New Beginnings

Christmas Day

Draco was curled up on the sofa, sipping a large mug of tea as he read the "New York Ghost". Wizarding Christmas music played quietly on the radio, the morning sun streaming through the window.

'Mornin',' Hermione yawned, the Weasley sweater hanging loosely on her thin frame.

'Morning. There's coffee in the pot for you.'

'Thanks.'

Hermione sank into the beanbag, her hands wrapped around the steaming mug.

'Want to open more presents?'

'I thought you'd never ask!' Draco grinned, shoving the paper aside and jumping to his feet.

Hermione caught sight of the front page, which showed a photo of her and Draco strolling through Central Park.

'Oh yeah,' Draco rolled his eyes when he saw her pick it up. 'Apparently we're secretly engaged. I don't remember asking, but if the media says it, it must be true!'

'Nice photo though,' Hermione cut the article out of the page with her wand. 'One for the fridge?'

The fridge and freezer was littered with newspaper cuttings, held on with magnets. Photos of them together smiled and waved at Hermione as she stuck on the latest addition. Outrageous headlines in bold print caught her eye, making her shake her head at the folly of it all.

'Hurry up, Granger! Presents!'

'You sure you wouldn't rather have breakfast first?' Hermione teased.

'How about we each open one, then breakfast? Mother always made us do that, else I'd not eat until lunchtime.'

'Sounds good,' Hermione laughed, waving her wand and the kitchen utensils began preparing food. 'Who's it from?'

'Mother. How about yours?'

'Harry.'

The sound of ripping paper filled the room, as they tore into their gifts in companionable silence. An old, well-loved broom tumbled out onto Draco's lap.

'My old Nimbus 2001!' He exclaimed, beaming. 'I wrote that the Quodpot game made me miss Quidditch. Guess mother thought I might like to join a club or something.'

Hermione sighed heavily when her box revealed a plethora of Dark Magic Detectors. A book sat atop them, gold-letters were stamped across the black cover - "How to ward your home against negative influences".

'Subtle.' Draco grimaced, looking over her shoulder.

'That's just Harry. He's...protective.'

'That's one word for it.'

One of the items in the box began whirring and chirping urgently, startling them both. Hermione pulled it out of the box and squinted at Harry's scrawl on the label attached.

'Dark mark detector.'

'Fucking genius,' Draco dragged up the sleeve of his hoodie, revealing the scarred, faded tattoo on his forearm. 'Captain bloody obvious.'

Hermione slammed the detector back in the box, her face unreadable. The sound of muffled chirping was still audible. She shrank the box and snatched a piece of notepaper from next to the phone. Writing quickly, she folded the note and the box into an envelope. Grabbing a handful of Floo powder from the mantelpiece, she threw it into the fire.

'Godric's Hollow, England. Potter residence.' The flames turned emerald green and Hermione tossed the letter into them. There was a whooshing sound, and it disappeared.

Without a word, Hermione walked into the kitchen and picked up the waiting plates. Draco took his from her, worriedly glancing at her closed expression.

*****

'More presents?' Hermione nodded her head towards the tree as she took Draco's plate. With a twitch of her wand, the sink filled with soapy water and sponges started cleaning the dishes.

'Uh, sure? Hey, are you ok?'

'Fine.'

'Oh...Kay...' Draco picked up a gift, neatly wrapped in gaudy paper. 'Hey, this one's from you! Thanks!'

'You're welcome,' Hermione's lips quirked in the ghost of a smile.

'Sheet music? Nice!' Draco flipped through the pages of movie theme-songs, frowning at titles he didn't recognise.

Hermione was opening a present from Ginny when Draco jumped up and scurried into his room. He came out clutching pieces handwritten music.

'Damn, I was in the wrong key,' Draco frowned, looking from the paper to the book. 'That's why I couldn't get the "Lord of the Rings" theme right.'

'You like it?'

'I love it! Thank you!'

'You're welcome. Ooh, this one's from you?'

The paper revealed the large framed photograph of Hogwarts from Dennis Creevey's tea shop. Another frame held a collage of photographs of Hermione and all of her friends, taken over their years of school.

'Wow, I don't...I've no words...'

'There's a first!' Draco quipped, his ears turning pink.

'Thank you! This is just...how did you convince Dennis to give them up?!'

'Well, he did make copies. But these are the originals. We agreed you'd appreciate them more than anyone else.'

'Thank you. So much!' Hermione flung her arms around Draco and squeezed him tight. 'Can the Hogwarts one go above the fireplace?'

'That's where I was hoping you'd put it!'

Hermione leapt up to hang the picture as Draco opened more presents.

'Another one from you?! You shouldn't have! Oh cool, DVDs!'

Hermione grinned as Draco read the synopsis of each DVD in the pile. She had chosen ones from a variety of genres, a mixture of classics and new-release blockbusters.

*****

As their Christmas dinner cooked, Hermione curled up in a blanket reading one of her many new books. Flute music floated from Draco's room as he practised different songs from the book of the theme music. The TV was set up with a DVD, ready for them to watch as they ate.

Hermione's phone rang, making her jump. She grimaced when she saw Harry's name flashing on the screen.

'Hello? ... Merry Christmas to you too ... No, it's not ok! Harry that was totally uncalled for! ... He was right there! ... Oh puh-lease, we all know who those things are meant to "protect" me from ... Yes I'm angry! ... Don't you call me unreasonable! ... Harry, it's Christmas, I don't want to do this right now ... That's why I wrote that I'd talk to you about it later. This isn't "later" ... Fine, I'll see you soon ... Tell Ginny I say hi, and thanks for the present ... Love you. Bye.'

In his room, Draco sighed.