Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series or anything Harry Potter related!
NOTE: PLEASE BE AWARE THAT I CHANGED THE RATING FROM T to M. Just to be safe. I'm not exactly sure what exactly each of the ratings mean (though I have looked at the guide). There's obviously not going to be anything explicit or vulgar! Sorry if this makes anybody uncomfortable!
"Wake up! Wake up! WAKE UP!" I heard. I slowly opened my tired eyes to see Fred and George sitting at the edge of my bed, staring at me expectantly.
"Morning boys," I said, rolling over and closing my eyes again.
"Avery. Wake up immediately! Mum says we have to wait for you to open presents," said George. I let out an exaggerated sigh and heaved myself out of bed. I went to the bathroom quickly to wash the sleep out of my eyes and then went downstairs with the twins.
Everyone was gathered around the tree, except Mrs. Weasley, who was passing around mugs of steaming hot chocolate. Everyone was clad in their most christmas-y pyjamas, and were sporting some interesting bedheads. Ron's was probably the worst. His red hair was standing up in every direction. It almost made me laugh, but instead I just took a seat beside Harry. He gave me a quick kiss.
"Merry Christmas," he whispered.
"Merry Christmas, Harry," I said, linking my hand with his. I glanced over at Hermione, who was giving me a very smug look. I just playfully stuck my tongue out at her,
"Alright, everyone. Who would like to pass out the presents?" Asked Mr. Weasley. Nobody volunteered immediately.
"I'll do it, Mr. Weasley," I offered, untangling my hand from Harry's and getting up. I went over to the enormous tree and started to pull out packages.
"This first one is for Ron, from Hermione," I said, passing him the present. He ripped off the paper and pulled out a wooden box. Inside the box was a bunch of quidditch accessories, including a new pair of leather gloves, broom polish and bristle trimmers.
"Wow.. thank's Hermione," he said.
"No problem, I thought that since you were on the team now you could use these," she said, with a slight blush. I went on and passed out the rest of the gifts. Everyone seemed really happy with the stuff they had gotten this year. I think Mr. Weasley was the most excited of everyone. I had showed him how to set up the game, and he had not looked away from it since.
I had left out Harry's gift. I decided that I would give it to him when we had a moment alone, because it was a pretty personal gift. I hadn't gotten a gift from him either, so I figured that he had the same idea as I did.
I had gotten some really sweet gifts though. Fred and George had gotten me a basket of prototypes of Weasley Wizard Wheeze's products (which they gave to me when Mrs. Weasley had gone to get refills of hot chocolate). Ron gave me a large bag of honeyduke's candy. Hermione, obviously, gave me a book. It was a really interesting one though. It was about the four Elements and the history. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley gave me a newly knit sweater with an A on the front. Ginny got me a gorgeous green hair barrette, which she said would really go with my Element necklace. Bill gave me a set of fang earrings that matched his, which I immediately put on. Charlie, gave me a new pair of dragonhide gloves. Needless to say, I was really happy right now. Now, I just had to wait for the perfect moment to give Harry his present. I was a little bit nervous to give him my gift. I was worried that it would be too small, but I knew that Harry would appreciate it.
Finally, my moment came. Everyone one was busy fooling around with their gifts, or getting lunch ready, so nobody noticed when I told Harry to come upstairs to my room in ten minutes. I went upstairs quickly and pulled out his gift. While I was waiting I went and brushed my teeth and put on some fresh clothes. Then, there was a knock at my door, and Harry walked in.
"Hey, Harry," I said, closing the door behind him. I motioned for him to sit on my cot beside me. When he was sitting next to me, I passed over the wrapped gift to him.
"Thanks," he said, accepting the package. He ripped off the paper and pulled out the scrapbook He started looking through the pages of pictures, and I could see a small smile forming on his lips. I just sat beside him, allowing him to look through the pages. As he approached the end, I saw him look away from me, and discreetly brush a tear off his face. I didn't call attention to it, because I didn't want to embarrass him or anything, so I just waited for him to say something.
"Thank you, Ava. You have no idea how much this means to me," he whispered.
"No problem. I just thought that with everything that is happening... with the war I mean... it would just be a good thing to have," I explained. He just nodded silently. He reached over, and placed his hand on my cheek. I leaned in and pressed my lips on his. I could tell that Harry was He gently stroked my cheek. He pulled away after a few seconds.
"I have something for you as well," he said. He handed me a small wrapped package. I pulled off the paper to reveal a velvet jewellery box. I opened it, and looked inside. I was startled by what I saw. It was a ring... a silver ring with a green stone. It looked a little bit like an engagement ring...
"Harry, what is this?" I asked quietly. He saw the shocked look on my face and laughed softly.
"It's not an engagement ring, Ava," he told me. "It's a promise ring. I was hoping you would wear it," he said.
"A promise ring?" I asked.
"I want you to know... no matter what happens that I am always here for you. That is my promise to you," he said. I guess it was my turn to cry now, because I felt my eyes fill with tears. Harry had never really been the type of person to wear his heart on his sleeve, so this was completely unexpected. I felt a tear leave my eye and run down my cheek. Harry gently wiped it away.
"I love you, Harry," I whispered.
"I love you, too," he replied. I slipped the ring on my finger. He waited for me to examine the ring for a moment, before moving closer to me and kissing me again. I locked my hands around his waste, and deepened the kiss further. He parted my lips with his tongue. I let my hands wander over his chest, which was muscular under his shirt from the years of quidditch. We must have been getting a little bit carried away, because Harry's shirt was completely unbuttoned
"Ava! Mrs. Weasley says that breakfast is..." Hermione's voice trailed off when she saw what she had walked in on. Harry jumped away from me, and turned bright red with embarrassed.
"Hmm... never mind," She said with a smirk and quickly left the room, shutting the door behind her. As soon as Hermione had left we burst out laughing. I buried my head in Harry's shoulder.
"We've been caught red handed, Harry," I laughed. Harry began buttoning his shirt up.
"I guess we were. At least it was only Hermione," he told me.
"Yeah, that's true. We should probably go downstairs for breakfast" I said with a sigh. I glanced in the mirror to make sure I didn't look like I had just been caught making out with my boyfriend. Nope... I didn't think they would guess.
We hurried downstairs, and took two empty seats at the table. Everyone was talking and joking loudly, so nobody really paid us any attention. Hermione, however, was fighting to hold back her smirk. I just gave her a 'not now' kind of look, and she managed to settle down. I could hardly wait for later that night when Hermione had a chance to tease me about earlier. Thankfully that time didn't come until later that night.
"I'm sorry about earlier today, Ava," Hermione apologized when we had a free moment. Everyone else had decided to play a game of quidditch, but I didn't really feel like it right now.
"No worries, Hermione," I told her. We were sitting on the sofas in the abandoned living room.
"So, you and Harry are getting serious, huh?" she asked me. Here we go...
"Yeah, I guess so," I told her. I hesitated for a second, but then decided to tell her. "I told him I love him today." Hermione squeaked in response.
"I can't believe it! I'm so happy for you!" She cried.
"Quiet, Hermione! I don't want everyone to hear!" I hissed., and she clamped her hand over her mouth.
"Sorry," she mouthed.
"So, any news you have to share with me? About a certain redheaded, quidditch playing friend of ours?" I asked her. She wrinkled her nose.
"No. No news for you," she told me.
"You could maybe walk under the mistletoe... then you won't even have to make a move," I suggested.
"Was that your plan all along?" Hermione asked suspiciously.
"Maybe. I'm not admitting anything," I laughed.
We spent the rest of the day with some of the Order members that came over to have Christmas dinner with us. Even Athena showed up later that afternoon!
Overall, it was a great day! There was only one thing that was nagging me that day. I couldn't help but think about Ben's Christmas, and how he probably wasn't having any fun at all.
Ben POV
Christmas was a bleak event, though it was probably the most lavish one I had ever had. In the morning, after everyone had gotten ready, Draco and I were invited downstairs to open presents. The Malfoys like to flaunt their wealth, so they got me an unexpectedly large pile of gifts. They were all really nice I felt a little bit weird accepting the items. They all screamed Death Eater, so I knew that I wouldn't be able to use any of this stuff without making some people suspicious.
I gave the Malfoys the gifts I had gotten them. They thanked me, though I could tell that none of them were particularly impressed by the items. After the uncomfortable gift session we all parted ways. I went back to my room and started some of my holiday homework.
Eventually, a butler informed me that I was to get ready for the Christmas party tonight. I was told to wear dress robes. I hadn't brought any, but luckily the Malfoys had given me a set for Christmas. At least I would fit it with their... friends.
I spent the night pretending to have a good time, and laugh at all of their incredibly offensive jokes. One thing that I can tell you is that Death Eaters aren't really that interesting. All they ever talk about is how much they hate muggles. So I just laughed along with them.
After the firewhisky had been broken out, everyone was intoxicated enough that I was able to slip away. I had realized that I hadn't opened Ava's gift yet. I went back up to my room and shut the door. I pulled the present out of my bag and tore off the paper. Inside was a glass case, that contained a red glass rose.
There was a note that was attached to the case:
I thought I would give you a small piece of the Earth. Merry , Ava.
I folded up the note carefully and tucked it back into my bag. I placed the glass case on my nightstand. I knew that I wasn't going to be going back downstairs tonight, so I took off the uncomfortable dress robes and changed into comfortable sweatpants, before magically extinguishing the lights and curling up in bed.
Thanks for reading! :) Sorry if this was... cheesy or predictable or whatever... but sometimes things just have to get a little bit cheesy and predictable, right? Hope you enjoyed it though. Also, if you didn't read at the top... I changed the rating to M, but this is as "M" as it's gonna get!
