|
The Best Christmas Present Ever | ||||
|
Category: Post-OotP Characters:Harry/Ginny Genres: Comedy Warnings: Sexual Situations Story is Complete Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 26 Summary: After a week full of pranks between the Weasley twins and Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione, Fred and George finally play the ultimate prank. Is this the worst joke ever or the Best Christmas Present ever? Hitcount: Story Total: 4845 |
|
|||
|
The Best Christmas Present Ever Ginny laid there quietly in the bed daring not to stir, not to even breathe too loudly for fear of waking Harry. She couldn't believe this was happening to her. Oh sure, she had fantasized about being in bed with Harry Potter, but the fantasies involved love and romance on both parts, not just hers as had been the case for the past five plus years, followed by a fairy tale wedding and honeymoon. Her fantasies had not included waking up in Harry's bed uninvited, in Ron's room none-the-less, and frantically wondering why and how she got there. These problems alone would have been embarrassing enough, but manageable, were it not for two other major problems. The first was that Harry had begun to wake up and would soon be coherent enough to realize he had company in his own bed. The second was what compelled her to remain bundled under the covers next to Harry rather than quickly and quietly trying to escape absolute humiliation - she was stark naked! All Ginny could do was lay there next to the boy she had loved since she was ten dreading the moment he awaked but daring not to move. She had not even dared trying to sneak one of the covers from Harry for fear he'd awake and see more of her than she wanted. Ginny was jolted out of her thoughts when the inevitable occurred. With a bit of a moan and rubbing of his eyes, Harry woke up. Immediately sensing something different he looked around and, upon seeing Ginny, his eyes went wide with surprise. "Ginny. What are you doing? What if Ron wakes up? He'll kill me. You need to go. Hurry." He went to lift the covers which Ginny had been holding to her chin. All she could manage was a squeak and a violent shake of her head. Harry looked at her in frustration. "What do you mean no? Please, Ginny. We're going to get into trouble." He again went to pull the covers back and Ginny once again fought to hold the covers down. "Please, Harry. Y-you can't pull the covers back. I-I'm naked." Harry stared at her in shock. His mouth moved but no words came out. Ginny stirred uncomfortably as he looked from her face to the covers, back to her face and then back down to the covers as if he were imagining what she looked like under the blankets. He moved to lift the covers as if to look and Ginny yelped. "Harry, what the hell do you think you're doing? I just told you I'm starkers." "Oh!" Harry's face turned a deep crimson. "Sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I just, I, well, I can't believe you'd actually come into Ron's bedroom and get into my bed stark naked." His eyes went even wider and he got a very uncomfortable look on his face. "Oh Ginny, you weren't . . . I mean, well . . ." Ginny didn't need to have Harry finish his question. The humiliation she felt was deep and painful as she cut him off. "No. I didn't. I wouldn't . . ." She felt the tears stinging as they coursed down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, Ginny. I know you wouldn't do anything like that. That was really stupid of me. It's just, I, well, I . . . don't know what to think." He awkwardly reached over and gently patted her through the covers in an attempt to comfort her. He glanced worriedly over to Ron's bed. "I do know Ron will kill me if he finds us together in bed." Ginny nodded in agreement and looked again over at her brother's bed. It was finally light enough that she could actually see his bed. Before, it had just been a darker square amidst a room of darkness. She frowned and looked more intently. "Harry, Ron's not in bed." "You're kidding. You don't think he's already gone downstairs to open presents? Why didn't he wake me up to go down with him? And, why didn't he kill me when he got up and saw you in bed with me?" "I don't know. I really don't know how long I've been in bed with you. I only woke up a few minutes before you did. I do know I don't remember coming up here. You've got to believe me, Harry. I wouldn't take my clothes off and come up here on my own." "I do believe you Ginny. But right now, we need to get you back downstairs before everyone else in the house wakes up." "OK, Harry, why don't you just get up and go down to the loo or something like that. Then I can get up and find one of Ron's shirts to wear." It was Harry's turn to have a horrified look on his face. "Uh, Ginny, I can't. I'm, uh, only wearing boxers." Ginny gave Harry a surprised look and realized her eyes had unconsciously drifted down to the covers. She blushed and looked back at Harry's own blushing face. Harry began to explain, "It was really hot up here last night. Sometimes it's too cold. Other times it's too warm up here. Last night it was . . ." "I get the idea, Harry. You don't need to explain and you don't need to be embarrassed. A lot of guys just sleep in their boxers." "Uh, how would you know?" Ginny couldn't help but smile, in spite of herself. "Well it isn't first hand. I've just heard that from some of the girls in the dorm when we've been talking about boys and . . ." Her voice trailed off. She really didn't want to go there. Getting back to the main concern, Ginny offered another solution. "Look, I'll close my eyes while you get out of bed and . . ." "I have a better idea, Ginny. Instead of taking time looking for something to wear and taking the chance for Ron to come back up any minute, why don't I close my eyes and you can pull off the top cover, wrap it around yourself and hurry down to your room." Ginny quickly considered and then agreed. As she moved to climb out of bed, she hesitated a moment. "Close your eyes." Harry obeyed but Ginny was still nervous. "You promise you won't peek." Harry, eyes still shut, grinned. "The thought did cross my mind, but I promise I won't." Ginny felt her stomach do somersaults and mentally berated herself for even still thinking there might ever be anything between the two other than the close friendship that had grown between them during the past year or so. It was almost as if she had another brother. And yet, she knew that no matter how close they were, he would never be like a brother for her; she just didn't have feelings like that for her real brothers. Ginny glanced warily at Harry several times as she pulled off the top blanket and quickly wrapped it around herself. She whispered a thanks to Harry and then practically flew down the stairs toward her own room, hoping no one would see her. She was not prepared for what awaited her. As she took the last few steps to her floor, she heard Hermione's shrill voice coming from her bedroom. "Ronald Weasley! What are you doing in bed with me? Get out. Get out, before someone sees us." There was a moment of silence and then Hermione practically screamed, "You're naked! I can't believe you'd actually come down here and get into bed . . ." "Oh, bloody hell, Hermione! Do you really think I'd walk around the Burrow starkers, let alone actually trying to get into bed with you?" "Then how do you explain . . ." "I don't know. I don't remember even coming down here." "Well, you need to get out of here before Ginny, or worse yet, your mum and dad wake up." "Well, the way you've been yelling, you probably woke them up at Hogwarts." By this point, Ginny was to her door and quickly opened it. The scene that met Ginny's eyes made her momentarily forget the questionable image she undoubtedly projected at that moment. Hermione was physically pushing Ron to get him out of her bed and Ron, with ears and cheeks as red as his hair and the covers pulled up to his chin, was fighting even harder to remain in bed. "If you would just stop and listen, Hermione!" Ron was practically yelling, "I can't get out of bed! I'm starkers!" Ron's last comment must have finally sunk in because Hermione stopped pushing Ron and actually scooted back away from him. She was staring angrily at him with saucer-like eyes. "What were you thinking? Did you really think I'm that kind of a girl? I can't believe . . ." "No, Hermione. I swear I didn't come down here on my own. I just woke up in your bed and then you woke up before I could get out of here." "Hermione," Ginny cut in as Hermione opened her mouth to respond. "He's telling the truth. I woke up in Harry's bed and I wasn't wearing anything either." Ron sat up straight in bed and glared in shock at Ginny. "I'll kill him. I can't believe my best mate would go to all of this just to get my little sister into bed with him." "Oh Ron, you silly git. It wasn't Harry. I'm sure it was Fred and George. Do you really think Harry would do something like this? He doesn't even like me that way." "He's a guy. Guys our age spending practically every waking moment figuring out how they can snog every pretty girl they see." Both girls looked at him in surprise and he mumbled a rather strong swear word under his breath but obviously decided it wasn't worth trying to explain his way out of that statement. Instead, he turned to Hermione. "See? It wasn't my fault. Now close your eyes so I can take the top blanket and get out of here." Hermione closed her eyes and looked away. "Just hurry. I don't want anyone to see us." All three heard loud laughter as Ron awkwardly rolled out of bed, pulling the top cover with him. Hermione opened her eyes in surprise, let out a little squeak and immediately covered her eyes with her hands. Ron, who had not quite got the blanket completely around him, looked back at Hermione in embarrassment. "Hermione!" "I'm sorry! I'm really sorry." Fred and George, who were gently pushing Ginny further into her room, both burst out in a new round of laughter. "Oh, this is getting even better," Fred declared between guffaws. "Quite right, Gred." Ginny felt the anger boiling up inside. She turned and glared at her two older brothers. "I can't believe even you two would do this. This is the lowest . . ." "Oh, and what the four of you did to us yesterday wasn't low and mean?" "Not like this. I can't believe you two would actually take my clothes off. You haven't seen me undressed since I was a little girl." Ginny felt the tears beginning to form and fought to not give her brothers the satisfaction of seeing her cry. It would be just one more humiliation in what was turning out to be the most humiliating day of her life. "And we didn't see you this time. We did the appropriate charm and turned our backs to you. We let the magic do the rest, including pulling the covers properly over you." "Careful, Forge. We don't want to incriminate ourselves." "You already have." The twins turned and looked at Harry as he pushed into the bedroom. He scowled at them, then glanced over at Ginny who was still holding the blanket around herself. He gave an embarrassed grin at her. "I have pyjamas on now." Ginny blushed, Ron growled and took a step toward Harry but stopped when he realized his own blanket "clothing" was still partly tucked into Hermione's bed, Hermione gave a disapproving frown at Harry, and the twins looked at each other and whistled in glee. "Why, Ginny, Harry, we never imagined." "Shut it, Fred. None of the jokes this week were as mean as this." "So, Ginny, Ron, and friends, does this mean you give up trying to out-do the masters of practical jokes?" "Fred, George, what have you two done?" The twins and everyone else jumped as Molly Weasley entered the now-crowded bedroom. "Mum," George said smoothly, "they didn't wake you up, did they?" "What do you think?" "But I'd say it was all of you," Bill chimed in from out in the hall. "I would, too," added Charlie. "You two better have a good explanation for all of this commotion on Christmas morning." She stopped and looked at Ginny with the blanket wrapped around her and then at Ron with a blanket wrapped around him and Hermione's guilty expression. "Ginny, Ron, what's been going on in here?" Fifteen minutes later and after various explanations and a lot of yelling from Molly, everyone went to get dressed and Molly stomped downstairs to get Christmas breakfast ready. Ginny and Hermione didn't talk much as they performed their morning ablutions and got dressed. There had been an awkward moment when the girls had stepped out of the bathroom and found Harry and Ron waiting to go in. Both boys had blushed and averted their eyes from the girls as they sidled quickly past. Ginny noticed Hermione's lips quivering a couple of times and had asked if she was okay. Hermione had grimly nodded yes, but Ginny knew that was quite the truth. For her part, her feelings wavered back and forth between embarrassment and anger. As the girls descended, they could hear Molly banging pans around in the kitchen and still yelling at Fred and George. 'What were you two thinking? This time you've gone too far. I don't care if you were trying to get back for practical jokes they played on you . . ." "Don't consider it a joke, mum," Fred broke in. "It was our Christmas present to the four of them." "How in heaven's name can you call what you two did a Christmas present?" "The best Christmas present ever," Fred corrected her. "Yeah," explained George, "Ron's been too much of a coward to let Hermione know how he really feels and it's obvious how Hermione feels, so we helped both of them." Both girls stopped their descent and stood quietly on the stairs. Hermione's face was once again turning several shades of red. Before Ginny could say anything to comfort her, Fred took up the argument. "And of course Ginny has been in love with Harry since she was ten. She may say she's content with having him as just a good friend . . ." "Like another brother," added George. "But we know what she'd really like to do." "Fred Weasley," Molly snapped angrily at him. "How dare you suggest something like that about Ginny?" "What? I was meaning for him to be her boyfriend so they could kiss. What were you thinking of?" Ginny, blushing and feeling a new, painful wave of humiliation, gave a small groan as her mother made an attempt to explain herself and then again went on the defensive. "But to put Ginny and Ron into the beds without any clothes on. There is no excuse for that. You were inviting trouble. What if Ginny and Harry or Ron and Hermione had . . . well, had . . . I know they wouldn't, they're all good kids. But still, what if they had . . ., well, you know what I mean." "No, Mum," George cheerfully jumped in, "please, do explain." "Oh, shut it, George. Arthur, talk to your sons. This was horrible, absolutely horrible." "Your mum's right boys. You went too far . . ." Both girls didn't listen any longer as they retreated back up the stairs and sat down on the first step of Ginny's floor. Hermione's face had gone from red to a pale color. Ginny's stomach was in knots. Growing up with six brothers, she was used to practical jokes and siblings fighting. What with magic and the wild sense of humor of the twins, she was even used to some of the jokes being a bit dangerous or risque. However, she had never imagined them going this far. And, now her parents and brothers were even discussing whether she and Harry might even have been willing to take advantage of her being in his bed in the buff. As embarrassed as she was, it appeared Hermione was even more so. Hermione was sitting there with her eyes closed, shaking her head. "Your mum thinks Ron and I might have . . ." "No she doesn't, Hermione. You heard her say she knew we wouldn't . . ." "No. She sounded more like she hoped that was the case. I'm so embarrassed. I think maybe I should just go home right now. I was silly to come here instead of my own home. I wasn't with them last year." "Hermione, they were skiing in Switzerland. And besides, you know you want to be here. Ron wants you here." "Does he really? Let's face it Ginny, he'll probably never say how he really feels. I thought he liked me; now I don't know any more. You would think if he really liked me, he would have tried something this morning." "Hermione!" Ginny exclaimed, a mixture of shock and laughter bubbling out. Hermione again turned beet red and gave a self-conscious grin. "I didn't say I would have let him. I'm just saying that as a teenage boy you think he would have tried something." "Yeah, tell me about it. Harry really does just think of me as a good friend or, worse yet, the little sister he never had. I guess I should just be happy with it the way it is because nothing else is going to ever happen." Hermione sighed in frustration. "I've been waiting since fourth year for Ron to wake up and make some kind of a move, and you've been waiting since you first met Harry. Maybe we've both been daft for even trying." Ginny was about to respond when she heard the footsteps of Harry and Ron coming down the stairs. Both girls stood up quickly as the boys appeared. They both stopped and there was an uncomfortable silence for a minute. Ginny was amused to see both of them blush again. She wasn't surprised to see Ron blush, but was pleasantly surprised to see Harry's cheeks color and his averting his eyes away from her. She decided he looked very cute when he was embarrassed. Ron turned to Hermione. "Uh, you, uh, didn't see much of, uh, well . . ." "Your buns, Ron?"Ron grimaced and then glared at Ginny before looking back at a very red-faced Hermione. She didn't look him in the eyes as she told him she hadn't seen too much. Ginny wasn't sure whether or not that made Ron feel better or worse. Bill and Charlie came down the stairs, grinned at the four, wished them a Happy Christmas and then continued on down to the kitchen. Ginny knew they couldn't stay upstairs all day. They might as well face the inevitable."Well, we might as well go down. Hopefully Mum is done yelling at the twins." Ron scowled. "Well I'm going to bloody yell at them. I don't know what gave them the idea Hermione and I would like to be in bed together." Ron forged bravely ahead as Harry gave him a strange look. Hermione let out a little whimper and Ginny gently put her arm around her and nudged her along. When the four entered the kitchen, Ginny was frustrated to see they were still the topic of the conversation. So much for it turning into a Happy Christmas. Apparently, the twins had been filling Bill and Charlie in on their prank and Molly had again been scolding them when Ginny and the others stepped into the kitchen. The talking ceased and everyone turned and looked expectantly at the four. A few minutes later, they were all seated down to a scrumptious Christmas breakfast of bacon, sausages, eggs, fried potatoes, grilled tomatoes, toast, hot chocolate and coffee. After grace was said and they had begun to dish up the food, Charlie looked across the table to Ginny and Hermione. "Since I just arrived home last night, I haven't been able to see everything that's happened this week. I've heard Fred and George's version. Now, I'd love to hear yours." Hermione again was uncharacteristically quiet, so Ginny took it upon herself to tell the tale of hijinks and revenge added upon revenge. "It started the first day we got home from Hogwarts. Fred and George had this ridiculous mistletoe that kept following us around making all kinds of obnoxious comments." "Yeah, it kept telling me to stop being such a coward and to snog Hermione senseless," Ron said angrily. Hermione just sat there with her head lowered, quietly shaking it back and forth. "And the mistletoe kept following Harry around telling him to kiss me because I've been waiting for his kiss since I was ten." Charlie was chuckling as he looked at the twins. "That was really rude. Funny, but rude." "Yeah, well, they got their revenge," Fred answered. "That night when George and I went to bed . . ." "We blew up!" "What?" Charlie practically spit out the coffee he had been sipping. In spite of Hermione's embarrassment at the morning's events, even she smiled at the memory of that night. "Yeah, we both laid down on our beds and right at the same time, bang! Both beds exploded . . ." "Well, they didn't really explode, but they had the big bang and then different colors of smoke." "Hermione came up with it," Ron eagerly explained. George grinned. "We liked it so much we want to sell it at the store." Hermione scowled. "Funny way of showing you liked it." Ginny nodded in agreement."They must have spent most of the next day looking around their joke shop trying to figure out what would be a really mean joke to play on us." Harry grinned. "I guess we ought to be glad they didn't use some of that ink that makes your clothes disappear." Several around the table started chuckling and Ginny heard her mother ask in an incredulous voice if the twins really sold something like that. However, Ginny wasn't paying attention. She couldn't help but notice how Harry's smile had faded and he had looked away in either embarrassment or something like that when she had smiled at him and his comment. Her attention was brought back to the conversation with George's comments. "We thought of it. We figured the boys might enjoy seeing the girls in their knickers, but figured that wouldn't go over well." He gave a nervous glance over to a very disapproving Molly Weasley. "Then we thought maybe the girls might like seeing the boys in their boxers," Fred jumped in. "But, we then decided no one really wanted to see Ron in his Chudley Cannon boxers." Hermione looked at a very embarrassed-looking Ron in shock. "You actually have Chudley Cannon boxers?" Harry nodded his head and gave a slight roll of his eyes as Ginny once again took up the story. "So, instead, they put Fire Eater powder into our bowls of soup . . ." "And all four of you looked really nice with fire coming out of your mouths and steam coming out of your ears." "Yeah, giving us water to drink to cool our mouths off was a nice touch," Harry muttered sarcastically. "It was, wasn't it?" George said with a grin. "Water doubles and triples the heat and burning," Fred explained. "It was after the water that the steam came out of their ears." Charlie was laughing at the image, while Arthur and Bill, both of whom had seen the prank, were trying hard not to laugh out loud. Neither Molly nor the girls were laughing. Ron, who had a very unhappy look on his face, then explained what the four did to get revenge. "We got back at you, though." Fred and George grinned at each other at the memory. "We have to admit, yet another great practical joke we'd like to work on and use at our shop." Harry even grinned. "The Almost There Chairs! You magic a chair, but instead of the usual spell, you change it at the end by using the words forma dura minutia. What it does, is it creates a chair but it isn't completely solid. It's only solid enough to move around and appear to be a regular chair. You should have seen the looks on their faces when they sat down and went right through the chairs." "Yeah," Fred grimaced. "I still have a bruise on my butt." All eyes at the table turned and stared at Fred. Ron voiced what the others were wondering. "So, do you always stand in front of a mirror naked and look at your butt?"" After the laughter had died down, George looked at Hermione. "That was another great bit of magic . . ." "Ginny was the one that came up with The Almost There Chair," Harry cut in. He looked over at Ginny with a grin that again faded when Ginny smiled back. She didn't know what Harry's problem was, but it was beginning to bother her. He was making a bad day worse. George's voice cut into Ginny's thoughts. "Ginny . . . Ginny! I was saying that was really good. Where did you learn it?" "Oh, uh from Wenda Broomwinder, a fifth year in Ravenclaw. She learned it from her older brother." "So," Charlie interjected, "what did the two of you do to get them back?" "Ah," Fred grinned. "That was, until this morning, our best practical joke." He noticed Molly start to open her mouth to chew him out and back-peddled a little. "Although this morning uh, wasn't uh, in the best taste I guess," adding half-way under his breath, "the funniest by far though." George took over the explanation as Molly again gave Fred very black looks. "All four of them were in Ginny's room visiting near bedtime when all of a sudden, they were in a very bad blizzard — right there in the bedroom. And, each time one of them tried to counter jinx the spell, it got worse." "It took both dad and me working together to end the spell," Bill added with a grin. "Yeah, by the time the storm ended, there was three feet of snow in the room. It took awhile to magic all of the snow out and then a couple of drying spells to get the room dry. In the meantime, they all had to have hot baths to get warm," Fred interjected with glee. "And while we were trying to take turns bathing, they had that damn . . .," Ginny checked herself part way through the swear word when she saw her mum scowl, "uh, darn mistletoe following us around saying all kinds of rude and suggestive things like, ‘Ginny loves bubble baths, wanna join her Harry?' and ‘Hermione would love to have you scrub her back, Ron.'" She noticed as she repeated the statements, Harry blushed noticeably and Hermione actually gave an audible whimper. Molly spoke up with a very disapproving voice. "I was extremely angry at the time and told you . . ." "Mum, we didn't mean any harm. We were just . . ." "So," Charlie interrupted, obviously trying to avoid an argument between his mother and the twins, "what did the four of you do in response?" "Well," Ginny again took up the narrative, "it was a double practical joke. Harry and I made a quick potion that Hermione suggested. We put it into a batter for muffins and then baked them. The twins came down for breakfast and had them with their coffee before they left for the shop." "By the time we arrived at the shop, we had purple polka dots all over our bodies and we were itching and scratching." Ginny ignored George's interruption as she continued, "After the twins left, Hermione and Ron worked on a simple ward that wouldn't allow Fred and George to apparate into the Burrow. Dad was nice enough to help them with that." "Dad!" both of the twins yelled at the same time. Arthur got a silly grin on his face. "All in good fun. Besides, I needed to help level the playing field, to use a Muggle expression. Ginny and the others were really getting the worse of it by you two, what with the mistletoe and everything." "Well," Fred responded, "of course Ginny and the others are going to make it sound like they were victims. We were the ones with purple polka dots all over our faces, itching all over our bodies and then, when we finally tried to come home, we couldn't even apparate into the Burrow. We had to trudge up the lane through the snow and slush. We were the real victims." Ginny gave a loud snort and Ron responded hotly. "Oh yeah, real victims. At least you never ended up nude in bed. That's the lowest practical joke . . ." "Oh calm down, Ron. Maybe you minded being in bed, but Hermione didn't seem to mind having you in bed with her." Fred winked conspiratorially at Hermione. Her almost permanent blush turned several shades more red and it was obvious she was fighting to hold back tears. "Yeah," George chimed in, "think of it as our special Christmas present to the four of you, since you can't seem to get anywhere on your own." Before Ginny or anyone else could respond, Hermione jumped up from the table and turned to go back upstairs. "I, I need to go home. I'm really sorry Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. I'm sorry for all of the trouble. This has been . . . I've never been so humiliated in my life. I just can't . . ." With that, she dashed up the stairs as the others stared in amazement. After a moment of stunned silence, George feebly mumbled, "We were joking. We didn't want to drive her away." Ron spoke up in a bewildered tone of voice. "She can't leave. Why is she going? Ginny, go upstairs and talk her into staying." "No Ron. You go up and tell her yourself, if you really want her to stay." "But . . ." Harry shook his head in frustration. "Oh for heaven's sake, Ron. At least tell her what you told me this morning." Ron turned a shade pinker, gritted his teeth, and, as he mumbled, "Harry," gave sideways glances toward his parents. Harry just rolled his eyes in exasperation as he proceeded to explain. "Ron told me that when he first woke up and before he realized he really was in Hermione's bed and was, well, didn't have anything on, that it felt wonderful to wake up in the same bed with Hermione. It was a great thing to have her next to him first thing in the morning." Harry's comment produced joyous guffaws from the twins and chuckles from Ron's other brothers, as well as knowing smiles from Arthur and Molly. Ginny was also grinning, but also wishing Harry had had the same reaction. Unfortunately, his reaction had definitely not been one of pleasure of having her wake up in bed next to him. Her thoughts were interrupted by the ongoing conversation as Molly was talking soothingly to Ron. "Ron, dear, it's obvious you like Hermione as more than just a friend. It's been obvious for some time. Your dad and I have waited and wondered how long it would take for you to realize and . . ." "Yeah, we've all wondered," George piped in with a grin. Molly gave him a cold stare. "I've had enough from both of you. You've greatly embarrassed Hermione and may very well have ruined things for good. So keep quiet." She turned back to Ron and, in a much calmer voice, continued. "And, while I am still very angry about the fool-hardy joke played this morning, it's obvious you really do have feelings for her. And she's a lovely young lady." "Mum's right," Fred added a little tentatively, for once actually sounding serious. "Hermione may be a little too much by the rules for our tastes, but George and I still like her a lot. She's the best thing that could ever happen to you." Ginny smiled at Ron with his expression of being almost overwhelmed at everyone's comments. "It's true, Ron. But I'm afraid you're going to lose her if you don't get up and go talk to her." Ron didn't wait to listen to anymore. He jumped up from the table and moved quickly to the stairs. Harry grinned and called after him, "Go for it, mate." Everyone enjoyed a good chuckle. Ginny stole a glance at Harry, who was sitting across from her. She noticed his smile fade a little and his face flush as he turned and looked into her eyes. Ginny couldn't help but feel a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. With all of the morning's craziness, she had almost forgotten that Harry had seemed to think she had purposefully gotten into his bed undressed. And worse yet, she knew what he had thought she had been there for. The pain she had felt at that moment came back and washed through her body like a flood of ice-cold water. What humor and Christmas spirit she had finally begun to feel quickly evaporated. The breakfasters could hear snatches of the conversation between Ron and Hermione. That is, they could mostly hear Ron as he was obviously yelling and Hermione was crying. This was met by a combination of groans, smirks, whispered commentary and unconcealed interest on the part of the listening audience downstairs. "But I'm telling you, you can't leave . . ." "Well, okay, of course you can leave, we're not keeping you a prisoner here." "Wait, Hermione, let's talk about this." "What do you mean there's nothing to talk about? Look, Hermione, I liked being in bed with you." "What do you mean, 'what's that supposed to mean?' Didn't you want me to tell you that?" Ginny couldn't help but groan as Harry and her brothers fought to keep from laughing. Ron's end of the conversation continued to float down to the kitchen. "Why Hermione? Why are you so embarrassed? I was the one that was starkers, not you . . ." Ron's voice lowered several octaves and Ginny noticed practically everyone physically lean toward the stairs hoping to hear. I can't hear anything," Fred growled, "Why don't I get the extendable ears?" However, before he could get up, there was a slapping sound and Ron's voice bellowing. "Ouch! That hurt, Hermione. You didn't need to slap me so hard. I was just kidding about wanting to see you starkers." There was a burst of laughter around the table as Ginny and Molly shook their heads in frustration and Arthur rolled his eyes. However, all ears were still tuned to the conversation upstairs. "Really, I meant it as a joke. No one thinks you'd really . . ." "Oh, for the love of Merlin, Hermione, no one thinks you're a little tart! Why would they think that?" "But I was the one that was naked!" "No I won't stop yelling. Besides, they're all busy eating. No one can hear us downstairs." "Hermione, why the hell are you still packing?" "I told you, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. We all want you to stay; I want you to stay." "Why do I want you to stay? Be-because I, I like you. No. I love you, Hermione. I really do. I've loved you for a long time. I was just too stupid to let you know." Everyone around the table gave silent cheers and big smiles as everything went quiet upstairs and it became obvious that the discussion had ended and the kissing commenced. Again Ginny risked stealing a glance across the table to Harry. And again she was met with an almost unreadable stare and a flushed face. Ginny held her glance, trying to read Harry's face, only to have Harry eventually look away with what was now unmistakably an uncomfortable expression on his face. What little appetite Ginny had had before seeing Harry's face, she no longer had. She spent the remaining breakfast time wordlessly pushing the food around on her plate. It was very obvious to her that her brothers' little stunt of putting her undressed into Harry's bed had not only ruined any chance she might ever have had for their relationship to become romantic, but had possibly ruined their relationship altogether. This was painfully evident by he pained look on Harry's face and the fact that he seemed incapable of maintaining eye contact. As the other members of her family began to arise from the breakfast table, friendly banter concerning the status of the two snoggers upstairs could be heard all around, including a wise-crack from Fred wondering if they might be back in Hermione's bed - to which Molly Weasley gave him a very black look. While Ginny was pleased for her best friend and her brother, she was definitely not in the mood to participate in the conversation. She quietly got up from the table and made her way up the first flight of stairs and into the laundry room. Ginny wasn't sure how long she had been in the laundry room as she had been busy thinking and crying. What was supposed to have been the happiest day of the year had turned into a day she wanted to just forget. She did know she had been there long enough for Hermione and Ron to finally come up for air, so to speak, as she had heard them descend the stairs and receive their warm welcome of applause and cat-calls. She had certainly been there long enough for the opening of presents. She vaguely wondered when or if they had noticed she wasn't among the utter chaos which was also known as the Weasley present opening. Generally, the family seemed to charge into the room and dive at the Christmas tree in a mad scramble for presents. Presents would be handed back to the appropriate person or would float through the air guided by one wand or another. The unwrapping was even more chaotic and confused than retrieving the presents as bits and pieces of wrapping paper seemed to fly through the air mixed with a cacophony of comments and sounds in an unwrapping frenzy that rivaled a pack of wild wolves falling on their prey. However, even with all of the commotion of Christmas morning, there was no doubt that, by now, her family had missed Ginny and wondered where she had gone off to. Just the same, she quietly hoped they would not come looking for her. Unfortunately, her hopes were in vain. There was a jiggling of the door knob and then, after a moment, a quiet but firm "Alohamora" and the door swung open. Ginny squinted at the sudden brightness of the outside light filtering into the darkened laundry room. There in the doorway stood George. "Hi, Ginny. How are you doing?" "I'm okay," Ginny replied, a little more sullenly than she had planned. There was a moment of silence before George again spoke. "I don't think so. Would you like to talk about it?" "No, George, I wouldn't." George quietly shut the door behind him, said "lumos," and then walked over and sat next to Ginny on the table used to fold clothes. "Then I guess we'll just sit together in silence." "Why are you here, George?" "Why are you here? It's Christmas morning. Everyone's already opened their presents, except for two, and you're one of them." "I don't really feel like opening presents." "Yeah, we gathered that. Alright, I'll have to admit, it took a little while before we noticed your presents hadn't been opened and there was no sign of movement under any of the large piles of wrapping paper. That's when we decided we better start looking for you. Bill and Charlie did a quick search outside and it was obvious you hadn't gone out. Ron and Hermione said you hadn't gone back into your room, and a quick search proved you weren't in any of the other rooms. Then I remembered you like coming in here when you want to be alone. So, what's up?" "George, why the hell did you and Fred put me into bed naked with Harry?" "It was a joke, Ginny. We wanted to do one over on all of you that you couldn't best. Looking back, I can see how stupid and insensitive it was; but Fred and I aren't ever going to say that to Mum. It would hurt our image. Honestly, Ginny, you know we love playing jokes and love to embarrass anyone we can. But we would never knowingly hurt you." Ginny again felt the tears rolling down her cheeks and she wiped at them in anger. "Well you did hurt me. I'd pretty much accepted that Harry and I would never be together romantically, but at least we were good friends - really good friends. But after this morning, well, it's obvious he doesn't want to have anything to do with me." "Oh, come on, Ginny . . ." "Come on? Come on?" Ginny could hear her voice rising in anger, but didn't care. "You weren't in bed naked with him." "Thank goodness." "George, he thought I was the one who got into bed naked. He thought I wanted to . . ." Ginny broke off and looked away in embarrassment. She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence for her older brother. "Ginny, I don't think it's as bad as you think." "How do you know? You're not Harry. You can't read his thoughts. And, you didn't sit across from him and see how uncomfortable he felt with me being there." "Ginny, I think there's someone you need to talk to . . ." "Who? Harry? Oh no, you're not going to tell him where I am? Please, I don't . . ." "Too late. He already knows. He's been searching for you since before we started unwrapping the presents." George got a contemplative look on his face. "You know, perhaps our family is a little too wild with the unwrapping. When Harry finally got our attention, he said he had been yelling at the top of his voice telling us you weren't there. He seemed rather angry we hadn't paid attention. But, what with the unwrapping and all, it does get rather noisy you know and . . ." His voice trailed off and he again looked at Ginny. "Well, anyway, when we all started looking for you, he went with me and the two of us had a little visit. I think you should at least hear what he has to say." "Oh, George, please . . ." It was too late. George was off of the table and had already reached the door. He opened it again and called to Harry who obviously had been waiting outside the door. As Harry tentatively came into the room, George stopped him, putting his arm around Harry's shoulder. "Harry, you know how much I like you. We all do. But, if you do anything to hurt Ginny, you'll wish You-Know-Who was here when Fred and I get done with you." He gave Harry a big smile. "Okay?" Harry nodded and George left, shutting the door behind him. Ginny heard Harry pull his wand out and then heard the familiar, "lumos," As the room again lit up, Harry was standing there looking at her. "You know. I don't think he was joking." Ginny didn't respond and, after an awkward moment of silence, he went over and sat on the table next to Ginny. Ginny didn't know what to think. Harry had obviously been embarrassed and uncomfortable with her across from him at breakfast. She had read it in his eyes. And, if there was one thing that the years they had been together had produced, it was that she could read him well; perhaps even better than his two best friends. But now she was at a loss to understand why he was sitting next to her obviously wanting to talk. After what seemed like an eternity but was probably no more than a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Ginny finally turned and looked Harry in the eyes. She halfway expected him to look away as he had earlier. However, he didn't. "Harry, why are you here?" "I, I think we need to talk." "There isn't much to talk about, Harry. Look, I know you were embarrassed this morning. So was I. I know you feel uncomfortable around me. I could see it in your face at breakfast. Try to deny you were uncomfortable at breakfast." " I can't deny it." Ginny had expected him to admit he had been uncomfortable. Still, actually hearing him say it hurt more than she had thought it would. She fought back the tears that again began to form at the corners of her eyes and silently cursed Harry Potter for being able to hurt her so easily. "Ginny. Let me explain why I was uncomfortable. This isn't going to be easy. In fact, it's going to be rather embarrassing." "It can't be more embarrassing than to have someone think you've just gotten undressed and into another person's bed to seduce them." "Oh, Ginny . . ." "Don't try to say you didn't think that." "You're right. For a very small moment I wondered if maybe you had. That was really stupid of me." "Oh, I feel so much better now. Only for a moment you thought I was a little tart." Ginny could sense Harry's muscles tighten as he fought to control his temper. After a moment, he relaxed. However, it wasn't a calming relaxing of the muscles. Instead, his back seemed to slump from disappointment and rejection. For a moment, Ginny had her usual feelings of empathy, concern, and, yes, love. However, this time she pushed them back down deep into herself. Harry had hurt her and made her suffer this morning and she was going to do the same. "How could you think that about me, Harry? Have I ever acted like I would do something like that - especially in my own house with my mum and dad downstairs and in Ron's room?" "No, Ginny." "Then why?" "Because I wanted to do that." Ginny heard the gasp that came from her own mouth and felt her eyes go wide with surprise as she turned and looked into Harry's deep green eyes. She could once again see the now familiar look of embarrassment and discomfort. After a few seconds, Harry looked away and slightly lowered his head as he explained. "For the longest time, you were just my best mate's little sister. You never seemed to be able to talk in front of me and that just helped with the image of you being Ron's little sister. I knew you had a big crush on me and, to be honest, I think deep down I kind of liked it. But, crush or not, I just didn't look at you as anything more than Ron's sister." Harry looked up at Ginny with an expression showing that he was sorry. Ginny didn't react one way or another. She was still trying to come to grips with what Harry had said before he started into his explanation. Right now, she just wanted him to continue, which he did. "Well, uh, that kind of changed last year. I mean, Hermione explained to me that you no longer had a crush on me. To be honest, I really liked the fact that you were now talking to me. I began to see your personality and great sense of humor. Last year was a hell of a year, especially after the fight at the Ministry of Magic." Harry stopped and again bowed his head. Ginny could sense that he was fighting to control his emotions. She had been there on several occasions when he had lost the fight and she had reached out to comfort him. She was about to do that again when Harry regained his composure and continued on. "I can't begin to thank you enough for your friendship during the summer and this past fall. It's grown into a close friendship." Ginny couldn't help but give Harry a smile. Although she had still held out a small hope that Harry might eventually have romantic interest in her, she had genuinely enjoyed how close they had become as friends. "I've also enjoyed our friendship, Harry. But this isn't really explaining your actions and comments today." "You're tough, Ginny. Okay, continuing on. As our friendship grew, I came to think of you as not only Ron's little sister, but, in a way, my little sister. I've never had a little sister and I've always kind of thought it would be nice. Hermione's a great friend, but she's not really the little-sister type." Ginny smiled, and also realized that what she had feared was, indeed, reality. While their friendship had grown, Harry had come to see her as just a little sister with whom he could talk to, do homework and study. What she couldn't understand is what Harry had said if there really was nothing there. As if he had read her mind, Harry began to explain. "So, here we were, good friends, and you were like my little sister. But, lately, I've had . . . thoughts popping into my mind." Ginny glanced at Harry out of the corner of her eyes. Now even she was nervous to directly look at him. She silently berated herself for getting nervous as he stumbled along in his explanation. "I mean, well, uh, we're still good friends - at least I hope so, after all of this. But, then, lately I've had some really weird thoughts and I can't seem to get them out of my mind." Harry again stopped and seemed to fidget uncomfortably. After waiting for what she felt was long enough, Ginny turned and looked at Harry. "You've already said that Harry. How horrible can this be? Get on with it if you're going to . . ." "All right," Harry said with a small frown. "This isn't easy. It's embarrassing. And, I'm risking ruining our friendship; although I guess I've already done that, so what do I have to lose? I've been going through a tough struggle lately. You see, lately I've been wondering what it would be like to hold you in my arms. Not just the quick hug after a Quidditch match or something like that. No, I mean to hold you and feel your body against me. And . . . and your lips. Every time I look at your lips, I wonder how they feel to kiss and how they taste." Ginny stared in amazement at Harry, daring not to breath, not to even blink. He looked straight ahead as he continued. "Then I remind myself that you're like a little sister and I shouldn't have those thoughts. Besides, Ron wouldn't be happy if he knew I was looking at you that way. Well, I had done a pretty good job getting those thoughts out of my mind and thinking of you as just a sister until this morning." Harry again lowered his head a little. His face was bright red and Ginny could tell he really was struggling. Her own feelings wavered between the desire to laugh or be worried at what he would say next. "Ginny, it's just that this morning, when you were in bed with me and I realized you were naked, I definitely wasn't thinking of you as a little sister." Ginny grinned at Harry. "What were you thinking?" Harry squirmed uncomfortably and then gave an embarrassed smile. "Uh, I'd rather not say." Ginny giggled as she felt the heat of a very bright blush cover her face. Harry moved a little closer to her. "Ginny, when we went down to breakfast, I still was going through the struggle inside of having these strong feelings for you but feeling really guilty about them. I kept thinking that Ron or your other brothers would kill me for . . . well, for wanting you. I mean, really wanting you." Again Ginny felt the heat of a very bright blush rise in her cheeks as she realized the full meaning of what he had just said. Harry stepped down from the table and began to pace in front of Ginny, which was a little disconcerting to her. Hadn't he already said he had thought about kissing her? He had certainly all but said he even wanted to do more - a thought that was both embarrassing and enjoyable. But now he was pacing back and forth as if he was about to say something even more astounding than what had already been said. "By the time breakfast was over, I had decided that even though it was risking bodily injury from your brothers, I was going to take you somewhere alone and talk with you about my feelings. Then you were gone. I started looking for you, but couldn't find you. Everyone had started opening presents and, well, I finally was able to get their attention and asked where you were. That's when we all started looking for you. And, well, I'm going to do what I planned to earlier." Ginny watched as Harry walked over to where she was sitting on the table. He gently parted her legs, which had been dangling from the edge of the table, stepped between them and leaned against the table. She stared intently into his eyes, now dark with desire, as he cupped her face and lifted it up to him. The kiss was soft, tentative and gentle as their lips met for the first time. Even so, Ginny could feel the passion and fire of the kiss as she reciprocated. She felt one of Harry's hands slide behind her head and lace itself through her hair as he pulled her closer and deepened the kiss. Ginny wrapped her arms and legs around Harry, intertwining her ankles, as their tongues met each other. She barely took notice of her racing heart or Harry's heavy breathing as they repeatedly kissed. Finally, their lips separated as they continued to hold each other in a tight embrace. "Ginny" "Yes, Harry?" "Will you forgive me for hurting you this morning? It wasn't on purpose." "Of course." "Ginny." "Yes?" "I, I think I love you. I think I've loved you for awhile now but was just too bloody stupid to realize it." Ginny closed her eyes and buried her head into Harry's shoulder. Was she imagining or had she just received the best Christmas present ever? After years of dreaming and wishing and eventually giving up any hope, had she just heard Harry Potter tell her he loved her? She looked up into his same dark green eyes now staring intently at her and saw it was true. "I love you too, Harry. I have for a very long time." "I know." He again found her lips and gently parted them with his tongue. Ginny let his tongue discover every part of her mouth and then did the same. Harry pressed her body closer to him as their tongues again met. Ginny tightened her legs around Harry as his hands moved up and down along her back and caressed her. Both reluctantly parted after a few minutes. Harry finally whispered into Ginny's ear. "I think we better go downstairs before George and the others come up and drag us out. I'm afraid your whole family probably knows by now where we are and what we're doing." Harry's comment surprised Ginny. She had been so upset that she really hadn't thought about George and Harry being together and then George leaving Harry alone with her. "So, George knew how you felt when he came in to talk to me?" "Yeah. He had me go with him to look for you. I think it was more to get me alone so we could talk. I ended up telling him what I was going through inside between wanting you and feeling guilty for wanting you the way I did - uh, do." Ginny again had an incredible, almost electrical sensation race through her body as she heard Harry admit that he desired her, wanted her. She smiled at him. "You obviously didn't say anything too bad, you're still standing." Harry laughed. "Actually, I think I really surprised him. He just stared at me for a moment and then burst out laughing. He said he guessed their little Ginny was growing up and they might as well accept it. I just hope Ron will be as understanding when he sees me kissing you." Again Ginny laughed. "I think Ron's going to be too busy with a certain brunette to worry about you and me." Ginny gave Harry a mischievous grin. "Besides, kissing is all I'm going to let you do until the right time." She blushed at the suggestiveness of that comment and loved watching the passion in Harry's eyes as he comprehended the full meaning of her words. And, before going downstairs, they shared one more long kiss. Like Hermione and Ron before, Ginny and Harry were also met with smiles, cheering, clapping and cat-calls. Even though it was certainly embarrassing to Ginny, it was also wonderful. It was as if Father Christmas had finally heard her wish of so many years. The rest of the day passed in a blur of Ginny and Harry opening presents, visiting, eating, playing, and a good amount of kissing and cuddling. This time, Ginny didn't mind the twins' mistletoe coming around and nagging her and Harry to kiss. They happily did, to the whoops and cheers of all present. Ron and Hermione also happily kissed with the same reaction. Ron would look pleased and Hermione would blush and grin. As bedtime came, everyone reluctantly realized a magical day was coming to an end. Ginny, Hermione, Harry, and Ron watched as Fred and George climbed the stairs to their room, They quietly followed and gathered around the open door to watch the twins' reaction. As Fred and George entered their room they saw a large wrapped box in the middle of the room. "Uh, oh. Are you thinking what I'm thinking . . ." "I think so, Forge." "I thought they had called a truce, what with them finally getting together and everything." "Yeah, I thought so too." "We could just blast it or even send it outside." "We could, but then I'd be awake all night . . ." "Wondering what was in it. So would I." "Well Gred, shall we together?" "I think so. If there are any explosions, I hope they're at least loud and colorful." "Naturally." They both pulled out their wands as the four behind them crowded in a little more and stifled their giggles. At the count of three the twins pronounced spells to unwrap and open. In a burst of light, the box unwrapped and opened revealing a stuffed teddy bear holding a sign. "Well, what do you know?" "I certainly did not expect this." They both read the big sign which had been signed by Ginny and Harry, Ron and Hermione. "Thanks, guys, for the Best Christmas Present Ever!" |
| Reviews 26 |
|
