18A/N: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, I make no profit from this other than my giggles.
You will get a sentimental feeling When you hear, voices singing
"Let's be jolly; Deck the halls with boughs of holly"
Rocking around the Christmas Tree
Have a happy holiday
Everyone's dancing merrily
In a new old fashioned way.
Hermione smiled and hummed along with the Muggle Christmas song while she scanned the cheerful room. She had decided to throw a Muggle themed Christmas party this year in honor of her parent's death. All around the room people were talking, laughing and looking around in bemused curiosity. Hermione had decked her halls with enough holly to house a family of pixies. Fortunately for her guests, Hermione's house was pixie free. After that obnoxious incident in second year with Professor Lockheart, Hermione had seen to it that no stray magical creatures haunted her rooms.
As she sipped her peppermint hot chocolate, Hermione caught sight of Harry attempting to explain the ceiling fan to Draco. Draco's face held a mixture of curiosity and confusion while Harry was waving his arms in a circle and looked fairly ridiculous. Hermione giggled and made her way through the room to them.
"Why Harry, I didn't know you did such an amazing impression of a helicopter. You must be on my team the next time we play charades."
Harry blushed and gave her a wide eyed stare, "Hermione help! Draco can't understand why you have a ceiling fan. He insists it's a pointless Muggle object."
Draco interjected, "All I said was it seems pretty silly for a witch to have an appliance that semi helps what a simple Cooling Charm can solve. If you want cooler air, you can have it in a second. I don't see what five blades of rotating wood are going to accomplish; especially if the room is full of hot air. There is nothing cooling about them."
Hermione rolled her hazelnut eyes and laughed. "Draco dear, as I have tried to explain before, magic doesn't need to be used for everything. The ceiling fan is not meant to create cold air, it's meant to provide air flow throughout the room. You know, like when you open a door to a room in your Mansion that hasn't been opened in decades; it's all stuffy right? That's when you use a fan; it blows out all the stuffiness. And look at this party, no magic was used to prepare for it and no magic is being used during it." Draco just huffed and shook his head. He would never understand the need to do extra work, that's what magic was for!
"Speaking of stuffiness, check out your boss Hermione. She's certainly livened up tonight!" Hermione turned around to see what Harry was referring to and immediately wished she hadn't. Her boss Ms. Huffenstein was literally trying to "rock around the Christmas tree". There were flailing arms and raised knees and awkwardness all over the place. Draco started choking on his drink and Harry gave him a good couple whacks on the back.
Hermione meanwhile started to make her way to Ms. Huffenstein but Harry grabbed her arm. "Let her be Mione, she's not hurting anything and she's enjoying herself. Just don't bring it up at work; I don't think she'll appreciate it." Hermione sighed in acquiescence. She knew Harry was right and she really didn't want to have to deal with the lady.
Turning back to the boys, she grinned and asked if they'd like more punch. Both boys declared they would and Draco offered to assist her. Weaving through the small groups of people, Draco wrapped his arm around her waist. Hermione looked up at him as he leaned down for a quick kiss. "Are you enjoying your first Muggle Christmas, Draco?" Draco turned into her and wrapped both his arms around her. "Of course I am! Other than Harry going on about that insane contraption, it's been fantastic. Mostly because I've been watching you traipse about in this black dress. Best Christmas party I've ever been to." Hermione giggled and stood up on her toes so she could give Draco a real kiss.
She and Draco had been dating for nine months, ever since he had switched sides during the Final Battle. Voldemort had stood in the courtyard at Hogwarts and called for Draco to come to him. Instead of obeying, Draco had cast the spell Bombarda on a pillar which caused enough distraction for Neville to kill Nagini. After that, Harry and Voldemort dueled in a vicious battle which resulted in Voldemort's permanent death. Draco and Hermione had found themselves alone in the courtyard cleaning up as best they could and Hermione had asked why. "I was tired of being a hypocrite and following a hypocrite. I want to become a better man." It may have been a simple answer, but the journey of actually following through was incredibly tough. Draco had an incredibly hard time reversing his child hood prejudices. Ignoring beliefs he had been taught since birth was difficult, but Hermione had been there with patience, stubbornness and eventually love to help him through.
Ending the kiss, Hermione settled back onto her heels and blinked flirtatiously up at Draco. "Well Mr. Malfoy, since we are at a Muggle party and there are no house elves, we better go get those drinks, shouldn't we?" With a smirk worthy of any Malfoy, Hermione spun around and sauntered over to the table, making sure to swing her backside sexily. Draco growled and strode after her. When he got to the table he stepped directly behind her and placed his arms on either side her. Leaning in he whispered in her ear, "Beware your teasing Ms. Granger; we wouldn't want the guests to become, aroused, would we?" Hermione shivered and shook her head. Draco smirked and reached over her for the punch ladle. "C'mon, Harry must be dying of thirst." With that, he began walking back to Harry.
Hermione caught her breathe and scowled. Teasing! He was the one teasing her! "Beware Draco; this Gryffindor doesn't give up easily." Hermione grabbed her drink and went back to the boys. Harry and Draco were discussing a case they had both worked recently. They were both aurors and were posted on the same team. Ron had chosen Quidditch instead and lived his life on the road with the Chudley Cannons. That's where he was tonight, preparing for a game in Romania. Hermione took comfort knowing he was around family during the holidays. His brother Charlie made sure to go to as many games as his dragons allowed.
The boys looked up when Hermione approached and Draco's eyes held a knowing glint. She narrowed her own at him, set her drink down and excused herself to the loo. Harry told her to hurry back because he wanted to make plans for New Years. Assuring she would, Hermione hurried down the hall towards the bathroom but made a sudden turn into her bedroom. Going to her closet, Hermione searched for her secret weapon. Knowing Draco still hadn't been exposed to a lot of muggle entertainment devices made her giggle and smile deviously.
Sneaking back down the hall, she peeked around the corner and saw Draco with his back to the door. Perfect. As she waited, Harry got up and headed to the snack bar. Hermione snuck up behind Draco's chair and right when he was taking a sip of punch, she blared the air horn right in his ear. Draco jerked up, spilled his drink down the front of his shirt and fell off his chair in his attempt to turn around. He was sprawled on the floor with his hair disheveled and wearing a shocked expression. Hermione on the other hand had immediately started convulsing with laughter and now had tears pouring down her cheeks. Harry came up to see what had happened.
"And a very Muggle Christmas to all." Quipped Harry.