Epilogue

Even after Harry had Ginny alone with him in Grimmauld Place and he'd finished locking the house up tighter than a Gringotts vault, he still couldn't quite believe they were okay. It was like waking up the day after the Final Battle when, for the first time he could remember, there was nothing he had to do out of magical obligation or prophecy or because he had no other choice. This time was somehow even more unbelievable because miraculously, no one had died to get him here.

It was early October, the Quidditch pre-season began in just over a week and everything was suddenly normal again. It was remarkably disconcerting. The pajama bottoms Harry had pulled off that morning were still balled up on the floor next to the bed; it felt like a lifetime ago that he'd worn them. His trousers were ripped and filthy as were the robes Ginny had transfigured out of the ones Voldemort's spell had destroyed. She looked nearly as tattered, and for the first time Harry noticed that the ends of her hair were singed black. He touched a strand that lay against her cheek.

"There are spells to fix this, I think," he said. It was the first thing he'd said to her since they'd left the Ministry.

Ginny shrugged. "Or I could cut it." She looked at him. "Would you care? If my hair was shorter? I've always wondered what it would look like closer to my shoulders."

"It would be beautiful," Harry said firmly. "Anyway, far be it for me to tell anyone what to do with their hair."

Ginny laughed then, a real sound, and leaned against his chest. "Right now I think it needs to be washed, along with the rest of us."

Harry tugged at the corner of Ginny's jumper. "I'm going to banish all of our clothing. If I try to bin them Kreacher will find them and I don't think we can expect him to be responsible for his actions in that case."

"Considering that the state of your sheets already almost sends him 'round the bend," she nodded.

"Our sheets," Harry corrected automatically. Ginny looked curiously at him and he gave a small shrug. "If it's okay with you, I'd like Kreacher to be sent into a tizzy about the state of our sheets and the things we get up to in them together. When you aren't on the road, of course." He hesitated suddenly, wanting to say more but knowing that this was possibly the most unromantic time he could do it. Ginny wasn't a fussy, Madame Puddifoot's type of witch, but Harry knew that she'd like him to put at least a small bit of planning into the thing. He stuttered for a moment, shuffling his brain to a new path. "Would that be okay?" he asked. If you moved in here and we . . . lived together?"

Ginny gave Harry the slightest of calculating looks and he had the sudden suspicion that she knew exactly how much farther his thoughts had gone. But it was with a smile of pure delight that she nodded and wrapped her arms around him. "I'd love to move in with you," she said. "And I'd like to start tonight, if that's okay."

Harry hadn't doubted what Ginny would say but his heart gave a happy leap anyway. "I should hope so," he said. "It's practically morning anyway." A thought struck him. "Your parents will be okay with it, won't they? I mean, they know you practically live over her anyway when you don't have games, and it will be so much more cost-efficient not to pay rent on a flat you barely use, and they seem to have been okay about your brothers moving in with their girlfriends before they . . ." Harry gulped back his last words, horrified. But Ginny's grin got even wider and now Harry was certain she understood what he was trying desperately not to say. She gave him a serious look.

"I'm sure my parents will be just fine when they hear you intend to sully my reputation by asking me to live with you before . . . the Quidditch season formally begins," she said. Her lips twitched.

Harry sighed. "I think it was easier to talk to Voldemort," he muttered. "I knew exactly what to say to him, and it certainly wasn't to ask him to move in with me."

"Thank Merlin for that," agreed Ginny. She pulled off her ruined clothing and then began helping Harry do the same. "What exactly did you say? At the end there was a lot going on and it seemed like one minute he was there shooting that horrible curse at you and the next moment he was gone. He'd pointed his wand at me but I don't think he even had the chance to start another spell."

Harry had told the Auors only the basics of what had happened in the Forest; the moment was still raw in his mind and anyway, everyone had been more focused on breaking down the scheme and capture of Dringich Vane and Ariadne Zabini. He found now that being naked with Ginny made it much easier to talk about.

"It was the same thing as before," he said. "Sort of. Love brought him back,. Not my love for him, of course," he added hastily.

Ginny actually snorted. "Thank you for making that clear," she said.

Harry gave her a sheepish grin. "Right," he said. He let his train of thought wander for a minute over Ginny's bare skin. "I'll need to wash you very well," he said, touching several spots that seemed to be particularly dirty. Or at least, Harry thought they might be. Ginny shivered. "I think so," she said. She leaned around him and tapped her wand against the dials of the shower.

That sorted, Harry picked up the thread of his explanation. "I'd brought Voldemort back as an enemy to fight, but because I loved you," he said. "To destroy him I had to show my love for you again but I also had to think of Voldemort as the opposite." It had taken several clues from Dumbledore for Harry to understand, but he had to admit that his old headmaster had been exactly right.

"Hate?" asked Ginny. She stepped into the shower and groaned as the water pounded across her back."

"No," said Harry. "Like Riddle said, hating him as an enemy just kept making him stronger and more able to fight me. What caused him to disappear was indifference." He joined Ginny under the water, picking up the soap and lathering it between his hands. "As soon as I didn't care about him anymore, he lost all power over me, and over the place." Harry turned Ginny so that she faced him. "I think your breasts are particularly dirty," he said. "I should start there first."

"Good idea," said Ginny. She reached down. "I'll be working on this, then. It seems to need quite a bit of attention itself."

Harry nodded, all thoughts of Voldemort fleeing from his head as quickly as the man himself had done hours before. "I think that's right," he said thickly. "And then later I want to sleep for most of tomorrow with you and then have an enormous breakfast in bed."

"Can we trust my brothers to get the story right for my parents?" Ginny made a particularly lovely sound and Harry moved his hands lower. "I'd hate for them to worry unnecessarily."

"We'll Floo them," Harry promised. "Even before we eat breakfast." He pushed Ginny gently backwards until she had to sit down on the bench at the end of the shower. Months ago Harry had charmed the shower heads to move where they did and soon the warm water was again streaming down Ginny's front. He nudged Ginny's legs apart. "Of course, I'm getting ready to eat now." He gave her a saucy look and Ginny smacked him in the side.

"That's terrible, Harry," she said. "I mean, it's not so terrible that I'd want to deprive you of your fun, but still."

"But nothing," said Harry firmly. "You're going to have to take the bad with the good if you're going to . . . date me." He dropped down to his knees and kissed the inside of each of Ginny's thighs before looking up at her again, hoping to distract her. "Any objections?"

"The good is always much better than the bad when it comes to being with you," said Ginny. She slid her bum to the edge of the bench without him having to ask. "And given that the bad involved almost poisoning me and making me help you fight a reincarnated Voldemort, I think you can be pretty secure in the knowledge that I'm not going anywhere."

Harry had to take a minute before he could refocus on the task before him after that comment. He swiped quickly at his eyes, not even caring to pretend that it was only the water from the shower he was brushing away.

"Most witches would have probably run off long ago," he said thickly. He shuffled on his knees until he was close enough to lay his head against Ginny's stomach. She brushed her hand through his hair. "Thank you for sticking around."

"There's no place else I'd rather be, you know," Ginny said. She hadn't quite called him a 'daft boy' but Harry could hear it in her tone. "Other than possibly at that Muggle resort you've mentioned a couple of times."

Harry shook off the moment of melancholy. "I'd be there too, you know," he said. "Probably laughing my arse off watching you try to pretend to be a Muggle." He could see it clearly in his mind, the two of them cavorting on a beach next to a sparkling ocean somewhere, like in the silly romantic comedies his Aunt Petunia had liked to watch on the television. In his fantasy Ginny already had a ring sparkling on her finger and they missed dinner nearly every night because they were too busy with other activities. "Some of the resorts have the hotel rooms built right out over the water," he said. And parts of the floor are made of glass so you can see fish swimming around below your feet."

"Sounds like magic," giggled Ginny. "Those Muggles are really quite brilliant." She gave his head a gentle push. "You know what else would be brilliant?" she asked.

"I like it when you tell me what to do," Harry said. He dipped his head back down. "Can't really keep talking to you though."

"I'll do the talking for both of us," promised Ginny. "Although I'll probably mostly just tell you where I want you to put your mouth next."

"You could let me surprise you," said Harry. He swiped a finger across Ginny's folds and then tickled them open. She made sound of approval.

"I could do that too," she agreed. "Actually, yeah. I'm going to do that." She spread her legs a little wider. "Do whatever you want, Potter. I trust you."

Harry knew Ginny's use of his last name wasn't an accident. She didn't use it often, and only during those moments when they were being both intimate and playful. It tended to drive him crazy, and if he was able to respond at all, it would usually be with an equally cheeky comment, calling her Weasley. But his normal response, something along the lines of you'd better, Weasley, somehow turned into Soon it'll be Potter for you too. Harry almost choked on the shower water, trying to bite back the words in his head. He froze, not sure he hadn't actually said them out loud. But Ginny legs were still spread open and her head was thrown back against the shower wall and Harry didn't need to hear her say another word before he was diving down to find all his favorite bits.

He didn't want to say he was distracted, because he wasn't. He was completely and fully focused on giving Ginny pleasure, and by the way she was wriggling around on the bench above him, he was doing a fairly bang up job of it. But Harry knew Ginny's body so well that even as he flattened his tongue against her clit and inserted one and then a second finger inside, another part of his brain was making an appointment for a private meeting at a certain shop in Diagon Alley - after hours so he wouldn't be recognized. And then he was planning how to ask Gwenog Jones when he might get Ginny alone at a time that didn't interfere with her schedule. Only once he'd settled those plans, he locked them away in his head and focused even more fully on the task at hand. Or at tongue. He snorted to himself and Ginny screamed.

"Do . . . do that again, Harry," she gasped. "Whatever . . . you just did with your mouth." She reached down and grabbed him about the ears to hold him in place. "Please."

Harry couldn't very well tell Ginny that what he'd done was laugh to himself for making a bad joke. Actually, he probably could, but that would require stopping doing the very thing that she seemed to be enjoying so much. Instead, he gave another smirking huff against her skin and was gratified when Ginny screamed much as she had the first time. He filed the move away for future activities and slipped his hands under Ginny's bum so that he could position her exactly where he wanted. In response, Ginny put her legs over his shoulders. She was saying something, Harry thought, but between the water echoing off the tile and the roaring in his ears that came with the realization that having sex with Ginny whilst thinking about asking her to marry him was incredibly arousing, suddenly all he could focus on was not climaxing right there. He redoubled his efforts with his tongue, moving it down to replace his fingers, and thrust in and out before returning to Ginny's clit.

It worked. Harry forced himself not to move - not to breathe - while continuing to suck gently to help her draw out her orgasm. It was a move he'd developed only recently and he was still a little thrilled about much she liked it. Sometimes he could even get Ginny to come a second time right then.

This time, she pulled away while Harry was still working his mouth and he looked up in surprise. But before he could say anything she'd slid off the bench and onto his erection, forcing Harry to sit down on the floor of the shower while she straddled his lap. "You were making that noise," she said by way of explanation.

Harry began moving Ginny up and down. "What noise?" he asked. "I didn't make a noise."

Ginny smirked. "Yes you did. I call it 'Harry's trying not to come' noise," she said. "Kind of between a grunt and a groan. And you get that look on your face too."

Harry held Ginny in place for a moment so that he could enjoy the feeling of her around him. "How do you know what my face looked like?" he asked with mock indignation. "From where I was, you had your head thrown back and your eyes closed and were thoroughly enjoying the moment yourself." He huffed. "Not the mention the fact that my face was otherwise occupied somewhere that you couldn't see anyway." He grabbed her hips. "Move again," he commanded.

Ginny began lifting herself up and down in Harry's lap. "I don't mean I saw your face this time," she said. She giggled, and even that little movement made Harry groan. "But I've seen it before, whenever you're getting close." She peered at him. "Like now."

Harry couldn't even ask Ginny what she saw, or tell her that he loved to watch her climax too. He didn't know if the sound currently issuing from his lips was the one she was talking about, or something new. He wasn't even thinking of rings or proposals or the future, just what was happening at that exact moment between the two of them on the floor of the shower. Ginny wrapped her legs around his waist and squeezed, and every fiber of Harry's body tensed with his climax. Ginny began riding him again - gently this time; she knew how to draw out his orgasm too. When she finally collapsed into him and buried her head in his neck, Harry kissed lazily along her wet skin, tickling and teasing and then finally slurping at the water that dripped into his mouth.

Ginny gave a laugh and leaned back to look at him. "Thirsty there?"

Harry made a show of lapping up a few more drops. "Well, I can't say I'm hungry at the moment."

Ginny laughed again. "I am," she admitted. "Can we get into bed and have that breakfast your promised?"

"Of course," said Harry promptly. He shifted a bit. "You may need to help me there, though. I think my arse has fallen asleep."

HPHPHPHP

POTTER WINS!

Written by Fawn Flora

Photographed by Archer Bow

After twelve exciting weeks of competition, it is finally official: Harry Potter has won Magical Monthly's First Annual Twelve Failsafe Ways to Charm Witches Contest! His success should not be a surprise to anyone who hasn't been living under a Hippogriff for the last three months. Potter's command of the competition has been so consistent that most bookmakers stopped accepting bets on the outcome of "The Harry Games" weeks ago.

"After what I put her through, I wonder if Lidia is going to be as eager for a second annual contest as she was at the start." Harry idly twisted a strand of Ginny's hair around his finger - she'd decided to regrow it long after all - while they curled up on the drawing room sofa to read the final magazine article. It was pouring rain outside and Gwenog had taken pity on her players and told them that training could start the following morning. Ginny chuckled.

"Oh, I think she'll run the contest again; I just don't think she's going to want you anywhere near it." She gave him a wicked grin "You should offer, you know. Tell her you had so much fun you can't wait to defend your title next year."

Harry snorted. "I would, if I didn't think she'd take me up on it. You know Lidia, always looking at the big financial picture. Now that she's assured that her assistant wasn't the one sabotaging everything, I suspect she'd decide that I'm worth the risk." Indeed, Marietta Edgecomb had proven particularly eager to help bring down her former beauty mentor. As soon as she'd learned that Ariadne Zabini had no interest in bringing Marietta into wizarding high society or introducing her to rich young wizards, Marietta had talked and talked. The Aurors had raided Dringich Vane's workshop and confiscated a number of adulterated Personal Product Portrays that he'd originally swiped from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and had also arrested Ariadne's lead chemist, who'd been trafficking in illegal phoenix tears for his skincare line. His normal channels had run dry and Ariadne had promised him an unending stream of tears - as soon as they were able to capture Fawkes. It had been a surprisingly complex scheme and Harry and the Aurors were not entirely convince that Blaise and Romilda were as innocent as they proclaimed, but so so far there was no direct evidence linking them to their parents' crimes.

"She'd probably trap you in the book herself, if she thought there was money in it." Ginny's voice was casual and Harry was relieved that they gotten to joking about it so quickly. For as terrible as it had been in the hands of Dringich Vane, the magic behind the spell on the third edition was fascinating to the curse breakers and Aurors. Bill Weasley was already heading a team made up from members of both groups to exploit the magic to create a new kind of security ward. Ron had joked that the charm would also be popular with the professors of Hogwarts who wanted to make sure their students finished their reading.

"Gawain is making sure the charm is being tracked to make sure it's not used for improper purposes," said Harry. "You know, to trap someone in a sex book from Indecent Alley and the like." Indeed, it had been the first thing Harry had mentioned at his meeting the previous day. Ginny shuddered.

"Good," she said. "Can you imagine the horrible things someone with a really sick mind might do?"

"I can," said Harry grimly. "Which is why they are working so hard to put limits on the charm."

Ginny leaned over. "What else does the article say? Fawn assured me she was feeling particularly creative. I think she liked being able to write about something other than us almost dying."

Harry turned the page to the article focused on the two of them.

HOW HARRY'S HER HERO!

He and Ginny snorted simultaneously. "How long do you think Fawn's been waiting to use that?" she asked.

Harry shook his head, looking over the photos scattered across the page. "She's crazy," he said with a laugh. "Anyone who knows you even a little bit is going to realize immediately that these photos - and story accompanying them - are faked." He nudged Ginny. "What were we thinking?"

Ginny peered over his shoulder. "Oh, I don't know; I think they managed to capture your 'saving people' thing pretty well. No one's going to care about me when they have a two-page spread of your muscle-y arms to look at as they rescue me from that tree."

Personally, Harry disagreed. Fawn and Archer being able to easily write a completely staged article for the last edition of the magazine had cemented the certainty that the curse on the book had been broken. And despite the ridiculous set up and her overly dramatic expression, Harry thought Ginny looked spectacular in the pictures. The fact that they'd both been trying their hardest not to dissolve into giggles during the entire photo shoot was definitely a bonus.

"You're a professional Quidditch play, Ginny," he said with exaggerated patience. "Do you really think anyone's going to believe that you flew yourself into a tree and got stuck there?" He shook his head. "Did you even warn Gwenog?

"She thought it was hysterically funny, actually," said Ginny. "Apparently my seat on my broom in photo right before I 'crashed' was quite impressive. Not to mention the number of fans she thinks I gained from the photo of my ripped jersey."

"You can't see anything besides your collarbone!" said Harry. "I made particular sure of that." He pointed at the photo. "See? Not even your bra strap."

Ginny shrugged, non-plussed. "Apparently I have a remarkably sexy collarbone," she said.

Harry hummed. "You have a remarkably sexy everything," he said. "And I don't want to share any of them, even in a photo."

"Gwenog liked your photos too," said Ginny with a smirk. "She actually said the sight of you racing to save me was almost enough to make her rethink keeping the Harpies as an all-female team."

"I thought Gwenog flew the other direction," said Harry.

Ginny shrugged. "She flies all directions; says she's into the broom, doesn't care about the make or model."

"Ahh," said Harry. "Then I may have someone at work to introduce her to, if she's ever interested."

"Trying to set up a team for next year's contest?" teased Ginny.

Harry shrugged. "The more interesting people we find, the less likely Lidia's going to come back for me," he said.

"I'm glad NewMagic made so much money," said Ginny. "And that they saw the error of their ways, thinking that you were't an appropriate spokesperson." She snuggled against him.

"It wasn't really their fault," Harry pointed out. "But yeah, I'm glad to have my name cleared anyway." Thunder rumbled outside and he got up to poke at the fire while Ginny kept reading to him from the magazine.

"It says that Hagrid and Newt are partnering together to build a sanctuary for the Kedavra Hornets," said Ginny. "On an island off the coast of Africa, thank goodness."

"I hope Hagrid doesn't think it will be a good place to visit with his Care of Magical Creatures classes," remarked Harry. He frowned at the fire, which didn't seem to be responding to his spell, and tried to remember the one Hermione always used. "Did I tell you Ron and George got a call from the Ministry? Sounds like they want to talk to them about improving the Portkeys again - the Personal Product Portkey Planning Project, they're calling it."

"They're going to end up richer than the rest of us put together," said Ginny.

"I'm glad for it," said Harry. "Especially because I know that neither of them will flaunt it."

"Ron might flaunt it a little," Ginny said with a laugh. "If he runs into Malfoy."

"Or Blaise," agreed Harry. He wiped his palms on his trousers and tried to fix the fire again. "What does the magazine say about him and Romilda?"

Ginny turned the page and gave a satisfied huff. "Not as much as usual," she said. "I suppose your revealing their parents to be behind a massive scheme to steal powerful magical objects whilst trapping you forever in the pages of a cursed book might have put a bit of a dent in their plans." She read a bit. "Apparently Blaise was Romilda's hero because he bought her some fancy handbag she's been wanting." Ginny swore. "A handbag that costs 450 Galleons, apparently. What's it made out of, silver mermaid hair?"

"For that price, better throw in some of the gold hair too," said Harry. He gave a frustrated sigh. "I think something happened to this fireplace when we disconnected it from the Floo," he said. "I can't get the fire to stay lit."

"We can ask my dad to take a look at it," said Ginny vaguely. She was still flipping through the magazine. "He's had to fix the one at the Burrow enough times." She started laughing. "Dam Clarke built a Quidditch Pitch in the guest bedroom of his girlfriend's flat. He claims that it makes him her hero because that way he doesn't have to leave to get some practice in."

"Mmhmm," said Harry. He said a new spell and soon the room was filled with the soft glow of dozens of candles scattered about the room." "That's better, what do you think?" he asked.

Ginny looked around and smiled. "I like it," she said. "We should do something similar when we're home for Christmas."

"I'm going to see if I can make them radiate more heat," said Harry. "It's chilly in here." He turned back to the candles and began touching them one by one with his wand, hoping Ginny couldn't see that his hand was shaking.

"Huh, looks like Fawn wrote a second article," Ginny said curiously. Harry heard more pages turning. "Did you know that?"

"She might have mentioned something," he said. "There was a lot of material she hadn't used, apparently." He tried to keep his voice even. "What's it about?"

"Well, it's called She's His Hero, and there's a big photo of me in my Harpies uniform and that's it." Ginny turned the page and was quiet for a long time. Harry stayed frozen too, still facing the candles, waiting.

"Harry?" she finally asked. He could hear the waver in her voice. "Fawn didn't write this, did she?"

Harry turned around. Ginny was staring at him, the open magazine in her lap. He couldn't read the words from where he was, but he knew exactly what they said. He took a step forward.

"I've been in love with Ginny Weasley since I was sixteen years old," he recited. "But she was my hero long before that." Ginny's lip was trembling; she put her hands over her mouth for a moment, never taking her eyes away from Harry's. They grew brighter with every word he spoke.

"She understands me better than anyone else, and makes me a better person because of it. Some of the things we've shared are the stuff of nightmares, and yet, she's never backed down, even when almost anyone else would have run away. I can depend on her with my life, and I have."

Ginny had given up trying not to cry, and Harry walked right up to her and brushed his thumb across her cheek before sitting down on the low table facing her.

"She's funny, and smart and beautiful and is wickedly good at Quidditch. You may not think that last is something that should matter when one chooses a partner, but I'll admit that it matters to me." He gave her a grin. "I think it matters to her too."

Ginny gave a shaky nod. "It does," she said.

Harry swallowed hard. He'd practiced this next part out loud and in his head and so far hadn't been able to get all the way through it intact. Only four words in he knew this time would be the same. "I grew up without a family of my own but I was lucky to find people who showed me what it means to be a part of one." Harry slipped off the table and down onto one knee in front of Ginny. She reached out and brushed her hand across his cheek and he reached up to take it in his. "Ginny . . . she showed me what it meant to love and be loved, and the only thing I want in this life is to have her in it, always." He reached out and tapped his wand at the center of the magazine. It shook for a moment and then a small black velvet box rose out of the pages. Ginny made a small sound.

"How did you . . .?" she began. She reached her hand out as if to touch it and then pulled back.

"I'm a wizard, remember?" Harry said with a watery chuckle. "I can do all kinds of magic."

Ginny laughed too, but it turned to a gasp when Harry opened the box and the ring floated into the air in front of her. It had taken him remarkably little time to select once the wizard at the jewelry store had understood that what Harry was looking for was something elegant and not flashy. Three perfectly round diamonds sat in a row across the simple platinum band, the center one slightly larger than the two flanking it. Although his hands had been shaking ever since he'd first gotten up to pretend to have trouble lighting the fire, Harry felt completely steady as he plucked the ring out of the air and slipped it onto Ginny's finger. He carefully closed the magazine.

"Ginny Weasley," he said solemnly, feeling both completely present and at the same time like he was watching a moment in someone else's life, "will you please make me the happiest man alive and agree to marry me?"

Ginny dropped down to her knees too. "I will," she said, matching Harry's seriousness. And then her face cracked into a huge grin. "Of course I will."

Harry grinned back, and a moment later was holding her in his arms, feeling her heart beating as wildly as his. They swayed together for a moment and then dissolved into a mix of laughter and tears and talking over each other as Harry tried to explain how long he'd been thinking about proposing and Ginny kept exclaiming that she couldn't believe how well he'd surprised her. Harry suspected they'd have to retell each other their stories at some later time; they were too giddy at the moment to listen. Eventually the emotion between them shifted, and when Harry leaned in again, it was to kiss Ginny with a quiet intensity that filled him with a sense of peace. Neither of them spoke as Harry extinguished the candles with a single wave of his wand before taking Ginny's hand and leading her to the stairs. They'd have a lot of people to tell, soon, and he intended give Fawn and Archer the exclusive right to break the news to the public. But not now. Now, Harry intended to make love to his fiancé and let her make love to him and be secure in the fact that no one else in the world would ever know.

A/N: Sometimes when you write a story, you think that certain things are really obvious when actually, they are only obvious to you. My intent with the cursed book was that it was to be like the movie Jumanji - with the book taking the place of the game the characters couldn't stop playing. But no one suggested that the story reminded them of that, so I guess I wasn't being as clever as I thought I was. But now I'm officially done here. I have a one-shot idea I'll be working on over the next few weeks and then some time in the new year I hope to nail down the idea for my next longer story. In the mean time, Happy whatever holiday you celebrate and Happy New Year!