Diamonds

13. Just Stay

"I remember this fitting better."

Draco, sprawled across one of the couches in front of the cream suite's fireplace, looked up from the book he'd selected from her collection. Stepping out of the bathroom, Hermione was wearing what looked like a light purple sack. She had pinned her hair out of the way, and it looked alright, sort of. Better than the dress, at least. "Is that really what you picked?"

"I don't have many party dresses," she said, indignant. "I don't like parties. They're all bad music and people that would rather talk than read, and adults that behave like they're children and children playing silly little games with silly rewards for sitting through all of this rubbish. It's a system of bribes on top of acts nobody really wants to do, except they were invited and said they would go and now they're stuck there."

"Right." He lay down the book, picking up one of the packages that had been sitting on her coffee table ever since they had returned from visiting her parents several days ago. Shaking it experimentally, he smiled in triumph. "Open this one."

"It's not Christmas yet!"

"So? I heard your mum say that you could open one of them early. Choose this one. Don't you want to know what they got you?"

"She, actually. Dad puts everything in green wrapping paper, mum uses red, and the ones from both of them will have little pictures all over the paper. It's just the way it is."

"Your parents colour code your presents? Really? Why?"

She shrugged, slumping onto the second couch. Heaving a sigh, she rubbed her face. "Phew. It's just what we do. I wrap all the presents for mum in purple, and all the ones for dad in newspaper. That second bit is because he stopped reading the paper, since he likes watching the news now. We always have newspaper left around Christmas."

"Okay." He tossed the present to her, grinning as it landed on her. "Come on, open it!"

"No. It's not Christmas."

"Make up a new reason or just open it. I bet it's something you need."

"I don't need anything."

"Except a dress for the party."

She groaned. "I don't know why I agreed to go to this thing with you."

"Because I asked you to stay here at the Manor over Christmas and this was already planned. Come on, open the present. Please?"

"You only want me to open it because you think it'll be a dress that looks nicer than this."

"Yeah, what's with that thing?"

"I wore it to my aunt's wedding a year ago. I didn't want to go, which probably doesn't surprise you, but mum made me go dress shopping and this was the first thing I grabbed. I don't like clothes shopping. I'd rather look for books."

"Of course you would. Either you open it or I do. And there are two other ones for Christmas. Plus what I got you. And what mum got you. And if we're lucky father will hide in his study and not try to ruin Christmas."

"Your father's the Grinch? Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"The what?"

"Muggle stories. Again." She cleared her throat, sitting up and letting the present fall into her hands. Sighing, she began to carefully pull at the tape securing the paper. Draco almost growled in frustration.

"You're one of those people?"

"I don't like ripping the paper unnecessarily. Sue me." Despite her carefulness, the paper was removed quickly. It fell away from a heap of grey fabric, and Draco clapped his hands together in triumph.