Christmas Story 2018 - In the Spirit, part 4 (H/D)

Title: In the Spirit – Part 4
Author: sesheta_66
Prompts used: slythindor100’s early bird prompt 14: reindeer ornament (picture under the cut) and dracoharry100’s prompts 7: tinsel and 21: baby’s first ornament
Word Count: ~1.1K
Rating: PG, for now
Warning: none
Summary: Harry had a rough Christmas last year, to say the least. But things are looking up this year, and he plans to embrace the season, even if he is still single.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: Written for the slythindor100 Early Bird 25 Days of Draco and Harry and the dracoharry100 Christmas Challenge.

On LJ: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

OR on AO3



In the Spirit – Part 4

Back at home the next day, Harry dragged out his decorations. He’d managed to find a reasonably-sized tree in the woods behind his house – not anything as big as the ones at Hogwarts, and not even as big as he and Ginny’d had over the years, but nice all the same. And certainly more impressive than the tree from last year. Neither he nor Ginny had made much of an effort, with things as uncomfortable as they’d become, and they’d picked one more out of duty than anything else.

And they’d put off decorating until ... well, until the day they’d split up and then Harry hadn’t the motivation to do anything more once she’d left. The decorations hadn’t so much as made it out of the basement. And, not feeling particularly festive in a house with so many memories, and his wounds still raw, he’d opted to visit Teddy at Andromeda’s rather than have him join Harry at Grimmauld Place. He’d had no reason to decorate.

But this year would be different. He was determined to have a good time, visit friends, have Teddy over for a few days and get into the festive season.

As he rifled through the boxes, he set aside the ornaments he traditionally had Teddy help with, along with this year’s new addition of a reindeer.



Each year he bought Teddy a new ornament for the tree, though last year’s snitch remained at Andromeda’s. Secretly he hoped Teddy would bring it with him to add to Harry’s tree, but he wouldn’t ask. He smiled as he unwrapped the blue ceramic stocking with a teddy bear sticking out of the top that said "Baby’s First Christmas". It had been impossible to resist. Tinsel – the final thing to be added to the tree – got thrown into the wait-for-Teddy pile too.

Harry remembered the first time Arthur had seen the plastic shimmery stuff and had gone positively crazy over it.

"This is how the Muggles make their lights look real, isn’t it?"

"Er ..." Harry had replied, no idea what Arthur was on about.

"The lights sparkle off the tinkles--" Ron had nearly fallen off his chair at this "-- so they look like faerie lights moving around the tree." He shook his head and smiled as if humouring a young child. "They think of everything, the Muggles do."

"Actually, Arthur," Hermione had felt obligated to explain, "I believe they are supposed to look like icicles hanging off the branches."

His smile wavered slightly. "Oh." Then it bounced back and he repeated, "They think of everything."

Harry hadn’t given it much thought before that, but given that the package said icicles, he rather thought Hermione had a point. Which was probably a good thing, because Harry didn’t need anything to make the lights look real, since he did, in fact, have faerie lights on his tree. And he wasn’t going to forego tinsel in any case because he and Teddy always had so much fun lobbing wads of the stuff at the tree, to Ginny’s unending consternation.

He sighed. He and Teddy would have to do the lobbing and the fixing of the tinsel this year, without anyone directing their efforts. Though the more he thought about it, as he unpacked the rest of the ornaments, the more he was rather looking forward to it. A tree for the boys and by the boys. Should be fun.

He spent the rest of the day decorating the house with a mix of Muggle and magical decorations, humming along to Christmas music and sipping eggnog. But after adding just a few ornaments to the tree, he decided to leave most for when Teddy came over. It was always more fun to decorate a tree with someone else. Then, on a whim, he tossed some Floo powder into the fire and called Andromeda’s.

"Harry! Is everything all right?"

"Oh, yes, everything’s fine."

"It’s just that we only saw you yesterday."

Harry nodded. "Listen, Andromeda, I realise Teddy’s coming over next week, but I was decorating the house and --"

"And you could use an extra set of hands?"

He smiled. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all, dear."

Harry felt a wave of relief. "Teddy usually helps me with the tree, and I was on a roll and wanted to keep going. And I thought you might welcome a few hours to yourself. And I thought Teddy might not mind coming over."

She laughed. "He hasn’t stopped talking about Uncle Harry all day. I don’t think it’ll take much convincing to get him ready to go."

"And you’re sure you don’t mind?" Harry asked again. "You’re also welcome to come over, if you’d like."

She shook her head and stood up, turning to face the stairs. "Teddy, would you like to go to Uncle Harry’s tonight?" Without waiting for a reply, she turned back to face Harry. "Shall I pack an overnight bag?"

Harry smiled widely. "No need. I’m sure we’ve got everything here."

She grinned back. "I love my grandson, Harry, but I am not getting any younger. I welcome a reprieve every now and again, and will happily accept your offer."

Harry heard a rumble of footsteps descending the stairs, and next thing he knew, a panting Teddy came into view. "Can I really?"

Harry laughed. "Yep. But you’re going to have to work for it, little man. I have a tree to decorate."

Teddy spun round to give Andromeda a perfunctory hug. "Bye, Grandma."

She caught him by the back of his shirt as he tried to launch himself into the Floo. "Get your jacket and boots, young man. Who knows what your godfather has in store for you."

Spirits already lifted at the sight of the young bundle of energy, Harry said, "Thanks, Andromeda."

"We’ve nothing planned until suppertime tomorrow – we’re visiting my sister at the manor – so if you could have him back by around this time, that would be great."

Teddy zoomed back into the room, sliding across the hardwood floor in his stocking feet and holding his jacket and boots. "I’m ready now."

Harry took the coat and boots and motioned for him to stay where he was. "Let me get back before you jump inside. Goodnight Andromeda. I’ll have him home this time tomorrow. And thanks again."

"Goodnight, Harry."

Harry pulled his head out of the fire and stepped back to give Teddy room. Suddenly his evening felt much more promising. And, as Teddy toppled out of the Floo, Harry felt that Grimmauld Place felt much more like home too.

Part 5