Ginny's New Life
Chapter Five
The House
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The next morning was one of the happiest Ginny could remember. Her and Harry only had a few hours time in Hogsmead but that suited Ginny fine. She knew that she was going to have a lifetime spent with him. They had spent the time they had talking about the new house and what they would do with each room it contained. It had been an enjoyable conversation until a sudden realization hit them. What will Ron and Hermione say? They decided to keep this bit of information to themselves for the time being, after all it wasn't even Christmas yet, they still had many months to get through before too much could be done with the house.
Ginny, who was currently lying in bed, was amusing herself with the many different ways she could decorate the empty rooms of the new house. Mental images were floating around of warm fire places and elegant wallpaper. Ginny was quite content to lie in bed all day and daydream but Hermione quickly popped her bubble. Her curtains were thrown open and a blast of morning sunlight caused Ginny to cover her eyes quickly. When she was able to focus she could see Hermione standing above her looking happy as punch.
"What are you smiling about?" Ginny asked. "And you really should ask before you rip open my hangings, what if I was naked?"
"Oh, you don't have anything I haven't seen." Hermione said as she sat down on Ginny's bed near her feet. "Did you have fun with Harry yesterday?"
"Oh yeah we…what…how did you know I saw Harry yesterday?" Ginny asked.
"Because Neville saw you two snogging each other senseless." Hermione said smiling.
"Oh, right." Ginny replied. "Nosey git." She added.
"So what happened, what was the note about?" Hermione asked.
For a moment Ginny had a strong desire to tell Hermione everything but she wasn't real sure how she would take it. Would Ron be able to support Hermione while she trained for her first job? Ginny wasn't ready to spoil her own personal happiness so she quickly peddled for a cover up.
"Harry had to go to a Quidditch meeting that they called last minute." Ginny said. "I came up here and heard him calling on the mirror and he explained it to me then we met up for a few hours." Ginny watched Hermione's face as she took in this bit of information. Hermione seemed to be searching for a question to ask but couldn't find any.
"Oh, well that explains it then." Hermione said. "Well I have news for the both of us."
"What's that?" Ginny asked.
"We are going to spend Christmas at the Burrow, your whole family is going to be there."
"Sounds great, I can't wait." Ginny said. "Now if you don't mind I need to get dressed so we can go down to breakfast."
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Ginny couldn't have been more right when she said that waiting makes everything seem slower. The days were practically creeping by, each day seemed to get slower. Ginny did everything she could to keep herself busy. One would think that Quidditch practice and homework would keep your mind off of the exciting events that lay ahead. But Ginny couldn't stop her mind from thinking about what was to come. Hermione often found her sitting in the library, stuck in the middle of writing a sentence, dripping ink and daydreaming.
More than once through the month of November Hermione had to help Ginny rewrite assignments due to the large ink blotches on her parchment. Ginny couldn't stop herself from dazing off. Thoughts of Harry, their house and the up coming Christmas were constantly on her mind. Hogwarts was the last place she wanted to be. Ginny was surprised that Hermione was holding up so well, after all Hermione and Ron have been together longer than her and Harry.
Finally after what seemed like two years, the month of November was over and the count down to the holidays begun. As tradition the castle was decked out in style. The magical ice sickles hung from banisters and railings. The singing suites of armor and falling snow in the great hall put everyone in a festive mood. More than once Ginny spotted Peeves floating around singing carols and dangling mistletoe over surprised couples, and then causing trouble when they were too nervous to kiss.
Ginny and Hermione found themselves feeling exceptionally festive as the holidays grew closer and closer. An endless smile had been glued to both of their faces, and not even the continuing taunting of fellow students could dampen their spirits. Word of Harry's latest Quidditch victory had quickly filtered through the school which brought a new round of whispering. Ginny had gotten so used to this by now that she was learning to turn it out. Hermione was still being pestered about the night Voldemort died but was in too good of mood to let anyone bring her down.
Before long the Holidays were upon them and Hermione and Ginny were packing their trunks and getting ready to head to Hogsmead to catch the train. Excitement raced thru them because the thing they had been longing for was arriving, they were going home.
The train ride home was uneventful and long. Hermione and Ginny shared a compartment with Luna and Neville. Luna amused them all for awhile with tales of the odd things her family did for Christmas It turned out that Neville was spending Christmas with Luna and her family at "The Club", the wizard pub her family owned in Ottery St. Catchpole, where Harry's apartment was.
After a few rounds of wizards' chess and several chocolate frogs they had finally arrived at Platform 9 3/4. Hermione and Ginny nearly killed each other trying to get off the train. Standing just outside the train with a bouquet of flowers each was Harry and Ron.
Ginny couldn't remember ever being this happy to see Harry. She smiled and wrapped her arms around him.
Ginny leaned up and said, "I guess it's true, absence does make the heart grow fonder."
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The first few days back were spent cleaning up and decorating their seventh floor apartment. Ron and Hermione put up a charming Christmas tree while Ginny and Harry strung some garland and various baubles around the living room. They knew that they were spending Christmas morning at the Burrow but they wanted to make their first Christmas as couples special. Because of this the apartment was almost unrecognizable by the time they were done.
On the day before Christmas Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny could be found sitting around the Weasley's kitchen table, sipping coffee and eating cookies. Ginny and Hermione talked about their schooling while everyone listened. Then the conversation quickly turned to Harry who told them all about his latest Quidditch match against Puddlemere United. Ginny however had other things on her mind and was trying to sneak out of the kitchen.
After a very swift maneuver she managed to leave the kitchen un-noticed and then headed out the front door. The snow on the ground was thick and wet as she sloshed her way down the lane in font of her house. Before long her jeans were soaked to the knee but she continued on her trek. Because of the cold the trip seemed longer than it would on a normal day but she eventually made it.
Standing in front of her, larger than life was the house that Harry had shown her in the mirror months before. This house had been here sense she could remember but never did it look this nice and never had she ever given it a second thought. Now all of a sudden it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Her future life was etched in the carvings above the door, and she couldn't be more excited.
"Ginny, its freezing out here and you don't have a coat." Harry said from behind her causing her to jump and fall in the snow.
"Where did you come from, you scared me!" Ginny said as she tried to pull herself out of the deep snow.
"I followed you out of the house, I had a feeling you were coming here." Harry smiled and put a hand out to help Ginny up. But Ginny just smiled, reached up took his hand and pulled him down into the snow with her.
"Ahhhhhh!" Harry said as the cold snow hit his face, Ginny just laughed, rolled over onto her knees and stood up holding a large ball of snow in her hand.
Harry stood up, wiped the snow off his face and picked up a large ball of snow. "If you hit me with that I won't let you into the house." He said, smiling.
Ginny quickly dropped the snowball. "Ok, you win, let's see it!"
Harry laughed as he dropped his snowball and took Ginny's hand in his. "Come on, let's go." And together the pushed through the snow and up to the front door. Harry dug in his pocket for a key, stuck it in the lock and turned.
Harry wasn't kidding when he said that the inside of the house was still in bad shape. Floorboards were missing, wallpaper was peeling and there was a lingering odor of mold. The front room was small and large cracks lined the walls. The kitchen wasn't much better but it was large and inviting. They continued to explore the downstairs because the upstairs was inaccessible because the staircase was missing.
Harry stopped and looked up to the second floor, "We could apparate up there."
"No, that's alright I'm sure it looks the same as down here." Ginny said.
Harry stopped and looked at Ginny sadly, "You don't like it do you?"
Ginny smiled and wrapped her arms around him, "No Harry, it's perfect we can make this place look just how we want it too."
Harry leaned in and kissed her then said, "That's just how I felt, see we are perfect for each other."
