Merry Christmas
Disclaimer: Honestly, it's called fanfiction for a reason. I DON'T OWN THESE CHARACTERS. That honour goes to J.K. Rowling. Though, if I ask nicely, will she give them to me for Christmas?
Summary: Harry's first Christmas, free of Voldemort, with the family he's made for himself. Merry Christmas!
Harry rolled out of bed and groaned to himself. He ached, but it wasn't as bad as it had been.
It was his first year out, his first "proper" Christmas; there was no Voldemort, no Hogwarts, no mystery for him and his friends to solve. Before that, there had been the Dursleys and nothing particularly Christmas-ey. It was… jarring, to say the least, to not have any of that.
He couldn't decide if he felt happy or sad about it. Eventually he decided on "hollow".
Harry shook himself. He needed to remember that he was still here and so were many of the people he cared about. He still had Ginny. Heck, he still had most of the Weasleys. All of them except for Fred. He didn't have Remus, but he had Teddy. He had Neville and Hermione. Even Luna. He just had to focus on the positive.
For the first time in years, there wasn't some sort of plot to take his life hanging over his head. That in itself was something to celebrate over.
And celebrate, he would. Molly invited him over for the holiday, he recalled. He'd need to get over there, soon.
He quickly showered, dressed, and gathered the presents that lay near the front door. With a last glance around his tiny apartment, Harry disapparated to the Burrow.
.0.0.0.
With a pop, Harry was on the Burrow's front walk, just outside of the gate. Snow swirled around him, and he savoured it. Sure, it snowed in London, but by the time the pedestrians and cars got through with it, it was more like slush than anything. This, however… This was real Christmas snow.
He smiled to himself and attempted to open the gate one-handedly. It was an unfortunate decision on his part not to shrink the presents and put them in his pocket.
Someone laughed and took the presents out of his arm.
"Need a hand there, Harry?" It was Neville, coming up behind him.
Harry grinned at him, and held the gate open, gesturing with an elaborate sweeping bow towards the house. Neville just laughed and walked on through in a pompous manner, twirling an invisible moustache and bowing jauntily back.
As the pair approached the house, Harry took it all in. He could see Molly in the kitchen through the windows, along with a portion of what looked to be enough to feed the entirety of the UN. And their families. Through the window on the other side, a mass of redheads, plus a bushy brown head of hair, could be seen. It sounded as though Ron had gotten into the eggnog already—Harry could hear him belting out carols at the top of his lungs. From the sound of it, though, everyone was just laughing about it and on occasion joining in.
"Harry, y'coming in?" Neville was holding the door open.
Whoops. It would seem that in his musings, Harry had neglected to continue moving.
He dashed inside, the noise and warmth banishing any and all remaining angsty thoughts from his head. It was Christmas after all, and he was with his family at last.
With the resounding cries of "Harry!" and "Neville!" that sprung up, Harry finally understood something important. This was what they had worked for. This was what Fred and Remus and Tonks and Mad-Eye and so many others had died for. This was what he had needed to fill that "hollow" sensation. This was home, family.
"Hey guys," Harry said with a warm grin.
This was Christmas.
AN: You know, I never realised how hard it was to type "Christmas" until now. I keep wanting to leave off the "t" in the midde. Heh. Well, even if a bit late, have a happy Chrissmass! ~Lacey