Smoke and Mirrors

Authors Note: Hey sorry I'm just reposting this chapter, but I have corrected some errors in the writing and I fixed some grammar issues as well.

The winter sky was a beautifully lit with glittering stars and for some reason the cold made the night a lot clearer. Both in scenery and mentally. The Muggle world is so different than mine, I mean from a distance you can't tell the difference, but when you take a closer look, you start to see the changes. Such as the struggles and day to day problems they have to deal with that me and the rest of the Wizarding world take for granted. But I guess we are all two sides of the same Galleon, one side is our world, and the other is theirs. But there is a silver lining in between. And I call that silver lining Hermione Granger. When she explains the Muggle world to me, I can just see how much it thrills her to teach someone something new. Don't get me wrong, I love her but sometimes I just don't get what she is saying sometimes.

"What do you mean, you have to pay to get around town?" I ask, broomsticks don't need fuel, and floo powder barely costs a sickle. Hermione laughs a little bit.

"Unfortunately, people like my parents have to buy petrol, a kind of fuel, to power their car. It's the same everywhere else, we don't have unlimited amounts of power, but I wish we did. It would cause a whole bunch conflicts to end" She says.

"Yea I guess so, but that could cause more problems, like who could gain the most power. That's what's happening with you-know-who" I point out. I think it might be better if we had to be more accountable of our actions.

"Oh please Ginny! Let's not talk about troubling topics, it's Christmas! Can't I spend a night with the best Girl in the world?!" Moments after saying this, Hermione's cheeks flushed red, but who knows it could have just been the cold.

"Oh Alright. So, where do you want to go now? My parents won't be back for another couple hours" Hermione is remains quiet for a bit, I can tell the gears are turning.

"How about a Café? I'm pretty sure one has to be open, even if it is almost midnight"

"That sounds great!" But I soon begin to rethink. "But I only have wizard currency, you think they will accept it?"

"Ah, no. But not to worry, I've got some money to cover you." She says kindly, with a smile. She looks so adorable in her fur jacket.

We continued to walk down the street for a bit, the snowfall covering the footsteps we left behind. I'm not used to automobiles on the streets, or urban life for that matter, I mean I have lived in the Burrow all my life. But going from magic to magic is a transformation that is a lot harder than streets and cars. We turn a couple roads down, and then come across a small Café, the golden light was flooding the street. When I step up to the door and open it, a rush of warm air greets me and I gesture to Hermione and she walks in and I follow close behind.

"Happy Holidays!" The Elderly man behind the counter says, as he polishes the counter. "Take any seat you would like. Elizabeth! Come and get their orders please!" He says to someone in the back room. We make our way to a little table by the window in the far corner of the shop. Somewhere where they can't listen in. Hermione pulls out my chair for me and I blush a bit, I hope she just thinks it is the sudden rush of warmth. Moments pass and a girl, she couldn't have been more than thirteen, comes out wearing an apron and a notepad.

"Greetings! What could I get you two?" She says cheerfully, but you could tell she has been having a long day.

"Hi there," Hermione starts. "I will get a peppermint mocha and some Holiday Pudding"

Then the girl looks at me, I begin to stutter with my words. "Oh, um, I guess I will have the same thing as her, besides the Pudding."

"Well we are going to throw out the rest of the Pudding anyway, I could just give you the rest of it for its original price" The girl says kindly.

"Sure that sounds great!" And as she turns to leave, Hermione pipes up.

"You have a long day?" This catches the girl off guard.

"Oh yea, ever since my Grandma got sick, my Grandpa and I have had to pull longer shifts to make ends meet." The girl immediately regrets saying this because before Hermione could respond, she has already bolted off back to the backroom.

"It's so different here than in the magic world" I say out loud, without thinking. Hermione looks at me.

"See? I told you so" She says emphasizing her words like she always does. "Muggles don't have to deal with lots of weird stuff, but they sure do make it up with other stuff"

"Yea you're right, but at least they don't have to deal with stuff like a Basilisk or anything" I say half-jokingly. But I would much rather take a Basilisk than have one of my family get hurt or sick, even if it is easier to cure in the magic world.

"So…" Hermione begins, looking me directly in the eye. "What does your family do on Christmas Day? I mean anything super spectacular?"

I had to think honestly, I mean some traditions so normal in a wizard family may be totally new for her.

"Open presents, everyone helps pitch in to make dinner, actually now come and think of it, Christmas is the day that we don't use a whole lot of extraordinary kinds of magic" Hermione kind of looks disappointed.

"Wow I thought it would be a whole magic show you know"

"Oh please, it's always a show when Fred and George are involved. And plus, it's going to be magic enough that you are there to join us" I regret the words immediately. How could I be so stupid? Letting my emotions come out like that. Before Hermione can respond, the girl comes back over with a tray with two steaming cups and a plate with a pile of dark stuff with red and green decorations.

"Here you guys go, two peppermint mochas and the last of the Christmas Pudding" She says as she sets the tray down and passes the cups to us and puts the Pudding in between us. "Would you guys like anything else tonight?"

"No that would be all thanks. Oh and here you go," Hermione hands her a note with a big fifty on it. Now I am not too sure how valuable Muggle currency is but all I needed to see was the girls eyes widen and hesitate to take the note. "I hope your Grandma pulls through okay" and with that she scurried off to tell the elderly man.

"Oh Hermione!" I say in a low whisper. She blushes and just drinks her beverage.

When we make our way back to the hospital, I watch the sky, hoping I would see the flying sky blue automobile streaking by. I really want to give Hermione her gift, which I won't tell what it is just yet.

"So what's your absolute favorite thing at Hogwarts?" I ask her, trying to get some insight into what she enjoys.

"Wow is that a loaded question," She says, trailing off to think, "Well I guess it would have to be all of the people I get to see you know? Such as you, Harry, Ron, Luna, Neville and so on and so forth. School would be pretty boring without you all"

I can't help but feel thrilled that I happened to be on her list of her favorite people, before Harry even!

"Well?" She says back to me. "What's your favorite thing at Hogwarts?"

Oh this is easy. "I mean Quidditch is fun and all, but it's nothing without your teammates and you're House to back you up. I guess it's the people too"

Hermione smiles and nods her head. Then I she looks into a store window and stops to peer into the glass. "Wow look at this book bag Ginny!"

Normally I'm not one to be all excited about something that carries books, but I got to admit, it looked nice. It was made of leather, and was a deep shade of brown with unique pressed designs on the strap and flap of the bag. The buttons and buckles were a darker golden color and it looked like it could hold a decent amount of books even if its size was a little smaller. It was a perfect for Hermione's size and figure and I could see that she loved it. It's only a shame I don't have any Muggle money.

"It sure looks nice, it goes better with our house than the blue one you have right now" I say, confirming her own thoughts.

"Oh well, it's something to look at, I think I would be too afraid to use it, I wouldn't want to spill anything on it or anything" She says trying to convince herself that it was for the best.

"Who knows? You could get some Christmas money tomorrow" I say trying to cheer her up. She smiles at me and we continue on our way back to the hospital.

Little did I know that my parents had already come back, and I guess we took too long because they decided to just drop off our stuff in Hermione's parents room and head back to the Burrow. Hermione was fine with this of course and I was more concerned if my mother had found my present and packed it. While Hermione was speaking with her parents, I was digging through my bag, looking for that small box with Hermione's name on it. When I finally came across it, I saw a note was attached to it, it was from Mum.

Ginny,

I know how hard it is to love someone and have them not know it, or maybe not feel the same way. But I advise you to tell Hermione how you feel about her. If you are worried that she won't talk to you again, then you really don't know her at all. I hope your Christmas is a magical one, even in the Muggle world, and the Family and Harry wish Hermione's Father a speedy recovery.

With love,

Mum

I get so lost in the note I almost didn't see Hermione approaching me, and she almost saw the paper! That would be a complete disaster. I quickly hid the note and box in my coat pocket and tried to pretend that I wasn't up to anything.

"Hey what was that?" Hermione asks, ever the curious one. It's so hard to lie to her.

"Oh just a list of stuff my dad wants to learn about Muggles, like what do their Houses look like?" I say with somewhat confidence, dismissing the note. Then Hermione grins a bit.

"Well you can check that one off because my Mum said we can stay at the house, even though she is going to stay here with dad" My heart almost leaped right out of my chest.

"That's great! But won't you stay with your dad tonight?"

"Oh he's got my Mum here, plus there is nothing to do here, and it's much more comfy at the house, you know with actual beds" She says cheerfully.

"So, where exactly do you live?"

For my first cab ride, I can't say it was very eventful, the driver was very quiet and only spoke when we arrived and when he wanted the money. Hermione says that's pretty typical for cab drivers to do, but I wish they were nicer you know? When we enter Hermione's house, the first thing I notice is the smell. It smells a bit like mint, it might have to do with the season, but it might also have something to do with their dentist jobs. I hear that they use lots of minty stuff there, or so Hermione tells me. The rooms are partially decorated, probably due to Mrs. Granger having to leave in such a hurry. But from what it looks like, they are a pretty festive family.

"My rooms just up the stairs and to the right, I gotta go grab something from my other bag I left in the living room." She says in a whisper although no one else in home, besides Crookshanks of course.

"Okay, I will meet you up there" I say in a whisper

When I reach the top of the stair I see photos of Hermione and her parents across the walls, I often wonder how life is as a single child. I guess I will have to ask Hermione sometime. When I go into Hermione's room, everything is immaculate. I mean what else could I expect? Everything is in its place, the pens on her desk, to the bed that is nicely made. On her desk a moving family photo with Hermione and her parent's right before she departed onto the Hogwarts express for the first time. It's the only magical item I can see. She must put everything else away, just in case some of her parent's friends come over. As I am examining her puzzle on her desk I hear a knock on the door. I turn and see Hermione with her coat off sporting a maroon turtleneck that fits her snugly.

"Getting a glimpse of the room there Ginny?" She says yawning halfway into her sentence. Then she walks over to the drawers and pulls out her pajamas. "You tired yet? I know I am"

"Yea a bit, where should I set up the bed?" I ask looking around the floor. There isn't much space.

"Oh it's late, if you want you can sleep with me in my bed for just tonight, then we can set you up proper tomorrow. Is that okay?" She says, somewhat nervously.

"Yea that sounds great, is it alright if I get changed in here? I don't think I can make it to the bathroom." I say blushing.

"Oh yea, as long as you are alright with me changing as well" She says back to me. I nod.

We turn our backs to each other and I change into the only pajamas my mother packed. Somehow she managed to pack the one pair that doesn't fit me. Fred and George thought it would be funny one day if they shrunk Ron's clothes, but my pajamas where in there as well. I guess it won't be all bad… Out of the corner of my eye I see Hermione changing in the mirror, and force my eyes off of it.

"You done yet?" I ask Hermione a couple moments later

"Yea you can turn around now" When I do, I see that Hermione has her back still turned to me, but I see she is wearing very short shorts and a tight t-shirt that shows off every curve. My eyes, start to guide themselves down to her lower areas when she turns around, and smiles.

"Oh I'm sorry, my Mum says our heater has been acting up, so it might get really warm tonight. You can take your jumper off if you want to" She says, now blushing.

"Yea I think I can feel it getting warmer already." I say, taking off my jumper to reveal my navy blue bra and panties. But now I realize that it might just be me that's heating up. Then after a few awkward moments, Hermione climbs into her bed and scooches all the way over to the side, making room for me. Her bed is larger than mine, but we still had to lay together with skin touching. I don't mind it one bit, Hermione's skin is so soft and smooth and we fit together so well, it is beyond comfortable.

"You comfy?" Hermione says to me, I can sense a nervousness in her voice.

"Yea, you?" I reply. She answers by nodding her head, a movement I can feel quite easily.

"I'm sorry you cat be with your Family tonight, Ginny" Hermione says, quietly.

"Don't worry about," I begin to say, hugging her close. "You needed a friend more than my family needed another Weasley"

"Thank you Ginny, tomorrows Christmas. Let's get a good night sleep" And with that, my Christmas Eve ended, and our Christmas Day began.

Authors Note: Hey so I was kinda iffy on this chapter, I might be sticking to Ginny's POV, it's easier to write, but I might have Hermione POV chapters in there once in a while. Reviews are always welcome, and let me know what you guys want. Thank you.

booyah111oak2 signing off