William ignored the sudden appearance of Bobo Tea and kept his focus on the pan.
The butter was starting to sizzle. With a slight wave of his wand, the cupboard door opened, and six eggs floated out, spinning once in the air.
"Universal Pull!" William muttered, indulging, gesturing with his arm.
The eggs shot toward the pan like comets, their yolks and whites landing in the hot butter, while the shells flew straight into the trash bin.
With another flick of his wand, the flames beneath the pan turned blue, and the surface of the egg mixture began to solidify.
Soon, the eggs flipped themselves over. Both sides turned a perfect golden brown, releasing a mouthwatering aroma.
William snapped his fingers, and two plates floated out of the cupboard. He slid the fried eggs onto them.
Then came the bacon, which danced across the plates like a tap-dancing troupe before obediently lining up and hopping into the sizzling oil.
Perfect!
Cooking with magic was truly satisfying.
It made William feel like he was starring in Hell Kitchen, if only the food and utensils could float.
At that moment, Hermione tiptoed into the kitchen and motioned for Bobo Tea to keep quiet.
She moved stealthily, like a cat, inching closer to William. Then, with a grin, she suddenly stuffed a snowball down the back of his collar.
William had noticed her approach but hadn't paid her any mind.
Now, with a shiver, he tried to fish the snowball out from inside his shirt, but as he hunched forward, the icy lump slid down to his back.
"Sorry, sorry!" Hermione laughed as she tried to help him.
However, instead of pulling the snowball out, she ended up pressing her warm hands against his cold skin, making William gasp from the chill.
Hermione giggled, finally warming her hands before pulling them away.
After the playful commotion, the bacon was perfectly cooked. The slices somersaulted out of the pan and into the bowl, gleefully awaiting their fate as breakfast.
After their meal, William began Hermione's rehabilitation treatment.
Rehabilitation involved a combination of internal potions, external salves, and magical therapy.
Hermione needed to drink an entire cauldron of visibility-restoring potion, followed by a dose of fur-suppressing serum.
Hermione's condition had improved significantly and most of the feline features on her face had disappeared.
However, her cat ears remained, and her body was still covered in soft fur, not that anyone could tell while she was clothed.
Of course, there was still the long, slender tail that hadn't vanished yet. William had saved that for last.
After drinking her potions, Hermione lay on William's lap as he sat cross-legged. Gently, he pulled up her shirt to perform the human transfiguration.
It took a full hour for the cat fur to diminish slightly.
Hermione was visibly disappointed, measuring her fur length every hour had become a compulsive habit of hers.
This was why people said words could be tossed around carelessly, but potions should never be taken lightly.
The consequences of drinking random potions were serious, and recovery required meticulous effort. Without William's treatment, Hermione wouldn't have returned to normal by the time the next school term started.
After finishing the session, the two-headed outside to the yard. After the heavy snowfall, the sky was blanketed with low-hanging clouds that gleamed with fiery hues.
Hermione ran around in the snow, busily building two misshapen snowmen.
One was "William," and the other was "Hermione."
She seemed quite pleased with her creations. Smiling, she clapped her hands clean and went back inside.
William sat by the door, watching her with a dazed expression. Hermione returned with a fleece-covered lounge chair and plopped down beside him.
She swayed back and forth in the chair, humming an off-tune Scottish melody.
William glanced at the two pitiful-looking snowmen and sat up, grinning.
"Shall we go fishing? The koi in the river have been fattening up all terms, we should eat them tonight."
A small river encircled their house, and William had stocked it with plenty of fish.
He led Hermione along a stone path toward the riverbank.
The river had frozen over, and the tall reeds lining the shore were dusted with snow. A cold breeze swept past, sending the snowflakes fluttering like willow catkins in the wind.
Both William and Hermione wore warming badges, keeping them not just warm but comfortably cozy.
Hermione held an umbrella, focused on admiring the scenery, while William waved his wand and conjured a wooden platform extending about a meter over the icy river.
Snowflakes drifted down as William carved a hole in the ice and added some bait infused with dragon's blood.
Dragon's blood was irresistibly enticing to most creatures, ensuring that plenty of fish would be drawn to the spot.
The two of them had only been sitting there for five minutes when five or six koi fish swam beneath the ice.
Hermione raised a small pair of binoculars and peered through the falling snow toward the distance.
Their vantage point was a flat section of land halfway up the hill, providing a clear view of the village below.
Hermione suddenly exclaimed, "There's a crowd at The Burrow!"
"Just reporters," William said calmly.
"What are they doing there?"
"They want to interview Mr. Weasley." William took a copy of The Daily Prophet out of his enchanted ring and handed it to her.
The headline read:
Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, Arthur Weasley, fined fifty Galleons for enchanting a Muggle car. Meanwhile, his son, Ron Weasley, accused of attacking the son of a Hogwarts Board of Governors member…
"These reporters don't go home for Christmas?" Hermione folded the newspaper and noticed some snowflakes on William's shoulder. She gently brushed them off and adjusted the umbrella to cover him better.
"They came specifically because it's Christmas. They're hoping to catch Mr. and Mrs. Weasley returning home. But the two of them went to Romania."
"Do you think they'll come to our place?" Hermione asked anxiously.
In her current state, the last thing she wanted was to be photographed by reporters!
"They won't." William reassured her. "I cast the Fidelius Charm around the house, they can't get in."
After catching four or five fish, William and Hermione returned to the cottage and began decorating the house.
Hermione hung thick garlands made of holly and mistletoe all around the room. William dragged in a cedar tree and transformed it into a Christmas tree, adorned with golden, glowing stars.
The two of them worked until dusk before the house was finally ready. William started cooking dinner, with Hermione helping at his side.
Even though it was just the two of them and their two cats, their Christmas Eve dinner was exceptionally lavish.
After the meal, William took Hermione through a brief magic practice session.
When the girl was thoroughly exhausted, they curled up together on the sofa under a thick blanket, watching a movie.
The sofa William had bought was enormous, it could fold out almost like a bed.
The TV was playing Bram Stoker's Dracula, a tale about vampires.
In 1992, there weren't many entertainment options available, and the classic movies everyone knew were only a handful.
Hermione was determined to stay up until morning to see her Christmas present before going to bed, so neither of them returned to their rooms, they planned to pull an all-nighter on the sofa.
To prepare, Hermione had brought a stack of movie tapes, including Porco Rosso and Scent of a Woman.
William had seen most of them in his previous life, so he fell asleep before they even finished the first one.
Despite being the self-proclaimed "stay-up-all-night champion," Hermione yawned and felt her own fatigue catching up. She stood up barefoot, turned off the TV and the lights, and quickly darted back under the blanket like a cat.
Lying on her side next to William, Hermione kept her head low, watching his face in the dim glow of the room, a face she had never observed this closely before.
A lock of her brown hair fell across William's eyes, and his long lashes trembled slightly.
Suddenly, she lowered her head.
A soft touch.
Then she pulled away.
Hermione rested her head lightly on William's arm and snuggled deeper into the blanket.
In the quiet of the night,
She touched her burning cheeks and licked her lips.
Hmm...
Wasn't it supposed to be sweet, like the books said?
...