Christmas with the Grangers

Christmas with the Grangers

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It was Saturday, the twelfth of December, and Harry was waiting for Hermione in the hall of number twelve, Grimmauld Place. With a quiet pop, she Apparated into the hall, carrying two suitcases. She put them down and smiled at Harry. 'I'm exhausted, carrying them all this way,' she joked. They kissed.

'I'll help you take them upstairs -- hey!' He'd almost overbalanced before realising she'd used a charm to make them weigh hardly anything.

'No problem,' she said, laughing at him. 'I can just about manage. You haven't changed your mind, have you -- still the same room? You don't want to keep the first floor rooms for guests?'

'Yes, the one you shared with Ginny,' he replied, taking one of her cases anyway. 'Is this really all you need?'

She started up the stairs. 'No. This is about what I'd have had in my trunk, with Shrinking Charms used to make everything smaller. I'll probably make at least two more trips for the rest -- things I don't want to shrink.'

'Oh, like Crookshanks.'

When they reached the first landing, she went into the room she'd shared with Ginny between their fourth and fifth years. 'No Ginny, no parents.' She glanced at Harry and put the suitcases flat on the bed that had been Ginny's. 'Thank you for suggesting this.' She handed him a small bag of coins. 'That's for the rest of this month.'

'Thanks. I wasn't expecting it before you'd even sat down -- and there's no rush for future rent. Wait until you hear about the Department of Mysteries job, if you want.'

'I can't wait that long! I thought I'd got the Experimental Charms job, remember?'

'Well, maybe the Department of Mysteries is one place where they don't know what "over-qualified" means. I really don't mind waiting; I can manage for a couple of weeks, until you get paid.' He grinned. She knew perfectly well he had a vault full of Galleons, which he'd hardly made an impression on in seven years at Hogwarts.

'I hope I do get that job. It's five months since we got our results. You didn't have this much trouble.'

Harry shrugged. 'I just had to be able to fly and see a Snitch. It didn't matter if I passed any NEWTs at all. I didn't even need my OWLs for what I'm doing.'

'You don't fool me. I know there's more to it than that. It was all Malfoy had to do, and he never once beat you.'

Harry grinned at that memory. 'No, he didn't, did he? Anyway, are you hungry after all that travelling? I haven't eaten yet.'

'Mum wouldn't let me leave the house until I'd had a big tea, but I'll come back down to talk to you and Remus,' she said. 'She's worried I won't eat enough without her around.'

They entered the kitchen. 'Oh yes, Remus went to get some food, since neither of us noticed until this morning that we were out of some things. Like eggs, so if you want scrambled eggs, you'll have to wait until he gets back.' He paused. 'And that doesn't mean we desperately need to have someone organise us.'

'I bet you do, but I wasn't going to say it first. Besides, I didn't get hungry just coming downstairs.'

'Sorry. It's just this thing about being a good host. I'm not used to it.'

'I know. It doesn't matter.'

While Harry made himself a couple of ham sandwiches, they carried on talking. 'Your parents didn't make any last-minute attempt to stop you moving out, then?'

'No. I did say I'd go back there for Christmas day -- and you're invited. I asked if that included Lupin, but they felt awkward about that.'

'Ah. I thought they decided he wasn't so bad.'

'They did, but maybe they still don't want a werewolf actually visiting them at home. But it might not be that.'

'What else could it be?' Harry asked.

'I think it might just be that they want a sort of family get-together. You know, them, their daughter who's moved out, and her boyfriend. Remus doesn't fit into that "family" set-up.' She bit her lip and looked down at the table. 'It's not fair unless he's got anyone to spend Christmas with, though.'

Harry sat down at the table with his sandwiches. 'It might be that. I hadn't thought about it. It's not the same as visiting Ron's family on Boxing Day.' He took a bite of a sandwich. 'I wonder if he's got anyone else to be with on Christmas Day.'

Harry sat eating the sandwiches in silence for a while. Eventually, Hermione said, 'I think I'm a little bit tense about my moving in.'

'Yes, I suppose I am too. I didn't think I would be.'

Hermione shook her head. 'Nor did I.' She took her wand from her pocket, and looked at it. 'I can use any magic now I'm here, without upsetting anyone. That ought to make me less tense.'

'We've lived in this house together before, even though most of Ron's family were here as well. And there were all those years in Gryffindor Tower.'

'I think it's mainly Ron and Ginny that make the difference.'

'Yes, sharing our rooms with them made it all feel different.' He sighed. 'You don't think this is a mistake?'

'I think it's just something different for both of us, and we'll have to get used to it.'

'We can't really ask Ron to move in as well. If we did, it would feel odd, even if Susan didn't move here too.'

They heard the front door open. Harry explained, 'We don't bother locking the door as much as we did when Voldemort was a threat. You just need to use the Unlocking charms you know about, and give the password, which is "Bing Crosby".'

'It's what?' she asked, laughing.

Remus came into the kitchen. 'Hello there, Hermione. We were feeling Christmassy when Harry chose it, saying it was someone you'd have heard of. I humoured him.' He went over to the pantry and started putting away the food he'd bought.

Hermione laughed. 'Thank you. You told me the old password before, Harry. I didn't realise you had changed it. Anyway, I know that I can still get through the anti-Apparation wards, because I just did.' When the house had become the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, and the protective spells had been imposed, Dumbledore had set them so that they wouldn't stop any of those living there.

'Of course. I said the stuff about locking it, too, didn't I? Sorry; you're right, I am tense about this new arrangement. I'll be telling you next about the Fidelius Charm.'

'You're tense?' Remus asked. 'I can't decide if I'm meant to be a chaperon for the pair of you, or if I'm supposed to hide out of the way.'

'Neither,' said Hermione, smiling. 'I'll be my own chaperone, and you don't have to hide.'

Harry put the plate he'd been using into the sink, and started it washing up with a wave of his wand. 'That's a scary thought, you as a chaperone.'

'I thought meeting my parents was the scary thought. You hadn't faced anyone worse than Voldemort before.'

Remus closed the pantry door and sat down at the table. 'That's not really funny.'

Harry shrugged. 'I thought it was. Anyway, he's dead now, and the Aurors have got most of his Death Eaters. Four more were arrested two days ago.'

'Oh, good,' said Hermione.

Remus said, 'Yes, Kingsley passed the message on via Arthur. There's still some they haven't caught, but they're not about to draw any attention to themselves by attacking anyone. The Prophet has been told not to say anything yet, to avoid premature celebrations.'

'Safe at last,' said Harry in a satisfied tone. 'I can play Quidditch, and I don't need to worry about you being attacked, Hermione.' He reddened. 'I just have to worry about us not getting on now that we're in the same house.'

Hermione nodded slowly. 'At least that's a worry that lots of people have. So, what's your first impression of being normal?'

Remus laughed. 'I hadn't thought of it that way. You're right, though.'

'Yes,' said Harry, 'I'm normal now. I don't have to be the world's big hope for defeating Voldemort, since April.' He leant back in his chair. 'I can just sit back and relax.' At that moment, he overbalanced, falling backwards. Hermione stopped the chair falling with a wave of her wand. Harry pulled the chair upright again. 'Well, I can relax, but I can't sit back that far. And I still need you,' he said, smiling at her. 'Thanks.'

'How did your parents feel about you using magic at home?' Remus asked her.

Hermione said, 'They said they didn't mind, but I think they found it odd. You can't blame them, they were about forty when they found out I was a witch -- it's a long time to get used to life without magic.' She shrugged. 'When you're only ten, it's not a shock as much as an adventure. I didn't think about what it was like for them until later.'

'My parents wouldn't have been shocked,' said Harry, regretfully. 'But I enjoyed it when Hagrid told me I was a wizard, and the Dursleys were appalled that I knew. It was good being able to use magic there during last summer, too.' He grinned, remembering his relatives' reaction.

'I couldn't do that until I'd left Hogwarts,' Hermione said. As her seventeenth birthday was three weeks after the start of their seventh year, she hadn't been of age during the previous summer holiday. 'I could if I'd been at home last Christmas, of course.'

'That reminds me,' said Harry. 'So they're not going skiing this Christmas?'

'No. They usually go with some friends who can't make it this year. So they're at home, and we can go round there for Christmas. Oh.' She looked at Remus, as did Harry.

'I'm not invited, am I?' Remus said. 'That's OK, it's a family day, isn't it? I'm not part of your family.' Harry wasn't sure if there was any bitterness in his tone, but Remus seemed to be carefully keeping his voice even.

'I hope it is just that,' said Hermione. 'They liked you when they met you last month. I'll ask them again when I get more of my things.'

'Good. Even if it isn't that, I can't blame them. Wizards don't want to associate with me, I'm not surprised when Muggles don't either. Anyway, someone else asked me to spend Christmas with ... them. Back on today, I got everything on the list, Harry.'

'Right, thanks. Hermione's not hungry at the moment, anyway.'

Hermione frowned. 'Why do I have to be hungry? You two both sound as if I need fattening up.'

'Well, I thought we ought to have a bit of a celebration, if you don't mind that.'

'Oh, I don't mind that, no. I'm glad you think my moving in is something to celebrate.'

'As you said before, it's our big chance to drive each other mad,' he said, grinning.

'You haven't said you're the good one for a while,' she commented.

Harry asked, 'Was that driving you mad? No, I stopped because you said I was saying it too much.' Remus grinned. Harry asked him, 'What?'

'Nothing,' he replied. 'This is a perfectly innocent arrangement, which happens to involve two people who are dating. It just happens to involve Hermione getting you to change how you act, as well.'

Harry looked at Hermione, who was biting her lip to keep from smiling. He said, 'I suppose you are, slightly. But I don't mind, if it's something I do that's annoying.'

*

The following Tuesday, Hermione was sitting at the kitchen table, adding a note to her diary. When Harry came into the kitchen, she was frowning at it.

'What's the matter?' Harry asked.

'I'm just wondering. I'm probably being nosy, but do you think Remus is mainly trying to make me feel better? He seemed evasive about the invitation from someone else. Maybe he doesn't want to impose.'

'Maybe not. We've been avoiding him, in a way,' agreed Harry. While waiting to hear from the Department of Mysteries, Hermione had been to watch two training sessions of the Falmouth Falcons, and they'd been out twice for a meal and a film. 'But I don't think he's surprised we want to spend more time with each other.'

She grinned at him, then they heard Remus' footsteps crossing the hall to the kitchen. He came in and pulled a chair out to sit down. 'Oh, there's a cat on my chair.' He stroked Crookshanks and sat on a different chair.

'Oh, Remus, I asked Mum, and she said the reason she only invited Harry is because he's almost family. It isn't because you're a werewolf. You're all right anyway, with this other invitation, aren't you?'

Remus just nodded, and stroked Crookshanks. Hermione had been back to her parents' house to collect the rest of her things, and she'd brought Crookshanks back on the Knight Bus on one of those trips. Apparating with him would have risked splinching them both. He seemed to remember living in the house before, and had had no trouble adapting, though Harry thought he missed his friend Sirius. That, of course, had just made Harry like Crookshanks better.

'I'm taking my parents to Saturday's Falcons game,' Hermione said. 'We've got a Portkey for them. It means my parents will actually see what a Quidditch game looks like.'

*

'That was interesting. I think I see now what the appeal is,' Mr Granger commented, as they finally got out of the stadium, after the three-hour match had ended with a win for the Falcons.

'So you play the position that has to catch that little ball, Harry?' Mrs Granger asked.

'Yes, the Seeker. Do you want to get something to eat round here, or go home now?' Harry asked. He hadn't been able to sit with them, since he might have been needed if the usual Seeker had been injured in the game and couldn't continue.

'There's a nice cafe over there,' Hermione said. 'We've gone there when I've come here to watch Harry train.'

Mr Granger looked at his wife, who nodded and said, 'All right, let's go there.'

They managed to find a space in the cafe, which was full of people who'd been watching the game. Hermione insisted that her parents try Pumpkin Pasties and Cauldron Cakes, and she and Harry had the same thing, with Butterbeers all round.

'I didn't have much time to ask this before the game, but are you two getting on all right? Hermione's being very positive about living there,' Mr Granger asked.

Harry nodded. 'Yes, it's OK. We haven't driven each other mad yet, just slightly crazy.'

Hermione grinned. 'See, he agrees.'

'We should have asked him when you weren't here,' teased her mother. 'But I'm glad you are OK.'

'And it's still quite innocent,' said Harry. 'I promise, I haven't led your daughter astray.'

'He hasn't even tried to,' said Hermione, sounding disappointed. Then she grinned impishly.

'I felt better before you said that,' said her mother, smiling at her.

The four of them returned to the Grangers' house by Portkey, and talked a while longer before Harry and Hermione Apparated back to Harry's house.

*

The door to Harry's room opened, and Hermione came in, still in her dressing gown. 'Merry Christmas, sleepy.' She leant over and kissed him.

Harry was already awake and considering getting up, so he sat up in bed and said, 'Merry Christmas to you, too. This is the first time you've been in here since moving in.'

'Well, it became a habit at Hogwarts, didn't it, visiting your room on Christmas morning?'

'I suppose it did. Just don't do anything to the stairs up to your room to make them act like the stairs to your dormitory! Anyway, I'll get up now.' The presents were in the drawing room, where they'd put the tree and most of the decorations. 'Are you going to get dressed first? I think I will.'

'Yes, I will too. See you down there in a bit.'

When he joined her in the drawing room, he found that Remus was already there too. Harry kissed Hermione again, then they opened the presents they'd got for each other, and those from their friends, including Remus, Ron and Ginny.

'You remembered!' said Hermione delightedly as she unwrapped the book Harry had given her. 'Thank you!' Harry and Remus were similarly happy with the presents the three of them had bought each other.

'Two hours before we go round to your parents,' said Harry. 'We ought to have some breakfast.'

Harry and Hermione had bacon and toast. She gave Crookshanks a piece of her bacon to keep him quiet. 'You'll have to bring some turkey back for him,' commented Remus.

'I'm going to,' Hermione nodded. 'He can eat it while we're out tomorrow.' The Weasleys had invited all three of them to join them at the Burrow for the day.

*

'You can't be nervous! You've met them enough times now, even after I moved in -- it's just a Christmas meal with them,' Hermione complained.

'We're going to be there for the whole afternoon, though, and that's more time than I've ever spent with them before. I practically avoided them altogether when they watched the game,' said Harry.

'You had a reason, it's not as though you were deliberately avoiding them. My birthday party was almost as long.'

'But I didn't speak to them much during the party, remember?'

'You'll survive. You're not expecting them to have poisoned the turkey, are you?'

'I suppose not.' He took a deep breath. 'Time to go?' Hermione nodded and they both Apparated to the back garden of her parents' house.

'Come on, it's Christmas,' she told him, grinning. 'Don't look like that. Besides, you've already had a hearty breakfast.'

'It wasn't that hearty. See, now even you think I'm a condemned man. Hello, Mrs Granger.'

Mrs Granger had opened the kitchen door. The smell of roasting turkey wafted out. 'Hello, both of you. Why are you condemned, Harry?'

'It was just a joke, from something I said earlier,' he replied hastily, before Hermione could say anything. The two teenagers entered the kitchen. 'That turkey smells nice. Do you want any help with anything? My aunt and uncle used to get me to do a lot of the cooking.'

'No, I think everything's OK. I'm going to leave it for a while now and go and watch TV.'

'You ought to get a TV, Harry,' said Hermione.

'There's no electricity there. Can you get magic-powered TVs?' Harry asked her as they went up the stairs to the lounge. 'The Weasleys have a radio, so maybe you can.'

'I wonder if we could get a dynamo or something that's supposed to run off a waterwheel, and turn it by magic. Hello Dad.'

'These two are trying to re-invent electricity so they can watch TV,' Mrs Granger told her husband as she sat down. 'Apparently, magic isn't everything.'

'It was just a thought,' Hermione said defensively. 'I like watching what they have on TV at Christmas.'

'You might not,' said her father. 'You haven't been at home for Christmas since you were eleven.'

'I know. All right, so I liked it seven years ago.' She added, 'I suppose that is quite a long time.'

'I don't know if you've had any breakfast,' Mrs Granger said, indicating some bowls of snacks, 'but we've got these to keep you from starving until lunch.' Harry noticed that the snacks weren't sugary.

'We did have a bit of breakfast,' said Hermione, 'so we'd better not.'

'Ron would have done,' said Harry. Hermione grinned at him. 'I will too.' He took some cheese biscuits from one of the bowls.

The four of them opened their presents. Harry had already had his present from Hermione, but he'd also been given a book about the Falcons by her parents, who'd obviously asked her for an idea and then got her to buy it for them in Diagon Alley. At her suggestion, he'd bought them Quidditch Through The Ages.

After opening their presents, the four of them had their Christmas lunch and then sat down in the lounge to feel extremely full and watch TV. When the programme finished, they turned the TV off and talked for a while.

'I still haven't heard about that latest interview,' Hermione told her parents. 'They had more people to interview, and they've only got a few staff working over the Christmas period, so it'll be the new year before I hear, either way.'

'I thought you were doing so well at school,' said her father. 'Why are you having so much trouble now?'

'She did so well, she's over-qualified for most of what she wants to do,' said Harry.

'Ah. So what are the chances for this latest job?'

'I don't know,' Hermione admitted.

'It's ridiculous,' said Harry. 'She was always the top pupil in our year -- probably the other years too,' he added with a smile, 'and I wouldn't have done as well in the exams without her help. And her nagging me to revise.'

'I didn't nag you that much!' she protested.

'Anyway, I got my exams -- and they didn't make the slightest difference to the job I've got, because I got it based on my Quidditch playing at school.'

'I told you he only had one Flying lesson, didn't I? By the end of the lesson, Professor McGonagall had told him he was on the team.'

'She wasn't even teaching the lesson,' added Harry.

'One lesson?' asked Mrs Granger. 'Just one lesson?'

'He was a natural,' said Hermione. 'He flew better in that lesson than most of the class were doing by the end of the year. The only time in seven years that he didn't catch the Snitch in a game was when he was affected by magic. Although he did miss some games because he was ill, or in trouble for telling the truth to someone who preferred her delusion.'

'Either you're very impressive,' said Mr Granger smiling, 'or Hermione's completely smitten and exaggerating.'

'I'm not exaggerating.' Hermione said. 'As for the other part --' She grinned and kissed Harry. 'That's still as far as we've got.'

'I think I'm smitten, anyway,' said Harry.

The conversation then turned to accidental magic, and Harry told them about some of the odd things he'd done before knowing he was a wizard, removing references to the Dursleys' cruelty or Dudley and his friends bullying him.

'I remember one bit of accidental magic I did,' said Hermione with a grin. 'Mum felt really bad about it, until we finally realised what had happened.'

'What happened, then?' Harry asked.

'I was nine, and Mum was going to work on a cavity I had. It was the first time I'd had an injection, and I didn't like the way it made part of my mouth feel numb.'

'Is that what you said the other week about the drill hurting you? You made the anaesthetic stop working on you?'

Hermione nodded. 'My mouth stopped being numb, and then of course Mum started to drill.'

Harry winced.

'She got her own back, though,' said Mrs Granger.

'I broke the drill,' Hermione explained. 'Very thoroughly.'

'The engineer had no idea how a drill could burn out so completely. He couldn't repair it, and we had to get a new one. Fortunately, the insurance covered it. If the insurance company had known my daughter had caused it, it wouldn't have been covered, but none of us knew that then.'

'The next time,' said Hermione, 'the anaesthetic worked the way it was supposed to.' She grinned. 'I knew that time why my mouth was numb.'

'And now you're probably going to use magic to look after your teeth,' said Mr Granger, disapprovingly.

'It makes more sense to stop the teeth getting cavities in the first place than to deal with them afterwards,' Hermione said defensively.

'Did you know they're talking about an injection to immunise you against dental decay?' Mr Granger asked.

'Which they've been talking about for about thirty years,' added Mrs Granger. 'So don't expect it to be ready tomorrow.'

'OK,' said Harry. 'Do you work on Boxing Day?'

'No. All right, don't expect it any time soon.'

The conversation continued for a while, interspersed with more television watching, but finally, it was time to go. With some bags of sliced turkey and mince pies, they Apparated home. Remus had already gone to bed.

'Already?' Harry said. 'I wonder if he really did visit anyone. It'd be rude to ask him, though.'

'We are late,' said Hermione, putting Remus' note back on the table. 'Are you starving, Crookshanks?' Her cat was rubbing against her legs and purring. She gave him some turkey.

'What did you think of us at Christmas?'

'I liked it, and I like them,' said Harry. 'I wish I'd had real parents, like yours. Well, I did once, I suppose, I just don't remember them.'

Hermione hugged him.

'Whenever I say something like that, you hug me. I must do it more often,' he told her.

'And you're supposed to be the good one,' she rebuked him, though she was smiling.

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Coming next: An opportunity for a meal with just the two of them.

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