The Convergence Secret Santa

For: Sky
Penname: AroraintheSky
Character: Hermione Granger
Other Characters Used: Draco Malfoy
Rating: K
Genre(s): Friendship/Romance
Message to your person: I know Hermione is your baby and Dramione is your ultimate OTP, so hopefully this bit of Christmas fluff makes your day. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Mistletoe
Returning to Hogwarts after the war, Hermione can't help noticing how different things are…especially with Draco Malfoy.

In the days that followed the Second Wizarding War, the wizarding community slowly returned to normal. Or rather, they established a new normal. Change didn't happen overnight and like with all wars, wizard or muggle alike, life would go on. The same could be said for Hermione Granger.

After the Battle of Hogwarts, one of the first things Hermione did was track down her parents in Australia and restored their memories. The rest of the summer was dedicated to reconnecting as a family because come September, Hermione boarded the Hogwarts Express to finish her seventh and final year, which was previously deferred by the quest for the Horcruxes.

Most of the students in her year didn't return, namely Harry and Ron, but she still saw some familiar faces, a fair share of which unsurprisingly belonged to Ravenclaws. The most shocking, however, was Draco Malfoy.

His presence alone was surprising, but not as much as the state of Draco himself. He was different. He lacked his usual air of superiority. In fact, he was practically a shell of his former self. Some of the ghosts in the castle seemed livelier.

Rumour had it that the Malfoys were no longer held in such high regard anymore. Naturally, the wizarding community at large was suspicious of former Death Eaters, but even to former supporters of the Dark Lord and pure-bloods extremists, the Malfoys had become outcasts thanks to their last minute desertion before the Voldemort's defeat.

For months, Hermione watched Draco move around the castle and grounds looking dreary. He was distant and uninterested in class and during meals he barely ate. Hermione wondered why he even bothered returning to Hogwarts, but it later occurred to her that this was his escape. Idle gossip at school must have been preferable to having the eyes of the entire wizarding community turned upon you.

Hermione thought about mentioning it in her letters to Harry and Ron, but somehow she doubted that they'd be as compassionate. Honestly, she was surprised by her own sympathy. She certainly didn't think of herself as a cruel person, but the thought of feeling sorry for Draco Malfoy seemed like a foreign concept to Hermione. After all the things he had said and done in the past, now that the tables had turned, she decided to take the high road.

A few of the students that were remaining in the castle over the Christmas holidays had decided to throw a party. Hermione reckoned there was no better time to extend an olive branch. She found Draco seated alone in a quiet corner of the library. Books were open around him, but the length of parchment on the table in front of him was unmistakably blank.

"Draco," she said his name tentatively.

Draco regarded her with suspicious. "What do you want, Granger?"

"Well…" Hermione paused and silently resolved herself. "Some of us are having a small get together and I was wondering if…"

"I don't need you pity," Draco said bitterly.

"Then it's good that I have none to give," Hermione retorted quickly.

Draco scowled. "Are you done?"

"Yes," Hermione answered with a furrowed brow. She turned to leave, but paused. "It's in the Room of Requirement on Christmas Eve," she informed him. "In case you decide to be cordial for once in your life."

"Don't count on it," she heard him grumble as she left.

Hermione sighed heavily. She tried. If Draco wanted to be a prat, there wasn't anything she could do about it and she refused to let his bad mood ruin her Christmas spirit.

The next few days were spent as usual. A large bulk of her time was devoted to studying, but she also made a point to go to Hogsmeade with Ginny and Luna and to send gifts via owl to her parents, Harry and Ron.

On Christmas Eve, Hermione took great care in dressing for the party. It was her last Christmas at Hogwarts and she wanted to make it one to remember. She wore a wine coloured chiffon dress that she had originally bought for a Slug Club dinner and tamed her hair into a neat chignon with a festive hairpin.

The Room of Requirement was decked out in fairy lights and decorations of red, green and gold and when Hermione entered the party she found her friends chatting and dancing to songs by the Weird Sisters. A table in the corner held a combination of foods from the kitchens and a sampling of treats from Honeydukes. Hermione helped herself to some Christmas pudding and washed it down with pumpkin juice before joining her friends in a dance.

After a few hours of partying, the small crowd had thinned out significantly, but Hermione was surprisingly going strong still. She had kicked her shoes off at one point and continued dancing, but she soon found herself in need of something to drink. As she neared the refreshments, she was surprised to see Draco standing in the shadows, smartly dressed in a dark emerald jumper and black trousers and nibbling on a cauldron cake.

"You came," Hermione marvelled once she was closer.

Draco glanced at her and gave a half-hearted shrug. "Nothing better to do. Reckoned it might be good for a laugh."

"Do you want to dance?" Hermione asked.

Draco frowned. "With you?"

"I'd hardly ask for someone else, would I?"

Draco set his half eaten cake down. "Fine, but I'm not taking my shoes off," he declared haughtily.

Hermione glanced down at her bare feet and managed a tiny smile. "Just don't step on my toes."

A few awkward missteps and some odd glances from the remaining partygoers later, Hermione and Draco let loose and began dancing their cares away. He really wasn't so bad when he was relaxed. In fact, Hermione found Draco could be rather lovely when he wasn't spewing venom. After one final dance to Celestina Warbeck's 'You Stole My Cauldron But You Can't Have My Heart,' Hermione led the way back to the food table and quickly downed a pumpkin juice.

"Granger," Draco called to her.

"Yes?" Hermione replied turning back towards him.

Draco took a deep breath as though he were gathering his courage. He took half a step forward and tilted his head downward towards her while one of his hands slipped behind her neck just before his lips met hers.

Hermione froze instantly, eyes wide and breath trapped somewhere between her mouth and lungs. Her hands weakly curled into fists. Her thoughts went fuzzy and she could only barely manage to perceive what was happening. His fingers on her neck. Lips parted. The taste of pumpkin juice and cauldron cake. The music in the room had been drowned out by the thumping of her heart in her ears, but slowly it came back into focus once Draco pulled away.

Hermione blinked, thoughts still reeling. Her cheeks burned red and her lips felt depressing cold in his wake. "Why did you do that?" she demanded softly.

"Isn't that the tradition?" Draco asked with a furrowed brow.

Hermione met his frown with one of her own. "What?"

"The silly muggle tradition." Draco pointed to the low hanging plant above them.

Hermione looked up and suddenly it was all clear. "That's not mistletoe. It's holly. The leaves are sharp and pointed and the fruit is red," she explained. "Mistletoe has round leaves and white berries."

"Well that's just rubbish," Draco huffed and left the party unceremoniously.

Hermione watched him go without interruption as she tried to make sense of what had just happened. When no answer came, she quickly located her shoes and hurried off back to her dorm. That night she found herself inexplicably lost in strange dreams that prominently featured a certain fair-haired wizard.

On Christmas morning, Hermione awoke feeling even more confused than before she fell asleep. As she moved to get up, she noticed a small box with no tag at the foot of her bed. Hermione turned it over a few times in her hands before untying the ribbon and opening the lid. Inside, she found a single sprig of mistletoe.

Smiling in spite of herself, Hermione quickly got dressed and hurried towards the Great Hall to join the others for breakfast. She tucked into her food while keeping a watchful eye out for her not-so-secret admirer. When he didn't show, she set off to search the castle and grounds, finding him standing beneath a poplar tree near Greenhouse One.

"Draco," Hermione called to him. As she moved closer, she couldn't help noticing how tired his eyes looked, as if he had been up all night reading, but he regarded her kindly anyway.

"Did you know that mistletoe grows on poplar trees?"

Hermione nodded as she pulled her gift from her pocket. "I did actually." She lifted it over their heads. "Merry Christmas," she told him then leaned in for a kiss.

Draco pulled her closer. "Merry Christmas, Granger," he muttered softly against her lips.

Disclaimer: The Convergence Roleplay is owned by Bob (TheName'sBob) and Lena (xX-The-Mad-Man-With-A-Box-Xx). All OC's belong to their respective Roleplayers. All Characters belong to their respective franchises.

The Roleplay: With no idea why they're stuck on an odd planet, with seemingly no way home, a collection of fictional characters must band together to continue to ask themselves why they are there, and figure out exactly what the gigantic box dominating the world is for. Welcome to the Convergence.

The Convergence is a Multifandom RP, featuring Supernatural, Doctor Who, Sherlock, Harry Potter, Marvel Studios MCU, Percy Jackson, the Vampire Diaries, the Hunger Games, Merlin, Once Upon a Time, Divergent and the Fox MCU! Check out the Link in the profile!