FIRST CHRISTMAS

by monkeymouse

rated: R (f/f Cho/Ginny)

xxx

The sun had been up for exactly one hour when Cho leaned over and started gently sucking on Ginny's earlobe. Even though she was mostly asleep, Ginny's hips reacted to the stimulation, twisting and grinding, begging for contact and release.

Cho let go of the earlobe and backed off, watching Ginny writhe sensuously, almost shamelessly, before settling back into sleep. Cho lay watching her, considering all the twists and turns her life had taken; the ups and downs of just the past year would be the stuff of literature.

But Cho Chang didn't feel like being alone with her thoughts anymore. It was Christmas Day; a time for giving and receiving. And she and Ginny would be doing a great deal of both before the Christmas Feast, if she had anything to say about it.

What to do next? There were so many possibilities… Cho shifted in the bed until she was sitting at the foot. She ran a finger gently along the sole of Ginny's foot, which flinched reflexively. After a minute, Cho gently lifted the foot and placed it on her mons veneris. Then she began rubbing herself with it in slow, gentle circles.

As much as she loved looking at Ginny's nude sleeping form, Cho was losing touch with all reality except Ginny's foot and the pleasures it was bringing her. She increased the speed and pressure of the rubbing, her head thrown back, her eyes shut, unaware of anything but the throbbing at the nexus of her being…

"Got an early start, eh?"

Cho looked up to see Ginny Weasley, wide awake, smiling, looking back at Cho. "The least you could do is share." She reached for one of Cho's feet, brought it up to her lower lips, and thrust it into the warmth and wetness in a single motion.

There were no words for the next few minutes as the girls rode to rapture on each other's feet. Pushing, pulling, sweating and straining, they brought themselves–and each other–to a shuddering, powerful climax. It was with what felt like the last of her strength that Cho crawled back up to the head of the bed, where her mouth gratefully devoured Ginny's.

"Happy Christmas, Ginny," she whispered.

"Mmmm, very happy," Ginny whispered back.

They spent a few more minutes simply laying in each other's arms. This was a luxury at Hogwarts. Living in two different Houses meant that they had to find each other at odd times and in odd places. Since their first hasty encounter–on the Hogwarts Express returning to school–they had hastily grabbed for pleasure in the library, in the Owlery, in a couple of deserted classrooms, in the Prefects' Bathroom, in the greenhouses and under the bleachers of the Quidditch stadium. This was their first chance to sleep together–and they even managed to sleep, for a couple of hours.

They'd agreed to go to Cho's dormitory in Ravenclaw House because all her suitemates had gone home for Christmas. One other Gryffindor Fourth-Year girl, Elbertina Gorodet, had stayed behind for the holidays, and even if she hadn't, if Cho were found in Gryffindor there would certainly be talk. Although it would probably be the wrong kind of talk.

After the finish of the Tri-Wizard Tournament earlier that year, some were afraid that Cho wouldn't come back to Hogwarts at all, or else she would come back from summer a total wreck, useless in studies and at Quidditch. Instead, she eagerly threw herself into both, showing that she had more than gotten over the death of Cedric Diggory. The rumour was that she'd gotten over Cedric by beginning a torrid love affair with Harry Potter.

Harry's only comment: "I wish."

Now that their breathing and heartbeats had returned to normal, Cho and Ginny looked into each other's eyes. "How long have you been up?" Cho asked.

"Since ten minutes before you started using my earlobe for a chew-toy."

"You little sneak! And you pretended to be sleeping through all that–why didn't you say something?"

"Believe me, I couldn't have pretended two more minutes. You knew just when to quit."

"And you know so much about me; seems like it, anyway. We're perfect together."

"I wish I could wrap myself up and give me to you for Christmas, but then you'd probably just keep me in a bookcase and only bring me out on special occasions."

"No chance of that," Cho laughed. "I'd keep you in this bed all night, and keep you in my pocket all day, and never let you go."

"That's probably not a good idea, so I got you something more practical." Ginny slid out of bed, crouched by her bookbag and started rummaging through it. Cho, watching the naked red-haired girl, realized that Ginny wasn't a beauty as other people might define it, but she was beautiful to Cho because she was Ginny.

After a minute, Ginny found what she was looking for. She skipped back to bed and handed a brightly (and messily) wrapped package to Cho. "I made it myself."

As Cho found out when she opened the package, Ginny was exactly right. Ginny, who came from a family with more children than resources, had taken parchment and ink and cardboard and made a book for Cho. Each page contained, in Ginny's best calligraphy, some lines on love. One page had the Muggle Elizabeth Browning's poem "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways"; another had wizard poet Crinkulus and his famous verses "To My Bewitching Evangia". There were verses from the Bible, lyrics from a song by the Weird Sisters, and, at the end of the book, what seemed to be a blank page–until Cho touched it, and a picture of Cho and Ginny together, taken on their last Hogsmeade trip, appeared.

Cho bit her lip. She was touched by all the thought and labour that must have gone into making this gift.

"You like it, don't you?" Ginny asked anxiously.

"I love it," Cho replied, giving Ginny a peck on the cheek, "and I love you. Makes my gift seem shabby, is all. All I did was go out and buy it."

She reached under her bed and drew out a small box, which she handed to Ginny. Ginny opened the box, and her eyes went as wide as a house-elf's. "You didn't have to do this for me!"

"Yes I did. Now, put it on."

Out of the box Ginny drew a thin gold chain, from which hung a pendant: a jade carving of the Chinese symbol for "happiness", repeated. Ginny, wearing only the pendant, stood before Cho. "How does it look?"

"Perfect," Cho said, getting out of bed, wrapping her arms around Ginny and kissing her with all the love she felt.

"Mmmm," Ginny smiled, breaking the kiss. "Are you trying to start something again?"

Cho looked at the clock on her bedside table. "Much as I'd love to," she sighed, "we'll have to put in an appearance soon, or they'll send elves out looking for us."

The girls began gathering their clothes and robes. "I wish we didn't have to sneak about," Ginny complained.

"Well, we have to, and there's the end of it."

"I want to be able to tell SOMEBODY!"

"I know the feeling. There are one or two girls here I would trust, but that's it. And there's no way I could ever tell my mother!"

"Same here!" Ginny laughed. "I can't imagine how she'd take the news. She's all about marriage and kids; lots of kids."

"Oh, I can imagine my mother. She'd go on about tradition, about continuing the family, about the way things have been done for centuries. And, of course, I'm the only one who can give my mother grandchildren."

"Well, at least there I have an excuse," Ginny laughed again. "Although, with six brothers, you'd think one of them would be shopping around in that area. My brother Percy's got a girl, but that's all. Bill has his work in Egypt and Charlie has his dragons. Ron and the twins are still here, of course."

"Still, you can't exactly walk up to yours and say, 'Mummy, meet my girlfriend', can you?"

"Wish I could."

"Maybe next Christmas."

"You think so, Cho?"

"I just know that, at some point, I want to take you to our shop in Diagon Alley. I want you to meet my folks. Even if I just tell them you're a friend."

"That's it," Ginny nodded. "If you were there as a friend, I'm sure mum would practically give you the deed to the Burrow. But I can't tell her we're lovers; she could never handle it."

"Do you think she'd figure it out without your telling her the truth?"

"It's funny; my mum usually knows the truth about everything."

"So does mine. I wonder if that comes with being a mother."

By now they were dressed and presentable. One more brief kiss, and they made their way hand in hand to the Ravenclaw Common Room.

"Speaking of not being able to handle things," Cho said as they walked down the stairs, "we have to be at least a little discreet at the Banquet. I wish I could sit next to you."

"I wish I could sit in your lap."

"I wish I could feed you cranberry sauce off my tongue."

"THAT is NOT being discreet!" Ginny laughed.

"I know. Let's just hold that thought until tonight."

They stepped into the Ravenclaw Common Room. Since the House preferred "those of wit and learning", it was no surprise that there were books. Everywhere. There were bookcases on all the walls, of course, but also piles of old books in the corners, on the tables, next to the overstuffed chairs. The books were in dozens of languages, and some seemed to be hundreds of years old. But they were all handled with respect, even affection.

There was a pile of presents for Cho from family and friends; they had already agreed Cho would open these after the Banquet. However, as they were passing through the Common Room, two owls appeared with parcels. One dropped a large, lightweight bundle at Ginny's feet; the other had a small box in its beak, and stood in front of Cho.

"I think they want us to open them now," Ginny said. She tore through the wrapping as Cho opened the box. There was a note, which Cho read, while Ginny looked at the contents of her package.

"This is funny," Ginny said. "Mum seems to have knitted me a second sweater…" A note fell out of the sweater. Ginny read it, then looked at Cho in amazement.

"What is it, Ginny?"

"This–this is for YOU!" She held up a sweater, knitted in the Ravenclaw colors: blue wool with a silver double-C on the front. She also handed Cho the note from her mother, which read:

"I may not have the size exactly right, but your friend might like this."

"Cho, do you know what this means?"

"That she knows about us."

"She doesn't just know; she APPROVES! She knitted a sweater for Harry just a few months after he started rooming with Ron; she treats him like one of the family. How could she have found out?"

"I don't know. I haven't spoken of you to anyone here, and just one or two people who have gone, like Penny."

"Penny?"

"My best friend when I first came here. Penny Clearwater."

"PENELOPE Clearwater?!"

"She never called herself that until she made Prefect."

"She's practically engaged to my brother Percy!"

"That explains the sweater, then," Cho said. "But it doesn't explain these." Cho held the small box out to Ginny. "They're for you."

Ginny looked in the box. There were two earrings, made of carved jade, each carved into the Double Happiness sign.

"There's a note," Cho went on. "It says, 'I think your friend might like to wear these as well.'"

At this point, Ginny and Cho did the only thing that they could do. They hugged each other, and laughed and laughed.