A Very Harmony Christmas

A Christmas Tradition

Prompt: December 3rd. Christmas House-elves. There is more to house-elves than meets the eyes, and Harry and Hermione learn this one fateful winter!

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A Christmas Tradition

"Maybe the hot chocolates weren't such a good idea?" Harry suggested.

Hermione, of course, simply sighed. She'd said that very thing before they'd got in line at the little kiosk outside the Hyde Park Wonderland where they'd been ice-skating for far too long.

Harry's impulsive idea for a first date had been everything that she'd dreamed. They'd laughed and smiled and kissed all afternoon as they'd skated their way around and around the rink. It'd taken Harry a much shorter amount of time – and a lot less falls – than she would have expected for him to learn how to skate, a product, she suspected of his incredible balance and awareness.

He'd been goofy and fun and attentive and everything that she loved about him (not that she was anywhere near ready to say that word to him yet; there was no telling how he'd react). Even his idea of finishing their date with a hot chocolate had been perfect, despite the fact that they'd both known that there was now no way that they could get back to Grimmauld Place before the Weasleys.

From where they were seated waiting for the train, the faint tolling of Big Ben had emphasised just how late they were. Worse still was the fact that the train wasn't scheduled to arrive for some time yet.

"Perhaps not," she allowed. Seeing his despondent look, she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "But I wouldn't change a moment of it. This was the perfect first date."

He instantly brightened, the grin returning to his face and his emerald eyes sparkled in a way that took her breath away no matter how many times she looked into them. His arm went around her and she leant into his shoulder, enjoying the closeness.

"I just wish there was a way to get back before anyone realises that we're missing," he said.

Pop.

"Dobby could be getting Master Harry Potter Sir and Miss Hermy to wheres they wants to be."

"Dobby!" Harry blurted, jumping a little on the seat beside her.

"Dobby, you shouldn't be here. What if you're seen?" Hermione added, looking hurriedly about.

Thankfully, the train station was all but deserted and no one was looking their way.

"Thank you, Miss, but Dobby knows how to keep secrets. Dobby put up elf charm to stop people seeing Dobby and Master Harry Potter Sir and Miss Hermy," he replied.

Hermione closed her eyes, refusing to allow that repulsive derogative of her name get to her. She'd tried for months to get Dobby to call her by her proper name but the strange little elf seemed incapable of pronouncing it correctly. In the end, she'd given up. Not that she liked it.

"That is the coolest Christmas jumper I've ever seen, Dobby!" Harry exclaimed.

Dobby beamed with pride and puffed out his chest a little more, allowing Hermione to get a better look at it. If Ugly Christmas Jumpers had a competition, she was sure that Dobby's would win. The more that she stared at it, the more that she saw and couldn't look away.

It was primarily green but with bands of red, white and gold throughout it bedecked with a mistletoe motif that split the various scenes on the jumper. Along the bottom hem were a parade of dancing unicorns, all bedecked in strings of Christmas lights that actually flashed off and on. Above them flew six hippogriffs pulling a sleigh filled with garishly wrapped presents. Next up were a group of dancing house-elves, all wearing Santa hats and their own Ugly Christmas Jumper. The final scene at the top of the jumper consisted of various sized baubles, each with a different face inside it. Hermione blinked at seeing not only hers but also Harry's face on two of the biggest baubles. Completing the jumper, the arms were filled with pictures of presents and a line of white and gold pom poms that ran from Dobby's shoulder to his wrists that jiggled with every movement that he made.

"Master Harry Potter Sir really loves it?" Dobby asked excitedly.

"I sure do, Dobby," Harry smiled down at him. "I wish I had something like that."

Hermione could have groaned. She knew what was going to happen. And, just as she predicted, Dobby visibly vibrated with happiness before popping out. Seconds later, he was back, with not one but three badly wrapped presents in his hands.

"This be for Master Harry Potter Sir," said Dobby handing over the top package, "and this be for Miss Hermy."

"Thanks, Dobby!" Harry exclaimed.

"Thank you, Dobby," Hermione said, taking hers, "but you really shouldn't have."

"This is brilliant!" Harry exclaimed second later, now holding up his own Ugly Christmas Jumper that looked to be a perfect match for Dobby's, only Harry-sized.

Hermione, to her dismay, found that, she, too, was now the proud owner of an identical Ugly Christmas Jumper. Harry, of course, quickly donned his and looked pointedly at her. With an internal sigh, she complied and pulled hers on over her head as well. Surprisingly, it fit perfectly.

"How do I look?" Harry asked, standing with his arms out.

"Very ... Christmassy," she said.

"Master Harry Potter Sir looks just like all the house-elves now!" Dobby exclaimed, bouncing up and down in his excitement.

"He looks like all the house-elves?" Hermione repeated. "Do house-elves wear jumpers like this?"

"Yes, Miss Hermy," Dobby replied, nodding his head so emphatically that his ears flapped. "Is Christmas tradition for house-elves to get a new jumper every year. Dobby has two hundred and six, one from every year!"

"Two hundred and six?" Harry breathed. "Exactly how old are you, Dobby?"

"Dobby be sixty-two, still very young for a house-elf," he replied. "But Dobby has worked hard to collect a jumper from every year."

Hermione blinked. 'A jumper from every year'? But that would mean that Ugly Christmas Jumpers had been around a lot longer than anyone thought. Anyone human, that is. She struggled to digest this new information. It seemed so outrageous, so preposterous, and yet, there was Dobby stating it as fact.

"Dobby would like to ask Master Harry Potter Sir to do Dobby a big favour?" the little elf asked with an incredibly hopeful expression on his face.

"Sure, Dobby, name it," Harry replied instantly.

"Can Master Harry Potter Sir be givings Kreacher his Christmas Jumper Present from the other house elves?" Dobby asked, holding up the third package still in his hand.

"Sure, Dobby, I can do that," Harry replied. "Just as soon as we get home."

"Dobby can be helping with that," Dobby said. "If youse hold onto Dobby, Dobby can take you to the front of youse house. Dobby just can't go in."

"You can do that?" Hermione asked. "I've heard stories of house-elves travelling with humans but I wasn't sure it was true."

"Dobby can," Dobby replied, again nodding his head so hard that his ears flapped.

"That'd be brilliant! Thanks Dobby," Harry exclaimed and instantly held out his hand to his friend.

Quickly, Hermione stood and followed suit.

Then, with a pop they were away.

Hermione's last thought before they left the train station was to wonder how they were going to explain the Ugly Christmas Jumpers to everyone else.