Chapter 1

'I want those 600 words by Monday's lesson please,' McGonagall's voice rang over the class of seventh years.

There was an audible groan as they piled out of the classroom; relieved that the week was over, but daunted by the heap of essays and practice that awaited them in the next two days.

Harry sighed as he walked out, grabbing the hand of his girlfriend and heading back towards Gryffindor Tower. Ron and Hermione followed behind, with equal looks of dread and boredom on their faces.

Being a seventh year really was not all it was cracked up to be.

'Spleenwart,' Harry said to the Fat Lady before climbing into the common room and heading up to his dormitory to dump his bag.

The four of them headed down to dinner, not only very hungry after the long afternoon, but also keen to put off the work that needed to be done.

Harry, Ginny and Hermione stared at Ron with half-exasperated, half-amused looks on their faces. Here they were, nearly an hour after they had first sat down and Ron was still eating. And looked like he wasn't planning on stopping very soon.

Hermione got up, mumbling about prefect duties and watching out for the first years who were still in pretty high spirits from Christmas. Harry and Ginny got up soon after, telling Ron they had work to do and disappearing out the doors of the Great Hall. Dean and Neville had chosen that moment to appear, so Ron had company.

They took the long way back to Gryffindor Tower, along the deserted corridors of the castle.

Harry pushed Ginny up against a wall and crushed his lips to hers, kissing her passionately and heatedly, yet still lovingly. She kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer. She let his hands drift from her waist to her hips and ever so slightly up under her shirt.

She felt something tickling the top of her head and broke away from the kiss to look up: mistletoe had grown swiftly on top of the entwined pair - no-one had been bothered to remove the festive charms that had been cast over the castle for the Christmas period.

Harry laughed softly and nuzzled into Ginny's neck, lightly kissing all her sensative spots.

'I love you,' he whispered in her ear, his breath tickling her.

She moaned in response and brought his head back up to hers to kiss him with more passion than before. She pulled him to her, closer and closer and he held her tighter still, kissing her more desperately then before. His hands crept further up her shirt, undoing buttons as they went. She meanwhile had been working down his shirt, tearing the buttons off.

They broke apart abruptly, panting heavily, when they felt something on the floor between their legs and looked down simultaneously. Mrs Norris. She turned then and walked away down the hallway and round the corner.

'Ginny,' he whispered.

'Yeah?'

'Let's go!'

He grabbed her hand and dragged her back to the common room, both laughing as they went and trying desperately to fix their shirts again.

They tumbled through the portrait hole and collapsed onto the sofa opposite Ron and Hermione, still giggling slightly but joining in their conversation anyway, acting as if nothing had happened.

Harry stifled a yawn and lay back against the sofa, wrapping his arms around Ginny.

He took little notice of what was being said after that, and took no part in their conversation. He was enjoying the heat from the fire, and the feel of Ginny in his arms. He closed his eyes, falling asleep in no time, and forgetting altogether the pile of work he had to do.

'That's sooooo cool!'

'Wow!'

'It's so pretty.'

'I don't believe it!'

'EEEEEE!'

He was awoken a little later by the gasps and exclamations of excitement given by the first, and a few of the second, years.

It was the same every year. They would get back to school after Christmas, and a week or so later it was sure to snow. The younger ones, who were not used to it, would then crowd around the windows, jumping up and down with excitement and pleading to be let outside at all hours of the day and night.

For about a week, after which they would realise it was not going to stop for a good while yet and could actually be very annoying and just make you cold and wet, whether you wanted it or not.

But there you go.

And it was always a bit ceremonial, Harry thought, the first snow settling around Hogwarts.

So, now thoroughly awoken from his slumber, he got up to join the throng surrounding the windows of Gryffindor Tower and looked out.

It was very pretty, he had to admit.

He heard Ginny sigh beside him as she too gazed out.

The stark white snow was falling softly, pale and gorgeous against the dark blue and almost cloudless sky. The moon, nearly full, shone huge and bright to their right, a great contrast to the dark night sky. It glistened off the snow already settled cold and crisp on the ground. Then, in the background, the trees of the Forbidden Forest mere silhouettes against the already dark sky. It truly was a beautiful night, a magical one ...

And that was just standing inside looking out. Imagine being out there ... part of the magic ... of the beauty ... of the night ...

Harry turned to face Ginny beside him. 'Do you want to go out?'

She, like him and many of the others standing around, had been completely entranced by the scene outside the window and he had startled her with his question.

'Uh, sure, I'd love to' she said, facing him and snapping back to reality, 'but, well, actually, you've seen the pile of stuff we've got to do, so, we'd really better get to it now.'

She turned from the window and started to pull Harry away too.

'Please,' he said.

Ginny turned back to face him; he really wanted to go out, and she could see it too ... the beauty ... the peace of the world that night.

'Well ... OK, Harry.'

A grin spread across his face and he turned to run up the stairs to his dormitory.

He grabbed numerous wooly jumpers and hats and scarfs and gloves, as well as his Winter cloak and another Summery one that he rarely wore (just to protect the rest of his clothes), and his invisibility cloak.

He pulled the lot on as he ran down the stairs and met Ginny at the bottom, covered just as he was in layers and layers of clothes and ready to brace the cold January night.

With equally big smiles on their faces, they linked their hands and climbed out of the common room, telling Ron and Hermione where they were going and keeping an eye out for first years that might for a moment have glanced away from the window. But all was well, and they continued hand in hand down the stairs, along the corridors and out of the front doors, into the snow.