We Wish You A Merry Christmas
Dear Mrs. Weasley, December 15
Harry and I thank you for the kind offer, but we already have other arrangements over the Christmas holiday. We will be staying with Harry's godfather at his house in France. Enjoy having your house full of children, and have a happy Christmas.
Love,
Hermione
Hermione smiled at Pig's antics as she tried to tie the letter to his leg. Really, she thought, Ron out to just tie a pouch on there, it would be easier. But finally, with an owl treat as bribery, she got the note attached and the owl sent off. She hurried back down out of the chilly tower. She really had to get some studying done, the potions and Arithmancy mid-terms were the next day, the last ones before holidays.
The Weasleys were all gathering at the Burrow, and Mrs. Weasley had been kind to invite them, but they knew it would be over-crowded already. Hermione's parents were taking the holiday as an excuse to go visit somewhere warmer, and had scheduled a visit to a cousin who lived in America. Sirius invited Harry to come stay with him, and when Harry had mentioned that Hermione was going to be stuck alone, Sirius gladly extended the invitation. Dumbledore had helped him get a house in the north of France, the same little town his mother had grown up in. It was going to be a spectacular Christmas.
She made her way back into Gryffindor tower, and set her bag on the floor by the fireplace. She took out her notes, and began going through them in chronological order, made it through, and then mixed them around and tried for alphabetical. She was on her way through ordering them by definitive ingredients when something stuck out and she stopped. She opened her eyes and looked at her notecards again. She sighed in frustration before calling out, "Does anyone have sixth-year Potions notes?"
A chorus of voices called back, "You!"
She rolled her eyes, and made her way across the crowded room, and out into the corridor. There was no way she'd be able to find it in the library. Nothing could be found in the library the week of mid-terms. She tried to take large steps, so she could quickly make her way down the many flights of stairs.
The air got colder the further down she went, and once she reached Snape's Potion lab in the dungeon it must have been below freezing. She shivered under her robes before knocking on the heavy wooden door.
"What is it?" a harsh voice growled back.
"It's me, Professor Snape, Hermione. I just wanted to check something from my notes that didn't seem right, before the test tomorrow."
"You really ought to have done this before now, Miss Granger. Just come in, ask your question, and get back upstairs where you belong."
She opened the door tentatively. "I'm sorry to disturb you, sir. I was just looking over my notes one last time, and I was on November 9th, and you mentioned the Coagulating Concoction, and I have here that you said the main ingredients are Acromantula web and Lethifold tooth."
Snape was beginning to nod perfunctorily, when he looked sharply up, a skeptical expression on his face. "What was that?"
"Acromantula web and Lethifold tooth. But I think I must have been mistaken -"
"And that's the only time the world will hear that out of your mouth, isn't it, Miss Granger? And also the only time the world will hear my agreeing with you. Yes, Miss Granger, you must have been mistaken. Lethifolds don't have teeth, and if they did, we certainly wouldn't go to the trouble of collecting them merely to stop bleeding." His face twisted into a smile and he almost seemed to laugh.
"I know that sir. And it would probably be more trouble than it would be worth to collect the Acromantula web. I was wondering, though, if you'd tell me what that was supposed to say?"
"Plain spider web works satisfactorily, combined with half a dried Billywig sting for the pain, 1/4 Liter of water, and three fantasmagoria seeds. Is that all, Miss Granger?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then I trust you'll be more careful about your notes in the future."
"Yes, sir. I'm sorry for disturbing you." She turned to leave and was almost at the door when he called out.
"Miss Granger, is it correct you are going to be staying at the residence of Sirius Black over the holiday?"
"Yes, sir. Why are you asking?"
"I believe Remus Lupin is also going to be staying there. Give him this, when you see him. It's a little old, so it has thickened and will need to be injected directly into his veins, but it should do. We would not want to see you or Mr. Potter hurt." He stood up from his desk and grabbed a vial full of a thick purple liquid from a cupboard, along with a hypodermic needle. "You will be sure he gets it, Miss Granger. I trust they have some place to keep him out of the way, but we'd rather be safe than sorry."
She took them carefully from his hand and exited. Yes, she would be sure he got it. It would be nice to get to see Professor Lupin again, though she wasn't sure quite when the full moon hit. She wondered what Sirius was going to do to keep him out of the way, since she and Harry would be there. And then she remembered the notes in her hand, and made her way directly back up to Gryffindor tower, feeling the air warm around her as she ascended.
Once off the train, Remus Lupin grabbed Hermione's bags and, in a series of trips, Apparated everything away. Lastly he grabbed Harry and Hermione's hands. "Concentrate."
The world spun around them, and the colors began to mix up, until suddenly they were tripping over luggage in a small room that appeared to be some sort of cellar. Remus pulled on the handle of Hermione's trunk, and walked toward the closed door. "Remus Lupin."
The door made a slight buzzing sound, and he walked through it. Harry and Hermione followed the same way. Sirius was waiting on the other side to greet them. "I can't believe you guys are finally home. I've been anxious for weeks!" He pounced on Harry and gave him a friendly, half-wrestling hug. Harry grinned broadly when Sirius released him and turned to Hermione. Sirius took her hand gently and kissed the back of it. "Nice to have you here, Hermione. We'll do our best not to kill each other this time?" She was looking at him oddly, but he winked, and they both laughed.
Remus interrupted them. "If you folks will help me get the bags out of the entryway, we can get the kids settled." Sirius said a quick spell to remove the door, and the guys all trudged in and grabbed pieces of luggage. Sirius led the way up the stairs and around a corner, stopping in a small hallway with two doors.
"Harry, this'll be yours, the one on my right here, and Hermione, yours is just ahead on the left." Hermione ducked ahead to open the doors, and slipped into her room. She wanted to get a good look at it before anyone could see her reaction. It was actually rather nice, even though it had been decorated by men. The walls were a warm cream color, and the pieces of furniture were dark blue fabric and cherry wood. She didn't have time to see more, for the men burst through her open door.
"What do you think?" Harry asked anxiously.
"It's lovely. Did you really decorate it all yourself, Sirius?"
"Not exactly. Some of the rooms were like this already. Some of them got that way by themselves. It's a peculiar thing that tends to happen in wizard buildings. Don't watch them for one second and they take on a life of their own. Especially in France. They are rather touchy about how you do your spells, so if you don't ask them properly they'll hide rooms from you on purpose."
"Sirius, you can give them the history of French villas later," Remus commented, rolling his eyes. "However, this one," he gestured to Harry, "looks in danger of eating his own flesh if we don't get some supper in him soon."
"Right, right. Down, crew!" Sirius called, and began to lead Harry back down the hallway.
"Er, Remus?" Hermione asked tentatively.
"What is it, Hermione?"
"I have something for you, in my trunk."
He looked surprised. "It's not Christmas yet, I don't think."
"No, it's not like that, it's from Professor Snape. It's your potion, just in case."
"Good of him to remember. Do you suppose Albus had something to do with this?"
"I'd bet my exam scores on it. He said, though, since it's not really fresh, you have to sake it intravenously. He sent a pouch of it, and two hypodermics." She knelt down and opened the trunk to get out the package she had wrapped it all in.
"Better than nothing, I suppose," Remus sighed, taking it from her. "Especially with you two here. Wouldn't want nothing to happen, now would we?" He grinned eagerly, and led Hermione back into the hallway. "Let me just go leave this in my room and I'll join you downstairs. I suppose you'll find your way to the kitchen on your own?"
"Sure." She could hear the noise all the way up the stairs. It sounded like there was a war starting in the kitchen. She trotted down the stairs and took a seat at the small table in the kitchen, watching Sirius and Harry expectantly.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. Or the song from which the title comes.
Author's note: In case you couldn't tell, this happens before chapter one. And now, after St. Patrick's Day, I have finally uploaded chapter two of my Christmas fic. Huzzah! Tell me what you think of it.