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"Who's brilliant idea was it to travel to Alaska in December?"
Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose as she tried not to snarl at the wizard sitting rigidly in one of the wingback chairs in front of the roaring fireplace. A fireplace that was unfortunately not connected to the Floo network.
Her companion had been nice enough to share the firewhisky he'd brought with him, but there was only so much a witch could take even with some of the best whisky she'd ever had in her life.
This was not how she was supposed to be spending Christmas Eve. Stuck in a little cabin in the middle of nowhere Alaska with Lucius Malfoy of all people.
Taking a large swig from the tumbler he'd even provided for her, she shifted on the couch where she'd been reading and regarded him with a raised eyebrow.
"If I remember correctly, Mr Malfoy, it was you who wanted to… what was the phrase you used?" She paused for a moment. "Oh, right, 'get this blasted trip over with so I can be done with you'. I, on the other hand, wanted to wait until April to travel here."
"How was I to know that a freak snowstorm would leave us still stranded here?"
She snorted. "Because it's Alaska and most of the state is subarctic climate. Means their winters are usually long and very cold while their summers are short and cool or mild."
He turned to look at her with a dark look. "I know what subarctic means." He turned his gaze back to the crackling fire and muttered, "Know-it-all swot."
Hermione grinned cheekily. "Well, if you know what subarctic means then you would've known why coming here at this time could potentially be a bad idea." She stood up, taking her glass with her and walked over to the front window. Looking out over the white landscape, she noticed that the snow had slowed to only a few flurries twirling through the darkened sky. Her eyes widened as she realised the perfect snow blanketed the ground just outside their door.
She heard him reply, but his words were lost on her as she started planning what she was going to do once she was outside. Finishing off the last bit of her firewhisky, Hermione turned and placed the empty glass on the table next to where she'd been sitting, leaving the ice to melt from the heat of the fire.
"Did you hear anything I just said?"
Hermione looked up at his irritated words. She shrugged. "No, I didn't. It doesn't matter now, I'm going outside to build a snowman."
Lucius's eyes nearly bugged out of his head at what she said. "I think I heard you wrong, Miss Granger. I couldn't have heard you say that you were going to go outside in this blizzard and build a snowman of all things."
"You heard me right," she replied. She raised a challenging eyebrow. "Do you have a problem with that?"
He stood up from his chair and stalked over to her. "As a matter of fact, I do. How shall I explain to your," his nose curled in distaste, "friends how you died trying to build a man of snow?"
She turned around and walked the short distance to where their cloaks and winter boots had been placed when they arrived in the cabin a week ago. "Are you a wizard or not? That's what warming charms are for."
"And what about the wildlife out there?"
"Wildlife? Really? That's the best you can come up with?" She reached for her warm winter cloak. "I'm pretty sure I'll be okay from all of the big bad wildlife for the few minutes I'll be out there."
Before she could slip her arms through the sleeves of her cloak, she felt the heavy weight of Lucius's body press her into the cabin wall. "No," he growled.
"What the hell are you doing?!" She struggled against him. "And what do you mean 'no'?"
"I'm not letting you go out there."
"You're not letting me?!" She elbowed him in the side and he stepped back just enough for her to turn around and face him. "Who do you think you are saying such a thing to me?"
"The wizard trying to save your life, you crazy witch," he snapped as his hands came up and grasped her hips to hold her in place.
She stilled at the feel of his firm chest pressing against hers and his thumbs brushing against her hip bones. Her nostrils flared as her breath left her in short bursts. She was confused as to why he was acting in such a way, he'd never treated her with anything other than disdain before. "Why?"
He raised a challenging blond eyebrow. "Why do you think?"
Her brow furrowed. "It doesn't make sense though. You've never given me any indication that you saw me as anything but an annoying Mudbl—"
Lucius pressed a finger against her lips. "Don't. I know I've never come out and said it, but I haven't thought of you, or any Muggleborn for that matter, in that way since before the war was over."
Her heavy cloak fell from her fingers as she reached up to grasp his hand in hers. "Why didn't you say anything before?"
"And what would you have done if I had approached you sooner? Probably would have told me to sod right off."
"I… um," she trailed off as she took the time to actually think about what he said. She blushed as she realised that she would have indeed told him off if he'd approached her right after the war. Or even up until a couple years ago when they started working together due to her job in the Department of International Magical Cooperation as one of the British representatives in the International Confederation of Wizards. When she was selected by the minister, Lucius was also selected to the hold the other spot in the organization. They had been together ever since and were currently in Alaska in talks with the local wizarding community.
"No need to be embarrassed." He pressed a kiss to her knuckles. "I would have been surprised if you said that you would have been amenable to my advances."
Her hand tingled where his lips lingered on her skin. "But why now?"
Lucius used his free hand to tuck a stray strand of curly, brown hair behind her ear. "Why not now?"
She frowned. "So it's just a convenient time?"
He shook his head. "No, I'm not saying something now because it's 'convenient'," he shoved away from her and made his way back over to his chair. Sitting down, he struggled to find the right words. "It's just… I…"
Hermione tilted her head as she thought about what he said and what he was trying to say. She knew that her own feelings for the blond wizard had changed over the years, especially when they started working together, but to hear him allude to the same feelings within himself.
She opened her mouth to speak but stopped when she saw him sigh and reach for the bottle of firewhisky on the coffee table. He frowned deeply when nothing but a few drops dribbled out as he tipped the bottle against his glass still sitting on the table. "The whisky."
"Yes, the whisky is gone. Has been since you filled my glass earlier."
He shook the bottle. "Why is the whisky gone?"
"Because we drank it all."
"What are we going to do now?"
Hermione smirked as a wicked thought popped into her brain. "Oh, I might have an idea," she purred as she slowly walked over to Lucius and pulled the bottle from his hand.
Slowly his head tilted up to look at her. He gazed at her curiously. "And what idea might that be?"
She crawled onto his lap, her knees on either side of his legs. Carding her fingers through his long blond hair, she leaned forward and whispered against his lips, "Why don't we start with this?"
Lucius eagerly met her lips in a slow kiss. One kiss led to another, each holding the promise of many more nights to come. Her cloak lay forgotten on the floor by the cabin's front door as they explored each other's bodies. First, in Lucius's chair, and then later on the thick rug in front of the fireplace where they spent the rest of the night in a tangle of arms and legs.
The next morning, she woke to a small snowman greeting her on the cabin's front porch.