Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns all the Harry Potter characters.

Chapter 9.

Cross-Stitched Crèche, Eggsactly

Being a dentist requires fine motor skills. Dr. David Granger evinced this in his hobby of painting and also carving beautiful scenes with his dental tools into egg shells—not the tools he used on patients of course. Dr. Jean Granger's hobbies were cooking and counted cross-stitch. Hermione had many examples of art for decoration in her home. She also had a few ornaments made by each. Today she had decided to put two of those examples on the tree. Hermione justified this divergence from her plan of one ornament per day to be allowed because they had the same theme, The Nativity. "Besides, my tree, my rules," she thought.

The first ornament she pulled from the tissue paper nest was the beautiful white egg. David Granger had carefully drawn the scene complete with the star on top of the crèche. On the front was the crèche with Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus in the manger. Coming from one side around the egg were three wise men with a camel and coming from the other were two shepherds and a lamb. Carefully he would blow the contents out of the egg and then clean it. After sketching the design in pencil and erasing and correcting the lines, David then inked the final lines. Finally he used a rotary tool and a dental drill to make the perforated eggs. When the scene was completed the space around it was decorated with a series of tile like empty spaces. This egg had ones reminiscent of four leaf clovers between pillars of white in order to provide structure. The last step in the creation of the masterpiece was to seal it to prevent it from yellowing over time. In early times this was accomplished by using thin lacquer, but it too would yellow. Now there were sprays that worked equally well on the eggs or the painted buildings of the Christmas village. A white satin ribbon had been inserted in the center top of the egg with a small white bow near the hole to mask the insertion and a tall loop provided a place for the ornament hanger.

Hermione picked an ornament hanger from the bowl and hooked one end to the loop. The other end of the hanger she put over a limb of the tree near the top. On the opposite side of the tree was a blue bubble light that shone through the perforations in the egg making a perfect background.

The second ornament she selected was also a nativity scene. This one was a counted cross-stitch ornament that Jean had made. The tiny stitches were decorating the 22 count Aida cloth meaning that there were 22 stitches to the inch. The sky of a dark navy blue with gold stars was above a crèche that was three shades of brown on the roof and another for the walls of the shed. A seated Mary and kneeling Joseph were on either side of the dark brown, straw filled manger where a tiny Jesus lay. Mary's and Joseph's robes were also shades of brown, but Mary wore the traditional bright blue veil on her head. The darkest brown made French knot eyes for the mother and father, but the bright blue of the veil was echoed in the baby's eyes. The detail of the thread in a single strand created an almost painted look. The cloth was enclosed in a gold picture frame with a glass to keep the embroidery clean and free of dust. At the top of the frame a gold ribbon was threaded through the loop of the frame and culminating with a loop of ribbon and a bow sitting on the frame. Hermione took another ornament hanger from the dish and attached it to the top of the loop before hanging the ornament on the tree.

Going into the kitchen to figure out what she would have for supper, Hermione thought about the invitation to Malfoy's for cocktails and snacks on Friday. "Friday is tomorrow not a week away. Since the doings is after work I assume everyone will be in work attire, but maybe I should check. No, I will just surprise everyone." The train of thought made her switch direction and she headed towards her bedroom.

Hermione went to her closet and pulled out a black full skirt of shot silk taffeta from the closet. She would wear a black camisole top with the black skirt for work and then add a gold lace shirt for the get together. She would change her usual black work pumps for gold strappy sandals for the party. Her hair would be caught up into a pony tail for work and tied with a black bow which would be exchanged for a gold grosgrain ribbon. Hermione looked at the work to cocktail ensemble and was pleased with her selections. She carefully folded the gold portions and put them into a small black satin clutch, with her usual undetectable extension charm and placed it in her briefcase.

When her stomach rumbled and Hermione realized that she had not eaten yet. She hung the black skirt on the back of the bathroom door and laid the cami on the seat so that they would be ready for the morning. Then she went to the kitchen to fix something to eat.

"Hermione," a voice came from her floo, "are you busy?"

She went to the living room to answer the call. "Ron, how are you? No, I am not busy. Do you need something?"

"I am taking Lav to St. Mungo's. It seems as though the baby wants to come early." Then he asked, "Do you think you could meet the train from Hogwarts and bring Hugo over? It kill two birds with one spell. Hugo and his belongings will arrive at the same time and you can see the baby."

"So, you and Lav have decided to go all the way to birth before finding out what the baby's name will be?" she asked. Then she changed the train of thought, "Remember when he came last summer and we had to make, what was it, five or six trips back to claim his luggage."

"No, we decided we were not going to know until the baby was here. We have chosen names—Sue and either Joel or Cameron," Ron replied. "You made four trips and I made three, so that is seven. There are times I swear that he is so busy reading that he forgets there is a world around him."

"I hope you are planning on using Sue for a girl and Joel for a boy," Hermione chuckled. "Hugo gets totally involved in whatever he is doing—reading, Quidditch, chess, et cetera. He has amazing powers of concentration."

"Who ever heard of a boy named Sue? Of course it is for a girl and Joel or Cameron is for a boy."

"There is a song by Johnny Cash, 'A boy named Sue.' It is about a father that abandons his son after naming him Sue. The boy becomes a fighter and when he meets his father the father says he gave him the name so he would grow up tough," explained Hermione. "I think Cameron would work for either a boy or girl, but this isn't my call. What time is the train coming in? Three o'clock as usual?"

"Yes, three. Cameron was my choice." Then he finished the call, "Thanks, Hermione and we will see you Saturday afternoon."

As she made a cheese and ham omelet, Hermione thought about the floo call. "The more I think about it, the more I am certain is that we only married because it was expected. We really are good friends now tied closer together by our children. If I were to guess, I would say that he has loved Lavender since sixth year. They do make a good couple, even though she irritates me. She is a perfect Quidditch Star Wife, where I never was good at that."

Hermione sat at the kitchen table with a cup of black coffee, glass of orange juice, the omelet and toast with lime marmalade in front of her. When her parents had made this they called it 'breakfast for supper'. She picked up the mobile that had rung the song for an incoming text. "Will be dreaming of you soon. 3" Hermione finished the supper, washed the dishes and went to shower before bed.

Just before turning out the lamp, she picked up the mobile and reread the text. "Good night and sweet dreams. H," Hermione replied.

Advent Calendar Day 9 Prompt: The Nativity