Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
The close of another year was coming fast upon Harry. The last month of the year had been a long one for him. He and Ginny had an argument at the end of November over something that seemed so silly now. In anger, he said some hurtful words to Ginny that he regretted as soon as they came out of his mouth. He couldn't remember exactly what she said, but remembered something about going back to the Burrow. The days seemed to pass by before his eyes, but the nights were so long without Ginny lying next to him in bed.
The day before Christmas, Harry had stopped by St. Mungo's (where Ginny now worked as a Healer) to ask for forgiveness. He hated the way that hospitals tended to smell in the winter; it was comparable to the smell of death. The upcoming holidays were depressing around the hospital as family members gathered to see their sick loved ones as much as they could. He could always tell which family members were visiting terminally ill patients; there was a certain air about them. He didn't know if it was longing, fear, hope, or a mixture of all three. Even though he had lost people he loved, he couldn't imagine losing them so near Christmas.
Harry searched the corridors of the first floor, where Ginny worked in the same ward her father was kept in after Voldemort's snake bit him in Harry's fifth year. It was the last time Harry had been in that particular ward around Christmas. He hoped this year he didn't have to see a victim of a werewolf bite. It reminded him too much of his deceased friend, Remus Lupin. Remus had taken it upon himself the console the patient in the ward with Mr. Weasley when they visited him for Christmas. Harry shook his head, wanting to focus on finding Ginny instead of mourning lost friends.
He saw Ginny coming down the hall and was in awe of how the light played off her hair. He had forgotten how beautiful she was to him. She was talking with Healer Pye, the same Healer who had attended to Mr. Weasley when he was a patient there.
"Harry, what are you doing here?" Ginny asked when she saw Harry.
"I wanted to stop by to apologize. Hermione invited me over to bring in the new year so I'm going to be in Brighton. If you think you can make it, I'd like for you to come," Harry said quietly.
Ginny pursed her lips. "I'll have to think about it, Harry. I'll owl you later, okay?"
Harry nodded, and left to get ready to spend Christmas Eve with his godson, Teddy Lupin. He remembered how lonely it was to spend Christmas without his parents or godfather around and wanted to Teddy to have at least one of those around.
The next several days flew by and it was already December 31st. Harry apparated to Hermione's house in Brighton a few hours after midnight. He didn't want to ruin the festivities before hand with his sour mood. He knocked on Hermione's door and was greeted by Neville Longbottom.
"Hermione, Harry's here," Neville called out.
Hermione came rushing out of the kitchen to embrace Harry. "Where's Ginny?" she asked with a puzzled look on her face.
"We had a fight about a month ago and she went back to the Burrow. I saw her Christmas Eve and invited her along, but she never owled me back with an answer," Harry said with a slight frown on his face.
"Oh well everyone else is in the living room. We were just discussing the last year, come on." Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and led him to the living room where all her other guests were sitting in a circle laughing about the funny stories that had happened the last year.
"So what happened with Ginny, Harry?" Hermione asked softly after she settled down on the floor.
"We got into a fight. I can't even remember why anymore. I was so stupid, Hermione. I should have appreciated her more. I miss her so much," Harry whispered with tears in his eyes.
Hermione wrapped her arms around her friend. She hadn't seen him this upset for a couple years now.
"Harry, you are more than welcomed to stay here for a couple days if you want," Hermione said with a comforting smile.
"Thanks for the offer, but I think I'm just going to head to the beach and then go home. I don't want to rain on anyone's parade. Besides, it has been awhile since I saw the ocean," Harry said, giving his best friend a hug.
Hermione nodded. "Want me to go with you?"
Harry shook his head. "I don't want to bring you down with me Hermione. You deserve to spend the first day of the new year happy."
Harry turned back to the front door and made his way down to the beach. He walked across the sand and sat down close to the shoreline. He sat down and watched the waves crash on the shore. He hadn't been there for more than fifteen minutes when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Hi Harry," said the owner of the hand. "I went by the flat to see if you were home yet. I flooed Hermione to see if you were still at her house after I let myself into the flat and saw you weren't home. She said that you had walked down to the beach, so I apparated here to say I forgive you." Ginny bent down and kissed the top of Harry's head.
Harry stood up and hugged Ginny. Her bent down to kiss her, glad his long December was finally over with.
AN: And there ends this one shot. I was listening to "Long December" by the Counting Crows and wanted to write an end of the year type story. Like always, I thank you for taking the time to read it. Title of story comes from the song.