Title: A Very, Merry Christmas (Regular Version)
Author: EldaWitch
Summary: Harry and Hermione, once again, return to the Weasleys' for the Christmas Holiday on the late Hogworts Express, and Ginny has annoying habit of giving people nick-names, which has so far annoyed everyone but Hermione and Luna. They begin to pull pranks on each other, in hope that this will not be a quite as boring vacation as last summers was. In their pranking games, they forget that this is Christmas Vacation and not Summer Vacation.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of JK's wondrous characters, sadly, and I'm sure that WB ans Bloomsbury, and Scholastic, somehow get some of her money as well, and Comic Relief. Ugh, what a lame excuse for a disclaimer.
Characters Used: Luna Lovegood, Harry Potter, Ginny WeasleyHermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, Fred & George Weasley, Molly Weasley, Arthur Weasley, Percy Weasley, Winky, Dobby.
Task elements:
1 Fluorescent Pink Tea-potcheck
1(3?) Fluffy the three headed dogcheck
1 Poster of Christina Warbeckerm, no-check
6 Polka dot sockscheck
1 Very Secret Diary of Luna Lovegoodcheck
1 Percy Weasley's Boggarthe, he, check
1(how can you have one of this?) Snowcheck
1 Tutu decorated with Christmas, and Valentine's Day Decorationscheck
-underlying theme of 'Family'check, I hope
A Very, Merry Christmas
"Come on, hurry up!" Yelled a grumpy Harry up the stairs into the girls dormitories. Just because we're leaving, this short notice doesn't give you - Whoa!" Harry was thrown into backwards into the common room by a trunk that was shoved down the stairs by Hermione.
"Harry! What are you doing on the floor! We're supposed to be on the train in," She checked her watch, "11 and a half minutes, and your sleeping!"
"Tsk, Tsk, Hair." said Ginny pulling her Trunk behind her.
"Its Harry." said Harry sitting up.
"Hmm?" Ginny offered her hand to Harry.
"My name is Harry." He took her hand, and pulled himself up "This whole scheme of calling everyone some annoying nick-name is really working. Everyone is so annoyed that they'll probably kill you before we get to your house."
"Oh, Hair!" She said before continuing to pull the trunk to the door, Harry picked up his trunk from behind a couch and followed her out the door. Hermione stood outside waiting.
"What are you doing?" Hermione asked gaping at their trunks. "You'll leave scratch marks on the floor!"
"Oh, and throwing your trunk down the stairs won't?" Asked Harry spiteful.
"You need to levitate your trunks down to the platform, or else Filch'll skin you alive."
Ginny and Harry muttered the spell, and started to walk with Hermione's quick pace.
"Where's Ron?" Asked Hermione after they passed the Great Hall.
"Roon is already down at the station." Replied Ginny.
"Oh so that's where Ron ran off to." Said Hermione, obviously not annoyed by Ginny's nick-name obsession.
On the train they found Ron by the window and Luna by the compartment door reading the Daily Prophet. Once everyone had put up their trunks and sat down, a general chatter settled, about Christmas at the Burrow, and what might happen in these two last days before Christmas.
Above the five teenagers in Harry's trunk, and Ron's trunk as well, two unfortunate creatures had locked themselves in. The two creatures were of the House elf sort, the free kind at that. They also could have been described as stowaways.
Once all seven of them had been carted off the train and over to the Burrow, Molly Weasley officially hugged everyone except for Luna, who had disappeared off to the bathroom.
"Hey, Harry, psst!" Ron motioned for him to come upstairs. Harry snuck away from Mrs. Weasley who was cooking dinner with Ginny and Luna, and up the stairs to Ron's room. In Ron's room were two people Harry hadn't reckoned with. There were
"What has little Ronnikins got?" Asked a teasing George.
"Perhaps a book of Love Poems for his girlfriend?" Said Fred mockingly.
"It's a diary." Said Ron calmly, sitting on a bed while leafing through it.
Harry then came in and stuck his hands in his pockets, (which were filled with knuts, 14 to be exact, and chocolate frog wrappers, for all who wanted to know) and walked over to the bed that Ron was sitting on.
"What's that?" Asked Harry gesturing at the leather-bound book.
"This, my friend, is our key to an interesting vacation, Or to be more exact, the very secret diary of Luna Lovegood. Or at least it would be if I could read any of it." Ron pretended he hadn't seen the Twins' turn around and stare at him.
"What?" Asked Harry leaning against the wall.
"Well, you see, this is most likely going to end up being a fairly normal vacation where we all run around and just do nothing. But that I've decided that we should just pull off some random pranks on the girls. Just for fun."
"Well, Ron." Said Fred. "I don't suppose that you would let us in on this."
"Why?" Asked Harry, suddenly suspicious, "What about Ginny, she'll be in on this too, and Hermione and Luna."
"Well truth be told," Started George.
"We have a few items that if we like to have testers for." Continued Fred.
"But willing testers, don't exactly line up at our door."
"Even though we are rich and famous."
"What about Percy?" Asked Ron, still not convinced.
"We'll get him to join the girls and the teams will be even then." Fred smiled.
"Teams?" Asked Harry listlessly.
"I think I've got an idea." George said pulling a Quidditch-Ball box from under the bed.
"Yes." Said Fred, his eyes glowing. He knocked on the lid three times, and the box begin began to shake wildly, "Nigh' time to be testing Boggarts again."
Ron leaned over to Harry "It's freaky how alike they think."
Meanwhile, downstairs in the kitchen Hermione had joined Luna and Ginny at the table, and Mrs. Weasley had gone down the road to get some more potatoes.
"So what are we going to do to the b-" Luna was shushed before she could finish.
"The general idea is to get them to believe that we know nothing and that we don't have anything planed." Ginny said seriously. "That should be fairly easy since we've really do know nothing. " Hermione covered her face and groaned
"So, that just leaves pretending we don't have anything panned." Said Luna.
"Yes," Ginny "Lou, you are correct"
"Ginny, we're not planning a war. Please act normal."
"Hermes!" Shouted Ginny "This is a war with the enemy! Once we launch our first attack-"
"Prank." said Hermione bored.
"-We will be in an open war!" Continued Ginny
Ginny sat up in her chair and folded her hands in front of her, with a serious tone asked "So Hermione, I put you in charge of planning a prank, what have you got for us?"
"Uh." said Hermione bewildered.
"No," insisted Ginny, "You couldn't have. No, No, No!"
"Um."
Ginny stood up in her seat and looked down at Hermione "Hermes!"
"I have a plan you know!" Said Luna, speaking up at the right moment.
"You do?" Ginny asked Luna (ignoring Hermione who had just grabbed a frying-pan to be on the safe-side of Ginny's temper), who nodded earnestly.
"OK, lets hear it, Lou." Ginny then turned to Hermione, who had gotten out her pad and a quill and put down the pan as soon as she saw that Ginny wasn't angry anymore.
Luna leaned forward and began to share with her two friends her plan, which was a rather good plan for a girl who had been quiet through alot of the discussion of Wars.
Smash
"Ron?" Asked Hermione to a dark spot on the stares.
Ron apperated down the stairs in front of them.
"How long have you been standing there?" Demanded Ginny, her wand in his face.
"S'my secret." Retorted Ron.
"What is your opinion of my bat-bogy hexes?" Ginny asked quickly.
Run gaped for a moment. "Er, they're really good." Ginny's wand was still in his face, "Oh, just crashed there?" She lowered her wand.
Ron grabbed the camera that was sitting on the counter and started up to Percy's room.
While Fred and George and Harry were clustered at Percy's door waiting for him to leave, Fred in George were trying to entertain Harry so that he wouldn't forget about Percy Weasley's Boggart as they had aptly named the poor thing.
"You see Harry," said George "We've never been so sure what happens when you photograph a Boggart."
"Maybe it doesn't show up." Said Fred.
"Perhaps it'll show what the photographer fears."
"T'waint odd that image'd be, a black photo because it got too much light, or something like that. "
"Anyway, we're hoping that the pictures will show whatever the person who's looking at it is afraid of."
"And imagine what we could do with items like that!"
smash
"I see that Ron's been apperateing again." Said George.
"On the staircase to the second floor."
"What?" Harry asked startled.
"Not now Harry," said Fred, "He's coming."
With a word they were gone. Not really gone gone, but the sorts of "Hello, you seem to be invisible!" gone.
So of course Ron ran into them and tripped over Fred's strategically placed foot
The two stowaway-free-House-elf-creatures had decided that they would be able to exit barely detected from their "Not quite ready to die yet, thank you very much." coffin-trunks. Winky and Dobby ( the two S.F.E.C.s) quickly set to cleaning up the room they were in.
"Winky! Look what Dobby has!" Said Dobby holding the leather bound book.
"That is Mrs. Lovegood's secret book, Dobby! Winky has seen her with it before the train. Winky has told her to write in it what Winky wants for this Christmas season."
"And what does Winky want?"
Winky blushed, "Winky wants a puff skirt (Winky's word for Tutu) with little Christmas season pictures and little saint Valentine's day pictures on it. "
Dobby grinned from a ear to ear. "If that is what Winky wants, and then that is what Winky will get this Christmas season!" Dobby then gave her a hug and walked out the door holding her hand and Luna's diary.
Meanwhile Percy had run downstairs to get a-um-something-or-other, and Harry, Ron, Fred, and George had a packed off the Boggart into the large wardrobe in Percy's room. Then they each stood in a corner of the room with a disillusionment charm on them and a camera at the ready.
When Percy came back in he noticed the wardrobe right away, and so dropped the er-something-or-other he had brought up and pulled out his wand to inspect it.
"What have we here?" Wondered Percy aloud, as he flung the doors open.
Percy screamed as soon as he saw it. Harry, Ron, George, and Fred took a picture of it before they began to laugh. Because what was bearing down on Percy was a-
"Pink fluorescent teapot, brother, that is what we have here." Managed George between two long bouts of laughter.
"I can't wait until those pictures are developed." Said Harry as he and Ron left.
"But what about the Boggart?" Demanded Percy as the Twins wanted to leave as well.
"I'm sure you'll be able to sort it out." Said George tying his hair back with elastic.
"See you at dinner." Said Fred ruffling his older brother's hair.
Meanwhile Dobby was talking non-stop to Mrs. Weasley about Winky's Christmas season wish. Soon everyone was seated around the table, waiting for Arthur to join them. The entire time they were waiting, Percy was talking to Ginny, Hermione, and Luna. When Mr. Weasley apparated into the kitchen, he was beat red and had snow all over him.
"Blast it! All of them!" Fumed Mr. Weasley sitting down next his wife. " That animal in my garden!" He tore into his chicken leg. "Never imagined that was what the bloke wanted. Bloody nice bloke he was too, he was from magical creatures" He took some potatoes and eight pairs of eyes watched him put gravy on his plate. " 'Weasley, could you take something home for the night.' When he said something, I seriously thought he meant a 'thing'."
"So what did you bring home, dear?" Asked Mrs. Weasley tentivly.
"Fluffy is what I brought home." Said an exasperated Mr. Weasley. "Fluffy the three headed dog."
"Well, dear." said Mrs. Weasley trying to stay calm. "You'll need to drop him-it, off at the office tomorrow before we leave for Diagon alley."
Mr. Weasley looked at her in confusion "But why are we going to Diagon Alley, we've already bought our Christmas gifts."
"Yes, but Ron, Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Luna, haven't."
"Excuse Dobby, but Dobby needs to buy a Christmas season wish for Winky." Squeaked Dobby.
"Yes, dear, Dobby can go as well."
A squeak of pure happiness came from the floor.
Later very cheerful Dobby and Winky cleared the table and washed the dishes much to the surprise (and delight) of Mrs. Weasley. Everyone went to bed, but not to sleep. Well, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley did, and undisturbed for that matter, but the air of the Burrow was full of the secrecy of plots.
Around two a.m. someone knocked three times, all three girls scrambled to hide the parchment bits of map under their pillows. Again someone knocked three times. All the girls tried to look fast asleep. And again the knocks came again, only twice this time.
Ginny lifted up her head, "Percy?"She asked the door softly.
The door sprang open and Percy stepped inside shutting the door quietly. Ginny moved over so that her older brother could sit down on her bed.
"What's up, Per?" Ginny asked as soon as he was sitting.
"Don't call me tha–" he began to whisper.
"What do you want? We were all asleep until you came."
Hermione lifted her head cautiously but Luna didn't move it all, and continued to steadily breathe.
"Well Luna is still." Said Ginny, she then prompted Percy to continue.
"Well, you know what happened this afternoon, and I was wondering, how would a little game of vengeance sound for Christmas?" Asked Percy calmly.
"Percy," she shook her brother's hand ceremoniously, "You're on our side." With those words' Luna awoke.
"Percy's on our side?" Asked Luna groggily. "How nice." Was all she managed, before she fell asleep again.
Wilst Luna's leapt, and Hermione, Ginny, and Percy planned, the next room over, Ron, Harry, Fred, and George organized a list of the things needing to be tested, and how they could test them. Downstairs Dobby and Winky slept on the hearth while visions of tutus and polka dot socks danced in their heads.
The next morning everyone was awakened near around 8:00. Everyone aside from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Dobby and Winky, and Luna wanted to go back to bed. The only one who is going to say at the Burrow was Winky who wanted to dust and clean the house while everyone was out. She did however want Harry to buy something in Diagon Alley on her behalf.
"Winky would very much like it," she squeaked in his ear "If Harry Potter could buy a pair of socks for Dobby. Ones with dots on them. And spots." She grinned and pressed a galleon into his hand, before running off again.
"Polka dot socks for Dobby." Harry smiled, "Dobby can always use the extra pair or two."
In Diagon Alley there were so many shops that could've been useful, but only time until lunch to buy anything. So they only had time to visit three stores. The streets were chocker-bock full of the sort of people who hated Christmas because of shopping, and impossibly cheerful shopkeepers. The first to shops they visited were-Oh fine, I forgot, but I am quite sure that one of them was Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and the other . . . well, it just so happens that Ginny was in a very talkative mood after the last, other, er, second shop, she attempted to walk next to Harry and talk to him.
"Hey, Hair," said Ginny, pushing past a crazy man who had been cheated of a price "What do you need to get at Madame Malkin's?"
"Harry." said Ron forcefully.
"Dobby needs to buy in that-something for Winky, and Winky told me to buy something for Dobby." Said Harry smoothly ignoring Ginny's annoying habit.
"Harry!" Said Ron demanding Ginny's attention.
"Oh," said Ginny politely, and pretending to not hear Ron. "You dropped this." Continued Ginny handing to him a galleon, still suspiciously polite.
"Harry!" Said Ron, again.
When Harry took it, he regretted it. It had looked normal but as soon as he took it it burned for a moment, and was now stuck fast to his palm.
" Ron! Gerritoffme! " Harry held his hand out to Ron. Ron readily took it from his friend, but instantly yelped and gave it to a short haired Fred. Who passed it to George with a grin.
"That's what we love about this." Said Fred taking out a note pad and scribbling in it.
"Not only do we get to test out products from this." Continued George looking at the galleon with fascination.
"But we get pre-tested products to figure out a little and put our shelves as well."
While Fred and George puzzled at the coin, Ron and Harry went into Madame Malkin's along with everyone else.
Dobby went straight away to an associate to describe the Tutu he wanted for Winky. Harry and Ron went to about the polka dot sock Winky had given him money for. And everyone else, after discovering there wasn't much to look at, agreed to meet at the Leaky Cauldron at twelve, and wandered off in different directions.
Harry and Ron were directed down the street to a specialty sock store. Harry and Ron were not amused at this, and managed to get Dobby to wait for Madame Malkin to finish making the Tutu, and then come to the Leaky Caldron.
In this specialty sock store they found socks that any House elf, let alone Dobby, would love, had they been a sock loving House elves.
Harry bought three pairs of polka dot socks and mix-matched all the socks, and set aside the wildest pair to be from Winky, the other 2 pairs were split between Ron and Harry.
Once outside the shop they were grabbed from behind them from behind and had their mouths covered.
"Wotcher do that for?" Ron demanded as soon as Fred let him go.
Harry growled at George, who backed off very quickly when Harry tried to bite him as well.
"Hey, easy Harry." Said George "We just want to let you to know that everything set up for those four at the Leaky Caldron."
Harry was suddenly non-aggressive, when he began to walk and look over his shoulder he asked "What are we waiting for then?"
When they passed Madame Malkin's they saw Dobby carrying a gigantic bag to the door of the shop no doubt it was Winky's Tutu. The package didn't seem to weigh much, but wondering how Dobby would get it through the door make even the Twins stop and stare.
Although Ron was trying to stifle his laughter, this was not one of those funny situations that just happened to occur in life.
Dobby was trying to be lighthearted-he really was-but having a group of people on the other side of the door want to get out, or in, made him become just a little frustrated.
Finally someone, either Fred or Harry, put a spell on the package to shrink it, and put it in their pocket to carry it with them.
"Did you two hear what Ginny's calling us?" Asked Fred with a laugh.
"I'm Geo!" said George busting into mad laughter.
"And I'm Ed." Said Fred, not finding this as funny as George's nick-name.
"That's very original." Said Harry not finding it the least bit clever either.
Lunch was very pleasant at the Leaky Caldron and a true warmth was in the air as the large group joked and talked, but towards the end of it Fred, Ron, Harry, and George each cast a spell on their assigned chair. None of the victims noticed anything.
"I'll see you in a moment," Said Ginny " I have to talk to Tom about this bread." But Ginny sat still.
"Uh, Ginny?" Asked Hermione "Didn't you want to-"
"Yes, I did!" Ginny interrupted.
"They why are you-"
"Because I'm stuck!"
Hermione then tried her own chair, but didn't manage to stand up.
"So am I!" Said Hermione.
Ginny turned to her older brother, "Perce," he flintched "Are you stuck in your chair?"
After a moment he mutely nodded, he then seemed to have an odd expression on his face. Soon they discovered that not only was Luna's stuck to her chair as well, but she was fast asleep. Ginny could have screamed. Hermione did.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" She said.
Then as if on cue all three struggled to stand up at the same time.
George leaned over and whispered in Harry's ear, "It looks like they've been using 'you-no-poo'." If Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had heard George's comment even they would have agreed.
Mrs. Weasley stood up in her seat, glaring at the four grinning boys, who immediately stopped grinning.
"I want you," She pointed to threatening finger at them. "To put them right."
Reluctantly they released the spell on Ginny, Percy, Hermione, and still sleeping Luna.
"And you," She said, now to the four had-been victims, "I don't know what you did to deserve what you got, but you deserve it. "She now gestured at all of them. "I want you to now settle differences but before that, starting with whichever side started this game what you did."
Hermione solemnly raised her hand. "We-we-well, we wanted to do something this vacation, thats the way that Ginny put it!." Mrs. Weasley gestured for her to continue "And they did something to Percy."
"Aha, so Percy put you up to this?"
"No, we cut Fred and Georges hair this morning." Said Ginny wickedly.
"Took me a full hour to grow it back, too." Said George with fake mourning.
"So, what did you do to them?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"We transfigured their porridge into cat-litter." Said Fred seriously.
"And we gave them a galleon which burned to their hand until someone took it from them." Percy smiled.
"But before that we put mice in your shopping bags!" Said Harry.
"Yeah, but that was after we made your clothes invisi-" started Hermione.
"Then you charmed them to stick to their chairs, I suppose?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "I am disgusted. This behavior may not continue, this is Christmas. This is supposed to be about, Love, about Family-"
"About gifts!" Interjected Ron loudly.
"This is a time to be together, understood?" She said, raising her voice above Ron's and ignoring him.
No one spoke, not daring to contradict her.
"Good, then lets go!" Said Mrs. Weasley suddenly suspiciously cheerful.
Back at the Burrow everyone sat in the living room and wrapped presents as fast as they could. The chatter was cheerful and light, the girls(and Percy) didn't seem to be mad at the Boys anymore. Even though they hurried, they worked through dinner and it was almost ten o'clock when they finished. Mrs. Weasley shooed them all upstairs into bed, and she and her husband followed upstairs soon after them. When they passed Ginny's room, they were surprised to see them all sitting together and still talking.
"Just remember that you do have to get up in the morning." Said Mr. Weasley, not wanting to interrupt the fun.
"He means go to bed." Said Mrs. Weasley. "Now."
Grumbling all the Boys left. Mrs. Weasley followed them. Suspicious, Mr. Weasley asked the girls one last question.
"Aren't you going to prank them?"
Ginny Said, "We told them that we have enough of all this. That we don't want to do any more of it now, and at least not for a month."
"So it's all settled then?" Asked Mr. Weasley hopefully.
"Dunno, Dad, the boys might do something."
Mr. Weasley sighed, left for his room and fell asleep. Everyone slept that night, hoping to be the first one up.
The next morning, which was Christmas Day, everyone was downstairs right around the same time. The entire house was all a-buzz with Christmas Morning cheerfulness. Breakfast was forgotten as everyone gathered around the tree. Which was in its full glory, glistening with glitter and fairy lights, it was quite a worthy site. The branches swept over the ground and hid all the presents from view.
Mr. Weasley charmed the camera into snapping a picture every time someone said "Cashmere". And so everyone was given the instructions to say the word once to twice while on wrapping their presents. A moment later someone handed Dobby a gift and the camera began snapping pictures. Every few moments someone was handed a gift and several flashes were seen. The presents and when they were handed to the recipient someone would say 'That one's mine' proubly as they unpacked it. Everyone got several thoughtful gifts and the occasional Card along with it. Dobby and Winky were the only ones pleased with every single present they had gotten. When there was only one president left Hermione handed it to Harry, it seemed it was a round ball paper. Ron leaned over to see Harry unwrap it. Harry struggled for a bit with it but finally tore the wrappings and out popped a tutu decorated with Christmas and Valentine's decorations.
"Cashmere!" said Hermione and lunged grinning between Ron and Harry. They were both holding Winky's Tutu with an odd expression on their faces easily. There was a flash before either could react.
Harry, after a few moments of recovering from the unexpected flash, Harry gave the unwanted Tutu to Winky. Winky was filled with filled with happiness when she saw the Tutu, and put it on almost immediately.
"See how happy free house elves are?" Hermione said to Luna.
The rest of the vacation went rather pleasently, and wasn't too boring as Ron said normal Vacation's were. Hermione attempted to add Luna to her list of SPEW members, without success ("Why care about the House-Elves, when the Mimbledurks are going extinct!"). Percy left the house after being fed up of the whoopee cushions he kept sitting on, but could never find ("Whoopee cushions that follow you around, our latest invention!"). Harry and Ron moped around the rest of Christmas Day but snapped out of it when the girls promised that what happened would stay at the Burrow.
When asked about their vacation, Harry, and Ron grumble, and start talking about the weather, (They didn't want to admit they were out-pranked by some girls). Hermione, Ginny, and Luna, however, all agreed that it had been a very merry Christmas!
