Drarry

Christmas

Ron and Hermione had gone to pack their bags as they were all going to stay at the Burrow but Harry felt drawn to the rapidly cooling outdoors. Possibly it was because there was someone out there he really wanted to speak to. Okay, he admitted it to himself. He was desperate to talk to her. His shoes crunched over the semi frozen grass and his robes snapped out behind him in the bitter wind. As he drew closer to the girl standing on the open grass, he realized she was wearing only her summer robes. Snow was in the air. She must have been freezing! Harry hurried over to her and pulled off his thick winter robe so he could wrap it around Ginny's shuddering shoulders.

"Hey," he said gently. "Whats up?"

Ginny didn't seem to hear him at first until he tightened the robe around her. Then her eyes slid over Harry and locked onto his. Her lips curved into a thin smile.

"Hi Harry," she said.

"Whats wrong?" Harry asked, reasoning that no one, even angry girls, stand out in the freezing cold for no reason what so ever.

"Nothing, really I'm fine," Ginny replied.

"No you're not," Harry snapped. "So tell me. But before you do, I've got something to say." He drew in a deep breath. "I'm sorry. Sorry for being such a dick and sorry for running of with Draco who isn't gay anyway and sorry for thinking I was gay and shunning you and sorry for being angry when you tried something new and-"

Suddenly Ginny was kissing him and it was lighter than a snowflake and sweeter than a Honeydukes candy. This was better than any kiss he'd shared with Draco. This was better than any Christmas gift. His arms wrapped around Ginny. When their kiss finally broke, Ginny said, "And I'm sorry for running around like a stupid girl high on love potion. I love you, Harry, I really do."

"And I to you," Harry smiled and they entered the castle together.

********

Harry's bags were stowed away in the top rack of their train compartment along with Ron and Hermione's. And Ginny's. Ron had taken some time to come around to Ginny's apology but as Hermione said, it was just like his own. Sudden and almost made no sense. But here they were.

"George will have a fit when he finds out," Ron sighed.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked with a frown.

"Well, he'd basically disowned me for my stunt with the Daily Prophet and when he finds out he's still got to give me a Christmas present..."

Harry laughed. He was over the moon that everyone had made up again. Although there was that niggling voice in the back of his head, reminding him of Draco and those steamy moments snatched from thin air. Those desperate seconds where they thought they were alone in the big bad world.

"I'm going to Australia on Boxing Day," Hermione announced as Harry withdrew from his thoughts.

"Why?" Ginny asked, baffled.

"My parents are still there," Hermione reminded them. "I'm going to remove the memory spell."

Harry could see the tears waiting to fall. She truly missed them. Ron put an arm around her and nuzzled her hair. She giggled and suddenly the train stopped. They grabbed their trunks and left the train to see Mrs Weasley, George and Percy standing there.

"Mum!" Ginny cried and gave Molly a crushing hug. But Molly was staring at Ron with shock in her eyes. She gently disengaged herself from Ginny and walked as if in a dream towards her youngest son.

"How dare you?" her voice came out in a tight whisper. "How dare you turn up after saying all those things in the paper?"

"Mum, please-" Ron began but Molly cut him off.

"Your father is so embarrassed! And me, I'm furious and Percy is distraught and Bill and Charlie don't even know what to say. George can't even look at you and Fred-"

Molly stopped and burst into tears. Looking sad, Ron rushed up and hugged her.

"I'm sorry. We've changed now. All of us," he said. Molly sighed.

"You stupid boy," she sniffed and suddenly everyone was laughing. Harry didn't quite know what happened but somehow everyone had forgiven Ron. Even George clapped him on the back but warned him about pudding tonight and how he might have slipped in a canary cream.

They piled into the new car, a gift from Harry who still felt bad about loosing their old one in the forest. Once they got to the Burrow, they unpacked and Ron made sure everyone knew how sorry he was by cooking dinner. Admittedly, he burned the sausages and somehow mistook turnips for potatoes and under cooked the peas so they had black sausages, mashed turnip and hard peas but he tried. They all did.

Harry fell into bed feeling exhausted from the emotional day. He slept in the room with George because Ron shared with Hermione now. This meant that he could chat with George who wanted to talk about Fred. Closure, Harry guessed. It must be heart snapping to loose your other half. When he finally fell asleep, his mind was full of Fred. Not Draco which was a change. And then he dreamed.