A/N – Welcome to the beginning of my festive stories. To start off with, I'm posting this multi-chapter story. The story has 8 chapters and the first three will be published today, tomorrow and Friday and then the final five next week Monday to Friday. Just a quick note to say that this story probably isn't for Ginny fans as she's not portrayed in a very good light in this story. I hope you enjoy my first festive offering of the year.


A week before the Christmas holidays, Ginny Weasley accompanied the Head Girl, Hermione Granger, back to the head dorms as the older witch had agreed to help her with a Transfiguration project that she was struggling to get her head around. However, homework wasn't on Ginny's mind at all and all she wanted to talk about was Christmas. It would be Ginny's first Christmas with her boyfriend, Harry Potter, and she couldn't wait to celebrate. In fact she'd already decided that Harry's present would be for them to take the next step and sleep together, all she had to do now was arrange for them to have some private time at her family's house over the holidays.

"Honestly Ginny, you're like a kid in a sweet shop," Hermione complained. "I don't know why you're so excited. This is hardly your first ever Christmas."

"But it's my first Christmas with Harry," Ginny pointed out.

"You've spent nearly every Christmas together since Harry started Hogwarts," Hermione argued. "Harry's like an extension of the Weasley family."

"Yes, but this is our first Christmas as a couple," Ginny replied. "You'll understand when you have your own boyfriend. The first Christmas is a special occasion."

"So I've been told," Hermione said to herself. "But enough about Christmas, let's get on with this homework of yours."

"But it's so boring," Ginny wailed dramatically. "Let's stay in the festive spirit. Have you bought your presents yet?"

"I have," Hermione replied. "They're upstairs in bags in my room, just waiting for them to be wrapped. Don't worry, by the time you go home for the holidays, I'll have a bag of present to go back to The Burrow with you."

"You really should come with us, Hermione," Ginny urged. "I mean, why would you want to stay at school all holidays?"

"My parents are going away for the holidays and since it's my final year I want to focus on my exams, so staying at school is the best option," Hermione answered. She'd already explained her decision to stay at school to her friends on multiple occasions, but they kept trying to convince her to go home with them for the Christmas break.

"But it'll be so boring on your own," Ginny pouted. "Everyone else will be at ours. Luna's coming at some point to spend some time with Ron."

"All the more reason for me to stay at school then," Hermione replied with a shrug. "I'd only be a spare part with you and Harry all loved up and Ron and Luna lost in each other. Besides, I'm looking forward to a nice peaceful holiday."

"But won't you get lonely?" Ginny pressed. "You won't have anyone to talk to?"

"Not everyone will be going home," Hermione replied with a shrug. "And actually as it happens, Malfoy is staying so I won't even have the head dorms to myself."

"Malfoy's staying at school?" Ginny asked in surprise. "That'll be a first. Why is he staying?"

"I haven't asked," Hermione answered.

"You know Hermione, you really should take more interest in your fellow head," Ginny scolded. "Especially when he's as hot as Malfoy. Do you know how envious the girls of Hogwarts are of you? You get to live with the Slytherin Sex God himself?"

"The Slytherin Sex God?" Hermione questioned with a laugh at the absurd nickname. "Please say no-one really calls him that."

"I have heard a few rumours," Ginny confided with a wicked grin.

"What sort of rumours?" Hermione asked curiously. She wasn't usually one to indulge in gossip about other people, but she had to admit that Ginny had aroused her curiosity about the Head Boy and his reputation.

Sadly, before Ginny could pass the gossip she'd heard onto Hermione, an origami bird flew into the room. Recognising the bird as being from the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, Hermione grabbed the bird and unfurled it. It was just a quick note, asking for either one of the head students to go to his office as soon as possible, but it was enough to put an end to Hermione and Ginny's conversation.

"I should go," Hermione said as she got to her feet. "If you still want me to help you with your homework, you can stick around. Maybe you could even try and get started."

"I'll do my best," Ginny vowed.

"I don't know how long I'll be though," Hermione warned. "Dumbledore does have a tendency to waffle on."

"There's no rush, I've got all afternoon," Ginny replied with a smile as she got her books from her bag and began to spread them over the table. "You go and do your duties, I'll try and do what I can of my Transfiguration work."

Ginny waited until Hermione had left the head dorms, before she turned away from her books and got to her feet. By the time Hermione returned, she would be sitting doing her homework like a good little Gryffindor, but before that she wasn't going to miss out on the opportunity to nose around the head dorms. Usually when she was in the head dorms, Hermione was with her, so she'd never had an opportunity to really poke around.

Unfortunately for Ginny the actual common room held no secrets. The most interesting part of the room was the little kitchen alcove, but it wasn't as if she'd never been in that part of the dorms either. Hopefully something of more interest would await her upstairs, where the two bedrooms and the bathroom was located.

Ginny had been in the bathroom before, so she decided to start with the bedrooms. However, the first door she tried was locked. Hoping the second room wasn't locked, Ginny tried the door opposite the locked door and was relieved to find the door swung open. Immediately Ginny could tell she was in Hermione's room as the bed covers were Gryffindor red and gold, and the room was as neat as a pin. There wasn't a thing out of place, and if Ginny didn't know that Hermione lived in the room, she would have sworn it was unused and merely ready for the Head Girl to move in.

"Such a neat freak," Ginny whispered to herself as she ventured into the room and began to poke around in cupboards and drawers.

Just as Ginny was going to check out the contents of Hermione's wardrobe, she spotted two large Christmas bags hidden down beside the wardrobe. Remembering what Hermione said about having her present in bags in her room, Ginny pulled the bags out from their hidey-hole. She knew she shouldn't really be looking at what Hermione had bought for people, but Ginny just couldn't resist. She hadn't actually done her shopping yet, and this way she could ensure that her gifts weren't the same as any Hermione had bought. Plus she could check out what Hermione had gotten for her so she could decide how much to spend on Hermione's gift. After all, she didn't want to spend too much on Hermione if her friend had only bought her something small.

Banishing the small voice in her head that she was doing the wrong thing, Ginny delved into the bags. The first thing she pulled out was a small deep purple box, which looked like a jewellery box. Opening the box up, she found a beautifully intricate unicorn necklace sitting on soft light purple velvet. The delicate unicorn was made from a clear stone, on what Ginny was sure was a real gold chain. A sticker in the lid of the box revealed the unicorn was a mood stone, which changed colour depending on the wearer's mood.

"Gorgeous," Ginny whispered, putting the box to one side. By process of elimination the necklace either had to be for her or Luna, as Hermione didn't buy for any other witches and she knew she'd already sent her parents presents home so they would get them before they went on holiday.

Hoping to work out who the necklace was for by her other presents, Ginny pulled out the next gift. The next box contained a bottle of expensive perfume. Ginny had seen the perfume advertised in magazines, and she knew it was aimed at witches older than either her or Luna, which was when she remembered that Hermione always bought Molly and Arthur a little gift. That meant the perfume was for Molly, although Hermione had never bought her something as expensive before.

Curious about Hermione's expensive presents, Ginny pulled out the next gift and found an equally expensive bottle of fire-whisky, which Ginny deduced was for Arthur. Like the perfume it was high end, and much more expensive than anything else Hermione had bought for Arthur over the years. It looked like Hermione had gone to a lot of effort this year, and Ginny made a mental note to make sure she got her friend something extra special.

Underneath the necklace, perfume and fire-whisky, Ginny found two large Honeydukes boxes. Since they were both the same, she only looked at one, but she found they contained a massive selection of the sweet shop's most popular sweets. The presence of two identical presents meant they had to be for Ginny's twin brothers, Fred and George. Hermione was still very friendly with both twins and always bought them a present. However, sweets was an unusual present as everyone knew the one with the sweet tooth in the Weasley family was Ron.

Shrugging her shoulders at the bizarre nature of Hermione's gifts to Fred and George, Ginny carefully repacked the first bag and turned to the second one. The first thing Ginny lifted from the bag was packaged in the garish orange of the Chudley Cannons, which could only mean it was for Ron. Since the package was already sealed, Ginny turned it over and found the sticker on the back revealing that inside was a replica jersey of the Cannons from back in their heyday, when they weren't stuck at the bottom of the league. Ginny knew for a fact that replica jerseys cost a fortune, especially ones from the past, and she couldn't believe Hermione had spent so much money on Ron.

Wondering what sort of present Harry was getting if Ron was getting such an expensive jersey, Ginny delved back into the bag. What she pulled out was a box from an expensive tailor. Lifting the lid, she found a deep blue shirt nestled in white tissue paper. Just looking at the shirt you could tell it was expensive, and Ginny gently caressed the soft material.

"Harry will look gorgeous in this," she whispered, wishing she'd had the means to buy something as nice for her boyfriend. However, buying an expensive shirt like this was out of the question for Ginny, she just couldn't afford it.

Placing the lid back on the box, she put it to one side and pulled out the last present in the bag. The last present was also in a box, and blazoned across the box was the logo for the fanciest, trendiest clothes shop in Wizarding Britain. Ginny had never set foot inside the shop, which had recently opened a branch in Hogsmeade, as even the tiniest accessories like belts cost far more than she could afford. However, Hermione had somehow afforded to buy a present in the shop, and Ginny was hoping it was for her. The necklace had been lovely, but she was already deciding that unicorns were more Luna's thing so that meant the necklace must be hers.

With a sense of anticipation, Ginny eased off the lid of the box. Inside the box she found the most gorgeous, pale lavender cashmere sweater. Ginny ran her fingers over the silky soft wool and giggled slightly at how amazing she would look in the sweater. It really was the best present, Hermione could have ever bought her and Ginny silently vowed to make sure she got something special for Hermione. Of course, she couldn't spend the amount of money Hermione had clearly spent on her presents, but she could still get something really nice and really thoughtful. After all, Hermione deserved a nice present in return for the amazing gifts she'd bought for her friends.

After packaging everything back into the bags, Ginny slipped them back when she'd found them and left Hermione's room. Heading back to the common room, she reluctantly sat down and tried to focus on her homework. That was where Hermione found her when she returned to the head dorms half an hour later. Ginny was absorbed in her work, so Hermione had no idea that the red-headed girl had been poking about in her bedroom and found the two large bags of presents beside the wardrobe. And she had no idea that as she was helping Ginny with her work that Ginny was secretly thinking about what a wonderful friend Hermione was, and how lucky they all were to have such a generous friend. Now Ginny had even more reason to look forward to Christmas, as she knew the gifts they would be receiving from Hermione would be something special.