Chapter Twenty-One: Holiday
Wednesday, 22nd December 1999.
Hermione trailed her wand carefully over the fresh inlaid gold seam along the left wall of the navi, parked once more in the bay in which it had been initially formed. She could feel the steady stream of magic flowing out of her body, through the focus, and into the runic formations, charging the material to trigger its dormant purpose when with a flash of magical energy, the wall suddenly moved several feet away from her.
A flash over her shoulder indicated that Padma had finalized her own array and when she turned, the formerly cramped innards of the tube were now a wide open space several yards across.
"Much better," Luna noted as she stood from her place at the controls. Hermione tracked her as she passed them and stepped out of the vessel, looking back through the hatch at the now much bigger interior of the ship compared to the still stationary outer hull. "That is so cool. You don't get to see it with the bags."
Hermione smiled at her. "It's a terribly useful enchantment."
Luna disappeared from view for a moment, stalking quickly around the outside of the ship before she reappeared at the front once more, but in front of the transparent slanted surface. "This is wicked, come and see." Her voice came from the hatch behind Hermione, muffled slightly by the distance the sound had needed to travel.
She quickly followed Luna's path and stood beside the small blonde, staring in through the magically enchanted front as well. The mostly smooth surface allowed her to see right through the vessel and the now expanded space looked very impressive given the way it clearly continued past the visible edge of the ship she could see clearly from outside.
"The others are going to love this. It's just a shame we have to manually activate the enchantments on them all."
"I'm working on a way to charge the arrays during integration." Luna said, "but it's slow going. It was a lot easier merging Alteran and Asgard tech than it is meshing technology and magic. All the shortened corridors here are really their full length when first made then shrunk down after the fact as well."
"It's early days," Hermione replied. "We're all still very new to this. Look at what we've already achieved." She paused for a moment and let out a soft sigh. "I wonder if we'd have achieved as much if Harry had never found that cave…"
"If we were all still back home, working for the Ministry you mean?" Padma asked.
Hermione nodded. She still wanted to help the elves and other races with their struggles. While their aid during the final battle had brought them some recognition, there were still many in the Ministry that looked down on them as a whole. And relations between wizards and the goblins had soured further once it had leaked that they had been 'concealing' one of the things needed to defeat Riddle. Even if it had been unknowingly.
Luna placed her hand on Hermione's shoulder, bringing her back to the now once more. "We help there when and how we can. But what we do here is also of great importance."
Hermione stared into the pale blue eyes burrowing their way into her mind and felt the easy calm that Luna always managed to inspire in her. The pair had spent long hours talking about their shared pains and pleasures, and the tiny girl now felt more akin to a sister than a friend. She nodded again and turned back to the ship.
"Now," Padma said, "the question is what do we fill all the space with?"
"For the moment," Luna said, "More and better seating. Make it comfortable to fit us all inside if we need to go on a trip somewhere."
"I like that idea. Has Merlin integrated the power and beam gear yet?" Hermione asked.
"Power socket is ready to go. I finished the checks on it while you were enchanting the sides. Just need something to put in it."
As Luna finished her statement, a field of beam energy about a foot high appeared on the ground beside her and when it faded, a solitary potentia stood in its place.
Hermione chuckled at the sign that Merlin was clearly always listening in when they were in the public parts of the facility. "Shall we plug it in?"
Hermione bent down and gathered up the potentia, Luna and Padma following, heading back for the hatch and walking to the port she could see in the surface of the column where the control panel dipped between the left and right pilot positions. On the original design, it had been a built-in clavis, but they had no need for a set of physical buttons when they could send the command from their remotes directly. She could feel the other two behind her as she inserted the crystal shape into the socket and it clicked into place, a circular plate shimmering into being above it leaving the panel once more smooth.
"That should give the onboard beam all the power it needs to build the internals." She said, turning to face the others. "A solid day's work if you ask me. Time for a little pleasure?"
The other two gave a light chuckle as they realized what Hermione had in mind and once again followed her as she led the way out of the navi and over towards the nearest transport cabinet. Moments later, the three were stepping out into the library. Hermione had been lost in here for five full days before Harry and her father had come and forcibly removed her. The council had instituted their first contested ruling shortly afterwards and food and drink were banned from the entire floor, meaning she would never again be able to curl up in a corner for days and ask Merlin to provide the sustenance required as she read.
"This is still such a magnificent sight. Ravenclaw tower had its own little library, but it was nothing compared to this." Padma explained as the three headed deeper into the maze of shelves.
"Agreed. I know that Merlin is gradually scanning the text from all of them into the database, but there is still something so cathartic about holding and reading a book that you just don't get from reading it on a screen." Luna mused.
The three quickly came upon the small open nook they had created in a slightly larger space with no shelves. Several incredibly soft fabric balls sat by tiny little tables, each covered in a handful of books the girls were each part-way through reading. Hermione let herself fall backwards into the deep purple one and sighed as the soft material formed around her body. It was like a gel-filled bean bag, conforming to her shape, but without the slightly rough texture the beans gave underneath. And it gave far more support somehow than any bean bag she'd used before in her life.
The deep moan she gave out after spending almost all day standing in the back of the confined space the navis had been beforehand was echoed by the others in their own seats. "If my bed wasn't exactly as comfortable as this thing, I don't think Harry would have ever managed to convince me to leave."
Luna laughed her high tinkling laugh and Hermione cast her eyes in the other girl's direction. "Hermione, we all know that Harry didn't 'convince' you to leave. He dragged you out by throwing you over his shoulder as your dad watched and encouraged him."
Hermione blushed slightly under the gentle ribbing, but she also felt a flutter at how attractive bossy Harry had been that day. Were it not for her father's presence, she'd likely have struggled him to the ground and started a snogging session there and then rather than the rushed one before she fell asleep once he tossed her into her bed. "Shut up." She threw back jokingly.
As she looked away from Luna, Hermione noted that Padma had a darker look on her face all of a sudden. But before she could enquire, the Indian girl spoke up.
"I've been having horrible dreams of late." The jovial atmosphere that had been between them all cooled immediately and Hermione and Luna focused on Padma. "Visions of dark dungeons full of helpless creatures being tortured. Watching as I command an army laying waste to defenceless cities and villages. Feeling the pain of those below and being entertained by it…"
Hermione glanced back at Luna who seemed just as shocked by the sudden change as she felt herself. But Padma continued before she could say anything.
"I've been seeing them on and off for weeks and I tried to hide it." She paused again and gave a half-hearted smile. "Harry managed to convince me that I didn't have to bottle it up. To face it on my own."
"Harry's right," Luna said. "We've all endured terrible things. We get past them by talking to one another. Drawing strength from our friends to battle our demons."
"Exactly what they said," Hermione added, drawing Padma's gaze. "I can't imagine the kinds of things that monster might have left in your head, but we're all here for you. Whatever you might need."
Padma looked incredibly relieved not only that she had broken the ice on her secret, but that they were listening to her and not running in disgust. Hermione recognized the look from when Harry had managed to convince himself that he had attacked Arthur Weasley in his dream. Now Padma was enduring a similar inability to separate herself from the images in her mind.
"Has Harry told you how he eventually came to see that truth?" She asked.
In reply, Padma shook her head, and Hermione gave a light smirk at Harry's habit of leaving out the most important part of a story if it cast too strong a light on his own abilities.
"We talked, a lot, about what he'd seen. Ginny helped considerably, given her own experience being possessed by Riddle. It was a slow process, but eventually, we got through to him. Of course, being Harry, he didn't tell me for a long time that he was still seeing new glimpses of Riddle's darkest desires. It was only during the past year that I think he has fully come to terms with a lot of what he saw in those visions."
"It will take time." Luna continued. "But time is something we have plenty of, and we're all willing and eager to be whatever you need."
Padma nodded slightly, already looking better than when she had first broached the subject. "Thank you. I'll try to keep all of that in mind. I just wish there was some way to get all of it out of my head for good."
Hermione looked about the hundreds of books around them, some lit from behind by the telltale glow of the currently ever-present sun. "Who knows, we've got a lot of knowledge collected here. We've barely scratched the surface of what Alteran technology can accomplish. We will try our best to find a way, and while we do we'll help you cope with them as they happen, if you'll let us."
Padma glanced about the space as well and nodded once more. Hermione hoped that the other girl would be more forthcoming than Harry tended to be, but either way, she would put herself to the task.
ϟ
Friday, 24th December 1999.
Harry sat quietly as the two figures sat on the edge of their beds, watching his friend narrate his latest find animatedly. Neville was always eager to share his discoveries with his friends, but that paled in comparison to how happy he was to share them with his parents. And despite their condition, they always listened enraptured.
Afterwards, it was impossible to tell how much, if any of it they retained. But for the period where their son spoke, the two listened intently. Harry could almost convince himself that he was seeing a shadow of what it might have been like to be at the Longbottom home when Neville returned from Hogwarts every term had the worst not come to pass.
A child rapidly unloading an entire term's worth of incredible moments and discoveries to loving parents who always at least tried their hardest to look interested in their child's passions, even if they didn't have a clue about that topic themselves.
Harry glanced away from the scene and noted that Augusta had disappeared. He assumed she had gone to speak with the healers about her son and daughter-in-law to allow Neville some privacy with his addled parents. He could see in her eyes that she did this for Neville these days. She had lost hope of any real chance at recovery, but she loved her grandson dearly and would never openly admit such a thing to him.
"Harry?" Neville's voice drew his attention back to the three Longbottoms watching him.
"Sorry. I drifted for a bit. What were you saying?"
Neville laughed as he stepped back and sat beside Harry on his own comfortable chair, the two adults now watching them both as if they were no more than a mild curiosity. Something out of place in their normally empty room. Harry felt a pang of sorrow for Neville at the sight, where moments before they had seemed attentive to his every word, now it seemed as if they didn't recognize him at all.
"You always were pants at paying attention if the topic wasn't one you were fascinated by." Neville gently ribbed him.
"I was listening for most of it." Harry defended, glancing towards the door.
"I know. She left about twenty minutes ago." Neville replied, clearly noticing his own glance and understanding. "She tries to be strong for me, but ever since the war, it's harder for her to pretend she has hope. Most of Riddle's peons managed to make it through two wars unscathed, and yet her baby boy can't even recognize her face."
"I'm sorry, Nev. I didn't mean to…"
"Don't worry. You don't have to pretend around me. I'm not the soft breakable Neville these days."
"I don't think you were ever soft or breakable. You endured a lot, and you always did so with the courage of a true Gryffindor. Even if a situation ended badly for you, you stood up afterwards. Took the good and the bad and always came out stronger. You are now, and always have been, a better man than I…"
Neville placed a hand on his arm and Harry silenced quickly. "I'm glad you came, Harry. Of everyone I know, you're the only one who really understands what I feel when I'm here. After the war, many understand the loss in general, but few people have endured it for as long, or in quite the same way, that we have."
Harry paused, worrying if you should speak his mind truly. But he quickly remembered that Neville was the type who would want him to. "At least I can understand the loss. But I do envy you in some ways. You can still touch them. You can remember a time when they were still with you. Is it cruel that I sometimes wonder how different you would be if they'd been attacked the same night my family was?"
Neville smiled. "Nah. I've wondered the same myself many times since we met. Sometimes I think it would be easier, not knowing what it was like at all. Having been too young to form any proper memories with them. But I am glad for those couple of years I had."
"Do you wonder…" Harry trailed off for a moment, gathering himself for what he wanted to ask. "Do you wonder if we would have met sooner? Been friends? All four of them were in the Order, and our mums were pregnant with us at the same time. Surely they'd have talked, and compared their situations. Would we have grown up knowing each other? Maybe having Christmases and birthdays together every now and then?"
Neville looked him in the eyes and despite the sorrow of what was watching them from the beds, he still seemed happy. "Quite a lot. But worrying about the past doesn't change it. We're friends now, and we're doing incredible things together. I know that all four of them would be… no, are proud of the both of us."
"Yeah. Of that, I have no doubt." Harry replied, trying to ignore the childlike faces of the two adults still watching them. "I think," he paused, "I want you to come with me next time too. It's about time I introduced them to you properly, Councilor."
"Anytime," Neville replied, also watching his parents again. "If I'm on this planet, I'll be there."
The two held it for a moment before the laughter began and it only got louder when Augusta returned and looked at them with a confused expression. The middle Longbottoms both still watching on without a care in the world.
ϟ
Saturday, 25th December 1999.
Hermione squinted once again as she rotated the chair further, but her process was interrupted for the third time as the bright rays of the sun drifted into view out of the window. She sat up and was surprised to see a smiling Harry standing nearby watching her closely.
"Harry? When did you come in?" She asked.
"Few minutes ago. You look cute when you're thinking hard. Didn't want to interrupt." He replied, stepping closer to the hexagonal platform that Luna had recessed into the base of the open top floor.
Hermione looked back at him slightly confused as he extended both hands and took her own gently before he gave her a tug and pulled her up and into his arms. She was about to reprimand him when he spun on the spot and took her place in the seat, pulling her down into his lap as he shuffled back into the chair properly.
"Harry! Be careful. That is millions of years old." She chided as he smirked at her in return before he leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. Hermione didn't even try to hide the appreciative moan that ran through her at the feeling.
"I know. But…" He leant back and the chair activated as his fingers danced over the gel pads in the arms of the device. Hermione wobbled slightly on his lap at the motion but soon found her balance as she wondered what Harry was doing.
Her answer came as the tip of the pyramid of glass above them began to darken, and a wave of blackness travelled slowly down its inner surface. Hermione was reminded of the scene from one of her favourite childhood movies where the gods pulled the cloak of night over the land of the centaurs, a soft edge of darkness slowly enveloping the sunny sky beyond as what she thought then were fantastical creatures settled down to sleep.
As the darkness crept down the faces of the windows, Hermione noticed pricks of light shimmering in its midst and she glanced down at Harry who looked back up at her with a cocky grin on his face.
"What? This entire complex looks like a mountain from the outside. If we can show an illusion on the outside of the glass, why can't we do it on the inside as well?"
Hermione blinked several times, stunned at the simple solution Harry had come up with for her problem as she noticed the bright ball of light that was the sun disappear behind the cloak of night Harry had applied to the windows to be replaced by a yellow pulsing dot about the size of her fist against the backdrop of stars and space beyond.
She felt a warmth pooling in her stomach that was becoming very familiar at seeing Harry apply his smarts in real-time right in front of her and Hermione could not stop herself from leaning in and kissing him soundly. His arms quickly left the arms of the chair and wrapped around her waist, pulling her tighter to his chest as the pair became lost in one another's presence.
All sense of time seemed to vanish when they embraced like this, and it could have been hours later when Hermione finally pulled back and the pair sat there in silence, staring into one another's eyes and panting for breath. Hermione moved to resume their snogging session, but Harry held up a hand to stop her.
"As much as I would love to spend all day snogging you senseless, and it would take all day, I did come looking for you for a reason."
Hermione leant back on her haunches and looked at him curiously. "Yes?"
Harry smiled at her coquettish look and gave her bum a gentle smack with the hand that was still resting down in that region. "Behave, we need to get up."
Hermione bit her lower lip as she naughtily began to grind herself on his lap. Harry looked very torn between letting her continue and the purpose with which he had come looking for her. "What could be more important than this?"
Harry took a steadying breath and Hermione felt a little disheartened at his resistance. "Christmas." He finally sputtered out and Hermione cocked her head to the side. "With your parents. Who are currently waiting downstairs."
Hermione stopped moving at the reminder. She had once again become so lost in her work that she had forgotten the date, and that she had promised to spend a family Christmas now they were all back together again. It also became plainly obvious why none of the others had been about all morning. They were all off spending the holiday with their own families, not all of them comfortable spending the day at the bottom of the world.
"Oh," Hermione said as she shuffled off Harry's legs and allowed him to stand. "Oh…" She repeated as she noticed the large bulge in his pants as he did so.
"Don't 'oh' me, missy. That is all your fault."
"Please," She rebuffed, "you wanna be all smart and sexy in front of me and I'm going to get wound up. And you know it."
Harry once more looked torn between his purpose and his desire, and it helped renew Hermione's belief that he truly did find her attractive. She hated her own occasional bouts of doubt, but Harry was always keen to show her how he felt.
"Hermione!" He warned as he caught sight of the look in her eyes. "Your parents are waiting."
The renewed mention of her parents was enough to allow her to tamp down the desire she felt to tackle her boyfriend to the ground and continue their snogging. As she caught Harry's eye again, she noticed he had a shimmer of something odd on his mind that she couldn't quite place. She kept a hold of her desire to ask what he was thinking and instead tapped a command into her remote before taking Harry's hand.
The couple vanished in a bright shimmer of beam energy and reappeared in the Atrium where her parents were seated watching them. Hermione went to say good morning, but her eye was quickly caught by the change in the room. They had evidently been busy as most of the planters and seating areas were covered in tinsel and Christmas imagery that she assumed Harry had conjured for her parents.
The fountain that usually took pride of place in the centre of the wide room was off and a bright hologram of a giant Christmas tree, similar to the ones Hagrid would place in the Great Hall at Hogwarts, stuttered occasionally in its place. The structure was still visible within the tree, but the lack of water sounds helped to give the Atrium an entirely different feeling.
"Happy Christmas, dear. Nice of you to finally join us." Her father said, standing and wrapping her in a tight hug. "Library?"
The question was directed at Harry and he couldn't prevent the smile that rose on his face at the idea. "Chair." Hermione squeezed his hand softly before she let go and wrapped her arms around her father, enjoying the moment for what it was.
"You all know who I am by now. Stop pretending to be surprised when I act like myself."
Her father stepped back and her mother wrapped her up instead. "We know, Hermione. It's one of the many reasons we love you. Happy Christmas."
"Happy Christmas, mum. Happy Christmas, dad." She replied, a warmth she had missed for some time finally filling her once again.
Her parents had chosen their position well as the two couples sat in neighbouring seats that still managed to face one another and the tree at the same time. It was then that Hermione noticed a small pile of brightly-coloured gift-wrapped presents sitting at the nearest edge of the water feature.
Hermione glanced at the other three people and their bright faces and she couldn't help feeling a sense of her future staring back. A true Granger family Christmas, as there was no other living member of her family to share it with that wasn't present in this room.
"Merry Christmas, everyone," Harry said, eyeing the stack of gifts like a little kid. With a nod from Hermione, he knelt in front of the pile and began the process of handing them out.
Several hours of laughter and joy followed as they opened their gifts and enjoyed a hearty Christmas lunch together, sharing stories of their former Christmases apart, and for Harry's benefit, showing how they had been before Hermione had started at Hogwarts.
As the meal was winding down, Hermione noticed a darkness cross Harry's face that she hadn't seen in some time. He was stewing on something that he was blaming himself for and she couldn't help but wonder what would intrude on such an event. He had seemed so happy only a moment before.
"This was lovely…" He said quietly, unfortunately drawing the attention of the elder Grangers to his face as well. While they didn't know him as well as Hermione did, even they seemed to notice the change.
"What's the matter, Harry?" Natalie asked.
"It's nothing. I just thought I'd let you all have a bit of Granger family time. It is Christmas after all." He said as he stood from the table.
"Harry. Sit." Hermione demanded, suddenly realizing what was bothering the man. She sighed and turned to her parents for a moment before she turned back to Harry and took his hand, pulling him gently back into his seat. "Harry has just done the math, poorly I might add, and come to a conclusion about Granger Christmas."
"What?" Richard asked.
"He thinks it's his fault I missed so many," Hermione stated and Harry glanced at her shocked for a moment before his head dropped once again.
"Missed so many?"
"After our first year, I tended to spend Christmas at Hogwarts. Something Harry is currently blaming himself for as though I'm not a fully functioning person who makes their own choices." She said, glaring at him slightly. "Harry is also clearly forgetting that I spent the holiday with you both in our sixth year, admittedly mostly thanks to Ron being a colossal jerk and being less fun than a Dementor to be around. And he is incredibly wrong if he thinks that a family Christmas for me could ever be complete now without him in it."
Harry's eyes shot up to her face and the look in his eyes now was unreadable, but there were slight tears forming in the corners. Hermione leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek and wiped away the tear that the action had knocked free.
"That is most certainly not Harry's fault either," Richard explained. "We allowed Hogwarts to mess up our family dynamic quite a bit, but I wouldn't change that for the world. Hogwarts has given us the Hermione that sits before us now. Sure, I'd like to change the fact that the both of you had to fight a war, but other than that…"
"Worrying about the past cannot change it. A rather clever young man told me that." Natalie added. "What has been made us who we are, but it does not dictate who we have to continue to be. Perhaps we should have invited you around for a Christmas so this wouldn't be the first Granger Family Christmas you ever experienced. But I can promise you this, Harry Potter." Harry glanced over to the elder Grangers and Natalie smiled. "This will not be your last. We aren't letting either one of you go again for a very long time. You're both stuck with us crotchety old farts."
Harry gave a soft chuckle at the comment and nodded, wiping the remaining tears from his eyes. "Sorry for being a downer on Christmas. I haven't had the best track record of them. In fact, I've never actually had a proper normal Christmas. I can't remember the one I had with my own parents. Christmas at the Dursleys was never something to be enjoyed if you weren't named Dudley. At Hogwarts I at least had friends, but even then there was always something weird going on that ruined the feeling. I've never actually had a proper normal family Christmas. The closest would be fifth year with…"
Hermione squeezed his hand tightly and his eyes returned to her. "Then allow us to make up for the lost time."
Natalie stood up and walked around the dinner table to the younger pair and pulled Harry up into a strong hug. Hermione could see Harry relaxing into the embrace and she smiled.
"Happy Christmas, Harry Potter. The first of many more to come." Natalie said as she slowly pulled back. "Now, given you were the one who found the coin, you get to choose what we do next. Thanks to our time zone, the specials and speech aren't for hours. Do we go back to the atrium and get out the crackers, or do you want to get really adventurous and try going for an icy dip out there?"
Harry smiled at her mother and Hermione felt the weight of the former discussion lifting off them all. But when she glanced back at her boyfriend, the mischievous look on his face had her dreading his next choice. The water in Antarctica was a lot colder than the beach nearest the Granger house had been back in Britain.
That was one Christmas tradition she was hoping they might skip this year.