Disclaimer: If you don't know I'm not JK Rowling by now, you're stupider than I thought.
Part Twenty-Five: Christmas in Hogsmeade
Looking over the parchment sitting before her, Kali scribbled some words onto it with her quill, frowned, and scratched them out again. The Hogsmeade visit was today and though Kali had gone over present ideas a thousand times, she still couldn't figure out what she wanted to get everyone. She had written her thoughts out over and over again only to have her gift ideas sound silly or boring, and the whole process was really starting to grate on her nerves. From across the room, Ron could be heard mumbling in his sleep and she knew that meant he would wake soon. Softly smiling, Kali crumpled up the parchment, shoved it in one of the inner pockets of her robes, and made her way over to Ron's bed.
Dropping to the mattress, Kali cocked her head to the side, taking in Ron. He was waking, slowly, and from the small groans and jumbled words he was muttering, Ron wanted to still be in a deep sleep. Wrapping an arm around his waist, Kali let her arm rest on his side, her fingers trailing along the small of his back. Ron sighed, shifted a little, and buried his face into his pillow. Kali could do no less that stifle a giggle.
Rearranging herself, Kali crawled up the bed to half-rest her chest on his back. "Ron," she called, softly, leaning forward so that her lips just brushed by his ear. "Ron, you have to get up soon if you want to eat breakfast this morning."
"I'm tired," mumbled Ron. "Go away."
Laughing, Kali said, "I can't do that, Ron. Being a pest is in my job description."
Kali moved to lie on her side when Ron tried to roll over on his back to face her. He stared at her through half-lidded eyes laced more with sleep than desire and he briefly glared at her before it turned into a small grin. "You're insane, Kali. Aren't you tired?"
"Nope. We go to Hogsmeade today and you're going to complain about being hungry if you don't get breakfast. I suggest that you wake up."
"I am up," he protested.
"Then I suggest you crawl out of bed and stop being such a lazy arse."
"I'll crawl out of bed when I so desire," he replied, wrapping his arms around her waist and yanking her down on top of him. Leaning forward, he pressed his lips to hers in a sweet, sincere kiss. She buried her fingers into his hair, pulling him in closer to deepen the kiss as she ran her tongue along the full flesh of his bottom lip before slipping inside his mouth. Moaning into the kiss, Ron ran his tongue along Kali's, his thumb rubbing small circles at the spot just under her ear where the jawline starts. "Do you really want to crawl out of bed?" he mumbled, feeling her shift on top of him, their bodies perfectly aligned.
"I hate you for doing that to me, Weasley. You have no idea about the kind of effect you have over me."
"You have no idea about the kind of effect you have over me."
Kali nuzzled her face into the crook of Ron's neck as he pulled the heavy blankets over them. "We really do have to get up, Ron. I mean it. Otherwise, you won't be getting a Christmas present from me."
"Just having you is enough of a gift for me."
"You're such a sap," she replied. "We do need to get up."
"Five minutes."
"Ron."
"Kali."
Wrapping her arms around Ron's waist and linking her fingers by his hips, Kali yanked them both off the bed with one swift jerk, leaving them in a tangle of body limbs on the ground. During the fall, the blankets and pillows had gone with them and now most were making the process of standing up even more difficult. Ron was cursing under his breath as he tried to pull his foot from a tangle of blankets. Once they were free, Kali moved to make Ron's bed and she ushered him into the bathroom to get dressed.
"You know what I like about kissing you?" said Ron, coming out of the bathroom and searching for something to wear.
"What do you like about kissing me?"
"It's like multi-tasking," said Ron, grinning.
"How is kissing me like multi-tasking? Please don't make this into a bad joke."
"On the contrary, I'm completely serious about this. Besides the obvious. . ."
"The obvious?"
"Yes. The obvious. Why'd I'd like to kiss you."
"And what is the obvious?"
"Who do you know that doesn't like kissing their girlfriend? Gods, you have to physically move Harry so that he doesn't have his tongue surgically implanted into Draco's mouth."
"Okay, so you like kissing me for the purely physical reasons. What are these other tasks?"
"It keeps you occupied, makes you stop pestering me, and provokes you to say nice things about me."
Kali laughed. "I see. Well I like kissing you, too, Ron."
"That's good to know."
With their arms draped around each other's waists, Ron and Kali headed out of the Head Boy room and in the direction of the Great Hall. Upon their arrival, they saw that Harry and Hermione were already there, seated across from each other and eating breakfast. Hermione was talking with a great deal of animation, waving her hands around in wild gesticulations and every so often Harry would have to duck from one of her hands flying his way. Ron and Kali grinned at the scene as they made their way over to them and Ron slipped his arm away from Kali upon seeing Snape glaring at them from the Head Table.
"Morning," said Harry when they arrived. "Sit. Please. Hermione is giving me a wonderful lesson on methods of time traveling."
"It's for extra credit Charms work. I'm researching all sorts of Charms and time turners that allow time traveling. It's incredibly fascinating. There's a charm that allows you to project yourself into the future for two days but it was outlawed by the ministry because people were changing the future and ruining things. In fact, there's a law that says anyone who goes more than ten years in future cannot go back to their own time without being administered a memory charm."
"No one cares, Mione," said Ron as he buttered his toast. "I love you, Hermione. I really do, but can we please not talk about schoolwork and essays for a change. Things like time traveling charms don't exactly get my blood pumping in the morning."
"Fine," she said, curtly. "So, Kali, you spent the night with Ron again?"
"Fell asleep in there. I'd rather be there, anyway. It cuts back on my quality time with Lavender and Parvati."
"After spending six years in a dormitory with them, I have to say that I understand."
"They actually idolize Trelawney. It's sad. I mean, I adore Divination but Trelawney doesn't know a thing. I don't know why Dumbledore keeps her around. Then again, he did keep Mr. Wagner around when Daddy came to school here. Maybe he just feels too bad about firing people so he waits until they retire."
"You actually like Divination?" asked Hermione.
"It can be quite reliable in short term means if you know how to do it and you have the talent," said Kali. "You, however, have a very concrete mind so I can't imagine you having the talent."
"I mustn't," said Hermione.
"Good morning," said Draco, sitting down on the other side of Harry. "How is everyone this morning?"
"Kali woke me up, wouldn't let me go back to sleep, and pulled me off my bed all before breakfast," said Ron. "In all, not too bad of a morning. What are you so happy about?"
"I don't know. I just woke up and I was in a good mood."
"That's great," said Harry.
"Yeah. I imagine my day will turn to shit by this afternoon or that I'm going to make up for today with severe depression tomorrow but I'm going to enjoy this happy sensation while it lasts."
"Gods, Draco, don't be so optimistic," said Harry, rolling his eyes. "What are you doing over here, anyway? Don't you want to sit with all your new Ravenclaw friends this morning?"
"They can entertain themselves. Besides, I'm spending the day with Mandy and David in Hogsmeade so I thought I'd see you this morning."
"You're spending the Hogsmeade trip with them?"
"Yeah. I'm going shopping with them so I can get you your present. Perhaps we should meet up later. Say, three o'clock at the Three Broomsticks?"
"We can do that," said Kali, nodding. "That gives us the whole day to go shopping for presents. Hermione and I were planning on going off on our own, if that's alright."
"Sure," said Ron. "Harry and I can buddy up. He already knows that he's probably getting something from Honeydukes from me." Harry couldn't help but laugh at Ron's dejected tone.
"That works for me."
"I'm going to go tell Blaise about the meeting time," said Draco, looking around the Great Hall and frowning at seeing Blaise seated at the Slytherin table. "I'm going to actually brave going over there. Wish me luck."
"Good luck," the chorused as Draco left the table and headed over to Blaise.
~*~
After breakfast, they had broken off into pairs and headed out of the castle at varied times for Hogsmeade. Hermione and Kali were the first to leave, the boys being too lazy to go right away, and the girls headed out of the castle discussing gift ideas and the progress of Ron's and Kali's relationship.
"Is your dad actually going to go back to Ron's with you?" she asked.
"I think so. I'm going to have to check with him again but I think he's actually going to do it. He knows how much I care for Ron and I don't think he'd purposely try to screw that up for me. Daddy may not be thrilled about the idea but he'd suffer through it for me."
"I bet he hates that Ron, of all people, is your boyfriend."
"He actually doesn't seem to mind it too much," she replied. "I mean, he hates all of my boyfriends automatically because they're my boyfriends and they're taking me away from him. He especially doesn't like Ron because of how serious I am about him, but those things have nothing to do with the fact that he's Ron. That could be any guy that I chose to date. I think Dad's just glad I didn't pick Harry."
Hermione laughed at this. "Now that would have served for entertainment."
Making their way into Hogsmeade, they went around buying gifts and separating for a half hour to purchase a gift for each other. Kali had an extremely hard time finding things that she thought her friends would like but she eventually had a gift purchased for everyone but Ron. There was only an hour before having to meet the boys at Three Broomsticks when Hermione wandered into a small, run-down store that she hadn't seen before and Kali reluctantly followed.
"Look at this," breathed Kali, voice low, as she grabbed Hermione and pointed to a chess set. The board was made of yew and the two sets of chessmen were made of ivory and obsidian.
"Ron would love this," said Hermione. "If there's one thing Ron's exceptional at, it's chess. It's expensive, though."
"So?" asked Kali, waving her hand. "It's perfect."
Five minutes later, they left the shop called King and Cabot with the chess set. With fifty minutes left, Hermione and Kali headed toward Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes where most of the Hogwarts students seemed to be spending all of their money. Hermione and Kali figured that they should at least check it out, especially when the founders were the older brothers to one of their best friends.
"You can barely move in here," said Hermione, pushing open the door and carefully side-stepping Seamus Finnigan. They hadn't been off when thinking most of the Hogwarts students had been here, especially Gryffindors. Kali didn't know if it was her imagination or the truth, but her oxygen supply was suddenly feeling limited. "Hey, there's Harry and Ron!"
Kali roughly elbowed past a fifth-year Hufflepuff and headed toward the counter where Ron and Harry were helping Fred and George keep some sort of order at the counter. A few random fists hit her body as he shoved through the crowd and squeezed between Harry and Ron at the front.
"It's looking like a success," she mused.
"You could say that," replied Ron, grinning. "We've been here for over an hour helping out. It's pandemonium. I have to admit, I'm extremely proud of my brothers' success."
"That's because you love us. Isn't our ickle Ronniekins just precious?" said Fred, pinching Ron's cheek. He then turned to Kali. "I think I remember meeting you. Did I meet you?"
"Yes, you met her," said Ron, harshly. "You wouldn't exactly remember because you were so busy putting your trick sweets on the dessert table."
"The Halloween Ball!" said George. "That's where we met you. You're Ronniekins's ickle girlfriend, right?" Kali nodded. "We heard you're coming home to the Burrow for Christmas." Fred and George gave Ron identical, evil twin grins.
"Maybe. If my dad goes for it. Speaking of which, Ron, I bugged him about it and I think he's just about ready to give in. We had a heart to heart."
"Good," said Ron, trying not to look too pathetic in front of his brothers. His efforts to hold it back only made Harry laugh and tell Fred and George, loudly, just what exactly Ron was trying to do. Both Kali and Ron had blushed profusely and Kali made an excuse about being thirsty before leaving the store. Hermione, Ron, and Harry weren't that far behind her.
"You have a big mouth, Harry," said Ron once they were making their way to Three Broomsticks. "I'm just glad you aren't going to be at the Burrow for Christmas."
"Nah. I'm going to be with Sirius, Lupin, and Draco. It seems promising for a good deal of fun. I mean, it is a motley group of people. Watch, we'll all get along really well. It'll be the strangest thing."
"The only one who doesn't really belong in the picture is Draco and he's changed a lot. I bet you'll have a great time over the holiday. Me, I'll be suffering through the inquisition and listening to Fred and George make cracks about me and Kali for the entire holiday," said Ron, miserably. "My brothers are annoying."
Walking into Three Broomsticks, they grabbed a table toward the back and each ordered a butterbeer, waiting for Draco and Blaise to arrive. Sitting down next to Kali, Ron took her hand into her, and he looked down at her hand.
"Nice ring," he said, rubbing his thumb over the opal stone on her ring finger.
"It was my mother's," she said. "Dad gave it to me when I turned sixteen. I don't wear it much because I'm always afraid I'm going to lose it."
"It's pretty," said Hermione, peering across the table.
"Yeah. Makes me think of her. I've been wearing it at Christmas for two years in a row, now, to help me deal. Christmas always ends up being one of the tougher times but at least I have my dad this year."
"I understand that," said Harry. "Everyone is spending Christmas with their parents and while your friends are great, it just isn't the same."
Kali shook her head slowly. "No."
"Draco's been down about that. It's his first holiday with his father gone. I thought that spending Christmas with me and Sirius might help to abate that a bit."
"When I was little, I used to write to Santa and ask him for my momma for Christmas," said Kali, laughing softly, sadly. "I still wouldn't say no to it. All I've ever wanted was to talk to my momma. I know she's in heaven with the angels and watching me but just to hug her, even if it was just once. I want to hear her voice."
"I know how you feel," said Harry. "I wished that anyone would just come and take me away from the Dursleys. I've gotten to see my parents through intangible forces like the Mirror of Erised but to actually be able to hug my parents, or hear them tell me that they love me. . ."
"And it wouldn't matter if you had them for as much as five years or as little as five minutes, just so long as you had that chance."
Harry nodded. "Right."
They were interrupted by first Draco, and then Blaise joining them but neither Harry nor Kali seemed to be in high spirits after their conversation. Instead, they were wistful, their minds wandering, and Ron continued to run his thumb over the gemstone of the ring. He wished he could do something for them, anything for either one of them, and he hated feeling so powerless over the order of events in the universe.
Both Harry and Kali had drifted during conversation, both feeling sad, lost and unable to think about anything other than what was said before Draco and Blaise had arrived. None of them stayed in Hogsmeade much longer. Blaise and Draco kept going on about Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and how crazy Fred and George must be to think these things up. It was only after they were back at school and Ron was sorting through his gifts, worrying what to do for Kali since he hadn't found anything good enough, that the idea popped into his head.
Leaving his room, headed across the common room and knocked on the entrance to Hermione's rooms. When she opened the door, Ron stepped into the room without waiting to be invited, did a quick inventory, and then when satisfied that it was only Hermione in here, he said, "Hermione, I've got an idea for Kali's gift, but I'm going to need your help."
Remember that pre-Hogwarts story I was talking about? Well, I started to write it. It's posted. You can find it by clicking my author name, going to my stories, and clicking on the title, Little Whinging Primary. Please read, and be kind enough to review, both here and there.
Update requests can be sent to angeldlsm01@hotmail.com. Otherwise, it's usually on Monday. Every Monday. I'm a friggin Slave 4 U.
