With You
It was Christmas Eve and the grounds around Hogwarts Castle were dark and frosty. Although it was bitterly cold outside, the Gryffindor Common Room was warm and cosy as ever. Harry was comfortably curled up at the end of the sofa in front of the fire, reading Christmas Wizarding Traditions, as Ginny lay with her head on his lap, sleeping. He absent-mindedly twirled her hair around his finger as he read, as her chest rose and fell with her gentle breathing.
Hermione was sitting in the chair next to Harry, with knitting needles clacking in front of her, and Ron sat with his back against the front of her armchair, gazing into space. Ron and Hermione had admitted their feelings for each other to almost everyone but themselves, and this left them in the awkward position of practically being a couple, but it not being official.
Ginny stirred, yawned and turned over, and looking down, Harry saw that her eyes were now open. If he had looked the other way he would have seen Ron watching them closely, as if he couldn’t believe it but knew it was right. Harry put down his book and lifted Ginny into his arms, kissing her forehead. She sat up and brushed her perfect hair off her face.
“Better?” asked Harry.
“Yes, actually, much better,” she replied, leaning her head on his shoulder. “I haven’t had a proper nap in ages.”
Harry smiled and looked over at Ron and Hermione. Ron looked away quickly, so as to try and hide the fact that he had been staring at them, but Hermione just rolled her eyes at him and smiled back.
“Looking forward to tomorrow, Harry?” she asked.
“I am, actually,” he said, looking at Ginny. “Yeah, I am…” and he lay his head on top of hers, breathing in the sweet aroma of her hair and wishing he could stay here forever…
* * *
Harry woke warm and comfortable the next morning. He stretched and sat up, pulling back the hangings around his four-poster bed.
“Oh good, you’re awake,” said a grinning Ron from his bed.
The other boys had obviously gone downstairs already, and Ron looked eager for Harry to wake up properly so the Christmas festivities could begin. Harry grabbed a present from the pile at the end of his bed and read the label: “To Harry, Merry Christmas, love and kisses, from Ginny.” He ripped it open and the gift fell out onto his bed, along with a note which he picked up and read: “Mum told me how to make it. It’s along the same lines as her clock. It tells you where I am so you can always find me if you need to.” Harry picked up the gift and saw that it was a wristwatch. Looking at the face he saw that there were no numbers; instead, there were places: “The Burrow, The Great Hall, In bed, In a lesson, Outside, In danger, Dead, With you, Somewhere else.”
“Hey, what’s that?” said Ron, peering over as Harry donned the watch.
“Oh, it’s from Ginny. It tells me where she is,” he told him.
“Can I see?” asked Ron.
“Yeah, sure,” replied Harry, and he went over to Ron’s bed and held out his wrist to give him a closer look.
“Dead?! That’s not very optimistic, is it?”
Harry laughed and looked at the tiny dial. The hand was pointing to “In bed”, and he watched as it slowly moved to “Somewhere else”.
“She just got up,” said Harry, and he went back to his bed and sat down, ready to open more presents. Just as he reached for the next one, the dormitory door opened and Ginny came into the room. “That was quick!” he said.
“What? Oh, right!” she said, spotting the watch. “Do you like it?” she asked, lying down on his bed and propping herself up on her elbows.
“I love it,” he said, leaning in to give her a kiss. “I’ll give you yours later,” he whispered in her ear, and with a glance at Ron, she understood.
After a few minutes, all the presents had been opened. Ron had given Harry a box of sugar quills, Hermione an alarm clock which had been charmed to keep ringing until it’s victim was out of bed, Remus Lupin had sent him some Quidditch gloves and Hagrid, a slab of chocolate fudge. Harry had also got the usual knitted woollen jumper from Mrs Weasley, this year along with a miniature Christmas pudding, which Harry was now nibbling.
“I’m going to go and see if Hermione’s up,” said Ron, getting up from a pile of wrapping paper and leaving Harry and Ginny alone together.
“So, what do you want to do today, then?” asked Ginny, getting up and going to sit on Harry’s lap. This was something that she’d started doing, and Harry loved having her so close.
“Well, I suppose there’s Christmas lunch, but that won’t be until mid-afternoon, I expect,” he told her.
He wondered how he should give her her present, then he had a brilliant idea. “Hey, go and get dressed, then come back here. I’ve just had an idea.”
“I’m intrigued,” she said, turning to look at him. “Alright, then, back in a sec…” and she left the room.
Harry got dressed and went to look out of the window. Another White Christmas “ perfect. The treetops were tipped with white and the smoke ascending from Hagrid’s cabin looked black against its background. The grounds glistened in the pale sunlight and Harry saw that the vast lake was just a huge sheet of ice. Just as he was wondering what the great squid thought about this, Ginny came back into the room.
“What’s this big idea then, huh?” she asked, coming to join him at the window.
“Ah, well,” Harry told her. “It involves this…” he held up his Firebolt, “…and this…” he held up his Invisibility Cloak.
“Well, you couldn’t have confused me more, Potter, so just tell me what you’re planning.”
Harry let his broom hover at her side.
“Hop on,” he said casually, opening the narrow window.
“Harry!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll hold on to you!” he teased, climbing on in front of her and throwing the cloak over them both. “Ready?”
“I suppose I’ll have to be, won’t I?” said Ginny. He kicked off gently, so as not to bump their heads on the ceiling, and they soared out of the room. Ginny was holding on tightly around his waist, and she giggled with delight as they swerved this way and that, the cloak keeping out the cold.
After a few minutes, Harry tipped forwards and they descended to the ground. They landed gracefully at the side of the lake under a snow-laden tree, and Harry took Ginny’s hand and led her over to the tree’s trunk, where they sat down with their backs against it. Harry reached into his pocket, pulling out a small, green box.
“This is for you,” he said, handing it to her. “Merry Christmas, Ginny.” She took it and lifted the lid, taking out a tiny silver chain with a beautiful, dazzling emerald on it. She gasped quietly as she held it in front of her, then looked up at Harry, and he noticed how perfect she looked sitting there in the snow, her long, red hair framing her fair complexion. She lent forwards and kissed him, her cool hands against his cheeks, pushing him back until his head touched the snow. Harry was taken by complete surprise at this, but he didn’t want it to end as he pulled her in closer around the waist and kissed her deeply.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“No problem,” said Harry, still slightly overwhelmed. That was the best kiss he had ever had, even with Ginny. She lay her head on his chest and they stayed there a while together, before he realised how cold it was. “Hey, it’s pretty cold out here; shall we go inside?”
“Yeah, ok,” she answered, and they stood up and walked back to the castle, hand-in-hand.
A/N: hope you enjoyed that chapter. I have tried to improve this one as well so hopefully it's alright. On to Chapter 3!