Rating:
PG-13
House:
Schnoogle
Characters:
Hermione Granger
Genres:
General Romance
Era:
Multiple Eras
Spoilers:
Philosopher's Stone Chamber of Secrets Prizoner of Azkaban Goblet of Fire Order of the Phoenix Quidditch Through the Ages Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Stats:
Published: 01/06/2004
Updated: 03/04/2004
Words: 119,154
Chapters: 16
Hits: 98,357

Hermione Granger and the Order of the Phoenix

Ann Margaret

Story Summary:
Thought that Harry and Cho was the only romance occurring at Hogwarts during OotP? The fifth book from Hermione's POV--what really happened in those prefect meetings; what happened during the summer alone with Ron? Could there be another boy in the picture besides Ron or Viktor? Explore Hermione's budding relationship with Ron Weasley, flirtations with prefects and one Zacharias Smith, and could Malfoy possibly be interested in her? Okay, maybe not, but a great story for those R/H shippers out there who didn't get enough in the real OotP. (And sorry I couldn't think of a more original title! =) )

Chapter 09

Chapter Summary:
A short chapter with two scenes at Christmas time at Grimmauld Place: Hermione reflects and receives a very surprising gift!
Posted:
01/26/2004
Hits:
5,146

Hermione Granger had originally stepped back to critically examine her work, but had ended up just standing there, watching. It was rather peaceful to just sit and watch the scene before her, a sight that was so heartwarming and pleasant that one would have thought it was straight out of one of those cheesy Christmas movies you saw on the telly at this time of year.

Holly and garlands were strung up everywhere, snow covered the portions of damaged carpet, and although Hermione did not approve of decorating the poor dead house-elves' heads, she had to admit that the stairwell was much more festive. They had been decorating for days, and now they were putting the finishing touches and the drawing room. Mundungus had come through brilliantly to bring them a huge Christmas tree, and they were all putting the finishing touches. Ginny had the honors of levitating the star on the top branch, and was attempting to perform her task despite George and Fred's distractions. They had discovered that it irritated Ginny quite a bit to flick Dungbombs at the back of her knees or down the back of her jumper, and were relishing doing it behind their mother's back. Mrs. Weasley was fussing over Bill's hair; luckily, when Bill had stopped by, he had the good sense to not bring Fleur, much to Hermione's relief. And Harry and Ron were hanging up the last of the stockings over the mantle.

"Damn!" Sirius barked, "Watch it; some fairies got loose!" He rose from the small cage he had brought it and pulled out his wand, peering in the air. Sirius had the brilliant idea to release fairies into the branches of the evergreen, and the effect on the tree was breathtaking. Hermione just wished that she had thought to do that when she helped decorate the Great Hall. Of course, the potential havoc the excessively vain creatures could wreak was enough to dissuade the thought from Hermione's mind.

"Got one!" Harry said quickly as he reached out and caught one in mid-air. Most everyone was impressed, but Hermione noticed that Fred and George looked rather depressed at the sight of Harry's obvious Seeker skills. They were still sore about being banned from Quidditch.

The rest of the fairies seemed to go straight for the women, because the next moment, Mrs. Weasley was shaking her head wildly to free the fairy from her hair while another fairy attacked the hem of her skirt. Ginny was also fighting off two fairies of her own, and before Hermione could move to help either one of them, she had problems of her own.

The fairies obviously first attacked her long curls and tugged painfully hard. Hermione yelped and swatted her hand helplessly, imitating Mrs. Weasley by shaking her head side to side.

"Get off me!"

"Wait, wait, hold still," Harry ordered, using one hand to hold her in place and swinging his other hand over her head. In two deft swings, he had frightened the three fairies that had inhabited in her hair away. He twisted his wrist in time to catch two of them, and he hastily moved away to throw them back in the cage.

Hermione watched Harry move to next help Ginny, who was receiving no aid at all from Fred and George, who'd rather laugh at their sister's plight. She absently rubbed her tender side of her head. It really surprised her sometimes that people actually thought that she fancied Harry. She supposed she could see technically why they could think that; she had lost count of all the times he had saved her hide. But then again, he would have probably failed History and Potions if she hadn't helped him, so she felt that she was repaying the debt with interest. With all the fairy tales and stories out there about the hero rescuing the damsel in distress and riding off in the sunset to live happily ever after, who couldn't blame people for making assumptions about her and Harry? But she thought it was quite obvious to anyone with eyes that she and Harry were nothing more than very good friends. For example, just now: yes, Harry had rushed to her side to help her, but so would any good friend. Honestly, she had been about to go help Ginny before she had been assailed by the little beasts, so by their logic, she should fancy Ginny. Besides, Harry had a bit of what Hermione had come to call a 'saving-people' thing; he just seemed to have a natural instinct to help anyone in need. And Hermione seemed to have a knack for getting herself into difficult situations. But she was in no way a damsel in distress; if you wanted to put a label on her position in the drama that was Harry Potter, she was a sidekick, thank you very much. So by that definition, she should not end up with Harry. But sidekicks could end up with other sidekicks.

Her eyes moved over to Ron, and she had to stifle her laughter. Ron was currently attempting in vain to catch the third fairy that had been pulling on her hair. He was not blessed with Harry's agility and instincts, so basically all he accomplished was leaping in the air, tripping over his own feet, and letting loose several slews of very colorful language. His face was growing redder and redder by the second as his frustration mounted, but yet he didn't give up. That was one of the things Hermione really admired about Ron: he certainly was determined. Once he put his mind to something, he'd be damned if it didn't happen. That was part of the reason why Hermione pressured him so much to study; she knew if he applied himself, he'd be, as he would put it, bloody brilliant.

The sprite ducked Ron once again, but this time zoomed back towards Hermione. Instantly, her wand flew up and a quick Impediment curse stopped the fairy mid-flight.

"And--you--couldn't-do-that earlier?" Ron panted out, bending over with his hands on his knees as though he had just run five marathons back-to-back.

"Well," Hermione couldn't help teasing, "it was rather amusing."

Ron just glared at her as he continued to attempt to catch his breath, eyes on the floor, leaving Hermione free to stare. His shoulders have gotten broader, she noted, he's not as lanky as he was. Well, sure, he was still lankier than Fred and George, but not nearly as scrawny. A shock of his hair was falling over his forehead and into his eyes, and Hermione really wanted to push it out of the way for him or tell him to get a haircut so he wouldn't tempt her like this. She didn't know what it was about Ron; he wasn't extraordinarily good-looking at all, but it didn't matter to her. It was enough that he was lanky, tall, and freckle-ridden; it was enough to get her hormones to run wild and almost make her act as silly as Parvati or Lavender.

He straightened up, and Hermione hastily snapped her eyes downward.

"Nasty buggers," Ron was still slightly out of breath as he watched Harry get the last fairy into the cage. "Why would Sirius want to use them?"

"Because although fairies can be aggressive, they are so vain that if they know they will be used for ornamental purposes, they become docile," Hermione recited verbatim from her textbook.

"Oh," Ron sounded satisfied, if not bored with her explanation. He swept the red shock of hair out of his eyes much to Hermione's relief. She watched as a devilish smile spread across his face, and snuck back over to the pile of enchanted snow Sirius had conjured in the corner. He deftly made a snowball and hid it behind his back, putting on a mock innocent expression as Harry returned to him.

Harry never knew what hit him.

She burst out into laughter as Harry sputtered and spat out snowflakes while Ron gasped for breath and doubled over with glee. Harry raised his eyebrows sternly at his best friend's mirth. The glare would have been much more effective if his eyebrows were clean of the clumps of snow, so Ron just laughed even harder. Harry charged towards the mound at the same moment as Ron for fresh ammunition while Hermione just watched with an unconscious smile lighting up her pensive face. Harry roared with laughter as he ducked a snowball and managed to sling an armful of snow straight into Ron's face. It was so good to see Harry laughing like that again. There were times when she thought he was never going to smile again. And it was all thanks to Ron. She tilted her head slightly as she continued to watch her best friends battle it out. Ron's perception at times amazed her; she personally thought that Ron's actions were a little childish and inappropriate, but it had managed to make Harry laugh like that. The sight of Harry so happy was probably why Mrs. Weasley allowed for the two to continue wrestling but restrained Fred, George, and Ginny from joining the fray. It was so good to see Harry enjoying himself. She had a feeling that once they got back to Hogwarts, she wouldn't be hearing him laugh as often.

Well, she conceded as she watched Harry lay on the ground, panting with exertion and laughing, maybe he would with Ron around. She knew that those two would always depend on her for advice about girls and everything, but she really didn't understand the way those two thought. But Ron understood Harry at a level that she never could, and he always knew when to be serious and when to just laugh things off. It was probably why Harry snapped at her more than Ron; she didn't understand him enough to know when to do or say whatever he needed at the moment. But that didn't matter; she'd always be there for Harry, whether he liked it or not, just like she'd always be there for Ron. But she knew that Ron was really the rock that held both her and Harry together; if Ron was gone, she wasn't sure if Harry and she would be able to cope. Hermione pulled down anxiously on her jumper at even the thought of Ron out of her life. She didn't plan on finding out how awful life would be without Ron Weasley.

Hermione never knew why she didn't realize until a week ago that she was actually in love with the prat. The signs were certainly there; technically, she should have known ages ago. Now she could understand why Ron if he did fancy her didn't realize his feelings. She hadn't even realized her own feelings until recently. Even though she never would have thought she would go for a boy like Ron, she loved him. Even though he was a complete idiot at times...

SPLAT.

"Ron!" Hermione protested as she wiped her cheek clean of the surprisingly tepid mound of snow that Ron had hurled at her.

"Sorry," Ron didn't sound sorry in the slightest, "Didn't want you to feel left out." He smiled cheekily at her, and all ill thoughts about him vanished from her mind.

Oh God, she really did love the idiot

**

"Oy! Wake up, Hermione!"

"Ow," Hermione complained as a plush pillow was tossed over onto her face. She blearily opened her eyes and lifted her head. "What did you do that for?"

Ginny only grinned. "Happy Christmas to you too."

Hermione smiled sleepily back. "Happy Christmas," she returned as she sat up in bed. She usually awoke early on Christmas, but she had gotten to bed rather late. She had gotten the idea to give Kreacher a gift only a couple of days ago, but it had taken quite a bit of time to complete the patchwork quilt. She had only finished it very late last night. She hoped he appreciated it, and perhaps he would make an effort to be a bit kinder to her. Although he hadn't said anything rude to her ever since she arrived, but come to think of it, Hermione realized with a frown, she hadn't seen Kreacher at all. Where the devil was he?

"Well, come on," Ginny urged excitedly, gesturing towards the end of Hermione's bed. "Dig in!"

Hermione laughed as Ginny practically dove on top of her pile of gifts and started throwing the paper she was ripping off at high speed over her shoulder. Hermione looked at the edge of her own bed, and picked up her first gift.

"Oh, wow, Harry!" she cried out as she pulled away the paper to reveal New Theory of Numerology, the book that she had wanted for ages. It was awfully nice for Harry to remember; they had gone into the bookstore after the meeting at Hog's Head and she had mentioned how much she had wanted it. But she had told him months ago; she couldn't believe that he had remembered.

"What?" Ginny craned her neck to see, "Oh, a book," she noted flatly.

"It's not just a book, Ginny," Hermione explained excitedly, "There's this new revolutionary theory circulating about..."

Ginny was already pretending to snore.

"All right, all right," Hermione conceded ruefully, "I won't bore you." She shook her head as she reached for her next present. "You know, sometimes you really remind me of Ron."

"Thanks," Ginny chirped brightly. "I know coming from you, that's exceptionally high praise."

Hermione normally would have snapped out a clever retort, but she was too busy examining her first-ever Weasley Christmas jumper. She held up the royal purple jumper in front of her and fingered the soft wool. Looks like Mrs. Weasley and I are on much better terms since that chat we had, Hermione thought happily.

"Ooo!" Ginny smirked when she glanced over to see what Hermione had just received. "You really are one of us!" Hermione lowered the jumper to her lap with a smile and didn't answer. Ginny ripped off the paper of another gift, and her jaw dropped. "Oh," she breathed.

"What?" Hermione leaned forward to try to see what was in the small box Ginny had just opened. But Ginny had flattened her hand over the lid, wide-eyed and for once, speechless. "Is it from Michael?"

"No," Ginny said softly, "It--it's nothing, really. It's just..." She looked over at Hermione. "It's just that Harry's never gotten me a gift before."

"It's from Harry?" Hermione asked with surprise, "Well, what is it?"

Ginny carefully reached inside and quickly pulled the item out, concealing it from Hermione's gaze with her fist. Ginny cupped her other hand over her clenched fist and rose from the bed; she padded over to the side of Hermione's and separated her fingers slightly to give Hermione a peek.

"Oh!" Hermione looked up at her friend, "Where did he get it?"

"It must be the one he held on to before getting banned," Ginny guessed as she moved to return the golden Snitch to its box. "Harry let go of it when he came back to the common room, and I found it zooming around in the girls' loo a few days later. I gave it back to Harry because I thought he'd want it, but now he gave it to me,"

Ah, yes, that did sound like Harry. Hermione assumed that he had stored the Snitch in his trunk, and perhaps when he arrived at Grimmauld Place, he found it and decided to give it to Ginny since she had just replaced him as Seeker. Hermione knew that there was a possibility Harry had done that since he had no idea what to get Ginny for Christmas, but she'd prefer not to consider that. She would like to think that Harry had accepted that Ginny would be a suitable replacement on the team, and gave her the Snitch to help her train. Whatever the reason was, it was a lovely idea for a gift for Ginny. Hermione continued to watch Ginny stare in awe down at the Snitch while she reached for another gift to unwrap. This is one of the loveliest things about Christmas, Hermione thought contentedly, a warm, pleasant feeling engulfing the pit of her stomach. Ginny's smile was so radiant that Hermione continued to watch as she opened up her next present.

When she finally glanced down, her smile faded. Oh Viktor, she thought a little sadly as she pulled out the bottle of perfume. When are you going to get a hint? It was a lovely vial, she noted, she had an eye for crystal, and she could tell that it was not one of the cheap knock-off kinds you found street vendors storing in the inside pockets of their trench coats. She pulled the stopper out and smelled cautiously. It was a good thing she did; she recoiled slightly at the strong scent. It seemed that Viktor was better at picking out crystal than perfume.

"Perfume?" Ginny finally put down the box with the Snitch and once again clamored out of bed so she could inspect Hermione's gift. Hermione held out the bottle for Ginny to sniff. "Whew!" Ginny also had to take a step backwards. "Well, it's the thought that counts, not the smell," she joked, over-dramatically fanning the air in front of her wrinkled nose.

Hermione laughed along with her friend, but her heart really wasn't into it. "I just wish that Viktor would finally realize that I don't have any romantic feelings towards him," she confided.

"I know," Ginny said sympathetically. She turned to go back to her presents when her quick Seeker eyes fastened on Hermione's pile of gifts. "Hermione, Viktor got you two gifts?"

"What?" Hermione groaned as she reached forward to grab the parcel Ginny was indicating. "This is too much even for you, Viktor." But sure enough, To Hermione, Love Viktor was printed neatly on top of the box.

"Merlin, he's really got it bad for you, doesn't he?" Ginny commented as she sat down on the edge of her bed. But Hermione didn't answer; she had had a sudden urgent hunch that made her instinctively flip over the paper she had just ripped off. "Hermione?" Ginny pressed when she saw Hermione's cheeks color and jaw drop. "What is it?"

"The perfume's not from Viktor," Hermione whispered in wonder.

"Oh, if it's not from Viktor, than who is it from," Ginny knew the answer before Hermione could even open her mouth. Ginny's eyes popped and she jumped to her feet again to inspect the paper herself. "Well, I'll be damned," Ginny grinned, nudging Hermione slyly, "Looks like someone finally got a clue!"

"Yeah," Hermione didn't take her eyes off of Ron's untidy scrawl, still in a state of disbelief.

"Hermione, he's getting it!" Ginny squealed, almost jumping up and down with glee. "He's not so thick after all! I told you that if he does something like this, it means something..."

Hermione finally looked up from the gift wrapping to glare suspiciously at Ginny. "You didn't tell him to not get me a book, did you?" It seemed like something Ginny would do.

"No!" Ginny protested. Hermione didn't drop her glare, and Ginny finally relented. "Okay, well, sort of. All I told him was maybe he should think of something other than a book since he and Harry got you the same birthday gift."

"Ginny!" Hermione almost wailed, "Why did you tell him that?!" She had never told Ron that he had accidentally duplicated her gift.

"It doesn't matter," Ginny soothed, "I didn't tell him what to get; I just told him to put more thought in your gift, that's all. He did the rest all on his own."

"Really?" Hermione softened.

"Yeah," Ginny returned earnestly.

Hermione was truly blissful for all of three seconds before remembering something rather important. "Oh bugger!"

"What?" Ginny looked startled at Hermione's use of language. "What now?"

Hermione guiltily looked at Ginny with almost doleful eyes. "I gave him a homework planner."

"What?" Ginny yelped, "Hermione, why would you do that?"

"I don't know!" Hermione fell into her pillow in embarrassment. "I was trying to get over him, remember? Besides, I didn't want to be too obvious so I got him and Harry the same thing!"

"Still," Ginny insisted, "just because you are trying to get over him doesn't mean that you give him a homework planner."

"They really do need them," Hermione argued, "We've got O.W.L.s coming up and neither of them has begun to study properly, and they're always behind with homework, and I don't want to have to do their essays again!"

"You wrote their essays?" Ginny asked in disbelief.

Hermione ignored her friend's question. "What am I going to do?"

CRACK

Hermione instinctively hid the perfume underneath the wrapping paper as Fred and George Apparated at the foot of Ginny's bed, hands clapped over their eyes.

"You aren't in your knickers, are you?" Fred asked with mock fearfulness.

"Yes, Fred," Ginny said sarcastically. "Hermione and I traipse around stark naked every Christmas morning, I thought you'd know that by now."

George dropped his hand first, and Hermione could tell that although he was laughing, something was bothering him. "Well, Happy Christmas," he greeted, "and don't go downstairs for a bit."

"Why?" Ginny asked, settling back down on her bed. Fred was idly inspecting her gifts, and Ginny quickly hid Harry's from sight.

"Percy sent back his jumper," Fred explained heavily.

"Oh, no," Hermione breathed, her arms covering her chest self-consciously. She knew that Fred and George had seen her in her nightgown before, but she still felt more than a little uncomfortable.

"Is Mum okay?" Ginny whispered.

"She's crying again," Fred told her. "We tried to comfort her..."

"You?" Ginny snorted, "Comfort Mum? How?"

"We just told her that Percy's worth nothing more than a mound of rat droppings..."

"Oh, brilliant," Ginny rolled her eyes as she rifled through the discarded paper to make sure she hadn't missed a gift in her frenzy. "I better get down there."

"Lupin's with her," George relayed.

"Oh," Ginny eyed the few presents that had just been revealed. "Well, I reckon she'll be all right." She settled back down and picked up another parcel.

"Well, just thought we'd pass on the news," Fred bowed melodramatically, "We're going to now to see our darling little brother and Harry."

"So Happy Christmas..."

"...to all..."

"...and to all..."

"... A good morning!"

Two loud cracks and the twins were gone.

"Prats," Ginny commented fondly.

"Yes," Hermione said distractedly, her mind still on the Ron situation. "But Ginny, what am I going to do about this?" She held up the rose-colored vial of perfume.

"Well, I wouldn't wear it," Ginny advised, "It smells a bit like Hagrid's aftershave." Hermione let out an impatient click of her tongue, and Ginny instantly became serious. "Look, just act casual. Don't let him know how much it meant to you. If he now realizes how he feels, you have to act aloof if you want him to come to you. I know my brother, and he'll eventually get so fed up with his emotions and tell you everything. Ron can never keep a secret."

"Yeah," Hermione nodded. "You're right, Ginny. Thanks." She was about to continue opening her gifts when she spotted Kreacher's gift. "I better go deliver this."

"Sure," Ginny didn't even look up from a small book she was paging through with a smile. Hermione quickly threw on some clothes and slipped out of the room. She couldn't seem to stop smiling; despite the new complications Ron's gift had brought, no gift could have made her happier.

It was a very happy Christmas after all.


Author notes: This was all original material--yay!

Although the fairies getting released and pulling on Hermione's hair was inspired by the DADA class scene in the film Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Thanks for reading! Next chapter takes us up through Valentine's Day and includes a letter to Rita, a talk with Luna, and a surprise on patrol.