All Characters Belong To JKRowling

Part V – The Dovetail Inn

Hermione Granger walked into the door of the Dovetail Inn and immediately felt a strange sensation come over her. It wasn't because it was Christmas Eve and she didn't want to spend Christmas Eve at a strange Inn. It wasn't because there was a powerful blizzard raging outside. It wasn't even because she was all alone, stranded in a far away place away from family and friends. It was because somehow this didn't feel right. Somehow, none of this felt real.

Still, she had nowhere else to go, so she forged ahead.

Walking up to the desk, she spied the clerk behind the counter and smiled weakly at him.

"Yes?" the man asked.

"Please tell me you have a room available," she said, sounding slightly pleading, shaking snow from her head even as she removed her hat, brushing it from her coat.

"Got caught in the storm, did you?" the man said jovially.

Hermione sighed openly and nodded.

The man laughed and said, "So did a few other witches and wizards who came to our fine little village. Too bad the ancient magic in this area makes Disapparating impossible. No Portkeys either, or so I've heard. Hence, everyone is stuck here. Good for business, bad for them, though, for who wants to spend Christmas Eve away from home, hmm?"

Again, Hermione tried to smile as the man continued. "Aye, I have one room left, as the others have all filled up due to the storm, and what a storm it is. Hasn't had a storm of this nature in a long, long time."

Hermione continued to smile weakly at the man and nodded again as she removed her coat, scarf and gloves.

"Were you with the people from Hogwarts?" he asked.

Again, she nodded and smiled. She was indeed visiting this small hamlet this weekend – an ancient magical village – along with a few other witches and wizards. Hermione was a professor at Hogwarts, and was dispatched to this village, called Bethlehem oddly enough, somewhere near the Muggle city of Wiltshire. Sent here along with a few other professors, they were to see if there was any chance of opening a day school for children here. Unlike most of her fellow professors, she decided to stay an extra day so she could study the village's history a bit closer. Hence the reason she was now stuck in the snowstorm on Christmas Eve.

While she continued to think about her bad luck and her surroundings, the man had already started walking up a rickety set of stairs, so she was forced to follow.

"I only have four rooms, you know," he explained as they walked down the hallway of the upstairs, "five if you count the room my wife and I sleep in. Three brothers took one room. A very fine gentleman took my best room, a young married couple took the room my wife and I usually sleep in, therefore we'll be sleeping in the kitchens and a quiet man took the only room we have downstairs. Now you're taking our last room, which is up in the attic. Never worry though; it's a right fine room. It's the smallest room we have, but warm and clean."

"I'm sure it's fine," Hermione assured her host.

He continued down a narrow hallway on the second floor, went up a second set of stairs at the end and pointed. "There it is, lass. The bed is already turned down; because we figured, we'd get another guest tonight. The room right down there is the room that belongs to the fancy gentleman. I think he's got some money - that he does, and single too." The Innkeeper winked at Hermione and then smiled again.

Hermione smiled back once more, even though she knew it was feigned and then went into the small room. It was warm, as there was already a fire lit in the grate and the bed was turned down. She sat on the small bed and turned her head toward the single window.

For a moment she forgot the man was still in the doorway until he said, "Well, lass, dinner will be served in a half an hour, down in the dining room. Will you be joining us, or shall we send a tray up?"

She nodded mutely, not answering his question, stood, and went to look out the window. Then she heard the man walk down the stairs, leaving the door open behind him.

Hermione continued to stare out her window and a feeling of utter despair fell over her. A sense of longing and nostalgia came over her and filled her with gloom when she realized that it didn't matter if she was here or at her home this year. She was all alone at Christmas time anywhere she was. That thought hit her like a ton of bricks. Her father died last winter, her mother was traveling this holiday, Harry and Ron both had families, and Hermione – well, Hermione was thirty-five years old, had no husband, no boyfriend, no children, and at the moment she wasn't even at her beloved Hogwarts.

Having no way to console herself, she realized that it didn't matter one way or another if she was at home, at Hogwarts, or stuck at a gloomy, little Inn, in an attic bedroom, which only had one window, in the middle of a snowstorm, with a bunch of strangers.

"Happy Christmas," she said softly, placing her hand on the cold glass of the window, closing her eyes.

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Draco Malfoy cursed the day he was born! He had the worst luck! Standing in the middle of his room in an Inn far away from home, with his hands clenched in fists at his sides, his jaw compressed tightly so that his mouth expressed a frown, he thought of how he didn't even want to come to this godforsaken village in the middle of nowhere, anyway! His charitable organization was considering backing the building of a magical school here so out of the goodness of his little black heart he came here. He saw everything he needed to see, decided to donate the money, then he went to a bar and got drunk. Pissed out of his mind. When he woke up there was a blazing snowstorm outside and he couldn't leave!

He was stuck here! He left the town's one, and only pub (called the Pig's Eye, for goodness sakes!) and he walked over to the town's one, and only Inn (called the Dovetail Inn, for cripes sakes!) and he demanded the best room in the dingy little place.

The man at the desk told him the best room had already been given to that buffoon Neville Longbottom and his new wife Luna Lovegood. Apparently, Neville was a professor at Hogwarts and had come to the village along with some other professors for the same reason Draco had come. The thought of Neville being married while Draco himself was still single caused bile to rise in his throat. Not that he wanted to be married. There were always plenty of beautiful women willing to give Draco their bodies and hearts, but there was never one in which he wanted to give his.

He gave the man a hundred galleons, told him to put the newlyweds somewhere else, and soon he was in the Inn's best room.

Now, standing in the middle of it, he decided that if this was the place's best room, Merlin help the poor sod who got the worst room, that's all Draco could think! He walked over to the window, looked out at the blasted snow falling all around them and cursed low even as he thought of what a terrible Christmas he was going to have – no matter where he would be.

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Realizing she was fifteen minutes late for dinner, Hermione rushed down the attic stairs toward the second floor hallway, to try to find the Inn's dining room. The place was small, so it shouldn't be hard to find. Concentrating on her mission, she didn't realize that the door to the room at the end of her stairs opened as soon as she reached the bottom. Therefore, she ran straight into the person who exited the room.

The man reached out to stop her, but they still ended up literally on the floor, arms and legs tangled together, Hermione on the bottom, Draco Malfoy on the top, with a look of genuine surprise on both their faces.

Hermione's chest was heaving, taking in great gulps of air, even as Draco tried to hold the upper part of his body away from her with his weight on his arms. They looked in each other's eyes for long moments, absurdly long, and then Hermione started to laugh, even as Draco started to frown.

Hermione's laughter stopped as Draco's eyes shifted to her mouth. That movement caused her eyes to shift to his mouth. Tingling warmth spread over her entire body, as he continued to lie upon her, and they remained silent, taking a quiet inventory of the other.

Finally, he spoke. "Hermione Granger. You don't get to walk much as a professor at Hogwarts I take it?"

She smiled and from underneath him said, "Draco Malfoy. You still fancy yourself above others, don't you? At least, you're above me at the moment. Do you mind getting off me?"

"I might mind it," he said, settling down on his elbows, his chest coming down closer, crushing her breasts, his mouth centimeters from hers, his breath brushing the side of her face. "You're still a know it all swot, I take it, aren't you?"

"And you're still a pureblood pig, are you not?" she asked calmly, moving slightly underneath him.

"Ah, you might not want to move like that, Granger," he warned. "I think I like it a bit too much."

"Pervert," she said without really meaning it.

He laughed and said, "Too true, but still…"

A man walked out of another room and asked, "Is everything alright down there?"

Draco sprang off her as if he were burnt. Hermione sat up suddenly and brushed down the front of her jumper and skirt. Draco offered his hand to her. She swatted it away and stood on her own.

The man walked closer and said, "My name's Don Boot. I think I remember you two. You went to school with my brother, Terry. And then there was all that nasty business with my stepmother a few years ago. I'm sure you remember that, Miss Granger."

"Yes, I remember," Hermione said hastily, even as Draco said, "Oh, yes, sorry to hear about your brother's death."

The man acknowledged Draco's condolence and said, "It was a long time ago, but thank you. What are you two doing here?"

"I was with the delegates from Hogwarts who were looking at this village as a potential site for a day school and I got stuck in the storm," Hermione explained. "I don't know why Malfoy's here."

Draco sneered at her, turned to the man and said, "Well, I'm here because I'm the man with the money. If the school's to be built, I'm the one who will be backing it."

Hermione gasped. "I didn't know that."

"Why would you," Draco countered.

"I don't know, but I wish I had known, that's all," she returned.

"So you wouldn't have participated?" he leveled.

"Don't be daft," she accused. "I think it's wonderful, that's all."

Draco was taken slightly aback by her praise. He neither commented or smiled or did anything. Finally, to fill the silence that fell over the trio, Mr. Boot said, "Well, I'm here with my two brothers, Nick and Paul. Do you remember them, Miss Granger? You met them a few times when they were in their animagus forms. I'm not sure if you ever met them as men, but anyway, we got stuck in the snowstorm, too."

"I recall meeting them as men and wolves. What do you do now, Mr. Boot? Do you still work for the Brotherhood?" Hermione asked.

"I do a bit of everything," he said evasively. "May I escort you down to dinner, Miss Granger? I think we're a bit late as it is."

"I'd like that," she agreed, taking his arm as he offered it to her.

Draco walked behind the pair, wishing that he had thought to offer his arm to Hermione instead, although wondering WHY he wished that fervent wish. Furthermore, he wondered why he was watching her intently as they made their way down the hallway and then down the stairs to the little, cozy dining room.

He had never been attracted to Hermione Granger before, but here he was, watching her, and he liked what he saw. She had a nice shape, a cute bum, cute legs (they weren't long, since she was a bit on the small side) long curly hair, and in his opinion, beautiful breasts. When they were pressed against him, he liked what he felt of them. He could have stayed on top of her all day long. He imagined being on top of her many different ways.

Walking into the dining room, he noticed there were only three empty chairs and none of them was together. He would have rather sat next to Granger than anyone else, but that wish would go unfulfilled. Hermione sat next to a man with long, light brown hair, and he was forced to sit next to a vampire named Sanguini who was distantly related to him on his mother side, whom he never cared for in the least.

"Hermione, I didn't know you were here," Neville Longbottom said as they began to eat.

"Stuck just like you and Luna, although you were supposed to be on your honeymoon, I thought," Hermione answered.

Luna replied, "Neville wanted to spend one more day here, looking at some of the local foliage, and I had heard there were a particular sect of Telisculars here, and they are so very rare, as you know, so we decided to honeymoon here, instead of Paris."

The man beside Hermione asked in a soft voice, "What are Telisculars?"

Hermione shrugged.

The man offered her his hand and said, "I'm Nick Boot by the way. We've met a few times, if you recall, but that was many years ago. That man's over there is my brother Paul, and I take it you've already reacquainted yourself with my brother Don."

Hermione took his hand and said, "Pleasure. It seems you recall that I'm Hermione Granger, and that's Draco Malfoy across the table."

"I can make my own introductions, Granger. We aren't together or anything," he said snidely.

"Excuse me," she snipped.

"I'm glad to hear you aren't together," the youngest Boot brother, Paul said. He had the darkest hair of the lot, cut short, and piercing blue eyes. Though he sat opposite of Hermione, he glared at her and gave her a leering grin, at least in Draco's opinion.

Nick Boot continued the introductions. "Next to Mr. Malfoy is my wife's father. I know he looks as young as you and I. He has a real name, but he'd kill me, probably literally, if I introduced him with it, so I'll merely tell you he goes by the moniker Sanguini."

"Oh," Hermione exclaimed, looking across the table at the pale man. "The vampire. I met you once, a very long time ago, at a Christmas party at Hogwarts. Professor Slughorn was hosting it. You probably don't remember me."

The vampire smiled slyly and said, "My dear, I remember absolutely every single moment of every single event of my very long existence. Of course I remember you."

He turned to Draco and smiled as well and said, "And you're Draco Malfoy, correct?"

"You know damn well who I am," Draco said, loading his plate with goose and trimmings.

"Draco, that's rude," Hermione chastised.

"Who are you, my mother?" Draco responded. "Anyway, he's a distant relative, unfortunately, and as he said, he remembers everything, so he knows who I am."

Hermione continued to give Draco a reproachful look but gave that sentence no more thought as the group began to eat and converse. Soon, everyone was talking about their rotten luck at being stuck at an Inn so far from their homes on Christmas Eve, about how they couldn't Disapparate away due to the ancient magic of the village, and what they would be doing if they were at home for Christmas.

Everyone save for Draco and Hermione.

Don Boot asked, "What plans did you have for Christmas this year, Miss Granger?"

All eyes turned to her and she licked her lips. Lifting her glass to her mouth to prolong answering, she placed it back down on the table and finally said, "I had no plans. I was probably going to spend it alone this year. You see, my father died shortly after Christmas last year, so my mother made plans with friends this year, and my friends all have their own families, so I would probably have spent it at Hogwarts, or maybe at my house in Hogsmeade. But I would have been alone, I'm sure."

She placed her hands in her lap. Hanging her head, she felt suddenly embarrassed and on display. She didn't want anyone's pity, except she felt a bit pitiful and sad at the thought of being alone at Christmas.

Draco spoke up and said, "I was planning to spend Christmas at the Manor. It was to be the traditional pureblood Christmas that I had when I was a child."

"Oh, that sounds nice," Luna offered.

Draco snorted. "No…it's really not."

"Why not?" Hermione asked in a quiet voice. "At least you'd be home, and with your family."

"Home…with my family," he repeated cynically. He threw his napkin on the table and stood up to look out the window. All eyes turned to him as he explained. "Let me tell you what a pureblood Christmas is like at Malfoy Manor. There are Christmas trees in almost every room, all eighty-eight of them. And when I was a child, I was never allowed to touch even one of them, let alone help decorate them. All I wanted to do was help to decorate a tree, just once, and I was never allowed to do that."

"There are boughs of greenery and garland hanging from every archway and doorway, kissing boughs and mistletoe, and all of it's put up by the house elves. My mother and father wouldn't lower themselves to do any of the work themselves."

He turned to look at the others as he explained, "Christmas Eve my father would have all his fellow Death Eaters come over with their families. Yes, what fun it was to stand around with a bunch of pureblood bigots, talking about Voldemort, and maligning Mudbloods and Muggles and such. They would talk about how important it was to keep pureblood traditions alive and never let them die….yes, Happy Christmas Eve indeed."

He turned back to look out the window. "Christmas morning I would open my presents. I always got a multitude of them, more than a child would ever need. After I opened them, the house elves would promptly put them all away, so that the house was kept neat as a pin in case company came over, as they always did, because our house was the pinnacle of pureblood elite, so everyone wanted to come visit at Christmas."

"Christmas dinner was a formal affair. Seven course meal, where if I used the wrong utensil, I would get a reproachful look from my father, or a disdainful one from my mother. I couldn't even enjoy the food because I was afraid of using the wrong fork or the wrong spoon, or afraid I would drink from the wrong glass."

Draco sighed and sat back down in his chair. "A happy little pureblood Christmas…yes...just what I will be missing this year. I think I'm happy about it, actually. If I never have another pureblood Christmas, I'll be overjoyed. If I ever have children, I hope they'll know the joy of decorating their own trees, of opening presents and getting to play with them all day, and eating the Christmas goose with the wrong fork, and of knowing that they're loved by their father and mother, whether or not they're purebloods or half-bloods."

Hermione glared incredulously at Draco for a long time after his speech, even though he continued to stare down at his empty plate. Soon, the dining room emptied, save for Draco and Hermione.

When he finally looked up, she said, "So you don't regret being home for Christmas this year?"

"I thought I did, at first, but now that I think about it…no, I don't regret it at all. Do you regret not being all alone at Christmas, Granger?"

Hermione stood from her chair and walked over to his side of the table. "Do I regret not being alone? No, I don't. I thought I lost my Christmas Cheer, although I'm not sure why, and suddenly, I think I might have found it. Silly, huh?"

He stood, pushing the chair away with the backs of his legs. Staring down at her he said, "Yes, very silly, Granger. My, but you're a little one, aren't you?"

"Little one?" she said with a grin.

He laughed. "That shall be my nickname for you. Little One."

"Oh, so you're going to have a nickname for me now?" she asked, hands on hips. "Do you know me well enough to have a nickname for me?"

He smiled. Resisting the urge to pull her to him, he merely placed a hand on her cheek quickly, then brushed her hair off her shoulder and said, "Yes. I rather think I do and will." Walking away from her, he said from the doorway, "Let's go see what the others are doing, Little One."

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In the main room of the Inn, the others had gathered and with Luna as ringleader, they had all decided to decorate the place for Christmas. Hermione and Draco had just entered the small room when she finished with, "After all, it is Christmas Eve!"

"What are you planning, Luna?" Hermione asked.

"I thought everyone could go out and get things we need to decorate this place for Christmas, and the Innkeeper and his wife said they don't mind. The Boot Brothers are going to get the tree and greenery, Mr. Sanguini is going to get us some ribbons and bows, although I'm not sure from where, and Neville and I are going to get a wreath to decorate."

"What shall I do? And Draco?" she asked.

Neville answered. "You two can go out and find some mistletoe. It's usually found on oak trees. I saw some in the woods behind the Inn."

"Mistletoe?" Draco asked, skeptically. "You want me to go out in the bitter snowstorm, freeze my bum off, for effing mistletoe?"

Luna and Neville both nodded.

He frowned, but took Hermione's hand and said, "Come on, Little One. Let's bundle up. We have to find some mistletoe."

Moments later, they were both in their coats, hats, scarves, gloves and boots, wandering in the little grove of trees behind the Inn, looking for an oak tree so they could find a twig or two of mistletoe.

With the sounds of their feet crunching in the snow, Draco asked, "So what have you been doing all these years, Granger?"

"Teaching mostly," she responded. "You?"

"Being lonely, mostly," he answered in a whisper.

She turned sharply and asked, "What? I didn't hear you."

"Busy. I've been busy. I have my own business. Went into Potions, you know."

"So I heard." She pointed to a tall tree and said, "There's an oak tree."

"You're so astute," he teased. Reaching out to touch the rough bark of the tree, he said, "I've heard you had a hard time of it the few years after Voldemort. Sorry to hear about all the business with the Boot brother's stepmother and the Founders excavation at Hogwarts."

"You heard about all of that?" she questioned, placing her back against the tree, gazing up into his silver eyes.

"Everyone's heard of your adventures," he said with a smile. "Why aren't you married, Granger?"

She opened her mouth into an 'O' of surprise at that question, however, she didn't reply. Instead, she dropped her head and asked, "Why aren't you?"

"I was betrothed, Astoria Greengrass, pureblood line goes back almost as long as my family," he murmured, reaching out to place a hand on the bark of the tree beside her head. He left his hand there and leaned closer. "But, we weren't suited."

"Ah…what was the problem, Malfoy?" Hermione asked with a smile. She almost had a snide retort on her lips, but she kept it to herself. She seriously wanted to know why he didn't marry her.

"Why didn't you marry Weasley?" was his reply.

Bending her head to stare at the snow between them, she took a deep breath before answering. Finally, she looked up into his silver eyes again and said, "He wasn't the man for me."

"And Astoria wasn't the woman for me," he mirrored her answer, leaning closer. Placing his other hand on the other side of her head, caging her in, he placed his nose against her jaw, then said into her ear, "I've been waiting for the right woman, and I think my waiting has finally come to an end."

Hermione closed her eyes. She felt his warm breath upon her cold cheek. He moved her hair away from her neck with his nose and kissed her cheek swiftly. Just as quickly, she turned her face to his and placed her hands upon his chest, pushing him back slightly, and questioned, "Malfoy?"

And he replied, "Mistletoe." Then he pointed overhead. She looked up. High above them, on a branch not too far beyond their reach was a twig of mistletoe. She laughed, looked back into his eyes, and saw that he too was smiling.

"Mistletoe," she said in return.

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They walked quietly back to the Inn, their arms laden with more mistletoe than anyone would ever need. Hermione wanted to ask him questions, wanted to say so many things to him, but she didn't know where to start or what to do.

Draco kept looking over at Granger and somehow he knew that this was the woman he was meant to be with. How he knew…well…it was as if she was imprinted into his soul. True, he'd known her for most of his life, and for most of his life, he hadn't given her a second thought, but seeing her again tonight was like turning on a light inside his dark heart that he had long thought extinguished. This was the woman he was meant to spend the rest of his life with…his 'Little One'…his lover…his wife.

Entering the Inn, they noticed a bustling of activity. A large tree was now in the corner of the main room and the three Boot brothers were decorating it with popcorn, figs, candy canes, and other ornaments and candies. Luna and Neville were hanging garland across the mantle and the vampire was tying bows on a giant wreath which hung over the fireplace.

Soon, Hermione and Draco started to hang their mistletoe, and help with the rest of the decorations. Someone, perhaps Don Boot, started singing a Christmas carol. Soon everyone joined in. No one noticed when a young man and a young woman opened the door to the Inn, and rang the bell on the counter. No one noticed until finally the Innkeeper walked over to the pair, talked to them quietly, started to shake his head, and pointed toward the door.

Draco was on a chair, hanging boughs of greenery across a window, when Hermione noticed the young couple leaving. Hermione pulled on his trouser leg and said, "Draco, what do you suppose that young couple wanted?"

"They probably wanted a room, but there aren't any, are there?" he said off handed, adding, "hand me another bough."

Ignoring him, Hermione walked over to the Innkeeper. "Sir, what did that young couple want?"

"Well miss, they needed a room, but I had to tell them that we were at maximum capacity, we are," he stated. "But I told them they could use the shed out back, if they so desired."

"The shed?" Hermione repeated. "Is it warded against the cold and elements?"

"Not rightly so," the man said, "but they're wizards. They can make it comfortable."

Hermione frowned at that statement. Grabbing her hat and coat, forgetting her boots, scarf and gloves, she ran outside to follow the young couple.

Draco watched her go and said, "Where is she going?" He jumped off the chair and grabbed his coat, gloves and scarf to follow her.

The Boot brothers all noticed in turn and decided to follow as well. Luna and Neville didn't want to be the only ones in the Inn, so they were right behind the brothers. The only one who remained in the Inn was the vampire, who sat in the corner with a snifter of brandy in his hand and a smile on his face.

Hermione reached the shed just as she heard the woman scream. Running into the small, almost dilapidated building, she noticed the woman lying on the ground, her husband on his knees beside her.

Hermione skidded to a halt beside them and asked, "What's wrong with her?"

"Her time's come," the man answered.

Draco ran into the small shed behind Hermione. He heard that answered, understood it clearly, but still asked the man to repeat it. "What in the bloody hell do you mean by that, my good man?"

"She's pregnant, sir, and her time's come. She's going to deliver the baby, and we can't get to St. Mungo's in time," the young man repeated.

"Oh no!" Hermione replied, turning around frantically. "We have to get them into the Inn! They can have my room."

"No. They can have my room," Draco offered, taking Hermione's hand.

Luna got down on her knees beside the woman and said, "That's kind of both of you, but it's no use. She can't be moved. The baby's coming right now."

"NO!" Draco and Hermione shouted together.

Luna gave a small laugh and said, "Yes, and don't worry. I'm a healer. It'll be fine. Go outside, all of you."

Hermione, Draco, Neville and all three of the Boot brothers walked outside of the shed while Luna attended the woman during the birth of the woman's child. Though it was still snowing, and freezing cold, none of them left the portal of the shed's doorway.

Hermione's hands were half frozen because she forgot her gloves. Draco noticed how she kept putting them in her pockets, and rubbing them together in front of her. At one point, he walked to her, took her hands in his, and rubbed them between his gloved hands. She felt like melting into his embrace. A little bit later, when she was leaning against the side of the shed, Draco walked up to her and opened his long, fur-lined coat. As if she could read his mind, she walked up to him and he wrapped her inside its warmth, cocooning her inside it with him, his arms around them both, her arms slipping around his waist.

He kissed the top of her head.

She looked up at him.

He lowered his face and kissed her lips. It was a slow and simple kiss, but it meant more than either of them knew. Then he slipped his scarf off his neck, wrapped it around her neck, and then slipped his arms back around her body. "You can have my scarf and my arms," he said with a sly smile.

A moment later, Luna walked from the shed and said, "It's a boy."

Hermione slipped from Draco's embrace, applauded, smiled, and laughed along with all of the others. Everyone wanted to see the newest addition to their little Christmas family, so they all crowded into the shed.

"It seems as if the little chap should spend his first Christmas somewhere besides a shed, doesn't it?" Draco said. "I'll give you all my room. It's the nicest room in the place, or so they claim."

"Oh, thank you, sir," the father of the baby said, shaking Draco's hand. "But where will you sleep?"

Draco looked at Hermione, who blushed, and then he smiled and said, "I'll find a spot. Don't worry about me."

Hermione unwrapped Draco's scarf from her neck, tucked it around the baby, and said, "Here, he can have this to keep him warm and toasty."

Standing upright, Draco nudged her arm and said, "That was a nice gift, Little One, but it was my scarf, and it was cashmere."

She laughed and said, "I know, but you'll be sharing my room later, so don't complain."

"Well, hell yes and alright then," he laughed.

Don Boot removed a gold ring, with a large sapphire in the middle of it, from his finger and gave it to the father. "Here. This ring is worth a small fortune, for it once belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw. You can keep it, or you can sell it and it will help the boy out a bit, you know, later in life."

Nick Boot, the tallest brother with the long, light brown hair, took a book out of the pocket of his long coat, handed it to the father, and said, "And this book was once the property of a great seer. It's always brought me great luck, and I'm sure it will bring your son great luck, too. It tells the bearer his future, which has come in handy a time or two."

The youngest brother, Paul, reached into his pocket and handed the father a piece of parchment. "This might not look like much, but it's a valuable piece of parchment. It's an ancient text, which will always chart the morally right way for a man to go. I have to admit, I've not always heeded its advice, as I've should, so perhaps it will bring your son more luck than it has me."

"Thank you, thank you all," the mother finally said.

"What are you going to name the boy?" Neville asked.

"I don't know," she answered. "We haven't come to an agreement. My husband likes Robert, but I like Harry, after my hero, Harry Potter."

Hermione laughed aloud at that, and Draco looked at the woman in disgust. "I'll set up a trust fund for the boy of ten thousand galleons if you promise not to name him Harry," he pledged.

"His name is Robert," the mother said plainly to Neville as everyone laughed.

Later that night, in Hermione's room, Draco and Hermione sat on the floor with cups of steaming chocolate between them. Her hand was in his, and she said, "It's so strange, but I feel as if I've known you all of my life."

"You have known me all of your life, Little One," he regarded.

She huffed, and said, "You know what I mean. We haven't seen each other in years, yet I feel so connected to you. It feels so strange, as if we've been a part of each other's lives for so long. You just seem so, I don't know, what's the word I'm looking for? Familiar. That's it. You seem so familiar."

He nodded and agreed. "I feel it, too, Granger. You're familiar, too." He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, before coming back down to sit on the floor. "It's after midnight now, so Happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas," she repeated, smiling broadly.

"Have you found your Christmas cheer?" he asked.

"Yes, I think I have," she said happily.

Sanguini opened the door to the attic bedroom in the Inn and said, "It was about time." Then he waved his hand and the spell was broken. Hermione shook her head in confusion. Sitting in front of her was no longer the Draco Malfoy whom she hadn't seen for years, but Draco Malfoy, her husband of many years.

Draco too seemed confused and weary. He looked around his surrounding and then to the vampire and said, "Where the hell am I, you git?"

"You were an essential part of my scheme to help your wife retrieve her Christmas cheer," Sanguini said with a wave of his hand. He sat down on the little bed in the attic bedroom of the Inn. "By the way, do you both remember everything that just happened?"

They both nodded. Hermione looked at her husband and said, "What about what I overheard you say to your father a while ago, about you regretting having a pureblood Christmas, and pureblood children?"

"You're so dense, Little One," Draco said with a roll of his eyes. He stood up and began to pace in front of her. "What you heard me say to my father, while you were eavesdropping by the way, was almost word for word what I said down there in the dining room tonight while under the vampire's spell. I was mocking my father that evening. I was saying to him, in a dry, drawl way, that of course I wanted to have a pureblood Christmas with all the trappings, because of course, I missed the vacant, hollow way it made me feel when I was growing up! But I didn't mean any of it when I said it to him!"

He reached for her hand and pulled her to stand up beside him. "If you had stayed and listened longer, or barged in as you usually do, you would have understood that. You would have heard everything, instead of just bits and pieces! My stars, Granger, I don't regret marrying you or our children! I love you! Having you and having our children are the best things in my life. You are my life!"

"I'm sorry, Draco," she told him. "And that's hard for me to say," she admitted with a laugh. "This next thing is even harder for me to say, but you're right. I was too quick to assume you had regrets. I've been feeling rather out of sorts and low. I think it's because I'm restless and weary, and a bit sad. I'm not sure why."

"Is it because you miss your father?" Draco asked.

Shaking her head no, she said, "It's more than that."

"You usually get this way when you're pregnant," Draco said with a derisive laugh.

She smiled.

He stopped smiling.

"You're not pregnant again, are you?"

"Happy Christmas, I hope you like your present, although you won't get it for another five months," she said with a twinkle in her eye. "Yes, I'm pregnant."

"Pregnant?" Draco plopped down on the bed beside Sanguini. "Did you know about this?" he asked the vampire.

The vampire said, "I think that's my cue to leave," and he left the room, closing the door.

Hermione sat beside him and said, "Are you happy or not?"

"Well of course I'm happy," he said with a frown.

She snorted. "Yes, I can tell by the look on your face. Buck up, old man, because I have more news. I'm having twins. A boy and girl."

Draco placed his head between his knees. "I think I might faint."

With her hand on his back, patting it lightly, Hermione said, "Please don't faint yet. Let's go home first and tell everyone and then you can faint."

Draco sat up and said, "My father will absolutely insist this time on having us call the boy Scorpius, you know. I see no way around it. We'll have to let him have his way for once."

They stood and started down the steps. "Fine, he can have his Scorpius, as long as I get to name the girl whatever I want."

Draco pulled on her arm, causing her to stop. "What do you want to name her? Please tell me you don't want to call her Hydra." He shivered.

"No. I think I want Beth, short for Bethany, but in my mind, I'll always think of it as short for Bethlehem, the place where I found my Christmas cheer. Is that alright?"

He placed his arms around her, kissed her cheek and said, "As long as it isn't Hydra, I'm good. Scorpius and Bethany. Strange combination, but so are we, so that's fine. Happy Christmas, Little One. I love you."

"Happy Christmas, Draco. I'm sorry I went looking all over for my Christmas cheer, when all I had to do was find it with you all along. Forgive me?" She gave him a lopsided grin.

"Forgiven," he replied.

They left the Dovetail Inn, and soon they were home, sharing Christmas joy and cheer with family and friends, and telling them all their happy news. Hermione decided it was a wonderful way to end Christmas, in a familiar and happy place, after all. And Draco quite agreed with her.

The End