"Gin, come here a sec!" The voice comes from the inside of the study, and Ginny gets up from her chair with a smile, wondering what could possibly be going on this time.

"Yeah, what's up?" she says, entering after knocking lightly on the doorframe. Harry is sitting at his desk fiddling with some sort of contraption. He turns around and opens his mouth. "I don't –" Then he stops when he registers what Ginny is wearing. His face changes from overtired to confused, and Ginny can't help giggling as he struggles to form words.

"What?" she says innocently. "You wanted something?"

"You're – what – you weren't wearing that earlier, were you?" he finally gets out, managing to shift his eyes from the ruffled silver dress to his wife's amused face.

"You're observant today."

"You were?" Harry looks horrified. Ginny lets him believe that he really overlooked this outfit for a few seconds more before saying "No, honey. I just put it on. Dinner tonight, remember? You do remember?"

"Yeah, I – of course. Just...I haven't seen that one before."

"No, it's new." Ginny adjusts the shoulders a bit before looking back at Harry, who is obviously still confused or dazzled or just way too tired. "C'mon, what are you gaping at? It's not that fancy. Just a silver dress. Ruffles. Look, it's even got long sleeves. Don't you like it?"

"Yeah, of course," Harry says again. "It looks nice," he finally says, smiling back at her. "I like it."

"Well, glad I have your approval," Ginny answers a bit teasingly. "Now what was it you wanted?"

"Oh yeah –" Harry shifts his attention back to the item now laying on his desk. "Do you think this is a good gift for James?"

Ginny sighs inwardly. This is the fifth time Harry has asked for gift approval. She stopped telling him to trust his instincts after the third, when he suggested a very, well, racy Muggle magazine for Percy. (Of course, she's fairly certain that this was an attempt at humor, but she made a mental note to check all of the presents twice before sending them out.) She stoops over the desk to examine the small object. "What is it?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Harry admits, staring at it as well. "The package said it was a new version of Sneakoscope, so I was going to get it because he's so into playing good and bad wizards lately. But I'm not sure about these handles – " he points to a few things on the side of the device – "and it looks, well, a lot different than the ones I'm used to, so I was trying out a few charms on it…" He trails off, sighing. "Now it says it's safe and working and everything but I dunno if it's too complicated?"

Ginny considers the device thoughtfully. "Well, for starters," she says, "I'm sure that James could figure it out if you gave the manual to him; he's rather good with these new technology things, and anyway he probably has a friend or two who has one and could help him out. I think it would be fine. But you know," she added, "I think it would be equally as good, or even better, if you just gave him your old one, Harry. It would probably mean a lot to him, and you're right, the old version is much simpler to use. Besides, when it comes down to it, he's seven, Harry; he's not really going to care what it looks like, he'll care that you're giving him a real Sneakoscope."

"You think?" Harry scratched his head. "Yeah, that's true, I could just give him my old one…But are you sure? Mine isn't, well, it's not exactly the best quality. Sometimes goes haywire for no reason."

"You never know with Sneakoscopes," Ginny said, "and like I said, it doesn't matter to him. Hopefully he won't ever have use for a Sneakoscope anyway so…." She trails off as she thinks about that, and then tries not to think about it, because it's unbearable to think of her children growing up in a world where they would ever need to detect evil, although she knows that it can't be completely avoided. "So, yes, I think it's a brilliant gift, Harry."

"Really?" Her husband looks pleased, and Ginny can't help smiling at his enthusiasm. "Right, then. I'll go get it, and wrap it up – "

"Not so fast, honey," Ginny says, quickly barring him as he tries to slip out of the office. "Dinner, remember? We have to get everything ready. And you, sir, are not about to sit up here fiddling with toys and wrapping paper, not under my watch. You're helping out."

Harry groans and she rolls her eyes. "Come on, Harry. It's our turn to host and I want everything to look nice. Especially since Mum's somehow got it in her head that I never clean anything around here, just because I'm at the office most days…"

"All right, all right," Harry surrenders. "What do you want me to do? Cook anything?" As he says this, he suddenly looks apprehensive, obviously hoping that such a sacred task will be left to his unpracticed hands. "I could, uh, boil water –"

"No, of course not. I just need you to mind the kids while I cook. And straightening up might help. In here, too!" she adds as Harry nods, relieved.

"Why in here? They're not going to be in here!"

"Yeah, but it could use some straightening. Look at all of these papers!"

"Okay, fair. I'll get to it."

"Yes, you will," she answers, giving him a half-stern look. But he meets her gaze rather than getting to work, and she knows she's in trouble. She was never one for keeping straight faces. She holds up the staring contest for about two and a half seconds before she collapses, laughing. Harry joins in, and gives her a kiss square on the lips as she shrieks and tries to bat him away. "Stop it! I've got to get cooking!"

"Oh, and that's such an important thing, you should get going. Why aren't you?" he answers, smirking as he wraps his arms around her. "Come on, Gin, you really should go make that dinner."

Ginny struggles against his arms, and her force is formidable; Harry knows he can't trap her much longer. So he gives her another, longer kiss that she grudgingly returns before sighing and releasing her. "All right then, get to it."

Ginny gives him a playful smack and then ducks out of the office quickly before he can return the favor, taking a moment to straighten her dress before going down to the kitchen.

The Christmas dinner is an important event, and therefore requires all of her concentration and skill. Ginny isn't much of a cook – she's a bit better than Hermione but far worse than either Fleur or her mum – but she goes all out for this, beginning with roasted duck and working on about five side dishes at the same time. She doesn't worry about pudding; Molly insisted that she bring it, as usual. Ginny privately thinks that her mother misses being able to cook for nine people at once, so she always makes a point of asking her to contribute things because she knows that she'll probably spend the whole day preparing and have a distraction from the empty house.

As she fries up some peppered chips, a favorite of George's, she watches Harry in the sitting room; he has somehow coerced the kids to help him in cleaning house. James is putting books back up on the bookshelf, while Albus is very carefully straightening couch kitchens, and Harry is helping little Lily in putting her toys back in the bin. She smiles as she watches her husband – he's a natural with children, of course, and he's completely focused on the three of them. Lily finishes putting her toys away, and Harry gives her a hug and a high-five, saying something enthusiastically about their next task. It's just so adorable that Ginny can't resist. "Harry!" she calls, and he turns around. "Will you come here for a minute, hon, I need you to try these chips and tell me if they're done."

"Yeah, just a sec," he says. He whispers something to Lily, who giggles, and then says "Excellent work, boys, great job" to the other two as he makes his way over to the kitchen. He smiles at Ginny and tries to grab a chip from the pan, but she stops him, seizing his shirt and dragging him forward to kiss him strongly and lovingly. Harry is surprised at first but his lips quickly respond. After about a minute of this, he breaks away and says "What was that for?"

"You're my husband," she says, her eyes bright.

"And?"

"And you're the best husband on this planet."

"Oh," he says with a grin, "of course I am."

"Okay. You can go back to playing with the kids," she says, releasing him.

"Playing?" He pretends to be offended. "We're doing serious work over there, Gin. Very serious work indeed. I hear this is an important evening."

"Yes, it is," she replies. "Go on, then."

"Oh, those are great chips. Excellent job." Grinning, Harry gets in another quick kiss before ducking out of the kitchen.

Ginny turns back to the chips, which are thoroughly burned, and sighs. Ah well, she thinks to herself, sending the pan over to the trashcan to be emptied. Chips aren't really that Christmassy, anyway.