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The Hogwarts Christmas Orb	By : Nerys Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Hermione/Voldemort Views: 8467 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Chapter One

Christmas, 2007

The crooked, small building seemed to sway under the weight of a thick pack of snow leaning threateningly over the curves of the uneven rooftop. The red brick walls were stained black by the smoke of the illegal potions’ brewery across the cobbled street, giving what no doubt was a once romantic appearing house an eerie dark atmosphere befitting its location. The ground floor hosted a bookshop filled with rare, old and perhaps even some very illegal dark tomes, though the owner would never admit the latter to the Aurors. She, a tiny witch with a round, deceptively kind face, lived right above her bookshop on the first floor, which was the largest and most comfortable flat. Right above the owner lived an old wizard, who stayed mostly to himself and groaned instead of greeted anyone he ran into on the joined staircase. Nobody quite knew who he was, what he did for a living, and how he made ends meet, because after a few encounters, everyone stopped trying to make friends with him. On the third floor, a jovial young man lived who worked part-time as an assistant in the shop. The rest of his time was spend across the street in the brewery where he undoubtedly made quite a bit more money given his expensive taste in furniture, clothes and boyfriends.

But none of these people, though their lives are interesting and full of wonder, matter to us. No, our story begins at the attic. Behind the window’s alcove on the fourth floor, cheerful candles burned in a heavily decorated Christmas tree. The big tree nearly took up all the open space in the cosy living room, standing slightly to the side of the two comfy couches positioned around the hearth, which fire crackled with heat. A coffee table stood in centre, which hosted many empty plates, bowls and glasses. A few crumbs here and there was all that was left of the food previous displayed on it.

The attic flat consisted of merely three rooms: a living slash kitchen area, a bedroom and a bathroom. Due to the small space, there was a breakfast bar almost directly behind one of the couches that hid most of the small kitchenette due to its height. On its left was a door that led to the flat’s bedroom and on its right was the door to the hallway in which the occupier of the flat stood as she led out her guests for the evening.

‘Your new girlfriend is mighty hot, Luna, too bad she had to leave so early,’ Ron slurred as he dropped his arm around the blonde’s shoulders and hugged her to him. ‘Oh, whoops, forgot I brought the misses. Shhhh … don’t tell.’

Hermione shared a look with Patty who rolled her eyes. ‘Sure you don’t want him back, Hermione? He’s such a prize,’ Patty joked.

Ron looked up at that, placing his other arm around his wife. ‘We could share,’ he suggested, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at Hermione. ‘That would be fun.’

‘Hmmm…tempting as that prospect may be, you can’t possibly handle all of us, Ronniekins,’ Hermione said, slapping him on the head.

‘I doubt he can handle himself right now,’ Ginny mocked as she took a hold of Hermione and kissed her on both cheeks. ‘This was a wonderful evening, dear. Can’t we get you to reconsider to come and celebrate Christmas at the Burrow tomorrow? You know Mum will have plenty of food and she’d love to see you again. Everyone would.’

‘Yes,’ Harry added hopefully.

‘You should come. There’ll be Christmas puddings,’ Ron said dreamily.

‘Don’t let him fly or perform Apparition,’ Hermione responded, nodding to Ron.

‘I’m a Master at Appatition, I’ll tell you,’ Ron slurred, ‘I can outappaoutpotatoed everyone.’

‘Yes, you’re the best, dear,’ Patty said, prying his arm off Luna and taking a firm hold of Ron, ‘We best go before he does something stupid. It was a wonderful evening, Hermione. Thank you for everything. See you all.’ With a crack, she’d Disapparated them.

Harry snorted.

‘Good thing he has Patty or we’d be collecting his outpotatoed body all over the country,’ Ginny joked.

‘I’m just glad they got home safely, you lot be careful, too,’ Hermione said.

‘Why don’t you move to a better neighbourhood, Hermione?’ Harry asked. ‘Knockturn Alley isn’t the best place for a witch on her own.’

‘Harry James Potter,’ Ginny started, glaring at her husband.

‘Eh,’ he said, raising his hands in surrender, ‘it’s not a safe place for anyone, especially after dark, and it’s not like Hermione can’t afford better.’

‘I like it here. It’s become my home, and trust me when I say that the normal inhabitants of the alley know better than to try and mess with me. Frankly, it’s probably the safest place for me in the whole of Great Britain.’

‘Especially now that you got that protection against Father Christmas,’ Luna said dreamily.

‘Yes, Hermione,’ Ginny whispered teasingly, ‘aren’t you glad she brought you that?’

‘I know, Luna, and thank you for your concern,’ Hermione replied, causing Ginny and Harry to look bemused since Hermione usually started a debate with Luna about her wild, conspiracy theories. ‘I’m so glad you warned me of the threat and protected my house. It’s just too bad that Harry and Ginny have to go on unprotected.’

Hermione tried to stifle her laughter when she saw Ginny’s barely veiled horrified expression. Got you, she thought, satisfied.

Luna raised her eyebrows and looked concerned in their direction, but before she could offer to help, Ginny already interfered. ‘Oh, no, we’re fine! Didn’t you hear me earlier, Hermione? We got some from George ages ago. So don’t worry, Luna, we’re covered.’

‘Good. Nobody should go unprotected, especially not if you have children. He eats them. Now I really have to go. Pleasant dreams, everyone,’ Luna said as she began descending the stairs.

‘Aren’t you going to Disapparate?’ Harry asked.

‘I don’t like doing that near powerful wards. It’s not healthy,’ she replied over her shoulder.

‘O-okay.’

‘I’m so glad it’s just your house that is protected with that lovely smell,’ Ginny teased under her breath, while waving Luna goodbye.

‘I’ll sneak into your house tonight and hang my stash everywhere while you sleep,’ Hermione whispered to Ginny with an evil grin. ‘Pleasant dreams, Luna!’ she shouted out loud.

‘Bye!’ they all yelled, right before the door closed and it was just the three of them.

‘If you plan to sneak into my house, I should warn you that we have some rather vicious wards,’ Harry said, giving her a hug and kissing her on both cheeks.

‘Pfftt … your wards suck, Harry,’ Hermione scorned, patting him on the shoulder. ‘It’ll be so easy to get inside.’

‘Oh, you wound me,’ he replied dramatically.

They smiled at each other in the way old friends do.

‘Where did Ginny go?’ Harry asked, looking around confused.

Hermione turned around, not having noticed that Ginny had left their company either. The answer came quickly when Ginny burst out of Hermione’s bedroom, her arms full with the scented sachets containing the dried extract of Carrion Flowers. She had her face turned as far away from it as possible, her nose wrinkled in disgust at the smell of rotten meat. She rushed to the hearth and dumped it in the fire.

‘Oh great, now my living room will stink of it, too,’ Hermione said.

‘Just a sec.’ Ginny whisked her wand around, conjuring blue smoke that flashed past them straight into every corner and crevice of the place.

‘Oh,’ Hermione and Harry said simultaneously, sniffing at what now smelt like a forest just after rain.

‘Much better, right?’ Ginny said triumphantly.

‘Yes,’ Hermione said thankfully. ‘What’s that spell anyway?’

‘One of Fred and George’s inventions,’ Ginny replied. ‘They had to after all the stench they created in the Burrow. It’s pronounced Puanteur Evanesco, and you just whisked your wand around and think of the area you want to target. It removes any and all nasty scents from your house.’

‘Puanteur Evanesco,’ Hermione repeated.

‘Yes, that’s it. Perfect,’ Ginny said, pleased. ‘I had to do something. I couldn’t risk waking up to such horrific smells in my house. I know you too well.’

Hermione sniggered. ‘Me? I’d never do such a thing. I could, however, owl Luna that you came home, found you were out of it and didn’t dare to bother her on Christmas Eve.’

‘I’m disabling my doorbell,’ Harry said, alarmed. ‘One sniff of that stuff was enough to last me a lifetime. I’ll take a hundred evil Santas over that stench.’

xxx

Satisfied, Hermione closed the door behind them and leaned against it. Absentmindedly, she flicked her wand around, cleaning up the mess a group of people always leave behind while partying. This had been a successful evening, and tomorrow, she’d have a nice day off—the first time she would actually have a free day on Christmas Day. No obligations; no family gatherings; no work; just she, some delicious snacks and drinks, and a nice book that she’d been saving for this occasion. She was already looking forward to it.

As she made her way to her bedroom, she picked up her Christmas gift from Ginny and Harry. It was an antique glass orb containing a miniature Hogwarts, including the Quidditch field and stands, the greenhouses, Hagrid’s hut and even a part of the lake and the Forbidden Forest. Lights flickered behind the many windows of the castle and occasionally it seemed like people walked behind them. If she shook the orb, not only did it began to snow but also Santa’s sleigh with his eight reindeers appeared and circled the Hogwarts towers until Santa had delivered all the packages on the sleigh. Then, the snow settled on the ground and the sleigh set off to the lake, vanishing out of sight. It was all intricately carved and detailed, a beautiful piece of art that was magically enhanced. To create something so tiny in such detail not only required a steady hand but also an artistic mind. Too bad the wooden stand with the silver plaque containing the Hogwarts’s logo didn’t state the name of the maker. It merely stated, ‘Christmas 1736’. The stand itself was also wonderfully decorated. Once again, Hermione admired the House logos carved into the wood and the corners that each resembled the Houses’ animal. It was lovely. Somehow, Ginny and Harry always seemed to give her the perfect present. Hermione gave it another shake before putting it on her nightstand and getting ready for bed. Tomorrow would be a wonderful day.
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The Hogwarts Christmas Orb