Hello my gorgeous, charming, lovely readers! I love you all SO much. Thirteen reviews. I'm still in shock. Thank you all so much for reviewing. It means everything to me.

Plataca: Thanks! I'm really trying to actually show what's happening, and not just tell the story. Don't worry, I'll be continuing for a while yet.

HPfan619: Is this soon enough for you? Probably not, but oh well...

Dudei'mcanadian: Ah, yes, the drama. It's not toooo dramatic, but just a little something I needed to add in.

Anyway, here is your chapter. I hope you like it, and keep reviewing. It'll encourage me to write the next chapter a bit faster. ;)

~Robin

Disclaimer: If I was JKR, I wouldn't have to be on FANfiction, now would I?

Chapter 11

December 24th 1998

Harry heard a knock on the door to the Burrow from his place at the kitchen table and stood up to answer it, yawning as he rose from his seat. It was early, and he was the only one up already. He hadn't been able to sleep very well because of being apart from Ginny, but hadn't wanted to be caught. She hadn't had any more nightmares, but wasn't sleeping all that well either.

Harry didn't know who would be knocking at that time of day, as it was just after six in the morning, but made his way over to the door anyway. With another yawn, he pulled it open to see Bill and Fleur standing on the other side of the threshold.

"'Arry!" Fleur exclaimed upon seeing him, pulling him into a hug and kissing his cheeks. Harry, amazingly, managed not to blush or stutter. "Eet eez so nice to see you," she said, releasing him."

"It's nice to see you too," Harry grinned, then moved out of the doorway so that she and Bill could enter, the latter with an amused smile on his face. They both took off their cloaks and hung them up on pegs right next to the door before sitting down at the table. Harry sat down again and wrapped his hands around the tea he had made earlier. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you here so early?" Harry asked the couple.

"Fleur, for some bizarre reason, wanted to come make breakfast for the family," Bill said, giving his wife a teasing glare.

"Eet eez not my fault zat your maman cooks too much and deserves a break," Fleur said, glaring back at her husband and standing up, starting to bustle around the kitchen with her wand out, causing pans and food to move to the stove or begin to measure themselves out.

"She cooks a great breakfast, I just wish she hadn't woken me up at five thirty to come over here," Bill whispered conspiratorially to Harry.

Harry chuckled. He and Bill talked while Fleur cooked until the smells started to draw people out of bed. The first was Ginny, who came in and sat next to Harry before putting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes. Harry resisted the urge to wrap his arm around her after seeing Bill look between the two of them.

There was a slightly awkward silence. "You two are ze cuteest!" Fleur announced, breaking the silence, when she saw Ginny leaning up against Harry.

"Yes, just adorable," Bill said sarcastically.

"Oh, shut it," Ginny muttered, not opening her eyes.

Bill blushed slightly, obviously thinking that she had been asleep. "Fine," he huffed before quieting again.

The silence was filled with only the sound of Fleur's cooking until others started coming down the stairs. Molly and Arthur came down together, both with dressing gowns on over their pajamas, and looked surprised to see anybody else always awake before seven. Molly had Teddy with her and put him down in his high chair.

"Good morning, dears," Molly greeted them. Then she saw Fleur cooking. "Fleur. You did not have to come over on Christmas Eve to cook breakfast. It's completely unnecessary," she tutted.

"That's what I said," Bill grumbled. "Morning Dad," he added, greeting his father, who didn't quite look awake yet.

"Morning Bill, Fleur, Harry, Ginny," Arthur said before sitting down at the table with the rest of them and pouring himself a cup of tea. Fleur had made another pot.

After a few minutes of quiet conversation Charlie came down the stairs, looking wide awake and already fully dressed. He didn't say anything, just glanced at Harry and Ginny before gesturing for Bill to follow him outside. Bill stood up, slightly confused, and followed his younger brother out the door without a word.

Fleur started putting food on the table and gave everybody plates, letting them serve themselves. Everybody started eating and the last of the Weasleys joined the group, apparently tempted out of bed by the smell of food in the air that was wafting up through the house.

Bill and Charlie came in, Bill looking slightly red and angry, but controlling himself and sitting in the same seat he had been in, right across from Harry. Charlie went to sit by the twins and told them something quietly. Bill muttered something to Percy with an almost imperceptible nod in Harry's direction, but that Harry noticed. He had been a seeker for years; he was good at noticing things that most people didn't.

Well, he had known that it was coming. He had actually expected it to come sooner. The Weasley brothers were going to talk to him about Ginny today. It was going to be interesting, no doubt about that.

After breakfast, Harry ventured back upstairs to shower and change. When he came back down, about twenty minutes later, it was to find only Charlie left in the kitchen. The rest of the household had wandered off to do their own thing. Harry was sure that Arthur would be tinkering with Sirius' old motorbike, Molly was probably doing some household chore, and Fleur trying to make herself useful by helping. Ginny was in the shower, having taken her turn after Harry, and wouldn't be out for a while. She liked to go last so that she had as much time as she wanted.

Charlie looked up when he heard Harry enter the kitchen. Harry opened his mouth to speak before Charlie even had the chance. "I'm guessing you all want to talk to me?" he said, turning it into a question.

"Of course you'd figure it out," Charlie muttered under his breath. "Out in the thicket, Potter," he said, calling him by his last name as a sign that they were not currently friends. Charlie was Ginny's older brother at that moment-and that was it.

Harry shrugged and followed Charlie out of the Burrow, casting a silent warming charm on himself since he didn't have his cloak, until they reached the small clearing in the middle of the thicket where they played quidditch. The rest were already there. Bill, Fred, George, Ron, and even Percy, all stood in the clearing.

Bill looked menacing, with the scars running down his face and a grim look; Fred and George were grinning madly, like they were looking forward to torturing Harry; Ron simply looked slightly apologetic; and Percy, well Percy looked bemused, as if he didn't think they needed to be there at all. Harry met their eyes, one by one, moving from one face to another.

Charlie joined them and the six brothers all faced Harry, looking eerily similar despite all of their differences.

"Okay, Potter," Bill finally said. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way," he said, fingering his wand gently.

"What he means is we can ask you questions and you answer, or we can hex you into the next century," Charlie clarified. Bill shot him a glare. Charlie shrugged. "The guy at least deserves a chance to choose."

"I'll try the easy way first," Harry said, slightly nervously. Fred and George's grins grew wider, obviously preparing some questions that they wanted to ask him.

Bill shrugged, but took his hand away, reluctantly, from his wand. He faced Harry directly. "What are your intentions to our sister?" he asked.

Harry thought for a second, then said slowly, "I love her. I'll probably marry her someday, if she agrees. I want to be with her forever. It's not just some stupid fling."

Bill looked at him carefully, obviously checking for some sign that he was lying. Charlie apparently noticed this too and spoke up. "You haven't seen them the past few days, Bill. They move almost like the same person, in tune with everything the other person does. It's the same thing that you do with Fleur, even if you don't notice it."

Harry and Bill were equally shocked at that, but Bill spoke first. "Just whose side are you on?" he asked angrily.

"I'm just telling it the way I see it," Charlie said defensively.

"Fine. I've asked my question," Bill said. "I think Fred and George had some things they wanted to ask," he said, turning to the twins, who were wearing identical smirks on their faces, a mischievous light in their eyes when they turned towards Harry.

"So, Mr. Potter, you and Ginevra have been dating for around six-and-a-half months now, correct?" Fred asked, pacing in front of Harry, hands folded behind his back as George looked on.

"Um, sort of," Harry answered honestly.

"What do you mean, sort of?" Bill asked.

"Well, you see," Harry started awkwardly. Obviously Ron was the only one who knew about Harry and Ginny's temporary time as a couple at the end of their sixth and fifth years. "Um, we sort of dated at the end of my sixth year, her fifth, and then I-I broke up with her because of Voldemort coming after me, and I wanted to keep her safe," he said quickly, rushing through the end before they could react. He threw a glance at Ron, who only gave him a small shrug in return, not being able to tell what his brother's reactions to the news.

"You dumped her," Bill said slowly.

"To protect her from Voldemort," Charlie added before Bill could jump to conclusions and start to strangle Harry. He didn't want there to be any murder.

"You'd better explain yourself better, Potter," Bill demanded, giving him a dark glare.

Harry nodded and explained. "I kissed her after the final quidditch match in front of the whole house, and we dated for about six weeks. Then, after Dumbledore's funeral, I broke up with her, knowing that Voldemort would be coming after me, and not wanting to her to get caught in the cross-fire. I didn't want him to use her to get to me."

"Okay. I understand," Bill said after a minute of pause. All of the Weasley brothers stared at him in shock. "What?" he asked. "I'm reasonable, I just wanted to hear his reasoning first." He turned back to Harry. "Alright then, Potter. We know you love her, but we still have some other things we need to know."

"That's where we can come in again then, isn't it Freddie?" George asked his twin, both of them coming to stand directly in front of Harry, side by side, grinning menacingly at him.

"Right you are, George," Fred agreed, never looking away from Harry's face. Harry knew that he was most likely about to be extremely embarrassed, and probably yelled at to boot.

"Now, Harry, we already know that you snog our little sister," George started.

"Is that correct?" Fred asked for clarification. Harry nodded. Bill seemed to be taking deep, calming breaths, but thankfully didn't hex him.

"Good boy," George said.

"For answering truthfully," Fred finished for him.

"We'll just skip the little steps and go right to the big one, then," George said.

"Have you slept with our little Gin?" Fred asked. You could hear the silence in the air, the six redheads waiting on tenterhooks for Harry's answer.

Harry, meanwhile, was trying to figure out what to say. Finally he spoke. "That depends what you mean by 'slept with'," he said, not meeting any of their eyes.

"I think you know what we mean," Charlie said, arms crossed. Harry had hoped, that he, at least, knew the answer, but it was apparent that he didn't.

"I really don't want to say this," Harry muttered to himself. Then, he raised his voice so that the rest could hear him. "We've slept in the same bed." Silence. "We have not had sex."

He could almost hear the release of tension. Shoulders relaxed, necks and backs slumped, but Fred had one last question. "How often?" he asked, still looking at Harry, most likely already knowing the answer.

"Er, almost every night since November," Harry muttered, running a hand nervously through his hair the way his father had in all the memories Harry had seen of him.

"I'm impressed by your restraint," Bill said, speaking for the first time in several minutes. "Not many eighteen-year-olds could manage that."

"Yeah, including you," Charlie teased. Bill glared at him.

"Especially if the girl in question wants it," George added, "which I'm sure Ginny does."

"Are you implying that she's a slag?" Ron asked, talking for the first time since Harry had entered the clearing.

"No!" George exclaimed. "I'm just saying that she loves Harry, and knows she'll be with him the rest of her life, and that she isn't a patient person in those circumstances."

"Yeah," Fred said nodding. "She doesn't like to wait for things that she know will eventually come if she doesn't know when it's coming."

"Okay?" Charlie asked, slightly confused, but choosing to ignore their antics.

"Since this has all been settled, we should go back inside before Ginny notices that we're all missing," Percy said, worriedly. The rest of them also got slightly worried expressions on their faces at that statement.

"For once in my life, I agree with Perce," Bill said, starting through the woods. "Oh, and by the way Potter, if you hurt her, you deal with all of us, at once," Bill added as an afterthought.

Harry gulped and nodded. He knew he wouldn't hurt Ginny, but the threat was still there.

December 25th 1998

"Oi, Mate, wake up!" was the first thing Harry heard on Christmas morning, along with a pillow to the face.

Harry sat up slowly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "What?" he asked crossly. He had been having a very good dream about what he and Ginny could be doing once they got back to school again until Ron had rudely interrupted it by waking him up.

"It's Christmas, that's what," Ron answered, hopping out of his own bed. "We have presents to open," he announced, pointing to the piles at the ends of their beds. "Where'd Gin's present from you go anyway?"

"I brought it down after she fell asleep last night. Hopefully she'll see it this morning," Harry replied, starting to pull his presents from the end of his bed up onto his lap.

Just then, there was a loud screech from downstairs. Following that, there was a loud pop and something heavy fell on top of Harry. It wasn't until he felt lips on his that he realized it must have been Ginny apparating up from her room.

"Oi!" Ron objected. "I'm in here too you know!"

Ginny got off of Harry, blushing slightly, a small ball of what looked to be white fluff under the crook of her arm. "I love her!" she told Harry, giving him a more chaste kiss and grabbing the puff-ball, which was actually a very small, fluffy white kitten.

"I thought you would," Harry said, grinning happily at her reaction to his gift.

"I do. She's adorable. And her eyes are the exact same color as yours," Ginny added as an afterthought.

"Hey, Gin," Ron suggested, "since you're already up here let's open our presents together."

"Sure, why not," Ginny said with a shrug, pulling out her wand and waving it so that her presents appeared in a pile next to Harry's. She settled herself on the bed and started ripping the paper off, the boys following suit.

After opening everything, Ginny used a quick charm to vanish all the wrapping paper and then banished all of her stuff back down to her room, instead of trying to carry it. She settled to playing with her new pet, whom she had yet to name, as Harry had also given her anything that she would need to take care of it including food, toys, and a wicker basket to carry her in.

Around eight, Ron's stomach let out a loud rumble, and the smell of frying bacon was starting to move through the house, drawing the three out of Ron's room and down to the kitchen for breakfast.

Molly, Arthur, Teddy, and Percy were already there eating, or in Molly's case cooking, breakfast. Teddy had a stuffed animal that Harry had given him with him in his high-chair. It was a black dog that reminded Harry of Sirius, but Teddy seemed to love it, as he wouldn't let go of it even as he ate his cut up pieces of toast and bacon with one hand.

"Good morning, dears," Molly said, the first to notice them enter the room. "Happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas, Molly," Harry said, as the other two also wished her a good morning and a happy Christmas.

"Ginny, where did you get that kitten?" she asked after a moment, noticing the small white kitten only when Ginny sat down and put her onto her shoulder.

"Harry gave her to me," Ginny said, beaming at her boyfriend from across the table.

"Oh, well isn't she just precious," Molly said, looking at her closely. She was still tiny, with fluffy white fur, and green eyes, which were at the moment closed, as she seemed to have dosed off once up on Ginny's shoulder. "What have you named her, dear?"

Ginny furrowed her brows. "I'm not sure yet," she muttered. "I was deciding between Ice and Orchid."

"I'd go for Orchid," Ron put in. "It's more original."

"Good point, Ron," Ginny agreed, glancing at the sleeping ball of fur on her shoulder. "I dub thee, Orchid," she said promptly, petting the kitten with one single finger from the top of her head to the base of her tail. At this, the newly named Orchid stretched and yawned, showing off her tiny teeth before opening her eyes and sitting up on Ginny's shoulder, the tips of her ears barely reaching Ginny's own ear.

The family happily ate breakfast, thanking people for gifts and chatting aimlessly about school and quidditch. The twins and Charlie didn't appear from their rooms until after nine for breakfast. It was after ten by the time everybody had finished eating and talking and they were shooed out of the room by Molly. "I've got to cook! Out, out, out."

"Just so you know, Mum, Katie and Ange are coming too," George reminded her before he was completely banished from the kitchen until lunch time.

"And Penny," Percy added.

"Does anybody else have a surprise guest announcement?" Molly asked, looking slightly annoyed. She also gave an almost imperceptible glance towards Charlie.

He sighed. "Yes, Mum," he admitted. "I've got a guest coming too."

"Alright then," Molly said, closing the door in all of their faces before her cooking could be postponed any longer.

"So, Charlie?" Fred asked suggestively. "Who's the lucky lady who'll be coming as your guest?"

Charlie just shrugged. "You know her, but I won't tell you more than that. You'll find out tonight."

"Well somebody is being secretive," George muttered. "I wonder who it could be..."

"I don't know Georgie, but it ought to be interesting," Fred replied. Harry and Ron rolled their eyes at each other. Ginny hadn't been paying attention to the exchange. Instead, she was introducing Orchid to Teddy, who was happily pulling the cat's fur. Fortunately, Orchid didn't seem to mind and wasn't trying to scratch at him or escape.

They spent the rest of the day relaxing. They played Wizard's Chess and Gobstones, chatted aimlessly, entertained Teddy, and ate a small lunch before it got to be five thirty and they had to change before their guests arrived. Bill and Fleur were also coming, along with the other three girls.

The Weasley kids and Harry all went to change into something nicer (but not dress robes) for the dinner. By the time they were all ready it was five minutes of six and Molly needed their help to get all of the food onto the table. Between the six Weasleys and Harry it was set in no time and Molly had taken the chance to change quickly before there was a knock on the door.

Ginny went to answer it and let in Bill, who hugged her, and Fleur, who kissed her cheeks. Ginny didn't mind this as much as she might have before, but she still wasn't Fleur's biggest fan.

"Bill, Fleur, you're here!" Molly exclaimed, rushing to give each of them a hug. "We're just waiting for Katie, Angelina, and a mysterious woman who's identity Charlie is keeping a secret." There was another knock on the door and Fred and George went to greet their girlfriends, Charlie following them.

"Katie! Ange! Welcome, welcome, please, come in," Fred said, ushering them inside, only to see a third person behind them.

"Alicia!" George said, surprised. "We didn't know the girls were bringing you."

"Oh, honestly," Alicia huffed, looking past them. "You didn't tell them I was coming," she said teasingly.

"I told them it was somebody they knew, just not who it was," Charlie replied, coming forward to meet her before taking her hand and kissing it.

"Oh, always the gentleman, huh, Charlie," Fred snorted, going to greet his own girlfriend properly with a peck on the lips. Angelina rolled her eyes at him, taking his hand.

"Of course," Charlie said with a glint in his eyes.

"Now, Charlie," Molly said from the other room, not having heard the arrival of Alicia as Charlie's date, "when is your date going to be here?"

"I'm already here, Mrs. Weasley," Alicia greeted as Molly entered the room.

Molly smiled at her. "I had a feeling it might be you, dear," she said. "I could have sworn that there was a spark between the two of you over the summer, and I suppose I was right, wasn't I?"

"Yes, Mum," Charlie said, rolling his eyes. "Now can we eat? It looks delicious."

"Of course, of course," she said, shuffling them all into the kitchen where Bill and Fleur were talking to Arthur and Harry, Ron, and Ginny were chatting about the Gryffindor quidditch team's chances for the cup. "Sit down everyone!" she commanded. "Time to eat."

They all sat, Molly at the head of the table, Arthur, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Alicia, Penelope, and Percy, on one side of the table, and Angelina, Fred, George, Katie, Ginny, Harry, and Ron on the other. Teddy was in a highchair a little ways behind the table, his food already having been given to him.

The meal was delicious, as was all the food that Molly made, and they passed the time talking about anything they already had or hadn't talked about that holiday. Harry talked to Fred and George a lot about how the shop was going, Angelina and Katie occasionally putting in comments. He figured that since he was their main financial starter he should keep up with how they were doing and what new products they were testing. There was one that was supposed to be a candy that caused you to burp uncontrollably, but they hadn't figured out how to integrate the burp-stopping potion into the candy and had to administer it separately. If they put it straight into the candy, then they wouldn't burp at all.

Ron seemed slightly glum throughout the meal, most likely because of Hermione's absence, but managed to snort at one of the stories about Katie burping uncontrollably for two days before they found the potion recipe to put her back to normal. It was hard to imagine the petite blond letting out ear-splitting burps randomly several times an hour.

After pudding, Charlie stood up at his place near the head of the table to get everybody's attention. He got straight to the point. "I'm going to be moving back to Britain," he announced, then went on to explain more fully. "I've been thinking about it and looking around and decided it was time for me to get closer to home again. There's a dragon preserve in northern Scotland that would be willing to take me. I'm coming back during the summer and finding somewhere to live here around the Easter Hols."

Molly jumped up and pulled her second-eldest son into a bone-crushing hug, obviously pleased to have him back. The others expressed their surprise and happiness, but Bill said to Alicia, "He must really like you to be leaving his favorite dragons."

There were chuckles at the remark and the night ended in high-spirits. Charlie, Fred, and George all escorted their girlfriends home and Bill and Fleur returned to Shell Cottage. The others all turned in for the night and Penelope flooed home after saying a quick goodbye to Percy.

Everyone slept well that night, including Ginny and Harry for once, stomach's filled with delicious food, tired from the constant chatter and full stomachs. It had been a good Christmas, and Teddy's first. He'd been spoiled by all the different gift-givers, and that was the truth of the matter. Hermione was coming on New Year's Eve, and they would have a blast. The twins would probably have something planned for the night. Everybody had something to look forward to, and nothing to worry about for the moment.

Did you like it? Hate it? Is it boring? Exciting? Tell me what you think in a review please!