Day Eight

Hermione opened the eighth door to her Advent calendar with a giddy smile on her face just minutes after she'd woken up. She'd paused only long enough to throw on her robe, slippers, and put her hair up into a messy top knot. She laughed when she found a miniature bottle of Champagne- good Champagne- with a note tied around its neck tucked inside the calendar. She picked it up, flipped open the note, and read.

Hermione,

Happy Wednesday! This is to celebrate making it halfway through yet another humdrum week at the Ministry. Sometimes you have to celebrate the small things.

In case you're wondering, and I know you are, this really is a Champagne mini-bottle. I didn't know such a thing existed until now, but I wasn't going to risk shrinking a big one. I have no idea what that would do to a carbonated drink and I have no intention of finding out. There is a full sized version of this same bottle in the box I left in your kitchen, just reach in and feel for it, it will be obvious. No peeking at anything else, Hermione! I'll know! Enjoy!

-Harry

She laughed. "Point taken, Mr. Potter," she murmured to herself. Harry was always telling her she didn't relax enough. Leave it to him to try to teach her a lesson in the form of a gift.

She couldn't even pretend that she was affronted, she was too happy. His note was so playful, and that was different. Good different. He was often playful in person, but his correspondence was usually- not terse, but short and to the point.

Or maybe she was just imagining the difference because she'd spent most of the evening before practically on Harry's lap while they played with his new kitten- and that had definitely been a different experience. She knew she hadn't been imagining that he'd touched her a lot more than usual.

She smiled to herself at that thought and immediately began making plans for the evening as she took the little bottle into the kitchen, where she retrieved the second bottle, and placed both in her fridge. She did know what a freezer would do to a carbonated beverage and she wanted to be able to enjoy this gift, as he demanded. And she intended to do that with him.

She warned him that she would be coming over again that evening while they were having lunch, but he just nodded, probably assuming she wanted to visit Estelle, and she didn't correct that assumption. But she did ask permission to bring Crookshanks, because she thought it was probably better if the first time he and Estelle met was not on Crookshanks' territory. Old and set in his ways as he was, he was more likely to accept a new presence, especially a new feline, if he didn't feel like he was being invaded.

Harry had easily agreed, though he looked wary. She couldn't blame him and she promised that if they didn't get along, she would take Crookshanks right home and they could try again another time. The last thing she wanted was to make the kitten uncomfortable in her new home. That seemed to appease him. Ron had just listened to the whole thing, obviously amused and very pleased not to be involved.

When the evening finally arrived she brought the Champagne over to Harry's house first, took the bottles into the living room, placed them on the coffee table, and then turned around to go retrieve Crookshanks before Harry could even open his mouth.

Crookshanks insisted on stepping through the floo by himself, which made her nervous every time, even though he'd never had an accident. But it was either allow him to have his way or spend all night chasing him around her own flat, so she called out Harry's address and let him precede her. He had already left the room by the time she arrived, even though he had only been seconds ahead of her. She took off after him at a trot.

But he was not in the living room, and neither was Harry or the Champagne she'd left there. So she did what Crookshanks had probably done in the first place and followed her nose. She didn't know how she hadn't noticed it before. Harry had cooked fish. Harry had prepared a bribe for her familiar.

Sure, it was probably a treat for Estelle too, but she knew this was primarily for Crooks' benefit. She entered the kitchen to see Crookshanks seated in the center of the room like he owned it, tail twitching, eyes on Harry who was plating him a healthy portion of salmon. Estelle was sitting on top of the table looking very confused.

"Well this is just above and beyond," she laughed.

Crookshanks looked at her long enough to make certain she noticed his glare, and then immediately turned his attention back to Harry.

"I already had some," Harry responded, bending down to serve Crookshanks, on an actual plate. He then placed a smaller portion in front of Estelle in a cat bowl.

"Yeah, which I'm sure you intended for human consumption."

He shrugged. "I'm still going to eat it. Do you want some? I can't imagine you had time for dinner."

"I had a sandwich."

He snorted and took out two more plates, filled them, and then placed them on the table. As if she was running on auto-pilot she simply sat in the place closest to her. When he had sat down she glanced at Estelle.

"Are you going to let her eat on the table?"

"Just for tonight," he smiled at her knowingly, "don't worry, I know better than to start such behavior, then she'll just go wherever she wants whether I like it or not. But I thought it was better to give them some space this once so we don't have a literal cat fight on our hands."

"Right, of course. Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you don't know what you're doing," she rushed to say.

"I don't mind," he shrugged, "I don't know what I'm doing, feel free to chime in anytime."

"You know better than I did when I got Crooks. I had absolutely no control over him."

He shrugged again, then smirked. "And that's changed, how?"

"We've learned to compromise," she sniffed, but she couldn't keep a straight face and she took a bite of her food to try and hide it. "This is really good, you're a much better cook than me." She looked up to see that he was visibly suppressing a laugh.

"I mean this with all the love in the world, but that's not a difficult feat, at all."

"Okay, okay. True," she rolled her eyes. "You're a good cook then."

"Thank you."

"And you're spoiling me, you better be careful or I might get used to it."

"I'm not sure that would be the worst thing," he responded so quietly that she almost thought she imagined it.

She was staring at him, trying to decide if she dared comment on that when she was startled by the sound of Crookshanks landing on the chair next to her. He didn't spare her a glance, just started watching them like a hawk, particularly Estelle, though her fish was gone, she was merely licking the bowl.

"You've had enough old man," she chided, "you'll get fat."

"Er," Harry chimed in, "fattER."

She glared at him but otherwise ignored the comment. "Well, they don't look ready to kill each other or anything. The fish was a good idea."

"Honestly, I'm not even sure she's aware that he's here. Either that or she really just doesn't care."

"Well I think we both know Crookshanks was always the wildcard anyway." She looked around. "When were you going to decorate for Christmas?"

"I don't know. I don't usually plan it, so I haven't really thought about it. Why?"

"I was just thinking about it after I opened the ornament in the calendar yesterday. It already feels so festive in my flat even with just my calendar, so I hadn't thought about it either."

"Do you have a plan now, Miss Organized?" He teased.

"I was thinking Friday night."

"Negative, we have plans with Ron and his new girlfriend," he responded without missing a beat.

She raised her eyebrows at him. "I think as the ex-girlfriend I should get a pass."

"I think as the current best friend- to both me and Ron- your attendance is required. Seriously, don't make me do this by myself."

"Was anybody going to tell me?" She huffed, and then pouted, unabashed by her childish behavior. "What if I was busy?! I don't even know her name!"

"I'm telling you right now, I only just found out this afternoon. Ron asked me to ask you because you know how it makes him all awkward."

"And if I was busy?" She insisted.

"You're not, you just told me that you would only be decorating your flat, which you can do anytime. And her name is Emily."

"Emily- wait, you mean the girl he met at WWW over the display of love potions?"

"That's the one."

"Does he never learn?! You'd think being dosed with one of those once would be enough, 'fool me once' and all that! Merlin, did you have those Chocolate Frogs tested?"

"I thought about it, but then I realized he was just as goo-goo for her before as he was after. Anyway, this is why we have to go out with them while it's still early on in the relationship. If she's as much of a fan girl as she seems, we're going to need an extraction plan and I don't think I can handle that on my own."

Hermione snorted. "If she's as much of a fan girl as she seems, you could propose a threesome and she'd probably go for it. I am superfluous to this equation."

Harry dropped his fork. "I cannot believe you just said that."

"I'm sorry," she giggled.

"You're not!" He pointed at her. "Evil witch. I am scarred! You've scarred me with your dirty mind! What the hell, Hermione? Why would you say that!"

She just laughed harder.

"Just for that you have to come with us, I'm not going to be able to look at either of them now, so I'll need you to cover for me. And, even though you obviously don't deserve this kind of consideration, I suggested we go to that film you've been wanting to see."

"Love Actually?"

Harry nodded.

"And Ron agreed to that?"

"Yeah, I think he figures you wanting to see it is an advantage in this case, because he assumes any witch would like it. And he's been talking up his muggle knowledge trying to impress her, so he's okay with going out into the muggle world too."

"I hope she doesn't really know anything about muggles then," she clapped a hand over her mouth. "That was mean, I'm sorry," she said, voice muffled by her hand.

"You're not wrong, " he shrugged.

She frowned as she considered what he'd just said. "Why would he think that knowing about muggles would impress her anyway?"

"Well, they have become cooler since the war. But mostly I think it's because he still kind of subconsciously compares every woman to you."

She wrinkled her nose. "Well that's weird, but kind of sweet, I guess."

"Take it as a compliment. It's because he thinks so highly of you, he's not still chasing you or anything."

"No, I know that. But it's probably not going to get him very far."

"Why not? You're an impressive woman, there's nothing wrong with setting the bar high."

"Thank you, Harry, that means a lot. And I agree, he should set the bar high, he deserves that. But I just mean that I'm not really like most women, so if he's using me as some sort of litmus test for what would impress somebody he's interested in, it's probably not going to be very successful. And if he does happen to find a woman like me, she'd just drive him crazy."

He just looked at her seriously, face etched with concern.

"It doesn't upset me," she clarified, "so please don't worry. It's just that I understand very well why Ron and I didn't work. There's nothing wrong with either of us, but together we explode, you know?"

"Yes I do, actually."

She laughed, a little sadly. She was well and truly over Ron, and was more grateful than she could express that they'd salvaged their friendship, but she still missed the idea of him, or at least of what she'd spent many years thinking they could be together.

"Yes, I guess you had a front row seat, didn't you? I should probably apologize for that."

"Don't," he shook his head. "I'm not saying it wasn't sometimes hard, but I'm glad you two gave it a shot. I know you always would have wondered otherwise. And it's not like you weren't there for me when the shoe was on the other foot with Ginny. That's what friends are for."

"That's what friends are for," she agreed quietly.

They finished their meals in silence, the mood having grown rather somber, and when she put down her fork she found Harry watching her.

"So, you'll come on Friday? And help me talk to Ron if he needs an intervention?"

"Yes," she half-laughed, half-sighed, "of course I'll be there. I suppose it is my sworn duty to you this month as your fake girlfriend to accompany you to such things anyway."

She had meant it in jest, but something flickered in Harry's expression when she said 'fake girlfriend,' something that simultaneously made her feel giddy and guilty for teasing him.

He recovered quickly. "I should have led with that, you're nothing if not dutiful."

Hermione knew she couldn't just let that stand. He was not an obligation. "That's not why though, you know that, right?"

"Uh. Apparently not, given that I don't know what you mean."

"The things that I do for you, they're not because I feel obligated. They're because of how much you mean to me. If I ever don't want to do something I'll tell you. Don't be afraid to ask me anything, okay?"

He went very still as his eyes searched her face. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes Harry. Nothing could ever drive me away from you."

She reached across the table and offered him her hand. He took it without hesitation.

Author's Note: To the Guest who said this-

You said, "day 7" and we're in chapter 8. The gift in the box sort of got the short end of the stick. I had to reread the chapter to remember what it was. I fear we are about to be another day behind the calendar pace:) You know there isn't a word limit on these chapters? And the tension is ratcheting up on the Nutcracker date. Just letting you know I'm paying attention.

I apologize for the confusion but I have not fallen behind. There are more chapters than there are days because the first chapter is a prologue which took place before the start of Advent. There is one chapter per day, that's it. I am aware there is not a word limit per chapter and I have not and will not write more than one chapter for each day no matter how long they may be. However, the chapter number will always be one ahead of the calendar date because of the prologue (ie today is Chapter 9, but it's Day 8, also December 8th- the day will always match the calendar date).

Hope that clears it up for anybody else who might have been confused. Also, I'm currently battling a migraine so if anything looks wonky let me know and I'll fix it when I can see properly again. Thanks!