Winter Wonderland

Winter Wonderland

When Ginny Weasley woke, stretching and sliding out of bed, she padded downstairs to find the Gryffindor Common Room empty, yet the fire ablaze to keep the room warm. She curled up on a chair near the crackling fire and sat for a while, still a bit tired and cold. Then, something out the window caught her eye.

The sky was a canvas of gray and white, and snow gently descended to the hills and forest below. The first snowfall of the season coated the Hogwarts grounds, and it looked like some imagined painting capturing the majesty of Hogwarts castle in the snow. In a few hours, the students attending Hogwarts would pour outside, rampaging and shouting in mirth. But as of now, the castle was peaceful.

No longer sleepy, Ginny leaped out of her chair and was about to run up the stairs when she paused. It was still early, would the other students mind being woken up? Her resolution required only a second's hesitation before Ginny bolted upstairs and started pounding on Hermione's door.

"Wake up, everyone! It's snowing!"

Moments later, the common room was filled with students, first years and seventh years alike. The Gryffindors were all in a flurry in getting dressed, finding friends, making sure they had their cloaks, scarves, mittens, or gloves, and running down to breakfast. Everyone was in a hurry to get outside.

Ginny had stopped to stare out the window. The snow floated gracefully down, twirling and spinning and dancing in the air. It was mesmerizing. The sun was just starting to come up, and light slowly crept over the trees to beam down on the castle. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Good morning, Ginny," greeted Harry's voice behind her. Ginny sighed, and leaned against him. Today was drifting by like a dream. It'd taken him five years, but Harry had finally noticed her in his fifth year. They'd been friends for a while, but back then Ginny would have done anything to have just his friendship anyway. And they got to know each other better. And at the end of his sixth year, Harry Potter had kissed her. They weren't officially "dating," but Ginny knew more than anything that she really did love Harry and was pretty sure he loved her back. Who cared if they dated, as long as they were with each other?

"Morning, Harry."

"Ron, Hermione, and I are going to Hogsmeade after breakfast. Want to come?"

"Of course!" Ginny answered.

"Good, because if you didn't, we would have made you anyway," Harry laughed, smiling. It was so good to see him smiling... he'd been under so much stress from Voldemort and Death Eater attacks that it seemed he rarely had a chance for fun in his life anymore.

Harry held out an arm.

"Shall we?"

Grinning, Ginny took his arm and they went to breakfast.

~

After breakfast, the quartet made their way outside and headed towards the gates. They reached Hogsmeade to find bustling crowds, frenzied in the Christmas shopping spirit.

"Oh! I just remembered," Hermione said suddenly, as they passed the post office, "I need to go to Gladrags to buy some earmuffs and new winter boots."

"I'll go with you," Ron blurted, "I suppose I could by a nice sweater for Mum, or something..."

"Okay, how about we meet at the Three Broomsticks in two hours?" Ginny suggested, fixing her scarf and pulling her cloak around her more tightly. "There's some things I need to get for Fred and George at Zonko's."

"All right." Upon reaching Zonko's, Harry and Ginny waved to Ron and Hermione. "See you later!" The couple disappeared down the street, and Harry started towards Zonko's entrance.

"Come on, Harry," Ginny directed, tugging on Harry's sleeve.

"I thought we were going to Zonko's?"

"Nope. I just said that so we could split up..." she grinned mischievously.

Harry rolled his eyes, but smiled. "Where will we be going then? I finished my Christmas shopping last weekend."

"No where in particular," answered Ginny, "we could just wander for a bit."

They strolled down the lane hand in hand, through throngs of people, letting the snow glitter in their hair and sparkle on their cloaks. Despite the general shopping rush, most people were in good spirits. The road was filled with people laughing, talking, and -

Harry paused, shivered, and shook his head, snow flying everywhere as he did so.

- throwing snowballs. Ginny giggled, and they continued down the street. The tiny jingling of bells in the background wafted towards her.

"You know what would be nice?" she mused.

"What?"

She pointed to horses pulling a sleigh down the street.

"A sleigh ride!" she answered excitedly. "Only I haven't seen any empty ones anywhere."

Not soon after she'd said it, she suddenly stopped and tugged on Harry's arm.

"Look!" she squealed, sounding about ten years younger. "Ooh, Harry, can we take a sleigh ride?"

"Sure, why not?" he chuckled. Towing him along, Ginny hurried over to the empty sleigh and the driver.

Sleigh bells ring, are you list'nin'?

In the lane, snow is glist'nin'

A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight

Walking in a winter wonderland

Ginny snuggled against Harry in the sleigh. Riding through Hogsmeade during Christmas was so relaxing. Christmas was one of the few hopes people had left since Voldemort had returned. It wasn't really so surprising that so many crowded Hogsmeade to shop for presents, despite the dangers of an attack. And with so many people there, there were possibilities of another Death Eater assault. For now, though, Ginny put that out of her mind. Enjoy what you have right now. If you're too busy worrying about losing it, then when you do you'll realize that you've wasted all your time worrying about it, and then were will you be? It was something everyone had to learn to live to do, to forget their troubles if even for a day, and simply enjoy themselves. It wasn't paranoia, but reality that scared people now. Anyone might die tomorrow. People were coping the best they could.

She spotted Mad-Eye Moody out of the corner of her eye. At least the town had someone there to watch over the shoppers and other various people roaming the streets of Hogsmeade.

To the right of the street a little before Dervish and Banges, a group of carolers sang. Their sweet, fluty voices drifted through the crisp air. She felt Harry pull her closer and kiss the top of her forehead. Butterflies in her stomach, she still couldn't believe that she was here with him, that he'd taken time to be with her...

"Ginny," she heard him whisper, "I love you."

It was silly how three small words could make her feel so delighted, but when she heard him say this for the first time, her heart fluttered in her chest and she felt like the happiest person in the world. Nodding, she looked up at him and answered him, "I love you, too." She didn't think she could have been any happier until he smiled back at her. Who needs Christmas to cheer them up, when I've got Harry?

Ginny closed her eyes and listened to the carolers.

Gone away is the blue bird

Here to stay is the new bird

He sings a love song

As we go along

Walking in a winter wonderland

There was still some light left when they returned to Hogwarts. Still, many students were throwing snowballs at one another or building snowmen. Someone had, apparently, charmed some patches of snow so that when a person stepped on them, the snow would come up and drench the unsuspecting person.

When they saw Colin Creevey step on one of these "snow mines", Harry pushed Ron forward.

"Here, Ron, you're the strategic one of us," he said, "so why don't you tell us which spots are safe and which aren't? You can lead us across the snow!"

Ron sent Harry a suspecting look. "I don't trust you for a minute, Potter," he teased back. "Why don't you go first?"

Harry sniggered. "Because if I went first, we'd all end up soaked by the time we reached the school. Especially me, and I wouldn't want to get my cloak all wet now, would I? It's suede, the new style."

"You liar," Ron accused. "That's not suede and even if it was, you wouldn't be wearing it."

"Fine, then. But I still don't want to get my cloak wet," he grinned.

Ron rolled his eyes. "If I go first, then it means that I'll get the most wet!"

Hermione sighed exasperatedly. "It's cold, I want to get inside! You two can argue about who's going first, fine, but I'll be upstairs in the common room, nice and warm..." She stepped forward.

And she fell victim to a snow mine. Ron and Harry stared at her, then started chuckling and snickering. But under Hermione's glare, they fell silent.

"N-nothing that a d-drying charm c-can't fix," she noted, finding it hard to glare with chattering teeth. "I'm g-g-getting inside n-now."

She hurried to the school, shivering, and Ron soon followed suit, running after her.

"Oh, rats," said Harry. "I really did think he'd be able to lead us through the snow without getting blasted by a mine. Oh well."

"Oi! Harry! Ginny!" They swiveled to see Colin, covered in snow, yelling to them. He ran up to where they stood. "Get down! It's no man's land here, and you're in danger of being captured. Come on, follow me..."

"Captured?"

"Yeah. Come on, guys..." He rushed towards Hagrid's Hut.

"Wonder what this is all about..." Harry thought aloud.

Ginny shrugged, and the two hurried off after Colin, moving just in time to avoid a sudden sabotage of snowballs.

"All right," he explained, once they'd reached Hagrid's Hut, "Now that we're safe again - "

"Safe from what?" Ginny asked eagerly.

"The other Houses, of course!" They stared at him blankly. "Oh, you went to Hogsmeade, didn't you? After you left, a few second years started up a House Snowball Fight. A lot of us have joined in now. We had caught Malcolm Baddock, a Slytherin fourth year, but he stupefied his guards and ran away, bloody cheater."

"The Slytherins never play fair," Harry agreed, thinking of their Quidditch team.

"Yeah, well, that's why we've mined the snow," Colin replied, watching as Graham Pritchard, another fourth year Slytherin, stepped on a snow mine.

"Oh, that was you, then?" Ginny asked, "Don't tell Hermione; she stepped on one and got showered in snow!"

"Actually, it was Professor McGonagall's idea."

Harry and Ginny gawked at him. Professor McGonagall? Joining in a snowball fight?

Colin laughed. "Apparently, some Slytherins found it a bit funny to throw a snowball or two at her. Must've been the shock of their life when she threw back! And then, of course, one thing led to another and now she's off somewhere hurling snowballs at Snape."

Harry and Ginny laughed, too. "Imagine that," Ginny weighed, through giggles, "McGonagall throwing snowballs at Snape."

Harry went quiet. "I guess we all need something to laugh about now." Silence overtook them for a few moments, and then Harry smiled. "So, what do you need us to do?"

For a while, Harry and Ginny helped Colin and the others in their House Snowball Fight, but eventually people started going back inside. The game ended for the day, though everyone conceded that tomorrow it'd pick up where it left off. Harry wanted to stay outside for a bit longer, so they walked along the path around the lake.

"Aw," Ginny said, glancing at a snowman that'd been knocked down, "all that hard work and then someone goes and knocks it over." She left the path and kneeled in the snow next to the fallen snowman. "Let's fix it for them." Harry watched as she picked up the middle part of the snowman and rolled it around in the snow to make it bigger. He watched as her brows furrowed in concentration, the way they did when she was writing up her homework or trying to figure out a difficult problem for Arithmancy. Her cheeks were rosy from cold and wind, and against the white snow her hair seemed to stand out more than ever. No, she wasn't classically beautiful, but to him, she was perfect. She was Ginny. She was the angel who rescued him, the one who brought light into his life where there was so much darkness. He didn't know how he'd managed all those years without her, but now that he had her he was sure not going to lose her.

"Come on, Harry!" she yelled to him, brown eyes sparkling. She was setting the middle part onto the bottom. "I can't do this myself, you know."

Blowing on his hands, which were cold even through gloves, he left the path to join her. "Where's its head?" he asked.

"I'm not sure..." she bit her lip hesitantly, "I think it's buried in snow somewhere. We'll have to make a new one."

Harry knelt and started pushing snow together for the head. When he finished, he picked it up and handed it to Ginny, who set it down on the middle part and took a step back to look at it. "I think the head's too big," she observed.

He stared at the snowman. The head was a little too big. "Nah, don't worry. It's not that big."

Ginny snorted with laughter. "Okay, it's still missing something, though."

"Hmm..."

And then the head fell off.

"I told you it was too big!" Ginny cried. "Here, let me do it."

"Fine then," Harry feigned hurt, "but you wanted my help!"

She stuck her tongue out at him, and then began making the head. Finished, she sat it atop the snowman and once again took a step back to admire her work.

"Now it's head is too small!"

"Complain, complain, complain," Ginny retorted, though she was shaking with laughter. "All right, I suppose it is a bit small..."

"No kidding."

"Oh, quiet you!" she teased, "Better small than big... at least it won't fall off this time!"

Harry pretended to pout.

"Okay, all we have to do is add a little more snow and it's perfect." She picked up some snow and put it on the head. After a few more handfuls of powdery white stuff, the head finally looked the right size, if not a little misshapen.

"Here, let me put my scarf around the neck and then no one will notice that lump." Harry took off his scarf and wrapped it around the snowman's neck. While he tied it, Ginny picked up some pebbles, which happened to be lying conveniently near by, and gave the snowman eyes and a mouth. "Now all it needs is a nose."

Unfortunately, no stones were left.

"It'll have to do without them," Ginny remarked. She grinned. "It kind of looks like this Muggle priest I saw once when I went to London."

"When were you in London?" asked Harry. "Apart from the train station."

"When I was little, Dad used to take us touring through London every once in awhile. You know Dad and his obsession with Muggles. Anyway, one day he took us to this Church, and there was a wedding... I remember the priest because he was the only one wearing robes, and back then I thought he was a wizard." She laughed at herself. "Anyway, the snowman kind of looks like him."

Harry couldn't see how their snowman resembled any human, but if Ginny saw it, good for her. Then suddenly, her smiled brightened suspiciously and her eyes glittered.

"You know," she continued, "I remember wishing that when I got married, it'd be the Muggle way, and he'd be the priest! And now here we are..." She giggled. Harry wasn't sure where this was going, but he knew that Hermione had brought up marriage once and minutes later, Ron and Hermione were shouting across the common room. Besides, Ginny was only sixteen. Why would she be talking about this now?

In the meadow we can build a snowman

Then pretend that he is parson Brown

He'll say, "Are you married?"

We'll say, "No man!

But you can do the job when you're in town!"

"Harry," she said, taking his hand as they started back towards the school. The sun had set and the temperature was plummeting near zero. Through chattering teeth, she asked, "What do you plan on doing when you leave Hogwarts?"

"I don't know... uh..." he hesitated. "I'll probably become an Auror, and you know, go after Voldemort." His eyes clouded and Ginny felt his hand clench slightly in her own.

"No, I mean," she stuttered, "I mean, hypothetically, if Voldemort didn't exist, what do you think you would do?"

He paused. "I never thought about it."

She sighed. "That's the problem. What gives Death Eaters the right to go ruining people's lives? What makes them think they should have that power? That they can kill, and torture, and hurt us all... just because they hate us and Muggles and Muggle-borns..."

"Nothing's ever fair, Ginny," Harry tried to answer, "and people like them are too caught up in their own problems to care about anyone else or to understand. Too cowardly to deal with it themselves." His eyes hardened. "Gin, I can't take it myself sometimes. Sometimes I just want to give up and let someone else do it. But sometimes I want to go out there and find Voldemort and end this once and for all." He stopped himself, took a breath. "But even if Voldemort is defeated, it won't stop. Not right away, anyway. And there'll always be people too weak and too evil to leave the good, innocent ones alone." He let out an exasperated sigh and ran his hand through his hair.

"Harry..."

But the turmoil in his eyes was gone, and they were clear and bright again. He forced a smile. "But I suppose we can live in dreams for tonight. If Voldemort wasn't here, I'd probably... end up in Quidditch."

"Join the Cannons!" Ginny agreed, "Ron would force you to if you decided to play Quidditch. Goodness knows it might get them a step up in the League."

He laughed. "And what would you do?"

"I haven't actually thought about it either," she admitted, "Only that I might decide to work for the Ministry, perhaps on the Committee On Experimental Charms... I don't know."

"Ginny..." Harry hesitated, about to ask something important and uncertain of Ginny's answer. His expression was serious and yet embarrassed. "If - I mean, when we - you..."

"There you are!" Ron interrupted. They'd reached the castle already, and Ron just exited through the door. "We've been looking all over for you! Come inside, you must be freezing!"

Warmth overcame them as they entered Hogwarts. Most of the students were eating dinner in the Great Hall, but Harry and Ginny rushed towards Gryffindor Tower, as they needed to dry up and change clothes first. The common room was generally empty, like it had been when Ginny woke up, but this time there were a few students sitting around. Outside, the sky was quickly darkening, but circles of white could be seen dotting the atmosphere.

Ginny went up to her dormitory to change, and when she returned to the common room, Harry wasn't there yet. She sat down in a chair by the fire to wait for him. And she thought about what they'd talked about outside.

When she was little, she used to dream about working with dragons with Charlie, or maybe unicorns. She still had a soft spot for magical creatures, but honestly didn't believe she'd be able to handle them. Charms and Herbology were her better subjects, the rest she was average in.

What was flurrying around in her mind, however, was not what job she wanted. No, what was bothering her was Harry. When he defeated Voldemort - and she knew he would - what would he do with his life, and would there be any room for her? She would give up her dreams for Harry, but would he do the same for her? And would he even want to... to marry her? The thought of growing old with Harry made her stomach turn about, and her mind swirl. She was only sixteen though, what would she know about marriage? And she was too young to think about it.

"Hey, Gin," Harry greeted.

"Hello." She stood up and left the comfy chair and went to Harry. "What were you going to ask before?"

"What? Oh..." His cheeks were stained with pink. "Um, n-nothing that important. It was silly."

She looked at him suspiciously. "If you're sure..."

"Um, well," he loosened his collar, "Yes, yes I'm sure. Maybe later."

"Okay," she said, deciding not to press the issue. If Harry wanted to say it, then he would, and he didn't like being bothered about something he'd resolved.

Before they left the common room, though, he turned to her and stared at her, serious but still blushing. "But you know, Gin," he said, "that I love you and if - if something happens to me, I want you to know that..."

"I do, Harry," she said gently. "And nothing bad is going to happen to you. Life owes you so much, and I want you to know that if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I'm here. I love you, too."

Later on, we'll conspire

As we sit by the fire

To face unafraid

The plans that we made

Walking in a winter wonderland

Ginny lay in bed, staring at the roof of her bed. It wasn't often she got to spend time with Harry, but today... today had been perfect.

Walking in a winter wonderland