The Meaning of Christmas

1. The Meaning of Christmas

Author‘s Note: Whoosh! Christmas fluff! I would like to Wish everyone a Happy Christmahanakwanzakuha (erm….or more easily said Happy Holidays!) This fic is dedicated to all the Wonks. *sigh* Hopefully things will be better for Wonky soon. I must warm you, this fic is senseless fluff, there’s no real plot. Also, near the end it’s a bit choppy. I wanted to get this in by Christmas Eve so it’s severely rushed. Sorry.

The Meaning of Christmas

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. For me it was about memories. Baking tree and snowman shaped cookies with my mum, decorating the tree with my dad, and staying up past my bedtime to try to catch a glimpse of St. Nick.

Then when I came to Hogwarts, my Christmas’s were simply magical, (no pun intended.) I remember when I saw the first snowfall on the castle; I wanted to burst onto the grounds, twirl around and catch snowflakes on my tongue. It was breath taking.

Hogwarts always had away of putting me in the Christmas mood. Whether it was the magnificent decorations like the twelve grand pine trees in the Great Hall, or the how the castle empted out and I was with the people I loved. This year, mum and dad wanted to try skiing again. I declined due to my poor skiing skills, so I found myself spending another Christmas with Harry, Ron and Ginny in the castle.

“Good morning,” I greeted Harry and Ron as they sat down at the table for breakfast.

“Morning,” they replied and I poured them some coffee.

“Ah! Only one more day until break,” Ron sighed happily after taking a long sip of coffee to wake him up.

“Yes, that means that exams are coming up,” I pointed out. Harry and Ron groaned.

“Hermione! It’s Christmas! We’ve been studying for weeks now, we deserve a break,” Harry complained and I sighed. He did have a point, I’ve been making the study for three weeks straight and we were all sleep deprived.

“Well we study all break, but want some work done. N.E.W.T.s are coming up as well,”

Harry and Ron exchanged glances but didn’t say anything.

“There’s nothing wrong with being prepared,” I said tartly seeing their expressions.

Ron sighed this time and spoke up. “Hermione. The N.E.W.T.s are over a year away. You should take it easy.”

I sighed again but before I could respond, the mail arrived. Most students raised their heads to spot their own owls in the mass fury of the birds.

I was just paying the dusty grey owl that delivered my copy of The Daily Prophet, when a loud crash was emitted near Ron. I snapped my head up and saw that Errol had crashed into Ron’s breakfast scattering food everywhere.

“Bloody Hell!” Ron groaned wiping a large piece of egg of his face. Harry scooped Errol of out Ron’s food and set him on the table. I quickly grabbed some napkins and tried to stop the flow of syrup that was oozing from his plate as Ron took the letters (that were dripping the sticky syrup onto the table), from Errol is disgust. Ginny had appeared at my side and she also grabbed napkins to sop up the mess.

“Here,” Ron grunted thrusting one of the gooey letters in Ginny’s face. Ginny snorted in disgust and snatched the letter away from Ron . She quickly grabbed one of the napkins and scrubbed the envelope before opening it. While the two of them read their letters, Harry and I did our best to clean Errol up. (It is not and easy task to get syrup and butter off feathers).

After a moment, Ron and Ginny set down their letters (right in the middle of the large syrup pool) and Ron spoke. “Well, looks like we’ll be going home for Christmas.”

“What?” Harry asked bewildered.

“Apparently Charlie saved a rich wizard from a dragon and to thank him, the he gave Charlie a large reward; so, he’s sending us over there for the holiday,” Ginny explained.

“He says he wished he could send you guys too, but he’s using almost all the galleons to send Mum, Dad, Fred, George, Ginny and I over,” Ron quickly added.

“No that’s fine. Tell Charlie congratulations,” I said and Harry nodded in agreement.

“You had better go tell Mcgonagall so she can reserve you a seat on the train,” Harry said nodding in the direction of the Head Table.

“You’re right,” Ron mumbled looking sadly at his spilt food. He and Ginny rose from the table and advanced toward the table.

“Well it looks like it’s just you and me for Christmas,” Harry smiled at me. For some reason, my cheeks flushed red and I found something very interesting to look at on my plate.

Since Ron and Ginny were leaving in the morning, we decided to exchange our presents with them that night, (Harry and I were still going to exchange ours on Christmas).

We spent most of the night laughing, playing Exploding Snap, and eating sweets. Before we knew it, it was already Midnight.

Ron rose from the couch, yawned and stretched. “I’m going to bed,” he muttered through a yawn.

“So am I,” Ginny announced heading toward the stairs.

We bade them goodnight and soon Harry and I found ourselves alone in the common room. I was curled up in my favourite armchair and Harry was sprawled out on the floor on a blanket. We sat in silence, staring at the fire crackling merrily and enjoying its warmth. It wasn’t however, warm enough to stop the chill from the castle creeping up on me. I shivered slightly and rubbed my arms for slight warmth.

“Cold?” Harry’s voice broke the silence and he turned to face me. I nodded and he smiled. That was the second time that day when Harry’s smile made me blush. He sat up, rested his back against the table and patted the floor next to him. I hesitated slightly but I found it impossible to resist his smile. I slid of the chair and onto the floor next him.

Harry grabbed the blanket and tossed it over the two of us. He moved slightly closer to me and I instantly felt warmer and more comfortable. I felt the sudden urge to rest my head on his shoulder, but I restrained myself, and we sat engulfed in silence, staring at the dying fire.

The next morning, I woke just as the sun was rising. I groaned and turned to keep my face away from the harsh light, but when I did, my was squashed by the back of the couch. I blinked rapidly and look around. I found myself in the common room; alone.

‘I must have fallen asleep.’ I thought groggily. I tried to go back to sleep, but my attempts were fruitless. Instead, I got up, washed and dressed, and returned to the common room. Everyone else was still asleep, so I took the opportunity to catch up on my reading. I chose New Theory of Numerology; the book Harry had given me for Christmas last year. I had already read it twice, but it’s such a good book and I couldn’t resist picking it up.

I was already on the third chapter before anyone started coming down into the common room.

“Morning!” I heard a familiar voice behind me. I jumped slightly and turned around. Harry grinned at me and joined me on the couch.

“Good morning,” I said returning his grin.

“You feel asleep last night and since I couldn’t bring you upstairs I put you on the couch; was that ok?” Harry asked.

“Yes it was fine. Thanks.”

“What are you reading?” Harry asked trying to peek at the cover of the book. I showed him and he grinned.

“You’re reading that again?”

“I love it! It’s fascinating!” I explained admiring the book. Harry smiled and watched me read for a minute, his smile slowly fading until it turned into a troubled frown. I watched him out of the corner of my eye. I knew he was thinking of Sirius. Although he stopped grieving aloud, I knew he still grieved him silently; and it must be particularly hard at this time. Last Christmas was the last time Harry really saw Sirius. He was there in the Department of Mysteries, but (according to Harry) everything happened so fast, he barely got to say two words to him then. I sighed and rested the book on my lap.

“Harry?” I asked him, preparing myself so a short speech.

“Yea?” He whispered back. He sounded like a scared child and I knew the last thing he needed were more words of support.

“D-do you want to go get breakfast?” I asked. Harry turned at me and smiled.

“Yea.”

The first few days of break were uneventful. Dumbledore allowed the few remaining students a trip to Hogsmeade for last minute shopping. Harry and I had already bought all of our presents, but we went.

The village was magnificent as always. The soft falling snow and the light up stores and houses made the scene look like a Christmas card. Harry and I had a blast. We strolled the streets catching snowflakes on out tongues like carefree children. We weaved our way in between wizards and witches playing immature games. I can’t remember a time I had laughed so much.

“Sorry!” I shouted over my shoulder to a grumpy wizard as I bumped into him while I was running up the cobble stone streets trying to catch a hold of Harry. Harry turned around and stuck his tongue out at me before turning back around and sprinting off. Determined, I sped up dodging last minute shoppers. Harry turned around and gasped as he saw me advancing on him. We made a sharp turn behind one of the shops and I quickly followed him into a more barren part of the town where there weren’t as much shoppers in the way. I used this to my advantage and put in a little extra burst of speed. This was all I needed. I leaped and grabbed him by the shoulders, tackling him to the ground.

We landed in the snow with an ‘oof!” and we rolled a few feet into the snow, my hand still gripping his shoulders tightly. We stopped after a minute and I pinned him to the ground.

“HA!” I exclaimed triumphantly. We both erupted into fits of laughter until we were gasping from breath. It wasn’t until our laughter died down when I realized in was on top of him. I blushed furiously and looked at him. Our eyes locked and my blushed deepened. I slowly rolled off him and collapsed next to him in the snow. I suddenly realized I missed him.

‘Stop being ridiculous! He’s right there!’ my mind scoffed. We lay in the snow for a moment, panting heavily to regain our breath. I stared at the sky above me. It was a calming grey and as the delicate snowflakes freckled my body, I felt has if I could stay there all day beneath the powdery snow. If only I wasn’t so bloody cold.

Harry must have been thinking the same thing because he turned o his side and asked me, “Do you want to go get a butterbeer?” I nodded and he sprang to his feet, offering me his hand. I took it and together we walked down to The Three Broomsticks, the snow crunching beneath or feet.

“Merry Christmas Hermione!” Harry greeted me as I strolled into his dormitory carrying my bundle of presents.

“Marry Christmas Harry!” I greeted back and I plopped next to him on the bed and we began opening our gifts. We opened a few chattering as always when he handed me a small package.

“From me,” He grinned and I eagerly ripped the paper off the package. I reveled a shiny white box and with flourish, I took the lid off. Inside was a gleaming, silver necklace with silver otter charm on it.

“Harry it’s wonderful! Thank you!” I exclaimed reaching over and giving him hug, scattering wrapping paper onto the floor.

“You’re Welcome,” he smiled and I searched through the piles for his gift from me.

“From me,” I laughed handing him the parcel. Harry nodded a thank you and I watched him in amusement tear off the paper. He too reviled a white box and when he lifted the lid, he grinned and pulled out his gift. I had given him a small, silver model of a stag.

“Thank you,” he said his voice hoarse as he held the small figure in his hand.

“That’s not all. Look,” I said gently placing it on Harry’s nightstand. I took out my wand, tapped the stag and muttered “Comotius.” Instantly, the stag sprang to life and galloped around the nightstand. Harry watched in amusement as the stag reared back and pawed the table.

“And when you want it to stop all you have to say is ‘Lentaeis’,” I sad tapping my wand to the figure again. I stopped immediately in mid-gallop.

“Thanks Hermione,” Harry said again smiling at the stag.

“You’re welcome. Now come on, let’s go get some food.”

The morning went along as normal. We headed down to the Great Hall, and found that Dumbledore had decided to use one table again. There was only one other Gryffindor, two Ravenclaws, a few Slytherins, and a pair of Hufflepuffs. Harry and I were the last to arrive.

“Ah! Mr. Potter! Miss Granger! Come sit down! Have a cracker!” Dumbledore greeted us cheerfully offering us a plate of wizard crackers. We each took one and settled down next to each other to eat.

The food was delicious, as always and afterwards we felt extremely stuffed and giddy. Harry and I sauntered onto the grounds laughing merrily, each donning ridiculous hats; our prizes from the wizard crackers.

We strolled through the grounds chatting about nothing in particular, when my pirate hat slipped of my head. As I bent down to pick it up, I scooped up a large snowball and flung it at the back of Harry’s head. He slowly turned around with a mischievous grin plastered on his face.

“You’re dead Granger,” He said quickly scooping up a handful of snow.

“It’s hard to take you seriously when you’re wearing a large jester hat with bells,” I laughed. I suddenly felt a cold, wet snowball hit my face; it was Harry’s turn to laugh.

So the snowball fight began. Just as I was about to hit him again, he ducked behind a tree, taking cover. I used this to my advantage. I quickly muttered a spell and soon snowballs were shooting out of the tip of my wand. Harry was hit repeatedly and soon he gave up trying to throw some back and he ran. I was having a much harder time running through the grounds than I did in Hogsmeade. Harry got a big head start and I quickly lost him.

I was wandering through the Quidditch Pitch; the snowballs had stopped and my wand was safely back in my pocket.

“Haaaaary,” I called weaving between the bottoms of the goal posts. I was getting annoyed. I sighed and continued to move my way back near Hagrid’s hut; the next thing I new, I felt a large weight attack me from behind and I collapsed into the snow.

“HARRY!” I screeched getting a mouthful of snow. I rolled onto my back and Harry pinned me. I struggled to slip away from him but he held my wrists tight.

“Revenge,” He muttered. I let a small laugh escape and wriggled my way underneath him. Alas, I was still stuck; and cold.

“Harry…..let….me…..go!” I panted, straining to get way. I’m not sure what happened next, but for a second our eyes locked. The next thing I knew, Harry’s lips gently brushed mine. It was brief, but filled with meaning. My brain fogged over and I felt myself gently kiss back. As quick as it happened it was over. I stared at him, confused, and scared. I shivered but I knew it had nothing to do with the snow below me. I wriggled out of his grasp and ran. I don’t know why or how, but I managed. My brain felt suffocated; I never had a complete brain lapse like this one.

When I finally did stop running, I found myself in front of the Room of Requirement. Maybe it would figure out what I needed to do. I quickly made the door appear and went inside. The room was mostly empty. Stone floors and walls, with one large window on the opposite side.

Then I noticed. Along the wall were several, enlarged photos of Harry and I. I gasped as my eyes quickly scanned them. Us in the common room, us in the library, walking to class, in the Great Hall, in class….Then I saw the biggest one; it took up a majority of the wall. It was of me and Harry in the snow; gently kissing. I felt myself slid to floor. Did I love Harry? The answer came to me as clear as a bell; Yes, of course. I longed to bang my head repeatedly against the stone wall, but my head hurt enough as it is. I wondered about our friendship. Was it completely ruined now? I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have Harry.

“Hermione?” The door slowly creaked open and Harry appeared in the doorway. He shuffled his feet uncomfortably, his eyes glued to his shoes. “Hermione, I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to…” he trailed off noticing the pictures that lined the wall. I felt crushed. Of course he didn’t mean it-who would like me?

I nodded briskly, desperately trying to stop the flow of tears that leaked from my eyes.

“Right, of course. Perfectly fine.” My voice was shaky and I felt exhausted.

“Hermione?” Harry’s voice seemed so far way. I looked up and was shocked to se him sitting next to me on the floor.

“I love you,” I blurted out keeping my eyes fixed on the floor. I felt like opening the window and jumping out of it.

Harry lifted my chin up. I wished he would go away and leave me to die alone.

“I love you too,” his voice was a mere whisper. I barely caught what he was saying. I snapped my eyes up to meet his.

No words were needed. I knew he meant it. Once again his lips graced mine-and this time it wasn’t as brief as the last one.

Yes, Christmas has always been my favourite time of the year. I’m with the people I love most in the world. And that’s what Christmas is about; peace, love, and togetherness.