Chapter 20: Home sweet Home
Hermione couldn't believe she was finally in her home at last, it seems like I've never been home for a long time! She yelled as she walked up the porch to her house
Nothing changed much she said in her head looking at her neighborhood as children filled the streets yelling and playing with one another
"Your right about that sweetheart, it seems like a decade since you last came home and we've missed you…" Mr. Granger said as he took her bag out of the trunk of the car
"That's right dear! And we are going to have the best Christmas ever this year! Our one and only daughters finally home…and I will not waste a single second of it…"
Mrs. Granger added stepping out of the car
"That's awesome news for me then!" Hermione said giving her parents a hug
As the Granger family headed in their home, there weren't any Christmas decorations that were set up and that made her wonder,
"Mum why aren't there any Christmas decoration yet? Don't you always place them by the month of December?"
"That's right, I just wanted to start setting up when you came home, so you can help set up like you do when you were young, remember how much you love placing the star on top of the Christmas tree?"
"Yes, I do…" Hermione replied reminiscing about those times when her father would finish setting up the tree she would always place the star on top, it was like tradition to her
"We can start decorating later…" Mr. Granger said giving her a kiss on the forehead
"I'd like that so much dad…I better get dressed and unpack…" Hermione said taking her bag upstairs
How much I've missed this room, Hermione said as she walked in her room, still in order, the way she had left it before she started going to Hogwarts
Placing her bag on top of her bed, looking around at the room's atmosphere, taking out her favorite shirt from her closet, which was given by one of her aunt's
Luckily it still fitted her perfectly; she started unpacking some of her clothes when she took Ginny's gift from her bag wondering what was inside,
She was eager to find out but placed it inside her drawer for her to open during Christmas Eve
When Crookshanks gave a little purr between her legs, trying to make her notice,
"Crookshanks! I've missed you so much…" she said taking him in her arms
But suddenly she remembered Ginny and how much she was already starting to miss her already; she decided to write her a letter as soon as she finished writing
She placed the letter on the leg of the owl and watched it fly away "Mione Dear!"
Mrs. Granger called from the downstairs kitchen
"Am coming mum…" Hermione replied heading to the kitchen
Where she saw all kinds of ingredients on the counter, "Mione Dear, would you like to help me bake some cookies?" Mrs. Granger asked as she started placing her apron around her waist
"I haven't baked cookies with you since…I don't know…I was 10 years old?"
"I know, that's why I wanted you to help me, you always loved helping me bake cookies…" Mrs. Granger replied back handing her a pink apron with ballet dancing bears on it
"Okay…." Hermione finally agreed taking the apron from her and placing it on her waist
"Here, you can start mixing…" Mrs. Granger said handing her a bowl and wooden spoon
She started mixing the ingredients together, and remembered why she loved helping her mother bake cookies before, placing one ingredient after the other
But the part she loved most was placing the cookies on the cookie tray and shaping them into different kinds of shapes, she did each one with care using different kinds of cookie cutters
Finally finishing as Mrs. Granger placed the tray in the oven for it to bake,
"Excellent Dear…I'm surprised you still remember the procedure…" Mrs. Granger said taking a sit next to her on the dinning table
"Yeah…I am too…but I have to admit I had fun…"Hermione replied smiling as she took her apron off
"I'm glad you did…because nothing else matters if you don't have fun with anything you're doing…" Mrs. Granger said kissing her cheek and headed back to the kitchen
Yeah I guess, Hermione said to herself placing her elbow on top of the table,
When she noticed her cat, come down the stairs,
"Crookshanks" Hermione yelled after her pet cat that came out the open window
She opened the door in surprise; someone had already caught Crookshanks,
"Is this yours?" he asked while holding Crookshanks in his arms
"Harry? What are you doing here?" she asked puzzled, taking Crookshanks from his arms
"Yeah, there was a little problem about that…since I didn't have any other place to go…" Harry tried explaining when Mrs. Granger came
"Mione dear? Who's at the door?"
When she came to the door,
"James! What a pleasant surprise!" Mrs. Granger said heading forward to him, giving him a hug, Hermione only watched, she didn't say anything
"Come in…" Mrs. Granger offered him widening the door for him to enter
"Thank you…" Harry replied taking his suitcase in with him, as they sat down on the living room, he sat next to Hermione who was still in surprised by his presence
"I knew you were coming…Mrs. Weasley and I had already talked about it…and it's okay if you spend Christmas with us...right Mione dear?" Mrs. Granger asked looking at her
"Right…" Hermione replied folding her arms, looking at the floor
"Then it's settled then…" Mrs. Granger said standing up and headed for the kitchen, leaving them alone
"Mione? Are you sure it's okay for me to spend Christmas with you?" Harry asked looking at her
"Yes of course Harry…why wouldn't it be? What are friends for?" she replied a bit annoyed deep inside but felt sorry for him at the same time,
Don't be selfish Mione! She said to herself in her head
"Are you sure? 'Cause if it isn't I'd understand…"
"I'm definitely sure! No question about it!" she said holding his hand for a while surprised by what she did, she stood up cautiously
"Why don't I show you to your room?" she added turning her back blushing a bit
"Yeah…that sounds just fine…" Harry said standing up, bringing his bag and followed her upstairs, passing a few rooms; she gave him a quick tour,
He noticed how Hermione's house was like a fancy hotel, it was mostly luxurious, mostly everything was made of marble, the floor, the walls, everything,
Passing by every room along the way, he noticed a big framed picture in the center, a family picture of the Grangers,
Hermione was an only child, luckily she wasn't spoiled despite the fact her parents could easily get her anything she wanted,
Being a dentist was a booming business after all, Harry thought to himself, observing the antiques Mrs. Granger liked to collect when traveling around the world,
"That's my parent's bed room…" pointing to a door "and this is my room…" she said pointing to her bed room door
"And this is your room…" she said opening the door; it was just next to hers,
The room had a king sized bed, two desk at each side with a small lamp on top of each one, it was bigger then the usual room he sleeps in Hogwarts,
It was probably bigger then two rooms put together, it even had a shinning chandelier hanging over the ceiling,
Harry placed his bag on the floor and looked around, astonished by the room's atmosphere,
"So, what do you think?" Hermione asked sitting on the end of the bed
"I think its perfect…thanks…" Harry said sitting next to her on the bed
"Mione, do you have a date to the dance already?" Harry asked her a bit nervously
"Well…no…not really…" Hermione answered back feeling pathetic that no one else had asked her,
"Okay then…" Harry added taking something out of his bag,
I thought he was going to ask me, maybe he was already going with Cho but why did she even dare to care? She thought to herself
"Here…Ginny wanted me to give you this…" Harry said as he handed her a small package covered in brown paper
"Thank you…I better go…so you can refresh yourself a bit…" she said opening the door slightly before going out
"Oh! I forgot to mention where the bathroom was…it's just in front of your room…" pointing to a door straight ahead, then closing the door shut behind her
"I should have asked her to the dance!" Harry said to himself as he lay down on the bed
Thanks so much for the review!...(to those who gave anyway...and the nicer ones...)...No matter what others may think of this story I'm finishing this no matter what!...so you can all just back off if you think I'll stop just because you think it sucks...(if you think it's a waste of time fine!no one asked you to read it in the first place!)Like I said...not trying to be mean...there's always a limit to everything...