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Anything by Seersucker
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Anything

Seersucker

A/N: Oh my gosh you guys are amazing! I'm new to the site and I don't know how to answer your reviews but let me just say, they are so sweet! Thank you!

Disclaimer: Actually I do own Harry Potter… okay so I don't

Dear Harry,

Hello, how are you? I know you probably weren't expecting this but I had to do something. I've been miserable this year. After we broke up, I was confused, and we had no chance to work things out. I still care about you, I want you to know that, but right now, I'm confused as to where I stand. You can't just put someone on hold like that. If you want me to wait for you just tell me to and I will. I miss you and everyday I wonder how you are and what you're doing and if you're thinking about me. I've been torturing myself just thinking about what you said over and over again, trying to figure out what you were trying to say. I can't determine if you broke up with me for my safety or if that was just an excuse. I just… I just need some answers. I'm not ready to give this up. What we had…what we have, it works, and it's good. If you're worried about my safety, don't be. I'm a big girl, Harry, I can handle myself. Hopefully I'll see you over holiday. I miss you, and I hope you miss me.

With love,

Ginny

He finished reading the letter again, somehow hoping that the words had changed and rearranged themselves. Why did she have to make it so hard? Why couldn't just one thing in his life be easy? Now he had to explain to her why they broke up. He did still care about her; he would always care about her. Just, not that way. He sighed folding up the letter. His relationship with Ginny had become a bit of a symbol to him now. It was something normal something happy but it was also something that he had moved away from since then. He had grown tremendously over the past few months. He was no longer The-Boy-Who-Lived; he was becoming The-Man-Who-Would-Duel-The-Dark-Lord.

It was a bit of the whole "out of sight out of mind" scenario but it was also so much more than that. He had grown up. He had moved on. He had changed. He had originally broken up with her, for the most part, because he feared for her safety, but there was that one part of him that knew it wouldn't have worked out anyway. Maybe if he weren't The-Boy-Who-Lived, maybe if he didn't have to try and save the wizarding world he could have had a very happy, normal life with her. But he had learned a long time ago that maybes and what-ifs were just a waste of time.

He tucked letter away and called up the stairs.

"Hermione! We're going to be late if you don't hurry."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry! I just have a few more things and then we can leave!" He smiled. Ron had left a few days ago to be with his family, and now, on Christmas Eve day, he and Hermione were going to join the Weasley family in their festivities. They would have gone sooner but Harry had a few lessons with Lupin and Hermione didn't want him to be all alone in the depressing house. She was always looking out for him.

They had grown so much closer over the past few months. In a way it scared him. He knew he was falling for her. He didn't want to hurt her; he didn't want to be hurt by her.

"Ready," she appeared in front of him out of breath, "sorry I took so long. I was just packing some last minute things. I nearly forgot everyone's presents!" He smiled at her brightly as he stood up.

"You've got everything now though?" She smiled and nodded.

"Everything is packed and ready. It feels so good to be getting out of this house for a couple of days. Where's the portkey?" He pulled out a Christmas tree ornament. "Festive." She grabbed tightly to his arm.

"Ready, hold on. Portus." Hermione moved closer to him before he felt a tug on his navel.

§~§~§~§~§~§~§~§

"Harry! Hermione! Oh come here, Darlings!" Mrs. Weasley greeted cheerfully as she quickly moved from the kitchen into the living room where they had just appeared. They were embraced in a bone-crushing hug by Mrs. Weasley. "Oh it's so good to have you here! Are you well? How have you both been? Have you grown since I saw you last?" They smiled at her as they answered her questions. "Well, we've got loads of people coming tonight. Charlie is apparating in from Romania, Remus and Tonks are coming, Fred and George, and Profes-Headmistress McGonagall might stop in for a bit."

"What about Bill and Fleur?" Harry asked as he followed Mrs. Weasley into the kitchen with Hermione on his heels, listening intently.

"Oh, they're spending this Christmas with her folks, which is only fair." He nodded in agreement. "Oh Ron and Ginny are upstairs. Ron! Ginny! Why don't you come help Harry and Hermione with their things!" Her voice boomed throughout the house and two sets of footsteps were heard coming down the stairs.

Ron came down the stairs followed by a lovely looking Ginny. She had styled her hair into soft curls and had pinned them back just slightly to show off her beautiful features. She had a soft green sweater on and a big shy grin to top it all off. They greeted them exchanging hellos and hugs. He wondered if anyone would notice if he hugged Hermione hello just for the sake of having a reason to hug her. He decided against it as Ron began to speak.

"Harry you're going to stay with me, and Hermione's gonna stay in Ginny's room." They brought their things upstairs and got situated before coming back downstairs to the living room. Everything smelled like gingerbread and spice biscuits.

"It's coming down pretty fast out there! It'll probably be a meter high by tonight!" Mr. Weasley said as he brushed snow off of his collar. "Something smells wonderful, sweetheart." He kissed Mrs. Weasley on the cheek tenderly before coming to greet the new guests. "Hello Harry, Hermione. Did you get here alright? How have you both been?" They answered in unison and exchanged pleasantries before he excused himself to go change.

The four of them began catching up on things with each other, although there wasn't really much to catch up on with Ron since he had only been gone for three days. Hermione asked Ginny about school and how things had changed. Ron and him just kind of sat back and listened to the conversation. Ginny's subtle glances over to Harry went unnoticed by no one.

Charlie arrived around noon and he was flocked with hugs and hellos. Soon Fred and George popped in.

"Do not worry everyone, we have brought the mistletoe!" Fred (or was it George?) cried out triumphantly as he held it in the air.

"Now that thing isn't going to explode or anything is it?" Mrs. Weasley asked with a critical eye on the plant.

"Mother, we are offended! You asked us to pick up some mistletoe and we got some. Why would we try to ruin your Christmas?" George (or was it Fred?) asked in mock indignity. They let go of the mistletoe and it hung in the air on it's own. He wondered if anyone else had noticed the way Ginny was eyeing him and then the mistletoe.

He spent the rest of the afternoon dodging Ginny and the mistletoe and questions about what the three of them were doing since they weren't in school. Fred and George officially congratulated Ron on helping out with the soiling the Weasley name by not going back to school and properly finishing. Mrs. Weasley quickly denied those allegations saying that she was very proud of him, and Fred and George for that matter, and as soon as he was done with whatever it was he was doing exactly, she knew he would return to Hogwarts and finish his seventh year. This warranted quite an interesting reaction from Ron.

After catching up with Charlie, Fred, and George, the four of them decided to go out in the garden and play in the snow. He helped Hermione fasten her cloak since her gloves were already on and then he fastened Ginny's who for some reason, unbeknownst to him, could not do it herself. They stepped out into the icy air and immediately decided on a game of snowball tag. After about an hour or so of playing in the snow they came back inside cold and wet. Hermione performed drying and warming charms on all of them.

Remus and Tonks arrived shortly after they had returned from outside and Hermione and Ron readily engaged them in conversation which left him with Ginny. They stared at each other for a moment, lost for words, before Ginny shakily began.

"Harry, did you by any chance get my letter?" She looked terribly shy.

"Yeah, Hermione gave it to me as soon as she got back." He was awkward. Beyond awkward. What was he supposed to say to her?

"Well… yeah. I was a bit emotional when I wrote it. I mean everything I said but you know how girls can get…" She smiled sheepishly hoping he would say something charming.

"Ginny, about the letter…"

"Ginny, come in the kitchen dear! I need your help!" Mrs. Weasley called out. Ginny gave him a pretty smile.

"We'll continue this after dinner okay?" Ginny asked already backing away from him. He paused.

"Sure."

"Promise?" she asked with a playful smile. He inwardly scowled.

"Promise."

§~§~§~§~§~§~§~§

Supper was even more delicious than the feasts that they had had at Hogwarts. Everything was cooked to perfection. Also, everyone was in the best of moods. Candles floating all around the table gave the perfect cozy atmosphere while everything seemed almost fuzzy in the warm glow. Jokes were shared as were fond memories. He couldn't help but feel normal for just a few precious moments. As he had been noticing lately, he made a mental tally each time his hand brushed with Hermione's. She was sitting across from him, wedged between Charlie and Fred. Their hands only touched twice, once for the mashed potatoes and another time for the green beans.

He also noticed that Ginny's and his hand had touched numerous times throughout the whole meal. He and Ginny kept things light over supper, talking about Quidditch, professors, and school. It was nearly impossible for him to talk to Hermione because of the din of everyone else chattering happily. After nearly three hours around the table everyone started to move into the other rooms. As he joined Ron and Hermione in the living room with Remus and Tonks he saw the mistletoe innocently float in. He paused as it hung over Tonks and Lupin. After a moment of not being noticed by the couple it shook shrilly to catch their attention, and the happy couple appeased it with a kiss.

He couldn't help but smile. It was nice to see such genuine happiness, even with everything else going on. The mistletoe then floated over to Ron and Hermione. He frowned slightly. After a few moments it shook shrilly. Hermione just looked up at it and rolled her eyes. The plant shook again but got the same reaction from Ron as they continued their conversation. All of the sudden it launched itself down onto Ron and started beating him soundly over the head.

"Ow! Ow! Merlin, someone get this thing off of me!" Ron cried out as it continued to smack against his head.

"Um, Petrificus Totalus!" Hermione called out clearly to no avail. "Finite!" Nothing. "Stop?" Hermione suggested weakly. It continued its assault on Ron's head.

"Hermione!" Ron called out clearly agitated.

"Fine!" She grabbed him and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips before pulling back immediately. The plant immediately turned back to its serene state of floating around the room innocently. Ron had quite a few berries stuck in his hair.

"Where are Fred and George, I'm gonna hex them into next year!" Ron stormed out of the room. He was right with Ron though. How dare they provide mistletoe that made you kiss whomever you were stuck under it with! Hermione absentmindedly wiped off her lips with the back of her hand and then engaged Charlie in a conversation about ancient Romania.

He watched the whole scene play before him. He would have been more upset, if they both had not acted like the kiss was absolutely nothing. He was about to ponder their strange reactions a little longer but he felt a hand tug on his sleeve.

"Can we talk now?" He looked into her sparkling hazel eyes and sighed. He nodded as she took his hand and led him into a room that no one was using. They sat down on a couch facing each other. It looked like Mrs. Weasley did her knitting in there. "So."

"So."

"Harry, what's going on with us?" He looked into her eyes, cursing himself. He sighed and started brokenly.

"Ginny, this is hard for me but I meant what I said when we broke up. It was for your safety," she nodded slowly in understanding. He took another deep breath, "but looking back, I don't think it would have worked out between us anyway." He looked down at his hands for a moment before working up the courage to look her in the eye.

"But we don't know that unless we try!" He sighed again.

"We have tried, Ginny. Don't get me wrong, you're a beautiful, nice, funny girl. This is just the wrong time, the wrong circumstances." He could see little unshed tears sparkling in her eyes.

"If you want me to wait…" He started to shake his head slowly.

"Gin, I couldn't do that to you."

"But Harry…"

"Look Ginny. Things have changed, I've changed. I have so many things I have to do. I have so much else to worry about!" Now he was getting emotional, oh Merlin! She began to cry softly.

"Harry…" she started shakily.

"I can't Ginny," he shook his head dejectedly, "I just can't. I'll always care for you, Ginny. Don't worry; I'll always be there for you." He kissed her forehead and moved to get up but he heard a shrill shaking noise above his head. Ginny's tearstained gaze followed his up to the mistletoe. They exchanged awkward glances before he dipped down and placed a soft, chaste kiss on her lips. It was wet and strangely reminiscent of his kiss with Cho. "I'm sorry, Ginny." He got up out of his seat and left her sitting there, completely broken and he couldn't help but think that this was somehow Voldemort's fault.

§~§~§~§~§~§~§~§

"Harry, it's far to cold to be brooding by yourself out here!" Hermione noted playfully as she came up behind him. He was sitting on the same rotting log that he had months before at the wedding, just it was now covered in snow. She took a peek at his face before sitting down next to him. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I just had another talk with Ginny. I think she finally realizes that we're over." She was silent so he turned to her to see if she had heard him. She was sitting there calmly with bits of snow everywhere in her hair. Her cheeks were bright red from the cold and she looked absolutely beautiful.

"Oh." He gave half a laugh.

"Yeah, 'oh'. Merlin, it's been a strange night starting with you and Ron kissing and ending with Ginny and me re-breaking up." Hermione gave him a little awkward smile.

"Oh, you saw that." She blushed a little under his intense gaze. "Damn mistletoe."

"I don't know Hermione, you two looked like it was a pretty normal thing…" she rolled her eyes.

"Ron and I have kissed before. Is that what you wanted to hear?" No. That is not what he wanted to hear. That was the last thing he wanted to hear. Sure Hermione, kick a man when he's down. What is she going to say next, that they're dating? "We kissed at the wedding, but it felt… weird. You know? Like something was terribly wrong with it all." Oh. Oh, okay. "So why are you out here now?"

"I told you, Ginny and me just re-broke up. I don't think that she wants to see me right now." Hermione shrugged her shoulder.

"Don't underestimate her Harry. She's a lot more resilient than you think. Sure it'll take some getting over, you are The Famous Harry Potter," she rolled her eyes at that comment, "but she's strong. Don't give yourself too much credit!" She said nudging him with her shoulder. Their eyes caught and he smiled sheepishly.

"You're a great friend Hermione." She smiled shyly. "No, really. I couldn't be doing any of this without you." She looked down at her snow covered boots.

"Now you're not giving yourself enough credit." She said in a small voice. He chuckled softly and took her cold hand in his and squeezed it gently.

"Is it okay if I give you your Christmas present now?" She eyed him carefully.

"If it's a snowball in the face, I'll wait for tomorrow thanks."

"I think that's what Ron is giving you." They both laughed lightly.

"Sure, why not? I love presents. Just you have to wait until morning for yours!" He smiled.

"Fair enough. Accio Hermione's Present!" A small black box zoomed into his hand. She eyed it cautiously. He smiled sheepishly. "It's not a book." She quirked an eyebrow at him before taking it gently. "Now if you completely think it's rubbish I can take it back and we can just pick out whatever you want instead."

"Harry I'm sure whatever it is it will be-" her breath caught in her throat as she opened the box, "beautiful." He practically beamed at her reaction. "Harry."

"It's just that you've done so much for me this year, more than I could ever have asked of you and a book just didn't seem to be fitting. Well, you had mentioned how much you liked the locket so I decided to get you one."

"I was joking." He suddenly felt very dumb.

"Oh." He was suddenly tackled by a bone-crushing hug by Hermione.

"But I love it, I absolutely adore it! It's perfect!" He happily held her close to him. "Help me put it on?" he carefully took the delicate gold chain and small heart shaped locket from the box and clasped it around her neck.

"Now, the witch at the store said that all the wearer had to do was think of someone and open the locket and their picture would appear. Also, you're the only one who can see the picture." Hermione tried it out. "Who do you see?"

"Victor Krum." She said with an impish grin on her face.

"I thought you guys were only friends." He teased and grabbed some snow and crunched it on top of her head. They laughed and threw some snowballs at each other but after a few moment things got very serious between them. They stood, breathing heavily staring at each other. For a moment he contemplated kissing her, but he knew it was a bad idea, he had just re-broken up with Ginny, they were in the middle of a war, he didn't want to ruin their friendship… but even these excuses were starting to sound lame as he stared breathlessly at her.

"I'm cold." She looked away from him. He put his arm around her.

"Let's go back inside." So the moment was lost. He couldn't help but think that it was for the best. It was Christmas and emotions were running high and as badly as he wanted it to be the right time, it was far from it. She leaned into him before they reached the glow from the Weasley's house.

"Thanks, Harry." Her hand went to cover the necklace for a moment and he smiled. She kissed him on the cheek and the continued to the door. Well, that was nice, and dry for that matter.

A/N: Woo kisses at Christmas, haha just not the couples you want to kiss. I swear I am Harry/Hermione the whole way, you just have to give them time. It's kinda hard for me to do romantic scenes between them and still keep them in character as best as I can but I am trying my hardest. Well, now that Ginny's out of the way they can profess their love for each other and live happily ever after, right? Please, people this is Harry Potter and things for Harry Potter are hardly normal, and never easy.… Tell me what you think!