Author's Notes:

This was my entry for the 2013 D/Hr Advent fest at LJ. There were so many wonderful entries this year, I recommend you go to LJ and read and review them all.

My prompt this time around was tree ornaments. I had several ideas whirl through my mind, but then Fred and George danced past my inner mind's eye and there it was - my story idea.

I hope you all enjoy this trip into the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes shop on Christmas Eve. Hermione, Draco, Fred and George certainly did.

Many thanks to my betas, dormiensa and captainraychill, for their friendship, advice, and senses of humor. Merry Christmas, ladies. :)

Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes was bustling and noisy, bursting with last-minute shoppers looking for just the right gift - or indeed, any gift at all - to bestow upon an overlooked loved one or friend. The aisles were strewn with tree trimmings, crushed Puking Pastilles, and burnt out Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-Bang Fireworks. It looked like Christmas morning under the tree - after all the children had run amok amongst the packages.

Fred and George had opened the doors on this snowy Christmas Eve at six that morning, and it was now almost seven o'clock in the evening. They loved to rake in the Galleons, but even the twins had to admit that they were ready to go home to the Burrow and enjoy a big dinner, and perhaps imbibe a glass or three of Firewhiskey.

Everything had been selling well, but by far, the shop's most popular item this year had been their new line of enchanted Christmas tree ornaments. They were called Weasleys' Whimsical Wintertime Wishes. Some of them were round, others were teardrop-shaped, and still others were shaped like dodecahedrons. All of the ornaments, however, had one thing in common: a bedazzled and be-glittered hole through the middle. You could put your finger in and see it come out the other side. That was fun, of course, but the beauty of it was that if you held the ornament up to your eye and looked through the hole, instead of the room you stood in, you'd see animated scenes of far-off magical places and creatures, all in full color. The effect was so real; it seemed you could almost reach inside and touch the scenery.

These baubles had been selling frantically ever since they'd hit the shelves, especially the unusual twelve-sided jewel-like ones, and George had told Fred that morning they were down to just a dozen or so of the ornaments left. Fred had seen one after the other of the last dozen Wishes cross his cashier's counter that day. At ten Galleons apiece, they'd made an excellent profit.

"Just ten more minutes 'til we close, Fred," called George as he hurried past the cash register where his brother was attending to customers. He held a large basket full of Pygmy Puffs and was wearing a jaunty pair of elf ears stuck to the sides of his head. You couldn't even tell that he was missing one of his real ones.

Fred yelled back, "Copy that, George!" and gave his current customer, a frazzled-looking witch, a big, friendly grin along with her change. "Happy Christmas," he said with a wink. She blushed, suddenly flustered, and hurried away with a muttered "thank you."

"Next!" shouted Fred. The next customer turned out to be Hermione Granger.

"Hullo, Hermione," he said, cheerfully. "You're the last person I'd expect to see still shopping on Christmas Eve!"

Hermione blew her fringe out of her eyes in slight exasperation. "Yes. Well, normally, I wouldn't be, but I…" and she lowered her voice to a whisper at this point, "I just found out that Teddy wanted one of these, and I hate to see him disappointed. When you're five years old, Christmas is such a wondrous, magical time." With that, she put down on the counter a sparkling, twelve-sided Weasleys' Whimsical Wintertime Wishes ornament. It was covered with golden glitter and twinkled merrily in the shop's lights. She began to root around in her small money bag for some coins.

"It's ten Galleons, right?" she asked, pulling out a handful of the golden coins.

"That's right, and this is the last one, Hermione. Nice find! You've lucked out tonight," Fred said, holding out his hand for the money.

Just as Hermione reached over to drop the Galleons into his freckled hand, another, paler, long-fingered hand slid under Hermione's. She quickly yanked back her coins and whirled, glaring, to see who was playing silly buggers.

It was Draco Malfoy, looking windblown in his long, dark travelling cloak. His shoulders were speckled with snow, and the green muffler that he wore wrapped loosely around his neck showed off the grey in his eyes quite nicely. His roguish hair had been tousled by the storm outside, and he had two bright spots of pink high on his otherwise pale cheeks. He was breathing hard, as if he'd run quite a distance. He frowned down into Hermione's face.

"Not so fast, Granger," he said between pants. He looked up at Fred. "Did I hear you right, Weasley? That this is the last of your Wishes ornaments?"

Fred looked from Malfoy to Hermione, whose brown eyes were snapping as she glowered at the blond man beside her. Fred then turned back to Malfoy. He replied, slowly, "Yep. It's the last one. They've been very popular and are just ten Galleons each."

Malfoy gave a quick, single nod. "Right then. I'll be having it. I'll give you twenty Galleons for it – twice what you've been asking." He held up a larger coin bag. Fred grinned.

"Well, now, I say. On the one hand, Hermione did find it first, Malfoy. However, if you really are willing to pay double—"

The sudden appearance of the tip of a wand between his eyes stopped Fred in his vocal tracks.

"Don't you dare, you sly devil," muttered Hermione in a low voice. More loudly, she said, "Malfoy, you can't have that ornament. As you and Fred are both bloody well aware, I found it, and therefore I'm buying it. It's a present for Harry's godson, little Teddy Lupin."

"Well, Granger, as it so happens, I am planning to give this very ornament to my dear cousin Teddy myself," drawled Malfoy. He crowded against her from behind, pushing her slightly against the counter. "He told me he can't wait to get one. He said the twelve-sided Whimsical Wintertime Wishes show all sorts of scenes with sugarplums and dancing fairies, and snowy mountains and real flying reindeer. He's been talking of nothing else for weeks." Draco's arm wound around Hermione's waist as he was talking and he leaned in close, reaching for the glittery Wish. "He's certain that Father Christmas will bring one to him tonight. I, for one, don't plan to see him be disappointed."

Malfoy's invasion of her personal space was meant to intimidate, but Hermione was so angry she wasn't fazed. Two bright spots appeared on her cheeks, matching those on Malfoy's face. She shoved her wand back up her sleeve and smacked at his hand.

"Hands off, you are not giving him this ornament," she hissed. "His Auntie Hermione is giving it to him." She threw her entire money bag at Fred. It struck him in the chest with a thick, jingling, meaty sound and dropped to the counter. "That's fifty Galleons, Fred," she snarled. "Happy bloody Christmas." She grabbed the ornament out from under Draco's still-outstretched fingers and held it up, triumphantly. For a moment, she looked like she'd just caught the Golden Snitch.

Fred was impressed. Draco had been a fine Seeker back at school, second only to Harry, in Fred's opinion. For Hermione to be more nimble than Malfoy was saying something. Too bad Hermione never really liked flying, Fred thought, fleetingly. She might have been a fair Seeker, herself.

Malfoy's hand closed over Hermione's wrist, stopping her from darting away through the crowd. He tutted at her. "Now, Granger, what sort of Christmas spirit is that to have, hmm? Isn't this season all about peace on earth, good will toward The Man?" He smiled, and Fred noticed that Granger's throat bobbed deeply, as if she'd swallowed hard. Her eyes were wide as she looked at Malfoy, seemingly unable to break her stare.

"It's good will toward men, Malfoy," she muttered, still staring at him. "Not The Man."

Malfoy leaned closer still, his nose almost touching Hermione's. Fred watched, fascinated by this display of blatant Neanderthal tactics, ignoring the customers queuing up behind the quarreling couple.

"Are you sure it even works, Granger?" Malfoy said, in a honeyed purr.

"What? What do you mean, Malfoy?" she asked faintly.

"I mean, if it is the last one, it would be a shame to buy it only to discover it doesn't work. Maybe the Charm is faulty," he drawled.

"Oi!" Fred protested, his pride injured. "We guarantee our products one hundred percent!"

Malfoy shrugged, his gaze intent on Hermione. "You never know. They've been so popular. Doesn't it seem odd that this one has been left behind? Perhaps it doesn't work, and people have just left it on the shelf when they looked into it and discovered it does nothing. Didn't you think of that, Granger?" He was almost whispering now, and Hermione was blushing furiously. She shook her head minutely – no, she hadn't looked into the ornament. She hadn't tested it. She'd known the twins long enough to trust the quality of the products they sold in their shop – though she might not actually trust the products themselves.

"Well then, Granger," Malfoy continued. "Don't you think you should take a look inside it and make sure it functions properly, before you hand it over to that precious, turquoise-haired little boy tomorrow morning?" As he'd spoken, Malfoy had drawn Hermione's hand, the one holding the golden Whimsical Wish, up towards their faces. He lifted one eyebrow in question. "Hmm?"

Hermione was frowning slightly. "I hate to admit it, but you make a good point. I was so glad to find it, I just grabbed it up. I'll test it right now..."

She held the ornament up to one eye and looked through, just as Malfoy lowered his head to peek into the other side.

They immediately Vanished.

Fred leapt halfway across the counter and managed to catch the Wish before it hit the floor and smashed. The crowd was exclaiming and gasping loudly.

George, who had arrived just in time to see Hermione and Malfoy disappear, took over at the checkout counter, telling jokes and distracting the customers with some Self-Kracking Kristmas Krackers (A Live Pygmy Puff Inside Each One – Collect Them All!), while Fred hurried off to the back room and their office. He cast an Egress Only Charm on the door as he went past to prevent anyone else from entering, and the CLOSED sign appeared in the window.

Once in the office, he threw himself into the wheeled desk chair and twirled around, laughing, before holding the Wish up to his own eye. What he saw stopped him in mid-twirl. He pressed the ornament closer to his face, his mouth agape, and then he began to laugh anew.

A few minutes later, George came into the office and threw himself into the other wheeled chair.

"Shop's closed. All the customers are gone. So? Are they in there?" he asked, a grin plastered across his own face.

Fred was still avidly watching whatever was inside the ornament. "Oh, they're in there, all right. That hidden bonus feature you added to the Wishes works like a charm. Ha, get it? A charm?"

"Give it here," George demanded, wiggling his fingers impatiently. "Let me see."

Fred put the ornament carefully into his twin's hand. Silently, George held it up to his own eye. He goggled for a moment, just like Fred had, then gave a low whistle.

"It worked. It bloody well worked. Cor, it looks like Hermione could suck the feathers off a phoenix," he murmured. He looked at Fred quickly. "How did you manage to get them both to look into it at the same time?"

Fred shrugged. "I didn't have to do a thing. Malfoy had Hermione practically bent over the counter out there. He asked her if she'd checked to see if the Whimsical Wintertime Wish even worked. Of course it works, that git, but he seemed insistent… say, did you happen to give him a little inside knowledge?" His voice trailed off as George gave him a too-innocent look.

"I might have," said George. He glued his eye back to the dodecahedron. "Or maybe Malfoy was just taking the opportunity to get up close and personal to Hermione. You know they've been dancing around each other for months, trying to beat each other at work, leading opposing teams at our weekly Leaky Cauldron Trivia nights – even trying to outdo each other's gifts for Teddy. It's shameless really, the way they've been teasing each other."

"Well, Malfoy didn't waste any time. I took a quick peek inside when I got in here, and he was already playing a vigorous game of Tickle-The-Tonsils with Hermione."

"Good man. I told him the Whimsical Wintertime Getaway Charm only lasts about half an hour."

"Ha, I knew it! You did tell him!" Fred checked his watch. "I reckon they have about twenty minutes to go before it wears off and they pop back out."

"He's got her bent over the back of the sleigh's seat now." George felt around the sides of the Wish with the fingers of his other hand. "We should add some fine-tuning and zoom controls to these things," he mused.

"Let me see! Quit hogging it," Fred whinged, and George gave it back to him. Fred giggled when he looked into it again. "Merlin's beard, Malfoy's a machine. Look at him go. And Hermione's been hiding all that under those robes? Blimey, Ron was an idiot for breaking things off with her."

After several more minutes of trading the sparkling Whimsical Wintertime Wish back and forth, the twins decided they would just hang the ornament on the little tree on their desk and go join their family for Christmas Eve dinner at the Burrow. If anyone asked about Hermione, they'd tell them that they'd seen her at the shop earlier. Something must have tied her up, but not to worry. They were sure that she'd be coming soon.

~ FIN ~