Disclaimer: The characters in this story are J.K. Rowlings.

Chapter 20.

Robins and Cardinals

When she was a small child her grandmother had robins and cardinals on her Christmas trees. The cardinals were bright red birds that were a colourful contrast to the green boughs. They had soft cotton bodies built over a wire frame. The wire legs and feet gripped the branch to stand upright among the ornaments and lights. The cotton had been painted red and then had bright red dyed feathers glued all over the body to look like a real bird roosting on the limbs. The wonderful tail feathers were spread, while the wings were tucked close. They had bright black jet eyes and the throats were black feathers to mimic the birds found in North America. As a small child the bright colour was not incongruous, but such brilliance would be certain death in nature.

As she grew older she became more drawn to the little brown birds that also populated her grandmother's trees. These were made with the same care, but they were harder to spot with the shades of brown and the muted orange-red colour. There are many legends related to the robin and its presence on Christmas cards throughout the world. Hermione being a researching being had been trying to collect as many of these that she could find. There had been robins in Norse mythology as well as Christian Easter legends. Hermione's favorite story was the one where a robin saved the Christ Child from a fire.

"In this time ravens were large brightly coloured birds and robins were small and brown. Ravens were always boasting about their beautiful colours and high place in the animal kingdom. Robins were humble birds that only sat by and watched. On the night the Christ Child was born there was a terrible storm and the Holy Family seeking shelter in the stable was cold. The animals knowing that this was a special baby gathered around them to keep them warm. The raven being a proud bird decided that a fire would keep them warmer than the heat from the animals. He stole a coal from a nearby fire and brought it into the stable where the baby lay in the manger. The coal was dropped onto the straw which caught fire. Before the fire could spread a robin flew in and batted its wings hard to blow the flames away. The smoke was dense and black from the wet straw, but the little robin was steadfast in fanning it away until the man could put out the fire. When it fire was gone, the raven's beautiful plumage had turned black from the smoke. The robin was exhausted and lay on the ground near the fire. All thought that the robin had died. When the mother picked the Christ Child out of the manger, he waved his hand over the bird and it sprung to life, its breast was stained red from the flames of the fire. This is why ravens are black and robins have beautiful red breasts."

When Hermione unwrapped the next two ornaments (you know the new rule where if they are the same kind you can put more than one on the tree because they are still the same kind), she revealed a red feathered cardinal and a small brown robin. The cardinal was bright and showy. The robin was a light tan brown on the underside and a medium brown on the top, but its breast was the muted orange-red of heroism. She smoothed the feathers and clipped each to a branch of the tree.

Next Hermione unpacked her Christmas stocking. It was made of a white quilt with a twig and leaf appliqué. On the twig were two birds a cardinal and a robin. The materials making the birds were bright prints that had the look of feathers from a distance. The cuff of the stocking was gold and on it were appliquéd three green holly leaves and three red berries. Her name was embroideried in bright red also on the cuff. Hermione had made this stocking when she was eleven. When she married Ron she had made him a red one with chess piece and Quidditch appliqués. When Rose was born, her mother made Rose one with roses and a tiara on the top. It was red and the roses were white. The tiara was gold and had gems of red, blue, green, purple and white enhancing it. The fourth stocking Hermione had made was a royal blue with silver and gold stars and moon and colourful planets because Hugo had been so small for his first Christmas his mother didn't know what his personality might be. She told Ron that Hugo's future had yet to be written. For a present and piece offering to Lavender's first Christmas as Ron's wife Hermione had made her a purple girlish one. This year she had made a stocking for Joel and would take it to the Christmas Eve gathering of the Weasleys at the Burrow. It was red with a snowman and snowflakes on it.

Turning on her heel, Hermione went to her bedroom to change for the Potter's Christmas supper party. The dress she had selected was a classic little black Chanel Hermione had found in a vintage clothing shop. It had been crammed between some of the most colourful sixties outfits she had ever seen. The shopkeeper obviously did not know what a treasure the dress was. When Hermione asked if they were certain that they only wanted five pounds for it they assured her that the price was correct. It was one of the earliest designs and consequently a little longer than most. Hermione accessorized it with silver. She had a wide silver belt with an ornate c-shaped buckle. She had a silver lady's watch on a silver chain as a pendant. The watch was an antique since her great-grandmother had received it as a graduation present when she completed normal school, no mean feat for that time. Small diamond studs on her ears winked from behind the curtain of hair that had been straightened except the ends and perfectly Hermione's face. She wore comfortable silver and black sequined shoes with a medium-high heel.

Slipping on her black cloak she stepped into her fireplace and flooed to the Potter residence. "Hermione, I am so glad you are here!" Harry exclaimed. "Ginny isn't back from Ron's yet. She went over to help settle Lavender while Ron went in to fill out paper work for an extended leave."

"Never changes, does it?" Hermione commented. "He puts off until the last minute and then has to rush to get it done." As she shrugged out of her coat, she asked, "What can I do?" Removing her hat, she slid it down the left sleeve; removing her scarf she slid it down the right. She removed her gloves one at a time. First she took off the right; she folded in half and slipped it into the right pocket of the coat. Then came the left when she felt something in the left pocket as she tried to put the folded glove in it. There was a small jeweler's box tied with a green ribbon. Hermione shook her head and kept it in her hand as she hung her coat in the cloak closet.

"I need help with putting the food out," Harry answered. "Ginny got it all ready and set out the dishes just before she was called away. She told me I could figure it out." He stood in the middle of the kitchen looking at a dozen serving bowls and platters on the island and an equal number of kinds of food in storage containers on the counter. "What do you have there?" asking about the box in her hand.

"This? I found it in my coat pocket when I was putting my glove in there." Hermione said and set the box on the counter. "Which ones do you want bowls or platters?"

The friends worked in silence and were setting the last dish on the sideboard for the buffet style serving of the supper. Just as they finished Ginny stepped through the floo. "Lav says, 'Hi.' She said that Pansy had been over to see Joel and told her you bought 'The Holly and the Ivy'. Hermione, that is one expensive dress since it is an original one-off design."

"Well, Pansy did give it to me at cost, so it was considerably less, but I couldn't leave it for someone else to buy."

"Why would she do that?" Ginny asked.

"Because of the 'accident' at Malfoy's cocktail party," Hermione answered. She picked up her small package from the counter indicating that this was a discussion for another time since guests were arriving.

"…And you should have seen Hermione's face when she saw her office," Harry was describing the aftermath of Ron's baby celebration.

"It wasn't that bad, was it?" someone asked.

"Other than the Yule log sticking out of the fireplace and dissecting my office, the 15 strings of fairy and icicle lights and the fact that it looked like the aftermath of an out-of-control frat party, everything was fine," the witch laughed.

"I went over to help with serving food at the Senior Centre and it was certainly festive," Draco said. "What, can't a guy volunteer without everyone disbelieving me. A little witch told me to be nice to those people because I may be there someday."

"Did someone take Hannah's back to the Leaky Cauldron?" asked Theo.

Harry replied that he had.

"Why did you lock Ron out of your floo, Hermione?" asked Neville.

"I was decorating my tree," said Hermione as she finished filling her plate and sat near an end table so she could put the plate down while opening the box.

"THE GREAT CHRISTMAS TREE FIRE OF 2004!" shouted Harry, Ginny, Angelina, Charlie, Bill and Fleur in unison. "Did you find a new one?" asked Ginny.

Playing it cool, Hermione slowly replied, "Tree? Yes, I did."

"No, the spider," admonished Harry.

George said, "No, I found one that Ron had missed in the…"

"WEASLEY'S WIZARD WHEEZES JOKE SHOP SPIDER MASSACRE OF 2005!" shouted the group again.

Blaise raised an eyebrow and then asked, "Will someone that isn't a first or second degree Weasley explain?" Then he looked at the smirk on Draco's face. "You aren't even a fifty-second degree Weasley, so what are you smirking about?

"Oh, Blaise, how soon you forget that I am now a third degree Weasley? My son married Rose. I was closer than fifty-two degrees before because of the Ancient and Noble House of Black connection." Draco sat down on the sofa next to Hermione and whispered, "What do you have there?"

"I get to tell the story complete with sound effects," volunteered Ginny.

"But no grand finale," admonished Harry, "we want a tree for Christmas."

While Ginny told the story of the "Great Christmas Tree Fire of 2004" followed by George telling the story of the "Triple W Joke Shop Spider Massacre of 2005", Hermione was opening her box with Draco watching. As she removed two ruby pendants from the box, she held her breath then whispered, "Oh, my." She pulled out a folded piece of parchment with the familiar green calligraphy, "Holly needs berries and your pearls need these." The note was signed with the familiar green holly leaves, three red berries, and a heart, but it was half red and half green this time instead of the usual green heart.

She took her mobile out of her clutch and texted to the number of unknown person who had been sending messages to her. She had put it as speed dial 3 since she had so many of the texts with the heart emoticon. "They are beautiful and will sit on the sides of the jade pendant. Thanks, H." She hit send and she heard Draco's mobile buzz as though it was set on vibrate. Their eyes met in recognition.

Advent Calendar Day 19 prompt: Stocking