PhoenixSong.net :: A Harry/Ginny Fanfic and Fanart Archive

Author: MyGinevra

Story: The Hog's Head

Part: 32: A Grand Holiday

Rating: Teens

Status: Completed

Warning: Violence, extreme language, sexual situations

Reviews: 7

Words: 7,499

Updated: August 4, 2008, 10:02pm

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32: A Grand Holiday

Ron wandered back into the kitchen for a late snack, but then Molly came in and took over, turning it into a late–night supper. She made up trays of small sandwiches, while Ginny brewed a pot of tea. She told her mother about the pain that the wedding was causing Harry; Molly was chagrined.

"Oh, the poor boy. Why didn't we think of that before we started talking, and right in front of him, too. We'll make no seating arrangements at all, just like you told him." She looked sadly at Ginny and her eyes filled with tears. "We have to keep him from being reminded of all those bad things. Weddings can be hard if someone you love can't be there."

"Oh, Mum," Ginny came and hugged her, "don't worry, I'll take care of him."

"You do, darling. You take care of each other. It's a joy to watch the two of you together."

Ginny smiled — it was pleasing to hear her mum say that — and took the tea service into the parlor. Molly brought in the sandwiches, and they supped by the cheery lights of the fire and dozens of candles. When Ginny sat down next to Harry, he touched her face and she leaned her head on his shoulder. "Let's leave soon," she whispered.

George and Angelina decided to stay overnight, and Ginny told Angelina to take her room. Harry invited Ron and Hermione to come up to the inn tomorrow afternoon and stay for dinner, so the social calendar was set and Molly was happy to have one of her children stay overnight.

It was after midnight by the time Harry and Ginny walked into the inn. The dining room was closed and the elves asleep in their cupboards. They didn't see the Auror who was on duty, but they knew that there were ways to stay hidden and warm, and still be on watch. The night had suddenly turned quite cold, and Harry got out extra comforters. They didn't light the candles, but snuggled under the layers of blankets; that night their love was slow and sweet.

The next morning Ginny went to the library, and Harry faced the task of telling Kreacher and Winky that they would be working for Stan in a few weeks. He found them both in the kitchen; Kreacher looked up at him with his big, bat–like ears flapping, muttered, "Good morning, Harry Potter," and started to shuffle into the dining room with a tray of breakfast rolls on his shoulder.

"Kreacher," said Harry, "I need to talk to you and Winky. Can you come back when you have a moment?"

The house–elf nodded, then closed the dining room door behind him. Winky, meanwhile, had turned on her stool in front of the stove. "Does this has to do with Ginny Pott— Ginny Weasley?" she asked.

"No," Harry couldn't help but smile at her slip, which he had long ago decided was deliberate. "And by the way, we're getting married next summer at the Burrow, and it would really be great if you could make the wedding cake."

She jumped up and stood on the stool. "Winky would be honored!" she clapped her hands. "Winky will be Harry and Ginny Potter's house–elf! Winky has noticed Ginny's ring and the magical rubies."

Harry's eyebrows shot up. "How did you know the rubies were magical? No one else did."

At that moment Kreacher returned; Winky chose not to answer Harry's question, so after a few seconds, Harry cleared his throat. "I've decided to enroll in an Auror training program at the Ministry of Magic. I'll be starting, I hope, after Christmas, and I won't be able to run the inn. So..." he took a breath, noting Kreacher's blank look and Winky's scowl. "So I asked Stan to do it, and he said yes."

Kreacher bowed. "That is a good decision for Harry Potter to make," he looked up at Harry, and he came the closest to a smile that Harry had seen since Harry gave him Regulus Black's locket. "Kreacher enjoys working with Stanley Shunpike; he does not say bad things about house–elves and he treats them kindly." He turned his head to Winky with an accusatory look.

Harry's eyes also shifted to Winky. She was glaring at him and brandishing a ladle that she had taken from a large cooking pot that was bubbling on the stove. "Winky must work for Shan Stunpike because Harry Potter says so," she growled, "but Harry Potter must tell that one to stay out of Winky's kitchen."

Harry held up a conciliatory hand. "Stan Shunpike has to come in here sometimes, but it is your kitchen, Winky. He knows that."

Winky slapped the ladle against her palm twice, slowly, then, with another glare, turned back to the stove. Harry looked at Kreacher who was gazing up at him; the elf gave a tiny shrug, and with a nod, went back into the dining room. Harry sighed and followed; he had done the best he could, and at least he knew that Winky would not stage an outright rebellion. Stan could cope, Harry was certain, and Winky would do her duty.

The dining room was filling up, and Harry stopped at the bar to tell Stan that he had talked to the elves. "Kreacher's fine, but Winky was a little testy."

Stan laughed. "Testy? I 'ope that's the worst of it. Don't worry, 'Arry, she blows a lot of smoke, but it's mostly for show. She just wants to run 'er kitchen the way she wants, and that's fine with me."

Harry walked around the room, greeting customers and stopping to chat with Tony. None of the Aurors was inside, and he went out to find Sagittaria; he wanted to talk to her. She was sitting in a chair next to the back door.

"Hey, Harry," she smiled, "how was London? Did you do anything?"

"Yeah," he conjured a chair and sat next to her. "We had lunch and saw a play. I was never at the theater before. We had a good time."

"Anything on tap for today?"

"Ron and Hermione will be here. That's all."

"I understand you're signing up for the training program. Harry, that's brilliant. A lot of people were hoping you'd do that."

Harry groaned. "It was supposed to be a secret. Who told you?"

She laughed. "The first lesson you'll learn is never to reveal your undercover sources."

"Okay," he grinned. "I have an idea who it was, but I won't try to blow his cover."

"Actually, Ron didn't say anything. He took copies of lesson plans home with him on Friday, and it wasn't hard to figure out why. But the news about you is all over the office, I'm afraid."

Harry shook his head ruefully. "Well, I'd like to start after Christmas, but I wanted to talk to you before I made the decision official, which it now seems to be."

"Sure, Harry. What did you want to ask?"

Harry took a breath. "Who do you think did all those things to the inn?"

The Auror frowned. "Well, we know it was vagrants who tossed the weasel through the window, and we have partial descriptions of the ones who knocked over the chimney and broke all the windows."

"That's not what I mean. Do you really think those vagrants, if that's what they were, could have planned all that? And what about Turquoise Southeby and the Slytherins who attacked those kids? I just think there's a connection."

"There's no evidence for that, Harry. There's not even any evidence to tie Turquoise to anything. I admit she looks suspicious, very suspicious if you consider that she's disappeared. Look," she spoke before Harry could voice his obvious skepticism, "I understand your frustration. I'm frustrated, too, and so are Saliyah and Kingsley. There is one thing that no one knows how to crack, and that's probably the key to this whole thing, the Fidelius you discovered. I guarantee you that we'll solve this when we break that Fidelius."

"But what about all those Death Eaters who escaped from Azkaban? What about Dolores Umbridge?" Harry asked with some irritation. It didn't seem to him that anyone was seeing the whole picture, namely that he, Harry Potter, had been the one to destroy the Death Eater regime, and he was the one they were after, for revenge if nothing else.

Sagittaria nodded. "They might be involved. I don't see what Umbridge could have to do with this, though. She's still in France as far as we know."

"What do you mean, as far as you know?" Harry said sharply. "Is she there or isn't she?"

Sagittaria looked uncomfortable. "Well, I'm not assigned to that case, so I don't really know that much."

"So they've lost track of her."

"I don't think so, but —"

"If there's one person out there who has a personal grudge against me, it's her. Damn." Harry looked up at the elm tree, then back at the inn. He knew that he would be leaving this place after Ginny finished her school year, but he didn't want to be driven from it; he didn't want to run from his problems, especially from one as hateful as Dolores Umbridge.

"Well," he stood up, "I appreciate everything the Ministry is doing for me. I just wonder if it's enough."

"Maybe not, Harry," she stayed seated and looked up at him. "But we're up against one of the strongest spells known to exist. If you have an answer, then please tell us."

Harry went back into the kitchen. He was dissatisfied with his talk with the Auror, but right now he couldn't think of a response to her last statement. Winky was still at the stove and didn't look around at him. Harry went into the dining room, and then he grinned when he saw Ron at the bar and Hermione sitting at a table in front of him.

"Just the genius I was hoping to see," he said to her. "Let's go upstairs, I have some questions for you."

"Can it wait?" she said. "We just got here, and I thought we could go meet Ginny for lunch. I haven't been in the Hogwarts library for a while and there are some books I want to look up in the restricted section."

"She'll be pretty busy. Anyway. I was just talking to Sagittaria Slocum, and she said some things I didn't like. Come on, we can go after lunch. I'll have Winky serve it upstairs."

Hermione didn't look happy, but Harry pulled Ron from his conversation with Stan and they all went up to the flat. Harry moved a chair in front of the fireplace, and Hermione and Ron sat in the love seat. He told them what the Auror had said about the Fidelius, the Death Eaters, Turquoise, and Umbridge.

"She's right, Harry," Hermione said when he had finished. "Unless the Secret Keeper turns up and tells us where the house is, we'll never find it."

"Okay," Harry said, "then let's forget about the house. What do you know about the Death Eaters and about Umbridge?" He looked at Ron.

"Not much more than I did a month ago."

Harry thought for a moment. "What about Pansy Parkinson. Did you ever find out anything about her?"

"Well, no. I didn't really try. It did seem kind of far–fetched to tie her in to all this."

"You're probably right. So... they haven't caught any of the Death Eaters who escaped, they've lost track of Umbridge, and Turquoise Southeby has vanished. Why am I sensing that the Office of Magical Law Enforcement are a bunch of incompetents?

"Harry, that's not fair," Hermione said. "There are other things happening besides your inn, which, you may have noticed, is being protected by three Aurors who do nothing but guard it. If they weren't doing that, maybe they would be trying to solve crimes instead of just preventing them. The Office is also working on the Turntongue case, and there's probably other things going on that we don't know about. On top of that, Kingsley's still Acting Head of the Office, and he's swamped. Maybe Percy's running it day to day, but he has no formal training. He's just a bureaucrat. No offense," she said to Ron.

"Absolutely none taken," he answered. "She's right, Harry. Percy's good at what he does, which is manage other quill–pushers. He's doing a good job with the training program, but he doesn't teach anything himself."

"There's something else," Hermione said. "Don't underestimate what it's going to mean to the Ministry of Magic when you start working there, Harry. You're not nobody. It won't be like Seamus or Susan or —"

"Or me," Ron interrupted.

"Whoever," Hermione said. "You're going to make a difference, Harry, and from what I've seen of your magic lately, I think that the Ministry is going to be very pleased with what they get."

"Well, fine," Harry tried to sound dismissive, "but I don't see how that helps us now. I don't want this thing hanging over my wedding. I'm not going to let it affect that. If the Ministry can't do anything, then it's up to us."

For a moment they were all silent, then Hermione sighed. "It all comes back to that Fidelius charm."

"Could there be anything in the restricted section that might help?"

Hermione brightened. "I'll tell you what, Harry. Give us lunch and then I'll go look. And we can surprise Ginny."

An hour later they were in the library, and Harry startled Ginny with a kiss on top of her head while she was buried in a Charms textbook. "You are extremely lucky that I didn't have my wand in my hand," she said after cleaning up the ink that had spilled all over the table. "You would now be on your way to the hospital wing to have your bat bogeys removed."

"It would have been worth it," Harry grinned. "You're cute when you jump like that." She scowled at him ferociously and picked up her wand, but Harry pushed it aside and gave her a proper kiss.

"That's better," she said, "and less dangerous."

Madame Pince appeared at the end of the aisle and stared at them; they all sat. "What brings you here?" Ginny whispered.

"I wanted to look up some things in the restricted section," Hermione whispered back. "We were talking about the Fidelius charm that Turquoise Southeby is using, and we thought that maybe there would be something in here that we could use to break it."

"Good luck. I thought it was impossible to break." Ginny looked around, and when she didn't see Madame Pince, she raised her voice. "We already talked about it, remember?"

"I had a talk with Sagittaria Slocum about the inn today," Harry said before Hermione could start. "Basically, they're sitting on their bums waiting for a solution to fall from the sky. I want to solve this, Ginny, I don't want it to be hanging around until next summer."

Ginny smiled and put her hand on his. "Neither do I, but..." She got a thoughtful look. "Harry, I just had an idea. You may not like it, but maybe it's the only thing we can do."

Harry put his other hand on top of hers. "What is it?"

"We can't find Turquoise, and no one's going to attack the inn as long as the Aurors are there. What if the Aurors went away? Maybe someone would attack the inn again."

"And we would be waiting for them!" Hermione exclaimed loudly, then clapped her hand over her mouth and looked around in alarm.

Ginny got a sly look on her face. "Or our Patronuses were waiting for them."

They all looked at each other for a moment. Then Harry broke into a broad grin. "Ginny, you are brilliant. Will you marry me?"

"Only if you give me a ruby ring," she laughed.

Ron had a puzzled look. "Wait a minute, these are Patronuses we're talking about, not watch dogs. How do you get a Patronus to stand guard, and be invisible?"

"I don't know," Ginny answered. "Hermione, how do you get a Patronus to stand guard invisibly, and then deliver a message when Death Eaters show up?"

Harry sagged a bit. "You didn't know? You sounded so sure, I thought you knew."

"Sorry, love, but my inspiration only goes so far. I leave it to Hermione to take it from there."

"That's okay," Harry smiled. "It's a brilliant idea, all we have to do is figure out how to make it happen." He looked at Hermione with his eyebrows raised, but she was lost in thought and didn't notice him. Harry nudged Ginny. "She's cooking."

Ginny gave Harry a fond look. "You're in a good mood. Yes, I will marry you."

"Good. Let's go up to the Headmistress's office. I understand that she's like the captain of a ship; she can marry people."

"Hmm," Ginny frowned, "then we have a problem. I need to write a parchment for her class. I'm afraid marriage is out."

"Oh, darn," Harry snapped his fingers, "and I was so looking forward to it."

Ron slapped his hand on the table. "Will you two shut up? Do you have any idea how annoying that is?"

Harry and Ginny stared at him. "Who is this guy, Harry?" Ginny said impishly. "Do you know him?"

Before anyone could say anything, a shadow fell across the table and the hawk–like visage and pinched mouth of Madame Pince stared down at them. "Mr. Potter," she said sternly, "this is a library, not a common room. Please take your conversation out of here."

"Nice going, mate," Ron grumbled as they headed back to Hogsmeade, "you got us kicked out of the Hogwarts library. In my six years of skiving and slacking off I never once got tossed from the library."

"Well, at least the old bag let Hermione stay," Ginny said cheerfully. "We'll have our answer to the Patronus puzzle before dinner."

But Hermione returned later empty–handed; she had not been able to find anything about Patronuses guarding anything. "I only got a chance to check one section of restricted stacks, though. There's a lot more there; I'll go back later."

They were sitting in the dining room at Harry's table in the back, sipping butterbeers. Harry was disappointed. "It sounded like a great idea. Maybe we can just go outside and try it," he turned to Ginny. "You know, summon them and see if we can get them to stay in one place."

"I was about to suggest that," Hermione said. "Remember, Dumbledore figured out how to use them as messengers, which means that there's a way to modify their behavior. We just have to find out how."

They talked until Kreacher began serving dinner to the customers; the elf eventually brought theirs, and Ron and Hermione departed soon after they were done eating. Back up in the flat. Harry lit a fire that filled the room with warmth and low, flickering, romantic light; he sat next to Ginny in the love seat.

"I will miss you rather a lot until Wednesday," Harry said between snogs. "Can I persuade you to spend the last two hours of the weekend in the bedroom?"

"That sounds like a wonderful way to pass the time," Ginny closed her eyes and smiled. "Carry me in?"

* * * *

The weeks before Christmas passed quickly. Ginny held a final Quidditch practice on a frigid Thursday afternoon a week before the holiday, and everyone was in high spirits; even Dennis played passably well and made two saves in a row for the first time ever. Ginny had asked Harry to come and watch, and he sat in the announcers box doing an impression of Luna announcing a match; it caused several near collisions when flyers couldn't control their laughter. Afterward, Ginny and Harry walked back to the castle together; the Quidditch practice had gone extremely well, and she felt as if she was in the stratosphere. On the way up to the castle she put her arm through Harry's and chattered away happily.

"Did you feel anything when I was up there?" she glanced at him. "Just before Dennis made that second save, all of a sudden you were there with me. It felt really good."

They had both become accustomed to these moments when they seemed to be sharing each others consciousness. Harry nodded. "I wonder if it'll happen during a match."

"It could be a distraction," Ginny said. "But this time it seemed like we were flying around the sky together. What was it like down there?"

"It was like wind blowing through my hair and my fingers freezing, " he laughed. "Weren't you wearing your gauntlets?"

"I dropped them. Didn't you see? I took them off to clap when Dennis made his first save, and I wasn't paying attention. They almost hit Jimmy on the way down." They both laughed.

They went up to the common room and Ginny changed, then they went back down to the Great Hall, where Harry was going to leave Ginny off for dinner; he didn't want to miss a meal at the inn because he was working closely with Stan and the elves to make sure that things would go smoothly when Stan took over.

As they entered the Hall, Ginny stopped. "Merlin, will you look at that." She pointed to the Slytherin table. Sitting in the two end seats nearest the staff table were Emma and Claire; Sean Allen was sitting next to Emma and Zoroaster Black was sitting next to Claire. They were eating, and chatting away with the other young Slytherins who usually sat at that end of the table. The older students at the other end were ignoring them.

"It's a revolution," Harry said. "I never saw anyone do that except right after the battle." As they walked to the Gryffindor table Emma saw them and waved, then Claire, Sean, and Zoroaster did. Harry put his hand on Ginny's shoulder as she sat; he leaned down and kissed her goodbye. "Let me know what you find out about that," he indicated the twins. "I'll see you tomorrow." He walked out with an eye on the Slytherin table. Just before he turned toward the doors, he glanced at the staff table and saw Professor McGonagall peering at the twins over her spectacles, a tiny smile on her face.

That evening during their nightly exchange of owls, Ginny reported that Emma and Claire had decided on the spur of the moment to eat dinner at the Slytherin table. "It took two Muggle–born witches with absolutely no prejudices," she wrote. "No one who grew up in the magical world would ever think of doing it. They told me that Sean and Zoro would eat dinner at the Gryffindor table tomorrow. You are right, it is a revolution."

On Friday, a week before Christmas day, Harry met Ginny in the entrance hall and they returned to the flat through lightly falling snow. It was a still, chilly night and they used the opportunity to throw lots of covers on the bed and find ways to keep each other warm underneath. Saturday night was The Hog's Head's Christmas party, since the inn would be closed for three weeks. Harry and his house–elves would be at the Burrow, and Stan would be with Harriet and her family. While the inn was closed, the Ministry decided to temporarily replace the Aurors with Caterwauling charms and other special wards and warning spells; a single Auror would stay at The Three Broomsticks, where he could instantly Apparate the few yards to the Hog's Head if anything should happen.

Harry and Ginny spent all day Saturday decorating the dining room with wreaths, holly, mistletoe — they caught each other under it as often as they could — a beautiful tree that Tony and Carlos brought in, and dozens of Ginny's favorite paper cutouts. Harry bought several dozen boxes of enchanted candles at Dervish and Banges that burned in red, green, and other colors. The mirror behind the bar was festooned with silver, green, and red streamers; each window was decorated with a candle and wreath; and Harriet Smythe had added a festive Christmas hat to the smiling pig on the sign over the front door.

Stan dressed up as Father Christmas; Kreacher made the first and last joke in his life by telling everyone he was dressed up as an elf; and Ginny wore her sexy party dress, her veela necklace, and a red Christmas cap with a tiny golden bell on it. A large bowl of delicious punch — with a few cups of rum added — sat on a table in the middle of the room. A small bandstand was set up at the far end, and Keesha and two other members of the Huffle Badgers — one of the guitarists and the keyboard — were there to play wizard and Muggle carols.

The party began in the early evening and lasted until well after midnight. Everyone from the village showed up at one time or another, including Rosmerta and her whole staff from The Three Broomsticks; their own Christmas party would be next weekend. Most of the Hogwarts staff were there. Harry had asked Hagrid to bring Grawp and the Giant sat in the field next to the front door and watched the festivities through the windows. At one point, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione went out carrying a tub of punch and a dozen mincemeat pies for him. He was always glad to see the friends he had made three years ago, and when Harry introduced Ginny to him, he gently picked her up and she showed him her ring and her necklace. Grawp was mesmerized by the necklace, and Ginny took his finger, as large as herself, and let him touch the solitaire diamond. Hagrid stood in the doorway and beamed as tears rolled down his face.

Several seventh–year students from school were there, too. And, to Harry's delight, many members of Dumbledore's Army came. Cho Chang, wearing a slinky, silk Chinese dress, and Michael Corner arrived together; when Harry saw the ring on Cho's finger, he pointed it out to Ginny.

"Should we say something to them?" Harry asked; they were standing near the bandstand, watching as Michael and Cho were surrounded by other members of the DA, offering congratulations.

"I guess so, but it feels a little weird. I was dating him and you were dating her."

They went over to the crowd at the bar and stood on the edges. Finally Cho glanced up and saw Harry; she smiled and nudged Michael. Harry and Ginny walked over.

"Hi, Cho, Michael," Harry said. "It looks like congratulations are in order."

"And for you, too," Michael replied. They all stood awkwardly for a moment.

"Ginny, that's a beautiful ring," Cho finally said. "When did Harry give it to you?"

"November fourteenth at eight thirty–five in the evening."

Harry looked at her in astonishment. "You know the exact time?"

"Of course," Ginny smiled. "I'll bet Cho knows, too."

"I don't have to remember that far back. It was just last night." She looked fondly at Michael, and he put his arm around her. "We... we'll be leaving the country," Cho said, and glanced at Harry.

"Oh? Where? For a holiday?"

"No, my uncle in Hong Kong offered us jobs in his business. We'll get married there."

"Oh," Harry nodded. "That's nice. So you'll be... actually moving there?"

"Right," said Michael. "I always wanted to travel, see things. We'll take Muggle boats and trains, do a little sight–seeing along the way."

"Well, you two will be the first of the DA to leave us," Harry said. "We'll have a special toast for you. How late are you staying?"

"Not late," Cho said. "We have a lot of packing to do."

"Well, catch me before you go. I'll make sure Keesha gets everyone's attention and we'll give you a proper send–off."

Michael and Cho wandered into the crowd, and Harry and Ginny watched them. "She seemed a little wistful," Ginny observed.

Harry put his arm around her. "I always thought Cho was a little mixed up. I wonder what would have happened if Cedric had lived."

Ginny shrugged, then grinned. "You still would have gotten detention for cursing Malfoy, and you still would have kissed me after the Ravenclaw match."

"You're right." He grabbed her shoulders and kissed her, then held her at arms length. "Some things were destined to happen, no matter what."

"Do you think it was destiny?" Ginny put her hands on his chest.

"Yep. Come on, let's go have a good time."

They joined the DA table until Cho and Michael announced they were leaving, then Harry got the band to play a flourish. He grabbed Cho and Michael, and everyone toasted their happiness. Then Ron toasted Harry and Ginny. George got the band to play a wedding march, and finally Cho and Michael left. At the door, just as she was leaving, Cho turned and gave a small wave to Harry. He waved back, and she was gone.

The crowd started to thin around midnight; Harry and Ginny stood by the door wishing everyone a happy Christmas. Hagrid crushed Harry with a huge hug as he was leaving. "Grawpie's really glad yeh invited 'im, Harry, an' so am I. It's nice to be with family at Christmas." He started bawling, and when he walked out, Grawp gave him a pat on his back that flung him up the lane and across the High Street. He came up against the front door of Scrivenshaft's, picked himself up, and waved to Grawp who was now also crying like a baby. They walked down the High Street back to Hogwarts, Grawp's crashing footsteps rattling windows and causing everyone else on the street to scamper out of his way.

Finally everyone was gone, and Harry collapsed in a chair next to the bar. "Let's leave it for tomorrow," he waved Kreacher away; the elf was about to start clearing tables. "It'll still be here." Kreacher bowed, looking grateful, and went back into the kitchen. "Go home, Stan," Harry told his barkeep, who was behind the bar with Harriet Smythe, still in his Father Christmas costume. "Don't worry about anything, and don't come in until dinner time tomorrow. If anyone shows up, I'll tell them we're only serving bread and water."

They left, and Harry looked around the littered room. The chandeliers still glowed with Christmas colors; a cheerful spirit seemed to infuse the whole inn. Ginny was sitting at a nearby table; they smiled at each other. "This was a wonderful party," she said, and walked over to him; she took his hands. "I've been looking at your green eyes all evening. They do things to me, you know."

Harry blinked. "And that dress and that necklace do things to me." He put his hands on her hips. "Let's go upstairs and do things to each other."

He led Ginny through the kitchen; the elves were asleep, but Winky had already cleaned and straightened up. In the flat, Harry went to let McPherson out, and Ginny looked out the picture window.

"Harry, come here!" she said suddenly. He came and saw a figure standing motionless in the middle of the field, a few yards behind the elm tree, clearly visible in the nearly full moon. The person was cloaked and hooded so they could not see the face; it seemed to be gazing at the inn.

"Come on!" Harry dashed out the door with Ginny right behind him. They clattered down the stairs, and as he opened the back door the figure was backing away. When it saw them, it turned and started to run.

"Wait!" Harry shouted, and he and Ginny went after it. The figure was almost at the fence beyond the field, and as it ran, the hood slipped off and tresses of long blond hair streamed out behind. "Turquoise, wait!" Harry shouted again, and drew his wand. As she scrambled over the fence, Harry shot a Body–binding spell that went high. The spell illuminated the lane, almost like daylight, and they saw another hooded figure standing there. This one raised its wand, and Harry started to cast a Shield Charm, expecting a spell to come his way. But the second figure pointed its wand at Turquoise, who stopped dead in her tracks, then walked slowly forward. When she was within an arm's length of the second cloaked figure, it grabbed her hand and there was a loud crack. They were gone.

"Did you see who the second one was?" Ginny asked.

"No, but I thought he said something when he pointed his wand."

They stood silently for a few minutes, peering into the darkness and listening, but in the cold night they heard nothing except the hoot of an owl. "So where in hell was the Auror?" Harry said angrily.

"Hurt, maybe?" Ginny answered, a little anxiously. They hurried back to the inn and almost collided with Sagittaria Slocum coming around the side of the building; she had her wand out.

"Are you two okay? Did you see someone?" she looked around the field. "We detected two spells, one of them an Imperio."

"An Imperio?" Harry stared at her. "Hermione didn't tell us you could do that yet."

"Hermione Granger? She's not working on that anymore. She asked to be taken off, as far as I know." She stepped away from them and lit her wand, then scanned the field again. "Did you see someone?" she repeated, a little impatiently.

"We saw Turquoise Southeby and someone else. They were both wearing hoods, but Southeby's fell off and I saw her hair. I tried to Bind her but I missed. Then the second person came down the lane and took her hand and they Disapparated."

Sagittaria walked out into the field and Harry and Ginny followed. "She was standing right there, looking at the inn," Harry pointed to a spot near the elm tree. "How did she get so close without setting off some kind of alarm?"

"Harry," the Auror turned to him, "we don't have an alarm that goes off whenever someone comes near the inn. If we did that, every person who walked across this field would set it off. We can tell when someone's up to no good, and apparently she was not."

"Hmph," Harry grunted. "So if we didn't happen to be looking out the window she could still be standing here."

"There's no way for us to tell she's there if she does nothing."

Harry gave her a disgruntled look. "So there's nothing else to do out here, I suppose."

"I'll tell Sam to come over," she said, referring to one of the other Aurors. "We'll both stand the watch for a while."

Harry and Ginny went back inside, and Harry put an Opaque charm on the picture window. He sat on his side of the bed and took off his shoes and threw them into the closet, then he sighed. "I guess we have to trust them, but it sure would be —"

He stopped when he felt Ginny's kiss on the back of his neck. He turned around where he was sitting; she was on her hands and knees on the bed, wearing nothing. Her necklace and her breasts swayed in front of his eyes as she rocked slowly. "You're supposed to be doing things to me," she giggled. Harry fell backward on the bed and pulled Ginny's head down; he kissed her upside down and then did what she had asked him to do.

The next morning Harry sent an owl to Ron and Hermione, telling them about the strange incident of last night. Hermione answered, saying that they should wait until they were all at the Burrow, and then together they could hash the whole thing out. Ginny didn't have any homework or projects that she had to study for, so she helped Harry clean up the dining room and serve the few customers who came in for lunch. In the evening, after Stan came back to work, they stayed in the flat doing this and that. Harry walked Ginny back to the castle shortly before nine o'clock, then went back home.

On Wednesday morning Sagittaria came in with Sam Goldberg, the Auror who would be staying in Hogsmeade during Christmas. "It's a pleasure, Mr. Potter," the short, friendly–looking Auror told him. "Go home and enjoy your holiday, I'll look after things here."

"I really appreciate it, Mr. Goldberg," Harry said; he was sitting with his baggage in the dining room, watching Stan closing up the bar and directing chairs up on the tables. "It'll get a little lonely around here, though."

"I don't mind at all. I usually do something like this at Christmas. Everyone gets a chance to spend time with their families. I take off a different holiday, that's all."

They heard a distant whistle; Harry shook the Aurors' hands, checked with Stan and looked around the dining room one last time, then slung his backpack over his shoulder. He picked up his other bags, and went down the High Street to the Hogsmeade Station where the Hogwarts Express was standing on the track, puffs of steam rising every few seconds from the scarlet engine. Students were already crowding the platform, jostling and talking noisily. Harry spotted the Athair twins. "Harry!" they both cried at the same time, and came running over.

"This is so brilliant!" Emma clapped her hands. "Ginny told us you were coming on the train. We can all share a compartment."

"Sounds like fun," Harry grinned. "Where is she?"

"She was waiting for Luna and Keesha in the entrance hall," Claire said. "Neville was with her. It'll be nice and crowded," she giggled. "Ginny can sit on your lap."

Harry laughed. "Or you two can ride in the overhead."

More carriages were arriving, and soon Ginny, Keesha, and Neville appeared on the platform. "Hi, sweetie!" Ginny gave Harry a kiss; she had a big grin. "This is going to be fun. We'll party all the way to London."

The seven travelers boarded and found a compartment. They loaded their baggage in the overheads, and, with a toot of its whistle, the Hogwarts Express started chugging down the track for London.

Ginny didn't have to sit on Harry's lap, to the twins' disappointment, but the compartment was crowded. Emma and Claire wanted to know all about the Christmas party at the inn; then Neville had to tell them about the camping trip he and Keesha took on the Isle of Wight; then Ginny had to tell them how Harry had proposed to her. Harry brought out a tin of chocolate chip biscuits that Winky had made from a secret Crouch family recipe, and that quieted the girls.

All the while, Luna sat in her seat next to Claire, a distant smile on her face. A lull in the conversation came, and she raised her hand. Everyone looked at her; she kept her hand up and said nothing. Finally Ginny said, "Yes, Luna, what is it?"

"I'm sorry," she said, "but I wasn't sure if there was some kind of speaking order, and I didn't want to go out of turn."

Keesha reached over and patted her knee. "It's quite all right, Luna, go ahead."

"Thanks," Luna smiled. "I just wanted everyone to know that they hired a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

"Huh!" Ginny and Keesha said at the same time; they looked at each other, then at Luna, "How do you know? And who is it?" Ginny asked.

"I heard Professor Slughorn talking about it to Madame Sprout in the greenhouse this morning. I don't know what he was doing there; I never saw him there before. It was highly unusual."

"Maybe they fancy each other," Claire piped up. "Ginny, you can have a double wedding." Both twins burst out laughing, but Ginny was only mildly amused. She turned to Luna.

"So who will it be?" she asked.

"He didn't say." Luna picked up a copy of The Quibbler and started reading. The others all stared at her, then Keesha reached over and pulled the magazine down.

"Luna, how could he not say who it will be?"

"By not saying it."

Keesha sat back. The twins were trying their best to keep from laughing, but soon failed, and they had to hold onto each other to keep from falling off the seat. Luna gazed at them for a moment, then went back to her magazine.

"It could be anyone except Morequest Pester," Ginny said to Keesha. "I'll ask Ron and Percy when I get home. They know everything that's going on. If I find out, I'll let you know."

The hours passed, and when the tea trolley came, Harry bought candies for everyone. Soon the suburbs of London started passing by, and then they saw the skyscrapers of the city. The twins became more and more excited as the train approached King's Cross. When it finally rolled in, they leaned out the window and started waving and shouting even before it stopped. Ginny looked out and saw her parents standing right next to the train. She nodded to them and they waved.

They unloaded their bags and backpacks and made their way to the platform. Harry and Ginny said goodbye to Keesha and Neville; he was spending part of the holiday with his Gran and the rest at Keesha's home. When they turned around, Luna was already gone, but Emma and Claire were standing in front of them, grinning like fiends, and holding their parents' hands.

"Mum and Dad, these are Ginny and Harry," Emma said proudly. "Harry is the hero of the wizarding world, and Ginny is his girlfriend. They're engaged."

They shook hands. "Don't believe everything you hear," Harry laughed. "But I hope you know that your daughters helped save my life. Did they tell you about it?"

"They mentioned something," their father said, a tall, good looking man. "We're very happy and very proud for what they did. By the way, I'm George, and this is my wife Heather."

"We're so glad to meet you," his wife said; she was a very pretty lady with reddish–blonde hair. "We've heard so much about you two. I hope the girls haven't been a bother."

"Oh, no!" Ginny said. "I've had lots of fun with them." She nudged Harry and pointed; Percy was watching them impatiently from next to the barrier. "I'm sorry," she said to the Athairs, "we have to go. My brother's waiting for us. It was very nice meeting you."

"Is that your brother?" George asked. "He was kind enough to help us get through to the platform. It was good to meet you, too."

The Athairs walked away, Heather asking the girls if they had kept their room "nice and tidy." Harry pushed the baggage trolley down the platform, following the Athairs, and watched as Percy opened the barrier for them.

Ginny kissed Percy. "Where are Mum and Dad?"

They're waiting out front," he glanced at his watch. "We have a Ministry car, and it's supposed to be back in the garage by nine this evening."

"Then let's go!" Ginny took his arm and led the way through the barrier. The station was thronged with holiday travelers, and they found Molly and Arthur standing outside next to the car; Molly waved and beamed when she saw them. Arthur and Percy hustled them into the car, and Percy himself took the wheel. Soon they were rolling down the highway to Devonshire and the Burrow. Three hours later, they stood before the front gate, and Ginny took Harry's hand.

"I was thinking about last Christmas," she said as they looked up at the lopsided house. "It was horrible. I had no idea where you were or if I would ever see you again. They had pulled Luna off the train and she was gone. We were all scared to death that they would arrest Daddy any day, and things were so bad at school that I wasn't sure if I wanted to go back."

"Mine wasn't too great either." He put his arm around her. "We were in Godric's Hollow, freezing our bums off. I was almost caught by his snake, my wand broke, and then Riddle came within two seconds of murdering us." He smiled down at her. "It's absolutely amazing how happy I am, Ginny. I love you so much."

"I love Christmas and I love you," she smiled at him "This will be a grand holiday."

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