The Festive Spirit.
Hermione let out a contended sigh as she placed her empty wineglass on the floor beside the fire in Draco's penthouse. The couple were currently snuggled up beside a roaring fire, following a romantic dinner. It was just over a week until Christmas, and the day before The Cannons last match before the short winter break the quidditch league took. So far The Cannons season was going great guns, and with over half the season to go they were lying in third position – one point behind the team in second and only four points behind The Tornadoes, who were top of the league as usual.
Over the course of their dinner, Draco and Hermione had discussed Christmas, and the fact they liked the idea of spending it together. They had been a couple the previous Christmas, and had seen each other on Christmas Eve, but it had still been early days in their relationship. However, they'd now been together for over a year and they were becoming increasingly serious with each passing month. Details still needed to be sorted with their Christmas plans, but they had decided that they would be spending the majority of the festive season together.
"So what do you actually want for Christmas?" Hermione asked, turning her head so she could see Draco. The previous year she'd just bought him some aftershave and some expensive chocolates, but this year she wanted to get him something more meaningful.
"How about you get Theo to drop this ridiculous sex ban," Draco joked, letting his hand slip under Hermione's jumper and stroking her soft skin. "Yet again, I'm stuck spending an evening with my sexy girlfriend, and not being able to do all the naughty things I want to do with her."
"Sorry, I'm not interfering in the running of the team," Hermione returned with a smile.
"Not even if it means we can have mind-blowing sex whenever we want?" Draco asked with a sinful smirk.
"Not even then," Hermione insisted with a stubborn shake of her head. "Besides, the odd night of no sex won't kill you."
"You hope," Draco countered with a dramatic sigh. "A man could die from sexual frustration you know."
"I could always leave and take away the temptation," Hermione suggested, although she had no intention of going anywhere.
Hermione knew that despite the conversation they were having, it was all just a joke. Neither of them genuinely struggled with the sex ban, and they'd never felt the need to avoid each other the night before a match so they wouldn't be tempted to break the rules. Their sex life was smoking hot, and incredibly enjoyable, but it was just one element of their relationship. Even if you took sex out of the equation completely, Hermione knew she would still want to be with Draco, and he would still want to be with her. They both loved spending time together, and sex or no sex, there wasn't anywhere else either one of them would rather be.
"You're not going anywhere," Draco said, his hold on Hermione tightening just in case she tried to move.
"I never intended to," Hermione replied contently. "But you still haven't answered my question. What do you want for Christmas?"
"That's easy, I want you," Draco answered.
"Me?" Hermione frowned. "You've got me, I'm already here."
"Not all the time though," Draco replied seriously. "I want you here all the time. What I want for Christmas is for you to move in with me."
"Seriously?" Sitting up properly, Hermione turned so she was sitting facing her boyfriend, rather than lounging in his arms.
"Seriously," Draco confirmed with a nod. "We spend almost every night together anyway, so why not make it official."
"You would really want to live with me?" Hermione checked, not quite sure she was believing what she was hearing.
"I would," Draco replied. "But do you want to live with me?"
Hermione nodded eagerly as a grin broke out over her face. "Of course, I would," she declared happily as she threw her arms around Draco's neck. "There's nothing I would like more."
Draco pressed his lips against Hermione's in a tender kiss, but all too soon things escalated and their innocent kiss turned into a full on heated snog. In the midst of the kiss, Draco had pulled Hermione closer to him and the pair had ended up falling back on the floor in a tangled heap. By the time they broke for air, Hermione was lying on top of Draco and she could feel the hard ridge of his erection pressing into her thigh.
"Sorry," she whispered, wishing there was something she could do to help Draco with his problem.
Of course they could break the rule and no-one would ever know, but that wasn't something they would do. The rules had been put into place for a reason, and Harry and Theo trusted the players to adhere to the rules. As a dedicated player, Draco had no intention of breaking the rules, and Hermione didn't want to flout the rules just because she happened to be the boss.
"As you said, I won't die from lack of sex," Draco replied as Hermione moved off him and he adjusted his position on the floor.
"We more than make up for it on night's when the ban isn't in place," Hermione agreed with a smile.
"We do, but it's not helping me to think about the sex we do have," Draco pointed out.
"Sorry," Hermione apologised again. "Why don't we discuss moving in together. When do you want to do it?"
"As soon as possible," Draco replied, forgetting about his arousal as he looked at Hermione's beaming face. She was practically bouncing with excitement at the thought of them living together. "After tomorrow's match we've got three weeks break. I'm not due back in training until the middle of January. I'm sure we can make the move in that time."
"I think we can manage that," Hermione agreed with a nod. "Not that I have three weeks off though. After tomorrow they might not be matches until the end of January, but there's still plenty of club business to attend to."
"I can sort the move while you're working," Draco offered. "All we have to decide is how to do this. Are you moving in here, or would you rather I came to you? In time we could get out own place, but for now I think it makes sense to use one of the places we've already got."
"Draco, stop rambling," Hermione said with a laugh, reaching up and putting her finger over Draco's lips as he drew breath to continue.
"Sorry," Draco muttered, flushing slightly with embarrassment. He wasn't normally the sort of person to ramble, but he was rather excited to be moving in with Hermione, and he'd been unable to stop himself from rambling.
"Don't be sorry, I think it's cute," Hermione said with a teasing smile.
"Cute?" Draco's face contorted into a look of pure horror as he glared at his girlfriend. "Puppies are cute. Little children are cute. Malfoys are never cute. Malfoys are handsome and sexy, but never cute."
"I bet you were cute as a child," Hermione said, continuing to tease her boyfriend. "I can just picture you now, running around the manor all tiny and adorable. I bet you were such a little angel."
"More like a nightmare," Draco laughed. "Mother has dozens of stories about some of the things I used to get up to. In public I was an immaculately behaved child, but at home I was like any other little Slytherin – always getting into mischief."
"I can believe that actually," Hermione said, laughing along with Draco. "Maybe I need to rethink moving in with you if you're such a trouble maker."
"It's too late now, you've agreed and I'm holding you to it," Draco said, gently pulling Hermione back into his arms. "We are moving in together and nothing will stop it."
"I can't wait," Hermione said, giving Draco a brief kiss. "And for the record, I think I should move in here with you. Your place is bigger than mine, and as you say, it's more like a stopgap until we're ready to find somewhere new together."
"That's settled then," Draco said with a grin. "You're moving in here."
Hermione grinned back at Draco, looking forward to moving in with her boyfriend. It was the perfect Christmas present, and Hermione couldn't wait until she and Draco were settled in and living together permanently.
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The day before Christmas Eve, Hermione was doing a bit of last minute Christmas shopping. She and Draco had decided to celebrate Christmas first before she moved in before the New Year. Hermione had been more than happy to focus on Christmas before the move, and the couple had decided to have a quiet Christmas celebration in Draco's penthouse, just the two of them. Of course they planned on seeing their friends and family over the holidays as well, but Christmas Day itself would be spent just the two of them.
As she picked up her last minute bits and pieces, Hermione spotted a sweet hamper that made her think of Ron. Over the last couple of months, Harry had been fixing his friendship with Ron, and her best friend had assured her numerous times that he'd finally changed and accepted that he'd behaved appallingly. Harry had even told her that he'd approached the twins about a job in their shop, while he decided what he wanted to do with his life now his quidditch career was over.
Hermione had thought about Ron a lot over the last few weeks, and she knew that she was ready to give him a second chance. Impulsively buying the hamper, she headed home where she wrapped it and before she had time to change her mind, she headed to Ron's flat. Thankfully Ron was at home, and although he was clearly stunned to see Hermione, he still welcomed her in with a wide smile.
"Can I get you a drink?" Ron asked, his nerves clear for Hermione to see.
"No thank you, I can't stop long," Hermione replied.
"Of course," Ron replied with a disappointed sigh. "Come on through."
Hermione followed Ron through to the front room of his flat. A small Christmas tree stood in the corner, decorated in gold and red, and underneath it sat a handful of presents.
"I'm so pleased you're here, Hermione," Ron said as the pair sat down. "I'm very sorry about everything I've said and done over the last year and a half. I'm so ashamed of myself. I was a terrible friend and quite honestly I don't blame you for staying away. In fact I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to be my friend again."
"I can't pretend that what you did doesn't matter, but I do want to put it behind us," Hermione said as she pulled Ron's present from her bag and passed it over to the redhead. "I want to start a fresh. Merry Christmas, Ron."
"Thank you," Ron whispered as he took hold of the unexpected present. Placing the present on the sofa beside him, he walked over to the tree and plucked out a neatly wrapped box, which he handed to Hermione. "Merry Christmas, Hermione. I didn't know if I would see you, but I was going to give it to Harry to pass onto you. I wanted you to know that I still care about you."
"Thank you, Ron," Hermione said, tucking the present into her bag to open on Christmas morning. "I really hope that we can put this behind us and start afresh in the New Year."
"I'd like that," Ron said with a nod. "And I just want you to know that I accept your choice of boyfriend. I'm sorry about what I said about you and Malfoy."
"I appreciate the apology," Hermione said with a small smile. "I don't expect you and Draco to become the best of friends. To be honest, I very much doubt you'll become friends at all. But I'd be happy if you could just tolerate each other."
"I'm sure we can manage that," Ron replied. "He's not going anywhere, is he?" He asked.
"No, he's part of my life now," Hermione answered. "A huge part in fact. We're moving in together."
"I'm happy for you," Ron said, giving Hermione a small smile that she thought was genuine. "You really love him, don't you? You just look so happy when you talk about him."
"I am happy," Hermione replied. "I'm happier than I've ever been before. Draco makes me happy."
"And love?" Ron pressed, noticing that Hermione hadn't mentioned loving the former Slytherin. "Do you love Malfoy?"
"Yes, I do," Hermione confirmed. In fact it had only been recently that that pair had admitted that they loved each other, but Hermione suspected that it had been a long time coming and that they'd actually loved each other for quite a while.
"I really am happy for you, Hermione," Ron said.
"Thank you," Hermione said as she got to her feet. "And I hope you find happiness as well, Ron. Don't dwell on the past and what you've lost. Look to the future and I'm sure you can make a success of whatever you want to do next."
"I'll certainly try my best," Ron replied as the pair headed for the front door.
After saying goodbye to Ron, and promising they could meet up soon, Hermione returned home. After quickly sorting out everything she would need for the next few days, she then headed off to Draco's to celebrate Christmas with her boyfriend.