Chapter eighteen

Christmas Day. The happiest of times. They, being the Weasleys, Harry, Crys and Hermione, sat around the kitchen table of the Burrow. Each of them sporting a brand new Weasley sweater. Ron, of course, scowled at his, traditionally maroon, but everyone else was happy with thiers. The twins had treated them all to candies, none of which anyone was dumb enough to eat, and Crys, Ginny and Hermione had pooled their money and bought several dozen cases of butterbeer.

Crys appeared to be happy. Her smile looked to be stuck onto her face last minute and hardly seemed genuine. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley didn't pay enough attention to notice, and the twins didn't really know Crys, but everyone else recognized her sad attempt to act. The events of the week had taken their toll on her because the show was not at all convincing. She sat on the corner of Ron's chair with her head leaned back exaustedly on his chest. His arms were wrapped comfortingly around her, but she had to work to keep the smile there.

As soon as they were all done unwrapping gifts Mrs. Weasley set off into the kitchen to make dinner and evryone else went back to their ends of the house to get ready for the rest of the day. While Crys was pulling out her clothes for the day an owl flew into the window and dropped a package in front of her. She looked surprised. Who do I know who would send things by owl? she thought.

"Who's that from?" Ginny asked from across the room, halfway done buttoning up her blouse. She and Hermione walked over on either side of Crys to see what it was. Crys turned the package over and read the return address written hastily in the corner of the brown paper;

Stefanie Rosoman

726 Flint St.

Cartsville OH.

U.S.A.

Crys smiled and ripped off the paper. A letter fell out along with two packages. She picked up the letter first. Ginny and Hermione read over her shoulder,

Talli,

Merry Christmas! It's been so boring since you left. There has been nothing to talk about, except maybe that Barbra Gellar broke up with Phil because his sister's dating Mark Whetman. Mark Whetman! She's crazy. All of them are.

The little package is from your dad. He gave it to me last week when I ran into him in the Quick-Stop and he asked me to send it to you since you never gave him your address. He's already got another wife. A ditsy, bleach-blonde named Catherine. I suggest you wait until she's gone to go see your father.

I hope you like your present. I had to search four malls to find the perfect one. I'm sure you'll love it but in the unlikely event that you despise it then it isn't returnable so just shove it in a drawer and pretend to like it so as not to hurt my feelings.

All my love,

Steffie

She smiled as her eyes traveled back and forth across the page several times. She laughed at the end and picked up the smaller package. She slowly pulled off the wrappings and saw a cheap, silver coloured bracelet, with multicloured hearts hanging off every inch or so. There was no note. Just a crappy bracelet. Crys simply rolled her eyes and tossed it into her trunk.

"I'm sure he thought' you'd lik-" Hermione started.

"Don't even try, Hermione," Crys spoke calmly, "It's always been like that. Ever since Mum passed. I'm plenty used to it." She shrugged it off and picked up the gift from Steffie.

She peeled away the brightly coloured paper and something silky slipped out onto the spare bed that Crys was staying on. Hermione gasped as she reached down and then held up a shimmery dress of deep purple that seemed to conform to the hands holding it up. She looked at it admirably. She smiled, a real smile, at the silky dress and gently laid it out of her bed before pulling out a stationary set and setting to writing a letter that turned out very long all the while smiling to herself.

"Mum I really don't want to dress up." Ron whined in the kitchen that day to his mother who was working tirelessly to produce a flawless Christmas dinner.

"Ronald Weasley," she started on him, "This is a family tradition and when you are in this house on Christmas Day you are to dress appropriately for the holiday dinner." There was a certain finality in her tone.

Ron didn't say another word, purely because he knew the capabilities of his mother. He walked out of the kitchen as calmly as he could.

When he reached his room everone was in there playing either exploding snap or wizard's chess or in one case, reading.

"No luck." he said to his siblings and friends.

"Little brother you just do not appreciate the quality of a formal meal do you." Fred said.

"It is an enriching experience," George continued.

"That teaches us important life lessons,"

"Like how to tie a neck tie,"

"Or how to treat a lady,"

"Or where the soup spoon goes in relation to the water glass." Ron groaned. The twins apparated to their own room.

Ginny giggled and Crys spoke.

"I like the idea of formality."

"Why?" Ron asked her and Harry looked at her with the same expression.

"Because I find it fun." she argued.

"She got a new dress for Christmas." Ginny said while directing her knight to take out Harry's last pawn.

"When? I didn't see it." Ron looked to his girlfriend.

"It came later." she said simply.

"Can I see it?"

"Um...yeah." she responded and followed him out the door to Ginny's room.

She led him into Ginny's room and knelt in front of her trunk, digging through her possesions to reach her dress at the bottom.

Ron was looking around his sister's room awkwardly, he was obvioulsy not in there often.

"So..." he started, looking at the high ceiling from his spot on Crys's bed, "Who sent it to you?"

"Steffie." she responded without looking up.

"Ah..." he seemed to be growing more awkward.

"What is it, Ron?"

"What is what?"

Crys took a break from searching through her trunk and looked up at him.

"What do you mean 'What is what?' You're acting odd and I want to know why."

"It's nothing."

"Why do you continue to lie to me after I have repeatedly confirmed to you that you are quite pointless at lying?"

"Well..." still awkward, "It's just that you..." no eye contact, "Just yesterday you were," hand through the hair thing. Damn that one gets me every time, "seeming a bit..." he stopped.

"Insane?"

"Well...yeah."

"Ron," she stood up and walked toward him, gently lowering herself onto the bed next to him, "I know it's hard to understand but you have to. I didn't do it because I'm attracted to him in any way. I did it because I hoped it would get us out of there. And it did. But I will tell you, " she looked into his eyes with such a sense of seriousness he had never seen there before, "I regret it."

"You look a-amazing." Ron said in awe of Crys as she stepped out of Ginny's room that evening for dinner. Cry's dress looked even more amazing on her. The deep purple complimented her light skin tone and the neckline of the dress dropped just low enough. Just. There were no sleeves and her shoulders would have been exposed were it not for the sheer purple sweater-wrap she had on.

"Not so bad yourself." she said to her boyfriend with a wide smile. He and Harry were both wearing the same suits they had worn to the ball.

They all walked down to dinner together. When they arrived the table looked amazing. It was set with dishes of a transparent blue glass, lined with silver. Blue lillies were floating in a crystal bowl filled with water in the center of the table. There were silver candelabras at either end of the long table who's candlelight cast golden rays across the stunned faces of the five in the doorway.

"Come in, sit!" called Mrs. Weasley happily, quite satisfied with the feast she had prepared.

They sat. They ate. They drank. Maybe a bit more than nessessary.

"Happy Christmas." Harry said at the end of the meal.

They all held up their glasses in a mute toast and took a final swig for the night.

Crystal sat alone outside the back of the Burrow in Mrs. Weasley's garden. It wasn't much of a garden now, the snow had pretty much destroyed it. She sat on a stone bench, facing away from the Burrow, and looked out down the hillside over the field where the Weasleys usually play quidditch. It was covered in snow. Beautiful snow. So white and untouched, like the hair off the head of a Malfoy. She put her hands over her eyes to block out the images that were again replaying themselves in her mind.

"What are you doing out here? It's freezing." Ron's voice came from behind her.

"I'm not cold." Her voice was quiet.

"You're shivering." He put his coat over her shaking shoulders.

"Thanks." Still quiet.

"Crys," he said slowly as if not quite sure if he should say this at all, "You know that if you need to you can talk to me about...what happened."

She shook her head. He was about to sit down next to her when his name was called from the house behind them.

"Ron! RON!" George yelled.

"You've go to see this!" his twin assisted.

"The mirror!"

"In the kitchen!"

"It's got some new catch phrases!"

"One-hundred and one actually!"

Ron smiled and began walking up the hill towards the warmth of home.

"You coming?" he asked Crys.

"Nah," she said, "I'll be up in a little while."

"Alright." he said and trudged off in the snow to see which vulgar things the twins had enchanted the mirror to say this time.

"Crys, how long have you been sitting here?" Harry asked her, walking down the hill from the burrow. Hearing the first forty-nine catch phrases the mirror had was quite enough for him.

"A while." she said quietly.

"What's wrong?" he asked her, "Other than the obvious."

"Nothing. Just the obvious."

"You know," he said as he sat down next to her on the cold bench, "You always tell Ron what a bad liar he is, but I can see right through you. Tell me what it is. What you're thinking right at this very moment."

"I love him." Crys said simply, staring out over the quidditch field again.

Harry didn't know what to say at first. She hadn't really specified him and he didn't know exactly which him she loved.

"Ron?"

"Of course Ron."

"Well, I didn't..." he stopped before he said anything stupid.

They sat in silence for a long time. By now it was only light enough just to make out where each other were in the moonlight. They both stared out at the field and tried to decide what to say to the other. Crys was better at making up her mind.

"Can I tell you a story?"

"Yeah..." Harry was lost, "Sure."

"One day when I was a little girl," she started slowly, putting the words together inside her head, "I was playing in my backyard and a beautiful woman walks up to me. My mother had always thaught me never to talk to strangers but this one was special, I could tell. I had thought she was my Fairy Godmother. Now I know she was a veela." Crys shook her head and continued, "She told me she had lost her necklace, and if I helped her find it she would give me a gift. So as any child with the idea of a gift I searched for her necklace. I found it too. I guess she didn't have very good eyesight. It had been a pendant, silver, with little onyx stones inset in it in the shape of a dragon. She thanked me and said some words I didn't understand. It was a charm. I was sad she hadn't given me my gift, even though she insisted she had. She told me one day, you will be able to make the boys do what you want. And of course I thought, 'Yuck! Boys?' but she dissappeared and I never saw her again."

"So what did the charm do to you?" Harry asked, somewhat confused.

"My touch. I heard you and Ron talking about me that one day in the library. I have a magic touch. I guess it's veela like, but instead of just seeing me, I have to touch them. That's what I used on Malfoy. That's why I'm alive today. And this wasn't a charm, Harry, it was a curse."

Harry could see the tears stream down her face.

"Do you think she meant it to be a curse?" he asked her softly.

"No, but it is. I love Ron, Harry. I love him so much. But I'm so afraid to tell him because I think the only reason he wants me is because of the charm."

"That's not true." Harry stated so firmly it started the girl next to him.

"How do you know?" she asked him hopefully.

"Because he wanted you for so long before you touched him. Since that first night we met last summer."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I have never been so sure about anything in my life." he stated firmly and gave her a tight hug befre pulling her up and leading her back to the Burrow.

Cheesy line, Crys thought, But it came from the heart, right?