The Perfect Christmas
Carols could be heard in the apartment. The joyful voices were coming from the radio, soaring around the decorated living room. Those were not the only voices that could be heard in Ron and Hermione's flat, however. The inhabitants were arguing.
"Hermione, does the tinsel really need to be three centimeters higher?" Ron asked.
"Yes!" Hermione exclaimed. She lifted up a small bit of the tinsel and perched it on a higher branch on the Christmas tree. "There we go."
"I don't see any difference." Ron said. Hermione gave him a glare, but he was too busy looking in their box of decorations to notice.
"I'm sorry," Hermione said, though she wasn't particularly sorry at all. "I just want it to look perfect."
"Things don't have to be symmetrical to be perfect, Hermione." Ron said to her, and picked up a red bauble. He lifted it up gently and placed it on the tree.
"No!" Hermione cried, and Ron jumped up in fright.
"Blimey, Hermione, what is it?"
Hermione grabbed Ron's hand and took the red bauble. "You can't put it there."
Ron frowned. "Why in the bloody hell not?"
"Because," Hermione said simply. "There's another red bauble right next to it. They would clash. We need to spread the baubles. Take a gold one and put it there instead."
Ron huffed as he took a gold bauble and placed it in the previous spot.
"A little further away, Ron, I want them to all be spread out."
Ron growled and placed the bauble in its box. "Hermione!"
"What, Ron?" Hermione asked, feeling just as frustrated as Ron sounded. Didn't he understand how important it was to make sure the tree looked just right?
"I'm sorry," Ron said, "but you're kind of spoiling this for me."
Hermione frowned. "How?"
"Look," Ron said. "When I was growing up, decorating the Christmas tree was chaotic. Everyone would just chuck tinsel and glitter onto the tree, and Ginny would put the star up, and it'd be crooked. But it didn't matter! It still looked great for us. Do you know why? It was ours. The tree was ours, and we'd decorated it by ourselves, and it shone and stood proudly for us. It didn't matter that it was messy. I guess… I guess I'm just used to a messy tree and being able to decorate it how I want."
"I understand, Ron." Hermione said. "But don't you want the tree to look a little… neater?"
"Not really." Ron said shrugging his shoulders. "It doesn't matter to me. It's not important."
Hermione pursed her lips. "Well, it's important to me!"
"Why?" Ron asked. "What's the big deal? Who are you trying to impress – it's our first Christmas together since we moved in with each other, no one will be here except us! I don't care if one part of the tinsel is lower than the rest, and I don't care if there are two red baubles together… the point is, the tree is ours, and we decorated it together, and had fun whilst doing it."
Hermione sighed. "But Ron… I'm used to neatness and order."
Ron looked down at the box. "Okay, I'll try to be a little neater."
Hermione smiled at him and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Thank you."
Ron gave her an awkward smile back. He picked up a little ginger-coloured bear in a Santa suit and moved to put it on the tree.
"What are you doing? We can't use that decoration! That bear will look out of place!"
Ron let out a frustrated growl and dropped the bear into the box. "Why don't you just decorate the tree yourself?" Ron said.
"But," Hermione began, "I thought we wanted to decorate the tree together… as a couple…"
"Yeah, well, I don't really think that's working out." Ron said, pulling on a jacket and placing a beanie on his head. "I have to go."
"Go?" Hermione asked, turning to face him fully. "Go where?"
Wrapping a scarf snuggly around his neck, Ron looked at her. "For a walk. I'll be back soon. Have fun decorating the tree. Hope it meets your standards."
Hermione scoffed, feeling rather offended. Before she could think of a good retort, Ron had already walked out the door. She sighed, looking back at the tree. For some reason, she didn't feel as festive as she had been earlier. It was strange without Ron. They had moved in earlier this year, and she had so looked forward to their first Christmas together in their new flat. She had imagined them snuggled up on the couch, eating freshly baked cookies whilst gazing into the flames before them in the fireplace.
Hermione sighed and sat down sadly on the couch. She didn't feel like decorating without Ron. Granted, Ron hadn't really done much, and that was why he was mad, but it didn't seem right decorating their Christmas tree without both of them there.
Suddenly, Hermione had an overwhelming urge to talk to Audrey and Percy. Audrey would understand Hermione's position. Audrey was just as organised and neat as Percy was, and they'd understand how important it was for Hermione to have a neat tree.
She walked over to her fireplace and grabbed some floo powder. Calling out "Percy and Audrey Weasley's!" she ended up in their fireplace.
She got up and dusted herself off. A muffled cry of a baby could be heard, and Hermione felt a tad bit guilty – she must have woken three-month-old Molly up.
"Who is it?" a high, nervous, yet assertive voice called out.
"It's Hermione," Hermione called out. "I'm sorry I didn't call, it was dreadfully rude." Only now had she realised this. She had a feeling she had come to the right place – though Audrey and Percy have been unbelievably busy the past three months taking care of their first child, they still managed to keep the place tidy.
Audrey walked into the living room holding Molly against her chest. She was rocking her back and forth, cooing and saying soothing things to her. She looked tired – her face was pale, she had dark circles around her eyes, but she looked elated and so… happy.
"Hermione," she greeted her. "What can I do for you?" She sat down on the couch gently.
"I'm sorry," Hermione said, sitting down on an armchair opposite. "I wasn't thinking straight. I just… Ron's mad at me, and… the Christmas tree is neat and it's not good and you know about neatness and I just thought…"
"Sorry, what?" Audrey asked breathlessly.
Hermione sighed. "I'm sorry I came without an invitation. I just had a fight with Ron, and… I guess I feel like you and Percy would understand my perspective."
Molly cooed, and Audrey gently rubbed her back, whispering "Shh." Hermione smiled at the tender scene. "Go on, Hermione. Tell me what happened." Audrey said.
"Well, we were decorating the Christmas tree," Hermione began.
"Now?" Audrey asked. "You left it this late? It's December 23rd." she paused. "Then again, some people do decorate their tree then, but I didn't think you would be one of them."
"I'm not, we've just been pretty busy and we wanted to decorate the tree together." Hermione said. "Either he was working, or I was working, and we kept putting it off."
"Ah, I see." Audrey said. "Well then, continue."
"Anyway, I was really fussy when it came to decorating the tree… really neat and organised. I wanted it to look really nice and special… so whenever Ron put a bauble in the wrong place, I'd… I'd snap at him." Hermione felt a little embarrassed – perhaps she had overreacted a bit. "I guess eventually he got so sick of it that he walked out."
Audrey sighed. "Hermione—"
"I just wanted it to look perfect!" Hermione exclaimed suddenly. "I wanted the tree to look just right. It's our first Christmas together in our new apartment and I just wanted everything to be faultless."
Audrey nodded patiently.
"But, Audrey!" Hermione cried, trying to get her point across. "You understand, right? You know how everything needs to be neat and organised and things need to look good, you know?"
Audrey smiled at her. "Hermione, a few months ago I would have completely agreed with you, but after Molly was born… I realised that the imperfections are the things that make things perfect."
Hermione frowned. That was completely illogical.
"I know what you're thinking – that's completely illogical." Audrey said. Hermione's eyes widened, but she remained silent. "But this mess reminds me of Molly, and it seems okay. I think that's the same time with your Christmas tree. If it was all neat and perfect, would it really feel like yours and Ron's?"
Hermione shook her head. "No, not really." Wasn't this exactly what Ron had tried to tell her earlier?
"It wouldn't be perfect if it didn't have that essence of Ron, wouldn't it?" Audrey asked her.
Hermione smiled fondly. "No, it wouldn't."
"It doesn't matter if it doesn't look like the Christmas tree in New York. All that matters is that you two decorated it yourselves, together, in December, in the festive season, in your own home." Audrey told her. "Having the perfect tree isn't what Christmas is about. Christmas is about being with the ones you love. Isn't decorating the tree together, not caring about anything but each other, a fun way to spend your time together?"
Hermione smiled. "It does sound quite fun."
"A little chaos at times is quite fun." Audrey said. "It's quite fun to just let go and not worry about the mess afterwards."
Memories of her and Ron doing just that filled her mind and Hermione couldn't help but say, "Yes, I know." She had just wanted everything to be perfect. She wanted them to never forget their first Christmas together, but it seems that her plan to make everything perfect just made things worse. She had to go fix things.
Her smile faded as she looked up. "Thanks, Audrey."
"You're welcome." Audrey said.
"I think I better go now." Hermione said, standing up. "I have a tree to fix."
Audrey chuckled and stood up too, rocking a now sleeping Molly. Hermione walked over to them and looked at the three-month-old baby. "She's beautiful." Hermione told Audrey.
"Thank you." Audrey replied. "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas."
Hermione went over to the fireplace, grabbed some floo powder and stepped forward. Exclaiming, "Ron and Hermione's home," she felt the herself being whisked away back home.
As soon as she'd dusted herself off, she quickly ran forward to their tree. She now fully understood Ron and Audrey. The tree, organised and symmetrical, didn't suit their messy –thanks to Ron- apartment. It wasn't theirs. It felt like hers, and out of place in their environment.
Hermione took a silver bauble and looked around, picking a spot to put it in. She picked a spot right next to a red bauble and smiled as she put it there. Grabbing a piece of green tinsel, Hermione stood back to give herself more room, and suddenly threw it at the tree.
It gave her an unexplainable joy, and Hermione gleefully laughed. Hearing the door open, Hermione whirled around.
Ron froze, looking at her and the tree. He pushed the door back with his hand, not taking his eyes off of her.
"What are you doing?" he finally said.
"I'm decorating the tree." Hermione said. Ron didn't reply, and only looked more confused. "Would you like to join me?"
"Are you sure you're Hermione?" Ron asked, taking a step forward.
Hermione smiled nervously. "Yes, I am. Ron, I… you were right."
Ron frowned. "I was right?"
"Yes."
Ron took a deep breath. "What spell did you teach me in first year Charms class?"
"Wingardium Leviosa." Hermione replied.
"Oh, good, it's you." Ron sighed. "You can understand my worry. Hermione Granger had just admitted I was right."
"Oh, shut up." Hermione said. She looked at him seriously. "I'm sorry."
Ron shrugged his shoulders in a casual manner. "It's okay. It's just a tree. It doesn't matter."
"Yes it does!" Hermione exclaimed. "It's our tree. We needed to make it look like ours and I just tried to make it look like… not us."
Ron frowned. "What do you mean?"
"We're chaos." Hermione explained. "We're not perfect." Before Ron could say anything, Hermione continued. "You keep the toilet seat up, and I scold you for it. I put my charts over your Chudley Cannons posters and you take them down and put them somewhere, and when you don't remember when we get into an argument. We bicker, and there are things about one of us that annoys the other and vice versa. We're not perfect – our tree should show that."
"You want us to decorate the tree with Chudley Cannons posters and toilet seats?" Ron asked.
"No!" Hermione exclaimed. "I mean, we should make our tree look chaotic and all over the place, because that's what we are."
"Are you saying you're not happy with our relationship?" Ron asked concernedly.
"Ron, you know that's not what I'm saying." Hermione said. "What I mean is that despite all this, we love each other, and that the tree should look messy, but loved. That's what we are, that's what our tree should be."
"And that's why there's green tinsel and a silver bauble on the tree?" Ron asked.
"Yeah." Hermione said, and picked up the ginger bear. "And that's also why this guy is also being put up."
Ron smiled and walked over to her. He placed a hand on her waist to support her as she placed the bear near the top. She looked back at him. "What do you think?"
Ron was gazing at her and the tree. "Perfectly imperfect." He declared. The way Ron was looking down at her made Hermione weak in the knees, and she felt very fortunate that he had his arm around her - otherwise she would have probably fallen.
"So," Hermione began, "where did you go?"
"Oh!" Ron said, and pulled away. "I'd been planning to give you something this Christmas, but after the row we had today, I thought you might not like it, so I decided to go out and get something else."
"Oh." Hermione said, feeling awkward. "Did you, uh… find something else?"
"No." Ron said, looking up at her. "So it's a good thing you changed your mind about the tree, otherwise I would've had to go out once more." He grinned at her.
"Can I see it?" Hermione asked, extending her hand.
Ron put his hand in his pocket and started rummaging around. He pulled out a small box. Hermione smiled as he placed it her waiting hand. He looked at her, looking a little awkward, and put his hands back in his pockets uncomfortably.
"Sorry it's not wrapped or anything." Ron said hastily.
"That's okay." Hermione said, and took the lid off the box. Inside, surrounded by a soft protective fabric, was an angel. The angel was a decoration for a Christmas tree. It looked a lot like her. "Ron," Hermione breathed.
"I thought you wouldn't like it," Ron said, "after you said everything about how things need to be symmetrical and all that… so I went to find you something else. Now that you've changed your mind about Christmas trees and decorations… I figure that you might like it after all." Ron pressed his lips together nervously. "You… you do like it, right?"
Hermione looked up at him. "I love it." She put it on the tree, next to the bear. She turned back to face him, and took a step forward. "And I love you." She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Love you too." Ron said, hugging her in response.
"Come on," Hermione said, pulling away. "Help me decorate the tree."
Ron grinned and got some blue tinsel. He chucked it at the tree and laughed. "That's what you were laughing about before I walked in, right?"
Hermione nodded. "Correct." She threw some red tinsel at Ron. Ron caught it and threw it back at her, before his smile suddenly faded.
"Bloody hell."
"What?" Hermione asked nervously.
"I just realised…" Ron began, "I've given you your Christmas present today… so now I need to go and find something else to give you on Christmas!"
Hermione laughed at the panicked look on his face and glanced back at the tree – it looked imperfect, and it couldn't be better.
A very merry Christmas to everyone! (:
- Sasha