Chapter Ten: Christmas
Christmas Day dawned muggy and rainy. No snow this year, thought Ginny gloomily as she pulled on her slippers and went to the bathroom.
"Take a shower!" shouted the mirror at her as she brushed her teeth. She glared at it, then saw her reflection. Maybe it was right.
She showered--noticing Hermione three bottles of Dilys' Detangler-- and toweled off, pausing only to yell at Ron as he barged in on her.
Events of the last night filtered through her mind and she found herself humming happily while dressing. Percy was showing up, she reminded herself. Short skirt? No--he'd flip. But Harry would like it--and the house was warm enough. Mum must've started the fireplace early. Short skirt, with tights, and house slippers. Ginny smiled at her reflection. She felt very pretty.
The morning went calmly enough. After opening gifts, Ginny helped bake scones. Hermione and Ron disappeared for a while, "to tidy up the garage," Ron said, and returned rather flushed and disheveled.
Well? Ginny asked Hermione with an arched eyebrow as she cut the pie crust dough.
Later, Hermione mouthed, but she was grinning like Crookshanks, and Ron had a funny little smile on his face.
Ten to one they'd done some serious snogging on the old springy Muggle mattress Mr. Weasley had found in the village last August.
Harry and Bill were talking earnestly by the fireplace, Fleur was writing a postcard to her sister, and Fred and George were bending over some parchments on the table.
"What are you two up to?" asked Mrs. Weasley as she put Ginny's pie crust in the oven.
"Homework," said Fred.
Mrs. Weasley snorted disbelievingly and scooped up the parchment.
"The Super-Ethereal Effects of Common Forces," she read aloud, sounding disappointed. "Well, you'll need to clear it off soon, I'll need the table."
"Ooh, that sounds fascinating!" said Hermione. "Can I read it?"
"No," said George. At her hurt expression he added, "We're not done, and it's a little rusty."
"Why are you working on it together?" Ginny asked, curious.
"Special assignment from Dumbledore," Fred said.
There was a small diversion then, in the form of Percy's head appearing in the fireplace.
"Percy!" said Mrs. Weasley happily. She dusted floury hands off on her apron and bustled over. "You're coming by this afternoon?"
"Hello, Mother. Hi, Fred, George, Hermione, Ron, Ginny. Harry, Bill, how are you? I was hoping to stop by around three, Mother, if that would be okay." On closer inspection, Ginny thought Percy looked very tired.
"Oh, that's wonderful, I'll tell Arthur," said Mrs. Weasley, beaming.
"Right," Percy replied, pursing his lips. "I might run a little late--there's some business at the office I wanted to take care of first--but don't wait for me to start."
"You working on the holiday, Perce?" asked George.
"There's a lot to be done nowadays, George." Percy sounded just as pompous as always, thought Ginny. "I'd best be going."
"See you around three, dear."
Percy's head nodded and popped out of view.
Percy wasn't there when they started dinner. Ginny was only mildly surprised--it was perfectly typical of him to go into the office on a holiday, but it was Christmas. He showed up about halfway through, when Ginny was picking at her salad and Fred and George were on their third helpings.
"Sorry I'm late," he said apologetically, taking a seat. "I just had a lot more work than I thought."
"What were you doing, Perce?" asked Fred.
"Just paperwork," he replied vaguely. "Some forms that need to be sent out before tomorrow."
"Don't you think it's a little much, dear, on Christmas?" asked Mrs. Weasley gently, ladling him some potatoes.
"It's fine, Mother," he said shortly. "Minister Fudge relies on me for a lot of important things now. Just because it's the holidays doesn't mean the wizarding world stops functioning. Besides, I get paid overtime."
Snubbed, Mrs. Weasley sat back.
"Hello, Percy," said Mr. Weasley guardedly.
"Hello, Father," Percy replied cooly. "Pass me the salt, please?"
The rest of the meal passed, stiff and silent. After a glance at her mother, Ginny decided that she had better stick around until the meal was over, even though she was long finished. The chatter came in brief spurts, and Mr. Weasley and Percy barely spoke, although Mrs. Weasley tried to encourage their conversation.
"So, Percy, tell Arthur about that strange call you got from Dedalus Diggle the other day..." or, "Tell Arthur about the cabinet you recently purchased," and Percy would dutifully tell the story in a bit of a monotone, Mr. Weasley would make a noncommital comment (or simply grunt acknowledgment), and they'd fall silent.
Just before pudding, Amos Diggory's head appeared in the fireplace.
"Oh, hello, Amos!" said Mr. Weasley happily. "Happy Christmas to you! How are you and your wife?"
"We're fine, Arthur, and Happy Christmas and all that, but I need you two to come back with me--Bill and Fleur as well."
"What is it, Mr. Diggory?" asked Harry.
"Emergency meeting, nothing to concern you." Mr. Diggory's tone was brusque, but not sharp.
Ginny saw Harry scowl.
"Can't we help?" asked George.
"Not this time, boys. We'll be back in an hour, don't worry." He turned to Mrs. Weasley. "Ready to go?"
"I suppose--Hermione, make sure the leftovers are stored properly, and, Ron, you'll need to--"
"Don't worry, Mother, I'll keep watch." Percy, sounding completely in his element, received glares from all of them.
"Well, I suppose--Amos, this will only be an hour, right?"
"Right, Molly. We need to get going."
"Do you have your cloak, Bill?"
"Yes, Mum."
"Don't fuss, Molly."
"I am ready, Mrs. Weasley," said Fleur quickly.
They Disapparated with a pop.
The five remaining Weasleys, plus Harry and Hermione, cleared the table solemnly. Percy took on his familiar bossy role. He set Harry and Ginny to dish washing--without magic.
"No magic outside of school, Ginny, you know the rules," Percy insisted when Ginny took out her wand to charm the scrubbrush.
"But, Percy! It's unusual circumstances! I don't want to be here all night scrubbing--"
"No magic, Ginny! And you too, Harry!" He scooped up their wands. "I'm going to see what the twins are up to."
"Git," said Ginny. She looked at the pile of dishes with despair. "How'm I supposed to take care of all of these! Whenever I helped Mum, it was just to keep things going in and out of the sink without breaking! You know cleaning charms..."
"Don't worry," said Harry. "I've done lots of Muggle cleaning for the Dursleys, it's not that bad." He turned on the faucet and began squeezing soap onto several sponges. "First, you make sure the pots aren't too grimy..."
The dishes took nearly an hour, and from the sound of things (absolute silence), Percy had found equaling boring tasks for everyone else to do.
"Want some tea?" Ginny asked as they finally stacked up the last clean plates.
"And have to wash more dishes? No, thanks!" said Harry.
Ginny laughed.
"Let's get upstairs before Percy finds more work for us," she suggested. "Knowing him, he'll probably want us to write essays or something... oh, crap!"
"What is it?"
"I forgot about the essay Snape assigned us to do over the holidays--slow acting venoms and antitodes..."
"I have my books," offered Harry.
"You have that horrid thick one of antidotes?"
"Yep."
"Good." Guess I will be writing an essay after all, Ginny thought with a chuckle.
Ginny's last essay, which had been her lowest mark ever, had not been a good experience.
"Professor Snape, can I talk with you?"
"You already are, Miss Weasley." Snape sounded bored, as though she were perhaps only slightly less interesting than watching grass grow.
She gathered herself. He's only a person, she told herself firmly. Just talk, the worst he can do is... well, nevermind.
"I wanted to talk with you about my grade on this last essay."
"You received the highest mark in the class, if I recall, Miss Weasley."
She gulped. That meant everyone else must have failed.
"Yes, but I was looking through your comments and didn't understand the resulting mark."
"How so?" He still sounded bored, his quill marking red slashes on the first-year assignments.
"Not once did you write that I was wrong in my facts, or that I'd missed an important point."
"Miss Weasley, you are the top student in your year. I presume you can figure out from my comments what was wrong, and not bother me with silly questions."
"Yes, sir, I understand that you were criticizing my organization, but I still don't see how that can affect my grade so much, considering that otherwise my essay was supposedly perfect. If it hadn't been, you would have marked it so."
He finally paused, and looked up at her.
"Miss Weasley, it isn't always enough to have the facts straight. You need to present them in an orderly fashion, so that even the dullest reader can understand them." He smiled nastily. "Perhaps have one of your roommates read your essays first--they'd be a good audience. Now, if you don't mind, I have some grading to finish." He bent back down to write a large zero on a Hufflepuff's assignment, but she didn't leave.
"Why are you still here?"
"I don't understand what I'd done wrong, sir."
"Do I look like a handbook of structure?" he said with a sneer.
"No, sir."
"But..."
"But I assumed you'd know more than I do about writing well-structured essays."
"Flattery will get you nowhere, Miss Weasley."
"Yes, sir."
He paused for a minute, then took a thin book from the shelf behind him and tossed it to her. She caught it and looked at the title. How to Write a Thesis. The glossy cover proclaimed it a Muggle printing.
"Thank you, sir. When do you need it back?"
"Keep it, I have more," Snape said offhandedly. Ginny only had a moment to register that Snape was being generous before he said, "And five points from Gryffindor for disturbing me while I was working. Go, before I make it ten, girl."
"Yes, sir." Ginny gulped and left as quickly as she could.
Ginny glanced up from the outline she was working on at her clock, a smaller version of the one downstairs. It only had four hands--two for her parents, and two she could charm to read for any particular person. One hand read "Harry" and was at "Visiting the Burrow." One was still blank. Her parents' hands held at "Running late." She sighed.
"What is it?" Harry asked. He was sitting on her bed, engrossed in her Muggle Studies book, which had left him chuckling quietly in some places.
"Mum and Dad are running late," she replied. "They've been gone for almost three hours."
"You're right." There was a short pause.
"Hope they're okay."
"Mmm." Another pause.
"Want some tea?"
"I guess."
The kitchen was darkened when they entered. She reached for her wand to light the candles, but it wasn't there. "Oh, shoot, Percy's still got my wand."
"He's got mine, too." Harry sounded a little annoyed.
"And a good thing, too," said an all-too familiar voice. "Petrificus Totalus!" it yelled, and both Ginny and Harry fell to the floor like stone.