Ginny lay slumped in an armchair in front of the fire. One arm lay draped over the side of the chair, the other was holding a letter, addressed to her, that had arrived earlier that evening.
Although she knew it off by heart, Ginny had been stealing glances at it every few minutes since she had taken up her position in front of the fire. Her head was tilted slightly sideways, her deep, slow breaths indicated that she was in a deep sleep. The letter, clutched in her hand, had been a reply to a letter Ginny had sent to Harry, complaining of the hardships of living in a small house with six brothers, especially during the Christmas holidays.
The letter had read,
Dear Ginny,
I can understand if you don't want to, but why not stay with me for Christmas?
The house is kinda empty right now, barring Kreacher, and he doesn't really count as company.
I can understand if you want to stay with your family, but I was planning on spending Christmas alone, and I would appreciate the company.
If you accept, I can pick you up from Hogwarts.
Send your reply back, Hedwig will find me.
Love,
Harry.
Ginny had sent back her reply immediately, saying she would love to, and she was now waiting in anticipation for that day. Tomorrow was the day everyone not staying at Hogwarts for the holidays would be leaving, and Ginny's trunk lay, packed upstairs on her bed.
A soft tap, tap, tap on the window jerked Ginny awake. She turned in her chair, and felt a huge jolt of excitement as she saw Harry's snowy owl, Hedwig, tapping on the window.
In three steps, she had crossed the room at a run and snatched Hedwig up. After untying the small scrap of parchment tyed to Hedwig's leg, she quickly opened it up, while Hedwig flew back through the window and out of sight.
Dear Ginny,
Splendid!
Stay at Hogwarts and I'll pick you up tomorrow.
See you soon!
Love,
Harry.
Ginny's face lit up as she read his reply. Folding up the letter, she picked up the old one, and headed upstairs to the girls dormitories. Inside, she drew out a small wooden chest from under her bed. Taking out her wand, she slowly beat out a secret combination on the lid, as the chest opened, and a puff of dust welled around her. Inside was a small assortment of old toys, homemade cloth dolls, photos, and other junk.
Carefully tucking both letters into the box, she closed it, locked it with a similar sequence of taps, and chucked it into her trunk, where it joined the assortment of other junk she had piled randomly in.
This done, she changed into her pyjamas, and settled into bed, smiling in anticipation of the day ahead.
Morning came, and Ginny awoke early.
This was the hardest part, lying in bed, waiting for what seemed like hours. Eventually, when she guessed it would be time for breakfast, she dressed and trudged out of the dormitories, down to the Great Hall.
Breakfast was another tough affair. Ginny tried to concentrate on her food, but kept glancing anxiously at the door. She was so preoccupied, she didn't notice Sirius coming up behind her until he whispered in her ear, "There's someone waiting in the Entrance Hall for you."
Ginny jumped, and after hugging Sirius and wishing him a Merry Christmas, she grabbed her trunk and dashed out of the hall.
Upon entering the hall, Ginny stared around anxiously, but the dense crowd of people made it impossible to distinguish the individual person. She heard greetings, snatches of advice, stories, everything, but she couldn't find…
"Ginny!"
Ginny heard him before she saw him. Harry was fighting his way towards her, his smile reaching his ears. (I say 'fighting' for want of a better word. When you're as famous as Harry, the crowd have a way of making way for you.)
Ginny ran for it, and wrapping her arms around him, she kissed him, relishing in the feeling of being in his arms again; and the feel of his lips on hers…
All to soon, Harry surfaced, and hugged her.
"Ginny," He whispered in her ear. "It is so good to see you again!"
"I've been Mirror Calling you daily, you twit." Ginny joked, finally pulling away from him.
"You know what I mean," Harry sighed, and then smiled as he saw Hermione coming towards them, dragging a very sour-looking Ron with her. "And, there they are… Godric, what happened to you Ron? Someone broke your Chess set again?"
Ron wouldn't answer, but his mouth twitched as though he had been about to say something. Hermione edged close to Harry, and whispered in his ear, "He doesn't approve of…" She jerked her head in Ginny's direction, who was tactful enough to pretend to be examining a tapestry on the wall.
Harry nodded, his happiness slipping a few notches, as he thought of Ron's new attitude.
Noticing Ron glaring in his direction, Harry quickly cleared his throat, and said, "Well, I guess we'll be off. Kreacher's got dinner on."
He hugged Hermione, wished her a Merry Christmas, and after a rather strained goodbye process from Ron, Harry and Ginny departed, Harry dragging Ginny's trunk. They had just reached the front doors when they heard Ron yell behind them, "I just don't see why she has to go live with him!"
Harry and Ginny walked together until they reached the gates, when Ginny said, "How are we getting there?"
"Hold on," Harry replied, holding out his arm. "Apparition."
Ginny was not altogether content as she gripped Harry's arm. His explanations of the subject was that it was extremely uncomfortable and painful. Harry looked down at her, and said, "Ready?"
Ginny just nodded. Harry smiled down at her for a second, and then looked forward and turned on the spot.
A crushing pain followed. Ginny could not draw breath; she felt as though she was being stretched through a very tight rubber tube. Her grip on Harry's arm seemed just about the only real thing left. Just when she thought she would surely suffocate, her lungs expanded and she found herself standing in a completely different area from where they were before.
Gone was the long, cobbled path leading into Hogsmeade; gone was the tall gates flanked with statues of winged boars; in fact, gone was Hogwarts itself. Now she was standing in a small road, with identical houses stretching as far as the eye could see into the distance. And just in front of them, was the best of them all.
The illusive Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. With a small jerk of her stomach, Ginny realised she had just Apparated for the first time.
"You okay?" Harry asked, seeming completely indifferent to the fact that they had just traveled thousands of miles in the space of a few seconds.
"Yeah… Yeah, I'm fine," Ginny muttered, bending double, clutching her stomach. "But I think I prefer brooms."
Harry threw back his head and roared with laughter, causing Ginny to glare at him.
"What's so funny?" She demanded.
"Nothing… Nothing," Harry said, once he had calmed down. "But that's exactly what I said first time I Apparated."
Ginny smiled at this as Harry pulled out his wand and tapped the front door once. Immediately, there was the sound of clanking inside, followed by the grinding of a chain. Then, the door swung open, to reveal Kreacher the House-Elf.
"Master Harry," the Elf said, bowing low. "And he has brought the Weasley girl with him."
"Hello Kreacher," Harry said. "Please take Ginny's luggage up to her room."
"But of course, master." Kreacher took the handle of Ginny's trunk, made his usual low bow, before Disapparating with the usual loud CRACK.
Harry led Ginny into the kitchen, where he pulled out two bottles of Butterbeer from the cupboard, handing one to Ginny before uncorking his by magic and downing a large gulp.
As Ginny drank, she stared around the kitchen with awe.
Harry had really done wonders to the place. Gone were the Dark Artifacts and Elf heads, and the insulting paintings, and now, with refurbished walls and proper lighting, the house seemed warm, even inviting, for a house once belonging to a family that forced one to marry their own cousins.
"You removed that painting of ol' then?" Ginny inquired, noticing that for the first time.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah. Found a counter-charm to the Permanent Sticking Charm this family liked so much."
"Oh really? What's that?"
"Cut out the piece of the wall, and use a Regrowing Charm on the resulting hole in the wall."
Ginny laughed.
"So, we got everything else in the house out that way. Especially those bikini-wearing Muggle posters in Sirius's room!"
Ginny snorted with laughter. "Really?"
Harry was laughing now too.
"That's not the worst of it. Do you know what I found taped on the underside of his desk?"
Ginny inhaled half her Butterbeer up her nose and shrieked with laughter.