Empty Rooms

Chapter 18 - Christmas

Christmas morning arrived with snow and cold. Hermione woke up before dawn and slipped out of bed before Harry opened his eyes so that she could make the perfect Christmas breakfast. She maneuvered through the kitchen with ease and soon had a feast cooking on the stove and coffee brewing in the pot.

It was the first time in a long time that she felt truly happy. She hummed Christmas songs to herself and danced along to it while she flipped the pancakes and turned the sausage and bacon. She and Harry had waited until Teddy went to bed before they decorated the house. Garlands, lights, and a twinkling tree would be a magical thing for him to wake up to. The living room had been transformed, for certain. And the large pile of presents under the tree filled Hermione with as much excitement as an adult as it did as a child.

Harry was the first to wake up. He walked into the kitchen with a bewildered look on his face that quickly transformed into a grin as he watched Hermione dance and sing off-key. As she twirled away from the stove, he caught her and started to dance with her, waving his wand at the radio in the kitchen so that actual Christmas carols filled the air.

When the song ended, Harry kissed Hermione. "Happy Christmas," he said.

She grinned at him. "Happy Christmas, Harry," she replied. "Breakfast is ready."

Harry kissed her again before he let her go and started getting plates onto the table. They served breakfast, complete with coffee and juice, before Harry woke up Teddy.

The boy was sleeping soundly on his bed. Harry knew he'd stayed up late into the night, hoping to catch sight of the mysterious Santa Clause, who obviously had to be a Wizard because there was no other way that he would be able to visit every child in the world otherwise.

Harry knelt next to his godson's bed and gently woke him. "Teddy," he said. "Wake up! It's Christmas!"

Teddy's eyes shot open and he sat up immediately. "It's Christmas?" he asked with a grin. Harry nodded. "Did Santa come?"

"Well, you see, there's something in the living room that wasn't there last night, so I think he might have. Will you check on it for me? You can tell me for certain."

Teddy jumped out of bed and ran out of the room. Harry waited with a smile on his face to hear Teddy's reaction. "WHAT?" he heard from the living room. Harry laughed as Teddy came running back. "Did you see it?" he asked. "There's a tree! And presents!"

"There is?" Harry asked.

Teddy walked up and grabbed Harry's hand before he dragged his godfather into the living room. He pointed at the tree. "Look!" he cried.

Harry gasped. He knelt down in front of Teddy. "Do you know what this means?" he asked. Teddy shook his head. "This means you have to eat breakfast and then we can start opening the gifts, okay?" he asked.

Teddy's face fell. "I have to wait?" he cried.

Harry nodded. "But only until we're done eating breakfast," he said.

Teddy rushed to the table where breakfast waited. He started eating before Harry and Hermione sat down. "Slow down, Teddy," Harry said. "We all have to finish before you can start opening presents, okay?"

Teddy nodded but continued to shovel his food into his mouth. Harry and Hermione shared an amused look across the table and Hermione sipped her coffee before turning to her breakfast. Teddy, of course, finished his breakfast before Harry or Hermione did and preceded to stare wistfully into the living room while the adults finished their meal. He looked at them every few minutes to see if they were done yet. Each time, their plates were a little emptier and he was a little more hopeful that they would be done the next time he looked.

When Harry finally sent his fork down, Teddy almost jumped out of his chair. "Can we open presents now?" he asked.

Harry nodded and Teddy leaped out of his chair to run to the tree. "Don't open them until we get in there," Harry told him.

Teddy, staring at the biggest present buried beneath all the smaller ones, groaned loudly. "Hurry!" he begged, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Harry and Hermione laughed as they walked into the living room and sat down on the sofa.

Teddy grabbed the first present. "Is this mine?" he asked.

"Yours are the blue ones," Harry said. Hermione's idea was that it would be easier for Teddy to figure out what he could and couldn't open if they color-coded all of the gifts. Harry's were red and Hermione's were gold.

"Can you read who it's from?" Hermione asked.

Teddy barely managed to divert his attention to the tag before tearing the paper off. He looked at it with squinted eyes. "I can't read that good yet," he said.

Hermione stood up from the sofa and moved to sit on the floor with Teddy. She pulled him into her lap and held the tag so she could see who it was from. "Do you know your sounds?" she asked.

"Gramma was teaching me," he said.

"Well, see if you can sound it out then," she said. "What's the first letter?"

"G?" Teddy asked. Hermione nodded. "Guh-rr-ah-nn-d-mm-ah," he muttered under his breath. "Grandma?" he asked. Hermione nodded. Teddy smiled, swelling with pride, and then ripped the paper off the box as if the barrier wasn't even there.

Teddy tore through all of his gifts, with Hermione to help him discover who each one was from. From Andromeda, he received a toy broom that went higher than his old one, knee and elbow pads, as well as a helmet. Safety first, after all. Hermione gave him the children's version of Quidditch Throughout the Ages because Teddy was fascinated by the sport. She even promised to help him read it whenever he wanted. Harry gave him a set of toy dragons that reminded him a lot of the Triwizard Tournament because they moved around. Since they were children's toys, there was, thankfully, no fire.

Teddy also got new clothes and Santa even gave him some pajamas with golden snitches on them. He got a few other books to help with his reading and Hermione made a decision that she would start teaching Teddy everything he'd need to know before going to Hogwarts.

In addition to Teddy's gifts, Hermione gave Harry a book to help him plan his lessons at the Auror Academy, as well as a few other books to help him develop his skills as a teacher. Teddy gave Harry a hand-drawn card of him, Harry, and Hermione living in their house with a dog, which Harry decided meant that Teddy wanted a dog. Above the picture, Teddy wrote the word "Family" with everyone's names and arrows pointing to each person. The part that almost made Harry cry was that Teddy had written "Daddy Harry" and "Mummy Hermione".

"Teddy, come here," Harry said, fighting the tears. Teddy walked up to Harry, who picked him up and sat him in his lap. He held the card so that Teddy could see it. "You remember who your mum and dad are, right?" he asked.

Teddy nodded. "My mum was Tonks. She was a brave Auror. She died fighting Death Eaters when they attacked Hogwarts. She loved me very much. My dad was Remus. He was a professor at Hogwarts a long time ago and he also died at Hogwarts when the Death Eaters attacked. He loved me very much too."

"May I ask you why you called us mummy and daddy in your card?" Harry asked.

Teddy smiled. "You are my daddy and Hermyknee is my mummy." Hermione gasped and held her hands over her mouth as tears glistened in her eyes. "I know you're not my real parents, but I wish you were because I love you."

Harry blinked the tears back as he hugged Teddy tightly. "I love you too," he whispered. He kissed the top of Teddy's head before letting him go back to his toys.

For Hermione, Harry gave her a set of encyclopedias he knew she'd had her eye on for a while. He also gave her a hand-written coupon book filled with things like free hugs, kisses, and soup. Hermione seemed to enjoy that gift the most and used a kiss coupon right away.

Also under the tree were sweaters from Molly for each of them. Harry had lost count of how many H sweaters she'd made for him, gradually growing larger as the years went by. He still had every single one of them in a box in his closet. They would be heading to the Burrow later in the day for dinner. Harry and Hermione both hoped that Ron would keep his distance and not ruin the holiday. They'd resisted the invitation at first, but Molly demanded they be there. "It isn't Christmas if the whole family isn't here," she'd said.