The Best Christmas Ever

MisCard

Rating: PG13
Genres: Romance
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 5
Published: 24/12/2004
Last Updated: 24/12/2004
Status: completed

Just a short, fluffy one-shot story for Christmas. The title pretty much says it all; I hope you enjoy reading it!!!

Chapters

1. The Best Christmas Ever

1. The Best Christmas Ever

This is just a fluffy one-shot I wrote today due to boredom. It hasn't been beta'd because I didn't want to bother Spaz141 on Christmas Eve with my trivial little writings, so I apologize for any mistakes you may find. Merry (Happy) Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hannakuh, or any other holidays you celebrate this time of year!!! If you have time, please review, I would consider it a wonderful present!!! :)

It was on Christmas Day, when everything began and ended; Voldemort had tried to start his reign of evil on the most celebrated holiday of the year. It was their seventh and last year at Hogwarts, and Harry and Hermione were two of only ten students that had stayed behind for Christmas; unfortunately they were the two that Voldemort had been after. Christmas morning, before anyone had awakened, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle had kidnapped Hermione from her Head Girl room and had delivered her to their Master. His plan was to use her to lure Harry to his death; Voldemort, by means of Legilimency, had seen how much Hermione meant to him and was sure it was the way to finally defeat the Boy-Who-Lived. He would soon discover how wrong he had been.

After Hermione hadn't shown up in his room that morning to open presents with him, Harry had gone to her room and discovered her gone. On her pillow was a note that simply stated: If you want her back Potter, you'll have to come and get her. Harry had learned his lesson the year before, after a debacle in which he had gone after Voldemort alone, and had immediately run to Dumbledore for help. Dumbledore had called on the Order of the Phoenix and a plan to rescue Hermione had soon taken shape. Like Voldemort, Dumbledore knew of Harry's true feelings for Hermione, and he knew that it was those feelings that would save Harry's life that day.

Voldemort had taken Hermione to Godric's Hollow. He had bound her in the exact place where he had murdered Lily Potter sixteen years prior, knowing that it would be yet another emotional blow to Harry's all ready tortured mind; or so he thought. After learning their location from Professor Snape, Dumbledore had transported Harry to his old home; knowing this was something he had to do alone, he left Harry at the front door to join the Order in fighting the Death Eaters that had surrounded the house. Of course Dumbledore was worried for Harry's safety, but he put his faith in knowing that Lily's love resided deep in Harry's heart, and when combined with his love for Hermione (and hers for him) Harry had all the protection he needed from Voldemort plus the power to defeat him.

Harry had made his way into the house, which he had thought destroyed, and carefully searched from room to room. It had been somewhat surprising to find that his family home had been rebuilt over the years by Dumbledore and Hagrid, but knowing that Voldemort had so easily breached its security once again made him realize that he would never be able to live there by himself, or with his family. He would just have to find a home of his own and try to forget this one existed; there were too many bad memories here, and he was sure that after today he would never see it as his home again.

When he had climbed the stairs and seen Hermione magically bound in the doorway of his old room, the scenes of his Mother's death flashed before his eyes and he stopped cold. The sick bastard had brought Hermione to the same place his Mum had died, where HE had murdered her, and now Voldemort planned to kill the person Harry loved most in this world the same way he killed his Mum. Harry's angered thoughts came to a dead stop as he realized what he had just discovered; he loved Hermione. A sudden rush of warmth flowed through him and his body seemed to thrum with magical energy, more than he'd ever felt in his entire life. When Voldemort had foolishly confronted Harry immediately after his realization, he didn't stand a chance in hell; Harry's anger and will to protect Hermione only increased his magical powers. After a few threats against Hermione's life, a sudden white glow surrounded Harry and when it felt as if his body would burst from the sudden onslaught of magic, a giant, white, pulsing wave of energy emitted from Harry and enveloped everyone in the room. When the light had died down to a dull glow around him, Harry had collapsed onto the floor exhausted and Voldemort was nowhere to be found.

When Harry woke up, he had found himself once again in the Hospital Ward, with Hermione sitting at the side of his bed. She had been watching him and holding his hand, and when he focused his eyes on hers, he could tell she had been crying.

"All right there, Hermione?" he had asked, his voice nothing more than a croak.

"Never better" she had replied with a watery smile. The next thing she did had taken Harry completely by surprise; his eyes grew wide as he watched her bend down towards his face and the next thing he knew, her lips were pressed to his in his first real kiss. To him, the kiss with Cho didn't count since it had been so ...uncomfortable, and he'd been too worried about staying alive to concentrate on the many girls that had shown interest in him the past couple of years. Besides, he had only wanted to be with one girl; that girl turned out to be one of his best friends and was currently showing him that she obviously felt the same way he did.

They spent the rest of the night talking about what had happened after he had blacked out at Godric's Hollow and how the events that day had made them realize their feelings for each other. After being released the next morning, Harry had went to breakfast hand-in-hand with Hermione and had received a hero's welcome.

That afternoon, while everyone in Hogwarts celebrated Voldemort's demise, Harry and Hermione had gone to the room of requirement where they ended up making love for the first time. On their last day at Hogwarts Harry had proposed and Hermione had happily accepted; one month later they were married and ready to spend the rest of their lives together.

Five months later...

"Hermione, I think I'm going to explode" whined Harry as he walked hand in hand with his wife. This was their first Christmas together as a married couple, and they were on their way to Christmas dinner; it was their third meal that afternoon.

"This is the last one Harry and then we can go home and pass out" Hermione joked, squeezing his hand affectionately. They walked up to the door and stood behind Ron and Luna, whose house they had just come from.

Mrs. Weasley opened the door and immediately engulfed her son and daughter-in-law in one of her loving hugs, and then turned her attention to Harry and Hermione. "And how are the newlyweds enjoying their first Christmas together?" she asked.

"It's hardly their first Christmas together Mum" replied Ron, rolling his eyes as he walked past her into the house.

"Oh, they know what I mean" Mrs. Weasley said, swatting at him. She turned her attention back to them and smiled expectantly, waiting for an answer.

"It's been...fulfilling" replied Harry, receiving a smack on the arm from Hermione for his cheekiness.

When Mrs. Weasley looked at him, confused, Hermione said, "It's been wonderful Mrs. Weasley, it's just that this will be our third Christmas dinner today."

"Ah yes, I remember all the dinners Arthur and I had to attend when we were first married; had to make the rounds to all the relatives houses. He had a much smaller build back then..." she said, trailing off as she remembered a skinnier Arthur Weasley. Harry and Hermione looked at each other, trying to stifle their laughter until they could get away from her. They ducked into the sitting room to find everyone sitting around discussing Christmas's past.

"I remember the first time Angelina tried to cook Christmas dinner at our house for her parents" joked Fred Weasley, "we had to open the windows to get rid of all the smoke." Angelina reached over to hit her husband in the back of the head but then started to laugh along with everyone else at the memory of the dinner debacle.

"It may have turned out badly, but I've never had to cook a holiday dinner since" she replied, still laughing.

They continued to reminisce until Mrs. Weasley called them into the kitchen to eat. "Will you still love me when I'm the size of Dudley?" Harry asked Hermione teasingly.

"I don't know..." Hermione replied, earning a glare from her husband. "Of course I will Harry" she said laughing, and then lowering her voice added, "but there are plenty of enjoyable ways to work off all the food we've eaten today."

"And you say I'm the insatiable one?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows at her. They both started laughing and made their way to the kitchen table to join the Weasleys.

After eating as much of Mrs. Weasley's wonderful cooking as they could, Harry and Hermione sat around the table talking about the dinner they had shared with Hermione's parents earlier that afternoon, and then telling Mrs. Weasley what a wonderful cook Luna was.

"Maybe next year we can all go to your house for Christmas dinner" said Mrs. Weasley, smiling at her son and then her daughter-in-law. Ron looked helplessly at Luna and she just shrugged her shoulders in indifference.

"I think that's a wonderful idea" Luna replied happily.

After discussing what gifts everyone had received that day, Harry said, "Which reminds me, Hermione and I haven't had time to open all of our presents yet."

"Yes, we really should be heading home" Hermione added, thankful for the excuse to return home after such a hectic day.

After thanking Mrs. Weasley and Luna for the wonderful meals, Harry and Hermione apparated back to their flat and immediately sat down next to each other on the sofa. "I'm so stuffed, I won't need to eat for the next day or two" said Harry, rubbing his hand over his slightly protruding stomach. Hermione just laughed and shook her head at her husband's exaggeration.

"We both know you'll be up in the middle of the night, raiding the fridge" she replied, smiling. Harry just mock-glared at her and started tickling her mercilessly. "Okay, okay, I give...stop it!" she cried, trying to fend off his tickling hands and catch her breath.

After sitting contentedly for a few minutes, Harry got up and walked over to their tree. He bent down and picked up a medium sized box and brought it over to her, smiling. "Here, open this one first" he said, handing it to her.

She opened it to find the newest edition of Hogwarts: A History. "Thank you Harry, I love it" she said, and then leaned over to give him a kiss.

"This one has both of us in it" he replied, loving the way her eyes lit up when she saw the book. She immediately started to look through it to see if she could find their names but stopped when she felt Harry staring at her.

"I suppose you want one to open too?" she asked, all ready knowing the answer. When he nodded his head excitedly she laughed and made her way to the tree. She bent down, looking for a specific package and smiled when she finally found it. She walked back over to the couch and went to hand it to him; when he grabbed it she kept hold of it and said, "this is something I know you've always wanted."

"I got everything I always wanted the day I married you Luv" he replied, leaning in to give her a breath-taking kiss. When they pulled apart they both felt a little dizzy and Hermione released her hold on his present.

She smiled as she watched Harry rip the paper off, very much like a child would, and smiled when he opened the box. With a confused look, he looked up from the contents of the box and said, "Um, thank-you?"

"Do you know what those are Harry" she asked, enjoying the moment.

"They look like booties..." he replied, trailing off as comprehension dawned on his face. "Does this mean you...you're..."

"Pregnant!" exclaimed Hermione, and she laughed as Harry launched himself off of the couch and lifted her up into his arms.

"We're going to be parents?" he asked excitedly, tears forming in his eyes.

"We're going to be parents" she answered, with tears of happiness running down her cheeks.

After holding each other tightly and crying at their joyous news, Harry pulled back from her a little and asked, "since there's one pink and one blue bootie, does that mean you don't know if it's a boy or girl yet?"

"Actually, when I found out I was pregnant, I was far enough along for them to do the test" she replied, the tears falling faster now. "We're having twins Harry; a boy and a girl."

Harry stood there, his arms wrapped tightly around her, and just stared at her in wonder. "One of each?" he whispered in awe.

"One of each" Hermione echoed, crying harder as she noticed the tears falling freely down his face now.

After holding each other for a while, crying in happiness at their good news, Harry said, "I never thought I would live long enough to get married, let alone have children of my own. You've made all my dreams come true Hermione."

"And you've given me the life and family I've always dreamed of" she said, cupping his face with her hands. After sharing another mind blowing kiss, Hermione gave him a dazzling smile and said, "Happy Christmas Harry."

"Happy Christmas Hermione" he replied, and then slowly bent down so that he was eye-level with her still-flat stomach. "Happy Christmas little ones; we love you so much and can't wait to meet you."

"Just think, next year at this time we'll get to spend Christmas with them" said Hermione, running a hand through his unruly hair.

She watched as he stood up and wrapped his arms around her waist, looking at her with love in his eyes; "This has been the best Christmas ever" he said quietly.

"Wait until next year" she said happily, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him passionately. Harry bent down and placed his arm behind Hermione's knees, lifting her gently off the floor; they continued to kiss as he carried her to their room to resume their celebration, all thoughts of opening presents forgotten. There was no need to open the rest of them, they had both gotten the best Christmas present either could ask for.