A/N: Entry for the TE Secret Santa Gift Exchange
Title: Winder Wonderland
Pairing: Charlie/Hermione
Written For: JackMyles
Rating: T
Summary: Hermione wakes up on Christmas morning, only to be led on a scavenger hunt by her husband, reliving their most important moments. What's waiting for her at the end?
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Hermione shifted slightly in her bed as she awoke, not wanting to open her eyes right away, preferring to relish in the warmth of her bed. It had been a couple of weeks since her bed had been that warm, but Charlie had gotten home last night after --finally-- finishing the last day of his job in Romania. Since they'd been married only recently, he had to finish out this last year but now his time was up and Hermione was looking forward to making up for those few lost weeks.
She knew she'd have to get up soon. It was Christmas morning, and although it was her first Christmas away from home, they'd be going both to her parents house and the Burrow soon enough. She grinned as she smelled breakfast cooking downstairs. It was lucky for her that her husband was an amazing cook, as it was the one area in which she lacked. She smiled and stood, fixing her hair back into a messy bun and headed downstairs.
She found waiting for her in the kitchen a breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream and syrup on top. Her favorite. She smiled, but wondered where her favorite redhead had gotten to. Her question was soon answered as she spied the envelope laid next to her plate. She opened it, quickly scanning the contents
We've come a long way, love, so I thought I'd give you a present to remind you of it.
Hermione smiled. Although it didn't seem like it, her husband was quite romantic, when he wanted to be.
If you want your real gift, you'll have to work your way back through our relationship to get it. Shouldn't be too hard for a bright little witch like you.
At this, she rolled her eyes. He would say something like that.
Don't fret love, your first clue is this -- go to the place where we first kissed.
Hermione smiled and blushed as she remembered…
"Charlie," Hermione said nervously as she realized how utterly alone they were in the twin's workshop. It was New Year's Eve and the twins were throwing a huge party. Everyone had Flooed into the workshop and headed upstairs. Hermione, being the last to arrive, hadn't noticed that Charlie had waited for her. She felt her heart begin to race as he approached her, and she couldn't help but grin. "Aren't you going up to the party?"
Charlie shrugged, "Waiting for you Granger… I wanted to ask you something."
"Really?" Hermione's voice raised an octave as Charlie moved even closer to her. She could feel the heat radiating from him and the other thoughts that gave her made her blush.
Charlie moved close enough to her that her back was touching his chest. "Really." He whispered. "I wanted to ask," He started, walking around her slowly, until they were face to face, "how it is that you manage to drive me absolutely crazy without even realizing it?"
Hermione looked up, only to realize that they were much, much closer than they'd been two seconds ago. "Trust me, the feeling is mutual." She whispered back. Charlie smiled softly. It was a change from his usually wide grin, but a change that Hermione loved to see. She wrapped her arms around his neck and slowly pulled his head down to hers…
Hermione sighed, but was quickly snapped out of her reverie. She blushed, realizing she'd have to make a stop at the twin's shop, hoping upon hope that they'd be upstairs, seeing as the shop was closed today. She ran to her closet, pulled on a pair of boots and her cloak, and grabbing her mittens and scarf before Apparating with a loud CRACK!
Hermione appeared in the twin's workshop, and much to her dismay was greeted by two identical grins.
"Hermioneeee!" George said in a sing-song voice, "We were wondering when you'd get here, sleepyhead!"
"Happy Christmas!" Fred added, "We've been waiting for you ever since your darling Charlie woke us up at 6 in the morning!"
"Happy Christmas indeed." Hermione tried to fight off the blush that was rising on her cheeks. They knew, they knew, they knew…
"Well, aren't you going to ask us for something?" George couldn't keep the grin off of his face.
"When Charlie told us of his ingenious idea--"
"--he must get it from us, you know--"
"--we were so excited to be able to help--"
"--what wouldn't we do for our favorite bookworm sister-in-law?" Fred finished.
Hermione couldn't help but smile, "Okay, okay. Can I have what I came for now?"
George pulled a note from behind his back similar to the one she had found at breakfast. He dangled it in front of her. "One stipulation, Granger."
Fred interrupted, "Weasley."
George grinned wickedly, "First Weasley woman in a while to not have red hair. We could fix that if you want Hermione, I'm sure we have something around here…"
"George! Fred!" Hermione prompted, holding her hand out, "The stipulation?"
"Oh, right." Fred said. "We were just hoping you and Charlie weren't going to make snogging in our workshop a habit."
"Do try to refrain. This is a serious business we're running." George added.
"I mean if it's an emergency I'm sure we can make an exception…" Fred kept going.
"But we'd really prefer if it were kept to a minimum." The twins smirked down at her.
Hermione snorted, "Trust me when I say that won't be a problem."
George let the piece of paper drop, and Hermione snatched it before it fell past her hands and to the ground. She opened it quickly, well aware that the twins had moved around to read over her shoulder.
Hoping the twins didn't give you too much grief,
Your next clue is one that should make you grin.
You're a bright witch but an even brighter Muggle
But there's one game that you'll never win.
"Seems Charlie is much more clever than we give him credit for." Fred mused from behind her. Hermione smiled.
"Of course he is. I married him, didn't I?" She smiled before Disapparating with a pop.
Hermione appeared in the bedroom of her parent's house. She didn't want to wake them, as they'd only delay her hunt. She closed her eyes in thought and tried to remember which game it was she was looking for.
"You really want to play Muggle board games with my family?" Hermione asked skeptically as she and Charlie prepared to Floo from the Burrow to her house. He grinned and grabbed her hand.
"Of course I do. It's important to you that I know your parents. Besides, I want to see Hermione Granger in her natural habitat." Charlie grinned, Hermione rolling her eyes.
"It's really nothing special. My parents will probably annoy you and insist on showing you half the house."
Charlie smirked, "Baby pictures, family videos, embarrassing things of that kind? If I could be so lucky."
Hermione blushed further, "Well, that.. And probably uh, awards." She quickly added, "Anyway, it's about time to go and-"
"Awards?" Charlie mused, "Of course, this is Hermione Granger we're talking about. A Nobel Peace Prize, perhaps?"
Hermione laughed, "No, not quite. Just some spelling contests, science fairs, that kind of thing."
"No chess tournaments?" Charlie asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I, uh, actually… can't play chess."
Charlie laughed, "Really, Hermione. You're friends with Ron and you don't know how to play chess?"
Hermione shrugged, "I know how to play it. I just can never win." She blushed, "It's a silly thing to be bad at."
Charlie slung an arm around her shoulder, "If you're good at everything else, what's the harm in being bad at one silly little thing?" She grinned up at him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
Hermione smiled at the memory. Charlie had threatened many times during their playful arguments to tell Ron about her 'weakness', but he had never done it. She shook her head and hurried to her closet, reaching up to the top shelf and pulling out her chess set. She opened the box and watched a small slip of paper float off the top of the set. She quickly closed the box and stuck it haphazardly back into her closet, grabbing the note off of the floor.
Love, I don't want to keep you out all day,
It's much more fun to stay in and play.
I don't think you need a clue to know,
That all you need to do now is come home.
Hermione had barely read the last sentence before she found herself back in her own living room.
At least, what she thought had been her living room. Instead, it had been transformed into an exact replica of what Hermione had also assumed the North Pole looked like. She smiled at the snow piled around, the trees that stood so tall she couldn't see where they -- she assumed-- brushed the ceiling that had been enchanted, much like the one at Hogwarts, to look like the sky.
"Happy Christmas." A voice breathed in her ear. She turned to face her husband, grinning from ear to ear.
"Charlie," She breathed, "This is incredible. How..?"
Charlie winked, "Hermione, dear, if I revealed my secrets to you, you wouldn't find them nearly as impressive."
"But I'd find them just as sweet." Hermione said, wrapping her arms around his waist, "What made you think of this?"
"One of your books, of course, "Charlie grinned down at her, "One of the Christmas ones that you unpacked, about the reindeer with the red nose? You seemed to like ti so I thought I'd surprise you with your own North Pole."
"I always dreamed of going to the North Pole… riding in a sleigh, you know." Hermione mused.
"I was hoping you'd say that." Charlie's grin became even wider. Hermione gazed up at him.
"You don't mean..?" Charlie left her question unanswered and led her outside. Sitting there was a sleigh attached to two reindeer.
"I obviously couldn't make them fly, you know, Muggle security and all that." Charlie explained as he lifted her up into the sleigh. "But I was thinking that maybe just riding them like this wouldn't be much of a let-down."
Hermione snuggled up next to him as he got in to the sleigh, pulling the blankets around them for warmth, "Charlie, I don't think there's been one time when you've ever let me down."
Charlie gazed at her then and Hermione felt heat rush all the way to her toes. "I love you." He said simply.
"I love you too." She said, before pulling his mouth down to hers.