The Adventure Continued
Chapter 17: Christmas Countdown
A/N: A bit choppy, I know. These are a few flashes of the weeks and days before Christmas. The next chapter will be posted soon (either before or on Christmas day) because it will be my Christmas chapter. There is much to be done after Christmas, too, so I think I've finally reached my half-way point. Scary, huh? Ok, maybe it's not so bad, but I predict that it will take me another twelve-fifteen chapters before I actually finish this story. Thank you to all the people who reviewed! I'm glad you liked that last chapter and I hope this one is equally entertaining. I hope you aren't confused about Harry and Ginny. They aren't exactly seeing each other, but they're definitely getting more…friendly, and Christmas Eve is a month or so since they forgave each other. If it is to confusing, please tell me. I wasn't exactly certain how I should put their feelings down… So, I hope you enjoy!
"I've never seen Ginny like this, Harry. It's almost like she won a cauldron full of galleons!" exclaimed Hermione, neatly setting down a stack of books into one of her trunks. "Are you listening to me, Harry?"
"Wha-? Oh yeah, Ginny. She seems happy," Harry answered quickly, watching a box of vials fly through the air and land next to the stack of books.
Hermione gave Harry a skeptical look and tossed another box of potions on top of the vials. In the three weeks following their conversation in Harry's office, neither Harry nor Ginny had mentioned any part of it to their mutual friend. To the school, it appeared that Harry and Ginny had almost changed over night: no more scowling at each other in the Great Hall, Ginny actually smiled in class, and both teachers were assigning less and less homework. The students couldn't decide whether this change was due to the holidays or if they were actually beginning to like each other. Either way, no one seemed to complain.
"Do you have any idea why?" Hermione persisted.
"Nope," said Harry. "Not a clue. You?"
"I think you're lying, Harry," Hermione continued. "Did you guys forgive each other?"
Harry eyed Hermione casually, and levitated a pillow from one of the hospital beds to fall on Hermione. "In a way, yes," Harry answered simply. "I can't imagine why she would be happy about it, though." Of course, again, Harry was lying through his teeth. He knew exactly why Ginny was acting a lot brighter lately, but he wasn't ready to tell the world just yet.
"Alright," said Hermione, deciding that Harry wasn't going to divulge more than that, and throwing the pillow back at Harry. "Well, then tell me what you plan to do this Christmas."
Harry grinned. "You know, I reckon I'll watch a game of Quidditch, drink a bit of butterbeer, and spend some time with some pals at the office. Dean and Seamus invited me to spend a few days with them. I think I just might."
"What?" Hermione exclaimed. "I thought you had plans, Harry! I thought you were actually doing something productive, like working or something!"
"I'm joking, Hermione, calm down!" Harry laughed at her sudden outburst. "I really do have to go into the office. Especially after what Neville has told me, I have a lot of paper work to fill out before I come back here to Hogwarts. I might drop in at the Burrow, who knows? That depends on what happens in the next few weeks…"
The Hogwarts Express left at 11am on Friday morning, ready to take students home for the holidays. Harry and Ginny stood on the platform, waving to Hermione, who had decided to take the train instead of apparating with all her luggage.
"I'll see you soon, Ginny!" Hermione waved back. "Merry Christmas, Harry!"
"Bye, Hermione!" both shouted back and watched the train leave the station and go out of sight. The two made their way back to the castle and up to Harry's office in silence. "Are you going to apparate or floo?" Harry asked, coming into his office where his trunk sat open next to his desk.
"Floo," Ginny answered. "You?"
"I'm apparating to the office. Ernie is coming back from Hungary tonight and we have a meeting with our supervisor right after," Harry explained, grabbing a pile of robes and stuffing them in his trunk.
"You never stop working, do you?" Ginny smiled, folding her arms.
Harry walked over to her and pulled her into his arms. "For you, Angel, I wouldn't want anything else than this stupid assignment to be over."
Ginny raised an eyebrow. "You mean you want to leave Hogwarts?"
"No! Not that assignment!" said Harry, holding her at arms length again. "You know what I'm talking about; the one about this certain person who killed my godfather."
"What would happen if you did finish her off, Harry? Wouldn't you have another assignment that would keep you busy? Wouldn't there be another threat of danger? Would you ever feel that I was safe with you?" Ginny asked exasperatedly.
Harry was taken back by her reaction. In fact, he had never seen it that way. Of course, he had always assumed that Bellatrix Lestrange would use the same tactics as Voldemort in killing those who were close to him (which was the main reason for keeping a distance from Ginny)…but what if someone else came along with the same threat? What if Harry could never be with Ginny because of his work?
"I don't know," Harry answered honestly. "I don't know what I would do. I guess I would have to be in that situation to really know what my options were. For now, though, keep believing that there won't be anyone else after her and hopefully, you'll be right."
"Harry, I'm not going to believe a lie. You know it's a lie, I know it's a lie! Dumbledore is famous for defeating the dark wizard, Grindelwald, and then look what happened! You-Know-Who appeared, worse and more frightening than those before him! You can't expect life to be all peaches and cream, can you?" Ginny cried, staring in Harry's eyes, searching for an answer.
"Gin," Harry said after thinking it over, "we'll have to take this one step at a time. You can't expect me to have all the answers to something that is only hypothetical. Just trust me, Ok?"
Ginny nodded, suddenly feeling tired. "I better get going, Harry. McGonagall is waiting for me so I can use her fireplace. Merry Christmas," said Ginny, looking into his eyes.
Harry pulled her into his arms again and kissed her on the top of her head. "Merry Christmas, Gin. 'Take care of yourself."
"I will. I always do, Harry." With a last look, the red head disappeared and Harry finished his packing. After locking his office, he made his way to Hogsmeade, ready to apparate back to Number 12 and then on to the office.
Christmas Eve came sooner than Harry had anticipated and the entire day, he sat at his desk, reading over his report and comparing it to Ernie's. Ernie sat at the desk behind him, skimming through a couple of books: "Magical Areas in England" and "What Muggles Can't See But Wizards Can." A few more books were piled on the floor next to him and his eyes drooped horribly as he came to a picture of a dementor.
"Harry, it's useless doing this tonight," Ernie yawned, staring at the clock which now told him that they had one hour before Christmas. "I'm not finding anything. In fact, I'm not even sure what I'm looking for. What am I looking for again?"
Harry peeled his eyes off of Ernie's report to see the latter almost fall out of his chair. "Anything," Harry replied. "There's something we're missing. How could the Lestranges be in London? We would have known. Our sensors would have gone off."
"Not necessarily, Harry," Ernie countered. "How did Sirius Black get past the dementors? The dementors would have known it was Black if Black was in his human form, but he wasn't, so Black got through. Perhaps Bellatrix Lestrange is an animagus, too. She is a Death Eater; she wouldn't mind breaking a few rules."
"Perhaps," Harry yawned, watching Ernie's posture fall onto his desk.
"We need to break for the night, Harry," said Ernie, picking himself up. "I told my folks that I would be home for Christmas and at this rate, we will be here for weeks. Come on, you haven't slept in days, either."
Despite Harry's determination to keep going, he had to agree with Ernie. Throughout the day, he had felt like collapsing onto his desk and taking a long nap. If he had not been so resolved on finishing his report, he would have apparated home hours ago. "Alright," Harry sighed, closing his report and with a swish of his wand, he sent it flying to Tonks desk. "I guess that's it for the night. I'll see you the day after?"
"You would come in on Boxing Day, Harry?" Ernie looked astonished. "Tonks gave us this whole week off and here we are slaving over this assignment. I'm going home, Harry, home. Don't expect to see me until next week!"
Harry shrugged. "You can do that, but I still have more work to do. I have another report to write about Hogwarts. The Ministry is now requiring a weekly report."
"Yeah, Tonks told me about your little, tough spot," Ernie answered slowly. "A shame really. I'm sure you're doing a great job, but in the meantime, I'm going to catch some sleep, Harry. You take care of yourself. Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas," Harry answered as Ernie disapparated. After cleaning off his own desk, Harry disapparated to Number 12 Grimmauld Place, little knowing what to expect…
Harry looked in shock at his living room. The place was clean and dusted, a fire roared in the fireplace, and huge tree the size of Hagrid filled one corner of the room. The tree was magnificently decorated with gold phoenixes flying around the tree, figurines of fairies danced on the branches, and a huge star at the top, lighting up the room. Harry didn't need this light though to recognize Ginny's sleeping form in the armchair next to the fire.
Harry came over and kneeled in front of her. "Gin!" he whispered in her ear. "Ginny!"
A brown popped open and Ginny smiled as she stretched her arms. "Harry?" she yawned. "Is that you?"
"Yeah, Gin, it's me," answered Harry. "What are you doing here?"
"We're spending Christmas with you, Harry," said Ginny with a grin from ear to ear.
"What?" said Harry. "Who's 'we'?"
Ginny's smile grew wider. "Oh you know, just a few people- Mum, Dad, Bill and Fleur and Baby Adeline, Charlie with some girl named Mallory, Fred and George, Ron, Hermione, Remus, Tonks, and me."
"What?" Harry cried. "You're whole family came? But…how?"
"Mum was very upset that you weren't coming," Ginny explained, getting to her feet. "And really, it just wasn't the same. It was Hermione's idea to come here and surprise you. We couldn't help it, you see. You are a part of our family whether you like it or not."
Harry looked around as though he was expecting a Weasley to appear out of the shadows of the room. When he was convinced there was no one around, he turned back to Ginny. "You know, a month ago you would have kicked me out of your family in a heart beat," stated Harry solemnly which turned in a joyful smile. "Now, you guys have brought Christmas here. It's wonderful! It looks so happy! I'm surprised."
Ginny took one of Harry's hands and pulled him up to stand in front of her. "Christmas is definitely a time to change," she added quietly, "and I'm trying to make it up to you."
Harry smiled, picking Ginny up into his arms and twirling her around the room. "I think you made it up to me," Harry laughed as he put her down on the ground again. "I haven't been this happy in a long time."
"Good," Ginny answered. "I'm glad you're finally happy. This means I can go to bed now. Do you realize that it's almost midnight? We have fifteen minutes before Christmas!"
"I know," Harry noted as stretched his arms. "Where is the rest of your lot anyways?"
"Upstairs in bed where you should be!" Ginny said matter-of-factly. "You do look terrible, Harry. Mum will throw a fit when she sees you tomorrow if you don't get some sleep right now. Come on, up you go!" Ginny commanded, pushing Harry up the stairs. Harry didn't mind, though. Falling asleep was very appealing at that moment, and with the best family in the world sleeping underneath his roof, Harry was eager for chance to thank them in the morning. Perhaps this Christmas wasn't going to be so bad after all…
(Another Note: Thank you to all of you who reviewed my other story, "Merry Christmas, Harry." :) )