Chapter 3


"I don't know how I'll ever fit into my work uniform again," Ginny said, stretching her arms above her head.

Hermione, sitting across from her, snorted. "Not that there's much to it," she said quietly. At the moment, Ginny was a waitress at a small café and as Hermione had pointed out, the skirts were very short.

Ginny threw her a dirty look. Everyone else was talking, and finishing dinner, so no one else had heard Hermione.

Ron glanced at an empty seat next to Ginny. There was a plate and set of silverware and a glass all sitting there unused. Ron sighed, it must have been too good to be true. He had felt extremely elated when Hermione had come bursting into his office the other day, positively beaming, telling him that Harry was going to come for Christmas dinner. But it was now long passed his scheduled arrival of four o'clock and he had not shown up. Hermione followed his gaze to the empty seat and rubbed his back.

"Perhaps he got held up with something," she said quietly.

Ginny laughed derisively but said nothing as Hermione threw her a dark look. Ron shrugged Hermione off. "No, I think Ginny's right. He wasn't going to show up." He didn't sound angry, merely disappointed. The three of them fell silent again.

Molly stood up. "Is everyone finished? Should we bring out the dessert?" she asked the group.

Fred looked down at the seat next to Ginny. "But what about-"

Everyone turned to look down at her end of the table, and Ginny felt like she'd just consumed a dinner of lead rather than turkey and mashed potatoes.

Arthur cleared his throat. "How about we leave everything on the table for now? We can have dessert when we open our presents," he said decisively and Molly sat down again as she smiled at her husband.

Ginny wanted to yell at him. She wanted to scream that no matter what Harry told everyone, he wasn't coming back. But she didn't because she knew realistically, she was just as hopeful as the rest of them that he would show up.

A sort of tense silence fell over the table for a moment when suddenly, they heard a crack outside. Hermione was halfway in the process of pouring herself more water and she froze. If Ginny had found the silence thick a second ago, it had now seemed to have solidified even more. There seemed to be a collective holding of breath and the only sound was of little Alice who was still eating mashed potatoes and giggling.

A minute later, the front door opened slowly and Harry poked his head around the door. He felt his heart beat increase as he caught sight of the table. Every single person sitting there was staring at the door and consequently at him. He swallowed and stepped inside. He suddenly got a flashback to Christmas in his sixth year, when Percy had returned for a rather unsuccessful family visit. He hoped with all his might he wouldn't receive the same treatment. Percy was blood and he'd been driven from the house by his own brothers, what would they do to Harry?

Harry set the bags he had brought with him down on the floor and stood there, not really knowing what to do with himself. No one from the table had moved yet and it made him uneasy.

Then the little girl, with silvery blonde hair slid from her chair and walked up to Harry. "Hello," she said simply, her spoon from her mashed potatoes still in one hand as she extended her other hand out to Harry.

Harry, confused nonetheless, squatted down to her level and took her small hand and shook it gently. She smiled and toddled back to her seat. Harry heard the scraping of chairs so he straightened back up. He was immediately engulfed in a hug, rendering him breathless.

Ron had stood up from the table so quickly, his chair was almost sent flying across the room. He folded Harry into his arms and hugged him tightly.

Harry was slightly taken aback but he hugged Ron back and it felt like a large weight had been lifted from his shoulders. If he had Ron on his side, that's all he really needed. When Ron let go, Harry had no time to say a thing before Hermione threw herself at him, her brown hair obscuring his vision. He smiled as he inhaled her scent of lavender and he could feel her smiling against his shoulder. As she pulled away, Harry let out a sigh of relief as he turned to greet the others.

Harry felt slightly awkward as he saw tears in Mrs. Weasley's eyes and he looked away not wanting to embarrass her. But her voice didn't shake as she clicked her tongue at him. "Don't you know how to feed yourself by now my dear? Look at the state of you! Here, sit down and have something to eat," she steered him into the empty seat and piled his plate high with turkey and mashed potatoes and stuffing.

Before he sat down, Harry smiled at Ginny as he pulled her into a hug. She hugged him back and whispered in his ear, "I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up." They both sat down.

"To tell you the truth, so did I," he said quietly, looking down at his full plate, ashamed.

"Well I'm glad you did," she said, turning back to her own plate, a meaningless gesture, seeing that it was empty, but she wanted to make sure she had no tears in her eyes.


"Oh Harry! This is too much! Wherever did you find it?" Hermione squealed as she tried on her new coat, twirling around the room.

Harry smiled as Ron turned to him. "Yeah, thanks mate. You've just one upped her boyfriend's present," he said, sounding pitiful.

Harry laughed and Hermione turned to Ron. "Oh don't be silly. Your taste in perfume and jewelry has improved greatly," she said, kissing his cheek.

"Ginny, this bear is wonderful. Already she won't let go of it," Bill said from the other side of the room. Ginny was sitting near the massive tree, sending wrapped packages to their rightful owners.

"Yes well, we had to fight off a gazillion people for that bear. It was the last one. I almost had to resort to making it invisible or something," she said cheerfully.

At the mention of the bear, Harry felt his stomach tighten. Jeff had found the bear. He wanted to ask her why Jeff wasn't here, but decided he didn't really want to know, that he was happy with the fact that he wasn't.

"I didn't tell you, I ran into Ginny while I was Christmas shopping," Harry said, his voice sounding slightly strained, though he thought perhaps it was just his imagination.

Molly turned to her daughter. "You didn't tell us that, Ginny!" she said, sounding slightly reproachful.

Ginny looked back at her mother. "Well, I um-" she was at a loss for words. How was she supposed to tell the entire room that she hadn't told anyone because she didn't want to get their hopes up in case he didn't show up? She glanced at Harry briefly, as if looking for inspiration.

"I think Ginny was afraid that I might not show up today, and didn't want any of you getting any false hopes," he said slowly, locking eyes with her. Ginny stayed silent, it was as if he'd read her mind.

Molly gave her daughter an accusing look. "Well thank you very much for this hatbox, Harry, it's lovely. And you're such a clever boy for thinking of charming it to make it larger on the inside," she added sweetly.

Ginny occupied herself with searching for more presents under the tree as she rolled her eyes at her mother's comment.


Fleur yawned. Alice was already asleep in her lap, her arm holding tightly to the bear Ginny had given her. Bill looked at his wife.

"Well, I think I should get these two up to bed," he said, sounding fairly tired himself. He picked up Alice easily and her head rested gently on his shoulder.

" 'appy Christmas," Fleur said sleepily as she followed Bill up the stairs.

Fred turned to Harry. "So are you staying the night, Harry?" he asked as he finished the eggnog he'd been drinking.

Before Harry could answer, Molly interjected. "Of course he's staying!" she said, "We already have a bed for him in Ron's room."

They suddenly heard a soft snore from the corner and they all looked over to see Mr. Weasley asleep in his chair. Molly smiled as she walked over to him, gently placing a hand over one of his. "Arthur," she said softly, "Time for bed. Come on now."

Arthur opened his eyes and looked around. "I'm sorry everybody, looks as though I'm more tired than I thought." He stood up. He extended a hand to Harry, who jumped up almost immediately. He shook Harry's hand. "It's good to see you again, Harry," he said, thinking better of the shake and pulling him into a hug.

Ginny stood up and kissed her father on the cheek. "Night, Dad," she said softly. He laid a hand on her head and smiled at her. He bade his other children good night and started up the stairs.

Molly soon followed after giving hugs all around, lingering longer in her hug to Harry. "There's a bed all set up for you. You're welcome to stay as long as you'd like. Most of this lot will be here for a few more days, so it won't be too boring. Oh it's so good to see you!" she said, pulling him close to her again.

"It's good to be back, Mrs. Weasley," he replied breathily as she held him tightly.

The only people left in the living room now were the twins, Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny. Charlie had gone to bed early, seeing as he was waking up at six to apparate back to Romania.

They sat around the fireplace in a comfortable silence. Hermione, still wearing her new coat even though it was extremely warm in the room, was sitting snuggled next to Ron on the couch. Fred and George flanked the two sides of the fireplace, both stretched out their long legs in front of them with their backs up against the brick. Ginny was still sitting on the floor next to the tree, reading a new book she'd received and Harry was sitting in a large armchair merely drinking in the Burrow.

He hadn't realized how familiar it felt to him. He probably knew it just as well as any member of the Weasley family, having spent many years of his life inside its walls. Ginny was right, he was as good as family and sitting there amongst them, he knew it was true.

Harry glanced surreptitiously at Ginny. While he felt nothing but a brotherly love for any of the Weasley boys and rather like a son to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, he knew his feelings for Ginny were anything but familial. He sighed inwardly as he knew they could never be what they once were, that even though she had received him with open arms like everyone else, that she couldn't feel the same as they did. Indeed, her belief that he might not return was proof enough of that. But Harry couldn't blame her. If he had been in the same situation, he probably would have behaved in exactly the same fashion.

Ginny stopped reading the sentence in her book as she felt a pair of eyes on her. She thought she had a pretty good idea of who it was and wasn't prepared to look directly into those green eyes again.

Fred spoke suddenly, to Ginny's secret relief. "So how long are you staying, Harry?"

Harry tore his gaze away from Ginny. "Oh, well, I hadn't really thought about it yet. How long are all of you going to be here?" He turned to look at Ron and Hermione.

Hermione shrugged. "Well, it's easy enough to get to the Ministry from here, and it's nice to be back here, so Ron and I'll be here for the rest of the week. Well, I think, was that your plan?" she asked, looking up at Ron. Ron nodded.

"Wait a minute, you two are living together and your mum won't let you sleep in the same room? Isn't that being a bit naïve?" Harry pointed out, watching the two of them.

Ginny finally allowed herself to look up as she giggled. Ron suddenly turned an appropriate shade of crimson. "Well, we actually aren't living together," he said, sounding embarrassed.

Hermione hit his shoulder lightly. "It's nothing to be embarrassed of Ron! Lots of couples don't live together. Besides, I've never heard you complain," she added, smiling a little.

Ron grumbled as the others laughed. He sank further into the couch. "Well, its better than Ginny over here," he said grumpily.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Ginny asked, her head whipping around to look up at him. Hermione rolled her eyes as Fred and George laughed even louder.

"Oh shut up you two, you'll wake up the whole house," Ginny snapped, slamming her book shut and getting to her feet. Ron stood up too and Hermione followed, if intervention was needed. "Now, what were you saying, Ronald?" Ginny asked, facing her brother head on, not seeming in the least bit intimidated by the fact that he was a head taller than she was.

"You know what I mean, Gin. Don't you think you're moving a bit fast? You moved in with this guy after a week! And what about the others before him? Come on, Ginny, I'm just trying to look out for you."

"And we all know what a brilliant job of that you've done so far. Don't be such a prude, its not a convincing act," Ginny said quietly, she could feel Harry watching her again and she wasn't particularly pleased that Ron had just revealed such a personal bit of information.

"It's better than being a whore!" Ron said heatedly. The words echoed through the front room loudly as everyone fell silent.

Ginny's eyes widened in shock. Everyone was now looking at Ron, whose ears now matched his red face, but he bit his lip nervously. George's mouth fell open in shock. Apparently everyone in the room seemed to know that that comment was way below the belt.

For a moment, Ginny was too stunned to say anything. She merely stood there, still glaring at Ron. Hermione went to move closer to her, probably to hug her, tell her that he didn't mean it but Ginny backed away. She took a deep breath, as if she was trying to calm herself.

"I am nobody's whore," she said to the room at large, finally. She didn't shout it, but her tone was signal enough that it was now the end of the discussion. Then she turned quickly and ran up the stairs.

"Ginny!" Hermione said, but knew it was no use. They heard the door upstairs slam shut.

George and Fred now stood too. "Nice going, Ron. Way to end the evening," George said. "I'm going to bed." He kissed Hermione on the cheek and went to shake Harry's hand. "Merry Christmas," he said much more solemnly than usual, and then he left as well.

Fred shifted from foot to foot, he was in no position to discipline Ron, after all, but he really should have held his tongue. The four of them left in the room were all standing and another awkward silence set in.

Ron scowled as he threw himself back onto the sofa. "She didn't have to react like that," he said, although the tone in his voice didn't sound thoroughly convinced.

Hermione turned to look at him, her face angry. "You called her a whore, Ronald. How would you feel?"

"Well someone needed to get through to her. Come on Hermione, you said it yourself that you were worried about her. I mean, the last time she had a stable relationship was-"

"A while ago, yes, thank you Ron, we're all aware of that," Fred interjected, afraid of what he might have said.

Uncontrollably, Harry felt his face grow hot and he sat down in his chair again. He had a feeling he knew exactly what Ron had been about to say. Hermione glanced at him surreptitiously.

"I think I'm going to turn in as well. See you lot in the morning," Fred said.

"I'm going to check on Ginny," Hermione announced. She gave Ron a significant look as she started to walk away. "It's wonderful to see you, Harry."

Harry stood up again and gave her a hug before she started up the stairs.

Harry felt guilty, but he knew that he was burning with curiosity. Ginny had looked so happy with Jeff, that he found it highly unlikely that she had been so unhappy, and he had to know.

"Um, Ron, what-uh-what were you talking about? I mean, Hermione always said Ginny was doing rather well in all her letters. Is she-um-she's ok, right?" he managed to stutter at his best friend.

Ron sighed. "I don't know. I suppose I was being a bit of a prat just now. It's really Hermione that talks to her. She doesn't tell me much, I usually just get the short version from Mione," he said, giving Harry a knowing look.

Harry nodded and the two of them fell silent again.


Ginny slammed the door much louder than she had intended to. She moved towards her bed quickly but yelped as her foot came into contact with something rather solid. She sat down on the bed, then looked down at a large trunk sitting there on the floor. There was a note sitting on top of it.

"Hi love, I was looking around in the attic and found this up there. Thought you might want to look through it. –Mum."

Ginny read the note, and looked back down at the trunk and scowled. It was her Hogwarts trunk.

She sat there staring at it for several moments, debating whether or not to just ignore it or to open it up. The last time she'd even seen it was about three and a half years ago.

Biting her lip, she slid the trunk closer to her and dusted the lid off. Then, slowly, she opened it and was greeted by an overwhelming amount of dust and the smell of yellowing parchment and probably some leftover ingredients from potions classes. Although the inside of the trunk was a complete mess, with old quills and papers and odd clothing items all thrown in together, the first things to catch her eye were the photographs sitting on the top.

Ginny gazed down at them, arrested in movement and stared. Some were moving photographs and others were stills. Some of them were so old, she marveled at her twelve year old self. Some were more recent, even a few she recognized as taking after Hogwarts. Without being able to help herself, she fished them out of the trunk and spread them out over the bed.

Ginny felt a familiar prickling at the back of her eyes as she flipped through them. She had always been fascinated by pictures. She had commandeered her older brother's camera after he'd gone off to Romania and decided he couldn't bring it. She had also discovered the wonders of still photographs when Dean had given her a camera with film that Muggles used. She almost liked that better. With still pictures, you captured a moment and it stayed that way forever. Wizarding photographs left too much up to the picture. She remembered all too well watching Percy's little photo self stalking out of the family portrait. They weren't certain. She couldn't depend on them. But a still picture, it didn't matter what happened as time passed, the photo would remain the same, the people in it still as happy as they were the day it was taken. It was a comforting thought.

She paused at a picture she had taken of Harry in his fifth year. He had been sitting in the common room studying for his OWLs, his look intense and focused and she'd secretly snapped his picture.

There was another of Ron on his broom, waving to someone at a Quidditch game, most likely Hermione. More pictures of her with her other classmates, of her with Hermione or her family. And then she found it. A small yellowing envelope was sitting under a stack of pictures and Ginny held her breath as she pulled it out carefully. On the front of the envelope were the words, "Gin's Special Pictures," and there was a large smiley face drawn next to it.

Slowly, she slid out the stack of photos. She felt her hands trembling slightly and almost laughed out loud at how foolish she was being. The first picture on the top was of her and Harry and Ron and Hermione. They were standing outside the Burrow. Their smiles would have been slightly wider, she remembered if her father hadn't taken so long marveling at the muggle camera and just taken the picture. But their slightly worn expressions added to the character of the picture. Harry had his arm tentatively around Ginny's waist as Ron had his hands on Hermione's shoulders, seeing as he was standing behind them, towering over them all.

The next picture was of Harry on his birthday. He was wearing a paper crown on his head and grinning, his green eyes twinkling as an unidentified pair of lips kissed his cheek. Ginny knew they were hers. She'd taken that picture too.

Next was a picture of Ginny and Harry sprawled on the grass somewhere. He was leaned over her, kissing the bridge of her nose where she had been complaining about the small splash of freckles there. Hermione had taken it, Ginny remembered. Ginny actually touched the spot that Harry was kissing in the picture. "Well, I think they're adorable. And I think I should kiss every single one of them," he'd said. His voice was warm. Ginny shivered as she could almost feel his breath ghosting over her face now.

The photo following that made Ginny blush and she hoped her mother hadn't gone through all these pictures. It was a picture of Ginny lying in bed wrapped in sheets blowing a kiss at the photographer, obviously Harry. Ginny turned the picture over and in her own handwriting was written, "two year anniversary." Slightly below that in Harry's small, untidy scrawl there was, "And mind you, we never left our room!" She put the photo down as she felt something tighten in her chest. Another they were kissing heavily on their unmade bed. Harry had insisted on taking a wizarding photo and Ginny watched as her small self kissed Harry fiercely, their hands tangled in each other's hair. They would break apart at points and smile intimately at each other and Ginny wondered what it would be like to sit in a photo and be caught in that one moment of ecstasy for eternity.

There was another of her and Harry from that weekend, Harry had taken a picture of her while she was sleeping. The next night Ginny had done the same thing. They had taped the two pictures together and it looked as though it was one large picture of the two of them.

There were a few more of Ron and Hermione as well but Ginny kept looking at the pictures of her and Harry. She studied his face, his expressions, wondering what she may have missed the first time around. Perhaps she felt the longer she looked at the photos, she'd figure out the reason he had gone away.

But in every photo, his green eyes twinkled, his face was lit up and he looked as happy as she had remembered him being. She knew why all these photos were placed on the top of the trunk. After he had gone, Ginny threw out everything that might have reminded her of him. Hermione must have (and Ginny'd had a hunch which was now confirmed) gone through and taken everything, putting them safely away in Ginny's trunk for wishful thinking. As she sat there, she couldn't quite put a finger on how she felt about seeing them again, much the same sort of feeling she was getting about seeing Harry again. It was all too confusing to try and think about now. Ginny looked up as she heard a tentative knock at the door.

"Ginny, can I come in?" she heard Hermione's voice ask. Ginny hurriedly scooped up the pictures and threw them unceremoniously in the trunk which she shoved under her bed.

"Come in," Ginny said, trying to sound more cheerful than she felt as she brushed her dark hair out of her eyes.


A/N: Thank you to my lovely reviewers. I 3 you all! This chapter is amazingly long for me. But I couldn't find a good place to end it, so you get a longer chapter. Woot. hope you like it!