Hermione was baking cookies in her kitchen when the clock struck seven… in the morning.

She wasn't baking at home, she was baking for her shop. Hermione owned 'Teas and Reads', the little café on Horizon Alley that boasted a small selection of baked goods and hand-picked novels for sale as well as a large collection of teas and coffees.

After the War, she had gone back to school to finish her education and gain her NEWT scores. After that, she'd followed her life plan and dated Ron before joining the Ministry to take the wizarding world by storm. Her life had been going exactly as it should be.

In one word, she was miserable.

The happiest day of her life was when Ron approached her and told her he wanted to break up. That was the one and only time since the Battle of Hogwarts where she had kissed him wholeheartedly and enthusiastically in love and gratitude.

At first their friends were worried that the break up would bring even more stress into their lives and ruin their friendship forever. On the contrary, Ron had been the best support Hermione had when she announced that she wanted to leave the Ministry of Magic. She had been working for two years pushing papers and writing countless reports, only to be dismissed by her superiors. Whatever efforts she put in her work, no one was taking her seriously and she felt that she was getting more exhausted each week. It had taken the concentrated efforts of Harry, Ron and Ginny to make her realize that she had fought for the freedom of the wizarding world as a teenager, and now it was that world's turn to save itself. She could retire from the Ministry to pursue other interests and that no one would think less of her for it. Ron had been there to support her every step of the way.

In turn, when Ron decided he wanted to date Susan Bones, Hermione was the one who helped him write the letter to ask her out since he was too afraid to do it in person. Susan said later that she knew Hermione had helped Ron as soon as she got the letter, but thought that it was sweet that he had asked for help because it meant she was important to him.

On paper, their friendship shouldn't work but they both were happy with their situation. Their romance was quickly forgotten as if it never happened. Their friendship grew even stronger after their separation.

Startled by a buzzing sound, Hermione stopped daydreaming and focused. Following the beckoning of her alarm she removed the sheet of cookies from the oven and magically cooled them.

Pulling her tray of different icings closer to her she quickly decorated the snowflakes, Christmas trees, and gingerbread men cookies for the café.

When she had left the Ministry Hermione had decided to open her own café in the Diagon alley shopping district. She hadn't been able to buy any of the shops on the main street as no one was interested in selling such high value real estate, but she had been able to get the little nook store backed up onto Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

She had quickly devoted all of her time to renovate the space into her ideal café. The little coffee shop contained an array of pastries and baked goods from a local muggle bakery, as well as one of the best selections of teas and coffees that London had to offer if she did say so herself. She had arranged the café to be as relaxed and casual as possible.

Customers entered the café and could choose from a variety of pastries and other baked goods on display in the center of the space. They would order their drinks and have the choice to sit at one of the tables in the front of the café near the windows or in the lounge area in the back beside the kitchen, away from the foot traffic. Hermione had lined several walls with bookshelves, with the exception of the space behind the counter, so they could browse the selection available and sit down with a book as they enjoyed their drink. If they enjoyed their read, all of the books on display were available for purchase.

It was her own little slice of heaven and she liked nothing more than to settle in a comfy chair with a cup of tea and a book after the café closed for the day. She always stayed late because she lived in the flat above the shop. She could wait for any potential deliveries while relaxing in her safe haven. Those were the times when she was the most thankful for her friends' intervention and her change of career.

After almost three years, Hermione felt as if she had finally become comfortable in her role as shop owner and that everything was running smoothly. She still had an extensive kitchen and could bake if the mood struck her, but she usually only did so on special occasions because she mostly sourced her pastries locally.

Today was one of these special occasions. It was the day after Halloween, which meant she was finally able to start making her specialty: Christmas cookies.

Growing up Hermione's favorite holiday had always been Christmas. She loved the season of cheer and going around with her family to sing Christmas carols. She loved the holiday decor and the feeling of camaraderie in the air. She loved all of the holiday festivities as well as the spirit of giving — which was incidentally why she was making Christmas cookies!

This was only her third holiday season owning her café but her favorite part of the season was something she discovered at the very end of last year — The Diagon Alley shop workers Christmas day.

Christmas was a stressful time for everyone, especially retail workers so all of the owners of the different shops in Diagon Alley and surrounding streets had started a tradition many years ago where any of the shop owners, employees, and their families could get together for a potluck the day after Christmas. There was a secret Santa gift exchange as well as fun events for the children. Last year, Hermione had hosted a hot cocoa stand.

Today was the day everyone had agreed to get together before shops opened to decide who was going to be on the planning committee.

Hermione had been hesitant to join in the past because she wasn't used to the Christmas rush yet, being such a new shop owner, but now that she had a feeling of security due to experience she decided that she wanted to take a more active part and help plan the wonderful event.

Finishing icing the cookies she quickly pulled out her wand and blasted them with the freezing charm so that the icing wouldn't run.

She put the cookies on her serving tray and arranged them by flavor. She levitated the tray and made it follow behind her as she grabbed her purse. Glancing at the clock it was 7:45, which meant she had plenty of time before she would be late. Hermione decided to take a few minutes to hop in the washroom to touch up her makeup before she headed out to the meeting. She wanted to be sure she made a good impression since a little birdie in the form of her shop manager, Katie Bell, had told her that Michael Blotts was going to be at the meeting in place of his grandfather.

Hermione was loath to admit it but she had a slight crush on the man. He was kind and compassionate and always treated her fairly as if she were his equal despite him being five years older than her. They got along and both liked to discuss subjects that some of her friends usually had no idea what she was talking about when she approached them. Not to mention he was completely handsome with dark hair and a tall, lean frame.

Not that she believed it, but her mother had always told her that the way to a man's heart was through his stomach. She had fervently tamped down her shame when she whipped out her grandmother's famous sugar cookie recipe at five in the morning.

She only paused to consider that maybe sugar cookies weren't the best thing to eat first thing in the morning but decided that if she brought a pot of coffee she would be able to argue that she was providing sugar and caffeine to get through the day at the meeting.

She levitated her supplies behind her and locked up her shop after leaving a note for Katie. The witch in question had taken over as her front desk manager after Hermione's first Christmas as the shop owner and the two witches had surprisingly become fast friends.

Hermione trusted Katie to be able to get the café ready for the day and made her way towards the Leaky Cauldron where Tom always hosted the meetings.

Despite still being ten minutes early, Hermione was surprised to see she wasn't the first person there.

Fred Weasley was lounging against the bar in his bright, infamous purple suit. He was one of the infamous owners of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Despite him being an older brother to Ron, Fred and her had never gotten along. She viewed some of his pranks as juvenile — albeit brilliant — and as far as she was aware he found her attitude grating at best. Things had not changed if his reaction to her appearance was anything to go off of.

"Hello Fred," she tried to be cordial and polite as she entered the room. "Where's Tom… and George?"

"In the back and probably still in bed with Angelina," Fred shrugged. "We never open before ten so we drew straws last night. I obviously lost."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Want a coffee?" she offered a cup from the pot she'd carried to the pub.

"Please," his eyes softened in gratitude.

She graciously poured him a cup and offered him the tray of cookies. His scowl was instantaneous.

Before she could ask what his problem was, other shop owners started to filter in and the meeting got started.


Hermione's scowl matched Fred's as they left the meeting. She was thrilled to be heading the planning committee, but she knew her partner was the last person on earth who wanted to participate.

Fred had lost at the luck of the draw — again.

"Look," he sighed. "I hate to ask, but do you even need my help? Don't you have Christmas down pat?"

"Yes, I actually do need the help. And if I may ask, what is your problem?" Hermione frowned at the twin in front of her.

"I just… I don't like Christmas very much," Fred admitted.

Hermione was stunned. How could anyone not like Christmas?

"Are… How?"

"I just… can we not do this in the middle of the street? As much as I hate it, it's not like I enjoy advertising it."

"Let's go back to my café," Hermione offered. She and Fred had never gotten along well. George was the more gentle of the two twins in her opinion and she never had to keep an eye on him like a hawk to ensure nothing nefarious was going on. Fred on the other hand always seemed to be plotting something, looking around for pranking opportunities every time he entered a room.

He eyed her skeptically before nodding in agreement and gesturing for her to lead the way. She set off at a brisk pace and waltzed in the front door of the café.

She had to admit she was slightly surprised when Fred actually followed her and then joined her in the back room. They both stood awkwardly before she decided to fix them a pot of tea.

"So why are you so against the holiday season?" she asked.

Fred eyed her curiously before deciding to reveal the easier of his two reasons.

"Because of the crowds," he said. "After the war I've always been nervous in open and crowded spaces. I can easily manage it in small doses, but the continuous flow of people from the busy season tends to put me on edge. George always runs the front of the shop starting in October to help me out. I obviously come out to help him when he needs it but typically prefer to stay in the back making the product. It's not like I'm damaged or anything. I'm fine in small doses and don't even think about it. It just wears on me the longer I have to be in those situations and I typically feel exhausted afterwards. A full season of that would be enough to put me in a coma from Christmas to Valentine's."

Hermione couldn't help but snort at the mental image he produced. Thinking about his large frame in pinstriped pajamas, down to the sleeping cap, curled up in a tiny bed was adorably hilarious. "Is that why you hire Lee on during the holidays?" Hermione asked, curiosity getting the better of her despite knowing that she was prying.

"It's one of the reasons," Fred agreed, "but mostly we really do need the extra hands on deck. Not that it matters, but we've offered him the full-time position multiple times. He enjoys his work being a sports commentator too much to commit to us, though."

"That makes sense to me," Hermione nodded. And she could understand that since Christmas was her favorite season but it was incredibly busy. At the end of the day nothing made her love the holidays or her café any less. They made her happier than anything.

Fred glanced at the clock and stood up. "I have to get back to the shop and help George set up but what do you say we make plans to start planning this party?"

"I think that sounds like a good idea, how does your evening sound?" Hermione asked as she pulled out her planner to check her schedule.

"I think that should work for me but I'll check with George and if it doesn't I'll send you a note during the day?" Fred offered.

"That sounds perfect. I hope you have a good day," Hermione said, embarrassed. She had never wished the twins to have a good day at their joke shop. Fred gave her a look that meant he had caught what she had been saying but decided to not pursue it by teasing her. "Feel free to take a carafe for your coworkers," she offered.

He nodded gratefully and left the office. Hermione waited a few minutes before she left her office to join Katie at the front counter.

"What was up with Fred Weasley in your office?" Katie asked curiously. "I thought you two didn't get along but if it was just sexual tension I need all the details."

Hermione's hip bumped the other witch as she made a latte for a customer.

"We don't get along," she argued. "I got assigned the holiday party planning head because Tom can't do it this year and Fred was drawn from the hat to help me. Neither of us are particularly thrilled."

"That sucks," Katie commiserated. "I know the boy hates Christmas and always has so I'm sure it's not going to be easy to get some Christmas cheer out of him."

"He told me he didn't like Christmas because of the crowds," Hermione asked, frowning.

"I'm sure that's definitely part of it now," Katie agreed. "We both know what a shit show the holidays can be on Diagon and he owns one of the most successful shops for holiday gifts. But I know he's always hated Christmas even when we were in school."

"Can you tell me why?" Hermione asked. "If there's anything I can do to help I would love to."

"It may have something to do with his family's situation, but I don't know for certain and that's pure speculation on my part."

Hermione was going to ask further questions when their next customer came into the café and they both became distracted by the steady flow of customers after that.


Fred worked in the laboratory all day. He even worked through lunch and was famished by the time five o'clock rolled around. When he heard a knock on the door, he perked up confused. He hadn't been expecting anyone.

He blinked when he opened the door to see Hermione Granger with a thermos. She offered it to him and he accepted it.

"I was wondering if we could talk?" she asked.

"Sure, come on in," he opened the door wider and gestured to her inside. As she slipped past him, he caught the scent of vanilla clinging to her hair and he breathed deeply.

Most days, he didn't get along with her. She was everything he wasn't, but strived to be. Studious, courageous, good at her work, dedicated, kind, caring, compassionate, forgiving, and more.

When they were in school, he took great joy in teasing her. They fought like cats and dogs whenever she judged his pranks and products. This had continued into adulthood and he was beginning to realise that he still thought her reactions were adorable. Her eyes would flare with righteous anger and her hair would spark with barely contained magic. He always wanted to see how far he could push her. It was his favorite thing to do these days.

She has always been a firecracker like the ones he made but he wanted to see what would happen if she really blew up. Not at the moment though, he was more puzzled about what she was doing in his workshop.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked as he took a long sip from his coffee.

"I know you're still working so I'm sorry for interrupting but I had an idea I wanna run past you," Hermione told him as she made herself at home on one of the lab stools. "I was wondering how you felt about reenacting different Christmas events to get you in the mood to help me with the party."

"Want to run that idea by me again so I can understand what you're talking about?" Fred blinked at her as he tried to understand what she was saying. It was as if she was speaking gibberish.

"You hate Christmas, right?" Hermione asked as she played with her hair. Fred couldn't help himself as his eyes were drawn to the action. "My idea is to reenact some of my favorite parts of Christmas with you and if that doesn't get you in the mood to celebrate the holidays within a month, I will plan the entire party by myself and let you off the hook."

"Why does it matter to you?" Fred asked as he stared at her incredulously. He couldn't understand why someone would care so much about making him like the holidays, Christmas especially, when he had such bad memories of it since he was a child.

"I don't think there's a good reason why anyone should hate a holiday that's designed for cheer and caring," she told him simply as she jumped down from the stool. "You're always welcome to say no as well and I will do the planning on my own but it would mean a lot to me if you tried."

Fred looked at her and tried to come up with a good reason to say no. He went through as many ideas as he could and had several at the tip of his tongue.

"I'd like that as long as you're willing," he said instead of any of the witty retorts he had prepared.

"Excellent," Hermione beamed as she hurried past him back toward the café . "I will get back to my shop now and start planning and you can come over whenever you're done with your workday and we can get started!"

Seconds later she was gone and Fred was alone again but not for long as George entered the laboratory instead.

"Was that Hermione Granger I saw?" George asked. "What was she doing in here? It's not like the pair of you get along."

"My name was drawn from the hat to help plan the holiday party and she's heading the committee. Despite my best attempts to tell her I don't like the holiday she's insistent on making me help."

"Are you still on that?" George asked as he took over stirring the cauldron with the potion Fred has been brewing. "I know you hate crowds so I don't mind watching the shop during the holidays but you really need to get past the accident during the war and stop using that as an excuse. Yes, you were crushed by a wall and don't like to feel crushed in a crowd, I get it. But we both know your feelings about the holidays are about something really different."

Fred gave his brother a look and stormed towards the steps leading up to their flat. George sighed as he watched his brother storm off. At the sound of the door slamming Lee appeared in the doorway of the laboratory.

"What happened?" he asked, alarmed.

"One day very soon, Hermione is going to decide that she's ready to date him and my delightful brother needs to pull his head out of his ass before he misses his opportunity."

"This again?" Lee ground out. "Don't they realize they've been in love with each other for years? It would be much easier on the rest of us if they just got together."

"I have a feeling it'll be Hermione who notices first," George laughed as he continued to stir the potion. "My clueless brother's had his eye on her for years so he was definitely first to the feeling but there's no way he'll recognize it unless someone tells them what it is."

"I bet you five galleons Fred will confess to her first," Lee bet against George.

The earless ginger-haired twin grinned at his friend.

"You're on!"


A few hours later, Fred Weasley was knocking on the back door of Hermione's café . He had never used that exit before but the back door from the laboratory led into a tiny alley that backed up to her shop. It made no sense to him to walk around the entire street when he could walk five steps instead.

A few minutes later Hermione was opening the door. "Come on in," she greeted him cheerfully. "I'm so glad you were able to stop by today. I hope it's not too late for you."

Fred paused as he processed her words. If anyone should be worried about the timing it would be her since he knew that she had to wake up really early to open up her coffee shop.

If you want we can always reschedule for tomorrow," he offered. "I know you have a very different work schedule than we do and I'd hate to mess up your circadian rhythm.

Hermione's eyebrows furrowed at his words. He raised an eyebrow at her reaction, confused about what he had said wrong.

She realised what she was doing and was quick to apologize. "I'm sorry I must seem ridiculous but I truthfully forgot that you were wicked smart behind your prankster abilities. Sometimes I still think of you as that 17-year-old who would experiment on 11-year-olds even though I know better."

"I'm sorry that you still think so poorly of me," he said wryly.

Her eyes widened and she started backpedaling. "I'm so sorry I just heard how that came out. I didn't mean that I still saw you as a reckless teenager I just meant that… I'm so sorry, I don't even know what I meant. That was out of line for me to say. I should know better than anyone that it's unfair to judge people based on their teenage years."

He nodded at her genuine apology and told her it was all right before he moved to take a seat in one of the plush armchairs in her office.

"So how do you want to do this?" he asked.

"Well I formed a list and—"

Fred couldn't help it as he bent over laughing heartily at her comment. It was just like Hermione Granger to be faced with a problem and make a list. He knew from his younger brother and his weekly dinners at the Burrow that she had a tendency to try to organize every aspect of her life even in adulthood.

At the look on her face Fred was the one to backpedal and apologize. "I don't mean to laugh and I'm really sorry," he said as he wiped a stray tear from underneath his eye. " I just remembered how you used to make lists at school and it hit me with a sense of nostalgia."

"I'm glad I can amuse you," she rolled her eyes. "But I really did make a list and I was wondering how amicable you would be to trying it out over the next few weeks or so? I know we have different schedules but I figured if we stocked our responsibilities appropriately we can make it work."

"What did you have in mind?" he asked.

"Well starting tonight I thought we could make some cookies as we discussed everything we wanted to do for the holiday event and then we could split up to start planning activities in our free time? Would that work for you?"

"Isn't that just us doing your prep for tomorrow?" he asked with a grin that underlined his comment as the gentle teasing he intended it to be.

She rolled her eyes and rolled up her sleeves as she started walking around her desk towards the main part of her café. Fred followed out of curiosity if nothing else. He had known her to be a force of nature for years and he wasn't going to get in her way now.

"I was thinking that we could hold a cookie decorating stand at the holiday fair," she told him as she started pulling ingredients out of her kitchen cupboards. "We always have the party the day after Christmas but what if we did it on Christmas Eve? Everyone closes up early anyway and almost no one is still shopping when that day rolls around. We could also have a place where the kids can go meet Father Christmas and ask him last minute items for their Christmas lists."

"I mean that makes sense but what's the benefit to the shop owners for closing up early?" Fred countered as he accepted the mixing spoon from Hermione. "I don't mind it for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes but I know of a few other shops who sometimes rely on the extra last minute sales."

"I considered that," she told him as she started measuring out ingredients into a large bowl. "I figured that any shop that wanted to would be allowed to stay open or have a stand at the party. Instead of just being for the shop owners we can open it up to anyone who doesn't have holiday plans."

He nodded as he started filtering the dry ingredients through the sieve into the bowl. "How about we make sure the party is long enough so that they can enjoy it?"

Fred didn't enjoy Christmas but if there was one thing he loved more than anything else it was parties and making people laugh. Hermione had known this about him and was trying to use that knowledge to make him want to participate in the planning more. Her plan hinged on Fred starting to enjoy the process on his own so that when she introduced Christmas activities while they planned he might start to enjoy the holidays again. However the real clincher for her plan needed her to figure out why he hated the holidays to begin with.

Hello Fred,

I hope your day is going well. Here are the extra cookies we made last night, I thought that if you didn't want them at least you could offer them to your staff today. I was wondering if you were free Friday evening for another Christmas-y activity with me. Please let me know if you're not available, if not I'll see you at six pm on Friday.

Hermione

Fred looked at the note and then at the tin box. The cookies looked delicious. They were the generic winter themed ones. There were snowflakes, mittens, snowmen and more. He snorted. Of course, Hermione had chosen them on purpose and kept all of the Christmas tree and Menorah themed ones. At least she was trying to be mindful even in her crusade to convert him.

Looking around the laboratory and seeing he was alone, he broke a piece off and ate it. Damn, these were amazing. He couldn't believe he had helped make them. Hearing steps in the hallway, he quickly hid the box under the workbench and went back to stir his potion. He would let George know later that he needed him to close the shop at the end of the week.

Meanwhile, George retreated from the door with a smile on his face, and a small sliver of hope for his dear brother.


A week later, Hermione Apparated them to her favorite place.

"Now, where are… wow." Fred turned around and looked everywhere, eyes wide and jaw dropped.

Intellectually, he knew that early November temperatures were barely cold enough around London for this to be possible, but they were in an actual winter wonderland. Fir and pine trees heavy with snow surrounded the glade they standing in the middle of. A thick white carpet of snow covered the grounds and the tiny crystals were still falling in little flakes from the night sky as the moon lit the scene. A frozen pond completed the picturesque view and there was a single bench on the far side of the pond.

"This is incredible," he said, completely awed. "How did you manage this? Are we still in England?"

"Of course we are, silly," she blushed at his praise. "This is one of the places Harry and I camped in during the war. My parents brought me here when I was a little girl. I bought the land after the war and I came here to meditate when I made the decision to leave the Ministry. It's so peaceful here that I've made it my sanctuary."

"I understand what you mean, I feel it too. But how is there snow?"

"That is just a bit of meteorological warding for a few weeks. I have a few activities in mind that needed colder weather. Now stop stalling and come here. We're going ice skating."

She really was extraordinary , Fred thought as she guided him through the motions of transfiguring his shoes and showed him a few basic moves to stay balanced on the ice.

She'd obviously forgotten he'd grown up with a pond in his yard so he could go skating whenever he wanted. It was equally annoyingly and endearing.

Shaking his head, he decided to halt her lecture on the proper methods to balance on the ice. Putting one skate on the ice, then the other, he acted as if he'd lost control and tripped before he 'magically' regained balance. He quickly sprinted across the ice towards her and veered left at the last second, circling her instead. She shrieked in fear and surprise before she caught on and burst out laughing.

"You knew how to skate and let me waste five minutes doing a demonstration?" she asked, still giggling.

"You seemed to like lecturing me, it's important that you have fun too on these little outings," he winked.

After that, they just enjoyed skating together. Sometimes Fred would race around, feeling the wind flowing through his red hair. It felt almost as freeing as flying. He hadn't been on his broom in so long since he'd been tied up with his shop. He resolved to get the family together for a game of Quidditch after the holidays.

Lost in thoughts, he didn't realize he had slowed down to match Hermione's pace until she gently gripped his arm.

"Are you hungry? I brought dinner," she prompted, showing him the picnic basket sitting beside the pond. He nodded and they skated to the edge.

They sat down with rosy cheeks and glowing eyes, eating their sandwiches and drinking hot cocoa with marshmallows as they talked through their ideas for the Christmas party. They started to discuss what kind of activities or kiosks would be needed and then switched to talk about their work and personal lives.

Finally they got to the subject and neither knew how to bring up: their friendship.

Hermione finally decided that it was her role to bring it up.

"Why aren't we closer friends?" she asked. "I know I grew up closer with Ron, Ginny, and even Percy but you were between them in age. Why could we never get along?"

"I never really thought about it, "Fred told her honestly. "To be honest I never really noticed you aside from being Ron's friend. Then we were all older and then you were the bossy little prefect who always tried to get us in trouble for trying to start a business. I know you grew closer with George since, but I don't know. I never really thought about it."

"Do you still think of me as that bossy—"

"No!" Fred said, quickly backpedaling. "You're an amazing witch and a kind friend. I'd be honored to have you consider me a friend as well."

"I'd like that too," she nodded.

When it was time to leave, Fred Apparated them home and walked Hermione to her door. He thanked her for the amazing night and she beamed at him.

They both smiled as they fell asleep that night.