Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything related.
I have written this in correlation with ThoughtBubbler98's Christmas Prompt Competition from HPFC. The prompt I received was 'Christmas Lights.'
Christmas Lights
It was a week before Christmas at Weasley Manor. There was a wonderfully cheery spirit in the air as the holiday drew closer. The Weasley family were settled down for an early winter's supper.
"So I was thinking of doing something different this year," Hermione brought up between bites.
"Oh?" Ron asked.
"Well, you know how we usually hang up the lights and put up the Christmas tree around now."
"Mmhmm," Ron responded as he stuffed his mouth with food. Five year old Rose and three year old Hugo giggled at their father's reaction.
"And you know how every year, we do it by magic to make it easier," Hermione continued. Ron nodded, half-listening. "Well, I was thinking lately, and I wanted to do it the Muggle way. All growing up, I used to watch my dad hang the lights on the house, one by one, and I always used to think about how much fun it was to set them up. Now, I don't quite get the same feeling when we wave our wand and five seconds later, it's just there."
"Whatever you say, dear," Ron barely listened.
"Oh, wonderful! Oh, it will be so exciting, and just like old times. Oh, I can't wait to see how it comes out!" Hermione ranted, not realizing her husband had already started to tune her out.
Next evening
Hermione walked through the door after a long day of work. As she removed her boots and took off her jacket and gloves, she could hear loud snoring coming from the den. Hermione groaned, realizing that her husband had fallen asleep mid afternoon once again. Once she hung up her coat in the closet, she walked across the hallway to the den, where she found her husband in a peculiar state. Ronald Weasley was leaning all the way back into an armchair, his long legs spread seemingly halfway across the room, drool dripping from his mouth, the Daily Prophet hanging loosely from his left hand, snoring as loudly as ever. Hermione also seemed to notice a certain young toddler playing in the same room with a stuffed snitch without adult supervision.
Hermione bent down to his level. "Hey Hugo, what happened to Daddy?" she asked him.
"Daddy fell asleep," Hugo responded in a cute voice.
"And I got to play Mummy and watch over Hugo, like you do!" Rose exclaimed excitedly, from the couch facing the armchair. She was donning Hermione's high heeled shoes, and an apron far too big for her that read "world's greatest witch."
"Oh did you now?" Hermione folded her arms, glaring at her husband. Oh Merlin, he is such a child sometimes. She stomped her way over to Ron, and tapped his shoulder hard, causing him to wake up quite suddenly. Ron looked up immediately to find his wife staring down at him angrily.
"What was that for?" Ron asked, annoyed.
"Well, dearest Ronald. It would seem you fell asleep when you got home from work once again, and your lovely five year old daughter had to take on the role of the parent!" Hermione exclaimed, her arms crossing her chest once again.
Ron blinked several times before realizing what his wife was telling him. He placed his palm to his temple and sighed.
"Bloody hell," Ron groaned. "I'm sorry Hermione, I really am." He quickly stretched his legs and pushed himself into an upright position. "Just…work is killing me lately, and by the time I get home, I can barely stay on my feet anymore."
"And work isn't killing me? Remember, I'm the one trying to pass a whole bill here!" Hermione retorted.
"Fine, whatever," Ron muttered, standing from the chair and taking one final stretch as he raised his arms high above his head. As he grew older and further away from his school years, he started to realize he loved Hermione too much to argue back as much as he used to. This didn't mean they still didn't bicker sometimes over petty things.
Hermione stared at her husband for a moment, and quickly came up with a plan. "Well, I know a way that you can make it up to me," Hermione smiled.
"Oh?" Ron asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You can go hang up the Christmas lights for me."
"Ok, I'll go grab my wand and…"
"Oh no you don't!"
"Err…how do you expect me to put up the lights if I don't have my wand?" Ron asked in a confused voice.
"You're going to climb the ladder your father gave us last Christmas, and hang them by hand," Hermione told him.
"You must be joking! Do you honestly think that I'm going to climb that dumb death trap just to hang lights?" Ron asked her incredulously.
"You agreed to it yesterday," Hermione reminded him.
"When did I agree to such nonsense?" Ron asked, startled by the new news.
"At dinner, when you had food dangling out of my mouth."
"What? I was barely even paying attention!" Ron exclaimed angrily.
"Too bad, you're doing it, now!"
Ron stormed out of the room, muttering curse words under his breath as he went to grab the ladder.
Twenty minutes later, Ron was found standing on the roof, struggling to hold himself up.
"Jeez Hermione, this isn't even safe to do it!" Ron complained yet again.
"Oh, For Merlin's sake, Protego!" Hermione cast the spell, placing an invisible bubble around the roof, preventing Ron from falling.
"She's bloody brilliant, but still a pain in the arse," Ron muttered.
"And that's why you married her," came another voice from down below. Ron took a glance down, before nearly slipping once again, to find his best mate standing in the snow with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.
"Harry! What are you doing here?" Ron asked, clearly surprised. Not paying attention to what he was doing, this time he managed to slip and fall. He quickly started to worry as he slid down the rooftop, only to be welcomed by a soft cushion right before he would have fallen off. "Oomph!" came out of his mouth. Thanks Hermione…again.
Harry laughed. "Err, maybe I'll let you finish before we talk. Don't want to fall into that bubble again, now would you?" Harry teased.
"Oh, shut up," Ron joked back, and rolled his eyes.
For the two hours in the ice cold, Ronald Weasley, for the first time in his life, hung every Christmas light by hand. Harry stayed to watch and talk with Ron, while Hermione went inside to watch over the kids. When he climbed down the ladder, he was met by a kiss on the cheek as Hermione took a quick step outside to get a better, and a pat on the shoulder from Harry. He looked to his wife and his best friend, then finally had his chance to look up. The roof was covered in lights, in many colors, ranging from red to gold, green to purple. Although the lights were not turned on yet, it was still a beautiful sight to see. "Woah," was all he could sum it up to.
"Nice job, mate. I don't know if I would have had the guts to do it, but seriously, that was amazing. Oh, by the way, I only came over to tell you Kingsley is finally giving us a break from work after all this time, and Molly wants everyone over for dinner tomorrow night. But I must admit, I did enjoy watching this, especially when you screamed, "Oh Bloody Merlin, why can't these stupid lights hang themselves?" Harry grinned.
"Get lost," Ron joked back.
Harry laughed. "I will see you tomorrow night then," he said patting Ron's back. Hermione rolled her eyes and muttered something sounding like "boys."
Ron wrapped an arm around Hermione as they watched their best friend walk down the driveway. They stood there for a few moments, remembering all the past memories the trio had had together. When Harry was out of sight, the couple turned around to glance at the lights once more.
"It truly is a beautiful sight," Ron smiled. They glanced at it for a few more moments in silence, before Hermione broke the silence.
"Can you go get the kids so they can see? I just need to do something really quickly," Hermione told her husband. As she watched him walk back inside, she smiled to herself, for the best was yet to come. Hermione reached into her inside pocket of her robe, grabbed her wand, and recited a few charms quietly enough that no one would be able to hear. She then took a few steps back to take a look at her touch on the final piece and she smiled at the beauty before her. The silence was quickly broken by the pitter patter of little feet sloshing through the freshly fallen snow. Hermione let her eyes fall down from the roof to in front of her, where she found her daughter looking back up at her. Ron came out moments later with Hugo on his shoulders.
"Ok, are you three ready to see the big surprise?" Hermione asked excitedly.
"Three?" Ron asked, clearly confused.
"Yes three, turn around." As Ron turned around, he gasped in amazement. No longer was the rooftop a blur of multi-colored lights, but now they were lit up for the world to see. To add on to this, as the lights flickered in sync, unbeknownst to passing Muggles, the family could make out a small figurine flying across the rooftop on a broomstick, all meticulously designed within the light setup.
"That looks like Aunt Ginny!" Rose exclaimed excitedly.
"So it does. And here I thought you said no magic," Ron grinned at his wife.
Hermione laughed. "I said you can't do any magic. That never meant I couldn't add a final special touch to the masterpiece."
"Well, it's beautiful, just like you," Ron responded. Ron put Hugo down to play in the snow, and turned to Hermione. As the lights flashed by, and the day turned into night, the beautiful couple shared a holiday kiss.
What did you think? Loved it? Hated it? Let me know in a review. I hope you enjoyed it.