Hello once again to everyone! Thanks to all my reviewers and to everyone who volunteered to beta for me!
I have finally got a beta reader people!!! Which is going to be pretty obvious since the grammer is much better in this chapter!
So thanks so much to my wonderful beta reader, BadBugz!! I have no idea where this chapter would be without you.
Okay, enough of my blabbering..... On with the chapter!!
Chapter twenty three- Silent Night
"Ginny?" Damien said softly to the girl he held.
They were sitting on the Astronomy Tower, looking out into the darkening
sky. Tomorrrow morning Ginny, Hermione, Ron, and Draco were going home
for Christmas break and Damien wanted to spend as much time as possible with
Ginny before the holidays.
Even though Damien loved each and every one of his friends dearly and would die for any one of them at anytime if he had to, sometimes it was nice to have a quiet moment with Ginny instead of being with his noisy and wild friends.
Being with Ginny was always so peaceful and Damien felt that he could
always
look to her for comfort and support. They really didn't get much alone
time anymore due to the fact that Ron and Hermione knew Damien's true identity
and Draco had stopped being a git to everyone.
Hermione and Ron were alone together in the Room of Requirment and Draco
was.......well....Draco had started spending more time with Pansy.
When Damien had been younger, he had always known that this day would come....when all of his friends would get involved with someone and they wouldn't have as much time to spend together. At that time, Damien had never dreamed of drifting away from his friends because of a girl. But now that that day had come.....he didn't really mind that much.
"Mmmmm?" Ginny responded dreamily and contentedly.
Damien didn't respond at first as he looked at the sky with an awed wonder.
As he watched, he could see the darkness descending upon the grounds of Hogwarts like a heavy blanket. Gradually, it had become darker and darker until the only light they had was the full moon. The stars peeked out from behind the clouds as they drifted lazily above them, glowing slightly.
Damien had never thought that things could seem so serene so....peaceful.
After the war had started, everything seemed so hectic. Now everything seemed to be perfect, everything was complete bliss. There wasn't a sound; everything was silent. Not a cricket chirped, not a wolf howled only the sound of the wind rustling the leaves softly was heard.
The world seemed to be in perfect harmony. All the troubles seem to have dissapeared for the moment and all at once, Damien and Ginny seemed to forget about the constant worry of the war, of Voldemort and any other thing that would trouble them.
Damien sat there thinking about Sirius, thinking about the Christmas of last
year, of how Sirius had been so excited. Even though that Christmas had only
been a year ago, it seemed as if it had been in a completely different lifetime, as if a hundred years had passed instead of just one.
So many things had changed since then. They had all grown up and now
seemed so much more wiser then their years. They were no longer the sweet, carefree children that they had been the previous Christmas at the Grimmauld Place. No, they were now young adults, about to start out into a world filled with pain and suffering and they all knew it. They all knew that in just a couple short years that they would have to fight in the war, that they would
take their place beside their parents on the battlefield. And somehow, that knowledge seemed to make them stronger....more mature....
His father...
His father had been a surprise. Damien would never have expected that he could get along with the 'greasy git.' When he had found out, he had dreaded even trying to have a relationship with him. He had been blinded by his immaturity. In his naivity, he had never thought that people could change. He hadn't thought that his father would want to change for him, a legacy from the Dursleys. That was another thing he had his father to thank for. He had given Damien his confidence back. Damien now knew love, and with that knowledge, he could live...
"What?" Ginny asked and Damien blinked as he was startled out of his musings.
"Do you ever remember what it was like before the war? Before the bad times? Even though it was only a couple years ago...?" he asked her as he stared up at the full moon.
She was silent for a moment as she also stared up into the sky.
Ginny shifted slightly so she could look him into the eyes. "Not really. The good times for me were before Hogwarts, before my first year..." Damien frowned and tightened his hold on her hand slightly. "I-I'm sorry....I didn't mean it like that."
"It's okay... I still have good times, some even better then the one's before Hogwarts..." she smiled up at him as she entangled her fingers with his.
Damien pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her, feeling warmth spread through him as he burried his face in her hair, breathing in her scent. They seemed to make a warm cocoon in the midst of the biting wind.
"What about you? Do you remember what it was like before the war?" Ginny asked him, idly playing with the sleeve of Damien's robes.
Damien looked at the sky for a moment before responding, "Sometimes. I remember Ron and Hermione and the little adventures we'd have...." his smile faltered. "Other times I can hardly think of what it was like when I actually felt safe and it seems impossible that the world was ever so peaceful...."
Ginny tightened her hold on him briefly.
Damien smiled down at her, "One thing I always remember is my friends, and
all the good times we shared together..." He sat there for a moment and remembered his first three years at Hogwarts. They had been the best times of his life.
He remembered:
#
"It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, and even more to stand up to your friends. Therefore I award ten points to Neville Longbottom!" Dumbledore announced at the end of the first year. The cheers from the Gryffindor table were defeaning as every Gryffindor was screaming their head off. Ron, Hermione, and Harry all stood up and started cheering for Neville as he disappeared under the number of Gryffindors hugging him. It was the best evening of Harry's life, better then winning at Quidditch, or Christmas, or knocking out mountain trolls. He would never, ever forget that night.
#
Harry didn't know if the best part about the end of his second year was Hermione running toward him, screaming "You solved it! You solved it!" or Justin hurrying over from the Hufflepuff table to wring his hand and apologize endlessly for suspecting him, or Hagrid turning up at half past three, cuffing Harry and Ron so hard on the shoulders that they were knocked into their plates of trifle, or his and Ron's four hundred points for Gryffindor securing the House Cup for the second year running, or Professor McGonagall standing up to tell them all that exams had been canceled as a school treat, or Dumbledore announcing that, unfortunately, Professor Lockhart would be unable to return next year, due to his memory loss. Quite a few teachers joined in the cheering that greeted the news....
#
Harry kept wondering where Pettigrew was now, whether he had sought sanctuary with Voldemort yet. But the thing that lowered Harry's spirits most of all was the dreaded return to the Dursleys'. For maybe half an hour, a glorious half hour, he had believed he would be living with Sirius from now on...his parents' best friend... It would have been the next best thing to having his own father back. And while no news from Sirius was definitely good news, because it meant he had successfully gone into hiding, Harry couldn't help feeling miserable when he thought of the home he might have had, and the fact that it was now impossible. The exam results came out on the last day of term. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had passed every subject. Harry was amazed that he had got through Potions, though he had a shrewd suspicion that Dumbledore might have stepped in to stop Snape failing him on purpose. Gryffindor won the House Cup for the third year running, this meant the hall was once again decorated in gold and scarlet, and Gryffindor was the noisiest of the lot, as everybody celebrated. Even Harry managed to forget about the journey back to the Dursleys the next day as he ate, drank, talked, and laughed with the rest....
#
Damien smiled as he remembered the first three years at Hogwarts. He grinned at Ginny, adjusting her slightly in his lap so he could rest his chin on her shoulder.
"I still have good times too, some better then others..." Damien repeated her earlier words. He sighed and looked at the moon. "It's moments like these when it seems like all the fighting we've done has been actually worth something..." he looked at her in the eyes, smiling slightly as he reached up to flick a strand of red hair out of Ginny's eyes.
"I don't really know where we are going to be in one, two, or even ten years from now..." Damien said to her as he looked straight into her eyes. "But all I know is that as long as you are here with me everyday, I'm going to be okay..."
Ginny glowed as she moved closer to him, her breath tickling his face. She smiled, her brown eyes sparkling in the moonlight as she leaned forward to plant a soft, long kiss on his lips.
They sat there like that for a long time, neither one moving.
Ginny drew back, panting slightly as Damien reached up to touch her face.
The couple turned back to look at the shadows that danced across the grounds of Hogwarts.
They sat there, snuggling for hours, simply enjoying each others presence in this rare moment of peace....
"Merlin!" Ginny whispered excitedly. "What?" Damien asked worriedly.
Ginny's eyes glowed. "It's snowing! Look, Damien, it's snowing!!"
Indeed, crystalline flakes had started to fall and were already starting to blanket the grounds of Hogwarts.
"It's almost magical, isn't it?" Ginny turned to him, her chocolate eyes sparkling. Damien relaxed and smiled, hugging her close again. She froze for a moment, her brown eyes slightly widened with an awed look.
Damien frowned, "Gin?"
"Shhh..." she replied softly, obviously straining to hear something.
"Do you hear that?"
Damien quieted, listening intently. "No, I don't. What is it?"
"Singing..." Ginny smiled slightly, snuggling closer to Damien. "Listen really closely."
Damien held his breath for a moment as he strained to hear. Then he heard it. It was faint at first but then it got louder and clearer. He listened to the soft melody before saying, "The ghosts are singing again...."
Ginny nodded, "Yes....I think they're singing 'Silent Night'..."
Damien listened more and, sure enough, could make out the beautiful song. It sounded so soft.....so sad....so far away, which it probably was, they were, after all, on the Astronomy Tower.
"I love this song..." Ginny whispered, sounding enchanted. Damien nodded against her shoulder in agreement as he listened to the haunting melody.
The couple sat there for a long while, listening to the soft melody as they curled up together.
"Sleep in heavenly peace....."
The two listened as the song ended, it's soft melody seemed to echo across the grounds, blending in with the quietly falling snow.
Everything was silent once again as the last note faded away. Ginny and Damien simply sat there again in each others arms as they enjoyed the precious time they had together.
Ginny shivered in Damien's arms and the boy tightened his hold on her, rubbing his hands up and down her arms to warm her up. The snow was piling up on the ground below them, the wind was getting more fierce and the couple shivered.
"It's one in the morning..." Ginny murmured, checking her watch. Damien buried his face in her hair once again. "Don't go....please," he mumbled into her hair.
Ginny giggled, "Who said anything about leaving? I was merely stating the time..."
He grinned at her and kissed her nose.
"Well, I think it is about time the two of you returned to your dorms, unless of course you wish for Mr. Filch to escort you?" a silky voice said from the shadows.
Severus stepped out into the light of the moon, his arms folded and a smirk on his face.
"D-Dad?" Damien exclaimed, feeling his cheeks burn. He looked down to see that Ginny's face now matched her hair perfectly.
"How long have you been there?" Damien muttered, still blushing.
The man's smirk widened, "Long enough..." He turned serious. "You two really need to be getting back to your dorms before Mr. Filch finds you, he already gave a week of detention to Mr. Malfoy and Miss Parkinson for being on the stands of the Quidditch Stadium....."
"Wow, wow, wow..." Damien murmured faintly, shaking his head slightly.
"Draco and Pansy were in the Quidditch stands?! Doing what exactly?!"
"See! I told you they had something going on!" Ginny giggled.
"Oh come on Dad!" Damien pleaded. "Let us have some time alone! Ginny is leaving tomorrow and-"
"And you shall see her when she returns..." Severus finished for him.
"But-"
"Damien..." Severus warned. Ginny laughed. "Come on, Professor! We won't get to see each other till next year!" she exclaimed as if it were the most horrible thing in the world.
"Who would trust two teenagers such as yourselves alone together?"
Severus sneered.
"Come on, Professor, you can trust us!" Ginny said as she shivered and snuggled closer against Damien, "We've been alone for the past..." she checked her watch, "five hours and we haven't done anything!"
"We're not that stupid!" Damien added and Ginny nodded.
Severus rolled his eyes.
"Please Dad..." Damien mock-whined. "We'll be good, we promise!" he kissed Ginny on the forehead and she giggled.
Severus rolled his eyes again.
"No. Now either follow me now with no points deducted, wait for Filch to take half, or try my patience and force me to take all the points." Severus told them sternly.
Damien smirked at him, "You wouldn't, not from Slytherin."
Severus raised an eyebrow, "Try me."
Damien and Ginny exchanged annoyed glances before they hopped off the wall they had been sitting on and walked over to Severus. They walked down the many staircases before Severus turned to them and said, "I expect you two to go directly back to your common rooms. If I find that you have done otherwise...." he trailed off threateningly and walked off towards the dungeons.
"How does he do that?" Ginny whispered in an awed voice as she stared in the direction Severus had left.
"Do what?" Damien asked her with an arched eyebrow.
"Make his robes bellow like that.....it's amazing!" her voice sounded slightly mocking now. She turned to him, frowning, "Why can't you do that?"
They both chuckled and they made their way to the Entrance Hall where they stopped.
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow..." Damien said to her and she smiled.
"You better see me off or you won't get your Christmas present!" she threatened and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him once more before turning around and heading up to the Gryffindor Tower.
Damien stared after her for a moment before smiling widely and walking down to the Snake Pit with a smile on his face.
Unknown to either teenager, Severus watched from the shadows as the two bid farewell to each other, a pleased smirk evident on his face.
() Okay, tell me how you liked the chapter. Was it good? Was it bad? Review and tell me!
ALSO I am going on a trip to Virginia tomorrow and won't be back till Monday or Sunday so I might not be able to update any of my stories for maybe a week! Also, school is starting back up and........that STINKS!!!!
So, review!
Bye!