A/N - I don't own Harry Potter, or Back to the Future. I'm not making any money from this. I try not to think about it, it eases the pain. Speaking of which this is just a bit of fluff, it was not in the original draft of the story and I wish I hadn't decided to write it. This chapter is the reason my time line got all stuffed up and the reason there was a delay in the posting of this chapter and chapter 7. Next chapter should be up in better time. Thanks to my Beta's Katia and Ragavendran.
Chapter 8 - Merry Christmas
Over the next few weeks Hermione and Lilly seemed to become obsessed with all things Christmas, and Harry felt that their living room became a shrine to the beauty of tinsel and mistletoe. The tinsel was harmless enough but Harry avoided the mistletoe as though it really were full of Nargles. Things were getting difficult enough between he and Hermione, they didn't need any mistletoe induced kisses to make it even more uncomfortable.
About a week before Christmas Harry and James went to pick out Christmas trees, the task would have been made much easier by magic but the place they bought them was run by muggles so they had to do it the hard way.
`Is there a reason,' Harry asked through gritted teeth as he struggled with the handsaw, `why we can't get a little help with this.'
James pushed Harry aside and took over for a bit, `Muggles like to see you sweat, Harvey, you should know that.'
They took turns hacking at the tree with the hand saw, both cheating just a little when they thought the other wasn't paying attention. After an hour of hard work they had two trees which they then dragged back to the old Ford Utility they had hired just for the occasion.
When they got back to the house James helped Harry drag his Christmas tree inside first and when they got it there they found Lilly and Hermione seated on the sofa in front of the fireplace with mugs of hot chocolate. Harry smiled and warmth flooded through him as though he were the one drinking the hot chocolate.
`Hey, where are ours?' asked James shaking his hair like a dog and showering the two ladies with snow.
`Yours are on the bench in the kitchen,' Lilly replied succinctly not moving from her cosy spot on the sofa. Harry went and got the two drinks, returned to the lounge and handed one to his Dad. James had squeezed onto the sofa beside Lilly and now had one arm around her; Harry sat down beside Hermione and copied his fathers pose. He had started imitating his Dad's behaviour towards his Mum after Sirius had once remarked that Harry and Hermione acted like they'd been married for 50 years and not just one. So far it seemed to be working but it had made things a bit more awkward between the two of them to start with but they'd become more accustomed to it after a few weeks and now it was almost second nature.
`Don't you think so Harvey?' asked Hermione, shaking Harry from his reverie.
`I'm sorry, what?'
James laughed but Hermione just repeated herself, `I was just saying that James and Lilly should stay for dinner and help us decorate the tree.'
`Yeah I've got a huge pot full of stew that's been simmering all day, it should be ready to go soon and there is plenty for four.'
James looked a bit shocked, `That delicious smell is something you cooked?'
Harry nodded but it was Hermione who answered, `Harvey does most of the cooking, I can hold my own if I've got a recipe in front of me but he's got a real knack for it. Doesn't even use a recipe usually, just puts a dash of this and a pinch of that; he's very handy to have around.'
`Wow, all this and handsome too... you really got yourself a good husband there Hermiah!' said Lilly jokingly.
`Hey!' exclaimed James in mock protest, `What about me?'
Lilly winked at him, `I think I still got the better one of course, though the cooking thing nearly won it for him.'
They all laughed at that and the conversation moved along to the tree decorations. They decided to use a combination of Muggle and Magical decorations. James and Harry were in charge of the muggle decorations, which consisted of stringing up some popcorn, while Hermione and Lilly took care of the Magical decorations. But no sooner had the two men sat down with their bowls of popcorn to thread on string than they got into a popcorn fight.
It started innocently enough, Harry dropped a piece of popcorn in his lap and tried to flick it back into the bowl but he flicked it too hard and it hit James right in the face.
`Sorry, I didn't mean it; I meant to flick it into the bowl.'
`Yeah right,' said James, his tone clearly sceptical. He looked down at his own bowl of popcorn and then, quite deliberately, scooped up a handful of it and threw it into Harry's face.
Harry stared at his Dad in shock for a second before scooping two handfuls of popcorn out of his bowl, `that's it. This means war!'
James jumped up and ducked behind the couch, narrowly avoiding the most of the popcorn. He then picked up his wand and aimed it at his bowl, sending a shower of the stuff raining down on Harry. Harry grabbed his wand and pounced on James, he managed to grab him by the collar of his shirt and directing his wand he conjured a stream of popcorn straight down James' back.
James rounded on Harry to retaliate when suddenly both men were completely paralysed, `that's enough, you've gotten popcorn everywhere but the tree!' said Hermione her wand still directed at them, `If you do it again I'll keep you like that all night.'
After a few minutes she released them from the spell and they went back to threading popcorn on strings.
`Harvey, you've got popcorn in your hair,' said James after a minute, doing a very poor job of concealing his laughter.
Harry ruffled his hands through his hair, trying to dislodge it, `Yeah, well you've got it all down your back.'
James laughed openly, `I sure do, you prick!'
By the time they walked Lilly and James to the door it was quite late and Harry was so relaxed that he forgot to maintain his constant vigilance with the mistletoe. Unfortunately for Harry's peace of mind James was more vigilant and pointed it out as soon as the young couple stepped underneath.
`Oh no, Harvey, what a shame... now you'll have to give your lovely wife a kiss!' James slapped a hand to one cheek in feigned horror.
Harry laughed to hide his discomfort, `Oh no... How will I cope?' and then before James could respond, or Hermione could run away, he grabbed her about the waist, dipped her backwards dramatically and then gave her a gentle little peck on the lips.
James and Lilly both laughed at the display, `I hope that's not how he kisses you all the time!' James joked as they walked out the door.
`God no... He hardly ever dips me backwards like that,' replied Hermione, as soon as the door was shut though she leaned against it with a sigh, `that was a bit of a close call, wasn't it?'
`Yeah, though I still don't understand why you had to put mistletoe up in the first place.'
Hermione coloured slightly, `I thought it would look weird if we didn't, we are supposed to be newly weds.'
Harry shrugged in agreement, he supposed she was right. Anyway he had a similar dilemma recently over what to get her for Christmas. Ordinarily Harry would usually get her a book of some description, the only trouble with that was remembering which ones she already had, but this year he felt he should get her something better. Of course it would be expected that as a newly wed husband he would get his wife something nice for Christmas but he also just wanted to do it for her sake. In the past couple of months Hermione had been amazing and he really felt that she deserved a more thoughtful gift than he usually gave her.
The remaining weeks to Christmas sped by and Harry continued to divide his time between watching Gringotts, training and fretting over what to get Hermione for Christmas. Finally on Christmas Eve he made a few purchases and spent the remaining hours till Christmas day still fretting over their suitability.
On Christmas day they woke to a thick blanket of fog shrouding a snow covered ground.
`It looks like we're actually living inside a cloud, with all this white, doesn't it?' asked Harry peering out the window.
Hermione came to stand beside him, Harry instinctively wrapped an arm around her, and they looked at the white world beyond their windowsill together, `It's amazing, I can't even see your parents' house from here.'
`I guess we'll floo over then, we wouldn't want to get lost in the fog.'
Hermione laughed, `No... So, can we open presents now?'
They ran down the stairs together and sat in front of the tree. It was how a Christmas morning should be Harry thought as he watched Hermione search amongst the presents for the ones that had her name on them. Harry had never had a Christmas morning like this one before. At Hogwarts each person's presents were piled at the foot of their bed, not under a tree, and at the Dursleys none of the presents under the tree were ever for him.
`Ooh, what's this one, Harry?' Hermione asked, emerging from under the tree with the smallest box.
Harry grinned, she obviously could already tell it was jewellery, surely nothing else made a girls eye's sparkle like that, `Why don't you open it and find out?'
Hermione grinned and without waiting a second longer she pulled off the ribbon and tore open the paper to revel the small black jewellers' box. She looked up at him, her eyes still shining, `Oh Harry, you shouldn't have...'
Harry laughed out loud, `right, so you want me to take it back then do you?'
Hermione blushed faintly, `no...'
`Don't be silly, Hermione, it's not like we need to worry about the money... besides I wanted to get you something nice as a sort of, thank you, for everything you've done to help me over the last few months.'
Hermione threw her arms around him, `Thank you,' she whispered.
`You haven't even opened it yet.'
`I know, but I know I'll love it.'
She pulled away from him and opened the box, inside was a diamond solitaire pendant and matching earrings.
`Oh Harry, I feel terrible, I didn't get you anything even close to as nice as this!'
`I'm sure I'll love whatever you got me.'
Hermione still looked worried but she pulled a couple of boxes out from under the tree.
`Are these all for me?' asked Harry incredulously
Hermione nodded, `there was only one thing I could think of that you didn't have but that you could really use, it seems horribly practical now but...I hope you like it.'
Harry looked at her oddly, she'd referred to it as one thing but there were a veritable mountain of boxes in front of him. She didn't look as though she planned on explaining any further though so he grabbed the topmost package, tore off the paper and opened the box, inside were a pair of black leather lace up boots with yellow stitching around the soles. Harry looked at the box, which confirmed his suspicions.
`You got me Doc Martens?'
`Well, I got you a new wardrobe, I know you bought a few things when we first got here but I've thought you needed new clothes for years so... I bought you some things that you can take back with you, and wear in the muggle world.'
Harry grabbed the next box and ripped into it, inside were a new pair of trainers. The next box yielded two pairs of Levi's jeans, then came the t-shirts, a few dress shirts, a couple of woollen jumpers and finally a black suede bomber jacket.
`This is great, Hermione!' said Harry pulling on the jacket, `How did you know what size I was?'
Hermione shrugged, `I didn't but, well, I know how big you are... roughly... so I guessed; I figured we could always alter them if necessary.'
Harry grinned, `One of the benefits of magic.'
After they opened their respective presents they had a leisurely breakfast of waffles and then got ready to go to Harry's parents' house. Harry was ready before Hermione, dressed entirely in his new clothes, and was packing up their gifts for everyone while she finished up getting ready. He was half buried under the tree, collecting the presents that had been pushed back there, and didn't realise Hermione had entered the room until she spoke.
`You know Harry, I've been thinking.'
`That's not unusual.' He responded cheekily extricating himself from the tree with some difficulty.
`No, but I was thinking that, although your mum is only two months pregnant she might announce it today.'
Harry sat up and looked at her but as soon as he did his head was wiped clean of thoughts, `You look great Hermione!' he said, the words flying out of his mouth before they'd even registered in his brain.
Hermione smiled happily, `Do you really think so?'
Harry nodded, she was wearing a relatively simple outfit of black boots, a slim black skirt and a v-neck green wool jumper but she'd pulled her hair back into a bun and obviously used some Sleekeasy's to smooth it back with the exception of a few curls hung loose and curled attractively around her face. She wore minimal make-up, only enough to highlight her beautiful eyes, and the diamonds Harry bought for her adorned her ears and throat. The overall effect was simple and understated beauty.
The two teens smiled at each other for a few minutes before Hermione cleared her throat and broke their eye contact.
`Well anyway, as I was saying, I think your mum might announce her pregnancy tonight, so you should be prepared.'
Harry nodded, `Ok, I'll practice my surprised face.'
They floo'd over to the Potter house, which was a riot of Christmas decorations, and as soon as they stepped out of the fire place they walked directly into one of Sirius' pranks, an innocuous looking piece of mistletoe which held its captives in place until they had kissed.
Harry glared at Sirius, who held up his hands in protest, `What? It's not like you've never kissed her before! It has to be a good one too, Harvey, the vicious plant won't let you go unless there's tongue involved.
`Remind me to take that down before my parents arrive.' James whispered to Lilly.
Harry was surprised that his father's parents were expected today; he'd never learnt anything about them and had always assumed that they had died long ago.
Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself up against him, Harry looked at her in surprise.
`It's got to be a good one remember, may as well get into the spirit of it!'
Harry dropped the bag of presents he was holding; perhaps this would be a good opportunity to vent some of the frustrations he'd been feeling recently. Hermione looked at him, a clear challenge in her eyes, so Harry wrapped his arms around her and claimed her mouth with his. Their lips fused and their tongues met, Hermione groaned and pressed herself more firmly against him. He could feel every inch of her from knees to breasts and it was all he could do to stop himself from pinning her against the wall and grinding himself against her.
`Maybe we should turn a hose on them?' was the dry humorous comment of Remus Lupin which finally broke them apart.
Harry laughed, `That's ok, we can control ourselves without the hose.'
`Really?' Sirius asked, one eyebrow raised, `I think I understand now why you two don't kiss in public.'
Everyone laughed and the little scene was forgotten, except by the two who had principally participated in it. Harry thought that his frustrations were only going to be increased after their little incident but Hermione's thoughts on the matter were a mystery. Immediately after the kiss she'd been just as flustered as he but now that she'd recovered from that she just went on as though nothing had happened.
She helped Lilly set the table, and laughed at all the jokes that went around and generally just acted as though nothing really significant had happened. Harry supposed that was how he should act as well, or people would think he was being weird, but he was amazed by her skill as an actress and a little disappointed that his kiss hadn't affected her more. He supposed he should be glad really, he was still Ginny's boyfriend after all and it really wouldn't do to have Hermione getting attached to him in that way.
He was distracted from the unpleasantness of that thought by the arrival of his grand-parents. His Grandfather, a silver haired version of James with blue eyes, shook Harry's hand with a vigour that made Harry think he must have been in the military. His Grandmother was a complete contrast. Where her husband was tall and strong, the colour of his hair the only indicator of his age, she was the typical English Grandmother. Her hair was pulled to the top of her head in a neat silver bun, her sparkling hazel eyes were wrinkled at the corners and she'd even brought a bag of knitting with her.
`Now Lilly, dear, let me take a look at you... hmmm... are we to have an announcement today?' asked the wily old lady
`Well, I was going to wait until we were all seated around the table... but now that you ask...' she looked at James who came up and put his arm protectively around his wife.
`Everyone, I'd like to inform you all that we very shortly expect an addition to our little family.'
`Are you buying a pet, Prongsy?' Called Sirius
`If those in the peanut gallery could keep quiet,' boomed the Senior Mr Potter, `I believe my boy is trying to make an announcement.'
`We're having a baby.' Said James his face almost splitting in half, his grin was so wide.
Harry joined everyone in congratulating his parents but he did so in a daze. He knew his mother was pregnant, he'd known it since he'd arrived, so he'd underestimated the impact that seeing his father make the announcement would have on him. He hadn't expected it to affect him at all, but he couldn't have been more wrong. He couldn't get the image of his father's happy expression out of his mind, and to know that very soon it was all supposed to end, was something he just couldn't quite fathom.
The meal was a happy, noisy, joyous success. The food was delicious and everyone was in great spirits. Harry did not join in on the joking and talking but instead sat back and took it all in. He wanted to fix everyone in his mind, just as they were now. Before Voldemort ruined all of them, each and every one of them here had been destroyed by Voldemort in one way or another and as happy as the occasion was Harry felt a renewed sense of determination more than anything else. He absolutely could not allow it to happen again, and he knew that he would do anything necessary to prevent it.
After the meal was over, they all lolled in chairs around the tree for the handing out of presents. James sat in the chair closest to the tree with a Santa hat perched on his unruly hair, and called out each person's name. After about five presents were handed out it was finally Harry's turn to receive something.
`This is for both of you,' James said indicating to Hermione, `From Lil's and I, it's for your house... anyway, we hope you like it.'
Harry took the box from his father with a lump in his throat, `I'm sure we'll love it.'
He sat next to Hermione and tore the wrapping off the box, it was a wooden mantle clock. Harry grinned and showed it to Hermione.
Hermione smiled and murmured in Harry's ear `How appropriate, we've been given the gift of time.'
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