Danger Lurks.in a Broom Closet?
By vedette
Chapter 6
Nightmares & Daydreams.oh and Christmas!
***
"Arrrrrrg!" Ron groaned as he scowled at the bright and cheery Christmas elves (just pictures of ones of course) that were dancing on the wrapping paper. He was trying to wrap the cage for Ginny (it was made from solid pear tree wood) in enchanted wrapping paper. It's very nice paper, Ron thought, but how do you wrap something roundish?
"Let me show you," Harry said from behind him. Ron stared at him blankly.
"Since when could you read my mind?" he asked, rather worried at what else Harry could see inside his head. He concentrated on less embarrassing thoughts, such as the fact there was only two weeks to Christmas.
"Weeeeell, it isn't all that hard when you think out loud. You've been talking to yourself the whole time," grinned Harry. He decided to be nice since it was closing in on Christmas, and not have Ron go through the horror of having a best friend who could "read minds." He was glad that Ron's parents were going away on vacation again so that Harry wouldn't be alone at Hogwarts.
"Anyways allow me." Harry pulled out his wand from inside his sleeve (I've always wanted to do that) and pointed it at the cage and wrapping paper.
"Wrappisidium!" And with a giant flourish, the paper was on the present, with no tape or folds. Ron stared at the neat job Harry had just done, then turned and asked a question.
"Wherever did ya learn that one Harry?" Ron asked, crossing his fingers and hoping it wasn't one they had learned in class and that he had missed or forgotten.
"I learned it on my own. I figure it'll come in handy when I finally graduate and can actually do magic in the other world. I thought it would make a nice present for Dudley, or rather, he'd make a nice present." A mischievous grin spread across Harry's face as he daydreamed of Dudley suffocating in a flawless wrapping job.
"Anyways, how are we going to work this out on Christmas?" Ron and Harry had already placed the berry barn owl in the Owlery, figuring it'd be safe there. The owl looked at her new home with scorn, and then reluctantly settled in, without disturbing any of the other owls, except hooting with contempt at one of the school owls, or maybe it was Malfoy's eagle owl, Harry couldn't tell. However, Ron was positive that the owl didn't like Draco's owl, therefore the two were on the same side. It was a good thing that the owl had done that, because Ron got very angry at the owl for nipping his fingers several times on occasion, and only that fact (and the fact that it was a Christmas present to Ginny) stopped Ron from murdering the owl.
***
The two decided that Ron would wrap the cage, and that Harry would summon the owl by magic, because the owl made one thing very clear. It was not to be wrapped up. So Harry came up with the solution (giving him a chance to show off his Summoning charms). Ron and Harry decided not to tell Hermione what their Christmas present to Ginny was, just in case Hermione let it slip, being so close now to her and all. That meant that the job of feeding was left to the two alone. Ron was the one to discover that the owl would always fall asleep if you fed it anything with cranberries in it, especially cranberry cocktail. This fact helped immensely to the care of the gift. The owl could be quite picky though, and nipped Ron, when he tried to feed it leftover mashed potatoes.
"Arrrrrg!" Ron yelped, again.
***
Ginny yawned. It was getting late. She looked at the clock, 9:30. Hmmmmmm, she thought, it has been a long day, I guess it's time to hit the sack. She got herself a glass of warm milk then got ready for bed (brushed her teeth and all that). By the time she had got into bed, Hermione was lying in her bed, looking as if she was fast asleep. Ginny didn't' want to risk waking her up to find out. As she lay trying hard to get to sleep (and obviously not succeeding) Ginny thought a bit about everything and anything. There was almost only one week left to Christmas, (okay, I admit it, I missed about a week there, maybe I'll add it in later), and their official holiday started tomorrow. Hermione was leaving by noon, and Ginny was really going to miss her. Ginny was kind of shorthanded on friends, so she figured it would have been a lonely Christmas, if Harry hadn't invited her to open her presents with him and Ron. The pile of presents was steadily growing under their little pine tree. She decided to go and see how many were labeled to her tomorrow and shake 'em a bit. The thought of secret presents and the big "guessing game" always got her excited. Ginny started thinking about the closet. She hadn't given much thought to it for a while; schoolwork had taken up way too much time. What did those symbols mean? There were some listed in the textbook, but most of the ones she had learned so far were from library books. Hermione had checked out 4 books about them for her. (That was every single one in the library; it was a rare subject.) They covered the basic runes, but Ginny still didn't know all that many. She wondered when would be the next time she went there.
***
Ginny was wandering, drifting out of her room. Out the portrait door and down the hall. The whole world was fuzzy; she felt, well, weird. She found herself in front of the closet, the one that had mystified her, and changed her entire year at Hogwarts. Without a moment's hesitation she entered. Ginny looked at the bewildering symbols, wondering what they could mean. She frowned. How could she see the symbols? Aren't closets supposed to be pitch black? Despite that logic, there was a faint glow or aurora to the closet. Well, she thought, this is an unusual closet, why shouldn't it have light? Ginny felt all around her. The closet was large for one, with no apparent use. Why didn't this one have any brooms or janitor supplies in it? All of a sudden there was a creeeeeaaak. Ginny spun around, her heart beating faster. The back of the closet was opening like a door, and the tips of fingers were showing. A long white hand was reaching for her! "AAA---" Ginny scream was cut off abruptly as she felt a magical clamp around her mouth. Then there was a bright flash of white light, and the hand receded in pain She felt what was holding her mouth shut suddenly disappeared. An unearthly wail of pain was screeched, although Ginny was sure it wasn't her. Even though the yell was still echoing in her ears, no teachers, no one else at all seemed to hear it. Taking advantage of the moment, Ginny stumbled out of the closet, blinking hard, trying to see after such a blinding light. She rushed back, back, back down the halls, to her room. She was safe, she was safe. and then she was falling.
***
Whump! Ginny hit the floor.
"Ginny, are you all right?" asked a drowsy Hermione. "It looks like you just fell out of bed." Ginny sat up with a start, remembering what had just happened.
"Hermione, the closet, danger, hand, it was reaching for me, I was running through halls, falling." Ginny babbled nonsense (at least to Hermione). Ginny started to panic as she remembered what had just happened to her.
"Ginny," Hermione said sensibly, "That sounds like a pretty bad nightmare. Now relax and just forget about it."
"Nightmare?" Ginny thought hard, "It just seemed so real. I would've sworn that I was there, that is was really happening. I guess it must have been that glass of warm milk I had before I went to sleep. I was thinking about the cupboard at the time."
"There you have it, a reasonable explanation. Now you stay here, and I'll nip down to the Common Room and get us some warm milk." Hermione paused, recalling what Ginny had just said, "Then again, perhaps a glass of water would be better. It's only 5:48 now, that's not too early, compared to Harry's Quidditch practice times." Hermione left towards the washroom, her slippers softly padding down the hall. Ginny relaxed, realizing that she had been feeling very tense. By the time Hermione returned, Ginny was fast asleep.
***
Ginny stretched and yawned. She sleepily looked around, and noticed she was the only one in the room. She turned to the clock. 8:56 the clock read. Drat, she thought, I must've slept in 'cause I lost sleep. She dressed quickly and dashed down the stairs, thanking her lucky stars that it was the first day of holidays. Harry and Ron were just finishing up breakfast, while playing a game of Gobstones. Hermione was watching them, although she was done eating and was concentrating more on whether she had packed everything she would need. "Hello Ginny," greeted Ron, who then turned to Hermione and said, "For goodness sakes already, YOU HAVE PACKED EVERY LAST POSSIBLE THING! You're only going home for a few weeks, what could you possibly need?" A few people turned their heads at Ron's vehement yelling.
"Well, I'll need my textbooks to do homework, and I really want to catch up on some of those theories on counter-curses, not to mention the extra studying I want to do for the OWL's. Plus there's my." Hermione would have gone on, but all three of her friends chose that moment to comment loudly on something. Hermione huffed at being cut off, but stopped listing every last thing she had packed (for the seventh time).
"Okay then, I really ought to be off, my train arrives at 11:00 and I want to say bye to Hagrid plus be at the train station a bit early. So, Happy Christmas (where I live, we say Merry, not Happy, but it's best to stick to the theme) everyone, and I'll see you in a few weeks. Bye!" And with that, Hermione left, pushing the little trolley holding her suitcases. Ron and Harry returned to their intense game. Ginny meant to watch, but she found herself drifting in her thoughts. She daydreamed of Christmas presents, of fame and fortune and dreamed of all sorts of silly things. She was in the middle of a particularly good dream (about her saving Hogwarts) when she got squirted with a spray from one of Ron's Gobstones. The stone was aiming for Harry, so they both got hit (Harry for the worst).
"RON!!!" Ginny shrieked, "Watch where you aim!" Ginny scowled, another daydream ruined, thanks to her big brother. She headed upstairs to her dormitory, to get freshened up, and figured it was a good opportunity to sneak off. Ginny could get a peep at the wrapped presents and count them. She snickered as she remembered one Christmas where she made herself an extra gift to herself from a "secret admirer" and won the bet that she would have more presents. Hmmmmm, she wondered, would that work more than once?
***
Ginny searched under the tree to see what presents were labeled to her. Well, there was a flat thin one from Hermione (must be a book, she figured) and a weird shaped one from her brother (Ginny didn't risk shaking that one) and various other packages of different shapes and sizes. After placing all the gifts back in their original state, Ginny realized something. There was no present from Harry to her in the pile. Ginny frowned. Should she have gotten him a present if he didn't get one for her? Well, actually, she hadn't gotten him a specific present, just helped in the collaboration of friends. Mind you, what kind of friend doesn't get you a Christmas present? I've always wanted to be friends with Harry Potter. You wanted to be more than friends, the traitorous side of her said, you wanted t. Stop thinking like that, she told herself sternly, you ended that ages ago. I don't think it ever ended, the other side said.
"Stop it!" Ginny blushed as she realized the last words she said were out loud. Boy, that dream must've shaken me up more than I thought, she thought as she headed off, deciding to see Hagrid.
***
Hagrid sat in his cabin, whistling and whittling at the same time. The chunk of solid wood he was chipping away at was beginning to form the shape of a cat. Hagrid sat back, trying to decide what it should be used for. The kettle on the stove piped merrily, Hagrid had set a new batch of tea on; he had used the rest when Hermione visited about an hour and a half ago. Hermione! The cat would make a lovely doorstop or paperweight for her as a present. Hagrid normally gave out samples of his cooking, but the last time Hermione visited to help out with his two-headed amphisbaena*(see end of story for definition) Hagrid got the impression that she didn't particularly like the rock cakes (he found all the ones he had offered to her later in Fang's mouth). So Hagrid had been at a loss at what to get her. Now he would just get one of the sturdier school owls to deliver the cat. Tap, knock, knock. KNOCK! Hagrid got up in surprise, shaking off wood shavings everywhere in the process. He opened the door to see Ginny standing there, waiting not so patiently to come in. "Why, 'ow nice ter see yeh, Ginny. C'mon in, but do yeh hold a grudge against me door, 'cause y' were hittin' it rather hard." Ginny turned red, making a mental note to try harder to hide her blushes. "Hullo Hagrid. I was just feeling a bit bored and I decided to come see what you were up to." Ginny explained. "So, have you picked up any more ferocious beasts? Could I help with anything?" At this Hagrid perked up considerably and started showing his immense menagerie off to Ginny. Oh my, here he goes, Ginny thought. Then again, at least you won't be bored, she told herself, as she watched some sort of four headed beast have three of the heads ganging up on the last one.
***
To Ron, the week before Christmas seemed to be flying past at a considerable rate. He rather enjoyed playing with Harry, and not having to worry about schoolwork (after all, it wasn't due for another two weeks). Having gotten used to boarding school, Ron found that staying over wasn't all that bad; he wasn't getting homesick. His parents were off doing some extra business work, or something of the sort (Percy wouldn't tell him anything) and besides he'd much rather stay here with his friend (at least that's what he told himself). Everyone seemed anxious to see their parents this year, because of all the supposed Dark activity that was going on. No one had been killed yet, but there were some reports of disappearances of important people. Whether these were real or not could not be proven, and most mysteriously of all, no spottings of Lord Voldemort had been recorded. Still, this worried people, so out of the whole school, there were only about seven people signing up to stay (remember five are Harry and the Weasleys). That made it impossible to have a Ball. Many teachers were also going, rumors say that they weren't leaving to go visiting, but were on some sort of secret mission. Well, whatever it was, it didn't affect Ron. He was too busy playing games and counting down the days 'til he could race down the stairs and rip up the wrapping paper on the packages.
***
Harry was having similar thoughts on how uneventful this year had been so far. Voldemort hadn't attempted anything big yet, and this was the year he supposedly was back, returned to his body. Let's see, Harry thought, in my first year, he broke into Gringotts before I even started school. In my second year, it was around Hallowe'en when Voldemort attacked someone. A cat, mind you, but still it's more than this year. The third year, well that year Voldemort didn't do much, although it was still more exciting than this year. Exciting? What was he thinking about? This year was nice and calm, no Dark activity, just the way he liked it. Whatever it was, Harry sure felt this holiday would be better than last year's, where his whole vacation he felt stressed or guilty over that stupid egg. Yep, Harry was going to relax this vacation for once.
***
Ginny wasn't feeling so relaxed. That closet was really giving her bad vibes ever since that horrible nightmare. She found herself trying to avoid it, which was harder than it looked, considering that the place was so near the Gryffindor entrance. Ginny knew it was silly, after all nightmares aren't real, but she still felt very squeamish about it. She hadn't mentioned this to anyone else, and the only one who even knew about the nightmares was Hermione. She kept on having the same sort of dreams over and over again, although they were seemed quite so real as the first time. Ginny considered telling someone, but they were only dreams, and they really weren't the worst she had ever had. At least that what she kept telling herself.
***
"Ron, settle down!" It was the night before Christmas and Ginny was trying to settle down a now very hyper Ron (and not succeeding).
"Oooooooooooh Ginny, just think. In just (at this Ron checked the time) 4 hours it'll be officially Christmas!" Ron hopped up and down with excitement. "And soon after, all these packages will be opened and in my arms, just for me. Well, the one's that're here of course. Mum's and Dad's still hasn't arrived yet, but they usually owl them at the last moment." Ginny rolled her eyes at her brother's rambling.
"Ron, if you ask me, you sound more excited than Hermione does when I ask her for help for homework." Ginny said. Ron opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it, considering what his sister just said.
"Anyhow," Harry interrupted, "it's about time we head off to bed if we want to get up really early to open presents. Meet back at the Christmas tree tomorrow?" When the time was agreed, they all headed to bed, with visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads (just kidding).
***
Beeeeeep, beep, beeeeep, beep, BEEEEEEEP! Ron sat up groggily and waved his wand to turn off the alarm. Being so sleepy, the wand produced bright lavender sparks, along with turning off the alarm. This soon woke Harry up, who wasn't too pleased.
"Ron, whatever time it is, isn't it too early?" Harry asked, a trifle annoyed.
"It's never too early on Christmas. Besides, I was kind enough to let the sun rise up before waking you." Harry stared at his friend. Ron generally wasn't an early morning person. It was surprising how much of an effect Christmas had on him. Ron ripped the covers off, hollering "race you downstairs" as he slid down the banister (falling off and went crashing down the last steps). Harry swiftly followed him (although Ron had too big of a head start for Harry to win any races).
***
Ginny woke up with sunlight in her eyes, and whoops of joy from her brother in her ear. I suppose it's time to get up and at 'em, she thought. Quickly getting dressed (she certainly couldn't let Harry see her in her nightdress) she headed down, wondering what she would receive. By the time she was downstairs, Ron and Harry were both wearing Weasley sweaters (Ginny would recognize them anywhere) and Ron was levitating off his chair, eating a Fizzing Wizzbee he had gotten from Hagrid (who had finally decided to lay off the homemade snacks for a while). When Ginny tried to find out what Ron had received from Hermione, Ron just kept his lips closed, shaking his head while blushing. Ron was pleased with the pocketknife Harry gave him. Harry was extra happy with the twins present to him, a blown-up copy of the picture Colin Creevey took of Snape, plus a bagful of the glow-in-the-dark hair candies. Ginny quickly opened her present from her mother first.
"Oh look," said Ginny, admiring the sweater. "The G is interwoven with a fairy. I suppose Mum wanted to make it different from George's, plus I'm her favorite of course." Ginny smiled sweetly at Ron. Ron merely stuck out his tongue.
"Funny," said Harry, "There's only about one or two packages here for me, although this one is giant." Harry emerged from under the tree, pulling out a large square shaped package. Ripping it open, there was a card on top of a very battered looking trunk. To Harry From your friends, Ron, Hermione, Hagrid and Ginny Harry looked up, surprised. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Ginny said impatiently, "Open it!" Harry cautiously opened the trunk. Inside were three battered dingy looking balls. Harry furrowed his eyebrows in thought until he realized what it was.
"My own Quidditch set! But I can't use them outside of school because they might fly away," Harry turned to Ron, with a questioning look.
"Don't worry, it's all covered. Hermione put spells on them so they will stay in this magical box, oh, sort of like an Age Line, I'm not the one to explain it." Ron tried to explain. "Anyways, the Quaffle was easy to get, they're in any athletic equipment store, that's from me. Hagrid supplied the trunk, isn't it perfect?" Ginny enchanted two balls to act like Bludgers and Hermione got the Snitch. I haven't the slightest clue where she picked one up, they're supposedly really hard to get, but that's Hermione for you. Probably talked one of the teachers in helping her find one, she's such a teacher's pet." Harry looked at the set again. Well, the maroon ball must be the Quaffle, and the mismatched pair of blue and green balls must be the Bludgers. So where's the Snitch? Ginny hopped down from her seat on the chair. As if reading his mind, she answered his question. "Look here. See that button on the Quaffle. If you press that, the ball splits open and releases the Snitch. Oh and the Snitch is a bit discolored like the rest of them. It's brown." Ginny grabbed the Quaffle, and pointed out the button. Oh, well, thought Harry, brown should be harder to spot, and I could get some harder practice in. Ginny was almost through all her presents now. She couldn't help noticing again that she had gotten something for Harry, although, there was no present to her from him. Ginny grabbed the last unwrapped present addressed to her, the one from Ron. Harry grabbed his wand, ready to call the owl on his cue. Ron leaned forwards in suspence. Ginny started to tear a hole in the "flawless" wrapping when. BOOM! Someone was trying knock down the door to the Gryffindor Common Room (at least that was how it sounded).
***
Okay, so that took a lot longer than it should have to get out. Plus the chapter was way longer than it was supposed to be. Christmas should have ended by now. Oh well, I'm sorry for the delay. Between FanFiction being down and going on vacation, I haven't put out a new chapter for a while. I wrote this one is June sometime! I'm having real trouble with the spacing, the enter key just isn't working for me or something.
By vedette
Chapter 6
Nightmares & Daydreams.oh and Christmas!
***
"Arrrrrrg!" Ron groaned as he scowled at the bright and cheery Christmas elves (just pictures of ones of course) that were dancing on the wrapping paper. He was trying to wrap the cage for Ginny (it was made from solid pear tree wood) in enchanted wrapping paper. It's very nice paper, Ron thought, but how do you wrap something roundish?
"Let me show you," Harry said from behind him. Ron stared at him blankly.
"Since when could you read my mind?" he asked, rather worried at what else Harry could see inside his head. He concentrated on less embarrassing thoughts, such as the fact there was only two weeks to Christmas.
"Weeeeell, it isn't all that hard when you think out loud. You've been talking to yourself the whole time," grinned Harry. He decided to be nice since it was closing in on Christmas, and not have Ron go through the horror of having a best friend who could "read minds." He was glad that Ron's parents were going away on vacation again so that Harry wouldn't be alone at Hogwarts.
"Anyways allow me." Harry pulled out his wand from inside his sleeve (I've always wanted to do that) and pointed it at the cage and wrapping paper.
"Wrappisidium!" And with a giant flourish, the paper was on the present, with no tape or folds. Ron stared at the neat job Harry had just done, then turned and asked a question.
"Wherever did ya learn that one Harry?" Ron asked, crossing his fingers and hoping it wasn't one they had learned in class and that he had missed or forgotten.
"I learned it on my own. I figure it'll come in handy when I finally graduate and can actually do magic in the other world. I thought it would make a nice present for Dudley, or rather, he'd make a nice present." A mischievous grin spread across Harry's face as he daydreamed of Dudley suffocating in a flawless wrapping job.
"Anyways, how are we going to work this out on Christmas?" Ron and Harry had already placed the berry barn owl in the Owlery, figuring it'd be safe there. The owl looked at her new home with scorn, and then reluctantly settled in, without disturbing any of the other owls, except hooting with contempt at one of the school owls, or maybe it was Malfoy's eagle owl, Harry couldn't tell. However, Ron was positive that the owl didn't like Draco's owl, therefore the two were on the same side. It was a good thing that the owl had done that, because Ron got very angry at the owl for nipping his fingers several times on occasion, and only that fact (and the fact that it was a Christmas present to Ginny) stopped Ron from murdering the owl.
***
The two decided that Ron would wrap the cage, and that Harry would summon the owl by magic, because the owl made one thing very clear. It was not to be wrapped up. So Harry came up with the solution (giving him a chance to show off his Summoning charms). Ron and Harry decided not to tell Hermione what their Christmas present to Ginny was, just in case Hermione let it slip, being so close now to her and all. That meant that the job of feeding was left to the two alone. Ron was the one to discover that the owl would always fall asleep if you fed it anything with cranberries in it, especially cranberry cocktail. This fact helped immensely to the care of the gift. The owl could be quite picky though, and nipped Ron, when he tried to feed it leftover mashed potatoes.
"Arrrrrg!" Ron yelped, again.
***
Ginny yawned. It was getting late. She looked at the clock, 9:30. Hmmmmmm, she thought, it has been a long day, I guess it's time to hit the sack. She got herself a glass of warm milk then got ready for bed (brushed her teeth and all that). By the time she had got into bed, Hermione was lying in her bed, looking as if she was fast asleep. Ginny didn't' want to risk waking her up to find out. As she lay trying hard to get to sleep (and obviously not succeeding) Ginny thought a bit about everything and anything. There was almost only one week left to Christmas, (okay, I admit it, I missed about a week there, maybe I'll add it in later), and their official holiday started tomorrow. Hermione was leaving by noon, and Ginny was really going to miss her. Ginny was kind of shorthanded on friends, so she figured it would have been a lonely Christmas, if Harry hadn't invited her to open her presents with him and Ron. The pile of presents was steadily growing under their little pine tree. She decided to go and see how many were labeled to her tomorrow and shake 'em a bit. The thought of secret presents and the big "guessing game" always got her excited. Ginny started thinking about the closet. She hadn't given much thought to it for a while; schoolwork had taken up way too much time. What did those symbols mean? There were some listed in the textbook, but most of the ones she had learned so far were from library books. Hermione had checked out 4 books about them for her. (That was every single one in the library; it was a rare subject.) They covered the basic runes, but Ginny still didn't know all that many. She wondered when would be the next time she went there.
***
Ginny was wandering, drifting out of her room. Out the portrait door and down the hall. The whole world was fuzzy; she felt, well, weird. She found herself in front of the closet, the one that had mystified her, and changed her entire year at Hogwarts. Without a moment's hesitation she entered. Ginny looked at the bewildering symbols, wondering what they could mean. She frowned. How could she see the symbols? Aren't closets supposed to be pitch black? Despite that logic, there was a faint glow or aurora to the closet. Well, she thought, this is an unusual closet, why shouldn't it have light? Ginny felt all around her. The closet was large for one, with no apparent use. Why didn't this one have any brooms or janitor supplies in it? All of a sudden there was a creeeeeaaak. Ginny spun around, her heart beating faster. The back of the closet was opening like a door, and the tips of fingers were showing. A long white hand was reaching for her! "AAA---" Ginny scream was cut off abruptly as she felt a magical clamp around her mouth. Then there was a bright flash of white light, and the hand receded in pain She felt what was holding her mouth shut suddenly disappeared. An unearthly wail of pain was screeched, although Ginny was sure it wasn't her. Even though the yell was still echoing in her ears, no teachers, no one else at all seemed to hear it. Taking advantage of the moment, Ginny stumbled out of the closet, blinking hard, trying to see after such a blinding light. She rushed back, back, back down the halls, to her room. She was safe, she was safe. and then she was falling.
***
Whump! Ginny hit the floor.
"Ginny, are you all right?" asked a drowsy Hermione. "It looks like you just fell out of bed." Ginny sat up with a start, remembering what had just happened.
"Hermione, the closet, danger, hand, it was reaching for me, I was running through halls, falling." Ginny babbled nonsense (at least to Hermione). Ginny started to panic as she remembered what had just happened to her.
"Ginny," Hermione said sensibly, "That sounds like a pretty bad nightmare. Now relax and just forget about it."
"Nightmare?" Ginny thought hard, "It just seemed so real. I would've sworn that I was there, that is was really happening. I guess it must have been that glass of warm milk I had before I went to sleep. I was thinking about the cupboard at the time."
"There you have it, a reasonable explanation. Now you stay here, and I'll nip down to the Common Room and get us some warm milk." Hermione paused, recalling what Ginny had just said, "Then again, perhaps a glass of water would be better. It's only 5:48 now, that's not too early, compared to Harry's Quidditch practice times." Hermione left towards the washroom, her slippers softly padding down the hall. Ginny relaxed, realizing that she had been feeling very tense. By the time Hermione returned, Ginny was fast asleep.
***
Ginny stretched and yawned. She sleepily looked around, and noticed she was the only one in the room. She turned to the clock. 8:56 the clock read. Drat, she thought, I must've slept in 'cause I lost sleep. She dressed quickly and dashed down the stairs, thanking her lucky stars that it was the first day of holidays. Harry and Ron were just finishing up breakfast, while playing a game of Gobstones. Hermione was watching them, although she was done eating and was concentrating more on whether she had packed everything she would need. "Hello Ginny," greeted Ron, who then turned to Hermione and said, "For goodness sakes already, YOU HAVE PACKED EVERY LAST POSSIBLE THING! You're only going home for a few weeks, what could you possibly need?" A few people turned their heads at Ron's vehement yelling.
"Well, I'll need my textbooks to do homework, and I really want to catch up on some of those theories on counter-curses, not to mention the extra studying I want to do for the OWL's. Plus there's my." Hermione would have gone on, but all three of her friends chose that moment to comment loudly on something. Hermione huffed at being cut off, but stopped listing every last thing she had packed (for the seventh time).
"Okay then, I really ought to be off, my train arrives at 11:00 and I want to say bye to Hagrid plus be at the train station a bit early. So, Happy Christmas (where I live, we say Merry, not Happy, but it's best to stick to the theme) everyone, and I'll see you in a few weeks. Bye!" And with that, Hermione left, pushing the little trolley holding her suitcases. Ron and Harry returned to their intense game. Ginny meant to watch, but she found herself drifting in her thoughts. She daydreamed of Christmas presents, of fame and fortune and dreamed of all sorts of silly things. She was in the middle of a particularly good dream (about her saving Hogwarts) when she got squirted with a spray from one of Ron's Gobstones. The stone was aiming for Harry, so they both got hit (Harry for the worst).
"RON!!!" Ginny shrieked, "Watch where you aim!" Ginny scowled, another daydream ruined, thanks to her big brother. She headed upstairs to her dormitory, to get freshened up, and figured it was a good opportunity to sneak off. Ginny could get a peep at the wrapped presents and count them. She snickered as she remembered one Christmas where she made herself an extra gift to herself from a "secret admirer" and won the bet that she would have more presents. Hmmmmm, she wondered, would that work more than once?
***
Ginny searched under the tree to see what presents were labeled to her. Well, there was a flat thin one from Hermione (must be a book, she figured) and a weird shaped one from her brother (Ginny didn't risk shaking that one) and various other packages of different shapes and sizes. After placing all the gifts back in their original state, Ginny realized something. There was no present from Harry to her in the pile. Ginny frowned. Should she have gotten him a present if he didn't get one for her? Well, actually, she hadn't gotten him a specific present, just helped in the collaboration of friends. Mind you, what kind of friend doesn't get you a Christmas present? I've always wanted to be friends with Harry Potter. You wanted to be more than friends, the traitorous side of her said, you wanted t. Stop thinking like that, she told herself sternly, you ended that ages ago. I don't think it ever ended, the other side said.
"Stop it!" Ginny blushed as she realized the last words she said were out loud. Boy, that dream must've shaken me up more than I thought, she thought as she headed off, deciding to see Hagrid.
***
Hagrid sat in his cabin, whistling and whittling at the same time. The chunk of solid wood he was chipping away at was beginning to form the shape of a cat. Hagrid sat back, trying to decide what it should be used for. The kettle on the stove piped merrily, Hagrid had set a new batch of tea on; he had used the rest when Hermione visited about an hour and a half ago. Hermione! The cat would make a lovely doorstop or paperweight for her as a present. Hagrid normally gave out samples of his cooking, but the last time Hermione visited to help out with his two-headed amphisbaena*(see end of story for definition) Hagrid got the impression that she didn't particularly like the rock cakes (he found all the ones he had offered to her later in Fang's mouth). So Hagrid had been at a loss at what to get her. Now he would just get one of the sturdier school owls to deliver the cat. Tap, knock, knock. KNOCK! Hagrid got up in surprise, shaking off wood shavings everywhere in the process. He opened the door to see Ginny standing there, waiting not so patiently to come in. "Why, 'ow nice ter see yeh, Ginny. C'mon in, but do yeh hold a grudge against me door, 'cause y' were hittin' it rather hard." Ginny turned red, making a mental note to try harder to hide her blushes. "Hullo Hagrid. I was just feeling a bit bored and I decided to come see what you were up to." Ginny explained. "So, have you picked up any more ferocious beasts? Could I help with anything?" At this Hagrid perked up considerably and started showing his immense menagerie off to Ginny. Oh my, here he goes, Ginny thought. Then again, at least you won't be bored, she told herself, as she watched some sort of four headed beast have three of the heads ganging up on the last one.
***
To Ron, the week before Christmas seemed to be flying past at a considerable rate. He rather enjoyed playing with Harry, and not having to worry about schoolwork (after all, it wasn't due for another two weeks). Having gotten used to boarding school, Ron found that staying over wasn't all that bad; he wasn't getting homesick. His parents were off doing some extra business work, or something of the sort (Percy wouldn't tell him anything) and besides he'd much rather stay here with his friend (at least that's what he told himself). Everyone seemed anxious to see their parents this year, because of all the supposed Dark activity that was going on. No one had been killed yet, but there were some reports of disappearances of important people. Whether these were real or not could not be proven, and most mysteriously of all, no spottings of Lord Voldemort had been recorded. Still, this worried people, so out of the whole school, there were only about seven people signing up to stay (remember five are Harry and the Weasleys). That made it impossible to have a Ball. Many teachers were also going, rumors say that they weren't leaving to go visiting, but were on some sort of secret mission. Well, whatever it was, it didn't affect Ron. He was too busy playing games and counting down the days 'til he could race down the stairs and rip up the wrapping paper on the packages.
***
Harry was having similar thoughts on how uneventful this year had been so far. Voldemort hadn't attempted anything big yet, and this was the year he supposedly was back, returned to his body. Let's see, Harry thought, in my first year, he broke into Gringotts before I even started school. In my second year, it was around Hallowe'en when Voldemort attacked someone. A cat, mind you, but still it's more than this year. The third year, well that year Voldemort didn't do much, although it was still more exciting than this year. Exciting? What was he thinking about? This year was nice and calm, no Dark activity, just the way he liked it. Whatever it was, Harry sure felt this holiday would be better than last year's, where his whole vacation he felt stressed or guilty over that stupid egg. Yep, Harry was going to relax this vacation for once.
***
Ginny wasn't feeling so relaxed. That closet was really giving her bad vibes ever since that horrible nightmare. She found herself trying to avoid it, which was harder than it looked, considering that the place was so near the Gryffindor entrance. Ginny knew it was silly, after all nightmares aren't real, but she still felt very squeamish about it. She hadn't mentioned this to anyone else, and the only one who even knew about the nightmares was Hermione. She kept on having the same sort of dreams over and over again, although they were seemed quite so real as the first time. Ginny considered telling someone, but they were only dreams, and they really weren't the worst she had ever had. At least that what she kept telling herself.
***
"Ron, settle down!" It was the night before Christmas and Ginny was trying to settle down a now very hyper Ron (and not succeeding).
"Oooooooooooh Ginny, just think. In just (at this Ron checked the time) 4 hours it'll be officially Christmas!" Ron hopped up and down with excitement. "And soon after, all these packages will be opened and in my arms, just for me. Well, the one's that're here of course. Mum's and Dad's still hasn't arrived yet, but they usually owl them at the last moment." Ginny rolled her eyes at her brother's rambling.
"Ron, if you ask me, you sound more excited than Hermione does when I ask her for help for homework." Ginny said. Ron opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it, considering what his sister just said.
"Anyhow," Harry interrupted, "it's about time we head off to bed if we want to get up really early to open presents. Meet back at the Christmas tree tomorrow?" When the time was agreed, they all headed to bed, with visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads (just kidding).
***
Beeeeeep, beep, beeeeep, beep, BEEEEEEEP! Ron sat up groggily and waved his wand to turn off the alarm. Being so sleepy, the wand produced bright lavender sparks, along with turning off the alarm. This soon woke Harry up, who wasn't too pleased.
"Ron, whatever time it is, isn't it too early?" Harry asked, a trifle annoyed.
"It's never too early on Christmas. Besides, I was kind enough to let the sun rise up before waking you." Harry stared at his friend. Ron generally wasn't an early morning person. It was surprising how much of an effect Christmas had on him. Ron ripped the covers off, hollering "race you downstairs" as he slid down the banister (falling off and went crashing down the last steps). Harry swiftly followed him (although Ron had too big of a head start for Harry to win any races).
***
Ginny woke up with sunlight in her eyes, and whoops of joy from her brother in her ear. I suppose it's time to get up and at 'em, she thought. Quickly getting dressed (she certainly couldn't let Harry see her in her nightdress) she headed down, wondering what she would receive. By the time she was downstairs, Ron and Harry were both wearing Weasley sweaters (Ginny would recognize them anywhere) and Ron was levitating off his chair, eating a Fizzing Wizzbee he had gotten from Hagrid (who had finally decided to lay off the homemade snacks for a while). When Ginny tried to find out what Ron had received from Hermione, Ron just kept his lips closed, shaking his head while blushing. Ron was pleased with the pocketknife Harry gave him. Harry was extra happy with the twins present to him, a blown-up copy of the picture Colin Creevey took of Snape, plus a bagful of the glow-in-the-dark hair candies. Ginny quickly opened her present from her mother first.
"Oh look," said Ginny, admiring the sweater. "The G is interwoven with a fairy. I suppose Mum wanted to make it different from George's, plus I'm her favorite of course." Ginny smiled sweetly at Ron. Ron merely stuck out his tongue.
"Funny," said Harry, "There's only about one or two packages here for me, although this one is giant." Harry emerged from under the tree, pulling out a large square shaped package. Ripping it open, there was a card on top of a very battered looking trunk. To Harry From your friends, Ron, Hermione, Hagrid and Ginny Harry looked up, surprised. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Ginny said impatiently, "Open it!" Harry cautiously opened the trunk. Inside were three battered dingy looking balls. Harry furrowed his eyebrows in thought until he realized what it was.
"My own Quidditch set! But I can't use them outside of school because they might fly away," Harry turned to Ron, with a questioning look.
"Don't worry, it's all covered. Hermione put spells on them so they will stay in this magical box, oh, sort of like an Age Line, I'm not the one to explain it." Ron tried to explain. "Anyways, the Quaffle was easy to get, they're in any athletic equipment store, that's from me. Hagrid supplied the trunk, isn't it perfect?" Ginny enchanted two balls to act like Bludgers and Hermione got the Snitch. I haven't the slightest clue where she picked one up, they're supposedly really hard to get, but that's Hermione for you. Probably talked one of the teachers in helping her find one, she's such a teacher's pet." Harry looked at the set again. Well, the maroon ball must be the Quaffle, and the mismatched pair of blue and green balls must be the Bludgers. So where's the Snitch? Ginny hopped down from her seat on the chair. As if reading his mind, she answered his question. "Look here. See that button on the Quaffle. If you press that, the ball splits open and releases the Snitch. Oh and the Snitch is a bit discolored like the rest of them. It's brown." Ginny grabbed the Quaffle, and pointed out the button. Oh, well, thought Harry, brown should be harder to spot, and I could get some harder practice in. Ginny was almost through all her presents now. She couldn't help noticing again that she had gotten something for Harry, although, there was no present to her from him. Ginny grabbed the last unwrapped present addressed to her, the one from Ron. Harry grabbed his wand, ready to call the owl on his cue. Ron leaned forwards in suspence. Ginny started to tear a hole in the "flawless" wrapping when. BOOM! Someone was trying knock down the door to the Gryffindor Common Room (at least that was how it sounded).
***
Okay, so that took a lot longer than it should have to get out. Plus the chapter was way longer than it was supposed to be. Christmas should have ended by now. Oh well, I'm sorry for the delay. Between FanFiction being down and going on vacation, I haven't put out a new chapter for a while. I wrote this one is June sometime! I'm having real trouble with the spacing, the enter key just isn't working for me or something.
