"I think I'm in love with Father Christmas."
/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
The worst part of it all was the hope. Despite everything that had happened in the last few months, despite the fact that nobody had heard from the trio, she was naive enough to hope. It had been clear that they weren't going to return until the war was over, and the things happening, both inside and outside of Hogwarts, confirmed that the war was just beginning. Somehow though, she'd thought that maybe if she just wished enough, they'd come back home for Christmas.
There were less people home for Christmas than she'd ever seen. Ginny sat at the kitchen table with Fred, George, and her parents. Bill and Fleur had stayed at Shell Cottage because her parents had been concerned about them being watched. Even though they were family, Death Eaters wouldn't hesitate to attack if they saw too many people gathering who might be antagonistic towards their cause. Charlie was still in Romania, Percy was still stuck up the Ministry's arse, and the trio was… not at home.
Out of habit, her mum had made too much food for Christmas dinner, but nobody had the heart to point it out. Everything felt so lifeless. It was an improvement on Hogwarts because at least Ginny wasn't concerned about being tortured, but it was still a shock to see how things had changed at home.
There was no laughter. Gifts didn't matter this year. Part of the family was together, at least, but there were far too many absences. Fred and George were talking about possibly closing their shop because it was simply becoming too dangerous to run, and there weren't many people in Diagon Alley looking for joke products anymore.
It felt like a gut punch when they told her that Lee had started a radio programme called Potterwatch, but she thought it was still incredibly brave. And Fred and George were helping behind the scenes with running it. There was no doubt that they'd all be imprisoned or, more likely, killed if they were caught, but they were providing a vital service to the ever dwindling resistance against Voldemort's regime.
Other than that, though, there were no bright spots of any kind, and Ginny retreated to her room very early in the evening. In her mind's eye, she kept seeing Luna being taken off the Hogwarts Express, seeing Neville falling under the brunt of a Cruciatus, seeing the trio disapparate out of Bill and Fleur's wedding. Everyone was suffering. It seemed like the war would have no end.
She felt like a little girl, curled up in a ball on her bed, wishing that the monsters would go away. She'd already been in this place several times in the last term, when it seemed like things couldn't possibly get worse, but they always did. All she wanted was for everything to be okay again.
But it wouldn't be okay if she didn't keep fighting. She knew she had to continue to lead the resistance at Hogwarts with Dumbledore's Army. Even though they would torture or possibly even kill her, it was her responsibility. She was the one who had to protect the students from the Carrows. She'd brave the torture– she'd just spent the last month with her hair chopped off and missing teeth, courtesy of Alecto, and hadn't gotten it fixed until she was on the Hogwarts Express, when the Carrows wouldn't know. If anyone could do it, it was her.
She was so sure of that that she was surprised to realise she was crying. She'd done that a lot this year. It didn't usually come on out of nowhere though. But she knew why, now. She was going to be brave, but she was still terrified. To her, bravery wasn't about not being afraid; bravery was facing her fears, and she was still terrified that she wasn't going to make it through the war or that somebody she loved wouldn't. She couldn't bear that thought.
Her body-wracking sobs slowly subsided, and she closed her eyes wearily, wishing for rest from everything she was fighting against. As she drifted off into what she hoped would be a dreamless sleep, she had a vision of what she hoped was her future, where her entire family was together again, and they were laughing together in the living room as they exchanged gifts. Harry appeared, looking far more relaxed than she'd ever seen him, and reached a hand out to her with a smile that said he'd been waiting to see her. She tried to take his hand, but sleep claimed her before she could feel his touch again.
Ginny woke earlier than Harry, surprisingly. She was a little on edge from her dream about last Christmas, but she felt some of that tension fading as she looked over at the sleeping man next to her. She knew from experience that emotional responses tended to vary depending on the time of day. People were typically more reactive and bold in their emotions at night. But in the clarity of the early morning, she realised two things. Her concerns about her Patronus changing were completely valid. But more importantly, she felt giddy at the thought that their love was so strong that it had changed her Patronus to reflect that love.
As much as she wanted to cuddle up to him and go back to sleep, she didn't think that would be possible after the dream she'd had. She was giddy about her Patronus, but a lot of her was also saddened, thinking that it wouldn't be possible for that vision in her dream to ever be true. Fred wasn't coming back for Christmas. Neither was Tonks. And this time, there wasn't any hope that they might.
She rolled out of bed, changed, and gently kissed Harry's forehead before going downstairs, where she immediately met Bill and Charlie in the living room, drinking coffee.
"Usually it's your boyfriend who's down here with us," Charlie said, like he might've been a tiny bit disappointed that Ginny wasn't Harry.
"He's still sleeping. I figured I'd let him get up when he was ready."
"How are you feeling?" Bill asked, with a hint of a smile on his face.
"Good," Ginny answered shortly.
"Hermione said she talked you off the ledge," Charlie said. "Not that I blame you for being there in the first place."
"She didn't– okay, maybe she did… a little."
"Harry seemed happy about it. Until you ran off, at least," Bill said.
She winced slightly. "Yeah… he's– we're both pretty happy about it."
"That's good to hear, then. It's honestly pretty cool to see your Patronus being affected by something like your relationship. Fleur thought it was amazing."
"Yeah, if you wanna be defined by someone else," Charlie added sarcastically. "Didn't ever think you'd be the whipped one in a relationship."
"I'm not. Neither of us are. Harry made it very clear last night, and throughout our whole relationship, that he loves me for me and doesn't want me to change to make my identity all about him."
"That's good because I don't think you could do that if you tried," Bill replied, not hiding his smile now, and Ginny guessed he was happy to hear how embracing Harry was of her for who she was, even though everyone knew that.
"Still… trading a phoenix for a doe… bit of a raw deal," Charlie commented like he was determined to find some issue, even though he didn't actually seem that bothered by it.
She shrugged. "I don't know about that. I think the doe is beautiful, especially with its partner. But… yeah, the phoenix was pretty cool," Ginny agreed.
They both laughed at that before Bill invited her to join them for coffee, but Ginny turned them down. It was actually a good thing she'd gotten up early because it would hopefully give her time to go buy the last gift that she needed for Harry since she hadn't thought of it until yesterday. She instructed them not to tell Harry where she went before wrapping herself in an extra coat and stepping out into the snow, disapparating away from the Burrow.
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
When Harry came downstairs after a very restful sleep, he was a little surprised to find that Ginny had left without telling him where she was going. When Bill and Charlie wouldn't tell him where she'd gone, he decided that she must've put off her Christmas shopping for him to the last minute and was now panicking, trying to find the right thing for him. Not that it really mattered– he didn't care all that much about presents; he already had everything he wanted.
The looks started right away– Fleur smiled knowingly at him when he poured himself some coffee in the kitchen but didn't say anything. Then George was regarding him thoughtfully from across the living room as he sat on the loveseat. Molly gave him a very strong hug and didn't hide the tears pooling in her eyes. He was perplexed to say the least. He knew everyone had seen Ginny's Patronus last night, but it didn't seem like it should've been that big of a deal to anyone outside of the two of them.
He involuntarily braced himself when Arthur pulled him outside to sit on the porch swing, but Arthur was smiling at him like Molly had been.
"Are you alright, Harry? You seem a little tense."
He took a second before deciding to be honest. "It's just… everyone's looking at me like they know something I don't. I'm guessing it's because of the whole Patronus thing last night, but I don't get why it's such a big deal to everyone else."
Arthur raised his eyebrows. "I thought that would've been obvious, Harry. Everyone here cares very deeply about both of you, and seeing Ginny's Patronus last night was a sort of cause for celebration. Patroni don't change very often, you know. It's even rarer for them to change because of anything other than unrequited love."
"Hermione told Ginny it meant we're soulmates," Harry offered, even though he wasn't entirely sure that his girlfriend's dad would want to know this.
Arthur nodded. "That's one way to put it. For a Patronus to change the way Ginny's did, it requires enormous emotional bonding, typically through overcoming challenges together. It requires complete, unconditional love from both people. And, most elusively, it requires something magical– the soul's recognition of its perfect, unfailing counterpoint in another. Most people don't even have another person that fits that requirement because people are so vastly unique that it's almost impossible to have just one, perfect soulmate. For you and Ginny to find that in each other… well, you can understand why we're so happy for both of you."
Harry noticed that Arthur's eyes were glistening with proud tears. He felt really touched, realising how much it meant to everyone else in the family. It hadn't even occurred to him that they would just be happy for them.
"Arthur, how do you know all this stuff about the Patroni?"
He smiled, like he was remembering another time. "I've found that being with someone you love makes you more likely to pick up on things related to love. When Tonks' Patronus changed, I spent some time looking into what could make them change and learned all about it. Of course, when I tried to tell Molly about it, she interrupted me and said it was because Tonks loved Remus, like it was obvious and I should've already known that."
They laughed together before rocking on the swing in silence for a moment. Then Harry looked over at the older man, feeling compelled to say something he'd never quite been able to put into words before.
"Thank you, Arthur. I don't know if I've ever really said it before, but I'm really glad you're kinda… like… a– a father to me."
A tear was rolling down Arthur's cheek now. He nodded, and, in a slightly choked up voice, said, "It's an honour, son."
Harry blinked away tears as he stood to hug Arthur, so grateful for his paternal presence in his life. He figured they must've looked a little curious, coming back inside and wiping tears from their eyes, but nobody said anything. Harry nodded up the stairs to Hermione and Ron, who understood what he was saying and followed him up the stairs to Ron's bedroom.
"Is everything okay?" Hermione asked, referring to his conversation with Arthur.
"What? Oh, yeah. Everything's fine. Great, actually."
"You sure seemed that way last night," Ron commented, grinning.
Harry rolled his eyes, remembering how anxious he'd been in the living room last night while Hermione talked to Ginny. He'd thought the Patronus changing was a great thing and was shocked when Ginny seemed upset about it.
"Well, it's all great now," he assured them. "I was wanting to ask if you guys thought my present for Ginny was a good idea or not. I mean, it's a little late to change now, but still."
"What is it?" Hermione asked curiously.
Harry looked at Ron. "You know that gift you got for Christmas two years ago? The one from…"
Ron nodded with a pained expression, understanding what Harry was talking about. "Yeah, I do. 'My Sweetheart.' Unbelievable. Wait… don't tell me you got Ginny something like that."
Hermione frowned, apparently putting the pieces together and understanding what they were referring to. "Ginny's definitely not going to wear something like that, Harry."
He shook his head. "No, sorry. It's not like that. It's just… well, I'll show you."
Harry reached into his pocket and removed his gift for Ginny, careful to not accidentally crush his Pocket Portkey. He held it up and showed it to them. It was a golden locket shaped like a heart. When he opened it, it showed different pictures of the two of them. He'd seen it when he'd been shopping in Diagon Alley with Ginny, and he'd gone back to get it after they'd left the grand reopening. It had been enchanted to show the images that they had in their photo album, which Harry thought was a really great feature.
"Oh, Harry. It's beautiful," Hermione gushed, reaching out to examine it.
Ron nodded. "That's way better than the necklace I got."
"So you think she'll like it? After her reaction to the Patronus last night, I don't want to freak her out by giving her a picture of me to put around her neck."
"I wouldn't worry about that. She'll love it," Hermione assured him.
"Yeah, this is a normal boyfriend gift. It's cool that the pictures change though," Ron added.
"Yeah, I liked that too. Okay, cool. That makes me feel better, then," he said, a tiny bit relieved.
All of them looked to the door as they heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Harry quickly stuffed the locket back into his pocket, and not a moment too soon. Ginny bounded into the room, grinning happily at all of them.
"Happy Christmas Eve!"
Harry laughed and stood to hug her, relieved that he hadn't accidentally crushed the Pocket Portkey in his haste. He had no idea what would happen if he wasn't thinking of anywhere in particular when it was crushed. "Happy Christmas Eve, Blaze."
She looked past him to Ron and Hermione. "Sorry to steal him, but we need to wrap our gifts."
"Actually, we need to do the same. Meet you downstairs later?" Hermione asked.
"Yep, it shouldn't take us too long."
Harry followed Ginny out of Ron's bedroom and down the stairs to her room. When Harry closed the door, Ginny smiled at him mischievously.
"I have to admit there was another reason I wanted you in here."
"Oh?"
"Yeah," Ginny said before pulling his head down towards hers, meeting him in a spectacular kiss.
"Happy Christmas to me," Harry said to himself when they separated, and Ginny giggled at him.
"A very happy Christmas," she agreed. "So the gifts are underneath my bed. Mum taught me a wrapping charm that she uses that should make things go much faster."
Once Ginny taught him the charm, they sat on the floor and began making quick progress in wrapping their gifts. The first gift Harry grabbed from underneath the bed was a Cannons jumper they'd bought for Ron, since he likely wouldn't want to wear the maroon one his mum would be giving him beyond Christmas morning.
Pretty soon, they'd made a decently sized pile of gifts in her room, and Harry put the finishing touches on wrapping the final box, which was so heavy that it could only be the book they'd bought Hermione.
"Easy," he said, adding it to the pile.
"Now we've just gotta take them downstairs."
"I thought your family put gifts in each other's rooms?" Harry asked, remembering that they'd definitely done that the last Christmas he was here for.
"We did, but Mum told me that she wanted us to start opening gifts together in the living room instead. So we'll just put the gifts under the tree."
"Merlin, that'll be a lot of gifts," Harry said.
Ginny grinned. "I know! Isn't it great?"
They beat Ron and Hermione downstairs and added their pile to the now rapidly growing store of them around the tree since all the space under the tree was already taken. Once Ron and Hermione brought their gifts downstairs, the pile to the side of the tree was more than half as tall as the tree.
"And there's more gifts coming," Ron said, shaking his head in disbelief.
They sat together on the sofa, and Harry noticed that the mood in the house had shifted somehow. Pretty much everyone who passed through the living room seemed to have melancholy expressions on their faces, smiling sadly at the Christmas tree and all the gifts. Ron, Ginny, and Hermione also drifted in and out of that sort of expression throughout the conversation, and Harry understood. It was the first Christmas without Fred. He realised he hadn't even seen Percy and George today, and he guessed they were upstairs, trying to support each other through their grief.
He stared into the fire, imagining that there was a world out there where they were all together. That there was a place where Fred was here for Christmas, and Remus and Tonks would be bringing Teddy over tomorrow instead of Andi. He even imagined that Sirius might show up with his parents, and everyone he loved could be together for one perfect holiday.
The only problem with the dream was that it would only ever be a dream. His insides twisted, wishing he'd done more to make it a reality. But he knew that if everything hadn't happened the way that it did, it was possible that there could've been even less people here for Christmas. It wasn't a happy thought, really. Somehow though, it made him feel a little better because he knew that all the people who died would do it again to ensure that they could be here for this Christmas together.
"When are you going to get your parents?" Ginny asked Hermione.
"I'm about to leave. They'll want to get here before dinner to meet everyone."
"Your parents are coming?" Harry asked.
Hermione rolled her eyes like she'd already told him this, but she held back a sarcastic comment. "Yes, they've been wanting to meet everyone for a while. Christmas was just a convenient time."
"Are things still improving with them then?"
"Yeah. I think it's mostly okay now. They're finally getting their dentistry practice open again. And I hope meeting everyone here will help them see why I did what I did."
She left a couple minutes later, and Harry noticed Ron tapping his foot nervously. Ginny apparently did too.
"Do you not think it's gonna go well?" Ginny asked.
"What?" Ron asked.
"You seem anxious."
"Oh, no. It's not… I'm sure you'll like them. They're really looking forward to meeting the two of you, actually. But it's just… I mean, my girlfriend's family meeting my family is kinda a big deal, right? I know they met that one time in Diagon Alley, but we were just kids then. This feels different."
Harry smiled, glad that was what had Ron nervous. "Maybe, but what could go wrong? They like you, and you like them, so they'll still like everyone else, right?"
Ron nodded. "Yeah, I guess. It'll all be okay, probably."
Ginny patted his shoulder reassuringly. "Definitely."
Hermione arrived with her family an hour later. Her father was a very normal looking Muggle, tall and slightly lanky, with thin brown hair. Her mother, put simply, looked like an older version of Hermione. Her bushy brown hair had a few streaks of grey in it, and she had the beginnings of some wrinkles around her eyes, but other than that, the similarity was uncanny.
"These are my parents, William and Margaret. Mum, Dad, this is Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley."
"Nice to meet you, Mister and Mrs. Granger," Harry said, extending his hand.
Mr. Granger shook it first. "Likewise."
"We've heard a lot about both of you," Mrs. Granger said as she shook Ginny's hand before taking Harry's. "Especially you, Harry."
"Hopefully good things," Ginny joked as Harry blushed slightly.
"All good things," Mrs. Granger assured them. "It is wonderful to finally be able to meet the two of you though. Hermione said you're both at Hogwarts this year?"
Harry nodded. "We just finished our first term. Two more until graduation."
"That's exciting! Do you know what you'll be doing afterwards?"
Harry and Ginny exchanged a look before Ginny answered, "We're still figuring it out."
"I see," Mrs. Granger replied with a slightly suggestive look.
"Hermione mentioned that your dentistry practice is opening again. That's exciting," Harry said in an attempt to be nice and engaging with her parents. Immediately though, he wished he hadn't said anything when both her parents looked like they'd just smelled something pungent.
"Yes, we are having to build it from the ground up, but it is coming along," Mr. Granger answered flatly.
They were saved from needing to make more conversation when Arthur and Molly came in. Harry literally breathed a sigh of relief and stepped to the side, shooting Hermione an apologetic glance, but she shook her head like she didn't blame him.
"Smooth," Ginny whispered out of the corner of her mouth. Harry responded by pinching her arm, which led to her pinching his bum. Thankfully, Ron was the only one who saw, and he just rolled his eyes at them both, a definite improvement from his reactions to them showing affection over the summer.
Penelope arrived to less fanfare a couple moments later. "Percy's upstairs. I can go get him," Ginny volunteered before leaving to fetch her brother.
Penelope nodded her thanks and stood next to Harry. "Hogwarts treating you well?" she asked.
Harry shrugged. "Mostly. It's definitely treated me worse in the past."
"Relatable," Penelope muttered, and Harry remembered, and wasn't sure how he'd forgotten, that Penelope had lost several weeks of her life to being petrified by the Basilisk in his second year.
"Er– everything going good with you and Percy?" Harry asked, wondering why he was still bothering to try and make awkward conversations with people.
"Yeah, it is. It helps having dated before, you know. We've changed, but things are still familiar and easy. Not quite as far along as your relationship with Ginny though."
Harry smiled. "That's good. Percy… he deserves to be happy."
Penelope nodded but didn't respond because Ginny and Percy came downstairs at that moment. Percy looked very glad to see Penelope and practically whisked her away to another corner of the living room while Ginny mimed gagging. Harry just laughed and put an arm around her, pulling her close to him.
"Can't be too bothered by people showing their feelings when we do it all the time."
"I can when it's my brother," Ginny replied before kissing his cheek. That was reasonable enough, he supposed.
Soon, all fourteen of them were crowded around a much-enlarged table in the kitchen. Harry ended up on the end with Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and her parents. He noticed that, since the rest of the Weasleys didn't feel the need to entertain the Grangers as much with them on the other side of the table, they fell into a sort of sombre mood. At a few points, he saw Molly wiping her eyes, usually when she looked at George, who had a blank expression on his face that painfully reminded Harry of how George had looked in the days and weeks after the battle.
Hermione facilitated conversation between her parents and Harry, Ginny, and Ron, but even Harry wasn't obtuse enough to notice some lingering tension between Hermione and her parents. He hoped that his comment about their dentistry practice hadn't caused any issues for her.
They were in the middle of eating a delicious stew when Mr. Granger asked, "Harry… we were wondering if you could tell us about the last year."
Harry dropped his spoon. He saw Hermione glaring at her parents, who were both looking at him like they'd rehearsed this and were eager to learn what he had to say.
"Er– I'm sure Hermione and Ron have already–"
"We'd like to hear about it from you," Mrs. Granger interrupted.
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Oh. Okay… what do you want to know?"
"We were curious about how dangerous it was last year, in your estimation," Mr. Granger answered.
Harry's eyebrows raised. "How dangerous it– didn't they tell you about the battle?"
"They did, and we understand there was a terrible loss of life. I'm sorry for misspeaking. I meant for people like Meg and I."
Harry spoke in a low tone, not wanting to draw attention from the rest of the family. "Oh. I mean… dangerous doesn't begin to cover it. His Death Eat– soldiers… they killed Muggles for fun. Their whole goal was to take over the wizarding world and establish dominance over the Muggle world. They hated Muggle-born witches and wizards, like Hermione, more than anyone. You would've been in danger just for giving birth to her, and then you would've been in way more danger when he found out she was helping me. We hid my aunt and uncle last summer, and when they found out Ron was helping me, the rest of the family went into hiding. There's no way you could've made it without being hidden similarly."
He thought he'd painted an accurate picture of what things had been like. He didn't want to go into too much detail on everything, but there was no doubt that they wouldn't have been safe last year. Judging by the looks on their faces, he'd succeeded.
"So the three of you spent the last year on the run?" Mr. Granger asked. Harry nodded, not understanding why they were asking questions they already knew the answers to.
"From September to April, we were camping, changing locations almost daily. We had a lot of close scrapes."
"And the battle… it was at Hogwarts at the beginning of May?"
Harry nodded, but Ginny spoke in a quiet but biting tone. "I don't mean to be rude, but could we please not talk about this at Christmas? I know it's just a story to you, but we all lived it, and it's… really not easy to think about."
Harry chimed in. "I think I know what you're trying to get at, Mister and Mrs. Granger. I can't say what I would've done if I was in Hermione's shoes because I've never had a family that I loved enough to care about protecting. Hermione's the smartest person I know, and she evaluates risks better than anyone. She made a huge decision because she wanted to protect you, and it worked. I know you're having to rebuild your life here, but isn't it better to have a life to rebuild than not have one at all? She did what she had to do to make sure she wouldn't be distracted, worrying about you. If she hadn't, I don't know that we would've won or that any of us would've survived, considering how many times she saved my life."
Hermione looked a little teary-eyed, but she was smiling at him. Mr. and Mrs. Granger looked a little uncomfortable, being told off by a couple teenagers.
Mrs. Granger nodded stiffly. "We're sorry about bringing up bad memories. It wasn't our intention at all. We're very proud of Hermione and everything she's done; we just wish we'd been involved in determining how to ensure our own safety. But please, let's return to more pleasant conversations. Hermione said that we might be hearing wedding bells for the two of you soon?"
Harry choked on the water he was drinking, and Ginny clapped him on the back a couple times.
"Clearly, we're still figuring things out with that too," Ginny said, trying not to laugh at him. Harry shot an annoyed look at Hermione, who was blushing but shrugged innocently.
"You may hear them for Hermione and Ron first," he suggested, smiling proudly at the two of them, who were very red-faced and tongue-tied now. The Grangers seemed rather interested in the idea, which took the heat off Harry and Ginny, thankfully.
Later that night, they were in bed together, talking before they fell asleep. "D'you think things with her parents are really that bad still?" Harry asked.
"I think they're just bothered by everything. It's gotta feel really terrible to have your memories altered twice like that without even being aware that things changed. I don't think I would've done what Hermione did, but I can't say I really blame her."
"Neither can I. She did what she thought was right."
"Mhmm," Ginny mumbled before snuggling closer to Harry. "So… wedding bells?"
Harry chuckled at the idea, now that it was just the two of them. "Maybe soon. Sorry to disappoint you though, but that's not gonna be your Christmas present."
"Damn it," Ginny whispered against his chest, and he chuckled again before kissing the top of her head. She tilted her head up and kissed him. "Happy Christmas, Harry."
He smiled and kissed her once more. "Happy Christmas, Ginny."
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
Ginny woke, feeling her hand being moved or something. Reluctantly, she fluttered open her eyes and saw Harry kissing each of her fingers before kissing her palm. She tapped a finger on his cheek, and he looked up at her, eyes widening slightly.
"Not that I'm complaining, but what are you doing?"
"I thought for my Christmas present, I'd just kiss every part of your body," Harry explained.
"Oh, is that all?" Ginny asked, smiling at him while rubbing his cheek with her thumb.
"I'm a simple man."
"And is this my gift or your gift?"
He grinned. "Maybe both." Then he kissed the inside of her wrist before shifting to kiss her cheeks, forehead, neck, ears, and chin. Ginny was wriggling around, trying to get him to kiss her lips, but he kept finding new places before she finally grabbed his head to hold it still and planted a searing kiss on his lips.
"Happy Christmas to me," Harry chuckled.
"Nope, that was a Happy Christmas to me," Ginny replied, and he kissed her again before hugging her tightly.
"We made it," he said.
Ginny smiled. "Our first real Christmas together."
"First of many, right?"
"First of forever," she agreed.
They lay like that for a couple moments before Ginny sighed. "We should probably get down there before they send someone up here to wake us up. If we're opening presents together, they're gonna be anxious to get everyone downstairs."
Harry sighed. "You're right. Although, I'd be happy just staying like this with you for Christmas."
"Me too. One of these days we'll spend an entire day in bed together," Ginny promised before rolling out of bed. "Hey, what's this?" she asked, holding up a small, wrapped package that was on her nightstand.
"No idea," Harry replied.
"It's got your name on it," Ginny said, tossing it to him. He caught it and flipped it around to read the tag.
"To Harry from… Father Christmas?"
Ginny tried not to grin too much when he looked up at her curiously. "Wow, that's a big deal. You should probably open it."
Harry smiled a little before unwrapping the package. He tipped the box over and held its contents in his hand– a small, silver figurine of a stag and a doe. He looked back at her with warm eyes.
"Wow, Father Christmas did a great job with that gift. I guess it'll be for both of us since he didn't leave anything for me," Ginny said in a very obvious sort of voice, and Harry just kept smiling at her.
"Ginny… I've got some bad news. I think I'm in love with Father Christmas."
She laughed as Harry jumped on her, smothering her in kisses. "I love you so much," he whispered as he nibbled at her ear.
She hugged him tighter. "I love you too, Harry. Forever."
Surprisingly, they weren't the last ones downstairs. That honour went to Bill and Fleur, of all people, although Bill had a satisfied smile on his face that made Ginny wonder for one horrifying moment if Fleur had been giving him his present upstairs.
She did her best to put the thought out of her mind without vomiting as she and Harry passed gifts out to everyone. She didn't understand why everyone couldn't just hand out their own gifts, but her mum insisted that the two youngest had to hand out all the gifts. There were just so many gifts that it took them close to ten minutes to distribute them all.
Then there was the matter of determining in what order they would open gifts. Since this was her mum's idea, she wanted to see everyone open all their presents. Ginny suspected that this was because she wanted to see happy expressions that would hopefully help keep her mind off of Fred. The only problem was that doing it one by one would take literal hours, and taking turns would be just as long.
They settled on everyone opening their presents from their parents individually so that her mum could see all their reactions, and then they'd open the rest of the gifts simultaneously.
What ensued could only be described as master class in acting. Ginny knew everyone loved her mum and appreciated the knit jumpers, but they weren't really the sort of gift that caused jumping for joy. Despite that, every single person in the family was grinning with excitement, even Fleur and Percy, which surprised Ginny a little. Her mum was so overwhelmed that she had to take a minute to not start crying, but it was really sweet too. It made Ginny wonder why they hadn't been doing Christmas like this the whole time.
Once all the jumpers had been unwrapped and put on, madness took over. Wrapping paper and bows seemed to fly through the living room as people tore into their gifts. Periodically, Ginny would hear someone calling out their thanks to another person for their gift. She tried to be methodical with her gifts, but all she knew was that she wanted to open the small gift from Harry last. In almost no time at all though, she'd opened all her other gifts and was waiting patiently on Harry to finish with his gifts so they could do theirs together.
He took a long time with each thing he opened, carefully examining it before giving a heartfelt thanks to whoever it was from. Ginny thought this showed a difference between their upbringings– she appreciated gifts, but Harry treasured them after so many years of not receiving any. So she let him take his time, unwrapping gifts from everyone. Finally, after he'd thanked Bill and Fleur for the new set of dress robes, he held up the envelope from her and glanced over at her.
"You first," she said, and he nodded, tearing open the envelope to reveal a small piece of parchment inside, with a single word written on it.
"Imago?"
She nodded and tapped her wand on his watch. "Imago," she cast.
Harry looked down at his watch and his jaw dropped, seeing a picture of her blowing a kiss at him. She watched over his shoulder as the image changed to one of her laughing. The next image was her smiling at him, and then the cycle repeated. He looked at her once more with a very loving expression.
"You can change the pictures if you want. I just had Hermione take these for me last week, but… you said at the Yule Ball that you didn't ever want to stop being with me, so I thought that with this… even if we do have to be apart, you'll still be able to see me."
He took her hand. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?"
She smiled, feeling her cheeks warm. "Once or twice, maybe."
"Well I really, really love you," he said, giving her a quick kiss before smiling at his watch. "Merlin, you're beautiful," he whispered, almost to himself, but Ginny still gave him another quick kiss.
She unwrapped the small box that Harry had given her. For the briefest second, she imagined that it was a ring box, but she knew this was too big for that. And she guessed that if Harry was going to propose, this probably wasn't how he'd do it. It was definitely jewellery though, and she gasped when she opened it, seeing the heart-shaped locket with the letters 'G' and 'H' embossed onto it. She flicked the clasp and the locket sprung open. Inside, she watched as pictures of Harry and her appeared. The first one she saw was one of them at Harry's birthday party in July. Then Harry was carrying her on his shoulders in water, which she was pretty sure was from her birthday party. She saw them with Teddy on Halloween before the picture changed again to their first kiss.
Ginny was almost speechless when she looked up at Harry, who was grinning. "Great minds think alike, right? The locket's connected to our photo album, so anytime we add more pictures, they should show up in your locket too. You can put more in it if you want, too. I thought about putting pictures of just me, but after the other night… I didn't want you to think that I was trying to be overbearing or– or make you feel like I owned you or anything."
She shook her head at that. He was too considerate for his own good sometimes. "Do you feel that way because you only have pictures of me in your watch?"
"No way, definitely not."
"And I wouldn't either. I'll definitely be putting some extra pictures of just you in here. Maybe I can get you to pose for them tonight," she suggested seductively, and he laughed.
"If you say so, Gin," he replied, giving her hope that she might be able to get some really fun pictures out of this.
"Good. Oh, and I really, really love you," she whispered before kissing him again. He really knew her perfectly. They knew each other perfectly, and she couldn't have asked for a better gift.
Around the living room, everyone was finishing up with opening their gifts. Ron thanked them for the Cannons jumper, but he wisely didn't change out of their mum's jumper. Hermione was grinning, impossibly widely, at them both.
"I guess you liked the book?" Ginny asked.
Hermione's smile faltered slightly. "Oh, yeah I really do. I've been wanting a book on the history of runic translations for a long time, actually."
"Glad we got that for you then," Ginny replied.
"Me too. Although, I have to say that I prefer my other gift a lot more."
"Other gift?" Harry asked, overhearing the conversation.
Hermione giggled and nodded. "Can I talk to you two upstairs for a second?"
Ginny glanced back and saw that her family was still happily exploring their new gifts and laughing with each other, so she shrugged, wanting to know what Hermione was talking about. "Sure."
They followed Ron and Hermione up the stairs. Hermione was holding the box that her book had come in, and she couldn't keep the smile off her face.
"So what's going on, Hermione?" Ginny asked when they entered her room.
Hermione giggled again before composing herself enough to speak. "I wanted to thank you both for my gift, even though I'm pretty sure you'd much rather have this than me."
Then she took the lid off the box and showed it to them. Ginny's eyes widened, realising immediately what it was. She lunged for it, but Ron was quicker. His eyes lit up like he was holding a thousand Galleons. He reached inside and grabbed the top sheet of paper.
"That's mine!" Ginny exclaimed, snatching the box back from him, but he kept hold of the piece of paper.
"Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes reopening in December. Shop Potter's favourite joke products!" Ron read.
Harry looked confused. "What's wrong about having that?"
"Nothing," Ginny said quickly, taking the paper from Ron and putting it back in the box. "I don't know how this got wrapped in the first place."
"I think that was my fault. It was under your bed, right? I felt how heavy it was and thought it had to be that book for Hermione," Harry answered.
Ginny sighed and nodded. It'd been her own fault for leaving it under her bed with all the presents. Harry couldn't have known what was in there.
"Aren't you going to tell us about the box?" Hermione asked, looking like her entire Christmas had been made by this gift.
"Wasn't planning on it," Ginny replied, thinking that the last people she wanted seeing it were Ron and Harry.
"Ginny, it's not that bad," Hermione assured her, looking like she was trying to not act like it was the funniest thing she'd ever seen.
"That doesn't mean I want to show it off," Ginny retorted. It wasn't the most embarrassing thing possible, but it was close, especially considering who was currently in the room.
"You won't tell me?" Harry asked, sounding a little hurt, or maybe that was just her imagination.
She balled her fists before sighing. "Fine, but Ron's gotta go."
Ron looked outraged. "What? Why me? I already know what that is anyways!"
That was news to her. "You do?"
"Duh. Everyone knows you keep your Christmas gifts under your bed. I found that box a couple years ago. Never said anything about it."
"Wait, you snuck into my room to look for Christmas gifts?"
Ron suddenly realised what he'd said. "That's not really the point right now. The point is Harry's the only one who hasn't seen inside that box before."
"You don't have to if you really don't want to," Harry assured her, but Ginny just shook her head.
"No, it– it's fine. Might as well at this point. This box… well, when I was little, this box was like my dream box. I'd put whatever it was that I was hoping for or dreaming of in here, so there's a bunch of things like a drawing of me singing from when I was five and thought I'd be the next star on the wireless or a drawing of me flying on a broom. But every year, around Halloween, there'd be an article in the Daily Prophet about Harry Potter, and every year, Mum would cut it out for me and let me read it. I don't think she realised that I kept them all.
"The older I got, the less I felt like I needed a dream box, so instead, this box kinda… it became my box for– for Harry stuff," she said quickly, feeling her cheeks flaming red.
Harry's look was indecipherable, but she continued. "After you started going to Hogwarts, there was a lot more stuff to cut out of the Prophet. That's what most of the stuff in there is. Clippings from newspapers or magazines or whatever… about you. I– I'm not really sure why I do it now. It's kind of a habit, more than anything. I think once we started dating, I thought I might eventually make a gift out of it or something, but then I worried that it was too weird to let you know about, so I just hid it even though I kept adding to it."
"It is a little weird," Ron muttered, but his opinion might've changed after she punched his arm.
"I'll get rid of it if it makes you feel weird… I don't need it anymore," she told Harry.
He smiled at her, taking her by surprise. "I mean… it might be a little weird. But it's kinda cool that there's a record of it all, even if it's probably mostly bad stuff. Sometimes I still think it's crazy that you were… obsessed with me as a little kid before you met me, and now we're dating."
"Soulmates, right?" Ginny asked, a little relieved that he wasn't totally weirded out by it.
"Only explanation," he agreed. "I'm not gonna tell you to stop saving stuff like that or get rid of it. Just know that I'm gonna be doing the exact same thing when you get famous for professional Quidditch."
"There's more than just newspaper articles in there, by the way," Ron added with a smirk. "Wait, did you say professional Quidditch?"
"What else is in there?" Harry asked curiously.
"Nothing," Ginny answered instinctively before remembering that she hadn't actually told anyone in her family about wanting to play Quidditch professionally. "Um… yeah. Madam Hooch sent my information to the B.I.Q.L., and I may have some people scouting the next two matches. I wanna play professionally after I graduate."
"That's amazing, Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed.
Ron looked excited about it too. "Another Weasley in professional Quidditch. We'll be running the whole league pretty soon, won't we?"
Ginny rolled her eyes but couldn't keep the smile off her face. "You really think I can do it?"
Now it was Ron's turn to roll his eyes. "Seriously? You're not gonna have a problem making a team. Honestly, you could sign a contract with Chudley without a trial." Then his eyes got really big and his mouth formed an 'o'. "Holy shit, you totally should!"
Ginny laughed, not wanting to hurt his feelings. "Thanks Ron. I've gotta wait for the whole process to play out though. I can't sign a contract until after I graduate anyways."
He nodded. "Still though, you should sign with Chudley," he said seriously.
"So what else is in the box?" Harry interrupted to ask again, sparing Ginny from speaking ill of the Cannons in front of Ron on Christmas, even though she didn't want to answer that question either.
"Just some drawings and maybe a– a poem or two that I tried writing," she answered, a little sullenly.
Ron laughed. "Wasn't there one where you said his eyes were as green as a toad?"
"Fresh-pickled," Harry added, smiling fondly at Ginny, which helped a little with her embarrassment. "That's okay, Gin. I'll write you a worse poem one day, and you can make fun of me for it."
"I'm gonna hold you to that," she promised, making him chuckle.
"Deal. Now let's get back downstairs before we get in trouble for skipping out on Christmas."
"Do I get to keep my gift?" Hermione asked teasingly.
"Nope. It's all mine," Ginny replied with a smile of her own, sliding the box back under her bed.
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
When they got back downstairs, Harry was worried to find that the mood had once again shifted to a more quiet, less celebratory one. It didn't seem like anyone had been crying, and George was, somewhat surprisingly, still in the living room, but it felt like someone had let all the air out of the room.
That feeling completely went away when Andi arrived with Teddy. Harry had noticed over the past several months that people have a hard time being in a bad mood around a happy baby, and Teddy was nothing if not a happy baby who adored being the centre of attention. The Weasleys were more than happy to supply that attention, lavishing all sorts of love and attention on him.
His adorable giggles rang through the house as he crawled from person to person, brightening everyone's day with his presence. Molly and George seemed especially glad to be around him, and their happiness made it easier for everyone else to be happy. Harry also noticed Bill and Fleur coddling Teddy together, and he wondered to himself if they'd given any thought to starting a family of their own. Then he wondered why he was thinking about that, and then he wondered about why it was weird for him to think about it.
He didn't end up sorting all that out in his head before Teddy crawled over to him and Ginny. They were excited to give him his Christmas presents. Teddy was instantly infatuated with the two stuffed animals– a lion and a badger. He tried to figure out how he could carry them while he crawled, but when he couldn't figure it out, he settled for sitting where they were and taking turns touching them, which was incredibly cute to watch.
"I wish they could be here," Ginny whispered to him.
He sighed. "Me too. They would've loved this."
At least Teddy was none the wiser about who was absent from his first Christmas. Harry knew it wouldn't be long before Teddy started feeling the pain that only orphans knew. He hoped he and Ginny would be good enough godparents for him. It was easy now, when he was still figuring out the world and all his attention was focused on a lion and a badger, but he doubted it would always be this easy. For now though, he was thankful that Teddy was very clearly enjoying his first Christmas.
Ron and Hermione left in the afternoon to spend the rest of the day with her parents, and everyone understood. Harry had liked the Grangers enough, but he wasn't exactly interested in a repeat of the previous night's interrogation. The kitchen table was still very full for the mouthwatering feast that Molly had prepared, but somehow, in almost no time at all, the food disappeared into some now very full bellies.
Harry learned after dinner that there was another Weasley tradition that he didn't know about. Molly pulled out a family photo album and sat on the sofa with it.
"Mum, I thought we agreed not to do that on Christmas anymore," Ginny said cautiously.
"I let you and your brothers talk me into not looking at these in front of Harry for years. Well, he's as much a part of the family as any of us now, so he can see your baby pictures," Molly replied.
Ginny shot him a pleading look, but there was no way Harry was going to miss out on this. He took the spot right next to Molly, and he heard Ginny groan in defeat before joining Bill and Charlie in a nearby game of Exploding Snap.
Molly had a story behind every single picture, and Harry listened eagerly to them all. He could hear the love and affection she had for her children just by the tone of her voice. While Molly was telling him about the time that Bill accidentally abducted a dog from the village, Harry began imagining that this was what his mum would've been like. She would've taken so many pictures of him and known exactly when and where they were taken, even years later, and she would've been so proud to share them with Ginny. She would've made sure that every Christmas was magical and joyous for him growing up, rather than a day that he almost dreaded.
Molly turned the page and showed him a picture of Fred and George riding together on a toy broom. George had a determined look on his face as he led them forward, but Fred was just laughing happily, enjoying the ride. Harry realised as she was explaining this picture that this was one of the first times he'd heard her talk about Fred in the last year without crying. It was like the happy memories of the past had superseded her grief, at least for now.
Molly turned another page and he saw Ron as a four or five year old, playing chess against Arthur. He was very focused, with the tip of his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth. Harry saw that– if he was reading the board correctly, which wasn't a guarantee– Ron was about to put his dad in checkmate. Apparently he'd always been a chess prodigy.
The next picture was undoubtedly his favourite– a magic picture of Ginny taking her first steps. He couldn't help but grin. Seeing Ginny's eyes blazing like they still did now was adorable. Even as a child, she seemed like she was made to be on the move, taking a couple hesitant steps before running around like she'd been doing it for years. For a brief second, Harry imagined having a daughter of his own that looked like that, but Molly pulled him out of that daydream quickly.
"If you want, Harry, I'd love to put a baby picture of you in here," she offered kindly.
"Oh. Er– thanks, Molly, but… I don't have any pictures like that," he responded. He noticed that Bill, Charlie, and Ginny had all quietened, even though they were still playing their game, almost like they were wanting to eavesdrop without being too obvious.
"Oh, dear, I'm sorry. I suppose your baby pictures would've been… well, it doesn't have to be a baby picture. Some of the ones in this album were of the children when they were five and six years old. I'd just love to have a picture of you in here."
Harry cleared his throat, knowing that she didn't understand. "Er– I don't have any pictures from then, either. Nobody… really… took pictures of me until I went to Hogwarts."
He couldn't decide if Molly's expression was anger or sadness. "I– I didn't know that," she said in a hushed tone, and he felt bad for making her feel uncomfortable.
"It's okay, Molly. Actually… now that I think about it, I've got part of a picture of me on a toy broom around my first birthday. I can duplicate it and give a copy to you for the book."
"Oh. Yes, that would be lovely, dear," she responded, but she seemed to have forgotten about wanting his picture. A moment later, she shook her head. "Anyways, I've got an album of all the children in the bathtub around here somewhere…"
"Okay, that's enough!" Ginny exclaimed, standing up and pulling Harry off the couch. "We could use a fourth for Exploding Snap anyways."
Molly smiled sadly at him as he sat down with Bill and Charlie. He hoped he hadn't messed things up and made her start thinking sadly about Fred again. Charlie finished resetting the game, and Harry knew that all three of them were looking at him like they'd just heard what he'd said to Molly.
"You're all going down," Harry promised, wanting to lighten the mood.
Charlie snorted. "It'll take a miracle for you to win."
It turned out that a Christmas miracle was literally in the cards, and Harry managed to pull out a win after a rather lengthy game.
"Who's the king of Exploding Snap?" Harry taunted.
Ginny laughed. "Merlin, this is why we don't let you win. You become absolutely insufferable."
Harry grinned cockily before they demanded a rematch, which he lost in spectacular fashion.
"Damn it. Knew I should've stopped after winning."
"Who's the king now?" Bill joked.
"Better you than Harry," Charlie commented.
"At least Bill won't be insufferable about it," Ginny agreed.
When Harry won the third and final match, he was more than happy to gloat. "And that is how a king completes a comeback. We're calling it here, I am the reigning king of Exploding Snap. Better luck next time, peasants!"
Everyone in the room heard that and laughed hysterically at the very uncharacteristic taunting from Harry. Even Charlie couldn't hide his amusement at it. Ginny leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
"You're lucky I love you, Potter," she informed him.
He chuckled. "Don't I know it."
Andi had to leave with Teddy shortly after. Harry hadn't realised that the day had passed by so quickly, but it was dark outside, and Teddy's sleepy face proved just how late it was. The whole family was reluctant to see them go, but after Teddy had been sufficiently kissed by every person in the living room, they let him leave with Andi, who promised she'd have him back for an extended visit next week.
The family started going their separate ways once the life of the party was gone. George almost immediately retreated to his bedroom, looking sad but not completely distraught, which seemed to be some sort of improvement to Harry. Bill, Fleur, Penelope, Percy, and Charlie were all going out to some new wizarding pub that had opened up near Diagon Alley. Fleur and Percy didn't seem too excited about it, but Harry figured they'd get over it after they'd had a few drinks. Molly and Arthur had hugged everyone before turning in early, leaving Harry and Ginny alone in the living room very quickly.
Ron and Hermione had told them that they'd be spending the night in an inn near Chudley before the match tomorrow, and Harry couldn't blame them too much for that. He knew they'd been finding it hard to make time to see each other with their separate jobs, and Hermione had been spending most nights at her parents' house since they'd returned from Australia.
"Bloody hell, everyone cleared out fast," Ginny said.
"At least we're alone now," Harry pointed out.
Ginny grinned wickedly. "And what do you want to do… now that we're alone?"
"D'you wanna go for a walk?"
Her smile turned into an expression of surprise, clearly not expecting that answer. "Um… it's gonna be a little cold outside."
"Warming charms could help with that. And staying very close together."
She was smiling again, eyes sparkling. "Well, when you put it like that, I think we can handle the cold."
Harry grinned and stood up with her, casting warming charms on their coats, mittens, and knit caps before stepping outside. They could see their breath in the air, but they weren't freezing. Just to be safe, Harry wrapped an arm around Ginny's shoulders, pulling her closer to him.
"Lumos," Harry cast, raising his wand to light their way, and then they set out from the Burrow.
"Quite the Christmas," Ginny commented.
"I thought it was brilliant. Way better than… well, you know."
She squeezed his arm. "This definitely beat last Christmas for me too. I don't ever want to have another Christmas like that again."
"I promise we won't ever have another one like that again," he said, feeling his throat constricting as he remembered just how difficult the last Christmas had been.
"We better not. I expect decades of Christmases with you to make up for it," she said seriously.
He laughed and kissed her head. "I think I can manage that. And that's on the list now– you want to spend every Christmas with me. Merlin, I love you for that."
She smiled and squeezed his arm again. "I love you more."
They walked further into the dark, along the stream. A year ago, something like this had seemed impossible. Now, it was the crowning jewel of an almost perfect Christmas. And she wanted to keep doing this with him every year. There wasn't a better present he could ask for.
"You know, last night you seemed disappointed that I told you I wasn't giving you an engagement ring for Christmas…" Harry said, mostly teasingly.
"And?" Ginny asked, equally teasing. He could almost see the glow of love in her eyes breaking through the darkness.
"I just thought it was curious."
"Mmm… well, I wouldn't have complained about it."
He felt his heart skip a beat. Or two. "Maybe you'll have one before next Christmas," he replied, hoping his voice wasn't as shaky as it felt.
She stopped and kissed him softly. "I sure hope so. That would make for a very happy Christmas."
Harry knew he wasn't hiding the wide smile on his face, imagining that she'd have a ring on her finger a year from now, knowing that she wanted one. They walked together late into the night, finishing off their first Christmas together by enjoying some intimate privacy together. And after that conversation, Harry knew that this was just the first of many Christmases together, and he couldn't wait to see where they'd be by next Christmas.
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A/N: And a very happy early Christmas to all of you! I absolutely love the cosy Christmas vibes from this chapter, and I hope that even though Christmas is still a couple months away, you enjoyed feeling them too!
I don't think I have any super long notes, so instead, I'm going to go rapid fire with some small things, so bear with me!
Arthur being the one to talk about soulmates with Harry felt super fitting to me, and for those of you who noticed, yes, I did slightly plagiarise the movie Wedding Crashers in Arthur's description of a soulmate. I just couldn't think of a better way to put it, even though I did change it slightly. But that's, in essence, how I view the magic of a soulmate- the soul's recognition of its counterpoint in another.
Hermione's parents don't have names in canon, so I had to make them up. She changed their names to Wendell and Monica Wilkins when she changed their memories, and I decided that I liked the idea of their real names having the same first initial. Since Hermione's name is most known for its relation to Shakespeare, I chose two other Shakespearean names, William and Margaret, for their names. And don't worry about confusion, even though Margaret goes by Meg, William doesn't go by Bill, so Bill Weasley is the only one in this story!
The entire Christmas celebration was largely inspired by my own childhood memories of Christmas- a massive family gathering with loads of gifts piled all around the tree, and then the youngest ones would always open their gifts first before all the adults went, so I had to modify that slightly since Teddy's really the only kid, but still, it was fun to frame the Weasley Christmas with my own memories.
It's almost certainly guessable, but Imago means image in Latin, so that was a pretty easy spell to make up for Harry's watch that Ginny enchanted.
Ginny having the box of stuff about Harry just makes me laugh honestly. You can find exactly where Harry accidentally grabs that box earlier in the chapter, for anyone who's curious. I think Ginny keeping the box is honestly perfectly in character based on what we know about her obsession with Harry when she was younger, and it could eventually make a very great gift for him…
In case anyone caught it, yes, the idea of Bill accidentally stealing a dog from the village is 100% a reference to him eventually being attacked by Greyback. Apparently the dogs get their revenge eventually!
And that'll do it for First Christmas! We've got one more chapter left before we're back to Hogwarts, and it's gonna be a good one! As always, comments and feedback are greatly appreciated, and thank you so much to everyone who has shared how much this story means to you! It truly does mean the world and makes writing even more fun for me!
Coming Friday: Cursed to Hope- Her parents looked like they might cry, even though Ginny didn't really understand that.
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Finnspa: I'm really glad you're liking the break chapters! It's definitely been fun for me to get a little separation from Hogwarts, especially knowing there's still two more terms coming up, and they really do deserve a great holiday! I also love seeing Harry interacting with pretty much any adult figure who treats him like an adult, and Kingsley is one of my absolute favorites to do that with!
Guest: Trying to figure out if Molly and Arthur knew Lily and James is super interesting because I'd assume that it would've come up at some point if they did. Based solely on the Pottermore years of birth for all of them, which is really all there is to go off of, Molly and Arthur are about ten years older than Lily and James, so they wouldn't have been at Hogwarts at the same time and the only real point of contact would've been the Order. However, I believe that Molly and Arthur weren't in the first Order because they were focused on raising a family. Moody names every person in the first Order when he gives Harry the photograph of the Order, and Molly and Arthur aren't in it. I also think there's more to support that claim but I can't remember it off the top of my head. But anyways, Molly's two brothers were in the Order though, so they would've known Lily and James. I don't think it's impossible that their paths crossed at some point, but considering Lily and James also spent the last year and three months of their life in hiding, I don't know how probable it is. Really though, the best reason I have to say they never met is that Molly and Arthur absolutely would've told Harry about it if they had.