Written In The Body

Poetheather

A/N: Remember how I told you we were getting towards the end? Well, this is to let you know that I have things plotted out to the end, which is Chapter 50. That means that the main story should be done and finished posting by the end of October. Then the three epilogues take us into November. So there you go folks, the end is nigh. Sorry about that.

A/N 2: Thank you all for reading. I love you all.

How could anyone mistake me for JKR?

Forty

"Hemyne! Hemyne! Wake up! Wake up!"

The bouncing on the bed and the high pitched, insistent voice of her sister drove all thoughts of extra sleep right out of Hermione's head. She groaned in a mix of annoyance and disorientation, opening her eyes blearily to look up and there in front of her as well as on top of her, straddling her hips, was a very excited Amy in her nightgown still bouncing on her and clutching at her blankets, tugging them some. Hermione held onto them so they weren't pulled down and off her, which was apparently the girl's aim. "Hemyne!"

"Ugh… Amy, you need to slow down enough so you can say my name correctly. Please could you do that? For me? And never ever let Ginny hear you say that," grumbled Hermione. It was just too bloody early in the morning for this to be happening to her and on the other hand she also knew that she couldn't disappoint her sister. That just couldn't happen especially not on their first Christmas together. This was not a good place to be and she wished she had a better solution to this whole mess than waking up.

"Hermione… it's Christmas morning," whined Amy, upset at how long it was taking her sister to get up. She bounced a bit more, to emphasize her point. "You have to get up. We got presents!"

Closing her eyes again, Hermione worked an arm free of her blankets and rubbed them, pinching the bridge of her nose with one hand before she began to sit up. There was some problem with that as the weight at her hips was not moving in the slightest. It was impossible for her bend with her sitting there. "Amy, you are going to have to move if you want me to get up."

"Oh…" Apparently it had never occurred to Amy that her weight might be a problem in the whole getting up process.

Once her new sister was off her, Hermione sat up, yawned and stood, stretching, feeling the shirt she was wearing ride up over her pajama pants. She quickly curled back when she felt a finger poke her in her belly button. She glared at her younger sister who was giggling. "None of that now or no presents for you."

"Hemyne!" Amy gasped and looked utterly aghast at that notion.

"No whining. I'm up. I really am. Let's go." She physically turned her sister and pushed her out the door. When it was taking too long to move the girl out the door Hermione reached down and hefted the little girl, throwing her over her shoulder. It was a bit of an exertion but it sounded like the thing to do at that moment. With a yawn, Hermione walked out of her room, grinning a little, securing her load.

Amy squealed and wiggled on her shoulder as Hermione headed out to the living room. Once in the room, she dumped Amy on the couch and stretched her back out, as the weight of the six year old was more of an exertion than she was used to. Granted her bookbag may have gotten heavier at times then her sister was but that was different and far less wiggly. Realizing that there were things to do in order to really get the morning started, Hermione realized that she needed her wand. With a small gesture of her hand she said, "Accio Wand."

The beech wand flew into the room and slapped into her palm solidly. Her sister sat there gaping at her, eyes wide in surprise. Turning to face her, Hermione noted the look and asked, "What?"

"That was so neat." gushed Amy excitedly.

Blushing slightly under the praise, Hermione said, "Thanks. I just need to send a quick message to my friend Harry. He's planning on coming over this morning to see us and I was going to let him know we were awake. That way he can get here sooner."

"Why do you need your wand if you're going to send a message by owl?" Amy looked a bit confused at that and Hermione could understand where she was coming from. She would have been right there with her if she had not learned this particular manner of message passing. The different means of communication in the wizarding world were very strange.

Shaking her head slightly at the question, with a slight chuckle Hermione said, "I'm not sending an owl as Perdita and Cuspid deserve the day off like everyone else. I'm going to send my Patronus with the message as it is much faster than an owl and will not make them have to fly."

Focusing on the message she was going to send to Harry, Hermione thought about a happy memory, pausing to smile at the memory of her Ginny just cuddled together in her bed here at home then she cast the charm. Her otter burst forth to excited applause from Amy and then was sent off on its way. After another yawn Hermione glanced at a clock and rolled her eyes, it wasn't too bad but still it was fairly early in the morning. What was it with kids her age and getting up this early on Christmas? Had she ever been this excited over it? It seemed hard to believe that she ever might be that way. "Come on Amy, let's get some breakfast started so we can get to the presents. Then you can go wake everyone else up the same way you did me, bouncing and everything. My friends Harry and Luna should be arriving soon."

Amy nodded and followed her into the kitchen. Hermione looked at everything and tried to think about what to cook. She was nowhere the cook that her mother or Harry was but she could make some basic foodstuffs that no one really complained about. Harry at least never objected when it had been her turn to cook when they had been in the tent, but that could have simply been Harry being nice rather than him acknowledging her cooking. After his childhood, he could probably eat anything. However, Christmas breakfast was supposed to be somewhat special and she acknowledged that was not really in her skill set. With a frown, she made a decision and said, "Amy, could you go wake Mum and Dad. I'll get the tea started while you do."

While her little sister scampered off to get other people up and moving Hermione put the kettle on, getting everything ready for morning tea. She was running the tea preferences of everyone through her head, with Amy being the only uncertain one in the mix but at six she might prefer juice to tea at this point. That was perfectly allowed at this point but Hermione was sure that it wouldn't be long before she started drinking it like the rest of them. She got down two teapots and prepared them, getting out the specific teas that she knew were favored, seeing as there was a great deal of overlap, Lady Grey and Irish Breakfast. Her mother and Luna both liked the Lady Grey and the rest of them liked the extra caffeine kick that the Irish gave. She had to admit that a heavily steeped cup of Irish could be nice and bracing in the morning and there were a number of times where she had really needed that. As the water was starting to make the correct sounds, she also heard footsteps headed her way. Someone besides Amy was up and she wondered who it was. She filled the teapots and replaced the lids. It wouldn't be but a moment before she discovered who it was as she could hear them getting closer. She took the pots out to the dining room table where she had already placed the cups and other things needed to prepare a perfect morning cuppa. "Morning Hermione."

"Morning Dad." She smiled at her father as he walked up.

"Thank you for getting the tea started. That will certainly help deal with the early morning. It's has been a while since we've been forced to get up this early for Christmas." He chuckled and shook his head, covering a yawn.

"At least she is cute," observed Hermione. "You have to give her that."

"That she is, though you usually let us sleep in just a little bit more when you were around her age. We were able to get to presents at a more reasonable hour thanks to that. I guess we should be prepared for a few more years of early Christmas mornings. When should your friends Harry and Luna be arriving?" asked her father curiously.

Hermione looked at a clock and thought about when she had sent out her patronus to let them know they were awake. It had been a while and if Harry and Luna had been awake they should almost ready to leave at this point. Harry was not a big dawdler, unlike Ron but she was not sure about Luna. Though she had to admit Luna was usually downstairs for breakfast rather early. "It should be soon. They probably had to go through a bit more effort than we did to get up and moving. Though once they leave the house their trip will be very quick."

"That is a fair point. Your Mum is cooking, at least that was what she was telling me last night, so let me grab her a cuppa and head upstairs to see if Amy has bounced er awake yet." said her father. "She will bless you for making plenty of her favorite tea you know."

Hermione chuckled at her father as he poured and prepared two cups of tea and headed off back to their bedroom. After he had gone and she had prepared her on cup of tea, there was a knock at the back door where the portkey Perdita had delivered to them was set to drop them off. She walked back there and after a quick check to ensure that it was who it was supposed to be, answered it. Two voices called out happily as the door opened, "Happy Holidays Hermione!"

"Merry Christmas Harry, Luna. Come inside. It must be freezing outside." She ushered them in and took their coats. "We have some tea on the table, help yourself. Luna the teapot with the thistle on top has Lady Grey."

"Thank you Hermione. That is very considerate of you." Luna smiled and went over to the table to prepare herself a cup.

Harry kicked off his shoes, to ensure that the bits of snow and mud stuck to his shoes did not get tracked into the house. He then hugged her and said, "It is so good to see you. So, right, where's the kitchen?"

"Harry. What are you talking about? You don't need to do this." She he a rough idea what he intended to do based off that statement and wanted to make sure that he knew that it was not expected of him. She would never do that to him. Her plan had been for him to come over and relax with her family and enjoy Christmas with her, not work in her kitchen.

"You're right, I don't. Now hush, this is something I want to do. Now where is the kitchen? I have all the supplies back at Grimmauld to make breakfast and Kreacher will be bringing them over once I call for him so I wanted to get started." Harry grinned like an excited little boy and it was very disarming. "I thought sharing time with you and your parents on Christmas would be lovely and as thanks I thought I would cook breakfast for everyone. Think of this as one of the presents if it helps you accept it."

Luna reached out and touched her arm. The look on her face showed that she understood her consternation. "Don't argue with him Hermione. You know there is no changing his mind when he gets like this."

Shaking her head wryly at her best friend's antics, she caved and said, "Fine, follow me."

She led Harry to the kitchen, pointing out where everything was rather quickly. Once he had the basic layout down, he rolled up his sleeves and grinned happily at the far superior kitchen to Privet Drive, "Yes, this should work out just fine."

"Just so you know there should be a total of seven for breakfast, counting you and Luna." Hermione wanted to inform him early so he managed to cook enough for everyone to eat. He wasn't Mrs. Weasley and likely to cook for an army even if only one or two people were there so it was important to inform him of these things before he started.

"Wait what? Seven? I thought it would only be five?" Harry turned and stared at her, his brows furrowed as he tried to make sense of what she had said with what he knew.

Hermione just grinned at him, turning to go. "Have fun cooking Harry!"

She could hear Harry starting to get to work, grumbling slightly as she walked out. This amused her and she had to chuckle. As she was topping off her tea, as it had gotten a touch cold while she had been busy, Simon came up and hugged Luna, "Merry Christmas Luna."

"Merry Christmas yourself, Simon. I see you got one of your presents early." said Luna happily.

Simon grinned and nodded, clearly excited by all of this. Hermione shook her head as she prepared her cup, adding a bit more honey to the mix, not even surprised. Luna was too perceptive for anyone's good half the time. The other half she was possibly asleep or reading so it really shouldn't count in this equation. Simon asked curiously, "If you're here does that mean Harry's here as well?"

Hermione and Luna both nodded, Luna giving him that soft, knowing smile of hers.

"Do you think it would be okay if I talked to him now?" He asked a bit hesitantly. "I know that it's a weird time to talk about… you know, but he's here and… well…"

"While he cooked?" asked Hermione a bit confused. Did Simon really want to do this now of all times?

"I can help," offered Simon. "I wouldn't be a bother. Honest."

Luna smiled and nodded which had Simon looking pleased and heading into the kitchen at a quick scamper. Hermione looked over at the blond with some concern. "Do you really think Harry will be okay with that? Talking about his past while he is making breakfast?"

"I think them talking while Harry is cooking will probably be for the best. It will keep Harry distracted while he goes over things so he cannot focus on them too much and in helping Harry with the cooking, Simon will be distracted as well, lessening the pain they'll both be feeling. That could only help the two of them in all of this. It might actually let them get more out as compared to otherwise." She shrugged as if unsure. "That's what I think anyway."

Hermione looked thoughtful and turned her head towards the kitchen, running all of this through her thoughts. She knew that having Harry and Simon get together in order to talk about their pasts would be good, but over cooking breakfast? "I guess that makes sense. Besides, giving the two of them time to bond will be a good thing. There aren't a lot of males that he can look up to in our circle of friends. Besides, Simon really seems to like Harry."

Luna gave a knowing smile but said nothing, turning instead to pour and prepare her own tea.

Her mother came into the room being dragged by Amy. The little girl was walking backwards, pulling mightily and only getting a bit of movement at a time. All the while she was busy saying, "… cause you said we can't open presents until we've had breakfast. I'm hungry!"

"Very well Amy." Hermione could practically hear the eye roll. Once she had been shoved kitchen ward, Amy scampered off towards the living room. Her mother turned to face them, moving to refill her cup of tea and she asked, "Morning girls. What is that sound in the kitchen?"

"Oh that's Harry. When he walked in he informed me that he wanted to cook breakfast as a gift to all of us. He even brought supplies and everything, so there is no cost to us at all," answered Hermione.

"Does he need any help?" Her mother asked, again not making any move to hurry towards the kitchen to get involved with the cooking. Once she finished stirring in her sugar and lemon, tapping the spoon once on the edge of the cup, she took a sip of her tea, waiting for an answer.

"Simon's in there, so he's probably got the help he needs. Harry would call if he needed more help." Hermione wanted to make sure that the two of them weren't interrupted while they spoke. This was going to be a good thing for the two of them and letting them have this time was an important thing, so anything she could do to facilitate this was good.

"Okay, I guess there is just one more present for me then." Mrs. Granger smiled over the rim of her teacup. "Merry Christmas Luna."

"Merry Christmas Mrs. Granger. I notice that you seem to have had a couple of additions to your family recently." Luna smiled happily, seemingly without a care in the world. "I take it congratulations are in order?"

"We have and they are. Amy is almost a little Hermione at times, which is adorable, and she has really done a lot to integrate herself into our lives. Simon seems like a wonderful young man and we are still trying to get to know him better. It makes sense now why Hermione kept dragging him around at her birthday and at the memorial ceremony so we could meet him." Mrs. Granger stated.

"Yes, Simon is indeed wonderful." Hermione noted something in Luna's eyes but she couldn't figure out what it was. She knew her; there was something the girl wasn't saying but this was something that she couldn't quite work out. Not that that was unusual, mind you, but perhaps she should grill Luna later for answers. "Can I meet Amy?"

"Sure. I think she's out in the other room." She and Luna walked into the living room and saw Amy staring longingly at the tree with all of its decorations and lights and all the presents there. It was clear that she desperately wanted to dive into the presents and find out what she had gotten and maybe even discover what everyone else had gotten as well. Hermione came up behind her and said, "Amy, this is my good friend Luna."

Amy turned around and looked up at her. She appeared thoughtful before she smiled and asked, "Do you do magic as well?"

Luna laughed, delighted by the forthright question from the six year old. "No Wrackspurts on this one that's for sure. Yes Amy, I do know magic as well. I go to school with Hermione and Simon though I'm in a different House."

"Oooh… does that mean you can do the Patroro spell as well? Hermione's is an otter and they're the best animal ever. When I get older and learn the Patroro spell I want mine to be an otter like hers. That would be so neat." Amy grinned up at her, bouncing a little.

"I do know that spell and it is very useful. Harry taught me. My Patronus is a rabbit and it's very cute. I had hoped for a Crumple Horned Snorkack but according to Harry you can't have a magical creature as a Patronus for some reason. His Patronus is a pretty huge stag that is very impressive. When he conjures it you have the White Hart for real." Luna crouched down to be closer to eye level for Amy as she spoke, making it easier for the girl to hear her and understand. "Would you like to see mine?"

Wide eyed, Amy just nodded. Hermione was amused with just how much Amy was entranced by this one spell. Was it really that much cooler than so many others? Her creating an otter out of nothing had to have been impressive. She could think of a number of other spells that were possibly more impressive in some ways, but then again she wasn't six and obsessed with otters. They certainly had a different set of criteria for what was important.

Casually, Luna cast her Patronus, had it hop around the room several times, as it was very quick and then had it come touch noses with Amy before vanishing in a swirl of silver. Amy giggled happily, clapping a bit. Luna said, "Why thank you Amy."

Mrs. Granger said from behind them, "I never get tired of seeing that spell. I think of all the magic I've seen it may be my favorite. Hermione has shown us that spell a few times and each time… I just feel so good afterwards."

"It is a wonderful spell and I am so happy that Harry was able to teach it to so many of us. He really is gifted at teaching Defense. Learning it as a fourth year was very impressive as a lot of wizards and witches never are able to learn it. Despite the ease with which Hermione and I cast it, most wizards simply can never master it. Harry was very good at drawing out the required emotion from people. The spell proved to be very useful in the final battle when the Dementors attacked, helping us drive them away," commented Luna.

"I think it's pretty," stated Amy quite definitively, as if that would end the discussion right there.

"And right you are Amy. It is a very pretty spell, regardless of what animal is conjured. Come on, why don't you help me put the presents I brought under the tree." Luna reached out a hand and Amy led her the short distance over to the tree.

Hermione's mother stood next to her daughter and said, "I like her."

"Luna's been a very good friend. She really helped me through my recovery after… well after Malfoy Manor. Without her and Fleur I don't know what I would have done." Hermione was quiet as she said that, thinking back over all she had been through with the blond, the Ministry, school, healing.

"Then I like her even more if she took care of my baby. I know I didn't know who you were then but I am so glad that you had people there to take care of you." Her mother hugged her and kissed the side of her head. "That you are here, safe and sound despite all of that insanity is the greatest gift I could ever have."

While Hermione relaxed in her mother's arms, Luna pulled out a moderate sized drawstring bag from her pocket and began withdrawing presents out of it, some larger than the bag itself. She handed them to Amy and directed where to put them to achieve the most harmonious balance of presents. Amy's eyes got wide as she saw this and at one point she pulled the bag down to look into it. She looked up at Luna, brows crumpled in consternation as she stated accusingly, "I don't see anything in there."

Luna smiled, reached in, and pulled another present free, handing it to the girl to place with the others. Hermione just watched, amused as Amy was boggled over this, trying to make some sort of sense of the whole thing. Amy stared at the bag and finally exclaimed, "It's like Mary Poppins!"

Luna looked unsure at the reference, obviously not following while Hermione just snickered. That actually made sense and fit everything that was being seen. It was good logic applied to magic. She came over to Amy and hugged her, so very proud of her sister, "Yes, the bag is very much like the one Mary Poppins has. I have a purse like that as well. They're very handy because they can hold so much and don't weigh much of anything."

"Can… can I have a Poppins Purse?" Amy asked with wide eyes, turning from the bag to look at Hermione.

"When you're older I will get you one. I'll make sure of it," said Hermione with a smile, hugging her sister. Those eyes… Amy was just so cute that it was difficult to deny her much of anything. This did worry her some as she was aware that Ginny did this to her as well. If she was like this with them, what was she going to be like with her kids? She was doomed.

There were only a few more gifts to lie out under the tree and then they all sat down to talk, waiting to hear that breakfast was ready. Amy was very fidgety as breakfast could clearly not come fast enough and squirmed as she was sitting cuddled up against her new mother. Hermione's father came down, making sure that the cameras were ready and Hermione was surprised to see that he had both a muggle and wizarding camera. He beamed over at her as her noted her expression, "It's their first Christmas with us and you'll be graduating this summer and so it might be your last with us before you move out. Add to that it's the first one after Australia and the War being over, so it has to be commemorated with as many pictures as possible. And I love the fact that I have the option between the two types of pictures."

Shaking her head and rolling her eyes, amused by his enthusiasm over this, she went over and hugged her father, kissing him on the cheek. "Well, that makes sense. I love you Daddy."

"I love you too Hermione. I always will. Now has Harry finished cooking or does someone need to go in there and chide him about how slow he's going?" mock admonished her father with a bit of a scowl on his face but his eyes were sparkling merrily.

"Martin, Simon's helping him so it will be ready when it's ready. I have no idea what he's even cooking, so it might be necessary for it to be taking this long. Have another cup of tea and relax. I think it's very sweet of him to offer to cook and I have been enjoying the break," said her mother in response.

"Fine, but I want my protest on the record so that if Amy here gets so hungry she eats us all it's not my fault." stated her father, with a roll of his eyes.

"Hey!" Amy look affronted by that, which on her was quite adorable. She charged her new father and she began trying to tickle him. He laughed and squirmed, starting to tickle her back, getting some squeals in response. Her mother took a picture of this with the wizarding camera, grinning the whole time. Hermione could not hide the smile that filled her face. This was all so wonderful and through sheer dumb luck she had caused it to come to pass. If she hadn't taken that moment to talk to Simon, to hear him out and notice things none of this would be happening. She began to tear up a little when she realized how amazing her life was sometimes.

Her mother came up and hugged her from behind, "I know Hermione. Thank you for making this happen. This is one of the most incredible things that has happened to our family. I got the extra kids I wanted and even better I didn't have to give birth to them." She felt a kiss on the back of her head. "Thank you."

"Breakfast is ready!" called out Harry, before Hermione was able to say anything to her mother.

Everyone turned and spotted Harry and Simon carrying out platters of food to the dining room table. She knew Harry could have used his wand to make that happen but this was more Harry's way, doing things by hand to give it a more personal touch. There was a wide variety of things, with the primary food for the meal apparently being thick slices of French toast made out of actual baguette. There was some sort of berry jam available apparently as a toping as well as fresh whipped cream. There were sausages, tomatoes, fried potatoes, and mushrooms as well. There were even slices of fresh fruit: melons, oranges, and apples mixed into a fruit salad. Not a full English breakfast to be sure but enough pieces of it to be lovely. And the additions were perfect. She had to admit he had made the parts of it that she enjoyed more than others. Clearly he had paid attention to details. Her mother smiled happily when she saw everything and said, "This looks amazing Harry and much more elaborate than what I had planned."

He blushed some at the praise and looked down, saying, "Thank you. This was nothing because I thought it would be a nice thank you for inviting Luna and I to join in on your holiday plans."

Her father smiled and said, "Harry, from what she says, you were responsible for her making it back to us so you are more than welcome any time."

This was enough to make Harry blush and look down at his plate. Luna rubbed his back until he regained his composure.

The food was as delicious as it looked and everyone ate their fill, with plenty of compliments to the chef and the assistant. The teapots had to be refilled before the meal was finished and soon enough, after they all lingered at the table for a little bit having friendly conversation, letting the food settle some, Hermione and Luna got up and cleared the table. Once done, they headed out to the living room where everyone else waited to go through presents. Hermione helped Amy pass them around so that in no time at all there were piles of gifts in front of each person. It was a pretty good haul for everyone all things considered and it looked like gifts from several other friends and family had gotten into the mix as well. Hermione knew she wouldn't be complaining over this years haul. It looked to be the greatest number of gifts she had ever received at any one time and it was stunning. Simon seemed to be surprised that there was something in his pile from the Weasleys and not just Ginny. That made her smile, happy for him.

Amy, being the youngest, got to go first and had a wide mix of gifts, both muggle and magical. There had even been a gift from Headmistress McGonagall for her which was a surprise, as well as one from Madam Pomfrey. Apparently the whole process of discovery had affected them and they felt the need to give her something. It was a small something but it was interesting to say the least. Hermione hadn't really known her at that point and had gone with something basic and safe, getting her a newer copy of Beedle the Bard to introduce her to some of the stories that wizarding kids took for granted, like Aesop fables for muggle kids. Harry had rolled his eyes and snorted when he saw that prompting Hermione to glare at him and stick her tongue out at him. That earned her a chortle. Amy had promptly extracted a promise from her to read her one of the stories later. She knew that The Wizard and the Hopping Pot would be a good story to start with as the moral of the story would be fun and not problematic as a few of them were. She had enjoyed that one when she had first read it.

Simon was very excited over his presents as well. He got some books of course. Hermione had gotten him a few that she had thought he might like, covering topics she knew he was interested from their dicussions and his mother had gotten him some fiction books as well. There was a Weasley sweater, which had to have been made at the prompting of Ginny. Like Amy there had been something for him from McGonagall and Pomfrey which made him smile, obviously pleased but somewhat unsure why they were there. That reminded Hermione that she might need to make sure that Simon knew the full and complete story about how this whole thing came to be so he would understand why they had gotten those presents. He was just amazed by how many gifts he had received and couldn't stop grinning. When he opened Luna's gift he immediately closed the box back up, blushing some, giving her this look that seemed half panic and half accusation. Hermione's mother asked curiously, "Simon, what is it?"

Luna said in that spacy voice she occasionally used, which had once really annoyed her, "I picked up something special for Simon, something enjoyable I believe. I think it's okay if Simon keeps it private as not all gifts are meant to be shared. So long as Simon's happy with it, I'm happy." She then gave him that soft all knowing smile of hers that could be very unnerving.

He smiled back at her, apparently bit unsure. This certainly perked Hermione's interest as to what Simon's present was exactly but she wasn't going to pry. If either of them wanted to know what had been purchased she would be told, there was no doubt about that. That took the turn of opening presents to Luna who unwrapped each one calmly, carefully, folding the paper up after each gift so she could save it to reuse later. She really liked the book Hermione had bought for her on unusual animals of the muggle world, flipping through it excitedly. Hermione had remembered seeing something like that when she was younger and had asked her mother to look for it in a letter. Luna and a platypus. That image had been enough to sell her on the idea right there. Harry gave her a beautiful necklace that also had some protective properties to it which was such a Harry gift that she had to tease him a little.

Harry was also pleased with his gifts which made her feel good. She gave him one of the modified Wizarding Wireless music players that she had made for Ginny, knowing that Grimmauld Place might have some problems with regular CD players given the amount of magic there. She was planning on showing him the charm that would allow him to record music onto the crystals so he would have the ability to expand his own music collection. The crystals she had given him were mostly things she liked but it was a start. The Weasleys had gotten him quite a lot, as it seemed as if every member of the family had sent him a gift, not to mention there was the standard Weasley sweater. Her parents gave him several things as well and not just chocolate, as they had actually spent time with him and gotten to know him since the summer. He was clearly quite content with everything and that made her happy. Harry needed more happiness in his life.

Going through her presents, Hermione set Ginny's off to the side in order to open that one last. She was excited to see a present from Ron among her things and that made her feel a lot better about how their relationship was going. Sure it had been shaken, pretty badly even, but the sight of the present let her know that things were getting better. Her parents had gotten her some books on history, biology, physics, and even a few on some interesting magical topics from sections of Florish and Blots she had only skimmed. Apparently her mother had recalled titles that she had looked at but hadn't bought during some of their trips to the store together. Hermione recalled not picking them up as she had been trying to be much more pragmatic about her buying at that point. Her other gifts were wonderful, making her smile and hug those who were there. Then she opened her gift from Ginny. She unwrapped the box, saw what was inside, blushed a bright red and slammed it shut far harder than Simon had with his box. She continued to hold it closed as if Harry or someone might just try to open the box up anyway. Clearly her time with the Weasleys had affected her. Luna started laughing hysterically when she did that, with Harry joining in. Simon snickered as well.

"Don't you want to share what Ginny bought you, Hermione?" asked her mother teasingly.

Hermione's blush deepened, her face burning from the amount of blood that had to be pooled there. She desperately wanted to crawl into a hole and hide from the embarrassment. She would actually be doing that at this very moment if anyone had actually seen what was in there. How could Ginny have bought her that sort of thing and for Christmas? She was going to die of mortification all thanks to her girlfriend sending her this… this…. Vixen was purely evil! How was this fair? She hadn't gotten her anything this problematic to open around family. She had actually been nice. "No thank you."

She and Simon shared a look of empathy and relief as no one pressed her further for a peek. She only hoped that whatever Luna had gotten Simon it wasn't nearly as embarrassing as what Ginny had gotten her. Well, more embarrassing in terms of sharing it with others than anything else, because in all honesty, the item itself wasn't that bad and she would probably like it. She knew she probably wouldn't be embarrassed to share it with Ginny as there was certainly a reason that the redhead bought her something that silky and potentially slinky. Hermione had to admit that she was interested in taking that upstairs and checking it out, seeing what exactly it actually looked like. Perhaps it was some of the lingerie that disappeared with a word like that set Ginny owned that Luna had bought her. Hermione had to admit loving those or perhaps it was a nightgown of the stuff. She had barely believed it when Gin had worn her set to History of Magic class that one time and vanished them right after letting Hermione know she was wearing them. It had never been more difficult to focus in class than that day. Just the thought of Ginny sitting next to her, whispering naughty things, her naked arse on the bench, fanny uncovered for all the class to see made her get all tingly, and she could begin to feel some wetness building. Hermione refocused on the here and now as it was not going to be helpful to be that distracted and horny when surrounded by family. She checked casually to see if she had drooled any.

Once her parents had gone through their presents, Simon and Amy raced upstairs with their gifts piled up in their arms to play or what not. Hermione guessed that Simon was hiding Luna's gift in addition to actually looking at it. Harry sidled alongside, grinned at her and gave her a rather knowing look. "So Ginny got you something naughty then?"

"Harry!"

"What? It's not like the lot of us didn't know that it was something of that nature when you closed the box back up that fast. It was obvious, especially with how brightly you colored. No, the only real question in my mind is what Luna here got Simon that made him close his box so quickly as I know she didn't buy him anything naughty." said Harry, smirking happily at his girlfriend.

"I shan't tell. It was a gift for Simon and as such the contents of it are privy only between the two of us. No one else needs to know." Her smile was blissful and Hermione felt like Luna was taunting them a little.

"Really now?" said Harry. Clearly he was viewing this as a bit of a challenge and she could almost hear his mind running through different ways to elicit the information from her.

The look that Luna fixed him with had him raise his hands in surrender in short order. Hermione was certainly impressed and wanted to learn that one as she was sure that it would be useful later on in dealing with a recalcitrant Ginny. Harry pouted a little, which was quite endearing, and grumbled out, "Okay, okay… Luna, I surrender. I know when I'm beat. Why oh why did I ever make friends with girls that are smarter than me?"

Hermione's father shrugged and jumped into the conversation, saying, "Well, my guess is that you thought they were cute and would surely help you succeed in life? That's why I did it."

The young adults chuckled as Mrs. Granger looked lovingly over at her husband and said, "Well played dear." She then kissed him as a reward.

Harry looked thoughtful at that, clearly not disregarding the stateement as a joke. After a few moments he said, "You know, I think you're right Mr. Granger. Sad but true fact, these two brilliant women here have always been there to support me and have never let me down. Without these two I know I wouldn't be here today so I owe them both so much. Ginny unfortunately doesn't get lumped in there due to a technicality."

Affronted over the slight to her girlfriend, Hermione glared at him and snapped out, "Harry James Potter, it was not her fault that Voldemort possessed her!"

Harry stared at her, astonished by what she had said and then started laughing. When he stopped his heavy guffaws half minute later, wiping the tears from his eyes, he got up and moved over to the couch where he hugged Hermione tightly. "Hermione I love you so much but when you are wrong you really do it spectacularly. What I meant by that is that while you and Luna here got better OWLs than me, better OWLs than most anyone else at Hogwarts actually, Ginny did not. The technicality is simply that I scored higher than her. Do you really think I would hold that nonsense from our second year against her?"

Hermione was once again a bright red, looking down at her hands as she apologized, aghast that she had done that. "Sorry for jumping to conclusions Harry."

"That's okay Hermione. You're my sister you know, and so you get a lot of slack." He winked at her.

She stuck her tongue out at him in response and they grinned at each other.

Hermione's father looked at her mother, confusion written across his face and asked worriedly, "Wait… when did we get four kids?"