A/N I had a lot of time so this one is up a lot sooner than usual. If JKR hadn’t written Harry Potter, I wouldn’t have to say this. Of course, then I wouldn’t have to write this either….
Harry woke up early on Christmas morning. The light of dawn was just starting to streak the sky with pink. With a yawn, he climbed out of bed, drew his robes on over his pajamas and then headed for the common room. On the way, he grabbed the album with his parents’ school pictures.
Settling down on a large, squishy armchair in front of the blazing fire, he opened the album to get a better look at the pictures. The first one was of his dad. Standing in front of a large mansion, James was flanked on either side by his parents. Harry’s grandparents waved up at him. His grandfather had the same untidy black hair as Harry and his father, and his grandmother obviously had the same poor eyesight. Turning the page, the next picture had been taken with a Muggle camera. Lily was wearing her school robes, holding up a Hogwarts letter. On her left, was Lily’s mother and to her right…Harry’s mouth dropped open when he saw Petunia. She was about 16, several years older than his mother. The shocking part was how pretty and happy she looked. She had one arm around Lily’s shoulder and seemed to be laughing at the person behind the camera.
“Is that your mother?” Ginny asked, coming up behind Harry, the sound of her crutches upon the floor announcing her arrival.
“Yeah, and her family.” Harry motioned next to him and slid over to make room on the couch. Ginny came around it to sit down.
“Who’s the older girl?” Ginny questioned, peering at the picture. “She looks so happy.”
“I know,” Harry said. “That’s the strange thing. That’s my aunt Petunia.”
Ginny looked up, disbelief in her eyes. “But-she’s-”
“I don’t get it,” Harry said. “Every time she speaks of my mother, it’s with such disdain.”
“I guess that people change,” Ginny said. “By the way, Happy Christmas.” She handed him a small box.
“Thank you,” Harry said, then he pulled up the top. Inside was a small crystal orb. Harry lifted it out carefully.
“It’s a way to communicate,” Ginny explained. “I have one as well. Through them, we can talk to each other, no matter how far away we are.”
“It’s like the mirror,” Harry said.
“What?”
“Last year, Sirius gave me a mirror that we could converse through.”
“Do you still have it?” Ginny asked with interest.
“No, it broke because I-er- didn’t pack it well,” Harry lied, not wanting to tell her about throwing it against the wall in a fit of anger.
“I’m sorry,” Ginny said softly. “I didn’t mean to make you remember.”
“No, that’s alright. I want to remember. I need to. Forgetting hurts more.” He gave a little laugh. “Luna said it’s not so important because I’ll see him again, they’re all waiting, just beyond the veil. Crazy but-”
“It’s not crazy,” Ginny said seriously. “The Department of Mysteries holds many secrets. Harry, I believe you will see Sirius again as well as your parents.” Her eyes sparkled as she said, “Not all of Luna’s ideas are crazy. Most of them, but not all.”
Harry put his arm around her. “Thank you for the gift,” he said. “I’m sorry that I don’t have one for you.”
Ginny turned, looking into his eyes. “You’ve already given me a gift. You told me I was beautiful. You gave me self-confidence. You offered me your love. All my life, I was the youngest, the little sister, and not very important. “You make me feel like I am special. It’s the greatest gift I could have been given.”
Harry leaned over and brushed his lips over her forehead. “I just wish I could give you more,” he whispered.
“You know, normally this kind of behavior would result in the loss of house points.”
Ginny and Harry jumped and quickly got to their feet. Hermione stood at the bottom of the stair leading to the girl’s dormitory, her hands on her hips. Harry flushed a deep red and braced himself as Hermione walked up close and pointed her finger in Harry’s face.
“You,” she said, her eyes narrowed, “should know better.” Turning to Ginny, she said, “If Ron had caught this you would have been more than dead.”
A smile spread across Ginny’s face. Hermione squealed and gave her a hug, jumping up and down. Harry rolled his eyes at their antics.
“Ginny, I’m so happy for you!” Hermione moved her gaze to Harry. “I owe you an apology,” she said.
“No, you don’t,” he said. “You were right.”
“Oh, I know that,” she said. But still, I’m sorry. You did what you thought was right. I shouldn’t fault you for that. Ginny should, but not me. Anyway, I meant what I just said. Ron will be up in a few minutes and Harry, he very well might personally obliterate you.”
“Alright.” Squeezing Ginny’s hand, he turned around and ran up the stairs.
Ginny sighed as he fled, sitting back down on the couch.
“How are we ever going to keep this from Ron?” she asked.
Hermione sat down putting an arm around her. “We’ll make this work,” she said. “It’ll be hard but Ron will eventually come around. You’ll see.”
Ginny’s mouth turned up in a half smile. “So, how was the Ball?” she asked.
“It was absolutely lovely,” Hermione replied, a dreamy look in her eyes. “I couldn’t imagine a more perfect night.”
Ginny’s eyes widened. “Ron asked you out, didn’t he?”
“Yes!” Hermione squealed.
“Finally!” said Ginny, putting her arms around Hermione’s shoulders. “I’ve been telling him to get on with it for ages!”
“Yeah,” Hermione said. “I’ve been waiting for it for years.”
“Sooo,” Ginny said with a sly grin. “Tell me all about it.”
“Only if you tell me all about your night, Ginny.”
She laughed. “Agreed!”
As the two girls giggled and squealed, all over the school students were waking up to open their gifts. The lawn was snow covered and the windows were frosted over. And in the Gryffindor boy’s dormitory, two boys regarded each other warily. Without a word, the red headed boy stuck out his hand. Smiling, the one with green eyes extended his own.
“Happy Christmas, Harry.”
“Happy Christmas, Ron.”
I felt that it was important in this chapter to cover the fact that Petunia wasn’t necessarily always an evil, wicked aunt. At one point she might very well have been a normal, happy teenager. What could have gone wrong with her life? I also wished for Ron to be the person to forgive, just once. I hope you enjoy it! On to the dramatic spoiler!!!
“Every year we grow further apart. It’s not that we want it to happen but it is happening! How do we even know we’ll all survive the war?!”
Enjoy!