All I Want for Christmas

A/N: This is my first attempt to write fan fiction of any sort. Plus, I don't have the knowledge that most of you do about Harry Potter, as I've only read fan fiction and seen the movies. I've tried to be as true to the series as I can considering my knowledge, but the story may be slightly AU. Please be constructively critical of my work. Thanks in advance for your kindness. Maybe I'll write more of these in the future if this one goes well.

I'm a bit disappointed by the number of reviews I've received for the last chapter, but I figure that it's probably partially due to Christmas. Thanks to those who did review, though, as the quality of the reviews was very good. I enjoy hearing from those of you who are reading my story.

If any of you want to try to figure out where I'm going, you might want to read my replies to people's reviews, as I will occasionally drop a hint in there. However, be wary, I have been known to toss out some red herrings too. Speculate at your own risk.

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. All characters belong to J. K. Rowling.

All I Want for Christmas

Chapter 6: Soothing Touches and Awkward Moments

Hermione was worried as she rushed out of the dining room and up the stairs. I hope this isn't a really bad “headache.” Why did Voldemort have to make Harry get a “headache” now? It's almost like Voldemort doesn't want Harry to be happy. Well, of course…Voldemort wants Harry dead. Harry will defeat him, though. I know he will. I don't want to imagine life without Harry. I hope Harry's scar won't burn for too long.

“Harry, how are you feeling?” she asked as she quickly stepped into his room, shutting the door behind her.

“Bloody miserable,” Harry muttered from his bed. Hermione quickly crossed to him and sat down on the edge of the bed, next to Harry.

“Did you learn anything?” Hermione asked inquisitively.

“He doesn't know that we only have to find one more horcrux before we can defeat him for the final time. He was telling one of the Death Eaters that he was quite safe because I don't know about the horcruxes,” Harry informed her.

“What made Voldemort so angry then?” Hermione pondered aloud.

“I don't know. He was shouting as I was first able to hear what he was saying,” Harry told her.

“Then it was probably that a Death Eater disappointed him somehow,” Hermione speculated placing her hand on top of Harry's. “That's what he seems to get mad about most often.”

Harry seemed to relax under Hermione's touch. “As always, you're right, Hermione,” Harry complimented her, “that certainly is what Voldemort gets mad about the most.”

I wish I could take away his pain. Or at least share it. It hurts me to see Harry suffer so much. We need to find and destroy the last horcrux soon, so Harry can rid the world of Voldemort. Hermione's eyes watered up again.

“Hermione, are you alright,” Harry asked putting his free hand on Hermione's cheek. “You typically don't cry this often.”

“I'm scared, Harry,” Hermione confessed as a single tear ran down her cheek. “I want this all to be over as soon as possible so you don't have to suffer anymore. I want you to be able to move on with your life, and not have to keep looking over your shoulder to see if Voldemort is right behind you. I want you to…” Hermione broke down and wept.

Harry pulled Hermione down to him, so she was crying into his white t-shirt. “Don't worry Hermione,” Harry reassured her. “Soon we will put an end to Voldemort's reign of fear, and I'll be able to live like you want me to be able to. I promise you. We'll soon be able to live free of the fear of Voldemort lurking around every corner. Free to laugh as loud as we want. Free to do what we want to do with our lives. Free to love those whom we want to love, without the fear of losing them in the next moment.”

“Love whom we want to love”? Is Harry in love with somebody, but not want to tell them because it would make them a target for Voldemort? Who is it? Ginny? No, he's over her. Harry always tells me everything, so why don't I know who he's in love with?

Hermione sniffled and looked up at him, “You mean that?”

Harry nodded at her with a tender smile on his face, “I meant every word.”

Hermione pulled Harry into a big hug. “Thanks,” was all she could say.

Harry looked at her with a pain-free expression, “I feel a lot better now too. I think I may even be able to manage going back downstairs to talk with your parents.” Hermione smiled at the idea, and Harry continued talking, “Why don't you go wash up and come back here, and then we can go downstairs to the living room and talk with your parents for a while.”

Hermione smiled at him and stood up. “I like that idea,” she said, smiling shyly, “I'll be right back.”

Hermione turned and quickly walked out of Harry's room. Why do I cry in front of Harry so often now? I never did that before. When did I become so emotional?

Hermione walked into the bathroom and ran some cool water on her face and dried her face with a towel before looking into the mirror. Is Mum more right than I thought? Does Harry fancy me? I don't know why he would. I'm just a plain-Jane bookworm. I'm certainly not as beautiful as Cho or Ginny or any of the other girls that Harry's fancied, so I don't know what he sees in me if he does fancy me. More importantly…do I fancy Harry? If so, when did my feelings towards him change and has he figured out that I fancy him? How could my feelings towards him have changed without me noticing before? I don't think it's possible, but I need to try to keep an open mind about the possibility.

Hermione left the bathroom and returned to Harry's bedroom. Harry was still sitting on the edge of the bed when Hermione reentered the room. It looks like Harry's deep in thought about something. I wonder what he's thinking about. Is he thinking about me? Why would he think about me? Is he scared to lose me like he lost Sirius and Dumbledore? He wouldn't be alone if he did. I'm scared of the idea of losing him.

“Hey, Harry,” Hermione said as she put her hand on his shoulder. “You ready to go downstairs and talk with my folks?”

Harry looked up at her and smiled. “I'm ready,” he told her. “I was just taking advantage of the quiet to think about something for a bit.”

“What were you thinking about?”

“I'll tell you some other time. I'm not ready to share it quite yet.”

Hermione puzzled over what Harry had just said. He typically tells me what's troubling him right away. What would he not be willing to tell me right now? Is it something about a girl? He generally even tells me that though. I'm not going to push him on this. If he needs time before he's ready to tell me what he was thinking about, then I'm going to give him as much time as he needs.

“I'll be here whenever you're ready to talk about it, Harry,” Hermione promised him. “Come on, I'm sure my folks are getting worried about us.”

Hermione led the way out the door and downstairs to the living room, where they found Mr. and Mrs. Granger sitting in chairs across from each other. Mr. Granger was reading the newspaper, while Mrs. Granger was knitting something that looked like it was going to be a sweater.

“Feeling better, Harry?” Mrs. Granger asked as Harry walked into the room.

Harry smiled at Hermione before turning to look at Mrs. Granger, “oh yes, much better now. Thanks,” Harry replied. “I get those headaches every once in a while at random. I just have to lie down for a bit and wait for it to go away.”

“I'm glad to hear you're feeling better,” Mr. Granger said relieved as he finished reading the newspaper and put it down on the coffee table in front of him. “Please, have a seat.”

Harry and Hermione sat down next to each other on the couch they sat on earlier. They looked at the clock and saw that it was 8:55 already.

“So, Harry,” Mr. Granger said, “do you have any idea why you get those headaches?”

Harry smiled at Hermione before answering. “Well, Mr. Granger,” Harry replied calmly, “I have an idea, but I haven't been able to prove it yet.”

Hermione smiled at Harry's reply. Nice answer, Harry. Vague, but honest and complete enough not to provoke further discussion on the subject.

“How's work been, Dad?” Hermione asked in a clear attempt to change the subject.

“It's been fine. Nothing new or interesting, but it pays the bills,” Mr. Granger told her. “It's always a nice feeling knowing that you've helped people feel better after they've been in pain, or if they just need something to fill up a hole in their mouth.”

Mrs. Granger jumped in, “it's sort of an analogy for life. There are people who need certain things to fill up, or complete, their lives. People can help them out by finding ways to help people with empty spots in their lives to fill them, sort of like what we do as dentists…we fill holes in people to help make them whole again.”

Harry and Hermione each risked a quick glance at towards the other, hoping not to get caught doing so. Their luck did not hold, though, as they looked at each other at the exact same time. They both quickly turned away with bright red faces.

I wonder why Harry was looking at me. Hermione thought to herself. Mum seems to think that Harry and I are missing love in our lives, and thinks that we may be in love with each other. I still think she's mad, but I'm not totally willing to rule out that idea just yet. I wonder what Dad wanted to talk to Harry about…was he talking to Harry about the same sort of thing? That'd be a scary thought.

“So, Harry what do you hope to do after you graduate from Hogwarts?” Mrs. Granger asked him.

“Well,” Harry said glancing at a very interested Hermione before looking back at Mrs. Granger, “career-wise I have a couple of interests that I would like to explore. Apart from a career, I'd eventually like to marry and have a family that I'd get to know longer than I knew my parents. Of course, I have to save my world before I can do any of that.”

“It seems strange to trust the future of your entire world to a 17-year-old young man,” Mr. Granger observed.

“It was a prophecy made many years ago that one of us will have to destroy the other before either of us can truly live,” Harry informed him.

“Have no fear, Dad,” Hermione jumped in. “Harry's the best of our age at what he does, and is one of the most powerful of our kind at all. He'll save our world. Ron and I will be right there to help him do it. It's what we're meant to do.”

“I still think that it sounds strange,” Mr. Granger said, “but I do trust that the three of you will be able to do it. There is nothing that the two of you can't do together.”

Mrs. Granger yawned. “Well, I think it's high time that Dad and I went to bed,” she said. “We had an early morning today, and another one tomorrow. We'll leave you two to talk here,” she added looking directly at Hermione, as if to say “don't even think about it.”

Mum, Hermione thought to herself. I already told you that Harry and I wouldn't do anything like that. You must be going mad from all the long hours you've put in recently.

“I agree, Hun,” Mr. Granger added quickly as he stood up and went to stand at the foot of the stairs. “Good night, you two. Don't stay up too late.”

“Good night, Mr. Granger,” Harry replied.

“Good night, Dad,” Hermione added.

“Good night, dears,” Mrs. Granger said as she joined Mr. Granger at the foot of the stairs.

“Good night,” chorused Harry and Hermione together. Mr. and Mrs. Granger headed upstairs to get ready for bed.

I'm a bit tired myself, but I'm not quite ready to go to bed yet. Harry looks like he's going to want to go to bed pretty soon too. That headache seemed to take some of his strength away tonight.

Hermione took a quick glance at Harry, and saw him staring at the ground in front of him, clearly deep in thought. I wonder what he's thinking about. I hope it's not Voldemort. Though, I know that it would be hard for me not to think about Voldemort right now if I was in his shoes. We need to put an end to this soon. We need to find Nagini and destroy him, so Harry can finish off Voldemort once and for all. I know he'll be able to do it. We'll get through this, and then we can really sort out if we fancy each other or not. Though, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to think about it a bit during the holidays…

“Hermione,” Harry interrupted her train of thought, “we probably should get to bed too. After all, we worked really hard the last couple of weeks, and even you've been having problems staying fully awake in classes at times.”

Hermione smiled guiltily. I didn't think anybody had noticed that. “You're right, Harry. We probably should go to bed early. I wonder what Mum and Dad are planning to do tomorrow. I thought that they were planning on taking the day off to spend it with us, but needing to get up early seems to imply that they have a meeting or something. They'll probably eat breakfast with us first, though.”

Harry stood up, and helped Hermione to her feet. Hmmm…he has a nice, strong grip, but it's gentle at the same time. It feels really nice to have Harry hold my hand. I wish he'd hold my hand more often. He looks like he never wants to let go of me. Wait a minute…what am I thinking?

They walked to the foot of the stairs side-by-side, where Harry paused and gestured for Hermione to go ahead. “Ladies first,” Harry insisted with a broad smile on his face.

Hermione felt her cheeks heat up a bit. He looks so cute when he does that. He can be such a gentleman. He's going to make some woman very happy someday. I wish it was me. Hermione, bad girl…what are you thinking? You don't like Harry like that. He's your best friend. You can't possibly fall in love with your best friend! He'll never fancy you because of your history with Ron, his best mate. He's too selfless to let himself fall for you.

She led Harry up the stairs, and they stopped midway between the room he was staying in and her bedroom. “You can use the bathroom first, Harry,” Hermione told him.

Harry smiled, “I suppose you won't let me let you go first all the time, so I won't even bother trying to argue with you.”

Hermione smiled back at him, “You're right. I won't. You don't have to be so selfless all the time. Sometimes you need to put yourself and what you want first.”

“I'll try to remember that,” Harry told her.

Hermione wrapped her arms around him in a big bear hug as if her life depended on it. Oh, this feels so good. I wish I could stay wrapped up in his arms like this forever. I feel safe in his arms. No! Bad Hermione! Don't make me scold you for that again.

They reluctantly broke their hug after about a minute, both of them clearly wanting to continue the hug. “Good night,” they told each other at the same time before going into their respective rooms.

Harry quickly gathered his things and went into the bathroom to take care of his nightly rituals. He hustled through them and quickly returned to the guest room.

Hermione was listening for Harry to pass back by her room and go into his room. A few minutes later she heard what she was waiting for, the familiar sound of Harry's steps as he passed by her room and moments later she heard his door open and shut.

I want to make this as quick as possible. Hermione told herself. I have a hunch that I'm going to have trouble sleeping tonight because I have a lot to think about. Why did this all have to spring up now?

Hermione quickly took care of her nightly rituals, but it wasn't quick enough for her taste. I know I can get them done faster. She scolded herself as she made her way back to her bedroom.

She changed for bed, climbed into bed, and turned off the light. She lay there in silence for a couple of minutes, wanting to avoid questioning herself on what her true feelings towards Harry are.

She listened intently, but heard no noise coming from the guest room that Harry was staying in.

I wonder what Harry's dreaming about tonight…

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