Chapter 12: Home for the Holidays

"Mum! Dad!" I cried as I ran off the Hogwarts Express. They were both waiting for me on the platform, just as I'd hoped they would be. I'd sent them a letter telling them when I would be back, but I hadn't received a reply. At least now I knew they were receiving my letters.

As soon as I was off the train, Dad grabbed me in a big hug.

"It's so good to see you sweetie," he said, giving me a tight squeeze.

"You too Dad," I smiled, squeezing back.

Dad let go of me, and Mum swooped in for her turn.

"Happy Christmas Hermione," she said as she wrapped her arms around me.

"Happy Christmas Mum," I returned. "Even if it's not for a few more days."

"We've missed you so much," Mum said, releasing me and leading me towards the barrier to the muggle world. Dad grabbed my trunk and followed behind us.

"I've missed you too," I said. "It's so nice to be back."

"Well we've got all your favorite Christmas traditions waiting for you at home," Mum said. "We haven't decorated or anything yet. We figured we'd wait for you."

"Thanks Mum," I said with a smile. "I love our family traditions."

"Oh, well your mother and I won't be able to decorate with you," Dad said. "We have to go to work. But it'll give you something to do while we're out."

"Oh," I said, a little let down. "You weren't able to get the time off for my break?"

"With all the chocolate people are eating at this time of year, dentists are in high demand," Dad reminded me. "You know we always work extra at Christmastime."

"I know," I agreed. It was true that Mum and Dad always picked up extra shifts over the holidays, but I'd thought this year might be different.

We reached the car and piled in, to head home. I decided it was time to change the subject.

"So, I'm sure you're wondering about Hogwarts," I said from the backseat. "Would you believe that I've only been in school for four months, and we've already brewed six different potions? We did the forgetfulness potion first, which I think was a lot harder than the cure for boils, but the theory in the cure for boils was a lot tougher, so it made sense from a theoretical level to start with the forgetfulness potion. Even though it has less ingredients, you must be very precise when adding them, or else it could explode."

"That's nice sweetheart," Dad said from the driver's seat. "And what about your friends? I'm sure you've made some friends."

"I have," I said enthusiastically. "Harry and Ron. Harry's kind of famous, but I don't really see him as a celebrity because I didn't know he was famous until recently. Some of the other students get a little tongue-tied around him, but I'm sure that'll pass once people get used to him."

"Oh, a celebrity friend?" Mum said, interested. "Is he a singer? Actor? Dancer?"

"No, nothing like that," I said. "It's kind of a long story, but basically he's said to have defeated a dark wizard as a baby, which kind of makes him a hero. Personally, I don't think he did much of anything, I think the dark wizard just messed up. Harry was a baby after all. But I'd never say that to anyone at Hogwarts. They all think he must have some hidden powerful magic."

"Oh, well… good for him," Mum said. "And what about your other little friend?"

"Ron?" I said. "He's not famous. He comes from a big family with five brothers and a sister. Kind of makes me wish I had brothers and sisters…" I trailed off and then realized what I'd said. "Not that I don't love it just being the three of us!"

"Of course, sweetie," Mum nodded.

"Anyway, you would not believe what happened in charms class the other day. I was working on this spell that's supposed to make a pineapple grow legs and dance around – "

"Oh look, we're home!" Dad exclaimed, pulling the car into the driveway. "Come on Hermione, time to get unpacked!"

I figured I'd save my story for later and got out of the car and followed Dad as he carried my trunk up the stairs to my room.

"Well I've got some work to catch up on," he said. "We had to take the afternoon off to meet you at the train station. And Mum needs to get started on dinner, so you unpack, and we'll call you when it's ready."

"Oh, alright," I said, a little surprised at the abrupt nature of the exchange. "I'll see you at dinner then."

It didn't take long to unpack my trunk. Everything was very well organized, after all. When I'd finished, I paced around my room a bit, wondering if I should start my homework, but decided that I'd have plenty of time to work on that while my parents were at work. So instead, I wandered down to the kitchen to see if Mum needed any help.

"You can set the table," she offered as she stirred and chopped over by the stove.

"Alright," I agreed, reaching for the plates. "Hey Mum," I said, as I remembered what I'd promised Harry and Ron. "Have you ever heard of someone named Nicolas Flamel?"

"Nicolas Flamel?" Mum frowned. "No, why? Who is he?"

"Oh, nobody important," I said. I decided not to tell Mum and Dad about the whole situation with Snape and the three-headed dog. It would only worry them unnecessarily.

"Is it for one of your classes?" Mum asked.

"No, no. One of my dorm mates was talking about him a few nights ago, and I was curious," I lied. "He's probably a wizard anyway."

"Yes well, I wouldn't be much help in that department," Mum said, turning back to her cooking.

Dinner was quiet that night. I tried telling Mum and Dad about my classes, but they didn't seem interested. Dad kept changing the subject, and Mum kept avoiding eye contact with me. I got the impression that they weren't yet as well-adjusted as I'd hoped, what with the whole magic thing.

When Mum and Dad left for work the next day, it was a surprising relief. At least I didn't have to tiptoe around talk of magic anymore.

I spent the morning decorating the house, as I knew Mum and Dad expected me to. In the afternoon, I headed down the street to the local bookstore to buy presents for my parents. I knew they wouldn't appreciate something from a wizard shop, and instead got them each a book. By the time my parents returned home from work, Mum had to start preparing dinner, and Dad had to do some more paperwork. Instead of making awkward chitchat with Mum in the kitchen, I went up to my room to get started on my holiday homework.

The days progressed in much the same fashion until Christmas, when my parents finally had the day off. I suspected they probably would have worked on Christmas Day too, except that the office they worked at was closed.

Just like when I was a little girl, I woke up early and went straight downstairs to the Christmas tree, where I knew my parents would be waiting with hot chocolate. Altogether, we opened our presents – shockingly, my parents had gotten me a book from that same bookstore. There were also some Christmas cards from aunts and uncles with five- and ten-pound notes inside that I knew I'd have to exchange at Gringotts at some point.

When we'd finished opening presents, Mum headed into the kitchen to cook up a holiday brunch, and Dad flipped open the book I'd gotten him and started to read.

"Hey Dad," I said nervously. "I was wondering… since this is your only day off while I'm here… maybe we could go into London?"

"Well sure sweetie," Dad said. "What do you want to do in London?"

"Well… I was hoping to go to Diagon Alley," I said. "You know… to exchange my money and maybe pick up a wizard's chess set?"

Dad frowned. "We could always get you a chess set at that shop two streets over," he suggested.

"No, a wizard's chess set is different," I explained. "The pieces move on their own and attack each other. I need to get it in a wizarding shop."

"Well, you know Hermione, your mother and I have a lot of paperwork to do…"

I sighed, having figured this would be the answer. Mum and Dad were clearly uncomfortable taking me to Diagon Alley. I'd seen it the last time we were there, and I'd sensed it in every conversation we'd had since I'd been home.

But I really wanted that chess set. So, channeling Harry and Ron, I decided to tell a little white lie. "I also need to pick up some supplies for my classes," I informed Dad. "I'm running low on potions ingredients, and there's a textbook that I need for the second term that wasn't on the booklist back in July."

"And I suppose none of this can be mail-ordered?" Dad asked hopefully.

I shook my head, and Dad sighed. "Well alright then, I guess we're going to London."

After brunch, we all piled into the car and started to drive. I was excited to be going back to the wizarding community, but also conflicted because I knew Mum and Dad didn't want to be there. I didn't like making them uncomfortable, but I hadn't had any other way of getting to London.

"Listen Mum, Dad," I said as we got close. "If you don't want to come in with me, I can always meet you back on the street in say… two hours?"

"Oh, well we wouldn't want you wandering around on your own," Dad said immediately. "But… well your mother and I do have a couple of errands to run in London. And this would be a good time to take care of them."

"It's settled then," I declared. "I'll go to Diagon Alley on my own, and I'll meet you back in muggle London."

"Just call it London, sweetie," Mum said.

When we came to the Leaky Cauldron, Dad just pulled up on the side of the street so that I could jump out of the car. Neither of my parents got out to see me off, just waved as I headed into the pub.

The Leaky Cauldron was a lot busier than I'd anticipated given that it was Christmas Day. I even spotted Hagrid up at the bar with Tom the barman.

"Hagrid!" I exclaimed, walking over. "Why aren't you at Hogwarts?"

"Oh, I'll be back fer supper," Hagrid assured me. "Jus' havin a pint with ol' Tommy here. Where are yer parents?"

"They're around," I said. "They didn't want to come to Diagon Alley with me. They're still a little weirded out by all of this."

"Ah, they'll come 'round," Hagrid assured me with a grin. "They always come 'round."

"Well I've got a couple of errands to run," I said, backing away. "Oh, thanks for the cakes, by the way."

"Baked 'em meself," Hagrid said.

"Well they were delicious," I lied. An owl had arrived the night before with presents from Harry, Ron, and Hagrid. Hagrid had sent a package of little cakes that had been as hard as rocks, and almost broke a tooth. I'd ended up tossing them in the garbage, but I knew Hagrid was proud of them. "I'll see you back at Hogwarts in a week."

Once I arrived in Diagon Alley, my first stop was Gringotts to exchange my money, and then I went hunting for a wizard's chess set. I found a set I liked in a shop called Adalbert and Frelonia's Game Shop. After that, I had some time to kill, so I snooped around Flourish and Blotts in the hopes of running across a book about Nicolas Flamel. After about an hour with no luck, I bought a revealer, because it looked cool and I hated to leave a bookstore without buying something, and then I returned to the street outside the Leaky Cauldron to wait for Mum and Dad.

"Find everything you needed?" Dad asked.

"Yep," I nodded, patting my shopping bag. As long as I kept it closed, my parents would never know I hadn't bought potions supplies and a textbook.

We got into the car and began the drive back home.

As we drove, I felt a question I'd been avoiding asking nagging at the back of my head. I knew I was going to have to ask it eventually, so I decided to just bite the bullet and get it over with.

"So… I've sent you both a few letters since being at Hogwarts," I said.

"Oh yes, your letters were just lovely," Mum said. "I'm so glad you're enjoying your time at school."

"Right," I nodded. "Well I couldn't help but notice that you never answered any of them."

"Didn't we?" Dad frowned. He glanced at Mum. "I thought you were going to answer the letters."

Mum shook her head. "I thought you were going to answer the letters," she returned.

"Well this is certainly awkward," Dad said. "We certainly intended to write you back sweetie, but there seems to have been a little miscommunication on our end."

"Oh," I said. "Right. Well that makes sense, I suppose."

"Sorry about that," Mum said. "Maybe it's for the best though. If you write us during the term, you'll have nothing to tell us about when you come home."

"You don't want me to write you anymore?" I asked, confused.

"Well it's not that we don't love hearing your stories," Dad said. "But you have to admit, we haven't had much to talk about over the holidays, since we already knew everything that was going on."

I opened my mouth to answer, but then shut it again. None of this made any sense. We had nothing to talk about because Mum and Dad shut me down every time I mentioned anything that had to do with magic. And if they'd really wanted to write me back, they'd have written me back together.

But then I realized that I understood. Mum and Dad weren't comfortable. I'd known that from the moment I'd come home for the holidays. They couldn't relate to my new life, because they didn't understand it, and from the way it looked, they didn't want to. If I wanted to stay close with my parents, there was only one thing to do. I had to stop talking about magic.