Day 9 prompt: Christmas Fairytale/Folklore AU! Write a drabble based upon a real life Christmas/Winter fairytale.

Chapter 9: álfabrennur

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Hermione was aware that her office looked like an obsessed stalker. There were photos on boards all around the room. She couldn't even see her bookshelves. One board laid out the timeline of every disappearance from the Everly House. When each person entered the house and what they did immediately before the day they made their fateful decision. Another board included the floorplan and pictures of every room. Not just as it was that year, but the crime scene photos of each room after each case. The completely unremarkable nature of the rooms made it impossible to tell the difference without the date referenced. That in and of itself was odd.

The final boards were pictures of each person. How they were. Most were from friends or families hoping their picture would help the investigators find their loved one. They were smiling, attending parties, vacationing… it was overwhelming to see all the potential lost. She knew that year she was particularly inclined to see loss and feel grief. It was why she was so focused on the case. If she was working she wasn't thinking about her parents.

Standing, Hermione stretched out her back. She had no idea what time it was. Late. She remembered Kreacher putting food in her office hours previously. All the kids were spending the night with their cousins. For that, she was both guilt ridden and relieved. Tonks knew she was struggling. Aside from Harry the head Auror was the only other person she trusted to confide in. And the assigned therapist her boss required her to see before she had been cleared to return to duty. As if there was something that could be said to relieve the repressive guilt.

A knock at the door had Hermione turning on the spot. Kreacher didn't knock. If her door was closed, he'd either wait until it was open, go on with what he was planning assuming her unavailability was tacit approval, or appear the food on her desk he was trying to deliver. It had to be Harry, back from his call from the ministry. "Come in."

The door opened slowly. Harry was doing his best to be supportive and give her space. He did not approve of how quickly she jumped back into everything. Especially the Everly House. "Hey. You've been in here the whole time?" he asked once inside, his eyes lingering on the untouched food.

Fighting back the annoyance, Hermione told herself he was just concerned and he had every right to be. "I… I guess so. I lost track of time."

"That's been happening a lot lately."

What was she supposed to say to that? Defend herself, her job was important. Admit her unhealthy obsession was now a way to completely ignore all the issues she couldn't bear to think about. She'd have to admit that fully to herself first. She chose to say nothing and just held up her hands in defeat.

His eyes softened as he was able to understand the internal struggle so well. He held out his hand for hers, "Come on. We're going to find some Christmas decorations. The new place needs some lights."

Glad he didn't press her, she took his hand. "The tree is up," she noted. The kids would have been devastated if they hadn't gotten their ornaments out.

He pulled her down the hall to the basement door. "One tree does not a Christmas make," he explained, releasing her hand so they could walk down the narrow stairs. The pair stood in the organized disaster that was the basement. They'd only been in the Pendleton Cottage for a few months. Right before all hell broke loose. There hadn't been time to deal with unpacking everything. What wasn't necessary was moved to the basement to be sorted and prioritized.

"Do you know what section it's in?" Hermione asked, wrapping her arm around his as she leaned in to him. Why did everything feel insurmountable? "What's that?" she asked, pointing to a soft glow in the corner.

They both took out their wands and wound their way through the aisles of boxes. A large orb was floating in the far corner. Before either of them could decide what to do, they were pulled forward into the light. It got so bright, Hermione had to shield her eyes. After a few seconds, the light dissipated and they were standing in… a barn? Hermione tried to take everything in. There were house elves all around them, apparently putting on a raucous bonfire. "What—"

"Wand carriers!" one of the elves yelled. Every one of the small beings froze on the spot and turned toward Harry and Hermione.

"Hermione," Harry whispered.

"Yeah?" She had no idea what was happening, but she was getting the sense it wasn't good. An arrow flew passed her, so close her hair fluttered at the disturbance in the air.

"Run!" Harry yelled, knowing two wands wouldn't do much good against a mob of house elves.

Hermione didn't need to be told twice. She threw up a shield behind them, hoping it would at least stop physical threats. If the house elves were free and had no master, they'd be able to use their considerable magic without restraint. Something she advocated for, but also understood the danger if turned on her. The whole situation was off. She couldn't spare the thoughts needed to put her finger on what was off exactly. They saw the open door and ran through it into the night. A forest surrounded them. It didn't look familiar. There were mountains.

As the wooden arrows hit the shield around them, some house elf caught on, a jet of light was shot at them, curved around the shield and hit Harry in the right shoulder. She heard him cry out in pain and drop to a knee. "Harry!" she yelled and quickly cast a knockback jinx to clear the barn door. Once it was empty, she sent to the large double doors slamming shut. It would buy them some time. Helping Harry to his feet, she tried to apparate and was terrified to find nothing happened. "Come on, let's get to the tree line," she said, letting him lean on her as they stumbled through the dark. They ran for several minutes. The noises behind them faded, making her feel some relief. Finding a fallen tree, she sat Harry down and surrounded them with the enchantments they used so often when they had been on the run during the war. "Let me see," she demanded, worried he was seriously injured. The energy lance looked like it went clean though. She couldn't tell if anything was broken.

"Hermione, where are we?"

She was pulling off her flannel to press down on both sides of the wound. "I don't know. I tried to apparate us away. It didn't work. I don't think we're really here."

At the revelation, the forest suddenly faded from view. They found themselves standing in the same spot in their basement they were right before the orb pulled them in. Immediately Hermione was checking Harry only to find there was no injury. It hadn't really happened.

"Master Hermione found her Christmas present," Kreacher said dejectedly from behind them.

Turning, Hermione tried to understand what the house elf was saying. He had a look of disappointment on his face as he pulled at an ear. "My present?"

"The House Elf Guild made you a memory orb. It contains memories of our kind collected over centuries. They wanted you to know what we know."

"Oh Kreacher, that's… that's really amazing. I didn't mean to ruin the surprise," she started cautiously.

Harry's head flew up from his efforts to inspect his shoulder, making sure he hadn't really been hurt. "Ruin the surprise? Hermione. We could have been killed."

"No, Master Harry. No harm can happen. It just happens in your head."

Harry scowled. "That felt real."

"We were in a barn. Surrounded by house elves and mountains," Hermione explained, want to understand what they had seen.

Kreacher's eyes grew wide, excited. "A Christmas night tradition, álfabrennur. The non-magical people took the hidden folk in after the war. They let us celebrate in their farmhouses. Left candles out to help us avoid the wizards."

"How many memories are in the orb?" Hermione asked as she knelt down.

"Oh, hundreds. Maybe thousands."

The significance of the gift wasn't lost on her. The work she'd put in to help the House Elves recover their history had taken incredible trust on their part. Most of their findings they kept secret even from her. "I can't wait to experience them all," she told him. "Come on upstairs, we were going to put up decorations. Maybe you can help us and tell me about this memory orb." She really was curious to experience them all, but worried about long term effects considering how real everything had felt, particularly for Harry. She looked back at Harry to make sure he was really okay.

He seemed annoyed, but not angry. "Go on up. I see the boxes we need. I'll send them up," he said, redoing the first few buttons of his shirt he had undone to get a better look at the spot that had been bleeding profusely seconds before.

"I'll make some hot toddies," she offered, knowing they could both use help taking the edge off the anxiety that lingered from their experience.