Title:This Christmas

Category: Romance

Summary: Sequel to 'It's Christmas'. The Fates of our six couples are revealed on Christmas Days years after the ending of 'It's Christmas'.

DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Author notes: It is BEST if you read It's Christmas first but I don't think it will be mandatory. I'm actually planning to do a one-shot for every couple (even those who DID NOT get the girl) in It's Christmas. It's going be like a homage to the original story. The Theme of this Series of One-shots is my favorite Christmas music; every one-shot will be named for one of my favorite Christmas songs!


This Christmas:

Installment 3: "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?"


+ December 31 +

Parvati Patil sighed loudly as she turned forcefully from the quickening breeze, the wind was beginning to give her bronze cheeks a natural blush. She wrapped her arms around her petite torso and began to talk to herself, it was the only way she could rationalize what possessed her to actually be standing where she was standing on the last night of the year, in the middle of a snow shower.

"I am beautiful, I am intelligent, I am successful, I am charming, I am humble, I am – I have," she whispered, as pieces of her wispy black hair were forced into her face by the wind, "I have been tricked by a snake."

Parvati was indeed all of those things and it never took people long to see it. At twenty-nine-years-old she had filled out in all the right places, her hair and makeup were always flawless, and her walk could stop men, and women as well, in their tracks. She had been a Healer at St. Mungo's for nine years and was extremely good at her job, life since Hogwarts, the Great War, and her previous engagement had forced her to mature. And she indeed felt like she had been tricked by a snake, an infamous snake at that.

Draco Malfoy had been a thorn in her side, and a constant ache in her chest, since their first date, six years before, at the Ministry of Magic's Annual Christmas Ball. He was the reason she was standing in the center of this park on New Year's Eve, surrounded by nothing more than snow, trees, and an iced over pond. He had asked her to meet him there forty-five minutes before the New Year and, although it was tough getting off work on one of the busiest nights of the year, she made it to the very spot he had asked her to meet him. It was a spot that meant a lot to them both but at that very moment it was last place she wanted to be. It had taken six months for Draco to ask her to be his girlfriend, formally, and it occurred in the very spot she stood in, the only difference was that five and a half years before she was standing there in the month of June, in the mist of sunshine not snow.

The chill that she felt was nothing new to her, it was only because of love that she stayed with Draco sometimes, and six years into their relationship the breeze was warmer than some of the days she had shared with him. Their relationship had become stagnated sometime ago, with her love attempting to pry from him the thing that haunted him and held him back from truly loving her. Her parents hated the match, as did her sister, Padma, and best friend, Lavender Brown. But none of their opinions ever seemed to matter much to Parvati; yet, tonight their voices were all that she could hear.

She looked down at her watch, as she whispered to herself, "What in bloody hell am I doing here?"

"Waiting on me, I supposed," came the hushed reply from behind her.

His voice forced her to turn back toward the wind, her instinct wanting to embrace him but her vexation forced her simply to scowl at him. Her eyebrows lowered as she retorted, "You're late."

"I know," Draco said, as his own hair surrendered to the breeze, "and I am sorry. Truth is, I almost did not come tonight."

"Draco –" Parvati snapped, her eyes widening in utter disbelief that he could have even thought of leaving her there, alone, on New Years Eve.

"I know, I know," he interrupted, holding his hands out defensively before her, "but I am here now."

"You asked me to come out here," she said, attempting to keep her anger contained, "this was not my idea."

"I know and there is a good reason why I asked you to meet me here," Draco began, as he took hold to her sleeve-covered elbow and led her to a bench on the other side of the pond.

"Are you going to let me in on this good reason, Draco?" Parvati asked as they sat on the bench and the snow began to taper off a little.

"Yes," Draco began, as he took her hand, his silver eyes searching for some comfort out in the Winter Wonderland before them.

Parvati was silent, although she was still fuming inside, her brown eyes focused on the porcelain skin of his face. This was the man she had fell in love with and nothing would deter her from him, even his carelessness, she was determined to have him love her in return. It was an issue that Padma often antagonized her with: how could she have such faith in a man that had barely told her that he loved her in six years? It was a question that she often asked herself but something inside told her that there was no other choice. Draco would love her in his own time. It was a fact that she chose to deal with, no matter how sad a fact that it may have been.

"I am sure that you are well aware that in life there are complications and interruptions," he said, his hand tightening its grip on hers, "and it seems that life was entirely too willing to place those complications and interruptions into our relationship. Am I wrong?"

She tilted her head, while giving a sarcastic chuckle. "No, you are quite right."

"Exactly," Draco replied, as he took a deep breath, "and some of those complications I have never really told you about. I know six years is a long time to be in a relationship that has no sure end, I know it is difficult for a woman, such as you, to have no promise of a ring . . . let alone love. And for that I apologize, but it's just that I was afraid for so long. . . ."

"Afraid?" Parvati questioned, her countenance expressing her confusion, she had never heard him use the word, let alone ever hint at being apprehensive of anything.

"Yes, I, Draco Malfoy, was indeed afraid," he answered, as he finally turned to look at her. "However, this fear was more crippling than I ever let on. I was so afraid to turn away from how I felt about her, I was so afraid if I truly let go then I might miss a chance . . . I might miss a chance to win her heart. I know it sounds awful, I held on to hope that I could win my best friend's wife but I was so afraid that I couldn't love anyone like I loved her."

"You have feelings for Hermione!" Parvati exclaimed, her stomach was twisted in knots so much that the words barely escaped her lips.

Parvati's mind began to wonder to every distant moment that they ever had. Was that the reason he could barely stand to look at her some nights? Was Hermione the woman he dreamed about while his arms were wrapped around her? Was she the thing that kept such distance between them? Was Hermione sleeping with her boyfriend? The very thought brought tears to her eyes, could it be that ever day they spent together was just an act? She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry, she wanted to hit him but she was silent and he went on.

"I had feelings for Hermione, years and years ago, they are now nothing more than the past. I was just too frightened to move away from the familiarity of loving her to ever allow myself to love you completely," Draco retorted, seeing the myriad of emotions in her eyes he gripped her hand tight. "She and I never had an affair, even back at Hogwarts, it has always been Blaise and her, a fact that will never change. I just couldn't get past all that she symbolized to me, I was too afraid to leave that era of my life."

"Draco, do you still love her?" she asked, her sorrow lacing every word.

He shook his head, a small smirk laying up his perfect lips. "I thought I did but it was just a form of hero worship. I will always be grateful to her, I will always care for her, but I do not still love her."

Parvati couldn't stop the tears that fell from her brown eyes, she looked at her lap as she asked, "You asked me here to confess of your love of some other woman?"

"That's part of it," he answered, as he reached out to wipe a stray tear from cheek, "I wanted everything out in the open so that we could move forward."

"Oh, Draco, it seems that we haven't moved anywhere in years," she sighed, moving her face from his caress, "why start now?"

"Why not?" he retorted simply, his eyes sweeping over her with more emotion than she had ever seen.

"B-B-Because," she stammered, emotion halting the successful exit of her words from her lips, "I didn't know about this – you and her. I didn't know and now, now. . . ."

"Now?" Draco repeated, his eyebrow raising inquisitively. "You're having doubts about us?"

"I just wonder what brought you here tonight," she whispered, softly, her big brown eyes peering at him with more questions than she could verbalize.

"Blaise," he answered, meeting her eyes with such force it almost blew her away, "I told him about how I have been holding myself back from you and he told me that I might as well tell you what I really wanted to say to you and stop being such a bloody asshole about it. So after I had a good conversation with my best friend I asked you to meet me here, tonight."

"So what do you want to say to me, Draco?" Parvati asked, tears still streaming down her face.

"Parvati Patil," Draco began, as he took her hand and fastened his eyes to hers, "Merlin only knows what I would be without you. For six years you have loved me, taken care of me, walked beside me, fought with me, fought for me, and never gave up on me. I don't know what I did to deserve you but I am so glad that I have you."

Her tears began to fall faster, here lips quivering at the words she had waited so long to hear. She gently placed her free hand on top of his, as she whispered, "You are everything to me, Draco."

"I know," he replied, his free hand reaching to wipe the tears from her cheeks, "and I love you just the same, Parvati."

Suddenly she was pulled into an embrace that forced every tear, that she was attempting to hold in, to the surface. Her arms were wrapped around his neck as she sobbed, it was like an eruption of every feeling that she had held in for six years, no longer would she have to endure the worst in order to have the man she loved. She whispered in his neck, as her tears subsided, "I didn't think you really loved me."

"I didn't think I could," Draco replied, his arms wrapped around her slender waist and his chin laying protectively on her cheek. "I can and I do, Parvati."

"Oh," Parvati cried, inhaling the scent of his cologne, suddenly thinking of the time, "I am sure the New Year has already come."

He chuckled. "I am sure it has but I'd rather bring this year in asking you to marry me than kissing you at the stroke of midnight."

"What?" she gasped, pushing herself away from him, so she could look in his eyes, the surprise written on her face.

"You heard me," Draco smirked, his gray eyes looking lovingly into hers, "I think it is time we moved forward, six years is long enough. I am ready to make you my wife, what do you say?"

"I say," Parvati answered, with little thought, "yes, yes, yes! I would love to spend the rest of my life with you!"

"Happy New Years, darling," he whispered, pulling her in for a kiss, his heart finally free from everything that had ever held him back from her.