Written for and dedicated to Alexa Chloe for the March Gift Exchange (pairing: Ron/Hermione, genre: humour, prompt: Diagon Alley)
Written for the OTP Competition (location: Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes)
The Alley Before Christmas
It was quieter than usual for a Saturday, with many families choosing to avoid the last minute Christmas rush that would always be chaotic in both Muggle London and Diagon Alley.
After coming from their shopping in the popular Muggle strip, carrying bags and bags of presents, Ron and Hermione took their kids into the Leaky Cauldron for further shopping in Diagon Alley.
Seven-year-old Rose and five-year-old Hugo were both devouring an ice-cream they had begged their parents for as they entered, Hugo leaving melted drips all along the floor.
"Watch it there, young man," Hannah Abbott-Longbottom mock-scolded as she used her wand to clean up his mess. "Don't want my customers slipping, now."
Hugo looked up to his parents, as if searching for them to defend him, but they were only waving to their friend, Neville, from behind the bar.
"Come on, kids," Ron then said, ushering his children through the back of the pub, "we want to be gone before it gets really busy. Every year, people think it'll be quieter in the evening, and so they all come then."
Now down to her cone, Rose asked, "Will we be seeing Uncle George today?"
"If you're lucky," Ron answered, giving Hugo a little nudge in the back to keep him moving. Hugo had a tendency to be distracted very easily.
"Yay!" the children cried in unison. "Uncle George! Uncle George!"
"They like him better than me, you know," Ron muttered to Hermione as they approached what appeared to be a plain brick wall.
"No, they like Uncle George's jokes better than both of us," Hermione corrected.
Ron used his wand to part the wall – something that all four of the Weasleys were accustomed to. Without waiting for instructions, Rose and Hugo entered the Alley, turning left to head for their uncle's famous joke shop.
"Oi!" Ron called after them, "come back here!"
Rose and Hugo both halted, turning sheepishly back towards their parents.
"We have some other shopping to do before we go to George's shop," Hermione informed them. She set the three shopping bags she was carrying on the ground, while Ron put his own two beside hers.
Hermione Vanished all five of them home.
Disappointed, Rose asked, "What do we need to do, Mummy?" She sucked the little bit of ice-cream left at the bottom of her cone into her mouth.
"Rose, you need to choose a present for Albus, and Hugo, you need to pick one for Lucy."
Once all seven children of Molly and Arthur Weasley began having their own children, they all came to a united agreement that rather than buying for each person, they would organise a Secret Santa type exchange each year. Along with their children, Ron had struck James, and Hermione had managed to get Percy's wife, Audrey.
"I'll get Albus a present from Uncle George," Rose stated.
"Me too!" Hugo said.
"They have as easy access to the joke shop as each of you do," Hermione said. "Choose something different."
"Holyhead Harpies Quidditch robes," Rose said.
Hermione and Ron exchanged looks. Every year it seemed to get harder and harder, despite their children always being a year older.
"We'll have a look around first," Hermione said firmly. "Then we'll make a decision."
Their first stop was the post office. Hermione had a few Christmas cards to send off. Due to the busy holiday season, though, only a few owls remained, and they didn't appear to be the most useful ones for carrying more than one card.
"Just use ours," Ron told her. "He'll be able to do it." He'd been pestering her to just send the cards using the family owl for days now, but Hermione had always been against it. She would rather use the owls that were used to it, rather than one that was only accustomed to flying to the Burrow or the Ministry.
"They'll get lost if you use any of these," Ron added.
"Use Barry, Mummy," Rose piped in. "He'll do it."
Ron grinned at her.
Hermione sighed. "Let's go to the clothing store," she said.
They entered almost every shop, each visit becoming shorter and shorter as the children became tireder. Ron had managed to pick out a small Quidditch figurine for James, but it seemed that Rose and Hugo's sole intention was to buy their presents at their uncle's joke shop.
That would be fine for Albus, but Hermione knew well enough that Lucy wouldn't (nor would her parents) appreciate any gift that came from there.
It was becoming late, though, and Hermione gave in.
They made their way to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes at approximately three in the afternoon. Despite such a long day, Rose and Hugo were as awake as they had ever been; eyes wide and eager as they drew nearer to their favourite shop in the whole world.
As was to be expected, it was packed. Parents and teenagers alike shopped for others in George's successful business. Each year around Christmas, he would release a new chain of products which everybody just had to try out.
His nieces and nephews were the guinea pigs.
"Well, well," George said by way of greeting, "look who's finally showed up."
Rose and Hugo flew into his opened arms. Then, from within his pocket, he pulled out two lollipops; a blue one for Rose and a red one for Hugo.
"Not those things again," Ron groaned. "Last time, they lasted three weeks."
George put his hands up and shrugged. "Hey, they're timeless lollipops," he stated. "They can last a day or three years."
"Oi, don't go too far!" Ron called to his two children as he spotted them heading for a giant display of what appeared to be exploding pumpkin pasties. "Anything more kid-friendly?" he then asked George.
"Oh, look at you being all parent-y," George teased. "In fact, I have just put up a display of Spark Wands." He indicated the other side of the room to where Rose and Hugo were giggling as pumpkin pasties exploded all over them.
"Which is?" Ron asked.
"They shoot sparks out now," George said. "Rather than just the toy wands that kids carry around to be like their parents, they actually shoot sparks. Not really magic, but to kids, it looks like it."
Ron and Hermione went to retrieve their two children before they got too dirty, and it seemed that Rose, who was very inquisitive and on top of information for a seven-year-old, had already heard about the new wands.
"I wanna get Albus one," she said.
"I wanna get Lucy one," Hugo added.
"How about you get them something they won't get bored of in three minutes?" Ron suggested.
"I wanna get Albus one," Rose said.
"I wanna get Lucy one," Hugo said.
Ron looked to Hermione, who seemed like she was about to say yes. "Really?" he asked.
"They're both Rose's age," she said to her husband, "to us it seems like nothing, but to them, they'll probably love it."
"Will Percy and Audrey, though?"
"Wouldn't you be the first one to tell me not to worry about them?" Hermione questioned. "For the kids, remember?"
Ron shrugged.
"They only shoot out sparks," Hermione reasoned. "I just want to go home." She indicated to the street out the front. It was beginning to fill with families of all sizes.
Ron shrugged again. "Fine," he said, and he dug into his pocket and took out two Galleons, passing one to each of his children. They always had to pay full price if they came into the shop. George's reasoning was he always gave them the tested products for free (which was actually the majority of the toys Rose and Hugo had). It was only fair.
Grabbing a box with a wand in it each, Rose and Hugo ran over to the counter. Spotting that they were trying to push through the long queue of people paying, Ron had to drag them back to the very end, which was almost out the door.
"Bloody kids," he grumbled when he returned to Hermione. "Think they can just walk up because they know the owner."
"Oh, who does that remind you of?" Hermione replied, her sarcasm strong.
"Hey, I used to work here!" Ron said defensively.
It took a good ten minutes for Rose and Hugo to pay, and when they returned, they had three exploding pumpkin pasties in their bags as well.
"Uncle George said that just the wand was boring, so he said Albus and Lucy would like them too," Rose informed her quizzical parents.
"Alright, well, let's go," Hermione urged, noting how Diagon Alley was now like King's Cross on September First. The queue for the register really was out the door now.
"Mummy, I'm hungry," Hugo complained when they were halfway back to the Leaky Cauldron.
"Can we get an ice-cream?" Rose asked.
"You just had one," Hermione told them.
"But we're hungry," Rose said.
Carrying the bags with the wands and pasties, Ron chuckled. As they walked, he pecked Hermione's cheek. "Merry Christmas, love," he said to her.
Hermione smiled. "Come on," she said, "let's get something in the Leaky Cauldron."
I hope you enjoyed reading this! Please don't forget to review if you read this. Would be greatly appreciated!
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