In front of the display cabinet, a table made of the same wood was set on a square decorative carpet. Four chairs were placed around the table.

Draco was standing in front of the stove. A fire was crackling under a metal urn. Hermione smiled softly as she watched him. A box of pancake mix stood next to him. In a wide metal bowl was the now prepared goop. Draco feverishly wiped his forehead as he lifted the ladle and vigorously stirred the goop. His muscular arms flexed as he stirred. The small window in front of him was open and the soft morning breeze tousled his blond messy hair. Hermione laughed to herself as he took a spoonful of the goop and spread it around the pan. Her face broke in a smile as Draco turned away and took out two glasses from the cupboard. Hermione bit her lip as the pancake on the stove started smoking causing Draco to swear. A small giggle left her mouth as Draco grabbed the spatula and tried to unstick the pancake from the skittle.

Tiptoeing quietly, Hermione grabbed Draco around his waist.

"AHH" yelled Draco. "Ugh, Hermione!"

Hermione laughed as he kissed the top of her forehead and pulled her so she was in front of him.

"Merry Christmas," said Draco wrapping his arms around her waist.

It felt nice to say it someone who actually cared about the holiday. His father never cared about holiday and his mother was too scared to show signs of festiveness. Even at Hogwarts, he was always called back for the occasion. He highly suspected that even had he remained at Hogwarts, none of his Slytherin friends would approve of celebrating the occasion. It had been the first time in a long while that he had been able to celebrate with somebody.

"You too," murmured Hermione feeling slightly lightheaded as he kissed down the side of her throat.

"You want to go somewhere special today?" asked Draco his voice slightly muffled as he kissed the joint between her neck and shoulder. His left hand went under her shirt and his right hand slid slowly up her leg.

"Can't," gasped Hermione, "I have to meet Harry and Ginny."

"Oh," said Draco sounding disappointed.

Things were starting to heat up when suddenly the alarm went off in the kitchen. Draco's hands left Hermione's stomach and he unglued his mouth from her neck. Hermione detached herself from Draco and grabbed a towel. Rushing over to the blinking machine, Hermione jumped up and down trying to give fresh air. Hastily, Draco turned off the stove and in another two steps reached Hermione's side. Grasping her waist, he gently lifted her until he was high enough to see the alarm. Smirking, Draco removed one hand where it was around her waist and pulled her shirt up. He was now eye level with her belly button. Hermione gasped as Draco lightly kissed her stomach. After shutting the alarm, Hermione grasped Draco by his shoulders. Slowly she let herself down and wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Thank you," said Hermione. "I think you could use some help making breakfast."

Draco laughed. His laugh sent tingles down her spine.

"Hey, excuse me for not being good at Muggle cooking," defended Draco holding out his palms.

"I'll help you," laughed Hermione.

Grasping Draco by his hand, she dragged him to the stove. Lighting up the stove again, she took his bowl of batter and stirred it. Draco pulled up a chair and sat down on the counter. Putting his legs up, he watched and listened closely as Hermione explained how to make them. But after a while, his brain tuned out to the instructions. His gray eyes observed Hermione as she cooked. His sharp eyes simply watched her. Her now tamed hazel hair fell gracefully over her shoulder. Her rosy red lips were glossy and extremely kissable. He smiled as he spotted a small spray of extremely light brown freckles around her nose. He had never noticed before.

"She's so beautiful," thought Draco, "I wonder why I never noticed it before."

"And voila," announced Hermione as she tipped a stack of perfectly cooked pancakes onto the place next to him jerking Draco out of his reverie.

"They look great," commented Draco as he hopped down from his chair and walked over to the fridge.

After rummaging through the mass of meat, fruit, ice cream, and assorted juice, he finally found a bottle of maple syrup and a carton of orange juice. Hermione grabbed two forks from the cabinet and skipped towards the table. Draco pulled out two chairs and set down the bottle and carton and glasses. Placing a glass in front of Hermione, he filled it to the brim with orange juice.

"Here's to Christmas," said Draco raising his own full glass.

"Cheers," agreed Hermione as she lightly tapped her crystal glass against his.

The two were silent for a while. The only sounds were the clunk of crystal on the table and the tinkle of steel hitting steel.

"Hey Draco," started Hermione, "Did you build a Quidditch pitch for yourself? Because when I was walking here yesterday, I noticed the three hoops in the distance."

"Yes," said Draco setting down a forkful of pancake down on the plate, "My father built that for me when he heard that Potter was playing for the Gryffindor side. Naturally, I had to be the Slytherin seeker. As much as I tried not to go on the side, he bought my way in. You were right in out second year."

Hermione laughed softly.

"And then I remember how Ron tried cursing me but it backfired," laughed Draco.

Hermione's smile vanished and her mirth evaporated when he mentioned Ron. No doubt, he was probably making out with that whore somewhere.

"What's wrong?" asked Draco gently.

"Nothing," sighed Hermione.

"Come on," prodded Draco, "let's go into the living room and talk about it."

Reluctantly, Hermione stood up and pushed her chair in. Carrying over her plate and glass to the sink, she flicked her wand and the dishes began cleaning themselves. He then joined Draco into the sitting room where he was sitting on the plush sofa.

"Hermione," he said, "I can't believe we forgot to open the presents"

Hermione laughed as she watched Draco leap up and practically run over to the decorated Christmas tree. He picked up Hermione's present and practically tore off the wrapping paper. Gasping, he lifted the crystal sculpture and ran his finger over the smooth crystal.

"Hermione," he breathed, "I..I.."

Hermione walked over and knelt beside him. She placed a hand on his lips.

"I know what you want to say," she said softly, "And, don't feel like you need to buy me something to compensate for this. I saw this when I was walking down Diagon Alley and I knew right away that it would be perfect for you. You deserve this Draco. You deserve all the happiness in the world."

"Thank you," Draco said simply deeply touched. He didn't know what else he could say.

"Here's your gift."

Hermione took the small box of deep blue velvet and opened it. She gasped as she saw the single diamond shaped in a teardrop molded in platinum hang from a thin platinum chain.

"Oh, Draco," she sighed when she saw the card, "I love it. But this must have been very expensive."

Draco placed his hand over her mouth and gently took the necklace and fastened it around her necklace.

"Thank you Draco," said Hermione moving so she went sitting in his lap.

"You're welcome. Now why were you so upset in the kitchen?" asked Draco seriously.

Hermione swore under her breath. She was hoping that he had forgotten about that. She would have to be more careful in the future about revealing her emotions.

"It's just Ron," fibbed Hermione, "He's dating this horrible girl. Remember Lavender Brown? Well, he's dating her now and it's horrible! I bet that she doesn't even like him and that she's using him."

"Lavender," murmured Draco, "Isn't that the Gryffindor with the short light brown hair? Weasley's dating HER!"

"Yeah," said Hermione cautiously. "Why?"

"Oh nothing," said Draco hastily, "I just always thought that he would have gone for someone like you."

"I wish he had," thought Hermione briefly before the thought left her mind.

Draco bit his lip as he cradled Hermione in his lap. He didn't have the heart to tell Hermione what he knew about Lavender. But he sure knew that neither Ron nor the Order knew the real truth about Lavender.

And it wasn't pretty.

A/N: First off, I would like to thank everyone for his or her reviews. Second, I would like to point out that my chapters will remain four-five pages each time. A few of you have been complaining about the shortness of the chapters. I'm sorry if that is too short for those who want extensive chapters but I simply do not have that much time on my hands. The most I can do is four pages per chapter or however long it takes my plan to be written out. I have laid out the blueprint for each chapter and my chapters simply end when the idea is done. Usually, they have been falling between 4-5 pages. Even for the last chapter I had to stay up until 3 o'clock in the morning so I could post it! I am a junior and my particular high school, Lynbrook, is very demanding! And if y'all want updates once a week and them to be long, it's not going to work! It will be extremely horribly written. And I can't post unless the chapter satisfies me. Once again, I'm sorry for the shortness of the chapters but 4-5 pages will be as long as it gets. I'm not trying to be rude but the chapter simply will not be longer!

It may seem awkward of me to bring Lavender in here but there is a reason why I have to. I need Ron to be single in the later chapters. It plays a major role in Hermione's realization of her dwindling love for Ron.