What Could Have Been

Wow -I made two typos in those four words (obviously deleted now). Thanks to all of my reviewers so far! I'm glad this story is popular. I'm planning on it being long. Yay!

NOOOOOO! I just accidentally deleted a whole chunk of this! I'm so annoyed! It took me ages to write ... you know, when you quit and forget to save what you've done ... I'm just about to re-write it now ... wish me luck ...

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

The next morning, Harry woke up too early to find Ron sitting up in bed. There was a huge smile stretched across his face, almost from ear to ear, and he was holding a thick gold chain with the words 'My Sweetheart' dangling from it.

"Oh, hi Harry!" he said uncertainly, noticing Harry was awake, "Erm - Merry Christmas!"

"Yeah, you too," Harry eyed the necklace suspiciously, "That is from Hermione, isn't it?"

Ron sighed.

"No, Harry, it's from Lavender Brown," he replied, his voice full of sarcasm. Harry, already annoyed with Ron, ignored this, as he sat up to unwrap his presents.

Hermione, predictably, arrived soon, carrying a necklace identical to Ron's.

"Good morning! Merry Christmas," she said breathlessly, sitting on the bed beside Ron. They hugged before turning back to Harry.

"Yeah, Merry Christmas."

"Thank you for your presents, both of you!" Hermione continued, "Ron, we have to wear these today, they'll look really nice if we wear them together ..."

She'd only been in the room a minute and already she and Ron were talking about - well, things. Harry resumed unwrapping presents, but he got no satisfaction at all. Not even when he pulled on his new Weasley jumper after Hermione had left.

He and Ron went downstairs for breakfast in silence, only speaking when they reached the kitchen.

"Happy Christmas!" Mr Weasley beamed, "Come and sit down, breakfast's almost ready - you're up late, you must've been tired last night ..."

"I was," Harry agreed, sitting beside him. He glanced around the long table - Ron was settling down next to Hermione, and as far as he could see everyone else was there. Except Ginny.

"Where's Ginny?" he wondered aloud.

"Oh, she'll be in bed, probably," Mr Weasley chuckled, "She's always been a - here she is now!"

Ginny had walked in, wearing, like everyone else except Fleur, her Weasley jumper.

"Morning, Harry," she yawned, sinking into the empty seat next to him, "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you, too."

Mrs Weasley bustled over and placed a huge plate of sausages in the middle of the table.

"Right, it's ready!" she panted, "Dig in, everyone."

She and Fleur gradually filled up the table with plates as big as the first - there was everything from fried tomatoes to sizzling strips of bacon. Harry helped himself to a bit of everything, trying not to look across the table at the glinting twin necklaces.

Later that afternoon, everyone had just enjoyed a huge Christmas dinner. Most of them were too full to move - Harry was sitting on his own, thinking about the visit he had been paid by Rufus Scrimgeour.

It took him a while to notice that Ron and Hermione were missing.

He instantly knew they'd sneaked off alone somewhere. Probably up to Ron's bedroom again. Pretending to need the toilet, he made his way quickly upstairs.

The door of the room was shut. Harry knocked, to give them a warning, then pushed the door open. He looked straight down at the bed.

They weren't there.

Harry's next thought was Ginny's bedroom. Hermione was sleeping in there, after all, so she would be allowed in. Harry pushed this door, and also found the room empty.

Where were they, then?

Quickly, he rushed around the house, peeking through every keyhole, or, where this wasn't possible, listening at the door for a moment or too. He couldn't take any chances - he was pretty sure everyone else was still downstairs, but he wouldn't like it if someone barged into his bedroom.

Harry even checked the bathroom, though he wasn't surprised to find it empty.

He returned downstairs after several minutes of frantic searching. He had come to the conclusion that Ron and Hermione hadn't left the ground floor of The Burrow. He sat by the window and sighed. They weren't down here. Where could they have gone?

He gazed out of the window, but didn't really register the silent snow falling to the cold, white ground. His friends had vanished, possibly off the face of the planet.

He didn't think consciously until a particularly large snowflake hit the window in front of his face. Shaking his head, he caught sight of a woolly jumper in a tall oaktree. And another one beside it.

They were outside.

And they were up a tree. Well, he thought, I'm going to go and join them. That'll teach them to leave me on my own.

He made sure no one was paying attention to him, and crept out into the cold.

The snow drifted onto his face and Harry quickly grew chilly. He looked up into the tree - they were there all right. Harry wanted to yell at them - possibly make them jump enough to fall out of the tree.

No. The best thing to do would be to get up there.

Would he be able to climb without them seeing him? They weren't kissing - which was, in a way, a disappointment - but they were holding hands, and deep in conversation.

Harry ran swiftly across to the thick tree trunk and quickly found a strong branch about one metre off the ground. Hoisting himself onto it, he could see a clear path of branches above him. His climb would be easy.

Carefully, he began to make his way up, trying to be as quiet as possible. The amount of branches made it difficult to see Ron and Hermione, but as he got higher, they came into view, still with their hands in each others'. He kept one eye on them all the time, until he reached their long branch. He pulled himself onto it, sat beside Hermione and cried "Hello!"

Hermione gasped - Ron instinctively grabbed hold of her.

"Oh - it's you," he sighed, relieved, as he saw Harry's grin.

"Yeah, just me." Harry looked at the ground, a goodthree metres below, "What are you doing out here, then? Isn't it a bit cold?"

"Mmm ... actually, we came out here ... erm ... to get a bit of ... you know, peace and quiet," Hermione mumbled, staring at her feet, which were dangling in the air below them.

"Why don't we all go up to your room then, Ron?" Harry suggested, "It'll be warmer in there, but still away from them lot?"

"Well - you see," Ron looked straight at Harry, "What Hermione means is - we came out here to be alone. You know. On our own."

Harry couldn't believe it. His cheery air vanished instantly. They'd gone to be 'on their own' then, had they?

"You've had enough time 'alone' in the past few days, haven't you?" he growled, "Look, you two - I've been meaning to talk to you about all this. And you know what? Let's do it now. You can't escape from me - I'm blocking the way down. No, Ron, don't try and wriggle out of it!" Harry's face, despite the cold, was very warm, "I want you two to listen to me. Right here, right now!"

It's a kind of cliffhanger! I won't continue unless I get lots of reviews! So review!