Chapter 94: Merry Christmas!

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"Even if I don't just up and disappear just like I did before – which is a real possibility – I certainly won't live to see the twenty-second century. I'm an intruder here. I shouldn't even be here in the first place. And, to top it all off, I'm still keeping secrets from you."

She sniffles. "I'm pretty sure you aren't supposed to talk me out of wanting to be with you."

"You've said it several times already: I'm a masochist. Holding you like that...it felt amazing. I wish I could..." I sigh, not wanting to finish that thought. Then I blush. "Um, I'm sorry about the hand and about the...uh...about poking you."

She blushes, too. "Yes, well, you were a bit out of it, so I suppose I'll let it slide this time." She sits up and takes a moment to compose herself. "Okay, 

'let's go open presents."

I let out a breath of relief. "Thanks. Next time, I'll make sure I'm fully conscious when I pull you under the covers and—ow!"

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"Um, I'm sorry about the hand and about the...uh...about poking you," I catch myself making hand gestures and I stop myself with a blush.

She blushes, too. "Yes, well, you were a bit out of it." Then she blushes even more brightly and looks down. "And it felt good," she adds in a small voice.

I groan and slap my forehead. "Oh Hermione, don't tell me that..."

"Well, I'm sorry! And don't moan around me anymore, either. Especially not that sound you made when you got me under the covers." She shudders again. "I'm already going to have to take a cold shower as it is."

"You can't say stuff like that," I whine, "it's already bad enough with just my innuendo."

"William Adalbert Lerner," she teases, "am I making you uncomfortable?"

"You have no idea."

"Actually," she says, grinning mischievously, "I do now."

"Oh, that's it. Just for that..." I squeeze her into a tight hug, bury my face in her hair, and take a deep breath...

She squeals playfully. "No!"

"Mm," I purr, going for the same throaty rumble as before, causing her to shudder.

"Curse you, William."

"I love you, too."

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"He showed you, didn't he?" The female voice snaps Hermione and I out of our teasing. We turn to find Lavender looking at us, wide-eyed.

"Actually, he did," Hermione says. I choke on my saliva, and she grins wickedly at me. "I only made it to Step Two."

Lavender gasps, then runs away again.

"You are trying to kill me, aren't you?" I ask with a groan.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," she says innocently, batting her eyelashes at me.

I let out an amused breath. "You realize, of course, that now the entire school is going to hear what I 'did' to you."

She suddenly looks like a deer in headlights. "Oh."

"Yeah," I say, looking at her with a half smile. "At least only me, you, and Harry know about you being under the covers with me this morning. On the bright side, I may end up getting propositioned quite a bit."

Her eyes bulge even further.

I take pity on her and squeeze her into a hug against my side. 

"I'm teasing, I'm teasing. Well, what's done is done, and there's no help for it now. Let's go find Harry and open our gifts. I couldn't sleep last night since I was worried what you'd all think of me, so I'm ready to get it over with."

She lets out a breath in relief at the subject change and takes my hand to stand up as well. "I'm sure they'll be wonderful, William."

As we turn toward the stairs to the boys dorm, we see Harry leaning against the wall smiling at us.

"Merry Christmas, Harry!" Hermione says with a bright smile, wrapping her arms around him tightly.

"Merry Christmas, Hermione," he says warmly.

"Sorry, I would have gotten you earlier but this big lug attacked me," she says, jerking her head toward me.

I chuckle and shake my head. I try to think of a witty retort, but I come up empty since they'll all hurt. I'm glad she's joking about that part now, though...that could have ended much worse. "Merry Christmas, Harry. Let's go find your presents, shall we?"

"And yours, too," he says with a smile. "Merry Christmas, William."

We make our way over to the tree, where many students are milling about and chatting. I spot Neville talking with Ron, Dean, and Seamus. 

For a moment I panic that Neville or Ron will show Harry or Hermione their pictures and ruin the surprise – especially in Neville's case – but then I remember that I had already thought of that last night. 

I wrote a postscript telling all four of them to not show their gifts to the other three until they'd all opened their gifts.

Neville looks up and sees us approaching the tree, then waves us over. "Hey, Merry Christmas guys! Yours are all over here." He points to the pile of presents nearest him.

"Merry Christmas, Neville," Hermione says, making him blush with a quick hug. "What'd you get?"

"Uh uh, Hermione, you three open first, then we all show off later," he says with a smile aimed toward me.

I give him a thumbs up and kneel down next to Hermione at the fairly sizable pile in front of her. I recognize my wrapping, and hand them to Hermione and Harry, respectively. We all finish making our piles in front of us, and I frown at how large mine is.

"Is something wrong, William?" Hermione asks, noticing my discomfort.

"I didn't make this many gifts," I say slowly. "I'm worried I forgot people."

"Nobody expects anything in return, William, that's what Christmas is all about," she says. "Besides, you can always grovel later."

I give her a small smile, though I'm not very reassured. "I suppose."

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