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.

Thank you to everybody who's read and reviewed my story. I appreciate everybody's feedback. Please keep reviewing.

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 9: Coffee and Conversation

“Good morning, dear,” Mr. Granger said as Mrs. Granger walked into the dining room. “Coffee?”

“Yes, please,” responded Mrs. Granger sleepily.

Mr. Granger prepared Mrs. Granger's coffee just the way she liked it. With a spot of milk added. “It'll be nice to have a few minutes to talk before the children get up.”

“Indeed,” Mrs. Granger said. “Thank you,” she responded as Mr. Granger handed her coffee to her.

“I can certainly see why their old headmaster said that those Hermione and Harry seem to be destined to end up together. And that's after seeing them together for only a few hours.”

“I agree. It's clear to me that they love each other, but they don't realize it.”

“Well, I talked to Harry yesterday just before dinner, and I'm assuming you talked to our daughter at the same time.”

“Yes, I did. We finished as you two came down to the kitchen. How did your conversation go?”

“I'd say it went pretty well. I think I scared Harry a bit by how I had to get him up to our room. I don't know why he was so nervous about it. But once he settled down, he seemed open to the idea of exploring how he feels towards our daughter. He seemed to put the pieces of what I was trying to tell him together quicker than most guys would have been able to. He seemed to lose himself in thought a couple of other times last night, so he may have been thinking about it quite a bit. How did your conversation go?”

“You know our daughter. She was fighting the idea tooth and nail. I don't think it seemed logical to her that she could be in love with her platonic best friend. I also think that she didn't really appreciate that I used sex as my transition into the discussion…”

“Sex? How did you make that work?”

“She said when she came in that she had just been in the bathroom and that Harry was supposed to wait for her. The fact that she said she used the bathroom `real quick' suggested to me that it wasn't totally mad to think that they may have been thinking about having sex.”

“I can definitely see why she probably didn't appreciate your transition. It probably seemed to her like you don't trust her alone with Harry.”

“I told her that I did. And how about you almost blowing the cover on our plan last night right before we went to bed by telling them that there's nothing that the two of them can't do together right after we had been talking about the three of them?”

“That sort of slipped out. They probably passed it off as us being tired.”

“I hope so. I don't want them to get suspicious about what we're doing.”

“What we're doing at their old headmaster's request, you mean,” Mr. Ganger corrected while pouring himself another cup of coffee.

“Right. If they act at school the same way they act here, it's no wonder that so many people there have figured out that they love each other. I hope what we're doing will help them see that as well,” Mrs. Ganger responded as she held out her cup for a refill, which Mr. Granger obliged immediately.

“So do I. They fill the holes that the other has so well.”

Mrs. Granger smiled at his reference to the analogy she had shared with Harry and Hermione the night before, “Exactly.” She paused for a moment, “Refresh my memory. What exactly did the letter from their old headmaster say?”

Mr. Granger reached into his pocket and pulled out the letter. It was on yellow parchment with loopy handwriting. Mr. Granger handed it to her, “Here you go. Read it out loud. They aren't up yet to hear it.”

Mrs. Granger read it:

“Mr. and Mrs. Granger,

I don't know how much your daughter has told you about who I am. My name is Albus Dumbledore. I am the headmaster at Hogwarts. I want you to know what an amazing young woman your daughter is. She is the brightest witch that I have seen in all my many years at Hogwarts, which covers a span of more than 50 years. Her love of knowledge has saved her life as well as the lives of her friends and classmates numerous times while she's been here at Hogwarts. She is a remarkably brilliant witch, and has a wonderful memory to compliment it. She has proven herself to have a great deal of courage on many occasions, sometimes at great personal risk.

While your daughter seems to have more head knowledge than almost all of her classmates put together, she seems to lack behind her peers in heart knowledge. This is my reason for writing you. I find it a matter of utmost concern that she seems to be having a great deal of difficulty in identifying the deepest and most desperate desire of her heart; to find a man she loves that loves her in return. Having observed her quite closely during her nearly six full years here at Hogwarts, I have gotten to know her quite well, as have several of her classmates. I believe that many of them, as well as myself, have seen whom the man that she loves is, even though neither she nor him has realized it. I find it quite likely that you have been told a great deal about the young man in question, since he is one of her best friends, Mr. Harry Potter. As you probably are well aware of, they have been best friends (along with Mr. Ronald Weasley) since their first year here, and have continued to be extremely close to this day. She may believe that she fancies Mr. Weasley right now, but I believe that she will come to realize over the next few months that he is not well suited for her.

There is a prophecy in our world that Mr. Potter will have to destroy the most evil wizard that our world has ever known. Part of that prophecy states that Mr. Potter will have a “power the dark lord knows not.” If I'm not mistaken, Mr. Potter's power is his ability to love, and the love that he and your daughter share, though unrealized right now, would be a very formidable weapon against the most evil wizard in our world.

After this school year concludes, Mr. Potter will go in search of artifacts that, once destroyed, will help Mr. Potter defeat the evil wizard. With how loyal your daughter and Mr. Weasley have been to Mr. Potter during their years here at Hogwarts, they will most assuredly be going along with him on his journey. Needless to say, it is highly unlikely that your daughter will be home this summer for very long (if at all).

Hopefully, during their journey they will discover what several of us at Hogwarts have already come to realize—that Mr. Potter and your daughter love each other very much. So much so, that they would be willing to sacrifice their lives for each other, which is the greatest type of love a person could have for another. Their love seems to have been destined to occur since the prophecy was made many years ago.

Why do I share these things with you? I will not be here much longer to look after them. Before I am gone, I will suggest to your daughter that she bring Harry home for the Christmas holidays next year. I am sure that she will be delighted by my suggestion. If they have not discovered their love for each other by that time, I would like the two of you to try to help them find that love, but please do not tell them what you are trying to do. Together they can do anything they put their minds to.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry”

She folded it up and handed it back to him, and watched him place it back in the breast pocket of his shirt. “He truly is a wise man,” Mrs. Granger observed.

“I agree. He knows our daughter really well by mainly observing her, at least based on what he said in his letter, but he was spot on about her personality.”

“Watching them together reminds me a lot of us when we were their age.”

“How so?”

“They're clearly in love with each other, like we were, and it's clearly going to be a love that lasts. You can tell by the way they treat each other.”

“True, but we were engaged by the time we were their age.”

“You know as well as I do that love stories don't all play out the same way! If they get together this year, I wouldn't be surprised if he proposes to her next Christmas. After all, you asked me to be your girlfriend on my 16^th birthday and proposed to me on my 17^th.”

“That's if he doesn't propose by graduation.”

“Good point. They're more in love now than we were when we started dating, so it might not take them as long to realize that they should get married.”

“It may all come down to how long it takes them to defeat that evil wizard that their former headmaster was talking about.”

“Right. If they defeat him soon, then they may be planning a wedding after they graduate. If it's closer to graduation, then they may start planning next Christmas. Speaking of planning…I should start planning breakfast now. They should be getting up soon.”

“Very well,” Mr. Granger said. “I'll read the newspaper now, since I'm not sure when we'll get back from Christmas shopping with the lovebirds tonight.”

As the two of them went about their tasks while waiting for Harry and Hermione to wake up, they were both thinking the same thing:

I hope this works.

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