Harry awoke with a start. He rearranged his glasses, which were lopsided.
'Oh no' he thought.
He was sprawled over the floor. Apparently, he had fallen the couch. He looked
up at the velvet above him. Ginny's hair was draped over the edge of the couch.
Harry sat up.
"Ginny?" He nudged her.
"Mmm…" Her face was turned towards the couch. She rubbed her eyes as she rolled
over. Her head peeked over the edge of the couch.
"Hi
Harry." She smiled. "What are you doing on the floor?" Harry chuckled. "I'm not
quite sure, " he responded.
Ginny then realized what was
wrong. "What are we doing here?!" Ginny said as she looked around. "Why are we
here?" Harry looked around too.
"I was just asking myself
that." Ginny sat up.
"Think we should go?"
"Probably." They both stood
up. Both of their robes were extremely wrinkled. They walked out of the room
into the entrance hall. It was very dark. They checked the area the best they
could before running up the stairs.
Ginny was so busy giggling on the stairs that she fell
into the trick step. She squealed as she went down.
"Harry! Help!" Harry stood
on the step above her. He held out his arm, and just as she was going to grab
it, he pulled it way.
"Harry! This isn't funny!
We're going to get caught!"
He chuckled. "No, you're
going to get caught. I, on the other hand, am not stuck in the step."
Ginny put on her best pouty
face. "Please Harry? With sugar on top?" Harry couldn't resist. "Oh, all
right." He lifted her out of the step.
They turned the corner at
the top of the stairway and heard footsteps. Ginny opened the nearest door, and
pulled Harry in. Neither could see at all. They were both trying to stifle a
laugh. Especially Harry, who was being tickled by Ginny.
"Stop!" he managed to
whisper, gasping for breath from trying not to laugh.
By the sound of the
footsteps, and the patter that followed them, it was Filch and Mrs. Norris.
Once the footsteps had become very faint, Ginny cracked the door and peeked
out. "Is it clear?" Harry peeked out his head too. Harry pulled Ginny out.
"C'mon, let's go."
They made it to the common
room without having to run into any more closets. The common room was totally
empty, but the fire was still roaring. Ginny gave Harry a goodnight kiss, and
walked up the steps to the girls' dormitories. Harry watched her go up and then
went up to his own room. He saw Ron was asleep, and he thanked Merlin for that.
Ron would have shot through the roof if he had known Ginny and he were out that
late.
Harry changed into his
pajamas, and fell asleep with a smile on his face.
*+*
Harry snuck in to Ginny's
dormitory with a bag in his hand. He placed it as quietly as he could on the
floor at the foot of her bed. He stopped and looked for a moment at Ginny. She
looked so peaceful, with her hair spread all over her pillow. Her eyelids
fluttered a bit, making her eyelashes brush her freckled cheeks. Harry went
over to her bed and leaned over. He gave her a light kiss on the forehead then
left.
Ginny awoke, rubbing her
eyes. She felt a presence, as if someone had just been there. She felt her
forehead as she looked up at the drapes. It was still very early in the
morning-the sun wasn't even close to coming out. Only a light gray haze
hung in the sky.
"Christmas!" she whispered
as she sat up. There, at the bottom of the bed, was a small pile of presents.
She saw the bulge of one package, which she knew was her Weasley sweater, and
another that was sloppily wrapped, which was for sure from Ron.
She sat down at the foot of
her bed and picked up her sweater package. 'Oh please not yellow like last
year' she thought as she tore off the wrapping paper. Her sweater was a
beautiful emerald green, which instantly reminded her of Harry's eyes, and she
smiled as she held it up and hugged it, then put the sweater on.
She opened other presents, getting a bit more anxious with each one.
Ginny had opened Ron's sloppily wrapped gift, which turned out to be another
sketchpad, which was good, because she had filled her last one mostly with
pictures of Harry. Ginny smiled. Hermione had given her a set of pastels. Percy
had sent her some Berbule's Brain Sweets, which made her laugh-it was so like
Percy. The twins, had, of course, sent her some of their newly developed
pranks.
Finally, there was only one present left. She picked up the bag and peeked in.
There was something wooly looking inside. Confused she pulled it out…mittens.
White ones. And a hat. And a scarf. At the very bottom of the bag, there was a
small piece of parchment. On one side it read: Bundle up and come play in
the snow. On the other side it read Snoculus.
Still wondering, Ginny put
on her cloak and all of the wooly things Harry had given her. As quietly as she
could, she walked down the staircase into the common room. Being so early in
the morning, there wasn't anyone there. She swung open the portrait hole
slowly, so as not to wake the snoozing fat lady.
Once she was down in the entrance hall, she swung open one of the great oak
doors. She walked out, squinting for any sign of Harry.
Suddenly, a snowball smacked
her in the back of the head. She turned and another snowball was flying towards
her face. She ducked just in time. She ran and wedged herself between a
snowdrift and the walls of the great castle.
She rummaged for the piece
of parchment and her wand, and muttered 'snoculus.' Out of the snow below her
came a snowball. It hovered in front of her as if waiting for instructions.
"Get Harry," she whispered and the snowball flew off. She conjured up more
snowballs until she had a small army of them. They waited for the command.
"Harry." Ginny grinned to
herself as the snowballs sped away. She knew she had caught Harry by surprise,
and couldn't help but giggle when she heard a yelp a few moments later. She
sent a few more snowballs his way.
Ginny ran out into the open, trying to find Harry. She looked behind her and
saw a barrage of snowballs was chasing her down. She squealed and tried to run
faster. Her foot got stuck in the snow and she fell over. Ginny could feel
snowball after snowball pounding into her back.
She got up shaking off, and still looking for Harry. She sent some snowballs
his way in an effort to follow them. But they went far too fast for Ginny to
even come close. She stood out in the open, occasionally getting hit with a
snowball, wondering what to do.
Ginny smiled and held up her
wand in the direction she thought he was in. "Accio Harry!"
After a moment a very
surprised looking Harry came floating her way. When the spell dropped him, he
put on his best innocent look before standing up.
"Fancy seeing you here."
Ginny smiled. Harry offered
his arm and she took it, and they strolled around the lake. They stopped when
the first haze of light started to peek over the trees. They both sat down in
the snow as the rays of sun reflected off of the lake. Ginny was nuzzled in to
Harry's robes, and Harry was quite cold, but didn't care because everything was
so perfect at that moment.
Just as the beams of
sunlight started to hit them directly, Harry sat up. "Close your eyes," he said
to Ginny.
She raised an eyebrow
suggestively but did as she was told. Harry pulled out a necklace, and hung it
around Ginny's neck.
"Merry Christmas, Gin."
Ginny opened her eyes and looked down at her neck. Hanging from a silver chain
was a small aura diamond. These were very rare, as they were so beautiful and
absolutely flawless. They also placed a special bond on the person who gave it
and the person who received it. She picked up the diamond, and traced her
finger over it. It was shaped like a small lightning bolt. Ginny smiled and
looked up at Harry.
"Thank you, Harry. Merry
Christmas." She gave Harry a kiss that took the entire chill away and sent a
hot streak through his body. They stayed and watched the sun come up, then went
back to the Great Hall for Christmas breakfast.
*+*
Harry sat next to the window, rubbing Ginny's forehead. Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts
was over. Voldemort had left him in peace for a year. Which was very pleasant
but for all he knew, he could be dead tomorrow. He just tried to get through
every day. And being with Ginny made all of those days so much easier. He loved
her so much. Everything was perfect when he was with her. He had no worries.
This made him smile and look down on Ginny, who was now napping peacefully. He
slid out from under Ginny slowly, as not to wake her. He stood up and
stretched, looking at Ron and Hermione, who were cuddling, Hermione letting out
the occasional squeal. Harry smiled. He was happy they were together and happy.
Harry took out some
parchment and a quill and wrote a letter to Sirius, which he hadn't done in a
long time. After he sent Hedwig off, he settled into his chair and dozed until
they reached London.
Fin
A/N: Whoo. Finished editing. I am aware that this
isn't the greatest story in the world, but nobody is perfect. But hopefully,
the sequel, Choice of a Lifetime, will be better. Keep giggling! And
review…tell me what you honestly think.