Just Plain Harry

Chapter 20 Christmas at the Burrow

The next morning found them all in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express. This was the first time that Harry was actually leaving Hogwarts for Christmas, and already, he could tell he had missed a lot. Everyone was still tired from the ball, but excited and happy to be going home for a visit. Slowly, Harry let himself relax and enjoy the atmosphere. He could worry about Voldemort later.

Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione had a compartment to themselves, with Ron and Hermione sharing a bench, and sitting much closer than Harry had ever seen them before. In fact, he thought he saw their hands touching, though they tried to pretend that everything was normal. He very carefully avoided looking at Ginny, who sat next to him, though not nearly as close as Hermione sat to Ron. She chattered away cheerfully about the ball.

"And did you see Neville and Hannah? I think he must have taken some dancing lessons this summer, or maybe she just doesn’t mind having her feet stepped on, because they didn’t dance with anyone else the whole time! I thought he’d definitely ask me for a dance - for old times’ sake, you know - but he didn’t come near me."

"Good," Ron said. "You had enough boys wanting to dance with you, how’d you notice to miss Neville?"

"Speaking of which," Harry said, not wanting to think about how many boys had danced with Ginny, "when did you learn that Pepper Spray Charm? That was amazing, Ginny - and it was great to see Malfoy knocked on his arse."

"Harry, don’t swear, but - the Pepper Spray Charm! Why did you have to use that, Ginny?" Hermione asked, sitting up straight.

"Malfoy? Did he lay hands on you again?" Ron did more than sit up straight, he stood up and started for the door.

Ginny glared at Harry, who felt a little sheepish, but if he hadn’t told Ron, someone else would have.

"Yes, he did, Ron," Ginny said, turning her glare onto her brother. "But I used the Pepper Spray Charm, and he won’t be doing that again." She looked almost diabolically satisfied, which would have worried Harry, except that it was Draco Malfoy.

"But, Ginny, that’s a very hard charm to master, especially since you can’t actually practice it," Hermione said. "Where did you learn it? I found it in...well, never mind the name of the book, but...or is this something that all magical mothers teach their daughters, so I missed out again?" Her expression went from eager interest to sadness, and Ron practically tripped over his feet getting back to her. This time, he actually did take her hand. She put her head on his shoulder.

After a moment of just watching them, Ginny smiled and said, "Well, I’m glad you two finally admitted what we all knew was true!"

Ron’s ears turned pink, and he looked imploringly at Harry, but Hermione just smiled at her friends.

"Me too," she said, which made Ron blush even harder. "You don’t mind, do you, Harry?"

"Me? Why would I mind? I’ve been after Ron to say something for months, you know that -" He broke off in horror. "Oops. Open mouth, insert foot."

"You knew that Hermione...erm...we’ll talk about this later, mate," Ron said, glaring at Harry, but Harry could tell that he was too happy to be really mad.

Ginny giggled, and then answered Hermione’s initial question. "Actually, Mum didn’t teach me that charm. I guess she thought I would never need it, with six older brothers. But Fleur said that there would be times when none of them were around, so she taught it to me." She shook her head sadly. "You wouldn’t believe the number of times she’s had to use it. I’m really glad she’s found Bill."

"It was amazing, Hermione, you should have been there to see it," Harry said. "Malfoy tried to kiss Ginny, and suddenly he was on the floor, six feet away. The force knocked down Crabbe and Goyle, too."

"He tried to kiss you? How did he get close enough? And where were you, Harry, that you saw it and didn’t help?" Ron looked like he was going to jump up again, but Hermione tightened her grip on his hand.

"Weren’t you listening, Ron - I didn’t need any help," Ginny said. "I knocked Malfoy over - I did that. I don’t need you or Harry or anyone else to protect me."

"Right," Ron said, then looked pointedly at Harry. Hermione glared at him, but he evidently felt that some things an older brother had a right to, like an explanation as to why his best friend didn’t help his sister.

"Actually, I wanted to help Ginny, of course I did," Harry said, more, if he was honest with himself, to Ginny than to Ron. "But Cho wouldn’t let me - she has a very high opinion of you, you know."

"She does?" Ginny said, blushing. "So, she recognized what I was doing?"

"Oh, yeah, she knew right away. She’s probably had to use it lots, don’t you think?" Harry almost kicked himself as soon as he said that. I must not be awake yet, he thought, as he watched Ginny deflate.

"So, can you teach me, Ginny?" Hermione asked. "Not that I think I’ll need it," her eyes slid towards Ron, whose ears turned red, "but of course I want to learn it."

The rest of the train ride was taken up by Ginny attempting to teach Hermione the charm. Ron declared that nothing could be more boring, and took out Quidditch for Keeps to read, but Harry thought that it was actually interesting. He hadn’t realized before how much of learning new magic was in the practicing. With this charm, the witch couldn’t practice, since she had to be absolutely certain that she didn’t want the boy threatening her to touch her, and that rather precluded practicing. After watching Hermione struggle for awhile, Harry came up with a wicked idea. I’ll probably regret this, he thought, but now that it’s all out in the open, I can tease Ron and Hermione, and maybe Fred and George are starting to rub off on me.

"Why don’t you practice with me, Hermione?" he asked, making both girls stare at him in shock. "You don’t want me to touch you that way, after all." He heard Ron make an indeterminate noise, but he kept watching Hermione. As he expected, she blushed.

"Well, no, she doesn’t," Ginny said, "but she wouldn’t mind you touching her, just not touching her, touching her. So it wouldn’t work." She didn’t look happy with him, and he was sorry, but he couldn’t resist teasing Ron and Hermione.

"So, it wouldn’t work," he said, trying to sound disappointed. "Are you certain? I could try it, to make sure." He half-stood up.

"Harry!" Ron and Hermione both shouted, making him dissolve into laughter.

"Your faces...honestly!" was all he could get out, especially as both of them continued to glare at him. Ginny, though, looked thoughtful.

"Maybe it would work," she said, nibbling on a strand of her hair. "Oh, not with Harry, but maybe, say...Fred or George."

"No!" Ron said, looking even more horrified, which Harry hadn’t believed was possible. He reached out and grabbed Hermione’s hand.

This time, it was Hermione herself who got the joke. "But, Ron, I don’t want either of them to touch me...maybe it would work." She couldn’t hold the laughter in, though, and fell against him, helplessly giggling. Ron managed to look gratified and outraged at the same time, which proved to be too much for Ginny, too.

By the time they all recovered, the train had arrived at platform nine and three-quarters. The first person they saw was Mrs. Weasley, who had a hug for each of them, though she did seem to linger over Harry. Harry supposed that, at fifteen, he shouldn’t want an adult to hug him, but it did feel good. Mrs. Weasley definitely had the largest group of students surrounding her, and Harry looked around, half-expecting to hear Draco Malfoy’s usual sneer. But, instead, he saw Malfoy take one look at their group, turn around, and head in the opposite direction.

"Guess you showed him, huh, Ginny?" Ron said, gleefully following Malfoy’s retreating back.

"Yeah," Ginny said, her eyes narrowed. "But I wonder what he’ll do to retaliate. You know he will."

Hermione patted her shoulder. "I’m sure you’re up to handling whatever he can throw at you," she said, which made Ginny cheer up.

When they got to the Burrow, Harry was surprised to see that it wasn’t at all decorated. Ron noticed his surprise.

"Ever since Bill started at Hogwarts, Mum decided to wait to decorate until all her children were here. Once Bill and Charlie didn’t always come home, she waited until whomever was coming home came home. So, we’ll probably do it tonight, once Dad, Bill, and Percy get home. In the meantime, how about a game of Quidditch?"

"Ron, you’re as predictable as the sun rising in the morning," Hermione said, but she smiled at him.

He smiled back. "And don’t think you’re getting out of it," he said. "You’re going to referee."
"Oh, no, Ron - I couldn’t! I’d be horrible."

"Well, you can’t possibly be worse than Snape," Harry said.

They had a rousing Quidditch match, though they didn’t use a Snitch, with Charlie, Fred, and Ron against Harry, George, and Ginny. Ron’s team won, basically because Harry as a Chaser was no match for him. Ginny wasn’t half-bad as a Keeper, though Harry knew that she preferred watching Quidditch to playing it. He was glad that he didn’t have to try to score on her, though - he was sure he’d be much too distracted. Hermione didn’t really call many fouls, except when Fred hit a Bludger at Harry, which hit Ron instead. Charlie had to explain to her, manfully keeping in his laughter, that that was a legal move. He didn’t even laugh when George asked just who she was going to award a penalty shot to, since the person who hit the Bludger was on the same team as the person who had been hit. The rest of them didn’t even try not to laugh, though, and Harry could hear Ginny shrieking with laughter from all the way across the field.

They didn’t come down until sunset, and when they reached the Burrow again, Mr. Weasley, Bill, and Percy were home. After one of Mrs. Weasley’s delicious feasts, the decorating began. Harry thought he almost would prefer to just watch, but he was certainly made to feel at home. Mr. Weasley wanted his help putting up the garlands of ivy and holly all around the house, and he had to help extricate Ron from the depths of the Christmas tree. Hermione had found a charm that shot bits of tinsel out of her wand, which she wanted to teach Charlie, but he told her that "...the Ministry never checks up on wizarding families at Christmas - far too much magic flying around to keep track of it all." So Hermione was able to perform her charm herself, but it got a bit out of hand, so there was tinsel everywhere, not just on the tree. Percy wanted Harry’s opinion on exactly where the mistletoe should go, but that was one decision Harry had no intention of helping with. Imagine if Percy knew exactly whom I want to get under that mistletoe, he thought, shuddering. Fred and George managed to do something to some of the ornaments when Mrs. Weasley wasn’t watching, and Harry made a resolve not to get too near the tree any time soon. Even Dobby and Winky got into the Christmas spirit - they were covered in tinsel, and they seemed to be everywhere, trying to help everyone at once. It was a completely amazing time, and Harry tried to soak it all in, not wanting to miss a single second.

Everyone seemed to be done at about the same time, but to Harry’s eyes it seemed that there was something missing. Hermione must have thought so, too.

"Should I put some tinsel on the garlands, too, Mrs. Weasley?" she asked, eyeing the dark green twists that were around every door and window, and all up the banisters of the staircase.

"No, dear, that’s Ginny’s job," Mrs. Weasley said. Ever since she had seen Ron kiss Hermione on the cheek under the mistletoe, she had been treating her even more like one of the family than before. Unfortunately, Fred and George had seen it, too, and Harry was dreading what they were going to do to Ron now.

Right now, though, he was more interested in what Ginny was doing. She smiled at her mum and Hermione, rolled up the sleeves of her robe, and gave her wand a little flick. "Joyeaux Noel", she murmured, and little sparks of light burst from her wand, shot over to the ivy and holly garlands, and grew into fairies, which hovered among the greenery. They were all shapes, sizes, and colors, and they turned the Burrow into a wonderland.

Winky clapped her hands together and squeaked, even the twins looked impressed, and Bill said, after he had ruffled Ginny’s hair, "Those are your best yet, little sister!"

Ginny blushed, and smiled up at him. "I asked Professor Flitwick for some tips, seeing as this is Harry’s first Christmas," she said, though she didn’t look at Harry.

Harry saw Fred, George, Ron, and Hermione exchanging looks, but he didn’t care. Ginny had done that for him - for him - and, right then, he wasn’t sure if he could get a better Christmas present.

Christmas Eve was even more fun. Harry and Hermione were told to bring their presents for everyone downstairs after dinner. Harry was glad to see that Hermione had just as many as he did, so he wouldn’t be the only one told off by Ron for going overboard. They got downstairs to see everyone standing by their own pile of presents.

"Now, we turn down the lights, and everyone puts their presents for each person in their stocking," Mrs. Weasley said.

Harry and Hermione looked at the stockings that were now hung up in a row across the mantelpiece. They each had one, no doubt knitted by Mrs. Weasley, and seeing "Harry" in gold across a scarlet stocking almost made Harry feel weak. This was so much more than he had expected. He gave Mrs. Weasley a tremulous smile, but Hermione, being Hermione, was still thinking logically.

"I suppose they’ve been enchanted to hold more than they look like they can," she said. She clapped her hands together lightly. "This is so wonderful - everything so magical!"

Mrs. Weasley smiled at the two of them, and explained further. "This has been a Christmas tradition in my family for a long time. And don’t use magic, dears, it’s much more fun to do it without."

"Ready," Mr. Weasley said, holding out his wand. "Set. Go."

There was a mad scramble, as everyone tried to reach the stockings at once, tripping over each other, and the house-elves, in the process. This is fun, Harry thought. I just hope I get it all right - I certainly don’t want to be giving that crystal to Fred!

He worried about that again, as he lay in bed the next morning. This was the first year that he had woken up before Ron - usually, though of course he liked it, Christmas wasn’t much more exciting than any other day of the year. But this year, he actually had a family to spend it with, he couldn’t wait to see Ginny’s face when she opened the crystal - or Ron and Hermione’s when they opened their picture frames - and Sirius and Remus were coming to dinner. They couldn’t come earlier because of Percy, but he was going to Penelope’s for Christmas dinner. Harry just lay there, and let himself enjoy the moment.

Not for long, though. Suddenly, Ron’s snores stopped, and he jumped out of bed. He reached Harry’s bed in one leap, but then recoiled in shock when he saw Harry awake.

"Oy, how long have you been up, and why didn’t you wake me?" he said. "Presents downstairs, you great git!"

Harry laughed. Some things will never change, he thought. No matter how old Ron gets, he’ll always be excited on Christmas morning. It was a nice thought.

They bounded downstairs, Ron pounding on Fred and George’s door as he went. He almost pounded on Ginny’s, too, but then stopped. Ignoring Harry’s snickers, he kept jumping down stairs. When they reached the living room, Ron headed straight for the stockings, but bounced off an invisible barrier just before he got there.

"Ow! Mum! What’s going on?"

"We’re waiting for the Grangers, dear," Mrs. Weasley said, appearing in the doorway to the kitchen. "Why don’t you come help me get ready?" Dobby appeared beside her, shaking his finger at Ron, who was still rubbing his head from the impact.
"The Grangers?" Ron said. "They’re coming for presents? I have to change." He turned, and bounded up the stairs as quickly as he had come down.

Mrs. Weasley smiled at his retreating back, then turned her gaze onto Harry.

"Should I change, too?" he asked, looking down at his pajamas. They had always opened presents at Hogwarts in pajamas.

"No, of course not," Mrs. Weasley said. "Hermione and Ginny are still in their nightdresses, and I’m sure Fred and George will be in their pajamas, too. Ron’s just being..."

"Ron," Harry finished half-heartedly. Ginny was still in her nightdress?

Just then, the Grangers appeared in the room with a pop, both of them clutching the same book, and looking slightly dazed. Harry sympathized - he still remembered his first trip by Portkey, and nothing since then had endeared them to him. But since the Burrow had been taken off the Floo network, and been made Unplottable, recently, a Portkey was the only way to get there magically. Mrs. Weasley rushed forward to greet them.

"Sophie, Robert, how good to see you again," she said. "Come, sit down and recover. Would you like some tea?"

"Some tea would be lovely, Molly," Mrs. Granger said. She still looked a little green, but Mr. Weasley was looking around with great interest at the decorations. Harry thought he saw one of Ginny’s fairies wink at him, and watched him turn pink. When Winky brought in the tea, both of the Grangers exclaimed over her, and Harry saw Dobby in the doorway, looking as proud as though Winky were his daughter. Then he heard someone pounding down the stairs, and turned, expecting to see Ron, but it was Hermione, who threw herself into her mum’s arms.

"Mum, Dad, I’m so glad to see you!" she said. "Happy Christmas!"
"Happy Christmas!" Mrs. Granger said, as she looked sharply at her daughter. "Running down stairs isn’t like you, Hermione." She held her out at arms’ length. "And you look different." Hermione blushed, and Mr. Granger looked sharply at Harry.

Hermione must have seen Harry’s horrified look, because she shook her head. "No, not Harry," she said to her mum softly. Mrs. Granger hugged her again, but before she could say anything, Ron re-entered the room.

Nothing ever amazed Harry more than the fact that he kept a straight face through the next few minutes. Ron was just wearing jeans and a jumper, but not even Percy, who followed him into the room, could have acted more proper. He shook hands with the Grangers, asked how their trip was, and if he could get them anything to eat or drink. When Fred and George came bounding down the stairs, he shot them a look to rival any from Percy’s Head Boy year, and introduced them as though they were royalty. The twins, of course, put on a performance to rival their greeting of Harry in the Leaky Cauldron before his third year, as Ron got redder and redder. Mr. Granger definitely enjoyed their antics, but Mrs. Granger, though she looked like she was about to laugh, played along with Ron.

Mrs. Weasley didn’t seem to notice her youngest son’s odd behavior, but it was Ron whom she asked to go fetch his father.

"Even Christmas can’t keep him away from his Muggle contraptions, I’m afraid," she said. She turned to the Grangers. "I hope you two can convince him that they’re really nothing to be excited over."

Mr. Granger laughed. "Well, seeing how excited we are over all of your magic, I don’t think we would have a leg to stand on. How did you get those creatures to, well, exist?" he asked, nodding at the fairies in the garland nearest to him.

"Ginny did that," Harry said. "She’s wonderful with Charms."

"Yeah," Fred jumped in. "Like the Pepper Spray Charm, I hear she’s absolutely wonderful with that."

"There’s something called the Pepper Spray Charm?" Mrs. Granger asked Hermione, but before Hermione could answer, Ron returned with Mr. Weasley, and Mrs. Weasley, who hadn’t looked happy at the mention of the Pepper Spray Charm, went to the bottom of the stairs.

"Ginny, would you please wake up your two eldest brothers?" she called. "We’re ready to start."

"Sure!" Ginny called back. They could all hear her pound on Bill and Charlie’s door. "Wake up, you sleepy-heads, have you forgotten that it’s Christmas? If you don’t want your presents, I’m sure there’s someone else who does, and do you really want Fred and George to get a chance with your -" She broke off suddenly and burst out laughing. She said something in a softer voice that Harry couldn’t hear, and then came down the steps.

Harry had braced himself against what she might be wearing. Hermione’s nightdress covered absolutely everything, but that was Hermione, after all. Harry had once seen what Lavender Brown wore to sleep, when he’d been studying late in the Common Room and she’d come down looking for Seamus. He wasn’t sure if he hoped that Ginny was wearing something like that or not. He willed himself not to react.

When she entered the room, though, he couldn’t help but give a sigh of relief. Her nightdress was long, it was white, and if it clung to her in places that Hermione’s didn’t, well, Harry could ignore that. Of course he could.

Bill and Charlie finally put in an appearance, and the ritual of opening Christmas presents began. With so many people, Harry expected a free-for-all, and it was a bit of one, but he did see some memorable presents opened. Fred and George gave Hermione a book on household magic, which made her blush as she tried to hide it from her mother. She gave Ron a set of Quidditch balls signed by the entire Bulgarian national team. Ron looked upset at that, at first, and then he seemed to realize that he didn’t need to be jealous of Viktor Krum anymore, and could actually enjoy the present. Ron’s present to Hermione was a book on taking care of part-Kneazles, which Professor Figg said that Crookshanks was. In fact, the only present that Hermione got that wasn’t a book was Harry’s picture frame full of pictures of Ron, but that was the one she seemed to like the best.

Until he opened Ginny’s present, Harry thought that the best present he could possibly ever be given was from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Everyone stopped opening their own presents when he reached for that one, so he knew it was going to be special. It was a long, and very thin, rod with his name written on it, but he couldn’t figure out what it was.

"There’s a card, Harry," Ginny said softly.

Completely baffled, he read the card.

"We decided it was time to make it official. Happy Christmas from the Weasleys," was all it said, and Harry still didn’t understand, until Bill took the rod from his hand and, with a flick of his wand, affixed it to the Weasley family clock. It whirled around the face a few times, and then settled on "home." Harry stared at it for a few moments, and then felt tears spring to his eyes. He blinked rapidly, and turned to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out, especially when Mrs. Weasley enveloped him in a huge hug. Finally, after people started opening presents again, he was able to say thank you, though he knew that a simple thank you would never be enough for everything the Weasleys had done for him.

After that, he just sat for awhile, watching the happy throng and absorbing the atmosphere, every once in a while glancing over to his hand on the clock. So almost everybody else was done opening their presents when he finally reached for Ginny’s. He looked around before he opened it, but most people were watching Mr. Granger, who had just eaten a Canary Cream. Mrs. Weasley scolded Fred and George, of course, not believing them when they said that Percy had given it to Mr. Granger, even when they showed her the wrapper.

Ginny was watching him, though, so he smiled at her and opened it. His gasp made everyone else look around. She had given him the exact same crystal pendant he had given her, though it was strung on a dark green cord, instead of a gold chain. Harry lifted it out of the box and stared at Ginny.

"What?" she asked, sounding slightly nervous. "It reminded me of our sessions with Miss Stuart, so I thought you’d...what is it, Harry?"

"Ginny, have you opened your present from me, yet?" he asked, though from her reaction, he knew she hadn’t.

She shook her head, and picked up his present from where she had had it in her lap. She was sitting cross-legged on the sofa across from Harry, and he couldn’t help but admire the way her bright hair looked spread out on the white nightdress, and the way the nightdress itself clung to her curves. He really couldn’t help it. He stared at her, not really noticing what she was doing, until she gave an almost identical gasp to his, and then she started to laugh. She lifted her own pendant up and twirled it around.

"Great minds think alike, don’t they?" she asked, smiling at him.

He tried to smile back. Well, I suppose she really won’t think it means more than I want her to, if she gave me the exact same thing, he thought. That’s what I wanted, right? So, I should be happy. He wasn’t, though, he had to admit to himself. He still put the pendant on right away, even over his pajamas, and he let himself feel a slight satisfaction when Ginny did the same.

After all the presents had been opened and Winky and Dobby started picking up all of the wrapping paper, all of the kids went upstairs to get dressed and ready for another Weasley tradition - the Christmas snowball fight. This one, Harry had been a part of for years at Hogwarts, but this year’s was the best yet, with Bill, Charlie, and even Percy joining in. That would have made the sides uneven, so Hermione talked her dad into playing, too, and he turned out to be even better than Charlie at sneaking up on people. It was an epic battle, and they all got so covered in snow that they finally found a clear patch further from the house to make snow angels. It was while they were all lying on the ground that they saw the Daily Prophet owl swoop down into the house.

"But the Daily Prophet already came this morning," Ron said, sitting up to watch the owl. "Why would it - oh, no!"

Harry and Ginny were already on their feet, running towards the house. They had been having so much fun with the presents and the snowball fight that they had forgotten all about her vision. The vision that said that a house would be attacked by Death Eaters, on Christmas Day.