Author's Note: This is a bit of slightly belated Christmas fluff for everyone's enjoyment. Happy belated Christmas!
I gripped my champagne flute a bit more tightly; I hate Ministry parties. No matter what the excuse is, they're simply a chance for the bigwigs of the magical government to get together without having to spend their own money. Those of us who just hold typical jobs - the secretaries, the new Aurors, the Department of Magical Games and Sports employees - are wholly lost. The annual Christmas Eve dinner dance is my least favourite, however.
So I wandered slowly, hoping to find someone that I knew. I'd come with Ron and Hermione - she's an Unspeakable now, hoping to get a job in the Experimental Charms and Spells department, and he's playing for Puddlemere United. With them the way they've been lately, I don't want to spend any more time with them than I have to. Honestly, they can't keep their hands off each other. It's disgusting.
I've seen a few fellow Aurors, but most of them have dates. I tried asking Dean - it would be something like our fifth attempt at being a couple - but he was busy with god knows what. Maybe he's finally found someone to settle down with? There's been a few single guys offering me more champagne or their company, but none have been anything special.
Not that any of my dates have been anything special; at least, not since Harry left me. The war's been over for almost two years now, Voldemort's finally gone, and Harry still hasn't come up to me. I've seen him a few times, over at the Burrow for dinner or in the halls of the Ministry. But lately, it seems as if he's dropped out of my life. I've dated a couple men, but none of them lasted past the third date.
Grabbing another glass from a passing waiter, I took a sip. I had no intentions of becoming drunk tonight - my new dress robes had cost entirely too much for me to risk puking on them. Wending my way through the various gathered Ministry officials and diplomats, I found a few tables set near the back of the room, far from the dance floor.
Sitting down, I rested my forehead on my hand. This was too depressing. I should've tried harder to get Dean to come with me - at least we could've had a few drinks and danced a bit like old times.
But Dean wasn't here. Neither was Harry. So I made up my mind to stay for another hour, at which point, I could leave without having to endure too many awkward questions from my co-workers.
Suddenly, a voice broke my daze. "Do you mind if I sit here?" It was soft, deeper than I remembered, but there was no doubt. I remembered that voice.
Lifting my head, I replied, "Of course, Harry. You don't have to ask, you know."
"I-I… Never mind," he said hurriedly. "I'll just go sit at that empty table over there." He gestured vaguely to the left.
"No, Harry, sit. I haven't talked to you in ages."
"I know, and I'm sorry, Gin. You know I didn't mean it."
"How do I know anything, Harry, if you don't tell me?" My voice was raised slightly. That voice, the man behind it, still held power over me, and now he was using it against me. I desperately wanted to talk to him, but he was shutting me out again. Damn.
"I-I'm… Ginny, I'm sorry. You have no idea how sorry I am. But I really do want to go sit over there alone."
"No, Harry! What did you do, that you're so sorry? I miss you, I really do. I'm not asking for you to bare your soul; just for an idea of why you haven't talked to me in two years!"
He rubbed a hand across his face. "Ginny, look. I fought a war for two years. When I came back, I was, I don't know - broken. Not physically - at least not much - but I just couldn't deal with anything. There were days that I didn't get out of bed, I was so depressed."
The party buzzed on around us, Ministry employees and their dates dancing and talking and laughing and indulging in the free champagne and wine.
"You really think that any of that would have mattered to me? Harry, you know I would've been there for you. And you're here, so you're--" I didn't want to say 'normal'.
He laughed bitterly. "Yeah, Ginny, I'm a bit more normal." Damn him for anticipating everything that I didn't say. "I can get out of bed most days now, and I've even got a job." In response to my raised eyebrows, he continued. "Well, I start officially next season, but I'm the new Seeker for the Magpies."
I couldn't help it; I jumped up and hugged him. "Harry, that's amazing! I can't believe it hasn't been in the papers, though."
He stiffened at my touch, but replied, "I know. I asked them to keep it quiet until a few weeks before my first game." He freed himself from my hug, shifting a few inches back as he did so.
"Well. I'm an Auror."
"I know," he responded again. That didn't - couldn't - surprise me. He was Harry; of course he knew. He probably knew the address of my flat, probably knew who my last date was with.
"Why? If you don't want anything to do with me anymore, Harry, why do you know that about me?"
He shook his head. "Ginny, I-I thought…" He faded off.
"What? Harry, what?"
"Ginny, I only thought… damn, I was wrong, wasn't I? How stupid, not to see this? I thought that you didn't want to see me. You never… I thought that you didn't love me anymore, didn't want me back."
"No! Oh, Harry, Merlin, no! Mum just said that Ron said that you wanted to be alone while you were - healing, I guess. So I left you alone, hoping that you'd come around to see me when you were ready. You never did, and I never thought to push this issue." I was almost crying now.
"I'm so, so sorry, Ginny." He pulled me into his arms, probably wrinkling my new dress robes. But I didn't care, because maybe we could start making things right again. As we pulled apart, I glanced at the clock on the wall.
11.11pm - the magical time, when wishes come true. Harry, come back to me, I thought. At this moment, there was nothing more that I could wish for. It would be the perfect Christmas present, the perfect end to a less-than-perfect night. After all, wasn't Harry what I had been wishing for since I was a little girl?
The clock hand moved on to 11.12, the moment of wishing gone. "C'mon, Harry, let's dance!" I called, pulling him towards the dance floor. "I haven't danced all night."
The band wasn't stellar; some of their slow songs were clumsy and some of the fast numbers lost track of the beat. But all that mattered was that I was in Harry's arms, breathing in his scent and feeling his nose buried in my hair. I didn't believe that everything would go perfectly for us now - with the two of us who we were, there were bound to be problems somewhere along the line. For now, though, I revelled in the fact that we were together.
After dancing our way through several songs, Harry whispered in my ear, "C'mon, Gin, let's go. We've stayed here long enough to be polite, and no one will miss us."
"Mmm…" I replied; definitely not the most intelligent thing I'd said all night. But I followed him off the dance floor and out of the Ministry. As we stepped out, I looked around in amazement. In the four hours that I'd been inside, it had snowed.
"Look, Harry! We'll have a white Christmas now." I pulled him after me, running a block down the street. He picked me up and spun me around.
"Yes!" he laughed. "D'you want to come to my flat and make hot cocoa?"
It was amazing, really, to have my Harry back. The Harry I remembered from those glorious months of my fifth year, the Harry that had held a place in my heart since I was old enough to know who he was. I just smiled and caught his hand in mine. With a slight pop, we Apparated away.
-o-o-o-o-
Harry's flat was small; a living room, kitchen, and bedroom made up the entire space. His stuff was strewn all over the small space, from old school books and Hedwig's owl treats to various articles of clothing and broom maintenance items. His Firebolt itself was lying on the sofa, an open can of polish nearby, with a nearly empty packet of crisps next to it. My fingers itched to tidy things up a bit, but at the same time, I couldn't help but smile at the Harry-ness of it all.
He even had a small Christmas tree in the corner. Fairy lights gave off a beautiful glow; the satiny sheen of the red ribbon bows that he'd tied to every branch looked almost liquid in their light.
Suddenly, I turned around, and there he was, leaning in the doorframe behind me. In his hands were two steaming mugs of hot cocoa. I smiled my thanks as he handed one of them to me and took a sip of his own. Walking over to the window, I looked out longingly at the snow; it was still falling, cloaking London in white.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he whispered in my ear.
"I know." I tasted my hot cocoa; it was perfect. "Mmm, so good. Thank you, Harry. I hate Ministry functions."
"You're welcome, Gin." Was it just me, or was that a slight blush colouring his cheeks? "I wonder where Ron and Hermione are."
I laughed. "I don't think you want to know. Trust me. Those two are inseparable lately - joined at the lips, really."
He grinned in response. "Sorry I asked. So how have things been with you?"
"Alright. I missed you. I tried to keep busy and be happy, but Harry… it wasn't the same. Merlin, I missed you so much."
"Stop, Gin, please." He bit his lower lip, ran one hand through his hair. "I've missed you too."
I leaned into him, suddenly desperate for some kind of contact. "So does this mean..?"
"I have no idea, Ginny. What do you want it to mean?"
I sighed, contemplating the words before I said something stupid. "I want it to mean that we spend every Christmas together for the rest of our lives." Bugger it all, I'd gone and said something stupid anyways. "I mean - Harry, I don't know what I mean. I just want you."
An impish grin came over his face, replacing the serious look of a moment before. "What, you mean here? On the floor? Gin, that would be a bit uncomfortable considering the, erm, state of my floor."
"No, you dolt! Not like that!" I punched him lightly on the arm. "I just… maybe this?"
I stood on my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his. Reaching behind me, I set my cocoa mug on the windowsill. My hands now free, I ran my fingers through his hair, flicking my tongue across his lower lip. He groaned slightly as our tongues met.
It was amazing how our bodies remembered what our minds had seemingly forgotten. He ran a finger down the back of my neck, causing me to shiver. I'd forgotten how I loved it when he did that.
As we pulled apart, I wrapped my arms around him. "I hope you didn't mind," I whispered into his chest.
He rested his chin on the top of my head. "Ginny, that's the best thing that's happened to me in ages." After a brief pause, he added, "Happy Christmas, Gin."
Lifting my head, I saw, illuminated in glowing green, that it was 12:01am. "Happy Christmas, Harry."