Going to be moving house, may not have internet, so will upload a couple of chapters now. Reviews would be greatly appreciated, though I know there's only about four of you reading! Thanks to those of course…
Chapter 18 - Christmas Break
At the end of the day Harry watched with curious nostalgia as the students piled back onto the Hogwarts express. He stood with Hagrid as the first years waded their way through knee deep snow, the older students stepping through with a little more ease, and waved as Leanne and Dennis Creevey joined the already rumbling train. He couldn't help but feel slightly troubled by Ginny's prolonged embrace with Matt Taylor. As she broke off, Hagrid gave Harry a nudge in the ribs.
"I bet yer finding today a bit odd, eh Harry?"
"A bit," Harry conceded, glad for the distraction, "but I did stay at Hogwarts for rather a lot of my Christmases."
"An' here comes the missus," Hagrid said, chuckling and turning away.
"Just saying bye to Matt and Leanne," she said, shivering against the cold. "Do you think we could head back to one of your cabins, or up to the hall? It's freezing out here!" Hagrid gestured for them to follow, Harry and Ginny finding it much easier to walk through the tracks the half-giant carved through the snow. Shutting the door to block the chilly wind, Hagrid lit a warm fire with his umbrella.
"Know what yer doing for Christmas yet? In Godric's Hollow again?"
"No, we're staying with mum and dad this year," Ginny answered, shaking flakes of snow out of her hair. "Dad's used some of his money for an extension so all of us will be back, as well as the Grangers and the Johnsons. Angelina's family I mean."
"Ron said he thought Fred was considering proposing… I don't suppose you have any idea?" Harry asked Ginny. She shook her head.
"That'd be nice," Hagrid commented, stretching so far that he set his sock on fire, which he hastily put out. "I mean, your wedding was good fun."
"Thanks Hagrid," Ginny demurred, as Harry laughed. "I'm not sure that was quite the point, but still…"
"Let's just hope Fred checks the ring first," Harry interjected.
"Still no idea how that happened?" Hagrid asked, as Ginny giggled.
"Nope. Too late to do anything about it now, the maker was questioned with Veritaserum and the ring itself exploded. Threw that giant completely off the ground, didn't it?"
"Yer don't forget days like that easy," Hagrid nodded sagely, as if he believed he had just imparted some great wisdom. Harry and Ginny exchanged amused looks but said nothing. "Still, gettin' ahead of ourselves, don't even know if it's happenin' yet! On another note, how're Ron and Hermione?" There was a pause.
"Well, Ron apologised eventually. But it took him a while and I'm not sure if Hermione's forgiven him. She said she had, and she understood that he was under pressure…" Harry trailed off.
"Nasty thing to say though," Hagrid said, frowning. "Even under stress…"
"I tried to stop him leaving, but by the time I got out the door all I could see was a tail in the distance. He'd transformed."
"I heard Hermione stayed at yours that night…" Hagrid trailed off, looking anxiously at Ginny, who laughed.
"It's fine. Harry thought she shouldn't be by herself, so she stayed. Don't worry, Harry took the couch." Ginny laughed again, looking at Harry in a fake-angry why. "Well, at least that's what they told me!" Hagrid let out a relieved laugh.
"You two'd best be off, Fang needs a bit of treatment. Reckon he might have broken a bone in his foot." Ignoring the fact that, despite his expertise, mending a broken bone might be best done by someone more qualified than Hagrid, Harry helped Ginny up and guided her back into the white grounds.
*
The day after term ended Harry packed a small bag and apparated with Ginny to the Burrow. As Ginny had mentioned, the Burrow had indeed gone under some large additions. A long annex extended around the back in a right angle shape, creating a courtyard within which there was a large round table complete with a central rotating lazy Susan and parasol, surrounded by a ring of comfortable chairs. Harry was pleased to see that this annex, whilst obviously comfortable and spacious, had been developed with the same uneven charm as the original building. Harry had grown very fond of the Burrow over his years growing up in Hogwarts, and would have been slightly disappointed had the extensions looked too modern or had the main building been redone.
Barely a minute after their arrival Harry and Ginny found themselves in the warm embrace of Mrs Weasley, (Harry had not yet achieved the stage of referring to his in-laws as "Mum" or "Dad", and wasn't sure if he ever would), who ushered them into the kitchen. They were greeted by the warm smell of chicken soup and the three of them settled around the kitchen table.
"It's going to be so nice to have every one here for Christmas," Mrs Weasley extolled enthusiastically. "Not that it wasn't lovely at yours last year, of course dear."
"It's great to be here too Mrs Weasley," Harry agreed, taking a sip of the creamy soup in front of him and, unsurprisingly, finding it to be delicious. "Ginny tells me that the Grangers and the Johnsons are going to be here…" Harry trailed off in what he hoped was a leading manner.
"Indeed they are," she replied, smiling as she took a sip of her soup, though she refused to rise to the bait. "Would you like to see your room? It's in the new bit." Casually setting the dishes to washing themselves, Mrs Weasley rose and led them down the hall, Ginny throwing Harry an amused look.
The room, along with the rest of the annex, (which, Harry later found out, George had dubbed "the Weasley's Wonderfully Wacky West Wing"), was lavishly decorated with streamers, stars, fake snow and several Christmas trees. Despite all of the Weasleys now being adults Harry couldn't help but feel like he was in some sort of Christmas grotto, and enjoyed the warm childhood nostalgic glow that spread from it.
Given that Mrs Weasley now had the services of a house elf called Tessy, and that Harry had summoned Dobby and Winky to help, the usual manic activity was mercifully absent. Ron and Bill arrived later on the day that Harry and Ginny arrived; the twins the following day; Charlie and the Granger's the day after that, with the Johnson's arriving just a couple of days before Christmas. The full house led to a happy atmosphere as the Granger's explained muggle appliances to Mr Weasley, Mrs Weasley got to know the Johnsons, and Hermione's sister Sarah, who had just turned twelve, spent the first day being defended from the gnomes by Bill.
As had been predicted by all but, apparently, Angelina, Fred proposed on Christmas Eve. He took her for a walk up onto the snowy hillside and, overlooking the village, he had sunk onto one knee and "signed his life away" as George put it. Through much tipsy jubilation Angelina repeatedly questioned Harry and Hermione especially as to the prospect of marrying into the Weasley family. Both had assured her jokingly that it was a terrible mistake and that she'd doomed herself to a life of harassment and stubbornness, until Fred, Ron and Ginny came over asking what they were all laughing about.
Ron and Hermione seemed to have reached an unspoken agreement that, over Christmas, they would put aside their troubles so that everyone could enjoy their holidays. They laughed, they held hands, kissed under the mistletoe (much to Sarah's horror) and joined in with all the Christmas games. Indeed, if Harry had not known better, he would have thought that they'd never been happier. Showing a surprisingly sensitive knack, Fred seemed to have spotted the mood too.
"Never seen Ron happier," he commented to Harry as they observed a female Quidditch match which Mrs Granger had, somewhat foolishly, volunteered to join in, leaving Ron trying desperately not to laugh. Harry responded with a non-committal nod. "Something's not right though," Fred continued, pausing in an attempt to lure Harry into conversation. "Do you know what it is?"
Harry considered what to say for a moment. "Well, it's really their business, but let's just say Ron isn't handling the stress very well."
Fred sighed. "Never was a strong point. Remember way back to your first year, with the Devil's Snare?"
Harry laughed. "How on earth can you remember that?"
"Not just a pretty face," Fred said, winking across the courtyard at Angelina who had valiantly agreed to be on Mrs Granger's team. There was another pause. "I think they could do with your help back in the Aurors."
"I've offered, several times. They keep saying that it would be stupid and would likely lead to a trap. I sometimes wonder what the point was in training."
"Surely they could do with having a phoenix on board?"
"When I pointed that out your dad just sighed, gave me a small smile and wandered off." Fred chuckled, although Harry thought he could detect a hint of something less definable within the laughter. "How's my investment going?"
"The shop? Really well. George has agreed to take charge for a couple of weeks so Angelina and I can head off somewhere for a honeymoon. Think we're going to Cyprus, Dad met their Minister a couple of weeks ago who found out from Dad what was going on, and immediately offered his summer retreat." Harry let out a low whistle. "Exactly," Fred agreed.
"Any new products in development?" Harry asked, realising he'd not checked up on Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes for some time. Fred just tapped his nose before they were both forced to duck as the golden snitch shot over their heads, followed closely by Hermione and Ginny.
*
Christmas day itself saw Dobby, Winky and Tessy showing off their culinary prowess with a sumptuous table of roast turkeys, stuffing, heaving plates of vegetables, Yorkshire puddings, massive gravy boats and enormous ewers of pumpkin juice, butterbeer, Firewhisky, wine, and a brand of muggle squash requested by Sarah. Determined to save Mrs Weasley or the other parents from doing any work, Harry, Hermione and Angelina directed the activities and ensured that the day ran smoothly. True to character, Hermione also made sure that the house elves had their breaks. As was inevitable, the idyllic atmosphere could not last.
It was Tessy's declining of a break that started things off. After many reassurances that they could do fine without her for half an hour, Tessy was still maintaining her duties, insisting that she should help Mrs Weasley. Hermione kept persisting, saying that Tessy was being overworked, when Ron came in.
"Give it a rest, Hermione," he said heavily, his red face topped with an irritated frown. "She obviously doesn't want to stop."
"But she needs a break!" Hermione responded, her voice a little bit higher than usual. "Dobby and Winky took breaks!"
"But she's not Dobby or Winky is she? It took ages to persuade Winky to take a break, weeks, and that was at the point where Harry ordered her to take one! Remember, you weren't happy about that?"
"That's not the point!" Hermione answered, her voice rising ominously. "She's worked hard and deserves some time off, don't you Tessy?" She said this last bit without even looking around, or she would have noticed that Tessy had already left, followed by an apologetic looking Winky.
"She's not even here any more," Ron laughed harshly. "She wants to be working more than even listening to you offering her time off!"
"So, Angelina, do you know when the big day is likely to be?" Harry interrupted loudly, desperately looking for a way out of the conversation. "I'm sure Hermione would like a look at the ring!" Angelina dived forwards, almost hitting Hermione in her efforts to help Harry save the situation, but it was too far gone.
"Enough!" Hermione was weeping now, and barely coherent. "I don't want to see you anymore!"
The room went silent instantly. "You mean…" Ron started uncertainly, "you want…" He trailed off, his face transformed from anger to stunned fear.
"I don't know what I want," she sobbed, her face now half buried in Harry's chest. "But I think we should be apart… for… for a while." She gave a little hiccup and, after another few moments of silence, Angelina took Hermione gently by the hand and, giving Harry an imperceptible nod at Ron, guided Hermione out of the room.
Harry had been in this situation before, but it was never easy. Indeed, the more serious the relationship, the more serious the row, and the worse the fall out. Harry looked at Ron, who was staring at the doorway Hermione had just left through. His face was pale and shining with sweat and tears, suddenly diminished. Harry gestured softly at the fields around the Burrow.
"Fancy a walk? Transformed I mean?" Ron shook himself and gave Harry a watery nod. Ron changed into a dog and, as a lion, Harry followed him outside, though he couldn't help but notice the owl watching them. Whilst Ron wasn't looking Harry turned and, after they had looked at each other a while, gave her a small nod. She looked away and, feeling none of the Christmas spirit the day had ushered in, Harry turned and followed Ron into the night.