A/N: I'm soooooo sorry it's taken me almost a month to update! But I'm done with senior finals and out of school till January! For some reason this chapter took forever to write. Perhaps because it was aaaaall on me! No help from the book at all. Next few chapters are back to book basics, so hopefully I can update again (a few times maybe) before going back to school. Anyways, an early Happy Christmas to all of you! IF you don't celebrate Christmas, then Happy Holidays and a happy Thursday :) If you want to see pictures of the gifts Stephanie gets/gives, go to flickr(dot)com/photos/xxmisscradeyxx/sets/72157628532657933/. Hope you enjoy this chapter! Please review!

I woke up Christmas morning, not fully remember what had happened the night before. Not because I had gotten drunk or anything the night before, no. But you know that groggy feeling you sometimes get when you first wake up in the morning and your head is clouded with only the thought of 'more sleep'? Ya, that's what I was feeling.

Once I had told my body it wasn't getting any more sleep, I started feeling things throughout and on my body. My hair was gelled and sore from being pinned and pulled. Fake nails were still stuck on my cuticles. My face was dry and cracked from sleeping in makeup and my feet ached from wearing heels all night. That's when I remembered the Yule Ball.

Oh, God. What was I going to do? Harry hadn't said anything to me after I told him I loved him. I was so lost, I didn't know what to do. I've never told anybody I loved them and then didn't get a response. The only thing remotely close was when I had told a boy in second grade that I was going to marry him; he said girls were icky and pushed me into a sandbox. I needed to get some kind of response from him so I'd know where to go from here. I'll wait until after Christmas at least.

Wait, would he still want to come over for Christmas? What if I had completely scared him off for good? I guess I'll wait and see if he's waiting down in the common room. But first, I gotta wash all this makeup and styling products out.

After I was clean and back to my old self, I packed a bag for the next couple of days and stashed Alexa, Sage, and Harry's presents in another bag. I left to go to the common room to see if anybody, Harry, was waiting down there for me. As I slowly walked down the spiral staircase, I could just imagine seeing absolutely no one sitting in any of the chairs. No one would be awake and in the common room as early as it was, not us brave 'party hardy all night and sleep all day' Gryffindors. I had told Harry my aunts wanted us home at around seven. Sage was upset that, since we weren't coming home earlier for Christmas, we wouldn't get to decorate the tree pleaded and begged with them until they agreed to let us do it when we first got home.

I took the last step down into the common room, my heart sinking. It was completely empty, emptier than a ghost town. The common room was silent except for the sound of snow falling outside. Nobody was awake enough to be sitting around the dying fire; perhaps the entire school was still asleep. I heaved a sigh and threw down my bags. I really had scared him off, I thought as my heart sank lower. Well, I guess there's no point in moping around here. Maybe putting up and decorating the tree with my sisters would make me feel better.

I picked my bags back up, ready to orb home depressed, when I heard one of the dormitory doors open up behind me. I turned around to see who would be coming down the stairs, my face lighting up when I saw Harry and his own packed bag standing in front of me.

"Ready?" he asked, as if almost nothing had happened the night before. I wasn't sure if I should be happy about that or not.

"Yeah," I replied, shifting one of my bags to the other side so I could take his free hand.

"Here," he said, taking the bag from me as I struggled with it. I smiled and whispered my thanks before grabbing his right hand with my left and orbing us home.
As we landed in the living room, I was immediately assaulted by a coconut smelling person hugging me.

"Stephie! Happy Christmas!" Sage said as she squeezed me between her arms. I wrapped one arm around her, still holding onto Harry's hand. "Happy Christmas to you, too, Harry."

"Happy Christmas guys," I said to everyone who was gathered around a few boxes in the living room. I turned to Harry and pulled him into the living room more. "I, uhm, I guess I should introduce you to everyone. Well, you know my sisters."

"Hiya, Harry," Alexa and Sage said together, waving and smiling brightly.

"Harry, these are my aunts, Piper, Phoebe, and Prue," I said pointing to each of them. "Oh, and my uncle Leo. He's married to Piper," I added with a whisper.

"It's great to officially meet you as her boyfriend," Piper said, standing up and giving Harry a welcoming hug. "She always spoke fondly of you."

"You're just as cute as she says," Phoebe gushed while giving him a hug, too.

"We're glad you could come, Harry," Prue said while also giving him a hug. "She seems to be really infatuated with you, so if you hurt her, I will make sure to curse you everyday."

"Guys," I started awkwardly, my face reddening. Harry's eyes seemed to have grown twice their size in his head. "You're embarrassing me."

"Sorry, Harry," Prue said apologetically. "I just want to make sure you're taken care of, Steph."

"Thanks," I grumbled quietly.

"Go put your stuff up and we'll start decorating. Piper's making French toast," Prue said while wrapping her arms around me. "I'm glad you're here for Christmas."

Once we had finished hugging, I picked my bags back up and showed Harry to the room he would be staying in and dropped off my things in my own room. Leo and Piper worked on cooking breakfast, well Leo worked on distracting her (married couples, I tell ya), while my sisters, me, and Harry mostly put the tree together. We made it through the early morning without any troubles; although Sage did manage to get wrapped up in the lights while we were testing to see if they all lit up. Then again she got tangled up in tinsel, and somehow when we went to help her get untangled, she managed the get the rest of us covered head to toe in the stuff.

When the tree was up, lights, tinsel, ornaments, and the star on top on, we put all of our wrapped presents underneath the tree. I stepped back to get a good looked at the scene, and shuddered slightly.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked me curiously.

"The presents. They look like they were haphazardly thrown under the tree by blind gnomes," I said while kneeling down. Alexa knelt down next to me, and the two of us started sorting them. I guess that's something I picked up from Alexa when we lived together, just the two of us sisters. There was no 'colour harmony', as expert artists would put it; the scene was not aesthetically please. The two of us spent all of our time until Piper called us for breakfast arguing over which colour one wrapping technically was and where they would fit would've kept at it all day probably, except Piper yelled at us that she would give our share of food to Sage and we would get none. I frowned, feeling my stomach grumble, and pulled Alexa up from the underbelly of the tree.

"I guess that looks okay," Alexa said, turning her head one way then another to get a good look at the presents.

"We make a good team," I said, giving her a high five.

"Yes, you pair of OCD weirdos," Sage said as she walked past us to the kitchen. "Now c'mon and eat so we can open that lovely display of presents." The eight of us sat down at the diner table, Harry to my left and Sage to my right. All through breakfast, Harry kept fidgeting next to me while Sage stared down my food with great intent. Sadly for her, I ate all of my food.

Once we had finished eating and the table was cleared, we gathered around the tree to open presents. Finally, it was already almost 9; probably the rest of Gryffindor tower was waking up now. My aunts and Leo took refuge on the couch and chairs while the rest of us 'kids' gathered eagerly around the tree. Alexa passed out the presents to each person, our own little stacks of presents growing each second. We went around in a circle, each person opening their own stack of presents. The order ended up being Alexa, Sage, Harry, and I.

Last, but not least, it was my turn to open my presents. I had already gotten Sage two shirts from her favorite store, Glamour Kills, Alexa a cute new purse and a collection of classic novels with redesigned covers, and Harry a fake wand and spell book kit and a package of 'Hiccuping' candies, candy that would give a person uncontrollable hiccups for hours; I told him I would skin him alive if he gave me one of them.

I opened my presents one by one, saving Harry's for last, delighting in each gift. From Alexa, I had gotten a dress that looked like a shirt and skirt combo, and a necklace with the flower of my birth month, roses, pressed in the center. Sage had gotten me a mini Chewie bobble head and a bonsai plant for my dorm. Piper had gotten me a guide to vintage shopping, and Prue a photo of my name spelled with random objects. Every year, each aunt has a different niece to buy a large, expensive present for. Phebe's had me this year, and got me the complete 90210 series. I looked at Harry, the two of us laughing quietly at our inside joke.

I picked up Harry's gift gingerly, my hands sliding over the purple wrapping paper. I tore the paper away, and opened up the box. Inside laid a red plaid pea coat.

"Oh my gosh, Harry. It's adorable," I said smiling. "You have style?"

"Actually, Hermione helped me pick it out. I knew you wanted one, but I honestly had no idea what a...pea coat was."

"I love it , Harry. Thank you!" I said, giving him a hug and squeezing him.

"Well, if that's all, I'll start to-"

"Actually, I have one more gift for Stephanie," Harry said cutting Piper off. I narrowed my eyes at him in confusion. He pulled a small, white box tied with a pink bow out of his jacket and handed it to me. I looked from the box to Harry curiously; he nodded, what I thought looked a bit nervously, encouraging me to continue. I untied the ribbon and lifted the box top off to find, another box. This box, however, was a black velvet with a rounded top. It almost looks like, I started thinking, my eyes widening as my thoughts solidified on an object. A ring box.

I opened the box shakily, drawing a quick, deep breath in as I laid eyes on its contents. Lying inside the box was a beautiful silver ring. In the center two hears intertwined, two gemstones in each. In the heart on the right was a small red ruby, and on the left a deep, raspberry gem. Alexandrite, I think. But, Alexandrite's extremely scarce and extremely valuable, I thought. How on Earth was it nestled in this ring? My ring.

"How do you like it?" Harry asked. I looked up from the box to him. I was too surprised for words to answer. I threw my arms around him, hugging him closer than I had a few minutes ago. He wrapped his arms around me too, holding me.

"It's beautiful," I said astonished, pulling out of the hug and gazing at the ring again. My sisters crowded around me, looking at my ring, too. "Bu-but why? Why are you giving me this?"

"Can't a guy give his girlfriend gifts? Besides, it's Christmas," Harry answered nonchalantly.

"Nuh-uh. I don't care what season it is or who it is, you just don't give someone a ring like this," Sage said, looking closer at the ring then to Harry. "Why are you giving this to her?"

"Well," Harry started taking a breath. "It's a promise ring, a promise to love you. I love you, Stephanie."
Now I felt like I had been struck over the head with a frying pan. Not just from the look I was probably giving him, but my whole body was stinging and warm. Even though my body was inhaling and exhaling, I still felt short of breath.

"Wh-what did you say?" I heard myself ask breathlessly.

"I love you."

We seemed to have found each other's eyes as we stood there. I smiled brightly, seeing the smile reflected in his eyes. I threw my arms around him again, this time pulling him into a kiss. His arms wrapped around my waist while mine rested over his shoulder and on the back of his neck. His hand felt like it was burning me through my shirt as his hand started rubbing the small of my back slowly. I smiled into the kiss, inhaling his wooded scent. I curled my hand around his head, feeling the warmth of his hair spread across my hand.

"Save that for under the mistletoe, kiddos," Phoebe laughed while Sage cat called and Piper cleared her throat. We pulled apart, our arms still wrapped around eachother. Before where I had felt breathless, now I was breathing heavy. I stood there smiling like an idiot, heart rising into my cheeks and burning my face.

"Come on, guys. Let's leave these two lovebirds alone," Prue said while ushering everyone into the kitchen. Holding my hands, Harry pulled me down to sit with him on the couch. I sat there, trying to get my thoughts under control and intelligible, as Harry slid the ring on my left ring finger.

"I...I...wh-whe, what I don't- I ha," I stuttered, still trying to find words to speak. I breathed out a laugh, realizing how ridiculous I probably sounded.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, his smile faltering slightly.

"N-nothing. I mean, this is real, isn't it? You're not just giving me this ring and...telling me you love me just to please my aunts or anything, right?" I asked hoping, no praying, he'd agree with me that this, his feelings, the ring, was all real.

"Of course it's real," Harry said while squeezing my hand and looking me in the eyes.

"Good," I said while biting my lip. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like...like a doubting 's just, y'know, 'if it's too good to be true then it probably is', 'all that glitters is not gold'. We both know that I love you and hearing you say it back makes me feel like I'm flying. Which brings me to one question. Why didn't you tell me last night? I barred my heart and soul in the simplest sentence possible, and all you did was gape at me."

"I know, I'm so sorry and I feel like such a fool. I guess I was shocked that you told me first. You're a beautiful, outstanding witch and wiccan with an admirable personality," he said quickly. I blushed when he called me beautiful, glancing down at the ring on my finger. "My whole life I've either been bullied and mistreated by everyone around me, or loved and adored because I'm famous. It's phenomenal to be liked by people who like me for me, and to be loved for who I am...it's more than I could ever ask for."

"Here," Harry said pulling another box out of his jacket. "This should technically be from you to me." I took the box and opened it, seeing another ring box inside. I opened the box and found a larger silver ring inside. In the middle was a square of red rubies, 4x4. "You can't have promise rings without both people each having a ring."

I smiled, my heart fluttering at the thought of both of us making a promise to love the other. The whole 'he loves me' thing was still trying to make itself at home in my mind, but the fact that he was so sure as to promise me he would love me...I never would have imagined this in my wildest dreams. I took the ring out of the box and took his left hand in mine.

"I promise to love you, Harry Potter, forever," I said while sliding the ring on his finger.

"And I promise the same," he said while lifting my hand to his lips, kissing it like some chivalrous prince. My chivalrous prince.

~xx~

It was the same dream I've had a million times, but it wasn't. Well, it had been. It always started the same way. I was standing in my old house, the one I lived in with my parents and sisters. The same thing would happen every time. I always had to relive the moment when my parents we killed by that demon, whom we later found out to be Zankou. It wasn't as if I was transported into the body of my seven year old self and relieved it that way. Instead, my current self was standing almost like an unseen ghost in the background.

After killing my parents, Zankou turns to Alexa and little aims fireballs at us and kills the two youngsters in a flash instead of blinking and leaving, like what had really happened those seven years ago. He then turns to Sage, who had been knocked unconscious and injured, and kills her too for good measure. Normally, he takes note of me watching, who isn't completely ghost like, and throws a fireball my way. As I scream in terror, I die.

Well, I don't actually know if I die. Some people believe if you die in your dreams you die in real life. In fact, when my aunts first got their powers, before I went to Hogwarts, they faced a demon like that. He would enter the dreams of women who had rejected him, and kill them in their dreams. This caused great confusion for the inspectors, seeing as no traces of foul play were left. Don't worry, my aunts solved the mystery and got rid of the freak who was behind it.

This time, however, when Zankou turned to kill me, I lived. He drew back his arm, fireball in hand, and chucked it towards me. Instead of being struck by the fireball, someone tackled me to the ground taking the fireball for them self. I sat up, confused and shaken, and looked over at the demon. He smirked at me, seeming to think the poor soul who saved me was a better catch than me. He threw a fireball into the air and shimmered out.

I looked down and was surprised to see my savior was still physically there. Sometimes when people are hit by fireballs their body's just disappear, but not our friend here. I shrugged his body off of mine and rolled them over, trying to see who had saved me. I gasped, my heart receiving a painful stab, when my eyes laid upon Harry's body. I screamed like I had just taken a blow to the back, tears dotting my vision.

Suddenly, my dream changed on me.

As soon as I was kneeling over Harry's lifeless body in my old living room, I was kneeling on dewy grass. I looked up confused out of my wits. That dream normally ends with my 'death'. It should have ended with Harry's. Why the hell did it change on me and where was I now? I stood up, the wet grass squishing beneath my feet, which I now realized were bare, trying to figure out where I was. My heart started racing as I took in my surroundings. I could barely make out the dark figures in the distance. Actually, I couldn't make them out at all. The fog and mist around me was too heavy; I could only see gray shapes where the figures were.A sudden noise and something brushing my foot caused me to look down. Vines had spurted out of the ground, wrapped Harry up, and were sucking him up into the earth.

"Harry! No!" I screamed dropping back down to my knees. I grabbed onto his lifeless hand and tried to pull him back. He kept slipping away from me until I lost my grip on his hand completely, the vines completely covering him up, winning our little game of tug 'o war.

"No! Harry! Come back! You can't have him! Bring him back!" I screamed at the ground, clawing at the grass as if trying to dig him out. I kept screaming at the ground hysterically until I heard a twig snap not too far from me. My head jerked up, tears falling down my face, my eyes darting around rapidly for what had caused the sound. A dark figure, darker than the ones around me, appeared not too far from my left. I jumped to my feet and started backing up slowly, my eyes locked on the figure.
A red light came shooting at me, missing me by inches.

Wake up. Wake up, dammit! I screamed in my head. This is just a dream so wake up!

Another red light came flying at me. I turned around and took off running as fast as I could barefoot. More red lights came shooting at me from behind, which after awhile I realized were spells. I kept running in front of my, begging my legs didn't give out or my feet slip.

I thought I was safe once the spells from behind me had stopped, until a dark figure sprung out from my left and stabbed me in my stomach with a knife. My legs crumpled underneath me as the figure disappeared, leaving me to fall on the ground to die.

I sat bolt up in bed, my eyes wide and heart racing. I turned on my bedside lamp and pulled my shirt up quickly. I ran my hand over my stomach checking for any wounds or blood. I looked down to make sure nothing was there, only seeing my body trembling slightly. Once I was completely convinced my body hadn't been stabbed at all, I turned my lamp back off. I cradled my head in my hands, a sudden wave of nausea wiping over me, threatening to expel the cookies I'd had before bed.

I heard a faint knock at my door, bringing me back to my room. I looked over at the clock before answering.

"Come in?" I said a bit confused. It was almost two in the morning. Who would be up at this time wanting to have a nice little chat with me?

"Stephanie, are you alright?" Of course. Harry.

"I'm fine. Just got up for some water," I lied. I closed my eyes tight, another wave of nausea sweeping through me. Harry came into my room and closed the door behind him.

"I know you're lying," he said as he came and sat down next to me on my bed. "No offense, but you look like hell. You're pale, sweating, and have puffy eyes. Are you sure you're alright?" I ran my hands through my hair, still trying to keep myself from vomiting. I took a few steady breathes before turning to Harry.

After I finished telling him all about my dreams, we sat there for a few minutes quietly as he rubbed my back.

"This dream...," he started slowly. "You don't think it cold be like...a vision of forthcoming events, do you?"

"How so?"

"Well, those dark figures, they were obviously wizards so...do you think it could have been Death Eaters?"

"But why would they be chasing me? Voldemort's not back. Unless...you've been having prophetic dreams."

"It's nothings new. It's the same dream as in the summer. But it changed last night. I was in the room with Wormtail, Voldemort, and the other man. Not just watching the scene, but I was there. This time, they called me in to kill me. That's why I woke up and heard you screaming."

"I was screaming?"

"Yea. It's been happening for the past few nights."

"I've been having the first dream every night, but then it kept changing. Each night it was a dark, blurry, mess but...it was all there tonight." Harry kissed my forehead and squeezed my hand.

"Try to get some sleep," he whispered quietly.

"I don't think I can. I'm...I'm too afraid to fall back asleep. I...I'm scared that dream will come back. I'm afraid I'll have to watch myself lose you again.

He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. My nausea from before had disappeared, but my mind and body was still shaking.

"What if I slept with you?"

Before I could turn around, wide-eyed, and smacked some sense into him, he added quickly, "Not in a sexual way! No, no, no! I may be a guy but I don't really-"

"Don't worry. I"m not ready yet, either. I may love you but we're only 14. As long as my aunts don't find out...I wouldn't mind."

I pulled my covers up over the two of us and lied down, still wrapped in Harry's arms. I rolled over so I was facing him and snuggled my head into his chest. I smiled, his wonderful woody scent drifting into my nostrils, calming me down. I drifted off to sleep slowly, his arms making a protective shield around me.

"I love you," I whispered into his shirt.

"I love you, too," he whispered into my hair before we both fell asleep.

I didn't have any nightmares after that night. I didn't have any more for the rest of break. Each night, Harry would sneak back into my room and we'd fall asleep together, wrapped up in each others arms.