The Adventure Continued
Chapter 18: Perhaps Christmas Was a Good Idea
A/N: Sorry that I didn't get this written in time for Christmas (as it is now December 26), but I will assume that all of you had been as busy as I was, running around trying to buy the perfect gift (gift cards)! Anyways, I hope your Christmas was wonderful and full of cakes, pie, and candy :) And this is my Christmas gift to you: another chapter and my longest one yet! Merry Christmas and I hope you are enjoying your presents! (For my Jewish readers: Happy Hannakuh!)
"Harry! Oh Harry, you're here! Ron? Ginny? Wake up! Harry's here!"
Harry barely opened his eyes and recognized Hermione's brown, fuzzy outline. Sitting up in bed, he looked around him. He was in his own bed at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, he was in his pajamas, and his glasses were on the table…how did they get there? How did he get there? Like a dead pigeon falling from the sky, it him- it was Christmas! The Weasley family was here for Christmas!
"'Mione?" Harry mumbled. "Shut up." He fell backwards into his pillow and tried to roll over, but something prevented him from moving. Quickly putting on his glasses, Harry gasped at the surprise next to him and nearly jumped out of bed. "Ginny, what are you doing?"
Ginny jumped at the same time, but looked apologetically. "I got cold," she answered meekly, pointing to her bundle of blankets next to Ron. "It was only for a little while. You were fast asleep. I didn't think you would mind."
"Harry, you slept with my sister?" Ron gawked at the two of them in confusion. "What's going on here?"
Hermione looked amazed at Harry and Ginny, not quite understanding what was happening, either. "Awkward moment?" she questioned tensely.
"It's not like that!" cried Harry, standing up and looking at Ginny. "I didn't ask for her to sleep in my bed!"
"Right, mate," Ron recovered with an amused grin. "Next time you want to sleep with my sister, I think you should ask permission first- from Mum."
Harry shuddered at the idea of what Mrs. Weasley would say if she had been the one to walk into Harry's room instead of Hermione. "Let's forget about it, ok?" said Harry, finding the small pile of gifts next to his bed. "It's not like that at all."
"Not like what, Harry dear?" Mrs. Weasley walked into the room and looked questioningly at the black-haired man.
"Oh, nothing," Harry blushed, glancing at Ginny who was also turning a magnificent shade of red. "Is everyone here?" he asked, trying to change the subject.
"Oh, yes!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed excitedly. "Bill and Fleur came all the way from France; Charlie came from Romania with a nice girl…"
Harry grinned to himself, half-listening to Mrs. Weasley go on about her children. Ron and Ginny seemed to have given up on listening to their Mum go on about the family and began to tear open the pile of gifts that were left next to their beds. Hermione was already wearing the sweater that Mrs. Weasley knits every year and looking through a new book that Harry had purchased her from Diagon Alley ("Magical Cures for the Worst Household Disasters" by Taylor Green). Perhaps having Christmas with the Weasleys was a good idea after all…
The smell of Mrs. Weasley's cooking filled theirs nostrils as Ginny, Harry, Hermione, and Ron descended the stairs. When they reached the living room, Harry gaped at some of the best Christmas decorations Harry had ever seen, even at Hogwarts. If he thought the house looked amazing the night before, it was nothing compared to the scene in front of him.
"Merry Christmas, Harry!" Fred and George greeted in unison, both holding their wands and shooting spells around the room. A pile of snow fell from on them before the two stopped speaking and knocked the twins off their feet.
"I don't reckon we should say those two words in the same sentence again," Fred suggested, rubbing the back of his head.
George shook his head, sending snow all over the room. "I reckon I agree with you, mate!"
"What was that?" Hermione gasped, looked up at the ceiling: instead of a ceiling, grayish clouds whirled around, threatening to drop snow on them.
"That, my friend, is our latest in Christmas decorations from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes!" George introduced, regaining his balance. "We got the idea from Hogwarts, of course, only the ceiling is temporary."
"It reflects the sky," Fred added, now standing up straight next to George, "only, we've changed it a bit. Hope you don't get snowed in, Harry!" At that moment, another pile of snow dropped on Fred.
"I don't think those two words should go together, either, Fred," George laughed.
This was only one of the few surprises the group found in store for them from Fred and George. It didn't take long for everyone to realize that the ceiling dropped snow on anyone who said the words, "Christmas," "Pudding," "Snow," and "Harry." Of course, this made for an interesting conversation for those who didn't wish for the wet, white surprise.
"Merry-er-Happy Holidays, Har-, you know what I mean," Remus Lupin greeted Harry as he made his way into the kitchen, leaving the others to enjoy the various decorations. Harry found Lupin, Tonks, and their blue-haired son, Maolo, sitting. "How is life at Hogwarts going?"
Harry smiled with a sudden feeling of relaxation coming over him. It had been almost a year since he had seen his former Professor, although he saw Tonks, Remus' wife, almost everyday. Tonks looked up to see Harry.
"Wotcher, Harry!" she smiled. Pfft! A pile of snow fell onto Tonks head. "Those twins!" she grumbled. "I can't even say 'you know what' without getting a hit with a mound of ice! Can't you do something about this, Molly?"
Molly looked over her shoulder with a wary expression. "What? Oh, yes: those two," she replied. "Fred! George!" she cried, storming out of the kitchen and leaving a boiling pot of potatoes on the stove. A minute later, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny ran into the kitchen, shutting the doors behind them.
"Don't go out there," Hermione warned, barring as if Harry or the Lupins had planned to instantly leave the room.
Ginny sat down next to Harry and began to laugh. "Mum is taking care of them," Ginny answered Harry's quizzical expression. Harry didn't need to wait long to find out what that meant.
Fred and George crashed the door down that Hermione had desperately tried to keep close (having left her wand in her room, it didn't take much to break the door down.) Both twins were covered in their magical snow, resembling miniature models of the abominable snowman. Molly came marching behind them with a smug look.
"If that's the way you two will treat Harry's house, then you will help clean it as well! No magic!" Molly threatened.
"But Mum!" George argued. "We're of age! You can't boss us around!"
"Yeah," Fred agreed. "Plus, everyone likes our decorations!"
Molly towered over the twins with an evil glare, despite her lack of height. The twins cowered in fear as Molly pulled their ears to the sink to begin cleaning the dishes, muttering something about "what I have to do to get some respect around here…"
Although, Molly put an end to the cursed snowfall, she couldn't remove all the pranks in store around the house. The mistletoe hung between the kitchen and living room cursed anyone who dare to walk pass it without snogging someone; some of the candy that lay around in dishes Harry could have sworn he had seen before in the twin's shop; and white powder burst out of every chair everyone sat on, giving the room a stench that reminded Harry of old gym socks. Still, Harry couldn't remember having a better Christmas and a cold feeling touched the bottom of his stomach as the Christmas dinner that night came to a close.
Harry sat between Ginny and Ron, playing with his dessert and listening to bits and pieces of conversation. Mr. Weasley, Lupin, and Tonks were discussing new Ministry laws while Charlie was arguing with Fred about the latest potions on the market and which ones will be profitable. George, on the other hand, was discussing business with Bill about investing in his company.
"After all, other high profile individuals have taken an interest in our company," said George, giving Harry a wink.
Harry smiled and turned to Ginny who was talking to Fleur and her Mum about the shopping this Christmas. The only people that were not deep in conversation were Ron and Hermione, both sitting just like Harry and fingering their food. Harry couldn't understand what made them so quiet, but at some points, Hermione would nudge Ron in the gut and both faces turned red.
Finally, after the conversation began to die down, Ron stood up and cleared his throat, "I have-er- something to tell you," Ron began, his voice unusually high. "Umm…Hermione and I…er…are planning to get married."
The room fell into complete silence, with each pair of eyes on the couple. After what seemed like a minute, Bill stood up, came around the table, to pat his brother on the back and offer his congratulations. Like a switch turning on, the noise came back at full volume as each person enthusiastically offered their congratulations.
"I can't believe if, mate!" Fred shook Ron's hand in shock.
"Yeah, who would have known that you had that up your sleeve?" George added.
"Oh, my little boy!" Molly fussed, crushing both Hermione and Ron at the same time. "Of course, you aren't little any more, but I remember when you were small and Bill and Charlie-"
"Thanks, Mum," Ron muttered, turning deep red with embarrassment.
Molly wiped a tear from her face. "Oh, you are so grown up now!"
"You mean, you haven't noticed that the last few years, Molly?" Tonks teased, hugging Hermione.
Everyone fussed over the news, offering advice, and questioning the couple endless about their wedding plans. As it seemed, Hermione and Ron had had this planned for months, but both wanted to share the news with the entire family at the same time. However, the only people who hadn't jumped up and danced for joy were Harry and Ginny, who both sat in shock at the table.
Harry had a small smile on his face, feeling happy, yet saddened. He had always thought that Hermione and Ron would eventually fall for each other, but somehow, he had never suspected anything like this would happen. The new engaged couple had managed to keep their relationship a secret from their mutual best friend, but Harry knew only too well that keeping it from him wasn't a hard feat. Between working, studying, and now his job at Hogwarts, he had missed an important part of his friends' lives. He had never felt more distant from Ron and Hermione than at that moment when he realized that he wasn't the same person he had always been. With another stab of pain, he also realized that Ginny had been right all along: he was an entirely different person.
While the crowd of excited family members marched to the living room, Harry still sat in thought at the table, wondering how all this could have happened without him. "Harry?" Ginny questioned attentively, her brown eyes looking into his while he tried to avoid them. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah, peachy," said Harry with a hint of sarcasm, finally getting up.
"They wanted to tell you first, you know," Ginny explained, "but you have been so stressed out and worried that they wanted to wait until you were feeling better-"
"Oh really?" Harry dropped his happy expression for a sullen one. "I'm sure they were dying to tell me! I saw Hermione everyday for the last four months; don't tell me she could never find a chance to tell me!"
Ginny's mouth opened as if to reply, but closed it again as deciding that to argue this wasn't worth it. "You're right, they should have told you from the beginning," Ginny replied, angry and sarcastically. "Let's go in there and tell Hermione what you think!" Ginny marched out of the room, leaving Harry in a worse mood. For the first time in the last couple weeks, he wished that for once, Ginny wouldn't talk to him again.
Harry came in the room, his face plastered with a fake smile, and a half-an-hour later, managed to steal away into his room. In his room, Harry fell face forward into his bed and closed his eyes. He didn't look up when he heard footsteps enter his room and neither did he flinch when warm body cuddled next to him. Instinctively, he pulled the warm body close and held her there. Before dozing off, Harry heard Ginny's voice breath in his ear: "I'm sorry, Harry."
With a tired sigh, Harry removed his glasses and whispered back, "I know, me, too." The two stayed that way until they heard pounding footsteps coming up the stairs. Quietly, Ginny left the room to meet Hermione in the girls' room (Ginny had only slept in Harry's room the night before so as not to wake Hermione up), though Harry wished that Ginny could have stayed. He had felt at peace with her lying beside him, not arguing, not being sarcastic, but just trying to help. Instead, Harry tossed and turned the rest of the night, feeling the sharp pain somewhere in the depths of his heart. Never had Harry felt so alone and detached from his friends and family than he did now.