Interlude – December 24th, 1993

Ghosts of Christmas Past

Harry's steps were long and fast as he walked quickly to his dorm room. Theo not far behind him. He wished furiously that he could have just run. It was winter break, and barely anyone was in the halls. Still, few were in the dungeons. However, he was a Slytherin, and Slytherins didn't run in the corridors. It lacked decorum. Not to mention, it was against the rules, and there was no way he was going to get caught breaking the rules, even over break. He'd never see the outside world for the rest of the holidays, if he was lucky…

Theo's strained breathing was starting to fall farther and farther behind him. At this pace, Theo was going to have to break out into a run to keep up with him. Still, Harry couldn't find it in himself to care. Theo wasn't the one who would be getting in trouble if Harry was late for his meeting with Professor Snape.

Harry turned the corner sharply skipping steps on his way to the Slytherin dungeon. He couldn't even blame Theo for his current predicament. Harry and Theo had needed some form of entertainment, and seeing Terry Boot at lunch had given him the idea. He'd been the one to convince the Ravenclaws staying over the holidays into a snowball fight. Not an easy task, as they had wanted to curl up on their common room couches and read books around the fire.

Terry had been against the idea. Going against anyone for a snowball fight would have been difficult, but Harry had made a name for himself for being particularly good at charms.

"Come, now Terry." Harry spoke. However, Boot's expression remained reluctant. "Think about the amount of charms work it would entail." Harry paused here to let his words sink in. "A completely magical snowball fight. The chance to practice charm and transfiguration spells, maybe pick up a new spell or two from the older students."

Even at that, Boot's expression was still reluctant. Harry had one more argument. "But if you're uninterested, I'm sure I can find some Gryffindors willing to beat up on a few Slytherin third years."

As Harry had learned late in his first year, Slytherin wasn't the only house that tried to one up the Gryffindors. Soon enough, he and Theo had been against the five Ravenclaw third and fourth years that remained for the holidays. It had been so fun that Harry had simply lost track of time. "Aconite!" Harry called out feet away from the stone wall that was the entrance to the Slytherin dormitory. He didn't slow. Instead, as the wall cracked open, Harry slipped through and continued on to his dorm room.

Harry couldn't breathe easy yet. If he didn't want to be late to his meeting with Professor Snape, he couldn't afford to slow down. As Harry entered his shared dorm room, he couldn't help but lament the lost time he'd been planning to use to review his work one last time. His lament was short-lived, however, as Harry grabbed his bag and stuffed his notebook inside of it. The notebook banged along the small contents of the bag, but Harry was unconcerned. He hastily grabbed the parchment on his desk before heading back out to the common room to finish gathering his assignments.

Harry was in the process of picking up his essays scattered around the room when Theo came through the common room door. His hands on his knees bent over breathing hard. "How…" Theo breathed heavily, "in the bloody world…" another big breath, "do you walk so quickly?"

One, two, three, and four. Harry unrolled all four of his assignments to give them one more, quick glance. "It's all in the hips, Theo." Harry replied absentmindedly. The essays still looked good, error-wise, which wasn't surprising, as he'd spent hours on each one. He'd been holed up in the library editing and researching for each essay. So, his focus might have been split. Harry had still spent more time than he'd truly needed working on them. "These will have to do." Harry briefly looked up at the common room clock. He was going to be late.

"I'm sorry Harry. I really am. We were having so much fun with the birds that I just lost track of time…" Theo replied. The concern on Theo's face was heartening. Before Harry had come to Hogwarts, he'd only ever dreamed of having a friend like Theo. Still, it was highly unlikely that his work would be negatively affected by missing one last revision. More importantly, he didn't want Theo to think his current predicament was his fault. He'd be a poor friend in return if he did.

"Theo, it's not your job to manage my time for me. I'm a big boy. I'll take the flack if these aren't up to Professor Snape's standards." Harry replied as he ordered his work as neatly as possible in his rush, tying each parchment up with care as he put them in his bag.

"Yes, I know, but…" Despite Harry's intentions, Theo's expression didn't change.

"Theo, relax. The worst that can happen is Professor Snape makes me do them over again."

"So, you can re-do them tomorrow, on Christmas day! Harry, that's precisely what I'm worried about."

"Theo, if Professor Snape is going to have me redo the assignment, then a couple more hours of revision wouldn't have been enough to change that." Harry paused briefly to doubled check his bag; notebook, some extra parchment and quills, his assignments, a small Christmas gift for Professor Snape, and a small additional wrapped present. "I'll be back in a couple of hours," Theo looked like he was going to argue, so Harry talked over him, "Theo, why don't you go to the kitchens and bring us back a snack. I'll probably miss dinner, and the professor won't have anything more than snack food during our meeting."

Hopefully that would keep Theo's mind off of Harry's meeting. Harry started to walk over to the common room exit. He looked back and observed Theo's still worried face. Perhaps something more, "Or go over to the Ravenclaw tower and get them to lend me a copy of that advanced charm's book they're hording. A gentle reminder that library books should be returned so that other houses can read them should do the trick."

Theo looked hesitant, so Harry clarified. "Yes, I know guilt trips work better on Hufflepuffs. Still, I've found that any mention of the library rules will guilt trip just about any bird successfully."

"Okay, yeah. I can do that. Boot owes us a favor after losing the snowball fight earlier, anyway."

Theo and Harry left the common room together only to turn in different directions, Theo toward the Ravenclaw tower and Harry toward Professor Snape's office within the dungeons.

"And Harry?" Theo called out before Harry could walk too far down the corridor. Harry turned around impatience in his stance. "Good luck."

Harry snorted at the response before turning around to go. As he walked away from Theo's stationary figure, Harry called over his shoulder in reply, "I won't need luck, Theo. I'll be fine on my own merits."

Harry walked at a much slower but still brisk pace to the professor's office. It wouldn't do to get there looking unkempt.

Once outside the office door, Harry completed one last once over of his hair and uniform. His hair was probably a lost cause as it was unlikely to get any straighter. His uniform also was probably as orderly as he'd ever been able to get it. Still, it was habit, borderline second nature.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Harry didn't have to wait long before Professor Snape opened the door. The professor looked down his long hooked nose as he spoke. "Four fifty-eight." Professor Snape paused for dramatic effect. As Harry looked up at the professor, he thought wishfully of the day when he'd stand shoulder to shoulder with the professor. Perhaps then the professor wouldn't look so intimidating. "Only two minutes early today. Pushing it aren't we Harry?" There was another pause as the professor observed him. Reserving judgment. "What is it I always tell you?"

"If you're on time then you're late. Always be fifteen minutes early to a meeting with one's superiors." Harry replied verbatim. He felt like he was a first year again. "I'm sorry sir. I have no excuse."

The professor nodded his head as he ushered him in the room. Harry was pleased when he saw a slight light of approval in the professor's eyes. He'd long ago learned to not give excuses. The professor didn't believe in them.

Professor Snape motioned for Harry to take the seat in front of his desk as he moved to sit behind the desk. As Harry made himself comfortable, he took a brief glance at the type of snacks the professor had provided; biscuits, some warm looking turkey sandwiches, and a steaming mug of what Harry knew to be hot chocolate.

Harry ignored his growling stomach as he retrieved and handed over his holiday assignments. As Professor Snape examined his first essay, Harry dug into the tray of biscuits and sandwiches. The sandwiches were still warm and tasted amazingly delicious. It was a concept Harry had come to expect from all of the Hogwarts' house elves dishes. The hot chocolate was the perfect beverage for a cold winter day like today.

Harry still remembered the first time he'd found himself sitting here over the winter holiday break reviewing assigned homework with the professor. He'd been expecting to have a work free holiday. Instead, he'd been forced to study on the one break where no one was expected to do any type of school related assignments. At first he'd thought it some cruel punishment the professor had invented just for him. Afterwards, however, Harry had realized the professor had given him a way to occupy his otherwise empty Christmas holiday.

Unlike last year, Professor Snape had deemed it too dangerous with Black running loose for Harry to go home with Theo. At least Theo had been able to stay behind with him. He'd managed to convince his father to let him stay behind for which Harry appreciated. Blaise, Daphne, and even Tracey's parents had insisted they come home for the holiday like every year before. It still surprised Harry that Theo had managed to get out of his own family obligations.

Still, that first year none of his friends had even considered staying behind for the Christmas holiday. In their defense, Harry knew that their friendship had not been as strong as it was now. Nevertheless, it had left him nearly the only Slytherin at Hogwarts. It would have been an extremely lonely holiday had Harry not had the difficult assignments.

Instead of spending time by himself, Harry had spent the majority of his time between the library and Professor Snape's office. Despite Theo's worries, the professor was uncharacteristically kind with his winter holiday grading. Thus, Harry had no fear of Professor Snape making him redo his assignments. No, what concerned him was whether the assignments would be up to his own standards. If this grading didn't met Harry's standards no matter what the professor said, then Harry would redo the essays.

Harry was on his third biscuit and second turkey sandwich when Professor Snape began the oral question and answer portion of his grading for the first essay.

"This particular method will of course work as an improvement to the dreamless sleep potion. However, at these concentrations and the dosage of administration the improved potion would be quite poisonous. I hope this was intentional."

Harry nodded as he quickly swallowed his last bite. "Yes, professor. I wanted to design a potion that had a different utilization than the original. I found that the dreamless sleep potion was particularly prone to becoming poisonous, so I wanted to work that angle. There were several ways to modify the potion into a poisonous one. However, there was only one way that I could determine that would also have the same color and consistency as the original dreamless sleep potion."

The professor nodded his understanding, "Very well. Now, how would you go about the process if you didn't want the potion to be poisonous?"

The rest of the grading went similarly. With Professor Snape making his way through the rest of Harry's potions essay, then to his other three essays; defense against a werewolf, simple charms in combat, and wards and runes. Each essay took anywhere between ten to fifteen minutes for the professor to read, and then an additional thirty to forty-five minutes of questions to direct discussion of each essay.

It was some three hours later when Harry had finished up with the last question.

"I'm very pleased with your responses, Harry. This is excellent work. I'll only have a few additional questions prepared for you to work on after Boxing Day." Harry nodded his understanding. He had expected another set of questions today, but it seemed he'd done well enough for the professor to need to prepare completely different questions. "I expect you to continue to stay out of trouble Harry. The holidays are no excuse to get into it with the Weasleys."

"Yes, sir. Theo and I will probably continue to spend much of the holiday in the common room, a very hard place to find trouble, sir."

Professor Snape inclined his head in Harry's direction before he spoke again, "I hope you have been enjoying your holiday despite the restriction in place."

"Yes, sir. We've played so many games of chess, I think I might be able to give you a real challenge now."

The professor gave a small snort in amusement, "Really now?" Harry nodded with a small smile tugging at his lips. "Then we will have to play a game the day after Boxing Day. If you've been spending the whole break playing chess, then perhaps your skills have improved enough for some very interesting games."

Harry gave a sheepish smile, "We've also had some fun with the birds. In fact, we just got done beating them soundly in an all magical snowball fight." Harry couldn't help the wide smile that over took his face as he continued, "They got so desperate. They resorted to using their hands. Which Theo kindly pointed out, meant they forfeited the game to us."

"I'm always pleased to hear that my snakes are championing in magical exploits." Professor Snape replied with a small smile on his lips.

Harry smiled happily in return; completely forgetting that the duel of snow had caused him to be late for this meeting. "I've also spent loads of time in the library. Mostly keeping Madam Prince company."

"I hope you got her a gift. It's important to give gifts to not only your friends but also those within your network. I assure you that Madam Prince is one of those persons with the amount of time you spend in the library."

"I did. I gave it to her at the beginning of the holidays. A spa package that Daphne recommended. Figured she could use it before Christmas."

"Good thinking Harry. I'm sure the gift was most appreciated." Professor Snape pulled a wrapped present out of his desk, "Speaking of gifts. I believe this is for you."

Harry smiled at the gift and opened it there as he knew the professor wanted him to. Inside was a nice set of self-inking quills and five leather-bound snake embroidered green and silver notebooks.

"I expect you to use them to help with your studies." The professor replied as Harry watched several snakes curl their way around the outside of the notebooks.

"Thank you, sir. You won't be disappointed." Harry gently put his gifts within his bag while getting out his gift for Professor Snape. "I also got you something."

Professor Snape opened the smaller wrapped gift to reveal a silver watch, "Why… thank you Harry." The professor replied hesitantly.

"I know what you're thinking professor, but it's specifically designed for potions makers. It's not supposed to corrode and doesn't need any maintenance to keep its shine. But if it does, you only have to owl it back to the company," Harry pointed to the small note inside the box as he continued, "and they will send you a new watch for life!"

"Thank you, Harry. This was a very thoughtful and useful gift." The professor put the watch on before shooing Harry out of his office. "You've spent long enough in my office for any day, let alone Christmas Eve. Go enjoy the rest of the night with Mr. Nott."

"Yes, sir. Have a happy Christmas tomorrow."

"You as well, Harry. You as well."

The walk from Professor Snape's office to the Slytherin common room was a short one. In fact, if Harry took a left at the fork ahead of him, then he'd be there in another minute or two. At the fork, Harry took a right.

Theo was probably waiting for him, but Harry had about another twenty minutes until he would have normally gotten back from a grading session with the professor. So, Harry had the time to make one more stop with Theo being none the wiser.

Several minutes later found Harry standing outside of the Hogwarts' library. He'd normally have just walked right in, but he was hesitant to do so now. Harry had no guarantee that this wouldn't be a waste of his time. It was late. Later than he'd ever been in the library this winter break, but… Harry walked purposefully through the open doors and began his search of the library. He was here for a reason after all.

Brilliant bright red hair popping out from behind a thick tome caught Harry's attention. From his current distance, he couldn't make out the title of the book, but that hardly matter. Ginny was sitting quietly in the corner of the library they had claimed as their own this winter break.

At Harry's soft approach, Ginny looked up and a smile touched her lips. "Harry!" His name escaped from Ginny's lips in a surprised whisper.

"Ginevra." Ginny rolled her eyes at his reply, but the smile never left her lips as she gently set her book down. Her full focus was completely on him.

"I thought I'd find you here today. Only, I imagined you'd be here earlier than this. You even missed dinner."

"I had to turn in my pre-Christmas work for Professor Snape's review." Harry replied as he sat down across from her. "I told you about it earlier. The professor likes to tell me what I need to improve in before letting me go enjoy my holiday."

"I remember. I just thought it wouldn't be due until the end of the holidays."

"No, he'll give me another set of assignments to turn in at the end of winter holidays."

"That sucks. I'm still glad Professor McGonagall doesn't do anything like that."

They settled into a comfortable silence, each in their own thoughts. Harry had spent a great deal of his time here. Studying with Ginny across from him. From their short conversations, he could tell she was a brilliant and curious witch. Harry particularly liked that Ginny needed little direction from him to increase her skills. Harry looked over at Ginny as he thought. He expected to continue to study with her for the rest of the holidays. Maybe they would even talk about something other than school or Quidditch.

At that thought, Ginny broke out in laughter. Harry raised an eyebrow at the strange behavior. "Either you've been hexed, or you've finally gone around the twist. Either way, I fail to see what's so funny."

"I'm sorry Harry." Ginny paused to get her laughter under control. "It just, I keep imaging Professor McGonagall giving Ron winter holiday revisions…"

Harry took a moment to imagine the scene and the look on Ron Weasley's face if Professor McGonagall had given him winter assignments. Then promptly broke out into a second round of laughter with Ginny. "Oh, but Granger would have been in heaven."

"I'm sure Hermione would be very envious of you, Potter. Just think about all of the learning she's missing out on…"

They shared another laugh at that thought as well before finally settling down. "I'm glad I found you here, Ginny. I figured you'd be spending most of tomorrow in the Gryffindor tower with your brothers." Harry let it go without being said that they wouldn't get to see each other tomorrow for Christmas. There would be Christmas dinner, of course. However, Harry's relationship with the majority of Ginny's brothers was strained at best. So, they would not be sitting anywhere near each other like every other meal.

She nodded before hesitantly pulling out a neatly wrapped present. "I… I got you something." Ginny replied timidly.

"For a Slytherin?" Harry asked as he took the parcel.

"You're more than your house, Harry. We all are. No one person fits squarely in one house. Every witch and wizard has a little of all of the houses within them. Even a Slytherin like you."

Harry smiled kindly at Ginny's fierce words, perhaps this was how she justified spending time with him, or maybe it was a way of thinking she'd had to come to terms with after her disastrous first year. Either way, Harry liked the idea. "Perhaps... This is for you Ginny." Harry pulled out the parcel he'd had gift wrapped at the shop and handed it to her.

Harry watched as Ginny rolled the present within her hands as if she could determine the contents without opening it. He was ready to tell Ginny to just open it, but she suddenly put the gift down and aimed her attention at him. "You go first." Ginny spoke briskly. Harry lifted his eyebrow in question. "I mean, I'd like to see you open my gift first. Please."

Harry nodded his head in understanding, before carefully unwrapping the gift. He could no longer count the number of gifts he'd received for Christmas on both hands. Nevertheless, Harry could not help the desire to savor each experience. Once the box was unwrapped, he carefully folded the wrapping paper so that he could save it for later ignoring Ginny sigh of impatience. "You can open your gift at any time if you're tired of waiting for me…"

Ginny flushed in embarrassment. "No, you go ahead."

With the wrapping neatly folded, Harry turned his attention to the box. He opened it to find a medium sized picture frame and a small glass potion bottle. From the look of the potion bottle, it could only hold two or three doses. It was the picture frame that truly caught his interest. Simple wood, slender and durable, it was clearly an inexpensive frame. Harry flipped the frame over to observe the picture housed within it.

He had half expected to find one of Creevey's amazing pictures of him during the last Quidditch game. Instead, Harry found himself staring at a hand drawn version of himself. He was sitting in his normal corner of the library surrounded by his friends. However, this was no picture that could have ever happened in real life, at least not yet.

Harry wasn't sure how Ginny managed it, but there surrounding him in the picture was nearly all of his friends including his friends from the different houses. The Puffs, Susan and Zacharias, the Birds, Terry centered among them, even his few Gryffindor friends, Neville and little Colin Creevey with a camera hung around his neck. All of them were sitting comfortably with his Slytherin friends.

Harry ran his hand over the image, touching without touching. The detail was fantastic. It must have taken days if not weeks for Ginny to complete this drawing...

"I know it isn't much, but… I hope you like it. The potion I made with some supplies from Professor Snape. It's supposed to help with memory retention. You just take a dose right before you study, and..." Ginny trailed off, unsure of herself.

"Thank you Ginny. There's only one problem I see here."

"Oh?" Ginny replied sadly.

"You forgot someone."

"I… I didn't want to assume."

"Well, you can't leave out Miss. Norris. Where would I be without her?" Ginny looked surprised at his response before they both broke out in laughter. "Next time, perhaps you'll draw me a picture with you in it. So, I can have a picture of all of my friends."

Ginny smiled brightly at his response, "I would love too, and I'm very glad you like it."

"Your thoughtfulness may make my gift pale in consideration." Ginny took that as her cue to open her gift. Her style reminded Harry of Theo. They both just tore into the gift without regards to the gift wrapping. But once Ginny reached the small wooden box inside the wrapping, she hesitated and looked at Harry in question. "I saw it in Batworthy and thought of you. Go ahead. Open it."

Ginny opened the box to reveal a beaded jade, onyx, and turquoise bracelet with a black leather strap. Ginny's hands ran over the beaded bracelet slowly. A soft smile was on her lips. "Could you?" Ginny asked as she held the bracelet out to him along with her wrist.

"Yeah. Sure." Harry tied the bracelet around Ginny's small wrist, and watched as Ginny took in the gift. She was silent for several seconds where Harry wondered if he'd bought an appropriate gift. Or maybe she just didn't like it. "I can..." Harry began, but was interrupted by Ginny throwing herself at Harry. The hug was so forceful that it knocked Harry back slightly.

"I love it." Ginny whispered into Harry's ear. He didn't even try to stop the smile from coming to his lips as he awkwardly returned the hug. This was the boldest thing he'd ever seen Ginny do.

They continued the hug for several seconds longer than was strictly appropriate for friends. Ginny pulled away and brushed back her hair in an attempt to cover up her creeping blush. Harry pretended not to see it. Instead, Harry moved on to talk about a safer subject, "What's a Weasley Christmas like Ginny?"

Harry left an hour later, splitting with Ginny at the library door. He let out a long sigh. He'd only meant to stay for a couple of minutes. Now, Theo would be waiting, and likely to ask uncomfortable questions. Harry still wasn't all that good at lying outright. Still, if he could get back soon enough, it was possible Theo wouldn't notice. Harry turned the corner moving down the deserted corridors with a purpose. If he could make it back within the next couple of minutes, then a half an hour difference wouldn't really be all that unusual. Harry just needed...

Harry's head jerked to the side as two pairs of strong hands yanked him into an unused classroom. He immediately made for his wand, but it was already gone. Shite! If this was Black, he was a dead man. Harry couldn't help but berate himself. He should have been paying more attention to his surroundings. This was simply carelessness on his part!

His captors pushed him further into the room. Harry used his forward momentum to turn sharply to face, not Black but the Weasley twins. George was carelessly holding his wand. Unfortunately, he was too far away for Harry to take advantage. Even if he could, he'd still have to deal with Fred standing imposingly right next his twin.

"A bit sloppy of you Potter." Fred broke the silence.

"It's not every day one expects to be ambushed." Harry replied with boredom in his voice. It was a trick he'd learn from Draco, whether Draco knew it or not.

"With an attitude like that." George replied.

"…it's no wonder why you have so many enemies." Fred continued.

"I didn't think I was one of yours." Harry kept his focus on both the twins as he spoke, but his stance relaxed as if this was a normal meeting with friends. He was nervous. For most of the student body, the Weasley twins were not to be considered dangerous. Still, Harry had heard about some less fortunate Slytherins, and it was almost always a Slytherin. He had thought he was part of the first group, but the twins were currently holding his wand and barring his pass. This could end very poorly for him...

Still, Harry would be damned if he let his fear show. Besides, it was best not to show any weaknesses.

"We see you've been hanging around our sister a lot recently, Potter."

"I honestly don't know what you're talking about, Fred. George." Harry looked at each directly. "We study in the same library. I saw she was having a little trouble finding the correct text for a subject and simply pointed out one that might help. I've been known to interact with those outside my house from time to time, Weasleys."

Fred continued with little change in his stance. "That's not the way I see it Potter."

"Oh?" Harry replied still feigning boredom.

"If you hurt her." George continued before Harry could further interrupt.

"The Headmaster won't be able to find your body." The darkness in Fred's voice left little doubt for Harry that they were very serious. Harry did all he could to keep the fear off his face as the twins stared him down for several long seconds.

Whatever his face showed or didn't show must have passed inspections, for George tossed his wand back at his feet. Harry ignored his immediate desire to pick up his wand and watched the twins leave. He stood for several seconds longer trying to calm his breathing. It had never even occurred to him that Ginny's brothers could be a problem. They weren't even dating yet.

Harry swallowed heavily before he picked up his wand. The Weasleys' were notorious within his house for having more children than they could afford. And Ginny had four more of those large older Gryffindor brothers. The worst part was that before today, Harry had been sure that he and the Weasley twins were on pretty good terms. What in the world would her other brothers do?

Harry made his way carefully, but slowly through the corridors. He was more than an hour late for when he should have been back. There was no reason for him to hurry back now. Harry entered the Slytherin common room slowly. The smell hit him first reminding him that he'd only had sandwiches several hours ago. The table closest to the fireplace was loaded down with a feast. It looked like Christmas dinner had come early to the Slytherins. Turkey, ham, duck, chicken, and that was just the meats.

"I thought you'd be back earlier, Harry." Theo questioned as Harry moved toward the mini-feast.

"It all still looks piping hot. Did you have the house elves put warming charms on it?" Harry replied ignoring the question as he filled up a plate.

"Yes, but did Professor Snape really take that long to grade your work?" Theo questioned relentlessly.

Harry took a large bite of a turkey leg before answering Theo's question, "I stopped by the library for a bit afterwards."

The expression on Theo's face moved from curious to disappointed anger at Harry's response. "You mean you stopped by the library to see Weasley." Theo replied bitterly. "How many times do I have to tell you? She's a Blood traitor, her whole family is. More importantly, you're a little third year. You may have the ear of the fourth years and below, but there's still the strongest part of the house to deal with."

"I'm aware of that Theo." Harry replied taking another bite of his food.

"Then stop seeing her!" Theodore replied angrily.

"I'm not seeing her, Theo. I help her out on her homework. Nothing more." Harry continued eating paying little attention to Theo's rant. This was precisely why he'd wanted to get here earlier.

"If Weasley's too stupid to work out her own assignments, then I don't see why you need to bother."

Harry saw red for a moment. His plate pushed several inches away from him in his anger. "Are you questioning my judgment?" Harry spoke in a low whisper.

"No. No. I'm just... I'm sorry Harry I didn't mean…" Theo sighed heavily letting his own frustration fade. "Just… What would Tracey think, huh?"

"Tracey's like a sister to me, Theo. That's not a good example."

"She doesn't think of herself like a sister to you. You're really going to break her heart? Tracey's very acceptable heart? Over a Weasley?"

"Theo. You're looking too much into this. I'm not planning on asking Ginny out or anything. We just talk."

"Talk, now is it? I thought you said you helped her with her revisions?"

"Theodore…"

"Harry, I'm looking out for you, okay. You're strong, mate. And as time goes by, you're only going to get stronger. I see that every day. Damn it, Harry. Even my dad sees it. But can't you wait to start shaking up the wizarding world, and just date someone reasonable? Someone acceptable to our house?"

"My mother was a muggleborn Theo. Are you saying I should think less of her?"

"What? No, that's not what I'm saying. I don't have anything against muggleborns. Bloody hell Harry, you even got Blaise to change his mind about muggleborns. And if you were thinking about dating a muggleborn, you could use the 'my mother was a muggleborn' excuse." Theo paused here to let his comment sink in. "But Harry, there's something worse about being a pureblood like the Weasleys. They're just not acceptable dating material."

"Then I don't see a problem. I'm not dating Ginny."

"Weasley." Theo replied sharply.

"What?"

"She's a Weasley until you control this school. And she can't be anything more."

Harry turned back to his plate to eat clearly ending this line of conversation about his dating life. After several silent minutes, Harry inquired about Theo's trip to the Ravenclaw tower.

After dinner, Harry turned in early. He needed some time alone. Theo seemed to understand that and had mentioned staying up a while longer. So, Harry found himself alone within his shared dorm room staring up at the canopy of his four poster bed. This was the first time he'd been alone within the Slytherin dorm room this year. There were times when he wished he could have this silence, this peace. Today had been a good day, overall, even if it had ended poorly, and Christmas would be tomorrow. Still, Theo's words bothered him.

Lying on his bed, Harry couldn't help thinking about the last time he'd been alone in this room, the winter holidays during his first year. Christmas had come with presents, real presents. He'd eaten a feast that dwarfed anything the Dursleys could have hoped to create. The Weasleys had left him alone. That day had been perfect. And yet, Harry had trouble sleeping that Christmas evening. It was the silence really. The snore-less room had felt so empty. The bed was too soft, too comfortable. Harry still remembered that need to be somewhere, anywhere else than that bed in that room. It had been nearly Boxing Day when he'd left the dungeons for some solace.

He'd been roaming the castle halls outside the library trying to decide if he should just get a head start on his next couple of essays, when some fool set off an alarm. The fool had clearly gone into the restricted section of the library and opened a restricted book without bothering to cast a silencing spell. A rookie mistake that was taught to all of the Slytherin first years within the first month of Hogwarts.

The sound had brought his head of house and Filch coming down the hall. The quick heavy steps of his head of house had Harry's heart racing. The professor was only just starting to warm to him. If Harry got caught out of bounds this soon, there was no doubt that it would set them back. He'd been determined not to let that happen. Even now, the desperation was fresh in his mind to find somewhere, anywhere to hide.

Harry had been lucky to stumble upon an unused classroom. Looking back on that day now, Harry realized he'd found more than a hiding space. He'd found what had propelled him out of bed that night. The Mirror of Erised had become one of his biggest driving forces today. But best of all, Harry hadn't felt so alone gazing into it.

Harry had gone back every night afterwards to studying it. Every day seemed to be a different scene, luring him in tighter. He'd only stopped when the Headmaster had caught him. No, Harry remembered going back one last time only to find the Headmaster had kept his word, and the mirror had found a new home.

What is your heart's greatest desire?

The headmaster had been wrong that day about Harry's greatest desire. He didn't want to revive his mother and father. Harry barely knew them outside of stories. And even those were far and few in between. No, Harry wanted a family of his own.

Theo just didn't understand that there were just some things worth the wrath of their house... Still, he had time. Letting Theo win tonight would be no blow against his desires. Besides, Harry didn't even know if Ginny was his greatest desire, or someone like Ginny or maybe even completely different from her. All he knew was that he wanted, no needed to find out.

Harry turned around as he tried to go to sleep. Ginny wasn't going anywhere. Another year and he'd be more powerful. He could do whatever he wanted then…

As Harry tossed and turned in bed waiting the Christmas morning, his dreams were filled with old images from the Mirror of Erised of his first year.

What is your heart's desire, Harry Potter?

AN: Well damn. For an interlude, this took far longer than I thought it would. (I did try to get it out yesterday, but for some reason I couldn't log on...) I think I might have mentioned that I was writing another Grant. Turns out I also had to write a review paper... Yeah, I had no life. (Not sure I have one now, as I'm reading for another review paper...)

Good news, is I managed to wrangle nearly two full weeks of vacation out of my PI. If I have to hear one more, 'when I was a grad student...' I swear I'll strangle him. Dude, we don't work with pigs! If I didn't know any better, he had to walk up hill both ways in the snow to get to lab. This is Texas... I don't think he even knows what snow, real snow, looks like.

Yeah, sorry about that rant. NIH grants are a lot harder and more stressful to write then any fellowship I've ever written before. As for the story, I kind of feel sorry for you guys. You get an interlude about Harry, instead of the next chapter. Worst yet, I realize the beginning of the next chapter and the end of the interlude ought to go together. Oh well. I'll just have to try harder to get the next chapter out soon, now won't I...

Happy Holidays!

KJ