Disclaimer: Nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it. -Michel de Montaigne

"Is he coming back tomorrow?" nine year old Lorel Weasley asked her Uncle Harry as the two walked down the wintery streets of Hogsmeade. Harry looked down at his neice and frowned.

"I don't know. He didn't say," he answered. Lorel sighed. For the past seven years, her father had been searching Europe for her mother. He only came back home at Christmas and even then... he wasn't the same. His eyes were always dark and emotionless, as well as his personality. It seemed as if the life had gone out of him and his only will to live was his daughter and that small hope that Hermione might actually be alive. Lorel looked up at her uncle. Harry hadn't been the same either. He had lost both of his friends that day. Though the emotional scars were not as visible as Ron's, they were still evident sometimes when certian things were said. Memory joggers that would put him in a state of withdraw and isolation for days. Lorel however, suffered the most from Ron's absense. With her father gone and no mother to take care of her, she was constantly staying at a relative's house. Not that she minded, she just wished she could see her father more than just in those two weeks Ron actually appeared.

Harry noticed her sigh and the sad look in her eyes and stopped. He turned to her and kneeled down in front of her.

"Look Lorel. You know Ron loves you, right?" he asked with a frown. She nodded.

"I know..." she said. He touched the girl's face.

"Then smile for me. You should be happy," he said. She gave him a small smile and he smiled back, getting up and starting to walk again.

"Can I buy a gift for him?" Lorel asked. Harry nodded.

"Of course."

Ginny looked up from her magazine to see Harry and Lorel come in with several shopping bags. Smiling, she got up off the couch and headed over to them along with her three boys, Sirius, Timothy and Caden. Lorel gave her aunt a hug before she walked off to her room with her bags in silence. Ginny gave Harry a quizical look. Harry shook his head.

"She's been asking about Ron again," he explained. Ginny sighed.

"She misses him," she said. He nodded.

"I really hope he is coming back tomorrow," Harry mumbled as he sat down next to her on the couch. The boys went right back to playing chess, Timothy, being only four, was too young to play so he just watched.

Meanwhile, in her room, Lorel took out the gift she had picked for her father and placed it on the bed in front of her. It was a chain with a small knight and horse on it. He had destroyed the one Hermione had given him on their first Christmas as a married couple. The first Christmas after he had started looking for Hermione, he had found it. Unfortunately, he wasn't exactly sober at the time and, having tried to drink away the awful memories, he had thrown the chain into the flames. By the time the rest of the family got back, he was sitting by the flames, crying and pointing at what was left of the beautiful memory. Lorel had finally decided that he needed a new one. On the bottom of the small figure were the initials R.B.W. and H.J.W. Lorel had paid extra for it, refusing her uncle's offering to supply the money. Wiping the tears that had welled in her eyes, she picked up the chain and placed it in a little box. Placing the box on her nightstand, she pulled out the other presents and began to wrap them.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Looking up, Lorel grinned and ran over to the window to let in the small owl.

"Hello Pig!" she greeted, snatching the exhausted bird out of the air. Giving Pig some treats she found in her nightstand drawer, she took the letter from his leg and opened it eagerly.

Dear Lorel,

No doubt you're wondering if I'm coming tomorrow and the answer is yes, just I'll be getting there quite early, so I'll be spending at the Burrow. I hope you're being good for Harry and Ginny. And I hope everyone on your end is well, including yourself.

I miss you so much Lorel. I think about you everyday and I never stop loving you, just so you know. Remember that. Obviously, I don't get to tell you everyday, but I do. Your mother would be proud of you. I know I am.

Oh, before I forget, tell Harry that you will be spending Christmas at the Burrow, so that he knows. So pack some stuff. I'll see you tomorrow.

Love,

Your Father

Lorel touched the letter, her eyes re-reading the familiar scrawl of her dad. He was coming home again. She looked up at Pig.

Would this year be the year he finally decided to stop searching?

A/N: Now there's a question!