Disclaimer: Oh come on now, do I really have to keep doing this?

Author's Note: So to be fair, I'll warn everyone now, this chapter's going to be rather short. After this though, things will pick up as we're carried into the sort of home stretch of this story (don't worry though, it's not that close to overÉ I'm not sure exactly how far, but it's not like, about to end suddenly). Right so now that I've rambled, I don't really have that much more to say about this story. Oh, an advertisement of sorts: coming soon (although the exact time is as of yet unknown) I'll be putting up a new story, an Angelina/Fred story called Bewitched, so if you like that pairing be on the lookout for it! Alright now I plan to really start this chapter! Again, thanks to all the reviewers, you guys are awesome!

Review Responses:

Carmel March – Thanks! This chapter deals with H/G as a couple too, so it's more of the same from this one. Glad you enjoyed it!

Hp-girl4eva – Edmonton Ontario? If so, I used to live in Toronto! Thanks so much for your enthusiasm about this story, keep reading and reviewing!!

Lizzie5555555 – Well, you're about to see, but nothing over the top.

BLuECoW219 – Hooray for dancing like a crazy person! Glad you liked it, here's chpt 11!

MPPSexxySiriusJamesRemus – Yay!! Glad you liked it!! Hey, there's still hope; after all they didn't come up with life imitating art for nothing. Damn, wait, it's actually art imitating life but shhÉ you never know!! Thanks for reviewing!

Hploveralways – Thanks!!

Raiining – Haha thanks, I do that myself sometimes – I really need to stop that habit, haha. Glad you liked it!

Nessie8 – God I know! Thank you for your lovely almost squeal, hehe!

DarkFlower2113 – Why thank you!

The-insuferable-know-it-all – Thanks, glad you liked it! Here's chapter 11!

Lily Dwarf – Aww, sorry about that! I actually like him too, but in this story I have to sort of turn off that part of my brain, haha! Thanks for reviewing!!

About two minutes later, I realized that if Ron woke up, the mental deliberations I'd considered a vague drama earlier this afternoon wouldn't even start to cover it. I explained this to Harry, and so I got up and started for my own room. When I'd gotten all the way down the hallway, though, I heard footsteps behind me, and my heart about stopped. I very, very slowly turned around, expecting to be face to face with a mad axe-murderer. You can imagine, then, how incredibly stupid I felt to see Harry standing there, looking nothing like an axe-murderer as he was dressed in pajama pants and a robe, very amused at having just been the reason for my near heart-attack.

"You know, this is going to be very interesting if you jump out of your skin every time you see me," he whispered teasingly. Attempting fury but only managing to work myself into mock anger, I shot back that it was not, in fact, very nice to scare people out of their wits in the middle of the night in their own homes.

"Fair enough. But I need to talk to you," he said, seriousness overtaking the playful expression he'd worn moments before. A hard knot formed in my stomach as clouds of doubt began to materialize in my mind, but I merely nodded and followed Harry as he led me downstairs.

Sitting down in a chair in the kitchen, he ran his hand through his hair thoughtfully. I couldn't judge his expression, but this inability wasn't lessening my anxieties in the slightest. After what felt like ages (but was probably a minute, tops), he finally spoke.

"Listen, Ginny, todayÉ tonight wasÉ very very strange, actually, but also incredible. But I need to know where this leaves us," he said, staring me down in a way that made this simple question very tricky now.

"I uhÉ well what I mean to say is er uhÉ umÉ" I stammered, heat rising in my cheeks. Just say it!' I told myself. Harry's face fell, but he opened his mouth to speak again.

"Look, Gin, I'm just going to get it out here without any pretense. ForÉ well for a while now, sinceÉ well the since doesn't matter, butÉ" he paused to recollect himself, and then began again.

"I like you, alright? And I tried to ignore it because it was easier. You're my best mate's sister. Hell, you're one of my good mates yourself. And you were dating thatÉ thatÉ asshole, that prick Malfoy. So I didn't say anything, didn't do anything. But so when I thought, tonight, that you felt the same I was just, there were no words. And then you ran, and now you're back. I want to believe you're not screwing with me, Gin, and mostly I do. ButÉ Merlin it's justÉ I don't even know." He looked expectantly at me and, by some huge stroke of luck I didn't get completely tongue-tied.

"Harry, erÉ" Hey, I said I didn't get completely tongue-tied, that doesn't mean I didn't stutter a little, but I took a breath and recovered.

"If whatever I did or said confused you, it was only because I didn't know myself what the hell I was thinking. Ok, that's not entirely true. I knew what I was thinking, I didn't know what you were thinking of me. How was I supposed to know any of that? For all I knew, you thought I was a psycho. And that's how I felt, so I got freaked out and took off. BecauseÉ when I talked to you about Dr –" I stopped myself from using his first name, figuring using the surname would be a habit I'd have to get back into.

"When I talked to you about Malfoy, that's when I had my doubts. In the back of my brain, I guess. But I ignored it because hello, I'd just broken up with your arch nemesis and I was coming to you about it. The only thing stranger would've been for me to go to Ron, for God's sake! The fact then, that I was pushing back feelings for you during this time, didn't make things any easier. Besides, in my mind you thought of me as Ginny, Ron's sister and your friend, but nothing really more." I stopped quickly, realizing how accusatory and teenage angsty this was starting to sound.

"But enough of my mindless blathering – the point is I like you, Harry, and whatever I've done to make you think I'm screwing with you, I'm sorry. I definitely have feelings for you, and they're sure as hell not just in the back of my mind," I said, smiling ever so slightly. Harry's face remained neutral for a minute, and I tried to conceal the rising doubt in mine by maintaining my slight smile. After another one of those minutes that feels like an hour, he broke into a wide grin.

"So does this meanÉ" he began, in a manner I can only describe as, well, coy.

"If you want it to," I replied the same way. He let out a low whistle.

"Merry Christmas to me, then," he said, moving from his place across the table to come sit beside me, wrapping his arms around me. Even at the ripe old age of fifteen, it took a lot for me not to squeal at this moment. I turned to face him, pressing my lips lightly to his.

"Not at all, Mr. Potter. Merry Christmas to us," I said softly.

"Merry Christmas to us indeed," he said, amused.

We stayed downstairs for another twenty minutes, alternating talking and kissing. I have to say, a girl could get used to Christmas Eve's like this.

When I finally got back to my room to fall asleep for good, I fell asleep with the sound of Harry's words echoing over in my head. Imagine my surprise, my two best Christmas presents from the same person, and one being the person himself. Sort of a beautiful irony there, I thought, drifting off to sleep with a goofy smile on my face.