Story Title: Time, Interrupted
Chapter Title: Giving
Author: Madm_05
Rating: Strong PG-13/T
Warnings: None
Chapter Word Count: 6,311
Date: 9 October 2006
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and everyone else from Potterverse belong to JKR.
Chapter Sixteen: Giving
Hermione looked out the window, watching the snow fall and sipping her cocoa. This would be a perfect Christmas Eve, she thought. Indeed, the snowflakes were dancing in the wind, swirling about and glistening in the lamplight. Alas, it was the twenty third of December and not the twenty fourth. She was only relieved that she had finished her Christmas shopping the day before, even going so far as to get Horace a bone and Romulus some treats with her extra money.
"Sirius," Harry said suddenly from his place in front of the fire. "How's come I never got a present from Santa when I was with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, but Dudley gots lots of presents?" Harry asked, his brows furrowed in thought.
Sirius and Remus looked at each other, panicked. Obviously, the two men had gotten carried away with spirit of Christmas, and had completely forgotten that this would be the first Christmas he remembered where he would actually be getting presents.
Hermione decided to step in and tell Harry what her parents had always told her on Christmas. "Harry, Santa is only bring us one present because of how fortunate we are," she began. Harry gave her a strange look. Oh, right. I guess we don't seem that fortunate, considering that our parents were murdered along with every thing else. I suppose I'd better explain.
The young witch walked back to Harry and sat down beside him. "Santa Claus only brings lots presents to children who need them. You see, there are lots of children in the world, and a lot of kids don't have any family at all. With so many kids, Santa can't bring a whole bunch of toys to all of us. So what he does, is he only brings one toy to children who have families that take care of them, to tell them that he knows they've been good. That way, he can bring more toys to kids who don't have anyone who will get them Christmas presents."
Sirius and Remus shared a look and nodded to each other, while Harry looked thoughtful. "But, then, why didn't I ever get a present when I was with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon? Did he forget me? And why did Dudley get a whole bunch of presents?" Sirius and Remus seemed to hold their breath as they waited to hear what Hermione would say.
Hermione frowned. "Well, Santa only brings presents to good boys and girls, and Dudley wasn't very good. I don't think Santa ever brought him anything. I think his mum and dad lied, and bought him a lot of toys, and said that they were from Santa." Hermione bit her lip. "And I don't think Santa forgot you, Harry. Maybe you're aunt and uncle never told Santa that you were staying with them," she answered lamely, running out of ideas.
Harry nodded and seemed to accept her answer, and she breathed a silent sigh of relief. "I want to help him," Harry said suddenly.
"What?" Sirius asked.
"I want to help Santa give presents to kids who don't have a Papa Sirius and an Uncle Remus," Harry replied.
Remus took on a thoughtful look. "That," he began slowly. "Is a good idea." His eyes lit up and he looked at Sirius. "I understand he visits a nearby orphanage every year, but he's so busy, he usually has to visit on Christmas Eve. I'm sure that Santa would love to have an extra helper give out presents this year. Maybe we could even help out a bit, Padfoot, what do you say?"
Sirius seemed to catch on to what Remus was implying. "I think he'd love the help, Moony. What about you Hermione, would you be willing to help give out presents this year?"
"Of course," she replied. Hermione's thoughts began to race as she tried to figure out what they were talking about. She knew that there were charity organizations that helped get orphans a gift at Christmas time, but she was sure that there wasn't an annual visit from Santa. What were they playing at?
While Remus began scribbling a note, Sirius began talking again. "Well, what do you say we have some biscuits and head off to bed?" Harmony gurgled her agreement while Harry nodded excitedly. Hermione just smiled in agreement. In truth, she always felt a bit guilty for eating so many sweets, knowing her parents wouldn't have approved.
The two men occasionally shared a whisper, but other than that everything passed as a normal night. At nine o'clock sharp, Sirius pulled out a small book and read a story while Remus read the message Romulus had returned with. Once the story was over, Remus put Harmony to bed before tucking Hermione in, giving her a kiss on the forehead and bidding her goodnight while Sirius did the same for Harry down the hall.
She frowned, feeling that Remus had been oddly rushed in putting her to bed. Shrugging it off, she lay back and stared at her empty ceiling, trying to ignore the near empty room around her. As was her habit, Hermione cleared her mind before drifting off to sleep. Of course, it didn't stave off her dreams of the Dark Harry, but she always felt better knowing she was practicing Occlumency.
Hermione awoke the following morning to a great deal of clatter in the kitchen. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she pulled on her housecoat and her slippers and padded down the hallway. She was shocked at what she found.
Toys. Muggle toys. They were scattered all around the kitchen, sitting on the table and the counters. There were wrapped packages already stacked up in the corner of the room where Harmony's playpen was usually set up. "Who was it that wanted a fire truck again, Moony?" Sirius asked as he put a nametag on a rectangular box wrapped in green.
Remus looked at a long scroll. "There were three boys; Michael Thompson, Joseph Bear, and Damon Johnson," he replied. "We did get three trucks, didn't we?"
Sirius looked around. "Ah, yep! We have three. Can I see that list? I want to make sure I've got them spelled right."
Tonks stumbled into the room, weighted down but a large box of toys. "Okay, I've gotten the last of the toys for the kids, and I got the reply we've been waiting on. They agreed."
"What's going on?" Harry asked suddenly, coming up from behind Hermione.
Everyone was silent for a moment, then Sirius walked towards the two children. "Well, do you remember how you said you wanted to help Santa give out presents this year?" Harry and Hermione nodded. "I spoke with Santa, and he said that he would love to have you and Hermione help him. That is, if you two still want to help Santa give presents to other kids." Harry's eyes lit up. "You have to remember now, that none of these presents are for you, okay?"
Harry nodded happily as a grin spread over his face. "Do I really get to meet Santa? Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon used to take Dudley out to see him, but they would never take me along with them. But if I help him, I really get to see him, right? And Hermione too, right? We both get to see him?"
Sirius forced himself to grin, but Hermione could see the anger flashing in his eyes at the mention of the Dursleys. "Of course! You will both get to see him. He's looking forward to meeting the two of you in person, especially since he heard you would like to help him out. H likes it when children like you two want to help him. Christmas is all about giving, you know."
Harry's eyes seemed to light up as he looked around the room. "Can I help you with the presents? Can I please?" His stomach grumbled and he flushed. "Can I have breakfast first though?"
The adults laughed heartily. "I think we could all use a breakfast break, but I don't think there's room for us in here," Remus said. "Perhaps we should have all of the presents that Santa sent over to the dining room so that we can have breakfast."
Sirius sighed as he leaned against the counter. "I just wish there was an easier way to do this. I don't think we'll be able to get all of this done before… Santa is here, even with Harry and Hermione helping."
Hermione drew in a breath and made a suggestion she would never have made if the circumstances were different. "Why don't you ask the house - elves to help you? I'm sure they could wrap the presents without any trouble at all. Then Harry and I could put on the labels, and you, Papa Remus and Dora can write down the names of the kids who get them." It's for a good cause, and I'll… I'll give them a bonus or something.
Remus sighed this time. "It's a nice idea, but then we wouldn't know what's what."
It took a great deal of effort not to roll her eyes. All they need is to cast a simple Transperus charm and they would be able to see through the paper! "Are you sure there isn't a spell that will let you look through the packaging or something like that? Maybe a charm that will let you see the toy?"
Tonks' eyes lit up. "Hey, we could use the Transperus charm! Usually it's sixth year stuff at Hogwarts, but it was added to the list of necessary spells aurors have to know about a year ago! It makes it easier to look inside of stuff to see if potentially Dark wizards are hiding anything!"
"Excellent idea, Dora!" Remus grinned. Tonks beamed back. Hermione sighed and set about making breakfast alongside Harry while the adults discussed with the house - elves what needed to be done.
"It's okay, Hermione," Harry whispered to her. "I know it was your idea. Adults always think that they come up with all of the good ideas, even when kids like us come up with them first."
Hermione felt some of the tension leave her and smiled at her friend, a sudden warmth filling her heart. It was nice to know that Harry was there and that he understood what she had been trying to do. He may not have known that she had been able to perform the spell flawlessly when she was in sixth year, but he understood that she had been leading the adults to her way of thinking. It was nice to know that Harry was on her side, no matter what seemed to happen.
Breakfast was a simple matter of toast. Hermione had managed to convince Harry to let her put butter on his toast, along with sugar and cinnamon for a tasty treat. It had been a spur of the moment decision. Typically, it was the traditional breakfast she woke up to the day before, the day of, and the day after Christmas. She had fought with herself the night before on whether to continue her mother's tradition, or to push it to the far corners of her mind. Ultimately it was Harry, who had wanted something sweet, that had made the decision for her.
Once that was done, Harry and Hermione grabbed the muggle labels and set to work putting them on all of the newly wrapped packages. Hermione was tempted to ask how Sirius and Remus had managed to not only get a list of children's names and what they wanted, but also the actual gifts, complete with muggle wrapping paper and labels. In the end, she decided she would rather not know, as she was quite sure they very likely did something highly illegal, however well - meaning it was.
Once their task was done, the two decided to play in the snow and let Sirius, Remus and Tonks work on their project without two kids underfoot. After the construction of snow - family and a snow - fort, the two engaged in a snowball fight that left the two of them soaking wet and with snow in places snow was not supposed to be- Hermione was quite sure Harry had somehow managed to get snow up her nose. Tonks had taken the role of mother hen, and took the time to make them both cocoa.
A late lunch was served after the pair drank the hot chocolate. This time the house - elves had served hot sandwiches. It was a pleasant change from the days of cold sandwiches and soup with too much salt. Harry and Hermione shared a look, both glad that the days of Sirius, Remus or Tonks cooking were long gone.
Throughout their time at Grimmauld Place, the house - elves had come to enjoy the freedoms they had been granted. At first they had railed against the changes, but soon came to appreciate not having to punish themselves for making simple mistakes. The uniforms, too, grew on them, as they saw it as a distinguishing mark of who they served. Dobby, who wore a coat with the initials HP embroidered over his heart, along with all of the others, who wore coats with the initials HG over their hearts, donned their uniforms with pride and honour. Hermione suspected that they were so willing to go out and run errands because they wanted to show off who they served.
"Alright you two, do you still want to help Santa? If you want to quit, now's the time to do it," Sirius said.
"We still want to help," Harry chirped, bouncing a little in his seat. Hermione nodded as well, if only to sate her curiosity about what they were planning. Of course, helping people was in her nature, and she was always more than willing to lend a hand to those in need. She thought that whatever they would be doing was a wonderful idea.
"Okay," Remus grinned before he reached under the table and pulled out… green suits. "These are your super - official uniforms. Aren't they neat?"
Hermione felt her jaw drop. 'Neat' was not the words she would have chosen to describe them. The costume was even worse than she could have imagined. It was a bright green tunic with a red sash for a belt, red and white striped tights, and genie - like shoes, complete with a bell on the toe. Harry swallowed beside her. "Great," he said, his voice slightly squeaky as he looked at what he was going to have to wear.
"And look," Remus said with a mischievous grin. "Hats!" He pulled out two hats the same colour as the tunics. Hermione winced along with Harry when they heard the jangle of the bell on the hat. "We've charmed them to be warm, so you don't need to worry about getting cold when you're with Santa."
"I guess this means we won't be able to sneak up on anyone," Hermione muttered under her breath before she looked up. "I'm sure that Santa's plan will work out wonderfully," she said. Harry could only nod absently as he stared, mortified, at the outfits they were to wear when they went to help Santa.
"Erm, why do we have to wear costumes, though? Why can't the other kids know who we are?" Harry asked.
The adults shared a look. "Well," Tonks decided to answer. "It has to be a secret. The problem is, is if other kids know that you know Santa, they'll never leave you alone about him. Besides, you wanted to help give out presents, not to have everyone want to be your friend just because you know Santa, right?"
"No, I just want to help. I don't really like it that a whole bunch of kids want to be my friend because of my scar," he said, making another vain attempt to flatten his hair and hide his scar. "I don't want them to want to be my friend because of Santa." The adults nodded in satisfaction. Hermione chose to remain silent, but inwardly felt very pleased that Harry was turning out to be the modest boy she had known back in first year.
"Good, then you won't mind wearing your disguises, right?" Sirius grinned.
Harry winced as he looked at the costumes again but nodded his understanding. Tonks chuckled. "Well, if we want to do this properly, Hermione, we'd better get you into your disguise. Sirius will be helping you, Harry, and Remus will be looking after our little Dewdrop and sending a letter to Santa to let him know that everything is ready for him."
"Hey," Harry said, suddenly coming out of his daze. "How's come you wrapped the presents and put the kids' names on them? Shouldn't Santa or his elves have done that?"
Hermione looked to the adults to see what they would say. "Well," Remus began. "Santa is a very busy man, you know, and he needed some help, so he asked us to help him out since he knew that you and Hermione were going to help him. He was very glad to hear that we were willing to give him a hand. He likes it when people help him help others."
"Harry, Hermione," Sirius said as he came forward and knelt before them. "I just wanted to say, before you both get ready to go, that we are very proud of both of you. Harry, I know that if James and Lily could see you now, they could not have been more proud to know that their son knows that the true meaning of Christmas is about giving and not receiving. You are doing a lot of good, and for people you don't even know. Perhaps, one day, when the kids you helped are all grown up, they'll remember that one special Christmas where they got to meet Santa and two of his elves."
"I never met your parents Hermione," Remus said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her to his side. "But I know what kind of a little girl you are, and I know that your parents would be very proud to see that you are going to help other kids, even if they never know it was you who helped them."
Tonks knelt down in front of them. "We are very proud of you too, both of you." Tonks absently set Harmony in her lap. "The truth of it is, kids, is that we could not be any more proud of you for what you are doing than what we already are." She was quiet a moment. "Come on, we need to get the two of you dressed in your disguises. Santa will be here fairly soon, and he's even bringing Mrs. Claus with him. He though tit would be a nice idea to let the kids at the Orphanage get to meet his wife before he sets to work giving presents to everyone around the world."
Tonks handed Harmony off to Remus and took Hermione by the hand and led her out of the room. "You don't seem very excited, Hermione. Is something wrong?"
Hermione sighed. "You don't want us to be recognized because of who we are, not because of who we know. That's why you want us to wear those costumes, isn't it?"
Tonks stopped and looked down at her. "What makes you think that?" Hermione gave the older woman a look and Tonks sighed. "You're too smart by half, Hermione, you know that?" The older woman sighed again and continued down the hall. "Yes, those outfits are so that no one will recognize you. We don't want to risk the two of you being followed by the press, especially since we won't be there."
"You won't?" Hermione asked, one eyebrow raised.
"Of course not, smarty. If we go, you might be recognized. We managed to pull off going unnoticed at the Yule Festival for the most part because it was cold enough that you had to wear hats and you were all bundled up. Not to mention how much you've grown, you and Harry. It's the little things like height that sometimes make all of the difference in the world."
Hermione nodded as they entered her barren room to get dressed. The costume fit her perfectly, much to her dismay. It wasn't that she didn't want to give out presents, because she did. In fact, it was just the sort of thing she would do. She just didn't want to have to wear the disguise. Oh how she longed for the days when she didn't have to bother hiding who she was, and actually strove to stand out. I may have wanted to stand out, but I wanted it to be for my mind, not my clothes, she thought with a heavy sigh. This was not going to be pretty.
Then minutes later she looked at herself in the mirror and cringed. She looked worse than she had imagined. "Perk up, Hermione, it's not that bad." Tonks said, even as she fought to keep a grin from her face. "Besides, you get to be one of Santa's helpers."
"I don't mind helping Santa," Hermione said tiredly. "But I don't like being dressed up like a clown."
Tonks chuckled and opened her bedroom door to lead her out. "But you don't look like a clown, you look like a Hermione - elf. You're cute," she grinned.
Hermione grimaced and walked out of her room, jingling all the way. Just as she crossed her doorway, she heard Harry's door opened and watched her friend walk out, his expression horrified as he jangled his way over to her.
"Buck up, Harry. It's for a good cause," Hermione said softly. "Hey, at least they're not going to put make up on us." Harry nodded his head vigorously, the bell on his cap jingling and jangling away.
He paused and looked back at Tonks. "Do we have to wear these?"
She chuckled. "Yes. Just think of it as an adventure. You only live once, you know."
Unless you're me, Hermione thought. Harry looked up at Sirius, pouting.
Sirius laughed. "Get a move on it, you two. Santa and his wife, Mrs. Claus should be here by now."
Harry immediately perked up and began to walk with a slight bounce in his step. Hermione, curios as to who would be playing the role Jolly Old Saint Nicholas, followed Harry down the hall and into the kitchen. At first she didn't recognize the two newcomers, until she heard the Santa chuckle.
The young witch cracked a grin and looked at the headmaster of Hogwarts. He was barely recognizable, in the big red suit that was likely charmed to make him look bigger around than the slim man actually was. His beard seemed shorter, and it looked like he had a pair of round spectacles rather than his half - moon set. His bright blue eyes, however, were much the same as always.
Beside him stood a plump woman. She, too, wore round spectacles, and wore an old fashioned crimson robe trimmed in white fur to match Professor Dumbledore's. It was her Scottish brogue that gave her away in the end. I almost didn't recognize her. I think they must have used a glamour or something like that.
"Ah," Professor Dumbledore, or rather, Santa said. "I see my help for the evening has arrived. Just in time, too. I have my sleigh outside. Right now we need to load up the presents for the other children and then we can go, alright?"
"Okay Santa!" Harry exclaimed with a grin before his smile slipped from his face. He began to shift uncomfortably. "Um, Santa? I just wanted to let you know that I live here now, okay? And that I'll try really hard to be a good boy." Harry nodded firmly as though he were making a promise.
"Just a moment," Mrs. Claus interrupted. "We can't exactly go around calling them by their names, or everyone will know who they are."
It is so strange to hear Professor McGonagall's voice coming from that person, Hermione thought distantly. "We can always pretend our names are Dobby and Winky," she offered with a shrug. "I doubt that anyone would think we would use the names of our house - elves."
"Excellent idea, Hermione!" Remus beamed. "Well, Winky I guess. Those names should suffice. Now that we have that little detail cleared up, I think it best if we get everything ready to go, don't you? After all, it is getting late, and you want to be able to get them their Christmas gifts soon, don't you?"
"Oh, I don't think it will be too much trouble," Dumbledore said from behind his shortened beard. With a flick of his wand, the packages rose into the air and began to float towards the door. "My dear Mrs. Claus, would you be so kind as to get the door?"
Hermione couldn't help but feel a little weird. If she didn't know better, she would say that Professor Dumbledore was flirting with Professor McGonagall. The very idea redefined strange, in her mind. Teachers should not flirt. That sort of thing should be against the law.
She didn't have time to ponder the oddity of flirting teachers, however, as she heard Harry gasp by the door. Turning, she saw that something outside had his attention. Curios, she walked over and looked outside, only to gasp herself. It was a red sleigh, complete with bells on the side and reindeer. "Please tell me they don't really fly."
Dumbledore chuckled. "Sometimes I forget how little muggleborns know-"
A vase shattered, and Hermione immediately flushed and looked away. Idiot! She berated herself. He didn't mean anything by it, he's Professor Dumbledore! I really need to work on controlling my temper better.
"Forgive an old man," Dumbledore said quietly, understanding in his blue eyes. "Sometimes I also forget how careless I can sometimes be. I did not mean to imply that there is anything wrong with being a muggleborn. Rather, because you have not been in our world all of your life, there are bound to be things you do not know. The idea of flying reindeer is a myth- flying reindeer to not exist, even in the wizarding world. These will merely be pulling the sleigh we will be riding in. The muggles do love their myths, you know. I did not mean to offend."
"It's alright, sir," Hermione said tightly. "I know you didn't mean anything bad. I just remembered… other times when people with muggle parents weren't thought to be very smart." Voldemort, Malfoy, Umbridge… the list goes on.
"If reindeers don't really fly, how do you really deliver all of the presents?" Harry asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.
"Ah," Dumbledore chuckled. "Apparation! I can appear," he disappeared and reappeared beside Harry with a small pop. "Anywhere I want to." He smiled. "It makes delivering presents much easier, but I thought that, since you wanted to help, and since we are giving gifts to muggles, that we would uphold their stories about flying reindeer. It is all in the spirit of giving, why not give them their dreams?"
"Now, I think it best to be a bit more thorough. Muggles, you see, know that elves have pointed ears, and it just so happens that a simple glamour will give the both of you that appearance as well." The headmaster flicked his wand and Hermione felt a tingling in her ears. Cautiously, she reached up and felt the pointed tip of her ear and watched Harry do the same. "Very powerful, this glamour, you can see it and touch it, and it appears real. It will wear off in about ten hours, so there is nothing we need to worry about."
Harry nodded his understanding and jangled his way over to the door. "Well, we better get going," he grunted under the weight of the packages. "I know you have lots of places to be, Santa, and Herm- erm, Winky and I will help you get this done so that you can deliver the rest of our presents, right Her- Winky?" She could see he was tense with excitement.
Hermione smiled and jangled her way over to stand by her friend. "Right, Dobby." She couldn't help the small smile- his enthusiasm was contagious. The adults laughed before they walked outside to the sleigh and helped set the gifts down so that none of them would be damaged. Privately, Hermione was amazed that Sirius and Remus had managed to get the entire project organized and executed in one night.
She climbed onto the sleigh to sit to the right of Professor McGonagall while Harry sat to the left of the headmaster. As the sleigh began to pull away and head in the direction of the orphanage, Hermione wondered if, perhaps, there was more to this little excursion than just Sirius being generous. Was there some lesson she and Harry were meant to learn?
Sirius had mentioned the meaning of Christmas… She already knew the meaning of giving to others- it was a lesson she had learned long ago. Once she was old enough to understand, her parents had insisted that she know what was happening in the country, and the misery that people lived with everyday so that she could understand that she was privileged to have everything that she did. Every winter the whole family would help run soup kitchens to feed the homeless, or give out blankets and clothes. It had been a real eye - opener, the first time a homeless man had looked at her like she was a godsend as she handed him a blanket when she was eight. It had shaped her world. It was these events from her childhood that fuelled her passion for helping the underdog, like house - elves.
She already knew that it was better to give than to receive, and she truly appreciated giving. So that begged the question, why were Sirius and Remus so keen on her and Harry doing this? Hermione snorted softly to herself. Probably because they don't know everything that's happened to me, and they certainly don't know everything that I've done. She sighed. I don't know. Maybe I'll figure it out later.
Truthfully, Hermione was glad that Sirius and Remus had decided to do some charity work. Hopefully they would do it every year, so that Harmony could join in when she was older. It was something that Hermione desperately wanted Harmony to experience. Helping others had helped Hermione learn something about herself, and it was a lesson Harry and Harmony needed to learn. Though, considering what Harry grew up with, I doubt that he doesn't understand how privileged he is now. After going without love for five years, I think he understands more than Sirius or Remus give him credit for.
Hermione looked around and saw that many people were gaping. Professor Dumbledore just smiled and waved at them every so often, as if driving a sleigh down the street was something he did everyday. The people driving cars didn't seem to mind- in fact, many pulled over so that they could get out and watch the sleigh go by.
A short while later, the headmaster drove the sleigh up to a building with several children peering excitedly out the window. A moment later, the door opened and an older boy, about thirteen came out. "I'll prove it, once and for all, there ain't no Santa-" he turned around and saw the sleigh. His jaw dropped. "Claus," he finished weakly.
Professor Dumbledore chuckled as he stood and stepped down from the sleigh as Harry slid down the side. The young boy's face hardened as he watched. "He's a fake, I'll show you." He walked to Professor Dumbledore, who had just gotten down from the sleigh. "I bet his beard ain't even real," he said, then snatched the headmaster's beard and yanked with all of his might.
"Now Jeremy," the headmaster chided gently. "That isn't very nice. You shouldn't tell me I don't exist and pull my beard." Hermione didn't bother wasting time wondering how the headmaster knew his name- he was Professor Dumbledore, after all.
The boy, Jeremy, backed away and swallowed nervously. "S-sorry," he muttered.
Dumbledore chuckled. "Quite alright, my boy. Just don't do it again." His eyes twinkled madly. He grinned. "Well, I know that I'm rather early this evening. I'm running a bit ahead of schedule you see. However, young Jeremy, I'm sure my elves would not mind your helping them carry the gifts in." He winked.
Jeremy nodded dumbly and made his way over to where Harry and Hermione had stood as they watched the scene play out. The young boy looked at them, taking in their pointed ears and swallowing. "Elves," he said weakly. "I can't believe it."
Hermione smiled consolingly at him. "I'm Winky, and this is Dobby. I understand you'll be helping us, then?" He nodded weakly, staring at her ears. Neither of them noticed Harry shoot a small glare at the boy. He didn't like it when people stared at Hermione.
"Why don't you grab a stack of presents- and remember, no peeking and trying to find your own." Jeremy nodded and grabbed the stack closest to him before heading back to the orphanage. "Here we go," she muttered under her breath and grabbed the next stack of gifts then jangled her way to the door, Harry jingling behind her. Even knowing she was helping Sirius and Remus do something wonderful, she couldn't help but feel a bit foolish, considering her 'disguise'.
The feeling vanished the moment she stepped through the threshold and saw the merriment around her. The room was only a few meagre decorations, and a small, half - dead Christmas tree. The children, including the older kids, were clustered around the headmaster, staring up at him in awe. The woman who ran the place was looking on, sitting in the far corner of the room, slightly dazed. I think I'd be a bit out of sorts too if a couple dressed as Mr. and Mrs. Claus came in with two elves to give out presents.
The trio made several trips to carry in the packages while Santa and his wife told tales about the North Pole. No one questioned the sweets that seemed to appear from nowhere, as they were nothing compared to the living legend standing in the room.
At one point, Hermione had lost track of where Harry was in all of the chaos, and went in search of him. Fortunately he was easy to find, courtesy of the jingling bells on his shoes and hat. "And you swear that no one locks any of the kids here in a cupboard? What about a closet, do they lock anybody in a closet?" He asked a young girl of about four.
Feeling her heart break a little, Hermione drew his attention away from the puzzled children. "Dobby," she said, desperately trying to keep her calm. "Are you sure we got all of the gifts?" Harry nodded and opened his mouth to respond.
"Well," Professor Dumbledore unknowingly interrupted. "I believe I have some presents to give out- it is Christmas, after all, and I have a great many more stops to make before the night is through. Gather 'round, gather 'round, and I'll pass them out, then, shall I?"
There was a great cheer from the children as he picked up the first gift. "I believe the first give goes to our very own Jeremy, who was kind enough to help my elves bring these in," he said, his eyes twinkling brightly. Smiling gaily, the headmaster began to give out presents left and right, always matching the name to the face, though he had never met any of the children before. Professor McGonagall, meanwhile, was going around, handing out sweets and small cups of juice that Hermione suspected had been charmed against being spilled.
Harry stood beside Hermione, looking on. "I'm glad we got to help Santa, but I wish we could do more," he said softly.
Hermione glanced at Harry. She realized, suddenly, that Harry didn't know that this was a spur of the moment decision that Sirius and Remus made. He didn't know that he was the reason these kids were getting present, why they were laughing and playing and looking the man in the red suit in awe.
She smiled softly at him. "You've done enough, Harry," she whispered in his ear. You've certainly given enough, whether you, or anyone else, knows it. Harry smiled at her and returned to watching the scene play out.
Professor McGonagall came up to them and handed them both a cup of juice and a few sweets to snack on before she knelt down to look them in their eyes. "Both Mr. Claus and I are very proud of you," she said quietly. "It's wonderful that the both of you wish to help so much. Well done."
A short while later, Santa, his wife and his elves returned to their sleigh and rode away, waving to the children behind them as they left. Hermione sat quietly, watching the cars and people they passed as Harry began to doze off. All in all, she felt wonderful. The role she played had been small, almost unnoticeable, but that wasn't what warmed her heart. She looked fondly at her dearest friend and smiled, amazed at how much good one person could do.
Feeling exhaustion overtake her, Hermione curled up beside Harry in the sleigh and drifted off to sleep, satisfied with the day's events.
---------
A/N: In case you are curios, the purpose of this chapter was to flesh out their characters a little bit. I'm the sort of person who likes to have explanations for everything, so I used this chapter as a way to explain why Hermione is so defensive of the underdog. If all goes as I plan, this chapter will have a big impact on how Harry will react in the future, as well.
The next chapter I'm very excited about-Christmas! A cheerful chapter, with a few revelations. I have to admit, I envy those kids. They're going to get an awesome Christmas, in my opinion. But then, they deserve it, don't they?
Well, thank you everyone who took the time to read, and special thanks to everyone who reviewed last time-again, it's wonderful to be back! That said, please review!
Cheers,
Madm_05