"Harry! Harry! Harry!"

Teddy jumped on the end of Harry's bed, his turquoise head bobbing up and down.

"Harry! Harry! Harry!"

"What, Teddy?"

"It's Christmas! It's Christmas!"

"Yeah, Ted?"

"Yeah!"

"For real?"

"For real!" Teddy continued jumping up and down. Harry reached onto his end table and grabbed his glasses. He was wearing red and green Christmas pajamas. Wisely, no one had put his presents at the end of his bed. In fact, they hadn't been put in his room at all.

"Where are my presents, Teddy?"

"I don't know! Come on! Wake up! It's Christmas!"

"Alright." Harry pulled himself out of his bed, fumbled around in a drawer for a shirt, and went downstairs, Teddy riding on his shoulders. Outside, the ground was blanketed with a thick white snow. He could see George, Angelina, Ron, and Hermione already out side making the annual snowman. The scent of cinnamon buns was overwhelming.

"Ah, Harry, nice to see you awake," Mrs. Weasley said, quickly putting him in a chair. Teddy climbed onto the chair next to him.

"What times is it?" Harry asked, helping himself to a delectable Christmas breakfast.

"Almost noon," Mrs. Weasley said. "We're still waiting on Ginny and Bill."

"Ginny's still not up?" Harry looked around, surprised. He could see Mr. Weasley sitting in the living room by the Christmas tree, but that was it.

"I'm up, I'm up," he heard Ginny mumble. She sat down next to him, grimacing. Recently, they had switched the hard brace she had been wearing for a more lenient cloth one, and Ginny hadn't taken too kindly to the switch. Every morning she woke up in pain. She swigged from a small flask she kept with her. It had been issued by the hospital, containing pain potion or so he had been told.

"Merry Christmas, Ginny!" Teddy shouted.

"Merry Christmas, Ted," Ginny replied, a whole lot less enthusiastic than the little boy.

"Is there anything I can do to help you?" Harry asked. It always made him uncomfortable to see Ginny uncomfortable. Despite their relationship being on a hiatus, he couldn't help but love the woman.

"No thanks. I'll be fine," Ginny said, snatching the last cinnamon bun when she saw George enter.

"Oh, come on, Gin," he said, pretending to be offended. "How could you take my breakfast?"

"Get over it," Ginny replied, her mouth full of pastry.

"Nothin's changed," George muttered, patting his sister's head. Ginny swatted him away. The troop from outside came in, snow clinging to their clothes, hair, and boots. Mrs. Weasley pointed her wand at them and the snow melted into a pot. They all sat at the table.

"So, Gin, how was the party last night?" Ron asked, dipping his finger in the frosting that was left on the plate.

"I didn't go to the party," Ginny said, adding sugar to her coffee.

"Then where were you?" Ron asked, getting in his protective-brother mode.

"I needed to do some last minute things to meet a deadline," Ginny said, stirring her coffee.

"You were up until midnight working?" Mrs. Weasley said. "I don't think so."

"You can ask Dennis, if you want," Ginny said.

"Oh, so you were with Dennis?" George asked jokingly.

"He's got a girlfriend, you know," Ginny said.

"Oh, so you know about his personal life?"

"No. I spend all the day with the guy, what do you want us to talk about? Zebras? I don't think I could get him to talk about anything amusing even if I tried." Ginny sipped her coffee with her left hand. Her elbow collided with Harry's and her coffee spilt all over the table. Harry was up quicker than anyone else, mopping up the hot coffee with some napkins.

"You ok, Gin?" Harry asked, quickly trying to wipe the coffee off her shirt.

"Yeah, thanks. I think I'd better go change," Ginny said, standing up.

"Err…yeah," Harry said, watching her go. When did he become such a klutz?

Ron, Hermione, George, and Angelina were staring at him when he turned around. He wasn't sure why. It wasn't like that was the first time anyone had spilled coffee at breakfast.

"What?" Harry asked.

They all shook their heads and stood up, going into the other room. Harry finished cleaning up and changed into something a bit more presentable than his worn pajamas.

3

"Harry, this one's for you," Ron said, passing Harry a hefty package. "All the Weasleys went in on it, just so you know."

"Thanks," Harry said ahead of time, tearing open the package. He had no idea what it was; he hadn't said he wanted anything in particular. He had been expecting (with much anticipation) the usual fare of Weasley sweaters, sweets, and other delicacies. But this definitely was not the usual fare of sweets, sweaters, and other delicacies.

He stared at a thick wooden chest, the hinges brass and the lock at the front large and ornate. Carefully, he opened it. Inside was a plethora of books and devices he had no idea how to use.

"I thought it might be useful," Mr. Weasley said. "I'm not quite sure what all of those things are, but Bresnen said it was a great help to him when he was starting out. All the books explain what each device is for." Harry put the chest on the floor and began looking through the drawers and compartments of the thing.

"That's not toys!" Teddy exclaimed, crossing his arms. "Where are Harry's toys?"

"These are my toys, Ted," Harry said.

"They don't look like toys," the boy said. He sat down on the floor and proceeded to play with a little toy dragon that walked around on its own. Andromeda was going to kill Charlie, but how could she deprive her grandson of a toy that makes him happy?

"Hermione, here's your toy," Mrs. Weasley said, handing her a thick package. She opened it with a small grin on her face. Hermione's grin exploded when she saw what it was; a new set of dragon hide gloves and a silver pocket watch.

"Thank you so much!" she said, slipping the gloves back into their box and into her bag. Immediately, she put the watch in her pocket and kept glancing fondly at it throughout the night.

"Everyone needs a good pocket watch," Percy said. "You never know what can go wrong with wrist watches, especially in the ministry. I remember this one time this poor bloke got his caught in the elevator. If he had had a pocket watch, it never would have happened."

"Charlie," Audrey said, passing the present to him.

"Now, I wonder what this could be, mum? You've outgrown giving everyone but me a sweater. Why is that?" He put on his Weasley sweater, a blue one, and put the massive box of sweets his mother had given him off to the side.

"You're the only one who only comes home twice a year," she said sternly.

"Audrey, this is for you," Ron said, checking the tag.

"Oh, wow, this is gorgeous," she said, pulling the necklace out of the box.

"It was my mother's," Mrs. Weasley said. "I thought it would look good on you." Smiling, Audrey put it on. She didn't own much jewelry, but what she did own was very suitable for her character. This necklace was no exception.

"Ginny," Ron said, carrying the box precariously through the piles of gifts, wrapping paper, and people. Harry met him half way and took the box.

It was surprisingly heavy and he became nervous. He knew Ginny had been working on improving her ability to hold heavy things, but her right hand still couldn't close all the way and he wasn't sure if she had the strength to hold the box. She reached out to take it, but he didn't let go, instead putting it in her lap. When he first refused to let go, she seemed angry, but once it was on her lap and she could feel the weight of it, she thanked him.

It was clear to Harry that she didn't particularly love the gift. It was a collector's set of quidditch balls sent to her from the Cannons.

"Ron, you idiot, you gave her the wrong gift," Bill said. Ron fumbled under the tree for a few minutes before coming up with a lumpy package.

"Hey, how come she gets a sweater?" Ron demanded, crossing his arms.

"It isn't a sweater," Mr. Weasley said.

Harry swapped out the gifts, putting her quidditch set on the floor and setting the package in front of her.

"Yes!" Her eyes lit with excitement, she pulled a fluffy red bathrobe out of the package and a pair of matching slippers. "They're so soft!" Her brothers chuckled at her, and even Harry couldn't help but grin. "Thank you so much!" She pulled off her socks, tore the tags off her slippers, and put them on.

3

Harry leaned against the door jam, watching Ginny putting dishes away. Everyone else had gone outside to watch Vicky and Teddy play in the snow. Fleur was feeding Dominique in the other room.

"You can help, you know," Ginny said. "These go in that cabinet."

Harry picked up all the cups and carefully put them where they belonged. He wasn't really sure what he was doing; no one had asked him to put away dishes here before, not that he was unwilling. He didn't even know where most of the dishes went. If necessary, he could find a cup and a bowl for breakfast. But that was about it.

"You're doing it wrong," Ginny said. She nudged him out of the way, not shying away from contact with him, and fixed all the cups so they were in the right order. "Big ones in the back, little ones in the front. Glass on the top shelf, plastic on the bottom."

"You're so picky," Harry murmured, crossing his arms. She glanced at him, one of her eyebrows raised. The expression came off as hilarious, even though Harry knew it wasn't supposed to, and he struggled to hold back his laughter. She shook her head and continued putting dishes away. She made quick work of the rest of the dishes and turned to face Harry.

"I'm done, Harry," she said seriously.

"You're done?" He said, a slight grin on his face. He was not sure whether or not this was going to end in some joke or if it was a genuine comment.

"I'm done running. I'm done standing still. I want to go forward," she said.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked.

"I…I think I'm ready to resume our relationship."

Harry stared at her, speechless. His heart soared. His mind raced. He couldn't believe it.

"Are you sure?" he asked, trying to suppress a smile.

"Yes." Ginny smiled.

Harry put his hands behind her head and gently kissed her. It was short, but wonderful. She put her own hands around his head and drew him back in for a second round.

"Err…Harry…do you know where Teddy's dragon is?" Ron asked, scratching his head. Harry pulled away from Ginny and looked at Ron, angry. Why did he have to interrupt this moment?

"No; did you check the other room?"

"I'll go check now." Ron went into the sitting room, leaving Harry and Ginny alone again.

"You're sure about this?" Harry asked. Ginny was beaming at him, her eyes alive with joy.

"Yes," she said, leaning against him. "Thank you for waiting."