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Happy Christmas (War Is Over)
The Potter house-hold was quiet at last as the kids all lay in their beds eagerly awaiting the morning when they could rush in and leap into the presents. Harry smiled slightly as he added the last of the presents to the stack under the tree. He sat back to admire his handiwork before glancing at his watch. 11:40. He would soon head off to bed but before he climbed the stairs he decided upon one last drink of tea.
He entered the kitchen to find Kreacher finishing with his work for the night though he happily made Harry a nice, hot cup of tea when asked. Harry sat at the kitchen table watching the snow fall past the window, promising a white Christmas on the morrow. He was draw out of his reverie when Kreacher handed him his cup of tea and eyed him with concern.
'Is Master not well?' he croaked and harry shook his ruefully.
'I'm fine Kreacher, I was just thinking,' he reassured the house elf who looked hesitant upon leaving him alone as he wanted to know what had upset him but he also knew he should take his leave. Harry sighed upon realising this problem, silently cursing the Black's for their poor treatment of Kreacher which made him hesitant to even look at the line let alone dare to cross it.
'I was just reminiscing about past Christmas's,' he explained and Kreacher nodded. In particular several Christmas's from his youth,' Harry thought. He would never forget those dark Christmas's spent with the Dursleys where he was shunted to the side and even locked up away from the festivities as freaks didn't deserve them. His early Christmas's at Hogwarts were rather fun when they weren't interrupted with bouts of Polyjuice potion. In his later years they became darker but it wasn't until the dreaded seventh year that he really came to hate the holiday. Those feelings no longer remained though the memories of that terrible day did. The next Christmas was awful though for different reasons as there were too many empty seats at lunch.
Now with Ginny and the kids and the rest of the family as well as Kreacher things were much better, he thought with a smile. He turned his head and met his house elf's worried gaze and smiled reassuringly.
'Just remembering and thinking how much better they are now,' he added and Kreacher smiled slightly before taking the now empty cup and rinsing it out at the sink. Harry rose and yawned as the clock ticked ever closer to Christmas.
'Goodnight Kreacher,' he said softly as he pushed his chair in and made for the door.
'Goodnight Master Harry,' Kreacher replied softly and harry smiled before leaving the kitchen.
'Another year gone,' Ron said as he packed away the blankets and Hermione smiled wistfully as she eyed the tree, checking that everything was ready for tomorrow.
'They go so fast,' she said softly and Ron sighed.
'I still can't believe our little Rose is in her first year,' he said mournfully and Hermione reached over and hugged him.
'I know, they all seem like they should be following us around in adoration, stumbling over their words and being barely able to keep their eyes open past nine o'clock.'
'When did we get so old?' Ron asked and Hermione chuckled before she released him and straightened up.
'We're not that old,' she said.
'We were Rose's age twenty-six years ago,' he said incredulously. 'How are we not old?'
'It's all about perspective, love,' she said and he shook his head.
'I still think we're old,' he replied. 'Can you believe that twenty-six years ago we were worrying about who the hell Nicolas Flamel was?'
'It does seem crazy,' Hermione admitted.
'I can't believe it was that long ago,' Ron said softly. 'Some days it feels like centuries since we were attending Transfiguration classes but other days it feels like just yesterday we worrying about O.W.L.s or wondering what whether Snape had just tried to do Harry in.'
'It seems crazy in hindsight what we did but at the same time…'Hermione trailed off and Ron nodded.
'It was just who we were,' he agreed and Hermione sighed before laughing.
'Thank Merlin our kids don't take after us in that aspect,' she chuckled and Ron laughed.
'I don't think I could take that,' he admitted and they made their way up the stairs together, still chuckling.
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