Hey everyone,
Well, one topic covered, onto the next. And this time around, I am going to try and keep to the positive attitude and vibe that you usually get when it's Christmas. I might not constantly be able to keep this up as there is still the whole tension thing between Percy and his siblings, but I also have a few other things planned that are more positive. Also, I am thinking of writing another Harry-Sirius chapter that starts after the movie is over. I just realized that there is one thing that I forgot to cover last chapter, but I don't want to add it in now.
You'll see,

Venquine1990

Chapter 24
Christmas At London

25th of December 1995
Grimmauld Place, London
Ron's POV

When dad got attacked and the twins, Ginny and I stayed at London until the day that Dumbledore and Umbridge met with Bill to discuss their plans for taking out Riddle, Sirius had actually assigned me a different bedroom from the one I slept in during summer. And when mum heard that the previous room had a portrait of Phineas Nigellus hanging in it, she instantly agreed, which really proved how much her trust in Dumbledore had taken a blow.
And just like back then, mum sent me back to the other room for the night last night. It definitely felt uncanny the last few months to sleep in a dorm with only three other dorm mates instead of four, but to have a room all to myself, when I could be sharing it with Harry, felt even more uncanny. Yet at the same time I didn't really feel like letting it affect me and I went to bed with the thought: "Harry is sleeping with his guardian nearby. That's what matters."
And the thought that I have helped Harry and Sirius spend Christmas together is on my mind as I head down to the kitchens. It definitely felt a little weird not to wake up with a pile of gifts at the end of my bed, but I quickly realized that the gifts had probably been left downstairs for us all to share the experience with each other. A part of me feels a little queasy about this as it means I'll be sharing with Percy, but I ignore this thought.

And the smell of mum's freshly baked food makes it a lot easier for me to feel comfortable about all this. I had also noticed that Hermione and Ginny had gone to their room with the intention of talking about something that had clearly bothered my best friend. Yet as they walk ahead of me, I can tell that my sister was able to reassure the brunette. Hermione also spots me and slows her pace down to walk beside me. "Had a good night's rest?" I ask and the girl nods before she says:
"Yeah, I was just – wondering why Ginny and the others were able to be so open about the club they had formed. I had, after all, enchanted the document we all signed to prevent that, you know, because of Umbridge. But it turns out that the room in which they practiced removed the charm after their first meeting. Apparently one of their members had indeed snitched and my charm had activated. I'm surprised I hadn't noticed, but the room undid that too."
"What exactly did your charm do?" I ask, curious about what she had done and also worried about the look on her face as it looks like she feels stupid about it or something. "It wrote the word sneak on someone's face, in big red zits. But Ginny told me that that was a bad idea as it proved to the world at large that some kind of secret club had been betrayed and that would risk the other members. To be honest, I really hadn't thought of it like that when I cast the spell."

I grimace at her, but then we reach the kitchen and I mutter: "We'll talk later." Hermione nods, but then she smiles at me and says: "You know something, Ron. I don't think my spell would ever work on you." And with that she goes to wish my parents a Merry Christmas. Yet I remain standing, my eyes wide and my heart racing as I realize what Hermione meant. And the fact that my best friend considers me incapable of betraying anyone makes me feel incredible.
The twins then come on down and they had obviously been listening in as they both slap me on the shoulder, one shoulder each, and chorus: "She's right, you know." And I beam at the two before I follow them over to where mum and dad are seated at the rear end of the table. Dad looks a lot better than he did last night when he confronted Lupin and it's obvious that he recovered a lot more after a good night's rest.

Then Percy comes down and most of our eyes widen as the lad is only wearing an overly large shirt and a pair of fluffy slippers, but nothing else. Even his horn-rimmed glasses look like they could use a good wipe. The boy yawns and then he notices our shocked looks. His face and ears turn red and he mumbles: "I realized how stupid it was to always be prim and proper after living on my own for about a month or two. I usually don't get changed anymore until 10 minutes before work."
"ABOUT BLOODY DAMN TIME!" The twins shout chorus and while mum reprimands them for their language I can easily tell that she doesn't really mean it as there is a large grin on her face. Percy joins us at the table and Bill joins us shortly after. Then Percy turns a guilty look mum's way and says: "I do need to be at the Ministry at 10, mum. But the Minister promised that I only need to be there for a quick debriefing, then I can come back home."

Mum frowns at this, but she says: "Well, at least it'll only be a short while. Do you want to open your presents before you leave or after, dear?" Percy's eyes widen and he rubs the back of his head as he says: "To be honest, I hadn't expected any gifts." And while I'm sure mum would argue with me, I don't feel any guilt over the fact that I had, indeed, not bought a gift for him. "Nonsense, dear. You're my son and I always knit cloths for all of my children. Sirius even asked me to knit a special kind of comforter for dear Harry.
Though for some reason he insisted on purple while I wanted to make it green, you know, like his mother's eyes." To this the twins say: "That makes sense. Yeah, purple is Harry's favorite color. He always wears a purple shirt when he's in a good mood. And he wore one almost every day after we were done cleaning this place. Sirius must have spotted this over summer." Mum looks startled and then she asks: "But – why didn't Harry ever tell me this?"
To this the twins shrug and Fred says: "I don't think it mattered.""Yeah, green, red, blue or yellow, Harry just appreciates the fact that you made him something." George goes on, but then Fred grimaces and says: "Though don't ever make him something that is brown colored, he hates that color, at least on cloths." George nods and says: "Yeah, exactly. Autumn brown to be specific. He really hates that color. We often see him spot it on other students over the weekend and he always grimaces or looks away."

Hermione and I share a look and I can't help but ask: "How do you guys know this?" The twins shrug and Fred says: "Our bond with Harry is just different from yours, Ronnie.""Yeah, you know Harry for his loyalty, his courage and his kindness.""We know him for his likes and dislikes.""It's just the kind of thing we pay close attention to." To this Bill takes a bite from the food mum put down in front of us and says: "That's definitely a good trait for upcoming shop owners."
I notice mum frowning at this, but to my amazement she doesn't start to rant at Bill. I wonder if this is because it's Christmas or because she doesn't want to start another row like with Percy over summer, but then mum really just astounds us all. She goes to sit with the rest of us and opposite of the twins. She stares intensely at the both of them and asks: "Boys please, help me understand. Why are you so adamant on this dream of yours?
Why do you believe you can do this? That this won't leave you in worse financial trouble than our family is known to have? Please, explain it to me." The twins genuinely gape at mum for a moment and then Fred coughs and says: "It – it's our passion, mum. You know, that – that feeling you get when you knit something or when you make a feast for us. How you feel your emotions getting stronger, your magic rushing through your veins, your blood pumping, your mind envisioning what the effects will be, how happy you will make the recipient."
Mum nods and George says: "We feel that. When we write down our ideas, when we share mental conversations to make sure we have all bases covered, when we prepare our ingredients, study our spells and charms, when we brew or cast spells needed to put our inventions together, when we learn new crafts in order to develop new stuff. We – we feel more alive than even when we won the Quidditch finals two years ago."

Hermione and I share another look, though Hermione is more astounded, while I just feel shocked at hearing the two put their desires and dreams into words. Mum is actually in tears and she whimpers: "I wish I had asked you this sooner. I always thought it was just a phase, that you were just holding onto it for longer than necessary out of stubbornness. I am so sorry that I underestimated this side of you both." And the twins are also in tears as they reach across the table.
"The one thing we want, above a successful shop, a good income, fun at our job or to get an idea for a new product to make a fortune is to make you proud, mum. We're doing this for you." George nods with his twins' words and says: "Yeah, we actually looked into it. On the long term, a shop owner makes 20 Galleons more a year than even the Assistant to most Department heads. We know the Ministry has its perks, but – it's not for us."

Both mum and Percy are actually shocked at hearing about the financial difference between the two jobs and then Fred shrugs and says: "Though, if we have to be totally honest, we do have another reason." Everyone looks intrigued and the twins stare at mum this time and they ask: "How many people do you know who by name in the Ministry these days – and how many do you know by name in Diagon Alley?"
Mum looks thoughtful for a moment and her eyes widen afterwards. The twins nod and Fred says: "Exactly. It's much easier to make name as a storeowner of a new kind of store than it is as Ministerial worker. There, unless you're like Percy or dad, you easily become a face in the crowd." This startles Percy, who had obviously not expected to be mentioned. Then George, who for some reason has his head down, goes on:
"And we did try that in our First year, but it just didn't work out. Then Flitwick got to us, told us to stop doing this and that he enjoyed our random jokes. That's how we got the idea to make a few products of our own and – well, the rest is history as they say. After we made our first three and realized how good that felt, we just wanted to keep doing so. Then we got told that someone enjoyed our stuff more than what Zonko's offered and –."

"That's how we got to the idea of a Joke shop." The twins chorus in the end and after a few minutes of silence I mutter: "Well, damn." And mum seems too startled to reprimand me. Then suddenly the twins start to grin and say: "Enough reminiscing. Time for presents!" And instantly the rest of us start to grin just as widely. Mum quickly summons all of the gifts over from the other side of the room and then divides it over all of us respectfully.
And Percy, who does indeed get a gift of his own, actually keeps quiet at the fact that the rest of us now all have small piles in front of us. "Wait, this is from Harry. How did – I thought –." Hermione suddenly says startled and I smile as I say: "Harry got Dobby to get me permission to take some money from his vault. I had a bag that magically does so and bought all of the gifts myself, the day I got taken to Riddle."
Hermione nods in understanding and mum turns to me with a question obviously clearly on her mind. I smile at her and say: "Don't worry, mum. I only splurged a little on Harry's gift for Sirius and that was just because the gift I found was too perfect not to. It was a picture frame that can store up to a few dozen pictures and of which the front picture can be changed with a tap of the wand. I saw it and thought that's what Harry would buy."

The twins nod in sheer agreement and mum gives me a tearful smile of pride. Then Ginny laughs and says: "So I guess you already know what Harry got you, huh?" But I shake my head and say: "No, he insisted through Dobby that I let the elf buy that." But then Hermione suddenly stares down both my parents as well as Bill and Percy and says: "You can't let anyone know that the elf's name is Dobby. He works for Hogwarts, but he is a free elf.
That's why he's able to help Harry. Because he's not really bound to anyone, so he doesn't have a master he needs to answer to." And to my relief all four adults nod, the looks on their faces proving that they will definitely keep quiet on this. "So why don't we open Harry's gifts for us first then?" Ginny asks and the twins cheer: "Yeah, and Ron should open his first." The others all stare at me and I shrug before I do as said.

And as I open the wrapping paper around the gift, my eyes widen when I see what is hidden inside. It's a uniform shirt in the colors of the English National Quidditch team and with the words The Keeper on the back of the shirt. The shirt might not be an official shirt of the English team, but instead, it's obvious that the shirt was tailor made and that there is more than just meaning behind the words on the back.
My eyes tear up as I notice that the lining around the first word is even slightly thicker, as if the tailor wanted to put emphasis on the word. I hear the twins whistle as they look at the gift from over my shoulder and Fred says: "Yep, that looks like something Harry would get you." And George goes on: "Which would make one wonder.""How well does our Ronnie know his best friend when he bought the other gifts?"

And with that the two of them rip into their own gifts with vigor. I notice Hermione sending the two an exasperated look, but she too starts to pull the paper off of her own gift. Mum, dad and Ginny also follow their example, though I also send Bill a bit of a guilty look. My eldest brother smiles at me and he says: "I get it, Ron. Harry and I hardly spent any time together the last few years. He wouldn't really think of buying me anything, so I'm glad you didn't for him either." And with those words, he himself goes for one of the gifts in front of him.
I myself just keep staring at the shirt that still lies on the table in front of me. Then suddenly mum gives me an incredibly tight hug and she whimpers teary words of gratitude. "These knitting needles are incredible. Thank you so much. I actually broke my last set after I finished that comforter Sirius wanted me to make for Harry." My eyes widen and I give the woman a huge grin as I say: "Just so you know, I did not plan for that."

Mum laughs and agrees. Then the others also all thank me and I can't help but laugh: "Don't forget to send a thank you card with Dobby later. After all, I am just the medium. The gifts are from Harry." My siblings nod and Percy mumbles a soft thank you to mum as he puts on his sea-blue sweater. And mum's eyes tear up again, which I guess is because she hadn't expected to have Percy back for Christmas and that she is beyond glad that it still happened.
This reminds me of the need to talk with Percy about the whole thing later, but I keep quiet as I don't feel like ruining Christmas with such a depressing conversation topic. Then the other gifts are all opened and I feel even more shocked and surprised at what I got this year. Hermione actually got me a personal journal and a book full of tips on how to fix emotional issues with mental strength or vice versa and a coupon for free chocolate at Zonko's.

"I actually wanted to buy you a homework journal, but then the whole thing with Harry happened. And when I saw how you reacted to Dumbledore and the news he had for you, I felt that you needed something which could help you with issues like that. I kept trying to think of how I could get this done without alerting Umbridge, as I thought of a room or something of the sort and then Ginny came up with the journal idea.
Though I did enchant it. Don't worry, it's a special kind of calming charm that I practiced. Basically, the more you write, the more the spell takes effect." Mum had whitened a little when Hermione mentioned the charm part, but she had seen Ginny smile and this had calmed her down. "So basically, this is a gift from the both of us. I came up with the idea of the journal and the charm and Hermione got the idea of the book and cast the spell."
My sister adds and I hug the both of them gratefully. Hermione even pulls me tightly against herself and says: "You've been really proving yourself, Ron. But I know you and I saw that you were struggling with it all from time to time. After four years with Harry, I tend to notice things like that. I couldn't really help him, so I was beyond determined to help you." My arms tighten around her form at hearing her say this and I whisper: "Thanks sis."

The girl lets out a gasp of shock and beams at me, yet for some reason I can't help but think that I both pleased and hurt her at the same time. This thought is just too confusing, so I let it go. I return to my seat and, naturally, I got a great sweater from mum. Yet it does shock me slightly to notice that it's not in a shade of red this time, as it's actually navy blue. "I'm sorry, Ron. I ran out of red yarn last year and I completely forgot."
Mum mutters, but I grimace and decide to be honest. "To be honest, mum. I hate red. I mean, I love red for Gryffindor and all, but – the color just clashes with my hair too much. I only really wear your sweaters because you make them and because they're nice and warm, never for the color." Mum looks shocked and I pull the sweater over my head as I say: "I prefer this navy color a lot more. It looks a lot better too, doesn't it?" And with new tears in mum's eyes, she nods.

I give the woman a warm smile and thick hug and then focus on my last few gifts. And my heart bursts with gratitude when I unwrap an amazing new set of robes ( "With an enchantment to make them adjust to the temperature outside. So they become thick like wool in winter and thin like silk in summer." The twins tell me.), a large box of my favorite chocolates from dad, one piece even shaped to write my name ("I got an old friend of mine to make that. As a reward for the great work you've done, son." Dad says) and the last gift just sells it.
A plush sphinx miniature lies in my lap, fancy dark blue wrapping around the form. I look from it to Ginny, who I remember got this from Bill when we visited him over summer after her First. The girl beams at me and says: "I really needed that back then. But like Hermione, I could tell you were struggling. I felt you could use it more than me. Merry Christmas, you big lug." I can hardly believe that she would give me something so personal and important and for once in several years, I don't hate getting something second hand.

Alright then.
That really went well and I know that I didn't really go into detail with what Ron bought for the others in Harry's name, but to be honest, I didn't want to drag this chapter out too long. And with how many of Harry's loved ones are in the room – Ron, Ginny, the twins, Hermione and Arthur and Molly – that would be a good three, maybe even five pages. I didn't feel like writing that much and so I just kept it nice and short.
Still, I really think I represented what Christmas means to me. To me, it doesn't matter if you spent 20 bucks on a gift or 350 bucks. If you can buy someone a gift that really proves how well you know them, you're giving them something priceless. And personally, I think Ron really grew out of that greedy lad that hated his poverty and whatnot, especially now that he has been carrying the burden of being the main and only known Secret Keeper for almost two months.
What do you think,

Venquine1990
PS. Next chapter: Harry and Sirius
The chapter after: Umbridge (enough said)
The chapter after: Eversoul and Wildebeast
Also, at one point I experimented with twin speech without the " present. It was when the twins talked about Harry's love for purple. What did you think? Would you prefer it that way?