The Granger Son
Harry; Hermione; Dr. Grangerx2
Rated T
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its characters from the franchise. That honor belongs to JK Rowling
The Granger Son
Chapter 20
The Christmas holiday was always a fun and festive affair at the Granger home. Harry and Hermione, glad to be home for the holidays, spent time with their parents and did all the activities they usually got up to during Yule time. The first thing that they did after spending the night back in their homes was go out for little, personal Christmas trees for their rooms. The main tree was in the living room for the family, but Robert and Jean allowed their children to have a tree of their own in their rooms for their own enjoyment. They also got to play in the snow building snowmen and having snowball fights, Hermione making snow angels with Jean like when she was smaller. And they also got to baking a lot of Christmas cookies, Harry, Hermione, and their mother having a little friendly competition in who made the better Christmas cookie, and competition that was easily won by Jean.
Yes, it was good to be home, and the Granger siblings were glad to be there, even if it was only for a bit before having to return to Hogwarts. They didn't have to worry about classes, about Umbridge, Dumbledore, Potter's Army, or Voldemort; that last one mainly for Harry. While on the train to Kings Cross for the holidays, Harry had informed his sister about his visit to the Headmaster's office. He told her that he didn't tell him anything about Potter's Army, but believes the old wizard had an inkling about it anyway. Hermione hoped not, but if that was the case, she stated that Professor Dumbledore was most likely not going to do anything to interfere and get them in trouble. Therefore, with his sister's reassurance, Harry was able to let go of his worries for a while and just have fun with his family. After all, it was Yule, and a time for family, something he had been missing while at Hogwarts.
Robert and Jean slept peacefully, the silence of the house not disturbing them, the snow gently falling outside the window. Jean had rolled over and snuggled into her husband's side, getting comfortable again when suddenly, the sound of running footsteps met her ears. It was silent for a moment before the footsteps sounding again, this time sounding like more than one pair of feet. The bedroom door burst open, and two teenage bodies hopped on the bed. Jean blurrily blinked her eyes as she looked up at her children, green and brown eyes shining brightly as they looked down at her.
"Wake up, mum!" Harry said cheerfully. "Happy Christmas!"
"Happy Christmas!" Hermione said with a grin. She turned to her father who was waking up as well, shaking him as she said, "Wake up, daddy."
Robert groaned before saying, "Alright, I'm up, I'm up."
Chuckling, Jean sat up and hugged her son before saying, "Happy Christmas, darling."
"Yes, Happy Christmas," Robert greeted with a smile of his own, hugging his daughter before ruffling his son's head. Giving a small laugh, he said, "I see you two decided to wake us up on Christmas just like when you were little."
Hermione giggled. "We thought it would be fun. It was Harry's idea."
Harry grinned and nodded, not denying his sister's words. Jean got out of bed and told her children to go wash up first before heading downstairs, and she would get breakfast started. The Grangers all did as the matriarch said, washing their faces and brushing their teeth before moving downstairs into the living room, Jean going to the kitchen to make her usual Christmas breakfast, a delicious breakfast casserole with some bangers, toast, and hot chocolate. While she was busy doing that, Robert took the time to take the stockings from the fireplace mantle and passing them to his children. Hermione fiddled with the radio, filling the house with festive music, and Harry was at the Christmas tree, making present piles by name of recipient. Soon, Jean called everyone to eat breakfast before opening presents, the four of them sitting at the table and enjoying a delicious meal and happily conversing with one another.
After breakfast, they all moved to the living room, Harry pushing piles of presents to those they belonged to. Per usual on Christmas, Robert and Jean let their children open their presents first, starting with the eldest. Hermione began opening her presents, delighted to receive clothes, comfy jumpers, new music to listen to, and to her delight, new books to read and study. She received presents from friends and family, but the present that seemed to surprise her the most was a present that had been delivered at some point the night before from Blaise. The present that she received from Blaise was a bouquet of poinsettia, as well as a jewelry box that contained a very beautiful, expensive looking necklace. The necklace contained a diamond and ruby gem, surrounded in sterling silver with a silver chain. It was heavy, but not too heavy where it would be unbearable to wear around the neck. It was very beautiful, and there was a note with it, Blaise wishing Hermione a Happy Christmas and that he hoped she liked his present, and that he couldn't wait to see her after the yuletide season. Harry had joked with the brunette, stating that his friend was bound to ask her on a date when they returned to Hogwarts. Jean thought the present was sweet and thought it cute that her daughter had a crush and the boy seemed to like her back. Robert however, demanded to meet the young man that was obviously wanting to court his little girl. Completely embarrassed, Hermione demanded that her brother open his presents, to which Harry agreed to as to stop teasing his sister.
Opening his presents, Harry received clothes too, as well as a book on Quidditch history, a voucher for the Quidditch shop in Diagon Alley, plenty of sweets in the form of Chocolate Frogs, and much more. Just as he set the last gift he opened to the side, an owl suddenly landed on the windowsill, tapping the window with its beak. Robert stood and walked over to the window, opening it to allow the owl and the cool, winter air to come inside the house. The owl dropped a package into Harry's lap before circling the living room and leaving back out of the window, done delivering its parcel. As his father closed the window, Harry picked up the package and saw that it was from Professor McGonagall.
"It's from McGonagall," Harry stated.
"Well, open it, darling," Jean told him. "What did she give you?"
Harry tore the wrapping off the package, revealing a black leather photo album. Opening it, he looked upon the smiling faces of his birth parents, Lily and James Potter. He hadn't seen pictures of them before, as he didn't really want to see any, but he had been told stories of them. But he never imagined that he'd be gifted pictures of them for himself. Looking at them smiling and happy together, obviously very much in love, he couldn't help but smile a little. Turning a page, he found a little note tucked away inside. Taking the note out, he set the album to the side so he could read it.
Mr. Potter,
I hope this gift finds you well this Christmas Day. I know you've heard many stories about your birth parents and have doubly heard how much you resemble your father but have your mother's eyes. So much so, that you probably already figure how they might look. However, I wasn't sure that you had any pictures of them. You've seen pictures, but here are some for yourself that I had stashed away that Lily had sent me after leaving Hogwarts.
I understand that you have your family now, one that you love very much. I have no doubt that Mr. and Mrs. Granger love you and that you are their son, because you are. But know that even from heaven, James and Lily love you and want you to be happy, and I'm sure that they are and at peace knowing that you have a family that loves and accepts you as you are. I have no doubt that they are proud of the young man that you have grown into.
Happy Christmas, Harry.
Professor McGonagall
Harry smiled as he read the note, sniffling a bit as tears of happiness began to fill his eyes. He stuck the note back into the photo album and wiped away his tears, nodding that he was alright when Hermione asked if he was. And he was alright, he really was. He had never questioned before if his birth parents would have been happy with where he had ended up after the attack on his birth home, but McGonagall had given him the reassurance that he didn't know he needed that he had. He had ended up with a loving family with parents and a sister to call his own. He really couldn't ask for more on a perfect Christmas Day.
The yuletide season came and went, and it was soon time to pack up for Hogwarts once again. Christmas had been such fun, and New Year's had as well. Hermione had been wearing the necklace Blaise had given her ever since the day after Christmas, and Harry had teasingly told her that maybe she would get to kiss Blaise in the new year, since they couldn't do so at midnight. She had simply shoved him into the wall and walked away embarrassedly in response. As they realized that their time home was dwindling down, Harry and Hermione took the time to go over their defensive spells for Potter's Army, being sure to study them thoroughly as they couldn't physically practice them. Still, time ticked closer to them having to head back to Kings Cross Station to finish out the schoolyear, and before they knew it, it was the night before their return.
The Granger siblings were in their respective rooms, packing their trunks and making sure that they had everything that they needed. Harry's belongings were packed in his trunk, the only thing not inside being Professor Snape's old defense textbook. He was looking through it, trying to find new spells and hexes to learn, teach, and go over once they called the first meeting of Potter's Army back. Or he'd have them go over it at the second meeting. The first meeting would be a review of everything they had done before Yule break.
A knock on his bedroom door pulled him from his studies, him looking up and calling out, "Come in!"
The door opened and Jean stepped inside, smiling at her child as she laid her greenish-blue eyes on her child. Walking to sit on the bed next to her son, she said, "I'm just checking on you before turning in tonight."
Looking at the book in his hands, she asked, "What are you reading, darling?"
Harry looked at his mother and showed her the defense book saying, "It's a defense textbook for Fifth Years. It's old, but everything in it is still worth learning, especially since Umbridge isn't teaching us anything."
Jean flipped through the pages, looking at the many different defense spells in it and their explanations. As she looked through them, she asked, "Is this for your secret club?"
"Yes."
As she looked through the book, Jean couldn't help but feel worried. This secret club, while she didn't think it was something overly dangerous, but it would cause trouble for her son and daughter, especially with having a Ministry official in the school breathing down everyone's necks like her children had said. But she also knew her children, and knew that the Ministry of Magic keeping an eye on their school wasn't going to stop them from learning what they could for a core class when they weren't learning in the classroom, especially if they felt it was necessary; they were stubborn like that.
Giving him the book back, Jean said, "I hope you, your sister, and your friends all know what you are doing and that you aren't in over your heads. I'm worried about you all."
"I know, mum. And I promise we're being careful," Harry told her reassuringly.
Jean nodded and turned her head, noticing the photo album he had received sitting atop his trunk. Gesturing towards it, she said, "That is a lovely gift from Minerva. Now you know what they really look like. Your birth parents, I mean."
Harry looked at the album and nodded before turning back to his mother. "Yes, that's true. I can finally put faces to their names now. But while I'm glad that I finally know what they look like, I can't help but feel strange. I don't know, it's hard to explain the feeling, but I do."
"It's alright to feel that way, Harry. It's a different feeling going from not only knowing about your biological mother and father, but to actually see their faces and what they looked like. But I think it will also help you ease a curiosity you may not have known you had and settle it."
"That's true, I suppose." Harry looked up at his mother and took hold of her hand, giving it a squeeze with a smile. "Even so, I know one thing that I'm going to forever be certain of, and that is that you are my mother. I don't doubt that my birth parents loved me, and still do from wherever they are now, but you are the one that loved and raise me the moment I literally dropped into yours and dad's lives. From the moment you chose to keep me, you became my mother. You are my mother, and I am your son. I love you, mum."
Happy tears filled Jean's eyes at her son's heartfelt words. His words touched her heart greatly, and thought she knew that he felt like this for years, to hear him say it to her was really special. Hugging her son to her, she held him closely and lovingly saying, "I love you too, Harry. I love you and I always will, my son."
The two of them sat hugging one another, their mother-son moment filled with love and happiness, a moment only for them and no one else.