AN: Because I don't currently have enough to do in my life, including trying to get a promotion in work, I decided I needed to write my version of a cheesy hallmark Christmas movie after reading zurimadison's Ottery St Christmas. I LOVE cheesy Christmas movies and this is inspired by a Knight Before Christmas. If it doesn't have Vanessa Ann Hudgens in it, does it even count?! I hope you enjoy it. I'm not sure when I'll be updating this as it'll fit around updates to Begin Again and my real-life responsibilities. xxx
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was considered to be one of the finest magical institutions in the Wizarding World. Hidden deep in the Scottish Highlands, it had existed since the 10th century and seemed to go from strengths to strengths. Children with magical abilities were enrolled automatically at birth and the school prided itself on its high acceptance of muggle-born students.
Eupraxia Mole was a forward-thinking Headmistress. When Hermione Granger graduated from the school, Headmistress Mole wasted no time in offering her a job as Potions Master. The witch had gained seven top-grade N.E.W.T's, had served as Head Girl as well as completing an impressive range of extracurricular activities. Having nowhere else to go, the young witch had accepted enthusiastically and had soon made Hogwarts her permanent home, becoming the youngest ever Potions Master in the process.
Now 28 years old, Professor Granger still had an unbridled enthusiasm for potion making and regularly sought out ways to invent new recipes or modify old ones. She worked hard to find ways to improve the lives of her students, choosing to remain single so that she could focus on her studies and her students as that was what made her the happiest.
Hermione rooted through her potions cupboard, seeking out the ingredients she needed for her latest experiment. When she was satisfied she had everything she needed, she gathered them in her arms and set them on the worktop, where a cauldron of water was already boiling away. She shivered and drew her robes tighter around her body. The wind was howling through the stone walls, turning her usually bright and warm classroom into an icebox.
Tomorrow was the last day of term and soon the students would be boarding the Hogwarts Express, making the long journey back to their families. It had been a rough term; at the end of September, a particularly virile strain of Dragon Pox had taken hold of the student population. The disease was highly contagious and in some cases, turned out to be fatal. For those that survived, the victim's skin was left pockmarked and tinged green. It meant that entire year groups had been forced to isolate in their common rooms and dormitories, and the regular trips to the local village of Hogsmeade had been cancelled until the illness had run its course. After almost three months of suffering, the morale of her students was low and she was desperate to cheer them up.
She pushed a wayward curl out of her eyes, tucking it behind her ear before rereading the recipe in front of her. She had decided to bring a little Christmas cheer to her classroom using a modified version of the Elixir to Endure Euphoria. She'd already recently learnt that adding peppermint to the potion during preparation was helpful in reducing the amount of nose-tweaking the drinker subjected to their loved ones, so she was hoping that adding mistletoe alongside the wormwood may force the drinker to sing Christmas carols.
This wasn't the first time Hermione had modified a potion from the standard curriculum provided for the children. Their textbooks had been set many moons ago by a group of stuffy old wizards and only the version numbers had been updated since. They'd neglected the fact that children needed stimulating whilst learning and that if they were having fun, they were more likely to remember the information they had piled on them. Professor Granger worked hard to make her lessons interesting, which had led to her being highly popular with her students, although the same feeling wasn't mirrored by the majority of her colleagues. Apparently, her forward-thinking was far too progressive, even for 1892.
The potion so far seemed to be going well; it was now a delightful, warm colour and she could already feel the effects of it on her mood. It reminded her of the orange she'd eaten at breakfast and her stomach growled at the memory. Her next move would be pivotal, she could either add the wormwood by itself, as was set in the recipe, and wait for the potion to turn sunshine yellow, or she could just add the mistletoe at the same time and hope for the best.
Hermione chewed her lip as she considered her options, trying her best to see what the outcome of both could be. In the end, she determined that as mistletoe was a low-risk plant, it shouldn't create any negative effect so she decided to throw caution to the wind.
"I have nothing to lose, after all. If nothing else, I'll just be happy for a few hours before the potion wears off again." The professor often talked to herself as she worked, adding to the opinions of her colleagues that she was a little bit crazy and probably not suitable for teaching at such a highly-regarded establishment.
She reached for the ingredients, ensuring she measured out the right amounts before holding them high. She held her breath, counting to five before adding both plants to the cauldron and stirring fervently. She was rewarded by her potion turning a glorious shade of gold, just like the ribbons that adorned the staircases in the castle.
"Perfect!" Hermione clapped her hands together in delight. She loved it when an experiment went right and she was excited to show her students in the morning. But first, she needed to test the results.
Meanwhile, in 21st Century London Ronald Weasley, or Ron to his friends, was just starting his day. Usually a happy-go-lucky kind of guy, he'd been working in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the British Ministry of Magic ever since graduating from school. He'd breezed through the three years of training, passed his probation at the top of his cohort and he was pretty sure he would be Employee of the Month every month if the department gave out such awards. It was a job he loved and it showed; his arrest numbers were high and there was almost an entire floor of Azkaban full of Dark Wizards who hated even the sound of his name.
Of course, even the best Wizards had their bad days and Ron was pretty sure he was currently suffering through 365 of them. Ever since he'd returned from his short Christmas break (only taking the days off between Boxing Day and New Year's Eve because in his own words, 'crime never takes a holiday') he'd been suffering from a string of bad luck that seemed to radiate into every aspect of his life. He had been chasing a dangerous criminal across the country without success, been on a series of awful first dates with no potential of developing anything more serious and to top it off, just last week his landlord had served notice for him to move out. He'd only been given a week to pack his things and if it hadn't been for Harry stepping in and letting him stay at an otherwise empty Grimmauld Place, he would have been homeless or worse - living back with his parents. He thought things just couldn't get any worse.
Ron strode across the Auror department, weaving his way around the desks and portable whiteboards. Aurors were notorious for being messy, preferring to set their work out in visual ways in order to try and see patterns or hidden meaning behind maps and photos so it was a mess he was used to. Someone had been into the office since he had left last night and covered every inch of it with Christmas decorations. He scowled at the tinsel and fairy lights, they only served to remind him how miserable he felt. Christmas used to be his favourite time of the year, but this year he had decided he hated every aspect of it including the cheerfulness and the singing.
He finally got to his own desk and threw himself into his chair. Unfortunately, it hadn't avoided the Christmas explosion and he cursed under his breath as he tore the decorations down and shoved them into a nearby bin.
"Alright, who was responsible for this?!" He glared around the room, almost daring someone to speak up but his colleagues only avoided eye contact with him. He swung his chair back around, preparing to start his day properly but was surprised to see Harry Potter's smiling face.
Harry had been his best friend since they met on the Hogwarts Express on their way to their first day at Hogwarts. The dark-haired wizard had been friendless and sitting in a carriage alone. Ron had an army of brothers already at the school and could have joined them further down the train but had taken pity on the skinny boy. Plus the peace and quiet was a welcome haven from the hustle and bustle he was used to at home. The boys had been glued together ever since, so it was no surprise they'd become partners after joining the department at the same time.
"It was me!" Harry raised his hand sheepishly. "You've been grumpy as Snape the past few months and I thought you could do with a little Christmas cheer. Last year, you were the epitome of Christmas; you wouldn't take that damned muggle jumper off so I thought a little bit of tinsel might get you going again…"
"Yeah, well things change Harry…" Ron picked up his case files, flicking through them in an agitated way. "Has any news come in?"
"Not yet…" Harry perched on the edge of Ron's desk. "I reckon they're waiting until just before our Christmas leave before they start causing mayhem…"
"So no sign of Masters?"
"Nothing – Neville scoped out the Hogs Head last night, but he didn't show. He was supposed to be a regular there so…" Harry trailed off with a faint shrug.
Ron sighed. "I just hoped we'd have one decent arrest this year; is that too much to ask?!"
"I'm taking it as a sign that we're just so good, Robards only just wants to assign us the tricky cases now. Either that or Azkaban is finally full and we need to wait for space before we can arrest someone and somehow the universe just knows…"
"I guess…" Ron threw the case files back onto his desk and pushed himself out of his chair. "Come on then, I guess we should review the location list again but I think I'll need a coffee before facing it!"
Harry laughed and clapped his hand on his best mate's shoulder. "That's more like it…."
"So you see Albus, although Flobberworm mucus is indeed a useful ingredient to thicken your potion, it isn't the only one. Now you better hurry before you miss the end of dinnertime." Professor Granger wrapped up the query from one of her favourite students quickly, watching the small wizard retreat back down the hallway towards the great staircase. The child was quirky, full of interesting facts and knowledge and almost wise beyond his years. He reminded Hermione of herself as a first-year and she smiled as she watched him disappear.
She had just been about to try her potion for the first time before she'd been interrupted, after decanting her cauldron and tidying up after herself. She prided herself in keeping a clean classroom, something she tried to instil in her students too. A rack of vials sat waiting expectantly on her desk, one for each of her classes tomorrow and a spare for her test. The room had turned dark, so as she walked back to her desk she lit the candles around the room with a wave of her hand.
She picked up the small vial from her desk and eyed it closely. Nothing had happened in the half-hour it had been sat waiting for her. It hadn't started increasing in volume or sparkling, as unstable potions so often did. She was pretty sure the potion was safe for consumption. With one last glance at it, she uncorked the vial and swallowed the gold liquid in one go.
At first, nothing happened and Hermione felt a surge of disappointment. She had wanted to do something nice for her students and had talked all day about the surprise she had to show them. She hated the thought of letting them down. But then the tingling started, working its way from her toes and coursing slowly up her body. It made her feel warm and as if everything in the world was going to be okay and she felt the tension fall from her shoulders as she moved to sit back at her desk to record the results. Although she hadn't started singing yet, she suspected it might start any minute.
However, before she could get herself into her seat she suddenly felt an unusual pull at her stomach, something she'd usually associate with using a Portkey. It felt as if she was slipping away and her mind flitted quickly to the list of people Headmistress Mole recited to her regularly in her attempts to discourage her from experimenting too much with magic. The events could often be disastrous, Eupraxia had often told her and Hermione almost rolled her eyes at the thought she might be right.
In a last-ditch attempt to stay where she was the Professor grasped hold of the edge of her desk tightly, her knuckles turning white with effort. With a sudden loud pop and a jingle of bells, Hermione Granger disappeared.
Ron and Harry headed towards the department exit and the elevators that would take them to the ground-floor coffee shop. Just as Ron pressed the button to call the lift, their attention was diverted by their boss calling their names. Harry sighed and turned around to see the small wizard hurrying towards them.
Word was Robards had been a top Auror in his time. Despite his stature, his duelling skills had been second to none. But now he was a paper pusher and the bane of most active Auror's lives, or so Ron thought.
"I'm glad I caught you two in time. You're currently still working on the Masters' case, right?" Robards didn't wait for an answer before continuing. "There are reports of a witch wandering around Diagon Alley, acting strange. She apparently just appeared out of nowhere, which whilst not unusual among our lot most regulars to the area use the wall at the Leaky Cauldron. Also, I'm aware that dumping women after confounding them is one of Masters' modus operandi so I think it would be useful for the two of you to pop over there, see if you can question her. You've dealt with the other victims so far…"
Ron perked up at the sound of Masters' name. This could be the lead they were waiting for.
"We're on the case, boss." He felt Harry eyeing him sceptically but he ignored it. He was desperate to get out of the office anyway. The pair changed direction, heading back to their desks to pull on the Auror issue winter uniform before heading to their designated apparition point.