Disclaimer: Everything concerning Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling. I own nothing, nor is this done for any purpose except my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of anyone reading this. There is no attempt to make any profit.
The Most Ancient Magic
Chapter Eighteen: The Best Christmas Ever
Harry walked into the kitchen the next morning. Hugh was sitting at the breakfast table enjoying a cup of coffee. "Good morning, Harry."
"Hi, how are you?" asked Harry as he looked around the kitchen.
Hugh smiled at Harry, "To the question you asked with your voice, I'm fine. To the question you asked with your eyes, Hermione and her mother went shopping for the ingredients of our Christmas dinner."
Harry sat and ate breakfast with Hugh, then went back to the library to read, he was about half-way through The Hobbit and enjoying it very much. He heard when Hermione and Janet came home and went to help carry their bags into the house. He then worked through the afternoon helping to get everything ready for Christmas dinner.
He found being included in the holiday preparations increased his anticipation of the holiday. With the Dursleys, he had had to help without getting anything for Christmas. At Hogwarts everything was done by others, and he had just awakened to find his presents at the foot of his bed. Now with the Grangers, he felt really a part of things for the first time.
The evening passed quietly except for a group of carolers. The four of them stood on the front steps listening to some songs of the season.
Harry and Hermione spent a happy hour together before the fire, Hermione telling Harry about some of her Christmas memories before she kissed him good night.
He was awakened the next morning by Hermione knocking on the door calling his name. "Wake up, Harry, it's Christmas!" Tradition at the Granger home evidently included Hermione waking everybody up early and opening presents. So they gathered in the sitting room in pajamas, slippers, and dressing gowns as she passed them out.
Hermione pushed the large box over to him and handed him an envelope addressed to him, "I found this on the mantle piece this morning," she looked at him with a puzzled expression.
Harry opened it, it was a note from Dumbledore thanking him for the socks. He handed the note to Hermione, "This belongs to you too, you taught me." He explained about his first Christmas at Hogwarts, "I thought a few times about it, but this was the first Christmas I could really do something about it." Hermione smiled.
He turned his attention to the large box; he tore the paper away and was confronted by the box he had barely noticed the previous Tuesday. The Grangers watched eagerly as he opened his present. Harry's face lit up, inside he found a box full of laboratory glassware, beakers, flasks, retorts, a mortar and pestle, and a distillation tube. He sat down on the floor and began sorting through it all. "Thank you, I've been needing all of this for my potions, I don't know what to say."
Hermione sat next to him. "Out side of saying 'thank you' your expression said it already."
Harry handed Hermione the box Hedwig had brought. It wasn't wrapped as neatly as he would have liked, but Hermione seemed to appreciate it.
Hermione tore the paper from her present. She had seen the wooden box, her hands fumbled slightly as she opened it. She gasped. Inside she found a heart-shaped locket, something over an inch across, resting on a bed of royal blue velvet. It was so highly polished that it seemed to glow. Indeed when she opened the box the light reflecting from it lit her face with a soft, golden light. Instead of a chain the locket was suspended from a rope made from braided gold filaments, it was as pliable as cotton and smooth as silk. On the back it was engraved "To Hermione from Harry" in elegant Old English letters.
"Does it open? Can you put a picture in it?"
"It opens, but our pictures are already in it." Harry stroked the outer edge of the heart. The locket opened, it was cunningly hinged, with a heart opening to the right and left. Their faces were etched on the gold leaf with photographic quality, copied from the picture she had on her desk. In the center, was a crystal vial, filled with white sand. The inscription read, "The first time I saw your face".
Hermione looked at Harry with amazement. "Where did you get this?" she seemed barely able to speak. She passed the locket to her parents, who looked at it with awe.
"Goblins made it. I asked Dobby to help me, I told him what I wanted and he contacted the goblins for me. That's what I had to do in Hogsmead, I met the goblins to finalize the design."
"This is the reason we went to Hogsmead." The happy expression faded from her face. "You almost died because of this."
Harry sat down on the sofa next to Hermione, "No, Hermione, we went to Hogsmead that day because we had a date. I just met the goblins there because it was convenient. Don't blame the locket for Voldemort's work. I planed to go to the village with you that day so we could be together. Voldemort found an opportunity and took it." Harry took the locket and closed it. He opened the clasp and slipped it around her neck, he held her face in his hands and gave her a quick kiss. "Thank you for the lab equipment, my love."
Reassured Hermione smiled again. "Thank you for the locket, Harry, it's very beautiful. What does it mean?"
"The sand is from the beach in Nassau, there was just something about your face that day. I was hurting about Sirius and you just seemed to care so much, it was like I had never seen your face before. I wanted us to remember a happy moment."
Hermione beamed at him, "I didn't know you were such a romantic, Harry."
"I didn't know that is what it was," he returned sheepishly.
Hugh and Janet went upstairs to get dressed. "That is some gift Harry bought. I wonder how much something like that costs, it's obviously magical." He sounded uneasy.
"You might ask him, I don't think he'd be offended," Janet answered.
"I think I will."
Harry was making up the sleeper sofa when Hugh knocked on the door of the library. "Harry, may I talk to you."
"Yeah, please come in," he answered as he threw the cushions onto the sofa.
"Sit down, Harry." Harry sat down as Hugh sat with him, "Harry, this is rather personal but I'd like to know how much you spent on that locket. It looks very expensive."
Harry looked at Dr. Granger for a couple of minutes, his expression became more puzzled, "I-I don't remember, we worked out the price and I signed a bank draft for it, but now I can't recall how much it was. The price seemed fair though, I think they gave me a discount because I'm famous." Harry blushed, "I guess they thought it might bring them more business.
"Our final negotiations took place on the day of the attack, it seems a lot of details of that day are missing. I didn't recall asking them to put that inscription on the back."
"A certain amount of memory loss after a trauma is normal, Harry, don't worry about it too much." He patted Harry on the shoulder and rose to leave. His face was thoughtful as he left.
The rest of the day passed in the kind of golden haze that always seems to permeate the holidays. Christmas dinner was excellent. Harry felt well fed and content. Having Hermione with him somehow just made the day feel complete.
They ate a late supper and after putting the dishes away all of them gathered at the kitchen table. Hugh looked slightly uncomfortable as he asked, "Harry, what are your intentions concerning my daughter?" He was trying to keep his voice light with a smile on his face, but was failing.
Hermione looked surprised, Harry just looked a little puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"Well, Harry, when young men start giving your daughter expensive gifts, it is natural for a parent to wonder just what they intend to happen. Have you thought about what kind of future you want with Hermione?"
Harry shook his head, "No."
"Dad!" Hermione interjected, "we haven't had time to talk much about the future, we've mostly been trying to catch up on the past. We've just decided we were together last Tuesday." She began to blush.
"Hermione, please forgive me for this, but we all need to be on the same page." Hugh had a rather pained expression on his face, "Harry, did you know that Hermione wants to marry you?"
"DAD!!-," She cried, half rising out of her chair, "Mum, what's he doing?" Janet was looking at her husband with surprise.
With a heavy sigh Hugh pushed a tear stained sheet of parchment across the table to Harry. Hermione went very pale, "Dad, no," she said, stunned, Hermione sat down hard.
"This is a part of the day you were attacked, Harry, you were unconscious for this part of it. I will fill in some of what happened from what I know if you want to talk about it later."
Harry's hands trembled as he read the note. His mouth dropped open, "I don't know what to say, Hermione. I would never have imagined…you were hurting so much." He scooted his chair over, and put his arm around her shoulders.
"Hermione was in shock and emotionally overwrought when she wrote that, Harry. She thought you were going to die, she overheard Healer Galen talking to Headmaster Dumbledore," explained Janet as she cast an odd look at her husband.
"My daughter wants to protect you, Harry. She believes that if you are married you may gain some added protection from Voldemort." Hugh's voice was gentle, "Hermione loves you very much. I think you love her too. That being said, Headmaster Dumbledore, her mother, and I agree that you are too young to consider marriage at this point, we want you to finish at Hogwarts before you think about getting married."
Hermione's shoulders were trembling, Harry thought she might be crying, but when she looked up at her father he saw that he was wrong. Hermione was trembling with anger.
"It's Christmas! Why are you doing this to me?" she groaned, "You are humiliating me in front of my boyfriend."
Hugh was keeping his voice gentle, "One, we are trying to do what you asked us to do in this letter. We are trying to help you. We are trying to guide you both. We've been where you are now."
"Oh! Tell me about the psychopathic killer that you had after you!" Hermione retorted, her voice rising as she grew angrier. "Honestly, you spend a week at school and now you're experts on my life!" She stood up.
"I didn't mean that, One. I'm trying to help you understand how important your education is going to be to you. You are really gifted. The wizarding world is going to need you…and Harry too. We are not only talking about your education at Hogwarts, but if you want to be an Auror that is at least three more years. Do you know if they will accept you for training if you are married?"
Harry interjected, "Hermione, you want to be an Auror too?" He was looking rather desperate, trying to make some kind of sense of what he was hearing, and at last he found some information he could process.
Hermione looked at the ceiling, "Thanks Dad," her voice went cold as she hissed through clenched teeth, "that information was going to be a surprise for Harry!"
Caught by surprise, Hugh looked genuinely distressed, "Hermione, I'm sorry. I thought you would have discussed this at school? Harry-,"
Hermione slammed her fist on the table and vented a wordless cry of frustration. "First you ruin my dreams. Then you ruin my surprise. HOW MUCH MORE OF MY LIFE ARE YOU GOING TO DESTROY TODAY?" Harry stood beside her, putting his hand on her shoulder.
"You stupid-Muggles-you have no idea! Because of you they call me a Mudblood," she did a credible imitation of Draco Malfoy, "You're a Mudblood, Don't do this, Mudblood, you can't do that, Mudblood, get away from me, Mudblood, 'Don't slime my hands, Mudblood, I just washed them'." Tears started in her eyes, "and that Pansy Parkinson calling me a Chipmunk. Snape, with his comments and taking points from Gryffindor because I try to help. Even Ron calling me an 'insufferable know-it-all-all the time. I try to ignore it, but it still hurts, and THEY WON'T EVER STOP!
"Now you sit there in your ignorance and try to run my life, you have no understanding of what it's really like. The places I'm going and the things I'll be doing that you can never be a part of, because you're Muggles. You may have a little control over me for the next couple of years, but when I leave here I'm never coming back, and there's NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!"
Harry was as stunned by Hermione's vehemence as her parents, he tried to calm her down, "Hermione-," he began.
She turned on him and yelled, "How can you just sit there and say nothing! I'M FIGHTING FOR YOU!!…FOR US!!"
Harry was unsure of what to say, he was looking back and forth across the table. The confusion was evident on his face. "I don't know what to do-your parents love you-,"
"YOU ARE SO HOPELESS!!…," Hermione turned and ran from the kitchen, her footsteps loud on the stairs, her bedroom door slammed shut.
Harry sat down, talking to the space where Hermione had stood, "I'm used to being yelled at, at being told no, but that's because the Dursleys hate me."
Hugh looked up at the ceiling, "Well, this went really well," his sarcasm was bitter.
Janet looked at her husband. "You stepped on her dreams of a normal romance, just when it seemed that they might come true. What did you expect?" Her tone was rather sharp.
"I expected to tell her that she might not have the luxury of the kind of storybook romance we taught her about. Voldemort most likely won't allow it. He sent more than enough firepower if his plan was just to kill Harry. I think he meant to kill Harry, Hermione, and Ron. His plan didn't work because he didn't realize how quickly Harry would react and that they weren't all together at the time of the attack.
"I didn't realize she was keeping her career choice a secret either. I'm really sorry about that, Harry, I wouldn't have wanted to spoil her surprise for anything." He stood up. "Well at least Hogwarts is helping. All the light bulbs and windows seem to be intact and I don't smell smoke. I'll check her door in the morning."
Janet gave him a rueful smile. "One is thinking with her heart instead of her head on this one, Hugh, and she's acting her age, for a change. What are you going to do?"
"Nothing, we'll just have to wait until she calms down." He walked from the kitchen.
Janet reached out and patted Harry's arm. "What are you thinking, Harry?" she asked gently.
"I never thought you would yell at each other, from what I've seen you seemed so perfect."
"Families are made of people, Harry. You don't check your humanity at the door. We feel threatened when an idea or dream we cherish is attacked and we defend ourselves. What makes families different is the underlying bond of love that enables us to usually resolve those conflicts. Watch and see, this will probably get worse before it gets better because Hermione and her father are very stubborn, but I'd bet by New Years they will make up.
"Now, you need to go upstairs and make up with Hermione, your relationship is very fragile. You need to let her know that even if you don't agree with her ideas you still love her. You tell her I said it was ok for you to be in her room."
Harry knocked softly on Hermione's bedroom door. After a few moments she opened the door a few inches, Harry could see she was clad in her nightdress. Hermione's eyes were red and she had a sullen expression on her face. "You're not supposed to be here," she stated, her voice flat.
"Please let me in, your Mum said it was ok?" Harry asked. Hermione backed up and opened the door, Harry stepped in and turned to push the door to, as he did so Hermione made an odd noise, glancing behind he saw her trying to kick her shirt, jeans, knickers, and bra under her bed. In her anger she had thrown them on the floor and left them.
Hermione sat on the edge of her bed, hugged Jewel and looked him in the eye, "What?"
"I'm sorry I didn't defend you like I should have. It's just that I never thought your family would fight. I mean I should have realized it after staying with the Weasleys, but you just seemed so perfect together."
"Well, we're not…perfect, I mean. I was just so looking forward to telling you I would be training to be an Auror too."
"Your dad was really upset he ruined your surprise."
.
"It didn't seem to bother him to ruin my dreams." She was staring at her toes. "I was dreaming of how it might be if you decided you loved me enough to ask me to marry you. Wondering what you might say."
"What he was trying to do was tell you that Voldemort won't let me…us have a normal life. We need to be prepared…educated." Harry shrugged his shoulders. "May I sit down?"
Hermione nodded and moved to the middle of her bed and lay Jewel aside, Harry sat on the bed close beside her. "Please tell me about the letter."
"I wrote that in the hospital wing. I told you I fainted in Hogsmead. Madam Pomfrey revived me. I heard Healer Galen say you were going to die. I wasn't thinking straight, I thought if I married you it would protect you, but why I thought that would keep you from dying I don't know." Hermione was almost whining as she began to cry again.
"Mostly I was thinking that you were going to die and I never told you how I felt. It didn't seem fair, you'd been so angry, or we were so busy, then you were grieving for Sirius, and I just waited hoping you might notice me on your own. Then it seemed you were going to be taken away from me and I felt foolish for not telling you." Her expression was almost haunted. "I think if you had died I would have followed you in death, I didn't want to live without you. That's why my parents came. I'd bet Dumbledore did what he could to lift the defenses around the castle."
Harry hugged her to him as she buried her face against his shoulder. He curled his fingers in her hair. After a few minutes she sat up again. "I love you, Hermione Jane," he smiled at her. She smiled back. "I'll try to do a better job of defending you in the future."
"Ok, Harry, I forgive you. My dad can be intimidating sometimes." Hermione lay back in her bed dragging Harry down beside her. Harry propped himself on his elbow and draped his arm across her waist. She nestled against him. He leaned down and brushed his lips across hers, teasing her. She looked at him through half-opened eyes, then caught his lips with hers, kissing him. "Who taught you that?"
"I didn't learn it from anybody, I just wondered what it would feel like." He tickled her side. Hermione giggled and slapped his hand playfully. She looked up at him smiling again.
He bent down to kiss her again. His lips caressed hers for several long, pleasant minutes. Suddenly something brushed across his lower lip. Harry drew back in surprise as he realized it was Hermione's tongue!
Hermione opened her eyes and looked at him. Seeing that he was embarrassed she began to apologize, "I'm sorry-" she began.
Harry quickly placed his finger across her lips. "You surprised me is all. I'm not used to this." His thoughts were whirling as he remembered some things Dean and Seamus had said.
He closed his eyes and leaned down to kiss Hermione again. After a few moments he parted Hermione's lips with his own. He began to search her lips with his tongue. His heart and stomach clenched as the tips of their tongues met and he tasted her for the first time. Gently he caressed her tongue with his, exploring her lips and teeth, then allowing her to do the same with him. He was amazed that she was able to make it so hard for him to breathe with so little effort. Harry drew back and watched Hermione. He noticed she wasn't breathing normally either. He felt he wanted her to be near him forever.
At last Harry pushed away from her, "Since you forgive me, I need to go. Good night."
Hermione pulled down the covers and slipped between the sheets. "Tuck me in, Harry?"
Harry tucked the covers around Hermione's neck and shoulders then he bent and kissed her again.
"Thanks for telling me about the letter, I'll never mention it again." Harry turned off the light, walked out, and closed the door behind him. He was feeling giddy as he made his way down the stairs. When he had heard about this from older boys he thought that the idea of touching tongues was disgusting. Now he knew that he was wrong, Hermione had given him another gift something close, warm, and … wonderful.
At the foot of the stairs Hugh called to him from the sitting room. "Did you patch things up with Hermione? I heard her laugh."
"Yes, Sir."
"That's wonderful, Harry. Sleep well."
As he slipped into sleep Harry thought that all in all it had been the best Christmas ever.