Unofficial Portkey Archive

Author's Note: Merry Christmas to all. This is my companion piece to my first ever fanfiction, "All Along". While it isn't necessary to be familiar with that story to read this, you might want to take a look at it so you'll understand a little of the back story. This is for all my fellow Harry/Hermione shippers…it's not pumpkin pie, but I hope it'll do… Merry Christmas ya'll!!!!

Please Come Home for Christmas

"Choirs will be singing
"Silent Night"
Christmas carols
By candlelight
Please come home for Christmas
Please come home for Christmas
If not for Christmas
Then by New Year's Night"

"Friends and relations
Send salutations
Sure as the stars shine above
It's Christmas time, my dear
The time of year
To be, with the one you love"

"Then won't you tell me
You'll never more roam
Christmas and New Year's
Will find you home
There'll be no more sorrow
No grief and pain
Then I'll be happy, happy
Once again"

("Please Come Home for Christmas" written by Charles Brown/Gene Redd)

For as long as she could remember, Christmas had always been her favorite holiday. There was no one simple reason for it. There were a myriad of reasons why this holiday stood out above the others for her.

She loved the smells, sights and sounds. As a little girl, one of her favorite memories was decorating the fresh, evergreen Christmas tree that she and her parents would pick out. It was also the one time of the year that her dentist parents would allow her to eat sweets. Her mom would bake her famous Christmas sugar cookies and Hermione would help decorate with icing and sprinkles. Then with hot, steaming cups of hot chocolate, they'd eat the cookies and decorate the tree. Her father would sing Christmas carols totally off-key and messing up intentionally the words. She always hoped that when she grew up, she'd have the same type of Christmas traditions with her own family.

Well, this Christmas would be her first as a wife and a mother. She had excitedly looked forward to it all year. Everything seemed to take on more importance now that she had a little girl of her own. Lily Caroline Potter was a miracle-a special present. Although their baby daughter was only five months old, Harry and Hermione both were pulling out all the stops to make sure their daughter's first Christmas would be special and memorable.

Hermione couldn't help but marvel at how quickly her life had changed in such a short period of time. It seemed like just yesterday that she'd been working at the Ministry of Magic and busily preparing for her wedding to Ron Weasley.

That was before Harry Potter reentered her life and turned everything upside down. His surprise arrival back into her life after five years away had been quite an emotional experience to say the least. His return stirred up feelings in her that she thought she'd buried. Both of them had not wanted to hurt Ron, but they couldn't deny that there was still a strong attraction between them and that the love they felt for each other was stronger than ever. They'd tried to fight it, but it had been a losing battle. Their biggest regret was that Ron had been deeply hurt and angered by what had transpired.

With time, Ron had managed to put his friends' betrayal behind him. While their relationship with each other was nowhere near how it had been, it was getting better with each passing day. They'd all worked hard to become friends again and Ron had expressed to them how happy he was for them. To their surprise and delight, Ron had even accepted when they'd asked him if he would be Lily's godfather.

Ever since they had both accepted professorships at Hogwarts---he in Defense Against the Dark Arts and she in History of Magic---they'd lived a happy, normal life. It had been something they'd both longed for such a long time.

Lily, for her part, was behaving like any typical five-month old. She had spent the better part of the past two weeks keeping her parents up all hours of the night. They had made it through a bad couple of days when Lily had the croup, but now the baby was teething. Hermione, who had read a number of books on newborns, remembered reading that teething for most babies was mostly painless, but that a small percentage of babies became increasingly irritable and cranky and would experience disrupted eating and sleeping patterns. As luck would have it, Lily happened to be in the small percentage. She'd been cranky and irritable the past couple of days and hadn't slept much and neither had her parents.

Luckily, Madame Pomfrey had come through with a healing potion that they'd been able to rub on the baby's gums. This seemed to be doing the trick as Lily had slept soundly the night before for the first time in a long time.

It had been hard that first day on the job when Hermione had returned from maternity leave. Since giving birth, Hermione hadn't been away from her daughter for more than a couple of hours. They'd hired a nanny and Hermione must have checked in with her nearly 40 times that day. She hadn't been alone, though. Harry, too, had checked in more than periodically that day to make sure their little girl was okay. Typical first-time parents they were, Molly had teased them.

Two weeks before Christmas, Hermione sat in the kitchen area of their quarters sipping a cup of coffee and nibbling on a blueberry muffin. Harry came out of the bedroom holding their daughter.

"How is she this morning?" Hermione asked, smiling broadly at the picture of her husband holding their daughter, a sight that almost always brought tears to her eyes.

"Cranky," Harry said, smiling down at his daughter. "But I worked my charm on her and she was like putty in my hands."

"You did it again, didn't you?" she asked.

"Did what again, sweetie?" Harry asked, handing the baby off to Hermione.

"It wasn't your charm at all, but the little light show you do with your wand whenever she's like that," Hermione said, winking at him.

"It worked, didn't it? She looks perfectly content and happy now," Harry said, helping himself to a cup of coffee.

"Yeah, you big fat liar, it wasn't your natural charm at all, then, now was it?"

Hermione said, laughing.

Harry looked taken aback by this, but soon he laughed, too.

"So, do you have a busy day today?" Hermione asked, watching as he prepared the bottle of formula for Lily.

"Yeah," he said. "But I'm hoping to cut it short so I can go shopping in Hogsmeade."

Hermione's eyes lit up. "I need to get some shopping done, too. When did you have in mind?"

"You aren't going with me," he said, handing her the bottle of formula.

"Why not?"

"Because one of the presents I'm buying is for you," he said. "Where would the element of surprise be if you were right there?"

"Oh," she said, sheepishly. "I guess you're right."

He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "Could you say that one more time, I'm not quite sure I got that?"

"What?" she asked.

"The part where you said that I was right," he said. "I don't hear that enough around here."

"That's because you are very rarely right," she said cheekily.

He was about to respond when Hedwig appeared at the window, hooting and tapping at the window. She carried a piece of parchment. Harry went over to the window and opened it. She flew in and dropped the piece of parchment down on the kitchen table. She hooted expectantly at Harry who gave her a piece of muffin. She nibbled on it for a few moments before taking off back through the window again.

"Don't eat and run, Hedwig," Harry said, closing the window behind the owl and then looking at the piece of parchment. He recognized the messy penmanship on the front of the letter as Sirius'.

"What does Sirius have to say?" Hermione asked.

"Let's see," Harry said, opening the letter up and reading over it. He scanned over it and then folded the letter. He placed it in his trousers pocket and didn't say anything. Hermione looked at her husband, incredulously.

"What did he have to say, Harry?" she asked him.

"Nothing important," Harry mumbled.

"Yeah," Hermione said. "Tell that to someone who doesn't know you very well. What did the letter say?"

"He asked for my help," Harry said, simply. He avoided his wife's piercing gaze.

"Your help for what?" Hermione asked.

"You know," Harry mumbled, taking a sip of his coffee.

"I swear trying to get a straight answer out of you sometimes is like pulling teeth," Hermione said.

"He wanted my help on a case he's working on," Harry finally confessed. "You know that when I left, he took over everything I'd been working on? Well, one of the cases that I spent a couple of years on is coming to fruition now."

"What sort of case?" Hermione asked.

"Well, there were a few splinter groups of Death Eaters who relocated to the states. There's been a huge break in the case and they're planning on going in sometime in the next couple of days. He said that they could really use my help."

"When would you have to leave?" Hermione asked, dreading the answer.

"They're scheduled to depart tomorrow morning," Harry said.

"Oh," Hermione said, looking down at her daughter, who had fallen asleep in her arms.

"I don't have to go," Harry said.

"You want to go," she said. "I can tell. I could see it in your eyes when you read the letter, Harry. A part of you misses that life."

She got up from her chair and took her daughter back to the nursery. She gingerly lay her down in the crib and closed the door softly behind her. She walked back into the kitchen and saw Harry re-reading the letter.

"You want to go," she said. "Don't you?"

"I worked really hard on this one," he said. "It would be fitting for me to be there when they make the arrests."

Hermione nodded. "This is your daughter's first Christmas; you realize that, don't you?"

"I'd be back before Christmas," he said.

"Maybe so," she said. "But you'll miss out on the planning and the shopping and the parties. You know, this is time that you'll never get back, Harry."

"If you don't want me to go," he began. "I won't go."

"I'm not going to stop you," she said. "I just-"

"What?" he asked.

She looked quite thoughtful as she stood there.

"I love you," she said. "I love the life that we have. Why does it always have to be you, though? Why does the world always look to you when there's trouble, huh? Why can't you just say no, sometimes? The world won't fall apart because you choose to think of your family for once."

"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked. "Are you saying that I don't put you and Lily first? Because, you know-"

She interrupted. "That's not what I'm saying at all. I know that we come first in your life. But, sometimes, I just feel as if you miss how your life used to be---without any ties to anyone or any place."

"You know that's not true!" he said, angry and hurt at her words.

"I know you never asked for your lot in life," she said. "But I know that you like it. You know that you like the idea that everyone always looks to you for help and looks to you to save the day."

"So, you think I'm just an attention-seeking tragic hero?" he asked angrily.

"I never said that," she said.

"Yeah," he said coldly. "But that's what you're thinking!"

Their argument was suddenly broken up by the sound of Lily crying.

"Great," she said. "You just woke up your daughter!"

"Maybe I did it on purpose," Harry said sarcastically. "Maybe I wanted to go in there and save the day by changing her dirty nappy."

Hermione turned to look at her husband and started to laugh.

Harry, who hadn't meant to make a joke, too, broke out into a fit of laughter.

The only one who wasn't laughing was the baby. Harry went to her crib and picked her up.

"Sorry, sweetie," Harry said. "Daddy didn't mean to wake you up."

Hermione looked at her husband cradling their daughter and felt tears welling up in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said softly, coming up behind them and resting her head on Harry's back.

"Me, too," he said.

"You should go," Hermione said. "If Sirius needs your help, you should go."

"Hermione," Harry said, turning around to face her.

"I mean, it's a good time. Classes are finished until after Christmas," she said. "You wouldn't be missing any work."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. "Just promise me, one thing."

"Okay," he said.

"Promise me that you will be home for Christmas," she said. "You can miss Molly and Arthur's Christmas party and you can miss the tree decorating, but please promise me that you'll be home for Christmas. We need you to be here for that."

"I will," he said. "This is our first Christmas with Lily. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Lily gurgled.

"See," Harry said. "That sounded just like 'Da-Da'."

"In what language?" Hermione asked, with a laugh. "She's not old enough to start talking yet, which you would know if you bothered to read The Wizard & Witch's Guide to Parenting."

"Which has replaced Hogwarts: a History as your favorite book," Harry said. "Come on, Lily. Say Da-Da."

The baby just looked up at him and smiled.

"She probably won't be able to say that until she's between eight and twelve-months old," Hermione said wisely. "And you never know, she might say 'mama' before she says 'da-da'."

"You want to make a friendly wager on that?" he asked.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "The book says that the baby almost always says 'da-da' first because it's easier to say than mama. It figures. I go through all the work. I go through the labor and the first words out of the child's mouth will be your name."

"Well, I like to think that I contributed a little something to this," Harry said.

"Well, when you're able to push something the size of a quaffle out of an opening the size of a pea, then you and I can talk," she said laughing.

"Okay," he said. "You got me on that one."

She laughed and began folding some of Lily's blankets that had been freshly laundered and were sitting in the laundry basket.

"So, you're really okay with this?" Harry asked her.

She smiled. "No, but I understand it's something you have to do. Sirius needs you and I know if the situation were reversed, he'd help you out. So, go and do your saving people thing once more, Mr. Potter. Just remember to make it home for Christmas."

"It's a date."

As she watched him lay Lily back down in her crib, she couldn't help but wonder if that was a promise he'd be able to keep.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

"Hermione?" her mother called to her from across the room.

Hermione didn't answer. She just continued to look out the window. She was at her parents' house for the traditional Granger family Christmas party. Every year on Christmas Eve, her parents threw a get together for all their relatives. It was usually a happy, boisterous occasion to say the least.

Hermione's grandparents on both sides came as well as all her aunts, uncles and cousins. Even some of her parents' neighbors were there. Everyone was there, except the one person Hermione wanted there most of all.

She hadn't heard from him but a handful of times since he'd left to help Sirius. As the days passed, she became more and more convinced that this Christmas that they'd wanted to make so special and memorable was going to be a complete and utter washout. What kind of family Christmas could you have when the father was off saving the world from evil one Death Eater at a time?

She chastised herself when she thought things like that. What Harry was doing was important. The selfish, human part of her wished that it could have waited until after the holidays.

She'd tried to keep herself busy. With a five-month old to look after, this wasn't a hard thing to do. Busy was becoming quite the norm in her life. She'd managed to get her Christmas shopping done. She'd even taken the baby into Diagon Alley to have her Christmas photographs taken. As she'd waited for their turn at the photographers, she couldn't help but look around at the parents assembled with their children. She cursed Harry silently that day, wishing he could have been here to savor the moment.

His heroism and bravery were one of his most attractive qualities and made up a huge part of who he was, but she wanted so badly for them to have that normal life. Just when she thought it was theirs to have, something like this happened and he had to go and save the day. She knew who he was when she became his friend. She knew who he was when she became his wife. She loved him for it and she respected him for it, but now, when she needed him most of all, a part of her hated him for it.

"Hermione?" her mother called again. "Did you want to have some eggnog?"

"No, thanks," she said absently staring out the window.

"Are you okay?" her mother asked. "You were quiet all throughout dinner.

"Yes," she snapped. "I'm fine."

Hermione turned to see her mother's surprised, hurt expression at her outburst.

"I'm sorry, Mum," Hermione said, putting a hand on her mother's shoulder.

"It's okay," Karen Granger said. "I understand. When was the last time you heard from him?"

"Two days ago," she said. "He called to see how we were doing. I didn't even ask if he'd be back. It's pretty much a far-gone conclusion that he won't be back in time for Christmas."

"You don't know that, sweetheart," her mother said. "He may surprise you."

"Yeah," Hermione said bitterly. "We'll see."

At that moment, Hermione's Great Aunt Eunice, who was a little hard of hearing, came over to join them.

"Karen! This is the best fig pudding I've ever eaten," Aunt Eunice said. "You have to give me the recipe."

"Sure," Karen said.

"That baby of yours is adorable, Hermione," Eunice said.

"Thank you," Hermione said. "She's a handful."

"Where is that husband of yours?" Aunt Eunice asked. "Henry?"

"Harry, Aunt Eunice. His name is Harry," Hermione said, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes. This was another family holiday tradition. You had to be around people you only saw once a year and when you were, you realized why you only subjected yourself to it once a year.

"He likes to take the ferry?" Eunice asked. Hermione stifled a laugh. "I don't know how he does it. I get on one of those things and I feel sick straightaway."

"So, where is he tonight?"

"He, um, he's working on an assignment," Hermione said. Not many people in her family knew exactly what she and Harry were. They'd only told a few select members. Eunice, being who she was, had not been one of those privy to the truth.

"Well, hopefully, we'll see him soon," Eunice said. "It's a shame he has to work on Christmas Eve."

"Yes, it is," she said wistfully.

"Well, I better go check on Lily," Hermione said hastily.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

An hour later, Hermione apparated with Lily to the Burrow. She really wanted to get home, but she'd promised them she'd stop by with the baby.

Things were in full swing when Hermione arrived. Fred and George were busily caroling off-key.

"Jingle bells, Severus Snape smells," Fred sang loudly.

"Draco Malfoy laid an egg," George finished gamely.

Their brother-in-law Draco stood up from the chair he was sitting in and smacked Fred good-naturedly on the head.

"Fred and George are two big prats," Draco sang cheekily.

"And ickle-Ronniekins got away," Ginny finished.

"That was the worst Christmas carol I've ever heard in my life," Hermione said. The entire crowd in the living room turned around and immediately descended on Hermione and the baby. Fred took her coat and Molly took the baby.

After a round of hugs and "Happy Christmases", Hermione settled in on the couch beside Ron.

"Where's Luna?" Hermione asked him.

"She's coming later with her dad," Ron said. "They have a family tradition where they go and visit her mum's grave ever Christmas Eve. They promised to stop by later for some apple cider and dessert."

"Who would have thought of you and old Loony Lovegood?" Hermione teased.

"Yeah," Ron said. "She told me she'd hex me into next year if I ever called her that again."

"Smart girl," Hermione said.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked her.

"Yeah," she said.

"Liar," he said. "You haven't heard from him?"

"No," she said glumly. "Not since a couple of days ago."

"He's okay," Ron said.

Hermione nodded.

"So, are you going to stay here tonight?" Ron asked her. "You don't want to go back to your and Harry's place and be alone, do you?"

"It's sweet of you to offer, but I want to spend my first Christmas with my daughter in our own home," she said. "I mean, it's not how I planned it exactly, but that's what I promised her and that's what I'm going to do."

"I understand," Ron said sympathetically. "Speaking of your daughter, I have a present for her!"

"Ron," Hermione said, her face brightening a little.

"Oi! Fred! Hand me that present under the tree for Lily," Ron called to his brother.

"Ron?" Fred answered back. "Last time I checked I wasn't your personal servant."

"You see what I have to put up with?" Ron asked, getting up from the sofa and walking into the sitting room to get the present. When he came back into the room, Hermione laughed.

"Ron," Hermione said, surveying the wrapped package. There was no mistaking what was inside the wrapping paper.

"I know it's a little early," Ron said. "But you never can start them too early. I mean, if she gets started now, can you imagine how good she'll be by the time she makes it to Hogwarts?"

"Ron," Hermione said. "She can't even sit up on her own! You bought her a racing broom?"

"Just because her mum is scared of flying doesn't mean she will be," Ron said.

"I'm not scared of flying," Hermione said.

"Who hasn't even been on a broom since our first year in Madame Hooch's flying class?" Ron asked her, raising his eyebrow at her.

"So," she said. "That doesn't mean I'm scared of flying. It just means that I have better things to do with my time than sit around and fly on some broom."

"Scaredy-cat," Ron teased.

"I am not," Hermione protested.

"You are sooooo a scaredy-cat," Ron sing-songed back at her.

"Oh my sweet Merlin!" Hermione said, a terrified expression coming over her face.

"What is it?" Ron asked.

"There's a huge, hairy spider on your shoulder, Ron!" Hermione said, pointing at his shoulder.

Ron squealed and jumped off the couch. "Get it off of me! Get it off of me!"

Hermione laughed.

"I believe that was the pot calling the kettle black," Hermione said, between her laughter.

It was shortly before midnight when Hermione finally made her way back to her flat. The baby was fast asleep in her pram and rather than going to sleep, Hermione brewed herself a cup of hot tea and sat in front of the Christmas tree and listened to the wireless radio that she'd been able to get. It was no secret that electronic Muggle devices usually were unable to work on Hogwarts grounds, but Hermione and Harry had found a way around this. With a little help from Arthur Weasley, they'd been able to set up a television and a radio in their flat.

Hermione was listening to a radio station playing Christmas carols as she looked over at her sleeping daughter, lying peacefully in her pram.

She must have dozed off because she was awoken by the sound of a door opening.

She felt as if she was hallucinating as she saw her husband lean over her daughter's pram and plant a kiss on the child's forehead. She watched with hazy eyes as he picked her up and carried her into the nursery.

Hermione sat up on the couch and warily rubbed her eyes. She had to be dreaming.

"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Potter," Harry said, coming back into the room.

"Harry?" she asked, rubbing her eyes again. "Is that really you?"

"It's really me," he said.

She got up from the couch and closed the space between them quickly and wrapped her arms tightly around him. He held onto her and planted kisses on her forehead and then took her lips softly in a nice, warm kiss.

"I missed you," she said.

"I told you I'd make it back for Christmas, didn't I?"

"You did," she said, looking down at the floor. "But I was worried that you wouldn't make it."

"I told you I'd never break a promise like that to you, didn't I?" he asked her, cupping her chin in his hands. "I shouldn't have gone in the first place. That isn't my life anymore. My life is with you and Lily here at Hogwarts."

"That's the best Christmas present you could have given me," she said, kissing him again.

"That's all you wanted?" He asked. "Well, it's a good thing I didn't get you anything else."

Hermione looked up, surprised.

"Uh-huh," he said. "Only kidding! I did bring you something."

"What?" she asked.

"Greedy, aren't we?" he asked.

"Just a little," she said. "Now, give me my present!"

"Yes, ma'am," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a light blue box.

"Tiffany's?" she asked.

She smiled as she opened the box and saw a beautiful Sterling silver locket. She opened up the heart-shaped locket and saw that on one side of the locket was a picture of her and Harry on their wedding day. On the other side of the locket, was a picture of Lily.

"It's beautiful," she said softly. Tears welled up in her eyes. She hugged her husband again.

"I got you something, too," she said.

"What?" he asked. She smiled at him and led him over to the Christmas tree. She pulled out a medium-sized box that was prettily wrapped in red paper with a gold bow.

He shook the box and Hermione smiled expectantly at him.

He opened the box up and saw that inside was a pair of baby shoes.

"These are awfully small," he said. "Lily's feet are already bigger than this."

"I know," she said, smiling at him.

"I don't understand," he said. "Why would you get her shoes that don't fit?"

"I didn't get them for her," she said. "The shoes are for the other baby."

"Other baby?" he asked, confused. "You mean, we're going to---I mean, we're having---I mean, we're---"

She laughed.

"I just found out a couple of days ago," she said. "I'm a month and a half along."

"Are you happy?" she asked him, unable to read his expression.

"Happy?" he repeated. "Happy doesn't begin to express how I feel about this!"

He kissed her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. They sat there for a while, on the floor, wrapped in each other's arms, looking up at the tree and taking in the warmth from the fireplace. It all seemed perfect and it all seemed to fit. Harry had no doubt in his mind that this was where he belonged and this was who he was meant to be. Hermione's husband. A teacher. A father. A friend. He had what he had always looked for---a family. Life didn't get any better than this.

"Happy Christmas, Harry," Hermione whispered, resting her head against his chest.

"Happy Christmas, Hermione," he whispered back, wrapping his arms tightly around her.