Ginny had never thought she would prefer Christmas at Grimmauld Place over Christmas at the Nest. But she did. The previous days had gone by in a haze of passionate love-making and lazy sex, and she had to agree with Sirius: she must have been dreaming all the time. They'd probably done it in most of the renovated rooms of the house: in front of the fireplace in the kitchen, in her bedroom, in the bathtub of the master bathroom, even once on the stairs… She was insatiable, but so was he – perhaps that was one of the reasons they were such a great couple. He would wake up in the middle of the night and just start kissing her, making it seem like she was indeed still caught up in a dream. They never slept apart anymore, barely left each other's company. Even though he had yet to express to her what she exactly meant to him, she continued to tell him that she loved him. To be honest, there wasn't a freckle in the whole of her face that doubted he felt the same. He was only too scarred or scared to admit it.
On Christmas morning, she had given him his present first: herself, dressed in the sexy lingerie she had bought years ago but had never found the right moment for to wear. It drove him wild, and it had resulted in the roughest sex they had ever had, and boy, had it been worth it. His present to her had been a lot more permanent: it had almost brought her to tears. He knew she had always been fascinated with his tattoos, and in the last few days she had repeatedly considered getting one herself, so he had sketched a design for her. She had gasped when she'd seen it, never having known he could draw this well. It was a phoenix, rising from its ashes in all its glory, in all red, orange and yellow feathers – or were they flames? It was beautiful, and perfect, and she let him ink it on the small of her back almost immediately. This was more evidence that he knew who she was, what she'd been through. But above all, it told her he was no longer afraid of laying a claim to her: it was after all something that would bind her to him forever, whether they'd be together or not.
That afternoon, Sirius was admiring her new tattoo from up close, as she lay naked and laughing in his bed. If you had said something about the war to her in that moment, she wouldn't even have understood what you were talking about, happy as she was. Their clothes were scattered around the floor, the curtains were half drawn. A few long, elegant candles bathed the room in a soft, orange glow, creating quite a romantic atmosphere, even though the walls were covered in banners of red and gold and posters of motorcycles and bikini-clad Muggle girls. It didn't exactly breath Christmas, but she loved it.
"I think I finally understand your obsession with my tattoos, Gin. Those things can be quite… distracting."
She giggled. "I know they can be." She flipped on her back, gazing up at him with pure adoration. "So tell me another one. The runes on your left side. What do they mean?"
He looked down at his own body, as if he didn't have a clue what she was talking about. Then, a smirk appeared on his handsome face. "This one? It says 'slugs and pumpkins'."
She burst out laughing, shaking in delight. "That's a joke, I hope."
A mischievous glint appeared in his eyes. "That's what I've been hoping for the past twenty years. Alas, this is what you'd get when you went out drinking with James. I was going to let it get corrected, but then… well…" He trailed off, then suddenly sat up straight, as if he'd remembered something important.
"What…-?"
He held up his hand to silence her. "There's someone downstairs."
That was when she heard it too. Footsteps. Footsteps and voices. Her heart started to beat loudly in her chest, and they exchanged worried glances. Who were here? And why? Supporters of Voldemort? Members of the Order? Nobody had been here in months, except for her parents when they came by with food and other supplies. After Dumbledore's death, nobody had been sure what had happened to the Fidelius Charm, so the Order had searched for a new Headquarter. After a thorough inspection from Moody, the house had been branded as safe again. But what if he had been wrong?
Sirius took his bathrobe from the peg on the wall and threw it in her direction, afterwards quickly wiggling himself in his jeans. After both were dressed, or at least not completely naked anymore, they went to the landing, wands raised before them. As they carefully descended the stairs, Ginny couldn't help but notice the glow of excitement on his face: he was enjoying this. Oh, that reckless man… She was going to have to learn quite a few more tricks in bed if she wanted him to stay safe in the house until the war was over. That was, if there weren't any Death Eaters waiting for them in the hall below.
Halfway down the last stairs, he beckoned her to come closer. The intruders were still in the hallway, quietly whispering together, as if they had heard them advancing. He raised his fingers in the air before her, soundlessly counting down from five to one. At one, the two of them stormed the last few feet down the steps, both screaming an "Expelliarmus!" Flashes of light surrounded them, and amidst shocked yells and shrieks, they heard the clatter of wands falling to the floor.
"Merlin's beard!" A familiar voice said, quite shaken. "Sirius, Ginny, it's only us!"
It was her father. The trademark red Weasley hair seemed to have occupied the corridor: not only Arthur was standing there with his mouth open, Molly was there also, looking up at them disapprovingly, and next to her was Bill, who seemed to be rather amused by the situation. His new wife, Fleur, found it a lot less funny: on the contrary, she made the impression of wanting to strangle the two of them.
"What… what in the name of Merlin are you all doing here?" Ginny asked, suddenly realising she was standing in front of her parents in the middle of the day, merely clad in a bathrobe – or rather, Sirius' bathrobe. This Christmas might turn out to be a lot less perfect than she had hoped it would be.
"It was supposed to be a surprise, dear," Molly said, while her husband picked up all of their wands from the floor. "I couldn't handle the thought of my daughter being all alone in this house on Christmas Eve – I mean without family, Sirius, you know. We thought you'd be glad."
Yes, glad she was, now the first shock had worn away. She smiled, then went to throw herself in her mother's arms, but Sirius stopped her, pulling her back by her waist. "Wait," he said, and somewhere she was conscious that it might look suspicious that they were standing so close to each other and seemed comfortable in doing so. "They might be impostors."
"Sirius is right, Ginny," Bill said, inspecting the pair curiously, as if he had exactly noticed the one thing she'd been afraid of they would see. "You should be more careful. This could be a trap."
"Alright, alright…" she sighed, giving in, even though she wanted to roll her eyes. Why would four Death Eaters come to visit them on Christmas Day posting as family members? She was aware there wasn't any point in arguing though. "Bill, what did I ask you for a present on my seventh birthday?"
Bill smirked. He knew exactly what she was talking about. He himself had been eighteen at the time, and had found her request quite hilarious. "You wanted me to marry you and when I said we couldn't, you wouldn't speak for a week."
"It had never been as quiet around the house as then," added Arthur, before they all burst out into laughter. Even Fleur seemed to find the story funny. Ginny recalled that moment as if it had happened yesterday: she'd been fed up with all of her siblings teasing her and being mean to her. Her oldest brother, Bill, had been the only one who always treated her nicely, and as he was bound to move out quickly, she figured if he'd marry her, she could go with him.
Sirius leaned closer to her, to whisper something in her ear: "Your determination is admirable. Haven't changed much since then, have you?"
She giggled, playfully slapping him on his chest, which didn't seem that strange to her, but elicited a frown from her brother. She didn't notice though, a she was currently busy hugging her mother and father, telling them how much she had missed them. Because she had missed them, even though she was perfectly happy at being alone with Sirius all the time.
"Sweetie, what on earth are you wearing?" Molly asked, as she held her daughter in front of her, examining the robe. And that, was exactly what she'd been afraid of. Sneakily, she exchanged a sideways glance with Sirius, who had a slightly mischievous glint in his eyes, as if he was rather enjoying this. He probably was – and she had to confess, she was too.
"Sirius' bathrobe, mum," she answered innocently. "I was naked when we heard you stumbling around."
The looks on her parents' faces were precious and she had to stifle a giggle. "Ginevra Weasley!" her mother gasped, utterly outraged. "You don't mean… you haven't…" Molly's gaze swept to Sirius' bare chest, and she put her hands in her side. "Sirius Black, you tell me right now why you aren't wearing a shirt!"
Ginny tried to feign indignation, mirroring her mother's position. "Mum, for Merlin's sake, no! How could you think such a thing?" she played, attempting to contain her laughter. "He had just gotten out of the shower and I was about to hop in! We had a snowball fight on the roof and both of us were soaked, so we needed to warm up."
Molly and Arthur sighed in relief, but Sirius himself seemed offended: "Oh come now, Molly, Arthur… If I were you I'd be delighted to have me for a son-in-law!" He grinned impishly, something that made him look ten years younger, and deliberately put his arm around Ginny's shoulders, brutally jerking her close. "Ginevra Black does have a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"
She wanted to laugh and kiss him, because indeed did that sound wonderfully perfect, even though he would never let her take his surname. She realised though, that her parents would immediately take her home if she would, so instead of that, she pushed him away. "In your dreams, Black," she said smiling, adding a wink for dramatics. As she walked away, swaying hips and all, to the kitchen, she heard him fake a wounded cry, causing the rest of them to laugh.
"Dieu merci!" said Fleur, still giggling, "A child from the two of them would have an overdose of arrogance, it would just explode!"
"Look who's talking…" Ginny muttered, while Sirius and her started to prepare drinks for the whole company, working like an oiled machine. He grumbled something in agreement, but couldn't seem to hide the brooding expression that had taken place on his face. For a second, she wondered if she'd hurt him by not telling her parents the truth, but the next she was caught up in the happiness of having part of her family with her at Christmas, and forgot about it.
The unfortunate thing for her was, that one certain red-headed brother, did not.