Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Sadly, it is true. But that is what makes it fun to write fan fiction.
Chapter VII: Happy Holiday
The Christmas season had always been one of Neville's favorite seasons. It was full of happiness, thoughtfulness, good cheer and good food. Yet, Neville was sad. Since his Gran had died, he had no one to really spend the holidays with. Sure, he would go to visit his parents in St. Mungo's, but otherwise he would be alone.
Neville sighed as he added up receipts for the day before. He had already finished his Christmas shopping, not that he had a lot to do. He had gotten his parents some new jumpers and a lovely bouquet of flowers, a nice gesture even if they would not notice. He had sent his friends overseas some of Odgen's Firewhiskey, something that they could not get where they lived and Neville was sure that they would enjoy it immensely. He decided to send Luna a copy of Mundra's Search for the Fire-breathing Monkey of Rokaoka Bay, something that Neville knew she would like. He bought some chocolate for Ron and a reference book for Hermoine; he knew that he couldn't go wrong with those.
He had a harder time picking out something for Ginny. He needed something very special. A broom servicing kit or a box of chocolates just would not do. He had been in the in the back most of the rooms in Flourish and Blotts when he found it. Pushed into a musty corner, surrounded and covered by stack of corroding old books was the most fantastic book he had ever seen. It was a beautiful hardbound book with red leather and an illuminated title. Inside the illustrations were magnificent.
It was book about Dragons. Neville remembered how much Ginny liked Dragons. He remembered how ecstatic she was when she saw the dragons at the first task of the Triwizard Tournament his forth year. He remembered how her eyes lit up when she saw them. He remembered how much she loved her brother, Charlie, who worked with dragons in Romania. He remembered how much she looked up to him.
Neville had a smile permanently stuck on his face as he brought the book up to the front counter. Mr. Flourish had a shocked look on his face as he saw the book. "I haven't seen this book for years. I looked everywhere for it. It is a very old and valuable. One of a kind, it is. Where did you find it?"
"In the back most room, in the corner, under a pile of deteriorating copies of A Hundred Useless Facts about Magical Warts," said Neville.
"Curious," murmured Mr. Flourish. "I warn you, this is a very expensive book," he said, giving Neville a skeptical eye.
"That is alright," replied Neville cheerfully.
It had been expensive, but it was worth it.
It was now only a few day before Christmas. Last minute shoppers were in a great abundance. They would come rushing in about ten minutes. Then Neville would spend all day trying to convince people that Venomous Viper Vines did not make good houseplants, no matter how pretty they were. Then he would end the day exhausted and go to sleep only to wake up to the same thing again. He wished he had something to look forward to.
The bell on the door chimed. "We are still closed for another fifteen minutes," said Neville blandly, not looking up to see who it was.
"I know and I hope you don't mind, but I have to be to work in five minutes. I just need to talk to you for a minute," said a female voice that Neville recognized.
Neville looked up from his receipts to see a beautifully windswept Ginny. Neville had to stop himself from staring and possibly drooling. He regained composure quickly and gave her a big smile. "Of course I don't mind. It's lovely to see you."
"You too," said Ginny with a smile. "I am really sorry I haven't been in contact recently. We have been swamped at the Ministry..."
"It is quite alright."
"Anyway, I wanted to asked you if you wanted to spend Christmas Eve at the burrow with us. I would ask you for Christmas day as well, but Harry is coming then and I don't want you to have to put up with that kind of foul torture. Unfortunately, my mum says I have to be there. Even Hermoine is avoiding it. But, mum is making George, Fred and I stay. Ron of course is staying as well, but out of free will. Bill is staying, but only because his wife—you remember Fleur, don't you—is very fond of Harry. Anyway, it would be great if you could come for Christmas Eve," said Ginny without taking a breath.
"Of course I'll come," said Neville, restraining himself from skipping around the room.
"Great!" said Ginny. "Try to get there sometime around six," she said as she apparated out.
Neville felt a big grin come over his face; he had something to look forward to.
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As Ginny had directed, Neville apparated to the Burrow at six o'clock on Christmas Eve. The Burrow looked warm an inviting, as Neville approached the doorstep and knocked. When the door opened, a waft of warm air hit him, delivering the scents of gingerbread and peppermint.
"Neville! Glad you made it, mate!" said George as he ushered Neville into the living room. In the chairs around a roaring fire were a bunch of familiar faces. Neville was warmly greeted by Mrs. Weasley, Fred Weasley, Remus Lupin, Tonks, and Alastor Moody.
"A merry Christmas to ya," said Moody, as he poured Neville a glass of eggnog. As a crash and yell came from the kitchen, Neville almost spilled it everywhere.
"Oh, dear," said Mrs. Weasley. "I had better go check on how Ginny and Ron are faring in the kitchen."
Neville went with her to great them. Delicious smell met his nose as he entered the kitchen. He was also met with the sight of a beautifully angry-looking Ginny hitting Ron with a spatula, while yelling. "Ron, you prat! You are not supposed to light yourself and the food on fire when you cook!" she berated.
"Glad to see you made it, Neville," said an amused looking Hermione.
"Me too. Were they always like that?" asked Neville, gesturing to Ginny, who was still attacking Ron with the spatula, and Ron, who had a pot on his head and another in his hands, trying to avoid her blows.
"I don't know. Perhaps just not in front of people," she laughed as Mrs. Weasley yelled, "Ronald, Ginerva, stop acting so childish, you have dinner to finish preparing!"
Both Ginny and Ron stopped immediately, giving their mum sheepish smiles.
Everything went great from there. In spite of a few mishaps, Neville found out that Ginny and Ron cooked well together. They all had a marvelous Christmas Eve dinner, full of good food, good cheer and plenty of laughter (induced by Fred and George, of course). Neville had never had a better Christmas.
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Neville woke up Christmas morning with pleasant memories of the night before. Besides visiting his parents, Neville didn't have anything to do today. He hopped out of bed, only to find a small pile of unexpected presents at the foot. Grinning like a school wizard, he tore in.
Hermoine had unsurprisingly gotten him a book. It looked very interesting though, but Ron, to make up for it, sent a box of Honeyduke's chocolate. Luna had given him a subscription to the Quibbler. Mrs. Weasley had sent him a scarf and some pies. Neville then had gotten to the last package. It was wrapped in red and gold and a tag revealed that it was from Ginny. Neville's grin grew even wider.
He opened the package to find a potted plant. Yet, this was not just a potted plant. It was a Vamoritus Poritum Sivinios. It was probably the rarest and hardest to come by plant in the world. Its red and orange flowers, if dealt with correctly, could outdo a bezor for antidotes and its leaves had the healing power of phoenix tears. Neville had never even seen one before. Neville was ecstatic.
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Neville had just left from visiting his parents, and was now heading up to the tearoom at St. Mungo's, when he heard someone call his name. He turned to seeing Ginny walking towards him. He smiled as he observed her glowing face and annual Weasley jumper. He still remembered how Ron would complain about his mother always knitting him a maroon sweater.
"I thought I'd find you here," she said with a grin.
"Yeah. Not that I am not happy to see you, but aren't you supposed to be with your family?"
"Yes, but they let me leave early."
"That bad, eh?"
"No, actually it was that good. I'd say it was bloody marvelous. It started out pretty bad. All Hermoine and Harry could do was glare daggers at each other over their apple cider. I was really itching to punch Harry at times, but when we sat down to dinner everything brightened up."
"What type of miracle could lead to that?"
"Well, remember that stuck up, model-type woman, Larissa Meildou?"
"Unfortunately."
"Well, Harry brought her with him. It was horrible at first. She was condescending and expected everyone to wait on her hand and foot. It was worse than when Bill first brought Phlegm home. I though my mum was going to go ballistic. Of course, it was a given that she would not like her; my mum is still upset that Harry and I never got back together. Yet, it was actually Phlegm who could stand her the most. It was amazing! One minute we are digging into supper and the next Phlegm's fist is flying into Larissa's face! Then mash potatoes started flying; it was great!
"As always, mum broke it all up, much to Fred and George's disappointment. Larissa was quite upset and started going off on Phlegm, but no one would side with her so she stomped out."
"Didn't Harry side with her?"
"Well, I bet he would have, but Phlegm is pregnant. Even Harry isn't stupid enough to cross her."
Neville grinned. He was happy that the whole ordeal had gone relatively well for Ginny. He was curious though on whether she received his present and if so, how had she received it. He knew it couldn't have gone over too bad if she was standing in front of him right now in all her glory. It was then that Neville noticed that her eyes were slightly watering.
Before Neville knew it, he was swept into a tight hug. "Thank you for the book," she said. "You have no idea what it means to me."
Neville smiled. "I thought you would, but it is nothing compared to the plant you got me. By Merlin! How did you even come across one?"
"I just have good connections. A friend of mine works as a herbologist in South East Asia. She managed to track down a whole grove of them."
"Wow. That's amazing! I—well, I don't think I could thank you enough."
"It was no problem."
Neville spent the rest of the day with Ginny. He was sure that it had to be one of the best days of his life.
Sadly, the day had to end. Neville, being the gentleman he was, apparated with Ginny to the Burrow.
"I had a great day. I hope we can do this again soon," said Ginny with a sweet smile.
"I do too," said Neville.
Involuntarily, Neville moved closer to Ginny. He didn't know what he was doing. The voices in the back of his head were yelling at him to stop before he got himself into trouble, but Neville wouldn't listen. He leaned he head in and caught Ginny's lips in a kiss. I'm in for it now, he thought, but then she started to kiss back.
Neville was in a complete state of bliss. Then he heard the door open.
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A/N: I am sorry that this chapter took a while to put up. I took me longer than I thought to write. I also apologise for any and all grammatical errors. Thank you to everyone for reading and everyone for reviewing!
---Perplexity