A Very Harmony Christmas

An Unexpected Adventure

Prompt: December 6th. Road Trip. Harmony go on a road trip during the winter holidays.

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An Unexpected Adventure

Tap tap tap.

Jean Granger paused mid-step on her way past the kitchen door at the sound, her head cocked.

Tap tap tap.

Hearing it again, she knew exactly what it was. An owl! Most likely with a letter from Hermione. It had taken her and Richard quite a bit to get used to the idea of owl-post but now, after so many years of it, it was considered quite common.

Changing direction, she rushed into the kitchen and to the window above the sink.

"Hedwig!" she greeted the familiar snowy owl, throwing the window open to let her in as well as inadvertently letting in a blast of the freezing winter air.

Most of Hermione's letters were carried to and from Hogwarts by the beautiful bird that Jean knew belonged to Hermione's best friend. She watched as Hedwig hopped inside, turned her head about to stare at her and lifted a leg.

"Thank you, Hedwig," Jean said, quickly untying the letter from Hedwig's leg. Once it was free, she put it aside so that she could fill up the bowl that sat to the side specifically for Hedwig or any other owl to drink from.

"Do you have to go straight back or can you wait in case we need to send a reply?" Jean asked.

Once upon a time, she'd felt ridiculous talking to an animal as though it would understand; Hedwig had changed that feeling. She'd come to realise that Hedwig was one of the smartest animals that she'd ever met and there was no longer any doubt in Jean's mind that Hedwig always understood everything that she said.

The fact that Hedwig simply ruffled her feathers and shifted slightly into what Jean thought was a more comfortable position seemed to be answer enough.

"Richard!" Jean called, "we've got a letter from Hermione!"

It'd become a tradition that, assuming they were both home, that they'd read any letter of hers together. At first, it'd been the excitement of reading a letter from their daughter about her life in the magical world and getting to experience it together, albeit second-hand. Later, as Hermione's 'adventures' had become more ... interesting, reading the letters together had also had the added bonus of ensuring that they had each other to lean on for support when Hermione's descriptions had gotten too intense and worrying.

"A letter? Already? But we only dropped her off this morning," Richard said, appearing in the doorway.

It had been an unexpected trip back home from their skiing holiday in France. Hermione, they'd seen even before they'd left England to go on their holiday, had been worried sick about her best friend. Apparently, something had happened with Harry, not that even Hermione was completely sure about what that was. She'd tried to be happy to see her parents and enjoy going off on holiday with them, but Richard and Jean had seen through her – she was simply pretending. Thus, they'd given her the option of returning home and skipping the skiing holiday with them. As they'd expected, Hermione had jumped at it and they'd subsequently boarded the first available flight back.

Not wanting to miss even a second of time with their daughter, Richard and Jean had accompanied her back to England to see her safely to her Harry's godfather's house, even if they, themselves couldn't actually see the house.

Hermione's letter was put aside unopened until hot chocolates were made – it was, after all, winter and Christmas was on the horizon – before they settled in their usual spots on the couch in the living room together to read the letter.