In the days leading up to Christmas Ginny had worked hard to finish wrapping all the presents she bought on her trip to Diagon Alley. They were piled up underneath a small tree that she and Otto had picked and decorated in the living room. She sat on the rug in faded sleeping shorts and a tank top, her ginger curls clashing with the red and green headband she was sporting. Otto had a thing for bewitching the temperature much hotter than a typical room. He claims he likes to pretend his in the tropics.
Ginny fingered the presents. A small package fell from the top of the pile with 'Harry' written carefully on the wrapping paper. She had bought Harry a small joke present from Fred and George's shop. Wondering if he had gotten her anything, she placed to present back into the pile and stood up. Napping on the couch was Otto. Since their kiss on the night of their trip to Diagon Alley, the two were acting differently. And not as you might expect. Otto has taken a fatherly role, making sure the Ginny does this that and the other thing, trivial things she already does that he just nags at her about. And Ginny, hating being bossed around, has gone back to being the hostile self she was when they first met. Thankfully though, he has stopped filtering through her thoughts and speaking to her through her mind. Ginny sometimes finds herself wishing she could hear his silky voice run through her veins again. She would never tell him that.
Time had gone by faster then she had though and the room began to darken while she watched him sleep. Otto woke suddenly but felt her standing there and continued to act as if sleep still had him. He felt awful about making a move on Ginny. A man of his age should be finding accomplished witches, not ones in the middle of Hogwarts. He could potentially be her father! He could sense the air shifting as she stepped closer to him. The sound of her bare foot landing softly on the hard wood between the couch and the coffee table. Ginny was moving towards him. he looks so sweet right now. Ginny sometimes had a hard time believing that he was once a trusted member of the Dark Lord's circle. She wondered what it would be like to skim his memories, what kind of things she would see. A chill ran down her spine at what she imagined. Before she could stop herself she reached a finger up and stroked it gently down his cheek.
Otto opened his eyes at this. Ginny startled and stepped back away from him. She had misjudged the amount of room that she had and ran into the coffee table. She teetered on her heels for a minute while Otto watched, amused. Her balance became worse and she fell backwards and flipped onto the other side of the table. Otto could not help himself, he burst into fits of laughter. After looking disgruntled for a minute, then angry for another, she let her tension fall from her shoulders and she laughed too. Together they laughed for a good long while, and with tears in their eyes while holding their sides, they staggered towards the kitchen for dinner.
"My family is coming for the holidays." Ginny told him over her bowl of tomato soup. Otto served her a grilled cheese and sat at the table. "Are you going to hide from them?" she asked.
"Well since I'm supposed to be dead, probably."