A/N: Hey all…nothing to say just straight onto the next chapter. Only 7 more chapters to go!
DISCLAIMER: I only own the plot.
Chapter 11: Christmas.
Hermione left the hospital wing the next day. She still felt a little weak. Madam Pomfrey told her that even though her mind hadn't remembered what happened until she was told, her body had been in shock. This had been the reason for her collapse. She had also told Hermione that they would not be able to determine whether or not she was pregnant until her next period was due. Hermione didn't need a test to tell her that she was. She knew that if Voldemort didn't come back for her, and she was certain he wouldn't, she was definitely carrying his evil heir. Hermione headed straight for her living quarter's to have a shower. She hadn't been able to have one last night and she was feeling extremely dirty. As it was only early in the morning, Hermione knew that Draco would still be asleep. Hermione spent almost an hour scrubbing herself in the shower. She had scrubbed herself so much that when she dried herself she winced because of a few small cuts, which she had created. She dressed in baggy pants and a loose black polo shirt. She pulled her hair into a ponytail.
It was two days until Christmas but Hermione didn't feel like celebrating. She headed out of her room and saw that her boyfriend was walking back into their hut carrying a tray of food. She smiled at him and sat on one of the sofa's drawing her knees up to her chin. Draco put the tray of food on the coffee table and passed Hermione a plate of bacon, eggs and toast and picked up his own as she took hers. They ate in silence. Every now and then Draco would look at Hermione but their eyes never met. Hermione kept her eyes on her food. After they had finished eating, Draco flicked his wand and the plates vanished. They were replaced though with two gold goblets and a jug of ice cold pumpkin juice. Hermione turned to look at Draco.
"Draco, I'm sorry. Last night I let what happened to me get in the way of our relationship."
"Don't be sorry. It's not your fault ok!" he soothed. Hermione moved closer to him and put a hand on his face.
"I wont let him do that" she smiled before kissing him tenderly. She pulled away smiling and Draco smiled back at her. He was amazed out how strong she was. After all she had been through, Hermione still knew how to truly smile. Draco directed his gaze out the hut window and noticed an owl flying towards them. He got up and opened the window to let it in. The school owl flew in and dropped a letter on Hermione's lap before flying back out again. Hermione opened the letter whilst Draco closed the window. It was from Dumbledore.
My Darling Granddaughter Hermione,
I am terribly sorry for not protecting you from the Dark Lord. I do promise that by the time his heir is born that Lord Voldemort will have been defeated.
I hope that you will still join Professor McGonagall and myself for Christmas. I would be extremely delighted if you did. Mr Malfoy is still welcome to join us if you like. Christmas will be held in my office. We will be opening presents at 9am. I hope to see you both there.
Love your Grandfather,
Albus Dumbledore.
Hermione smiled as she folded the letter up and slipped it into her pocket. She looked at Draco.
"Before everything happened I was going to spend Christmas alone with my Grandfather and Professor McGonagall. Now, if you want to of course, I would like it if you could join us? Grandpa says its ok." She asked him. He smiled at her.
"If it means being with you…absolutely." He walked over to her and pulled her up engulfing her in a hug. Hermione held on tight and despite everything that had happened, she felt extremely happy.
Hermione woke at 7:30am Christmas morning. She and Draco had spent Christmas Eve with Harry and Ginny, Ron had decided to go home for Christmas, and they had hung out in the hut almost the whole day. They laughed and joked, ate toasted marshmallows and drank hot chocolate. Draco and Harry, much to Hermione's pleasure, had formed a friendship. Although they still held a lot of resentment towards each other, they had decided, not for Hermione but for themselves, to put aside there past and try to become friends.
Hermione walked over to her cupboard and started pulling out clothes. She wanted to look nice for her first Christmas with her Grandfather. She chose a pair of light blue hipster jeans and a mauve long sleeved fitted shirt. She also pulled out a dark blue denim jacket. She hopped in the shower once she had packed away the unused clothes. She pulled on her towel-like robe and wrapped her wet hair in a towel as well. She walked over to her basin to brush her teeth. She decided to wear a little make-up consisting of some light blue eye shadow, black eyeliner and black mascara. She also applied some lipgloss before dressing and brushing her hair. It was 8:15 when she exited the bathroom. She almost skipped into the lounge room and saw that Draco was already in there. He was dressed in a tan pair of cargos with a maroon hooded jumper. Hermione walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck kissing him passionately.
"Merry Christmas Draco" she whispered as she pulled away.
"Merry Christmas to you too." He smiled lovingly. They sat on the green sofa cuddling and talking until it was time to head up to the castle. They made their way to Dumbledore's office with four presents each. When they arrived, the stone gargoyle sprang to life and slipped aside to allow them to enter without either of them saying a word. Sharing a puzzled look each, they made there way up the spiral staircase. They could hear Christmas carols playing and Dumbledore's office door was open so they walked in. Dumbledore was pouring four glasses off eggnog but looked up smiling as they arrived.
"Merry Christmas to the both of you" he beamed as he hugged Hermione and shook Draco's hand. He gave Draco a small wink and then handed them both some eggnog which Hermione refused. Professor McGonagall came out from a room at the back of the office and smiled at them both.
"Merry Christmas" she said in an unusually cheery voice. Hermione and Draco both said this back to her. "Shall we open presents then Albus?"
"Why not Minerva." The four walked over to the small Christmas tree and Dumbledore started handing out presents. He handed Hermione hers first and she took it from him. The card told her it was from her Grandfather. She untied the ribbon and unwrapped the rather heavy gift. Once the wrapping paper had been removed it revealed a large, thick book. Hermione turned it over and read the title.
"Hogwarts a History II" she breathed with excitement, "How did you get this?"
"It was a favour from an old friend of mine. The author of the book, Malise Glasgow, has kindly signed it for you."
"Thankyou so much Grandad. This is wonderful." Hermione smiled and hugged her Grandfather. She reached under the tree and pulled out a smaller package. She passed it to him and he unwrapped, noting that it was from Hermione. It was a photo album with carvings on the front. Dumbledore opened up the album. It had pictures of Hermione as a baby and more from throughout her childhood before she had arrived at Hogwarts and a few from the summers between actually being at Hogwarts.
"I hand made the album." Hermione told him.
"It's lovely Hermione. Thankyou." He smiled at her lovingly. They sat there for a moment and then turned to face the other two people present in the room. Hermione looked at her boyfriend who had been talking with McGonagall. He was smiling at her and Dumbledore was handing a gift to McGonagall. Hermione reached under the tree again and produced a small box with a ribbon around it. She handed it to Draco. He smiled as he took it. He untied the ribbon and opened the box. Inside was the silver ring with snakes entwined around a stone. Draco took it out and put it on the middle finger of his left hand.
"Mione its…I really love it" he smiled as he hugged her. He pulled away a little nervous and reached under the tree for a box very similar to the one Hermione had just given him. He shot a quick look at Dumbledore then turned to focus all his attention on Hermione.
"Hermione…I know we have only been together for a short time but I love you with all my heart and I cannot imagine my life without you." He opened the box and Hermione saw that there was a small gold ring with four diamonds on it, in the box, "I know we are only young so I am not asking you to marry me. I am giving you this ring as a promise of my love for you and in ope that one day when we are old enough…we will get married." He was nervous and his hands were trembling as he slipped the ring onto Hermione's wedding finger. A smile spread across her face and she looked at Draco with tears in her eyes. She flung her arms around Draco and kissed him lightly on the lips. She had completely forgotten where she was until she heard McGonagall's cheerful acceptance of the situation before her. Draco and Hermione both pulled away slightly embarrassed.
They spent the rest of Christmas morning in Dumbledore's office. Around 12:30pm, Dumbledore announced that they would be dining in the Great Hall with the remaining students and that they should head down there as it was about to begin. When they arrived at the Great Hall, Draco walked in before the other three and noticed the house tables had been replaced with two smaller tables, which seated about 25 students per table. The Head Boy and Girl were to sit opposite each other. Dumbledore had made sure they could at least sit near each other during the feast. This way no one would get suspicious.
They ate a traditional feast of roast turkey, ham, chicken, baked potatoes and vegetables. For dessert they had mince pies and chocolate mudcake. After lunch Dumbledore announced that all of them, including the 1st and 2nd years, would be taking a trip to Hogsmeade for a nice warm glass of Butterbeer from The Three Broomsticks. This was a nice trip for everyone and by the time they made there way back up to the castle, it was almost dark. They had a light dinner of chicken and salad and then retired to their respective houses each student exhausted by the days events.
Hermione and Draco left the Great Hall separately but met up outside the castle. They walked down to their living quarters arm in arm, talking about what a wonderful day it had been. There was a warm fire blazing when they arrived and someone; a house-elf no doubt, had placed a bowl of marshmallows and two metal skewers on the coffee table. Hermione smiled at Draco and they sat in front of the fire talking, cuddling and roasting marshmallows. When they had eaten as many marshmallows as they could, Hermione turned to face Draco. She looked up at him with love and slowly closed the gap between them and they shared an extremely passionate kiss. Hermione broke the kiss and with a wicked smile she led Draco to her bedroom…
A/N: This story is going way better than I thought it would. Thanks to everyone who reads it and likes it and a special thanks to those who actually review! It is those people who keep me going. Oh and everyone else in their own small way:)