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Hermione let out a relieved sigh as she closed the oven. She had spent the whole morning preparing Christmas dinner, and while it was her first time cooking a meal this huge by herself, it looked like all the food was turning out to be alright. The kitchen smelled delicious, and she actually couldn’t wait to dig in later that day.
‘Hermione? Have you seen Teddy’s rabbit, I can’t find it,’ a voice called from the living room.
Hermione smiled, wiped her hands on her apron and went into the living room, where she found Harry on his knees in front of the couch. He was frantically looking for Teddy’s favourite plush toy, and she couldn’t suppress a giggle.
‘For Merlin's sake, are you a wizard or not?’ she said teasingly.
Harry looked up at her with a toothy grin, his green eyes sparkled, and his cheeks were flush from the heat of the fireplace where he had been playing with his godson earlier. Teddy still sat on his blanket in front of the fire, his hair black and messy like Harry’s, as he played with some toys.
‘Accio Teddy’s rabbit,’ Harry said, and the plush animal immediately flew into his hands.
Hermione watched as he walked over to Teddy and presented him the rabbit. The boy squealed with joy and pressed the rabbit to his chest, his little arms clinging around the animal. Harry placed a kiss on his godson's forehead before standing up again. He reached for Hermione, and she willingly stepped into his arms, resting her cheek against his chest.
‘Are you okay?’ Harry whispered in her hair.
It was their first Christmas after the war and the days leading towards the holiday had been hard for everyone. Christmas was supposed to be a wonderful time with family and friends, but they’d lost so many of those that it was hard to find the Christmas spirit this year. Last year the holiday had been a blur as they were fighting for their lives, and this year it was just a painful reminder of everyone and everything they lost.
At first, Hermione and Harry weren’t sure if they even wanted to celebrate this year, it just felt wrong, but Teddy made them change their minds. It was his first Christmas after all. The little boy had been only one month old when he lost his parents, and Hermione felt as though they owed it to him to make sure he’d live a normal, happy life. So they decided to decorate Grimmauld Place and invite some friends over. Unfortunately, the Weasley’s couldn’t come as they were spending the holidays in Romania with Charlie. But Luna, Neville, and Hannah would be coming over in a few hours for dinner and presents.
‘I’m fine, I’m with you and Ted, and that’s all that matters,’ Hermione replied. ‘Are you okay?’
Harry tightened his arms around her waist and buried his nose in her neck.
‘I am, I know Sirius, Remus, and everyone else would want us to move on with our lives. They would want for us to celebrate Christmas and stuff our faces with food,’ he said against her skin, making Hermione shiver.
‘They would. I’m sure they’re so proud of you for handling everything so well with Teddy. You’re so good with him, Harry.’
Harry pressed a kiss on her collarbone. ‘They would be proud of us. I couldn’t have done it without you, Mione.’
***
Luna was the first to arrive that evening. She wore a blue dress that came to her knees with bright pink leggings and black boots. Her hair was held back with a wild braid and Hermione spotted a few candy canes in them. She greeted the girl with a hug and offered her some hot chocolate with marshmallows.
‘That would be lovely. I like what you did with the place, Harry, no more wrackspurts,’ Luna said as she sat down on the couch.
Teddy crawled towards her and held up his arms to be lifted up. Luna looked at the young boy with a dreamy smile before bending down to pick him up and placing him on her lap. Teddy laughed at her and grabbed a strand of her blonde hair that had escaped her braid. His own hair changed from black to blond and Luna giggled along with him.
Hermione watched the two with a smile on her face until the fireplace roared again and Neville came through, closely followed by Hannah.
‘Merry Christmas, Hermione,’ Neville greeted her as he handed her a bottle of wine.
‘Thanks for coming, guys, we really appreciate it. It’s Teddy’s first Christmas and...’ Hermione fell silent and bit her lip to stop herself from crying.
‘We know, Mione, we know,’ Neville said softly as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. ‘It’s hard for all of us, but that’s why it’s good we’re getting together tonight. To be with friends.’
Hermione nodded and blinked her tears away.
‘You’re right. Come, let me put the wine away and get you some hot chocolate.’
Hannah followed her to the kitchen while Neville walked over to where Harry sat with Teddy.
‘So are you guys together now?’ Hannah whispered when they were out of ear reach from the others.
Hermione blushed. 'As a couple, you mean?'
Hannah rolled her eyes and gave Hermione a gentle push.
'You know exactly what I mean. Nev and I have been wondering for weeks if you guys had made it official yet, but the both of you never say anything about it.'
'We did that on purpose, we wanted to figure out if it could work first. Us as a couple,' Hermione revealed, her cheeks still flushed red.
'And did it?' Hannah was nearly jumping up and down with excitement now, and she reminded Hermione of a little girl on Christmas morning.
Hermione smiled and nodded. Hannah immediately squealed and rushed forward to hug her friend so fast she almost knocked the mug out Hermione's hands.
When both girls came back from the kitchen with steaming mugs of hot chocolate in their hands, they found everyone on the floor in front of the Christmas tree. Teddy was standing on his wobbly legs as he held onto Harry's hand, who smiled proudly at the boy.
'Look at you, well done, Ted,' Hermione praised as she sat down next to Harry.
She gave Neville his hot chocolate before holding her arms out for the toddler. Teddy giggled and took a step towards her, and then another. When he let go of Harry's hand, he lost his balance and fell into Hermione's waiting arms with a fit of giggles. Everyone laughed and praised Teddy on his steps.
'You're getting so big, little love,' Hermione whispered when Teddy crawled out of her lap and towards the presents under the tree.
Harry grasped her hand and gave a little squeeze. She leaned against his shoulder and watched as Teddy grabbed a gift wrapped in blue paper.
'I think it's time to open presents,' she said as the little boy looked back at them with questioning eyes.
She loved how he didn't just dive into the pile of gifts and rip them open like most kids would. He was such a wonderful boy to raise, he could have his tantrums of course, and she knew that once he would be able to walk and talk properly, she would have her hands full with him. But he was calm, kind and gentle too and he genuinely seemed to love her and Harry. Tonks and Remus would be so proud of him.
'Open it up, little love,' Hermione nodded at Teddy.
It didn't take long for Teddy to pull out the plush wolf pup, and when he saw the animal, his eyes widened. At first, he softly pet the little wolf, and then he pressed it against his chest like he always did with his rabbit. Tears welled up in Hermione's eyes as she watched him hug the plush animal.
'We chose well,' Harry whispered to her as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him.
They really did. For the rest of the evening, Teddy never lost sight of the wolf. He even insisted on having it on his lap during dinner, and no one had the heart to even try and take the animal away from him.
After dinner, Harry pulled Hermione away and handed her a small wrapped gift shaped like a long jewellery box.
‘Harry, you shouldn’t have,’ Hermione whispered when she pulled of the lid and revealed a beautiful bracelet.
Harry smiled down at her and brushed her hair from her face. ‘Do you like it? It belonged to my mother. I found it in her jewellery box and from the moment I saw it I knew I wanted to give it to you.’
Tears of happiness welled up in Hermione’s eyes. She placed the box down on the table and wrapped her arms around Harry’s neck, pulling his head towards hers.Oh how she loved this guy.
‘It’s gorgeous, Harry. Thank you,’ Hermione said, before pressing her lips against his.