Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I say it so much I'm beginning to sound like a broken record.
A/N: I wanted to thank you all so much for you support and reviews. I have over 100 now. Thanks! They keep me writing. Love to you all. Hugs, and of course: Happy Reading!
Also, there will be a slight bit of over the clothes action later in this chapter.
Oh and I want to apologize for the typos. Sorry if they irritate you. But I re-read them a few times before I post. And sometimes I just don't catch the mistakes. Again, I apologize for the mistakes.
Chapter 16:
Christmas at Hogwarts
Christmas morning had arrived. Draco and Hermione were very tired after getting back from the Weasleys yesterday and turned in after a few chaste kisses in the hallway when Draco walked Hermione to the portrait outside Gryffindor.
Hermione hopped into the shower, taking a bit longer than usual but the warm spray felt good.
She took an extra long time taming her curls after drying them. She pulled half up onto her scalp with a hairclip and let the rest hang. Using only a few spells. It wasn't as hard to do as before, but it still took time. She dressed in simple smoke grey skirt, and maroon button top, her shoes matched the skirt, and they had a low heel. She applied the tiniest bit of mascara and lip gloss, and she was finished.
Hermione and Draco had agreed to have the gifts place under a tree in his room by the house elves. Neither really wanted to open them without the other, and Draco couldn't get into her room without it being an emergency due to the spells put up by the school.
"Morning Hermione. Happy Christmas." Draco greeted her. When she stepped out of the portal. He'd been waiting on her, how sweet. She thought to herself.
"Good Morning Draco. Happy Christmas." She replied. "Been waiting long?"
"No, actually I just got here." Draco smiled.
They both sort of stood there for a moment. She was staring she knew, and was to occupied in doing so that she didn't notice Draco was as well.
He was dressed much like the day before only it was, black dress pants and a silver dress shirt. And as usual it was tailored to fit him perfect. Making Hermione's breath catch just a slightly.
"Did you want to get breakfast before we opened our gifts? Or gifts first?" Draco asked.
Hermione thought only a moment before her stomach growled. "Breakfast first please. If you don't mind." Blushing slightly at the embaressment of him hearing her stomach make its demand.
Draco smiled when he heard her stomach growl. "That's fine."
They finished breakfast quickly and then made their way back to Draco's room. She was quite surprised to see the walls were enchanted to have windows. Making it feel less like a dungeon. She'd never been to his room before now.
He had the house elves put a couch in his room for this purpose that way she wouldn't feel threatened by sitting on the bed, and they wouldn't have to sit on the floor.
He seperated the gifts into two piles. His and Hers. She began opening her gifts from her family. Odds and ends her mom and dad had sent, some wierd looking t-shirt from her very eccentric aunt. As she was doing this Draco was opening gifts from his fellow classmates.
They were each down to a two gifts a piece. Having left the gifts from each other for last.
"Open yours first." Draco told Hermoine.
"How about we take turns. I'll open one, and you open one." She offered.
He nodded in responce and motioned for her to begin.
She unwrapped the first one he'd given her. The box was about 3 inches wide and 10 inches in length. When she opened it, she found a paper laying on top. Instructions for charm to work. She lay the instructions to the side. She was curious as to what lay underneath that had a charm on it. She gasp when she moved the paper. It was a beautiful gold necklace, that had a diamond charm in the shape of a tear drop hanging from it.
"Oh Draco! It's wonderful." She exclaimed.
"Read the instructions." He said pointing to the paper Hermione had laid aside.
This is a Love Charmed Necklace.
Once placed on recievers neck,
the following spell should be cast
by the giver of the necklace.
Said spell activates the diamond.
The diamond will glow blue when
wearer isn't near true love.
Will glow red when they are.
Speak ~ Fidus Amator
She was taken aback. Draco sure had found a wonderful gift and Hermione was overly joyed to see it wasn't a book. She removed the necklace from the box and held it up.
"Would you please." Draco immediately understood what she wanted and moved behind her to put it around her neck. After making sure the clasp was done. He moved back to his seat beside her. The diamond lay directly in the valley between her breasts.
"Draco the instructions say the giver has to cast the spell in order for the necklace to work." And she handed him the instructions.
He took them from her, but didn't bother to look at the paper before he spoke. "Fidus Amator."
Hermione felt the diamond grow warm and then back to room temperature again. "Wow, that was wierd."
Draco chuckled. "It was the diamond activating."
Hermione looked down to see that the diamond was glowing a sort of pink. Not quite red. Hmm, wonder why its pink? She thought to herself, and then inwardly shrugged.
"Your turn." She said happily.
He turned to open the bigger of the two. She hoped he was happy with it. He tore the paper off like a child, and lifted the lid from the box. Inside he found a Slytherin green jersey. It had silver lettering on the front that read 'Slytherin Seeker' and on the back 'Malfoy'. He could tell from the craftsman ship it cost a bit more then he'd expected her to spend. But beside that, he loved it.
"Oh, wow. Hermione, thanks. This is cool. Our jerseys for Quidditch aren't personalized like this." Draco exclaimed and then leaned over to envelope her in a hug. She hugged back. And when he started to pull away she felt a sense of loss, but that was quickly replaced when his lips met hers.
It didn't last long, but it was enough to leave the breathless for a moment or two.
"Draco, do you think you could open the other one first, before I open mine?" Hermione asked.
"Well, I guess, but why?" Draco responded in question.
Hermione smiled shyly. "Well after the responce I got for your first gift, I'm expecting this one to be different."
Draco looked confused but then shrugged. "If you really want me to."
"I do."
So he reached for the gift, and began tearing into its wrapping. The box was about the same in length as the one he had gotten Hermione. He lifted the lid to find an expensive looking watch.
"Wow." Was all he said.
"Look more closely at it." Hermione prodded him.
So he did, that was when he took in that it was no ordinary watch. On the face it said Seeker, and each hand had a different marker. The second hand had a snitch at the end, the minute hand a seeker on a broom, and the hour hand was a bludger.
"It's sort of symbolic of the game. Seeker chases snitch, bludgers aimed at seekers." Hermione explained.
Draco laughed, "I kind of figured that."
"Oh, sorry." She didn't mean to make him feel stupid.
"No, its fine Hermione. You can't help explaining things. What I mean being around Potter and the Weasel, your pretty used to spelling out everything." Draco laughed at his own joke, which only earned him a slap on the arm from Hermione.
"I was only kidding." He said in mock hurt. "I love it, thank you." And then he leaned in for a very deep steamy kiss.
Hermione's pulse was picking up pace when he pulled away. She cried out a protest.
"Now, now. I want you to open your gift. Then we can snog the day away if that's what you wish." Draco said.
She blushed. But nodded in acknowledgement.
She reached for the last gift. It was an unusually small package. Wrapped in shimmering maroon paper, and tied with gold and silver ribbon. She took her time unwrapping it. She felt somewhere deep inside herself that this was an important gift. Why she wasn't quite sure.
After she had removed the paper and ribbons, she found herself looking a box that was covered with blue crushed velvet. It was the size of an earring or ring box. More jewelry? Probably earrings to match the necklace. She thought to herself.
She was gasping again when she lifted the lid.
It was definately not earrings. But it was breath-takingly beautiful. It was a gorgeous ring. In the center was a karat sized emerald, flanked by three much smaller rubies on each side. The gems were set in a silver and gold that entwined like a rope making the band.
"Draco its amazing!"
"Well, I wanted to ask you something when you opened it. You see um- well I." Draco was stammering, he had taken the box from Hermione and was now on bended knee before her. "It's not the traditional Malfoy ring, but you are special and deserve something better then a snake sneeking its way around diamonds. This one entwines our two house colors. I hope you like it."
"Draco, I don't understand." Hermione thought she did. But she didn't want to hope.
Draco took a deep breath and then began speaking. Looking at Hermione with pure determination.
"Well, it's like this. I have been a heel the past six years. I was rude and mean, hateful even. But the ministry passed a law and I found myself being matched to someone I thought would forever hate me." When she started to interrupt him, he held up his hand. "Please, let me finish." She quieted and nodded for him to continue. "This past summer really changed me. I found myself hoping to get passed the prejudices of my family. And well you've helped me to do that. What I'm trying to say is, Hermione you have helped me become a better person. And I would be honored if you, Hermione Granger, would continue making me better by becoming my wife."
Hermione was stunned. There was no declaration of love, but he'd admitted to wanting to change and said that she'd helped him to do so. She wasn't yet sure of her own feelings for Draco, but she knew deep within that love could come from this union.
Draco sat staring at her, trying to read the emotions as they passed on her face. He saw first surprise, a small look of hurt that was quickly replaced with concentration, then a beaming smile that indeed, met her eyes.
"Draco Malfoy, I would quite happily do so." He was shaking as he place the ring on her finger.
He looked up into her eyes after doing so. And was surprised when she leaned in quickly and pressed her lips to his.
It was the first time Hermione had initiated a kiss.
He rose to sit beside her, their lips never coming apart. He deepened the kiss like so many times before by nudging her lips with his tongue. She eagerly let him in. The kiss was soft and full of unspoken emotions. They were talking to each other with a kiss and it said so much to the other.
***
Draco moved his hands from where he'd been holding hers and grasp her face between them. She had at the same time moved her hands to his chest. He deepened the kiss even more, reveling in the taste of her, honey and syrup. Slowly his hands began traveling from her face, down her throat. Massaging in circles along the way, working his way downward still. Down toward her breasts. He gently massaged her through the shirt she wore. Kneeding softly her full mounds of flesh. Hermione was gasping for air as me then moved his kiss from her mouth to her neck. Sucking gently. She thrust her hands in his hair. He began unbuttoning her shirt. Kissing along the way, each piece of skin that was revealed.
She moved her hands from his hair, and began massaging his back. Pulling slightly on his shirt, she wanted to feel his skin against hers. When he had her shirt completely unbuttoned. Draco, pulled the front flaps apart and stared down at the sight of her, topless, except for her lacey white bra.
"Your gorgeous." He whispered.
Looking up at her face, he saw that she didn't look as shy as he thought she would.
"Have you done this before?" He asked, his voice heavy with desire.
She nodded, and replied, "Yes, but only once."
"We can stop if you don't want to." He said. She just shook her head no, and pulled him back down for another kiss.
They proceeded to make love, long and sweet.
Neither noticed that her necklace had indeed turned a bright red.
Ok, I know its been a few weeks since I updated. But I'm in a rut. Please help with any ideas of what you would like to see happen next. It took me 3 days to completely write this chapter. I NEED HELP.
Also the words for the charm on the necklace are Latin. Fitus=true, Amator= lover to a woman. And since most incantations are derived from Latin I went with that. :)
I hope to update soon, if I can get my brain into action. Please, let me know how I'm doing. And I know this chapter is shorter than normal, and I apologize for that. Thanks for sticking with me! HuGs!
