Disclaimer; I own nothing!

A/N Thank you for everyone who has stuck with me during this long period of writer's block. I know this chapter is short but I needed to get it out of the way to get back to the story. Next chapter will be back at Hogwarts and more fun and mischief! Happy reading and don't forget to review!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was soon upon them and neither Hermione nor Draco had mentioned the whole Pansy marriage thing to each other. They gathered around the tree that night and opened one gift a piece as was tradition in the Granger household. Hermione gave Draco a green cashmere sweater embedded with silvery specks. And Draco picked out a gold locket for her with the words 'Deal' engraved on the back. She looked at the engraving and giggled before hugging him tightly.

"Thank you." she said. "And thank you mum and dad for the lovely handbag and boots." Mr. and Mrs. Granger smiled and nodded at their daughter. At about ten pm Hermione's parents retired for the evening.

"See you upstairs young lady." her father said kissing her on the forehead.

"But daddy…" she said blushing, "I always sleep downstairs on Christmas Eve."

"But you have company dear, and really you are getting a bit old for that aren't you?" he replied.

"No, we can both sleep down here. Please?" she said knowing her father could not resist her.

"I don't think its appropriate." he said sternly.

"But daddy…you can trust us." she said in her nicest voice.

"Fine. You sleep on the love seat and Mr. Malfoy can sleep on the couch. I expect to find you that way in the morning." he told her.

"Thanks dad." Hermione said in a high pitched voice that reminded Draco of Pansy. "I'll go get our blankets and pillows." Hermione raced up the steps and came back down in a flash with two blankets and two pillows.

"Wanna watch TV for a while?" she asked.

"Not really." Draco said. "I'd rather watch you." he smirked.

"Not gonna happen." Hermione replied.

"TV's fine then."

They turned on a movie that Draco had never seen. Titanic. The main girl in it was in an arranged engagement but found love with someone else.

"That's it!" Draco shouted.

"What's it?" Hermione asked curiously.

"That's how I get out of this whole Pansy thing without involving the ministry."

"What are you talking about Draco?" she asked again.

"We find Pansy another boyfriend, someone who likes her and would treat her like she wants."

"And how are we going to do that?" she asked.

"I haven't figured that out just yet, but I will work on it." he replied. "Let's just enjoy tonight and figure that out when we return to school." She laid her head on his shoulder and looked into his eyes. The twinkling lights from the tree reflected in his indigo pools.

"Merry Christmas Hermione." he said before brushing his lips softly against hers.

"Merry Christmas Draco." she replied into his kiss.

Hermione's family had a large feast on Christmas day. Her two spinster aunts on her mum's side came over along with her father's brother, his wife and their two kids. Hermione had told him to keep quiet about Hogwart's and magic and such. Most of the family believed she went to a fancy boarding school.

"Your boyfriend is so cute." Hermione's aunt Jean told her. "If I was 20 years younger…" her mouth went into a sinister smile.

"You would what?" her other Aunt Michelle said. Aunt Jean just snickered after downing another glass of wine.

Hermione laughed it all off. Her two aunts always got drunk and ended up leaving in an argument halfway through the evening. Hermione opened the rest of her presents and Draco was in awe of all the things her parents had bought her. They had taken the time to pick out a gold wristwatch for him although he had a sneaking suspicion that it had been meant for Ron. He thanked them graciously and put it on his wrist. After a day of eating and opening gifts both Draco and Hermione decided to go for a walk in the snow. Fat flakes were falling slowly from the sky. Hermione was bundled up in her warmest coat, scarf and mittens. The huge snowflakes were sticking to her hair as they walked hand in hand. Draco wrapped his silver and green striped school scarf around his neck as the bitter cold wind whipped around his head and face. Blinking Christmas lights turned their skin different shades of red, blue, green and pink as they walked down the sidewalk towards the local park. The creaking of the swings echoed eerily through the silent night. Hermione ran through the snow towards the swings and flung herself on one of them.

"Push me." she said laughing.

Draco walked up behind her and pushed the swing playfully.

"Is that the best you can do?" she asked.

"No." he said with a slight smile. "But let me show you something." he said taking her hand and lifting her from the swing. Making sure no one was looking Draco pulled his wand from his jeans pocket and said clearly.

"Accio broom."

"What?" she asked. "When did you bring your broomstick here?"

"Last night, I had my owl bring it." he said as his broom whizzed through the air towards them. It halted to a stop right in front of where Draco was standing. He threw his legs on each side of it and then put his hand out for Hermione. She took a few steps backwards shaking her head.

"Oh no, I don't fly." she said backing up nervously.

"Come on. I would never let anything happen to you." he said smiling, his hand still extended.

"I can't." she said. "I'm scared of heights and flying and everything associated with either one of them." Her breathing was irregular and her face even more flushed than usual.

"Hermione, I love you. I would never let you fall. Trust me." He held out both his arms for her and one step at a time she came closer to his hovering broom.

"Are you sure I won't fall?" she said apprehensively.

"Positive." he said grabbing her and setting her behind him. She wrapped her arms around him so tightly that he couldn't breathe.

"'Mione let up a bit. I can't breath." he said straining to get the words out.

"Sorry." she said loosening her grip a bit, but not a lot.

"Ready?" he asked gripping the broom handle tightly.

"No." she said through chattering teeth. But it was too late. Draco kicked off high and hard, his broom lifting the pair through the falling snow. Hermione held on tighter then she thought she could as the safety of the ground below disappeared beneath them.

"This was a mistake!" she said as the wind raced by her ear. "Let's go down."

"No way Granger." he smiled. "Relax and enjoy."

Hermione's trembling hands tried to relax but she just ended up digging her nails deeper into Draco's coat. But after a few minutes she did relax as the climbed higher and higher into the falling snow. Draco gripped the broom handle and accelerated into a huge snow cloud eventually getting just above it. The inky diamond specked sky stretched out like a blanket right before Hermione's eyes. She spotted several shooting stars as they flew through the darkness. Mars and Venus were also clearly visible in the black canvas.

"It's beautiful." she said, her voice full of awe.

"It is." He slowed the speed of his broom so that they were hovering above the snow clouds. The sliver of the moon was just visible in the sky.

"Dina's bow." Hermione smiled. Astronomy was one of her favorite subjects at school Dina's bow was the nickname for when the moon was such a sliver of a crescent that it looked like a very thin smiling mouth. Draco knew what she meant. Astronomy was one of his favorites as well.

"She's smiling down on us." Draco said. "I think she approves."

The darkness of the sky cast shadows in Draco's eyes. The light silver orbs were replaced by darker pools of grey and blue. The wind continued to whip around their bodies but Hermione was no longer cold. Her chest pressed against his lower back and her head so close she could hear his heart. Her arms hooked around his stomach and he took one hand off of the handle to squeeze her hand reassuringly. The tiny twinkling Christmas lights below looked like little dots of color.

"Thank you." she said.

"No problem." he replied. "I've wanted to go for a ride for a while."

"No, not for that. For sticking up for me to Pansy and her father. I know that must have been hard."

It was the first time that she had mentioned Pansy since the day of their visit.

"It was not hard. Why would I marry that cow when I had someone as beautiful as you inside and out?"

A single tear ran down Hermione's face.

"Well…uh…thanks all the same." she said.

"Don't mention it." he blushed. Not that it had been much of a choice. He had always had a secret loathing for Pansy. Her whiny voice and constant groping was almost too much to bear for him last year. She had been abnormally quiet this year regarding Hermione and now he knew why. She was under the misguidance that he would sow his oats and then come back and marry her. It still boggled his mind that his father thought he would go through with a sham of a marriage to someone he couldn't stand. But if his plan went smoothly she would find someone to love and who would love her and then she would whine to daddy and he would not force him to go through with the vow. Draco didn't know how an unbreakable vow would apply to him anyway but he planned to find out.

They started their gradual decent from the starry sky and back towards the park. The ground came closer and closer until the tips of their toes skimmed the snowy ground. They landed smoothly and dismounted in a hurry so that no one would see.

"That was…something." Hermione said catching her breath. "You know that was my first time riding since our lessons first year."

"I take it that wasn't your favorite subject." he joked.

"Not even close." she laughed. "It was the one thing I couldn't learn out of a book, and it frightened me."

"You didn't look frightened." he recalled. "You looked…determined." A smile played across his lips.

"Well I guess hiding terror is one of my better talents."

"I guess so." he said putting his arm around her and his broom over his other shoulder. They walked slowly back towards Hermione's home as the fat snowflakes fell around them clinging to their hair and coats.