InsaneJournal

AdventDrabble 10: Children's Christmas
Ok, playing catch-up after a few days of feeling low...

Title: Children's Christmas
Author: zephre
Rating: G
Characters/Pairings: Harry/Luna, Ron/Hermione, war orphans
Wordcount: 489
Prompt: #10: Father Christmas
A/N: written for adventdrabbles.


Luna stood on tiptoe to hang the miniature Father Christmas ornament on the tall fir filling one corner of the parlor at 12 Grimmauld Place. The overflowing bag of toys featured on the ornament was reflected in life size by the bag next to the hearth, magically expanded to hold the donations from all over Wizarding Britain. Harry had spared no expense and gone out of his way to solicit aid and comfort for his cause from as many magical citizens as he could reasonably reach.

Luna took the next ornament out of the box hovering at her elbow.  This Father Christmas was fat and jolly, more like the Muggle version in store windows than the secretive and rather creepy Wizarding elf. She placed the ornament on the other side of the tree, and the box followed her around.

"Wow," said a familiar voice from the doorway. "This is really something."

Luna turned to smile at Hermione as the other woman carried a stack of stockings into the room. Ron followed on his wife's heels, similarly burdened.

"Do you think the children will like it?" Luna asked as she returned her attention to the box of ornaments. She was close to the bottom of this box, and the tree was crowded with glittering glass and ceramic, fairy lights and charmed icicles.

"I think they'll love it," Hermione assured her. "It's been such a tough year, they deserve a little Christmas spirit."

Luna closed the box and carefully banished it back to the attic of the house. Harry loved Christmas, and tended to get a bit over-enthusiastic, but the orphans and neglected children who now made up the bulk of the old house's inhabitants never got tired of it. Luna thought, privately, that every child deserved a whole bushel of Christmas spirit every year, no matter how good or bad, but she would not be so uncharitable as to say so to Hermione. Instead Luna helped the other two hang the stockings around the wainscoting.

By the time Harry got home from the Ministry, the parlor decorating was finished, except for the last tree decoration, the star for the top.  Luna always saved it for him, whether he could be home to help or not. He was the patron, and besides, it was an easy way to bring a smile to his face. She gathered all the children together, older ones keeping the younger ones in line, the baby in her arms, so they could watch. 

"What's this year's, then?" Harry asked, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. Hermione opened the box and Harry lifted out that year's special star. This one was clear glass, with tiny pinpoints of light dancing through it.  He held it up for everyone to see, then levitated it into place with a dramatic flourish of his wand. The children oohed and aahed on cue, and Luna smiled into the baby's hair.