Pairing: Hermione/Regulus

Prompt: I got you for Secret Santa so I got you an expensive and sentimental gift that you've always wanted, hoping you'll never find out it was from me—and that I've been in love with you for 1234567 years

Regulus scrolled down the screen, desperation visible in his eyes, looking for the one thing he knew Hermione wanted. He muttered expletives under his breath when he realized it wasn't available, shoving the laptop away and leaning back. He ran his hand over his face, scowling up at the ceiling, and tugged on his black hair.

"God, Reggie, you know you can just buy her something else," Rabastan said. rolling over onto his back on the bed and looking at Regulus upside-down from his spot on the bed. "She's not going to kill you if you don't find the perfect gift for her."

"You don't understand, Rab!" Regulus kicked the table and swivelled around in his revolving chair, his lips turned down into a frown. "I want her to be happy — and I know she'll be positively delighted if she gets this."

"Reggie," Rabastan said, still looking at him upside-down. "You do know that she won't realize you're the one who's giving the gift to her, right? It's a Secret Santa program. That means unless you want to tell her, it's going to be a secret."

Regulus sighed as he leaned backwards, almost upsetting the chair and falling off. He grunted as he righted himself and said, "I don't want her to know I sent it to her — or will be sending it to her — but I want to see the look on her face when she opens it up and finds the one thing she's always wanted… How cool would that be?"

"You're a hopeless romantic, Reg," Rabastan said with a soft chuckle. "Why don't you give this perfect present to her yourself? That way, she'll—"

"She'll know I'm in love with her! Hell no, Rab! I don't want her to find out I've been in love with her for so long! I can't do that! What if she doesn't return my feelings? That would be so embarrassing! And besides, we're friends — and colleagues. I can't ruin anything between us by doing a James."

Rabastan snickered at Regulus' explanation and nodded, understanding passing over his face. James, who was Regulus' brother's best friend, had had a crush on a fellow coworker, and he'd made the mistake of revealing his feelings to her. To his utter mortification, she had not only been married but also preferred women.

"Besides, I don't think I'm her type," Regulus muttered, kicking the table's leg again. It rattled and almost gave out on him, and he scowled as he straightened everything up.

"Let me check something," Rabastan said, rolling over and over until he reached the end of his bed. He landed on the hardwood floor in a superhero landing and grinned over at Regulus, who shook his head in amusement. He searched for something under his bed and whistled loudly. "Yup, still have it here! Let's see if she likes you or not."

"Rab… Is that a relationship magazine?" Regulus didn't know why he sounded so surprised; it wasn't as if he hadn't seen his best friend do unusual things. They were childhood friends and now, they were roommates.

"Oh, shut up," Rabastan muttered, flicking through the pages quickly. "Yes, here it is! How to tell if a woman is into you! Alrighty, Reg, let's begin!"

Regulus chuckled at Rabastan's enthusiasm but nodded patiently. "I'm listening."

"Does she smile at you? Of course, she does! Check! Does she shoot short glances your way and then look away when you look at her? Yes," Rabastan said, his eyes poring over the list. "I've seen her do that so many times… Okay, prolonged eye contact, Reggie? Does she do that?"

"Does it count if I'm doing it too?"

"Sure, you both make googly eyes at each other all the time. Runs her fingers through her hair — yes. Licks her lips? I don't know this one," Rabastan said, looking up at Regulus, who sat there gawping at him. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"How do you know she runs her fingers through her hair?" Regulus demanded.

"She only does it when you're around — don't look at me like that, mate! It's impossible not to notice when she runs her fingers through that hair of hers! It's like a wild animal on top of her head."

"It's cute, okay? Don't insult her hair," Regulus muttered, crossing his arms over his chest defensively, and Rabastan made smooching sounds like a preteen boy. "You're ridiculous, Rab."

"And you're in love," Rabastan singsonged, batting his eyelashes at him cheekily. Regulus was ready to throw a pillow at him. "Hey, no violence! Okay, next is tilting her head towards you. Yeah, she does that. Lightly touches your arm or shoulder without any reason?"

Regulus' cheeks reddened as he thought of the times Hermione Granger had let her hand graze his, or when she had laughed and placed her hand on his arm to steady herself. "Yes," he whispered, and Rabastan smirked.

"Caressing an object in her hands? Woah, now that's dirty!" Rabastan burst into guffaws as Regulus' face turned beet-red. "She does that too? Wow, maybe I should keep an eye on her."

"She doesn't really caress it… It's more of a…"

"A handjob?" Rabastan prompted hopefully, and Regulus finally threw the pillow at his face. "Okay, let's move on before you resort to more violence… Maintains regular contact? Check. Seems fidgety? Asks a lot of questions? It's Granger — of course, she does! Makes plans with you? Uh-huh... Voice changes? Blushes? Is she indecisive? Yes, yes, and yes. Congratulations, mate, you two are in love."

Regulus stared at him for a few moments before shaking his head. "I don't believe that magazine. It's just stupid. I'll just give her the gift via Secret Santa."

"Suit yourself," Rabastan said, shrugging as he flicked through the pages and found a picture of a beautiful woman. "Oh, yeah, now this is more like it."

"Merry Christmas, Reggie," Hermione said, smiling as she stood up on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck, and he mentally shrieked in delight at the feeling. She was so warm and soft and pliable against him, and he couldn't help but bury his face in her hair and inhale her scent subtly, trying not to be creepy about it.

"Merry Christmas, Hermione," he murmured in her hair, closing his eyes for a few seconds to savour the moment with her. He knew they wouldn't have a lot of time to themselves during the Christmas party as their other coworkers would inadvertently hound her for attention. He pulled back and saw the gift-wrapped box in her hands. "What's this?"

"Oh, this isn't for you," she teased, her eyes twinkling mischievously up at him. She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, suddenly reminding Regulus of the article Rabastan had read to him. "This is the Secret Santa gift I'm giving to someone. Where's your gift?"

"Already under the tree." His heart began to dance in triumph as she took his hand in hers and tugged him towards the office boardroom where the Christmas tree awaited them. Oh, how he loved it when she held his hand in hers.

When Hermione saw the tree, which was decorated with tiny fairy lights, berry stems and beautiful ornaments, she gasped and whispered, "Wow, that looks so pretty!"

"You look prettier," Regulus blurted out, his cheeks tingeing pink at his sudden exclamation.

"Oh, thank you, Regulus! You're so sweet," she said, smiling up at him shyly, and Regulus let out a sigh of relief that she didn't at least feel awkward due to his sudden complement.

Just then, the boardroom began to fill up with their colleagues, and soon, Regulus and Hermione were in conversations with other people; but despite that, they continued to gravitate towards each other, occasionally touching the other's hand or shoulder to reaffirm their presence.

After lunch, it was time for the main event: the Secret Santa gifts exchange. Regulus sat down on a chair and squirmed as Kingsley Shacklebolt, the head of their office, began to distribute the packages with a wide grin on his face. Hermione sat beside Regulus, her legs primly tucked under her chair. She smiled at him and said excitedly, "I can't wait to see what I get! What do you think you'll get, Reggie?"

"I'm not sure," he murmured, gazing at her and smiling at the enthusiastic look on her face. "Hopefully something good — and not like last year's present."

"You got that phone conversation privacy mask, right?" Hermione giggled as she remembered the look on Regulus' face when he had opened his present. He had politely thanked the room at large, and Hermione knew he had passed on the mask to Sirius. The mask was supposed to protect speech privacy in public spaces, but Sirius had put it to good use by pretending he had an uncontrollable urge to bite people.

Regulus grimaced at the memory and nodded. "Yes, hopefully this time, I'll get something nice… Sweets? Or a nice sweater or something practical."

Just then, Kingsley walked over and handed Hermione and Regulus a box each and said, "Merry Christmas, you two! Enjoy your presents!"

"Thanks, Kingsley," Hermione said, smiling up at him. She began to open her present, and Regulus barely stopped himself from jumping up and running out the door in terror. When she had finally unwrapped it, she tugged the cover off and let out a soft gasp.

"What is it?" Regulus asked, trying to keep his tone light. "What did you get?"

"Oh, my God," she whispered as she pulled out a pair of white earrings from the small box. "W-what—how—"

"What's wrong?" He glanced at the closed window and mentally calculated the time it would take for him to throw himself out of it, wondering what the odds were of him surviving the fall.

"Reggie… These are exactly like my grandmother's earrings… Remember I told you she had to sell these to cover her debts before she died? She loved her earrings so much — her father gave them to her at her wedding..." Hermione trailed off as she stared at the carved initials behind the dangling pearls with stunned disbelief. "Wait a minute! Those are my grandmother's initials! But… how would…"

She looked up at the others laughing and showing each other what they had received, and then, she turned towards him, a peculiar look on her face. "Regulus Black… Tell me the truth. Were you my Secret Santa?"

Well, there goes my plan of jumping out the window. Regulus cleared his throat and asked in a high-pitched tone, "Why would you think that?"

"First of all, no one in the office knows me this well to buy me these custom-made earrings. Secondly, your voice got really high just now. Then, you're not looking at me — and you only do that when you're nervous," she listed off calmly, her eyes trained on his face like a hawk. She lowered her tone. "Reggie… Tell me the truth, please."

He closed his eyes for a few moments to compose himself, trying not to freak out. "Yes, I… am your Secret Santa."

"Dramatic much?" she teased. "But seriously, Reggie, how did you even find these? These must have cost you a fortune!"

Regulus scratched the back of his neck nervously and said, "If you like the gift, then that's enough for me."

"Are you kidding? Like? I love these!" Hermione cried, throwing her arms around his neck. Suddenly, she burst into tears. "I can't believe you managed to find my grandmother's own earrings! No one's ever done something so sentimental for me before! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Regulus sighed with relief as he wound his arms around her waist and shoulders. "No problem, Hermione. I'm glad you like it."

Hermione sniffled as she pulled back and cupped his face. "May I kiss you, Reggie? If it's not a problem, that is…"

"P-problem? Yes! I mean, n-no! No problem... I have… yes," Regulus stammered and groaned loudly. In his nervousness, he blurted out, "Please, shut up!" Hermione stared at him with amusement, and he groaned again. "Please, shut me up before I say something weird!"

"You are weird," she admitted, but the smile on her face showed him exactly how she felt about his strange behaviour. "I like it."

His shoulders relaxed the moment she closed her eyes and leaned in, pressing her lips to his sweetly, and he reached up to trail his hand into her long curls. His mental screams of 'She's kissing me!' sounded a lot like Rabastan when he came across chocolate, and he thought to himself, 'I'm an idiot. Why am I even thinking about Rab when the woman of my dreams is kissing me?'

When she pulled away from him, he almost cried out in protest but reminded himself not to act clingy and needy. No need to scare her off so soon. Her eyes were like a wonderland, a place he could easily get lost in, and her lips glistened, beckoning him closer. He whispered, "Wow, that was… Wow."

Hermione smiled and murmured, "I've wanted to do that for so long…"

"You did?" he squeaked and quickly cleared his throat, his cheeks red with embarrassment. "I mean… You did?"

"Mmhm, yes, ever since you bumped into me, fell flat on your back, and spilled coffee on yourself," she said with a grin.

"Hey, you bumped into me! I thought we agreed on that," he grumbled, but his heart hammered against his ribs at the realization that she had wanted to kiss him. Him. "But… really? You wanted to kiss me?"

"So much," she admitted sheepishly. "I did try to show you that I was interested in you, but apparently, I didn't do a very good job at that — or you weren't interested in—"

"I was! I'm just an idiot!" he exclaimed loudly, and the others turned to look at him with amused looks on their faces. Her radiant smile caused Regulus' heartbeat to rise to a crescendo, and he finally thought of something witty to say. He whispered, "I'm just blind as a bat, but… I'm batty about you. So, before I lose my courage, would you like to go out with me sometime?"

Hermione giggled and nodded. "That was kind of sweet… And yes, I'd love to. I think it's about time."

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