DISCLAIMER: Most characters and places are products of Ms. Rowling's brilliant mind.
Chapter 5: Christmas Holidays
Harry looked at the calendar across his room. Tomorrow morning, Ginny will arrive from Hogwarts for her Christmas holidays and she has no choice but to spend it here because the Weasleys are to visit Bill in Egypt.
Ron and Hermione left for King's Cross to fetch Ginny from the platform. He chose to stay behind because he had to get some work done and also to spare him of another uncomfortable ride with Ginny.
Since Harry's sixth year in Hogwarts, he started having different kinds of feelings for Ginny. He remembered Dumbledore telling him in his third year that there is a special bond formed when a wizard saves another wizard from death. He thought it was this special bond that keeps him attached to Ginny since he saved him twice. Once in during his second year and the other when he faced Voldemort during his seventh year at Hogwarts. But now he knew, this was more than that bond.
He went out of his room and a beautiful Christmas tree greeted him in the living room. Hermione must have put it there last night since he crawled into bed early, leaving the two alone in the living room.
Work is starting to stress him out and he's just glad that Dumbledore gave the ministry a week's holiday to celebrate Christmas that is why the three of them have most of the time to themselves.
He was heading for the kitchen to fix himself a quick breakfast when he heard a knock on the door. Thinking it was Ron and the two girls, he just shouted, "Come in" from the kitchen.
"Harry?" He heard a now familiar female voice from the foyer. It was Angela.
"Angela!" he was surprised that he dropped the pan he was holding.
"Hey." She entered the kitchen. "I brought you and Ron something. He told me his only sister is coming I cooked a my specialty dish."
"Yeah. Ginny's coming. She'll be here for Christmas." Harry explained as he received the dish from Angela. "Thanks."
Angela smiled.
"Hey, Angela. I was about to cook some pancakes for bre—" He glanced at the clock and saw that it was already half past eleven in the morning. "Snacks. Would you like some?"
Angela shook her head. "Nah. I would love to but I have something else to attend to. Actually, I think I better go. Still got lot of stuff to do. Lots of mail to send."
Harry nodded and accompanied her to the door. They were laughing over a joke at the office when Ron and the girls burst into the room.
There was silence as Ginny's smile faded and her gaze transferred from Harry to Angela. Hermione and Ron looked at each other worriedly and Harry looked at Ginny quite guiltily. Only Angela seems to be oblivious of the reactions of the people around her.
"Hey. You must be Ginny, Ron's sister!" Angela broke the silence. "Harry's been talking about you all the time! I'm Angela Mercado. Harry and I work at the same department. I live next door. "
Harry felt blood rushing to his face. And without even looking, he knew Ginny would turn red anytime soon.
Silence.
"I better go." Angela said cheerfully. "Nice to meet you at last, Ginny." She turned to the other three "See you around." And she stepped out of the room.
"Why did Angela drop by?" Ron asked as they walked in the kitchen. He placed Ginny's trunk in the living room.
"She brought something. A dish from her country, I think." Harry told him. "She said you told her Ginny was coming so she cooked up something for us."
Hermione walked in the kitchen and tasted the dish. "Very spicy."
"Ginny you'll stay at my room. I'll just sleep here." Ron said as he sat down beside Harry on the couch.
"Ron, I've decided to stay at Hermione's while I'm here. She has an extra bedroom and…" She trailed off. Ron noticed a slight change of color in her cheeks.
He gave one of his crumpled faces. "Okay." He said. He eyed Harry carefully, who was looking outside the window. "Hey, Harry."
"Yeah?" The elbow Ron gave him surprised Harry.
"You're a space cadet, you know that?" He joked. "Harry's in a kind of trance these days. Ever since he got to meet Angela."
It was Harry's turn to give Ron the elbow. Hermione shot him a warning look and glanced at Ginny. Ginny, however, looked perfectly fine.
"She's not from around here, right?" She asked.
"From Asia." Hermione informed her as she came in the living room with a huge mug of ginger ale Angela gave them. "She works in the Department of International Wizardry with Harry."
"Hmmm…" Ginny hummed.
Ron noticed the disappointment in Ginny's eyes but wasn't able to comment about it when he saw a gray owl flying towards them. "We have an owl."
Ginny stood up. "That's Colin's owl." She went to the window and fetched the letter. The gray owl flew away as soon as she opened the letter.
Harry scowled as Ginny's face broke into a smile as she read Colin's letter.
Hermione smiled at Ron and turned to Ginny. "Ginny, anything going on between you and Colin?" She glanced at Harry and saw his green face.
Ginny walked towards the couch and dropped beside Harry. "No. We're just friends."
"Okay, like we believe you." Hermione said sarcastically. "What did it say?"
"He was checking if I'm here in Ron's place already. He stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas and doesn't have anything to do." Ginny informed them.
"You should have invited him here with you." She said. Harry looked at her, clearly surprised. But he didn't say a thing.
Ginny shrugged and put the letter on the coffee table. "I'll just owl him later." She smiled, her eyes twinkling now. "Let's see how that dish of Angela's satisfy my taste buds." And she lead the group to the kitchen.
"What are your plans for the next week?" Hermione asked Ginny as they entered her apartment.
"I don't know, actually. Maybe hang out at Diagon Alley or something." Ginny shrugged. "How are things going on between you and Ron?"
"If you're going to ask if he asked me anything, the answer is no." Hermione dropped down beside her.
Ginny shook her head, smiling. Hermione looked at her seriously, "Ginny, how are you and Colin?"
"I'm sorry?" she was taken aback by Hermione's question. "Colin and me?"
Hermione nodded. "You don't have to deny it, Ginny." She smiled.
"There's nothing going on between me and Colin, Hermione." She said. "Honestly."
Hermione eyed her carefully, as if examining her intently. "Okay." She said finally and stood up. "That'll be your room." And she pointed to one of the doors. "Let's get settled in. Still got work tomorrow."
After helping getting Ginny settled in the room, Hermione retired to her room with a scheme in mind.
The sun was shining brightly into Ginny's room when she opened her eyes late morning of the next day. She slowly got out of the bed and headed towards Hermione's kitchen.
"Hermione?" She called but nobody answered. She was about to open the pantry when she saw a note on top of the dining table.
Ginny,
I have to go to the Ministry for a while. Dean called and told me we have to fix some loose ends before we can get our holiday. I'll be back after lunch though. Just feel at home, okay?
Hermione
P.S. There's pot pie in the oven just in case you want some. See you later.
Instead of getting the pot pie from the oven, she took some bread from the pastry and made herself huge sandwich. After which, she took her cloak from the couch where she had left it the night before and decided to take a walk along Diagon Alley.
There were only a few people around since its winter. Snow is slowly falling from the skies. She loved the feel of the enchanted snow at Hogwarts but she felt some sort of contentment with the cold snow gently falling on her shoulders. She passed by the more familiar shops to her at Diagon Alley but her attention was caught by this newly opened café beside Ollivander's, Concoctions.
She pushed the heavy wood doors of the café and sat down on the cozy two-seater coffee table by the window where she can see Diagon Alley.
A waitress stopped by her table. She ordered the house special since she doesn't know much of the concoctions on the menu and a cinnamon roll. She looked out of the window again when the waitress left. She was so taken away by how Diagon Alley looks like during winter. For her past six years in Hogwarts, she spent her Christmases there but before that, she would always be at the Burrow. With the windows covered with snow and fog, it looked like she stepped into a huge Christmas card.
A few minutes of pondering about school and what she would like to do after Hogwarts, her coffee arrived and pastry arrived. Still full of her breakfast earlier, she almost wasn't able to touch her roll.
"May I share this table?" A male voice said behind her.
She looked at the owner of the voice. A tall boy, not older than eighteen, blond hair and blue eyes. He smiled. "I know there are other seats taken but it would really be a drag if I would sit alone."
She smiled. "Sure, no problem."
The boy sat down and a waitress took his order. When the waitress left, he turned to Ginny and asked her name.
"Ginny Weasley." She answered. "And you?"
"George Peterson." He said. His gaze fell on the Gryffindor logo on her cloak. "You're from Hogwarts?"
"Yes. Were you from Hogwarts? Because if you are, I don't recognize you." She said.
"No. No." He shook his head. "I'm American."
Ginny suddenly notice his lack accent. "You're an American wizard?"
"Yeah. I work at the Ministry under the Department of International Wizardry. I'm the US ambassador."
"Really?" She can't believe it. "My friend Harry works there, too."
"Oh Harry Potter. Yes of course, I know him." He said as his coffee arrived.
"He's my brother's best friend." Ginny said.
George nodded and sipped his coffee and followed her gaze outside. Suddenly she saw a familiar walking down the alley. It was Harry. She was about to catch his attention when she saw who was walking beside him. It was Angela.
"Hey, look, it's Harry and Angela!" George exclaimed.
To Ginny's utter disappointment, George started waving to get their attention. He succeeded and the two entered the café.
"Hello, George." Angela smiled and turned to her. "Hi Ginny, I don't know you two knew each other."
The two eased into the coffee table beside theirs, Harry seem to eye her closely as though she said she join the Dark Side.
"No, not really. We just met each other… just now." She said turning scarlet under Harry's scrutinizing eyes.
"Hey, you want some coffee, my treat." George offered.
Angela said "Sure," just as Harry answered "No thanks."
"I think I better go." Ginny fished for some sickles in her purse and hurriedly stood up. "Nice to meet you, George. See you around, Angela, Harry." And she went out of the store.
She decided to go to her twin brothers' joke shop when she heard Harry call her name. She turned around and saw him jogging after her.
"Why did you leave your friends at the café?" She asked as he caught us with her.
"I'm not in the mood for coffee." He answered. "Angela wanted to chat with George about work and I don't want to talk about work in the next week. It's holiday. I shouldn't worry much, don't you think?" He smiled at her. Ginny once again cannot tear her eyes from his wonderful smile and laughing green eyes.
Their eyes met and there was a very comfortable silence as their eyes communicated. It was Harry who broke the silence. "Heading for George and Fred's?"
She nodded and continued walking, with Harry beside her.
"I miss those two a lot. Hogwarts and the Burrow aren't as happy as before they left." She knew she was smiling from ear to ear, being utterly thrilled of Harry walking beside her.
"Yeah. Even the House Team isn't the same without them." Harry agreed. George and Fred Weasley are two years older than Harry and Ron. In their five years together in Hogwarts, Harry learned to love them as his older brothers.
The shop was crowded when they entered because of the Christmas shopping rush. Ginny could see the twin's red hair behind the counter.
"George! Fred!" She called.
Fred looked up from what he was doing and nudged George. "It's Ginny and Harry!" He turned to them. "What brings you two here?" He asked.
"I went out for a walk and I bumped into Harry in the new café, Concoctions." She said as casually as she can. She and Harry went into the small room above the shop and George and Fred came after them a few moments later.
"The shop's packed!" Ginny said happily. "Don't you guys want to get a real job in the Ministry or wherever?"
"Nah." The twins said at the same time.
"Who needs a job when you have a shop like this one?" Fred exclaimed. "Don't you think, Harry?"
Harry just chuckled.
"Where will you guys be celebrating Christmas?" Ginny asked.
Before any of the twins was able to answer, Harry suddenly butted in. "How about spending it with us?"
The twins looked at each other. "That's a good idea, don't you think, Fred?" George said.
"I think so George." Fred agreed.
The four arranged their Christmas celebration and Harry and Ginny said goodbye so that the twins could get back to work.
They walked silently toward Harry's apartment when a blizzard suddenly came. Ginny felt Harry's hand grabbed hers and they sprinted towards Harry's apartment building.
Snow hit their faces and despite the possibility of catching a cold, they laughed their way up the building to Harry and Ron's floor.
Wet and laughing, Harry and Ginny was surprised to see Ron and Hermione looking rather worried in front of the fireplace when they came in the house with mugs of steaming tea.
"We were so worried!" Hermione jumped up.
Ginny and Harry looked at the two guiltily.
"We were in the joke shop." Harry help Ginny out of her cloak and then took his off as well.
Hermione gave Ginny a curious look because of Harry's actions. She just shrugged.
"Don't tell me you invited George and Fred for Christmas dinner." Ron said.
"We did." Harry said flatly.
"It might as well be New Year's day with all the explosives they'll bring." Ron got up and refilled his mug.
Ginny smiled at Hermione as she and Harry received hot tea from her. She sipped some and felt the warmth inside her body despite her still damp clothes.
She looked at Harry and smiled. He smiled back. Looks like it's going to be one heck of a Christmas party.