Search:

SIYE Time:4:42 on 19th March 2024
SIYE Login: no


Mistletoe
By Peskipiksi

- Text Size +

Category: Post-OotP
Characters:Harry/Ginny
Genres: Fluff
Warnings: None
Story is Complete
Rating: PG
Reviews: 33
Summary: By popular request, this is a follow-up to Learning to Let Go, but unlike that story, this one is Christmassy and very, very, fluffy. You have been warned!
Hitcount: Story Total: 5993







ChapterPrinter


When I told Harry he could come find me if Ron and Hermione got to be too much, I never dreamed he’d actually do it. I mean, I was serious when I told him it would always be just the three of them. Harry, Ron, and Hermione have been attached at the hip forever, and I honestly didn’t think that would change much when Ron and Hermione started dating.

And I wasn’t wrong, really. The three of them still hung out together all the time after that Hogsmeade weekend. And Harry was doing much better. Hermione told me that he hadn’t received a single detention from Snape since we had our little chat.

“Our little chat.” Heh. Another reason I didn’t think Harry would ever seek me out. I can’t believe I lectured him like that. I swear, I was worse than Hermione gets sometimes! Funny, though…Harry didn’t seem to mind that much. I guess I just caught him at the right time. Still think I’m lucky I didn’t get my head bitten off. (Or my body blown up like a balloon. Harry can be nasty when he’s angry, just ask his Aunt Marge.)

So when Harry joined me at the dinner table one evening, I was quite taken by surprise.

“Hi Ginny. Anybody sitting here?” he asked, gesturing to the seat across from me.

“Uh,” I said quite intelligently and looked around. “No, I don’t think so.”

Actually, there was nobody sitting within ten feet of me in either direction. It was still early in the dinner hour, and most people hadn’t made it down to the Great Hall yet. Obviously the seat wasn’t taken. But I wasn’t going to point that out.

Harry sat down and started piling food on his plate.

“So,” he said, “What are you working on?”

I glanced down at the book sitting open beside my plate.

“Muggle Studies,” I answered, still wondering what he was doing there. “Where are Ron and Hermione?”

Smooth, Ginny.

“They’re out on the grounds somewhere,” Harry answered after he had swallowed half of a boiled potato. “Ron got Dobby to fix up a picnic for them. Thought it’d be romantic, or something, I guess.”

I smiled.

“What, and you weren’t invited?”

“Actually, I was, if you can believe that,” Harry grimaced. “Ever since…well, you know…they’re just determined not to leave me out of anything. But there are some things I want to be left out of, if you know what I mean.”

“Oh, yes. I know exactly what you mean,” I said. “Hermione keeps trying to tell me about what a good kisser Ron is, like I’m interested. He’s my brother! It’s gross!”

Harry laughed.

“Exactly. So I just told them I’d be okay on my own for once. But I saw you sitting here alone so I thought I’d sit with you. I mean, it’s okay, right? You said if I ever…”

I couldn’t believe it. Did Harry really think I minded if he sat next to me for dinner? The boy is whacko. Cute, but whacko.

“It’s fine,” I hastened to assure him. “Actually, maybe you could help me with something?”

“Sure,” he said, and smiled. Oh, Merlin, I love his smile.

No, I don’t. I didn’t mean that. I mean, sure, Harry’s got a lovely smile, but that doesn’t mean anything. I don’t fancy him. Not at all.

He’s not so cute, either.

Ahem, back to what I was saying…Oh yes…

“It’s this thing for Muggle Studies,” I explained. “I’m just not getting it, Harry. I’m supposed to write an essay explaining the difference between satellite and cable television, and I don’t understand it at all. I mean, I get the basic idea of television, I think, but this is impossible…”

So Harry told me all about Muggle television (honestly, I don’t know how they ever get anything done), and he made it seem quite easy, really. He’s a good teacher, and not just at Defense.

But the best part was when the subject got changed, eventually, and then we were talking about all sorts of things. In fact, our conversation was going along so swimmingly, the next thing I knew, we looked around and discovered that we were the only two people left in the Great Hall.

Weird.

So, okay, we hit it off really well that one time. I told myself it was no big deal, and that Harry would still prefer to spend his free time with Ron and Hermione.

And I wasn’t wrong, entirely. Harry did indeed spend the rest of the week mostly with Ron and Hermione, but he didn’t entirely ignore me the way he usually did. He even walked back with me from Quidditch practice one night and he made a point to ask me how I did on my essay. (I got an O, thankyouverymuch.)

I didn’t think much of it.

The following weekend was the Quidditch match between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. I had overslept, so I was late getting to the packed stands. I had just spotted the girls from my dorm and was getting ready to make my way over to them when I heard someone call out my name.

“Ginny! Over here!”

It was Harry, sitting next to Ron and Hermione, and he was beckoning to the empty space beside him. He had saved me a seat.

Hmmmm.

We had a brilliant time at the game. We were all rooting for Hufflepuff, and it was a close and exciting match. In the end, the Hufflepuff seeker, Summerby, caught the Snitch right out from under Cho Chang’s nose, (Ahhahahaha!) for a ten-point win. We were all jumping and yelling and screaming at the top of our lungs.

All the way back to the dorms, Ron, Harry, and I analyzed the game in detail. Harry and I even got into a bit of an argument about Summerby’s technique, although we didn’t touch the subject of Cho Chang, which was fine by me.

From that point on, I was included more and more with whatever the three of them were doing. Somehow, it just got to be assumed that I would eat meals with them, and study with them in the evenings. (This certainly came in handy, as Hermione is a total genius and I need all the help I can get.)

I was even included the night Harry finally decided to talk about the prophecy. When he sat down with us and said he needed to tell us something important, I made as if to leave. I just assumed he meant he needed to talk to Ron and Hermione alone. But he insisted that I stay, so I did.

From then on, I was included in all of the “important” discussions, too, no questions asked.

And when Ron and Hermione were off doing their prefect thing, or snogging in some broom closet, or whatever, it was just me and Harry. I liked that far more than I liked to admit.

See–the thing is, I had decided almost two years ago now that Harry and I were never going to happen, and that I should give up on him. So I did. I even dated Michael Corner for almost my entire fourth year. And I managed to hardly ever think about Harry Potter.

Of course, that was easy to do when I almost never saw him, and our lives barely crossed. But now that we had gotten to be such good friends, I found it harder and harder to convince myself that I didn’t fancy him anymore.

I was still giving it the good old college-try, though, because I knew he still didn’t think of me that way. He never even so much as glanced at me with anything like romantic eyes. He never asked me to go with him to Hogsmeade, just the two of us, and he never invited me to go with him on a moon-lit walk around the lake.

So I focused all my energies on my studies, telling myself that, no, I was not setting myself up for major heartache. No, I was not falling more in love with him than ever. Harry just needed a friend, so that’s what I’d be. All I’d be.

Christmas finally arrived and we all headed for the Burrow. Hermione was coming, too, although she promised her parents she’d come home on Christmas Day. But we had her through Christmas Eve, so everyone was going to be there. I was thrilled…it had been forever since I’d seen Bill and Charlie, and I was glad Harry would finally have a proper Christmas.

And it’s impossible to have anything but a proper Christmas at the Burrow. Mum had really outdone herself this year….Christmas decorations everywhere, and the lovely odor of Christmas cookies and cakes baking constantly permeated the house.

Outdoors was lovely, too, and Christmas Eve found us all having a major snowball fight out behind the house after an early dinner. It was me, Bill, George, Harry and Hermione against Ron, Charlie, Fred, Percy, and Dad. (We decided to split up the twins for safety’s sake.)

It was a vicious fight, and it went on for hours until the sun went down and Mum called us all in for hot chocolate. We tramped in, still arguing about who had won (a subject that is still hotly debated to this very day) and covered in snow. Everyone plopped down in the living room to warm up by the fire. I had just made myself comfortable on the floor next to Harry when my Mum came through the door, carrying a large tray full of steaming mugs.

“Ginny, dear,” she said. “Would you mind bringing in the other tray? I couldn’t quite manage to fit everything.”

Sigh. I always get pegged for these domestic tasks, just because I’m the girl. It was Christmas, though, so I jumped up without complaint and headed into the kitchen. Sitting on the table was a large tray holding two huge plates of Christmas cookies. Yum!

I grabbed the tray and headed back to the living room, and that’s when disaster struck.

Since my hands were full, I had to back through the swinging door. As I was still on the threshold, Harry jumped up.

“Here, Ginny…let me help you,” and he reached for the tray.

And then, in an extremely loud voice, Fred called out, “Uh, oh! Hey, George! Look who’s under the mistletoe!”

Harry and I froze.

Slowly, I turned my face upwards to see a small sprig of mistletoe hanging in the kitchen doorway above us. Then I lowered my gaze, and I saw nine faces staring at me and Harry, grins stretching from ear to ear.

Then, very slowly, I finally turned to look at Harry. His face was at least as red as mine, and I imagined he felt as horrified as I did. We were both still gripping the tray of cookies between us.

“Go on, then, Harry! Kiss her!”

That was George. At that moment, I made a vow to myself that I would work even harder in school, get top scores, enter the Ministry of Magic, eventually become Minister of Magic, and then pass a law making it legal for little sisters to murder their older brothers.

In the meantime, my face grew even hotter. I didn’t know what to do. It was like everything was moving in slow motion, and I just wanted to die right then and there.

Finally, Harry spoke.

“Er…well…I guess we should…um…”

We just stood there, staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity, and then he leaned in towards me.

I ducked.

In full-on panic mode now, I shoved the tray towards Harry, mumbled something about getting napkins, and fled back into the kitchen.

Behind me, I could hear the hoots and hollers of my brothers, teasing Harry for being rejected. It was awful. Opening the back door, I ran out into the night.

I kept running until I reached the fence that marked the edge of our property. There, I stopped, leaned against a post and looked out at the twinkling lights of Ottery St. Catchpole in the valley below. I inhaled deeply, breathing in the sharp cold air and fighting against tears. If I cried, they would all know it when I went back indoors.

I had never felt so wretched in my entire life. I had made a complete fool out of myself, humiliated Harry in front of everyone, and had probably lost the one chance I would ever have to kiss the only boy I had ever loved.

I wanted to scream.

In fact, I was getting ready to do just that when I heard the crunch of footsteps in the snow behind me. Expecting my Mum or Hermione had come out to comfort me, I turned instead to see Harry standing there.

And wasn’t he angry!

“What the hell was that all about, Ginny?” he asked, his voice tense.

“Harry, look…”

I didn’t know what to say.

“That was totally humiliating!” he continued. “Would it have been that terrible just to give me a little kiss? Am I that repellant to you?”

All I could do was stare at him. He. Just. Didn’t. Get it. He had never gotten it, and he never would. Something inside of me snapped, and everything just came pouring out in one idiotic rush.

“Harry, you’re an imbecile,” I said. “Don’t you realize I have been waiting years to kiss you? That I’ve imagined in my mind a million times what our first kiss would be like? That I’ve dreamed and hoped and wished you would kiss me some day?”

Harry just stood there, flabbergasted. But I wasn’t finished.

“But all of that doesn’t mean I’ll jump on any chance I get. If we’re ever going to have a first kiss, Harry, it’s not going to be because we happen to be standing under some mistletoe. It’s not going to be in front of my entire family. And it’s going to be because you actually want to kiss me, and not because you’ve just been forced into it by my idiotic brothers!”

I realized I was shouting, and forced myself to take a deep breath before I continued.

“Maybe that means it’ll never happen, and that’s fine. But I’m not going to settle for anything less.”

Then I finally stopped. I couldn’t believe what had just come out of my mouth. I knew I had probably just ruined what had been a promising friendship, but dammit, it felt good to say all of that!

Defiantly, I crossed my arms and waited. The whole time I had been talking, Harry had just stared at me, a look of shock on his face. He looked calmer now, but a bit uncertain.

“Well,” he said, and cleared his throat. I dreaded his next words, but he took a step closer to me.

“Well,” he said again. “Would you…”

He paused. This was agony.

“Would you settle for it being just the two of us, out in the snow and the moonlight, on Christmas Eve?” he asked quickly. “Would those criteria for a first kiss meet with your approval?”

What? No…he couldn’t mean…but he was smiling, and at the same time looking rather anxious. But I had to be sure.

“You forgot one thing,” I whispered.

“What?” he asked quietly and took another step. He was quite close now.

“It has to be because you really want to,” I said.

He nodded and looked straight down into my eyes.

“I do. I really want to,” he whispered.

“Well, okay then,” I said, trying to sound like this was the kind of conversation I had every day.

For the second time that evening, Harry bowed his head down to mine. This time, of course, I didn’t duck out of the way. Thank Merlin.

All I can say is, Harry is one fantastic kisser. Or maybe we’re just fantastic together. The point is, though, that the minute his lips touched mine, I was lost. It was a good thing he took me in his arms, or I would have collapsed in the snow, my weak knees completely incapable of supporting my weight.

We kissed for a long time. If I had nothing to do for the rest of my life but kiss Harry, I would die a happy woman. Very happy.

It had to end at some point, though. We finally broke apart, and I buried my face in his chest.

“How’s that for a first kiss, Miss Weasley?” I could hear his low voice rumbling in his chest.

“Definitely acceptable,” I said. “Bloody fantastic, actually.”

“Yes, I thought so too,” he said, very businesslike.

“Better than under the mistletoe, don’t you think?” I teased.

“Ginny,” he said. “I’m sorry about that. The only reason I even tried was because I thought that’d be the only chance I’d ever get.”

“You’re kidding.” I leaned back and looked up at him.

“Well,” he explained, “Hermione told me you were over me. I’ve been thinking all this time that I’d blown any chance I ever had with you. You never gave me any hints that you might still like me…and then you just left me hanging there under the mistletoe. What was I supposed to think?”

“You boys are rather clueless, aren’t you?” I sighed, shaking my head in exasperation.

“Well, you certainly gave me a clue tonight,” he said. “Along with a piece of your mind.”

I grinned sheepishly. He grinned back, and then he kissed me again.

Pure bliss.



Eventually, thanks to the freezing cold, we were forced to go back inside. We were, of course, teased rather mercilessly.

And somehow, it didn’t bother me at all.



****

A/N: This was a little bit of a different style for me, so I'm anxious to hear what you all thought. (hint, hint!)

Merry Christmas!
Reviews 33
ChapterPrinter




../back
‘! Go To Top ‘!

Sink Into Your Eyes is hosted by Grey Media Internet Services. HARRY POTTER, characters, names and related characters are trademarks of Warner Bros. TM & © 2001-2006. Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R. Note the opinions on this site are those made by the owners. All stories(fanfiction) are owned by the author and are subject to copyright law under transformative use. Authors on this site take no compensation for their works. This site © 2003-2006 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Special thanks to: Aredhel, Kaz, Michelle, and Jeco for all the hard work on SIYE 1.0 and to Marta for the wonderful artwork.
Featured Artwork © 2003-2006 by Yethro.
Design and code © 2006 by SteveD3(AdminQ)
Additional coding © 2008 by melkior and Bear