“Chastity Charm? What Chastity Charm? I didn’t know anything about a Chastity Charm!”

Ron was quite capable of going on and on, but Charlie cut in. “Yeah, Mum cast it on the ring before she sent it. I got an owl from her about it. She figured after you gave Hermione the ring, if she said yes, and with you two being here alone, that it would be much easier for you to get carried away.”

Hermione looked indignant. “Carried away? Honestly! I think maybe she took it a bit far.”

To prove her point, Hermione poked Ron’s arm repeatedly. Each time her finger made contact, a large air horn appeared and shrieked loudly.

”We can’t even hold hands, Charlie!” Ron complained loudly. He snatched Hermione’s hand and was subsequently thrown ten feet away as if Hermione had some mad repulsor shield on her.

“I’m going to be killed by Mum’s idea of a Chastity Charm,” Ron grumbled, getting to his feet. “Can’t you make her take it off?”

Charlie could certainly see their point. “I’ll see what I can do, little brother, but you may have to take this up with her yourself. Hang tight and I’ll see what she says.”

Charlie bade them goodnight after promising to immediately pen a letter to Mrs. Weasley before going to bed.

Ron again focused his attention on Hermione. She was still in her swimsuit and was still wet from their brief swim. He felt that familiar hunger well up inside him as he looked at her. It was even worse than usual because he knew he could do nothing about it. He moved as close to her as he possibly could without actually touching him.

Hermione could feel the warmth from his skin. “Ron, no…you’re only making it worse,” Hermione whispered, closing her eyes.

Ron also closed his eyes, inhaling deeply the lemony scent that came from Hermione’s hair. Little shivers of electricity ran up and down his spine. Hermione opened her eyes and saw the pained expression on Ron’s face.

“Oh, Ron…good night.”

Before either of them could further be subjected to the torture, Hermione fled to her room. Ron slowly opened his eyes. He could swear he still smelled lemons in the air even though she was no longer there.

“Right. Time to write a very carefully worded letter to Mum,” Ron said determinedly, stomping his way up the stairs.

Time seemed to pass at a snail’s pace for Hermione and Ron in the weeks to follow. All of Ron’s letters to Mrs. Weasley were met with cryptic replies, and there were many letters as Ron spent all his spare time writing. He had even considered sending a Howler. Hermione spent her spare time in the library reading about charm breaking.

Harry and Ginny tried to be sensitive to their feelings and keep their signs of affection down to a minimum when they weren’t in private. Of course there weren’t many chances for privacy. Harry was so busy with the Order of the Dragon meetings and he and Ginny both had Quidditch. Ron tried to keep his mind in their games. His inattentiveness had cost Gryffindor a few games already.

Charlie’s letters to Mrs. Weasley held explanations that he couldn’t quite bring himself to tell Ron. She had asked Charlie to wait until the upcoming Christmas break and to let her explain it to Ron and Hermione. Charlie had his own set of frustrations. He had brought his seventh year students out to practice Dragon Shield charms with Morgan, explaining that she was on loan from the dragon reserve. He had thought that Morgan helping out with classes might help her problem, but thus far there had been no results. She also hadn’t found the energy to pull Charlie into another of her dragon trances, much to her dismay; and to his.

With Christmas fast approaching, Draco’s father had remained suspiciously quiet. There had been no trace of him since his stunt with the coral snake. Draco was exhausted, but Luna was still safe.

Two weeks before the Christmas break, Dumbledore interrupted the usual breakfast chatter with the announcement of the second Unity event.

“I would like to announce that our next Unity event will be a Yuletide shopping excursion this weekend in Hogsmeade. This event was planned last minute, that is the cause of the short notice. Unlike our last event, this will call for a partner of the same gender from a different house. Partners have already been pre-chosen and a list has been posted. This will be a good chance to again foster new friendships and purchase those last minute gifts. Thank you for your attention. You may now continue with your breakfast.”

Harry turned to his companions and smacked his forehead. “Great. Now I’ll probably get paired with Crabbe or Goyle.”

Ginny jumped up. “I’ll find out if you like.”

Before Harry could protest, Ginny dashed off in the direction of the bulletin boards. He turned to say something to Ron, but quickly decided against it. Hermione had her nose buried in a book by Gretchen Spellcastren called Charm Management Made Easy. Ron unblinkingly stared at her, his hand resting about a quarter of an inch away from hers’. This was their way of holding hands, since they couldn’t actually do it. Harry looked over to where Draco was, as usual, going through Luna’s mail. As if sensing it, Draco looked up at Harry. They both nodded at each other before Draco turned his attention to a parcel which was currently scuttling through Luna’s coddled eggs and sausage.

Ginny was headed back to the table by this time. “Harry, everything will be alright. You got paired up with Blaise and I got Cindra. Hermione got Luna and Ron got Draco.”

She turned and motioned for Luna to come over. “Hello, Luna,” Ginny said as the blond Ravenclaw and her shadow approached. “I just wanted to tell you that your partner for the shopping trip is Hermione. Draco gets to go with Ron.”

Draco protested quite loudly. “I absolutely refuse to let you go off without me, Luna.”

Luna smiled sweetly up at him. “Draco, how will I ever get your present if you’re with me? Don’t you know it’s bad luck to see your present before Christmas?”

Hermione looked up from her book long enough to make her opinion known. “Draco, Luna and I are not helpless, witless females. We’ll be fine to do a bit of shopping without your supervision.”

“See, Draco,” Luna agreed, “We’ll be fine. Besides, I have the perfect gift in mind, and I don’t want the surprise ruined.”

Draco fought within himself. He didn’t want her out of his sight, but at the same time, she deserved some free space to do what she wanted. Luna and Hermione were both good witches. He supposed he had no choice.

“All right, but Ron and I will be close by if something comes up, right?”

Ron was, in his present state, perfectly capable of not responding. Hermione decided she was tired of his moping. “Ron, please…it’s for Christmas! We have to shop for each other. We’ll both be at the Burrow for Christmas and we can talk to your mum. Won’t Christmas be spoiled if we don’t have gifts to give each other and then we get rid of our little problem?”

“Oh…all right, Draco. I’m game if you are. We’ll keep an eye out for you girls, but also give you your space.”

While this exchange took place, no one noticed that Harry and Ginny had slipped out of the Great Hall.

“Ooo, Harry, we’re being so bad! I’ve never done this before,” Ginny said, as she and Harry headed for the Quidditch pitch clutching their Firebolts.

“Well, Ginny, I thought we could use a break, even if it means cutting a class.”

As they reached the Quidditch pitch they realized their plans to fly around for a bit were foiled. Madam Hooch was out on the field with the first year fliers.

“Oh bollucks! Now what do we do?” Ginny asked petulantly.

Harry looked around quickly and then pulled Ginny beneath the Hufflepuff spectator stands.

Ginny looked around the dim-lit space. “Okay, what do we do now?”

Harry took Ginny‘s Firebolt and leaned it along with his against the inside of the stands. “I don’t know about you, Ginny, but I’m feeling like having a bit of a snog. Trying to keep Ron and Hermione from going nutters is getting to me.”

Ginny smiled slyly up at Harry, wrapping her arms around his neck. She raised up on her toes until her lips were only a breath away from his. “All right, Potter, just as long as you behave. You never know when I might have to write to Mum and ask for one of those charms for myself.”

Harry smiled. “You are just a little bit evil, Ginny,” he whispered, before leaning in and kissing the sly little smile right off her face.

Powdery drifts of new-fallen snow shifted in cold December gusts as Hogwarts students made their way to Hogsmeade village. The members of the Order of the Dragon all walked together in one large group until they’d made it to the edge of town. Here they split into their groups of two and went about their shopping.

“All right, Potter,” Ginny warned, “nothing expensive. Just sweet, simple, and to the point. Don’t think I won’t Bat-Bogey Hex you just because you’re my boyfriend, not to mention a great kisser.”

Harry smiled and chucked Ginny under the chin. “Not to worry, I’ll be very discreet.”

As Ginny kicked her way through the piles of fluffy precipitation after Cindra she turned to Harry once more, tapping the wand in her pocket as a warning. Harry nodded and smiled, waving as he followed Blaise in the direction of the nearest row of snow-capped shops.

Not far from where Ginny was threatening Harry, Draco and Ron were now preparing to part ways with Hermione and Luna.

“Luna, be careful, pet. We won’t be far off if you need us,” Draco said, letting go of her hand and dropping a quick kiss on her cheek.

“Really, Draco, we’ll be fine. You boys run along and play nice.”

Ron looked longingly at Hermione. Tiny, crystalline snowflakes fell, getting trapped in her chestnut curls. “Be careful, ‘Mione.”

Throwing caution to the wind, Ron leaned forward and placed a quick kiss on her cheek which resulted in his being thrown against the nearest building. Hermione seemed frozen to the spot, touching her cheek from her first contact from Ron in weeks. Luna happily grabbed her by the arm and drug her away as they’d seen her do with Draco so many times.

As Ron got up and dusted the snow off of himself, Draco arched one blond eyebrow in a silent question. Ron shook his head. “Don’t ask. By the way, I told Harry we’d meet him and Blaise over at Shrivecrofts. You ready?”

Draco cast one more glance at Luna who was standing in front of Honeydukes jumping up and down and motioning for Draco to go away. “All right, let’s go.”

Luna had dragged Hermione into just about every shop in Hogsmeade. Hermione had so far picked up a new Fwooper feather quill and a jumbo box of Chocolate Frogs for Ron. Luna had purchased something called Tornado Taffy for Draco, and also a book called Blue-Crested Willawomps: Now You See Them, Now You Don’t. They were now in a store called Mrs. Twizzle’s Stuffty Emporium. Hermione was fairly certain she wouldn’t be making a purchase here.

Garish red and purple polka-dot shelves lined the walls, perfectly matching the solid purple floors and red ceiling. The whole place made Hermione feel quite dizzy. Every shelf was jam-packed with stuffed animals of varying types and colors. Luna immediately began browsing the shelves, finally pulling down a white stuffed wolf with ice-blue button eyes.

“See, Hermione? It’s like Draco’s Patronus. I can record a personal message for Draco on her and it also talks. I saw this place advertised in the last edition of the Quibbler.”

Luna pushed on the wolf’s nose. “OWWWWW! My name is Howler. Do you want to record a personal message?”

“Oh yes please, Howler. Eh hem…Draco, you are quite possibly the most fascinating person I know. Please always stay that way my incredibly handsome mail sorter. Love, Luna.”

Luna again pushed on the wolf’s nose, which made it play back her message. When Howler was done, he said, “Luna, you seem to be a very nice person and it will be a pleasure to be of service to you.”

Luna held him up for Hermione’s inspection. “See, Howler here can keep Draco company when we’re apart so he doesn’t get lonely. You should get one for Ron too.”

Moments ago this might have seemed ludicrous to Hermione, until she really thought about it. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea; giving Ron something he could cuddle with and that she could record a message for him on. Hermione began to carefully scrutinize the shelves around her. After a few minutes of searching, she found a cinnamon-brown bear with black glass bead eyes. She picked him up and tapped him on the nose.

“Hullo, my name is Grizzle. Would you like to record a personal message?”

A small part of Hermione felt silly talking to a stuffed bear. “Yes please. Uh…Hello, Ron. I know things are hard right now, but please remember that I love you and that you have Grizzle here to keep you company.”

“Miss, is you don’t mind me saying,” Grizzle said, after playing back his message, “you sound a mite sad. Cheer up. I’m sure things will get better.”

“Thanks, Grizzle,” answered Hermione, who wasn’t feeling quite as bad about talking to a stuffed animal. After all, it could carry on a conversation with you.

The girls had their purchases wrapped and headed out of the Emporium. “Where to next?” Hermione asked, using her hand to shield herself from the oncoming snow which now fell in Galleon-sized flakes.

Before Luna could answer, the girls crashed into a small man dressed in a Christmas elf costume. He was carrying a stack of red papers which he dropped as he landed headfirst into a snow bank. Luna quickly gathered his dampened papers while Hermione helped him out of the snow drift which threatened to engulf him.

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry. Are you hurt?”

The tiny man dusted snow off of himself and took his stack of fliers from Luna’s outstretched hand. “No, no, I’m fine dear girl. Just out trying to drum up some business for Madam Puddifoot. It’s a bit dead in there today,” he explained, handing Hermione and Luna each a flier. “You should drop by for some refreshments. Well, I must get back to work. Stop by if you can!”

The little man and his stack of fliers scurried off into a gust of powdery flakes. Luna held up the flier which advertised new types of herbal relaxation teas.

“How about we go for a hot drink, Hermione? It won’t be crowded since there’s not any boy/girl couples roaming about.”

Hermione thought tea sounded heavenly, so she and Luna started off through the swirling snow in the direction of Madam Puddifoot’s.

The ice frosted over the windows at Shrivecrofts did nothing to hide the fact that they were busy. Shrivecrofts was the only jewelry store in Hogsmeade and it seemed that just about every Hogwarts boy was there buying his sweetheart a Christmas present.

Ron and Draco pushed their way into the store weaving between people until they met up with Harry. Blaise was on the other side of the store.

“Been keeping an eye on your women?” Harry asked with a grin.

“As a matter of fact, we have,” Ron answered. “They’re over at Madam Puddifoot’s.”

It was Harry’s turn to raise the questioning eyebrow.

Draco looked over in the direction of the little café that catered to couples and smiled. “It was probably Luna’s idea. I’ll leave you two to your shopping. I’ve got to see if this place has a unique gift for a unique girl.”

Draco had already purchased an enormous box of chocolates for Luna that would be delivered to her home on Christmas day. This was to make up for all of the boxes she’d gotten in the mail that he’d chucked. Now he needed something special to give to her in person.

After searching every case in the store, Draco returned to the one display that had caught his eye. Inside was one item; a three-strand necklace of Tahitian pearls. He thought of the strand of fake pearls her father had sent her and then looked at these light silver pearls with hues of pink. The three strands fastened with a pink diamond clasp. There was nothing else like it in the whole store. One of the salesgirls approached.

“Are you contemplating buying this necklace young man?”

“I’m not contemplating it,” Draco answered. “I’m buying it. Wrap it up.”

“But sir, don’t you want to hear the price? It’s very expensive..”

Draco took one more look at the pearl choker and knew Luna had to have it. “I don’t care what it costs,” he said. “Please just wrap it up.”

Ron didn’t have the unlimited funds of Harry and Draco. He was looked at some modestly priced, but very beautiful polished jade bracelets. He was trying to decide which one he liked, when one caught his eye. It was made of emerald green Imperial jade and had a card hanging from it which read:

Despite Ron’s mood as of late, he couldn’t help thinking that H.U.R.L. reminded him of S.P.E.W. Smiling a bit, Ron decided that this was the gift for Hermione.

Harry was currently perusing a display case of singing jewelry. Each ring, necklace, ornamental comb, and broach was fitted with a singing dark-green boulder opal imported from Queensland, Australia. A Silencing charm had been placed on the case as each piece of jewelry was currently belting out a different tune. Harry thought they were amusing and was just trying to decide which one to buy. He’d already given Ginny her Sweet Dreams ring, and she had Rowena’s amulet which she always wore. Off in one corner of the case Harry spotted a silver ornamental comb with one large opal flanked by two smaller ones. Sunburst stars were engraved in the top of the comb surrounding the trio of opals.

Harry asked the nearest salesgirl if he could have a look at it. She pulled on a large pair of earmuffs before opening the cabinet with a key from her pocket. High-pitched singing filled the store. The salesgirl quickly snatched out the comb and refastened the cabinet. A tiny little face appeared on each opal. The three opals blinked their eyes sleepily before the largest one spoke.

“All right boys, look alive. A one, a two, a one, two, three…”

We want to go home with you

We really dooooo

Give us to your sweetheart

And she’ll always be true!

The opals sang in a somewhat high-pitched three-part harmony. Harry smiled at the salesgirl. “Wrap it up please. Oh, and could you put a Silencing charm on the package?”

Madam Puddifoot’s turned out to be just as Luna had predicted…deserted. The small circular tables were covered with red and green tablecloths. Fat red candles surrounded by holly sat in the middle of each table, and a large Christmas tree stood in the corner covered in strands of heart-shaped lights. If one looked up at the ceiling they would have seen that bushy sprigs of mistletoe hung over each table.

Luna saw the mistletoe and sighed heavily, shaking her head. “Well, I suppose this time of year Knarles are pretty well unavoidable.”

As the two girls took a seat, strong scents of pine and cinnamon assailed their noses. They were seated no more that a minute before Madam Puddifoot bustled out of the kitchen.

“Oh my! I certainly didn’t figure on having any customers today. I’m absolutely delighted. I insist on giving you girls the Christmas couples’ special…on the house.”

“What is the Christmas couples’ special?” Luna asked happily.

Madam Puddifoot smiled sweetly. “The special includes a plate of iced cinnamon scones and two cups of my special Valerian root tea. I guarantee it will…relax you after a busy morning of shopping.”

“The special sounds great,” Luna quickly agreed, setting her shopping bags on the floor next to Hermione’s.

Moments later both girls sat quietly sipping their tea and eating the delicious scones. Madam Puddifoot insisted on re-filling their cups whenever they’d drained them. Hermione truly was feeling relaxed. Midway through her third cup, Hermione began to feel very strange. Her limbs seemed to be made of wood until Hermione felt she could no longer move.

“L…Luna? Are you feeling alright?”

“No, not really. I seem to be having trouble moving. I’m also very sleepy.”

Hermione also found herself trying to stifle a large yawn. She and Luna could hardly keep their eyes opened as Madam Puddifoot approached.

“What do we say, girls? Had enough?”

Madam Puddifoot looked deeply into each girl’s eyes and smiled. “See, I told you a cup of tea would relax you.”

Due to the fact that Shrivecrofts was so crowded, it took Ron, Draco, Harry, and Blaise quite a long time to get done with their purchases. By the time they exited the store, Draco was quite anxious to find Luna.

“You lot don’t mind if we run over to Madam Puddifoot’s do you? Luna and Hermione have been in there an awfully long time.”

Ron also thought it was quite peculiar that they’d been there for so long and quickened his pace to match Draco’s, leaving Harry and Blaise to try and catch up. Before they’d made it halfway, Ginny and Cindra came running at them.

“Oh, Harry, it’s awful! They’ve found some man killed at Madam Puddifoot’s, and Madam Puddifoot was found locked without her wand in her own pantry, Stunned so badly they’re still trying to wake her up!”

Ron and Draco didn’t even take the time to exchange worried looks as they quickened their pace to a run. Before they could push open the doors to Madam Puddifoot’s they were stopped by Tonks and Mad-Eye Moody.

“I’m afraid you boys can’t go in,” Moody said gruffly. “An investigation is in progress.”

Draco looked like he wanted to toss Moody out of his way. Ron however, turned his attention to Tonks.

“Tonks, what’s going on? Where’s Hermione and Luna? They were in there. Are they hurt? Are they all right? What’s-”

Tonks motioned for Ron to be quiet. “Ron, Draco, ever since Lucius’ escape, the Order has patrolled the village on Hogsmeade weekends to keep students safe. Today was no exception. We’ve paid particular attention to you, Draco, and any of the students who were involved in his incarceration in Azkaban. Kingsley Shacklebolt saw the girls go in. When it seemed to be taking them too long to come back out, he went to check on them…but it was already too late.”

Draco’s hands balled into fists. “Too late? Too late for what?!” he asked angrily, hatred for his father coursing through his veins like a rocket.

Tonks shook her head sadly. “Hermione and Luna are gone. He took them. The only things we could find were their shopping bags and two cups of tea…laced with hemlock.”

A/N: I actually did a bit of research for this chapter. All of the items in the jewelry store were researched (some of you who have seen The 10th Kingdom may have recognized a part). Valerian root is an herb used for relaxation and for people who have trouble sleeping. Hemlock is poisonous, but only lethal if a large dose is taken. It will induce sleep and temporary paralysis.