It's Christmas

"It's Christmas"

Chapter 2 - December 4

     Hermione hummed an old Christmas Carol as she folded her laundry, Blaise was in the shower and she was beginning the first of her many Saturday morning chores. They had spent another marvelous night in each others arms after he returned home from Christmas shopping.

       She glanced out of the window and noted that the snow had yet to cease its decent. The more it fell the prettier it became and the more it reminded her of how Blaise had bought her a snow globe on their first date; that moment was the beginning of her fascination with the soft precipitation. Their first date was more than three and a half years ago and since that day she had acquired several more snow globes, which were now displayed in an antique crystal curio cabinet that Blaise's mother had given them for a wedding present.

       Just as she became hypnotized by the swirling snow a knock came at their door. She glanced longingly out the window once more before calling loudly, "Just a moment."

       She checked down the hall to hear the water still running before opening the door. The person that presented himself seemed to be at a loss for words. "Draco, come on in, it's freezing out there."

       "Morning," he greeted softly, as she shut the door quickly, "is Blaise around?"

       "He's in the shower," she replied, turning toward him with a friendly smile, as he removed his coat. "You want some coffee?"

       "Sure," Draco said, following her to the kitchen.

       When they graduated from Hogwarts Draco and Hermione had come to a sort of truce. They weren't best friends but they weren't enemies, as they had once been. It was a situation that began when she became Head Girl and he became Head Boy and was further escalated when Draco, arrogantly, admitted that he didn't follow Voldemort because he refused to follow a maniac who was the exact thing that he was teaching his legions to loath: muggleborn. They became something akin to friends when Hermione and Blaise began their friendship but the moment they began dating, and later when they married, Draco began treating her just as he did when they were back at Hogwarts.

       Draco sat silently at the table blowing in his coffee as if it was scorching hot. Hermione watched him a moment, leaning on the counter with a mug in her hand, before asking, "Are you all right?"

       "I'm fine," Draco replied sharply, his gray eyes never leaving his cup.

       Hermione watched him stare into his cup a second longer before attempting to engage him in conversation. "I heard you were romancing Anna Damewood."

       "Who told you that?" he asked, finally risking a glance at her.

       "No one in particular," she replied, taking a sip of her coffee. "I hear she certainly has a mind of her own, very opinionated on all things."

       "Yeah," Draco replied sarcastically, "I hate that in a woman."

       Hermione frowned, she couldn't understand his disagreeable attitude toward her but her discomfort was relieved when Blaise came waltzing into the kitchen smelling of fresh aftershave and soap.

       "Good morning, mate," Blaise greeted as he noticed his blond haired friend and he kissed his wife. He looked between the two noticing the blank stare he was receiving from Draco and the baffled, and rather hurt, look on his wife's face and realized that the insecurities his wife spoke of weren't unfounded at all.

        Hermione sat her half full mug on the counter, saying, "I think I'll go finish that laundry."

       "Yeah," Blaise replied as he watched her walk out of the kitchen without another word. "Draco?"

       "Yeah?" he answered, with tone more lively than he'd had since he arrived.

       "Why do you dislike my wife so?" Blaise asked, as he sat at the table with a warm mug full of coffee.

       "I don't," Draco answered simply.

       Blaise watched his friend's eyes dance all over the kitchen before he spoke again. "Then what do you think of her?"

       "I don't," was the flat reply he received.

       Blaise's jaw jumped for a moment before he decided to drop the subject all together. Yet he knew, deep down, that Draco felt something for his wife and why it bothered him so, he didn't understand.

~*~

       Ginny laughed loudly as Harry finished his story about her brother Ron and a broom during Quidditch practice back at Hogwarts.

       "Ron is truly a piece of work," she laughed as she handed him a mug of Hot chocolate, while they lounged on the rug by the fire.

       Harry watched her intently, his head tilted slightly, and a smirk laid comfortably upon his lips. "I love the way your eyes crinkle when you laugh."

       "They do not," Ginny argued, blushing.

       Harry gently took her head in his hands, his green eyes lingering lovingly upon her countenance. "Yes they do."

       She beamed, feeling her heart fill with love for the man that sat in front of her. "I know."

       Harry kissed her softly before moving his lips to her nose, her cheeks, and each of her eyelids. "I'm sure."

       "What are you so sure of?" she asked as he kissed her hand, ten years ago she could've only imagined Harry reciprocating the very love that she'd harbored for so long.

       "I'm sure that," Harry began as she squeezed his hand, "right now, there is no where else I'd rather be than here with you."

       Ginny beamed, her eyes staring into the blazing fire before them, her heart full of complacent love. "What do you want for Christmas, Harry?"

       Harry kissed her on the forehead before whispering softly, "You."

~*~

       "Pansy, darling," Joséphine Parkinson called, as she strolled into the Ballroom.

       "Yes, mother," Pansy answered, looking around the huge ballroom that the servants had decorated in white and silver for their annual family Christmas Party.

       "Do stop frowning, darling, it gives you early wrinkles," she said as she smiled at her youngest daughter.

       "Mother, there is nothing to be happy about," Pansy replied, her argument with Ron playing continuously in her mind.

       Joséphine, frowned, which she didn't do much as it wasn't good for the complexion, she had noticed this same attitude in her daughter every year since she had graduated from Hogwarts. "Darling, smile, it increases the value of your face and your father does adore your smile so."

       "Mother," Pansy whined as she straightened her robes, "please stop nagging me."

       "Why are you so sad, darling? I notice this air about every single year it seems," Joséphine remarked, straightening a curl that fell from Pansy's bun.

       "Do you think I'm sad? What makes you think that?" Pansy asked, Ron's haunting blue eyes flashing before her.

       "Your eyes, darling, your eyes," she replied, a feeling of pity filled her heart, why should anyone be sad when it’s almost Christmas.

       "Mother, I hate this time of year," Pansy whispered as she looked toward the window where snow was landing leaving what seemed to be a lonely trail of tears on the window.

       Joséphine smiled as she kissed her daughter's cheek. "Love is about what you do, not the words you say. Do the right thing, Pansy, it's not as hard as you think."

       Pansy watched her mother's retreating figure with confusion etched on her face. Did her mother know? How could she?

~*~

       "Ron, you are a man in love," Molly Weasley said as her son sat dejectedly at the kitchen table.

       "What?" he asked, loudly, as her comment broke his reverie.

       "It's been ages since you watched me prepare dinner, it's a sign that something's on your mind," she replied, glancing knowingly at her youngest son.

       "Sometimes I wonder would her life be easier if I wasn't a part of it," Ron replied, biting his lip.

       Molly shook her head, as she began to knead dough with her rolling pin. "See that's where you're wrong, Ron. One man's life touches so many others, when he's not there it leaves an awfully big hole. So I don't think that would make her decisions any easier."

       "Mum, we've been going through this same issue for centuries it seems!" Ron exclaimed, exasperated, yet his heart yearning to be near the woman he loved.

       Molly smiled at Ron's exaggeration. "Your father and I have been married, it seems, for just as long and let me tell you life is full of interruptions and complications but it'll work out in the end, I promise."

       "Christmas isn't fun without her," Ron sighed, all anger he'd felt long gone, "she made everything beautiful."

       "And I don't think you will have to spend Christmas without her."

~*~

       "I think he's sleeping with her," Angelina whispered to her oldest friend, Alicia Spinnet, as they sat watching Miles play around the Quidditch Pitch with Julius.

       Alicia's eyes widened, in surprise, it wasn't something she had been expecting Angelina to say. "You're not serious, are you?"

       "I am," Angelina whispered, looking up at the falling snow, "Alicia, I don't know where my husband's gone."

       "Marriage is hard enough without cheating," Alicia replied, sympathy flashing in her eyes.

       "I know," she whispered, wiping a lone tear from her cheek, "it's Christmas and I can't break up my family, my life, I won't."

       "I just don't believe it," Alicia exclaimed, looking out at the man laughing with his son as he returned the Quaffle, "you two had one of the best relationships."

       Angelina scoffed loudly. "I wanted the fairy tale and Alicia, I was so close to getting it but she came back, I should've known that she wouldn't die that easily!"

       "We all thought that Daphne would stay married to that French Auror! We didn't think that she'd be so low as to come back and try to steal your husband," she remarked, patting Angelina's leg.

       "I never thought he'd would allow her to try to tear our family apart," Angelina replied, biting her lip to restrain the anger and the pain.

       "It's Christmas, Angelina," Alicia smiled, a vision of victory flashing in her eyes, "fight for your heart, your family, and especially . . . your husband. Let the hard times bring you together, no one said it would be an easy task, just stand firm in your resolve not to lose the people you love, it's Christmas, anything is possible."

       "Oh," she sighed, running her fingers through her long thick hair, "I can't think about it now or I'll go crazy."

       "Just remember what time of year it is, anything is possible."

~*~

       Dean stared longingly out the window as the snow continued to fall steadily. He could just see her outside laying in the snow, as she had a habit of doing, and him drawing her as she lay snugly in the snow. Dean could remember doing it every year since they had met and every year it seemed that the sketch became more beautiful.

       "The little things," Gwen sighed as she sat the bag of groceries on the counter, "there is nothing greater."

       "Those are what keep you going," he replied, turning from the window, with a rare smile.

       "Well, we should have a toast to the little things at dinner," she smiled as she began unloading the bag.

       "Where's mum?" Dean asked as he leaned against the counter. "I thought you were going to visit that boyfriend of yours?"

       "Boyfriend?" Gwen replied, her eyebrows raised. "Earnest and I are nothing of the sort, we work together and we enjoy conversation together."

       "Gwendolyn," he scolded softly as only an older brother could do.

       "Dean," she sighed, throwing a look over her shoulder.

       "Don't put your life on hold for me! I'll be fine with my memories of Marietta, I've been married to the love of my life and now, little sister, it is your turn to fall in love. So go, I'll make my own dinner and maybe call Seamus over and you can go visit Earnest, or Ernie as we used to call him. Go on, fall in love, have an adventure," Dean demanded, pulling her away from the groceries that seemed to have been keeping her occupied.

       She sighed loudly, while she bit her lip and looked him over with concern. "Dean, I couldn't leave you."

       "Gwendolyn," Dean began, taking her hands into his, "a life without love is no life at all. It's almost the big night, just three more weeks to wait, so tell me what you really want?"

       "I want," she began, her brown eyes looking into his searching for something unseen, "to find the one person in the world that makes all this suffering worthwhile."

       "Ernie may just be that one person, don't risk losing him for me."

~*~

         "It's beautiful, Adrian," Susan whispered as they stood near the entrance of the ballroom, watching the large crowd interact.

       Adrian watched her longingly before replying, "It's an old place and it knows how to host these events."

       "Are all these people your family?" Susan asked, looking up at the charming wizard whose hand was resting at the small of her back.

       "Yes, most of them are." He pointed to two women who were standing among a group of older looking men. "That is my first cousin Pansy Parkinson and her mother, Joséphine, the stately fellow next to my Aunt is my Uncle Xavier Parkinson. That blond character next to Pansy is my oldest brother Armand and the gray-haired fellow is my mother's father, Grandfather Goussand Parkinson."

       "Who is this lovely thing?" a large blond lady asked as she waltzed over to them with such poise and grace that Susan swore they were in a fairy tale.

       "Ah, Aunt Danielle," Adrian greeting, kissing the lady on her cheek, "this is my -- my date -- Susan Bones."

       Susan almost gasped at his introduction of her but smiled inwardly at the revelation as Danielle greeted her politely.

       "Well," Danielle sighed hurriedly as she waltzed toward the stairs, "I must be off, Adrienne and Gabriel need me!"

       Adrian laughed as his Aunt ran off to deal with her children. "My cousins are horrid little buggers."

       They walked into the ballroom, greeting Adrian's family as they passed through the crowd, she looked over at him with a smile once they had passed his Uncle Louis Pucey. "So when did I become your date?"

       "The moment you agreed to accompany me," he replied charmingly, the twinkle in his eyes keeping her mesmerized.

       "Ah," came a happy exclamation from a petite brunette, who looked a lot like Xavier Parkinson, "there's my youngest!"

       "Mother," Adrian replied as he engulfed his mother in a loving hug.

       "How are you darling?" she asked looking him over.

       "I'm fine, I'm fine, I promise, I'm fine," he answered as he turned to Susan, "mother this in my date, Susan Bones."

       "Date," she questioned aloud, "you should visit more often, Adrian."

       "Linette Pucey," his mother said as she introduced herself, "how wonderful it is to see what keeps my son away so."

       "I--I," Susan stammered as Linette took her hand, "it is such a pleasure to meet you."

       "She is such a beauty, Adrian." Linette remarked, smiling up at her son before dragging Susan away from him, calling, "your Grandmother Caroline must meet her acquaintance."

       Adrian smiled as Susan struggled to keep up with his mother's hurried pace, after years of these functions he knew that arguing with his mother, or any woman in his family at that, was futile.

       "Evening, cousin," Pansy greeted as she stood next him, her eyes watching her Aunt and Susan.

       "Pansy," Adrian smiled as she handed him a glass, "you look beautiful."

       "Thank you," she replied without delay. "Is she the one, Adrian?"

       Adrian looked into his favorite cousin's sad eyes and replied without hesitation. "I do hope she is."

       "Susan has matured into a lovely woman, dearest," Pansy remarked, looking away from Adrian's knowing eyes.

       "Where's Ron?" he asked, noticing the lack of light in her eyes.

       "I don't know," she sighed, her lips trembling at the thought. "Nevertheless, I prefer not to think of it tonight."

       Adrian raised the class to his lips quickly before remarking, "I have struggled long enough with this love and I will struggle no more."

       Susan returned with sweet smile sitting up her lips before Pansy could grant her cousin a sarcastic remark. "Your grandmother is the sweetest person you could ever hope to meet."

       "She rules this family with an iron fist, don't let the sweet demeanor fool you," Pansy joked, as she was whisked away by her father for a short dance.

       "Enjoying yourself?" Adrian asked as he wrapped his strong arms around her as the Orchestra began to play.

       "Immensely," she replied as she melted into and began to dance.