Day One
Harry stopped in front of the door to Hermione's flat and placed the packages he was carrying at his feet- the bulky packages were the reason it had been impossible to arrive via magical means, some of the contents inside were delicate and could be damaged in the floo or apparition, which meant that they were also too delicate to shrink. He looked around surreptitiously and when he was sure the coast was clear, he took out his wand and released her wards.
He had left work early this afternoon especially to surprise her, and it wouldn't do to ruin that by accidentally exposing his magic and making it necessary to call in a team of obliviators. His colleagues would never let him live that down. But more importantly, Hermione would not be pleased. She valued her privacy, tucked away in the muggle world, the last thing she would want is a bunch of Ministry officials stomping around her building and messing with her neighbors' minds- something she was very sensitive about since she'd reversed the memory charms she'd cast on her own parents.
Once he was satisfied that her wards were down, he took out the spare key Hermione had given him and let himself into her flat. Which just so happened to be one of his favorite places in the world. He, too, appreciated that it was tucked away in the muggle world. The interior was a comfortable mix of mundane and magic, but most of all, it was so her. Cozy but elegant, stuffed with books of course; Crookshanks could always be found lounging around like the king of the castle that he believed himself to be, and it smelled like something he'd never quite been able to pinpoint other than to just mentally refer to it as 'Hermione.'
He picked up the packages, walked inside and kicked the door closed behind him. He went immediately over to a console table. After once again setting down his burden he carefully rearranged the photos and knickknacks which were on top of the table. It was the only flat surface in the living room not covered in books- he knew better than to rearrange her books- and set one package on top of it, then made his way into the kitchen with the other.
He was waiting on her sofa absently flipping through channels on the telly when she stepped out of the floo thirty minutes later.
"Harry!"
He turned to face her and smiled. "Hi."
"I wasn't expecting you."
"I know, that was my intention."
She looked startled but not unhappy to see him, which was a relief because surprising Hermione was always a wildcard, but he hadn't wanted her to ask too many questions if he'd warned her that he was coming over as he wasn't particularly good at lying to her. Her eyes drifted to the festively, if messily, wrapped gift which was sitting in plain view on that recently rearranged console table, and then snapped back to meet his.
"What's this?"
"The reason I'm here."
She narrowed her eyes, curious and a little wary. "Should I open it?"
"Yes, please. It requires some explanation."
Setting her bag aside she approached the package with a small smile on her face. After another glance in his direction she reached out and carefully began to pull the paper away.
"Did you wrap this yourself?"
He laughed. "Yes, and I'm sorry, but it was necessary. It's part magical so I didn't want to risk taking it into the muggle world, or having you find out what I was up to by taking it to a magical place."
"It's not the worst job I've ever seen," her face was turned away from him but he could hear the laughter in her voice, he knew that it looked a lot like he'd just allowed Teddy to go crazy with a roll of wrapping paper and some ribbon.
With the paper disposed of, she opened the box and lifted out the gift. It was another box, though this one was wooden and in the shape of a house with twenty-four wooden doors in a calendar grid on the front beneath the "roof" of the house.
Harry knew it would have all of her magical guests scratching their heads, but he also knew that she would recognize it for what it was immediately. They were common enough in the muggle world, but he happened to know that her parents owned one which was very similar.
"An Advent calendar, what? Harry?"
"I know you get to participate whenever you happen to be at your parents' but that's not really the same. I thought it was time you had one of your own."
"You didn't have to do this," she said as she looked back and forth from him to the calendar which she was still holding in her hands, rubbing her thumb along one edge almost reverently.
Her voice was breathy and disbelieving. That disbelief was exactly why he wanted to do this. She was accompanying him to several events leading up to his cousin's wedding and then sacrificing her Christmas Eve to attend the wedding itself.
She was pretending that she was doing it for herself, that she would simply enjoy irritating his relatives. But he knew her, and this was Rita Skeeter all over again. He didn't believe that she ever would have sought revenge on that nast little insect for herself, despite the foul things the reporter had written about Hermione. She'd done it because the woman had come after him.
Even though she could have done anything with the information that she had on Skeeter, she'd chosen to use it to force her to write an article telling the truth of the night of Voldemort's resurrection. It was that article which finally began to earn him some public support in a time when he'd almost been ready to give up. To this day he didn't think she understood what a turning point that had been for him.
That was just what she did. She was always there for him when he needed it, even when he didn't think he wanted it and had managed to force everybody else to leave him alone. She would rather upset him with her persistence than leave him in any doubt that she cared. It had taken him too long to appreciate that about her.
And for somebody who gave so much, she expected little in return and actually asked for anything even less often. He wanted to do something nice, something truly thoughtful for her for a change. It was really the least he could do.
"I know I didn't have to, but I truly wanted to," he made sure to emphasize the last part. "I also know that you're not crazy about opening gifts in front of the giver, but I wanted to be here when you opened the first door because I'm pretty sure you're going to want to argue with me and I don't want to give you too long to think about it."
She turned her head and stared at him.
"Hermione?"
"You filled it?"
Her incredulity was a blow, but he carefully schooled his expression so that she didn't see it, though he made a mental note to speak to at least Ron later, and possibly a few of their other friends. They were going to have to start doing better by her. "Of course I did," he answered, like it was no big deal, "I wasn't going to give you an empty one, especially when it's already the first day of Advent."
"This is really sweet."
"I'm glad you think so," he raised one eyebrow in challenge, "remember that when you open the first door."
She rolled her eyes and carefully set the calendar on the table. "It can't be that bad."
"It's not," he said lightly, "I just know you."
She opened the door, reached inside, and gasped when she saw what she was holding in her palm once she withdrew her hand. "This is too much."
"I told you so."
She spun around and glared at him.
He laughed. "It's really not too much though. It's just a bracelet and it's appropriate, because I know you're always hoping for a white Christmas, it only seemed right to start you off this way. I know the wizarding world has some weird hang ups about men and women exchanging jewelry, but you know better than that. And you're currently pretending to be my girlfriend anyway, which may I remind you was your idea," he pointed at her for emphasis. "And, come on Hermione, it's not the Crown Jewels, but it's certainly not too much for my best friend."
Her expression softened.
"Please," he added.
She bit her lip and nodded, then walked around an armchair to approach him. "Will you put it on me?"
He nodded.
She extended her hand and deposited the bracelet into his palm and then flipped her wrist to allow him to attach it. He deftly fastened the clasp, rubbing her pulse point with his thumb before he released her. She brought her arm closer to her face to inspect the chain adorned with a delicate snowflake charm, and he had to make sure to school his features again when he noticed a soft smile blossoming on her face.
"Thank you," she whispered, lowering herself onto the cushion next to him and pulling him into a crushing hug.
"You're welcome. I wouldn't want to be accused of being a cheap boyfriend."
She chuckled against his neck. "No, we couldn't have that."
They sat like that for a long time. Harry reflected that he owed Hermione for getting him comfortable with physical touch too, especially hugs. He probably would have jumped out of his skin the first time Molly Weasley crushed him to her if his best friend hadn't been getting him used to it for almost a year beforehand.
"Harry," she said after a while, pulling away only far enough so that she could look at him, she remained curled against his side, "not that I'm not appreciative. I'm truly touched, but what brought this on?"
"Nothing."
The look she gave him was so sceptical it was almost comical.
"I suppose I have been thinking about it."
"What's 'it?'"
"Our relationship."
Her eyes went wide.
"With Dudley's wedding coming up and us pretending to be in a relationship," he clarified.
She nodded and seemed to relax, which bothered him, though he couldn't quite identify why.
"I'm sure you have this whole story planned out about our relationship, and how it progressed, with a timeline and notes and everything, which I'm fully prepared to be provided with and expected to memorize-"
She shoved his arm.
"Am I wrong?"
She sighed and looked away, but then she seemed to come to a decision. She sat up straighter and pointed at him. "I may have made a few notes. I don't do anything halfway, Potter! And I'll not have you getting us caught in a lie with your lackadaisical attitude towards preparation!"
"I bow to your superior preparatory skills. And your superior deceptive skills," he smirked and pantomimed a little bow the best he could while remaining seated.
Her mouth dropped open and she shoved him again.
"I meant it as a compliment! It's saved my life many times!"
"Whatever," she answered tartly. "Are you going to explain, or are you just going to make fun of me?"
He chuckled, she was so easy to irritate, he just couldn't help himself. "I'm going to explain. I promise!" He held up his hands.
"Well get on with it."
"Anyway, I was just thinking that whatever you have planned for us to tell people probably won't have to be much of a lie because we have a lot of years of history between us, and we know a lot about each other."
"I was thinking the same thing!" She interjected, shooting him a pleased smile. "The best lies are based in the truth."
"Yes," he agreed, growing more serious, "but when it comes to us, well, I wouldn't even be here without you, Hermione."
Her eyes went soft and she placed a hand on his chest. "I wouldn't be here without you either."
He just nodded, he knew better than to argue with her about who had been more important to the other's continued survival. "And I'm just not sure I've always shown you how much I appreciate you." She opened her mouth, surely to protest, but he just continued on. "And even if I have, in this season of giving, it's always nice to show you again," he almost added a 'Ha! So there!' to the end of that statement because he was pretty sure that he'd effectively boxed her in.
"Well thank you."
He smiled and tried not to look smug. "Also, we'll be spending a lot of time together this month. More than usual because of Dudley's wedding, so I just thought we could have some fun."
"This seems more like fun for me than for you."
He shrugged. "I had fun picking things out for you and filling it. I don't really like the pressure associated with giving gifts, you know that, but this was different because you weren't expecting it. And as it turns out, I know you pretty well, because it was easy. At least I think I do," he added hastily. "You'll have to be the judge of that."
"You're doing pretty well so far," she played with the charm on her bracelet, "and I'll be happy with anything you give me."
He smiled at her.
"Would you like to stay for dinner?" She smiled impishly. "We can go over my notes."
"Are they color-coded?" He deadpanned.
"I thought you said you knew me?" She reached under her coffee table and pulled out a muggle notebook which was not just color-coded, but divided into sections by year, starting that first day of September, 1991. "If you need it I can give you a refresher course on my life before Hogwarts, too."
He burst out laughing.
Author's Note: My husband is so done listening to me fill a fictional Advent calendar. But I have a few spots still open that aren't plot oriented, so if you have anything you'd like to see in there, let me know! There's a Pinterest board for this story if you are interested, the board is God Only Knows. And/or you can check in on me over on Tumblr and see the insanity of me writing this in real time (kind of). Say hi if you do! It's RiverWriter in both of those places too. Okay, that's it for today, thanks for reading!