Chapter 23

Hermione woke up early as she usually did on Christmas day, the fire had died out and it was a little chilly, however she was being warmed by Draco's hard body that was holding her close. Draco was sound asleep, his head tilted upwards while he snored lightly, Hermione untangled herself from his body, careful not to wake him; she grabbed the blanket that was neatly folded over the top of the sofa and draped it over him, before she went to her room to grab her deep blue fluffy dressing gown that her mother had bought her last Christmas.

Draco was woken by the smell of pancakes, he cracked his eyes open an inch and saw Hermione flipping a pan in the kitchen while swaying her body to the beat of quiet music. He stretched and sighed as his back and shoulders cracked, he got up and made his way to the kitchen "Didn't know you could cook" Draco's low voice startled Hermione and she let out a small gasp, she finished cooking the pancakes before turning around to look at him; his hair was a mess with stands falling in front of his eyes "We don't all have maids to cook for us" she stated plainly turning away from him to finish dressing the pancakes before walking over to the kitchen table.

She gestured for Draco to sit and they sat on opposite sides of the table, "Why are you here?" Hermione asked while Draco shoved another pancake in his mouth "Why not" he replied with a mouth full of food "That's disgusting" Hermione mumbled as she took another bite of her food "What?" he asked innocently like a child being scolded "Your parents clearly didn't teach you any manners" Draco just looked at her like a confused puppy "Don't eat with your mouth open, I really don't want to see what you're eating" she stated, annoyed at his lack of manners; Hermione stood up, her stomach lightly bumping the table as she did so, she huffed at how big she was getting before picking up the plate and moving to the sofa to finish eating her breakfast.

"Now who's rude?" Draco huffed out "Excuse me?" Hermione bit back in a high pitched tone, "You're lecturing me for bad manners, when you just walked away from the table in the middle of breakfast without excusing yourself. Talk about being a hypocrite" Draco said raising his voice, annoyed at the mother of his child. Hermione just stared at him, a thousand insults went flooding through her head and she chose to say nothing, not wanting to cause an argument; instead she walked back to the table and placed her food down before turning on her heel and walking out of their dorm room and into the castle.

A few hours had passed and Hermione still hadn't returned to the dorm, Draco was starting to worry. After another half an hour he grabbed his jacket and went looking for her, as predicted he found her sat in the owlery; her head was in her hands with her knees pulled into her, Draco heard her sniffling "What did I do this time?" he asked, surprised to see her upset "Not everything is about you Malfoy" she hiccupped, Draco sighed and sat next to her nudging her slightly "What's the matter Granger?" he asked , genuinely bewildered as to why she would be so upset on Christmas "Tell me, what did you get for Christmas?" Draco listed off the things that his parents had got him, which was of course everything he asked for, he was confused by her question so he asked her why "I got nothing" she sniffed "Not even a lousy card" her chocolate eyes shimmered as fresh tears rolled down her red tinted cheeks "She didn't even write back to me you know? When I told her I was pregnant, she never wrote back to me, and now she's ignoring me on Christmas" she shivered and wrapped her arms around herself "She hates me Draco. She hates me"

Draco couldn't help but feel guilty "You were right" Hermione stated "I was stupid enough to get knocked up, and now my parents don't want me anymore" Draco started to get angry, he didn't mean a word of what he said to her, but for her parent's to make her believe that she isn't wanted at the happiest time in the year, that's just a shitty thing to do.

"Screw your parents" Draco said while standing up and offering her his hand "What?" she asked as her eyebrows furrowed in confusion "You don't need your parent's, you're a mother now and you're needed and I didn't mean a word I said in the girl's bathroom. I'll explain it all to you later, but right now it's snowing and we're missing out on Christmas, so come on" He said as he enveloped his hand in hers and pulled her down the staircase and into the courtyard; he let go of her hand "What are you doing Malfoy? It's freezing out he-" her sentence got cut off as a ball of snow smacked her in the face, Draco was weak with laughter at the expression on Hermione's face.

Hermione bent down a grabbed a handful of snow and hurdled it at Malfoy but he jumped out the way before it could hit him "Too slow" he taunted her; she grabbed another handful of snow and broke it into two balls, she threw the first one to distract him and as he dodged the first snowball the second one she threw hit him in the back of his head "Now who's too slow?" she laughed. They played and laughed in the snow until the light snow fall became a blizzard and they were cold and wet.

When they got back to the dorm Draco lit the fire and started to heat up the kettle "Take your clothes off Granger" he ordered her and he went around the room lighting candles trying to warm their dorm up "Excuse me?" Hermione asked, taken aback by his order "Take your clothes off" he repeated before adding "They're wet, and the longer you just stand there gawking at me the more likely you are to get ill, now take your clothes off" Hermione walked up the stairs to her bedroom and did what she was told, however, her top had clung to her and she was having trouble getting it off. She called out to Draco, who was at her door before she could finish saying his name "What is it? Are you okay?" he asked from the other side of the door "Yeah, I'm okay, I'm just a bit stuck" she could hear Draco chuckling "What do you mean 'a bit stuck'?" he asked, clearly amused "I can't get my top off" Draco flat out laughed from the other side of the door "I can't help from out here, let me in" Hermione told the portrait to let him and his laughter came to immediate stop as he saw her standing there in jogging bottoms and her bra.

Draco walked up to her and placed his hands on her hips pulling her into him "If this was just a way to somehow lure me into bed, you're going the right way about it Granger" he chuckled "Malfoy this is not funny. Help me!" her top was stuck on her chest just above her black lace bra, Draco pealed the top off her and watched her hair fall gently over her shoulders, her body still pressed against his; they stayed that way for a while until Hermione regained her senses and remembered what he said to her that day in the girl's bathroom "I should...Uh, get a top on" she mumbled before moving away from him and rummaging through her draws until she found an old baggy Beatles top. Draco watched her as she moved around him to rifle through her draw, just after she put her top on he suggested that they go downstairs and have hot chocolate and make dinner.