"Did you children get everything you were looking for?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she stirred a thick sauce on the stove.

"Yes, thankfully. We've all finished our shopping," Hermione smiled.

"And did you manage to find a dress, Ginny, dear?"

Ginny smiled, "I did, actually, and it was on sale so I didn't need to use this," Ginny handed the money her parents had given her to her father. "And Hermione found a dress, too," Ginny added on, hoping to avoid having her parents insist she take the money anyway.

"I can't wait to see them, you'll have to show me later!" Mrs. Weasley turned back to food on the stove, while the others went to the living room.

"What's your dress look like, Gin?" Harry remembered how beautiful she had looked the night of the speed dating event and he couldn't wait to see what she looked like at the ball.

"Please, like I'm going to tell you, Potter! Where's the excitement in that?" Ginny made a face at him.

"What about you, Hermione? Going to keep us in the dark, as well?" Fred sat in a chair near the fireplace.

"I think I will."

"Who's the lucky guy taking you to the ball, then?" George leaned against the wall.

"What guy?" Ron narrowed his eyes at Hermione, who snorted.

"There is no guy. No one is interested in me that way."

"I think I can honestly say that's not true," Fred flicked his eyes towards Ron, but only Harry, Ginny, and George saw it.

"I know at least six guys who'd love to ask you," Ginny bumped Hermione's arm with her own. Harry could see Ron growing more annoyed with the line of conversation, but he knew that unless Ron was pushed along, he'd never tell Hermione how he felt.

"I'll admit I'm curious to know who the couples are going to be at the dance, though," Hermione gave Ginny a subtle wink, which Ginny returned with a quick nod.

"I am, too. I know Oliver James is going to ask Fay Dunbar."

"He is? Since when?" Hermione looked at her.

"Oh, Oliver's fancied her for ages. Haven't you noticed how he always mentions how pretty she is when he's announcing the quidditch matches?"

Hermione thought for a minute, "You know, you're right. I thought he was just doing what Lee used to do when he commented on Angelina."

"Lee just had a little crush, Oliver is head over heels for Fay."

"What about Katie? Do you know who she's going with?" Hermione asked casually, making Fred sit up a little straighter.

"I'm not positive, but I think that Carl might ask her. She definitely won't be going alone, though, she's far too pretty to not have a date." Ginny bit her lip as Fred turned to glare into the fireplace.

"Now that I think of it, I should write to Angelina," Ginny scrunched her eyebrows together as though she were thinking, but Harry could tell that she was faking it. He was following Ginny and Hermione's conversation with great amusement, knowing that they were just trying to goad the twins.

"Why do you need to write to Angelina?" George pushed himself off the wall.

Ginny waved her hand nonchalantly, "I just need to warn her that she's going to be receiving an invitation to the Yule Ball any day now."

"What, from who?" George took a step forward.

"One of the seventh years. He's liked her since last year and he told me he was going to invite her."

George scowled and Fred stood up, "Come on, George. Let's go finish what we were working on yesterday."

The twins left the room and Ron turned a very confused look on Harry, Hermione, and Ginny, "Could anyone tell me what just happened?"

Harry laughed and gave a brief explanation of everything, leaving Ron with an astonished look on his face, "How on earth did you know all of that?"

"Ginny told me. Trust me, I didn't have any idea until then."

"Safe to guess that you were trying to make them both jealous before?"

"Yep," Ginny gave a satisfied smile. "I think it worked quite nicely. Now, on to the next task."

"What's that?" Harry asked.

"Finding Hermione a date to the Yule Ball."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Mum, are you okay?" Ginny had come downstairs for breakfast to find her mum in an unusually quiet mood. She'd continued acting strangely, dropping cups, burning food, and sending worried looks at the kids.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine."

"Mum, what's going on? You're not fine."

Mr. Weasley made eye contact with his wife, who just bit her lip, "Molly, we have to tell them. They're going to find out anyway."

"Tell us what?" Ron gave them an anxious look.

Mr. Weasley sighed, "I received word early this morning that there was a breakout at Azkaban."

There were some quiet gasps at the table, but Ginny simply grabbed hold of Harry's hand. He had stiffened slightly at the news and was now staring down at the table. Bill and Charlie didn't look surprised at all, so Ginny figured they had already known.

"Who escaped?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Lucius Malfoy, Antonin Dolohov, and Bellatrix Lestrange."

"How?" Ron demanded.

"We don't know yet. We just know that those three seem to have been the intended targets all along. I'm sorry, but for the rest of the holiday none of you are allowed to go outside the property of the Burrow." This statement was met with mixed cries of outrage and annoyance.

"We're adults!" Fred shouted.

"We own a business!" George added.

"How come they get to leave?" Ron demanded.

Mr. Weasley held up a hand to silence them, "Fred, George, I'm well aware that you are both adults, so I cannot make you stay. I want you to show caution whenever you go out, it's no secret that we support Harry, and I wouldn't put it past the Death Eaters to go after the people close to him in order to draw him out. And Ron, you are not an adult yet, so you will be doing as your mother and I say."

Ron grumbled under his breath, but took the platter of chicken that was passed to him and dumped half of it onto his plate. Ginny had taken the news in stride, but knew that it had affected Harry more than he was letting on. He had gone very quiet and hardly spoke to anyone for the rest of dinner. When the table had been cleared, Harry got up and silently left the room. Ginny followed behind him and watched as he took a seat on his bed, putting his head into his hands.

"Harry, are you okay?" Ginny sat beside him.

"Everyone is always in danger because of me."

"That's not true and you know it. None of us are being forced to stay with you, we choose to."

Harry started to shake his head, but Ginny stopped him, "Don't you remember what I told you all those months ago? Even if we had known that bringing you into our lives would put us at the top of Voldemort's list, we would have done it anyway."

"She's right, you know," Ron came into the room, followed by Hermione.

"I want you to be honest," Harry started. "Do you guys regret meeting me that day on the train?" It hurt Ginny's heart to hear Harry ask that question and to see the fear in his eyes while he waited for a response."

"You're joking, right mate? I met my best friends that day and I've had more fun than I ever thought I would," Ron clapped a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Oh, Harry, how could you ever think that we'd rather not know you? Before I had you guys, I never had any real friends. I was that weird girl who was always reading and making odd things happen that no one could explain. Then I found out that I was a witch, and I was thrilled, but eventually I was still the girl with no friends. And then two boys saved me from a troll in the girl's bathroom and I've had the most amazing adventures ever since. I've never regretted meeting any of you." Hermione gave Harry a hug and stepped back to stand beside Ron as two identical heads peered into the room.

"The same goes for us," Fred and George entered the room.

"Us too," Bill walked in, followed by Charlie.

"Were you all listening in?" Ron narrowed his eyes at his older brothers.

"Not at first," Bill answered.

"We were going to our rooms and we heard Harry ask if you wished you'd never met him," Charlie stood in the corner of the room, which had grown smaller with the addition of seven extra people.

"Right dumb question, if you ask me," Fred spoke up.

"Agreed," George nodded at his twin, "Who could resist you with those sparkling green eyes?"

"Those thick, raven locks."

"That lightning scar that sets off the structure of your face just so."

"Boys," Charlie said in a warning tone.

"Aside from the twin's input, a lot of good has happened to us on account of you," Bill crossed his arms.

"What did I ever do for you?" Harry looked skeptical, but interested.

"Because of you, I met the love of my life," Bill smiled.

"Fleur?" Harry raised an eyebrow to which Bill nodded.

"Fred and I wouldn't have our store without you."

"Most importantly, you've saved both Ginny and our dad from being killed by Voldemort," Charlie spoke over the others and Harry was surprised to see that no one flinched at the sound of Voldemort's name.

"So, you see, Harry," Bill explained, "Everyone's got baggage, you've just got more than most. We accepted you as a part of our family years ago. You've done a good job not letting that scar define who you are, don't let it take away more than it already has." Bill clapped Harry on the back and turned to leave the room, with Charlie and the twins following him out.

Harry let the meaning of Bill's words wash over him. He was right, the scar that had come to stand as a symbol of everything Harry had lost that night all those years ago was now going to take his family away from him yet again, but only if he let it. Harry wasn't going to let Voldemort have the satisfaction of knowing he'd destroyed the happiness Harry had carved out for himself. He thought about the night Ginny sat with him after his nightmare, the birthday party they'd all thrown for him and the gift Ginny had put so much effort into just to show him how loved he was. Even now, the people he loved most in the world were standing beside him, telling him how important he was to them. He wasn't to blame for the things that happened to the people around him, and it was time that he accepted that.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Hermione get up, it's Christmas morning!" Hermione was jostled awake as Ginny threw herself onto Hermione's bed and proceeded to jump up and down.

Had it been any other day, Hermione might have just laughed and gone back to sleep, but it was Christmas and she couldn't contain her excitement, "Come on, let's go get the boys!"

Ginny led the way to Harry and Ron's room, opened their door, and ran to Harry's bed, "Harry, come on, it's time to open presents!" Ginny prodded him with her finger until he opened one eye to look at her.

"Can't we sleep a while longer?" Harry rolled over and buried his face in his pillow.

"No, you can't! It's Christmas morning, there are presents to open, and I smell hot chocolate coming from the kitchen."

Knowing he wasn't going to be allowed to go back to bed, Harry slowly got up and pushed himself off his bed. He paused to push his glasses onto his face and then allowed Ginny to pull him out the door and down the stairs. Despite the effort he was putting into looking disgruntled, Hermione saw the loving look he was giving Ginny and knew he wasn't actually upset about being woken up. Now it was Hermione's turn and she knew it was going to be a challenge. Ron slept like a log and stayed in a terrible mood for hours if he was woken up early. Not to mention the fact that he had just slept through Ginny waking Harry up and she hadn't been trying to be quiet.

"Ron."

"Ron," Hermione spoke a little louder and shook his shoulder, but got no response. "Ron!"

"Wha-?" Ron turned bleary, confused eyes on Hermione. It took several seconds for him to realize that Hermione was the one who had woken him up. When he did, he shot straight up in bed, "Bloody hell, Hermione! What are you doing?"

Rolling her eyes, Hermione smirked at him, "It's Christmas and Ginny's already dragged Harry downstairs. But, I supposed, if you don't want to open your presents, you could just-"

Ron had hopped out of bed, grabbed Hermione's hand, and pulled her after him out of the room before she could finish speaking. Halfway down the stairs, Ron seemed to realize that he was still holding Hermione's hand and became very red. He mumbled a quiet 'sorry' and motioned for her to go ahead of him. Ignoring the disappointment welling up inside her, Hermione forced her thoughts to the happy chatter that was filling the room in front of her.

"Ron, Hermione, come sit with us!" Ginny waved them over and they took seats on the floor in front of the couch, which was occupied by Bill and Charlie. Fred and George had taken the armchairs near the fireplace, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had pulled up two chairs from the dining table.

"Let's get on with the gift-giving, then!" Fred rubbed his hands together.

"Fred, mind your manners," Mrs. Weasley warned, but there was a small smile tugging at her lips.

"Can we get on with the gift-giving, please?" George offered.

Mrs. Weasley smiled and everyone started passing out packages. They each got their customary hand-knitted jumper from Mrs. Weasley, along with a container of cookies that magically refilled itself once the last cookie was gone. This would only last until the day after they returned to Hogwarts and then the container would disappear. This statement was directed at everyone, but they all knew she was aiming it towards her sons, who were notorious for their habit of eating everything in sight. Mr. Weasley had gotten them kaleidoscopes, a fascinating muggle toy that he'd stumbled upon when working.

Bill had gotten each of them a stone about the size of a large coin that was strung on a thin, rope-like strap. They were told that the stone had been imbued with strong magic that would help deflect curses as long as they carried it with them. Charlie had gotten them each a small stone statue of a dragon that was curled up and fast asleep. He explained that when they were ready, they simply had to tap the statue with their wand and it would come to life. They all asked what the dragons would look like, but Charlie was unable to answer because the dragon would only be loyal to the person who woke it, and he didn't want "a bunch of small, flying lizards buzzing around him when he was trying to dodge a stream of fire from a fully grown dragon."

True to form, the twins gave everyone a newly developed box of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes that they advised no one open until they were away from anything flammable. Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione gave Mr. Weasley his gift, a medium-sized box of muggle items that made his face break into a delighted smile. Harry and Hermione took charge of explaining the items, a pogo stick that became it's normal size once it was taken out of the box, a monocle, a baseball, and a telescope, since they lived in the muggle world and knew what everything did. It was then Mrs. Weasley's turn, and the group exchanged happy grins when she teared up at the thoughtful gift and crushed them each into a suffocating hug.

After the presents had been handed out and opened, the Weasleys got up to carry on with other activities. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went to the kitchen and Charlie and Bill started talking about their work. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were gathering up their gifts when they noticed that Fred and George were watching them with forlorn expressions.

"What's wrong with you two?" Ron raised an eyebrow.

The twins stood up and hung their heads a little, "We just thought you guys might get us a little something for Christmas," Fred stuck out his lower lip and George drew circles on the floor with his foot.

The group exchanged amused smiles and Ginny sent them a quick wink before turning to her brothers and clapping a hand over her mouth, "Oh, no! I told you guys we had forgotten someone!"

Disappointment filled the twin's eyes and Hermione couldn't hold in her laughter anymore, "Oh, come on, you two. Your present is upstairs," The twins' faces perked up and they started towards the stairs.

"Wait!" Ginny called out and she went forward to hand each of her brothers a strip of cloth. They exchanged bewildered looks which became wary ones when Ginny explained that they had to keep their eyes covered. "No blindfold, no gift," Ginny's voice rang with finality and the twins slowly tied the cloth over their eyes.

Ginny took Fred's arm while Hermione took George's and they guided them up the stairs, Harry and Ron following behind them. They reached the twins' room and Hermione quickly retrieved their gift from under her bed and placed it on one side of the room.

"Do either of you have your wand?" Ginny questioned.

Fred and George frowned under their blindfolds, but slowly produced their wands. Hermione came up to Fred and guided his arm to point at the gift, "Now say 'Geminio'." Fred hesitated, but did as he was instructed. An exact copy of the present appeared next to the original and Hermione hurried to move the second one to the opposite end of the room.

Moving to stand next to George, Hermione aimed his arm first to the object on the left and then the right, "Say 'Engorgio'," George did as he was told and the group had to move out of the way as the items grew and took up most of the room.

"Nice work! Since we can't do magic outside of school, we needed some help with that part." Harry clapped a hand on each of the twins' shoulders before the group moved to stand on the opposite side of the room, wanting to see the look on their faces when they took off the blindfolds.

"Go ahead and look," Ron smiled.

The twins removed their blindfolds and looked at the large, identical desks with matching chairs that were taking up most of their room. Two sets of eyes became the size of saucers and two jaws dropped open in astonishment. Fred walked towards the nearest desk and George went to the other one. They were silent as they inspected every inch of the gleaming wood and the intricate designs that were carved on the legs and sides of the drawers.

After several minutes, Ginny grew impatient with the silence, "Well, do you like them?" The twins dashed their hands across their faces, making Hermione suspicious that they were more moved by the group's gift then they wanted to let on.

"They're amazing! How did you do this?" Fred asked.

"We knew that you had put all of your money into getting the store up and running," Harry started.

"And despite you two prats acting high and mighty, we knew you wouldn't spend any money on yourselves until you thought you had earned it," Ron continued.

"But we wanted you both to know how proud we are of the both of you," Ginny smiled at them.

"So now you are officially businessmen," Hermione gestured to the desks.

"This is the best Christmas present we've ever gotten," George beamed. The twins hugged each of them, Ron grumbled a little but Hermione knew he was pleased. They spent the next half an hour showing the twins all of the drawers and secret compartments of the desks, including one that would only open for the owner of the desk and one other person. This was one of the reasons that the group had chosen this desk, it had seemed like fate that only the owner and someone they trusted would be able to open the desk drawer, and fate would always keep Fred and George together, one way or another.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny left the twins to play with their gifts and they went to Ron's room where they exchanged their gifts to each other. Ron and Hermione bought Ginny a beautiful deep blue jacket and they bought Harry a magical trunk that he could keep his things in when he stayed with the Dursleys'. Harry would be the only one able to open it and should someone see what was inside, it would all just look like some books and clothes. They knew that Dudley tried to go snooping through his stuff and this way Harry could have his wizarding things around whenever he wanted. Harry and Ginny bought Hermione a mahogany lap desk that laid flat, but opened up to hold parchment, several beautiful quills, ink, and envelopes. Ron got a new pair of quidditch gloves and a broom care kit that could repair almost any damage.

"Let's go, Harry, I still have to give you my gift!" Ginny grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him from the room.

Hermione and Ron stood in awkward silence until Hermione spoke up, "Here, this is my gift to you." She handed him a medium-sized rectangular package, which he took with a small smile. He opened it up and looked at the cover of a book with some confusion, but when he flipped to the first page he almost yelled with joy.

"It's...it's...how..." Hermione laughed as Ron tried to talk, but couldn't get more than a couple of words out.

"You like it, then?" Hermione had been working on this gift for a while. It was a small album that had the picture of every player on Ron's favorite quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons. Each player posed differently, some gave a carefree smile, some waved, and others just gave intimidating frowns, and next to each picture was the signature of that player.

"This is amazing, how did you do this!" Ron stared at her in awe.

"Promise you won't get mad?"

"Why would I be mad?"

"Remember a few weeks ago when we got into a fight because I was writing a letter to Viktor?"

"Yeah," Ron frowned.

"Well, I asked if he'd be able to help me since he's played quidditch with all of them. Despite their rivalry, Bulgaria and the Cannons are actually quite friendly."

"Krum got all of these guys to autograph their pictures...for me?"

"Yep, he was happy to help. So?" Hermione hoped that Ron wouldn't be too upset.

"Thank you, I'll have to write to Krum and thank him, as well." Ron gave a grudging smile before placing the book on his bed and getting a little box out of his drawer. Hermione was practically holding her breath with excitement as Ron gave her the tiny package. She gasped when she opened it to find the most beautiful bracelet she'd ever seen laying on a smooth velvet surface.

Before she could say anything, Ron started explaining what the little charms meant, "And this is a book, because you love to read. And this is a scroll, because you always write a ton more than you need to for our assignments. Oh, and if you do this," Ron enlarged the little broom, scroll, and quill, "You can use the quill to write on the scroll and to erase it you swipe the other end of the quill over what you wrote. The broom will fly anywhere you tell it to go, but whoever you send it to needs to know how to send it or else you might not get it back." Ron seemed to clamp his mouth shut, and he stood watching Hermione with his cheeks becoming slightly pink.

"Do you like it?" Hermione heard the worry in Ron's voice, and she couldn't stop her eyes from welling up with tears. She'd never had someone put so much thought into a gift for her before.

Seeing Hermione's shining eyes, Ron became frantic, "Hermione, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you cry. Here, I'll take it back," Ron reached to take the bracelet from Hermione, but she clutched it tighter in her hand.

"You take this back and I'll never speak to you again, Ron Weasley!"

"What? But you were crying!"

"Because I'm happy, I've never seen anything so beautiful! Thank you, Ron!" Before Hermione could second-guess herself, she wrapped her arms around Ron and kissed his cheek. "I've got to go show Ginny!" Hermione dashed from the room, leaving a very red Ron with a lazy smile and a faraway look in his eyes.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Okay, close your eyes," Ginny nodded at Harry, who gave her a very confused look.

"Why?"

"I don't want you to see my hiding spot." Harry laughed, but did as Ginny asked. He could hear her moving things around and closing what sounded like a door.

"You can open your eyes now."

Harry opened his eyes and saw Ginny standing in front of him with a small package wrapped in red and gold. She handed it to him and sat down on her bed, their shoulders touching. Harry ripped the paper off the box and lifted the lid to find what looked like an oversized gold pocket watch. He took it out of the box and held it in his hand, it was the size of his palm, but was surprisingly light.

"What is this?" He looked to Ginny and she reached over to push a button on the side of the object, making the top flip open. Rather than looking like a watch, the inside resembled that of a compass. Lined around the circle's edge were several words reading Hogwarts, the Burrow, Home, Traveling, Hospital, Work, Grimmauld Place, and Mortal Peril. There was a hand in the center that stood frozen and unmoving and over the top was a layer of crystal clear glass. Harry had seen this before or, at least, something like it.

"Is this your family's clock? The one that has everyone's names on it?"

Ginny smiled, "Sort of, but not quite. It's called a Podial. This one has a couple of different names and it's not limited to certain people. Go ahead, say a name. Any name you can think of."

Harry looked at the center of the Podial and said, "Ginny Weasley." The hand in the middle spun around and landed on the words the Burrow. Harry smiled to himself, but looked up when Ginny scoffed.

"Oh, come on, have an imagination! Ask about Lee Jordan or Seamus or even Lavender."

"Alright," Harry thought for a second. "Katie Bell." He watched the hand spin until it landed on Home.

"Why'd you ask about Katie?"

"I figured it might be helpful to know where she is if we're going to get her and Fred together."

"Since when did you get involved in other people's relationships?" Ginny asked, raising an eyebrow.

Harry smirked, "Maybe I just want everyone as miserable as we are." The words had just left Harry's mouth when a pillow smacked him in the face. He laughed when he looked up and saw Ginny standing in front of him with a scowl on her face, one hand on her hip and the other holding on to another pillow.

"Harry James Potter you take that back!"

When Ginny raised her arm to throw the other pillow, Harry laughed harder, "Alright, alright, I take it back! Now, do you want your Christmas gift or not?"

Ginny dropped the pillow and hopped back onto the bed, an excited grin on her face. Harry handed her a small, dark blue box and watched nervously as Ginny opened it. When she didn't say anything after a few more seconds, Harry spoke up, "Do you like it?"

Ginny raised her head and gave him a dazzling smile, making his breath catch in his throat. "Oh, Harry, I love it!"

Harry smiled in relief and took the box from her, removing the ring from its place and putting it on Ginny's right ring finger, "It's a promise ring. It means that we'll always be together." Harry blushed as he finished speaking, but Ginny put a hand on either side of his face and kissed him deeply. When they broke apart, Ginny stood up and pulled a reluctant Harry with her, "Come on, I've got to go show Hermione!"