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It didn’t take long for Hermione to place the ornaments she had recovered from her childhood home on their new tree, with Draco filling in the gaps with some of his own favorite charms his mother had taught him over the years.
“Now then,” he began, wrapping his arms around her as they surveyed their work. “We picked out our tree together, what’s another thing you miss from your childhood? I want to do everything we can to make our first Christmas the best it can be.”
She didn’t answer right away, causing him to fear he had brought their goal up at the wrong time, until she turned around a placed a quick peck on his check.
“Well, I guess there was always the biscuit baking parties.”
“Biscuits are baked?”
Hermione looked at him like he had just asked something blasphemous.
“Yes…”
“And Muggles host parties for it? I thought most of them only had one oven. And how are we supposed to host a party in this tiny apartment.”
“Mum would invite all of our friends and they would each bring a tray of their favorite Christmas biscuits. We’d bake them up in batches and drink eggnog while we sampled all of them. You’re right though, we don’t have the space here. I guess I can come up with something else-”
“No. If this is such a strong memory that it comes up directly after getting a tree, we are doing it. Hmm…”
Draco tried to think of places they could host a party that also had Muggle ovens, but as most of the parties he had ever gone to were at Pureblood estates he was sure there weren’t many of those around.
“Do we need an oven? As long as the biscuits get baked and the smell permeates the room, could we use magic for that?”
“Maybe…”
He was beginning to formulate an idea. “Get me a list of everyone you want to invite. I have an idea.”
*****
A week later Draco had everything prepared. Keeping Hermione from finding out had been harder than expected, but he managed to get things set up quite nicely with Hannah at the Three Broomsticks. The barmaid had even offered to make out the invitations, a job which he had gladly handed over to her. Apparently, she was more than familiar with such events from when she was young, making Draco feel that he had made a good choice in asking her. Everything had to be perfect for Hermione, even if it meant Draco had to sit through a party with all of her friends.
“So, when will you tell me what we are doing?” she asked as he received an owl from Hannah letting him know everything was in place. “All I can guess is that it might have something to do with biscuit baking parties, but I don’t know how.”
He grinned mischievously as he put down the note. “How about I show you. May I have your arm?”
She looked at him a bit confused. “Alright…”
Turning on the spot, they apparated straight to the front door of the Three Broomsticks. Before she could fully process where they were, he opened it and led Hermione in causing everyone to yell “Surprise!”
Even Draco was impressed by how wonderful it smelled. He could detect hints of all sorts of Christmas scents in the air – ginger, peppermint, eggnog. Neville even brought in some holly and ivy to decorate with.
“It’s – it’s perfect. Thank you, Draco!”
“Don’t thank me, thank Hannah. She did everything.”
Hermione ran over to the counter where Hannah and Madam Rosemerta were handing out spiked eggnog and other holiday goodies.
“Thanks, you guys! Everything looks – and smells – great!”
“It’s our pleasure,” insisted the head barkeep. “We wanted an excuse to throw a Christmas party.”
“And besides, this one was extra special for me,” Hannah added. “My mum used to throw these baking parties, too.”
Draco watched the two young witches exchanged bittersweet looks. Both having lost their moms gave them insight into each other’s lives that he hoped to never understand.
He pulled one of the waiting drinks off the bar without caring to look at what it was before making his way over towards a wall he could lean on and watch everything.
“Not a fan of parties?” asked a voice to his left.
He looked up and finally saw Neville leaning on the same wall a short ways down from him.
“Not ones like this. And this is more Hermione’s crowd than mine.”
He nodded before turning his attention back towards the gathering. Draco did as well, keen to see how Hermione was enjoying herself. He was happy to see her sampling biscuits that the Weasleys had brought, as well as sipping a cup of spiked eggnog herself.
A few more people stopped by the table to say hello and exchange biscuits before Hermione started looking around the room, eyes only stopping when they met his.
“This is fantastic. Thank you again!” she told him as she rushed over to where he was avoiding everyone, giving him a peck on the cheek. “You should really try the chocolate coated gingerbread that George brought – actually, if you are really wanting to experience this with me, you should try all of them.”
Draco was hesitant. This was not his group of people, as many of them had let him know that over the years. Still, being around Hermione usually helped to temper that, and she was right – this was supposed to be something they both did together.
“Sure, if you’ll go with me,” he conditionally agree, hoping she didn’t detect the slight note of reluctance he had failed to keep from his tone.
Her face lit up brighter than the fireplace behind her as she took his hand and led him through the tables, pausing when they approached a uniquely Indian one.
“Hello Padma, Pavarti. I’m excited to see what sort of biscuits you brought.”
“These are Nankhatai biscuits,” one of the twins explained – though without their house robes he was utterly lost as to which witch was which.
“Our mother brought the recipe with her from India,” continued the other. “It is a bit like your shortbread biscuits here.”
They offered their tray as Draco muttered a polite thanks while Hermione made small talk.
“It was good to see you again,” she told them as they finished their conversation. Draco nodded as they continued through the room before realizing that he could happily munch on the sweet biscuit offerings and, incidentally, not have a chance to speak much. Hermione pulled him along to the next table, where he could see a large pile of biscuits shaped like various magical creatures, and he knew immediately who must have brought them.
“They won’t bite back you know. We made sure not to include that charm this year since people wouldn’t know to expect it like our family does.”
“Luna! So glad you could come. Are these chocolate chips?”
“Dried currants. It helps to keep one from eating too many in a row like chocolate might. Wouldn’t want to risk Tumblerusks interrupting your party. You should still probably go soon though before you eat more than one. I can already tell Draco would rather move on to the next person you choose to talk to. Too many wrackspurts.”
His jaw dropped a bit. She was right, of course, despite not having broken her gaze with Hermione as he hesitated to grab one of her offerings, but he could never quite get used to how accurate she was about things - as long as they weren’t magical creatures.
“Th-thanks,” he told her.
“It’s quite alright. I’ll just go see if Neville wants to try any. He looks much lonelier now that you aren’t standing near him. Good-day!”
They watched as the odd witch walked off, exchanging looks of some confusion before being intercepted by the Weasleys.
“Hermione!” hollered Ron as he dropped a plate of cookies onto a table in front of them so he could throw the arm that wasn’t holding a bottle of scotch around her shoulders. Draco could feel his hackles rise as a protective instinct was triggered, but it didn’t last long.
“Here, try these,” he insisted as he pulled away from her. “Mum made them. They have cranberries and orange zest inside. Even Malfoy here would have a hard time trying to hate them they’re so good. Wicked idea for a party, mate. We should try and do this again next year, yeah?”
Draco was not sure how many bottles of scotch it had taken for Ron Weasley to call him ‘mate’, but he was sure it would not be safe to try and drink that many himself.
“Anyways, here, take the plate. George challenged me to a game of darts and I don’t remember which table was ours to put it back down on. Oi, Georgie!”
Soon he was alone with Hermione again. They had gradually been drinking their drinks and finally run out – Draco still not sure what he had grabbed but it seemed oddly fruity yet dry. Heading back over to the bar they got another round and some surprise biscuits from Hannah that could be broken open to reveal little notes inside. Whether by magic or design – he wasn’t quite sure which – his was a thank-you note for suggesting the party, but as to what Hermione had received he had no idea as she refused to show him, only sharing a slight giggle with Hannah before heading back out into the rest of the room.
There were only a few more people they still needed to visit with before he could return to lean upon a wall until Hermione was done mingling. Ron and George had stolen a good bit of the room’s attention, leaving Draco feeling a bit more relaxed heading into one of the last tables.
“Malfoy – Hermione. Welcome,” greeted Harry simply. The blond wizard wondered if this was so that he wouldn’t end up saying something worse to him.
“Potter. Mrs. Potter,” Draco nodded as he returned in kind.
Ginny wasn’t a bit less subtle – she glared a little at him through the greetings but chose not to say anything directly to him.
“Hello ‘Mione. These biscuits are a bit different from the other ones here because I wanted to stand out a little. These have lavender in them and the ones over here are tea infused.”
“Sounds good. Draco and I would love to have them.”
At the mention of his name the witch tensed a little, but she handed the biscuits out without an issue. As much as it would pain him to admit it, these were his favorite out of all the ones he had tried tonight, but wasn’t sure if or how to tell her.
“These…these are really good. Can we get the recipe so that I can try to convince Hermione to bake them for me sometime?”
“S-s-sure I guess,” agreed Ginny once it sunk in what he was asking. “I’m glad you like them?”
“Draco, I have a few things I need to talk to Ginny and Harry about. Would you mind getting another round of drinks real quick.”
“But isn’t yours is still over half full?”
She looked at her glass of eggnog and then setting it to her lips knocked back what was left before handing it Draco.
“Now can I have another,” she asked with puppy dog eyes.
“Gladly,” he agreed, hoping all this alcohol would be beneficial at increasing his chances for some fun when they got home.
It took him a bit longer than expected to get their drinks as there were none currently available pre-made, but soon he was headed back to where Hermione was with his hands full. He caught just the tail end of their conversation.
“And you sure you can pull this off?”
“Relax, Hermione, we’ve got this. Right Harry?”
“Right. Leave it to us and Malfoy will never-”
“I’ll never what?” Draco blurted out as he handed Hermione her drink. He had hoped to eavesdrop longer but destroyed any chance at that.
“Be able to…to…”
“It’s alright love,” he reminded her, “you don’t have to give away all your secrets to me. I know Christmas time is about surprises – just look what I did here. Now if you would all excuse me, I need to go talk to Neville a minute myself.”
Harry and Ginny looked perplexed, but at least she understood what he had intended.
“Go on, Draco. And thanks for letting me mingle a bit before we leave. I really needed this.”
He nodded before taking his leave. From where he eventually ended up leaning against the wall, he could see Hermione looking quite happy – even laughing – as she made her way to see everyone one more time. It was not until most people were starting to leave when she finally approached him.
“I’m so sorry – I feel like I abandoned you over here while I acted frivolous.”
Draco let slip a slight glare. “This was your surprise party. I’m just happy you had a good time. You did, right?”
“Absolutely. I think we can officially say that we’ve done two perfect things that we should make our holiday traditions,” she insisted as she took a final sip from her fourth – or was it fifth now? – cup of spiked eggnog. “Now let’s get me home before I say or do anything I wouldn’t like ending up on the front page of the Daily Prophet.”
“Gladly!” replied Draco with a mischievous grin as he turned on his heel taking them straight back to their bedroom.