December 10
Title: Decorating the Muggle Way
Author: LynneC114
Rating: G
Word Count: 672
Prompt: Tinsel
Warnings: May not be safe to read and drink.
Summary: Hermione wants to decorate the muggle way.
A/N: A big, big, BIG thank you goes out to rivertempest, as (it seems) always, for making sure I don't sound like a ten year old on crack. And to Boy, who gave me this idea, as opposed to the mushy scene I had originally planned. I think this one came out much better!
She was on her S.P.E.W. thing again.
“We can do this ourselves,” she’d said in her huffiest manner. Then she broke out the lights, ornaments, and tinsel, and he knew there was no stopping her.
As she was throwing tinsel on the tree and humming along tunelessly with the wireless, Draco got a wonderful idea. Quietly, ever so subtly, he fiddled with a pile of tinsel until it resembled a dog, charming it to nip at her heels. It was all in good fun, of course, but when she shrieked in indignation at the thing humping her leg, he knew he’d pay for it. Without warning, a fountain of silvery strands began pouring violently out her wand, and onto him.
~*~
In a moment of sheer lunacy, Dumbledore encouraged the four heads of houses - McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout and Snape - to participate in a house unity project, where they gathered once a week for a friendly game of Wizard's Poker and a general good time. By forcing them to interact, Dumbledore hoped that it would rub off on their Head Students, and then on to the rest of the student body.
They had just finished that week’s session as Flitwick and Sprout left with their arms linked and smiles on their faces, a rosy flush to gracing each head’s cheek. Sprout had been kind enough to bring a well-aged bottle of Ogden’s finest, and it had made the hours together more bearable.
Snape, quite inebriated at this point, turned to McGonagall, and with a gleam in his eyes, said, “Minerva, I just wanted to thank you for...” He never got the last of the sentence out, as a loud bang shook the ceiling, causing several pieces of plaster to crumble upon their heads.
Above them were the head's quarters.
Shrugging off their alcohol-induced fuzzy feelings, concern etched McGonagall's face, as anger overtook Snape’s already scowling features.
“If your Mister Malfoy touched one hair on Miss Granger's head...” Minerva warned.
“Miss Granger!” Snape sneered. “Miss Granger is perfectly adept with a wand. It's Mister Malfoy I worry about.”
Another thump from above had them clambering out of the teacher’s lounge and up the flights of stairs to the head's portrait.
~*~
Upon letting themselves in, Snape and McGonagall saw an unexpected sight -a flock of tinsel animals chasing after Hermione throughout the dorm, and Draco drowning in a lake of tinsel and baubles in the corner near the Christmas tree, the animated string of the lights holding both his hands and wand hostage.
The scene was almost comic, if it wasn't so ludicrous.
Hermione was shouting over her shoulder, as her patent canaries viciously attacked the animals following her. As one animal would fall, another two would form. She had tinsel in her hair from the destruction of so many of the creatures that her hair literally shone as bright as a star. Every time an animal latched on to her, it would explode, showering her, and anything nearby, with bits of the foil.
Draco wasn't fairing much better. The fountain of glitter that had left Hermione's wand had now become a lake, taking over a better portion of the couch and a quarter of the common room. Each time he tried to surface , the enchanted decorations would pull him back down, his head and hands being the only thing visible in the mess. He was constantly reaching for his wand, in vain it seemed; the flow of tinsel moved it out of his reach each time, sensing his mounting frustration and close proximity, as if taunting Draco.
Neither a surface, nor a corner remained untouched in the common room. It was obvious reversing the spells would take some time, and there was no guarantee they’d remove all the tinsel.
“What is all of this?” McGonagall shouted, effectively stopping all movement in the room with her voice.
Hermione blushed and Draco coughed, glitter spluttering from his mouth..
One of the tinsel-birds tinsel-shat on Snape's shoulder.
So much for decorating the Muggle way.