I do not own Harry Potter or his magical world. This instead belongs to one J.K. Rowling, to whom we owe unending accolades. All that I own are my original characters and the story.
Chapter 38: Yuletide
It was a white Christmas. It started out that way, and at about the middle of the night, the sky had clouded over again, obscuring the waning moon, and more snow fell. It snowed the entire night, which Harry knew all too well. He had been unable to sleep a wink, despite the comforting and warm presence of Durry at his cheek and the familiar sound of Ron sleeping in the other twin bed. Instead he stared out the window, watching to snow pile up in ever increasing drifts and the snowman they had built the morning before disappear beneath the soft new powder. And he thought.
He knew that she was still in England. He couldn't quite explain how he knew this but it was one of those things that lodged irrevocably in his brain and would not be dislodged. Vega O'Connelly, who had loved Sirius, and who was the source of the strange task that Harry needed to finish for his godfather.
Harry closed his eyes just as the sky lightened to a molten silver, and he had come to the conclusion that as much as he had wanted to, he couldn't do this alone. It was time to tell his friends. Everything.
It seemed to have been no more than an instant when he heard feet stomping along the hall, and a voice announcing, "Christmas! Christmas, wake up all! Don't want to waste a minute!" Tainn's peculiar wake up call was not appreciated, he thought. Ron sat up blearily and looked at the door, obviously wishing Tainn would come in so he could silence him and get another few hours sleep. Harry, however, immediately rolled out of bed and got into his slippers and dressing gown.
"Be right after you, mate." He heard Ron say tiredly as he went out the door. He glanced behind and saw his friend was once again enshrouded in his blankets. Well, Harry thought magnanimously, let those who could sleep, sleep, and those who could not...
He closed the door softly and turned to go down the hall.
"Harry, dear!" Harry started and focused on a figure moving towards him down the dim hall.
"Mrs. Weasley?" He asked, astonished. The short red-haired woman bustled down the hall, having obviously just arrived, as she had not yet taken off her hat and heavy cloak.
"Oh, it's been too long, Harry, dear." She exclaimed, giving him a warm, motherly embrace. Harry allowed himself to be enfolded in her arms, and, as had happened when she had embraced him after the night Cedric had been murdered, he felt his throat tighten and the backs of his eyes burn. He extricated himself very quickly before that warm hug could unmask him. Mrs. Weasley just smiled at him, though tremulously. "Well, then. Let me look at you. Oh my, you've grown several inches, look at that! You'll be catching up with Ron before you know it!"
Harry frankly doubted that, he didn't think he was destined to be a tall man.
"Is Ron still in bed?" She was asking.
"Yes, Mrs. Weasley, right through there." He pointed at the door to the room behind him and moved quickly downstairs before he could be cornered yet again. He heard Mrs. Weasley enter the room and begin the process of waking her youngest son, and then he heard footsteps.
He glanced over his shoulder and saw Ginny creeping carefully down the hall, and when she saw Harry, she did something that delighted him, she acknowledged him by putting her finger to her lips then pointing at the door through which her mother had vanished. Harry was all too happy to accede to her silent plea, and he continued down to the sitting room, where everyone else had apparently gathered.
"Harry!" Arthur Weasley greeted him as he entered the kitchen. He strode up and clasped his shoulder, then looked him over with a critical eye. Harry wondered what he saw. He felt drawn and tired, and figured he looked it as well. "It's good to see you," Mr. Weasley continued.
When Mr. Weasley smiled, Harry noticed that he looked extremely tired himself, and his receding red hair had a great deal more gray in it than before. Mr. Weasley patted his shoulder again before wandering off, leaving Harry to his own devices. The young man shrugged and walked into the sitting room, only to be confronted by a large ginger cat clasped joyfully in Hermione's arms.
"Look Harry!" She crowed happily. "The Weasleys went to my mum and dad's on the way here, and mum finally gave up Crookshanks." She snuggled the ugly, bandy legged cat, and Harry heard a sound like crumpling paper. Hermione must have noticed as well, because she dragged out a letter from where it had been crushed between that cat and herself.
"What's that?" Harry asked.
"Oh, I had almost forgotten, they sent me a letter, but I haven't had time to read it yet." She deposited Crookshanks in Harry's arms, much to the consternation of both boy and cat, and unfolded the paper.
"The practice is doing well," She paraphrased while Harry juggled the ginger-furred armful, "And they were happy that I sent them some more tooth-flossing string mints." She read on silently for a moment, then her face paled, and she snapped the letter shut so quickly that the paper nearly tore. Harry gave her a curious look. "Nothing else really. Just some stuff about Crookshanks, and telling me to be careful and all that." She took Crookshanks back from Harry, and moved quickly to where everyone was gathering around the Christmas tree.
Harry looked at her back suspiciously, then shrugged and followed. Probably family things, and none of his business. He looked at the pile of presents under the tree when he arrived, noting that the gifts he had left in his bag were now nestled among the gifts there. A certain sort of Christmas magic he guessed. He wasn't entirely sure how they had gotten there. The only gift he still had on him was the one for Ginny, as he had had it in the pocket of his pajamas the night before. He worked at it nervously with his fingers, trying to decide when he should give it to her.
He was forestalled in his decision when Ron and Mrs. Weasley appeared. The plump, red-haired woman, who was showing more gray in her hair than Harry remembered, peered around, obviously looking for something.
She found it. "Ginevra Molly Weasley!"
Ginny gave a small squeak of alarm and looked for something to hide behind.
"I received a letter from your school this morning! Is it true that you..." She really looked like she was broiling over with rage at this point. "That you...! You, Ginny Weasley, charmed a bucket to douse Professor Snape when he left his bedchamber?!"
Ron snorted with laughter, though he quickly covered it with a cough to avoid bringing his mother's rage down upon his head.
Ginny recovered her composure remarkably well. "And what makes him think it was me?"
"A hair, Ginny Weasley, a long RED hair in the contents of the bucket. You just happen to be the ONLY student at Hogwarts with long red hair!" Ginny paled. Mrs. Weasley turned on Harry then, and he shrunk back. "He tried to convince me that you were involved as well, Harry, dear, but I know my daughter needed no assistance." She whirled back on Ginny. "Well? What have you to say for yourself?"
"It...I...it's not like it did him any harm." Ginny hedged, wringing her hands.
Harry stared at her. She really DID do it. He was somehow deeply impressed. "What was it?" he asked.
Ginny said something very quickly under her breath.
"What was that?" Tainn asked from where he had been watching quietly from the doorway.
She took a deep breath, "Sleakeasy's Magical Oil be Gone Hair Serum -Extra Strength."
Harry couldn't help it, he laughed until his sides hurt. Ron joined in a moment later Mrs. Weasley turned a baleful stare on him, but he thought he actually saw the sides of her mouth twitch up in a reluctant smile. The laugh proved infectious, even as Mrs. Weasley recovered herself enough to protest that they shouldn't encourage her daughter, and raining imprecations down on her twin troublemaker sons for being bad influences on her.
When they were quite done, Tainn cleared his throat and announced that it was time to dig in.
The next half-hour passed in a flurry of wrapping paper and ribbons. Harry watched his growing pile of presents in astonishment; he had never gotten so much for Christmas before, and was touched. Among other things was a book on Aurors from Ron, a Weasley sweater, forest green this year, a pair of fuzzy slippers from Hagrid that looked as though they had teeth. He approached those very carefully. He also received a strange sort of device from Hermione, a new product that Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes was producing, called a Spell-Checker.
Harry thought it rather tame by their standards until Hermione showed him how to work it. She wrote a simple potion mixture on a stray piece of wrapping paper, deliberately messing up the last ingredient. She then took the device, which looked somewhat like a computer mouse, and ran it over the writing.
The device reacted instantly. "WRONG!" it said in a voice that sounded terribly familiar, then it went on calling out insults to the writer's intelligence while Hermione hurriedly erased the offending ingredient, and wrote in the proper one. She ran the device over it again, and it fell silent.
It was quiet for a moment; then everyone burst out laughing. Harry shook his head, thanking Hermione, who was now looking a bit doubtful over her choice. He picked up the Spell-Checker, intending to set it aside, when he saw a note in the wrappings.
'Happy Christmas, Harry,' it read, 'and enjoy our Spell-Checker, Snape version. Cheers, Fred and George.'
Of course, Harry thought as he reached for another present.
Harry finished unwrapping all his presents in short order, and turned his attention to everyone else. Remus' delight at the gift that he and his friends had made for him was apparent, and Harry was glad he had let Hermione bully him into learning him how to knit. He had only because Ginny and Ron learned as well, so that they could make the afghan for his former professor. Granted, his square looked a little lopsided, and Ron's moth-chewed, but all in all, he thought it came out well. Remus immediately tucked it around himself, beaming in a manner that Harry hadn't seen before.
Harry felt a touch on his shoulder, and looked to see Texi standing behind him, a small wrapped object in her hand.
"Here, Harry," She said, handing it to him. "Merry Christmas."
"Happy Christmas, Texi." He replied, a little embarrassed, thought not quite sure why. Unwrapping it, he found a small stone on a chain, bound in thin wire. He recognized what it was instantly. He opened his mouth to protest, but Texi had already covered her hand with his and her lips moved, intoning a silent spell.
"It's bound to both of us now, Harry." She told him, her voice quiet and grave. "I gave one to each of your friends as well. You may find it useful in the future, though I sincerely hope you will never have to use it."
Harry, feeling very solemn, slipped the chain over his head and tucked it beneath his pajama shirt. It felt warm against his chest. "Thank you, Texi." He said, "I think I know what this means for you."
"Yes," She agreed, "And that's why I decided to give you one." She squeezed his shoulder, and pecked his cheek with a quick kiss, then left him feeling very flustered.
Harry looked up, and found Ginny's eyes upon him. He stood up quickly, stirring up his vaunted Gryffindor courage, and walked over to her. She looked away when he sat down beside her.
"Ginny..." Anything he had planned to say at that moment deserted him, but he had expected that. That was why he had written the letter included in the gift to the red-haired girl that was so special to him. He gulped, pulled out the gift, shoved it into her hand, then fled into the kitchen.
He tried to close his ears to the chorus of 'oohs' that seemed to float in through the door between the kitchen and the sitting room. But a moment later, Ginny practically flew through the door. Her hair, he noticed absently, glittered with gold among the red in the presence of the fairylights that someone had strung around the jamb to the kitchen, her brown eyes shone like the polished wood handle of his beloved broomstick, her face was flushed with excitement, and something else that he didn't quite recognize.
In one hand glittered the tiny golden ship charm that had been in the small package that he had given her. In the other, was the note that he had written, crumpled a bit from being crushed in her palm.
"Oh, Harry," She murmured, and he realized that she was now standing very, very close to him, her face titled up so she could stare into his eyes. "Thank you, thank you so much." Then the hand holding the note went around the back of his neck and he found himself pulled down into a very thorough kiss. He briefly wondered wherever she had learned to do THAT before all thoughts were wiped completely away.
She looked adorable with her hair mussed, he found some time later when coherency had returned. She was nestled beside him on one of the sofas twirling the chain that held the tiny ship charm between her fingers. It was in all ways a perfect reproduction of a schooner, right down to the tiny spars and rigging. He had seen it in the little jeweler's shop in Hogsmeade, and had immediately known that there was nothing more perfect that he could give her.
He smiled and cleared his throat, making Ginny turn and look at him, her eyes seeming a shade darker than normal and with an almost satisfied expression. He held out his hand. "May I?" And she reluctantly handed the glittering charm over. He winked. "Watch this."
He held the charm over his left palm, and it turned on the chain, glittering in the lights from the Christmas tree. Then he lifted it until it was in front of his mouth, and blew.
A delighted gasp escaped from Ginny's mouth as the golden sails billowed out, and the faint sounds of the sea filled the tiny space surrounding them. They could hear the snap of the sails, the cries of the gulls, even the slap of invisible waves against the hull. The ship no longer simply hung from the chain and glimmered, but floated above Harry's palm, rising and falling on invisible swells.
Harry was understandably proud of this charm, as he had concocted it himself, and had tested it and fine-tuned it, even as the first tries were rather spectacular failures. "It wasn't too difficult a charm." He said, very modestly, he thought.
She continued staring at it, then staring at him, and Harry basked in the warmth of that gaze.
"Break it up, lovebirds." Came an amused voice, and they both pulled back, embarrassed. They looked up to find Tainn and Sarven standing behind the sofa, both looking at the charm in Harry's hand.
"Could I see that?" Sarven asked, gesturing at the charm. Harry handed it over, and the two of them fell in over it in abject concentration, Tainn even taking out his wand and prodding it at one point.
"Masterful!" He finally proclaimed, blowing on it once more to set the charm in motion before handing it back to Ginny. "Did one of your professors help you?" He asked Harry.
Harry was indignant. "Of course not."
"Hermione?" Sarven asked.
"What's that?" The girl in question inquired from where she was feeding Ron bits of candy, much to the red-haired boy's enjoyment and embarrassment.
"No." Harry said firmly. "I figured it out myself."
The two men exchanged glances. "Well, then." Sarven nodded. "Well done. Really good."
"Yep," Tainn added with a small grin, "As you folks would say, 'bloody brilliant'." His fingers made quote marks in the air. "Sarven?"
"Yes?"
"Shall we wander off?"
"Off your rocker, you are."
"Are you serious?"
"Serious as a hex."
The two walked over to where Remus was examining various records, trying to decide which one to play next. Ginny went back to contemplating the necklace, while Harry picked up the book that Remus and Tala had given her, which now was forgotten on the sofa. 'Beating the Bludgers - A Study of Defensive Strategies in Quidditch' by Kennilworthy Whisp. He was so involved in it that he almost didn't notice when a few minutes later, several more people entered the room. He ignored them for a moment, too involved in reading the wincingly detailed account of a failed multiple bludger evasion.
"Heya, Scar." Someone said softly.
"Hi." He replied, looking up. "Hi, Tric, Genner." The looked really tired, he thought a moment later, tired and infinitely sad, as was to be expected.
Though everyone was making an effort to make this a very cheerful holiday, now that he was watching he noticed various of the celebrators would pause for a moment, looking at nothing, sadness painting their eyes for a moment before they pulled themselves back into the holiday cheer with an effort.
Harry glanced at the sideboard where he had seen Harvan's violin, but it was no longer there. Apparently either Remus or Tala, or maybe even one of the others, had realized what feelings the sight of that ill-fated instrument could afford.
"All right?" He asked, fishing for some sort of conversation. He was aware of Ginny tensing slightly beside him, and he reached out and found her hand, squeezing it comfortingly.
"Been better, hon." Tric said, summoning up a smile that had once come so easily to her face. "Looks like you've been having a good day, though." She nodded at their clasped hands.
He raised his eyebrow, nodding his head towards her own hand, which was entwined with Genner's, and she smiled again, genuinely this time. "Well..." She shrugged.
Harry hesitated. "How...is Dresca?"
Both Tric and Genner's faces fell at the same moment, and they locked eyes with each other.
"We..."Genner hesitated as well, "We thought you knew. We thought we heard your voice when we heard Texi's, but we weren't sure. Dresca is a well as can be expected."
"Come on, love," Tric told him, breaking off the awkward moment, "We should say hello to everyone else." They nodded at Harry and Ginny, then joined Tala and Remus in front of the fire. Genner's arm moved to twine around Tric's shoulders in a protective gesture.
Over the course of the evening various other members of the Order came and went, and Harry found himself reacquainting himself with all the people that he found he had missed. Tonks in particular was an entertaining distraction. She appeared at the door with a full white beard and rosy cheeks, sporting a jolly red Santa hat. It was she that instituted the idea of playing Christmas Charades, during which she cheated terribly, but always with such panache that everyone was laughing too hard to protest.
Dinner came and went, with Harry noting with some amusement that every single person at the table was now sporting their very own Weasley sweater in varying colors. The meal was boisterous, and Harry had to remind himself to swallow before laughing at some of Tainn's jokes. Tonks and Tainn bounced off of each other splendidly, and showed the beginnings of a highly entertaining friendship. When he and Sarven introduced her to their word game, she joined in with fervor, and the three of them continued until well after everyone else was sick to death of it.
Then the day came to an end, and everyone who was not staying at the Lupins' filtered out, most with sober expressions. Harry knew that for them this had been but a brief respite in the daily hazards of their mission to do all they could to stop the rise of Voldemort, and the return of dark times to the wizarding and the muggle worlds.
Harry found himself thinking more and more of this when it became clear that Christmas was over, and everyone headed to their beds, toting their piles of presents along with them. He nodded to Ginny, who nodded back as she went to fetch Hermione.
He had, among other things, told her in the note he had given her, that tonight he would tell them everything, everything that he could, and answer any questions they may have. The time had come.
"Okay, guys, I'm going to get this out of the way, since I know we're all tired." Harry began when they were all gathered in his and Ron's room. He closed his eyes where he was sitting cross-legged on his bed, and began to recite the words that had been running through his head nearly constantly since he had first head them. "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord has not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..." He opened his eyes. "This prophecy was made...sixteen years ago."
"Sixteen..."Ron started, as Hermione said, "Seventh month, that's July..." They both cut off and stared at Harry.
"Harry, is it you? It's you, isn't it?" Ginny said in a small voice. "The one with the power to..."
He nodded once, not looking at any of them. "Yes."
Please, please, please Review!
Chapter 38: Yuletide
It was a white Christmas. It started out that way, and at about the middle of the night, the sky had clouded over again, obscuring the waning moon, and more snow fell. It snowed the entire night, which Harry knew all too well. He had been unable to sleep a wink, despite the comforting and warm presence of Durry at his cheek and the familiar sound of Ron sleeping in the other twin bed. Instead he stared out the window, watching to snow pile up in ever increasing drifts and the snowman they had built the morning before disappear beneath the soft new powder. And he thought.
He knew that she was still in England. He couldn't quite explain how he knew this but it was one of those things that lodged irrevocably in his brain and would not be dislodged. Vega O'Connelly, who had loved Sirius, and who was the source of the strange task that Harry needed to finish for his godfather.
Harry closed his eyes just as the sky lightened to a molten silver, and he had come to the conclusion that as much as he had wanted to, he couldn't do this alone. It was time to tell his friends. Everything.
It seemed to have been no more than an instant when he heard feet stomping along the hall, and a voice announcing, "Christmas! Christmas, wake up all! Don't want to waste a minute!" Tainn's peculiar wake up call was not appreciated, he thought. Ron sat up blearily and looked at the door, obviously wishing Tainn would come in so he could silence him and get another few hours sleep. Harry, however, immediately rolled out of bed and got into his slippers and dressing gown.
"Be right after you, mate." He heard Ron say tiredly as he went out the door. He glanced behind and saw his friend was once again enshrouded in his blankets. Well, Harry thought magnanimously, let those who could sleep, sleep, and those who could not...
He closed the door softly and turned to go down the hall.
"Harry, dear!" Harry started and focused on a figure moving towards him down the dim hall.
"Mrs. Weasley?" He asked, astonished. The short red-haired woman bustled down the hall, having obviously just arrived, as she had not yet taken off her hat and heavy cloak.
"Oh, it's been too long, Harry, dear." She exclaimed, giving him a warm, motherly embrace. Harry allowed himself to be enfolded in her arms, and, as had happened when she had embraced him after the night Cedric had been murdered, he felt his throat tighten and the backs of his eyes burn. He extricated himself very quickly before that warm hug could unmask him. Mrs. Weasley just smiled at him, though tremulously. "Well, then. Let me look at you. Oh my, you've grown several inches, look at that! You'll be catching up with Ron before you know it!"
Harry frankly doubted that, he didn't think he was destined to be a tall man.
"Is Ron still in bed?" She was asking.
"Yes, Mrs. Weasley, right through there." He pointed at the door to the room behind him and moved quickly downstairs before he could be cornered yet again. He heard Mrs. Weasley enter the room and begin the process of waking her youngest son, and then he heard footsteps.
He glanced over his shoulder and saw Ginny creeping carefully down the hall, and when she saw Harry, she did something that delighted him, she acknowledged him by putting her finger to her lips then pointing at the door through which her mother had vanished. Harry was all too happy to accede to her silent plea, and he continued down to the sitting room, where everyone else had apparently gathered.
"Harry!" Arthur Weasley greeted him as he entered the kitchen. He strode up and clasped his shoulder, then looked him over with a critical eye. Harry wondered what he saw. He felt drawn and tired, and figured he looked it as well. "It's good to see you," Mr. Weasley continued.
When Mr. Weasley smiled, Harry noticed that he looked extremely tired himself, and his receding red hair had a great deal more gray in it than before. Mr. Weasley patted his shoulder again before wandering off, leaving Harry to his own devices. The young man shrugged and walked into the sitting room, only to be confronted by a large ginger cat clasped joyfully in Hermione's arms.
"Look Harry!" She crowed happily. "The Weasleys went to my mum and dad's on the way here, and mum finally gave up Crookshanks." She snuggled the ugly, bandy legged cat, and Harry heard a sound like crumpling paper. Hermione must have noticed as well, because she dragged out a letter from where it had been crushed between that cat and herself.
"What's that?" Harry asked.
"Oh, I had almost forgotten, they sent me a letter, but I haven't had time to read it yet." She deposited Crookshanks in Harry's arms, much to the consternation of both boy and cat, and unfolded the paper.
"The practice is doing well," She paraphrased while Harry juggled the ginger-furred armful, "And they were happy that I sent them some more tooth-flossing string mints." She read on silently for a moment, then her face paled, and she snapped the letter shut so quickly that the paper nearly tore. Harry gave her a curious look. "Nothing else really. Just some stuff about Crookshanks, and telling me to be careful and all that." She took Crookshanks back from Harry, and moved quickly to where everyone was gathering around the Christmas tree.
Harry looked at her back suspiciously, then shrugged and followed. Probably family things, and none of his business. He looked at the pile of presents under the tree when he arrived, noting that the gifts he had left in his bag were now nestled among the gifts there. A certain sort of Christmas magic he guessed. He wasn't entirely sure how they had gotten there. The only gift he still had on him was the one for Ginny, as he had had it in the pocket of his pajamas the night before. He worked at it nervously with his fingers, trying to decide when he should give it to her.
He was forestalled in his decision when Ron and Mrs. Weasley appeared. The plump, red-haired woman, who was showing more gray in her hair than Harry remembered, peered around, obviously looking for something.
She found it. "Ginevra Molly Weasley!"
Ginny gave a small squeak of alarm and looked for something to hide behind.
"I received a letter from your school this morning! Is it true that you..." She really looked like she was broiling over with rage at this point. "That you...! You, Ginny Weasley, charmed a bucket to douse Professor Snape when he left his bedchamber?!"
Ron snorted with laughter, though he quickly covered it with a cough to avoid bringing his mother's rage down upon his head.
Ginny recovered her composure remarkably well. "And what makes him think it was me?"
"A hair, Ginny Weasley, a long RED hair in the contents of the bucket. You just happen to be the ONLY student at Hogwarts with long red hair!" Ginny paled. Mrs. Weasley turned on Harry then, and he shrunk back. "He tried to convince me that you were involved as well, Harry, dear, but I know my daughter needed no assistance." She whirled back on Ginny. "Well? What have you to say for yourself?"
"It...I...it's not like it did him any harm." Ginny hedged, wringing her hands.
Harry stared at her. She really DID do it. He was somehow deeply impressed. "What was it?" he asked.
Ginny said something very quickly under her breath.
"What was that?" Tainn asked from where he had been watching quietly from the doorway.
She took a deep breath, "Sleakeasy's Magical Oil be Gone Hair Serum -Extra Strength."
Harry couldn't help it, he laughed until his sides hurt. Ron joined in a moment later Mrs. Weasley turned a baleful stare on him, but he thought he actually saw the sides of her mouth twitch up in a reluctant smile. The laugh proved infectious, even as Mrs. Weasley recovered herself enough to protest that they shouldn't encourage her daughter, and raining imprecations down on her twin troublemaker sons for being bad influences on her.
When they were quite done, Tainn cleared his throat and announced that it was time to dig in.
The next half-hour passed in a flurry of wrapping paper and ribbons. Harry watched his growing pile of presents in astonishment; he had never gotten so much for Christmas before, and was touched. Among other things was a book on Aurors from Ron, a Weasley sweater, forest green this year, a pair of fuzzy slippers from Hagrid that looked as though they had teeth. He approached those very carefully. He also received a strange sort of device from Hermione, a new product that Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes was producing, called a Spell-Checker.
Harry thought it rather tame by their standards until Hermione showed him how to work it. She wrote a simple potion mixture on a stray piece of wrapping paper, deliberately messing up the last ingredient. She then took the device, which looked somewhat like a computer mouse, and ran it over the writing.
The device reacted instantly. "WRONG!" it said in a voice that sounded terribly familiar, then it went on calling out insults to the writer's intelligence while Hermione hurriedly erased the offending ingredient, and wrote in the proper one. She ran the device over it again, and it fell silent.
It was quiet for a moment; then everyone burst out laughing. Harry shook his head, thanking Hermione, who was now looking a bit doubtful over her choice. He picked up the Spell-Checker, intending to set it aside, when he saw a note in the wrappings.
'Happy Christmas, Harry,' it read, 'and enjoy our Spell-Checker, Snape version. Cheers, Fred and George.'
Of course, Harry thought as he reached for another present.
Harry finished unwrapping all his presents in short order, and turned his attention to everyone else. Remus' delight at the gift that he and his friends had made for him was apparent, and Harry was glad he had let Hermione bully him into learning him how to knit. He had only because Ginny and Ron learned as well, so that they could make the afghan for his former professor. Granted, his square looked a little lopsided, and Ron's moth-chewed, but all in all, he thought it came out well. Remus immediately tucked it around himself, beaming in a manner that Harry hadn't seen before.
Harry felt a touch on his shoulder, and looked to see Texi standing behind him, a small wrapped object in her hand.
"Here, Harry," She said, handing it to him. "Merry Christmas."
"Happy Christmas, Texi." He replied, a little embarrassed, thought not quite sure why. Unwrapping it, he found a small stone on a chain, bound in thin wire. He recognized what it was instantly. He opened his mouth to protest, but Texi had already covered her hand with his and her lips moved, intoning a silent spell.
"It's bound to both of us now, Harry." She told him, her voice quiet and grave. "I gave one to each of your friends as well. You may find it useful in the future, though I sincerely hope you will never have to use it."
Harry, feeling very solemn, slipped the chain over his head and tucked it beneath his pajama shirt. It felt warm against his chest. "Thank you, Texi." He said, "I think I know what this means for you."
"Yes," She agreed, "And that's why I decided to give you one." She squeezed his shoulder, and pecked his cheek with a quick kiss, then left him feeling very flustered.
Harry looked up, and found Ginny's eyes upon him. He stood up quickly, stirring up his vaunted Gryffindor courage, and walked over to her. She looked away when he sat down beside her.
"Ginny..." Anything he had planned to say at that moment deserted him, but he had expected that. That was why he had written the letter included in the gift to the red-haired girl that was so special to him. He gulped, pulled out the gift, shoved it into her hand, then fled into the kitchen.
He tried to close his ears to the chorus of 'oohs' that seemed to float in through the door between the kitchen and the sitting room. But a moment later, Ginny practically flew through the door. Her hair, he noticed absently, glittered with gold among the red in the presence of the fairylights that someone had strung around the jamb to the kitchen, her brown eyes shone like the polished wood handle of his beloved broomstick, her face was flushed with excitement, and something else that he didn't quite recognize.
In one hand glittered the tiny golden ship charm that had been in the small package that he had given her. In the other, was the note that he had written, crumpled a bit from being crushed in her palm.
"Oh, Harry," She murmured, and he realized that she was now standing very, very close to him, her face titled up so she could stare into his eyes. "Thank you, thank you so much." Then the hand holding the note went around the back of his neck and he found himself pulled down into a very thorough kiss. He briefly wondered wherever she had learned to do THAT before all thoughts were wiped completely away.
She looked adorable with her hair mussed, he found some time later when coherency had returned. She was nestled beside him on one of the sofas twirling the chain that held the tiny ship charm between her fingers. It was in all ways a perfect reproduction of a schooner, right down to the tiny spars and rigging. He had seen it in the little jeweler's shop in Hogsmeade, and had immediately known that there was nothing more perfect that he could give her.
He smiled and cleared his throat, making Ginny turn and look at him, her eyes seeming a shade darker than normal and with an almost satisfied expression. He held out his hand. "May I?" And she reluctantly handed the glittering charm over. He winked. "Watch this."
He held the charm over his left palm, and it turned on the chain, glittering in the lights from the Christmas tree. Then he lifted it until it was in front of his mouth, and blew.
A delighted gasp escaped from Ginny's mouth as the golden sails billowed out, and the faint sounds of the sea filled the tiny space surrounding them. They could hear the snap of the sails, the cries of the gulls, even the slap of invisible waves against the hull. The ship no longer simply hung from the chain and glimmered, but floated above Harry's palm, rising and falling on invisible swells.
Harry was understandably proud of this charm, as he had concocted it himself, and had tested it and fine-tuned it, even as the first tries were rather spectacular failures. "It wasn't too difficult a charm." He said, very modestly, he thought.
She continued staring at it, then staring at him, and Harry basked in the warmth of that gaze.
"Break it up, lovebirds." Came an amused voice, and they both pulled back, embarrassed. They looked up to find Tainn and Sarven standing behind the sofa, both looking at the charm in Harry's hand.
"Could I see that?" Sarven asked, gesturing at the charm. Harry handed it over, and the two of them fell in over it in abject concentration, Tainn even taking out his wand and prodding it at one point.
"Masterful!" He finally proclaimed, blowing on it once more to set the charm in motion before handing it back to Ginny. "Did one of your professors help you?" He asked Harry.
Harry was indignant. "Of course not."
"Hermione?" Sarven asked.
"What's that?" The girl in question inquired from where she was feeding Ron bits of candy, much to the red-haired boy's enjoyment and embarrassment.
"No." Harry said firmly. "I figured it out myself."
The two men exchanged glances. "Well, then." Sarven nodded. "Well done. Really good."
"Yep," Tainn added with a small grin, "As you folks would say, 'bloody brilliant'." His fingers made quote marks in the air. "Sarven?"
"Yes?"
"Shall we wander off?"
"Off your rocker, you are."
"Are you serious?"
"Serious as a hex."
The two walked over to where Remus was examining various records, trying to decide which one to play next. Ginny went back to contemplating the necklace, while Harry picked up the book that Remus and Tala had given her, which now was forgotten on the sofa. 'Beating the Bludgers - A Study of Defensive Strategies in Quidditch' by Kennilworthy Whisp. He was so involved in it that he almost didn't notice when a few minutes later, several more people entered the room. He ignored them for a moment, too involved in reading the wincingly detailed account of a failed multiple bludger evasion.
"Heya, Scar." Someone said softly.
"Hi." He replied, looking up. "Hi, Tric, Genner." The looked really tired, he thought a moment later, tired and infinitely sad, as was to be expected.
Though everyone was making an effort to make this a very cheerful holiday, now that he was watching he noticed various of the celebrators would pause for a moment, looking at nothing, sadness painting their eyes for a moment before they pulled themselves back into the holiday cheer with an effort.
Harry glanced at the sideboard where he had seen Harvan's violin, but it was no longer there. Apparently either Remus or Tala, or maybe even one of the others, had realized what feelings the sight of that ill-fated instrument could afford.
"All right?" He asked, fishing for some sort of conversation. He was aware of Ginny tensing slightly beside him, and he reached out and found her hand, squeezing it comfortingly.
"Been better, hon." Tric said, summoning up a smile that had once come so easily to her face. "Looks like you've been having a good day, though." She nodded at their clasped hands.
He raised his eyebrow, nodding his head towards her own hand, which was entwined with Genner's, and she smiled again, genuinely this time. "Well..." She shrugged.
Harry hesitated. "How...is Dresca?"
Both Tric and Genner's faces fell at the same moment, and they locked eyes with each other.
"We..."Genner hesitated as well, "We thought you knew. We thought we heard your voice when we heard Texi's, but we weren't sure. Dresca is a well as can be expected."
"Come on, love," Tric told him, breaking off the awkward moment, "We should say hello to everyone else." They nodded at Harry and Ginny, then joined Tala and Remus in front of the fire. Genner's arm moved to twine around Tric's shoulders in a protective gesture.
Over the course of the evening various other members of the Order came and went, and Harry found himself reacquainting himself with all the people that he found he had missed. Tonks in particular was an entertaining distraction. She appeared at the door with a full white beard and rosy cheeks, sporting a jolly red Santa hat. It was she that instituted the idea of playing Christmas Charades, during which she cheated terribly, but always with such panache that everyone was laughing too hard to protest.
Dinner came and went, with Harry noting with some amusement that every single person at the table was now sporting their very own Weasley sweater in varying colors. The meal was boisterous, and Harry had to remind himself to swallow before laughing at some of Tainn's jokes. Tonks and Tainn bounced off of each other splendidly, and showed the beginnings of a highly entertaining friendship. When he and Sarven introduced her to their word game, she joined in with fervor, and the three of them continued until well after everyone else was sick to death of it.
Then the day came to an end, and everyone who was not staying at the Lupins' filtered out, most with sober expressions. Harry knew that for them this had been but a brief respite in the daily hazards of their mission to do all they could to stop the rise of Voldemort, and the return of dark times to the wizarding and the muggle worlds.
Harry found himself thinking more and more of this when it became clear that Christmas was over, and everyone headed to their beds, toting their piles of presents along with them. He nodded to Ginny, who nodded back as she went to fetch Hermione.
He had, among other things, told her in the note he had given her, that tonight he would tell them everything, everything that he could, and answer any questions they may have. The time had come.
"Okay, guys, I'm going to get this out of the way, since I know we're all tired." Harry began when they were all gathered in his and Ron's room. He closed his eyes where he was sitting cross-legged on his bed, and began to recite the words that had been running through his head nearly constantly since he had first head them. "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord has not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..." He opened his eyes. "This prophecy was made...sixteen years ago."
"Sixteen..."Ron started, as Hermione said, "Seventh month, that's July..." They both cut off and stared at Harry.
"Harry, is it you? It's you, isn't it?" Ginny said in a small voice. "The one with the power to..."
He nodded once, not looking at any of them. "Yes."
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