Chestnuts Roasting Over The Open Firewhiskey: A Hogwarts Christmas Tale

Goodbyes In The Great Hall

"Checkmate!" Ron Weasley boomed, beating Harry Potter at wizard chess for the second time that morning. Across from him Harry dropped his head into his hands and groaned while the scattered Gryffindors at the table laughed.

"I just can't beat you," Harry conceded with a good natured smile. It was clear that he never minded losing to Ron at wizard chess, not really. Next to the broad redhead, Lavender Brown giggled and nuzzled into his neck. "You're always a winner to me Won-Won," she whispered much too loudly into his ear. Hermione Granger rolled her eyes with a sneer at this exchange, a few seats down at the long table. Across from her, Ginny Weasely stifled laughter at Hermione's visceral reaction. After weeks of watching the couple unabashedly grope each other in the common room, Hermione was confident that all of Gryffindor was sick of these shows of shameless affection.

This morning most of the student body was leaving for Christmas break. The Great Hall was buzzing with excitement as students filtered in and out, grabbing breakfast and bidding friends goodbye before catching the Hogwarts Express home. The Gryffindor table was nearly empty now, signaling it was time for the stragglers to start leaving. Harry grabbed his trunk and walked towards Hermione.

"Are you sure you don't want to come to the Burrow with us?" Harry asked quietly, his green eyes studying his friend from behind his glasses. Hermione sighed. It was the third time that morning he had asked her. Logically, Hermione knew Harry was worried about her being the only student staying behind in their house and feeling lonely. It was his nature to be fiercely protective. It was also in his nature to be blissfully oblivious to things right in front of him.

Following Sirius' murder in June, Harry's subsequent emotional fallout from his loss, and the public nature of Voldemort's return, Hermione privately made the decision that she must protect her parents at any cost. Knowing this could be her last time with her parents, she had organized their summer holiday to maximize family time. Harry and Ron would have laughed at her color-coded schedule if they had known. From learning how to make her grandmother's famous Easter lamb dish to pushing her parents into writing down stories from their youth to planning trips to their favorite museums and restaurants, she worked with a silent determination to squeeze all their love and memories into something tangible to hold her over until the war was through. It was three exhausting months that she knew were worth every effort. But Hermione knew that all things, good as they may be, must end. The day before she was set to return to Hogwarts, she took them to Diagon Alley under the guise of buying school supplies, erased herself from their memories in a place her magic wouldn't set off alarms, and sent them to Australia. She had yet to tell anyone what she'd done, concerned that she'd be forced to bring them home regardless of the impending war. When this was over, if they won, she'd retrieve her parents and fix their memories...somehow. That she was sure of. Hopefully next Christmas she'd be leaving with her classmates, bound home for a full holiday with her parents after Voldemort was defeated. She started picturing her father in his favorite holiday jumper, featuring a jolly St. Nick, and her mother popping open Christmas crackers with her infectious laugh. Hermione smiled wistfully at the image, wondering how they'd be celebrating in Australia this year.

"Hermione?" Harry prodded gently, concern etched into his face. "Do you want to come? There is still time to grab your things." It was almost funny to her that Harry didn't want her to feel alone for Christmas, but he had no idea how alone she already was. Almost.

"No, I most certainly do not, thank you very much" she sniffed, looking pointedly at Ron, currently engaged in an outrageous display of affection for such a public place. Hermoine scowled despite her best efforts. The past few weeks of fighting with her best friend had already been hard enough. To continue to watch Lavender and Ron try to eat either's faces off had put a nail in the coffin for the crush Hermione had harbored for the last few years. Her fading feelings didn't make their row any less painful, however, and she did not want to put up with him for weeks. Besides, Hermione was also worried how she would act on Christmas when she missed her family, unwilling to tell her friends what she'd done in fear they'd try to bring them back. "With my parents on their research sabbatical in America, I've been looking forward to some peace and quiet. This is the perfect time to research ways to help you defeat Voldemort," she whispered her rehearsed lines to him with forced cheer.