A Past Reclaimed by nuw255
Chapter Notes: Who approves of Harry and Ginny’s new relationship? Who disapproves?
Harry was fixing hot chocolate when Ron bounded into the kitchen.
“Morning, mate,” Ron greeted him brightly.
Harry shook his head in amusement. “What’s with you this morning? I’m surprised you’re not tearing into your presents already.”
“Nah,” said Ron as he sank into a chair. “When we’re home for Christmas, Mum makes us wait for everybody so we can all open presents together. What’re you doing up so early?”
“Ginny woke me up a while ago,” Harry answered vaguely. “Want some hot chocolate?”
“Sure,” Ron nodded.
About the time Harry was setting the hot chocolate on the table, Ginny arrived back in the kitchen. “Good morning, Ron,” she said brightly as she sat down next to her brother. “Hi, Harry.”
“Morning, Ginny,” Ron replied before taking a sip of the scalding liquid. “Hey, how come you got Harry up so early?”
Ginny glanced quickly at Harry before answering, “I wanted to snog him senseless before the rest of you woke up and spoiled the mood.”
Ron rolled his eyes at her. “Come on, Ginny; you fed me that same story at the beginning of the summer holiday, remember? I’m not falling for it twice.”
Ginny quirked an eyebrow at him and, without saying a word, slid out of her seat and walked purposefully around the table toward Harry. Harry hurriedly swallowed his mouthful of hot chocolate and set down his mug as she proceeded to sit in his lap, grab him firmly by the collar, and plant her lips on his. It was all he could do to keep from spoiling the moment by laughing when he heard Ron’s mug shatter as it hit the floor. After far too short a time, Ginny pulled away and turned back to her brother, smiling sweetly at the shocked look on his face.
“Still think it’s a prank?” she asked innocently.
Ron made a retching noise. “That’s disgusting, that is,” he complained.
“Well, it’s your own fault,” Ginny told him. “If you’d believed us, we wouldn’t have had to... demonstrate.”
“Actually, Ron, it’s probably your fault the two of us are together in the first place,” Harry amended.
“How do you figure?” Ron asked, furrowing his brow in consternation.
“The train ride home after fifth year,” Harry answered. “Ginny said she had dumped Michael Corner, and you gave me this pointed look and said something about hoping she’d pick somebody better next time. She was already going out with Dean at that point, but I think that was what first got me thinking about her. It’s probably the reason I ended up thinking about her for most of the ride from King’s Cross to Little Whinging, and then dreaming about her all the time at St. Brutus’s.” He grinned at Ron’s astonished expression.
“You mean you- Hang on, how do you remember all that about the trip back from Hogwarts after fifth year?”
“Hagrid worked a little bit of magic last night with a very small pink umbrella,” Harry answered with a smile. “It’s all back.” He tapped his temple for emphasis.
Ron eyes widened for a moment before his face broke into an enormous grin. “That’s a relief,” he said, quite obviously trying very hard not to jump up and down with glee. “I was starting to worry that you’d be stuck like that.” He chuckled for a moment before adding, “I wish I could see Umbridge’s face when she finds out a half-giant reversed her Memory Charm.” Harry and Ginny joined in his laughter for a moment before he sobered and said, “It’s good to really have you back, mate.”
“Not that I want to interrupt this happy reunion, but you might want to clean up that mess before Mum wakes up, Ron,” Ginny said as she waved her hand at the spilled hot chocolate and broken mug.
“Oh! Right.” Ron quickly drew his wand from a pocket in his dressing gown and muttered, “Reparo,” causing the shattered mug to instantly become whole again. After Vanishing the spilled hot chocolate, he turned back to his sister and his best friend and said, “I suppose I ought to say something terribly overprotective now, right?” Harry stifled a laugh, but Ron pretended not to notice as he arranged his face into a very serious expression and added, “Ginny, Harry’s my best friend. Don’t you dare hurt him.”
Unable to contain it any longer, Harry dissolved into a fit of laughter, and was quickly joined by both Ron and Ginny.
“You know, I really am happy for you,” Ron said after they had all regained the ability to breathe normally. “But please don’t go snogging in front of me again.”
“I’m not promising that,” Ginny protested. “We won’t do it just to gross you out, but that’s as much as I’m willing to give.”
Ron made a spluttering noise, but before he could respond, Harry cut in, saying, “Take what you can get, mate. Otherwise, you know what’ll happen: she’ll do her very best to snog me senseless any time the three of us are in the same room.” Turning back to Ginny, who was still in his lap, he winked and quietly added, “Not that I’d mind.”
Ginny rolled her eyes at him before sliding off his lap. “We’d probably better go wake Mum and Dad before Ron explodes from having to wait too long to open his presents.” She gave Harry a peck on the tip of his nose before bouncing from the room. As soon as she was gone, Ron turned to Harry with a serious expression on his face.
“You doing okay, Harry?” he asked tentatively. “I mean, you just remembered five years in one go, and... well, some of it’s not exactly pretty.”
“I’ll tell you the same thing I told Ginny,” Harry replied. “The last year-and-a-half has made it painfully clear that my life could be a lot worse. A lot of bad memories came back last night, but there were way more good memories than bad ones. I’d just never really thought about it like that. I really am okay with everything. That doesn’t mean I don’t wish I could change some of it, or that I don’t miss Sirius; but I think he’d want me to be happy, so that’s what I’m going to try to do.”
Ron looked at him quizzically before demanding, “Who are you and what have you done with Harry?” After a moment, he broke into a grin. “Seriously, Harry, it’s been really good to see you happy for a change this year. I for one am glad you’re not planning on going back to being moody and depressed all the time.”
The sound of footsteps on the stairs effectively ended their conversation. “We’d better get into the living room,” said Ron, and he and Harry hurried through the doorway. They were greeted by Ginny, Tyler, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley descending the stairs.
“Good morning Harry, Ron,” Mrs. Weasley called as she stepped into the living room. As soon as good mornings and Merry Christmases had been exchanged by all, everyone settled into seats around the roaring fireplace to await the arrival of the rest of the Weasleys. It wasn’t long before the flames flared up green and one by one, Fred, George, Bill, and Percy all tumbled from the hearth, still clad in pajamas and dressing gowns. They quickly moved to join the rest of the family in their semicircle around the fireplace.
“Beat it, Gin-Gin,” Fred ordered, walking over to the armchair where Ginny was sitting.
“No,” she replied coolly. “Find your own seat.”
“Ginny, that’s where I always sit at Christmas,” Fred complained. “Besides, there aren’t any other seats left.”
Ginny’s eyes swept over the room and she quickly realized that her brother was right: all the seats were taken. With a sudden mischievous gleam in her eye, she stood, gestured to the chair she had just vacated, and said, “There you go, Fred; it’s all yours.” Then she quickly crossed the room to where Harry was sitting and settled comfortably into his lap, smiling sweetly at the confused expressions on her brothers’ faces.
“And a Merry Christmas to you, too,” Harry murmured into her ear, eliciting a happy giggle.
“Can I have everyone’s attention, please?” Ginny called out. There was no need; everyone’s attention had been fixed on her from the moment she’d climbed into Harry’s lap. She looked around at her family, her eyes still sparkling with mischief. “Good. Now I want you all to take careful note of the chair Harry is sitting in.”
Harry gave her a confused look, but she only smiled at him. He looked around at the rest of the family, but they all seemed just as confused as he was - all of them except Mrs. Weasley. She was biting her lip as though trying very hard not to giggle as her gaze shifted between Harry and Ginny, and something above their heads.
Ginny rolled her eyes after a moment when it became apparent that her mother was the only one who understood. “Look,” she said simply as she pointed to the ceiling directly above the chair she was sharing with Harry.
As one, the eyes of all the men in the room shot upward to see what Ginny was pointing at. It was a small cluster of green leaves and white berries.
“Mistletoe?” Harry whispered. Ginny nodded as she leaned toward him and pressed her lips to his. His hands snaked around her waist of their own accord and he pulled her closer. Somewhere in the distant recesses of his mind he could hear shouted protests mixed with cheers and applause, but he couldn’t have cared less as he happily continued kissing Ginny, oblivious to the rest of the world.
When she pulled away, grinning and breathing heavily, the first thing Harry heard was Percy’s voice saying, “Accio!” He looked up just in time to see the sprig of mistletoe zoom into Percy’s outstretched hand.
“Now that that nonsense is out of the way, Ginny, why don’t you come sit over here,” he said in his ridiculously pompous voice. It was a command, not a question.
“Party pooper,” Fred muttered.
“I’m fine where I am, thanks,” Ginny said, glaring at Percy.
A second later, George came bounding down the stairs holding a camera. He took one look at Harry and Ginny, and immediately turned to Percy, who was still holding the mistletoe.
“Percy!” he exclaimed. “What’d you do?”
“I should think that was obvious,” Percy replied haughtily.
“Yeah, he stole the mistletoe hoping he might be able to force somebody to kiss him later,” Fred piped up.
“Fat chance of that,” muttered Ron.
“That’s enough,” snapped Mrs. Weasley. An awkward silence settled over the room as her sons glared at one another but didn’t dare speak.
Attempting to lighten the mood, Tyler nervously cleared his throat. “Out of curiosity, George, what’s with the camera?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Fred responded.
“Do you know how much Witch Weekly would’ve paid for a few good shots of those two snogging each other’s heads off?” asked George.
“More importantly, do you know how much Potter would’ve paid to keep us from selling them to Witch Weekly?” Fred added with a wink.
Harry’s fists clenched unconsciously at the thought of the lies that were sure to be printed about Ginny once their relationship became public. He quietly slipped his wand from his pocket, pointed it at George, and said, “Accio.” The camera flew out of George’s grasp and into Harry’s waiting hands.
“Maybe I’d better hang onto this,” Harry said as he wedged the camera between his leg and the arm of the chair and laid his wand beside it.
“So,” Ron interjected, clapping his hands loudly to get everyone’s attention. “Stockings?”
“Right you are, Ron,” Mr. Weasley agreed. He stood and began taking down the stockings, which hung above the large fireplace, and handing them to their owners.
“We always open our stockings first,” Ron explained to Harry and Tyler, neither of whom had ever experienced a real Weasley Christmas before. “Then we open our Weasley jumpers and we all wear them for the rest of the day.”
“The rest of the presents wait until after breakfast,” added Bill, who seemed content to just sit back and watch everyone else for the most part.
By this time, Mr. Weasley had finished handing out the stockings, and everyone began happily emptying them of their contents. Harry’s stocking, like everyone else’s, was filled with sweets: Chocolate Frogs, Fizzing Whizbees, Licorice Wands, and sugar quills, among other things.
Suddenly, there was a loud squawk, which caused Harry (and everyone else) to look up quickly. The room erupted in laughter at the sight of a gigantic yellow canary sitting in Tyler’s chair. The bird squawked again before molting in a shower of yellow feathers.
“Fred! George!” Mrs. Weasley thundered.
“It’s okay, Molly,” Tyler laughed. “I did it on purpose. I love those things.” He grinned at Fred and George. “Thanks for the stash, mates.”
“No problem,” the twins replied in unison.
“Well,” said Mrs. Weasley, calming down at once, “you certainly have interesting tastes, Tyler.” She shook herself slightly. “It’s time for jumpers then, I suppose.” She reached down into a large bag near her feet and began taking out brightly wrapped packages and handing or tossing them to their intended recipients as she called out their names.
“Fred... Ron... Bill... Harry... Arthur... Percy... George... Tyler... Ginny... and this one’s for me. Everyone ready?”
“Attack!” yelled Fred, and the room exploded in a shower of wrapping paper. Shortly afterward, everyone was wearing a different colored jumper with a large initial on the front.
“You sure that one’s yours, Ginny?” Harry asked playfully as she settled back into his lap after having stood up to put on her jumper. “It could be George’s, after all.”
“Hear that, George?” Ginny called as her parents headed into the kitchen to begin making breakfast. “Harry thinks we ought to switch jumpers.”
“Nah,” George replied immediately. “I finally convinced Mum to make me a bright yellow one; I’m not giving it up.”
The moment Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were out of the room, Percy cleared his throat importantly. “There are two empty seats now, Ginny. Come and take one of them.”
Ginny pointedly ignored him.
“Quit being a prat, Percy; she’s comfortable,” said Fred.
“Really comfortable,” George agreed, nudging his twin with his elbow and waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
“I don’t see how you can stand for such behavior,” Percy muttered darkly.
“Just because you don’t like girls, doesn’t mean Harry can’t, Percy,” Ron teased.
Percy’s face flushed. “You know perfectly well-”
“Then butt out,” said Bill. “It’s really none of your business.”
“You know, Bilius,” Percy said, getting to his feet, “I would expect such a response from the twins, but not from you.”
“Well, Percival,” Bill retorted mockingly without moving from his reclining position, “perhaps you don’t know me as well as you think.”
“So you really don’t see anything wrong with our sister getting involved with Harry Potter?” Percy snapped.
Bill shrugged. “Not really. Mum and Dad seem fine with it. Ron knows Harry better than any of us, and he’s got no issues. Besides, Ginny’s a big girl; she can handle herself.”
Percy made a noise in the back of his throat that sounded something like a growl, and rounded on Harry. “And I suppose you haven’t bothered thinking how this might affect Ginny, have you?”
“What are you on about, Percy?” Ginny asked, clearly annoyed.
“He’s putting you in jeopardy and he doesn’t even realize it!” Percy shouted.
“Hang on a minute,” Harry interrupted as his anger began to build. “I’d never do anything to put Ginny in danger; I think everyone here knows that.”
Percy sneered at him, and Harry had to fight to suppress a shudder at the thought that his expression looked eerily similar to the one so often worn by Malfoy and Snape. “Perhaps no one’s mentioned the fact that Ginny was taken into the Chamber of Secrets to lure you there after her. If You-Know-Who did that to her just because she was your friend’s sister, how can you possibly think dating her won’t endanger her even more?”
Harry gently nudged Ginny out of his lap and stood facing Percy. The rest of the room seemed to hold its breath, waiting for his response. “None of you know this yet, except for Ron and Ginny, but Dumbledore and Hagrid paid me a visit last night. They brought Umbridge’s wand with them, and reversed her Memory Charm. I remember everything as clearly as if it had happened yesterday. Everything, Percy.”
Percy paled slightly. “But- It was broken,” he stammered. “I was there. I saw her break her wand.”
Harry shot him a derisive look. “This is Albus Dumbledore we’re talking about.” He decided that, for the moment, it would be best to leave out the fact that Hagrid had been the one to actually perform the counter-charm.
“You want to know what I remember, Percy?” he continued, glaring at him with open contempt. “Your memory seems to be a bit fuzzy, so let me clear things up for you. Lucius Malfoy gave Ginny that diary because she’s a Weasley. It had nothing to do with me. It wasn’t until later that Riddle found out about me and decided that I should be his target.
“But you know what else? I seem to remember something very interesting happening at breakfast on the day Ginny was taken into the Chamber. She walked up to me and was about to tell me everything when you showed up and chased her away. Why? Because you were afraid of getting teased about your girlfriend. So tell me, Percy, who was worried about himself, and who was worried about Ginny? Who tried to talk to her and find out what was wrong, and went after her when he found out she’d been taken, and who tried to silence her and then sat back and let others handle the dirty work?”
Percy’s face, which had been slowly reddening during the course of Harry’s little speech, was now approaching a shade of purple that even Uncle Vernon had never managed to achieve. “You dare to accuse me-” he began as he drew his wand.
“You bet I do,” Harry shot back, even as he realized that his own wand was still sitting on his chair.
“Calm down, Percy,” Bill said in a placating tone as he started getting to his feet. “Don’t go doing something you’ll regret.”
“I’ll not stand here and take these sorts of accusations!” Percy shouted. His wand was now leveled at Harry’s chest, but Harry was so angry at the moment that he didn’t care.
“You’ll take whatever you deserve!” he fired back. “How you ended up in Gryffindor, I’ll never understand. You should’ve been a Slyth-”
“Reducto!”
Harry’s hands shot forward reflexively as he shouted, “Protego!” deflecting Percy’s curse harmlessly into the floor. Before Percy had a chance to react, Harry’s voice rang out again as he fired off several spells of his own, alternating hands for maximum speed.
“Abigo, Expelliarmus, Incarcerous, Silencio!” In less than three seconds, Percy was disarmed, bound, silenced, and crumpled in a heap against the far wall of the living room.
After a quick glance at the looks of shock on the faces of Ron, Fred, George, and Bill, and the murderous expression on Percy’s face as he struggled with his bonds, Harry turned shakily to Ginny. “I think we may need your mum and dad to sort this one out,” he said quietly. “They already know my secret.” Ginny nodded and raced into the kitchen, returning a moment later with her parents in tow.
Mrs. Weasley took one look at Percy - bound, silenced, and leaning awkwardly against the wall - and immediately rounded on her twin sons.
“It was me, Mrs. Weasley,” Harry said in a quiet voice before she had a chance to begin shouting.
“You, Harry dear?” she asked in surprise. “But why...?” Her question trailed away into nothing.
“Percy tried to curse him,” Ron spat.
Mrs. Weasley looked shocked. “But Percy would never-”
“He did, Mum,” Bill interrupted. “Reductor Curse. He wasn’t messing around.”
“But why would he do such a thing?” she asked weakly. Percy’s mouth began moving as he tried to explain, but no sound escaped his lips.
“He accused Harry of putting Ginny in danger,” George seethed.
“Then he said it was Harry’s fault she got taken into the Chamber of Secrets,” Fred added.
“When Harry turned things around on him and showed how Percy was really more to blame than he was, Percy lost it,” Ron finished. “They argued a bit, and then....” He didn’t bother finishing the sentence.
Mrs. Weasley turned to her third son, who was still crumpled against the wall. Her eyes flashed dangerously and her voice was low and deadly as she asked, “Is this true, Percy?”
Percy swallowed hard, but made no move to answer.
“Finite,” said Harry, waving a hand at him. “Answer your mother’s question, Percy.”
“I- Yes, it’s true,” Percy replied, hanging his head.
“Why would you do such a thing, son?” Mr. Weasley asked, the disappointment evident in his voice.
“I- I don’t know,” Percy said quietly. “At first, I was just concerned for Ginny’s safety, and then- I don’t know what happened.” He lowered his eyes as he began sobbing softly.
“Harry blocked the curse and did all this to him without a wand, Dad,” Ginny said quietly. Her father looked up sharply at her, and she nodded. “I found out about it on the way to school in September.”
“So it was you that made Malfoy lose his hair,” Ron said, grinning at Harry. “How come you never told Hermione and me?”
“You made Malfoy go bald?” Fred asked in disbelief.
“How come we haven’t heard about this?” asked George.
Harry shook his head and muttered, “Not now.”
“This does make for an interesting predicament,” sighed Mr. Weasley. “But I guess there’s no changing things now.”
“You’ll have to modify his memory, Dad,” Ginny said softly.
“He most certainly will not!” her mother objected.
Percy shook his head. “She’s right, mother,” he admitted, looking thoroughly ashamed. “I can’t be trusted with this sort of secret; I think I’ve proven that today.” He sounded completely disgusted with himself.
Mr. Weasley sighed and waved his wand to release his son from his magical bonds. Percy slowly got to his feet, gingerly fingering a spot on the back of his head where he had hit the wall.
“I’m sorry, Harry,” he said as their eyes locked briefly. “For everything.”
Mr. Weasley instructed Percy to lie down on the ground. Harry looked away, failing to suppress his shudder and tasting bile in the back of his throat as he heard the older man say, “Obliviate.”
Percy immediately sat up, shaking his head groggily. “What happened?” he asked, looking around at the grave faces that surrounded him.
“Apparently, you and Harry got into a bit of a row and you tried to curse him,” said Mr. Weasley. “But your wand backfired for some reason, and you ended up unconscious for a minute. How are you feeling now?”
Percy gingerly felt the back of his head. “I’ll be all right.”
“Percy,” said Ginny. Her voice was firm, and the look in her eyes was determined. “I think you owe somebody an apology.”
Percy’s face flushed and he looked down at his hands. “I’m sorry, Harry,” he said stiffly. He sounded a lot less sincere this time around. “I don’t know what came over me; I never should have behaved in such a manner.”
“Apology accepted,” Harry replied, even though he seriously doubted Percy’s sincerity. Shrugging at Ginny, he muttered, “It’s a start.”
“Why don’t we all head into the kitchen?” Mrs. Weasley suggested. “Breakfast is almost ready.” Nodding their agreement, the rest of the family followed her from the room.