Signum Vitalis (a dramione story)

Christmas at England

The Grangers may have been morning people but they were not the types to enjoy jumping straight into the day, even if that day was Christmas. Therefore, although all were awake before seven, nothing was consumed by the way of breakfast until nearly ten o' clock (with the exception of the required morning tea).

That also meant that by the time they were ready to have brunch, both of Hermione's parents were wide awake and not to be distracted from their current question.

She set down her fork and resisted rolling her eyes. "Of course I'm going back to school next semester."

They leaned back and exchanged looks.

"We're worried about your job prospects, honey," her mother explained as if they hadn't already spoken about this before she left. "Why not continue to pursue the real degree you got at Cambridge?"

Hermione stiffened.

"We know you finally felt like you had a place with these magic folk but it will limit your options to have a degree that only they recognize," her father said more gently as he stirred honey into his tea. "Think what someone would think if you said you got your doctorate in potions," he tried to joke.

"These 'magical folk' are my life now," she told her plate. "Have you opened Aunt Lucy's present yet?"

It was almost necessary to open any of Aunt Lucy's presents the moment they arrived.

Hermione's mother sighed. "I wish everyone else would agree to a name-drawing for gifts! That way we would only have to deal with hers every four years!"

"Baby snapping turtles and wilted lettuce," her father explained. "Animal control was happy to take care of them." At Hermione's raised eyebrow he amended, "Or, at least, willing to."

"Did we do something to upset her?" Hermione asked though it was as likely that Aunt Lucy thought that an acceptable gift as Hagrid would think blast-ended skewrts were acceptable pets. She had always thought they might get along well.

Conversation successfully derailed, they transitioned to gift opening without any squabbling about her job prospects.

Christmas was a much less magical affair than it used to be. It was hard to live up to a Christmas at Hogwarts and they didn't even have their usual ski trip and log cabin to add some Christmas cheer by way of snow and a cozy fire.

Hermione didn't mind, however. The log cabin had been too quiet for her. She had found herself constantly pausing to listen for a scuffing of a foot or looking for a flash of green light. At least here she knew she'd have a bit of an advanced warning. She had only been able to secretly install magical barriers and alarms at her parents' home but not the cabin. Ever since her parents had come back from Australia, they had been very strict about no magic in their presence and especially in their home. Even after several years they were still adamant about no spells but had become a little more lax about magical items or potions. Hermione took full advantage of this by giving them magical gifts in an attempt to swing their opinions around again in favor of magic.

Her mother had turned on Christmas carols and the strains of Bing Cosby filled the air as they gathered around the gold and red decorated tree. Her parents had taken to using these colors often as a sort of outward support for her magical inclinations although they still sometimes mispronounced Gryffindor or Hogwarts and nearly always referred to Slytherin as 'the Snake House.' Underneath the tree there were few presents and they were not hard to guess as they had fallen into a pattern over the years.

Her mother opened a small long box and pulled out an intricate origami boat. "Cruise," her mother guessed with a smile.

"But to where?" her father countered.