Friday, December 25, 1998 (Christmas Day)

While getting dressed on Christmas morning, Hermione laid out two outfits, wanting to look especially nice that day. Once she decided which to wear, she changed, fixed her hair, and even put on a little makeup.

The brunette grabbed her wrapped gift for Draco before making her way down toward the Common Room. When she got to the bottom of the staircase, she found Draco in the Common Room, setting up a Christmas morning breakfast for the two of them, making her smile.

He was putting the finishing touches on the table when he heard the sound of her feet on the stairs. Draco spun around and smiled up at her.

"Happy Christmas, Darling." He said sweetly.

Hermione beamed widely at him, replying, "Happy Christmas, Draco." she said, admiring his dark jean trousers and emerald, half-zipper, cashmere jumper over a cream collared shirt.

His slate-grey eyes glanced down at the wrapped parcel in her hand, causing him to chuckle.

The brunette smirked and walked over to the Christmas tree in the corner of the room, and placed the gift beneath it, next to another gift which had her name written on it.

She smiled and looked over at him, "You've been rather busy this morning."

He chuckled and nodded, "A bit. You know…you look lovely, Hermione. As per usual."

Smiling, she walked over to him and pulled him into a soft kiss.

As they separated, Draco lightly rubbed his thumb along her jaw, smiling, "Would you like some breakfast?" He asked quietly.

She nodded, "I would love some." She replied.

The pair of them sat down at the table he had set up and began to slowly eat breakfast. They chatted, enjoying one another's company, and laughing as they told stories about what Christmas mornings were like when they were younger.

"I remember one Christmas morning when I was about 8 years old." Hermione said, smiling fondly at the memory. "My father made these pancakes in the shape of Christmas trees. He even dusted them with powdered sugar to represent snow. The funny part of it, however, was when he tripped and the powdered sugar flipped in the air, landing on his head." She laughed.

Draco chuckled, smiling widely as he watched her affectionately. "You know…you're absolutely stunning when you laugh."

Hermione's laughter slowed down as she met his eyes and swallowed. "Thank you." She whispered.

He smiled and nodded.

For a moment, they simply stared at one another until Hermione cleared her throat and said, "Erm…would you…would you like to open your Christmas gift now?"

Grinning, Draco nodded, "Sure, but you have to open yours first." he said with a smirk.

The brunette rolled her eyes but nodded, "Fine."

Hermione sat down on the sofa while Draco retrieved the two wrapped parcels from under the Christmas tree. He joined her on the sofa and handed her the smaller one, which was wrapped in gold and red striped parchment.

She smiled at him and unwrapped it, discovering a small wooden box inside. She opened the box which was lined with dark blue velvet and contained a shimmering silver charm bracelet. There was only one charm on the bracelet and Hermione looked at it closely, smiling when she saw that it was a Christmas tree.

"I was hoping that perhaps, if you wanted…" He swallowed nervously, "that we erm…we could add more charms to it…together." Draco said quietly.

She looked over at him and smiled, "I would love that, Draco." she said before pulling him into a surprisingly enthusiastic kiss.

He pulled her close as Hermione threaded her fingers through his hair. When they separated, he smiled and met her eyes.

"You're next." She said, "And I now feel as if my gift for you is nothing special after what you got for me."

He shook his head, "Darling, you didn't even have to get me anything. Just spending this time with you is enough for me."

She smiled and kissed his jaw before nodding to the gift, "Open it."

After unwrapping the gift, he found the book she had purchased in Hogsmeade, titled, Arts in the Muggle World.

"Hermione, this is brilliant!" He said happily, "I've been thinking about which type of art I'd like to try, but I have very little information. Thank you!" He smiled and kissed her lips.

She smiled into the kiss.

They spent the rest of the morning curled together on the sofa, reading, and snogging until lunchtime.

When they arrived in The Great Hall, Draco suggested that they sit at the Gryffindor table if she wanted to be around more people for the holiday.

Making him smile, Hermione pulled him toward the Slytherin table while saying, "I just want to be alone with you today, Love."

Rather than sitting cross from one another like they typically did, Hermione sat to the left of the wizard. Draco smiled and leaned over, pressing a firm kiss to her cheek, making the brunette blush and smile.

As they ate lunch, the couple discussed different muggle Christmas films. Hermione gave Draco as many details as she could about each one which led to several questions from the wizard since he knew very little about the muggle world.

While they talked, an owl flew into The Great Hall carrying a parcel and landed on the right side of Draco's plate. He furrowed his brow and took the package with an attached envelope from the bird before it flew off.

Hermione watched as the blond wizard first opened the letter and read it with a furrowed brow. Draco swallowed and exhaled heavily before refolding the parchment and slipping it back into the envelope.

"Is everything all right?" she asked quietly, feeling concerned.

He nodded though his brow was still furrowed, "Yeah. It's erm…it's from my mother."

Noticing how the tone of his voice had changed, Hermione placed her hand on his thigh beneath the table. "Draco…"

He looked to his left, meeting her soft, concerned toffee eyes and said, "It's fine, Darling. It's only that I've been a bit hesitant to converse with her because I'm not certain about whether or not she was being honest in McGonagall's office. I know my father could and would easily lie to me but my mother…" He shook his head, "We've never had a wonderful relationship, but she's…she's still my mother."

Hermione nodded, "I know. To be on the safe side, why don't you check that for curses?" She suggested, nodding to the package on the table.

He nodded, "I plan to." he replied, grabbing his wand from the holster inside his sleeve.

She watched as he checked the parcel for any possible curses before nodding.

"It's clean." He muttered.

The brunette nodded, "Good." She replied before asking. "So…are you…are you going to open it?"

He nodded in response but didn't immediately unwrap it. He just stared at the parcel with an odd expression.

"Draco…" Hermione said, "What is it?"

"The erm…the letter from my mother said that there was a note in here that would surprise me. It also said that should I not want the gift, to please not throw it away, but rather send it back to her. She hopes that I keep it though." He explained before he unwrapped it, revealing a dark wooden box. Draco furrowed his brow and opened the lid. Inside was a collection of men's rings and the previously mentioned note.

He grabbed the note and inhaled deeply before reading it.

'These rings belonged to someone that I truly wish you could have known. He was my brother. He wasn't known by many because my parents kept his existence a secret until they could rid themselves of the 'burden' of having to care for him. He was a wonderful and kind person. His name was Cepheus Black, and he was only 16 months older than me. We discovered he was a Squib when he was 11 and Father was absolutely furious. Cepheus passed away when you were only 3 and it broke my heart because I know that the two of you would have gotten along splendidly. I thought that you would appreciate these rings. They are all muggle-made because he lived in the muggle world and had decided that if the magical world resented him that he wanted no part of it. I've always thought that they were all so lovely. Now that you are a grown man, I believe they will look wonderful on you. I hope you like them. I love you. Happy Christmas, son.'

Draco's eyes widened in surprise as he looked through the rings, while passing the note over to Hermione.

Hermione read the note before looking at him in awe. "Blimey..." She breathed.

She leaned over and admired the several rows of rings in the box. "They're all so beautiful."

He nodded, pulling one of the rings out. It was silver with a smooth Dragons eye made of deep blue sapphire and black diamond in the middle.

Hermione looked between Draco and the ring in his hand before she quietly said, "You ought to wear it, Love. I think that your uncle would want you to."

He nodded and slipped it onto his right hand, a small smile forming on his face.

Hermione smiled, finding that he looked rather handsome with a ring on.

He slipped the letter and note into the box before closing the box and latching it.

When they finished lunch, the couple slowly made their way, hand-in-hand, back toward the Common Room. As they slowly walked through the corridors, they came upon Headmistress McGonagall who was on her way to The Great Hall.

"Hello Miss Granger. Hello Mister Malfoy. How are the two of you enjoying the holidays?" she asked kindly, her eyes glancing down at their intertwined hands which caused a smile to form on her lips.

Hermione blushed slightly while Draco simply grinned and said, "We're having a splendid holiday, Headmistress. How about you?"

"I'm glad to hear it. I am as well, Mister Malfoy." McGonagall replied, her smile widening. "Happy Christmas to the both of you."

"Happy Christmas to you as well, Headmistress." Hermione said before she and Draco continued to the Common Room.

As they entered the Common Room, Draco immediately set the box of rings down on a nearby chair before turning to Hermione and pulling her close. He looked into her toffee eyes before looking down at her soft lips and leaning in, kissing her with such passion that she took a sharp intake of breath from shock before returning the kiss.

His hands slid down to her hips pulling her fully against his body as he pressed her back against the Common Room wall.

She threaded her fingers through his blond hair, pulling him even closer to her as they snogged.

Just barely pulling back, Draco inhaled deeply and met her eyes, "I'm…I'm sorry, Darling. I shouldn't have done that. I just…I…"

With a smirk, the brunette shook her head and placed her hand over his mouth to make him stop talking. "Draco, I would have pushed you away if I didn't want it. Believe me, Love, I wanted it. And I want to be sure to do it again…several times, actually."

He chuckled and nodded, leaning in, and kissing her lips slowly as he said, "Several times, huh?"

She laughed and nodded, pulling him closer, "Several." She said before continuing to kiss the wizard.

It was sometime later, and they were curled up together on the sofa, snogging when an owl lightly pecked on the Common Room window. They both looked over before Draco casually waved his hand, causing the window to open. The bird flew into the room, landing on the back of the sofa, dropping a letter next to Hermione's arm.

She picked the envelope up and saw that it was from Ginny. Knowing that she may need to reply quickly, she looked at the wizard and pressed a lingering kiss to his lips, "I need to see what Ginny wants."

Draco nodded, "All right." He said as the brunette stood up from the sofa.

She noticed that he grabbed the box of rings his mother had given him and began to admire them closely while she opened the envelope.

Mione,

Happy Christmas!

I hope that you're having a lovely holiday.

I'm honestly surprised that Malfoy is there as well, and that the two of you are getting along so well. That is rather astonishing, to be blunt. Though, I suppose after the war, a lot of people changed. Perhaps Malfoy is a good bloke now.

Has Krum responded to your letter yet? If so, what did he say? I hope it wasn't too bad, though he's never been one to be rude, so I can't imagine it being all that bad.

I was also wondering what your plans were for New Years Eve. Are the students that remained at the school doing anything that evening? Let me know. There's a chance that Harry, Ron, and I might go into Hogsmeade for the evening and stay at The Three Broomsticks Inn. I think it would be great for us to all spend it together.

Write back as soon as you can.

Again, Happy Christmas!

Love,

Gin

Hermione thought over what Ginny had asked about New Years Eve. She knew that she needed to talk to Draco about it and she wondered if the two of them should meet up with Ginny and the others and how that might go.

She looked over at him and smiled before re-joining him on the sofa.

Looking at her Draco set his box of rings on the coffee table before grabbing her waist and pulling her close to his body. He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and asked if everything was all right.

She nodded, still thinking about Ginny's letter and the redhead's questions before deciding to discuss it all with Draco the next day. She kissed him on the jaw and replied, "Yes. Everything is fine."

Around midnight, after a few hours of playing Wizards Chess, Draco noticed Hermione attempt to hide a yawn.

He smirked and reached over, taking her hand and pressing and kiss to the knuckles. "Darling…" He said, "perhaps you ought to go to bed. You appear to be rather sleepy."

She sighed and nodded, "I'm sorry." She replied.

Shaking his head, the wizard stood up and gently pulled her to a standing position, "It's fine. Go get some rest."

She smirked and pulled him close by his jaw, and kissed his lips passionately, taking him by pleasant surprise.

He smiled and kissed her back.

As they separated, Hermione whispered, "I'm sorry. I just…"

He shook his head, "Please…never apologize for that. Kissing you is such a highlight of my day."

She smiled and pressed one last, lingering kiss to his lips before saying, "Happy Christmas, Love."

"Happy Christmas, Darling." He replied, watching her ascend the stairs to her dorm.