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If there was one thing Hermione was certain of it was that Harry Potter had a smirk that, when seen, never meant anything good.
She had been seeing that smirk for three days. It was almost enough to send her into fits of paranoia that would make Mad Eye proud.
Deciding she had more than enough of Harry's extremely suspicious and barely contained glee she decided to leave an hour early, and she happily left the Ministry behind as she Apparated to a copse of trees not far from the small house she was currently renting with her (for lack of a better term) boyfriend, Kylo Ren.
It had been six months since she returned to Earth after her whirlwind adventure in a distant galaxy, and that six months had been filled with interviews, introductions, and teaching Kylo how to adjust to his new reality. When things started to die down she took her job, they rented the small house together, and they waited for a sense of calm to finally enter their lives after so much excitement.
"I'm ho...what the hell is that?" she cried in surprise as a bird ran past her feet and wedged itself into an open cabinet. Hermione had the wherewithal to close the door quickly before the rusty orange streak that was Crookshanks could catch his desired meal.
"That is a damn partridge, and no matter what I do I can't keep the thing in the pear tree," Kylo growled as he stalked in from the sitting room, holding his hand out. Crookshanks growled as he flew backwards and took a swipe at Kylo's hand as soon as he could. Kylo dropped the cat in the sitting room and slammed the door shut as Crookshanks hissed loudly.
"Why are you…?" she trailed off as she started suspecting the answer.
Kylo immediately confirmed her suspicions. "Harry told me about the song, with the traditional Christmas gifts. He told me that's how couples celebrate the holiday, and offered to help me get the items. He brought the bird over earlier but since then it's been all I can do to keep your blasted furball away from it."
"Potter," Hermione hissed through clenched teeth. "Where's your saber?" she asked. "I need to have a chat with Harry."
"You, my dear, are terrifying enough without a weapon," he smirked as he approached her before taking her cautiously in his arms.
"How are you not furious?" she asked, allowing his emotions to edge over her and calm her down.
"I choose to take this as a sign that Potter no longer worries that I'll snap and kill everyone around me at the slightest provocation. If he's willing to prank me he must trust my reaction wouldn't be extreme. It's a step in the right direction."
"I suppose," she sighed, giving him a kiss. She then disentangled herself from him and approached the cabinet the partridge was hiding in. She crouched next to it and conjured up some bird food. It took several minutes to coax the bird from its hiding place behind a vase, and a couple more to get it to trust her enough to stroke it. She gently checked the bird for damage- Harry wouldn't be out of the woods if it had been harmed- but finding no injuries she carefully picked the bird up.
"Are the other days involved in this?" she asked, walking towards the sitting room.
"Harry said they were, but that he would help procure the gifts as I had no idea what many of them were. I now doubt her expected it to go much further than today."
"I'll have a chat with him to make sure we don't have any more birds arrive," she said, washing her wand at the pear tree, transfiguring it into a large, intricate cage. She carefully placed the partridge inside, vowing to figure out what to do with it in the morning. As she glanced around the sitting room she saw Kylo really had taken effort into decorating for Christmas, but had done so with little knowledge of the holiday. There were large branches of holly on the walls, probably Harry's influence with another song, as were the hundreds of silver bells on nearly every surface. The tree stood bare in the center of the room, and lights were strung haphazardly around the room.
She became aware that Kylo was studying her, looking for a reaction, so she smiled. "It looks quite festive in here," she said.
"I have a feeling Harry may have led me astray a few more times," he replied, scowling at the branches.
"They are a bit oversized. Do you mind?"
He shook his head. She waved her wand and shrunk the holly to a more reasonable size. Then she moved some of the lights and bells to the tree.
"That does look better," he muttered, looking slightly frustrated.
"I really appreciate how thoughtful you were setting this up," she took his hand and turned him towards her. "When you grow up with traditions you tend to forget not everyone knows everything. I feel like perhaps tomorrow I should take the day off and you and I can discuss Christmas."
In the corner the partridge let of a scratchy call.
"And what to do with you," she said, checking over her shoulder to make sure Crookshanks wasn't bothering the bird. The ginger cat had perched atop her piano, seemingly admitting defeat in his attempt to have a fowl dinner.
"I would enjoy that," Kylo's face brightened a bit.
"I think I will, too. And if we have time we can plan our revenge on Harry."
"You really are a terrifying woman when you want to be," he smirked.
"Only when provoked," she replied, then she noticed something above Kylo's head. "I guess there is a tradition I can teach you about tonight."
"What would that be?"
"Mistletoe," she said, pointing up. "Now, if you listen to Luna the stuff is full of Nargles, little critters that make your brain go fuzzy, however…"
"You don't trust Luna's knowledge in this matter?"
"No," she smiled. "But to everyone else there is a tradition. If you catch someone under the mistletoe you are supposed to give them a kiss."
He looked up again, seeing the mistletoe directly above his head. "So, since I am under it…" he looked back at her and she cut him off by pressing her lips to his.