It was a week before Christmas now. The last two months had been different for everybody.
John had been invited by the Holmes to spend the Christmas with them. Even Sherlock was going, because his mother had refused to hear any excuse. John almost fell off his chair when he heard Mycroft was going as well. He will get to see a Holmes family dinner. Golden opportunity to witness them in the domestic environment. John would not miss it for the world.
He has heard that Hermione was going to spend her Christmas with her daughter at her parents' place and then she would head over to her previous in-law's place ("I have known them since I was eleven years old," she had said). He even ventured as far as telling Sherlock to invite her to the Holmes' house. He was met with a "What for? She would not go. She has plans."
Sometimes John felt like punching his friend, hard. A smart guy like him can be so oblivious to the human obvious. They liked each other; even Anderson could have seen it. After the case that got them together got over, he had been distancing himself from her. And strangely she has been doing it too. Rose however would come visit them and ask Sherlock all kind of questions during his experiments. And Sherlock would surprise John when he would actually answer and explain things to her. He realized Sherlock had become strangely affectionate to this girl. Never had he thought this day would come.
John smiles to himself and one particular incident crops up in his mind.
It happened during the beginning of December. He had accompanied Hermione to the grocery store. When they had come back, John had invited her up for some tea. As they were near the side door leading to the kitchen, they both stopped at the sound of sniffles and a low voice murmuring. They quietly took a peek inside.
Rose was hoisted up on the counter, her right palm was outstretched where Sherlock was gently putting on a band-aid and saying, "It is not deep, you know. Don't cry."
Rose sniffed some more, "I am sorry."
"Whatever for?"
"I broke the glass thingy."
"It is called a slide. And I have lots."
"But our experiment got ruined!"
"We can do this again!"
"We can?"
John walked in and said, "What happened?" He glanced at Hermione. She had a soft smile on her face.
"It is my fault. I asked Rose to bring over a slide and she dropped it."
Rose jumped from the counter and ran up to her mother, "We were looking at cells. They are so funny mum!"
Hermione patted her head and checked her palm. It was not that serious, Sherlock had taken care of it. She said, "Sherlock, thank you."
"Hmm," and he refused to make eye contact with her. John rolled his eyes. He said, "Hermione, tea?"
"Uh, I-"
Sherlock then had walked into the living room and both had heard him leave. John decided to give him a lecture when he comes back (he never got around to it). He remembers Rose saying, "I think he went out for glass slides."
Sherlock had decided to go through with his plans for Magnussen on Christmas. He had no other thought than that. Except sometime she would creep in them. No matter how hard he tried, she would remain. Now, it was like she occupied an entire room in his mind palace. And locking the doors where becoming difficult.
The Burrow was busy with activity a week before Christmas. All the Weasleys and Potters were arriving. Mrs. Weasley, it seemed was hardly seen outside the house. And the sheer number of children was straining the space. But no one minded, it was Christmas. Except Ron. He was going to face his ex-wife. Also she was going to meet his girlfriend. Merlin knew Hermione's thoughts on Lavender.
Mrs. Holmes was beaming. She will have her two sons over for Christmas. She could have cried due to happiness. She had also invited Mary separately after Sherlock had called her to. She wondered why. But that got pushed to the back off her mind as she started to reference cookbooks to look for a low calorie pudding for Mike. She sighed, her Mike was perfectly beautiful, and why did he need to diet? And there was her younger offspring who forgets to even eat. They both worried her so much.
Lestrade and Molly where going to spend their first Christmas together. He was excited and nervous. He had not found the perfect gift yet!
It is two days before Christmas. Hermione takes stock of all the presents she has packed for the last two days. Then she checks if she has packed all her necessities. Then she shrinks everything and puts them in a tote. She puts all the presents in, except one. She picks it up. It is covered in simple brown paper. She sighs as she calls out, "Rose, I am going upstairs. You'd better be out of the bathroom and fully clothed when I come back! And wear the jumper Grandma Weasley made last year!"
She walks upstairs, the door is ajar. Sherlock is playing again, that same tune she had heard before. She will ask him what it is.
Sherlock turns around as the door creaks open. It is Hermione, dressed in washed-out jeans and a maroon handmade sweater. Her hair is loosely held up by a barrette. He thinks she looked lovely. He spies the package in her hand.
She asks, "What is this tune called? I have heard you play this before."
"It is my composition. I haven't named it," he replies.
"It is beautiful."
Hermione then extends the package towards him and says, "Merry Christmas."
He is taken aback. He has not bought her anything. She senses his unease, "Don't panic. You can accept this as a thank you gift. You know, thank you for letting me stay here."
Sherlock takes it. He gently rips the paper and smiles when he sees the title of the book she gave him. Hogwarts: A History by Bathilda Baggins.
"I charmed it so only you can see the real cover and content. To everyone else it will be A Guide to Beekeeping. I know you haven't finished reading it, so I gave you my spare copy."
He says, "Thank you." He then leans forwards and kisses her on her cheek. Hermione is rendered immobile. He takes his lips to her ears, and says, "Merry Christmas to you too."
He returns back to his original position. She winds a strand of hair behind her ear as her skips multiple beats and says, "See you after Christmas then."
He took the badge off the security guard. He puts the few strands of blonde hair he had plucked from the guard's head in his potion. He drinks it and waits a few seconds for the potion to start working. He feels his bone elongate as he shoots up a foot and the borrowed clothes fitting as his lean stomach gets replaced by a paunch. After he has stopped transforming, he enters the grounds of Wandsworth Prison.
He walks in, and uses his all-access card to go to the special holding cells, where the inmates who were recently convicted were kept at. He spots his friend and raps the iron bars. His friend looks up. He gives a wolfish grin and says in a sing-song voice, "Time to go." His friend recognizes the voice all right.