Friday December 24, 1999

The crackling logs in the fireplace weren't enough to fight off the chill Draco Malfoy felt as he sat alone in the library of Malfoy Manor on Christmas Eve.

After completing his 8th year, he'd returned to find the manor showed signs of having been searched by the Ministry. He wasn't surprised. Nor was he surprised to find quite a few items had been seized. His father would have been outraged to find some of the Malfoy family heirlooms missing, but Draco couldn't find it in himself to care.

He'd had a month until his mother's one year Azkaban sentence would come to an end, so he'd set about readying the manor for her return to keep himself busy.

When Narcissa Malfoy had come home, she hadn't been the same. Draco imagined a year in Azkaban would do that to anyone and he was once again grateful to McGonagall for the chance she had provided him to return to Hogwarts instead of living alone on house arrest in the Manor. The last six months had felt enough like house arrest as it was. Sure, he had the freedom to go wherever he liked, but no matter where he went, he still felt as if he was being judged for his part in the war.

His mother hadn't been much company, either. After the death of her sister, the life sentence given to her husband, and her own year in Azkaban, she seemed a shell of her former self and Draco found himself feeling alone even with someone else in the house.

He hadn't even bothered to decorate for Christmas. He wasn't sure why he should bother when there wasn't really anyone to share it with.

The thought brought back memories of Christmas the year prior, spent in the company of Hermione Granger of all people. She'd been one of the few who could be counted on to still treat him like a person after everything he'd done. He hadn't seen her since their graduation, but he'd read in the Daily Prophet that she'd been hired by the Ministry's Department of Magical Law Enforcement. It seemed she and Weasley were also an item now if Witch Weekly's gossip were to be believed. He was happy for her, really he was.

He'd thought about writing to her, but he wasn't sure what he'd say.

Dear Granger,

Remember how you said no one should be alone on Christmas? Well, here I am, alone on Christmas….

No. That would never do. He wasn't some charity case for her to champion like she had done with the house elves. Yes, he knew about S.P.E.W….he'd overheard her telling Potter and Weasley all about it in the library one day in third year.

He frowned and stood, stretching to relieve the ache in his muscles caused by sitting in the same chair for so long and crossed over to a nearby bookcase. It didn't take long for him to find what he was looking for, the only muggle book in the entire library: L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

It was a newer copy than what Granger had received for Christmas the year prior, though he'd bought them both at the same time. It had taken him three different days of venturing out into muggle London to find one that looked like the one she had lost, with McGonagall's permission to leave the castle for 'holiday shopping' as he had told her when he asked.

The idea had come to him the same night the cauldron explosion had occurred. He'd gone to McGonagall for permission to leave the Hogwarts grounds first thing the next morning. A visit to Gringotts to convert galleons to muggle currency had been easy enough. Finding the book had been another story, entirely. Tuesday had passed with no luck. He'd found books with the same title, but never the same cover before it was time to return to the castle for the evening. Wednesday had been the same. Thursday, which had been Christmas Eve, had been his last chance. He was ready to abandon the idea entirely when he'd finally found it in a used bookstore. He'd bought the other copy for himself on a whim, curious to know what a muggle author's take on a wizard would be.

He'd returned to Hogwarts that night, both copies safely shrunk down and stowed away in a pocket. It wasn't until later that he realized something rather peculiar: he'd felt free moving about muggle London, more so than he did Diagon Alley these days, because in the muggle world, he'd been anonymous. No one there knew his sins. There were no whispers to follow him, no looks of disdain…

The owner of the bookstore had wrapped her copy for him so all he'd had to do was slip it under the tree that night after she'd gone to bed.

He wasn't sure why he'd decided to do it….Perhaps after years of being the reason for her tears, he'd wanted to give her a reason to smile even if she didn't know it was from him. He'd been sure she wouldn't have accepted it if she'd known who it was from, so he denied it when she asked. Her invitation to go down to breakfast with her after had been quite unexpected, but still, he'd never told her and he doubted he ever would. Let her think whatever she wanted.

As he settled into the chair once more and opened the book to the first page, he decided something had to change. He couldn't fathom spending the rest of his life living in this solitude, not when it was in his power to go out and do something about it.

Monday, December 18, 2000

With one week remaining until Christmas, Hermione Granger found herself running late to work. The holidays were always a busy time for the Improper Use of Magic Office where she worked and she'd been up quite late the night before after being called in for a family dispute that involved some rather...creative spellwork….on the part of a woman who had found her husband cheating with her sister at a family Christmas party.

It probably wouldn't be the last such incident she got called to this week. Between family feuds, accidental magic wrought by large groups of magical children all in the same house, and the general stress of the holidays, it had been the busiest week the previous year and after a full year and a half working for the Ministry, she could say with certainty that there was nothing quite like the holidays to bring out the best, and worst, in people.

Running a few minutes behind schedule wouldn't be the end of the world on most days, but on this particular Monday morning, Minister Shacklebolt had scheduled a press conference directly related to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement beginning promptly at 8am. It was 7:50 when Hermione stepped out of the floo and into the atrium. Ten minutes early would not be considered late to most people, but to her, if she wasn't in her seat fifteen minutes prior to start time, she was late.

The doors of the lift nearest to her were beginning to slide shut as she hurried forward, calling out "Hold the lift, please!"

To her great relief, she saw the flick of a wand from within and the doors sprang apart just as she reached them.

"Thank you!" she said to the other occupant as she entered the lift and looked down at her hands to make sure she hadn't dropped any of the rolls of parchment she'd been carrying with her.

"Morning, Granger," came the reply and her eyes snapped up to meet the grey eyes of Draco Malfoy who stood with his back against one wall of the lift looking mildly amused by her entrance. "Running late?"

"Malfoy!" she said in a surprised squeak. "Goodness, I haven't seen you in…" she paused, trying to think when the last time she had seen him was.

"A year and a half, give or take," he supplied.

Had it really been that long? Yes, Hermione supposed it had been now that she thought back on it.

"I don't go out much," he offered by way of explanation, pausing when the lift doors opened to allow entrance to two more ministry employees on another level. "...for obvious reasons," Draco added when the two both gave him looks of disdain upon realizing who they were sharing a lift with.

Hermione frowned. She suddenly felt very guilty that she hadn't bothered to keep in touch after graduation. There had always been something going on in her life to keep her busy, but surely she could have made the time to write or maybe to meet for coffee and catch up. He'd always been perfectly decent to her the second half of their 8th year and she'd even considered him to be a friend by the end of it.

"Well, it's good to see you," she said sincerely. "How have you been? And what are you doing here?"

The lift reached the floor that housed the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the doors slid open. The other two occupants quickly made their exit and Draco paused to allow her out ahead of him. "Potter didn't tell you?" he questioned as he followed her out.

"Tell me what?"

"You'll see. See you around, Granger."

He stepped away from her and was quickly swallowed by the crowd that had gathered for the press conference before she could ask anything else.

She shook her head and glanced at a clock. 7:55. She'd better find a seat.

Hermione managed to locate Harry sitting with a group of other Aurors within a few moments. Ron wasn't among them. Though he had entered into the Auror's training program at the same time as Harry, Ron had decided that perhaps he wasn't quite cut out for that line of work after all and gone to help George run Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. He'd needed all the help he could get after they'd opened a second location in Hogsmeade and both shops were quite successful.

There was an empty seat beside Harry which Hermione dropped into rather unceremoniously.

"Running late?" Harry asked, looking amused by her obviously slightly frazzled state.

"Late night," she replied. "Harry, you'll never guess who I-"

But at that moment, the crowd gathered fell silent as Kingsley entered and approached the podium set on a raised dais at the front.

Hermione knew from the prior year that this end of year press conference would be an introduction of the new Aurors who had passed that year's training program and then any announcements related to policy changes taking effect in the new year. The identities of the auror candidates were kept quiet while they were in the training academy as many didn't pass and only the top few of each year's class were selected. The rest typically went on to work other jobs at the ministry more suited to their skills.

While she hadn't heard how many had managed to pass this year, she knew that her friend Neville Longbottom would be among them thanks to a slip of the tongue on Hannah Abbott's part when she'd seen the other girl in Diagon Alley at the end of the prior week.

At the front, Minister Shacklebolt had finished is opening remarks and stepped out from behind the podium. "So without further adieu, I'd like to present our newest Aurors: Catriona Faust..."

A petite brunette witch joined him at the front.

"Jimmy Keddle…."

A tall and lanky young wizard joined Catriona.

"Neville Longbottom…."

Harry and Hermione clapped with everyone else.

"Draco Malfoy…"

There was collective intake of breath, but if Minister Shacklebolt noticed, he didn't let on that he did. A few people clapped politely as Draco joined the first three, face as impassive as ever.

Nearby, there was a flash of a camera and Hermione looked to see Rita Skeeter, that horrid woman, was whispering rapidly while her signature acid green quill darted across the parchment. She made a mental note to pay a visit to her later.

By the time Hermione looked back to the front, the final Auror, Andrew Warrington, was also at the front.

There was polite applause as reporters from the Daily Prophet, Witch Weekly, and even the Quibbler, took photos of the group before they exited and Minister Shacklebolt began announcing the changes being instituted beginning with the New Year. It was all fairly standard stuff, new regulations for potions that had been invented and approved over the course of the last year, that kind of thing. Hermione was paying less attention than she normally would have, mind wandering to the other recent developments, until Harry nudged her rather hard in the side and she suddenly realized half the audience were craning their necks to look at her expectantly. Her eyes flew to Minister Shacklebolt who was motioning for her to join him at the front and she mentally cursed herself for not paying better attention. It wasn't like her.

"As I was saying," Kingsley continued in his deep reassuring voice after she had taken her place at his side, eyes wide in bewilderment as she looked out at the crowd. "The new sub-division of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement will be working closely with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, however, their primary purpose will be advocating for the rights of all magical creatures. They will be reviewing antiquated laws and developing new ones to ensure fair treatment for all. After much careful consideration, we have decided that DMLE employee Hermione Granger is best suited to head this project and she will begin her new position immediately. That is, if she's willing to accept the position."

"Of course," was all Hermione managed to get out in a surprised squeak before anything further was drowned out by applause from the audience and the flashes of the cameras.

Behind all of them, propped against the back wall, she could make out a familiar blond wizard smirking at her obvious discomfort of being put in the spotlight.

After it was all over, Hermione looked at Harry accusingly as the room emptied out. "You knew," she said.

"I swear I didn't," he said. "I knew they were talking about the new subdivision but I had no idea it had officially been established-"

"Not that," Hermione said, waving her hand dismissively. "Malfoy." And before he could play dumb or ask what she was talking about, she went on, "I saw him in the lift this morning and he said he was surprised you hadn't told me something. You knew," she repeated. "And you didn't tell me."

"I know, Hermione, and I'm sorry, I should have told you, but I promise he's different now. I've talked to him," Harry said, misreading the reason Hermione had reacted the way she had. "He's changed a lot since then or I wouldn't have agreed to be his partner."

"His partner?" Hermione repeated, more confused now than before. "I thought Corbyn was your partner."

Harry glanced around, then jerked his head as a signal for Hermione to follow him, which she did, looking bemused. Only when they were in Harry's office with the door closed and Muffliato cast did he speak again.

"Corbyn is partnered with Wilkins now," Harry explained, nodding toward the desk that had been Corbyn's but now sat empty, all of his clutter cleared away. "Shacklebolt had to do a bit of...rearranging…" he grimaced, "to accommodate the new recruits this time around. You see, none of the Aurors who could have taken on a partner wanted anything to do with Malfoy. He was the top of the class this year, Hermione, but the rest of them refused to partner with him. Said the only reason he'd done so well was because he knew all about the Dark Arts first hand," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "So it was either I take him on as partner or he'd have been passed over completely even though he worked hard to earn his place here. I told Kingsley what I wanted to do and he made it happen."

"But that's just….that's just prejudice, that's what it is," Hermione said, quietly fuming. "And they should all be ashamed of themselves."

Harry nodded slightly and perched himself on the edge of his desk. "I know, but I wasn't going to let it happen if I could do something about it. Maybe once he's proven himself to be a capable Auror, they'll start to come around."

Hermione smiled slightly. "You're a good man, Harry Potter."

"So Ginny tells me."

Friday, December 22

When Hermione entered her new office on the last work day before Christmas, she found something unexpected on her desk: a planner with a dragon-hide cover and a new set of quills.

The note she found beside them read:

For writing down all of your important meetings. Congratulations on the promotion.

Happy Christmas.

There was no signature.

When Hermione saw Harry at lunch later that day, she asked him about it. He was one of the few who knew she was moving into her new office that day.

"Not me," he said, after swallowing a bite of the sandwich he'd ordered at their favorite lunch break cafe. "You won't get your Christmas present from me until Christmas Day. You are still coming to the Burrow with Ron, right?"

She assured him she was.

That night when Ron took her to dinner to celebrate her promotion, she asked him about it as well.

"Sorry, 'Mione," he said around a bite of pasta. "Not me. Maybe Kingsley left it for you?"

Yes, that would make sense, Hermione thought, but there was something about the writing that had seemed familiar.

When they returned home to the flat they shared that night, Hermione went to her bookcase and pulled out the copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz she'd received two years before, opened the cover and retrieved the note she had found with it to compare to the one found on her desk that morning.

A perfect match.

"Hey, Ron," she called to him where he sat in the next room tinkering with a new Weasley Wizard's Wheezes product, "can I borrow Pig?"

"Yeah, sure, you know you can use him whenever you need to."

"Thanks!"

She fetched parchment and a quill and penned a short note addressed to one Draco Malfoy thanking him for the gift she'd received that morning and let Pig out through the kitchen window before she settled in to a chair with a new book she'd been meaning to read for ages.

An hour later, there was a tap at the window and she stood to let the tiny owl flutter back inside. He held his leg out, looking proud to have completed his task and returned with a reply. After removing the note from his leg and giving him a treat, she unrolled the piece of parchment to see a short two sentence reply:

I have no idea what you're talking about, Granger. Have a Happy Christmas.

-D. Malfoy

It, too, was a perfect match for the writing on the other two notes and she rolled her eyes, smiling slightly to herself as she tucked it alongside the other two inside the book as proof that somewhere deep down, Draco Malfoy did have a heart, even if he wasn't ready to admit it just yet.

Across town in the flat he'd purchased for himself after he'd made the decision to rid himself of Malfoy Manor and all of the horrid memories associated with the place, Draco Malfoy was doing much the same as Hermione, tucking the note of thanks he'd received from her inside the cover of his own copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

A/N: Decided to cut here and have two Christmases in both Part 2 and Part 3 rather than my original plan. I'm very thankful for the response I've received on this story so far and I hope you all enjoy this part as much as the first. Yes, this is a Dramione story. Yes, she's currently with Ron...but there's still two more years to cover, so don't worry too much about that.

It's Christmas Eve where I am, so Merry Christmas to you all! I really hope to have the third installment and conclusion up by this weekend. I was shooting for having it done by Christmas Day but I keep having new ideas and I'm running out of time to get it all written and edited since I've got quite a bit of Christmas celebrations of my own to attend tonight and tomorrow.

Remember, reviews, follows, and favorites are the best Christmas gift you can give an author! -J