Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
Author's note: In this chapter, there will be developments between Hermione and Harry with a surprise visitor installed and also Ginny finding out more about 'The Snake'.
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It was finally a Christmas weekend. Almost all of the students in Hogwarts have made their way home for the holidays. Hermione was packing her bag with enough clothes for the weekend. She was returning back to her apartment and Mrs Weasley had invited her for a Christmas Dinner. Hermione had always love Mrs Weasley's Christmas Dinner. She always felt at home with the Weasley's.
She said goodbye to some of the professors as she made her way out of Hogwarts. Harry had promised to pick her up and get a few mugs of Butterbeer at Diagon Alley before apparating to her apartment. In the distance, she saw Harry making his way through the ankle deep snow. He was wearing a thick black coat and pants. As he gets nearer, Hermione saw that his ears were red from the coldness. They gave each other a hug and apparate to Diagon Alley.
They made their way to the Leaky Cauldron and were greeted with a warm and comfortable atmosphere. They had lighted up the fireplace and the place was decorated with beautiful and bright Christmas trees. Harry and Hermione sat down on one of the private tables and ordered lunch and Butterbeers. They started talking about Harry's plan to join the England international squad for the upcoming Quidditch World Cup. A few days ago, Harry told Ron, Ginny and Hermione that he had decided to accept the proposal and join the squad. He will be flying off to France as soon as the New Year starts which left all of them not much time to hang out together. Ginny immediately conjured a celebration with banners, balloons and a huge cake. Everyone congratulated Harry.
It had taken Harry a lot of thinking in his spacious house to come to this decision. He wanted to be in the squad badly but at the same time, he couldn't bare leaving Hermione. It took him some time to realise that Hermione and him wasn't even an item and that Hermione was unknown to the feelings that he had for her.
"Have you packed?" Hermione asked.
"It's too early Hermione." Harry replied.
"Oh you never know Harry…you might not realise until later that you actually have a lot to pack."
Harry shrugged and took a sip of his Butterbeer. Hermione looked at Harry and smile. It's so typical of him. When Harry decided that he wanted to be in the England squad, Hermione was so happy for him for making that decision. She knew that it had been his ultimate dream to play international Quidditch. At the same time, she felt like her heart had dropped when Harry made his announcement. She had been spending so much time with Harry these past few months that she couldn't imagine a weekend without him around. There's always Ron and Ginny. No wait! Ron had Jilly…which left Ginny…Hermione shrugged off her thoughts and continue chatting with Harry.
"Oh have you heard? George is dating Pavarti!" Hermione said in delight.
Harry almost choked on his spaghetti. "Parvati? As in Patil?"
Hermione nodded enthusiastically. "Oh Harry, are you ok? Hmm…must be a shock to learn that your Yule Ball date is now dating a Weasley eh?" Hermione said teasing Harry.
"Oh no." Harry said putting his hands up like he was caught doing something bad. "I'm more than happy…she's all George's" Hermione had to laugh at his expression.
The door opened and a gust of wind blew a little of Hermione's hair. Without realising it, Harry reached out and tucks the loose strands of her honey brown hair behind her ear. Hermione blushes a little and her skin tingled with Harry's touch. Why is he doing this to me?
She looked up at the door to prevent herself from blushing even more. A young man who was taking his coat off stood at the door. His face was very familiar and so was the permanent sulk on his face. When he looked up at Hermione, he squinted his eyes to make sure that he was seeing right. He broke into a tiny smile and so did Hermione.
"Harry look, it's Viktor!" Hermione said. She stood up from her seat and walked up to him. Harry looked behind him and saw that Viktor Krum already was giving Hermione a hug. He felt a twinge of jealousy but quickly hide it when Hermione invited Krum to their table. Harry them remembered that England was due to meet Bulgaria a day after Christmas for a friendly match before the World Cup. Harry gave Krum the tiniest smile when he sat beside Hermione.
"Hi Harry. It's nice to meet you again after all these years." Krum said. Harry noticed that his English had improved a lot.
"Yeah…you too."
"Viktor told me he's here with the Bulgarian team for a friendly with us. How come you didn't tell me?" Hermione asked.
"It slipped my mind." Harry replied.
"So…is the English team ready for us?" Krum asked.
"We sure are." Harry said rising up to Krum's challenging tone of voice. Krum just shrugged his shoulders at Harry. He turned to Hermione and started talking to her like they didn't have eight years separated between them. Harry played around with his food and glared at Krum a few times when he looked at him.
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Ginny was reading a thick book that she had borrowed from the Hogwart's library when she visited a few days ago. As soon as she told Hermione about what Martha had said about Draco, they both searched for books that Ginny could read on.
"Why are you interested anyway?" Hermione asked as she skimmed through a few paragraphs in a book about snakes.
"I'm just curious."
Ginny lie down on her bed and intently read through a few lines.
"Snakes are wise, philosophical, calm, and understanding. They are receptive and physically alluring, often fickle. Success and fame come easily to Snakes. They can be treacherous creatures who delight in intrigue and who wouldn't think twice about double-crossing someone in order to save their own skins."
Ginny paused for a while. Well that explains everything!
"Subtle, secretive, elusive and enigmatic, there is an element of the mysterious that surrounds the Snake personality. In ancient Taoism, the Snake is the symbol of wisdom. Therefore people born during the Year of the Snake are said to be endowed with deep philosophical understanding. They are born thinkers who excel in finding solutions to complex problems."
Ginny scanned through a few more lines and stopped at the description on the sensual side of a Snake.
"Snakes are notoriously good looking and like to project the best image of themselves that they can." Ginny realised that her stomach felt twisted. Well, Malfoy IS good-looking!
"The Snake personality is described as careful, and when it comes to the choice of a partner these people are infinitely selective. For them, only the best will do. Elegance will be one of the first attractions, but so too is good breeding and delicate manners. When they find the partner of their dreams they will brook no opposition, allow nothing to stand in their way, until they win the heart of the object of their desire. Having won their prize, they then become possessive and jealous, fearful that it should slip out of their hands. Deeply passionate, these are demanding lovers, highly sensual creatures, sexy in the extreme."
Ginny shut the book quickly when she realised that her heart was racing. Sexy? Highly sensual? Passionate?
Nobody knew that Ginny have been daydreaming about Draco Malfoy. She forced herself to shook off that thought.
"Ginny! Come on down now for dinner." Mrs Weasley hollered.
Ginny stood up from her bed and looked at herself in the mirror to make sure that she wasn't flushed from all the reading. She opened her door and shut it silently. She took a deep breath and calmed herself down. She made a sharp turn and was compelled to face none other than Draco. She drew in a sharp intake of breath and placed her right hand on her heart, which was beating furiously.
"Did I scare you little Weaslette?" Draco whispered slyly. Ginny held a head high and sniggered at Draco.
"Of course not!"
"I don't believe you."
"Then just don't."
"What took you so long anyway?"
"None of your business Malfoy. Get out of my way." Ginny shouted.
"As you please." Draco said and bowed to her like a knight to give way. Ginny rolled her eyes and thought about what she had read about the Snake.
Draco watched her walk as her hips swayed gently. She definitely has grown up. Ginny turned and looked up at him.
"What?" She demanded
"Nothing." Draco said.
As Ginny continued walking down the stairs, Draco wondered how she would like without that dress on. She definitely was hiding a great figure beneath it. They all sat down for dinner chatting continuously. Fred and George were out with their girlfriends (Mrs Weasley was quite happy to find out that George was dating Parvati), which left Ginny alone with her parents, Martha and Draco. Ron walked in a few minutes later. Ginny raised her eyebrow at him and he gave her a look to tell her that he would talk to her later. Ron sat beside Ginny and start eating his dinner.
Draco looked at Ginny curiously wondering if there was more to this red head than he knew. She was definitely attractive, Draco thought. Her eyes were soft but Draco had seen how it immediately change when she was angry and he though that she look kind of cute when she got angry.
"Now Draco…if you like her go ahead and tell her."
Draco turned at that voice and recognizes that it was his grandmother's. She was communicating with him through her mind. He looked fiercely at her and realise that she had been reading his mind. It was stupid of him not to exercise his leer mente skills.
"I'm disappointed in you Draco, you still don't know how to control your mind."
"Oh shut up."
"So do you have feelings for Ginny? I like her you know. She's the perfect granddaughter. Smart, pretty, thoughtful and she knows how to cook too."
Draco had to laugh a little and everyone looked at him. He stopped and his neck reddens a little out of embarrassment. He continued eating and so did everyone when they realise that Draco was not going to give an explanation on why he had laughed. From that moment on, Draco exercised his leer mente and managed to block out his thought to his grandmother. As soon as he was done, he left the table without a word. He made his way up to his room but was stopped by Ron when he was about to open the door.
"Malfoy, I have to warn you. If you keep on eyeing my sister like that…I will personally kill you. Got me?" Ron threatened.
"Oh…you noticed. That's something new. I can do whatever the hell I want Weasley." Malfoy said and slammed the door on Ron's face.
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REVIEWS PLEASE!!!!!
FYI, all information on the Snake horoscope was sourced from the internet.
CrAzY-gIrL-oUt-To-WrEaK-hAvOc: Well yeah i just want everything to be informational...