A/N: I don't own Harry Potter.

Let me just start off by saying I am sorry for not updating in a very long time. Almost a year, actually. My excuse is that college has taken over my life. This chapter has also taken me a lot of time to sort through. I had ideas in my head and I couldn't figure out a way to put them into a chapter that you all would really enjoy. I hope you all like it; I worked really hard on it.

Happy reading!

The Burrow smelt of cinnamon and eggnog, the lasting aroma of a Christmas dinner feast that had just been eaten by many people. The windows were fogged over by snow and ice, and you could barely see two feet away from the Burrow, with the snow still coming down hard.

"How does it do all of that?" Mr. Weasley was sitting at the kitchen table, staring at his new blender, a Christmas present from the Grangers, fascinated. His right eyebrow twitched, and he started to click the buttons on the base. When it did nothing, he frowned, "Is it broken?"

Hermione, who was sitting in the chair next to him, laughed and shook her head, "It needs to be plugged in," she said, picking up the cord attached to the end of it, making the part that went into the wall stand up towards the ceiling, "It works on electricity."

"Oh yes," Mr. Weasley nodded, not looking away from it, "That electra stuff."

"Watch," Hermione put the cord onto the table, and pulled her wand out of her pocket, and waved it at the wall. Out of nowhere, sparks appeared against the wall, moving in a circular motion. Eventually, a white rectangular piece of plastic materialized, slits in the middle that would fit what was on the end of the cord at the end of the machine.

"How did you do that?" Ron gaped at it, dumbfounded.

"A simple conjuring spell," Hermione grinned, "Anyway, you take this," she took hold of the cord once again, and showed it to them, "and plug it into here," she stood up, and walked towards the plug, taking the blender with her before plugging it I

"So that goes into that?" Mr. Weasley pointed to the cord, and then to the outlet, "Then what?"

"Then, the food goes in here," Hermione gestured to the cup on top of the base, "And then you put the lid on top. The lid has to be on it."

Mr. Weasley tilted his head and nodded, "Seems simple enough," he said, "I'll have to try this out for real later."

"So you're going to look into a job with the ministry?"

Harry had never had more of an awkward ten minutes in his life. He was all for pretty much ignoring the fact that Percy Weasley had estranged himself from his family just until the Ministry of Magic had actually fallen, but it didn't make it any less awkward to talk to him about the Ministry. Especially since he wasn't a big fan of the Ministry at the moment. His plans of ever becoming an Auror were pretty much gone, due to this fact, also.

He already knew that he couldn't hold the past over Percy's head, because that would just be holding onto the past, which Harry so desperately wanted to let go of. It was time to move on from all of that, and start on a new slate. Especially since the Weasley family was practically his family.

"I'm not really fond of the Ministry right now," Harry told him, which was the truth. That was the one thing he couldn't let go of. The one thing he could not forget about.

Percy looked down at the floor, his eyes circling around as if he was trying to find something to say, as if he was trying to find something to persuade Harry that a job within the ministry was the right way to go. It was as if the ministry had programmed him to say this, and now he was trying to fight it off.

"I figured that," he said, "Truthfully, I'm not either."

Harry nodded, now desperately wanting Ginny to come and make this less awkward. If she were here right now, she would probably be using a reason to walk away right about now. Because escaping to be alone with Ginny was looking better and better by the second, and by every word that came out of Percy's mouth.

"I'm going to go find, Ginny," Harry said, "Haven't seen her in a while. Nice chatting with you, though."

Percy nodded, "You also," he said. With that Harry quickly slipped away, and went in search of Ginny, as to not make a total liar out of himself.

"I think we should get going so we can get there in time," Hermione said, as she half looked at her wrist watch, half pulling on her coat, " My parents are expecting us."

"Why didn't you just invite them over here again?" Ron questioned his voice muffled, as he struggled to get his own coat on, while attempting to shove cookies into his mouth at the same time, "That way we don't have to go back and forth between here and there. I'm sure my parents would care if they spent Christmas with us."

She wanted to see her parents for Christmas at the least, as she hadn't seen a lot of them in the past couple of months. She'd been living at the Burrow since just after Ginny started her 7th year at Hogwarts. She loved her parents, but she found herself happier there, because of Ron and Harry. Plus it gave her more of a chance to practice magic. Her parents weren't exactly totally against magic, but it was safer for her to be around people who also practiced magic.

"We've discussed this," Hermione sighed, "They cannot come over here, because with them comes my Uncle Samuel who is currently at their house. My Uncle, who says any old thing that pops into his head. Not exactly company material."

"I forgot," Ron shrugged, knowing all too well that that description filled most of the people in his family, "Alright, you sure you got everything?"

"You've got funny looking ears ain't ya?" Samuel observed, and took a great swig of his eggnog. He himself should not have been talking, because everything about him was funny. Having not ever met the man Hermione called her uncle, he was not what Ron had expected or pictured in his mind. Not the man sitting before him. Instead of being fat and stumpy, he was tall and thin. The way his eyes bugged when ever food was mentioned, you would think he would look like that, though. The only thing he seemed to like more than food was alcohol.

However; the only thing large about him was his mouth. He scratched his bald head before taking another swig and continuing on from his last thought.

"All red for no reason at all."

If possible, Hermione watched as Ron's ears turned a more violent shade of red.

"Sammy!" Hermione's mother looked at her brother horrified, having just walked in on the dialogue. Monologue was more like it, "Maybe you've had enough eggnog for one night."

She snatched the glass from his hands before he had a chance to refuse, and cradled it in her arms as if he would try to steal it back from her. She looked highly embarrassed of her brother, although Ron knew she shouldn't be. There were far too many Weasleys who were exactly like Hermione's Uncle. Far too many, that Ron shouldn't have been embarrassed by anything he had to say.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ron could see Mr. Granger roll his eyes.

"Enough for five years," he muttered under his breath, causing Ron to shake it off, and smirk a little.

"Nonsense," Uncle Samuel waved her off, "If you don't mind, I'll have some rum on the rocks. With a twist added to that cup. Not with the nog, o' course."

"Of course not, Sammy," Mrs. Granger walked away shaking her head.

"Diet Coke in ice always works." Mr. Granger told Ron, "Old nutter he is."

"What was that?" Uncle Samuel tilted his head towards them, as if he was trying to hear what had already been said.

"Good thing is, is that once he's drunk enough, it seems to block his ear drums. Can't hear a thing we've said if we're more than two feet away from him," Mr. Granger added.

"What is that you're saying about eating?" Samuel sat straight up in his arm chair, "Because I am kind of hungry, now that you mention it."

"Arthur what did you do?" Mr. Weasley was sitting at the kitchen table, the blender in front of him plugged in. His face was covered in purple muck, and he had a slight smile on his face.

However; his wife did not. She was staring at him in astonishment, demanding to know what was going on.

"Hermione told me to keep the cover on."

It was then that she noticed the lid to the contraption he had been toying with was abandoned next to him, "I was curious to see what would happen if I didn't."

"Arthur…"

"I personally think its more fun without the top."

"Arthur, you're a mess!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, "I swear you're worse than those boys sometimes. When they were five."

"Molly, we didn't know about these things when the boys were five," Mr. Weasley pointed out, chuckling as he pressed a button and it made a mixing sound. The remaining amount of purple muck shot out, flying across to Mrs. Weasley, smacking her on the cheek. She made a disgusted sound, her hands on her hips as she glared at her husband. He grinned sheepishly, pushing the blender to the side a bit.

"Sorry," he apologized, "Truly sorry."

Mrs. Weasley shook her head, and turned around, before walking away from the chaotic kitchen. And into the warm and peaceful living room. Whipping the substance off of her face, she looked at the hand that it was now on. She brought it up to her nose to take a slight whiff, and then decided to take a quick lick of it. It tasted a little bit like grape jelly, but she couldn't be sure. It couldn't be dangerous, because nothing in her house was dangerous. After all the twins had gotten into, this was the least of her worries.

There was a crack, and suddenly Ron and Hermione appeared out of thin air. They both looked as if they'd had a long night.

"Are you two alright?" she asked.

"My Uncle wasn't on his best behavior tonight," Hermione explained, immediately falling onto the living room couch. Ron followed suit, leaning back into the couch for comfort, "But it was nice to see my parents."

"I'm sure it was, dear," Mrs. Weasley said, "You know, just because you're living here now, doesn't mean you can't see them. You're more than welcome to invite them over here every once in a while."

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said, "I will."

"Why don't you two come into the kitchen and get some of the treacle fudge I made," Mrs. Weasley suggested, "And you two can unwind. Or Harry and Ginny are upstairs exchanging gifts. Which had better be all that they're doing."

She glared towards the stairs that led to Ginny's bedroom, where her daughter had said they were headed. It wasn't that she didn't trust them, it was just that she knew they were both teenagers, and being responsible didn't disregard pent up hormones.

"Ginny, dear!" she called out, "Ron and Hermione are home!"

"I'm sure that's all that they're doing," Hermione said, "Treacle fudge sounds great."

She stood up, and looked at Ron, "Are you coming?" she asked.

Ron nodded, and stood up.

They headed towards the kitchen, where Mr. Weasley was still sitting at the kitchen table, eating a piece of pie.

"Is that grape jelly on the ceiling?" Ron's head was following the trail of purple substance that went from the wall in front of them, going straight up to overhead. He scratched his head, and as he did, he felt something cool and wet fall onto his hand. Wincing, he brought his hand in front of his face, and sniffed it cautiously.

"Definitely not grape jelly," he threw his hand away from his face, and quickly walked over to the sink,

"What is that?"

"What happened here?" Hermione grinned, as Ron ran his hand under the sink, rubbing the purple stuff off of his hands, noises coming out of his mouth that sounded much like a girls' shrieking.

"The blender," Mrs. Weasley explained.

"All in good fun," Mr. Weasley defended himself, "Life's too short, and you may as well make the most of it."

Hermione laughed.

Mrs. Weasley turned towards Ron and Hermione, rolling her eyes, "When you two have kids," she said, "Don't let him be their role model. They're likely to steal your flying car by the age of twelve…"

She trailed off, as she watched Hermione go from laughing to frowning, the color draining out of her face. Panic was clearly written all over her face, as she seemed to fall a little bit, catching herself in the end. She looked from Ron to Mrs. Weasley, and then took a big gulp of air.

"I-er-I think I just heard…I just need to go use the bathroom, er, goodnight. Happy Christmas."

She ran out of the room, quicker than she ever had moved before.

"Was it something I said, dear?" Mrs. Weasley looked genuinely confused.

"Yeah, she looked like she'd seen a ghost." Mr. Weasley added, "But I'm not surprised. Frankly, I thought Ron would be the one to hyperventilate."

"Not doing so good on the inside," Ron admitted, "Nice, Mum. I have to go find her."

He threw his hands up in the air in frustration, and trudged out of the room, leaving his mother with a dumbfounded look on her face.

He found Hermione sitting at the edge of the bottom step of the stairs that led up. She was staring off, a worried look on her face.

"You freaked out?" he asked, slowly walking toward her, and taking a seat next to her. Her body leaned in towards him, and she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"No, just taken off guard," she said slowly, "I've never thought about where this…us…was going. "

"Neither have I."

"But I always think about the future." She said, "And I've never thought about this."

"Look, my mother didn't know what she was saying…"

"She didn't realize it would throw me off, though." Hermione said, "She's been a mother for a long time. And there's nothing wrong with having children. I want children, just not yet. I want all of that with you, but not right now. You understand that right? I want to keep things the way they are right now."

Ron nodded, and then chuckled as he thought of the reality of everything she was saying.

" What's so funny?" Hermione demanded.

When Ron didn't stop laughing, she frowned, her mouth forming into a thin slit quite like his own mother when she herself was upset.

"What is it?" she demanded again, this time more insistently.

"It's just…" Ron started, "You're freaking out about our relationship and where all of this is going. I honestly thought I would be the one to do that."

"That's not…"

"Never said there was anything wrong with it." Ron interrupted what could have been a rant of why he was dead wrong, "I just thought I would be the one to break, but I guess it's not a bad thing to think about things like that, because it makes me think this relationship is going somewhere."

"That was very insightful." Hermione was caught off guard a little, she had to admit to herself, "And surprising."

"I surprised myself, honestly."

This time, it was Hermione that was laughing.

"So I was thinking," Harry said, as he and Ginny sat up in Ginny's bedroom on her bed, after the dessert her mother had served, "Maybe now's a good time to give you your Christmas present."

"Harry, you didn't have to get me anything," Ginny said, leaning her head against his chest. "But why didn't you put it with the rest of my gifts at the edge of my bed this morning?"

"I thought that was a little impersonal," he said, stroking her hair with his thumb, "I wanted to give it to you when we got a chance to be alone."

"Which was bloody impossible today," Ginny sighed, "'Christmas is a day for family, not a day to be holed up in your bedroom.'" She was now imitating her mother.

"She had a point." Harry chuckled.

"Oh, don't be on her side," Ginny said, teasingly. "Personally; I think she's afraid of what may happen if we're alone up here, now that our relationship is getting more serious."

She was referring to the fact that they were spending more and more time together any time Ginny was home. That was mainly due to the fact that they rarely saw each other, and any time they did have together was golden time. Just the other day, she just happened to walk out to the garden when they were snogging on one of the benches.

"I'm surprised she hasn't come up here yet," Harry admitted.

"I don't know how we're ever going to get any privacy once I'm done with Hogwarts," Ginny said, "So that we can really be together."

"We could probably find a flat to live in," Harry said, "Maybe in London. I'm sure we could find something affordable. After all, I do still have the money from my parents."

"That's not what I meant by being together, Harry."

"We'll have it all figured out when the time comes." Harry said, "If and when we decide to get married."

"When the time comes?" Ginny repeated, pulling her head up from his chest, "Harry, tell me you're joking. I wasn't planning on waiting to be married to be with you."

"I just always envisioned that first time as being after marriage," he shrugged, "I guess I am old fashioned."

"Harry, I don't want to get married right away," Ginny said, "But I do want to be with you. I don't want to rush to be married to be with you."

"I don't want you to regret anything."

"I never would," Ginny said, but she knew this wasn't the time or place for this conversation, so she quickly changed the subject, "So, that gift you had for me."

"Oh, yes," Harry got off the bed, and went over to the door where there was a cloak just lying on the floor. He picked it up, and Ginny noticed that it had been draped over a green colored box. It was average size, not something that she could guess what was inside. He picked it up, and walked back over to her, and handed it over. She took it from him, and waited until he was sitting next to her to pull at the red bow that she now noticed was around it. With the bow freed from the box, she pulled the cover off of it, and looked into it to see green material.

"Harry, what is it?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?"

Ginny smiled, and pulled the material from the box to see that it had the Holyhead Harpies on the front. It was a Holyhead Harpies shirt.

"Harry, I love it."

She had just been telling him about how she wanted to play Quiddich out of Hogwarts, and how the Harpies were one of the teams she wanted to be on.

"You do?"

"Yes," she grinned, "I love it."

"Ginny, dear!" she heard her mother calling her, "Ron and Hermione are home!"

"It was going to happen sooner or later," Harry said, pulling Ginny towards him, and kissing the top of her head, "Now let's go down before your mother comes and finds us."

A/N: I hope you enjoyed. Please review, and let me know what you think. Reviews are very helpful in the updating process, because they help me to see that people are reading and I should actually continue.

-sapphirerose21-