Harry Potter was kneeling on the floor of Ginny’s bedroom at the Burrow. He had been there for hours, his knees were raw and painful, but he did not care. He just wanted Ginny back. “Come on, Ginny, wake up, please, you’ve got to wake up,” he cried, his glasses were foggy from the warmth of his tears.
Harry did not even notice the sound of Ginny’s bedroom door opening, nor did he notice the two figures that came through the door.
“Come away mate. We all want her to wake up, and she will, when she’s ready, you can’t stay here like this though. Aren’t your knees sore by now?”
“Ron! Don’t be so insensitive! If Harry wants to stay and talk to Ginny, let him do it.”
Harry could not help but crack a smile as Ron and Hermione bickered. “Thanks, Hermione, Ron. Look, I’ll be downstairs in a couple of minutes. I just want to stay with Ginny for a little while longer. I want to be here if and when she wakes up.”
Ron opened his mouth to argue against that idea but was stopped when Hermione stamped on his foot, as he hopped about the room clutching his foot in pain Hermione looked at Harry.
“Take all the time you need, Harry. Come on, Ron, let’s go help your Mum with the cooking.”
“But mum’s not cook…”
“Now, Ron!”
Ron protested no more and quickly hurried to the door, closely followed by Hermione as she was ushering him away.
Harry watched them leave and he heard the sound of their footsteps as they headed downstairs to the kitchen. When he was satisfied that they were gone he turned back to face Ginny, who was lying on her bed, unmoving, as she had been doing for the past month. Tears welled up in his eyes and his blood boiled as he re-lived the series of events that were responsible for her condition. It was his fault that Malfoy had nearly killed her. He couldn’t protect her. He had failed. He had let someone close to him come to harm, and that was something that Harry could never forgive himself for.
“I need you, Ginny. I need you to tell me it’s all going to be okay. Please, I wish you could wake up. It’s my fault you’re like this. I’m sorry, Ginny. I thought I could help you, I thought I could protect you! I’m sorry!” Harry cried, tears springing to his eyes. Harry sniffed and wiped his tears away, a sad smile on his face. “So much for the famous Harry Potter.”
Harry sat at Ginny’s bedside for another hour, talking to her, looking for any sign of life from her. Eventually Harry got to his feet, rubbing his knees to get some feeling back into them. He sat next to Ginny’s still form on the bed and gave her a kiss on the forehead, with a deep sigh; he left her room and headed downstairs.
Ron, Hermione, Bill, Fleur and Mrs Weasley were all in the kitchen. They were all looking very sombre. The Burrow was unrecognisable from the cheerful place it usually was. Christmas decorations had not been bothered with, unwashed pots and pans stood in the sink and there was the heavy smell of alcohol in the air. Ron was looking very pale, Hermione looked as though she had been crying, Bill was drinking heavily from a glass of Fire Whisky, Fleur was sat in silence, and Mrs Weasley was staring out of the window, as though watching for something, or someone. Harry could just make out the figure of Mr Weasley; he was outside in the yard, tinkering about in his shed, no doubt trying to work out the wonder of ‘eckeltricity’ Harry suspected.
Mrs Weasley looked from the window to Harry as he entered the kitchen. “Any change?” she asked anxiously; the others all fixed their eyes on Harry expectantly.
Harry shook his head. Sadness crossed the faces in the kitchen once again.
“What are you looking at, mum? Asked Ron, as he noticed Mrs Weasley looking out of the window once again.
“Oh. I’m waiting for Charlie to come back, he went to the village “ last minute presents I suppose. Percy should be due any time soon as well.”
Almost as she spoke, Percy Weasley appeared with a loud crack in the middle of the kitchen. Percy was usually immaculately turned out, but Ginny’s condition seemed to be having a bad effect on him too. His robes were dishevelled, his glasses had fingerprints on them, his neat hair was straggly and out of place. Without a word he took a seat in the kitchen and joined the others in staring at the table.
For about an hour there was no sound at all, save for the clicking of glass as Bill drained another glass of Fire Whisky and then poured himself another. After his eighth, (or was it ninth? Harry couldn’t be sure, he had not been keeping much count.) Bill slammed his glass to the table so hard that it shattered, the resulting noise making everybody jump.
“Bill? What in heaven’s name is the matter?” said Mrs Weasley, hurrying over to her eldest son and pulling her wand out to repair the glass.
“I’ll tell you whassa matter,” slurred Bill, the effects of Fire Whisky evident for all to see. “My baby sister is layin’ upstairs, and we don’t know what’s wrong with her.” He staggered, lurching back and forth. “And it’s all his fault!” Bill roared, pointing at Harry.
“Steady on, Bill. It’s not Harry’s fault. It was Malfoy who attacked Ginny. If Harry had not done what he did then she’d probably be dead,” said Percy, trying to restrain Bill, who was attempting to get to Harry.
“Rubbish! If he had got a professional, she’d have been fine! But oh no, not the great Harry Potter! Had to do it all himself!”
Harry had had enough, he felt bad enough without all this. It was bad enough that what Bill was saying was probably true, but the fact that Harry felt the same way just made things worse. He got to his feet to leave. Ron and Hermione were sitting still; they seemed unable to move due to shock. Fleur was crying, Mrs Weasley had gone running out of the house to fetch Mr Weasley, unfortunately it seemed he had gone walkabout, as she returned alone.
“You’re not going anywhere, Harry!” shouted Bill, who now had his wand unsteadily pointing at Harry.
“William Weasley! Put that away at once!” demanded Mrs Weasley. “You’re drunk. You like Harry!”
“Don’t tell me anything like that!” yelled Bill, and he shoved Percy out of his way.
Harry had no choice but to draw his own wand as the oldest Weasley brother advanced on him. He did not want to jinx Bill, but at the same time he did not fancy getting into a fistfight with him either. Harry settled for disarming him, he flicked his wand and Bill’s wand flew out of his hand and into Harry’s. Before he could say anything though Bill was upon him and his fist had made contact with the side of Harry’s head, knocking his glasses from his face. The wands fell from his grasp as Bill grabbed him and threw him to the floor.
Bill was a good five inches taller than Harry, and was fighting in a drunken rage. It was only due to Harry’s Auror training that he was able to fend off most of Bill’s attacks. Ron and Percy had both tried to pull Bill off of him but had received a cut lip and a bruised ear as a result of Bill’s flailing limbs.
Harry thought he heard the door open as he fended off another of Bill’s wild punches. The flurry of fists suddenly stopped and Harry opened his eye, (one was swelled shut where one of Bill’s fist had gotten through) and saw Mr Weasley and Charlie pulling Bill away from him.
“What in blazes is going on here?” roared Mr Weasley, as he struggled to restrain Bill. “Molly. I think you’ll have to stun this one,” he said to his wife. Mrs Weasley, who had been tending to Ron and Percy’s injuries, turned to look at her husband wrestling with Bill. She nodded and pointed her wand at Bill.
“Stupefy!” A jet of red light flew from her wands and hit Bill in the chest. He slumped down to the floor. Mr Weasley and Charlie each took one of his arms and attempted to pull him into a chair.
Two loud cracks interrupted proceedings as Fred and George appeared in the kitchen, wearing the magenta robes of Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. They had big smiles on their faces, which promptly faded once they saw the commotion in the kitchen.
“What’s going on?” asked George, looking at the stunned Bill and then at Harry, who was just getting to his feet.
“I’d say there’d been some sort of disagreement, George,” said Fred.
“I’d be a fool to disagree,” agreed George.
“Quiet you two! Give your father and Charlie a hand!” snapped Mrs Weasley.
Fred and George hurried over to where Mr Weasley and Charlie were struggling to get the unconscious Bill into a sitting position. Between the four of them they managed to hoist him up into a chair.
Mr Weasley sighed and looked at Harry. “You should wait outside while we sober him up.” There was no compassion in his voice, no warmth in his eyes. He was telling Harry to leave.
Harry obeyed and left the house without a word. He headed into the yard and sat underneath a tree, nursing his black eye, he had left his wand in the kitchen so was forced to suffer the inconvenience of having one eye swollen shut. He was in pain and felt at his lowest ebb yet. He cast a look back into the kitchen and saw Charlie wake Bill up. Bill immediately started thrashing about and shouting for Harry. It took all five Weasley brothers and Mr Weasley to restrain him again. Mrs Weasley forced a glassful of a blue-pink potion down his throat. He thrashed about once more and then his whole body seemed to relax and he stopped shouting and looked around confusedly.
I won’t go back in until I’m asked. If I ever am, Harry thought sadly. He looked away from the kitchen window and looked up at the clouds in the sky as snow began to fall. He knew what he had to say to her when she came around. It hurt him to think about it, so instead he dwelled on the fight with Bill.
Way to go, Harry, way to go. Your first Christmas at the Burrow in a year and you fight with Ginny’s brother. Nicely done. Very nicely done. That’ll be something fun to tell Ginny about when she wakes up. If she ever does. I wish she would.
The world was out of focus when Ginny Weasley opened her eyes. Hey eyes felt strained, as if she had not used them for a long time. She sat up in her bed and gave a huge yawn, stretching her arms out above her head. She felt very relaxed. Then she suddenly remembered what had happened at Hogwarts, and she frantically checked herself for injuries however, there were no cuts, bruises, scars, and no marks of any kind. As far as Ginny could tell, she was fine.
Did I dream it all?
Wait a minute. I’m at home, how did I get here?
Where’s Harry?
God I hope he is okay.
Ginny needed to find out just what was going on. She reached under the pillow for her locket but it was not there. Ginny panicking and started searched for it. It was only when she saw herself in the mirror that she noticed she was still wearing the locket. She got up out of bed a little too quickly, and had to sit back down, her legs seemed to have forgotten how to work. She moved them about as she sat on the bed, willing them to work.
She took a deep breath and got to her feet again. Her legs were fine this time and she hurried to her wardrobe. She pulled out her dressing gown and threw it on over the top of her pyjamas. She walked towards her bedroom door but hesitated when she looked out of the window and saw snow falling. Ginny ran her fingers over the locket as she watched the snow fall. Smiling at the sight of the snow she headed out of her room and downstairs to the kitchen. It seemed unusually quiet for the Burrow.
Ginny entered the kitchen, and saw Ron, Hermione, Fleur, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred and George all sat at the table. None of them seemed to be speaking; they were all looking at the table. Mrs Weasley was standing at the sink watching the snow fall. Mr Weasley was outside by his shed. Ginny looked around but her heart sank when she saw that Harry was nowhere to be seen. She was sure he would be spending Christmas with them this year.
“Who died?” she asked light-heartedly.
Everybody in the kitchen raised his or her head from the table to look at her. Ginny barely had time to register the looks of relief and joy on their faces before she was nearly crushed by the mass of bodies hugging her. None were hugging her as tightly as Mrs Weasley, who had tears streaming down her face and was shouting at the top of her lungs.
“ARTHUR! ARTHUR, SHE’S AWAKE!”
Mr Weasley came pelting into the kitchen and fought his way through the crowd until he laid eyes on Ginny. He had tears in his eyes and wore the same joyous expression of relief as everyone else. He embraced her as though he had not seen her for a long, long time. Ginny hugged her father, grateful for the attention, but not entirely sure why she was getting it.
“Mum, Dad, what’s going on?” she asked. “Crikey, Bill, let me go!” she said, as Bill hugged her again. He was looking a bit worse for wear. Percy and Ron both were looking a bit rough around the edges as well. Ginny was confused, as she asked again, “What’s going on?”
Mrs Weasley opened her mouth to speak but was still too overcome with emotion and she dissolved into more tears and ran into her husband’s arms.
Ron shook his head and spoke up, “Ginny, you’ve been unconscious for nearly two months now. We had to bring you home from Hogwarts. It was touch and go whether you’d pull through or not. I guess we have Harry to thank for that.” Ron turned away; Ginny thought she saw tears in his eyes as he moved towards Hermione.
“Is Harry here?” Ginny asked quickly.
Everybody looked away from Ginny; Bill was especially keen to avoid her gaze. When no one answered her question she assumed that Harry obviously was not there. Eventually Bill raised his head and looked at Ginny.
“He’s outside.”
That was all Ginny needed to know. She threw open the back door and ran outside, through the snow, looking for Harry. She finally saw him sitting underneath the tree at the back of the yard, his back to the house. She broke into a sprint as she headed towards him.
As Ginny approached Harry her mind started racing. She started thinking about what might have happened had Malfoy not interrupted them. The thought of Harry holding her in his arms was enough to keep Ginny warm even with the snow lashing down upon her.
She stood behind him. He seemed completely unaware of her presence. She decided to sneak quietly up to him, and she waited until he was looking the other way before she sat down next to him. She slipped her hand into his.
Harry leapt up as if he had been shot as Ginny’s hand touched his. “Ginny! You’re okay!”
Ginny gasped as she saw Harry’s face. His eye was blackened and swollen. “Harry! What happened to your eye?”
Harry reached a hand to his face. “Oh. That was Bill.”
“Bill? But why?”
“He had one too many Fire Whisky’s and decided that it was my fault that you were in a bad way,” Harry said, declining to mention that he had thought the same thing more than once.
Ginny gasped. She could not believe that Bill and Harry had had a fight. Bill was probably the most level headed of all her brothers.
Harry meanwhile, was smiling. “I’m glad you’re okay. His face cracked into a huge smile, and his unswollen eye had a twinkle in it.
Ginny was back on her feet now. “I understand I’ve got you to thank for that.”
Harry smiled even wider, “My pleasure.” He swept her up in his arms as he spoke.
Ginny loved being held by Harry. She closed her eyes and lent into him, waiting for the kiss that was sure to come. To her disappointment though, it did not arrive. Instead Harry let her go.
“Merry Christmas, Ginny.” He smiled at her.
Ginny’s eyes widened. “It’s Christmas? Nobody told me! You can’t even tell in there!” she said, gesturing at the house behind her. “Its lucky I bought all my presents early this year. Let’s get back to the house then!”
She started to head back towards the house. She stopped however when she realised that Harry was not following her. He had turned his back to her and was gazing at the sky once again.
“Harry, come on.”
“I can’t go back inside. I’m not welcome.”
Almost at that exact moment Mrs Weasley leaned out of the window and shouted to them, “Get in here you two! You’ll freeze out there!”
Ginny smiled at Harry. “See. You’re always welcome,” she said, offering a hand to Harry. He did not take it, but he walked back to the house with her.
When they got through the door, the house was totally unrecognisable from the place it had been earlier. Mrs Weasley was cooking up a storm. Christmas decorations hung from every available inch. Ginny rushed into the living room where a huge tree was standing with piles of presents underneath it. Fleur was sitting on the floor laughing at Fred and George as they took in turns to transfigure various parts of Percy’s body.
Back in the kitchen, Ron was stuffing his face with Mince pies; Hermione was watching him with a disapproving look on her face. Bill and Charlie had their wands out and were making two turkey legs fight on the kitchen table. Bill lowered his wand when he saw Harry enter and that allowed Charlie’s drumstick to knock Bill’s completely off of the table.
Bill got to his feet and headed towards Harry, Harry bunched his fists inside his robes just in case but as Bill approached he extended a hand towards Harry, which he shook.
“Sorry about that, Harry. No hard feelings?”
Harry thought that was a bit of a cheek, but it was Christmas and he did not want to fight with Bill again in a hurry. “Sure. No hard feelings.”
Mrs Weasley had stopped cooking to watch Harry and Bill, when it became clear that they were not going to start fighting again, she smiled. “That’s better. No more fighting.” Mrs Weasley hurried over to Harry. “Now let’s fix that eye of yours, dear,” she said, flourishing her wand.
“That’s fine, Mrs Weasley. I’ll do it myself, my wand is just over there,” Harry protested, attempting to reach his wand. Before he could say anything else, Mrs Weasley had waved her wand and Harry felt the swelling around his eye go down immediately; light filled his eye as it opened, it quickly found Ginny, who looked even more beautiful when looked at with both eyes, Harry decided.
Mrs Weasley stepped back, and let out a satisfied sigh. “That ought to do it. Now let’s go and join the others in the living room. There are still presents to open.”
Harry, Ginny, Bill and Mrs Weasley all bustled into the living room to join Ron, Hermione, Charlie, Percy, Fleur, Fred and George. Mr Weasley had also arrived in the living room and had a look of relief on his face at the sight of Harry and Bill not fighting. Harry found himself a nice little spot on the floor opposite Ginny and next to Charlie.
“I’m surprised you haven’t already opened the presents,” Ginny said, casting a look at Fred and George, who smiled and wore looks of mock outrage.
“Of course not, dear, we were waiting, just in case…” said Mrs Weasley.
“In case I woke up?”
“We had hoped that you might, its Christmas after all,” said Mrs Weasley, with a big smile on her face.
The living room of the Burrow was soon strewn with wrapping paper, as present after present was opened.
Hermione was admiring the golden bangle that Ron had bought her, which was now adorning her wrist; she was also looking delighted with the set of advanced Transfiguration books that Harry had bought for her.
Ron was wearing his Chudley Cannons replica robes, which Hermione had bought for him; he was also attempting to eat his way through a huge box of Every-Flavour Beans that Harry had given him.
“Your turn, Ginny,” said Ron thickly, through a mouthful of peppermint bean, “Lets see what you got.”
Ginny opened her present from Ron and Hermione, it was a set of Dragon pearl earrings, she put them on immediately and modelled them for the crowd. Harry then passed her the present that he had got for her.
“Merry Christmas, Ginny.” He smiled at her.
“Thanks, Harry!” Ginny said excitedly, as she carefully unwrapped a long, thin, velvet box, she opened it and inside was…
“A new wand!” she cried, “Thank you so much, Harry! Mum look it’s a new wand!” She gave it a cursory wave and made Ron’s packet of Every Flavour Beans jump up and down.
“Hazel and Unicorn Hair, 10¾ inches,” Harry explained. “Mr Ollivander said if there was a problem you could take it back and get a different one, one better suited to you, but he seemed sure this one would do the trick.”
“It’s perfect, Harry, thank you,” Ginny said earnestly, looking deep into Harry’s eyes, and ignoring the sniggers from Fred and George.
After the presents had been opened and all of the mess had been tidied away, Mrs Weasley announced that it was time for dinner. There was not enough room for everybody in the kitchen so Harry and Ron set the tables up outside while Charlie conjured a huge tent to cover them all. Ginny and Hermione watched from the doorway, each watching the man they loved hard at work.
“Hermione?” Ginny asked, “What happened to Lupin?” With all the excitement of Christmas she had totally forgotten to ask Harry.
Hermione tore her eyes away from Ron. “He’s not back yet. Harry says that he is tracking Pettigrew.”
“So is Harry teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts full time?”
“No. The Auror office wanted him to stand by in case Malfoy or Pettigrew are found. As far as I know Defence Against the Dark Arts had been suspended until Lupin returns.”
“Oh right,” said Ginny miserably, she had been hoping to see more of Harry at school, but it seemed extremely unlikely now. “One more thing. What happened to Lucius Malfoy?”
Hermione was looking at Ron again, watching him and Harry mess about like they did at school, bewitching snowballs to fly at each other. “He’s back in Azkaban. After Draco Malfoy fled, Flitwick and Slughorn came down to investigate, they must have gotten quite a shock when they saw Lucius lying in the school grounds,” Hermione said, smiling as one of Harry’s snowballs flew right down Ron’s shirt; the sight of him dancing about as the cold snow seeped down his back was very funny. “Anyway, I think its time for dinner now. Let’s go,” she said as she watched Harry and Ron put their wands away and head into the tent. Hermione and Ginny also headed into the tent. Hermione sat down next to Ron, Ginny sat opposite Harry.
After a long and filling Christmas dinner. The Weasley’s decided to retire back indoors; it was very cold outside. Harry however, asked Ginny to remain outside.
“Harry, what’s the matter?” she asked, wondering why he had asked her to stay behind.
“Nothing is the matter. I just thought that maybe it was time for another one on one lesson.”
Her heart leapt a little at the thought of being alone with Harry, but sank at the thought of studying.
“Harry, I don’t think I need to learn any more spells right now,” Ginny replied tactfully, as she watched the snowflakes perform their gentle dance on the edge of the wind, before landed gracefully on the floor.
“I wasn’t talking about spells. I was talking about…” Harry disappeared suddenly and reappeared behind Ginny, “…Apparition,” he finished.
“Oh…in that case, I accept your offer,” said Ginny, with a touch of embarrassment in her voice and a smile on her face.
“Let’s get out of the tent, it helps to have lots of room for this.”
Once they were outside Harry waved his wand and the tent disappeared. Harry then went about explaining to Ginny the art of Apparition. He told her all about the three D’s “ Destination, Determination, and Deliberation, and how you needed all three to successfully Apparate, that is to say, without Splinching yourself.
Ginny gave it a try. She spun on the spot, and fell to the floor. She looked up at Harry and saw he was chuckling at her. She got up with a fierce look on her face, she fixed her mind on where she wanted to go, and she was determined to get there. She spun on the spot and disappeared with a loud CRACK, with another loud CRACK she reappeared above Harry and fell down on him, sending them both to floor. They both burst out laughing.
“Well done!” congratulated Harry. “Not perfect, but it’s a start. Let’s see you do it again.
Ginny did so, and this time she Apparated perfectly.
Harry gave her a clap. “Very good. Let’s see how well you do have it though. I’m going to Apparate to different places around the garden. I want you to follow me,” and he Disapparated in front of her.
Harry and Ginny played this game for the better part of an hour, when they stopped disappearing and reappearing all over the garden and inside the Burrow; they sat down together, smiles on both of their faces. Ginny slipped her hand into Harry’s, but he drew his away.
Ginny’s mind was racing. I need to talk to him.
She took a deep breath and spoke. “Harry, how do you feel about me?”
He looked taken aback, clearly unprepared for her to have asked him that.
“You know how I feel about you.”
“No, I don’t. I know how you felt about me. How do you feel about me now?”
“Umm, err, Ginny, me and you…I’m not sure it’s such a good idea.”
“What?” That was not the answer she had expected. “Why not?” She could feel herself getting madder and madder. How dare he do this to her! After everything they had gone through, he was having second thoughts?
“For the same reason it didn’t work in sixth year. You’re always in danger. I’d have thought Malfoy would have proved that to you.”
“It WAS working in school. You never gave it a chance! You left me! Convinced it was for the best, you broke my heart then! Then you asked me to marry you when you defeated Voldemort, I said no, and you spent the whole of your seventh year not talking to me. Then you leave school and still you didn’t speak to me!”
“I sent you letters! You never answered them!”
“The things we had to talk about couldn’t be answered in a letter!”
Harry opened his mouth to argue more but fell silent. Ginny was not stopping though.
“I don’t know what to think of you, Harry! You drive me crazy. You’ve been leading me on all through school and now you don’t want to know!”
“Ahem.” Harry and Ginny spun around; Ron was standing there, looking very uncomfortable.
“What do you want?” Ginny shot at him.
“Harry, I’ve just had word from the Auror office. Malfoy has been spotted.”
“Where?” Harry demanded, getting to his feet at once.
“Godric’s Hollow.”
“Godric’s…what the hell is he doing there? We better get going.”
“I’ll wait for you inside, when you’re ready,” said Ron and he walked back into the Burrow, rather quicker than usual as he saw the fury etched on Ginny’s face.
Harry turned to look at Ginny.
“Harry, you can’t just leave. What about us?” Ginny started.
“Ginny, look, I’ve got to go. I have to stop him.”
“Don’t you dare,” she said dangerously.
“I’ve got to.”
“Fine, go, get out, and TAKE THIS WITH YOU!” she screamed at him, and ripped the locket from her neck, and threw it at him, he caught it and looked at it sadly, then put it inside his robes and headed up to the house where Ron and Hermione were waiting for him in the kitchen.
“Ready?” asked Ron.
“Lets do it,” Harry replied.
“Good luck, the both of you. Please be careful,” Hermione said, hugging Harry and then kissing Ron goodbye.
Ron turned and disappeared with a crack leaving Harry alone in the kitchen with Hermione.
“How did things go with Ginny?” she asked.
“They could have gone better,” Harry said truthfully. “I’ve got to go.”
Harry cast one last look at Ginny as before he disappeared. He could see tears rolling down her freckled face. His heart heavy with sadness, Harry turned and Disapparated.
A/N - Well thats that for Chapter 12, hope you all enjoyed it! Sorry about the delay! Thanks to Orlaith, my fantabulous Beta!