Apparently I wasn't meant to talk to Ginny, because when I woke up the next morning I discovered that everyone else had left in the middle of the night. Dumbledore told me that something had happened to Mr. Weasley and they all had gone to help him. I was slightly hurt that no one had woken me up and let me know, but I decided they probably had good reasons. So I had to go to every class by myself, with nothing but my thoughts to distract me. I took care to collect everyone's winter homework, including Ginny's, George's, and Fred's. I then packed up my trunks and headed off to meet my parents to tell them I wasn't going to be able to stay.
I hated skiing, I always had. My parents knew that and didn't really care all that much, they simply adored the sport. Yet instead of doing it at a time when I wasn't around they always insisted on waiting until Christmas so I could go with them. I loved my parents, but they really didn't understand me, couldn't really understand me. We were part of two different worlds. They didn't mind my being a witch, but they didn't really understand it all that well. They didn't get why I worried so much about Harry, or why I had nightmares of Voldmort coming back to power. After all, I could do magic, why should I fear a wizard? They were nowhere near as bad as the Dursley's, but they tried to pretend I wasn't magical anytime I was around them. I think it was mostly because they just didn't know how to deal with it.
They weren't thrilled that I wasn't spending Christmas with them, but they weren't too upset. So I left the resort in good spirits and decided I take the knight bus to Grimmauld Place. I loved riding the Knight Bus, it was so non-Muggle. It seemed to personify magic, what with its unconventional craziness. I had them drop me off on the street and waited till they had disappeared from sight before I walked up to number 12.
The house had been decorated for Christmas, and it did wonders to brighten the dreary old place up. Sirius was belting out some Christmas song that sounded a lot like God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman, and Mrs. Weasley was busy cooking food. The rest of the Weasley's were in the living room, but Harry was nowhere to be seen. Ron and Ginny pounced on me the minute I set foot in the living room, their faces tense with worry.
"Where's Harry?" I asked as they ran up to me. Ron shot Ginny a pointed look before staring back at me.
"We need your help," he said simply.
I made my way up the creaky stairs, ignoring the ghastly elf heads on the wall as I headed towards Buckbeak's room. No way was I letting Harry spend another second sulking in that room. I sent Ron and Ginny to his and Harry's room. We were going to straighten this out right now.
I pounded on the door when I finally reached it, only then realizing I was still wearing my coat. I probably looked like I had just stepped in from a blizzard.
"I know you're in there," I said, trying to sound calm and not let my irritation sound through. "Will you please come out? I want to talk to you." The door unlocked and Harry appeared in the opening. Buckbeak was oblivious to my presenceand just kept scratching at the floor.
"What are you doing here?" he asked. "I thought you were skiing with your mum and dad?" I smiled as I took the sight of him in. He was alright, all the stress I'd been feeling the last two days melted away as I scanned his body, noting he was completely unharmed save for bags under his eyes from lack of sleep.
"Well, to tell the truth, skiing's not really my thing. So I've come here for Christmas. But don't tell Ron, I told him skiing's really good because he kept laughing so much. Mum and Dad are a bit disappointed, but I've told them that everyone who is serious about the exams is staying at Hogwarts to study. They want me to do well. They'll understand." That was probably the only thing they'd understand: grades. I was getting off topic though, so I straightened my sweater and reeled my thoughts back in.
"Anyway, let's go to your bedroom, Ron's mum has lit a fire in there and she's sent up sandwiches." He looked at me suspiciously but followed me out of the room nonetheless. He looked really surprised when he saw Ron and Ginny sitting on the bed. Honestly, did he expect us to just leave him alone? Deciding to help ease the tension in the room, I kept talking.
"I came on the Knight Bus," I explained as I tore my jacket off. The room was pleasantly warm and the jacket was threatening to make me very hot. "Dumbledore told me what happened first thing yesterday morning, but I had to wait for term to end officially before setting off." I smiled mischievously as I continued. "Umbridge is already livid that you lot disappeared right under her nose, even though Dumbledore told her Mr. Weasley was in St. Mungo's and he'd given you permission to visit." Having divested myself of the jacket, I now decided to sit on the bed next to Ginny. I looked up at Harry and let all my concern and love for him show on my face.
"How're you feeling?" I asked.
"Fine," he answered stiffly.
I sighed and shook my head. "Don't lie, Harry. They said you've been hiding from everyone since you got back from St. Mungo's."
"They did, did they?" he said, glaring at the two of them angrily. Ron hung his head, which annoyed me to no end, but Ginny glared right back.
"Well you have!" she exclaimed. "And you won't look at any of us!" I nearly joined her exclamation, feeling myself getting riled up. I loved Harry so much that he couldn't be closer to me if he was my actual brother, but I was getting very tired of this attitude. This 'I'm-all-alone-against-Voldmort-and-I-don't-want-to-hurt-anyone-else' attitude was driving me crazy. What was it going to take to prove to him that we all were fighting with him, that he bloody well wasn't alone?
Harry snorted at that before turning his head angrily. "It's you lot who won't look at me."
That nearly made me laugh. They were doing it again. We had to have some sort of record set for the most misunderstandings in any group of friends. Why could these boys not just talk to each other?
"Maybe you're taking it in turns to look, and keep missing each other," I suggested, unable to stop my mouth from twitching into a slight smile.
"Very funny!" Harry snapped, now completely turning away from us.
"Oh stop feeling all misunderstood," I said sharply, my patience with him finally snapping. "Look, the others have told me what you overheard last night on the Extendable Ears - "
"Yeah?" growled Harry, his hands deep in his pockets as he cut me off before I could finish.
"'All been talking about me, have you? Well, I'm getting used to it," he said bitterly. Ginny huffed and leaned forward, anger clearly written on her pretty face. If Harry had been in his right mind he would have been worried by the sight of her anger. She may not have been very big, but she was the best duelist in the DA. She could cast a hex that would have anyone running in fear.
"We want to talk to you about that," she started, but he cut her off.
"But I didn't want to talk to anyone."
"Well that was a bit stupid of you," she said angrily, leaning forward in her seat and staring him straight in his eyes, "seeing as you don't know anyone but me who's been possessed by You-Know-Who, and I can tell you how it feels." I knew that it took a lot for Ginny to talk about that. She still had nightmares about that time.
Harry looked gobsmacked. His mouth dropped open and he stared at her sheepishly.
"I forgot," he whispered. I somehow managed to not roll my eyes at that remark. Ginny straightened up before she responded.
"Lucky you."
"I'm sorry. So…so do you think I'm being possessed then?" he asked, sounding fearful.
Ginny's face softened as she looked at him. She still loved him, but not like she had as a child. She was falling for the actual person, not the hero.
"Well, can you remember everything you've been doing?" She asked. "Are there big blank periods where you don't know what you've been up to?"
Harry's eyebrows scrunched up in thought, I could see him searching his memory for a moment before he responded. "No."
Ginny smiled softly, answering simply. "Then You-Know-Who has never possessed you. When he did to me I couldn't remember what I'd been doing for hours at a time. I'd find myself somewhere and not know how I got there." I could see the hope flicker in his eyes.
"That dream I had of your dad and the snake though-"
"Harry, you've had these dreams before," I said. "You had flashes of what Voldemort was up to last year."
"This was different," said Harry, shaking his head. "I was inside that snake. It was like I was the snake . . . what if Voldemort somehow transported me to London - ?"
Merlin's beard, would he never read the book? "One day," I said, not bothering to hide my exasperation, "you'll read Hogwarts: A History, and perhaps it will remind you that you can't Apparate or Disapparaie inside Hogwarts. Even Voldemort couldn't just make you fly out of your dormitory, Harry."
"You didn't leave your bed, mate," Ron said, leaning forward in his seat. "I saw you thrashing around in your sleep for at least a minute before we could wake you up."
Harry started pacing again, his eyes deep in thought. He walked by the bed and without really thinking about it he grabbed a sandwich, nearly whooping with joy at the sight.
Sirius's joy was infectious. He had us all decorating everything all day, so that in the two days leading up to Christmas I wasn't able to get any alone time with anyone. Not Harry, not Ron, but mostly not George. It didn't help that he and Fred were also constantly testing new prank items. Christmas eve night everyone staid up late, singing Christmas carols and drinking eggnog, which I think Fred and George spiked.
I woke up on Christmas day to the feel of Ginny bouncing on my bed. I sat up tiredly in bed and found her face inches away from my own.
"Morning 'Mione!" she exclaimed before hopping off the bed and sitting down in front of the present pile at the foot of her bed. I hopped off my bed and joined her by my present pile. I gave her my package first, and she gave me hers. She got me a beautiful red sweater with the Gryffindor crest on it.
"It shrinks to fit you when you put it on, so you never have to worry about it being to tight," she said excitedly as I held it up. She unwrapped my present eagerly, it was a Muggle scrapbook, but was filled with wizard photos of all her years at Hogwarts, with several of her family.
"Wow!" she exclaimed, pulling me into a hug. "This is so cool!" I laughed happily as I slipped my new sweater on. Harry got me a book I'd hinted at wanting, The New Theory of Numerology for Ages. Ron got me a very, um, unique, smelling perfume. I got my first Weasley sweater from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and a box of sugar quills from Fred. I opened George's present last, feeling oddly anxious as I opened it. He got me a collector's edition of Hogwarts: A History. It was bound in beautiful leather with gold writing. It was beautiful and incredibly sweet. I clutched the book to my chest, hoping desperately that he liked my gift.
A/N: Te-he, Things are going to start getting heated soon, I promise! Reviews are love, and they really do inspire me to write faster, and can give me great plot ideas.
Until the next chapter!
Ps. Thanks to Ninja Goldfish for taking the time to beta read this chapter.