Chapter 8- decorating, gift exchange, and lightheartedness
The month seemed to pass quickly and smoothly without any problems, besides them getting a nasty little cold for a couple of days. Even then the lovebirds seemed to not mind the cold as long as they were in company of each other. Their relationship was progressing so quickly that it surprised them both on how they had only been dating for a couple of weeks but it felt like they had been dating for years. In a sense they had. The two were already extremely close before they even started to date so it made sense that the relationship would seem longer.
Harry and Hermione enjoyed their month together greatly, relishing every moment, word, kiss that they shared. The couple weeks were profoundly romantic. Adding to the excitement the couple shared, was the knowledge that Christmas was approaching. A couple of days before Christmas evening the subject of Christmas was brought up one morning when they were eating breakfast.
"So, Harry I was wondering if you wanted to get a tree for the living room." Hermione asked tentatively.
"Sure, why not." Harry shrugged casually.
"And, I thought maybe we could decorate and stuff."
"That would be great Hermione. I don't know why you seem so unsure about it." Harry wondered out loud.
"Actually, I just didn't know if you would want to do anything like that or not." Hermione told him truthfully. "Where can we get a tree?"
"Just out in the woods on the other side of the clearing behind the house. That is where I cut down the tree I used last year. There are tons of trees out in the woods back there. Usually I plant some trees after I have cut one down just because I feel bad of what I did." Harry said, a little embarrassedly.
"Oh that's so cute."
"Yeah, that's what I am, cute." Harry blushed.
"Yup, sorry but you are, especially when you blush." Hermione teased.
"You just want to push my buttons don't you?"
"To see you act like this, yeah I do."
Harry laughed at how silly they both were, yet he wouldn't have it any other way. He stood up and cleared the table of the couple of the couple of dishes and walked to the kitchen to put them in the sink then returned to the dining room. "So should we go find a tree?" Hermione nodded and they went off to find some warm clothes to wear. Both returned to meet again in the living room. They stepped outside and welcomed the loveliness that surrounded them.
Hermione still could not get over how pretty it was outside. It seemed to always be lightly snowing causing it to look so enchanting. The fact that their was no sign of civilization in sight only increased the feeling of being in some fairytale land in which they were the only ones that existed.
Harry led them past the clearing into the woods where their seemed to be a patch of trees that were younger than the rest. Harry and Hermione spent a long time arguing over which of the trees would be best for the front room. Either the tree was too small, tall, full, thin looking. After many insults to the trees, and to each other, the two of them finally decided on a medium sized tree that would fit perfectly in the living room. Harry murmured a quick spell which caused the tree to fall to ground with a bang causing snow to go flying in the air around them.
"TIMBER!!!" Harry yelled.
"You were a little late there Harry."
"Oh just shut up Hermione, at least I said it."
"Well, what was the point of saying, nobody was around."
"Why you were around."
"But I was over five feet away from the tree, not to mention I wasn't even in any danger because you had said it after the tree fell."
"You shouldn't be such a know it all, it makes others feel bad." Harry told her acting hurt.
"Oh, did I deflate your already huge ego Honey." Hermione teased.
"If you are not careful I will not help you decorate at all Sweety." Harry warned.
"Fine, fine, are we going to just apparate it back?"
"Well, since it is such a lovely day I thought it would be better if we just levitated it back to the cottage. Its not like that would be hard work and it gives us a chance to enjoy the fine weather we are experiencing."So, the two set out toward the cottage with a floating tree following behind them.
Harry and Hermione spent the rest of day arguing and decorating. Although they looked like they were getting annoyed with each other the couple was really enjoying the decorating. By the time they had transformed the house using many charms.
The living room had barely any trace of anything quidditch left in it. It all had been transported to the extra bedroom upstairs. Hermione said since she got her library he should have a quidditch room next to it. That was agreed and with all the clutter of the different quidditch object cleared from the room their was much more room to be able to put the tree and even make the living room more comfortable. They were able to add some furniture and put the tree in the corner and decorate it. The tree was decorated in little golden fairies sparkling all over. They then added trains of bubbles and added ice crystals to the branches. This caused the tree to sparkle brightly with no apparent source of light. The tree left a very magical impression in the room.
Hermione had insisted that they change the color of the room from a brown to a deep blue. Which in turn made her want to change the color of all the furniture to coordinate. Her next job was the hallways which she had decorated with lots of holly and floral type things hanging all over the ceiling and walls.
Luckily she left the kitchen alone but she had to do something with the dining room but she did not know what. She did not want to ruin the already beautiful room with cheesy decorations but she felt that it needed a special touch. Harry tried something with a little flick of his wrist. He produced hundreds of tiny balls of light from his wand and sent them all floating everywhere in the room giving you the impression like you were walking among stars. Hermione loved this of course and gave Harry some credit on how well he could decorate.
Then with the remaining portion of the house she mainly used more bubble strings hanging all over the house. Harry had to admit that the cottage had been transformed into something quite lovely and festive. With all the decorating that had been done he felt that stirring feeling of anticipation of the upcoming holiday with a certain thought of what his gift to Hermione. He was nervous at wondering how she would like it or not, not knowing of course Hermione was having similar thoughts as she looked proudly at her work.
The next couple of days passed in a blur as preparations were made for Christmas. Each of them had to put together their gift for their significant other, not to mention they put a care package together for The Grangers and The Weasleys. Hermione had also put together a nice dinner that included all of her holiday favorites. She was really looking forward to giving Harry a real holiday meal.
Before either of them knew it, Christmas morning had arrived. Hermione was the most excited of the two and started to throw pillows at Harry just to get him out of bed
"Come on Harry! You sleep too much Harry." Hermione yelled.
Harry had woken right after the first pillow made contact with his head but he chose to annoy Hermione pretending to sleep through all of this.
"Harry I can not believe you are sleeping through all of this. I think you are just trying to tick me off." When she saw that he still was not making any sound movement to show that he was awake she became even more furious. "Fine, I will put this to the test."
Harry did not know what she had in mind but he did not sound like the sound of her voice.
Hermione leaned over Harry and out of nowhere started to tickle Harry. Of course Harry jumped at the unexpected attack. He started to laugh uncontrollably until his sides were throbbing from the pain of laughing and tears were falling freely down his eyes.
"Admit it Harry, you had been awake for some time." Hermione yelled over his laughs.
Between gasps for air Harry managed to get out a weak. "I admit it....I had....been....awake."
When Hermione heard those words she pulled away and sat at Harry's feet. "That was so mean to do Harry. You little git."
Harry got on his knees and crawled over toward Hermione until their faces were just inches apart. "I am a git am I? Well it just so happens that this git loves the beautiful girl in front of him," and he leaned over to capture Hermione's lips in a breathtaking kiss. When they pulled apart Harry jumped off the bed and dragged Hermione out to the front room, although there was not much resistance from her.
Surprising both of them their was actually a small pile of gifts under the Christmas tree. They both ran and sat Indian style by the tree. "Hermione you pick a gift."
And so the gift exchange went back and forth with them picking gifts. They had gotten a care package in return from the grangers and the weasleys. Then they each got a book about prank spells from Lupin. Professor Dumbledore gave them each mystical stone that could show the owner any moment in the past. Finally it came to their present for each other. Hermione insisted that Harry open his first.
Harry was awestruck when he opened up the tiny box. Inside was a necklace that had a chain of very fine gold. At the bottom was a broomstick that was made of pure gold, decorating it were little tiny diamonds.
Hermione was the first to speak. "I know it is not very masculine but it is said to provide the wearer with protection from anything harmful happening to them. I will fell ten times better if you wore this when you are playing although I do not think that anything would happen to you anyways, you can not be too careful."
"Oh Hermione I love it and I will always wear it. Now you open yours Hermione."
Hermione did not need to be told twice. She tore through the wrapping paper like crazy to find a tiny box in her hands, very similar to Harry's. Pulling off the lid revealed a gorgeous necklace. The chain was made of sparkling silver that was braided into a thin and delicate chain. At the bottom were three symbols that were encrusted with hundreds of tiny jewels that were of all sorts of different colors leaving a very rainbow-like effect.
"The three symbols are elvish for, Beauty, knowledge, and passion, which I believe you hold all three."
"Harry it is the sweetest gift I have ever received. I love it so much. You'll never know."
Each very happy with their gift from each other they spent their day casually doing very little besides enjoying each others company. The day floated by with them doing little things like talk for hours and read in silence. The dinner that night was a lovely feast greatly enjoyed in the magical atmosphere of the dining room. The two talked and reminisced about the past holidays and telling each of their favorite stories. For once, the two could openly talk about Ron and it wasn't painful like it usually had been. Neither in the past had the courage to bring him into a conversation but now, it was welcome. It brought back good memories instead of the bad.
The day was one of their happiest days of their life. It was a peaceful holiday in which they could be happy with each others company until the coming month, when they start to work again. That was not on their mind though. The only thing either of them was thinking really was how much they loved each other.
A/N. Woohoo. I did another chapter and I have gotten 67 reviews. Wooooohoooooo. I really want to thank you all but I can't even say how much I love you all. Maybe the next chapter I will do something special for all you readers. Ok, well thank you so much again, I have found time around my busy schedule to write. I am especially looking forward to the next chapter. It's a goody. Ok well, I will let you go and please continue r/r'ing. Love you all.
The month seemed to pass quickly and smoothly without any problems, besides them getting a nasty little cold for a couple of days. Even then the lovebirds seemed to not mind the cold as long as they were in company of each other. Their relationship was progressing so quickly that it surprised them both on how they had only been dating for a couple of weeks but it felt like they had been dating for years. In a sense they had. The two were already extremely close before they even started to date so it made sense that the relationship would seem longer.
Harry and Hermione enjoyed their month together greatly, relishing every moment, word, kiss that they shared. The couple weeks were profoundly romantic. Adding to the excitement the couple shared, was the knowledge that Christmas was approaching. A couple of days before Christmas evening the subject of Christmas was brought up one morning when they were eating breakfast.
"So, Harry I was wondering if you wanted to get a tree for the living room." Hermione asked tentatively.
"Sure, why not." Harry shrugged casually.
"And, I thought maybe we could decorate and stuff."
"That would be great Hermione. I don't know why you seem so unsure about it." Harry wondered out loud.
"Actually, I just didn't know if you would want to do anything like that or not." Hermione told him truthfully. "Where can we get a tree?"
"Just out in the woods on the other side of the clearing behind the house. That is where I cut down the tree I used last year. There are tons of trees out in the woods back there. Usually I plant some trees after I have cut one down just because I feel bad of what I did." Harry said, a little embarrassedly.
"Oh that's so cute."
"Yeah, that's what I am, cute." Harry blushed.
"Yup, sorry but you are, especially when you blush." Hermione teased.
"You just want to push my buttons don't you?"
"To see you act like this, yeah I do."
Harry laughed at how silly they both were, yet he wouldn't have it any other way. He stood up and cleared the table of the couple of the couple of dishes and walked to the kitchen to put them in the sink then returned to the dining room. "So should we go find a tree?" Hermione nodded and they went off to find some warm clothes to wear. Both returned to meet again in the living room. They stepped outside and welcomed the loveliness that surrounded them.
Hermione still could not get over how pretty it was outside. It seemed to always be lightly snowing causing it to look so enchanting. The fact that their was no sign of civilization in sight only increased the feeling of being in some fairytale land in which they were the only ones that existed.
Harry led them past the clearing into the woods where their seemed to be a patch of trees that were younger than the rest. Harry and Hermione spent a long time arguing over which of the trees would be best for the front room. Either the tree was too small, tall, full, thin looking. After many insults to the trees, and to each other, the two of them finally decided on a medium sized tree that would fit perfectly in the living room. Harry murmured a quick spell which caused the tree to fall to ground with a bang causing snow to go flying in the air around them.
"TIMBER!!!" Harry yelled.
"You were a little late there Harry."
"Oh just shut up Hermione, at least I said it."
"Well, what was the point of saying, nobody was around."
"Why you were around."
"But I was over five feet away from the tree, not to mention I wasn't even in any danger because you had said it after the tree fell."
"You shouldn't be such a know it all, it makes others feel bad." Harry told her acting hurt.
"Oh, did I deflate your already huge ego Honey." Hermione teased.
"If you are not careful I will not help you decorate at all Sweety." Harry warned.
"Fine, fine, are we going to just apparate it back?"
"Well, since it is such a lovely day I thought it would be better if we just levitated it back to the cottage. Its not like that would be hard work and it gives us a chance to enjoy the fine weather we are experiencing."So, the two set out toward the cottage with a floating tree following behind them.
Harry and Hermione spent the rest of day arguing and decorating. Although they looked like they were getting annoyed with each other the couple was really enjoying the decorating. By the time they had transformed the house using many charms.
The living room had barely any trace of anything quidditch left in it. It all had been transported to the extra bedroom upstairs. Hermione said since she got her library he should have a quidditch room next to it. That was agreed and with all the clutter of the different quidditch object cleared from the room their was much more room to be able to put the tree and even make the living room more comfortable. They were able to add some furniture and put the tree in the corner and decorate it. The tree was decorated in little golden fairies sparkling all over. They then added trains of bubbles and added ice crystals to the branches. This caused the tree to sparkle brightly with no apparent source of light. The tree left a very magical impression in the room.
Hermione had insisted that they change the color of the room from a brown to a deep blue. Which in turn made her want to change the color of all the furniture to coordinate. Her next job was the hallways which she had decorated with lots of holly and floral type things hanging all over the ceiling and walls.
Luckily she left the kitchen alone but she had to do something with the dining room but she did not know what. She did not want to ruin the already beautiful room with cheesy decorations but she felt that it needed a special touch. Harry tried something with a little flick of his wrist. He produced hundreds of tiny balls of light from his wand and sent them all floating everywhere in the room giving you the impression like you were walking among stars. Hermione loved this of course and gave Harry some credit on how well he could decorate.
Then with the remaining portion of the house she mainly used more bubble strings hanging all over the house. Harry had to admit that the cottage had been transformed into something quite lovely and festive. With all the decorating that had been done he felt that stirring feeling of anticipation of the upcoming holiday with a certain thought of what his gift to Hermione. He was nervous at wondering how she would like it or not, not knowing of course Hermione was having similar thoughts as she looked proudly at her work.
The next couple of days passed in a blur as preparations were made for Christmas. Each of them had to put together their gift for their significant other, not to mention they put a care package together for The Grangers and The Weasleys. Hermione had also put together a nice dinner that included all of her holiday favorites. She was really looking forward to giving Harry a real holiday meal.
Before either of them knew it, Christmas morning had arrived. Hermione was the most excited of the two and started to throw pillows at Harry just to get him out of bed
"Come on Harry! You sleep too much Harry." Hermione yelled.
Harry had woken right after the first pillow made contact with his head but he chose to annoy Hermione pretending to sleep through all of this.
"Harry I can not believe you are sleeping through all of this. I think you are just trying to tick me off." When she saw that he still was not making any sound movement to show that he was awake she became even more furious. "Fine, I will put this to the test."
Harry did not know what she had in mind but he did not sound like the sound of her voice.
Hermione leaned over Harry and out of nowhere started to tickle Harry. Of course Harry jumped at the unexpected attack. He started to laugh uncontrollably until his sides were throbbing from the pain of laughing and tears were falling freely down his eyes.
"Admit it Harry, you had been awake for some time." Hermione yelled over his laughs.
Between gasps for air Harry managed to get out a weak. "I admit it....I had....been....awake."
When Hermione heard those words she pulled away and sat at Harry's feet. "That was so mean to do Harry. You little git."
Harry got on his knees and crawled over toward Hermione until their faces were just inches apart. "I am a git am I? Well it just so happens that this git loves the beautiful girl in front of him," and he leaned over to capture Hermione's lips in a breathtaking kiss. When they pulled apart Harry jumped off the bed and dragged Hermione out to the front room, although there was not much resistance from her.
Surprising both of them their was actually a small pile of gifts under the Christmas tree. They both ran and sat Indian style by the tree. "Hermione you pick a gift."
And so the gift exchange went back and forth with them picking gifts. They had gotten a care package in return from the grangers and the weasleys. Then they each got a book about prank spells from Lupin. Professor Dumbledore gave them each mystical stone that could show the owner any moment in the past. Finally it came to their present for each other. Hermione insisted that Harry open his first.
Harry was awestruck when he opened up the tiny box. Inside was a necklace that had a chain of very fine gold. At the bottom was a broomstick that was made of pure gold, decorating it were little tiny diamonds.
Hermione was the first to speak. "I know it is not very masculine but it is said to provide the wearer with protection from anything harmful happening to them. I will fell ten times better if you wore this when you are playing although I do not think that anything would happen to you anyways, you can not be too careful."
"Oh Hermione I love it and I will always wear it. Now you open yours Hermione."
Hermione did not need to be told twice. She tore through the wrapping paper like crazy to find a tiny box in her hands, very similar to Harry's. Pulling off the lid revealed a gorgeous necklace. The chain was made of sparkling silver that was braided into a thin and delicate chain. At the bottom were three symbols that were encrusted with hundreds of tiny jewels that were of all sorts of different colors leaving a very rainbow-like effect.
"The three symbols are elvish for, Beauty, knowledge, and passion, which I believe you hold all three."
"Harry it is the sweetest gift I have ever received. I love it so much. You'll never know."
Each very happy with their gift from each other they spent their day casually doing very little besides enjoying each others company. The day floated by with them doing little things like talk for hours and read in silence. The dinner that night was a lovely feast greatly enjoyed in the magical atmosphere of the dining room. The two talked and reminisced about the past holidays and telling each of their favorite stories. For once, the two could openly talk about Ron and it wasn't painful like it usually had been. Neither in the past had the courage to bring him into a conversation but now, it was welcome. It brought back good memories instead of the bad.
The day was one of their happiest days of their life. It was a peaceful holiday in which they could be happy with each others company until the coming month, when they start to work again. That was not on their mind though. The only thing either of them was thinking really was how much they loved each other.
A/N. Woohoo. I did another chapter and I have gotten 67 reviews. Wooooohoooooo. I really want to thank you all but I can't even say how much I love you all. Maybe the next chapter I will do something special for all you readers. Ok, well thank you so much again, I have found time around my busy schedule to write. I am especially looking forward to the next chapter. It's a goody. Ok well, I will let you go and please continue r/r'ing. Love you all.