AN: Following the Christmas Market chapter, we're now diving into the full festive spirit in the Christmas chapter. Can you guess the title of the next chapter? It'll be posted shortly after Christmas—or maybe even a few days earlier. As always, there'll be a sneak peek on my Tumblr page in about a week.
As always, a big thank you to KSummer, GryffindorHealer, and dumnonian for their much appreciated help.
"We're done!" Relieved, Harry eyed proudly the Christmas tree he'd just decorated with his sister. "Looks fantastic, sis, doesn't it?"
"Yeah. The Nordmann fir looks perfect, much better than the trees we used to have," Emily replied, taking a step backwards to admire their work. "We should thank Charlie again."
"The tree itself looks great, no doubt. But we also did a good job," Harry insisted.
"Of course," Emily agreed with a giggle. "You know that mum asked me to help you to make sure it looks good?"
"It's Christmas, Emm. Can you at least try to be nice," Harry moaned, rolling his eyes.
"I'll save that for later when the guests are coming," Emily replied with a grin, bumping her shoulder against Harry's. "I'm calling Mum to let her charm the fairies." Harry shook his head as his eyes followed his sister, who disappeared into the kitchen, where their mother and Pinkie, the house-elf, were busy preparing dinner.
"Yeah, make yourself useful," Harry snorted. He was looking forward to the evening as they would spend Christmas Eve with the Weasleys, and they had plans to have a snowball fight before dinner. Luckily, it had snowed a little overnight, not much, but it should be enough to have fun outside. A delighted smile crossed his face when he glanced out of the window. It had started snowing again. Thick snowflakes were falling from the sky, turning the garden behind the house into a perfect battlefield. Everything was set for a fabulous evening.
"Wow, you two really outdid yourself. The tree looks awesome," praised his mother as she entered the living room, nodding approvingly at the sight of the Christmas tree. With a brilliant smile, she added, "It looks like you left me the honour of adding the finishing touches."
Solemnly placing a shoebox on the table that was usually safely tucked away in a far corner of her wardrobe and only brought out at Christmas, she tapped the lid with her wand. With another tap, the box opened, and a dozen fairies eagerly made their way into the fresh air and started hovering busily around the Christmas tree. Of course, they weren't living fairies, as her mother refused to keep magical creatures captive in the house. Instead, she had enchanted tiny Muggle dolls to look like fairies and act almost as if they were real.
Harry glanced over at his sister, whose smile almost split her face. She'd always been fascinated by these magical creatures who lit the candles on the Christmas tree at sunset and danced around the tree all night until they turned off the lights again just in time for sunrise and then slept all day, hidden between the branches of the tree.
It was half an hour later when the flames in the fireplace flared up, and Ron's face appeared. "We're coming over now. Make sure no one gets in the way," he called and vanished again.
Emily rushed to the kitchen. "Mum. The Weasleys are coming. Is everything ready?"
"Of course, my dear. Pinkie is putting the roast in the oven, and I'm pouring the wine for the adults. We're ready."
"Oh, Mum. You promised me a glass of wine, too," Emily groaned.
"I promised you half a glass. You can drink Butterbeer. Pinkie brewed a new batch of it for Christmas. It's almost alcohol-free and better suited for a thirteen year old like you."
Harry chuckled at his sister's persistence as the flames flared up again, and his best friend stumbled into the living room.
"You'd think I'd have gotten used to the bloody Floo travel," Ron grumbled to himself, quickly stepping aside as a rumbling in the Floo announced the arrival of more Weasleys. "Hi, mate," Ron greeted him and looked around. "Your Christmas tree looks really great. We finished ours an hour ago, too."
"Yeah, Charlie really got us a nice tree," Harry said, watching Ron's sister and mother step out of the fireplace.
Harry had to swallow when he saw Ginny. She wore black jeans and a dark green blouse, which beautifully highlighted her red hair, laying in a thick braid over her shoulder. She glanced around, waved at Emily with a smile, and rushed to hug her.
Turning back to his friend, Harry hugged him in greeting, and they patted each other's back. "I'm glad you lot were able to come over a little earlier. I was hoping we could have a snowball fight before dinner," Harry said, barely containing his excitement.
"Oh, what a shame. We left the winter clothes at home," Mrs Weasley said as she walked up to greet Harry. "My kids thought we didn't need any when travelling by floo."
Returning her hug, Harry clapped Ron's mother somewhat awkwardly on the shoulders. His heart pounded a little louder when he noticed Ginny looking at him and stepping towards him with her hand outstretched as her mother let go of him.
"Good evening, Harry," she said with a small smile as she shook his hand.
"Oh, hello," Harry replied, somewhat surprised. So far, they had barely spoken to each other, if you don't count an occasional quick hello. "I wish you a good evening, too," Harry said, trying to hide his excitement behind a wide grin. "I'm glad you came, and we can celebrate Christmas together. Usually, there are only four of us. I'm sure being together is more fun."
"Yeah. There's usually only five of us," Ron interjected. "Unfortunately, Bill can't come today. But he will be there on Boxing Day when you folks come over to the Burrow. Where's Charlie? He should be here already."
"Probably with Dora in her room," Emily replied, giggling. "At least that's where they disappeared after lunch. I don't want to know what they're doing there."
"They wanted to be back for the snowball fight," Harry said, his brow furrowing. He'd really hoped the two would keep their word. With just Ron and the two girls, the snowball fight would be only half the fun.
"As far as I know, they wanted to visit Dumbledore," replied his mother. "But if I'm not mistaken, they got back an hour ago."
"I'll get our winter jackets while you wait for the two lovebirds. I'll be right back," Ron suggested, reaching for the Floo Powder on the mantel piece.
"I think I better do that myself," Mrs Weasley held him back. "It may be Christmas, but you don't have to wear your best clothes when you're frolicking around in the snow."
While Mrs Weasley disappeared into the flames, Ron glanced over at Harry, shrugging apologetically.
"I'll call Charlie and Dora. The two had time enough to smooch. Are you coming, Ginny?" Emily asked, waving to her friend.
"Who's smooching whom, Emm? Are you hiding something from me?" Tonks asked with a broad grin as she stepped through the door with Charlie in tow.
"I was just wondering what you're hiding under that scarf of yours you're refusing to take off for days," Emily replied with an innocent look.
Tonks blushed slightly but then waggled her eyebrows suggestively. "I'll tell you when you're older, little one."
Mrs Weasley chose this moment to emerge from the fireplace, handing Ron and Ginny their jackets, effectively ending the conversation.
As they stepped outside into the garden, snowflakes floated from the sky, covering the landscape in a pristine layer of white. The sun was already low on the horizon, and it was slowly getting dark. Harry turned on the two courtyard lamps.
"Is it still light enough?" he asked, looking around sceptically.
"It's good enough," laughed Tonks. "If it's a little darker, it's easier to sneak up on someone."
Emily and Ginny exchanged mischievous grins, and Ginny waved her brother over, nodding her head towards the Quidditch pitch. "Come on, Charlie. You're on our side. And don't think you can spare Tonks."
"Never," replied her brother, chuckling.
"He wouldn't dare," laughed Tonks. "He knows he'll have to sleep on the sofa if he holds back."
"Let's get started in three minutes. That's enough time to prepare," Harry suggested, looking at Ron and Tonks when no one objected. "D'you have a plan?"
"I have an idea," replied Tonks, a devilish smile on her lips, and lowered her voice. "I'll take care of Charlie." She snickered. "I want to see how he's holding up against enchanted snowballs. Though, I wouldn't mind occasional help if he launches one of his ambush-like attacks."
"Okay." Harry nodded, exchanging a roguish glance with Ron. "And we focus on our sisters."
Ron grinned. "How about you concentrate on Ginny for now." He laughed. "It'll definitely be fun. She won't expect that." When Harry looked at him, confused, Ron waved him off. "It was just a thought. It won't take long, and it's each against all anyway."
"Don't talk so much and stock up on snowballs," instructed Tonks, ending the discussion.
Glancing over at their three opponents, who were busily making snowballs, Harry bent down to make his own. He'd just completed about half a dozen when Charlie's voice sounded, "Here we go!"
Before Harry knew it, the first snowball hit his shoulder, and a clump of snow got caught in his hair, part of it slid down his neck. Swearing, he hastily flung one of his own back and briefly glanced at Tonks, who had discreetly drawn her wand to cast a spell on her snowballs that Harry didn't know. Distracted for a moment, Harry was almost too late to dodge the next snowball.
The battle began with a flurry of projectiles from both sides. Charlie, who had a slight physical advantage, initiated the first raid. Tonks, unable to dodge his attack, briefly turned her back to Charlie, only to instantly launch a counterattack. Her first snowball smacked Charlie on the side of the head and turned into ice-cold water, making him gasp for air in surprise.
Harry had to laugh when Charlie loudly complained that was against the rules.
"What rules?" Tonks called mockingly. "We haven't set any rules." She immediately resumed her attack.
Ron quickly gathered handfuls of snow and packed them into perfectly shaped balls. With a striking precision, he sent them towards the girls, hitting Emily in the shoulder.
Remembering that he was supposed to focus on Ginny, Harry hurled several snowballs in the direction of Ron's sister, who, obviously surprised, shot him a predatory look and answered with some well-placed missiles of her own.
Quickly getting over her initial surprise that Harry had singled her out, Ginny responded with a barrage of snowballs hitting harry with increasingly surprising precision.
"You witch," called Harry when he was hit in the head as he had just bent over to form new snowballs, the crumbling snow slowly sliding down his neck. To Ginny's triumphant laugh, he shook himself and pulled the collar of his jacket tighter.
Along with Ron, Harry intensified his efforts and Charlie and the girls quickly found themselves on the defensive, ducking and diving to avoid their opponents' well-aimed projectiles. "Come on, Dora. Don't hold back," Harry shouted, storming forward several steps. Laughter filled the air as the snowy battlefield turned into a lively and passionate competition, with constantly changing advantage for either side.
Yet, after a while, Charlie, Ginny, and Emily were pushed back, barely able to fight back anymore, soaked by Tonks' enchanted snowballs. But instead of giving up, Charlie seemed to have other plans. "Dora, now or never," he shouted, feigning a frontal attack in which Tonks suddenly took his side, and they attacked the four younger ones together. The element of surprise was on their side.
The battle raged on, and the two older ones seemed to gain the upper hand when Ginny shouted, "Surround them. They won't know where to throw first." Following her advice, they spread out, and soon, Charlie and Tonks had to fend off attacks from all sides.
They all laughed and exchanged playful taunts as snowballs flew through the crisp winter air. Their breath formed clouds in the cold, and their voices began to rasp. Just as the battle had reached its most exciting finale, and Charlie was ready to surrender, Harry's mother's called them all into the house for dinner. On the way inside, the four youngsters hugged and congratulated each other on the won battle. "Congratulations. Hard to believe you did really well, Potter," Ginny said with a broad grin as they hugged, patting each other on the back.
"You weren't bad either," Harry admitted. "Your idea of surrounding them saved us."
Harry's breath hitched as Ginny looked him in the eyes, studied him briefly and then nodded. "You win together, and you lose together. We were just a good team." Smiling, she gave him a friendly slap on the back. "Let's go and find something to eat. I'm starving."
As the meal drew to a close, Harry's mum poured more wine for the adults while Harry fetched Butterbeer for the younger folk.
"Dora, what was so important that Albus wanted to see you on Christmas Eve," Harry's mum asked as she sat down again.
"Oh, that..." Tonks replied and sighed. "We're not sure what it means, but some strange things happened lately."
When Harry glanced up, he noticed that everyone else had stopped talking, looking at Tonks with interest, waiting for her to continue.
"Well, where should I start?" Tonks said thoughtfully, giving Charlie a questioning look, silently asking for help.
"The register," Charlie suggested quietly.
"Yeah, right," Tonks agreed. "As you know, Albus searched the Hogwarts Student Register some time ago to find potential students for the new school. As it looks, there are far fewer candidates than he'd hoped. Many of them have moved abroad, and their places of residence are unknown because addresses abroad are not registered. But obviously, that's only part of the problem. Albus has also noticed that there have been a relatively high number of deaths in recent years."
"Oh, really. But the war is over," Mrs Weasley exclaimed.
"You'd think so," Tonks agreed. "What is striking, however, is that the deaths are all Muggle-born, children and young people who probably did not even know that they were magical."
"That is strange indeed," Lily agreed. "Do we know what happened to them?"
"That's why Albus called me and Charlie over," Tonks said. "He asked me to investigate to find out what happened. Inconspicuously, of course, as long as we don't know any details. Charlie will help me as much as his job allows."
"And how do you want to do that?" Harry asked, suddenly feeling uneasy.
"The register contains the names and addresses of all potential students as long as they live in the UK," replied Tonks, adding, "or have lived."
"Albus suggested that Dora research the deaths using Muggle newspapers," Charlie explained. "When such young people die suddenly, there's usually an article about it in the local newspaper. Since we know where they lived and when they died, it should be pretty easy to find information about it."
"How many died?" Emily asked, visibly concerned.
"Nine, this year alone," Tonks replied.
"So many? That can't be a coincidence," Ginny said, her brow furrowed.
"That's almost all the Muggle-borns of an entire year," Harry's mum said, horrified. "We were three, no, four Muggle-borns in my year. There was about the same number in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw."
"Apparently, there are still a lot of You-Know-Who followers out there," Mrs Weasley said in a dark voice. "We should be careful who we invite to our school."
"Yes, we should," Lily agreed with a serious expression. "But let's move this conversation to another day, after Christmas." With a somewhat forced smile, she said, "Why don't you tell me how your Apparition lessons are going?"
"It's fun, but it's gotten a bit boring lately since we've only had theory so far," Ron complained but immediately backtracked when he noticed Tonks was giving him a puzzled look. "Don't get me wrong. You explain everything really well. It's just that I can't wait to Apparate properly."
Tonks rolled her eyes. "You got your new wands just last week, and I said..."
"Yeah, I know," Ron interrupted. "We'll start practice once we're used to the new wands."
"And that will be the case in our first lesson next year," Tonks replied.
"Can I also join the practice?" Emily asked beseechingly, her eyes darting from her mother to Tonks and back.
Lily gave Tonks a questioning look.
"I let her participate in the theoretical part, and she did quite well," Tonks admitted, grimacing. "I'm sorry, Lily. I meant to ask you first but somehow forgot."
"And?" Lily frowned, waiting for more of an explanation.
Tonks sighed. "I wanted to ask you to let Emily join the practice sessions and, if she's ready, the exam. Of course, she won't be allowed to Apparate alone before her birthday."
"Pleeeease, Mum!" Emily begged.
"I'll think about it," Lily said after a moment, clearly not convinced it was a good idea.
With a look that was half hope and half disappointment, Emily managed a small but hopeful smile. "Thanks, Mum."
"You've no reason to thank me yet," Lily replied, though she couldn't help a chuckle.
"'Nough talk. It's Christmas," Tonks ended the discussion. "Let's have some fun, maybe play a game?"
"Oh, yeah. How about a game of Pin the Donkey's Tail?" Emily exclaimed enthusiastically.
"I haven't played that in ages," Tonks cackled.
"Isn't Pin the Donkey's Tail a bit childish," groaned Harry. "Why not play a game of Exploding Snap?"
"You have an Exploding Snap deck?" Ron asked, surprised. "Ours is already so worn out that most cards don't even explode any more."
"Mum found them in the attic the other day," Harry said, amused as he suddenly had an idea. Hoping Ron wouldn't ask any more questions, Harry shrugged. "We have the cards, why not use them."
"Perfect. Let's play Exploding Snap then," Ginny agreed. "Who's in?" she cried, raising her hand.
Two days later
On the morning of Boxing Day, there was an excited bustle in the Potter house. Everyone got ready for the visit to the Burrow, where the presents would be exchanged. Well, at least the presents exchanged between the younger Potters and Weasleys. Harry was pretty sure Ron would like his gift, though he was a little nervous about Ginny. But that was nothing new. He was always nervous when it came to Ginny, even though they got along quite well on Christmas Eve. Remembering that evening conjured a smile to Harry's face.
A quick glance at the Christmas tree made his smile grow even wider, knowing that beneath it lay the new Quidditch gloves his mum had surprised him with that morning. Well, not just him. Emily had received a pair, too. Even when he'd asked, his mother hadn't revealed where she'd managed to find the gloves he'd wanted for years. His friend Ron would be thrilled. He'd once mentioned he'd wanted a pair of Quidditch goalkeeper gloves for ages.
"Harry, Emily, are you ready?" their mother called from the kitchen. "We're leaving in 10 minutes."
"I just have to grab my coat," Harry called back, giving his cloth bag a final check. Satisfied that all his Christmas presents for the Weasleys were tucked inside, he chuckled when he heard Emily shout from her room, "I'll be right there. I just need to use the loo." Girls. It was always the same.
A few minutes later, as Emily stomped down the stairs, their mother threw a pinch of Floo Powder into the fireplace and knelt down. "Molly, we'll come through in just a moment."
"Merlin. I meant to bring the Quidditch gloves," Harry called, kicking himself for not thinking of it sooner.
"Forget it," his mum replied, giving him a firm look. "With your good clothes on, I won't let you ride a broom."
With a reluctant grumble, Harry shot her a look, but then stepped forward to follow his sister, who was already disappearing into the flames.
As he stepped into the Burrow's living room, Harry looked around and spotted Ron sitting on the sofa next to a man with long red hair, slightly darker than his friend's, but most noticeable was the eye-catching fang earring he was wearing. It took Harry a moment to recognize Ron's older brother Bill, whom he'd met in Diagon Alley when they'd bought their wands. Harry couldn't remember Bill wearing an earring. But he'd worn his hair open, whereas today, he had a ponytail that made the fang stand out quite prominently. Bill was the only Weasley sibling he didn't know much about, Harry noticed.
Except that he lived in London. And Ginny often visited him.
"Merry Christmas," Harry greeted, grinning at his friend as he walked to the sofa.
"Merry Christmas," Ron replied, pointing to the man next to him. "You know my brother Bill?"
The man stood up and held out his hand to Harry. "You must be Harry. Nice to finally meet you properly. Ron talks a lot about you."
Harry shook Bill's hand. "Same here. I only know you as the mysterious brother who lives in London."
"I live in London, yes. But why mysterious?" Bill asked, laughing.
Harry grinned. "Everyone talks about you, but this is the first time I really caught sight of you, aside from the few moments in Diagon Alley."
"Where are Charlie and Dora?" Mrs Weasley entered the living room, looking about.
"Albus asked Dora to stop by and meet him briefly, and Charlie went with her," Lily explained. "They promised to hurry up and be here for dinner."
At this moment, Ginny followed her mother into the room, and Harry held his breath, gaping at her. She wore a dark grey, tight-fitting knitted dress whose high neckline particularly accentuated her breasts. Her long, red hair, glittering in all shades of red, was braided into a wide plait with a cord of pearls incorporated into it and lay over her shoulder. With an amused smile, she watched the fuss around her, playing absentmindedly with the end of her plait. As she approached, Harry noticed her subtle make-up, just enough to not conceal the myriad of freckles on her face he liked so much. She looked absolutely stunning.
As if not noticing his staring, Ginny gave him a kind smile. "Merry Christmas, Harry!"
Ginny's words took a moment to sink in before Harry managed to return her smile, probably looking more awkward than he intended. "Thanks, Ginny. Merry Christmas to you, too."
As Ginny moved on to greet Emily, Harry turned to Mrs Weasley to wish her a Merry Christmas as well. She'd just taken his coat and sent it to the cloakroom when Harry heard a familiar voice.
"Come on, Harry. There are presents to unwrap," Ron called and waved him over to the Christmas tree, where Harry noticed a garden gnome perched at the top, enchanted to look like Santa Claus. Its eyes darted back and forth, following everyone in the room, making it look so spooky that Harry found it funny.
"Here," said Ron, handing him a clumsily wrapped box. "It's not much, just some sweets."
"Thanks, mate," Harry said, accepting the gift, then rummaging in his bag to pull out a small package marked with an "R." He handed it to Ron with a grin. "This is for you."
Ron's face lit up, and he accepted it eagerly. After finding a similar package labelled "G," Harry looked around, spotting Ginny.
"Here, my dear. This is for you." Mrs Weasley handed him a larger package wrapped in red paper with festive ornaments. "Please let me know if it fits," she said with a warm smile.
"Oh, thank you so much," Harry exclaimed, genuinely surprised to receive a gift from Mrs Weasley. He hoped his mum had something for Ron and Ginny, too, he thought and was relieved when he spotted Ginny accepting a package from his mother.
With Mrs Weasleys gift tucked under his arm, Harry rushed over to Ginny. "This is for you. I hope you like it."
"Oh, thank you, Harry," Ginny replied, clearly surprised. "Wait a minute. I have something for you, too." She picked something up from the bookshelf and handed Harry a gold-wrapped package with a Santa sticker on it. With a mischievous grin, she explained, "I'm not sure if you like that sort of thing, but I made it myself, so I hope you like it."
"Thanks, Ginny. Sure, I like it. It's nice," Harry replied, beaming with joy. In a corner away from the hustle and bustle, he carefully placed his presents on a small table with a potted poinsettia on it. Cautiously tearing open the golden-coloured paper, he took an expectant peek inside and discovered some homemade biscuits and something made of leather. Upon closer inspection, Harry recognized a bracelet woven from red, brown and yellow leather cords. With a joyous smile, Harry put the bracelet around his left wrist and fastened the clasp. It was really pretty. He liked it. As he glanced over at Ginny, who was chatting with Emily, his sister nudged her, and Ginny's face lit up when she spotted the bracelet on Harry's arm.
Mrs Weasleys present turned out to be a green knitted jumper with a large H on the front. He'd seen Ron and Ginny and even Charlie wearing similar jumpers. When Harry looked around, Emily was putting on a jumper like that, too, albeit in yellow.
Harry put the biscuits he'd gotten from Ginny in his cloth bag and pulled on the sweater. It fit perfectly. Opening Ron's gift, he found a box with a large selection of different chocolates. He chuckled and put them in the bag with the biscuits.
Pushing his way through the chattering people crowding the Weasley living room, Harry walked to his friend, who was already grinning at him from afar. "Hey, mate. Where did you get this Exploding Snap deck of cards? Mum's been trying to get one for ages but couldn't find a single card anywhere, while you have so many that you even give them away."
Harry chuckled. "I told you my mum found decks of cards." He gave Ginny a quick smile as she pointed to her deck of cards, whispering a 'thank you' to him. "While cleaning up last week, Mum found a box in the attic with dozens of card games, most of them in 1960s designs but still fully functional and unused. And when you said your Exploding Snap game was no longer working properly, I thought I'd give you one as a gift..." Shrugging apologetically, Harry looked from Ron to Ginny, who was reaching for Emily's hand, whispering. "Don't open your present until you're alone." Bewildered, Harry raised his eyebrows as his sister asked quietly, "Is there anything to read in there?" to which Ginny nodded conspiratorially. Harry shook his head. The girls had their secrets again.
"What's that, mate?" Ron asked as Harry turned back to his friend, who'd just opened the gift from Harry's mother and was holding up a miniature apple.
"Oh, that..." Harry grinned. "I'm sure my mum can explain it better, but the apple is enchanted to show you where you left your wand if you misplaced it. You can even adjust the charm to make the apple lead you to anything else you're looking for."
"Sounds useful," Ron said, eyeing his gift with interest.
The chatter in the room grew louder, and Harry turned to see Charlie and Tonks walking in, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.
"Listen up, everyone," Tonks called. "Charlie's got a few days off after Christmas, so we thought we'd offer you two or three duelling lessons. What do you reckon? Fancy it?"
"That's perfect," Harry exclaimed, glancing around at the others. Ron gave him an approving nod, Emily looked thrilled, and Ginny's eyes lit up with excitement. "When do you want to start?" she asked eagerly.
"How about tomorrow morning?" Charlie suggested. "10 o'clock?"
"I can hardly wait," Harry said, beaming. "What sort of spells are you going to teach us?"
"That's for us to surprise you with tomorrow," Tonks said with a playful grin. "Just don't forget your wands."
At that moment, Mrs Weasley announced that the feast was ready and everyone should find a seat.
After the hustle and bustle of the welcome and the gift exchange, lunch was an almost quiet affair. Well, as quiet as a meal with nine people could be. Harry chatted casually with Ron and Emily, who were seated beside him, their conversation punctuated by requests for the bowl of potatoes or another slice of meat from the roasting plate. Every so often, his gaze drifted across the table to Ginny, seated beside her brother Bill and opposite Emily. Twice, he caught what he thought was her looking back at him, only for her to quickly drop her gaze to her plate the moment their eyes met. He smiled to himself, really enjoying the Boxing Day surrounded by friends.
"When everyone is finished, there will be pudding," Mrs Weasley called and glanced over at Ginny, "Can you please help me, dear?"
Harry's eyes followed Ginny as she helped her mother levitate the dishes into the kitchen. A nudge in the ribs made him turn around and look into the grinning face of his sister.
"What?" he asked, bewildered.
"Nothing," Emily replied, her grin growing even broader.
"Then why did you jab me?" Harry enquired, still confused.
"It's rude to look at a girl's bum," Emily whispered with a grin.
Harry's face turned scarlet. "I...I didn't," he muttered, suddenly realizing he'd done exactly that without even noticing. He'd been staring at Ginny Weasley's bum. Not for the first time. His eyes were darting around to see if anyone else had noticed?
"It's even ruder to lie to your favourite sister." Emily giggled.
Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Don't you dare tell her," he hissed in a low voice. Hoping to escape the topic, Harry decided to head to the loo, but as he stood up, he bumped right into Ron.
"Sorry. I didn't see you," he muttered, flustered, and took a step aside.
"Merlin, watch out," a voice screeched behind him.
Spinning around, Harry found himself face-to-face with Ginny, who was holding a bowl of cherry sauce - its contents splattered across the front of her dress, particularly on the fabric just below her neckline. His mouth dropped open, and a short, nervous laugh escaped him before he could stop it.
Ginny's eyes narrowed dangerously, and Harry's face turned scarlet. "S-Sorry," he stammered, his throat dry.
"Keep your apology - and your clumsy hands," Ginny snapped, glaring down at the sticky mess. Blinking back tears of frustration, she turned on her heel and stormed upstairs, slamming the half-empty bowl onto the dresser as she went.
Harry stared after her, his stomach twisting in guilt. "Brilliant," he muttered under his breath. "Absolutely brilliant."
"What happened, Harry?" his mum asked worriedly, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Dunno", Harry mumbled gloomily, shaking his head. "I bumped into Ron and stepped aside, and then...I...I didn't see her."
"She'll calm down," Mrs Weasley called after Emily, who had dashed off after Ginny. "I was surprised she even wore that dress. It looks so nice on her, but she rarely wears dresses, except in the summer when it's hot." She shook her head thoughtfully. "I wonder what's wrong with her. She spent almost an hour on the bathroom this morning."
"And I really needed to go to the loo," Ron groaned. "I had to go outside to pee."
"Ron, no one wanted to know that," his mum scolded, rolling her eyes, while Bill tried to stifle a laugh.
"And Bill, how did you come up with the idea of giving your sister makeup for Christmas?" Mrs Weasley added with a frown.
Bill looked up in surprise. "Oh, did I?" Yet, he quickly caught himself, shrugging apologetically. "She's been pestering me for weeks, and in the end, I just did her the favour. Not that I think she needs it."
"No, she…" Harry coughed, swallowing hard as he almost admitted how beautiful he thought Ginny was. He quickly changed tack. "I mean, she doesn't…need makeup, right?"