Broken Bonds

72 - Holiday Season

Before she knew it, it was the Christmas holidays, and she was on the train heading home. The term had been pretty good, if you discounted the fact that she was getting heaped in homework that she had to get done around Quidditch practice and sessions with Remus, which she had refused to give up. On top of that, Snape had gotten even worse towards the Gryffindors during Potions, which made focussing in the class hard enough, let alone being able to complete the potion they were making.

On a positive note, however, Remus had started a defence club every Saturday afternoon for those who wanted to take their defence to the next level. He had been planning on starting it the year before, but with Umbridge around, he wasn't able to. Not without her interfering, anyway. But now he had a good reason to start the club and it had quickly dwindled down to only those who were serious about protecting themselves, with everyone who had come for a laugh or just for fun having left after the first session. At one point, Harry had even pointed out that it seemed like Remus was preparing the students for a battle, having organised the training sessions in a very military-like structure. They had both agreed though, that that would be beneficial if Voldemort tried to attack Hogwarts, since the trained students could help safely evacuate the other students.

According to the owls her mum had been sending to keep them informed, the whole family was going to be at the Burrow for Christmas, minus Percy, who still wasn't talking to the family, despite it being public knowledge that Voldemort had returned. She was happy to know that Fleur was going to be there as well, since she was now engaged to Bill; she really liked Fleur and was glad that she was happy, especially since it meant that Bill was happy too.

She also knew, from what Remus had said during their last lesson, that everyone had been invited over to Potter Manor on Christmas day. Originally, her mum had invited Sirius and Remus to join them for lunch and dinner, but they had quickly come to the conclusion that there wouldn't be enough space. The Burrow was crowded enough when the whole Weasley family was there, let alone when Hermione and Fleur were there, and adding Sirius and Remus to the mix too would make it extremely uncomfortable.

You know that your mum only agreed to it because Remus told her that she could bring dessert, Harry said. Ginny giggled quietly. Harry wasn't wrong.

"What are you laughing at?" Ron asked. Ginny broke out of her thoughts to look up at Ron, who was staring at her.

"Something Harry said," she said. Ron cast a glance at Luna, who was sitting next to Ginny, humming contentedly as she read The Quibbler, before turning to face her again. Luna hadn't even looked up from the magazine at Ginny's comment, and if she found it weird, she didn't say anything. Then again, Luna had a habit of just somehow knowing things, so she wouldn't be surprised if she already knew about her and Harry.

"Ok then." He turned back to his conversation with Neville, who hadn't heard what Ginny had said, and was also sitting in the carriage with them, as was Hermione, who was absorbed in a book. The five of them (Hermione, Ron, Neville, Ginny, and Luna) had become close friends through the DA, or the Defence Association, which was the defence group that Remus was running.

Do you reckon Remus and Sirius will ask about the ritual? Harry asked.

Probably. Remus did say that they would want to know when the blood is used, so he will probably ask, since we haven't been talking about it during our sessions.

Oh yeah, that's right. I forgot about that. Ginny turned her attention away from Harry and into the present around her, joining in the conversation that Ron and Neville were having about the holidays.

"Gran and I will probably be going to some of the family Yule balls. The Longbottom family is a prominent family, and we can't let our social standing and reputation drop by missing the balls, as much as I dislike them," Neville said.