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SIYE Time:17:45 on 28th March 2024
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A Year To Remember
By littleWoNdErFuL

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Category: Alternate Universe
Characters:Draco Malfoy, Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley
Genres: Angst, Drama, Fluff, General
Warnings: Sexual Situations
Rating: PG-13
Reviews: 124
Summary: *** The author has been reminded via the e-mail address on file that this story is listed as incomplete and has not been updated since 2006 ***

Harry Potter is dying after a final battle with Voldemort. Ginny Weasley visits him at St. Mungo's, and confesses her true feelings for him. She falls asleep on his hospital bed, and flashes back to the year that was. Come along as Ginny experiences emotions that she never knew before, and goes through great lengths all for the one boy she loves... Please read to find out more, and don't forget to review! This story was written pre-HBP, and is now being considered AU.
Hitcount: Story Total: 56221; Chapter Total: 3154







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It was the Holiday season. The past month had gone by seemingly unnoticed by the students of Hogwarts, and by Ginny, too. She had also regained her self back, for the most part. Ginny was still dealing with her Seamus and Harry problems, but with Hermione now knowing what was going on, everything seemed a lot less trivial.

Since Christmas was approaching quickly, and the inhabitants of Hogwarts were growing ever restless of the impending holiday. The professors were cramming in their last minute lessons, and assigning homework that was to be completed during the break. Ginny was not looking forward to this; she was beginning to have a rather large sum of work coming in. She did not want to coop herself up in the Gryffindor Tower doing homework, and was counting on an enjoyable holiday.

Seamus was hinting cleverly at the prospects of over a week without classes, which meant time for them to be alone. Ginny acted as though she was excited, but she knew what “time for being alone” really meant. It anticipated that he wanted to spend the entire holiday hidden in the castle, getting very friendly with each other. By that, it meant snogging. Ginny wasn’t even sure of her own holiday plans yet, so whether or not Seamus would get what he was hoping for was still a question to her.

Ginny was still trying to sort out her feelings, and occasionally being with Seamus made her feel awkward. Especially kissing. Sometimes it was nice, but others it was odd, and Ginny felt bad about it.

And then there was Harry. He hadn’t made much comment about Ginny’s crying out on him a month before. Ginny was glad of it. This mean she didn’t need to do any explaining, because she knew where the explaining would lead; to a nice elucidation of Ginny’s true feelings for him. That wasn’t going to happen. Ginny had also regained her comfort level around Harry, and they were back to being friends like usual.

It was December 15th, when Ginny, Ron, Harry, and Hermione had begun discussing their holiday plans.

“Mum sent me a letter wanting to know if we were coming home for Christmas,” Ron told Ginny as the four of them sat together in the common room. “That includes you too, Harry. And Hermione, if you don’t have any other plans,” he added.

“Well, I won’t be able to attend,” Hermione explained. “I’ll be with my parents; we’re taking another skiing trip. They love doing that over the holidays. Thank your mum for the offer, though,” she said, nodding to the letter Ron was holding.

Ron looked over to Ginny. “What do you want to do? I’m not much in the mood to go home, but if you and Harry want to…”

“I’ll stay here,” Ginny said. Seamus hadn’t formally told her about his plans yet, so she wasn’t basing her decision on anything he was doing.

“It doesn’t matter to me,” Harry added in. “Seeing as it’s not really my house and all…It’s up to you two,” he said, looking at Ron and Ginny.

“Well if we both want to stay here…And you don’t mind, Harry?” Ron asked again.

“I’ve already told you, I don’t care. Bridget’s going home to her family so it doesn’t matter if I’m here or not. It’s really up to you and Ginny,” Harry repeated.

“I’ve already said I’d rather stay at the castle,” Ginny said frankly. She really did want to stay here more than she wanted to go home. Ginny knew the Burrow was hectic during the holidays, and as much as she wanted to see her family, and as much as she knew they wanted to see her, she wanted to remain at Hogwarts.

“Well I agree,” Ron chimed in. “Then it’s settled. We’ll stay here. Right?”

“Right,” Harry and Ginny answered together.

Ron then looked at Ginny, and opened his mouth to speak again.

“You–you’re decision–What’s Seamus doing for the holidays?” he was finally able to spit out.

“I’m not sure, really,” answered Ginny truthfully.

“Because I don’t want him swaying your decision. If he’s forcing you to stay here so you can–can–I don’t even want to think about it, we’re going home!” Ron added hotly. Ginny was a bit surprised at this. Ron had hardly acted up about Seamus since they had begun dating, and now was a funny place to start. It annoyed Ginny, nonetheless.

“Seamus had nothing to do with my decision! And even if he did, do you actually think I would have told you?” Ginny asked him angrily. Her temper was beginning to show itself.

“I would’ve found out anyway! I don’t want him laying a hand on you! And if I have to follow you around all holiday, so be it!” Ron’s ears were beginning to redden, and he furrowed his brow. Ginny’s mouth dropped slightly at this.

“Why do you even care about Seamus and me all of a sudden? You were just fine with it when we started seeing each other!” Ginny asked him incredulously.

“Because–because I hear about what he says regarding you! And believe you me it’s not something a brother wants to hear about his sister!” Ron barked at her.

This caused Ginny’s mouth to drop even lower; surprise of what Ron had said getting to her, and surprise that Seamus actually talked about her in a meaning that would embarrass her brother were the culprit. Of course, Ginny didn’t want Ron to know that she wanted to know what Seamus was saying about her, so she stuck with the original argument.

“You didn’t scrutinize Harry for answers of if Bridget had swayed his decision!” Ginny yelled back at him. Hermione and Harry turned their heads to Ron; they were watching the argument and their eyes were going back and forth like they were observing some sort of match.

“I didn’t need to,” Ron said ardently. “Harry already said Bridget was going home.”

“But what if Harry said she was staying here? Would you have threatened to follow him around?” Ginny asked Ron fiercely.

“No!”

“Well why not then?” Ginny asked again, sardonically.

“Because–,” Ron didn’t get to finish.

“Because Harry’s your best friend, and he’s allowed to have a girlfriend, and if he wants to stay and snog her through the holiday, it’s fine by you, just as long as he tells you everything about it!” Ginny raged. “But no, I’m your little sister, and as soon as you find that I could have a relationship with a boy that might possibly be more than just friendship, you have to but your fat head in and make sure we don’t do so much as hold hands! Ron, you big prat, you don’t like admitting that I’m growing up! I think you need to grow up!”

With that, Ginny gave her brother a very reproachful look, and stormed up to her dormitory, muttering things like you infuriate me! And, don’t know what you’re thinking, all the way up.


*********************

Ginny awoke the next morning happy, knowing that it was only a few more days until classes were out for break. Her mood was dampened, however, when she remembered the argument that she and her brother had shared the previous night.

She dressed quickly, and made her way down to the common room, a slight scowl across her face. As Ginny left the staircase, she saw Seamus standing near one of the desks. He looked over and saw her, and began to walk towards her.

“Ginny,” Seamus greeted her, along with a quick peck on the lips.

“’Morning,” she said in reply.

“Listen, I know I told you that I wanted to stay here with you over the holiday, but me mam wants me to come home. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s…fine,” Ginny answered, trying her best to look and sound disappointed. She added a meek smile. Well Ron’ll be pleased, Ginny thought. Not that I care, or anything.

“I hope you’re not too upset. I mean, I was really looking forward to being alone for once,” Seamus nodded to her.

“Yes, well…I understand,” Ginny said. “There’ll be other times for us to be, er, alone…”

“I s’ppose so. But, I really wanted to give you your gift in person. I guess I’ll just have to send it to you, now,” Seamus explained. A look of thought drew across Ginny’s face. His mention of a gift had made her remember something, but what it was, she forgot.

“Aw, c’mon Gin, you know I can’t give it to you now! That would ruin the surprise! You’ll have to wait ‘till Christmas, like the rest of us! I mean, I’m not going to ask you to give me my gift, now,” Seamus went on. With that, Ginny suddenly remembered. Her eyes widened with the revelation, and she raised her hand up to her suddenly drooping mouth.

Oh no! Ginny thought frantically. A gift! No, not just a gift, Seamus’s gift! I knew I forgot something at Hogsmeade last weekend! Ginny could remember that trip quite well. There was a trip to Hogsmeade so that students could get Holiday gifts for their family and friends. Ginny had done that, getting gifts for her mother and father, her brothers, Hermione, and Harry. But she had forgotten Seamus. How could she have forgotten Seamus?

“Uh, I, er, yes! I–I can’t give you your gift now! Like you said, it would be cheating,” Ginny stumbled.
“I’m glad you agree, then,” Seamus said lovingly, planting another small kiss on her lips. Ginny smiled and nodded.

“Well, I’ve got to go. It’s too late to go to breakfast, so I should get to class,” Ginny said quickly, knowing perfectly well she had enough time to eat. But it gave her an excuse to think of what to do about Seamus’s gift, and to get her books.

“Oh, all right then,” Seamus responded, giving her another kiss, then turning on his heal, and heading to the entrance of the common room.

Ginny ran back up to her dormitory. She found her schoolbooks, and piled them on her bed, where she sat down next to them. What to do…Ginny thought. She couldn’t go to Hogsmeade, obviously. And she wasn’t going to risk anything by taking the Fred And George Approach, either. Hmmm, Ginny thought again. An idea had just come to mind. Maybe she could use Fred and George.

Ginny looked at her watch. She still had time. She grabbed a piece of parchment from under her bed, along with a quill and an inkbottle. She began scrawling on the parchment, writing rather quickly. She finished shortly after she had begun, and set the letter on her bedside table. Then, Ginny took out a few Galleons from her money sack, and laid them atop the letter. She would mail it during the lunch hour.


**********************

The lunch bell rang, and Ginny hurried out of Potions in a rush. She had enough time to grab a quick bite to eat before mailing her letter. She ran up the stairs leading to the dungeons, and then to the Great Hall, where she found Harry.

“Where’re Ron and Hermione?” Ginny asked him, as they took a seat at the Gryffindor table.

“Ron forgot to do his Potions homework–”

“Well he better finish,” Ginny cut Harry off, “because I just came from there, and Snape is in a pretty foul mood today.”

“That’s great to hear,” Harry replied dully, then continued, “and Hermione’s, well, actually I’m not entirely sure where Hermione is. Maybe the library…”

Ginny chose to have a ham sandwich for lunch, and proceeded in taking very large bites from it.

“Are you hungry, there, Gin?” Harry asked her, smirking. Ginny swallowed.

“No, not really,” she replied, “but I need to send a letter to Fred and George.”

“Really? Why?” Harry asked.

“I, er, forgot to get Seamus a Christmas gift,” Ginny answered, blushing some. Harry laughed.

“What a good girlfriend you are! How’d you manage that?” he asked, still laughing.

“Not sure…it’s not funny!” Ginny scowled.

“So you’re going to go to Fred and George for help? Is that really, I dunno, wise?”

“Sure it is,” Ginny said, after swallowing another large bite of sandwich. “I’m asking them to send me a gift certificate for him. He’ll love it.”

“Oh, all right then,” Harry said, still smiling. He looked at her, and caught Ginny’s eye. Then he grinned, his infamous mischievous grin. Ginny found her cheeks redden some; they hadn’t done that in quite a long time. Her heart panged with want for him.

“Oh yeah, I was meaning to ask you something,” Harry said, knocking her out of the sort of trance.

“Ok,” Ginny replied.

“Well, I need your opinion. I got Hermione’s, but I want another, just to be sure.”

“Ok,” Ginny said again.

“I got Bridget a box of Honeyduke’s chocolates and a gold locket for Christmas. D’you think she’ll like them?” Harry asked. Of course. That’s just what she needed to hear. He had to bring Bridget into their time. It made a heavy weight fall into her stomach.

“I’m sure she’ll love them,” Ginny manage to say. She then checked her watch. She had twenty minutes until the lunch period was over.

“Wow, I really need to send that letter,” she said again, getting up from her spot at the table.

“Right,” Harry said in a way that made Ginny sure he sensed the heaviness in her actions. He always managed to see through her.

“Bye, then,” Ginny said, as she excused herself from the table.

“See you,” Harry replied, giving her a small smile.

Ginny hurried out of the Great Hall, and up to the Gryffindor Tower. She was quick in moving; she now had an uneasiness about traveling alone in empty corridors since the incident with Malfoy. After practically running to the Fat Lady, she burst though the portrait hall and up to her dormitory. Stumbling haphazardly up the stairs, she staggered into the bedroom, and found the letter, right where she had left it, with the galleons still there. Then she flew out of the dormitory and out of the common room as quick as she could.

Ginny approached a broom closet as she neared the owlery. Only something must have been happening inside that wasn’t the brooms, because it sounded like suppressed, muffled giggles were coming from it. Hmm, Ginny thought as she drew nearer, pressing her ear against the door. It was now evident that it surely was not the brooms making the noise, but rather students. I wonder, Ginny thought again, biting her lip, feeling a little urge of slyness creeping through her. She grabbed the doorknob, and with a surge of excitement, pulled the door quickly opened.

“Ah,” Ginny said to the people inside the closet, but as their faces became evident, it turned into more of a question, out of sheer astonishment of whom she saw. “Ha?”

“G–Ginny!?” It was Ron, whose ears were now burning with embarrassment.

“Oh!” This was from a very shocked Hermione.

“Well finally,” Ginny said unambiguously, instead of something of more surprise, even though she was a bit.

“Whaddayoumean?” Ron said perplexedly, slurring his words together, looking annoyed at this. Hermione, however, was looking slightly flustered and embarrassed at the fact that Ginny had just walked in on them.

“There’s no reason to explain the obvious,” Ginny said, pursing her lips, to prevent her from laughing.

Well…D–don’t just stand there! You–your presence here is no longer needed!” Ron stuttered, his ears glowing an even deeper shade of crimson. Hermione took a sharp breath in, and gave Ginny eyes that told her, “We’ll talk later.”

“And don’t tell anybody what you’ve just seen,” Ron added, before she closed the door. Hermione nodded. Then, Ginny closed the door, and walked a few feet away from it, where she leaned against the cold stone wall and burst out laughing. I guess Ron finished his Potions homework, she sniggered to herself.

I wonder how long it’s been going on, Ginny thought, as she entered the owlery. Well however long it’s been, it sure took them long enough. And why haven’t they told anybody? She tied her letter to Pig, and threw the small owl out of the window. As she turned out of the owlery door, the image of Ron and Hermione popped into her head, and she began laughing again. Lavender Brown walked, who was heading into the owlery, gave her a funny look.

“What’s so funny?” She asked Ginny.

“Oh…nothing. I’ve just remembered something, er, Harry told me,” Ginny lied.

“I see,” Lavender replied, raising her eyebrows some. Ginny speculated that Hermione was not the only one who still knew of her feelings for Harry, and Lavender spotted everything, being a little on the boy-crazy side herself.

“Yes, well, bye then,” Ginny said, sounding a little awkward, and hurrying off to her next class. The bell was going to ring soon.

Throughout the rest of the day, every time Ginny would see Ron, she would laugh. It was just so funny. It had taken the two of them so long to realize that they were meant for each other. Meant for each other, Ginny thought. Well, it can’t be long till they tell Harry. Maybe it’ll rub off on him, and he’ll see that we are meant for each other.

Hermione did end up catching Ginny later in the common room, with an explanation about what she had seen earlier that day.

“Ginny,” she said, as they sat in front of the fire, “I’m sure what you saw today probably surprised you–”

“Actually, it didn’t,” Ginny interrupted.

“It didn’t?” Hermione asked, a confused expression drawing across her face.

“No. I, along with basically the rest of the world, have known forever that you two belong together. I guess it’s the same thing with my feelings for Harry. You knew I had them, and I knew you had them for Ron. It just took you guys a little longer to catch up,” Ginny explained. Hermione looked slightly relieved to not have to explain anything to a possibly-scarred-for-life Ginny, but opened her mouth again to speak.

“Well, now that you’ve brought that up, it didn’t take us as long as you may think it did.” Now it was Ginny with the confused look on her face.

“Are you saying that you’ve been together for a while?” Ginny asked.

“Actually, yes. We have been together for quite a time, now. Since the beginning of last summer, to be exact,” Hermione responded promptly.
“That’s a surprise to me,” Ginny said, bemused. “You still act as though you haven’t realized it yet.”

“I know. Most of the time it’s because things haven’t changed between us. We’re still best friends, and Ron still likes to test me by saying thick things. Now we’re just together, really. That’s probably why it’s been so easy for us to hide it, because things haven’t changed between how we act around each other. I’m surprised that it took this long for someone to catch us,” Hermione said, laughing some.

“But why haven’t you told anybody? Especially not Harry?” Ginny questioned.

“We don’t want a big deal made out about it. And about Harry, we know how he feels about loosing people. It’s happened to him so much, and we don’t want to come out dating, which could lead him to feeling as though he lost his two best friends, with us always being together without him. So we’ve found little times where we can be alone, and then we live our lives like normal. It’s all for the better, really.”

Basically, Ginny thought when Hermione had finished, they are just protecting Harry. Ginny knew that if Harry found this out, he would be infuriated by it. One of his least favorite things was being “protected” from the outside world. It made him feel like a child. Ginny remembered two years ago, during Harry’s fifth year, when Dumbledore had tried to “protect” him from the truth, and how angry it had made him. If Harry knew about this, he would undoubtedly be mad. It’s not my place to tell him, Ginny thought. Just forget about it, and he’ll find out on his own, hopefully without any problems.


************************

Ginny awoke the first day of the Christmas Holiday excited. No books, no teachers, no anything but sleeping in and relaxing with her friends for almost two full weeks. This was a very mush anticipated break, and it seemed to take ages to finally arrive. With everything going on in her life, the year seemed to go on forever. It was a relief to at last hit the Christmas Holiday.

Ginny was also excited because not only was Seamus gone for the holidays, but so was Bridget. That meant she had Harry to herself for the time being. She knew it sounded awful because of her and Seamus, but with a clear path without either he or Bridget in the way, she could at least try. Maybe without Bridget here, Harry would see how much more Ginny meant to him, and that it was they who belonged together.

Fred and George had come through, also, responding to Ginny’s letter with a gift certificate to their joke shop for the amount Ginny sent. She hoped she had spent enough on Seamus; she had used all of the pocket money she had left on his gift, and was slightly worried that he had bought her something pricey and extravagant that her meager gift certificate would never be able to compete with. Oh well, Ginny ended up thinking, at least I remembered. I could have forgotten completely.

When Ginny finally got out of bed, she found that a fresh foot of snow had fallen over night. Hermione had left earlier this morning; Ginny was not positive of the exact time. So, she was hoping she could have an enjoyable holiday amusing herself alone or with Ron and Harry. Actually, she knew she could amuse herself with Harry. But with Ron, that could be a challenge. He might decide to bombard her with questions about Seamus.

Ginny dressed warmly and went down to a very empty common room. All of the Gryffindors had left except for she, Ron, and Harry, and one other fifth year boy Ginny did not know. Ron and Harry were sitting by the fire, discussing their plans for the day.

“Ginny,” Harry called, motioning her to join them by the fire.

“’Morning,” Ginny said to Harry and Ron as she sat beside them

“There’s fresh snow,” Ron said, with a childish gleam in his eye.

“I know,” Ginny responded. It had been a very long time since they played that game. One of her childhood traditions, really, that every time there was fresh snow, she and her brothers would race to see who could get outside first and track in the newly lain snow. Ginny remembered the last time they had done that game was the year before Ron had left for school. It was only the two of them still at home.

“Well you know the rules,” Ron continued.

“Yes, I do. Looser does the other’s chores. But there aren’t any chores. What should we do?” Ginny asked.

“I’m thinking homework,” Ron smirked.

“That’s not fair! I don’t know everything you do!”

“Then Harry can play, too.”

“Hey, I’m not technically a Weasley,” Harry said. “Plus, I’ve got a ton of my own work to do.”

“Of course you’re family. And that’s the point. Ginny always looses. You won’t have any work to do,” Ron laughed, but Ginny scowled. Ron was right, however. She had had a habit of always being last out, and getting the most chores to do when she was young. But this time would be different. Ron would have to do her homework this time.

Ron then looked over to her with a very mischievous look in his eye. Then, without warning, he tore out of the common room and up to the boys’ dormitories. Harry followed suit, and ran up after him.
“Hey! Not fair!” Ginny called after the boys, but picked herself up and ran to her own dormitory.

Ginny scrambled up the stairs, and to her own room. There, she searched manically for her boots and earmuffs. Once they were found, she pulled the boots on, not even bothering to tie them, and hurriedly put on her cloak. She ran down the stairs, and out of the common room, putting on her earmuffs as she went. Ron and Harry weren’t anywhere to be seen, which could be a good or bad thing.

Finally, Ginny made it to the entrance hall, where she ran out of the big oak doors, and into the fresh snow. Ron and Harry were not out here, by the looks of it. Ginny looked at her watch, which was still on her wrist. It had only taken her seven minutes to get out here. I won, Ginny thought happily. I actually won.

Just as she was smiling to herself, the doors to the school opened up, and Harry ran out to the snow.

“I won!” Ginny squealed gleefully, like a little child.

“So you did,” Harry answered with a smile.

“Where’s Ron? Did he get lost?” Ginny snickered. Now it was his turn to loose for once, and do her chores, or homework, rather.

“He couldn’t find his mittens,” Harry grinned.

“His mittens?” Ginny repeated, then she laughed.

“Yes. He said his hands would get cold.”

“What a man he his,” Ginny mocked, still laughing, this time with Harry joining in.

“He told me to go on because you would never get out here before us, so you’d loose either way,” Harry explained.

“I guess he was wrong,” Ginny said back. “Now he gets to do both of our homework. Actually, come to think of it, do we really want Ron doing our homework? I mean, he is…”

“You’re probably right,” Harry laughed quietly.

As the two laughed for a moment or so more, Ron exited the castle, looking somewhat aggravated.

“Look who’s found his mittens,” Ginny muttered to Harry.

“Oh well that’s rich,” Ron sulked, treading out the laughing Ginny and Harry. “What happened?” he scowled to Harry, who was still sniggering. “We had it in the bag!”

“She beat us to it, mate!” Harry replied, patting him on the back.

“Oh, grow up, Ron, it’s just a silly game,” Ginny said, smiling.

“No it’s not! I’ve never lost at this game ever!”

“Ron, we haven’t played it in about eight years,” Ginny reminded. “And it doesn’t matter anyway, because Harry and I decided we don’t want you doing our homework anyway.”

“All right, the–hey! Is that supposed to be some sort of insult?” Ron asked the two of them.

“Of course not, Ron. We just, er, think it would be best if we did our own work this time,” Ginny explained.

“Fine, then,” Ron shrugged. With that, he made a large snowball, and threw it at Harry’s head.

“Hey! Watch it!” Harry yelled back, ducking.


The three of them stayed outside for the rest of the afternoon. It was great fun, even though there were only three of them playing. By four o’clock, it was beginning to get dark, and Ginny was exhausted and cold.

“Too bad Hermione’s not here,” Harry said, throwing a final snowball at Ron.

“Yeah…” Ron said with a dreamy look in his eyes, which caused him to miss the snowball completely, and it pelted him in the face. Ginny broke out into another bout of laughter at Ron being hit and his expression at the mention of Hermione’s name.

Very soon after that, Harry, Ginny, and Ron headed inside. They were all cold now, and the sun was almost down. The three of them entered the castle, and then treaded tiredly to the warmth of the common room, where after removing their damp cloaks, fell onto their favorite chairs in front of the fire.

“Well that was fun,” Ron sighed, looking from Harry to Ginny, who nodded in agreement.

They warmed by the fire and had some small conversation until about five forty-five in the evening, when Ginny began feeling hungry. Apparently, she was not the only one.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m rather starving,” Ron said, patting his stomach.

“I’m feeling the same,” Ginny agreed.

Although dinner didn’t start until six o’clock, they decided to go down to the Great Hall early. When they arrived, they saw that the house tables had been replaced by one large table, as they normally were over the holiday, since not many people stayed. The teachers were already seated, Dumbledore at the head, surrounded by the rest of the staff on either side. There were three other students sitting there, too; though Ginny didn’t know their names, she knew the fifth year Gryffindor boy, and was pretty positive that the other two were a third year Slytherin and a fourth year Ravenclaw. They sat around looking quite timid at the fact that they were sitting alone.

Ginny, Ron, and Harry took three seats along one side of the table, and were greeted by Professor McGonagall.

“Good evening,” she smiled, as they were settling in their seats.

“”Evening, Professor,” they said in unison.

“I trust you had an enjoyable first day off?” McGonagall asked the three of them.

“Yes, we did, actually,” Ginny replied politely, and Ron and Harry nodded in agreement. As soon as she had finished speaking, Dumbledore stood up.

“Ah, how very nice it is to see everyone here this evening. I am fairly certain that this is everyone who will be joining us. As you can see, there are not the normal settings on the table. I ask that you use the menus on your plates to choose what you would like. As there are so few of us, there is a bigger selection to choose from, so, please, do eat up!

The staff and six students picked up their menus, and spoke their order, where it appeared in front of them moments later. Ron was gorging himself with a divine amount of chicken, and Harry had picked the pork chops. Ginny was not sure of what to choose, but in the end decided on roast beef. Three courses later, Ginny found herself extremely full, and even more exhausted than she already was. After seeing that Harry and Ron were feeling the same, the three left dinner with a goodbye to their teachers, and headed back to the common room.

Upon returning to the Gryffindor Tower, Ginny curled up in front of the fire with a Muggle book Hermione had leant her. Ron had gone to get his chess set from the boy’s dormitories, and Harry was sitting alone at one of the tables, waiting for Ron to return.

After about five minutes, when Ginny was rater immersed in her book, she felt the distinct feeling of somebody watching her. She turned around and saw that it was Harry, exactly who she had a feeling it would be, staring straight at her. She smiled politely to him, and he, who had just noticed that she was looking back, looked down for a moment, and then returned the smile. Ginny also noticed that Ron wasn’t back yet.

“I don’t know, Harry. I think you better go look for Ron, he might’ve gotten lost on his way,” Ginny smirked.

“I know, I mean, it is such a long way; who knows where he might turn up,” Harry laughed back. For a moment, Ginny felt the familiar surge of electricity go through her body that she normally would experience when Harry and she shared moments like this. She wondered if Harry felt the same.

“Sorry it took me so long,” Ron said, fumbling down the stairs leading to the boy’s dormitories a few moments later. “I couldn’t find the board.”

“Was it with your lost mitten?” Ginny sweetly.

“I found that, but yes, it was–” he stopped, probably realizing that he sounded a bit silly talking about his lost mitten, his ears flashing red. Ginny giggled, and went back to reading her book.

As she was reading, however, her mind flitted between thoughts. She and Harry had just shared one of their moments, ones that had the funniest habit of showing up whenever, and it made Ginny’s heart race. She couldn’t help but wonder more about she and Harry, and she wanted him now more than ever, it seemed. And with Seamus and Bridget away, who knew what could happen between them over the next week and a half…


**********************

Christm as morning, Ginny woke up to see snow falling outside her window and a rather large pile of gifts at the foot of her bed. Yes, presents! Ginny thought excitedly to herself. There was nothing wrong with being a little selfish over the holidays.

Ginny jumped out of bed, and put on her robe over top of her nightshirt, and began with her gifts. The first one she opened was the usual jumper from her mother, this year it was shocking pink, which Ginny knew would stand out dreadfully with her hair, but liked in nonetheless. She moved on to the next box, which was from Ron. It turned out to be a large box of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. Ginny unwrapped a smaller box, this time from Fred and George, which was a small, but very pretty pin.

Next was a gift from Seamus, who had gotten her a small crystal heart, attached to a gold bracelet chain. It was quite pretty. Ginny then opened up a square package, from Hermione, that ended up being a diary. Inside, Hermione had written a small message.

Ginny,

When I’m not here to talk to, this diary always is. And anything you don’t want to tell me, feel free to tell it, because it will guaranteed keep all of your secrets safe and sound (there’s an anti-peeking charm on it).

Always,

Hermione


Ginny closed the diary, and set it beside her. That was very sweet, she thought, as she picked up the next gift. It was from Harry. Her heart skipped a beat, as she opened the package. It was a small flower, or so it looked. Checking twice, and reading the label, Ginny discovered that it was actually a piece of candy, probably marzipan, which was constructed to look exactly like a real flower. To Ginny, it was beautiful, and being that it was from Harry, and its beauty, she didn’t think she would ever eat it.

Finishing off her last gift, which was a pair of earrings from her mother and father, Ginny noticed something small lying almost under her bed. She picked it up, and found that it was a small box. It did not say whom it was from on the front, so she opened it up. Inside, was a gorgeous golden heart locket, with a few diamonds encrusted on its front. She opened it to see that inside, there was an engraving. It read: Open your heart to me. Ginny read it over, and her mouth hung open a bit.

The locket was beautiful. But who was it from? It couldn’t have been from Seamus; he had obviously spent a lot on the bracelet, and he would’ve put his name on it. But who else? Ginny’s heart leaped as a name entered her mind. Harry. It had to be. He said he had gotten Bridget a locket, maybe he was hinting that it was really for Ginny. If it was from Harry, though, why hadn’t he signed his name? He probably wants it to be secret, she thought, but then bit her lip. What if it wasn’t from Harry?

She tried to think of any other person who would send her something so extravagant, but only Harry came to mind. It had to be him. So, she put the locket on, and decided to see if he would say anything about it when he saw he wearing it.

Ginny walked to the common room, where Ron and Harry were already seated. She didn’t even get a thank you from Ron as she took her seat in front of the boys, but rather a “Who gave you that thing? Seamus?”

“Your welcome for the gift, Ron, and no, it’s not from Seamus. Actually, I don’t know who it’s from,” Ginny explained, her eyes flashing to Harry.

“Are you sure it’s yours, then?” Ron asked, raising his eyebrows.

“I’m sure. My name was on the box.”

“Let me take a look at that,” said Harry, coming closer to her. Ginny pursed her lips. “Wow. Are they diamonds? That’s some necklace, Gin, whoever got it for you must really like you a lot,” he added with a smile.

“Thanks,” Ginny replied, almost breathlessly. Was that a confirmation that it was him who had given it to her? He hasn’t directly said it’s from him because Ron’s here, Ginny thought.

The rest of Christmas Day was spent around the castle, and having snowball fights in the snow, then eating a tremendous Christmas feast, even though there were so few of them. At the very end of the day, Ginny, Harry, and Ron sat in the common room, tired from the excitement of Christmas.

“Today was good,” Ron thought aloud, and Ginny and Harry murmured their agreement. “But I’m tired. I think I’m going to turn in. G’night,” he said, yawning widely after. Ron went to bed, leaving Ginny and Harry alone in the common room together.

Harry left his spot on the couch, and sat next to Ginny on their chair in front of the fire.

“Did you have a good Christmas?” he asked her quietly.

“Yeah, I did,” Ginny responded lightly.

“That really is some necklace,” Harry reiterated from earlier.

Ginny nodded. “Yes, it really is.”

“Have you found out who’s given it to you yet?”

“No, I haven’t. Do you know of anyone?”

Harry looked at her and smiled. “No, I don’t think I do.”

“Oh. Well, then, I think I’m going to get to bed.”

“Right, me too.” Harry responded. They both got up, and Ginny suddenly had a very strong urge to kiss him good night. She stopped abruptly, though, realizing that as much as she wanted to, she couldn’t. And the look in Harry’s eyes told her that he was feeling the same.
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