For the Fanfiction Tournament- December

And for Hogwarts Games- Medley- Backstroke (no romance)

It was the night before Christmas, and all through the Burrow, not a creature was stirring…except for Ginny Weasley. It was three o'clock in the morning, and there were still several hours before the rest of the family would wake up to open presents, but she couldn't contain her curiosity any longer. She just couldn't help herself. And really, what six year old could?

She did her best to open her bedroom door as silently as possible which was not very easy. The Burrow was the kind of house that creaked with every single movement, and her heart pounded when she took one step out into the hallway and caused the floorboards to rattle. She wondered if she ought to give up while she was ahead before her mother woke up and scolded her. But the temptation of presents beneath the tree was too much for her to resist. And so after a few seconds of inner conflict, she continued boldly forward down the hallway toward the stairs. She gripped hard onto the railing so that she could put the tiniest bit of weight on each step, and in such a way was able to reach the bottom almost noiselessly.

Rather proud of this feat, she purposefully strode into the living room to find the Christmas tree lit up and illuminating an enormous pile of gifts. In truth, the pile wasn't as enormous as it appeared to Ginny; the Weasleys were not wealthy, and with seven children, Molly and Arthur had come close to despairing that they would be able to provide their family a proper Christmas. But to the youngest child it didn't matter, nor did she take into account that not all of these presents were for her. She stood in awe of the sight, unsure of how she should proceed. Which box should she inspect first? Could she get away with peeking?

And as soon as she had chosen the largest of the bunch that was sitting to the left of the tree, she found that upon approaching the pile, something had gone terribly wrong. The silence that had lain over the Burrow was disturbed by a loud, ear-piercing shriek. The house shook on its foundation, and a very frightened Ginny ran to the couch and shoved her head beneath a pillow to block out the noise.

She was too young to remember the Great Christmas Fiasco of 1983 in which Fred and George succeeded in sneaking downstairs and opening every single gift, as well as making a huge mess in the process. Therefore, she hadn't realized that since then, Molly and Arthur had taken drastic measures to ensure such an occurrence would not happen again in the form of a Caterwauling Charm placed around the Christmas tree.

The noise suddenly stopped, and Ginny poked her head out from beneath the pillow to see the rest of the Weasleys assembled in the living room. The older boys rubbed their eyes, not fully awake to comprehend what was happening. Percy in particular looked very unhappy about being woken up for something that wasn't an emergency. The twins and Ron, however, were longingly eying the pile of gifts, just as Ginny had been.

But Ginny wasn't concerned with her brothers. Molly and Arthur stood at the front of the group, and she was relieved to see that neither of them appeared angry so much as they did amused. Molly even smiled and sat down to hold her daughter close. "Were you frightened, dear? Poor thing."

Arthur grinned. "At least we know the charm works, now."

"Yes, that was an excellent idea, dear. Though it did wake up the whole family. Sorry, boys," Molly chuckled.

"Can we open presents?!" The twins immediately turned to their father, who sighed and looked at the clock in the corner, then at his wife.

"It is Christmas," he reasoned. "And we're all awake now. What do you think?"

Molly was shaking her head, and they both knew they ought to make the children wait until morning. But then she stopped and looked down at Ginny who was giving her a pleading look that couldn't be denied. And judging from the way the boys were beginning to chatter excitedly, it was clear that even if they were forced to wait, no one was going to be getting any more sleep that night. And Arthur had a point; it was Christmas.

"Might as well," she relented.

"Yes!" Arthur, Bill and Charlie, helped the boys sort through the pile of gifts.

Meanwhile, Molly gave Ginny an extra hard squeeze before releasing her. "Merry Christmas, Ginny."

"Merry Christmas, mum."