Author's Notes: Okay, I made a mistake. (Actually, I make many mistakes,
but this is one that's necessary to point out for this chapter.) In the
chapter called Celebration, I think, I had Hermione and Ron say to each
other 'Happy Christmas Eve'. Then I forgot about it and neither Christmas
nor Christmas Eve came. Also, when Harry and Ginny went down to the lake
last chapter, I doubt that that really would have happened. I must've
forgotten that they're visiting for WINTER holiday and not summer. Anyway,
onwards with the fic!
Crystal Angel~ Yup, I suppose I do like doing that. I don't like getting couples together right away because then that makes the fic boring. Usually, if it's not written well, or the plot falls flat, after the couple gets together I just simply stop reading it. So, really, breaking Harry and Ginny up was a devise to keep you all interested! (Is it working? :)
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**She was aware of nothing but him. His lips ran fervently across her throat, and his hands were running over every part of her body they could reach. She arched her back into him and made a sound in the back of her throat when he hit a sensitive spot. He sucked on her neck for a few more seconds, then sat upwards so he could look into her eyes. Her eyelids were half closed and the bits of eye you could see were glazed over with desire. She reached out and pulled him to her, needing his lips on hers once again. The kiss quickly deepened and she let out a little gasp when his hand ran down the smooth skin of her belly and began fumbling with the button on her jeans. She didn't pull away, though, but simply sat upwards slightly to give him better access. He had finally gotten the task undone when---**
Ginny snapped her eyes open, breathing hard. Over the past few days she'd been having dreams similar to this, and as much as she loved them, they made her feel sick and dirty. She sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. From what she could see in the window, it was very early morning. She groaned as she glanced at the clock, realizing that she hadn't gotten more than three hours of sleep.
Ginny sat up straight with a smile plastered on her face when she remembered why. The whole family had stayed up to play Exploding Snap or Wizarding chess, everyone drinking butterbeer and egg nog as they laughed along with Christmas cheer. That meant that today was Christmas morning.
Ginny jumped out of bed as soon as the thought entered her mind and flew the door open to run down the stairs. She wasn't surprised at all to see the twins standing guard over a pile of presents. Every year they came down first to pick out the presents addressed to them; as if anyone would steal the gifts if they didn't!
Ginny squealed slightly and this caught the boys' attention. She grinned at them and moved to sit down in front of the presents. "Why isn't anyone else up? It's getting late."
"Ginny, it's four o'clock in the morning," Harry said exasperatedly. He sounded as if he'd had to go over this with the twins several times.
"I know," Ginny said, frowning slightly. "I'm usually up much earlier than this. I was in the middle of an . . . erm . . . *interesting* dream."
"What was it about?" George asked curiously.
Ginny sent him a wicked smile. "Oh, nothing."
The twins laughed at the obvious implication, and Ginny turned her head to see Harry blushing. If she was guessing correctly, he had been plagued with the same dreams. Well, it served him right! Telling her that he had no feelings whatsoever for her! Ginny clicked her tongue in annoyance at the memory and stood up. It seemed to have left her mind that she had also told Harry she had no feelings for him.
"Anybody else want egg nog?" she asked.
"Thanks," Fred said, looking relieved. "George and I have been dying of thirst but we couldn't get Harry to get up."
"Well, you know how to wake him up properly, then?" Ginny asked. She reddened slightly. "I didn't mean it *that* way!" she assured them all quickly. Then she jumped onto Harry, as if to demonstrate what she *had* meant. Harry let out a strange noise and clutched at his stomach.
"Egg nog, Harry?" Ginny asked pleasantly as she sat up.
Harry shook his head, unable to speak because the breath had been knocked out of him. Ginny laughed at him and went into the kitchen to pour the drinks.
"Morning, Ginny," a groggy voice said from behind her. Ginny jumped slightly in surprise, then turned to see Hermione coming in with a smile on her face.
"Morning. Why so perky?" Ginny asked, a sly look on her face.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "It's Christmas, for goodness' sake! Of course I'm perky."
"Sure," Ginny humored Hermione. "Will you carry one of these? I only have two hands."
Hermione accepted the glass and the two girls went into the living room. The air being knocked out of Harry seemed to have effectively woken him up as he was on the floor with Ron; they both were separating the remaining presents into piles.
Ginny rushed to the floor alongside Harry and he pointed to a growing pile. Ginny's face lit up and she pulled the presents into her arms to go sit on the couch.
Hermione looked ready to scold everyone for acting like children, but Ron seemed to sense this and he plopped a huge present onto her lap. Her eyes widened considerably and a giddy look spread over her face. "When do we get to open them?" she asked, not taking her eyes from the box.
"When Mum and Dad and Percy come down," George answered.
"Percy takes great delight in not waking up until eight or so in the morning," Fred explained.
"When he was younger he was down here with the rest of us though," Ron added.
Ginny's eyes trailed away from her presents as a sudden thought struck her. "Oh, Harry! Your present is upstairs."
Harry looked up at her, confused, then seemed to understand what she said. "So is yours."
"What kind of presents are they if the rest of us can't see them?" Ron asked suggestively. Harry hit him on the back of the head in response, then stood up to follow Ginny up the stairs to her bedroom.
Ginny walked over to her desk and picked up a brightly wrapped parcel. When she turned around, Harry had gone. Suddenly she felt very confused, wondering why he'd left, but a few minutes later he was back at the door with something behind his hands.
"I'm going to give you yours first because I've had it for a couple days and it hasn't like being stuck up in Ron's room," Harry explained. "I think all that orange got to be too much for its eyes."
Ginny's smile grew as Harry hands came from behind his back to reveal an adorable fluffy grey kitten. She let out a gasp then rushed forward to scoop the kitten into her arms. She cuddled it slightly, then beamed at Harry.
"And you can open yours now, though I don't think it will stand out against this present," Ginny said, her eyes trained to the said kitten. Loud purrs could be heard echoing in the room and Harry wondered briefly how such a small animal could produce such a loud sound.
Harry took the gift from under Ginny's arm and slowly began to unwrap it. Harry sat on the bed and lifted the box that he'd discovered. Inside, amidst fluffy cotton, was nestled a round ball the size of a large grapefruit. Harry stared at it for a second. He picked it up and instantly it came alive. Red slivers of lightening shot from the middle of the orb and it had a power deeper than anything Harry could imagine. The orb settled itself in the air and Ginny seemed to snap back to reality.
"It's a Tlob Elfas," Ginny explained. "I know you've probably heard that House Elves have powers that no one can imagine, and these are made by that magic. Just say the name of someone and it will show you them at that moment. I meant it for if you needed to make sure people were safe, you know? Try it."
Harry nodded, a bit at loss for words. Suddenly his gift seemed far too impersonal. "Hermione Granger," he said after clearing his throat a few times.
The orb suddenly turned blue, then the electric lightening disappeared and a picture came to view. Hermione was on the couch downstairs, rubbing her stomach absent-mindedly as she listened to Ron list all of the gifts he'd ever received. A bored expression was on her face and her eyes kept twitching over to the huge present Ron had shown her earlier.
"Tap it with your wand," Ginny instructed gently.
Harry pulled out his wand from his robes and did as told. The orb went blank again and Harry held out his hand to catch it. He stared at it for a few minutes before putting it back into the box as carefully as possible.
He stared at his hands for a few seconds, then finally looked up into Ginny's eyes. His own eyes were filled with emotion and suddenly he reached out a hand to cup the side of her face. "Ginny, I--"
"Percy's up!"
Harry jumped and he and Ginny turned to the doorway to see George, an overly excited look on his face. "We can open presents now!"
Fred suddenly appeared beside him. "Who wants to help us wake Mum and Dad up?"
"Who's guarding your presents?" Ginny asked suspiciously.
Fred rolled his eyes. "Hermione, of course. Think we'd let either of the prats we're forced to call our brothers watch over them?"
"Not bloody likely," George answered. Suddenly he grinned. "Were we interrupting something here?"
"Sorry," Fred added.
"You weren't," Harry said firmly. He didn't look at Ginny, but could feel her gaze penetrating his back, boring into him as if in accusation. The moment has passed and Harry had no desire to say what he had been about to say earlier.
"Right, then," George answered with a wink and he shut the door.
"Harry . . ." Ginny began. Harry shot his eyes to hers and she shrunk back at the intense look he was giving her. Suddenly she felt very meek. "Um . . . what do you think I should name the kitten?"
Harry looked at the grey ball of fur sleeping contentedly in Ginny's lap. A wave of jealousy swept him and he almost laughed out loud at himself. "Eeyore," he suggested the first thing that came to mind when thinking of grey.
"Eeyore?" Ginny repeated, looking distrustful of the word. "What does it mean?"
"It's a Muggle character. Winnie the Pooh," Harry explained.
Ginny laughed. "Winnie the *Pooh*?"
"Can you think of something else?" Harry asked, changing the subject. He looked slightly offended that she had laughed at his idea.
"Petunia?" Ginny said innocently.
"Right. Maybe I can buy you a big ugly fat cat and you'll call it Vernon," Harry said dryly.
"Well . . . what about . . . Severus?" Ginny said again.
"Minerva suits the cat more, I think."
"A liking for McGonagall, eh?" Ginny winked at Harry. "Should I be jealous?"
"Nah. I asked her to the dance last year but she told me students can't go with faculty." Harry sighed wistfully. "Maybe when I'm older."
The door opened suddenly and Molly stood there, her eyes wild as she stared from Harry to Ginny.
"What?" Ginny asked pleasantly.
"Alone in your room with a *boy*!" Molly exclaimed. She tutted slightly. "And after the stories Percy has told me of . . . well, go on, get down stairs you two."
Harry blushed, wondering what Percy had told his mother, and gathered up the box. He turned to see Ginny blushing as well, clutching at her kitten so tightly that it let out a protesting yelp. She quickly loosened her grip and followed Harry down the stairs.
"What have you two been doing up there?" Ron asked suggestively. Ginny's brothers seemed to think it great fun to tease Ginny and Harry now that they knew the two weren't together anymore.
"Exchanging gifts," Ginny said.
Ron raised his eyebrows. "What exactly did you do to Harry-- whoops! I mean *give* to Harry that took twenty minutes?"
Ginny's jaw dropped. She decided ignore them, and she held out the kitten. "Look what Harry got me."
The Weasley gang inspected the kitten and Hermione set it on her lap to rub affectionately. "I do hope Crookshanks won't mind," she said absently.
"Can we open gifts now?" Fred asked hopefully.
Molly's face spread out in a huge smile. "Of course, dears."
The words had barely been uttered when the room was chaos.
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Author's Notes: Okay, I admit I had these really long awful author's notes about how Jessica the Bitch was . . . well, a bitch. But then I decided that I won't bother you with petty stuff. So I was runner-up in the essay contest . . . who cares . . .? I don't, really, but I DO care about that smug look on Jessica's face whenever she sees me. Ugh! Oh, well. Maybe I should listen to my Sounds of the Ocean CD and veg out on junk food. That'll make me feel better, right?
Also, if you're from Ireland, could you email me? I'll tell you what I need help with if you email me and just let me know.
Also, thanks, Jay, your words were encouraging. And, remember, after this week I have Spring Break. Who wants to bet I spend all of Spring Break sitting at my computer either reading or writing? I have a sad life, don't I? Eh, well . . .
Thanks to Jay, Amy, and Ash (who was on vacation and DIDN'T drop dead suddenly with no time to email me).
~HJtheB
*Shudder* And, Lizzie, I'm fine. I'm chilled. I wrote that email when I was having serious issues. Well, I mean, I have them all the time . . . but these were the serious issues that aren't the ones I have everyday. Ugh! You know what I mean. And, I'll take your advice and look into anger management ;). (Amy, while I'm there maybe I should see if Harry and Ron want to come?)
460 reviews?
Crystal Angel~ Yup, I suppose I do like doing that. I don't like getting couples together right away because then that makes the fic boring. Usually, if it's not written well, or the plot falls flat, after the couple gets together I just simply stop reading it. So, really, breaking Harry and Ginny up was a devise to keep you all interested! (Is it working? :)
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**She was aware of nothing but him. His lips ran fervently across her throat, and his hands were running over every part of her body they could reach. She arched her back into him and made a sound in the back of her throat when he hit a sensitive spot. He sucked on her neck for a few more seconds, then sat upwards so he could look into her eyes. Her eyelids were half closed and the bits of eye you could see were glazed over with desire. She reached out and pulled him to her, needing his lips on hers once again. The kiss quickly deepened and she let out a little gasp when his hand ran down the smooth skin of her belly and began fumbling with the button on her jeans. She didn't pull away, though, but simply sat upwards slightly to give him better access. He had finally gotten the task undone when---**
Ginny snapped her eyes open, breathing hard. Over the past few days she'd been having dreams similar to this, and as much as she loved them, they made her feel sick and dirty. She sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. From what she could see in the window, it was very early morning. She groaned as she glanced at the clock, realizing that she hadn't gotten more than three hours of sleep.
Ginny sat up straight with a smile plastered on her face when she remembered why. The whole family had stayed up to play Exploding Snap or Wizarding chess, everyone drinking butterbeer and egg nog as they laughed along with Christmas cheer. That meant that today was Christmas morning.
Ginny jumped out of bed as soon as the thought entered her mind and flew the door open to run down the stairs. She wasn't surprised at all to see the twins standing guard over a pile of presents. Every year they came down first to pick out the presents addressed to them; as if anyone would steal the gifts if they didn't!
Ginny squealed slightly and this caught the boys' attention. She grinned at them and moved to sit down in front of the presents. "Why isn't anyone else up? It's getting late."
"Ginny, it's four o'clock in the morning," Harry said exasperatedly. He sounded as if he'd had to go over this with the twins several times.
"I know," Ginny said, frowning slightly. "I'm usually up much earlier than this. I was in the middle of an . . . erm . . . *interesting* dream."
"What was it about?" George asked curiously.
Ginny sent him a wicked smile. "Oh, nothing."
The twins laughed at the obvious implication, and Ginny turned her head to see Harry blushing. If she was guessing correctly, he had been plagued with the same dreams. Well, it served him right! Telling her that he had no feelings whatsoever for her! Ginny clicked her tongue in annoyance at the memory and stood up. It seemed to have left her mind that she had also told Harry she had no feelings for him.
"Anybody else want egg nog?" she asked.
"Thanks," Fred said, looking relieved. "George and I have been dying of thirst but we couldn't get Harry to get up."
"Well, you know how to wake him up properly, then?" Ginny asked. She reddened slightly. "I didn't mean it *that* way!" she assured them all quickly. Then she jumped onto Harry, as if to demonstrate what she *had* meant. Harry let out a strange noise and clutched at his stomach.
"Egg nog, Harry?" Ginny asked pleasantly as she sat up.
Harry shook his head, unable to speak because the breath had been knocked out of him. Ginny laughed at him and went into the kitchen to pour the drinks.
"Morning, Ginny," a groggy voice said from behind her. Ginny jumped slightly in surprise, then turned to see Hermione coming in with a smile on her face.
"Morning. Why so perky?" Ginny asked, a sly look on her face.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "It's Christmas, for goodness' sake! Of course I'm perky."
"Sure," Ginny humored Hermione. "Will you carry one of these? I only have two hands."
Hermione accepted the glass and the two girls went into the living room. The air being knocked out of Harry seemed to have effectively woken him up as he was on the floor with Ron; they both were separating the remaining presents into piles.
Ginny rushed to the floor alongside Harry and he pointed to a growing pile. Ginny's face lit up and she pulled the presents into her arms to go sit on the couch.
Hermione looked ready to scold everyone for acting like children, but Ron seemed to sense this and he plopped a huge present onto her lap. Her eyes widened considerably and a giddy look spread over her face. "When do we get to open them?" she asked, not taking her eyes from the box.
"When Mum and Dad and Percy come down," George answered.
"Percy takes great delight in not waking up until eight or so in the morning," Fred explained.
"When he was younger he was down here with the rest of us though," Ron added.
Ginny's eyes trailed away from her presents as a sudden thought struck her. "Oh, Harry! Your present is upstairs."
Harry looked up at her, confused, then seemed to understand what she said. "So is yours."
"What kind of presents are they if the rest of us can't see them?" Ron asked suggestively. Harry hit him on the back of the head in response, then stood up to follow Ginny up the stairs to her bedroom.
Ginny walked over to her desk and picked up a brightly wrapped parcel. When she turned around, Harry had gone. Suddenly she felt very confused, wondering why he'd left, but a few minutes later he was back at the door with something behind his hands.
"I'm going to give you yours first because I've had it for a couple days and it hasn't like being stuck up in Ron's room," Harry explained. "I think all that orange got to be too much for its eyes."
Ginny's smile grew as Harry hands came from behind his back to reveal an adorable fluffy grey kitten. She let out a gasp then rushed forward to scoop the kitten into her arms. She cuddled it slightly, then beamed at Harry.
"And you can open yours now, though I don't think it will stand out against this present," Ginny said, her eyes trained to the said kitten. Loud purrs could be heard echoing in the room and Harry wondered briefly how such a small animal could produce such a loud sound.
Harry took the gift from under Ginny's arm and slowly began to unwrap it. Harry sat on the bed and lifted the box that he'd discovered. Inside, amidst fluffy cotton, was nestled a round ball the size of a large grapefruit. Harry stared at it for a second. He picked it up and instantly it came alive. Red slivers of lightening shot from the middle of the orb and it had a power deeper than anything Harry could imagine. The orb settled itself in the air and Ginny seemed to snap back to reality.
"It's a Tlob Elfas," Ginny explained. "I know you've probably heard that House Elves have powers that no one can imagine, and these are made by that magic. Just say the name of someone and it will show you them at that moment. I meant it for if you needed to make sure people were safe, you know? Try it."
Harry nodded, a bit at loss for words. Suddenly his gift seemed far too impersonal. "Hermione Granger," he said after clearing his throat a few times.
The orb suddenly turned blue, then the electric lightening disappeared and a picture came to view. Hermione was on the couch downstairs, rubbing her stomach absent-mindedly as she listened to Ron list all of the gifts he'd ever received. A bored expression was on her face and her eyes kept twitching over to the huge present Ron had shown her earlier.
"Tap it with your wand," Ginny instructed gently.
Harry pulled out his wand from his robes and did as told. The orb went blank again and Harry held out his hand to catch it. He stared at it for a few minutes before putting it back into the box as carefully as possible.
He stared at his hands for a few seconds, then finally looked up into Ginny's eyes. His own eyes were filled with emotion and suddenly he reached out a hand to cup the side of her face. "Ginny, I--"
"Percy's up!"
Harry jumped and he and Ginny turned to the doorway to see George, an overly excited look on his face. "We can open presents now!"
Fred suddenly appeared beside him. "Who wants to help us wake Mum and Dad up?"
"Who's guarding your presents?" Ginny asked suspiciously.
Fred rolled his eyes. "Hermione, of course. Think we'd let either of the prats we're forced to call our brothers watch over them?"
"Not bloody likely," George answered. Suddenly he grinned. "Were we interrupting something here?"
"Sorry," Fred added.
"You weren't," Harry said firmly. He didn't look at Ginny, but could feel her gaze penetrating his back, boring into him as if in accusation. The moment has passed and Harry had no desire to say what he had been about to say earlier.
"Right, then," George answered with a wink and he shut the door.
"Harry . . ." Ginny began. Harry shot his eyes to hers and she shrunk back at the intense look he was giving her. Suddenly she felt very meek. "Um . . . what do you think I should name the kitten?"
Harry looked at the grey ball of fur sleeping contentedly in Ginny's lap. A wave of jealousy swept him and he almost laughed out loud at himself. "Eeyore," he suggested the first thing that came to mind when thinking of grey.
"Eeyore?" Ginny repeated, looking distrustful of the word. "What does it mean?"
"It's a Muggle character. Winnie the Pooh," Harry explained.
Ginny laughed. "Winnie the *Pooh*?"
"Can you think of something else?" Harry asked, changing the subject. He looked slightly offended that she had laughed at his idea.
"Petunia?" Ginny said innocently.
"Right. Maybe I can buy you a big ugly fat cat and you'll call it Vernon," Harry said dryly.
"Well . . . what about . . . Severus?" Ginny said again.
"Minerva suits the cat more, I think."
"A liking for McGonagall, eh?" Ginny winked at Harry. "Should I be jealous?"
"Nah. I asked her to the dance last year but she told me students can't go with faculty." Harry sighed wistfully. "Maybe when I'm older."
The door opened suddenly and Molly stood there, her eyes wild as she stared from Harry to Ginny.
"What?" Ginny asked pleasantly.
"Alone in your room with a *boy*!" Molly exclaimed. She tutted slightly. "And after the stories Percy has told me of . . . well, go on, get down stairs you two."
Harry blushed, wondering what Percy had told his mother, and gathered up the box. He turned to see Ginny blushing as well, clutching at her kitten so tightly that it let out a protesting yelp. She quickly loosened her grip and followed Harry down the stairs.
"What have you two been doing up there?" Ron asked suggestively. Ginny's brothers seemed to think it great fun to tease Ginny and Harry now that they knew the two weren't together anymore.
"Exchanging gifts," Ginny said.
Ron raised his eyebrows. "What exactly did you do to Harry-- whoops! I mean *give* to Harry that took twenty minutes?"
Ginny's jaw dropped. She decided ignore them, and she held out the kitten. "Look what Harry got me."
The Weasley gang inspected the kitten and Hermione set it on her lap to rub affectionately. "I do hope Crookshanks won't mind," she said absently.
"Can we open gifts now?" Fred asked hopefully.
Molly's face spread out in a huge smile. "Of course, dears."
The words had barely been uttered when the room was chaos.
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Author's Notes: Okay, I admit I had these really long awful author's notes about how Jessica the Bitch was . . . well, a bitch. But then I decided that I won't bother you with petty stuff. So I was runner-up in the essay contest . . . who cares . . .? I don't, really, but I DO care about that smug look on Jessica's face whenever she sees me. Ugh! Oh, well. Maybe I should listen to my Sounds of the Ocean CD and veg out on junk food. That'll make me feel better, right?
Also, if you're from Ireland, could you email me? I'll tell you what I need help with if you email me and just let me know.
Also, thanks, Jay, your words were encouraging. And, remember, after this week I have Spring Break. Who wants to bet I spend all of Spring Break sitting at my computer either reading or writing? I have a sad life, don't I? Eh, well . . .
Thanks to Jay, Amy, and Ash (who was on vacation and DIDN'T drop dead suddenly with no time to email me).
~HJtheB
*Shudder* And, Lizzie, I'm fine. I'm chilled. I wrote that email when I was having serious issues. Well, I mean, I have them all the time . . . but these were the serious issues that aren't the ones I have everyday. Ugh! You know what I mean. And, I'll take your advice and look into anger management ;). (Amy, while I'm there maybe I should see if Harry and Ron want to come?)
460 reviews?