This chapter is dedicate to ArcherofDarkness and Callie and Nickitjuh, for finding those most awesomely raddest Mooney Suzuki songs, and also to heartdamoose. Well...here's your moose! To My-Chemical-Romance fan: well, my mother and father say I'm an evil child, my friends say I'm psychotic, but they don't complain when I come up with these pranks. The only time they ever did complain was when we climbed over a fence and they ripped their shirts, but I let them use most of the spray-paint so they were fine with it. On a lighter note, Mrs. Jaworski's house looks much better painted a cheery lime green and pink! (Although she doesn't think so but it's better than thge drab gray it was before).

Am very depressed. One of my birdies flew away, and we can't find him. So now it's M Meilin and Michael. Poor Lightning. He's gone… On the plus side, I am holding Albus Dumbledore Lapin-Black in my hands. Yep, the new bun-bun babes are named. Harry James Potter Lapin-Black (we kind of couldn't let that one go) Bellatrix Lapin-Black (because her first name is just that cool) Albus Dumbledore Lapin-Black (in memoriam) Necille Lapin-Black, Voldemort Lapin-Black (don't ask) Liyana Lapin-Black, Lilly Lapin-Black (the double-l is intentional), and lastly, Ginevra Hermione Veronica (Ron for short) Molly Lapin-Black. Because she was the firstborn and we were excited.) But guess what!

MY BIRTHDAY IS IN TWO DAYS!

I am filled with bubbliness and what have you. This also means I must prepare for another party, which I have decided to title Kum Too Mye Kingdum, as it is a costume party and is very gothic and such. Because I am writing this instead of finding my costume, no review replies, as I still have to call and invite people. Curse me and my procrastinating habits…

Disclaimer: No, don't own it, but I wrote it!

new pets and prezzies!

issalee

"Here! Is this yours?"

"Praia! I'm sorry, but I CANNOT find your stupid socks!"

"You didn't think they were stupid when you borrowed them, Tessa!"

"Oi, Morgan, I need those mittens back else Mum'll kill me!"

"Sorry, Gin, but I lost those ages ago!"

"What? Fine…just give me my shoes, the loafers. I have to scuff them so Mum thinks I wore them."

"What? I gave those to Praia…"

"You did not! Sicily has them, Sicily David from Ravenclaw!"

"And what in the name of grass has happened to my Von Bondies CD!"

"…Tessa."

"…Tessa."

"…Sorry?"

Such was the state of chaos in the Gryffindor sixth year's dorm room the day the train was to leave for Christmas holidays. In fact, the train was leaving in thirty minutes…but these sixth years were notoriously lazy.

Ginny slapped down another bundle of clothes into her trunk, exasperated. "What do you mean, sorry? I want my Von Bondies CD! One of the most decent bands the Muggles can come up with—"

Praia, who was trying to spell all her clothing into her trunk interrupted. "Actually, they're all Squibs." Morgan started laughing as a shoe smacked Praia in the head, causing her to fall over the bed and onto the other side.

Tessa spread her arms wide. "I'm sorry, Gin, but I lent it to Hermione for her Muggle Studies project, and I sort of forgot to get it back."

"…What?" Ginny hadn't heard her. She was wriggling underneath the bed in search of new artifacts, and emerged triumphantly with a pair of loafers in one hand and a wriggling, dirty pack of Ice Mice in the other.

"Shouldn't those have melted?" Praia asked, frowning.

Ginny let the Mice go and shrugged. "How am I supposed to know? Come on, we have ten minutes to get out of here, and it's another ten minutes to the train station." She slammed her trunk shut happily.

"Not if we fly!" Tessa said, as she also shut her trunk. "We shrink these and strap them into our bags." Ginny sighed and flopped onto the bed.

"As much as I would like to, I don't think my broom will stand the weight, even though it's swollen. I'm taking loads of stuff home; I'm planning on changing my whole wardrobe when I get back."

"Really?" said Morgan. "To what?"

"I'm mourning the death of our generation. I mean, the good side of it. The Hufflepuffs and such have been totally forgotten, so…on with the black clothing."

They all cast her weird looks until she pulled a face. "I was joking! Although I am wearing much darker clothing from now on. Neons do not suit me."

As Praia and Morgan breathed a sigh of relief, Hermione walked in, holding a slim case between her fingers. "Your CD?" She said to Ginny. The redhead nodded curtly.

"And here I was thinking it would be 'Let's Get Fucked Up and Die' the whole way there." Hermione looked shocked, to say the least. To say the most, she almost wet herself.

"W—what?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "A song, Herm, it's a song. By a Muggle band called Motion City Soundtrack, and yes, Praia, I am aware that all but one of them are Wizards and that the last knows all about it. I'm not that daft."

Praia shrugged as she levitated her trunk to follow her. "Sorry, Gin, I was just saying about the Squibs. Not many people know." Morgan followed, waving a hearty good-bye as she went out the door.

"Well," Ginny said, rubbing her hands together. "It's to the Burrow for us, Herm, and from there to Harry's flat. Where, of course, Tessa and her PIG will be joining us."

"Tessa—has swine?" Hermione asked, looking confused. The dark-haired girl in question smacked Ginny over the head as she shrank her trunk and stuck it into her pocket. "No, Hermione, that's her new acronym for Blaise. Partner In Snog, you see."

Wondering vaguely if she had brain damage, Ginny followed, with Hermione close at her heels.

Close to two hours later, Ginny was sitting on the kitchen stool in the Burrow's kitchen, sniffing the air with a very greedy look on her face as her mum cooked cookies.

"…And Ginny, don't you start teasing your brothers once they get here! I need them to be a good mood this Christmas."

"Yes Mum." Ginny said, eyeing the cookies.

Her mother ignored her and removed some of the cookies from the oven, placing them on the cooling rack as she removed her gloves. Ginny reached out a hand but snatched it back as her mother turned to grab some sugar from off the counter.

As soon as she turned, Ginny quietly crept over to the cooling rack as her mother rummaged in a cupboard. Smiling wickedly, she aimed for a cookie.

"—And young lady, if I see one of those cookies gone when I look again, you'll wish you'd never heard of chocolate chip cookies again."

"FINE THEN!" Ginny threw her arms in the air and stomped out, pushing past her brother and Harry as she did so. Ron cast his mother a crestfallen look.

"This isn't going to be like summer, is it?"

Mrs. Weasley laughed at him.

"I AM NOT CRAZY, RONALD, I AM MERELY CRAVING CHOCOLATE WHICH MEANS YOU'VE JUST LOST THE CHOCOLATE UNDER YOUR BED!"

Ron looked very ashen at that, and Harry patted his back. "Don't worry, mate. It's just a few more days, and then no more of that! She'll be with the Japanese Quidditch team then!"

"But not all of them!" Ron buried his head in his hands. "They'll mostly be boys! Boys, Harry!" The raven-haired boy was trying very hard not to laugh.

"Yes, but Tessa and Seamus will be there, they'll keep an eye on her. And Blaise will be kept in line!"

"What about Malfoy?" Ron hissed, and Harry clapped a hand over his mouth. He glanced about before leaning closer and whispering to his best friend.

"Gin doesn't know anything about that yet; I don't think even Malfoy knows! But you know they had an argument, Ron, and that when they were friends she basically left you alone!" Harry was thankful that they hadn't told Ron what exactly the whole argument had been about.

All they'd said was that unless he wanted to be a Barbie Doll for most of his teenaged life, then he'd better up and help them. So the gist and nub of it all was that Draco Malfoy had been invited by one Blaise Zabini to tag along for the holidays; in short, where Blaise went, Draco went.

Ron narrowed his eyes as Harry removed his hand. "I'm not doing this to get away from her, Harry. I'm doing it for her." Without another word, he stood and stalked swiftly out of the kitchen.

Mrs. Weasley glanced up from where she was kneading dough. "Harry, darling, understand that he's very protective of his sister."

Harry colored. "You heard that, Mrs. Weasley? And you aren't mad?"

She laughed. "Mad? How could I be? This is for Ginny's sake, and it's all been going right so far, so who am I to interfere? Besides, I heard nothing of what you were saying." And she went back to her cooking, a small smile playing around her lips.

Harry stared at her for a moment before a loud knock interrupted his thoughts. He turned and, with one last look at Mrs. Weasley, he walked to the front door and opened it.

"Hello, Harry!"

"Nice to see you!"

"You look sick!"

"No, Gred, he looks fine."

"Oh, right, we don't say that till after he's tried the candies. Right, Harry, you look marvelous."

"Not for long," Harry muttered, then he held out a hand. "Fred, George, it's great to see you!" The twins shook his hand before bounding in happily.

"Mum! Great to see you!" One of them exclaimed from the kitchen. The other went upstairs and opened a door. There was a sudden, loud shriek and Fred/George's voice could be heard quite clearly, saying, "Sorry, Ginny, I didn't know this was your room! We've been gone long, don't ya know."

Harry grinned, shaking his head as he went to find Ron.

Ginny scrambled over the bed and attempted to pull her shirt over her head from a lying down position as her brother laughed.

"C'mon, Gin, it's not like it's nothing I've ever seen before!"

"Shut UP, you perverted freak!"

"Me, perverted?" He said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I'm not the one who's dating Malfoy." Ginny finally managed to get the shirt on and she popped up, glaring angrily until she recognized what twin it was.

"George! I am not dating Malfoy."

"But you said you kissed him," George replied, the picture of sincerity. Ginny eyed him suspiciously as she made her way over to her now enlarged trunk.

"You got all that from 'Too Late'?"

"Be serious, Gin." George said. "Did you kiss him or not?"

Ginny pulled out a normal CD player (it would work, since the Burrow didn't have any wards preventing it like Hogwarts did) and slipped the headphones on. Ignoring her brother completely, she grabbed a CD from her dresser, clicked it in and went over to the window, which she opened.

It was snowing outside, so much that you could barely see three inches in front of your face. Ginny looked back at George. "Yeah, I did kiss him."

"Did you like it?"

That wasn't a question she had been expecting, but Ginny answered as best as she could. "Well…yeah." George nodded.

"We were upset when we heard it was Malfoy, Gin, and Bill and Charlie sent us letters saying you'd told them Malfoy was your friend too. When Bill said we'd better expect an engagement by fall, we sort of cracked."

"He said what!"

George continued as though he hadn't heard her. "We were fully expecting to stalk you, but then at Hogsmeade last, Hermione wandered in with Harry, and the Zabinis and Colin and Tessa. They started talking about you and we sort of listened."

"Bill said what!"

"And then Tessa said a few things about some helpful severing spells, so we almost didn't listen just out of spite, but we heard everything they said, Gin. And they had other people come in and tell us about how you and Malfoy were acting after your fight…"

Somewhere in her mind, Ginny was starting to wonder if everyone knew about the argument by now, but the only thing that escaped her lips was "Bill said what!"

George smiled at her, in what could only be described as a mushy elderly sibling I-Know-What-You're-Going-Through-And-I'm-Sure-I-Can-Make-It-Better way, and she struggled not to gag.

"We want to talk to Malfoy, but we'll wait till Bill's wedding. He also said you'd probably be bringing Malfoy as—as—as a date." He said, with obvious difficulty. "So we're seeing him too, if you two haven't split up by then." The end sounded very hopeful, but Ginny wasn't paying attention.

"George…do you know if Charlie would be willing to lend me a Hungarian Horntail's spikes for a day? Just…you know…for something."

Her brother chuckled. "Ok, Gin, you stay here and sulk. I on the other hand, am going to go write Bill a letter warning him not to accept any unmarked messages from now on."

Ginny watched him go, glowering until he was sure she was gone. In a split second, she had unearthed the thing she'd hidden quickly when George had been walking in; her brother's owl, Pigwidgeon. He was sleeping soundly, and Ginny was starting to wonder if maybe she shouldn't have slipped so much of the Sleeping Draught into his food. But she shrugged it off quickly and took a roll of parchment from her bag, using a book as a table.

She also took the liberty of turning her headphones up, so that if anyone wandered in all they would hear was the sound of music that seemed, terribly, terribly loud, as Harry did. The conversation they had went something like this:

"Ginny?"

"TELL ME THAT YOU'RE ALRIGHT!"

"Ginny, your mum wants to know if you want dinner. Ginny? Ginny!"

"YEAH EVERYTHING IS ALRIGHT!"

"GINNY! YOU CANNOT STARVE YOURSELF!"

"OH PLEASE TELL ME THAT YOU'RE ALRIGHT!"

"GINNY! I AM LEAVING NOW!"

"…I'm sorry, Harry did you say something? The song ended just now…was it terribly important?"

"…Bye, Gin."

The redhead watched him go, unfazed. For some reason, people seemed to like to stand in her room until she noticed them, and then leave with odd looks on their faces. But Ginny didn't have time for that. No! She was a girl on a mission.

"Oi, Pig, wake up." She cuffed the small owl around his head until it woke up, twittering happily and nibbling at her fingers. She struggled to tie the parchment around his leg, wondering if maybe she had done this while he was sleeping, it would have been easier. When she had finally managed to strap on the roll of parchment, she sighed happily and kneeled back on her haunches.

Pig fluttered upwards, as though he were going to leave but Ginny drew him back down. "Merlin, I know you're cute but if this goes on I'll have to kill you." She said the words as she dug into her sweatshirt's pocket (she had an obsession for sweatshirts) and pulled out a small, velvet box, big enough to hold a ring.

(A/N: Ooh, proposal…even though Draco should really be doing it, but (shrugs))

"Now, Pigwidgeon," Ginny said, trying to sound as stern as possible (which wasn't easy at all when an owl roughly larger than a Snitch was trying desperately to barrel into your face). "Pigwidgeon, take that box to Malfoy Manor. I know you know where it is, my brothers must have sent you there enough times with some pranks. After which, you can take the letter to Tessa."

She let go of him, tripping over in the process as the owl did indeed zoom past her and flew out of the window, hooting happily all the way. As Ginny sat back up, checking to make sure she hadn't crushed her headphones, a large smile made its way over her face.

"Crazy Ginny is back and absobloodylutely ready for anything!" She got up and ran to the window, leaning her head out of it as she laughed, her CD player already blaring in her ears.

"I'm on fire, and now I think I'm ready, to bust a move, checkitout I'm rockin' steady to the beat in my head that goes oh-oh-ooh-oh I know that she's the only one, I'd rather waste our time together yeah, cuz we can get down!"

Ginny's laughing fit started out slow, but soon it progressed to an uncontrollable fit. She hadn't felt happier since that day on the beach, in Italy.

Of course, this feeling ended as soon as Fred's snowball found its mark.

Christmas Day dawned bright and early for Ginny, around five in the morning.

She woke up feeling strangely heavy, and as she struggled to turn over, something bit her sharply. With a muffled 'ow!' she sat up and glared at the offending creature.

"Nice way to say Merry Christmas!" Gwinn said, giving her the evil eye. "Come on, I haven't been able to sleep for ages, let's go make these others go crazy."

"Christmas?" Ginny yawned and slipped out of her bed. Gwinn fluttered in the air for a moment before landing on her arm. "Geez, Gwinn, it's no use trying to wake up my family now, didn't you know?"

But smiling good-naturedly, Ginny made her way down the stairs. She stumbled a little groggily through the kitchen, and was about to go into the small living room when a movement just outside of the kitchen windows caught her eye. Steeping lightly, she made her way over to the kitchen door's window, and peered outside.

Everything was absolutely covered in snow. The beautiful wheelbarrow she had painted with all sorts of flowers and animals and magical creatures when she was seven was leaning against the shed, with a huge mound of snow on top of it. The yard was untouched, sprinkled with a white blanket that took her breath away. Feeling slightly awed by it all, Ginny opened the door for a better look.

A blast of icy air blew into her face, but she didn't immediately notice. Her gaze was drawn to a movement near the fringe of the trees dotting her backyard. Heart pounding, Ginny leaned out and called, "Who's there?"

A bird fluttered out from the branches, twittering angrily at her before flapping away. Ginny breathed a sigh of relief and left the door, letting it swing shut behind her. Or so she thought.

When she entered the living room, her breath was blown away once more. Mounds of Christmas gifts were piled high, under the tree, hanging from the branches, on the windowsill and seating areas; it looked like every single person who had ever missed a Christmas or felt sorry for the war they had to go through had sent them something.

Ginny leapt onto the couch, grabbed Gwinn's arms and began to swing him around (he vowed to kill her). "IT'S CHRISTMAS!" she shrieked. Several thumps upstairs assured her that she had woken up several people, and as Gwinn snaked his way to her wrist and became a bracelet once more, Fred came bouncing down the stairs, followed shortly by George.

They suffered the same reaction Ginny had (as did everyone else who came down) but soon dove into the pile as if they were five again. Ginny grinned as the rest of her family and Harry tumbled down, yawning and stopping just short of the doorway.

"Oi, Gin, open this!" Fred tossed her a brightly wrapped present, and she glared at him suspiciously before unwrapping it. Inside, a cloak of beautiful, dark material that shimmered slightly was folded. Ginny fell to her knees, captivated as she was.

"What is it?"

George grinned. "Nice cloak for you to be warm in the winter for." He and his brother dove under the piles of wrapping. George popped up. "Mum, look at what I've got!" and went down again, only to appear on the other side. "And me, Mum, me!"

Ginny started as Fred appeared next to her, eyes shining. "It's like an invisibility cloak, only different because it works at night only. We've just invented it, you'll blend into the shadows well and be able to see through other cloaks!"

Ginny started to thank him but he was gone, making sure George didn't have to keep up the act any longer than necessary. Feeling lightheaded, Ginny tore into the rest of her presents.

Tessa had sent her an outfit she swore she had a match of, a white pleated skirt with a matching shirt that showed off just enough bosom to still be called modest that came with white knee-high boots that could have been called combat boots but were too slim and had heels. A flowing, velvet blue cape also came with it, and Ginny was immediately enamored with the whole thing. After fishing a little farther into the box, she found a pair of dark blue fingerless gloves.

Colin had sent along something she was sure she would treasure for the rest of her life; a beautiful, twelve-inch quill with a phoenix feather attached to the end of it. When she wrote on a piece of paper with it, the ink would flash either red or green according to her attentions. Red when she wanted a certain person to read it (and then only that person could read it) and green when she wanted the words to be spoken aloud by a flat sounding, disembodied voice. She loved it.

Praia sent several slabs of Honeydukes milk chocolate bars, which Ginny was sure wouldn't last past January. Morgan had given her a book, Hex Your Ex. Ginny decided she'd thumb through it when she was done with the presents.

Hermione gave her a beautiful scarf that changed to whatever color and form she wanted it to. As of now she was wearing it around her neck, and it was white and made of thin, gauzy material. Harry gave her a new set of Quidditch padding, which she had needed for ages now. Ron had grudgingly handed over her present, a heavy tome filled with Defense spells that he'd found from searching a bookstore for a gift for Hermione. He forgot all about his anger, however, when Ginny rushed to hug him and told him he was the best brother ever. Then he just blushed.

Bill had sent a beanie with cat ears attached to the top that she was sure wasn't an appropriate present until she spied the tail and the whiskers. They could be attached to her body and make for a most appropriate disguise. He included in her letter that whatever outfit she was wearing would change too, and that she'd best not try it out in front of Mum and Dad. Ginny forgave him for his comments, then.

Charlie mailed a small, lithe purple wand that when waved over a body part with the picture in mind, it would spray a temporary tattoo. If waved over the hair, she could streak it with whatever color she wanted, although it left after the first wash.

Her Mum had forgone the sweater this year and given her a white sweatshirt with a pattern of green ivy and roses on it. Her Dad had given her a book filled with potions she had never heard of before. Her father only shrugged when she asked where he got it from, but she could have sworn he winked as well.

Blaise had sent a rather sullen letter explaining that, despite Carina's accusations she was not his girlfriend and he was not cheating on Tessa with Ginny. Attached to the letter was a pass to a popular spa, Mystics Of E, which she could go to any time she wanted, for however long to get whatever. And she could bring up to two friends.

Several distant family members had given her money or stuffed animals, which made her suspect they had no idea how old she was. Members of the Order, such as Tonks, had sent her little gifts that were anything Muggle, which they knew she liked as much as her father. Tonks had sent her a pack of things they called 'videos', and which Harry had promised to show her at his flat.

Thinking that that was the end of the present giving, Ginny wandered to the kitchen for a quick chance at breakfast when suddenly, something barreled through the kitchen door. Thinking quickly, Ginny jumped behind the counter just as a brown and shaggy creature rushed by her.

She heard screams from the living room and several crashes. Ron suddenly rushed into the kitchen, white as a ghost as he clung to his sister.

"Ginny, we're gonna die!"

As the redheaded girl tried to see over her brother's own red head, she patted him anxiously. "Think positive, Ronald."

"We're gonna die quickly?"

Ginny pushed him off and made her way into the living room to see what it was that was causing so much chaos, and she came face-to-face with a pair of chocolate brown eyes. Her own ocher eyes widened as a silence developed over the room.

"It's a moose!" she breathed. And indeed it was. From the great, shaggy fur covering its knobby knees and the magnificent antlers, there was no mistaking it. Ginny reached up a tentative hand and stroked its neck. The moose bellowed quietly and leaned into her hold.

"It must have come in because it was so cold outside." Mr. Weasley appeared, clutching his wand in his hand. "And it smelled some of our food. Who left the kitchen door open?"

Ginny suddenly became very interested in the moose's mane.

"Can we keep it?" Fred said, eyeing the beast with barely concealed glee. His brother was already coming up with a mental list of moose related products.

"Don't these things only stay around in places like Canada?" Hermione said.

Harry shrugged. "Maybe it was in a zoo. Who knows?"

"Well, we can't keep it." Mrs. Weasley said crossly as she magicked everything back into place. "It'll only mess the place up more."

"Oh, but Mum!" Ginny peeked out from where she had buried her face into the fur. "What if we keep it outside? Fred and George would have no protests about building it a home! And I swear I'll take seventy billions jobs and send home money to feed it!"

The twins glared at her but when Mrs. Weasley turned to face them, they were the very pictures of innocence. Sighing, their mother ran a hand through her hair. "Fine, fine. But it must stay outside!" the rest of her directions were drowned out as her children whooped and threw their arms about her.

Three hours later, Ginny was sitting on top of the moose as she watched her brothers tack up the last few boards onto a very large, house-shaped building. Inside, there was loads and loads of hay as well as a small fireplace covered by an iron grille. Ginny had insisted upon it, and seeing as Ginny was Queen Of Everydamnthing, she got it.

Ginny leaned down and stroked the moose's mane. "What am I going to call you?" she murmured. Hermione surprised her as the elder witch clambered onto the back of the moose. It was too gentle-hearted to do anything to anyone, anyways.

In her hands, she carried (you guessed it) a thick book. "I've got a book of names here, Ginny. Let's get to work."

Ginny had to stifle a smile as she turned a few pages. Hermione was ready for anything, and sometimes, it wasn't so bad.

"Is it a girl?" Hermione asked. When Ginny nodded, she flipped back a few pages. "How about 'Calantha'? It means most beautiful."

The two of them looked at the moose. She stared back, blinking steadily. "No," Ginny said. "Definitely not Calantha. How about 'Farrah'?" She snorted. "It means either beautiful one or wild ass. What an oxymoron."

When their giggles subsided, Hermione skimmed the list once more. "Dena? It means vindicated, or valley."

"Like the song?" Ginny said absently. When Hermione looked at her oddly, Ginny rolled her eyes. "For a Muggleborn, Herm, you sure don't do a lot of things Muggle."

Hermione blushed. "Well, you can't blame me for finding the Wizarding World to be much more exciting than the normal Muggle one." She randomly picked a name off the list. "Dakota. Native American name for friend and a state in the United States."

The moose suddenly shimmied to the side, and Ginny giggled. "I think she likes it. Dakota it is, then?"

Dakota fell to her side and rolled over, leaving the two girls buried in snow as she pranced into her new home, head held high. Fred and George leaned over the girls.

"Well—,"

"—It looks like you did a good job."

"Yeah, right. She seems pretty happy, though—,"

"—Or as happy as a moose can get."

"So get on with it!"

Ginny sputtered indignantly, even more so when something landed on her face. With a shriek she pried it off, and found herself staring into an owl's face. It hooted at her, and she sat up.

"Oh. Psyche!" she said, cuddling the owl closer. "I haven't seen you in ages. D'you wanna treat?" She held out the strawberry she had nicked from the kitchen before, and watched as the owl gobbled it down.

"Isn't that Malfoy's owl?" Fred said suddenly.

"And she has a gift!" George added, abruptly ashen.

Ginny reached a hand down and gently eased the parcel from Psyche's claws. "So it is. I wonder what he sent me?" She opened the simply wrapped parcel with great care, and when she opened it, her eyes went as wide as saucers.

(A/N: I originally was going to end it here, but then I thought, nah, this was gonna be a long chapter anyways.)

Nestled snugly in the package was a large wicker basket. Inside of the basket was a small, downy-feather owl with ears like a cat and white, white feathers. The edges of its wings and tails and some of its body were speckled in the lightest, powdery blue.

"Oh my." Hermione looked as though she were going to faint from excitement. "That's a Rab Owl. They're very rare, and only Wizards can see them, much less use them! They're fast, dangerous when threatened, and fiercely loyal to their owners. Gin, this owl hasn't been seen for centuries!"

Ginny took the card that was next to the little thing. It let out a hoot and nipped gently at her fingers. The card read:

To Fireball/Red/Ginevra/Ginny,

Whatever you want to be called, it's a bit confusing these days.

This is a Rab Owl (I don't doubt Granger's behind you now, shrieking over it) and it's very rare and so on. Seeing as you don't have an owl, I thought it only fair that you get her. Yes, it's a girl. She'll bond to you, though, if you're the first person to pick her up. She was born in that basket, and she spent the first two months of her life in it. She'll be able to fly as soon as she's bonded, so you'd better pick her up soon.

And…I'm sorry about the whole argument, ok?

Much apologies,

The Bad Ferret

Ginny shook her head, smiling wryly. "He has a way with words."

Hermione looked at the little owl in awe, obviously wanting to touch it. "What're you going to call it, Ginny?"

The redhead felt about for the book of names, and when she found it she flipped through it for a moment. Then she put it down, and with a somber voice said, "Hideyuki sent me a letter with a name in it, once. I really liked it then, and I still do now."

She reached into the basket, and picked up the Rab Owl. It fluttered for a moment, and they locked eyes. A soft breeze blew up around them, and literal sparks emanated from the owl's tiny body as she spread her wings.

"Your name is Sorano. It means 'of the sky', and I hope you carry it well." She lifted her arms, and the newly christened Sorano flew up into the air, spreading her wings and releasing a shrill cry.

"You know," Fred whispered to George and Hermione. "Maybe Malfoy could help. I mean, the guy can give gifts, and have you ever seen Gin so forgiving?"

George nodded. "Maybe he could give us a few pointers. For the future, just in case, you know?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, but the large smile stayed on her face.

Is it good? Bad? Oh-My-God-Kill-Me bad? Guess what! D/G action in the next chapter!