Like a Phoenix
Ch. 15- Reasons, and Presents
A/N: Ah, you probably all hate me for taking so long on the last chapter, so I will try and get this one up sooner, and track is almost done now, so I should definitely have more time. Well, not definitely, but probably... or not... lol... Oh well, I'm going to shut up now...
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to his parents, but since they're dead, he belongs to Sirius, but since he's a falsely accused murderer, I guess he belongs to the Dursleys... *shudders*... And they ALL belong to J.K. Rowling... *sobs*...
***
Harry walked slowly back to his bedroom, pondering all that had happened that day. His heart felt heavy after meeting Ginny's husband, and their young daughter. But his mind snapped suddenly back to his wife, and a wave of guilt passed over him. He sighed, then went and sat down in a couch in front of his fireplace.
He sat there alone for a while, not thinking about anything in particular, when suddenly, there came a knock on his door. "Who is it?" he asked.
"It's me, Ginny. Can I come in for a minute?" Ginny asked from the other side of the door.
"Come on in, it's open," Harry replied, not bothering to get up from his seat. Ginny came in slowly and sat down on a chair adjacent to the one Harry was in.
"I wanted to apologize Harry. I had hoped you to meet Frank in a different way, I guess. And Lily too," Ginny said softly. Harry didn't reply for a moment.
"Why Ginny? Why did you break up with me?" Harry asked, his voice trembling. Ginny stayed quiet, unsure of what to say or how to reply. She finally mustered up her courage, and cleared her throat.
"You were graduating. I didn't want you to be tied down to me. I still had another whole year of school to go, and you would be off in the big world, doing who knows what. I wanted you to be free. Be able to date if you wanted to," Ginny replied, her voice cracking slightly as she spoke. "I'm sorry Harry," she said, finally bursting into tears. Harry still stayed where he was, silent tears flowing down his cheeks.
"I didn't care about that Ginny. I loved you. I still do, but we can never go back to that. It never mattered that you still had a year of school to go," Harry said, not trying to wipe away the tears from his eyes.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. After you... after we thought you died, when Dumbledore asked us what happened, I thought it was my fault. I thought you did it because of me. I'm sorry Harry. I really am," Ginny sobbed. Harry got up and went to comfort her.
"No, it wasn't your fault. It wasn't anybody's fault, except for Voldemort's. He brought it upon himself. If things were different, Ginny, maybe we could have stayed together, but maybe we just weren't meant to be. You have Frank, and Lily, and I have Jenny. But don't blame yourself. Please don't," Harry said softly, his voice warm and comforting sounding, even through the tears and emotions he was trying to control.
"Thank you Harry. I really am sorry. I never meant to hurt you," Ginny whispered in reply. Harry just hushed her, and they both sat crying for a little while longer.
***
Christmas morning came, bright and clear, with a fresh blanket of shimmering white snow covering the grounds. The mountains in the distance looked like giant icicles sticking up from the earth, and the lake was a gargantuan mirror with a soft dusting of glittering powder covering it. Enchanted snowflakes were falling from the ceiling of the Great Hall, and twelve giant trees were stationed around the tables, covered with thousands of decorations. The coats of armor were once again enchanted to sing carols, and wreaths were hung on all the classroom doors.
Overall, it was a perfect day. Not too many students had stayed, so it was relatively quiet for the adults. Christmas morning found them relaxing in front of a blazing fire in Sirius' room. Presents were still sitting under the tree as they finished up the coffee, tea, or hot chocolate they were drinking. Finally, it was present time.
"Who wants to go first?" Sirius called out over the noise everyone was making. After a few minutes of arguing, Sirius decided to pick up a present out of the pile and see who it was for. "Ginny! You're first!" Sirius said, passing the present down to Ginny. She smiled and tore off the paper.
"Gee Ron, I always wanted a to-scale model of the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch," Ginny said, sarcasm evident in her voice. Ron grinned.
"Your welcome dear sister," Ron said, his smile still growing larger. Ginny rolled her eyes as everyone around her started to laugh.
"Next!" someone shouted out as Sirius picked up another package to see who it was for.
"This one's for... Hermione, from Ginny!" Sirius said after reading the label. He handed the present to Hermione.
"Rather heavy," Hermione commented as she carefully removed the wrapping paper from the book. "Oh!" she exclaimed after reading the title of the book. "Thank you so much Ginny! It's great!"
"What is it?" Ron asked, leaning over his wife to read the gold writing on the top of the book. " 'Hogwarts, a Revised History'?" Ron asked incredulously. Ginny and Hermione laughed.
"I started writing it when I first started teaching. That's the first copy, autographed and everything," Ginny said. Everyone smiled in understanding, and Hermione looked positively ecstatic about her new book.
"Okay, let's see... oh, this one's for me!" Sirius exclaimed, picking up a package wrapped in red and gold. "I wonder who it's from..." Sirius said, carefully unwrapping the square box. A look of astonishment crept across his face, then he looked up and glared at Harry. "I'll have you know Padfoot has never had fleas, not ever!" Sirius exclaimed, holding up a box of flea powder. Harry had an amused look on his face, and everyone else started cracking up.
"That would be a great headline! 'Minister of Magic receives Flea Powder for Christmas'!" Ron said, laughing so hard he could barely talk. Sirius rolled his eyes, but hugged Harry.
"Thanks," Sirius said. Harry nodded. Then Sirius picked up another present. "Ah, this one is for the beautiful Miss Lily, from me!" Sirius exclaimed, holding up a rather long and thin package. Lily came running over, a grin on her face. She tore the paper off as quick as she could, and opened the box.
"A broom! Thank you Uncle Sirius!" Lily said happily, holding up a small broom. She grinned at her parents then ran over to show her cousin.
"She's not going to be on the Quidditch team, Sirius," Ginny said sternly, but there was a grin on her face anyway. Sirius just smiled and shrugged.
"The next one's for you, Ron, from Frank," Sirius said, handing a small box to Ron for him to open.
"A new whistle! Thanks, mate!" Ron said cheerfully, pulling out the silver whistle on it's long cord. He held it up and the light reflected off it's shiny surface.
"Ginny said you were wanting a new one, so I figured it would be the perfect thing for me to get you. It's not enchanted or anything. I just picked it up in the city," Frank said. Ron smiled.
"That's okay. I find Muggle whistles work better than most wizard ones sometimes," Ron replied. Frank looked relieved.
"And the next one goes to... James!" Sirius said, reading the name off the package. They had decided ahead of time not to tell Frank about who Harry really was. They figured it would just confuse him too much, and with little Harry running around, it would just be easier to call him James.
He was handed a small box. After carefully unwrapping it, he opened the box to view it's contents. What he saw was a piece of parchment. "Gee, thanks Sirius. A piece of parchment," Harry said, a smile in his eyes, his voice sarcastic. Sirius smiled back.
"I knew you'd like it," Sirius replied. The others that understood it's significance were smiling as well, while Frank and the children looked slightly lost. "Anyway, let's see... Oh, another one for me!" Sirius exclaimed happily. "Ooh, an eagle feather quill! I've been needing a new one of these!" Sirius said, holding up a beautiful quill. "Thanks Hermione. And this one is also for me, from Ron..." Sirius said, opening yet another small box. "I take it this goes along with the quill?" he said, holding up the small inkwell.
"It's color changing, so you might not want to use it on your official documents," Ron said smiling.
"Thanks for the warning," Sirius grinned. "And here's one for Harry," Sirius said. He held out a heavy package towards the young boy. He took it eagerly, but his face fell when he saw what it was.
"Thank you Aunt Ginny," Harry said politely, giving his aunt a hug as everyone saw it was a History of Magic book. Ginny smiled.
"I figured you would need one anyway, and this way you could get a head start on reading it," Ginny grinned. Everyone laughed.
"And the next present goes to... Frank!" Sirius smiled, handing the small box to the only Muggle in the room. He opened it and smiled.
"Thank you!" he said, leaning over and hugging his wife. He held up the gold wrist watch for everyone else to see.
"Now this next one is a marvelous present, if I do say so myself. It's not just for one person, but four. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Frank," Sirius said, handing each of them an envelope. Ron opened his cautiously and let out a shout of joy.
"Thank you so much Sirius!!! I can't believe this!!! To the World Cup no less!!! Thank you!" Ron was still shouting with excitement as the others finally opened their envelopes and each were equally as excited looking. Sirius leaned over to Harry.
"I would have gotten you a ticket to the Cup too, but I didn't know you'd be here," he said quietly.
"That's perfectly all right. I'm quite happy with the piece of parchment you gave me," Harry said, smiling. Sirius looked relieved.
"Okay, this next one is for you, Ron," Sirius said, handing him a rather squashy package. Ron looked at who it was from, and raised an eyebrow in anticipation. When he managed to tear off a corner of the paper, he looked like he was torn between screaming in anger or bursting out laughing. He slowly held up the present.
"Maroon socks!" Hermione exclaimed before bursting into peals of laughter. Ron finally gave in and started laughing as well. Ginny had started laughing too, but everyone else looked a bit lost.
"I hate maroon," Ron managed to finally get out between laughs. Frank and Sirius just nodded slightly, not bothering to ask any more.
"Okay... well, getting back to presents... oh, another one for me! How exciting!" Sirius said picking up a small, square box. Opening it carefully, he pulled out a gold pocket watch. "Thank you Ginny. It's beautiful," Sirius said. Ginny smiled.
"Yet another one for Ron..." Sirius said, handing Ron a large rectangular box. Ron opened it to find a set of dress robes.
"Why thank you Hermione, but didn't we decided I could shop for myself?" Ron asked sarcastically. Hermione smiled.
"And if you would look in the pocket of those robes, my beloved husband, you would find the other part of the present," Hermione said. Ron rolled his eyes but reached into the pocket to pull out two tickets.
"Tickets to the London Wizards' Orchestra? Why would I want to go to that. What is it, anyway?" Ron asked. Hermione just rolled her eyes.
"It's a concert, you goof. We're going out to dinner first as well," Hermione stated matter-of-factly. Ron sighed.
"Thank you Hermione," he said. Hermione smiled at him. Everyone else just shook their heads.
"Well... let's see... Ah, another one for Frank. Here you go," Sirius said, passing the rather small envelope towards Frank. He opened it and smiled.
"Thank you Hermione, I'm sure I'll make good use of this," Frank said, tucking whatever it was into his front pocket.
"What was it?" Ron asked curiously. Hermione rolled her eyes at him again, and everyone laughed at their antics.
"A gift certificate to a book store. Unlike some people in this room, Frank knows how to enjoy a good book," Hermione replied, making everyone laugh harder.
"And another present for the most beautiful girl in the room," Sirius said, handing a package towards Lily. She giggled as she tore off the paper.
"A kite! Cool! Thank you whoever gave this to me!" Lily exclaimed happily.
"Mind your manners Lily. Read on the package who it was from," Ginny chided lightly. Lily looked at the paper.
"Thank you Mr. James, sir!" Lily said, a huge grin on her face. Harry smiled back at her as she ran over to her cousin once again. Sirius then picked up a rather large, square package.
"And this one goes to... James," Sirius said, handing the package over to Harry. He took the paper off to reveal the leather bound cover of a book.
" 'The Boy Who Lived', by... wow... All of you?" Harry asked in a stunned voice. Hermione nodded and Ron smiled.
"It was Hermione and Ginny's idea. They must have talked to everyone in Gryffindor that knew... him... to get stuff for that book," Ron said. Harry looked shocked.
"We thought we'd give you this, since you didn't seem to know too much about Harry Potter," Hermione said, smiling. Harry laughed.
"Well, thanks you guys. All of you, really," Harry said. There was a moment where no one said anything, then the gift opening continued.
It went on like that for at least twenty minutes more, as everyone happily gave and received gifts. Soon it was time for Christmas Dinner. Everyone went down to the Great Hall, accompanied by the hoots of young Harry's new owl (Glimfeather). They ate until they couldn't eat any more.
"Wow, I haven't had a Christmas dinner like this in years," Harry sighed contentedly. Sirius was talking to Dumbledore about something, while Frank was involved in a deep conversation with the Muggle Studies professor. The four friends of old just sat and talked happily about trivial little things. Eventually, they made their way back up to their mini-common room to relax the afternoon away. Harry challenged Ron to a game of wizards' chess, and as usual, lost abysmally. They had a light supper of leftovers, then they went their separate ways until the next day.
***
A/N: Okay, I'm writing this before the chapter is actually done, but I'm PISSED!!!!! FF.N is being SOOOO stupid!!!!!!!!!! All I want to do is READ THE STORY THAT I'M READING, BUT NOOOOOOOOOOOO IT HAS TO BE BROKEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can tell I'm quite upset about this. I enjoy reading. Reading and writing is my life. What am I supposed to do if I can't read??? I suppose I could finish this chapter, but my muse doesn't feel like it right now. In fact, my muse just feels like READING!!!! Plus I just drove my friends around so I'm mentally exhausted due to their antics... Honestly, screaming "Happy Kwanzaa" and reaching over and honking the horn is COMPLETELY un-called for... And so is trying to pimp out my MINIVAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Honestly... You think they'd be a bit more mature... But noooo.... and you really don't care about my crazy friends and our excuse for a "social life"... Blowing off karate (all six of us, lol) to go to the movies... hehe... Okay, I'll shut up now and maybe go write some more, or work on this other awesome story that I think might be my next story project, but I think I'm going to do a vote later on for what story to post... Oh well, anyway....
A/N2: Well, I'm done now. Not as long as I had originally planned, but I was getting SO tired of writing what everyone was getting for Christmas. I had made up this entire list of things too, but I didn't feel like it any longer. And hopefully, I'll be able to post this tomorrow, unless FF.N is still being stupid, which I hope it isn't. So now, I'm done with this, until I can look at my reviews and thank everyone who reviewed chapter 14. Please review my story, even if you hated it (although why you would still be reading it now, is a mystery to me... lol...), then you'll get your name up here!!!! LOL!!! Thanks for reading, PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!
PS- If anyone knows where the owl's name comes from, kudos!!! If not, you have some reading to do! And no, it's not in the Harry Potter universe... lol...
Thanks to those who reviewed last chapter!!!! My dear older sister hasn't been able to comment on this chapter yet (her comments are highly amusing, lol...), but I'll get her comments eventually. She's at camp (working). So, anyway, here's my thanks to my reviewers:
HerbieWerbie: Thank you for thanking me for thanking you for thanking me!!! Sorry if that got confusing, I like doing that to people, lol... Anyway, thanks!!
Nicky: Updated as soon as I could! Thanks for reading this!!
i have no name: Why thank you, and right in one about the test, I know what you mean... Thanks for reading!!!
Michelle: Thank you! This was as fast as my muse and FF.N would let me be!! LOL!!! Just keep trying, maybe one day you'll stop being lazy and post, lol....
Kate Potter: That's okay, as long as you came back! Thank you!
SiriusBPadfoot: Two reviews! Thank you! And you're yelling at ME to keep writing??? Sure, I'll e-mail you! That means more reviews for me, LOL!!! Hurry up with your story!!!
Bleeding Heart: Ah, LotR... Only took me two weeks. Would have finished sooner but the only classes I could get away with reading during were Spanish and Chemistry... Good books though, lol. Don't worry, I know exactly how Sirius is going to find out... But first I have to make them suffer... LOL!! Thanks for reading!!!
Phoenixheart: Oh can't I leave you hanging forever? No, I'm not that evil, lol... Yes the movie was QUITE good, but you miss some things if you don't read the book. Is this chapter a better length for you? It could have been longer but I got lazy, lol... oh well, thanks again for reading!!
Wow, thanks to everyone who reads this and doesn't bother to review (just think YOUR NAME could be up here too!). I appreciate your feedback, and I commend your bravery for having read my awful story, because I've looked back at it, and it really is quite horrible. You guys have let me get away with so much in this story... I think I'm going to cry... *sob*!!! Well, thanks again. I'm going to go upload now!!!! :-)
Ch. 15- Reasons, and Presents
A/N: Ah, you probably all hate me for taking so long on the last chapter, so I will try and get this one up sooner, and track is almost done now, so I should definitely have more time. Well, not definitely, but probably... or not... lol... Oh well, I'm going to shut up now...
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to his parents, but since they're dead, he belongs to Sirius, but since he's a falsely accused murderer, I guess he belongs to the Dursleys... *shudders*... And they ALL belong to J.K. Rowling... *sobs*...
***
Harry walked slowly back to his bedroom, pondering all that had happened that day. His heart felt heavy after meeting Ginny's husband, and their young daughter. But his mind snapped suddenly back to his wife, and a wave of guilt passed over him. He sighed, then went and sat down in a couch in front of his fireplace.
He sat there alone for a while, not thinking about anything in particular, when suddenly, there came a knock on his door. "Who is it?" he asked.
"It's me, Ginny. Can I come in for a minute?" Ginny asked from the other side of the door.
"Come on in, it's open," Harry replied, not bothering to get up from his seat. Ginny came in slowly and sat down on a chair adjacent to the one Harry was in.
"I wanted to apologize Harry. I had hoped you to meet Frank in a different way, I guess. And Lily too," Ginny said softly. Harry didn't reply for a moment.
"Why Ginny? Why did you break up with me?" Harry asked, his voice trembling. Ginny stayed quiet, unsure of what to say or how to reply. She finally mustered up her courage, and cleared her throat.
"You were graduating. I didn't want you to be tied down to me. I still had another whole year of school to go, and you would be off in the big world, doing who knows what. I wanted you to be free. Be able to date if you wanted to," Ginny replied, her voice cracking slightly as she spoke. "I'm sorry Harry," she said, finally bursting into tears. Harry still stayed where he was, silent tears flowing down his cheeks.
"I didn't care about that Ginny. I loved you. I still do, but we can never go back to that. It never mattered that you still had a year of school to go," Harry said, not trying to wipe away the tears from his eyes.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. After you... after we thought you died, when Dumbledore asked us what happened, I thought it was my fault. I thought you did it because of me. I'm sorry Harry. I really am," Ginny sobbed. Harry got up and went to comfort her.
"No, it wasn't your fault. It wasn't anybody's fault, except for Voldemort's. He brought it upon himself. If things were different, Ginny, maybe we could have stayed together, but maybe we just weren't meant to be. You have Frank, and Lily, and I have Jenny. But don't blame yourself. Please don't," Harry said softly, his voice warm and comforting sounding, even through the tears and emotions he was trying to control.
"Thank you Harry. I really am sorry. I never meant to hurt you," Ginny whispered in reply. Harry just hushed her, and they both sat crying for a little while longer.
***
Christmas morning came, bright and clear, with a fresh blanket of shimmering white snow covering the grounds. The mountains in the distance looked like giant icicles sticking up from the earth, and the lake was a gargantuan mirror with a soft dusting of glittering powder covering it. Enchanted snowflakes were falling from the ceiling of the Great Hall, and twelve giant trees were stationed around the tables, covered with thousands of decorations. The coats of armor were once again enchanted to sing carols, and wreaths were hung on all the classroom doors.
Overall, it was a perfect day. Not too many students had stayed, so it was relatively quiet for the adults. Christmas morning found them relaxing in front of a blazing fire in Sirius' room. Presents were still sitting under the tree as they finished up the coffee, tea, or hot chocolate they were drinking. Finally, it was present time.
"Who wants to go first?" Sirius called out over the noise everyone was making. After a few minutes of arguing, Sirius decided to pick up a present out of the pile and see who it was for. "Ginny! You're first!" Sirius said, passing the present down to Ginny. She smiled and tore off the paper.
"Gee Ron, I always wanted a to-scale model of the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch," Ginny said, sarcasm evident in her voice. Ron grinned.
"Your welcome dear sister," Ron said, his smile still growing larger. Ginny rolled her eyes as everyone around her started to laugh.
"Next!" someone shouted out as Sirius picked up another package to see who it was for.
"This one's for... Hermione, from Ginny!" Sirius said after reading the label. He handed the present to Hermione.
"Rather heavy," Hermione commented as she carefully removed the wrapping paper from the book. "Oh!" she exclaimed after reading the title of the book. "Thank you so much Ginny! It's great!"
"What is it?" Ron asked, leaning over his wife to read the gold writing on the top of the book. " 'Hogwarts, a Revised History'?" Ron asked incredulously. Ginny and Hermione laughed.
"I started writing it when I first started teaching. That's the first copy, autographed and everything," Ginny said. Everyone smiled in understanding, and Hermione looked positively ecstatic about her new book.
"Okay, let's see... oh, this one's for me!" Sirius exclaimed, picking up a package wrapped in red and gold. "I wonder who it's from..." Sirius said, carefully unwrapping the square box. A look of astonishment crept across his face, then he looked up and glared at Harry. "I'll have you know Padfoot has never had fleas, not ever!" Sirius exclaimed, holding up a box of flea powder. Harry had an amused look on his face, and everyone else started cracking up.
"That would be a great headline! 'Minister of Magic receives Flea Powder for Christmas'!" Ron said, laughing so hard he could barely talk. Sirius rolled his eyes, but hugged Harry.
"Thanks," Sirius said. Harry nodded. Then Sirius picked up another present. "Ah, this one is for the beautiful Miss Lily, from me!" Sirius exclaimed, holding up a rather long and thin package. Lily came running over, a grin on her face. She tore the paper off as quick as she could, and opened the box.
"A broom! Thank you Uncle Sirius!" Lily said happily, holding up a small broom. She grinned at her parents then ran over to show her cousin.
"She's not going to be on the Quidditch team, Sirius," Ginny said sternly, but there was a grin on her face anyway. Sirius just smiled and shrugged.
"The next one's for you, Ron, from Frank," Sirius said, handing a small box to Ron for him to open.
"A new whistle! Thanks, mate!" Ron said cheerfully, pulling out the silver whistle on it's long cord. He held it up and the light reflected off it's shiny surface.
"Ginny said you were wanting a new one, so I figured it would be the perfect thing for me to get you. It's not enchanted or anything. I just picked it up in the city," Frank said. Ron smiled.
"That's okay. I find Muggle whistles work better than most wizard ones sometimes," Ron replied. Frank looked relieved.
"And the next one goes to... James!" Sirius said, reading the name off the package. They had decided ahead of time not to tell Frank about who Harry really was. They figured it would just confuse him too much, and with little Harry running around, it would just be easier to call him James.
He was handed a small box. After carefully unwrapping it, he opened the box to view it's contents. What he saw was a piece of parchment. "Gee, thanks Sirius. A piece of parchment," Harry said, a smile in his eyes, his voice sarcastic. Sirius smiled back.
"I knew you'd like it," Sirius replied. The others that understood it's significance were smiling as well, while Frank and the children looked slightly lost. "Anyway, let's see... Oh, another one for me!" Sirius exclaimed happily. "Ooh, an eagle feather quill! I've been needing a new one of these!" Sirius said, holding up a beautiful quill. "Thanks Hermione. And this one is also for me, from Ron..." Sirius said, opening yet another small box. "I take it this goes along with the quill?" he said, holding up the small inkwell.
"It's color changing, so you might not want to use it on your official documents," Ron said smiling.
"Thanks for the warning," Sirius grinned. "And here's one for Harry," Sirius said. He held out a heavy package towards the young boy. He took it eagerly, but his face fell when he saw what it was.
"Thank you Aunt Ginny," Harry said politely, giving his aunt a hug as everyone saw it was a History of Magic book. Ginny smiled.
"I figured you would need one anyway, and this way you could get a head start on reading it," Ginny grinned. Everyone laughed.
"And the next present goes to... Frank!" Sirius smiled, handing the small box to the only Muggle in the room. He opened it and smiled.
"Thank you!" he said, leaning over and hugging his wife. He held up the gold wrist watch for everyone else to see.
"Now this next one is a marvelous present, if I do say so myself. It's not just for one person, but four. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Frank," Sirius said, handing each of them an envelope. Ron opened his cautiously and let out a shout of joy.
"Thank you so much Sirius!!! I can't believe this!!! To the World Cup no less!!! Thank you!" Ron was still shouting with excitement as the others finally opened their envelopes and each were equally as excited looking. Sirius leaned over to Harry.
"I would have gotten you a ticket to the Cup too, but I didn't know you'd be here," he said quietly.
"That's perfectly all right. I'm quite happy with the piece of parchment you gave me," Harry said, smiling. Sirius looked relieved.
"Okay, this next one is for you, Ron," Sirius said, handing him a rather squashy package. Ron looked at who it was from, and raised an eyebrow in anticipation. When he managed to tear off a corner of the paper, he looked like he was torn between screaming in anger or bursting out laughing. He slowly held up the present.
"Maroon socks!" Hermione exclaimed before bursting into peals of laughter. Ron finally gave in and started laughing as well. Ginny had started laughing too, but everyone else looked a bit lost.
"I hate maroon," Ron managed to finally get out between laughs. Frank and Sirius just nodded slightly, not bothering to ask any more.
"Okay... well, getting back to presents... oh, another one for me! How exciting!" Sirius said picking up a small, square box. Opening it carefully, he pulled out a gold pocket watch. "Thank you Ginny. It's beautiful," Sirius said. Ginny smiled.
"Yet another one for Ron..." Sirius said, handing Ron a large rectangular box. Ron opened it to find a set of dress robes.
"Why thank you Hermione, but didn't we decided I could shop for myself?" Ron asked sarcastically. Hermione smiled.
"And if you would look in the pocket of those robes, my beloved husband, you would find the other part of the present," Hermione said. Ron rolled his eyes but reached into the pocket to pull out two tickets.
"Tickets to the London Wizards' Orchestra? Why would I want to go to that. What is it, anyway?" Ron asked. Hermione just rolled her eyes.
"It's a concert, you goof. We're going out to dinner first as well," Hermione stated matter-of-factly. Ron sighed.
"Thank you Hermione," he said. Hermione smiled at him. Everyone else just shook their heads.
"Well... let's see... Ah, another one for Frank. Here you go," Sirius said, passing the rather small envelope towards Frank. He opened it and smiled.
"Thank you Hermione, I'm sure I'll make good use of this," Frank said, tucking whatever it was into his front pocket.
"What was it?" Ron asked curiously. Hermione rolled her eyes at him again, and everyone laughed at their antics.
"A gift certificate to a book store. Unlike some people in this room, Frank knows how to enjoy a good book," Hermione replied, making everyone laugh harder.
"And another present for the most beautiful girl in the room," Sirius said, handing a package towards Lily. She giggled as she tore off the paper.
"A kite! Cool! Thank you whoever gave this to me!" Lily exclaimed happily.
"Mind your manners Lily. Read on the package who it was from," Ginny chided lightly. Lily looked at the paper.
"Thank you Mr. James, sir!" Lily said, a huge grin on her face. Harry smiled back at her as she ran over to her cousin once again. Sirius then picked up a rather large, square package.
"And this one goes to... James," Sirius said, handing the package over to Harry. He took the paper off to reveal the leather bound cover of a book.
" 'The Boy Who Lived', by... wow... All of you?" Harry asked in a stunned voice. Hermione nodded and Ron smiled.
"It was Hermione and Ginny's idea. They must have talked to everyone in Gryffindor that knew... him... to get stuff for that book," Ron said. Harry looked shocked.
"We thought we'd give you this, since you didn't seem to know too much about Harry Potter," Hermione said, smiling. Harry laughed.
"Well, thanks you guys. All of you, really," Harry said. There was a moment where no one said anything, then the gift opening continued.
It went on like that for at least twenty minutes more, as everyone happily gave and received gifts. Soon it was time for Christmas Dinner. Everyone went down to the Great Hall, accompanied by the hoots of young Harry's new owl (Glimfeather). They ate until they couldn't eat any more.
"Wow, I haven't had a Christmas dinner like this in years," Harry sighed contentedly. Sirius was talking to Dumbledore about something, while Frank was involved in a deep conversation with the Muggle Studies professor. The four friends of old just sat and talked happily about trivial little things. Eventually, they made their way back up to their mini-common room to relax the afternoon away. Harry challenged Ron to a game of wizards' chess, and as usual, lost abysmally. They had a light supper of leftovers, then they went their separate ways until the next day.
***
A/N: Okay, I'm writing this before the chapter is actually done, but I'm PISSED!!!!! FF.N is being SOOOO stupid!!!!!!!!!! All I want to do is READ THE STORY THAT I'M READING, BUT NOOOOOOOOOOOO IT HAS TO BE BROKEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can tell I'm quite upset about this. I enjoy reading. Reading and writing is my life. What am I supposed to do if I can't read??? I suppose I could finish this chapter, but my muse doesn't feel like it right now. In fact, my muse just feels like READING!!!! Plus I just drove my friends around so I'm mentally exhausted due to their antics... Honestly, screaming "Happy Kwanzaa" and reaching over and honking the horn is COMPLETELY un-called for... And so is trying to pimp out my MINIVAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Honestly... You think they'd be a bit more mature... But noooo.... and you really don't care about my crazy friends and our excuse for a "social life"... Blowing off karate (all six of us, lol) to go to the movies... hehe... Okay, I'll shut up now and maybe go write some more, or work on this other awesome story that I think might be my next story project, but I think I'm going to do a vote later on for what story to post... Oh well, anyway....
A/N2: Well, I'm done now. Not as long as I had originally planned, but I was getting SO tired of writing what everyone was getting for Christmas. I had made up this entire list of things too, but I didn't feel like it any longer. And hopefully, I'll be able to post this tomorrow, unless FF.N is still being stupid, which I hope it isn't. So now, I'm done with this, until I can look at my reviews and thank everyone who reviewed chapter 14. Please review my story, even if you hated it (although why you would still be reading it now, is a mystery to me... lol...), then you'll get your name up here!!!! LOL!!! Thanks for reading, PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!
PS- If anyone knows where the owl's name comes from, kudos!!! If not, you have some reading to do! And no, it's not in the Harry Potter universe... lol...
Thanks to those who reviewed last chapter!!!! My dear older sister hasn't been able to comment on this chapter yet (her comments are highly amusing, lol...), but I'll get her comments eventually. She's at camp (working). So, anyway, here's my thanks to my reviewers:
HerbieWerbie: Thank you for thanking me for thanking you for thanking me!!! Sorry if that got confusing, I like doing that to people, lol... Anyway, thanks!!
Nicky: Updated as soon as I could! Thanks for reading this!!
i have no name: Why thank you, and right in one about the test, I know what you mean... Thanks for reading!!!
Michelle: Thank you! This was as fast as my muse and FF.N would let me be!! LOL!!! Just keep trying, maybe one day you'll stop being lazy and post, lol....
Kate Potter: That's okay, as long as you came back! Thank you!
SiriusBPadfoot: Two reviews! Thank you! And you're yelling at ME to keep writing??? Sure, I'll e-mail you! That means more reviews for me, LOL!!! Hurry up with your story!!!
Bleeding Heart: Ah, LotR... Only took me two weeks. Would have finished sooner but the only classes I could get away with reading during were Spanish and Chemistry... Good books though, lol. Don't worry, I know exactly how Sirius is going to find out... But first I have to make them suffer... LOL!! Thanks for reading!!!
Phoenixheart: Oh can't I leave you hanging forever? No, I'm not that evil, lol... Yes the movie was QUITE good, but you miss some things if you don't read the book. Is this chapter a better length for you? It could have been longer but I got lazy, lol... oh well, thanks again for reading!!
Wow, thanks to everyone who reads this and doesn't bother to review (just think YOUR NAME could be up here too!). I appreciate your feedback, and I commend your bravery for having read my awful story, because I've looked back at it, and it really is quite horrible. You guys have let me get away with so much in this story... I think I'm going to cry... *sob*!!! Well, thanks again. I'm going to go upload now!!!! :-)