Chapter Twenty-Six

"Stop it."

Sally gave Miss Granger her most innocent smile.

"Stop what, M'am?"

"Stop laughing."

"I'm not laughing, M'am."

Hermione glared. Some people were just so ungrateful.

"You are laughing, Sally, and if you don't stop it right this second I'll take it back and give it to someone who values my efforts."

This just caused Sally to laugh even harder. She wasn't trying to be offence, but she couldn't help the laughing. "I'm sorry, Miss Granger. It's a lovely gift, it really is," she said, actually trying to compose herself now. "It's even my favorite color."

"It took me hours to make that so you had best appreciate it," Hermione sniffed indignantly.

Sally giggled again and wrapped the hand knitted scarf around her neck. The deep sapphire blue wool felt warm and soft. Hermione gave her assistant a genuine smile.

"See? I told you all problems can be solved with knitting. Like what to get your fussy co-workers for Christmas."

"I thought it was all problems can be solved by knitting a hat? Is there a matching hat to this?" Sally teased. "Does it come with a Spew button attached? My very own Spew button! Oh Miss Granger, you shouldn't have."

"Alright, you know what just for that you can't have your real Christmas present," Hermione stuck her tongue out at the blonde. "And that's S.P.E.W."

Sally folded her arms with a defiant smirk, "I suppose then I'll just have to keep your gift as well."

"Alright, alright I take it back!" Hermione exclaimed with a deep child like pout. Sally chuckled at her boss and handed over the small brightly colored wrapped package on her desk. It was the day before Christmas Eve and since they would be closed from now till just after New Years, Hermione and Sally had decided to exchanging gifts before they went home.

Normally she would wait till Christmas morning to open her gift but Hermione was adult enough to admit she had absolutely no will power or dignity when it came to Christmas. Something about the holiday caused her to regress back into a five year old child every year. She spent a week decorating hers and George's flat, and just yesterday she instigated a snowball fight with Harry and Ron. It ended with all three of them in an all out proper war complete with snow forts that put the walls of Warwick Castle to shame. The boys tried to team up against her, but Hermione was not known for her brilliance for no reason. Ginny and Lavender were in stitches laughing at Harry and Ron's indignant scowls when the three friends had finally trudged back inside, soaking wet from head to foot and covered in the white powder. Hermione herself had trailed in shortly afterwards, rather dry and sporting a smug grin.

Later while recanting the story to George over hot cocoa and freshly baked biscuits, Hermione found herself all but pinned beneath the gleeful ginger with him kissing her fervidly.

"Do you have ANY idea how delectably delicious you are when you are pranking someone?" he had growled into her ear.

Hermione nearly blushed just thinking about it. They still hadn't done much other than some petting and kissing… alright, a lot of petting and kissing but that was absolutely no one's business what so ever. In the beginning having his hands on her had nearly sent her into a full on panic attack but now she borderline craved it. It was starting to become a bit of a nuisance to be distracted by the thought of George running his hands down her leg when she was trying to take notes from Viktor or make a fire call to the ministry. She had nearly moaned in front of Harry during lunch thinking about the way George kissed her neck the night before. She had to cover it up by pretending to choke on her butterbeer. The stain on her shirt had been worth not having to explain what that noise was. The family still didn't know about them dating, except for Fred of course but she could hardly be mad at him for confiding in his own twin for Merlin sake.

The very audible gasp from Sally made Hermione smile. She had obviously just finished opening her gift.

"Miss Granger… I… I can't accept this," Sally openly gaped at the open velvet box in her hands. Inside the box laid a beautiful bracelet made up of dozens of delicately woven strands of black gold. Eight yellow gems carved into the shapes of roses dangled from the braided threads. It was goblin made and sparkled in the bright office lights. "This must have cost a fortune!"

"Found it on sale in a muggle thrift store," Hermione teased. She'd never admit how much the bracelet actually cost. Sally may faint. As it was she had secretly snuck Sally's Christmas bonus into her purse with a note to find for later. Hermione didn't want to have to order Sally to accept it.

Sally clutched the small black box to her chest with an almost ashamed look on her face, "This makes my gift to you look like something I rescued from the bin."

"It most absolutely does not," Hermione smiled as she pulled the little pink crystal tear drop earrings out of their box. "They're darling, I love them."

Sally blushed, "They are nothing compared to your gift."

"Nonsense, they're perfect," The brunette chuckled under her breath as she began putting the earrings on. There was also a beautiful pair of white fur lined beige gloves in the box. Hermione pulled them out of their box and rubbed the fur on her cheek, giggling a bit when it tickled her nose. "I love these!"

"It's not real fur you know."

"Even better."

Sally cracked a tiny smile before donning her new bracelet and admiring it. She really did have the best boss ever.

...~...~...

George was not having very much luck at all with this stupid wrapping paper. He had used magic to wrap all of the other gifts for his family but he wanted to hand wrap Hermione's. It just seemed more meaningful and it would definitely make her smile… Or at least that is what he kept telling himself so he wouldn't do something crazy like just give up and use magic, or light the damn thing on fire. Who invented the idea of wrapping gifts anyway? They should be slapped in the face with a mallet.

George checked his watch again and scowled. He was supposed to be at Hermione's in twenty minutes. He really wanted to give her his gift tonight while they were alone then wait till tomorrow in front of everyone. He did admit to her that Fred knew and while she took it rather gracefully, the rest of the family did not know. Its not that he didn't want to tell them mind you. Blimey at this point he wanted to get on top of Gringotts and scream it to the world that Hermione Granger TAKEN thank you very much but he figured letting Hermione set the pace for that was the best course of action. She still got these bouts of nervousness and anxiety so he wasn't going to push her on it. George took a moment to glare back down at his poorly hand wrapped gift and sighed. He wanted their first Christmas together to be perfect and the rather pathetic pile of rumpled paper and bows was not helping bring that wish together for him.

Their presence was not required at the Burrow until tomorrow morning and George intended to make every moment from now until they had to go there as special as possible. He'd been watching Hermione for the last few weeks and the closer Christmas got the more excited she became. She was practically glowing last night when he dropped her off at home in anticipation for tonight and tomorrow. They had hung lights and decorated two trees. They had baked biscuits together and watched so strange movie called A Christmas Carol… which by the way was a rather frightening movie even if it did have a happy ending for that Scrooge fellow. But all in all this month had been perfect and he wanted more. He hadn't expected her to fit him so well. She was brilliant and funny. She was serious when she needed to be and playful when she could be. He hadn't been hit in the face with a snow ball since Hogwarts and yet she managed to sneak up behind him in the park while he was getting them hot cocoa and hit him squarely in the nose with a massive snow ball. There was a deceptively good arm on that witch. She was, in a word, perfect.

Checking his watch again, George shot a pained look at his gift for her before snatching it up and making his way to the door. There was nothing else to be done with it, it'd just have to do. Hopefully she wouldn't laugh at it to much.

...~...~...

Hermione set the two plates of food down on the table just in time for the door bell to ring. She brushed her hands off on the apron she was wearing and quickly ran to answer it. She and George were spending Christmas Eve together in lue of going over to the Burrow tonight. There was no avoiding going over tomorrow but tonight it was just him, her and the Christmas tree they'd decorated together.

Well and Crookshanks of course but he had taken to sitting on the opposite side of the flat anytime George was over. Stubborn old thing.

Hermione opened the door with a smile and greeted George with a hug and a kiss on the cheek before leading him over to the table. George's mouth watered as the delicious smell of roasted chicken and creamed potatoes hit his nose.

George stole a quick kiss and waved the wrapped monstrosity in his hand a bit, "I'll go pop this under the tree real quick then be right back to devour that amazing looking meal."

She eyed the package greedily and managed to stifle her giggle at the obvious hand wrapped gift. Hermione was a little nervous about exchanging gifts. She had gotten two, one for tomorrow morning and one for tonight. Hermione hoped and prayed that she wasn't about to make a fool out of herself with his gift tonight. George was good on his promise to be back real quick and he pleasantly startled Hermione by wrapping his arms around her from behind and kissing the back of her neck. He pulled out her chair for her and waited until the brunette witch was seated before pouring her, and then himself a glass of wine.

Dinner was a relaxing affair with several helpings of dinner, and even more helpings of dessert. Hermione made an apple pie completely from scratch that left George feeling like he was betraying his mother's cooking by enjoying it so much. As soon as dinner and the dishes were cleared away George pulled Hermione out of her chair and up into his arms before proceeding to waltz around her living room. Hermione laughed as George twirled her around. She laid her head on his chest as they began to sway gently to the soft Christmas music playing on her stereo. She closed her eyes and just let herself enjoy the feeling of his warmth around her. George buried his face into her soft bushy hair and inhaled that wonderful scent of lavender and leather book bindings.

George kissed the top of her ear playfully, "So want to do presents now?"

Hermione's eyes shot open and her heart started to race but managed to keep the nervousness out of her smile. "Of course."

"You first!" George bounced over to the tree and plucked up his gift for her. They both sat down on the couch as George handed her the package. "Er… sorry about the wrapping…"

Hermione just giggled and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "It's lovely," she said and she pulled away the crimson bow and golden wrapping paper. A plain white box lay under the paper, but as Hermione removed the lid her eyes went wide. Cradled in the packaging on a nest of tissue paper was an ornamentally carved jewelry box. The lid was hand painted with mistletoe and holly in the shapes of wreaths. When she lifted the lid Hermione realize it wasn't a jewelry box at all, it was a music box. As soon as she had lifted the lid, the figurine of a small girl holding a nutcracker up high emerged and spun slowly in a small circle to a soft melodic tune.

Hermione's mouth was stuck in the permanent shape of an 'O'. No one had ever given her something like this. Usually it was books or clothes. She was Hermione Granger, Miss Practical and Useful gifts only. Her seventeenth birthday Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had given her a small gold necklace with an owl charm on it and Sally occasionally would get her a pair of earrings but that was about it as far as frivolous gifts. She rarely got gifts that were just… pretty.

As the little figure twirled around again Hermione set it down on her coffee table before all but jumping on George, pulling him in to a deep kiss. It took the ginger haired man by surprise but he was more than happy to accept it. He kept her held against him even after she broke the kiss.

"So you like it then?" he chuckled. "I saw it in a store window in muggle London, and I figured since you liked that dancing show you dragged me to so much that you might like this as well."

"It's called a ballet," Hermione giggled. "And I absolutely love it. Thank you, George."

"A pretty for my pretty," George grinned and kissed her nose. "So… don't leave me in suspense… where's mine?"

Hermione shifted her feet a little bit and blushed. "It's uh… in the other room," she said. "Why don't you go make us some hot chocolate and I'll go get it."

"A brilliant idea."

George hopped up off the sofa and made his way into the kitchen to start boiling the milk. Hermione waited until he had rounded the corner out of sight before sprinting to her bedroom. She pulled a long white box out from underneath her bed and after shooing Crookshanks away, laid the box on the comforter. She took a deep breath a tossed the lid aside.

Meanwhile George was stirring the chocolate into the simmering milk, letting it melt and swirl together. He was just ladling some into the twin pair of mugs set off to the side when he heard someone clear their throat from behind him.

"I hope you're ready for the best hot chocolate in the whole of… MOTHER OF MERLIN!"

George almost spilled the boiling hot liquid down his front but managed to return the two mugs to the counter before all but staggering over the what was obviously an illusion. Possibly brought on by to much roasted chicken.

Unless his eyes were deceiving him, Hermione stood in the entry way of the kitchen, not feet from him in what looked like a tiny red dress. The shimmering red fabric was cut into the thin straps of a halter top. The neck line plunged deep, showing off her perfectly shaped and sadly underappreciated breasts while the skirt started at her hip abruptly ended at her mid thigh. A thin and completely see through cream colored lace trim donned the hem lines of the entire dress. Hermione's feet were completely bare and her cheeks were almost the same shade of the fabric. To be honest though George's brain was having trouble processing anything out outside of the fact of LEGS! Sweet Merlin lookit her perfect legs!

"What uh…. What's this?" George finally managed to gather together enough of his brain cells to form understandable words. His minds once again screamed LEGS!

"You're Christmas present," Hermione said while worriedly nibbling on her bottom lip. Sweet Merlin she had better stop that before George attacked her.

"It's a stunning dress, Love," LEGS! "But don't think it'll look as good on me as it does on you," he said, finally trusting himself to approach the gorgeous witch and run his hands down her arms.

Hermione quivered under his fingers but forced herself to stay focused. "The dress isn't your present, George," she smiled shyly and brought one of his hands to her shoulder. "It's what's under the dress…"

George's eyes went wide as Hermione guided his hand into slowly pushing the strap off her shoulder. In a moment of panic he pulled away rather quickly. Too quickly it would seem because he fell over backwards on a stray chair he hadn't noticed was right behind him.

"George!" Hermione rushed to his side. "George, are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine," he replied, rubbing the back of his head.

Hermione stood back up and crossed her arms over her front like a hug. "I'm sorry, it was a stupid idea. I should have known you wouldn't want me like this… I'll go change and we'll pretend this never happened, ok?"

Once again, it took George's brain to catch up to what was happening around him. It finally did as Hermione was turning around to go back to her room. Not want her? How in the bloody hell could this woman believe he didn't want her? As quick as he could, George leaped up from the floor and rushed after her. He grabbed her arm and pulled the witch and her fantastically tiny dress up against him.

"Do not. Ever. Think. That I do not want you, Hermione," George said firmly. "I'm a bloke, Hermione, I only have so much will power and that outfit is pushing it to its furthest capacity. You caught me off guard, that's for sure, but that whole falling back thing… that was certainly not a no. That was me trying to make clear my head enough to make sure you weren't about to do something you might think is a mistake tomorrow."

Hermione snaked her arms around his neck and pulled him down for another kiss. He returned the favor with a hungry passion. When she pulled away she was wearing a bright smile, "I have spent weeks talking myself in and out of this, George. I'm not bringing it back up for debate again. Understand?"

"Loud and clear, Milady," he said and swooped her up into his arms as he headed for her bedroom.

As he laid her gently on the bed Hermione smiled up at him and he smiled back. "When did you decide on this?"

Hermione blushed, "A few weeks ago. To be honest, Sally gave me the idea, outfit and all."

'Mental note,' George thought as he kissed Hermione hungrily again. 'When I die, leave entire fortune to Sally…'

"Merry Christmas, George," Hermione whispered in his ear.

Merry Christmas to him indeed.

TBC

A/N: Well that got rather cozy now didn't it… that's mostly the extent of what you'll read from me on the matter. I don't really write smut, and even if I did I want to keep these stories at a T level. I hope you enjoyed the long chapter, I have been working on it for a few days. Read and Review, Dearies. Love love.

~Chupip