10/24 one of the chapters wasn't uploaded. I fixed it now but ch 16 is new.
25 December 1992
Hermione smiled happily as she sat in front of the fire at the burrow, enjoying some hot chocolate. Everyone was home for the holiday except Percy, even Bill and Charlie came home. Harry came to stay and Luna would be coming by after lunch when her dad left for another expedition. Presents were already opened, the packaging cleaned up, all the boys were currently outside playing quidditch. An owl with a rather large box sat the window, waiting impatiently. When she let it in, the owl immediately held the heavy package out to her.
"Wonder who this is from?" Hermione said absently. The owl, now relieved of its burden flew to the table to drink from a forgotten goblet before flying off.
Hermione,
I can not tell you how sorry I really am. I've tried many times and I don't blame you for being angry with me. My brother helped me put together this gift and will bring me to Diagon Alley to send it off shortly. So, I'm sorry that it will arrive late. You're the only person in the magical world who has gone out of their way to be nice to me. There's more and I hope you'll let me explain. If you'll let me, I would really like to try and be friends again. I miss it.
Eloise
Hermione ripped the scarlet paper from the box and found a chunky yellow box with lots of knobs and buttons. Lifting it were 10 little rectangular boxes underneath. Puzzled, she looked more closely and the yellow box sprang open. She gave a little shriek of surprise and almost dropped it. The little boxes had strange pictures, featuring a lot of oddly dressed people. Names like The Beatles, Journey, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, and Rolling Stones puzzled her.
"Whatcha got there, Mina?" Luna plopped down beside her.
"I have no clue. Eloise wanted to apologize for being a snotty cow so she sent this." Hermione waved the box around, under the square boxes was a pair of plastic earmuffs with a long string. Luna snatched it and placed it on her head.
"This wouldn't keep your ears very warm..." Luna shook her head with a chuckle.
"Must be some muggle thing..." Hermione chewed her lip trying to figure it out. "Maybe my dad can help?"
"Just don't let the razor gondors get in it, daddy says they ruin muggle electo-tronics." Luna grinned making Hermione giggle as she put everything back in the box to show her father.
"What do you have here, love?" Arthur paused when he saw his daughter approaching him.
"I'm not sure, to be honest. Eloise sent it but...I'm not sure what it even does. She told me about so many muggle things... Do you think it's a microwave?" Hermione turned to Luna as she placed the box down. "She said they open and have buttons, yeah?"
"Hmm, oh!" Arthur looked through the box with a look of joy. He put the earmuffs on with a grin and looked at the string. "This is a plug!"
"Hey! You got a Walkman Sport?!" Harry exclaimed from the kitchen door, Nimbus 2000 under his arm.
"That's what it says..." Hermione shrugged helplessly. "We were trying to figure out what it does."
"Oh, that's easy. Dudleys gotten quite a few Walkmans, broken them all. This is supposed to be the most durable, I suppose." Harry walked up to the table with a smile. He gently took the ear muffs off Arthur's head and patiently explained what head phones were, how they worked, and how to use a Walkman.
"Oi! What's going on in here then?" Ron stood at the doorway with a frown, Harry was helping Hermione put on headphones, adjusting them so they were comfortable. Arthur was bringing his battery and plug collections to the table while Luna stacked the cassette tapes.
"Harry's teaching us about muggle things." Luna exclaimed happily as her house of cassettes fell over.
"Muggle things?" Ron asked skeptically.
"Yeah, Eloise sent me the most amazing thing, a Walkman Sport!" Hermione yelled over the pounding coming from the speakers.
"Hermione!" Harry laughed and pushed one of the ear pieces off her ear. "Better?"
"This is amazing! Is all muggle music this good?" Hermione exclaimed happily as bopped her head to the music.
"There's good music and bad music, what are you listening to?" Harry asked, smiling at his friends happiness.
"Huh.. Queen." Hermione grinned. Luna placed her head next to Hermione's so she could listen along too.
"This will drive out the wrackspurts!" Luna bopped her head along with Hermione. Arthur was looking at the cassettes with awe, pulling on the film trying to figure out how it worked.
"Mr. Weasley, you can't touch the film, it'll mess up the way it plays." Harry said patiently as he took the cassette away to wind it back up.
"Arthur! I told you to keep your muggle collections in the shed!" Molly cried as she saw the kitchen table.
"It's my Christmas present from a schoolmate, mum." Hermione grinned as she switched out the cassette for something called Kerplunk
"If only you could bring this to school." Luna whined as she danced along to the music.
"Is it safe?" Molly asked with trepidation.
"Yeah, everyone has one of these in the muggle world, Mrs. Weasley." Harry nodded emphatically. Hermione was still looking through all the cassettes, pulling out the booklets inside.
"That's worse than..."Ron paused, looking over at his mother, his nose scrunched up in disgust as he pushed his head besides his sister to hears the muggle music.
"Family meeting?" Bill asked as he walked, Charlie, Fred, and George right behind him.
"Harry's showing us how to use this WalkerMan!" Arthur said happily.
"Oh, what kind of music you listen to Harry?" Charlie asked.
"Errr, it's Hermione's." Harry said sheepishly. Hermione was currently dancing around with Luna, who somehow kept her head glue to her friend. "I was just showing her how to use it."
"Brilliant, I've been thinking of getting one for work. I broke my last one." Bill said appreciatively as he examined the yellow Walkman.
"I thought magic broke muggle things?" Ron blurted, he was currently looking at a half naked bird in one of booklets.
"We know a couple spells that you can use." Charlie and Bill exchanged knowing smirks as Fred and George ogled the woman over Ron's shoulder.
"Oh could you really? I would love to use this at school!" Hermione hopped into her brothers arms.
"What is this?" Molly cried as she looked at some of the pictures on the cassettes. "Arthur, they are children!" She quickly snatched the booklet from Ron's hands and started taking out her wand to vanish all the cassettes.
"No!" Hermione cried and jumped in front of her mother.
"Hermione, you're too young for this." Molly's fierce expression softened slightly when looking at her daughter.
"You can have the booklets, just not the cassettes!" Hermione said quickly. Ron, George, and Fred scowled at her.
"I don't know.." Molly chewed her lip thoughtfully, feeling torn.
"It's fine, mum. Really, I listen to these bands all the time." Bill said reassuringly. Molly glared at the fang in her oldest sons ear.
"You listen to this music too?" Molly rounded on Charlie, her eyes darting to the many tattoos that covered his arms.
"Mum, really. Let her enjoy her gift. You know she loves muggles and she's dying to know more about them." Charlie said losing his patience.
"You better not turn out like your brothers." Molly said sternly to her only daughter.
"Thank you mum! I promise I won't be prefect, head girl, quidditch captain, or one of the best in the field of my line of work!" Hermione grinned cheekily at her mother who was shocked still, giving her time sweep her gift into the box and rush off to her room. Luna rushed up the stairs after her, the room exploding into laughter behind her.
"Did you still want my help?" Bill popped his head into her room a few minutes later.
"Yes please!" Hermione grinned "is there anyway to make this louder so I don't have walk around with my head attached to Luna?"
"But Mina!" Luna pouted.
"Yeah actually. Just let me put the charms on so this doesn't catch fire in Hogwarts." Bill smiled at the girls as he waved his wand in complicated motions. Then he took the head phones and snapped them making both girls cry out in horror. "It's fine." Bill waved them off and broke them again, leaving only the ear pieces. He cast a cushioning charm. "Alright, now all you need is a sticking charm and you can both listen. If you want it to be like the wireless, just tap it with your wand and say sonorus. To cancel it, just tap twice and say quietus."
"Sonorus!" Hermione exclaimed, the room was instantly filled with the sound of Joan Jett as she happily bounced up and down. "Thank you! Thank you!"