Christmas Kisses.

On the last weekend before Hogwarts broke up for the summer, the grounds were transformed into a winter wonderland as they prepared to play host to the winter fair the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, had organised. Dumbledore had come up with a plan to hold a winter fair for the students of Hogwarts, with all the proceeds going to various charities throughout the wizarding world. He'd roped in the two head students, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy to help him organise the event, and the fair was going to be run mainly be the staff and seventh years of Hogwarts.

Since there was only a bit real snow that year, Dumbledore had enchanted the grounds so that they were covered with soft, magical white snow. Magical lights were then strung up around the outside of the castle and in the trees to give the grounds a festive sparkle. He'd also frozen over The Black Lake for the day so that students could pay to go ice-skating.

Hermione and Draco had spoken to the shop keepers down in Hogsmeade, and nearly every shop had set up a stall at the fair, and agreed to donate half of what they made to the charities. Madam Rosmerta was there from The Three Broomstick's, selling butterbeers. The first and second years in particular were looking forward to visiting the stalls from Hogsmeade as it was a chance for them to sample the shops they would be able to visit once they hit third year.

For entertainment there was the ice-skating and a selection of other fun stalls. Hagrid had arranged for a friend of his to set up a pen of reindeers, which students could pet and even feed. There was a lucky dip, where a prize was guaranteed, a raffle, a snowball throwing stand, where you had to win your prize by throwing snowballs accurately. Snowman competitions were running throughout the day, with each year taking part at different times. There were even a couple of mistletoe booths, which the girls of seventh year had all agreed to take a turn in over the course of the day. Professor Flitwick had also organised for the choir to provide the festive music throughout the day.

The Hogwarts house elves had also been hard at work with their input for the day, which was sorting out the refreshments. Students could buy hot turkey sandwiches, bowls of soup, mince pies, and other festive cakes. Then there was a stall selling hot chocolate and other warm drinks.

All the staff had a part to play in the day, and every seventh year had agreed to do a couple of stints of work throughout the day. Hermione and Draco had organised the schedule, and every student would do their share of work, but they would all also get plenty of time to relax, enjoy the day and have fun for their friends.

A little before eleven o'clock, Dumbledore gathered the students in the Great Hall and officially opened the fair, reminding people that all the money they spent would be going to charity. If they wanted students could remain indoors, but all the fun was outside, so no-one did remain in the castle. Everyone got outside as quickly as they could, and the fun began.

As head students, Draco and Hermione were in charge of making sure all the students pulled their weight. They both had their own jobs to do at certain times, but they spent the first few hours of the fair, making sure everyone was sticking to the schedules they'd created. Thankfully there was an air of co-operation among the students that neither of them had experienced before, and they both thought that Dumbledore may just have found the perfect way to promote house unity. By doing something so enjoyable, the students didn't mind helping out and they were all having too much fun to argue with one another.

During their rounds, both Hermione and Draco had time to spend with their friends, although they saw precious little of each other. The pair had been a couple since the end of the previous year, and they were hoping to snatch some time together before the end of the day. However, they were both pretty busy and they didn't even have a chance to say hello until the middle of the afternoon when Hermione ran into Draco, who was with his best friend, Blaise Zabini, as she was heading for her turn at the kissing booth.

"Are you having a good time?" Draco asked, giving his girlfriend a quick kiss.

"I am," Hermione replied with a smile. "And everyone else seems to be having fun as well."

"It seems like a big success," Draco agreed. "I don't suppose you're free to actually spend some time with me, are you?"

"Actually, I'm not," Hermione answered with a sheepish smile. "It's my turn in the kissing booths alongside Pansy."

"I suppose if I come with you, I can at least get a kiss," Draco chuckled.

"Only if you pay for it," Hermione warned. "It's a sickle a kiss."

"I think I can stretch to it," Draco drawled with a roll of his eyes. "So how long are you in the booth for?"

"An hour," Hermione answered.

"Wow, you could do a whole lot of kissing in an hour," Blaise piped up. "I'm not sure I would like all these others wizards kissing my girlfriend. All I can say is you're a more tolerant man than me, mate."

"Blaise has a point," Draco said with a frown. "I don't want you kissing other wizards."

"It's for charity, Draco," Hermione pointed out. "Besides, I'm hardly going to be snogging them. It's just a few quick kisses."

"An hour's worth of quick kisses," Blaise said mischievously. "That's a whole lot of puckering, Granger."

"Stop stirring the pot, Zabini," Hermione warned, glaring at Draco's playful best friend.

"I think I need to stay with you," Draco announced. "I don't want these other wizards getting the wrong idea."

"You can't just stand at my side, glaring at every boy who wants a kiss," Hermione argued. "No-one will come near my booth."

"Perfect," Draco said, flashing Hermione a wicked smirk.

"No," Hermione stated firmly. "You will not be standing guard like some sort of jealous moron. If you want a kiss you can pay for it like anyone else, and then you leave. I can come and find you when I'm done."

Not giving Draco a chance to argue further, Hermione headed off to the kissing booths. The previous two girls were just finishing up when Hermione arrived, and they each took their pot of money to be checked in with Professor Snape. Pansy Parkinson was right behind Hermione, and the two girls took their place behind the two booths together. Hanging above each booth was some mistletoe, and as Hermione retrieved an empty pot from underneath the booth to put her money in she spotted Draco lurking beside her booth. In actual fact she spotted a few boys from their year, hanging around to grab a kiss from either her or Pansy.

"We've got a good crowd, Granger," Pansy called over from her booth as she applied a coat of cherry lip gloss. "I bet I make more than you."

"What do you want to bet?" Hermione asked.

"The loser buys the winner a sandwich and a drink," Pansy suggested.

"You're on," Hermione replied, holding out her hand for Pansy to shake.

"Get ready to be well and truly beaten, Granger," Pansy crowed as she turned back to the waiting crowds. "Alright boys, the booths are now open. Come and get your Christmas kisses."

Hermione had barely turned back to face the public when Draco appeared in front of her booth. Hermione rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's eagerness, but she pushed the tub for the money towards him.

"A sickle for a kiss," she told him.

Reaching into his pocket, Draco pulled out a shiny silver sickle and dropped it into the pot. With a devilish grin he then leant across the booth and gave Hermione a searing kiss which had her wishing for more. As their lips parted, Hermione let out a small groan of disappointment, and she knew no other kiss that hour was going to live up to the one her boyfriend had just given her.

"Now that was worth a sickle," Draco said with a grin.

"It was," Hermione replied. "But now you've had your kiss, so step aside. I've got boys to kiss."

"I'm not done yet," Draco argued.

"Oh no you don't," Hermione said, leaning back from her boyfriend. "One sickle gets you one kiss. You've paid your sickle and you've had your kiss."

"It's a good job I came prepared then," Draco replied with a grin. Reaching into his cloak, he pulled out a fat money bag, teeming with silver sickles, and dropped it on the top of the booth counter.

"Blood hell," Seamus Finnigan cried from behind Draco. "That's not fair. That bag of coins will last for ages."

"That's the idea," Draco replied as he turned round to face the boys waiting in line behind him. "Sorry boys, but these lips are taken. If you want a kiss in this hour, Pansy will have to do."

"You can't steal Hermione for the hour," Dean Thomas protested. "I've been looking forward to kissing her all week."

"Sorry Thomas, she's all mine," Draco said, turning back to Hermione. "Now where were we?" He asked as he plucked a sickle from his bag and dropped it in the pot, before one again connecting their lips.

"They won't last all hour," Hermione said when they broke apart for the second time.

"Let's just see how long they do last," Draco said with a shrug, plucking another sickle from the bag and grabbing another kiss.

As it turned out Draco's bag of sickles lasted for just over half an hour into Hermione's hour in the kissing booth. When he dropped the last sickle into the pot, Hermione thought their kisses had come to an end, as did other people who once again began to queue behind Draco for their turn in kissing Hermione. However, Draco wasn't one to be beaten and he pulled a second bag of sickles from his cloak and dropped it beside the empty bag. Hermione chuckled at her boyfriend's cunning as the boys behind him once again dispersed, moaning about the fact they wouldn't get a kiss off Hermione.

"Let's get through this next bag," Draco said, transferring one of the sickles into the pot.

By the time Hermione's hour in the kissing booth was over, Draco had made his way through his second bag of sickles. Hermione wasn't sure how much her boyfriend had spent, but she was betting it was more than any of the other girls would make on the kissing booths that day. In fact she suspected the money he'd spent kissing her amounted to more than some of the other attractions would make over the course of the day as they'd tried not to make things too expensive so that everyone could enjoy the day, not just those with money.

"That was so unfair," Pansy moaned as she and Hermione stood down from the booths and passed the job over to the Patil twins. "How could I compete with Draco? He must have spent a fortune kissing you."

"I know, he's crazy," Hermione replied. "It's not like he has to pay to kiss me. He could have gotten all them kisses for free if he'd just waited."

"But then other boys would have kissed you, and I couldn't have that," Draco said, throwing his arm around Hermione's shoulders. "Blaise was certainly hoping for a kiss."

"I was," Blaise said with a wistful sigh. "But Draco's always been possessive. It's no real surprise that he went to such extreme lengths to make sure no-one else kissed his girlfriend."

"I suppose it's romantic in a way," Pansy conceded. "Even if it has cost me a sandwich and a drink."

"Don't worry about that, it wasn't exactly a fair bet," Hermione said. "Why don't you come with us after we've dropped our money off with Snape, and Draco can buy us all something to eat. After all, he is splashing the cash today."

"It is for a good cause," Draco replied with a grin as the foursome headed off to get some food and enjoy the rest of the fair.

Draco himself wasn't sure how much he'd spent in the last hour, but he did know that it had all been worth it. Every single sickle had been well spent as it ensured that no-one else had gotten the pleasure of kissing his girlfriend. He would do it all again if he had to, and he didn't regret a single piece of silver that had left his possession. It had all been worth it to get some Christmas kisses from the witch he was head over heels in love with.

A/N - This is the last collection piece for this year, so I will be marking this story as finished. There's a good chance I'll be adding to it next year, but until nearer the time I have no idea what form my christmas stories will take next year (although I am hoping to do a few longer stories). But for now, this collection is over. Thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoyed it. Merry Christmas everyone!