As they hung the decorations on their tree, Ginny looked up at her husband. At the moment, he was lifting their youngest child, Amelia, up to place an ornament on the tree. Ryan and his Uncle Ron were stringing popcorn with Ginny's niece Abigail, while Aunt Hermione, belly as big as a beachball, filled with little Sarah, sat with her feet up, bewitching bows on the presents she was wrapping. Four adults and three children for another Christmas at the Potter house.
It's been the four of us for seven Christmases now, Ginny thought to herself. Its funny, but I can still remember the first as plain as day.
"I know what you're thinking about, my love," Harry whispered in her ear. He always knew what she was thinking about. He placed an ornament in her lap, a small knot of mistletoe, tied with a silver ribbon.
"You still remember," she said quietly.
"How could I forget?" he asked her. "It's one of the best days of my life."
Ginny Potter beamed up at her husband, tears in her eyes.
"Mine too," she said, trying her best not to cry.
"Besides," he said with a smile, "I may still need this, just in case."
She laughed and went back to watching her family, remembering their first Christmas together.
**Flashback to Ginny's sixth year**
Ginny sat at the table in the common room, drumming her fingers on the table and waiting. She didn't know what she was waiting FOR, but she had the feeling of waiting. Well, that's not exactly true. She knew what she was waiting for. She was waiting for Harry to realize she was a girl, you know, the kind with long hair, the kind you snog in the corner, but she knew that was as likely as Draco Malfoy ever saying thank you.
Six years, she thought to herself. I've like him for SIX YEARS. Last year, Ron outright TOLD him that I liked him and still nothing! What would it take for him to notice her, seeing her dance naked with a sign that said Snog Me! on it? Because that was SO not going to happen.
Harry, Hermione and Ron popped through the portrait hole then, on their way back from supper. They all smiled and waved as they came over, joining Ginny at her table. Ron sat next to Hermione of course. They had been officially going out for a few weeks now, and you never saw one without the other anymore, not that you hadn't before. However, that left Harry next to Ginny, and for a fleeting moment, she thought she saw him blush a bit as he sat down.
"What's up, Gin? You look kinda sad," her brother asked. Not very tactful, is he? she thought.
"Nothing, just have a lot on my mind," she responded, reaching for her Transfiguration essay. "McGonagall wants 12 inches on advanced Switching Spells, and I've only got 7."
"Better you than us," Ron said, trying to make her smile but only succeeded in pissing her off. "You're better off than Harry, he's got 18 inches on something for Snape." She goggled at Harry for a moment.
"You win," she said with a consoling smile. For the second time tonight, she thought she saw a flush creep up his face.
"It won't be that bad, I'll just be up all night writing the dumb thing," Harry said, not looking her in the eye. Ginny was puzzled. It wasn't like him to be shy, or to miss an opportunity to complain about Professor Snape. Hermione noticed too, and shot one of her this-means-something looks at Ginny.
"Hey Gin, can you help me with something upstairs?" she asked.
"Sure," Ginny said, utterly puzzled. They left the boys downstairs, only after Ron made Hermione promise not to be gone long. Ginny had to stop herself from gagging.
As soon as the were out of earshot from the boys (after Hermione waved to Ron one last time, of course) Hermione turned to Ginny and said "Are you SEEING the way he's looking at you?" The sound in her voice was stunned.
This bothered Ginny for some reason.
"No, whenever I chance a glimpse of him, he's not looking at me," she said, a bit cooler than she had planned.
"He's been STARING at you," Hermione told her. "He's got that look that Ron has when he looks at Harry's Firebolt, you know, that starry-eyed, practically drooling one."
Ginny thought for a moment. Could he really have FINALLY noticed?
"No way," she said. "He couldn't possibly like me,
not after all that's happened."
"Let's think for a moment,'' Hermione said, with that supreme know-it-all tone she got when she was discussing homework. "He saved you from the Basilisk-"
"Because I was his best friend's sister!"
"He panicked over losing you in the Department of Mysteries-"
"Because he was afraid he'd get in trouble!"
"He's never missed any of your quidditch matches-"
"Has he EVER missed anyone's quidditch match?"
"He bought you something for Christmas"
"He- wait, what?"
Hermione laughed. "Yeah, he bought you a present when we were in Hogsmeade last weekend." She had an evil grin on her face. "He even asked me to help pick it out."
"What'd he get me?" Ginny asked excitedly. Harry had never given her a present before.
"You'll have to wait until Christmas!" Hermione said with a smile before leaving Ginny standing there with a angry, puzzled look on her face.
Well, Ginny thought to herself, as least its only five days until Christmas!
*****
The two days until Christmas holiday started went quickly. As everyone turned in last minute homework, people started packing. Ginny's mum and dad were visiting Charlie again this Christmas, so they'd be staying at school for the holiday. As nice as Hogwarts was around Christmas, it just wasn't home.
"I wanted to go home this year," Ginny said, passing Ron the bacon. "Why did mum and dad have to go see Charlie again?"
"Now, Gin, you know why! Alexa can't travel in her condition, and mum and dad wanted to see her and Charlie before the baby's born." said Ron.
"Still. They could've taken us," she muttered bitterly. She felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped.
"Its okay Gin, we'll have a proper Christmas, just you wait and see," Harry whispered into her ear. The feel of his breath on her skin made her shiver. He had never done that before. Ron and Hermione exchanged knowing looks before silently tucking into their breakfasts, trying not to smile, and failing miserably.
On Christmas morning, Ginny woke up early to the sound of people talking in the common room. Only the four of them had stayed from Gryffindor, everyone else had gone home for the holidays. She was listened as hard as she could to figure out the voices. One she recognized immediately.
"Put as much up as you can, quickly, before she gets up!" Harry said in a frantic voice. Ginny was puzzled. What was he doing down there, and for who?
"Harry, if you keep yelling like that, she'll get up a lot sooner!" Hermione snapped back, although it seemed like she had something in her mouth.
"What's that on your lip?" she heard Ron ask, as if he had heard what Ginny was thinking.
"Muggle tape," she answered. "It holds things in place and its a lot less messy than Spell-o-tape."
"I think that's enough," Harry said, much quieter now. "Now all we have to do is wait for her to wake up."
Ginny smiled to herself. He had to be talking about her. Of the two girls still here for Christmas, one was already awake, the other was hiding un her room, pretending not to be.
"I could accidentally-on-purpose wake her up," Hermione offered. "I could go in and ask for a book, thinking she was already up."
"What are you waiting for!" Harry said. "Go get her!"
"Okay, okay, relax," Hermione said, with a laugh in her voice. "Don't worry Harry, she'll love it."
Ginny quickly and quietly snuck back to her bed and waited for Hermione to come "wake her up." Sure enough, about three seconds later, she heard her door open and Hermione barge in.
"Hey Gin, Happy Christmas, I was just gonna borrow your- oh, you're still in bed!" Hermione said at the top of her voice. Ginny was sure she was trying to make sure Harry heard her as well. Ginny did her best not to smile.
"Its okay, I should get up now anyway and give Ron his gift." Ginny said. "I'll be downstairs in about ten minutes, after I get changed, okay?" She was trying not to laugh.
"About ten minutes? Okay, I'll see you in about ten minutes downstairs," Hermione said, again at the top of her voice. Ginny found it too fun to play right into whatever she, Ron and Harry had planned for her.
In about ten minutes, (Ginny checked her watch to make sure she waited long enough) she headed down the stairs and found the surprise of her life. Somehow, all the Christmas decorations from home were now put up all around the common room. It was almost like being back at the Burrow, except for her parents.
"Surprise!'' they shouted as they popped out from behind the tree.
"We wanted to make you feel at home," said Ron, beaming at the amazed look on his baby sister's face.
"It was Harry's idea," Hermione said quickly. This time, there was no question about whether Harry was blushing. His scar stood out against the flush on his beautiful face.
"I never had a proper Christmas until I came here," he said in a rush, not looking at her. "I thought you deserved this after working so hard this year." Ginny walked right up to Harry, put her hand to his face and looked into his eyes.
"Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you so much." Tears were now streaming down her face. She couldn't believe the boy she loved and thought would never notice her would go through so much trouble just to give her the holiday she wanted.
"There's more," he whispered, and then took her hand and lead her to the other side of the tree, away from Ron and Hermione. He pointed to the very top, where there was an ornament she didn't remember, placed on a limb that hung directly above their heads.
"Mistletoe," he said, "I bought it in Hogsmeade. I thought it would give me a good cover story when I did this."
She was about to ask "did what?" but found her mouth was otherwise occupied. Harry Potter had just kissed her, the most amazing kiss she'd ever had. When they finally pulled away from each other, Ginny looked up into those amazing green eyes.
"You didn't need a cover story for that," she said, a smile playing at the corner of her mouth.
"I hoped I didn't, but just in case," he said with a smile.
**Back to now**
Ginny remembered the smile her husband had on his face then, much like the one he was looking at her with now. She had decided it was time, the last thing to be placed on the tree. Harry walked over to her, always knowing what she was thinking. With her hand in his, she placed the mistletoe on the tree, then, looked up into her husband's eyes.
"Just in case," she whispered to him.
"Just in case," he whispered back, then kissed his wife again, just as magical as it was so many Christmases ago.