Chapter 6 Christmas Joy

*Chapter six. Merry Christmas! In this chapter, we have some deep discussion of the opposite sex by Harry and Ron, shopping, and the usual Christmas festivities. Well --- not quite.*

Disclaimer: This can really wear on you, you know? This is a fan fiction. Fan: a person who admires someone else/something belonging to someone else. Fan fiction, ergo, is something written by someone about something that belongs to someone else.

She may be the face I can't forget
A trace of pleasure or regret
May be my treasure or the price I have to pay
She may be the song that summer sings
May be the chill that autumn brings
May be a hundred different things within the measure of a day
She may be the love that cannot hope to last
May come to me from shadows of the past
That I'll remember till the day I die

-Elvis Costello, "She"





Christmas-time had taken Hogwarts by storm. Hagrid could be seen on a regular basis hauling festive decorations in like boughs of holly, wreaths of ivy, evergreens enough for every room in the whole school, and poinsettia plants. It was hard not to get into the spirit of Christmas where everywhere you went the scent of pine was in the air, and wreaths enchanted to have the moving picture of Father Christmas in the middle hung on every doorway.

Some mischievous student, or teacher, had hung mistletoe in places that no one realized until someone tapped them on the shoulder. This could lead to emotionally harrowing experiences, as most of the student body had soon realized. After Harry was forced to kiss Pansy Parkinson fleetingly on the cheek, half an hour of scrubbing his face was necessary before he could stop shuddering.

Harry and Ron were in Honeydukes', trying to decide, outside of her presence, just what to get Hermione for her present. Hermione had stayed behind to study for midterms, an absence that Ron found unsettlingly poignant. He had been giving him unsuccessful talking-tos over a long period of time now, all of which resulted in the conclusion that he was lucky it was only a crush, and would eventually fade. The fact that he did not feel like it would ever end was conveniently pushed to the back of his mind.

"So what do you think? I have no idea, she's already read the entire library at Hogwarts, what on earth is there left?"

Ron sipped his Butterbeer. "No clue. It's funny, she always gets us the perfect gift."

Harry shrugged. "With guys, it's not that hard. You love anything with the Chudley Cannons in it, and I can never have enough assorted Quidditch- related things. I don't know, I think maybe girls are harder to buy for."

Ron nodded. "More complex. They change every day."

"Exactly." Harry took a huge, steaming gulp. "Hey, Ron, whatever happened to those dress robes that Fred and George bought for you in 5th year?"

Grimacing, Ron replied, "Fred and George happened. I had the misfortune to sit on one of their exploding wands during a dinner party my parents were having."

Harry winced.



                                                                               ***



"'Miss Fletcher's Spells for the Everyday Young Witch: Spells for Radiant Eyes, a Glowing Face, and Kiss-able Lips'?"

"Don't be daft." Ron pulled another book from the shelf, the thought that Hermione didn't really need any spells for that running through his mind treacherously. "Er ... 'A History of Durmstrang'?"

"Maybe for Draco." Harry put the various books he was looking at down, and turned to Ron. "Look, it's pointless buying books of all things for Hermione. She'll have read them already, without a doubt." Ron put his books down.

"So where else is there?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know Ron, I think it's hopeless. We should just buy her a bag of candy or something."

Ron sighed. He would love to be able to buy Hermione a nice gift. But he had a limited amount of Christmas money, and his family had never had a surplus to dole out freely.

"All right," Ron said, "Let's go to Honeydukes' again."



***

The morning air was crisp, and burned as you breathed it in. Ron opened his eyes to see the calendar directly in front of him. "December 25th" He debated for a moment whether or not to get up, as the cold floor looked less than inviting. Finally, he shrugged. After all, it was Christmas morning. And some traditions never died.

Downstairs, Hagrid had set up a huge Christmas tree, replete with crystal balls and tinsel. Gryffindors had been eyeing the slowly growing pile of presents for days now. Ron resisted the urge to go down, and instead walked over to Harry's bed.

"Harry?"

Harry grunted, then squinted at Ron. "What time is it?"

"Nine o'clock. Come on, you're not going to sleep in later than this on Christmas morning, are you?"

"That was the idea," Harry grumbled as he sat up and got out of bed. "You're what, sixteen, and you still get up early?"

Ron chose to ignore that comment, instead walking down the stairs, followed by Harry.

"And you know what, I'll bet we're the only people weird enough to have woken up -"

"Not quite, Harry," said a voice from within the red couch. Hermione's face turned around to smile at them. "Good morning, you two. Merry Christmas."

Ron smiled stupidly, not sure what to say. "Yeah, you too." Embarrassed by his embarrassment, he turned to the tree and grabbed the first present addressed to him he could see.

Looking at it more closely, he sighed. "Another jumper. How many does this make now?"

"Nine," Harry said stickily through a Chocolate Frog.

The next present was from Harry and Hermione. "Am I supposed to be thinking that you two made me another jumper?" he said, feeling the present. "It feels like clothes."

Harry and Hermione simply smirked at each other.

Ron ripped open the present, and was utterly shocked. Stunned speechless.

Dress robes of midnight blue had fallen out of the wrapping. They were brand new.

Ron thought he might do something that was most unmanly, involving eyes and salt water. Not once had he thought that his friends, let alone anybody, would do something like this for him, something that obviously took so much of their own expense.

"Harry - Hermione - how much did these cost?"

Hermione smiled. "Didn't anyone ever teach you that it's rude to ask that?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. And Ron, don't say a word. Not one word about how you don't need them, about how you could never repay us. One word and we'll take them back."

Hermione nodded, a glint of sweetness and mischief in her eyes. How on earth could someone look that good in the morning, Ron wondered? Her hair was mussed, but in such a way that it only added to her attractiveness. She was also one of the only girls in the school whose face was still as clean and clear as it had been first year.

Ron's mouth was still open. "Uh .... Thank you?"

Hermione and Harry grinned. "All right, we'll accept that. Merry Christmas, Ron."

"Yes. Merry Christmas."



***

Christmas that year was a joyous thing. The dinner was jubilant, full of cheers and spirit. Even Snape didn't look as irritated as he usually did. There were crackers galore, and Ron found in his a moving figure of a phoenix, and a strange hat. This was explained by Hermione and Harry, after uncontrollable laughter on their part, as an old-fashioned hat worn by women called a "bonnet." They strongly discouraged him from putting it on.

The anonymous placer of the mistletoe turned out to be, unsurprisingly, Peeves. This was made apparent when he entered the main hall, clutching a mistletoe in his gnarly transparent fist and grinning an evil smile. He seemed to rejoice in trapping unlucky couples, then waving a mistletoe above their heads and saying, "Pucker up!"

Some of the unfortunate people included Snape and Professor McGonagall ("And Peeves escaped with his life?" Harry asked, genuinely shocked), and Crabbe and Lavender, and Parvati and Goyle (There was no real response to this. They were all too busy clutching their sides with laughter).

Walking back to the Gryffindor common room, Harry, Ron and Hermione ran into Draco and his usual cohorts. They shared the same, unfortunately small, hallway with animosity that seemed to float in the air. Draco had grown into a pale, washed out blonde that held the same arrogance that had been present from first year. He too had developed the permanent sneer that seemed fixed to both his parents' faces.

Suddenly a familiar snicker could be heard, and all 6 of them froze. Peeves was floating above Hermione and Draco, holding the dreaded piece of mistletoe. Hermione and Draco looked at each other.

Draco broke the silence. "Really, Peeves," he sneered weakly, glancing at Crabbe and Goyle apprehensively, but so quickly that Ron thought he was the only one to notice it, "You didn't think I'd actually kiss a Mudblood like her, did you?"

Harry and Ron started for Draco furiously, Ron with a red veil that seemed to cover his eyesight. How dare Draco insult her simply because she did better than him? With murder on his mind, he had almost reached him - but once again, Hermione was too quick for them. There was a cracking sound, and Draco was suddenly on the ground holding his nose, which seemed to be bleeding rather severely. Hermione was gazing at her fist rather in a confused manner.

Harry was the first to speak. "Wow, Hermione, where'd you get a right hook like that one?"

She grinned weakly. Draco, however, chose this moment to break free from his daze and start yelling.

"You can't just do that! I'll tell! I'll -"

Percy suddenly arrived, followed by a triumphant Peeves. "Trouble in the halls, Professor. Such a violent generation we're raising."

Percy studied the situation. Draco on the floor, bleeding. Hermione standing over him, looking surprised. Harry and Ron, looking pleased and vindictive.

"That really does it, you three. How many times have I told you about your constant magnetism to trouble?"

Hermione hung her head. "I suppose I do deserve it, Professor -"

"Thirty points from Slytherin, and detention for Draco. Report to my office tomorrow after supper." And with this, Percy swept away, back to his office, leaving everyone dumbfounded.

Draco hobbled away, supported by Crabbe and Goyle, and his voice could be heard, rather nasal and squeaky through his nose, about the prejudice of the school, and discrimination that was really quite shocking.

The three Gryffindors were astonished. "For a minute there I really thought we'd had it," Harry said, shaking his head in amazement.

Hermione beamed. "Well, what do you know, Ron. Your brother finally pulled through. I told you he wasn't all bad."

"It came as a complete shock to me, though, let me tell you, and I've lived with him for sixteen years. I never thought he had it in him. He disobeyed the rule book." They started walking toward their original destination once again.

Ron was impressed. Hermione was definitely no damsel in distress, that was for sure. He really wished he could have gotten to Draco though, his outrage at Draco's insulting Hermione seemed to have reached new heights, as had his hidden need to protect her.

Ron smiled.

"I'd say that was the perfect Christmas, wouldn't you?"