She was just about to remove the newest bauble from the box when it's subject began to cry loudly from her cot that had been carefully set up in the corner of the room. In a flash she was scooping her daughter up and cuddling her close.
"Hush sweetie, mummy's here. Don't cry baby."
She rocked and cooed and shushed until her daughter's cries subsided into adorable hiccups. For a while Hermione just stood there and gazed at her beautiful baby and told herself for the ninth time that day how lucky she was. Huge green eyes gazed back at her from under a fuzzy brown fringe as tiny fingers searched for hers. For countless minutes Hermione watched her tiny bundle of joy as she tried to catch her hair in her baby fingers and then proceeded to stuff it in her mouth.
"Ugh! Hope! Don't put mummy's hair in your mouth it's not nice, not nice, not nice."
A snort from behind her caused her to turn and glare at the offending husband,
"What are you laughing at?"
"Just my ultra efficient wife trying to instil discipline in her four month old daughter who's eating her hair."
"Stop laughing at me you big lump and help me finish the tree, do something useful for a change."
Harry stuck his tongue out at her, every inch the teenager at heart, and reached for the box. With gentle hands he scooped the last bauble from its tissue wrappings and placed it on the tree. Hermione noticed a misty expression in his eyes and smiled tenderly, remembering with him.
They'd only been married three months, and she had been so busy with work at the time, it was the last thing that either of them had expected. But after a week of throwing up copiously every morning, Hermione had seen a Healer who confirmed it. She was pregnant. She had spent all of that evening and half the night trying to think of the perfect way to tell Harry. Eventually just as the grandfather clock in the hall struck twelve, and started singing the Hogwarts School song - she would have to find a charm to turn it off - an idea began to form.
The next morning once Harry had left for Quidditch practice and she had finished being sick, she left the house and apparated to the Leaky Cauldron. Striding purposefully down Diagon Alley she had nearly bumped into Mrs Weasley, but had noticed her at the last minute and hidden behind a conveniently large pile of cauldrons, it wouldn't do for Molly to find out what she was up to then the news would reach Harry in minutes and the surprise would have been ruined. Once Molly was safely passed Hermione had snuck into Maternal Magic the only baby store on the street and made her purchase.
Hermione smiled again as she remembered the look on Harry's face when she had cooked the next evening - which happened to be Christmas Eve. Hermione never cooked if she could help it. She had even opened a bottle of wine, although she herself stuck to grape juice, to celebrate the as-yet unnamed occasion. After the meal she had sat him down on the couch and informed her husband that she had an early Christmas present for him.
" I thought that you might like it. I would have waited for tomorrow, but I wanted to give it to you without the Weasley's being there."
That had confused him. Handing him the tiny package wrapped in gold tissue she had crossed her fingers and silently hoped he would like it, she was fairly certain he would, Harry had always wanted a family of his own after - well, everyone knew what - but was it too soon, they had intended to wait a few years. He had seemed to take an age to unwrap it and when he did he had just stared for a few moments. Nestling in his palm was a tiny wooden crib on a piece of white ribbon; within the crib was the tiny figure of an enchanted baby that at the moment lay perfectly still.
"I… what? D-does this mean what I think it means?" He had eventually whispered looking up at her with those big, lost eyes. Without a word she had squeezed his hand and nodded.
"We're going to have a baby?"
She had never been sure who had started to cry first, but suddenly there had been tears on both of there cheeks and they were hugging and kissing and laughing and telling each other that they were going to be parents.
Hermione drew her mind back to the present and looked fondly at the little decoration now swinging gently from the tree. With baby Hope's birth the charm on it had taken effect and now the figure not only looked like her, but also moved around when she was awake - which was all day and most of the night - Hermione thought with a wry grin.
Looking down at her tiny daughter her face lit up, "Harry come and look."
In a flash her doting husband was gazing down at his beloved baby girl. Hope was fast asleep in Hermione's embrace with her thumb stuck in her mouth and her other fist curled around her mother's hair.
Harry turned and kissed his wife on the cheek as the big clock upstairs began to sing again, "Merry Christmas sweetheart."
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