Title: Christmas Surprises

Chapter: Three – Dreams

Author: SnakeEyesHannah

Spoilers: OotP

Disclaimer: I do not own anything involving Harry Potter. This does all our favorite author, JK Rowling, bless her soul.

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What on earth could Harry possibly want for Christmas? Ginny thought hopelessly as she walked around the village of Hogsmede, looking through the windows to every shop she passed. Not a refill for his cleaning-kit. He got that from Ron at his birthday. Not a book, Hermione'll give him that. She sighed. She would never find a gift that suited him. Nothing was good enough for Harry.

Something for a loved one?

Nothing too good for him/her?

Ginny stopped as she saw the sign. She looked at the name hanging at the door. 'The Heart Tells'. Why hadn't she seen this shop before? Ginny had wandered Hogsmede so many times she knew it like the palm of her hand. That it was a new store couldn't be out ruled, but it would most likely be reported on the note board at The Three Broomsticks.

She reread the sign again. 'Something for a loved one?' That she needed. 'Nothing too good for him?' True too. Ginny tried to look through the window, but the frosting at the edges and the dark curtains with the golden embroidery on it made it pretty much impossible. All you could see was a golden-yellow light from inside. Ginny's curiosity took overhand and she pushed open the door. A bell rang clear and sort of 'hush-hush' somewhere close to the back.

"Hello?" Ginny called. She looked around; no one was there. The golden-yellow light she had seen through the curtains turned out to be candles on a small table. There was absolutely nothing in the shop beside the table with the candles and large, soft pillows in dark colors on the wooden floor. Ginny suddenly became aware of that the floor had a special pattern to it. The floorboards were bent into circles and hearts all over it.

"Hello?" she called again, feeling slightly frightened by the silence. Where could the owner be? And what kind of store was this really? "Anybody here?" she asked, taking a few steps in. A floorboard creaked, the noise loud in the room.

"A boy needs no gift", a voice said mysteriously. Ginny spun around, but saw nothing. "He needs attention."  The voice continued. Ginny spun around again, but there was still nothing there. She looked up, as if to see someone up in the ceiling. "The best way to give him what he wants, is to ask him what he wants", the voice said. Ginny didn't spin around this time. She merely stayed still, closing her eyes. "Afraid of asking, are we?" the voice now said. It was strangely like the Sorting Hat, somehow picking up your thoughts. "Afraid you do not have to be. Not see it, you may, but the feelings you carry with you are mutual." A wave of hope ran through Ginny's body at the words. "A look in your soul is what you need", the voice said. Ginny frowned, her eyes still closed. "A trip to a place where you can see and hear, without being seen or heard." What was this voice implying? Was she going to go somewhere with an invisibility cloak where people wore earplugs? And how was the voice ever going to do that?

Ginny heard footsteps around her and opened her eyes quickly. A pair of emerald green eyes looked back at her. Ginny gasped. "A mere reflection, he is", the voice said. Ginny felt disappointed. For a minute she actually believed it was Harry. "He carries with him the heart and mind of the original", the voice told her.

"What good can possibly come out of this?" Ginny asked herself. "I'm loosing my mind!"

"But that you are not", the voice echoed in her head. "Be seated", it demanded. Ginny was quick to follow, not knowing really why she was so eager to obey a voice. "It's not a good sign to be hearing things…"

-DREAM-

A loud crowd of people was seated at a long table. Nine of the thirteen people had flaming red hair and freckles. Ginny immediately recognized the table from the Christmas they had at the Burrow three years ago. Seated two chairs away from the smaller version of Ginny, on the opposite side of the table, was Harry. He looked a lot younger than his self in three years, the ugly black-rimmed glasses with the plastered piece in the middle as he always found a way to break them. Ginny smiled at the sight; it had been a wonderful Christmas. This was back when Sirius was alive and Harry was being happy during the holidays.

"Eat some more food, Ginny dear", Mr. Weasley's voice came. The younger Ginny looked up from her barely touched plate to look at her father. Ginny remembered this. She had barely eaten anything that Christmas. She had been too occupied with worrying about whether or not Harry would like her Christmas present or not. She smiled at the memory.

Suddenly Ginny remembered she had been sitting and staring at Harry most of the holidays too. She had had that silly crush on him back then. Now she loved him, it was very different. Ginny walked closer, standing behind her younger self. From time to time she would notice that her past self looked up, stealing glances at Harry. She hadn't responded to any of the attempts to lead her into a conversation and the people around her had begun to ignore her.

She took her time to study the faces of the people at the table. Her mother and father looked just like always, satisfied, tired, excited, old… Fred and George were practically the same, only now they were more grown up, physically that is. They still had the mentality of a six-year-old. Her smile froze when she saw Percy. It had been too long since she saw a smile on her brother's face. He had been too serious since he came back to them a year ago after being fired from the Ministry. Charlie and Bill were there too, for a change, and Molly was still on about Bill's ponytail. Sirius and Lupin were there too, discussing something, heads close together. Ginny felt a pang of sorrow when she looked at Sirius. She missed him terribly. Hermione was there too, happy as always, seated next to Harry.

There was something about Harry, Ginny noticed. Past Ginny never spotted that, mainly because she held her head down all the time. But Ginny saw that past Harry was looking at her younger self. It shocked her since she never knew he had noticed her until a year ago or two.

-END of DREAM-

Ginny opened her eyes. She was lying on the pillows on the floor, but she had no memory of ever lying down. She thought about the dream she just had. What was the point of dreaming that? Then it struck her, Harry had been thrilled about her present that year, more excited about it than any other gift she'd given him. And it had only been a wristband with his name embodied on it. But it had been a gift from the heart, made by her own two hands.

"That's it!" she exclaimed happily. She jumped to her feet, a smile forming on her face. He would want a gift that was from the heart, preferably made by herself. Ginny almost jumped up and down with excitement that she had finally come up with the best present to give Harry.

"Thank you", she said warmly to the voice in her mind. It didn't reply to it, but Ginny knew whomever the voice belonged to smiled. Mission accomplished.

The bell rang once more as she opened the door and stepped out in the cold. She didn't care to tighten the scarf or put on her hat and mittens. She had too much energy that she had enough to stay warm without them. Her brown eyes sparkled with joy when she skipped down the alley.

Just when she was about to turn the corner and head for The Three Broomsticks, she looked back. Neither the sign nor the shop was there. A shabby, old house was there instead. Ginny frowned. What was up with that? But she didn't allow herself to think about it; she had her answers and now she just wanted to get back to the castle and get to work with Harry's present that was currently on the drawing board in Ginny's head.

Her footsteps died out, her dark figure disappearing in the snowfall. The air seemed to sigh a content sigh, the atmosphere a lot clearer, more alert. "She would figure it out, I knew", the voice Ginny had heard in her head said. A shadow of a short, chubby woman, standing in the middle of the road appeared. Then, suddenly it shimmered and the outlines erased themselves, blurring the shadow until you saw the snow fall again. The road was clear, the shabby, old house gone, but the voice lingered behind. "Surprise at Christmas the two will get. The era of love has begun…"

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Author's note: How d'you like the mystery of that? Reviews are almost required, long ones especially…