Unofficial Portkey Archive

Disclaimer: - Don't own any character from Harry Potter series...

(Author's note: - I just hope it would make a better and interesting read, than the previous chapters and you enjoy it.)

Christmas day was turning out to be a very busy day for Hermione and her family. Rest of her extended family members had started to arrive, by the noon time. Granger family was a large family. Many of them lived outside Europe, so it was not possible for them to attend the dinner party every year. But those who lived near London attended the party every year. So majority of the noon and early part of the evening was spent with welcoming the guests and exchanging the gifts with them.

Hermione's mum was Jane Thompson, prior to her marriage. So in Christmas dinner party, every year, both Granger and Thompson families always joined together as one, to celebrate. But it was called as Grangers' Gathering as Grangers were always more than the Thompsons, in the party.

Hermione had lots of aunts and uncles, from her dad and mum sides' families. She also had many cousins. But her favorite person was her Granny (her mum's mum). She adored her grandmother a lot. And Hermione too, was the most favorite grandchild of her grandmother. Her grandparents from her dad's side were not going to attend the dinner party, since they were on a vacation, in the Caribbean.

Hermione had gotten a necklace from her Granny and Grandpa (her mum's father), as a Christmas gift. Even Hermione, who didn't have much idea about the jewelry, could see that it was a beautiful piece of work. Her Grandpa had gifted the necklace to her Granny, on her first birthday after their marriage.

Hermione was speechless when she saw the necklace. She didn't have the words, important enough, to thank her Granny for giving her something so beautiful, so personal.

"Oh Granny, it's so beautiful." Hermione managed to whisper, looking at the necklace with awe.

"Of course it is dear. Your Grandpa gifted this to me, on my first birthday after our marriage." She said lovingly, remembering the day her husband surprised her with the gift. She told Hermione, the story behind the necklace and how Hermione's Grandpa had surprised her.

Later Hermione's grandparents had left the house, as they had to catch the flight for their fifth honeymoon.

Hermione's family had a history or more like an unintentional tradition of love marriages. Almost, all the marriages in Grangers and Thompsons' family were love marriages, including Robert and Jane. But to Hermione, it looked like she was going to break the tradition.

…………………

Finally, around 6 in the evening, whole family were gathered in backyard of the house. All the arrangements for the party were setup there, as house was not big enough for so many people. Tables were set up all around the backyard. Foods and drinks were kept on the different tables, as it was a self service party. Fires were set up all around, so as to keep warm. A small area in the backyard was adorned with additional bright lights for dancing and a disco jockey was hired to play the music. Everyone was enjoying the party, having lots of fun with talking, drinking, dancing and eating.

Around 6:30 pm, Hermione and Jane were in the kitchen. Hermione was helping her mom in bringing some food articles to the backyard, when doorbell rang.

"Hermione, take these 2 dishes of éclairs and biscuits to the backyard, I'll bring the rest. Now I should go and open the door. It must be the Potters." Jane said hurriedly, making her way to open the door.

Hermione did, as was told. Once she put the dishes on the table, she settled herself on a table, waiting for her mum to come back. She looked towards her dad, who was busy talking with Charles, her mum's brother. Hermione felt a bit lonely and missed her best friend. She had tried to call Luna in the morning, but line was engaged. She was also hoping that Luna would call her, as she wasn't able to, but there were no calls. She smiled inwardly, thinking about what would have Luna said if she knew that Harry Potter was coming to the party.

Hermione's thoughts turned to Harry Potter.

Hermione was getting nervous, with the anticipation of meeting the famous Harry Potter. She wasn't sure, what to expect. She hated to feel like this, where she didn't know what to do. She hadn't seen him before, which made it hard to predict, what kind of person he would be. She didn't know much about him. All she knew was that he belonged to a very rich family and was a popular student of Hogwarts Academy, one of the oldest and most prestigious schools in England. Also he was the captain of the Hogwarts football team and played as one of the strikers for the team, which only added to his fame. Furthermore, he was a quite handsome and charming, just an added bonus for his girl fans. But none of these things described, what kind of person he was.

'I don't know why I am feeling like this. It's just, Harry Potter. Yeah Harry potter, the famous, gorgeous, most appealing, Harry Potter…. Arggghh! Just stop it Hermione, you will only make a fool out of yourself...And you don't even know him yet….' Hermione's musings continued.

She looked over to Romilda. From her looks, Hermione could tell that, Romilda too, had heard about Harry Potter, coming to the party. She was trying to fix herself, unnecessarily. The way Romilda was dressed, looked more suitable for a club party, than a Christmas dinner party. She was wearing a stylish short brown dress and high heels. Her silky hairs were flowing down to her waist, in soft curls. Hermione had to admit, she looked stunning.

`Doesn't she feel cold?' Hermione thought, rubbing her hands together.

Out of the blue, Hermione started thinking about her own dress. She was wearing a simple light blue, V-neck, A-line dress which was flowing down to her knees. She was also wearing a black jacket to prevent the cold. Her mum had bought the dress for her, as a gift for her 16th birthday. Hermione had always been more comfortable, with t-shirt and jeans. She didn't want to wear a dress, but on her mum's insistence, she agreed. Her hairs were falling down to her waist in curls and which according to Hermione, were looking like a bush on her head. Overall she wasn't feeling very secure with her appearance.

`Since when did I start worrying about my appearance?' Hermione thought, rubbing her forehead.

……………………

After a couple of minutes, Jane came back to the backyard, followed by a man and a woman. Man was wearing round spectacles. He had messy black hair which actually looked nice on him and made him look handsome. And his hazel-colored eyes were twinkling with happiness. Woman was strikingly beautiful. She had waist length, shining red hair. Her eyes were beautiful emerald green and she had a warm smile on her face. They both looked very nice together. Hermione saw her father, making his way to them and shaking their hands. Then he said something to her mum and she nodded.

Robert turned towards the gathering and started speaking.

"Grangers and Thompsons, today we have a new joining in our Christmas dinner party." Robert said loudly, gesturing towards new comers. Everyone's attention was now on Robert and the strangers he was gesturing to.

"Meet James and Lily Potter, our new friends." Jane said with a smile. There were loud cheers and everyone applauded for new comers, to welcome them. Both James and Lily smiled nervously at this.

"Merry Christmas everyone" James said, with a big smile on his face.

…………………..

Party was moving ahead nicely. Hermione's parents were sitting with Potters, talking with them. Hermione was sitting on another table, listening to her 10 year old cousin, Tracy, who was telling her about one of her school projects, in which Hermione had helped her. Hermione was listening to her half-heartedly, as her mind was lost in the thoughts about Potters or say, one Potter in particular.

'Harry Potter is not here. Strange, must be with one of his many girlfriends. But why am I thinking about this? May be party is making my mind, go fuzzy.' Hermione thought, feeling a bit baffled with her thoughts.

Hermione felt someone shaking her. She pulled herself out of her wonderings, to find Tracey, shaking her.

"Oh sorry, what were you saying?" Hermione asked, trying to sound rueful.

"You weren't listening to me." Tracey said in complaining voice.

Hermione smiled apologetically at her. "Sorry little cousin. So tell me what you were saying." she said kindly.

"We can talk later. Aunt Jane has been calling at you for last 5 minutes." Tracey said, pointing towards, where Jane was sitting.

Hermione saw her mum gesturing her to come to their table. She excused herself from Tracy and made her way towards her mum. She felt anxious about meeting Potters. She wasn't sure what they would think of her.

"Yeah mum." Hermione said as she reached near the table. Jane took Hermione's hand and pulled her to an empty seat next to hers.

"James, Lily. Meet Hermione, our only daughter." Jane said proudly.

"Hello Hermione dear. Merry Christmas" Lily said who was sitting across to Hermione, with a warm smile on her face.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Potter. Merry Christmas to both of you as well" Hermione answered politely.

"It's really nice meeting you Hermione." James said genially.

"Likewise, Mr. Potter" Hermione replied courteously.

"We have heard a lot about you, from Robert and Jane. It's really nice to, finally have a face to all conversations we had about you. You are very good in academics, I heard." Lily mentioned. Hermione felt a bit uncomfortable with the praise. She wasn't very good at handling the appreciation.

"Err…thanks Mrs. Potter. But they are my parents and are bound to praise their only daughter." Hermione mumbled "I am not that good."

"You know Hermione; you should not let others demean you. You are as good as you think of yourself." James said nicely.

"I try Mr. Potter." Hermione replied, smiling a bit.

"Where's Harry?" Robert asked seeing that her daughter was getting a bit uncomfortable. Hermione was just like her father when it came to handling the admiration from others.

"He'll join us shortly. He was with his friends. I just hope he gets here on time." Lily said. Just then James's cell phone started to ring. He excused himself from the table and went a bit away from the table to talk. After speaking, he joined the group back.

"It was Harry." He said at Lily's questioning glance. Then James looked at Robert and spoke

"Robert, Harry is at nearby square, but don't know how to come here. I will just go and bring him here." He said.

"Oh don't worry. It's not too far from here. Hermione, love, would you go there and bring him here?" Robert asked Hermione. Hermione was speechless at her father's query.

'I just don't believe dad. He's asking me to go and bring Harry Potter here. Surely, world is turning into something else, that I don't know about.' She thought with bewilderment.

"Sure dad. I will go and even take Romilda with me. Mr. Potter, can you tell him to wait for us at the florist shop, near the square? It would be easier to find him there." Hermione said calmly, trying to hide her annoyance.

"Sure, I'll just call him." James said and went to call his son.

Hermione got up from her seat and waved Romilda to join her. Romilda made her way towards Hermione who was still standing near the table where her parents were sitting.

"What is it?" Romilda whispered irritatingly.

"Mr. and Mrs. Potter, meet my cousin Romilda." Hermione introduced, feeling a bit smug inside. She knew Romilda would try her best to impress them.

"Hello Romilda." James said who had just joined them back.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Potter, it's really nice to meet you." Romilda replied, in her best possible, polite tone.

"Same here, Romilda" Lily replied with a smile.

"Romilda I am going to the square to bring Harry Potter, here at home. Would you like to come with me? It's not too far from here. Just on the10 minutes walk." Hermione said in a very sweet or say too sweet tone. She caught Lily's eyes, who winked at her and turned to talk to Jane.

Hermione was sure that Cho would have told Romilda about her dating stories with the famous Potter boy. And Romilda's expression had told her everything, when she mentioned Harry Potter.

"Yeah sure" Romilda said, in her sugar coated voice.

Hermione and Romilda were in the house, getting ready to go to the square.

Hermione wore her boots, as roads were filled with the snow and waited for Romilda to join her. Romilda had gone to the washroom, to right her appearance. At last, 10 minutes later Romilda came out.

"Wear your boots. Snow is thick, outside." Hermione said to Romilda.

"I am not going to wear the boots. It would spoil my whole look." Romilda said snootily.

Hermione rolled her eyes at her cousin.

"Ok then, wait here till I go and bring Harry Potter here." Hermione said with a shrug, intentionally emphasizing on the words, Harry Potter.

Romilda glared at Hermione."Okay, give me a sec." Romilda said and with that she wore her boots and jacket and they both left the house.

They reached at the square in 10 minutes. It was pretty cold out there and was getting dark. They reached to the florist shop. But there was no one, except the shop keeper.

"Hello Madam Rosmerta. Merry Christmas, how are you?" Hermione said to the shop owner.

"Oh! Hello Hermione dear. Merry Christmas to you as well and I am fine. What are you doing here?" Rosmerta replied, smiling at her.

Rosmerta was an old lone woman and lived in a small flat, above her shop. She always kept her shop open, even on the holidays and was a good friend of Hermione.

"Have you seen somebody here? A boy, he should have been waiting here for us." Hermione said.

"No dear, no one has come yet." Rosmerta replied. Hermione just nodded and came out of shop.

"What happened?" Romilda asked who was waiting outside for Hermione.

"No one has come yet. Where is he?" Hermione said with an irritated voice.

"We should wait here for some time. He'll be here. Is this the only florist shop here?" Romilda asked calmly.

Hermione looked surprised at her attitude. "Yeah" she replied.

'She can wait for the precious Potter, but I can't. We are freezing here and that boy…' Hermione was lost in her thoughts, when a BMW M3 convertible stopped in front of her and Romilda. Two boys were sitting in the car. Boy, who was driving the car, was wearing round spectacles and had messy hair just like James Potter and his eyes were bright emerald green, just like Lily Potter. He looked the same age, as of Hermione and Romilda, though taller than them.

'He must be Harry Potter but who's this other guy.' Hermione thought. Other guy had the gangly look. He had flaming red hair, blue eyes and freckles on his face, quite good looking, overall.

"Miss Granger?" Boy with emerald eyes asked them.

"Yes. You're Mr. Potter?" Romilda asked sweetly.

Boy got out of his car. "Harry Potter" he said extending his hand.

Romilda shook his hand and smiled at him "Romilda Vane." She said.

Harry looked confused at this "Romilda? You are not Hermione Granger?" he asked.

Before Romilda could reply, Hermione decided to step in the conversation.

"I am Hermione Granger." She said, a bit stiffly.

Harry looked at her and nodded. He was staring at her, with an odd look on his face. Hermione started to feel uncomfortable under his gaze.

"Can we leave now?" Romilda asked exasperatingly.

"Yeah" Harry said. He motioned them to sit on the back seat of his car. Romilda quickly seated herself in the car. Hermione was a bit reluctant to sit in his car. Looking at her hesitation, Harry raised his eyebrows at her. Hermione just shook her head and sat next to Romilda. Harry sat back in his car and started the engine.

"So where to?" he asked Hermione.

Hermione just rolled her eyes and gave him the directions to reach her house.

"Hi" other red haired boy said "I am Ronald Weasley. You can call me Ron."

"Hello, I am Hermione Granger and this is my cousin, Romilda Vane." Hermione said.

"So you are from Beauxbatons?" Harry asked conversationally while looking at the road.

"Yeah, and you both are from Hogwarts?" Romilda said giving him a smile, she thought made her look beautiful.

"Yeah" Harry said.

Hermione didn't bother to join in the conversation. She kept her eyes sideways, on the road.

"We are here." Hermione said when they were near her house. Harry stopped the car in front of her house. Hermione got out of the car and didn't bother about inviting the boys in the house, she was sure Romilda would do the job very nicely. She made her way to the front door.

She could feel others coming behind her but didn't bother to look back. She rang the bell and after some time, Jane opened the door.

"Hey mum, they are here." Hermione said.

Jane smiled. "Thanks dear and now is the time for your reward. Somebody is waiting for you in the backyard." Jane said, with a grin on her face. Hermione was intrigued by her mum's tone. She removed her boots and quickly made her way to the backyard.

She was pleasantly surprised to see Luna there.

"Luna" Hermione said excitedly.

Luna looked at her, smiling brilliantly. She moved towards Hermione, hugging her tightly. "Merry Christmas Hermione" She said excitedly.

"Merry Christmas Luna and how come, you are here." Hermione said her voice full wonder and happiness.

"Well I thought you could use some company, other than your dear cousin here." Luna said dreamily. Hermione simply laughed at her.

"I sure could use your company, Luna. I missed you. And you have no idea who's here today." Hermione said with amusement.

"Really, who're you talking about?" Luna asked curiously.

"See it by yourself." Hermione said gesturing towards the door of the house, which opened in the backyard. Harry, Ron, Romilda and Jane were coming through the door in the backyard.

Luna's eyes widened in surprise "Harry Potter" was all she managed.

……………………………

A/N: - Did you like it? Read and don't forget to REVIEW.

(A/N: - 1. I don't know if it's allowed to drive the car in London, at the age of 16. But in this fic, Harry does drive the car. Telling this, just in case, anyone feels doubtful.)

1. Thompsons who attended the party were only those who belonged to Jane's actual family before marriage i. e. her parents, real brothers and sisters (no cousins) and their wives or girlfriends, husbands or boyfriends and their kids.)

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