b (A/N: I don't know what Hermione's parents' names are and I'm far to lazy to look through all the books trying to find them, so I'm just going to make them up. If you leave a message telling me that they are wrong, then no offence, but you're wasting your time because I really don't care and it's not a big deal to me. So! On with the story.) /b
i Dear Mr. and Mrs. Granger,
Your lovely daughter Hermione and I would like to invite you to join us for dinner on December 24 of this year to celebrate the Christmas holiday. If you choose to join us, the dinner will be at my estate, 82 Seaside Court, Cornwall which is easily reached by floo powder and should commence at about 6:00 o'clock in the evening. We look forward to seeing you here on Christmas,
Respectfully yours,
Draco Malfoy
P.S.- Hermione sends all her love, and could she please have the recipe for the treacle fudge? /i
"Graham! Oh Graham come here quickly!" Jane Granger yelled for her husband. He came into the common room drying his hands on a towel.
"What is it?" He asked, peering over his wife's shoulder to read the letter she was holding.
"Our little baby is hosting her very first Christmas. And with a i boy /i ! I can't believe how fast she's grown up Graham! Soon she'll be graduating, then getting married and having children, and then, and then…" Jane Granger had managed to send herself into a tearful hysteria. "And then she won't need me anymore!" She cried.
"Oh darling, of course she will always need you, you're her mother. And see? See there at the bottom? 'can you please send the recipe for the treacle fudge'." He comforted. "Let me get a better look at that letter." He said, gently pulling it out of her hands while she was preoccupied drying her eyes. His forehead wrinkled in deep thought as he read it. "Draco Malfoy… hmm, I need to meet this boy. How long did you say they had been together?" He asked Jane. She shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know. I don't remember Hermione ever writing us about a boyfriend."
"And now they are living together all of a sudden? I don't know about this…"
"I'm sure they are just spending the holiday together, Hermione is a smart girl, and she knows what she's doing. What was it that she asked for? The treacle?"
"Yes, the treacle." Graham said absentmindedly, still eyeing the letter like it was going to answer all of his suspicions if he stared at it long enough. Finally Jane snatched it out of his hand and attached it to the refrigerator with a photo-magnet of a three year old Hermione.
"I didn't see anything about the boy's parents being there, do you think they are staying there alone?"
"Oh Graham, have a little faith in your daughter. Hermione is very intelligent, talented, and she gets the best grades in her class. What more can we possibly ask of her?"
"Abstinence?" He suggested. Jane chuckled and shook her head softly at her husbands over protective antics. It didn't surprise her though. They had only been blessed with one child, and he wanted to make sure that her life was the best it could be. Hermione was without a doubt a daddy's girl.
Back at the "New" Malfoy Manor
The Granger's had responded quickly to the young couple's invitation, promising to be there at six o'clock and not a minute after. The news of them coming had finally sunk in to Hermione, and she was caught in a whirlwind of things to do in order to get ready for their arrival. Draco sat back leisurely in one of the easy chairs in the common room and watched her bustle about, running back and forth between the kitchen and the Christmas tree that Draco had conjured up. She had insisted on decorating it herself, without magic, and now she had a batch of biscuits in the oven and only half the tree done. On one of her many trips back to the kitchen, Draco grabbed her arm and pulled her into his lap.
"Draco I don't have time for games, the biscuits, they are going to burn…" She said trying to get up again, but his arms were securely wrapped around her waist.
"Mi, your parents aren't going to be here for a week, what's the big hurry?"
"I need to have everything perfect. This is the first time I have done Christmas all by myself and I always thought that I would at least be married first. It came a little sooner than expected and now the tree isn't done, the biscuits are burning and I still can't get the treacle fudge to taste just right like the way my mum makes it." Hermione sighed heavily.
"Look at me 'Mi." She did, and he took both of his hands in hers. He took a deep breathe and said what he had been holding in for nearly a month. "I love you Hermione Jane Granger. I am obsessed with you, you drive me absolutely wild. You are the only thing I can ever think about, and I don't know how I went so many years without you in my life the way you are now. I love you for more reasons than I can possibly tell you. And if the biscuits burn I will won't love you any less. I wanted to tell you how much I loved you on Christmas, but I think now is a better time. I love you, and I'm sorry it took me this long to say it." Hermione's vision was blurred and her eyes were filling with warm tears. In all her life she had never thought any man was crazy enough to fall in love with a girl like her, but yet there he was, pouring his heart out. She sniffed and held back the tears as best she could.
"I hope you don't think I'm going to shag you now Draco." She said with a small smile.
"Damn. I tried." He joked. He kissed her firmly on the mouth and she returned the kiss with just as much vigor. A funny smell drifted into the room and Hermione's eyes shot open.
"My biscuits!" She exclaimed, jumping off of Draco and running into the kitchen. Draco laughed silently at her as she yanked the oven door open and fanned the cloud of smoke with her oven mitt. He got up and stood beside her, looking in at the ruined tray of biscuits.
"I just don't get it," she said, disappointed. "I can make almost anything except biscuits. I always ruin them." He put a hand on her shoulder.
"You know, I've never liked biscuits much. I'm more of a pie person myself." Hermione laughed at his lame attempt to make her feel better. She turned and hugged him.
"Thank you." He pulled back but left his arms around her back.
"You go relax, I'll clean up the kitchen." He said. She gave him a funny look.
"You will clean up the kitchen or you will enchant everything to clean themselves?"
"With magic of course! Like I would ever do anything the muggle way, it's such a waste of time." Hermione left and Draco waved his wand around and instantly the dishes began scrubbing themselves and the towel was wiping down all the counters. Nodding in satisfaction, Draco went back into the common room to finish decorating the tree where Hermione had left off.
Upstairs, Hermione was in the bedroom she shared with Draco searching through the closets for something to wear on Christmas when it occurred to her that Draco's birthday was tomorrow. How could she forget? She hadn't gotten him anything, and she really wanted it to be something that he would enjoy. The first thing she thought of was sex, she knew he would definitely like that, but she didn't like how it seemed so planned out and obvious that she had forgotten to get him a real gift. Hermione continued looking through the closet when she came across the only dress in the entire house. It was beautiful, but far too sexy for a dinner with her parents.
"DRACO!" She called downstairs. She heard the thumping of someone coming noisily up the stairs.
"Yeah?" He poked his head in. She held up the dress and she saw him smirk.
"I can't wear this to Christmas dinner."
"Of course you can! You would look great in it." He said coming into the room and standing next to her staring at the dress.
"Draco, I cannot wear a tight black halter dress with a giant slit up the side. It's too skimpy. I don't know who my father would kill first, me for wearing it, or you for buying it." When Hermione mentioned her father, Draco stomped smirking. He cleared his throat.
"Eh, right. I guess you could go into Hogsmade and find a different one."
This was great. "Now I can get him a proper gift." She thought. She hung the dress back up and went downstairs to the fireplace.
"You're leaving i now /i ?" He asked.
"Yes. Who knows how long it will take me to find just the right one, but I should be home in time for dinner. You can do without me till then can't you?"
"I'll try. But just don't be gone too long, Merlin knows what would happen if I tried to make food for myself." She smiled and blew him a kiss before dropping the floo powder and shouting "Hogsmade!"
Hermione stepped out at the Three Broomsticks and passed a large group of young preteen girls giggling and pointing to another group of boys who appeared to be about their same age. Seeing the girls made Hermione feel old, and suddenly she found herself pining for her childhood, and for the days when she would sit outside the ice cream shop with Harry and Ron over the summers. She would never go on another Hogsmade trip after this year, never sleep in a dorm, never eat with all her housemates during meals, or take another page of notes. After this semester, it was all over. Hogwarts was over. It almost made her feel like crying, to know that she would have to leave the place where all of her best friends and memories were made, but she was determined to finish what she came here to do. There would be plenty of time to blubber later, now she had to find a modest dress and a present for Draco.
She walked out of the pub and felt the icy cold air whip at her body. It had gotten cold at the beach house, but she had forgotten that it would be several degrees cooler in Hogsmade. She pulled her cloak tighter around herself and walked through the crowds of people doing their Christmas shopping. She entered the Quidditch Supply store and browsed for a bit before deciding on a pair of dragon's hide seeker's gloves. The man behind the counter asked her if she would like to have them embroidered with a name or message. She thought about it, Draco i did /i like to put is initials on everything he thought he owned, such as her i b neck /b /i . She accepted his offer, and she looked around the store some more while he was in the backroom. She also picked out a practice snitch for Harry and a book of plays for Ron. The man came back, and there on the top of the gloves was i DM /i embroidered in green thread.
"That'll be 40 galleons and 3 sickles Miss." Said the shop keeper. Hermione cringed at the price, she still had a dress to buy, but she paid him and convinced herself that it would be worth it. She walked out of the store rummaging through her bag and not watching where she was going. She felt herself collide with not one, but two people.
"Oh Merlin I'm so sorry I didn't mean to…" She said looking up at the people she hit.
"Hermione?"