On the morning Christmas break began, Hermione had an early breakfast with her friends. Even though her plans were already made, it didn't stop her friends from trying to convince her to join them as they went to The Burrow over the festive period. However, Hermione held firm and insisted on staying at Hogwarts for the holidays.
"But you're going to get so lonely," Ron pointed out with a pout as they gathered in the entrance hall to say a final goodbye.
"It's not like I'll be the only person in the entire school," Hermione pointed out.
"But it'll still not be the same without your friends," Ron argued.
"It won't be," Hermione agreed. "But it's how I want to spend my holidays." Reaching down for the large Christmas bag where she'd stored her presents, she handed it over to Harry. "All the presents and cards are in the bag. It's reinforced with magic, so it won't split."
"Thanks," Harry said, placing the large bag down beside him as he handed a smaller bag over to Hermione. "Here's your present. Merry Christmas, Hermione."
Exchanging Merry Christmases, Hermione received her presents from Ron, Ginny and Luna as well. Giving her friends a final wave, she watched as the two couples headed out of the castle and down towards the waiting carriages that would take them down to Hogsmeade. Gathering her Christmas bags she turned to head back up to the head dorms when she spotted Draco exchanging presents with his friends. Leaving her boyfriend to say his goodbyes, she began to climb the stairs.
When she returned to the head dorms, Hermione placed the gift bags under the tree in the corner of the room. She then settled down to wait for her boyfriend's return. Not that she had to wait very long as after a couple of minutes, Draco entered the room carrying an array of gift bags from his friends.
"It looks like we're finally alone and we can finally start to enjoy our holidays," Hermione remarked.
"Not just yet," Draco said, gesturing to the two gift bags that were sitting on the coffee table. "I have to drop these presents off with Severus. He said he would drop into the manor and give them to my parents. I didn't want to send them by owl in case they broke."
"How are your parents taking you staying at school?" Hermione asked.
Her own parents had been talking about going to visit her mother's cousin in South Africa for years, so while they'd been disappointed by Hermione's choice to stay at school, they'd used the opportunity to do something they'd been meaning to do for ages. However, Draco hadn't really mentioned how his parents had taken the news that he wanted to stay at school.
"Mother was disappointed at first, but then father persuaded her it was a chance for them to get away for the holidays, just the two of them," Draco replied.
"A romantic getaway," Hermione chuckled.
"Something like that," Draco said with a grimace. He was just hoping that his parents remembered to be careful and they didn't end up with a late life surprise. "According to the letter Mother sent with my presents the other day, they're off to the cabin in Switzerland."
"Your family have a cabin in Switzerland?" Hermione questioned in surprise. She certainly wasn't surprised by the fact Draco's family had a place abroad, but she was surprised it was just a cabin and not some luxury chalet.
"We have houses all over the world," Draco replied with a shrug.
"So is the place in Switzerland, a house or a cabin?" Hermione asked.
"We call it a cabin because it's the smallest of our properties," Draco said. "But I guess to most people it's more like a house."
"How many bedrooms?" Hermione asked.
"Four, I think," Draco replied.
"Yeah, because four bedrooms is a cabin," Hermione laughed.
"It is when you've grown up at Malfoy Manor," Draco answered with a shrug. "Even Hogwarts doesn't seem that big to me."
"Okay, okay, I get it, you're rich," Hermione said with a roll of her eyes.
"Rich is a bit of an understatement," Draco replied with a smirk.
"Stop bragging and go and deliver your parcels," Hermione said with a laugh.
Promising not to be too long, Draco picked up the parcels and headed down to the dungeons to give them to the Potions Professor, who also happened to be his godfather, so he could pass them on to Draco's parents. Within ten minutes he was back and settled down on the sofa next to Hermione.
"So what do you fancy doing over the holidays?" he asked.
"I don't really mind," Hermione replied with a slight shrug. "But at least we know we don't have to be too secretive. I was thinking we could tell our friends about us the day they get back from their holidays. We can start the New Year as we mean to go on – together."
"I'll drink to that," Draco said with a smirk as he got to his feet. "Do you want a drink?"
"Isn't it too early for drinking?" Hermione questioned with an arched eyebrow.
"I wasn't talking about alcohol," Draco said. "But if you would rather, we could head down to Hogsmeade."
"Maybe another day, today I just fancy lounging around," Hermione replied. "I'm nearly finished my book."
"You would rather read than spend time with me?" Draco asked with a pout, pausing on his way towards the small kitchen alcove.
"It's a very good book," Hermione teased with a grin.
"I'm more interesting than a book," Draco insisted, returning to the sofa rather than getting himself a drink.
"Prove it," Hermione purred, wrapping her arms around Draco and pulling him towards her.
Falling back onto the sofa together, the couple spent the rest of the morning enjoying each other's company, before spending the rest of the day making plans for their first festive season as a couple.
With the excitement of returning home for the holidays, the bag of presents Hermione had sent was just left beside the large Christmas tree in the front room of The Burrow. Since Molly had invited Luna and her father for Christmas dinner, Ron's girlfriend had elected to leave her present from Hermione at The Burrow so she could open it with the others on Christmas Day. It wasn't until after they'd ate that Ginny got her eye on the bag and decided to unpack the presents and place them under the tree.
"So what did you get Hermione in the end?" Ron asked his sister when she announced her intentions to unpack the bag of presents.
"One of those posh charm bracelets from the new jewellery shop in Hogsmeade," Ginny replied.
"You mean the ones with the enchanted charms which cost a small fortune?" Ron questioned.
"That's the ones," Ginny said with a nod. "Of course it took almost all of my money, so other people's presents are a bit lacking."
"You've gone over the top if you ask me," Ron snorted. "Hermione won't care how much we've spent on her."
"I can't give her something cheap after seeing the expensive gifts she's bought for us," Ginny retorted as she turned back to the bag of presents.
Reaching into the bag, Ginny pulled out the first present and frowned when she saw it was a soft parcel addressed to Molly. Squeezing the parcel, which felt like clothes of some kind, Ginny recalled the expensive bottle of perfume she'd seen in Hermione's room. Placing the present to one side, she dove back into the bag and pulled out another soft parcel, this time addressed to Arthur.
"Is there a problem?" Harry asked as Ginny poked and prodded at the two presents.
"This isn't right," Ginny said. "This isn't perfume and fire-whisky."
"Maybe the perfume and fire-whisky weren't for Mum and Dad," Ron suggested.
"Who else would they be for?" Ginny asked. "The perfume is one aimed at older witches, and Hermione wouldn't buy fire-whisky for anyone other than Dad."
"I'm not even sure she would buy it for him," Harry admitted.
"So who else would it be for?" Ginny questioned.
"I don't know, why don't you put the rest of the presents under the tree and see if you can find them," Ron suggested.
Still not quite sure what the two presents for her parents were, Ginny pulled the next present from the bag. It was for Luna, and it was a larger, squarer, box than the one she'd seen the necklace nestled in. Next came gifts for Fred and George – two small square boxes that sloshed when Ginny gave them a small shake.
"This is all wrong," Ginny said with a shake of her head. "These are not giant boxes of sweets. They sound like bottles of liquid."
"Maybe the presents weren't even Hermione's," Harry suggested. "Are you sure you were in the right room, and weren't snooping around Malfoy's room?"
"Of course I wasn't," Ginny tutted. "I was in Hermione's room. I just don't know what she's done with the presents I saw. So far, none of these match what I saw."
"Maybe the rest will," Ron said with an unconcerned shrug. Unlike Ginny, he wasn't worried about what had happened to the presents she'd seen in Hermione's room as he knew that whatever Hermione had gotten them would be perfect.
Hoping that Ron was right, Ginny delved back into the bag, but she was quickly disappointed. The gift for Harry was a medium sized box with something soft on the top, not the large box containing the expensive shirt she'd seen. Ron's gift was also something hard with something soft on top. And then finally her present was a small box, more like the one she'd seen the necklace in rather than the fancy box containing a posh jumper.
"Well this is just great," Ginny hissed, all but throwing her gift under the tree. "I've just gone and spent a fortune on Hermione, and it looks like I've got a poxy necklace from her."
"I thought you said the necklace was lovely," Harry said with a frown, not too impressed with his girlfriend's attitude.
"Yeah, you said it looked expensive," Ron added.
"It did," Ginny conceded. "And it was stunning. But what's happened to my jumper? It's not here, so who has she given it to?"
"Maybe it wasn't a present," Harry suggested. "Maybe she was treating herself."
"Then why was it in a bag hidden beside her wardrobe?" Ginny questioned. "Damn, I wish she was here so I could ask her."
"And what, admit you've been snooping around the head dorms?" Ron questioned with a chuckle. "That'll go down well. You know how private she is. Even Harry and I haven't seen her bedroom."
"Just leave it Ginny," Harry advised. "There's been crossed wires somewhere along the line. Just be grateful for what you've got."
"But what about all the money I spent on Hermione?" Ginny asked with a pout. "I wouldn't have done that if I didn't think she was buying me a really expensive jumper."
"Maybe this will teach you a lesson," Ron said as he got to his feet. "Don't poke your nose in where it doesn't belong. Now I'm going to go and see if Mum will make some hot chocolate, do either of you want one?"
Getting to his feet, Harry followed Ron into the kitchen, leaving Ginny staring moodily at the Christmas tree. No matter how hard she tried, all she could think about was the presents she'd seen in Hermione's room. What had happened to them, and if they weren't for them, who were they for?
