Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K.R.
A/N: Oh my! I used to like this chapter when I wrote it, but now I'm not so fond anymore on it. Anyway, thank you so much to all the people that reviewed, you really make my day.
To lockofcurls: Thank you so much for beta-reading my chapter.
Ron's Christmas Gift
Nothing could have beaten the cheerfulness of the Burrow during Christmas time, not even Hogwarts. Fred and George had decked the entire house with mistletoe and midgets dressed up like angels, which were trying to free themselves from the walls where they were hanged up. Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione had arrived from Hogwarts on Christmas' Eve with a car at their disposal by the Ministry of Magic, who, in those days, were extremely considerate towards the wizarding community, especially towards Harry. After an eventless journey, they reached the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley has greeted them more warmly than usual, just happy to see the four of them alive.
"Charlie is coming home for Christmas this year, too," exclaimed Mrs. Weasley when Ginny asked her. "So you have to share your bedroom with Hermione. You don't mind, dear, do you?" she asked Hermione.
"No," said Hermione trying to sound casually, but shooting an uncomfortable look at Ginny.
"Very well, dear," said Mrs. Weasley smiling. "It's such a pleasure for us to have you here for Christmas."
"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley."
"Yeah, mum we are all happy that she is here, now will you let her go?" yelled Ron from upstairs.
Mrs. Weasley laughed cheerfully and nodded. "Go on, dear," she said to Hermione.
Hermione left the living room and climbed the stairs up.
"Hermione, we need to discuss some things," said Ron from the stairs. "Come to my room as soon as possible."
"Ron, we just got here," Hermione snapped back, irritably. "I still have to unpack my trunk. Will you have the patience of waiting a few minutes?"
"Hermione, these things are really important," said Ron.
"And my stuff is important too," retorted Hermione, closing the door of Ginny's bedroom behind herself.
Ginny stood up from her trunk. "What was Ron yelling for?" she asked, smiling.
"He and Harry want to talk to me, but I've not yet unpacked my stuff and I'm pretty tired, so I told him that they'll have to wait," answered Hermione, opening her trunk.
"You can go, I'll unpack for you," said Ginny, stepping towards her.
Hermione looked at her and saw that she was serious, then she shook her head and sat on her bed. "No, don't worry. I'm not so keen on planning our trip to Grimmauld Place."
Ginny smiled. "I would love to come with you there," she sighed.
"You know that if it was up to me you could come, but your brother and Harry are so determinate to have you here, staying out of danger," she said seriously.
"And you don't think that I should stay out of danger?" Ginny asked frankly, sitting down on Hermione's bed too and coming really near to her.
Hermione looked at her for a long moment, evidently searching her mind for the best words. "Of course I would feel better if I knew that you were here, safe and surrounded by the people love you, but I also think that you would be brave and capable of battling courageously, just like us."
Ginny flushed and smiled shyly. "Thank you, Hermione. Sometimes I think that you understand me better than everybody else."
Hermione smiled and lowered her eyes. "I understand you better than Harry and Ron, but that's not a big thing."
Ginny laughed and came closer to Hermione, who noticed that, but couldn't tell if she did it on purpose or not, anyway she didn't move back. When Ginny's laughter faded away she looked at her again. "No, I'm serious, you really are the one that knows the real me." Ginny's head came so dangerously near to Hermione that she could have smelled her breath.
"Really?" asked Hermione slowly. She would have taken away her body from her, but it was like she was hypnotized. She felt her head buzzing.
Ginny nodded, half-closing her eyes and wetting her lips she moved her head towards Hermione's. Hermione bit her bottom lip. What was wrong with her? Why was her heartbeat growing faster in her chest? Why was the bedroom was slowly going out of focus? Why did she feel butterflies in her stomach?
When she felt the pressure of Ginny's hands on the bed next to her she realized what was going to happened. She moved backwards and almost fell down from the bed, but she managed to jump on her feet. "I-I think that I should go upstairs and see if Ron and Harry still need me," she stammered.
Ginny's face became redder than her hair. She too stood up and lowered her eyes. "Yeah, I think you should," she whispered. "Hermione, if you want I can really unpack for you," she added quickly.
"No, never mind that," she said before disappearing outside the door. She climbed the stairs as quickly as she could, and rushed into Ron's bedroom.
Harry and Ron looked up at her from their own trunks. "Hermione, is everything okay?" asked Ron, looking at her pale face.
Hermione nodded unable to say anything.
"It looks almost like you have gone through a shock," said Harry, raising his eyebrows.
Hermione breathed deeply, she took a step towards them and sat down on Ron's bed. "I'm okay," she managed to say.
"If you say so," said Ron, shrugging his shoulders.
Hermione nodded. "What did you want me here for?" she asked, looking at them.
"We have to talk about Grimmauld Place," said Ron.
"What about Grimmauld Place?" she asked calmly.
"How to get there, what to do, what to search, and so on," said Harry.
Hermione nodded. "Okay, well, when do you want to leave?"
Ron and Harry looked each others. "What about the day after tomorrow?" asked Harry.
"The day after Christmas?" asked Hermione who didn't expect it to be so early. "I thought we were going there after New Year's Day," she said hopefully.
"Hermione, we need time for doing all the things that we have to do," said Ron matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, which brings the question, what do we have to do?" said Harry.
"We have to look for something that can help us with the quest for the Horcruxes," said Hermione. "Dumbledore had found out a lot about the Horcruxes, but still there are a couple of them that even he couldn't figure out what they are."
Both Harry and Ron nodded.
"So, my idea is this: Regulus Black knew as much as Dumbledore about Horcruxes. Regulus, himself, managed to destroy Salazar Slytherin's locket, so there must be something at Grimmauld Place that will tell us something more about them," she said, looking at them.
"What do you think you'll find? Regulus' diary with all the directions for finding the other Horcruxes?" asked Ron sarcastically.
Hermione glared at him. "I thought you wanted to go to Grimmauld Place," she said sourly.
Ron reddened, but didn't reply.
"Anyway, I think that, if we are really lucky, we can find something like that."
"A diary?" asked Harry raising his eyebrows.
"Not exactly a diary, but maybe some notes or some books that will help us. We have to search for the clues, anything that will come in handy."
"We have been there for an entire summer, Hermione, I've already told you that we didn't find anything like that," Harry sighed.
"And I've already told you that we didn't know what to look for two years ago," said Hermione annoyed. "Listen, I'm not sure about what we should find, I don't even know if we'll find anything. We just have to try, okay?"
Harry and Ron nodded. "See? We need you, Hermione. You couldn't have gone home," said Ron seriously.
Hermione turned so red that she almost disappeared between the posters of the Chudley Cannons that were hanged on the walls of Ron's bedroom. "Thanks," she mumbled, while Harry smiled aware of what was happening. "Anyway," she said quickly, "Ron, have you already asked your mum for her permission to go to Grimmauld Place?"
"No, should I have?" asked Ron nonchalantly.
"Of course you should," said Hermione which was becoming even more red than before, but now for the anger. "Although, how will we get there?"
"Hey, you were the one that said that we don't need her permission," protested Ron.
"I know. We don't really need her permission, but we need to find a way of getting there without being spotted by other people, and maybe she can help us with getting-"
"We can fly there with our brooms," said Harry interrupting her. "The first time I went to Grimmauld Place, I flew there with Tonks and the others."
"Maybe you missed the part where I said that we cannot be seen," said Hermione.
"If we fly high we won't be seen," pointed out Harry.
"No way," said Hermione, waving a hand in front of him.
Harry snorted. "It's just because you are afraid of flying."
"Also for that."
"I've got an idea," said Ron jumped on his feet. "We can Apparate there."
"Not a great idea, if you ask me," said Harry.
"Why?" asked Ron.
"Because Grimmauld Place is in a Muggle street and we cannot Apparate there without being seen," explained Hermione patiently. "But I have an idea, if I can speak," she added sarcastically. "Floo Powder."
It was so easy that both Ron and Harry didn't think at all about that. "But are you sure that Grimmauld Place is linked to the Floo Network?" asked Harry thoughtfully.
"Sure, Sirius used to talk with you from there," she answered matter-of-factly. "We'll borrow some Powder from your house Ron, so that we'll be able to come back, in case there won't be any in Grimmauld Place."
"Okay, I'll tell mum, then," said Ron walking towards the door. "If you hear a scream don't worry, it's just her fainting," he added sarcastically before exiting.
Harry smiled and bent over his trunk again to finish unpacking his stuff. "Have you already unpacked?" he asked Hermione.
"What? No, no. Ginny offered to do that for me, but I refused. I should go downstairs and unpack before dinner now she said checking her watch.
"So," Harry started while she was exiting the bedroom, "You and Ginny made up."
"Actually, we never fought," said Hermione trying to sound casually.
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, if you say so."
Hermione nodded and left Ron's bedroom without a further word. She climbed down the stairs to Ginny's bedroom. The door was open, and Ginny was nowhere in sight, Hermione thought that Mrs. Weasley might have asked her for some help in the kitchen. She sighed in relief, then she bended on her trunk and started to unpack, placing all the things in the part of the wardrobe that Ginny left for her. Half an hour later, Harry knocked on the door.
"Hermione, are you ready?"
She opened the door. "Yes, I'm ready."
They climbed down the stairs together, and when they reached the kitchen, they saw that Mrs. Weasley's mood had changed dramatically compared to earlier. "Dinner is ready," she snapped to Harry and Hermione. Ron shook his head and sat down across from them, Ginny sat next to him trying to hide a smile. Mrs. Weasley waved her wand nervously towards the knives in the cupboard and some of them flew right above Hermione's head. "Sorry," muttered Mrs. Weasley.
Charlie, Fred and George came almost running in the kitchen. "Mum, why didn't anybody call us? We're starving," protested Fred sitting down and taking a potato with his hand. Mrs. Weasley waved her wand towards him and Fred's fingers glued together. "Don't you dare use your fingers again, Fred Weasley," cried Mrs. Weasley.
"Even if I would I couldn't," said Fred trying to divide his fingers.
Charlie shot an angry look at Ron and Ginny. "Okay, who did it?"
"Ron," said Ginny promptly. Ron glared at her.
"What did you do for making mum so nervous?" Charlie asked annoyed.
Ron rolled his eyes. "Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"I just asked her if she could lend us some Floo Powder," he said defensively.
"Tell him the truth, Ronald Weasley, what do you need the powder for?" thundered Mrs. Weasley.
Ron snorted. "Harry, Hermione and I want to go to Grimmauld Place the day after tomorrow."
"Grimmauld Place? Why?" asked Charlie.
Ron shrugged his shoulders. "Just for a trip."
"Don't be clever with your mother, boy," said Mrs. Weasley, "I know that you are gonna do something of dangerous. You always do."
"Mum, I swear that we don't want to do anything dangerous," said Ron annoyed.
"I can go with them and look after them," said Ginny quickly. Everybody ignored her but Hermione.
"I'll talk to your father and we'll see," said Mrs. Weasley.
"You can't forbid us to go," said Ron raising his voice, "We all are adults."
"I said I'll talk to your father," repeated Mrs. Weasley.
"By the way, mum, where is he?" asked George.
"He should be home in about half an hour. There have been problems at the Ministry," said Charlie.
"Even on Christmas Eve?" questioned Fred, who was still trying to ungluing his fingers.
Mrs. Weasley sighed. "Even on Christmas Eve. But that won't prevent us from having a nice dinner for Christmas."
They started to eat the delicious dinner that Mrs. Weasley has prepared, laughing and smiling like nothing happened. Mr. Weasley joined them, and with great disappointment from Mrs. Weasley, he gave his permission to the trio to go to Grimmauld Place, but could only stay during the day and come back at night. Harry, Hermione and Ron agreed, none of them, especially Ron, really keen on sleeping between spiders and all the things that were surely haunting Grimmauld Place at that time.
When everybody finished his dinner, Mrs. Weasley, Ginny and Hermione cleaned up the kitchen and then joined the others that were sitting in the living room listening to some Christmas Carols. They sat there talking, playing wizard chess and laughing for hours. The atmosphere was so cheerful that they almost forgot that they were in the middle of the Second War and that Voldemort was on the loose. Around ten Mrs. Weasley kissed each of her child goodnight, and then kissed Harry and Hermione too. Ginny and Hermione suppressed a giggle while she stamped a long kiss on Ron's cheek who was protesting that he was too old for those kind of things. Slowly the living room emptied, the last to go to bed was Mr. Weasley who was reading the Daily Prophet, since he hasn't had time for it all day. He eventually left the living room too, reaching his wife and with the wonderful thought in his head that all his children in the house were sleeping.
But he was wrong. Well, he was almost wrong, because all his children were sleeping, but someone else was awake.
Hermione couldn't sleep. She didn't know why, though. She should have been tired because of the travel from Hogwarts, and her eyes were burning, but she couldn't close them and sleep. She couldn't see Ginny in the darkness of the room, but she knew where her body was. She was lying on her back, because she felt the sheets going up and down on her chest. They hadn't talked that night, they simply wished each other goodnight and then Ginny fell asleep. But Hermione couldn't sleep in the same room as Ginny. Not that she was afraid of anything in particular, she trusted Ginny as much as Harry and Ron, or even more than them, but she simply couldn't fall asleep in the same room of the girl that had kissed her.
She pulled away the sheets and placed her bare feet on the floor. She put on her dressing gown and opened the door. When it creaked Ginny moaned and turned in her bed. She closed the door behind her as slowly as she could, then started to climb down the stairs. She went straight in the kitchen, picked up a mug from the cupboard and heated up some milk. She poured a couple of spoons of honey in the milk and went in the living room. She sat down on the sofa, looking at the big Christmas Tree that Charlie and the twins had decked out and at all the presents that rested under it. Suddenly, she felt the curiosity to check out which presents were for her. She sat up from the sofa and kneeled down next to the gifts, there was one from Harry, one from Mrs. and Mr. Weasley, one from the twins (and she decided stay away from it), one very small from Ginny, but there was no present from Ron.
"Are you spying on the Christmas gifts?"
Hermione jumped on her feet and spilled the milk on her dressing gown. "Ron," she said angrily. "You scared me," she added, trying to wash away the milk with her hand.
Ron smiled. "Sorry." He stepped towards her. "You spilled your milk," he said, pointing at her dressing gown.
"Oh, really?" she asked sarcastically. "Do you have your wand with you?"
Ron nodded and pulled his wand out of his pocket. "Evanesco," he said and the milk vanished from her dress.
"Thanks," she said, sitting down on the sofa.
"So, Granger," started Ron, sitting down next to her, "You were spying the Christmas presents."
"Don't talk rubbish, Ron," she said half smiling. "I couldn't sleep."
"Was Ginny snoring?"
"No," she said definitely laughing, "I simply couldn't sleep. What about you?" she added, looking at him. She noticed that he was blushing, apparently without any reason.
"I – hem – I was – I couldn't sleep either," he said hesitantly. "Harry was snoring."
Hermione laughed again and Ron joined her with a nervous chortle. "Funny, I thought that you were the one that snored louder," she said when her laughter faded away.
"Hermione, I," he started looking at her rather seriously. "Never mind," he added quickly when her eyes met his.
"No, Ron, what?" she asked, coming nearer to him and placing a hand on his knee.
Ron blushed again, and now even more deeply. "Nothing," he mumbled.
Hermione looked at him intently. He could feel the weight of her glance on his head even if he didn't look at her. After a while, Hermione sighed deeply and took away her hand from Ron's knee.
"No, wait," said Ron, catching her hand. "Hermione, I-"
Hermione looked at him intently, he opened his mouth for speaking, but was cut off by the old grandfather clock that stroke midnight. "I – hem – I wanted to wish you a Happy Christmas," he said quickly.
Hermione looked at him half deluded half frustrated. "Happy Christmas to you, too," she answered trying to keep her voice calm and leaning against the back of the sofa with her arm crossed, in a way that reminded terribly Ron of Padma during the Yule Ball.
"Hermione, I-" he started for the third time, but this time was Hermione the one that cut him off.
"Don't you dare start a sentence if you don't wanna finish it," she snapped, looking at him.
Ron sighed again, Hermione noticed that his face coloured again. "No, okay. I wanted to tell you why I came here at this hour of the night."
Hermione raised her eyebrows. "I thought you couldn't sleep because Harry was snoring."
"No, I couldn't sleep, but not because of Harry. I had to do something," he said vaguely lowering his voice every word more.
"Well?" asked Hermione after a while rather annoyed by all his secrecy.
"Well, I had to do some practice," he whispered.
"Practice?" asked Hermione who was starting to understand every minute less.
Ron nodded, his face redder than his hair.
"Practice for what, Ron?" asked Hermione who's irritation started to leak out of her voice.
Ron opened his mouth for answering, but no sound exited. 'For your Christmas gift,' he thought.
"Okay, I think I'll go to bed," said Hermione pushing with her hands on the sofa for sitting up.
"Wait," Ron almost screamed, and without thinking twice at what he was doing, he threw himself towards her and kissed her gently on her lips. Hermione's heart skipped a beat, but she closed her eyes and started to kiss him back. Ron's arm passed around her waist and he made her come closer to him, while with the other hand he caressed her hair. Hermione placed her hands around his neck and arched her back.
Neither of them could believe what was happening. Their heads were weightless, like their stomachs. But suddenly Hermione felt that there was something wrong in what she was doing. She would have pushed him away and at the same time she would have never let him go. She was kissing him, but slowly the thought of Ginny was invading her mind. When Ron stopped abruptly to kiss her, she almost feared that he read her mind. Then, she heard someone on the stairs behind her and noticed the blank expression on Ron's face, she turned her head as quickly as she could, but all she caught was a glimpse of red hair, which, except of Ron and Harry, could have belonged to everybody in the house.
"Who was-?" she asked Ron quickly.
"It was Ginny," answered Ron while Hermione brought her hand to her mouth. "Luckily she's used to seeing me kiss Lavender, she won't be – where are you going?"
But Hermione wasn't listening to him, she was already climbing up the stairs two at a time with her heart beating furiously in her chest. All the while, Ron was cursing his sister with all his forces.