A/N:
Written for Mia, musefan929. It will be a short multi-chapter about ten chapters and an epilogue.
The prologue is here.
Hope you like it!
Read and Review everyone!
Ten Days of Christmas
Summary: Christmas without danger dangling over your head. Ginny has a great plan on her mind. All-Girls Trip! But their luck plays irony and the boys end up in the same place as them. And they do it all: Camp-fires, music, dances, mistletoes, kisses, tears and love in these ten days of Christmas.
Prologue:
The Gryffindor Common room was silent and deserted that night, only two weeks were left for Christmas holidays and that meant there were zealous preparations going on for mid-terms.
It was almost mid-night and everyone except a bushy-haired brunette and her red-headed friend had succumbed to sleep.
There was distinct sound of scratching of quill on a parchment and crackling of wood from the fireplace.
Ginny Weasley was not one of the people who devoured silence. She liked it once in a while for a short time. But it always gave her an empty, dreadful sort of feeling when her surroundings became eerily silent.
"Come on, Hermione!" Ginny exclaimed, with a perfect, well practiced pout.
"That pout will work on Harry, not me, Ginevra." Hermione said, primly as she hid behind her book, again. Ginny visibly cringed at the use of her full name. She hated that name. It sounded old.
Hermione wiggled as Ginny nudged her on her waist. She was ticklish, let's not make a big deal out of it, okay. Well, that is what Hermione believed at least. Ginny, on the other hand, had other plans and tickled her.
"Gin- Ginny...! Stop!" Hermione said, between bouts of giggles and gasps of air.
"This is our first Christmas without Voldemort or any sort of danger." Ginny said seriously, "Let's just enjoy this one, okay?"
"Fine..." Hermione agreed, "What do you have up your sleeve?" She asked at Ginny's not so innocent smirk.
"Well, I was thinking along the lines of holiday abroad, Mum and Dad are going to Romania and Bill and Fleur are visiting Delacours'. Mum is not ready to leave the whole house on us. So we have two options stay in Hogwarts or go to some holiday. As we all are technically adults, Dad has agreed and will convince Mum." Ginny rambled.
"You seem like you have been planning this for a while." Hermione stated narrowing her brown eyes at her red-haired friend.
"Yeah... sort of." Ginny admitted, running her hand through her long red tresses.
"So?" Hermione asked.
"Umm... I am thinking of Australia." Ginny said, looking a bit guilty.
Hermione raised an eyebrow at her. Australia was a sore topic. After the war, she had found her parents. They had been angry and hurt, initially. But then they understood her reasoning and point of view and forgave her. But they were still not ready to come back to England. Australia's weather suited them well. Hermione decided to come back to England to her friends, adopted family and magical school.
She and her parents exchanged letters regularly and were almost back to normalcy. Almost.
"You know when we visited them before Hogwarts, your parents said Christmases there are during summer and they have managed to get us reservations in Kosciuszko National Park in a Creel Lodge. It turns out to be really cheap if we all contribute." Ginny explained, with elaborate hand actions.
"We all?" Hermione asked, "You know that things are still awkward between me and Ron, right? I was avoiding Christmas at the Burrow for the same reason."
Hermione and Ron, best friends for seven years had delved into the romantic part of the relationship, which had not turned out to be the best of the plans. The break-up was mutual, or that is what Hermione believed. But there was a distinct awkwardness around them.
"Do you think I am stupid, Granger?" Ginny asked, sneering at her in a scarily accurate impression of Severus Snape. "I figured things will be awkward if we invite the boys, not just you and Ron but Luna and Neville, too. Not to mention me and Harry."
Ginny and Harry got back together as soon as the war ended, pretty much like Neville and Luna and Hermione and Ron. But they soon realized that the spark was missing and Harry on the other hand was not as ready for a relationship as he assumed himself to be. Again, the break-up had been mutual but the thin air of awkwardness hung around them.
The friends were able to converse with each other in Hogwarts but what a trip alone and together will bring was something they did not imagine.
There could be two outcomes, either their awkwardness would be removed and they will be better friends or the trip would be ruined with the awkwardness.
"Oh, yeah..." Hermione nodded, "So it will be an all-girls trip?" She asked.
"That is what I am planning, Hermione." Ginny said.
"So who is coming?" Hermione asked.
"See, you, me, Luna, Susan and Hannah."
"Susan and Hannah?" Hermione had known the two Hufflepuff girls through D.A. but had not been close to them.
"Yeah, the two of them helped me a lot during the time you three weren't at Hogwarts last year. They were right behind me, Neville and Luna in every sort of decisions. Susan had been subdued since before the war and Hannah just needs a change of scenery." Ginny explained, smiling fondly.
"I am sure I will like them when I get to know them." Hermione smiled in support of her friend.
"I assure you, you will." Ginny smiled.
"So, what is the plan? In detail please." Hermione requested.
"It is pretty simple really. Thanks to your parents. We will portkey from here to Australia, your parents' place, then hire a car and drive to the National Park. Parking space and everything is available there." Ginny said. "Obviously, you will drive." She added at the curious look from the brunette. Hermione refrained herself from asking how did she know that she could drive and moreover, how in the world did she get so acquainted with the Muggle culture and technologies.
"Your parents booked ten days for us." She continued, excitedly, "And there is this Christmas Dance that will take place on Christmas' Eve. And the New Years' Party, of course. So we leave on 22nd and technically should leave on 1st but as this is holiday season we will get two extra days and we can leave on 3rd of January."
"Ginny, how do you know all of this?" Hermione asked flabbergasted.
"I have my ways..." Ginny winked.
(1029: Word Count)