It was Christmas Eve night and the Burrow was alive with all manner of hurried whispers and shuffling boxes. For the first time, the Weasleys and company had decided to do a gift exchange. Everyone, of course, knew that they'd be receiving new winter wear from Mrs. Weasley, but the rest had turned into a bit of a contest - who had gotten the best gift for this one's sibling or that one's friend.
Hermione had no time for it, though. She'd had her few gifts wrapped up and ready for Christmas for nearly an entire month. She'd enlisted her parents' help, leaving her time to study instead of shop. Hermione had never liked shopping.
Muggle trinkets had always been a source of excitement for the Weasleys and Hermione took full advantage of that fact. The list she sent to her parents had ended up being fairly straight-forward, to her own delight. The less she could dwell on Christmas shopping the better. Hermione hated crowds, hated the stuffy store clerks, and hated the cold. Frankly, the Christmas season was her least favorite time of year. Not that she would ever mention that to any of the Weasleys. They loved the holidays and she wasn't going to be the one to take that away from them.
A pop pulled Hermione from her reverie. So much so, she nearly shot six feet into the air from where she'd been sprawled across her bed in Ginny's room studying. Heart still pounding, she turned toward her grinning Weasley twin and snapped, "That's not funny!" chucking a pillow at him from the bed, "What if Ginny had been in here?"
"I knew she wouldn't be. Just saw her in the kitchen." he chuckled, catching the pillow she'd thrown and flinging himself onto the bed alongside her, disregarding the books scattered across the bed and side table, "Thought you might want some company."
"I'm studying, Fred." she grumbled, grabbing for one of the books that he'd managed to send falling to the floor.
"For God's sake, Granger; it's Christmas Eve! Lighten up."
"I'll live after I know whether or not I've passed my exams." she sighed, flipping back to the page she'd been on previously, continuing her note taking, "I'm not much in the mood for celebrating what with all that's going on, either."
He chuckled, rolling onto his side and brushing a bit of hair out of her eyes, "All that's going on? All the more reason to have a laugh while we can."
"Fred, just give me a few minutes to finish my writing." she conceded, rolling her eyes and shifting her concentration back to her book.
"Fine, fine, fine." he grumbled in return, rolling off her twin bed and kneeling by her knees, "I'll leave. I'll give you as much time as you want, but I want you to open this first."
He placed a small, wrapped box on top of her book, causing her to avert her attention from her studies once more, "What's this?" she questioned, sitting up and taking the box in her hand. It was just small enough to fit in her palm.
"It's your Christmas present." he grinned, moving to sit at the edge of the bed, "Open it."
Quickly, she did as she was instructed, and inside the box sat a beautiful light blue pendant, held in place on a silver chain, "It's gorgeous." she gushed in utter disbelief, "And now I feel exceptionally awful because all I got you was some half-wit Muggle prank..." she trailed off, eyeing her pendant suddenly, "What does it do?" she asked pointedly.
His eyebrows quirked upward in amused confusion, "It…complements your eyes?"
"You're trying out some new product, aren't you? What does it do? Burn on contact? Squirt ink down my shirt?"
"No, but I appreciate the ideas, Granger. You'd be a fair prankster yourself."
"So this is...real?" she questioned in utter disbelief, "You picked this out yourself? At a jewellery shop?"
"And it was bloody difficult, too. Have you ever been into one of those shops? There are a million bits and pieces that all look exactly the same. I swear if one more employee tried to explain to me how the bloody cut affects how the light bounces off the-"
"I love it." she interjected, throwing her arms around him, "Could you...put it on for me?" she asked, placing the pendant around her neck and handing him the ends to clasp.
"You know, I realized as I was buying it that this was either going to go incredibly well or incredibly bad." he chuckled to himself, stepping away to let her admire her new piece in the mirror.
"Oh, and why's that?" she asked off-handedly, not paying any particular attention.
A blush began to raise in his cheeks and neck then as he finally admitted, "I was going to use that line - about how it brings out your eyes. Only problem was I couldn't remember exactly what color your eyes were. I just really hoped they were blue."
"Lucky guess, then."
"Indeed."
"Tell me what I can get your for Christmas." she finally insisted, "I'm telling you - I had my parents go to a Muggle magic shop and grab something from the dollar bin. I'm awful at gift-giving and I feel terrible now."
"You don't have to make it up to me, Hermione. It's not a contest." he shook his head, heading for the door, "I need to get going. I'm supposed to be having a meeting with George. We're coming out with a new line of products before the start of the new semester. Only problem is we haven't gotten anything to a working standard yet."
"Use my idea, then. A pendant that squirts ink. Then we'll call it even." she cackled at the disapproving look on Fred's face.
"No offense, Granger, but it's going to take a lot more than that to make up for the god-awful card trick kit you got me." he admitted, a devious smile spreading across his lips.
"How did you-"
"I needed a way to test our new Bypassing Bifocals. Lets the wearer see through physical objects. Percy is going to appreciate that new Quick Quotes Quill, by the way. Very thoughtful of you." he said with a wink. With that, he tore out of the room and down the hall, leaving Hermione to her writing.
