Hermione jerked awake the next morning as her alarm went off at seven. She blinked once before rolling over and pulling a pillow over her head, trying to ignore the shrill ringing of the clock next to her. She’d been having such a lovely dream, too….
She smiled sleepily and yawned. She couldn’t remember much about it now, but it had involved Ron, and they’d been about to kiss… but naturally, her alarm had gone off before their lips had touched.
And it was still going off. It was getting rather annoying, actually. She rolled over and slammed her hand on the button, though she lay there for another few minutes before reluctantly getting up. Hermione yawned as she shuffled towards the bathroom that joined their two rooms. As she reached for the handle, it swung open, and she stood there, blinking, as Ron stepped through the door.
“Oh! Morning, Ron,” she said, smiling at him as she reached up to smooth down his hair, which was sticking up all over his head, even worse than Harry’s always was.
“Morning, 'Mione,” he yawned, rubbing his eyes. “Sleep good?”
He smiled sleepily and yawned hugely again before bending forward to brush his lips across her cheek. Her eyes widened in shock, and she nodded dumbly as she slipped past him to the bathroom.
As soon as the door was shut, she flew to the mirror and examined her cheek where his lips had touched it. Was there something there? That was the only thing she could think of to explain why he’d done it. Unless, of course, he’d done it on accident, which, knowing Ron, was entirely possible. He might not even realize he’d touched her!
She didn’t see anything. Her fingers touched her face, almost of their own accord, and she grinned happily at her reflection for a moment before starting her preparations for the day.
A little while later, when the three of them were dressed and picking at the hotel’s idea of breakfast, the ring of the bedside telephone shattered the quiet. Ron jumped and Tonks did the same, managing to spill her cereal all over herself. She grumbled quietly as she mopped up the mess, while Hermione answered the phone.
“Hello?” she asked in confusion. Who could be calling? Harry and Ginny would use the Galleons, wouldn’t they? Or maybe they would just come to the front desk, like the hotel clerk was telling her. “Oh, yes, send them right up, please,” she said, and hung up the phone.
“Harry and Ginny are here!” she announced, a wide smile plastered across her face.
“Good,” Ron grunted, poking his spoon in his cereal. “I can make sure Ginny’s all right myself!”
Hermione rolled her eyes. “Really, Ron, when has Harry ever let any harm come to her? Or anyone else, for that matter, if he could help it?’
Ron shrugged and stared grumpily at his bowl, remaining silent. He stood a moment later at Harry’s knock, and opened the door to greet them.
“’Lo, Harry, Ginny. It’s nice to see that Harry’s kept you in one piece,” he said grouchily. Harry looked taken aback at this, and Ginny rolled her eyes as the two of them entered the room.
“It’s nice to see you too, Ron,” she said sharply, “especially since, you know, Harry and I’ve been lost in time for the past few days, and I know you were worried about us.”
Ron winced and stared down at his shoes. “Sorry,” he mumbled, and Ginny sighed.
“Look, I know you were just worried about me, but really, you’ve got to think before you open your mouth! I can take care of myself, as you well know, and if I couldn’t, Harry would make sure nothing happened to me. So lay off of both of us just because you weren’t able to protect me.”
Ron looked pained, and Harry put an arm around Ginny’s shoulders. “Ginny, I’m sure he didn’t mean it like that,” Harry soothed as she crossed her arms in exasperation.
“Look, Ginny, I really am sorry. I was…I was just really worried about you, okay?” Ron muttered, shuffling his feet. “I mean, you were lost in time! And Voldemort’s still here, even if he’s not looking for Harry yet, and he might have found you, and…and horrible things might have happened.” He looked up at her anxiously as he continued. “I know you can take care of yourself, and I know Harry wouldn’t let any harm come to you. It’s just…well, you’re my baby sister, and I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. All right?”
Ginny’s irritated expression softened as her brother attempted to redeem himself, and she threw her arms around him as soon as he finished speaking.
“Just don’t let it happen again, all right?” she mumbled, and he nodded, squeezing her briefly before letting her go.
“I’ll do my best,” Ron said solemnly, before his face broke into a grin and he held a hand out to Harry. “Sorry about that, mate. How’ve you been?”
Harry grasped his hand and they pounded each other on the back before Harry turned to Hermione to give her a hug. She held on to his arms as he pulled away and stared into his face, searching it closely. He was pale, and his eyes looked bruised, like he hadn’t slept in ages. He smiled faintly at her scrutiny, but it didn’t reach his eyes, and she frowned worriedly.
“You haven’t told them anything, have you?” she asked anxiously, and he shook his head reluctantly.
“Nothing important,” he muttered, and Ginny threaded an arm around his waist as he drew back from Hermione. She wrinkled her forehead and opened her mouth to say something, but Ginny cut her off.
“He had a very hard time last night, Hermione,” Ginny said quietly. “Leave him alone right now. I’ll tell you everything later.”
Surprised, Hermione shut her mouth abruptly but nodded in agreement. “I’m sorry,” she said sincerely, and drew them further into the room. “Here, why don’t you sit down? You can tell us everything that’s happened to you so far.”
They curled up together on the sofa, Ginny tucking herself under Harry’s arm, and Tonks took the room’s other chair. Hermione looked around to find a place to sit before sitting hesitantly next to Ron on the bed, her back poker-straight. She remained there for a short while as Harry and Ginny began telling them everything that’d happened, but she didn’t sit still for long. She jumped up and started pacing the room about halfway through their story. Ron’s proximity was clouding her thoughts, though she told herself she was simply working off excess energy.
But after her fifth pass around the room, Ron jumped up and grabbed her shoulders, making her come to an abrupt halt.
“Be still!” he said, exasperated. “You’re driving me mad!”
Hermione blinked at him and blushed. “I’m sorry, Ron, I’m just””
“You’re just worrying about nothing,” he interrupted, smiling at her to take the sting out of his words. “Relax. If something bad happens, we’ll fix it. Simple as that.”
“Oh…all right. I’m sorry,” she said, smiling back at him.
“Good,” he said firmly, guiding her back to her seat on the bed, letting go of her as soon as she sat. The other occupants of the room watched their exchange in amusement, but didn’t say anything.
“Right, so where were we?” Hermione asked, suddenly aware of the others’ presence. They quickly rearranged their faces to look as innocent as possible.
“Yeah,” said Ron. “What else has happened?”
Ginny continued where Harry had left off a few minutes before. “Well, when Harry and James got home, Dumbledore showed up, and started telling us what he’d found out about the circle. You know, about it’s being strongest at the solstices and equinoxes and New Year’s Eve. But you’d already told Harry that, so he told Dumbledore, and now Dumbledore wants to meet with you.”
“What! When?” Hermione yelped.
Ginny shrugged. “I’m not really sure, he just said to tell you he wanted to talk to you later today. He’ll probably want to talk to Tonks, too, though we didn’t mention her.”
Hermione nodded thoughtfully. “That’ll be good; maybe we can figure out the exact time we all need to be at the circle in order for the magic to be strongest. That’ll probably be midnight, but he may want to do some tests or something to make sure. Unless he’s done so already, which he probably has.”
“I think he wants to find out more about the future from you, to be honest,” Ginny said dryly. “And to make sure we’re not all Death Eaters bent on murdering the Potters in their beds, though I think he’s pretty sure of that already.”
Hermione scowled at that and crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, we’re only going to tell him what we absolutely have to. He should know that! I mean, honestly, it’s not a good idea to mess with time! We really shouldn’t even be here.”
“No, we shouldn’t, but we are. And we’ll all be here a bit longer, Harry,” Ron said, looking meaningfully at Hermione as he continued. “Me and Hermione managed to convince the Order that you deserved to spend some time with your parents, and that you wouldn’t do anything to mess with time. Not on purpose, anyway.”
Harry looked at the two of them gratefully. “Thank you,” he said fervently. “This means more to me than you can imagine.”
“We know, Harry,” Ron said quietly. “That’s what we told the Order.”
“And you said you haven’t messed anything up yet, so we were right,” Hermione said, keeping her voice light. “Seriously, Harry, I do actually believe you won’t do anything to mess up the future on purpose. I know you understand that you can’t, and you won’t, even though you want to. I want to, to be honest.” She sighed and looked at him, her face full of sadness for him. “Losing your parents hurt you so much, I’d do anything to help you get them back, if I could. That’s why I agreed with Ron when he suggested they let you stay, even though there was a danger we’d change time.”
Harry didn’t say anything, just stood and embraced the two of them fiercely. Hermione’s eyes were bright when he drew away, and Ron pretended to sneeze so he could blow his nose.
“You’d do the same for us,” Ron said gruffly, stuffing his grubby handkerchief back in his pocket, and Hermione wrinkled her nose.
“Ew! Ron, that’s disgusting.”
“I could’ve used my sleeve! Which you seemed to do,” he retorted, pointing to the wet patch on his shirt, and Hermione turned red.
“I didn’t blow my nose! I was just”just a little…emotional, okay?” she sputtered.
“Right, whatever you say,” Ron grumbled, but his eyes were smiling, and across the room, Tonks rolled her eyes. Ron immediately bristled.
“What? What’d I do now?” he demanded, and she shook her head, hiding a grin behind her hand.
“Oh, nothing, nothing. So, Harry, Ginny, what’re your plans for today? It is Christmas Eve, after all.”
He glanced at Ginny and stood abruptly. “Actually, I was thinking that Ron and I could go to the Quidditch store here; I want to get my dad a Nimbus 1700. He’s been wanting one for ages, but I couldn’t get him one when he was with me. You’d love this place, Ron; it’s got everything you can possibly imagine that’s related to Quidditch. Do you and Hermione want to come, too, Ginny? Or you could just wait here, we won’t be gone long,” Harry said.
Ginny looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, but then smiled and hooked her arm through Hermione’s. “I think we can manage on our own; we’ll have a grand time. But you need to do something about your appearance; we can’t have half the town thinking you’re your father,” she pointed out, and Harry nodded.
“Right. Hermione, Tonks, can one of you…erm…make me look different?” he asked. They looked at each other, then at him, and grinned.
“Of course,” Hermione said, twirling her wand. Tonks nodded, rolling up her sleeves.
“Nothing too crazy,” Harry said, suddenly anxious. “I mean, I don’t want to stand out or anything. Just, you know, blend in.”
Tonks glanced over at Hermione. “Well, I guess the green Mohawk’s out, then,” she said, feigning regret, and Hermione snorted. Harry backed away a step, but Tonks waved him closer. “Don’t worry, Harry, we’ll make you as boring-looking as possible.”
In moments, they’d camouflaged his scar, made his eyes blue, and changed his hair to a short sandy blond.
“There you go; nice and normal. Boring, just like I said,” Tonks said as Harry examined their handiwork in the hotel’s bathroom mirror.
“Well, no one will think I’m James, anyway. And I don’t have a green Mohawk. Thanks,” he said gratefully, and Tonks tried to look hurt.
“What? You’re not into the rocker look? I think it’d suit you quite well; I mean, look at me!” She glanced slyly at Hermione. “Maybe next time.”
Harry headed quickly for the door. “You coming, Ron?” he asked, his hand on the doorknob, and Ron nodded, clambering to his feet. They headed towards the door, waving goodbye as they left. Ginny blew Harry a kiss and he caught it, grinning, before they disappeared down the stairs. She shut the door after them, and Hermione pounced on her as soon as it closed.
“What happened, Ginny?” she asked anxiously. “What did he tell them? I mean, I know you said it wasn’t really important, but””
“I know, I know, you need to know,” Ginny broke in, and sighed, scrubbing her face. “First…you have to understand how hard this is for him. I mean, he’s never known his parents, and now he’s got this chance to be with them, and they think they’ve got the rest of their lives to be with him, and it’s just…it’s really hard. I mean, our first night, after we’d convinced them we weren’t Death Eaters, Lily asked him if she was a good mother.”
Hermione’s eyes started to fill. “Oh, poor Harry.”
“Exactly. He told her she was the best mother ever; that she was the reason he was who he is. And as soon as she left the room, he broke down. Really, he’s had astonishing self-control through all this. But last night…it broke again. In front of them, this time.” She paused, as if unsure of how to go on.
“What happened?” Tonks asked, leaning forward.
“Well…it started out well enough. We were laughing and talking, and then Lily mentioned how sad it was that the war was still going on in our time. She said, ‘So many are dead already,’ and I think that got Harry thinking about how they were dead. Well, then he started to withdraw from everyone, and Lily noticed. She’s really quite perceptive, but when she tried to comfort him, she just made it worse.”
Ginny stopped again and rubbed her eyes. “It was so sad,” she continued, her voice thickening. “She”she kept telling him that she’d be there for him, that she’d never leave him, and finally, he just blurted out that he’d lost everyone, her, James, Sirius, Dumbledore, Cedric…he just broke down completely, and we were all trying to comfort him.”
“Oh, no,” Hermione said softly. “Poor Harry, it must have been horrible for him.”
Ginny nodded. “It was, but eventually, he calmed down, and then he explained that there was no way to stop them dying, that it would change everything and there’d been a prophecy, so it had to be him. And then he said he couldn’t tell them how they died either, because then it might change everything, too.”
She sighed heavily before continuing. “They seem to have taken it fairly well. I mean, they’re obviously upset about it, but they’re being pretty good about not asking Harry questions about the future. I think they’re just trying to make the most of the time they have with him, now.”
“That’s good. His time with them shouldn’t be ruined. I’m going to do my best to make sure it’s not, anyway,” Hermione said. “We’ll stay here in the village as much as possible, so that Harry can spend more time with you and his parents.”
Ginny smiled gratefully at her. “Thanks, Hermione, that means a great deal. I mean, not that I wouldn’t love to have you and Ron there, but””
“But it’s Harry’s only chance to spend time with his parents,” Hermione broke in. “He has the rest of his life to spend with his friends. And we’ll see you occasionally, of course, but, well, only when you need us.”
“We’ll be seeing you a lot, don’t worry. And the Potters have invited you to Christmas dinner tomorrow, you know. They want to get to know their son’s best friends. You, too, Tonks,” Ginny added, and then grinned wickedly. “Remus should be there.”
Tonks grinned back and rubbed her hands together delightedly, “Hooray! I can get a head start on him. Maybe I can catch him under the mistletoe…”
“I think James’s other friends will be there too. Well, Sirius, anyway, since his family’s practically disowned him. I’m not sure about Peter.” A frown darkened her face. “I rather hope he doesn’t come, the little rat. I’m not sure I could keep myself from trying to kill him, or at least telling everyone he’s in Voldemort’s pocket.”
Tonks cleared her throat loudly. “Well, we’ll take care of that if it comes to it. Dear Peter just might get a nasty case of food poisoning if he shows up, which will at least keep him out of sight and out of mind while he’s there. And who knows?” she continued, fluttering her lashes innocently. “Maybe it’ll be so bad he’ll have to be taken home, poor thing.”
Ginny tried not to laugh, but it escaped her anyway. It was infectious, and soon Hermione and Tonks were laughing with her.
“Speaking of Remus, how are things going for the two of you?” Ginny asked, once their giggles had subsided. “I haven’t seen either of you in ages…”
They were still happily chatting an hour or so later when Harry and Ron came back from town. Harry had a long, thin parcel wrapped in brown paper under his arm, and a flat, square box in his other hand.
“It’s a picture album, for my mum,” he explained when they asked what the second package was. “I was hoping we could fill it while we were here, you know, since...” His voice trailed off, and he swallowed, suddenly melancholy. Ginny put an arm around his shoulders.
“Of course we’ll fill it! We can take enough pictures of the four of you to take up at least half of it today!” she exclaimed, and took his hand. “Did you get a camera, too?”
Harry shook his head. “No, but I’m pretty sure my dad has one. We can all go back to their house and ask about it. I can leave their presents here, for now. And this way they can meet you before Christmas dinner.”
“So you can make sure they approve of your friends?” Tonks asked, grinning, and he shrugged, smiling back at her.
“That, too,” Harry admitted, as Ginny pulled him towards the door.
They reached the Potters’ house twenty minutes later, and everyone stood back as Harry cautiously knocked on the faded wooden door.
“Lily? James? It’s us, Harry and Ginny. We’ve brought our friends, if that’s all right,” he said, and Lily’s voice immediately sounded through the door.
“Harry, how did the rumor get started that you have a Horntail tattooed on your chest?” she demanded.
“Ginny told a gossipy fourth-year that I had one, and it spread around Hogwarts,” Harry answered, ignoring Ron’s snort of laughter. The door was opened a moment later, and Lily smiled warmly.
“Hello! Come in, you must be freezing,” she said, shooing them all inside.
“Lily, these are my best friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. Ron is Ginny’s older brother,” Harry explained as they entered the kitchen.
“One of them, anyway,” Ron said, sticking out his hand to shake Lily’s. Lily nodded, smiling. “I know, I’ve met the rest of your brothers a couple of times already. Honestly, I don’t know how Molly does it,” she said.
“Lily,” Harry interrupted, “ Is there a camera anywhere that we can borrow?”
Lily paused and thought for a moment, wrinkling her forehead as she tried to remember.
“There’s one somewhere,” she said, drifting through the kitchen. She began digging through drawers, pulling out all kinds of random things, including a hammer, an eraser, and a rubber chicken.
“Where did you last see it?” Ginny asked, opening cabinets.
“James and I used it a few days ago. Harry did the cutest thing “ oh! We left it in the bedroom!” She hurried into their room, leaving the others standing in the kitchen.
“Aw, ickle Harry’s just so adorable,” Ron smirked, making his voice high and squeaky. Ginny punched him in the arm.
“Ow!” he yelped, rubbing his arm as Lily reappeared, camera in hand.
“Here you go! Do you know how to work it?” she asked, handing the camera to Harry. He shook his head mutely, and she started showing him what to do.
“What’re you going to take pictures of?” she asked, bending her head over the camera.
“Oh, just, you know, us. I was thinking I would get a few pictures of you and Dad…you know, to remember…” Harry replied, his voice trailing off. Lily looked up at him and laid a hand on his shoulder.
“Of course, dear,” she said quietly. “I want some myself.” Her eyes suddenly lit up. “Can you take some for us, too?” she asked, and Harry nodded happily.
“Sure,” he said, and grasped her hand. “Come on, we’re going to spend some time outside. Fresh air and all.” He grinned over at Ginny. “And we never did settle our snowball fight, did we?”
She shook her head, grinning back at him. “No, we didn’t. Though I think we need James here to settle everything properly.” She threw Lily a pitying look. “You’re about to get creamed.”
Lily raised an eyebrow at her. “We’ll see about that.” She turned back to Harry, who was tugging her towards the door. “James is upstairs with the baby; you just went down for a nap,” Lily replied, smiling, and Harry got an odd feeling. It was so strange to be told that he had just lain down for a nap, when he was standing downstairs in the kitchen.
“Here, I’ll go get James,” Lily said, slipping her hand out of Harry’s grasp.
“We’ll be outside,” he called towards her, taking care to keep his voice low so as not to wake himself up.
They tramped outside, and as soon as they’d exited the house, Harry waved at Ron.
“Ambush?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. Ron grinned in agreement, and they all melted into the snow.
A few minutes later, Lily appeared in the doorway, James in tow. A tiny ball of light hovered by Lily’s shoulder, pulsing gently as it emitted slow breathing sounds.
As soon as James stepped out of the door, a snowball hit his right shoulder, splattering over his face and hair.
“Hey!” he sputtered, wiping snow out of his eyes. “We’ve been ambushed! Run, Lily, run!”
“All’s fair in love and war! And this is definitely war!” Ginny shouted, her voice echoing faintly.
“Ha! Those words will come back to haunt you!” James yelled back, hauling Lily behind the house.
After a vicious snow battle, the warring parties called a truce and trudged back to the house, where Lily made everyone cups of steaming hot tea.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you, Lily, what’s that light by your ear?” Ginny asked as the light quivered. Lily turned her head towards the light, and smiled.
“Well, it’s kind of like a little…monitor, so that I can hear Harry while he’s sleeping. That way I can do things around the house or outside, but I can hear him if he wakes up or starts crying or something.”
“Oh, that’s clever!” Hermione exclaimed. “Like a baby monitor! Muggle parents use it,” she explained as everyone but Lily looked at her blankly. Lily nodded.
“Yes, that’s where I got the idea. I tweaked a Charm, and it works beautifully. You should both try it, if you ever have children.”
Hermione’s cheeks turned redder than they already were. “Oh, er, thanks Lily, I will,” she mumbled. Ginny, her face the same shade of scarlet as Hermione’s, simply nodded.
“So, erm, have you heard from Dumbledore today, Lily?” Ginny asked quickly. “He said he wanted to talk to Ron and Hermione, but we weren’t sure when.”
“Oh, yes, I talked to him earlier. He said he’d be by this evening, if it was convenient for your friends,” Lily replied. She directed her next words at Ron and Hermoine. “You’re welcome to stay for dinner, if you like. We’ll just be having soup and sandwiches again, since I’ll be cooking a big meal tomorrow, if that’s all right.”
Hermione beamed at her. “Oh, yes, that would be lovely! We’ll need to contact Tonks “ that’s Nymphadora Tonks, our senior Order member, and let her know, but that should be fine. Would it be all right if she came too? I mean, she can come after dinner and just meet with Dumbledore or something.”
Lily blinked, a little surprised, but nodded in agreement. “Certainly, that will be fine. She’s welcome to come tomorrow too, if she likes.”
“Wait…Nymphadora Tonks? Andromeda’s daughter?” James asked, frowning in concentration. “Sirius’ cousin?”
Hermione nodded. “Her. She’s completely disowned the Blacks, well, except for Sirius, and is working as an Auror for the Ministry. And she’s a member of the Order as well, but not many people know about it. She was the only person that no one would recognize, and she’s got a lot more experience with this kind of thing than Ron and I. I’ll go contact her now, if you don’t mind?”
“Not at all,” Lily said, and Hermione walked into the sitting room, pulling a little mirror out of her pocket.
A short while later, Tonks had arrived, and they’d sat down to a cheerful if simple meal of sandwiches and soup. Lily had made another batch of onion soup to add to what she’d made the day before, and added a salad. There was plenty to go around, even with three extra mouths to feed, especially since Ron counted as three people by himself. And for dessert, there was a huge slab of treacle tart.
“Ooooh, Lily! My very favorite!” James exclaimed, jumping up to kiss his wife on the cheek as she set the treacle on the table. She laughed and pushed him away.
“Guests first, James Potter!” She pretended to scold as she cut pieces for everyone, kissing him on the cheek in return as she set his plate in front of him. He beamed up at him.
“You are, without a doubt, the most wonderful wife in the world! And you make the best treacle tart, too,” he mumbled through a mouthful of treacle. There was silence for a moment as everyone tucked in, but then a sharp knock at the kitchen door made everyone jump.
Of Christmas Past by Chaser921
Chapter Notes: I'm really really really sorry that it's taken me so long to update. A...lot has happened, including a cross-country move, a job as a professor, a job as a waitress, a major breakup, and life in general. I've also had some problems submitting, so that's been fun too. Anyway, it's nice and long, so I hope you like it.