PRINCESS ➳ harry potter , draco malfoy (OLD VERSION)

75 || A Not-So-Merry Christmas

A/N: bellsmarvel doesn't think that Ronrina is endgame. Personally, I ship it :)

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Mrs Weasley had written to Katie and Chris a few days before term ended to let them know that they were welcome to stay with her for the Christmas holidays. When Katie, Hermione and Chris stepped off the Hogwarts Express, Mrs Weasley, Tonks and Lupin were waiting for them, each of them sporting wide smiles.

Katie and Hermione hugged each of them individually while Chris shook their hand, except for Mrs Weasley, who embraced him warmly before he could object.

Hermione had planned to go skiing with her family over the holidays, but given the circumstances, she decided that it was best she stayed with her friends and was to also stay with the Weasleys for Christmas.

At first, Katie was surprised to see Remus and Tonks, but then it quickly dawned on her — Grimmauld Place was much closer to St Mungo's than the Burrow, so they must be spending Christmas at Headquarters so that they could be closer to Mr Weasley. Of course, Katie didn't dare to ask if they would be staying at Headquarters, they couldn't mention it in public, but Remus must have read Katie's mind because he gave her a soft smile and nodded his head discreetly, confirming her theory.

"Ginny is looking forward to seeing you," Tonks nodded to Katie and Hermione. "I think she's sick of all the boys."

"And Fred and George are looking forward to seeing you, Christian," Remus added. "They're bored of the 'younglings,' as they call the others."

Katie, Chris and Hermione laughed at this, and the small group set off from King's Cross together. As expected, they were to walk to Grimmauld Place, much to Katie's discontent, because the air was crisp and bitter, and they had only been walking for five minutes when the imaginary smell of hot chocolate filled her nostrils and her longing to sit in front of a crackling fire began to grow.

When they arrived at Grimmauld Place, Katie was pleasantly surprised to see that Christmas decorations were strung up. In the front hallway, Sirius was stringing gold tinsel across the wall, humming merrily, and upon hearing the sound of the door opening, he turned his head, grinning broadly. Katie had never seen him this happy before. She expected he was just excited that he was going to have company at Grimmauld Place for Christmas.

"Room for three more?" Chris asked brightly. Sirius dropped the cluster of gold and red tinsel in his arms and made his way through the corridor to greet them.

"Dinner is just ready," he said, gesturing towards the dining room, then, as everyone let out hums of excitement and shuffled into the room, he turned to Katie and said, in a very low voice, "I'd like a word with you later — don't worry, you're not in trouble," he added upon seeing the growing look of apprehension on her face. "Come on, you must be hungry."

As expected, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George were all sat along the dining room table. Katie sat down next to Ginny and across from Ron, and they both greeted her enthusiastically.

"All right, Katie?" Ron beamed, passing her a plate of baguettes.

"Good," Katie smiled as she started buttering her roll. "How's your dad?"

"Loads better," Ron answered. "We think, if he's lucky, he might be out of St Mungo's for Christmas."

"That's great!" Katie grinned.

They had already been ten minutes into their meal when Katie realised that Harry wasn't with them. Feeling that she may have just miscounted heads, her eyes scanned over the table once more — at the top was Sirius, who was sat beside Remus, across from them were Tonks and Molly, Fred and George beside their mother, Ron on the other side of the table, Hermione tucked in beside him, then there was Chris, and finally, Ginny and Katie across from them.