Murder…
Murder…
KILL…
Murder…
Cold…
KIIIIIIIIIIIILL-
"Harry?"
Harry Potter jerked awake. His whole body was wracked with shivering and sweat. One of his hands was pressed against his face, clutching his forehead. He swallowed, and tried to ignore the burning pain in his scar. His thoughts were interrupted by his hearing returning, and he heard someone banging on his door.
"Harry? Harry open up! Harry?"
Harry sat up on his bed, coughing. He sat for a moment, and crossed the room and opened the door.
His vision was obscured for a moment by a flash of scarlet, but then he heard something hit the floor, and the next minute, lying on his bedroom floor, was the last person he wanted to see.
"Ginny?" He asked meekly. His scar was burning horribly and it was taking all his brainpower not to give in to the pain.
"Harry, what's wrong?"
Harry helped her up, and was shocked to see how terrified she looked.
"N… Nothing…" He tried to say, but Ginny's look changed to exasperation suddenly.
"Harry, please don't lie to me. Tell me it's none of my business, but I know something was wrong. You were screaming in your sleep. And you're covered in sweat!"
Harry swore inside his head, before he sat down on the bed, looking down at his knees. He felt Ginny sit down beside him and put a comforting arm around his shoulders. Harry felt warmth return to his body, and was grateful for the gesture.
"Harry, you can tell me. It's okay."
"I… I heard a voice in my head, again…"
"Like Voldemort's?"
"No… Not like his. Kind of… Cold. And… Low. It made me feel, awful inside. Sort of like what you'd expect Dementors to sound like, you know?"
Ginny placed her head in Harry's shoulder, listening to him. She felt him move his arm, and watched as he absentmindedly rubbed his scar.
"And when I woke up, my scar hurt like hell again."
"Harry… Do you think you could be suffering from shell shock?"
"What?" Harry muttered, raising his head from Ginny's.
"Just a term I picked up from dad. He came home one day, spouting all sorts of rubbish about soldiers and wars and 'gums' and 'Nazis' I think he called them… Anyway, he told me shell shock is this kind of medical condition where soldiers have panic attacks after a war. Apparently it was caused by severe psychological stress from a war. It may just be…"
"No," Said Harry. "It wasn't like that. It was just like my visions of Voldemort back during his uprising, but I can't make any sense of it. I thought it was just him I had a connection with!"
Harry was shaking again; Ginny could feel it. Goosebumps were appearing all over his skin, and his expression was rapidly changing. Fearing another panic attack, Ginny turned his head towards his, and kissed him.
She felt a sudden change in Harry's body; she felt his trembling stop, and could feel a sort of warmth returning to his body as he kissed her back. Eventually, when she came up for air, she hugged him, while whispering in his ear, "we'll worry about that later. Right now, just remember I'll always love you."
Harry smiled, and grasped her tighter.
"I'll always love you too Ginny."
When Ginny let go of him, she smiled, and pulled him to his feet.
"Now, let's go! Christmas, remember?"
Harry had been so caught up in the recent events that he had never given an ounce of thought to what day it was. It was only when Ginny reminded him that he remembered.
"That's right! Christmas!"
Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Genius, Eye-en-styn." She said sarcastically.
Harry laughed, more at Ginny's miss pronunciation than anything, but he knew better than to correct her.
"I'll assume you picked that up from your father too," Harry remarked as he allowed himself to be led out of the room.
"Yup," she said. "Some Muggle scientist."
When they got downstairs, Ginny saw that the only light came from a lavishly decorated Christmas tree in the living room. Tinsel and ornaments hung from every available branch on the tree, but the stump at the bottom was completely hidden behind a huge pile of presents.
While Harry summoned Kreacher to see about getting breakfast ready, Ginny took a closer look at the tree, especially one ornament in particular.
Glancing back at Harry, she reached up and plucked the star off of the top of the tree. A photo was attached, and with a jolt, Ginny saw herself.
The photo had been taken the day she and Harry had gotten back together. It was in the Gryffindor common room. A fire crackled and popped merrily in the background, while she and Harry stood hand in hand. Ginny was leaning against Harry, her head resting on his shoulder. The picture was moving; both of the figures were waving up at her.
Ginny heard a loud CRACK behind her, and turned, still holding the photograph.
"Bacon and pancakes all right for you gin- oh."
Ginny felt tears form in her eyes as Harry walked over and studied the photo.
"I forgot we had that," he mumbled, a little sadly.
Ginny clutched the photo to her chest.
"Can I keep this? she said, tears on the edge of her eyes.
Harry stared at her for a moment, and then said, "Of course you can."
Ginny kissed him, and then dashed upstairs to her room. In there, she grabbed her Treasure Chest, (which had gotten fairly more full over the course of the holidays anyway) and tucked the photo very carefully away in the spot where it would be most visible. This done, she hurried downstairs, just as a knock on the door signalled the arrival of their guests.
Hermione and Ron were first over the threshold, holding hands and wearing the slightly sleep-deprived look of two people who got up very early in the morning.
Next was Arthur and Molly Weasley, the latter of whom immediately swooped down and pulled both Harry and Ginny into a rib-cracking hug.
Then came Lupin and Tonks, who had changed her hair from the usual bubblegum pink to a festive red changing to green at the ends. Lupin looked less shabby than they had ever seen him, and was holding the lead of a very excited-looking black dog, who immediately leaped into the house and almost knocked Harry over.
Next came Hagrid, who almost broke every bone in Harry's body with his signature hug, and last in line was Fred, George, Bill, Charlie and Percy, four of whom were looking rather nervous and seemed to shrink behind Percy at the sight of Harry and Ginny.
Pretty soon, the party was in full swing. Everyone lounged about, talking, laughing, joking, or unwrapping gifts, and Kreacher dashed in and out of the kitchen, carrying towering plates of snacks and drinks of all kinds, along with a variety of wizard Christmas crackers. Harry and Ginny enjoyed pulling these with Sirius, who took great pride in pulling them in his Animagus form with Harry.
After a few hours, everyone seemed to wind down. Ron was sitting with his brothers, playing with new sets of Wizards Chess; Lupin and Hermione were sitting back-to-back, noses buried in books, similar piles all around them; Molly had disappeared into the kitchen, while Arthur and Hagrid were sitting in a corner, arm in arm, singing 'Odo The Hero' in low voices, piles of empty Firewhiskey bottles all around them.
And Harry, Ginny and Sirius sat in a corner, Harry absentmindedly scratching a sleeping Sirius behind the ears, while Ginny sat, leaning slightly against Harry, reading a brand-new textbook from Sirius, called 'The Temptation Of The Dark Arts'.
Eventually, when everyone deemed it 'late enough', they all trooped out in two's and three's, until the only ones left were Harry, Ginny, Arthur and Hagrid. (who needed several Sobering Charms courtesy of Hermione Granger before they could be moved)
After Ginny had finished ushering her mother out of the door, and ensuring her that she would be back at Hogwarts when term began, she closed the door and turned to see Harry standing in the middle of the lounge.
"I'm surprised you haven't tried to get your present out of me yet," he said, smirking.
"Well, I am a little confused as to why it wasn't with the others," Ginny replied.
Harry pulled something out of his pocket, and handed it to her.
"Here," he said. "I wanted to give this to you earlier, but I wasn't sure how well it would have gone down with your brothers."
Ginny stared at the item in her hand. It was a small box the colour of her hair. Opening it, she gasped and held the item up to the light.
I was a small, perfectly cut heart. It had the initials H.P on one side and G.W on the other. The whole thing seemed to give off a warm glow.
"It's a talisman," Harry said. "Touching it will give you strength and courage, and if you are ever in mortal danger, squeeze it, and think of me. And wherever I am, I'll be able to help you."
Ginny stared at it for a second, before she ran at Harry and flung her arms around him. Resting her head in his shoulder, she whispered, "This is the best gift I have ever gotten. Thank you."
Harry hugged her back, and as he sat down in an armchair, Ginny on his lap, he whispered, "You're welcome."