Draco's POV
I loved muggle Christmases.
Actually, it might not be the muggle part. It might just be the fact that I was living with the guy I liked (though he didn't know it), but I figured that either way, this was going to be the best Christmas of my life. I had bought Harry's present before December had even begun: a broomstick.
I know, I know. Anyone would buy that for Harry, once they knew that he was the Seeker of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, and it was kind of a typical present. Okay, well, maybe not anyone would buy it for him: broomsticks were pretty expensive, even if you get one of the older models. Still, it was a pretty cliche gift to a Quidditch player, but I knew him better now. It was his favourite sport in the world, and he was amazing at it. I could see him becoming a professional player, if he didn't become an auror.
The timing was perfect. The Nimbus 3500 had just been released in early November, and it was by far the best broom I had ever seen in my life. I had been able to sneak back to Diagon Alley early one morning, before most of the Wizarding World got up, so nobody recognized me.
The wrapping part was tricky. I had chosen this shimmery red and gold paper, but everytime I tried to wrap it around the broom it crinkled and tore. I gave up after my fifth attempt, and instead used my wand to make it smooth. I didn't put it under our Christmas tree, because it was a pretty unusual shape and it wouldn't take Harry long to guess that it was a broom. So I put it at the back of my closet and arranged the clothes so that it wasn't visible, even if he happened to look in there.
Finally Christmas Eve came around. We spent the night doing our best to cook a traditional dinner, but the turkey ended up mostly burnt. Fortunately, we were able to pick off the charred pieces and the rest of the bird was intact, so it ended up being an okay meal after all.
Then, Christmas Day. I woke up to Harry jumping on my bed. "Draco! It's Christmas!"
The sight of him so worked up about it brought a fond smile to my face. I rolled over and laughed into my pillow. "I got that, thanks Harry."
"I made breakfast," he grinned. "Obviously I couldn't leave it to you."
It was true. I hadn't improved my skills at making any kind of breakfast since the summer, in fact, I had gotten steadily worse. I usually left that meal to Harry.
I woke up enough to crawl out of bed and follow him down the stairs into the kitchen. Sure enough, there was fresh breakfast waiting on the table. I raised my eyebrows. "It's only 7:45, Harry, and you've already gotten ready and made breakfast. Why were you up so early?"
"It's Christmas!"
I grinned and speared one of the french toasts off of the platter. "I am aware."
"C'mon, Draco, aren't you excited?"
I was, but I tried not to show it. Wiping the smile off of my face, I shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I just don't like all the hype about it. Who cares? It's just a holiday."
He punched me on the shoulder. "Please. You're the one who decorated the entire house a month before."
Laughing, I hit him back gently. "Okay, maybe I'm a little bit excited."
He scoffed and began loading his breakfast into his mouth. I did the same, and less than half an hour later we were done with the meal.
"Present time!" I ran to the living room, and grabbed the wrapped broomstick from underneath the tree, where I had set it the night before.
"'Not excited,'" Harry shook his head. "I think you're more excited than five-year-old-Dudley was, and that's saying something."
I stuck out my tongue at him and handed over the present. He grinned and began to meticulously peel the paper off, carefully avoiding any tearing.
"Harry," I said, as patiently as I could, "If you don't hurry up, I'm going to unwrap it for you."
As he peeled the final layers of wrapping paper off of the gift, he looked up at me. "Draco, this better not be what I think it is."
I pressed my lips together and smiled. He pulled the gift wrap off, and the broom I had bought rolled out of the paper and into his lap. He held it up, and I watched as his eyes glided over the handle, the gold imprint of the model name reflecting off his glasses.
It was the best model by a mile. The Nimbus manifacturers had obviously been working hard to make sure it would be amazing enough to rival the firebolt, and they had succeeded. The handle and seat was polished a bright chestnut, and were equipped with one of the best cushioning charms fit for a king. The straws on the end were gold and tipped with dark blue, and softer than silk.
I heard Harry exhale softly. "Draco."
Proud of myself, I laughed. "I thought you should have the best broom out there. After all, you were the youngest seeker, in what, fifty years..."
"A century," he corrected absentmindedly, running his hands over the wood.
"Exactly."
Finally he tore his eyes away from his present. "Well, now my gift seems stupid." He handed me two packages. I opened the largest one first. It contained a pair of... shoes? With some sort of blade attached by metal to the bottom of the soles.
"Harry, what...?"
"Skates." He stated like it was such an obvious thing and grinned at my bewildered expression. "I'll show you later."
Shaking my head, I opened the next item. It felt more fragile than the firs, so I pulled the wrapping off carefully.
"Draco, if you don't hurry up, I'm going to unwrap it for you," mocked Harry. I wrinkled my nose at him and made a show of taking more time than I ordinarily would have.
I pulled it out by the silver chain, and the pendant that was strung on fell into my palm. It was beautiful: a silver dragon with amazing details... you could even see a fleck of gold at the end of each of the scales. The teeth were gold too, but the eyes were the most beautiful emerald green and stared right at me.
"I, uh, thought you might want it, because of your name meaning 'dragon' and it's kind of the Slytherin colours. Seemed fitting really." Harry scratched his head, looking as though he was worried I wouldn't like it. "Uh, I could probably return it if you-"
I cut him off. "I love it, Harry."
I put the chain around my neck and tried to fasten the clasp, peering down at it but never quite getting it.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Here, give me that." His fingers brushed my neck as he took the ends of the chain and easily hooked them together, and I looked down at my lap.
"Thanks."
The day passed in a blur. Harry showed me some of his favourite Christmas movies and we watched them for most of the time, but decided to go for a walk after dinner. The city lights were just starting to turn on, and we walked down a couple of blocks until we came to a park. It had just started to snow, so we sat down on a nearby bench with our coffee to watch it fall ever so gently onto the ground.
I was examining a flake that had fallen onto the tip of my gold finger when I felt a slight breeze followed by a gently tinkle of a bell above us. I looked up and there I saw a cluster of dark green leaves carefully protecting plush white berries.
"Mistletoe." I said aloud, glancing over at Harry.
He looked up and blushed slightly. "Oh."
I looked at him. Snowflakes had fallen into his messy hair, a drastic change from the deep black. His green eyes were wide behind the round glasses, the streetlight above throwing a warm glow onto both of us. Behind him, the other lights of the city shone out through the darkness, little pinpricks of warmth in the night. And he was beautiful.
Harry’s eyes twinkled and he smiled. Scooching over slightly, I leaned forward and looked up at him for permission. Harry lifted a finger to my chin and slowly but surely, our lips, warm from the coffee, met in the most pleasant and indescribable way possible. I leaned into him slightly as my back arched, feeling the passion and I felt his firm grip around my waist pulling me forward as much as possible.
We pulled back and Harry smiled at me, his hand enclosing around my own. "Let’s go home Draco."
Author's Note:
Well, there's the next chapter! And there was (finally) a kiss. I haven't started working on the 20th chapter yet, but hopefully I'll have more time over the break. :)
By the way, I changed my username a while back from book_lover_27 to raven_bird (because that's my friends' nickname for me... weird, I know). So yeah, if you didn't recognize the new username.
Thanks to Amarah for really helping me out with this chapter... I was kind of stuck.
Please vote and comment! I really appreciate every one.
Raven