Author's note: Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and you know I'm not J.K. because #transrights

Hogwarts: Assignment #4, Magical and Muggle Charmed Items Task #1, Write about someone going camping.

Warnings: References past abuse


Winter Campfires

Hermione came to join him by the campfire and wrapped a blanket around them as she sat.

"Thanks," he said. "You should go to sleep, your watch isn't for another two hours…"

"I can't sleep," she said so decisively that he didn't even think of suggesting that she tap into their stock of sleeping droughts or try another one of the bunk beds in the tent.

Harry just nodded and gave the campfire another poke, watching the flames flicker and glow. Lately, they'd had to challenge themselves and build winter campfires as the frosty ground stayed hard and as firewood got damp. Of course, there was an arsenal of spells they could be using too, but at least finnicking with the logistics and details of a winter fire gave them something to do since all they seemed to do otherwise was hit dead ends. Besides, there was something rewarding about making the flames grow where they didn't want to grow, of sparks catching in a cold and hard place. Harry was getting quite good at it, actually.

"I could make tea," Harry said.

"No, it's alright," Hermione said. "I… nevermind."

"No, what is it?" Harry asked.

"I can't sleep because of cramps," Hermione said. Harry didn't react. "I'm on my period."

"Oh!" Harry said. "Right. Well that… that sucks."

"It does," Hermione said, looking at the fire and cracking a smile.

"Well what usually helps?" Harry asked. "Like, if you were at home and things were fine what would you do?"

Hermione pondered.

"I always have a sweet tooth," she said.

"Alright," Harry asked, trying to think back to what they had in the tent's kitchenette. They'd taken the risk and gone grocery shopping ages ago now, so he wasn't sure what was still around. They'd already tapped in and gone through his chocolate frog stash on her birthday, and their last tin of peaches had gone on top of oatmeal last week.

"What can we make?" Harry asked her when he realized that he had no idea.

"You're sweet."

"No, I'm serious," Harry said. "What can we make?"

Hermione chewed on her lip.

"We could… roast marshmallows," she said.

"That sounds great," Harry said, getting up and bundling her back up in his half of the blanket. "Do we have marshmallows? Are they in the cabinet with the tea?"

Hermione nodded.

"There might even be graham crackers and chocolate," Hermione said tentatively.

"Alright," Harry said, unsure of why she was bringing this up. "I'll go grab that and then I'll find us some sticks, I suppose."

Hermione nodded and took over his watch as he went to retrieve the supplies. He dropped the box of graham crackers and the half-eaten chocolate bar he'd found on the ground as they speared marshmallows on their sticks and got roasting.

"I knew getting s'more supplies would be good for a rainy day," Hermione said.

Before Harry could ask what a s'more was, Hermione interrupted his thoughts.

"You're going to burn yours," Hermione chided when he lowered his marshmallow above the flames. She put her hand on his and lowered the stick so that his marshmallow floated instead above a smaller patch of coals. "There; nice and low and even heat will get it gold instead of burnt."

"I didn't know that marshmallow roasting was amongst your areas of expertise," Harry said.

"It's definitely not, but everybody knows that," Hermione said. She caught herself when she said it and turned to look at Harry as if she could read him like one of her books, which, to be fair, she usually could. "You've never been camping before, have you?"

"What?" Harry asked.

"Like, when you were little," Hermione said. "You never went on family vacations or went camping with school, did you?"

"No," Harry said. "No, of course not. The Dursleys would have left me in the woods if they'd bothered to bring me there in the first place."

He'd meant it jokingly but Hermione looked worried when he did. The furrow between her eyebrows that had been a near-permanent feature since they'd gone on the run reappeared.

"You know, when this is all over, we can fix that," Hermione said.

"Fix what?" Harry said. "I think what we're doing right now counts as camping."

"No," Hermione said patiently, as if she was teaching him the same basic astronomy formula for the twelfth time. "I mean you'll have a real family when this is all over. You can forget the Dursleys for good and we can… we can make up for all the things they did and didn't do."

Harry offered her a smile.

"You don't have to do that," Harry said.

"But we will because we're us and we're together," Hermione said.

"No, I mean… you're already doing enough," Harry said. Hermione smiled back and unwrapped the blanket she was cocooned in so that she could wrap him up in it too. Harry would have taken this opportunity to ask what a s'more was, but the quiet and the feeling of being huddled up and warm even in the cold was too nice to interrupt. It made it that much clearer that the hardest flames to fan were the warmest, which he already knew was true with Hermione curled up against him.


WC: 880