Author's Note: Hello everyone! Let me just say that I'm sorry I took so long... I had this project on Marlon Brando... enough said. Anyways I hope you like this chapter, and I have the next little while off from school, I'm supposed to study for exams but... I'll make sure I get a chapter or two done as well.

Gabby :)

-Green Velvet and Crimson Blood-

"What a stupid, horrible gift! I mean honestly, he can't expect me to wear that!" whispered Ginny to herself as she paced her bedroom floor. It was four o'clock and Ginny had spent the last hour in her room mortified by her Christmas gift from Dean.

"Who would wear such a thing?" she questioned to herself as she plopped herself down on her bed. She sat there with a look of disgust at the necklace in her hand – a pink bunny charm with the words "Some-bunny Loves You!" written in gold on it's stomach – Ginny felt her own stomach turn.

What kind of a girl does he think I am?

Ginny snorted and tossed the necklace onto her nightstand, and just as she did, she caught a glimpse of something green. Ginny's heart skipped a beat as she recognized what it was, and she leaned over and slowly pulled the diary out from under a mountain of holiday wrap.

How could she have forgotten about this? Harry's gift to her… a beautiful velvet diary, plush green… soft and smooth with her name spelt in gold letters on the front…

She gently rubbed her hands on the soft material and stared at the green velvet as though she were staring into his eyes… and then she opened the diary to the first page, and saw some thing she hadn't seen the night before…

Merry Christmas Ginny!

Love, Harry

… it was sweet…

… it was simple…

… it was some thing you'd expect to see written in a Christmas gift, but for some reason the L-word got to her.

She was sure that Harry hadn't meant anything by it. Of course not, he was just being nice… everyone writes "Love so-and-so" on gift tags, don't they? Only this was the first time that she had gotten a "Love Harry" gift tag.

Usually it was "Your Friend Harry" or "Your Annoying Quidditch Captain (Whom I Know You Make Fun Of Behind My Back) Harry" - but never, ever "love" before.

Ginny shook her head, and smiled softly to herself, for now she knew she was over analyzing. She let go of a deep sigh and gently crawled onto the bed, and fell into the memory of two hours earlier…

… they had been outside, all of them, playing a seemingly never ending snowball fight and her and Harry had been on opposite teams…

… her team was winning, the score was way, way up and Harry, Ron, Fred, George and Charlie knew that they had no chance of winning. She remembered peering around the oak tree that she was pressed against. She could still see in her minds eye the image of Harry getting ready to throw a snow ball at her, trying to get his aim around the trunk…

… he smiled at her, no not smiled… grinned a devilish grin just before he had come charging towards her in an attempt to run around the tree…

… he had run forward, gotten around the tree and had grabbed onto her robes when he had slipped on a patch of ice and bought the both of them crashing down to the ground…

Ginny blushed as she remembered how he had tried to save her from falling down, and how she had come crashing down on top of him, face to face… they had started to laugh and laugh as the lay there, her on top of him… and it was only after three blissful minutes that Ginny had finally climbed off of Harry and had helped him to his feet.

Ginny sighed again. She felt like she was beaming on the inside and had the greatest desire to express it to someone, but unfortunately Hermione had still not returned from her mother's house.

It was odd… she had left before noon, and she was supposed to have come back for Ron… it was strange. With four hours past and no word from Hermione, Ginny knew that Ron was downstairs in the kitchen at this very moment, talking with mum and dad, trying to clam down his nerves.

She had heard him before, about an hour ago when he had realized that Hermione still wasn't back, and his reaction had not been a good one:

"What if her mum is really mad? I mean, what if they're yelling at her right now, forbidding her to marry me? I'll forever be known as the evil boy who stole their daughter away…"

Ginny knew that her parents were trying their best to assure Ron that every thing was fine, but as the minutes continued to past, every one was beginning to worry.

Ginny paused and listened to the sounds around her. She could hear her mother's worried voice from down stairs and concluded that Hermione was still not back, yet decided that she should probably offer her support to Ron.

Ginny slowly got off her bed and headed down stairs.

"I'm sure everything is fine, Ron," reassured Molly Weasley just as Ginny walked into the kitchen. Molly, Arthur, and Ron were seated at the kitchen table as the fire from the stove roared in the back and lit up the room.

Ginny weakly smiled to Ron when she walked in. He was slouched in his seat and perked up at the sound of her entering the room; he glanced at her and then returned to staring down at the table.

Ginny walked over to her mother, "She's still not home?" Ginny already knew the answer, but Molly shook her head anyways.

Ginny sighed and began to walk over to the fridge for a glass of milk when she saw something flash outside. Ginny paused and glared outside the window. It was quickly becoming dark outside but she could make out the outline of three people, with wands in there hands…

"Dad - there are wizards outside!" called Ginny hurriedly to her father. Arthur got up from his seat quickly and pulled his wand out of his pocket and headed over to the door.

There were a few sharp thuds at the door, and Ginny looked over at the table and saw that her mother and Ron had also sprung up. Arthur called through the door, "Identify your self!"

"Arthur – it's me, Remus! Open the door quick, I have Hermione with me!"

Arthur opened the door to reveal Remus and Tonks in ripped clothing, holding up an unconscious Hermione in between them.

Molly let out a sharp cry which was heard throughout the house and Ron ran forward and grabbed Hermione from the two weak-looking aurors.

There was an explosion of commotion as Ron picked up Hermione in his arms and carried her into the living room. Arthur and Molly helped Remus and Tonks inside and locked the doors with spells as the rest of the Weasley family came charging down the stairs.

Fleur let out her own sharp cry and grabbed close to Bill when she saw Hermione lying in ripped, blood soaked clothing on the couch, and Harry ran forward and stood behind Ron who was kneeling down on the ground.

Everyone stared and began to whisper as they were trying to figure out what had just happen, when Molly and Tonks walked into the living room.

"Mum, what happened?" asked Fred as he stared over at Tonks who was holding onto Molly for support. Molly didn't answer her son, but instead led Tonks over to sit down on one of the big chairs as everyone slowly moved out of the way.

Tonks had a hard time sitting down. Her body looked sore and aching and she had thick lines of semi-dry crimson blood running down her left cheek from her hair line.

"Fred – George – I need you both to get me two big bowls of hot water. Ginny dear, please go up stairs and grab me some face towels."

Ginny nodded and ran up the stairs as Fred and George headed into the kitchen.

"What on earth iz goin' on?" asked Fleur from the comfort of Bill's embrace.

Tonks opened her eyes and opened her mouth to speak just as Remus and Arthur walked into the room.

"I've sent a message to Dumbledore, he'll be here shortly." called Remus across the room to Tonks. Everyone's gaze quickly bounced from Remus to Tonks and back to Remus and they all waited for an explanation, but Ron was the first to speak,

"What happened?" he asked firmly, trying to keep his voice even and the tears from falling down his cheeks. His gaze stayed on Hermione and her hand that was in his, but everyone else was staring at the back of Ron's head.

Remus took a breath and stepped forward. He bent down and placed his hand on Ron's shoulder, "She'll be okay. She's just got hit really hard over the head while trying to run away from a death eater."

Ginny and the twins came into the room justas everyone else let out a gasp of shock, but Remus continued on, "Dumbledore set us to protect Hermione's parents… he had heard that Lucius Malfoy may have been trying to use the Granger's as bait to catch Hermione, and hopefully Harry too…"

"What would Lucius want with Hermione?" asked Molly innocently.

Ron and Remus looked over at Mrs. Weasley. Ron contemplated whether or not he should tell her the truth, but he figured it was the best thing to do,

"Hermione's the reason Draco Malfoy got sent to Azkaban," began Ron and the room became silent once more. "Well Hermione's not the reason why… it's a long story mum…"

Molly's eyes were wide, "You mean to tell me that that Malfoy boy used an unforgivable curse on Hermione?" Ron slowly nodded and looked back down to his fiancé.

Everyone in the room was quiet, and a few moments later, the fireplace lit up with tall green flames and Dumbledore came walking out of the fire. He gently brushed off his robes, and looked around the room. He saw Arthur Weasley and nodded, and then saw Molly and said gently, "I apologize for coming some what unannounced, Molly," and then he walked over to where Hermione was laying.

Dumbledore leaned forward and Ron moved out of the way so the headmaster could check her over. After a few moments Dumbledore pulled himself away from the girl and nodded, "She'll be fine. She just needs some rest."

Dumbledore then stood up and looked around the room. Remus Lupin stepped forward, "Are the Granger's alright, Dumbledore?"

"Yes, they made it to Hogwarts safely. They'll stay there for a few days, till they become themselves again and then I'll have them stay with a relative of theirs in Sussex."

Remus nodded. He seemed to be the only one whom understood what was going on, but Molly was quick to speak up,

"Dumbledore… what happened? Is it true that Draco Malfoy used an unforgivable curse on Hermione, and now the death eaters are after her?"

Dumbledore nodded, "Yes it seems that Lucius Malfoy not only wanted revenge on Miss Granger, but also concluded that he might be able to attack Harry in the process. But everyone is safe and sound. Ronald," said Dumbledore gently.

Ron stood up and faced the headmaster, "You'll need to keep a close eye on Hermione tonight. Don't leave her side, and make sure she gets enough sleep."

Ron nodded and bent over. He lifted Hermione off the couch with ease and just as he was going to head up stairs, Dumbledore placed his hand on his shoulder, smiled softly and whispered, "She'll be alright… and congratulations on the engagement."

Ron didn't know how Dumbledore knew of his and Hermione's engagement, but instead of asking, he merely nodded and headed up stairs with Hermione in his arms.

Dumbledore watched the couple leave and then turned to everyone else. "Well Molly, I'm sure you wouldn't mind to let Remus and Nymphadora rest a while,"

Molly weakly smiled, "Of course not. You can both stay the night and then some, it will be my pleasure."

"Thank you Molly," whispered Tonks weakly.

Dumbledore continued on, "With the Granger's at Hogwarts I think it would be most appropriate to have Hermione leave as soon as possible to be with her parents. They're very shaken up by the whole ordeal and would likely enjoy her company.

"She should be ready to travel tomorrow, so I'll have your fireplace linked directly to Professor McGonagall's office for five minutes after noon tomorrow."

Dumbledore turned to face Harry, "You and Miss Weasley can come to if you like… classes do start in ten days."

Harry nodded and turned to face Ginny whom also nodded in response.

"Well… now that every thing is in place, I have to get back to Hogwarts. Good Night."

For a few moments after Dumbledore left, no one really moved or said much. Mrs. Weasley wiped the dried blood off of Tonks face and then her and Ginny helped Nymphadora up stairs to change into a clean pair of clothes.

Bill, Charlie and Arthur sat next to Remus and asked him for full details of what happen, and Percy and Fleur went to bed as Fred and George prepared Ron's old room on the third floor for Tonks and Remus to spend the night.

Twenty minutes later when Molly and Ginny had finished helping Tonks to bed, they headed towards Ron's bedroom, and found Ron and Harry looking down at Hermione's sleeping body.

Ron had cleaned her face off of blood with a moist towel and was sitting beside her on the bed. A small lamp on the table was lit, and offered a gentle glow to the room.

Harry smiled when he saw Molly and Ginny enter the room, "She woke up, a few moments ago. She said that her body felt weak and sore, but that she felt fine."

Tears came down Molly's eyes as she rushed forward and hugged her son, "She'll be alright Ron, every thing will be fine."

Molly kissed her son on the forehead and then pulled away and brushed herself off. "Well, we have a full house tonight. Fred and George have decided to head home but Remus and Tonks are upstairs in your old room, Ron."

Ron nodded and then looked back down at Hermione.

Molly nodded to herself and then turned to Harry and Ginny, "Harry, you wouldn't mind spending the night in Ginny's room, would you?"