Veela Love

Chapter Twenty: Christmas Morning

            That night Hermione stood clutching a pillow to her chest, dressed in an oversized t-shirt. She stared at the bed nervously.

Draco came flying by her and hopped onto the bed. "It's not going to bite. Oh wait, are you scared of a little bed?" At her serious expression, he softened his tone. "Here." He grabbed all the pillows and made a wall between her side and his. "There."

Hermione felt herself smile softly. Draco seemed to endlessly surprise her. She crawled onto her side of the bed. "Thank you, Draco."

"You're welcome, Hermione. Sweet dreams."

Snuggling down into the comforter, which smelled like sunlight, she was asleep in minutes.

Coming back to consciousness due to the sunlight slipping through the drapes, Hermione felt warm and content, which puzzled her. She usually woke up on the chilled side. Her pillow moved underneath her, and she was suddenly very awake. She was draped across Draco, their legs tangled up together.

She let out a yelp when Draco murmured, "Don't move. Five more minutes, please."

Weighing the pros and cons of moving now, Hermione ultimately decided to nestle deeper into Draco's embrace and quickly fell back asleep. When she awoke again, she could feel Draco's eyes on her.

"What?" she yawned.

"You're so beautiful."

Hermione buried her face in his chest so he couldn't see her blush. She was used to compliments about her brain, but no one ever called her beautiful. "What about my beaver teeth and bushy rats nest?" she asked, throwing his past words in his face.

"You know I said those things out of jealousy, right?"

"Jealous of what?"

"Of everything you are. You've always been goodness."

Hermione was at a loss for words. Ignoring Draco's groan of protest, she untangled their limbs and got up from the bed, wading her way through the covers to the edge.

"Fine, I'll get up," Draco sighed.

They spent the week and a half leading up to Christmas exploring the Chateau and surrounding grounds, the vineyards being of special interest to Hermione. To her great surprise, she found she adored being around Draco outside of school, not that she'd ever admit it. In school, their interactions had been centered around school or his Veela, but here she was able to spend time with the startingly bright young man his mother always saw him as. He was still snarky, but his wit and humor shone through. She caught him smiling at her more times than she could count, and each time felt like she'd received a gift. She could feel herself falling for the Slytherin more than she thought possible – an impossible dream brought to life. From the moment she'd learned she was going to be a Veela mate, she had resigned herself to a life of tolerable happiness at most. But maybe she'd have more.

Christmas morning, she woke early, once again wrapped around Draco. They'd given up the wall of pillows after the second night, realizing it was futile.

"Happy Christmas, darling," Draco said, kissing the top of her head.

"Happy Christmas, Draco," Hermione yawned. Her eyes flew open and she hopped out of bed, racing to grab her robe. Draco quirked an eyebrow at her. "Christmas presents!" Hermione gushed, grabbing his hand and trying to pull him out of bed. Laughing, Draco allowed her to yank him out of bed and down the stairs.

They found Cissa sitting before the Christmas tree, sipping on a mug of tea. "You're up early, Draco."

He rolled his eyes. "Someone was too excited to sleep until a reasonable hour."

"I'm just excited for you both to open your presents!" Hermione squealed, already searching through the pile of presents for Cissa's and Draco's gifts. "Aha!" she cried, standing up abruptly with two small packages. She turned to find stunned expressions on both Malfoy's faces.

"You got me something?" Draco asked, his voice breaking.

Hermione realized she'd shocked him, but she couldn't figure out why. "Of course I did, but it was more of an old thing returned." She tossed him the present, and he caught it. Holding it as if it was a delicate flower, Draco pulled the ribbon off and opened it. Hermione knew his old pocket watch lay nestled inside it.

"I remember you carried it everywhere at school. I found it in your drawer and realized it was broken. After fiddling with it, I fixed it. I hope you don't mind that it isn't something new." Hermione could hear the hesitation in her own voice. She was half afraid he'd be mad she'd been snooping.

"How did you fix it? They said it was beyond repair," he whispered, gently removing the watch from the box.

"I just fiddled with it."

"She's not called the bright witch of her age for nothing, Draco," Cissa reminded him.

"Do you like it?"

Draco stumbled over to Hermione and wrapped her in his arms. "It's perfect, thank you."

Through the gap in his arms, Hermione saw Cissa smiling at them. Breaking free, Hermione stepped closer to her, extending the small box. "It's not much; it's hard to buy for someone who has everything. I hope you don't mind that it's less expensive than you're used to."

Cissa smiled gently. "I'm sure it's perfect. Thank you for the thought, Hermione." She opened the present and pulled out the small locket.

"Open it," Hermione urged.

Cissa opened the small clasp with trembling fingers, revealing a copy of the only picture Hermione had of Draco – one where he was alternatively smiling and laughing. She'd been lucky to catch it.

"It's wonderful," Cissa choked out.

"Of course it is; it's of me, Mother," Draco added. "I think it's time to give Hermione her gift now."

Cissa put on the necklace and nodded. Draco presented Hermione with a small box. Opening it, she found an ancient key nestled inside. "Umm, thank you, it's lovely," Hermione said, picking up the key and turning it over, hoping it would tell her what the key went to.

"Tell her, Draco."

Draco stepped closer and gently took the key from her hand. "This is a master key to all the Malfoy accounts. You have access to everything that's ours now. You're basically a Malfoy already; I figured you might as well have the same benefits."

Hermione's eyes grew wide, and she glanced at Cissa, who was smiling encouragingly. "Welcome to the family, Hermione."

"That's too much." Hermione hated that she stuttered over the words, but she was beyond overwhelmed.

"No, it's not. It's yours forever." Draco smiled at her before dipping his head and giving her a chaste kiss on the lips.

He sat down on the couch and pulled her onto his lap, accioing the rest of their presents. Hermione received several new outfits from Cissa, which she knew would be incredibly flattering on her slight frame.

At eleven, Draco and Hermione stood in front of the fireplace. "Ready to go to the Burrow?" she asked Draco.

He grimaced. "As ready as I'll ever be."

Hermione grabbed his hand. "Let's go."