The Best Christmas Present...Ever.

Title: The Best Christmas Present

Summary: Harry disappeared for 6 months after their seventh year, and Hermione's in deep depression. What happens when he finally reappears?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Author's note: This is my first story on Portkey, and to tell you the truth, I'm kinda nervous…I know how the Portkey readers can be, so please be nice (as nice as you can be..) and tell me what you think! Thank you.

*** *** ***

20-year-old Hermione Granger sat on the window sill of her flat in a pair of pajama bottoms and a simple white t-shirt. A book was clutched to her chest tightly as she stared out into the empty street, a single tear running down her pale cheek, and she didn't bother to brush it away.

He wasn't back yet.

The love of her life had been gone for six months to defeat Voldemort and she hadn't seen him since.

There was no sign of him anywhere. The Aurors and the Order were on the look-out 24/7, but to no avail. They hadn't a clue if he was alive or dead. The Order had recently gotten a lead that both him and Voldemort were somewhere in Ireland, and they were trying their hardest to find him. But it wasn't hard enough for Hermione.

"Try harder!" She remembered shouting in Remus Lupin's face when he told her they still didn't hear a word from him, tears streaming down her face.

They'd lost so many people in the war. Ron, Dumbledore, Neville…And Hermione refused to believe that Harry had been lost too. He was her only hope for living. She needed him, and she would do anything to get him back, and keep him safe. If she lost hope now, she would be shattered. He was the only thing that kept her going. To find out that he was dead too would break her.

And the worst thing about it was that she never got a chance to tell him how much she loved him. Never got a chance to hold him in her arms, kiss him. All because of her stupidity and weakness. She couldn't face him, couldn't tell him that he was the most important person in her life and that she was in love with him, in fear of his feelings being merely platonic. What if he just stood there and stared at her in disappointment and then walked away? What if he told her he thought of her nothing but a friend? Her pride wouldn't be able to bear that, she was sure. So she'd said nothing. If she couldn't have him as a lover, she'd cherish him as a friend.

"Hermione?" Came a soft voice from the doorway that belonged to her roommate, best friend and confider for the past six months, Lavender Brown. Hermione hadn't even heard the door of the flat open. She turned to look at blonde silently.

Lavender walked in and sat across her from the window-sill, her eyes filled with pain for her friend. She put a hand on hers, and the two young women sat in silence for a little while, both staring out at the window.

"Hermione, you can't go on living like this", Lavender told her, her eyebrows knitted together in an earnest expression. "You've got to get over him."

"Don't start this with me again, Lav…I can't", Hermione whispered weakly, shaking her head and bit her lip, her chocolate brown eyes shining with tears. "I just can't…"

"What are you doing to yourself?" Lavender hissed angrily, grabbing Hermione's shoulders and shaking her a bit. "He's not coming back! I'm sick of seeing you like this, Hermione…You sit around brooding and crying all day like it's going to help get him back!"

Hermione didn't react to the good shake she'd gotten and just stared down at the marble they were sitting on and didn't say anything for a while, her arms wrapped tight around the book she was holding. Lavender dropped her hands down from the brunette's shoulders and slumped down in defeat, sighing.

"He's coming back", whispered Hermione, her eyes fixed on that certain point in the marble. "He'll come back…You'll see. You all will."

"Do you know how crazy that sounds? He's not coming back, damnit!" Lavender said angrily and got up, her hands clenched at her sides. "Get over it! Do you know how much it hurts all of us, seeing you like this? Where did that bossy, lively and studious bookworm go to? We want her back, Hermione!"

"She'll come back when Harry Potter will", Hermione finally said lifting her eyes up to face Lavender's angry, blue ones.

Lavender stared at her for a moment, and then, making a frustrated sound deep in her throat, stomped out of the room angrily.

The brunette buried her face in her hands, sobbing into them heartily. She couldn't help but think that Lavender was right. What if Harry really wasn't coming back? Was she going to be hooked on him for the rest of her life? Will she ever be able to move on?

*** *** ***

The rest of the week flew by uneventfully, and Hermione went around her daily chores without even acknowledging what she was doing. Monday came around bright and sunny, and Lavender was quite surprised when she saw Hermione come out of her room in some professional-looking robes, dragging a trunk behind.

The blonde raised an eyebrow, the toast that she'd been chewing now quite still in her mouth. "Am I seeing things?"

Hermione managed a smile and sat down across Lavender on the table and buttered some toast.

"And where are you off to, Miss Granger?" Lavender smiled, glad to see Hermione was finally opening up a bit.

"I got a job offer from Minerva McGonagall at Hogwarts for a Transfiguration Professor, since she's the Headmistress now and all…" The unsaid sentence was left hanging in the air. Dumbledore had been the most respected of wizards and all of the Wizarding World was in grief about losing him.

Lavender nodded, smiling. "That's nice...I guess I won't be seeing much of you now, hm?"

"Not really", Hermione admitted, taking a sip from her tea. "I'll come every weekend here though, and we'll catch up."

"Oh good. I won't be left alone then."

Hermione shrugged, her eyes twinkling. "You're always busy anyway, with your shop… And a certain Seamus Finnigan…"

Lavender blushed. "Not all the time, Hermione…"

"Mmhmm", Hermione said, an eyebrow raised and gave Lavender a look.

"I'm not!"

"Sure."

Lavender rolled her eyes as she finished her tea and put the cup down, dabbing at her mouth with a napkin. "Well, I'm off soon as I get dressed. Need a ride?"

"To Hogwarts?" Hermione looked at her incredulously. "You're so hooked on that darn car of yours…"

"Hey you're muggleborn, you're supposed to have one—"

"Exactly."

"—and besides, they're really useful. Every witch and wizard should have one."

"Yeah, okay. Whatever, Lav."

"No one ever listens to me", Lavender sighed dramatically as she pushed her chair back and stood up, making her way to her own bedroom.

"I'm going to catch the Knight Bus." Hermione nodded, getting up too.

Lavender stared at her. "You didn't eat a thing."

"Of course I did", Hermione said dismissively, using her wand to clear the things up and levitated them to the sink to wash.

Lavender shook her head and went over to give her friend a hug. "Just don't starve yourself to death there", she teased.

Hermione hugged her back and smiled when she pulled away. "I won't", she promised, and went over to get her trunk, muttering a charm to reduce its size. She slipped the now tiny trunk into her robe pocket and patted it with a flourish. "Bye Lav. Thanks for everything"

"See you soon, Hermione", Lavender smiled and watched as her friend walked out of the apartment with a wave, and went to get dressed.

*** *** ***

Hermione stuck out her wand hand, with her wand clutched in it and heard a deafening BANG. Almost instantly a triple-decker bus--that was a rather obnoxious purple color--appeared out of nowhere and Hermione covered her head when it headed right at her, but the bus just swiveled around and Hermione found herself face to face with the door, and a blonde young man with a conductor's uniform, which was also blue, stepped out.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. I'm Nick Mat—"

"Yeah, yeah", Hermione muttered brushing past him and climbing into the bus. The conductor, bewildered, went in after her. "I need to get to Hogwarts. How much?"

"Nine sickles", he told her, and Hermione dug into her robe pockets, giving him the required coins. "Get comfortable, ma'am, we'll be there after two stops."

"Thank you", Hermione nodded and took a seat next to an elderly wizard. The bus took off with another loud BANG, and Hermione stared at her hands in her lap almost the entire time. The didn't stop again to pick up anyone, thankfully, but what Hermione did pick up was a nasty bump on the side of her head when they screeched to a stop to drop off a lady named Madam Sapphire.

Thankfully, they were at the Hogwarts gates soon, and Hermione scrambled out gratefully. The sight of her old school brought a smile to her face and she went through the gates, her eyes fixed on the magnificent castle that she had so many memories in. Her eyes roamed about the grounds and her eyes softened when she saw that bench by the lake, where her, Harry and Ron would often sit. She remembered when they used to call it 'their spot'. She let out a laugh and a tear at the same time when the memory of them pushing her playfully into the lake in 6^th year hit her.

She covered her mouth with a hand to stifle a sob. Neither of them were there now. She knew Ron was lost forever, and she still grieved for him, but she still had hope for Harry. She knew he was out there somewhere, and would come back for her. And she'll be damned if she gave up, for Hermione Granger never gave up, and fought for what she wanted. And what she wanted, what she needed, was Harry Potter. The man she loved, had loved ever since sixth year. And the man she will always love, for as long as she lived.

*** *** ***

"Hermione", the older woman smiled at the sight of her old student and got up to give her a hug. Needless to say, Hermione was quite surprised, albeit pleased, and hugged her back closing her eyes. She could've sworn Minerva McGonagall had tears in her eyes when she pulled back, but she couldn't look very closely as she's turned away to sit in her chair at Dumbledore's old office once again. She waved a hand at the two chairs in front of the table.

"Please. Have a seat."

Hermione did as she was told and clasped her hands in her lap, looking at her old Transfiguration Professor expectantly.

"I'm really glad you accepted my offer to teach here at such short notice", she smiled, sliding out the drawer at her desk and took out some parchment, sliding them across the table to Hermione who took them in her hands and examined them.

She looked up, frowning. "For five years? Minerva, I'm not sure if I want to teach that long…"

"How long do you want to teach then?"

"I don't know, probably only this year, to take my mind off things", she looked at the headmistress pointedly. "And then maybe I'll take a job at the Ministry…"

"Well, teach for this year, then we'll see, Miss Granger. I'll modify the contract if you want", she reached her hand out for the contract, and Hermione gave them to her, watching as she took a quill. She erased the spot where it said 'five', to 'one', and handed the papers back to Hermione, along with the quill. "Here you are."

"Thank you", Hermione smiled and placing the tip of the quill on the parchment, signed.

*** *** ***

The whole term had passed like a blur to Hermione and before she knew it Christmas had approached with all its glory. Most of the students were going home for the winter break and Hermione was grateful. The past months had been pretty hectic, and she had realized how hard it was, being a teacher. Assignments and tests to mark, the headaches she had to bear from nagging at the students. It was actually quite tiring.

But she had to admit, it was whole new and different experience and minus all the above, she had fun teaching, and learnt more and more new things as every day passed, finding her in the library when she wasn't in some class or other.

She'd gone every other weekend to spend some time with Lavender as she'd promised, but missed quite a few, as Hogwarts had been keeping her busy, along with her Head Of Gryffindor house responsibilities. She was both respected and feared throughout the school, and hardly anyone dared cross her, if you didn't count the Sixth and Seventh Year Slytherins, who seemed to think it was okay to bother her, since she was only a year and two (respectively) or so older than them.

Hermione herself was in a way glad for the distraction. Before tutoring at Hogwarts she was thinking about Harry 24/7. Here, he was only at the back of her head in the daytime, but he occupied all of her time at night, that was for sure. She hardly slept, and made constant visits to Remus when she had the time, to see if they'd gotten any leads. They hadn't, and Hermione always ended up sobbing at the end of these meetings, but she still stood firm in her belief of him coming back someday.

Christmas Eve found Hermione sitting in her quarters, staring pointlessly out the window, her elbows resting on the sill. A deep, miserable sigh escaped her lips and she pursed her lips as she gazed out into the dark. A knock could be heard on the door. She ignored it, wishing the person behind the oak door would go away and leave her alone for some time to think. Another knock. Hermione closed her eyes and still didn't make a move to get up. Maybe they'll just think she wasn't in there and give up. But she was wrong. With every passing second, the knocking became more frantic and she finally got up, making her way to the door, her face showing deep annoyance. Her cheeks were tear-stained and her face pale but she didn't bother to do anything to improve her appearance at that moment.

She unlocked the bolt on the door and swung it open.

"What?" She said irritably before freezing at the face that looked back at her. For a moment they both just stood there, staring at each other, as if they couldn't believe they were actually seeing the other, which was true.

"Hermione", he finally breathed, and as if that was the cue she was waiting for, she flung herself into his arms, sobbing her heart out in his neck as her arms wrapped tightly around him. He held her equally close, breathing her hair in, hunching over slightly.

"Harry!" She pulled back after a few moments, her eyes shining with pure bliss as she cupped his face in her hands, looking into his deep green eyes. "Are you really here?"

"I'm really here", he said softly, a smile gracing his lips.

"Where the hell have you been, Harry Potter?" She bit her lip to stifle a sob and hit his shoulder, glaring at him half-heartedly. Harry recoiled, clutching his shoulder in genuine pain. Hermione gasped, looking at him in alarm. "Oh Merlin! Did I hurt you?" She looked at him in dismay and turning her eyes to his shoulder, removed his arm to get a closer look. She moved his robes out of the way to look at his bare skin and gasped, her eyes wide.

"It's nothing", he said gruffly, pulling his robes back in place.

"Get in here", she frowned in concern and pulled him in, shutting the door behind her. "Take those robes off so I can clean that for you…" she started to unbutton his robes but he held her hands, looking into her eyes.

"What?"

"Shh", he put a finger on her lips and just stared at her for a few long moments before leaning in and claiming her lips. As the kiss deepened, her arms went around his neck, careful to keep away from his wound, as his looped around her waist pulling her close. Hermione prodded his lips with his tongue and without any hesitation, he let her in, allowing her to taste him as his own tongue flicked against hers. Hermione moaned softly into his mouth, a hand running through his unruly hair as a tear ran down her cheek and met at their lips. Harry pulled back gently and held her close to him, looking down at her, his face etched with worry.

"What's wrong?" He asked, wiping her tear away with a thumb.

"Nothing…" She put a hand to his cheek, looking at him adoringly. "I just missed you so much…"

Harry's heart did a back-flip as he stared down at the woman he loved and softly uttered the words he long wanted to tell her. "I love you.."

Hermione stared at him, thinking she was hearing things. "W-what?"

Harry took a deep breath. There was no going back down. He dragged the back of his hand along her cheek, giving her the same look she'd given him seconds ago. "I love you."

More tears spilled down her cheeks as she clutched his wrist with a hand, pressing it against her cheek. "You…you do?"

Harry nodded silently, not sure what to make of this. Was it too soon to be telling her this just after he'd come back?

"I-I love you", she flung her arms around his neck once again, holding him tightly, her eyes squeezed shut. It was a miracle she didn't start bawling again. Harry buried his hand in her hand, holding her as close as humanly possible, a smile on his face. He couldn't believe it. The girl — no, woman — he had loved ever since sixth year, actually loved him back.

Hermione pulled back slowly and smiled at him softly, touching his cheek. "I love you so much…"

"I love you too, Hermione.." He replied, kissing the palm of her hand. "You are what kept me going."

Hermione for the first time since he came in, saw how tired he looked. He had dark circles around his eyes and he was deathly thin…like he hadn't eaten in weeks.

"Harry…you don't look so good."

"I know…All I want is to sleep right now." He replied, sighing, and pulled her against him, tucking her head under his chin.

"I should clean that up for you first", she said softly, pulling him over to her king-sized bed and sat him down. "It'll just take a second."

Harry nodded mutely, and helped take off his robe and shirt, merely watching her as she worked at the rather nasty looking bruise that was on his left shoulder, courtesy of the Dark Lord. Hermione winced at its size. It was big…and black. She shook her head slightly as tears appeared in her eyes, but didn't let them fall. She bandaged it for him, and gave him a small smile.

"There."

"Thank you." He smiled at her gratefully, giving her arm a squeeze.

"Come on, you need to sleep", She pulled back the covers and slipped in, motioning for him to get in beside her. He complied, pulling the covers over them and wrapped his arms around her.

"Harry?" She said softly after a moment as he combed his fingers through her hair.

"Hmm?"

"This is the best Christmas present you've ever given me."

"Same here", he whispered, before drifting off to sleep in bliss.

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