Dear Fairy Godfather,

I sat down to write my Christmas list today and started crying. It's my first Christmas without my parents.

I miss them so much. They survived Death Eater threats for years, only to die on their way to a cruise in Italy after Voldemort's defeat.

WHY?

It's just not fair.

Here's my Christmas list:

1. Ginny

2. Harry

3. Ron

4. Parvati

5. Lavender

6. Professor McGonagall

7. Professor Dumbledore

I'm so pathetic. I have no friends.

Hermione

.

Hermione picked at her toast. It was a Hogsmeade weekend, the first weekend in December. She and Harry and Ginny and Ron had all sat up the night before, laughing and talking, making plans to go together to Hogsmeade and do their Christmas shopping.

It was also the anniversary of the day her parents had left on their second honeymoon, celebrating their twenty years of marriage. The day they had gotten on a plane and never gotten off again.

At her right, Ron was piling potatoes onto his plate with a will, completely and gloriously unconcerned with anything other than his breakfast. Hermione couldn't help but smile a little at his preoccupation—a clutch of angry Hungarian Horntails could fly bellowing through the Great Hall and Ron wouldn't look up from his eggs.

Ginny slid in to a seat next to her. "Are you okay?" she asked hesitantly. "You look… a little tired."

Hermione knew how she looked. She'd stared at her reflection in the mirror that morning for a depressed twenty minutes. She had shadows under her eyes, her face was pinched and wan, and her eyes were red from crying herself to sleep after her friends had left. She smiled weakly. "I'll be okay. It's just… today was the day. You know."

Ginny nodded. "I know. I just wanted to make sure you know I'm here for you. If you need to talk, or anything."

Hermione looked back down at her toast. "Okay. Thanks, Ginny."

.

Hermione and Ginny trudged through the rapidly deepening snow on the road out of Hogsmeade, loaded down with packages. Their noses and cheeks were red from the cold, and Hermione's hair stubbornly escaped even the most determined efforts to keep it confined under a hat, fanning out in a frizzy auburn profusion around her face.

"Ginny," Hermione asked suddenly. "Where did Harry and Ron go?"

That was when the snowball hit her in the back of the head. A second one impacted with Ginny's shoulder. Harry and Ron popped up out of a drift, laughing. The girls exchanged glances, and dropped the shopping bags in the snow. Hermione packed a snowball. This was war.

Hermione lobbed a missile at Ron. The loosely-packed snow impacted and showered all over his front. She didn't have time to grin in triumph, as she had to quickly duck to avoid his returning volley. At some point she and Ron had gotten separated from Ginny and Harry.

Picking up more loose snow, she darted toward the redhead and dropped it down the back of his shirt. She didn't expect the root hidden under the wet snow. Tripping, she flailed wildly on her way down, bringing Ron down with her.

He landed half next to her, half on top of her in the snowbank. Flushed and breathing hard, she stared at him staring at her. In the next instant, the moment was broken as he reached out and washed her face in snow.

Cold, wet, and happy, purchases reclaimed, the four trudged into the courtyard of Hogwarts, talking and laughing. Severus glared down from his tower window, alone with a glass of good brandy and a discourse on fifteenth century potions. Granger looked up, eyes alight with laughter, and waved cheekily. Scowling, he turned back to his book.

.

Dear Fairy Godfather,

I've done all my Christmas shopping. I wish I could get you a present, but wouldn't know who to give it to.

I wouldn't know what to get you, anyways. For my squeaky fairy godfather with a pointy emerald hat, I would get thick woolen socks. It gets cold at night in the winter, even for magical little men with curled-up shoes.

For Bradd with two D's, I would have to get a gift certificate from some trendy store in New York; he'd be certain to cluck sadly over anything I'd pick out and be consumed with the desire to make me over.

Buy yourself something nice and say it's from me.

Hermione

Slowly chipping away at my writer's block... I'm getting there. Unfortunately, I'm not going to have computer access for the next couple of weeks, so updates will be later than I would prefer, and then after that I'll be really busy, but I promise I will try to keep steady updates. And now, review replies!

Rosmerta: None of the above. You'll figure it out soon enough. And if you don't, then I handled it clumsily and will have to figure out a more suave way of writing it in.

Kaaera: I have no idea. Does it matter?

Laughing Fountain: Well, duh, you'd either agree or disagree. What other option is there? LOL.

Smartchic: Yes, I'm planning on it.

Miss Elvira: If you get a chance, I would appreciate it if you could tell me exactly where the errors were… Thanks!

RandomReviewer: Thanks! I'm glad you like it. And you should definitely read it. You'll really enjoy it.

Also thanks to Silly Bandit, Midnight Princess, Droxy, Christine, Ravens Dragon Wing, Imogenhm, xmaverickf14x, Otherside2, Gracie Jane, Momsangel, and LilyoftheShadow. As always, all reviews will be admired and marveled at by yours truly.