You know the drill, It's all Jo's.

"Harry! Wake Up! Come on, it's Christmas!!"

Harry Potter opened his eyes to see the blurry outline of his best friend, Ronald Weasley, sitting on the next bed and tearing through a rather large pile of presents.

"What time is it?" he asked as he fumbled for his glasses on the bedside table.

"Who cares? It's Christmas! Look you've got presents too." Ron pointed to the end of Harry's bed, and sure enough, when he finally managed to get his glasses on, a pile of packages came into focus.

There was the usual sweater from Mrs. Weasley, a package of Weasley's Wizard Weezes products from Fred and George and a large block of Honeydukes fudge from Hagrid. There was also a jar of broom handle polish from Ron, and a book of defensive jinxes from his other best friend, Hermione.

Harry cleared the wrappings off his bed to see if he had missed anything and picked up a small rectangular package, wrapped in parchment. Upon closer examination, he realized there was a small note scrawled at the bottom of the package in familiar writing. It read:

I got this for you before we broke up. Didn't want it to go to waste. Ginny

Harry sighed. He tried not to think about Ginny, but not because he didn't like her. Sometimes he wondered if he was in love with her. No, Harry had broken up with Ginny to protect her from Voldemort. He was positive that he made the right choice. Everyone who he got close to tended to end up dead and he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if Ginny did too. He couldn't let Voldermort take another person that he cared about.

"What's that?" Ron asked, pointing to the package.

"Nothing, just paper," Harry lied, pretending to crumple the package and shoving it under a pile of discarded wrapping. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to open his ex-girlfriend's gift in front of her older brother.

"Go on ahead, I'll be down in a minute," Harry said. Ron shrugged and left for the stairs, eager to get to his Christmas breakfast.

Harry looked out the door to make sure Ron was gone then hastily ripped the wrapping off his gift. It fell from the paper into Harry's lap. He picked it up and turned it over. It was a small, leather-bound bound book with the word Journal embossed across the cover in big letters. In smaller letters underneath, it read Lily Evans.”

Harry's jaw dropped. He carefully opened his mother's diary and began to read the first page:

Sunday. Cold. My mother thought I needed a diary to, and I quote, "record the thoughts of my last year as a girl before entering the real world and becoming a woman." I nearly threw up, but then she said she'd send me 10 Galleons if I filled up the whole thing, so here I am in the Head's compartment on the Hogwarts Express, sitting next to bloody James Potter, talking to a book. Ah well, I need the money for shopping in Hogsmeade-

Harry read through a few of the pages. Then, an old, weathered, folded piece of parchment fell out. It had his name written across it. He nearly tore it in his haste to unfold it. It read:

Dear Harry, This is your mother's diary. I uncovered it in the ruins of your house the night your parents were murdered. I planned to give it to you in person on your 17th birthday, when you came of age. But I must write this letter just in case because I fear that by the time your 17th birthday rolls around, I might be back in Azkaban. You are now a man, and the magical protection that your mother's sacrifice offers you has run out, but even though she's dead, you still deserve as much of her as anyone can offer you. So, I present you with this diary. I do hope you enjoy reading it as much as James, Remus, Peter and I enjoyed sneaking into your mother's dorm in our 7th year to read it. Although you will get to enjoy it without the risk of Lily jinxing you into oblivion.

Cheers,

Sirius

"Bloody hell," Harry whispered to himself. Then, he remembered that there were an awful lot of red-haired people waiting for him downstairs. He got up, dressed quickly, and took the stairs two at a time.

When he got down to the kitchen, Harry was greeted by all of the Weasleys as he sat down. Mrs. Weasley told him to sit, turned around, realized he was sitting, then placed a plate in front of him. He started shoveling large amounts of food into his mouth. He looked up across the table and saw that he was sitting right across from Ginny. He was so startled that he started to choke, and Ron had to thump him on the back a few times.

Ginny rose her eyebrows at him and asked, "Are you okay?"

“I’m fine,” Harry coughed. “Fine."

Later, most everyone had left the table and went into the living room to listen to carols on the wireless. Only Bill, Ron, Harry and Ginny were still eating. Bill and Ron were wrapped up in an argument about the Chudley Cannons’ abysmal performance at their last match.

Harry looked up to find Ginny looking intently at him. After glancing at Ron to make sure he was still occupied, he mouthed across the table at Ginny, "I got your gift."

Ginny too looked over at her brothers before whispering back to Harry, "What did you think?"

"I thought it was brilliant, where the hell did you find it?" Harry whispered back.

"Grimmauld Place." Ginny shrugged. "I found it when we were cleaning, and after Sirius died, I went back for it."

"How did you get there?" Harry asked, surprised.

They continued their conversation in hushed whispers as Ginny explained how she had convinced Fred and George to take her to Grimmauld Place last summer.

"Are you four still eating?" Fred interrupted, sticking his head into the kitchen.

"Fancy a quick game of Quidditch?" George asked, walking into the kitchen behind Fred.

So Harry, Ron and Fred played against George, Bill and Ginny. Ron and George were Keepers, Fred and Ginny were Chasers and Harry and Bill were Seekers. Harry finally snatched the Golden Snitch as it flew right past Ginny's ear.

They walked lazily back to the house for lunch. Harry and Ginny hung back from the rest of the group. Harry wanted to talk to her, but every time he built up the nerve, one of her brothers interrupted.

When they got to the door, Harry held Ginny back and said quietly, "We need to talk."

"I know, but-"

"Are you two waiting for the grass to grow?! Lunch is nearly ready!" came Mrs. Weasley's voice from the kitchen window. Harry and Ginny joined everyone else for lunch.

What seemed only a short time after lunch, they had Christmas dinner. Nobody could help feeling very cheerful through the good food and pleasant conversation.

At twelve o'clock, all of the Weasleys were in bed. Ron's snores were filling the room, but that wasn't the reason Harry stayed awake. He was sitting up in bed, reading his mother's diary. Some pages appeared to be blank, but Harry realized they were probably written in invisible ink, and he made a mental note to ask Hermione to show him how to reveal it.”

After a while, Harry thought he heard footsteps going down the stairs and then someone moving around in the kitchen. He crept out of bed carefully so he wouldn't wake Ron and walked, almost soundlessly, down the stairs.

It was dark in the kitchen, but he could see the silhouette of someone sitting at the table. "Lumos," he muttered.

It was Ginny. Startled by his sudden appearence, she jumped a bit.

"Bloody hell, Harry, you scared me," Ginny said. She was sitting at the kitchen table with a plate of left over Christmas turkey in front of her. She looked tired and worn.

"Sorry," he said, sitting down at the table across from Ginny.

"What are you doing up?" Ginny asked.

"I was reading my mother's diary actually," he replied. "What are you doing up?"

"I couldn't sleep," she said, staring at her lap.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked.

"No, I'm not bloody okay," she said, rubbing her eyes. "But I will be."

Harry nodded. They sat in silence for a few minutes. Then, Harry spoke softly, "I miss you."

"I know what you mean," Ginny said. “But you were right. Last year, I mean. We can't do this."

They sat for a few more minutes. Then Ginny got up and announced, "I'm going back to bed. Happy Christmas, Harry." She turned and headed for the stairs.

Harry stood up, too. "Ginny, wait..."

"Yes?" she said, turning around to face him.

"Can you do me a favor?"

"Anything."

Ginny looked at him then smiled. "Of course," she said. "I wouldn't have it any other way." She kissed him on the cheek. Then she turned back around and walked up the stairs.

Harry smiled to himself. He vanished Ginny's turkey with a flick of his wand. he too headed back up to bed.

That line "it's Christmas, and I just thought...I'd check.", that's from Love Actually. If you havn't seen it, go out and rent it! It's the best Christmas movie and it has two Harry Potter actors in it, Alan Rickman, who plays Snape and Emma Thompson, who plays Trelawny! Merry Christmas everybody!