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Chapter 67: Christmas at Grimmauld Place


"Happy Christmas Master."

Harry smiled back at the blond in his arms, "Happy Christmas Pet, will I see you again for your birthday?"

"If you continue to keep ze dark emotions at bay I shall continue to see you in your dream. But know zat I am with you regardless."

He leaned forward to kiss her lightly and just held her close. If he was crazy he decided he really didn't mind; it was worth it to have Gabrielle with him every evening. He knew he would be waking up soon as his dreams of her had the opposite effect as his Occlumency in that time went by way too quickly for his taste.

In the past weeks all three Slytherins had been able to find their center without any help from him or Susan and to his knowledge, without having to lose their clothing. Although all four girls had taken to wearing nothing but something like a kimono and underclothes around the house.

Gabrielle had continued to visit him every night, and every morning he woke up to Susan in his arms. Despite how much he missed Gin and Mione his life was finally back the way he liked it, and both girls would be joining them for New Years. His strange relationship with Pansy continued to grow with urging from Susan but neither of them had mentioned it at all nor made any overt move to get closer. Mostly it was just snuggling a bit while watching the telly after training.

Blaise and Daphne continued to confuse him, they were supposedly betrothed which according to the old ways meant they were as good as married. However the couple seemed to merely tolerate each other's presence now that they were out of the public eye; making him wonder if most arranged marriages were doomed to be publicly pleasant while privately boring. With the prospect of an arranged marriage to three women Harry was feeling a bit doomed.

"Hey!" Gabrielle snapped him out of his thoughts. "I say no more dark emotions if you want to see me. Just because zis Daphne and Blaise do not have more than tolerance for each other does not mean all such arrangements are doomed. It seems zis Pansy is at least a little more interested in you than the Greengrass girl is in Zabini. Now kiss me before you wake up."

Harry was happy to oblige as he felt her start to slip away he soon found himself lying in bed with his eyes closed and a smile on his face. Suddenly it hit him. "Susie," He whispered. "Susie!"

"Huh?" She said in an annoyed voice.

"It's Christmas! Come on!" He said like the excited six year old he never got to be. Exactly what Christmas was like for him now that he was free of the Dursleys.

She giggled at his behavior and rolled groggily out of bed before getting dressed in her bathrobe and pulling on a pair of knickers. He did the same but with boxers and dragged her by the hand out into the training room where the Christmas tree had been set up for he and his guests.

"Where is everyone? I mean its Christmas!" He exclaimed as if that was all the explanation and motivation anyone needed.

Susan looked at the clock on the cable box and groaned. "It's six in the morning Harry and we were up late playing exploding snap and watching Christmas cartoons. It's no wonder nobody is awake yet."

He frowned, "Well I guess I'll just have to remedy that!"

He quickly trotted back toward his room and popped open the secret staircase before descending a level to the third floor. First stop was Pansy's room. He knocked once and when he got no answer he opened the door and slowly walked in not giving any thought to his actions except to wake everyone up for presents.

He kneeled down on the floor inches from the girls face and took a moment to enjoy how peaceful she looked while sleeping. Right now she wasn't a Slytherin nor was she a girl with family problems and possible marriage contracts hanging over her head. She was just a pretty girl at peace and he sighed before remembering why he was here.

"Pansy...Pansy...Parkinson...Pansy!" He tried a few times, on the last she moved like a flash and had her wand up his nose and a curse on her lips before she scanned the room for threats and realized who he was.

"What are you doing in my room?" She asked him venomously.

"Well technically..." He tried but he simply forced her wand further up his nose. He tried again, now sounding a bit funny with only one nostril clear. "Uh, its Christmas and I want to open presents?"

She eyed him for a moment before sniffing disdainfully, "Fine, I'll meet you upstairs, I wouldn't want to rob the others of the chance to hex you." With that she climbed out of bed and he watched eyes wide as her nude form strolled across to the room and pull on her kimono like dressing gown and a pair of knickers. For some reason seeing her with only a few clothes on was more exciting to him than seeing her in the nude. He quickly shook it off and headed for Blaise' room next.

Luckily for him a few knocks was enough to rouse the other boy who simply nodded when Harry explained himself and as he was already dressed he headed toward the far staircase. That left only the girls room; after his experience with Pansy he was a bit more careful.

Opening the door and walking silently into the room he found the girls in separate twin beds and approached Daphne. Even though he had been interacting with the younger Greengrass for over a week now they still only tolerated each other, if anyone was going to hex him it would be her. So he chose the other girl and as he had before kneeled down in front of her face before readying a shield spell to be deployed at a moment's notice.

"Daph?" he whispered lightly.

"Mmm?" She moaned at her name.

"Daphne wake up."

"Nuhuh..." She complained cutely.

"Daaaaphne."

He leaned in closer to her in case she couldn't really hear him, which is why he was completely caught by surprise when she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss. On autopilot his mouth and lips matched hers for a moment before he pulled away and stumbled over a shoe, falling on his bum very reminiscent of Tonks. The noise woke both girls who trained their wands on him from their beds before he knew what was happening.

"Potter?" The younger girl asked.

"Astoria!"

"Sorry, Lord Potter-Black? What are you doing in our room at this hour?" She then cast accusing eyes to her sister who shook her head.

"You know you can call me Harry, I don't like my title." He tried to diffuse the situation but the younger girl didn't lower her wand.

"Sorry Harry but I have this thing about not trusting older boys who sneak into my room. I guess it's just Slytherin paranoia; then again it isn't paranoia if they really are trying to rape you in your sleep."

"That’s enough Astoria! Harry please explain yourself."

He looked up at them sheepily, "Uh, Happy Christmas wanna open presents?"

The younger girl's eyes lit up showing her true age as she got up and left the room without another glance in his direction, he thanked every deity he could think of that at least one female in this house was sleeping with her night clothes on. He turned to Daphne who had yet to lower her wand.

"Why did you kiss me?"

"Wait, You kissed me!" He complained.

"No, I think I would know if I were kissing someone." She responded icily showing how she earned her ice-princess nick name.

He shrugged, "Honestly, you must have been having a very nice dream. I tried to wake you up and you attacked me..." At the word his memory suddenly went into overdrive. "You!"

She looked confused for a moment so he continued. "You are the Slytherin that dragged me into the closet!"

Her eyes widened and she looked anywhere but at him. "I don't know what you're talking about."

He grinned at her, "I have your tie by the way, why Miss Greengrass I didn't know you cared so much."

She growled before looking back at him. "I was randy and you were there, are you complaining? Because you seemed to enjoy yourself at the time."

"I did...I just thought you were someone else. That has been bugging me for over a month! Oh my gods Blaise!" Harry said as he began to panic.

"Harry calm down, it isn't a problem."

"NOT A BLOODY PROBLEM? I shagged a practically married woman!"

"Please lower your voice milord so I can explain."

He just looked at her as if she had lost her mind for a moment before motioning for her to continue.

"Look, you had me all hot and bothered after class so I followed you and pulled you into that broom closet. I let you think I was someone else so you wouldn’t get any Gryffindorish ideas about falling in love or something."

He just shook his head, "How does that make it okay with Blaise?"

She blushed remembering the dream she had been having about a certain green eyed boy when she awoke to kissing him. "Blaise is...not interested in me that way..."

He just looked at her as if she were crazy, "Who wouldn't be interested in you? I mean your bloody gorgeous and have a great personality to top it off, even if you do have a few Pureblood hang-ups but that is your fathers fault not yours." She was blushing as he went on.

"Harry that’s enough alright...Blaise is just not interested okay?"

Harry just shrugged as he struggled to his feet and remembered why he was here in the first place. "So...presents?"

She sighed and got out from beneath the sheet and his breathing stopped for a moment. She was at least wearing a small tanktop and a pair of knickers but in this light she might as well have been naked for the effect it had on him. He tore his eyes away but couldn't stop his mind from remembering what she had felt like in the closet. She smiled at the look on his face as she pulled her kimono gown on. "If you like what you see maybe we can come to an arrangement? After all a girl has needs and Blaise already knows about us."

He jumped almost out of his skin, "WHAT?"

She shushed him but was shrugging, "He knows Harry, and he doesn't care. This contract was forced on us to keep us safe at Hogwarts much like your little snafu with Pansy. I'm almost positive Wood was planning on you doing something like that."

He couldn't think of any response to either of those statements so just stood dumbly as she strolled past him and out the door. His brain finally reminded his body that presents were waiting for them upstairs and he forgot the rest of his issues for the moment.

$$$$

Harry followed Daphne back up the stairs to find four groggy people sitting on the couch by the Christmas tree. They all looked like they were ready to give him a piece of their mind until they saw the child-like wonder on his face as he ran to the tree and began separating the presents for everyone. The Sixth years actually cracked a smile while Astoria simply looked confused; she hadn't been that excited about Yule since before Hogwarts.

Harry levitated the piles to their recipients once he got them separated and cheerfully made his way back to the couch where he plopped down between Pansy and Susan. "Alright, I think we should go in order of birthdays, youngest to oldest. Astoria gets to open hers first!"

The girl was catching his excitement and tried very hard to keep her Slytherin mask of indifference in place as she began daintily opening her first gift. "You know you can rip the paper right?" He asked nearly bouncing in his seat.

Finally she gave in and began going at her presents with abandon and let a little more of the little girl show through her façade. From Daphne and Blaise she got a new set of dress robes along with a pair of earrings which earned her sister a hug. From Pansy she got a book on Herbology which she was apparently quite the fan of, Harry made a note to get her together with Neville and Hannah if they could stand each other. From Pansy she got a new scarf in Slytherin colors. The girl looked up in surprise at the four gifts that remained.

"How did a gift from my parents get here?" She asked and Daphne, Blaise and Pansy quickly checked their piles coming up with gifts as well.

"Magic." Harry said mysteriously; that is until they didn't huff and let it go like Hermione normally did at that answer and instead stared him down. He cleared his throat to hide how nervous those looks actually made him. "Uh...probably Dobby popped over and got permission from your elves?"

There was a small pop and Dobby wrapped himself around Harry's leg. "Happy Christmas Master! Dobby does good?"

Harry hugged the elf back as well as he could from this angle and nodded. "You did a very nice thing Dobby, why don't you get Winky and join us?"

His tennis ball sized eyes lit up and Harry could detect tears threatening, "Master Harry is the greatest wizard ever! Dobby and Winky is never being invited to sit for presents with wizards before!" Harry quickly disentangled himself before the elf began humping his leg.

"No problem Dobby."

Another small pop was heard, "You is really wanting Winky to sit with you's and open gifts?" She looked at him skeptically.

"Please Winky? You are like family." The elf still looked at him like he was crazy but slowly lowered herself onto the ground in front of three gifts with her name on them.

Astoria remembered she still had gifts and opened the one from her father, it was a beautiful tennis bracelet with emeralds instead of diamonds he assumed for its Slytherin look. She then read the note that came with it and nodded before folding it and looking in confusion at the last two gifts.

"Why would you get me anything milord? And you Miss Bones? And..Mrs. Weasley?"

Harry shrugged, "You are under my protection and I don't hate you, that seemed like reason enough for me." He turned to Susan.

"Same reasons except that I also didn't know if you would get anything from your family and I wanted you all to have a Happy Christmas."

Astoria tore into the paper and found a Muggle fountain pen in Green and Silver from Harry and gloves that matched her new Scarf from Susan. She saw the reason for the gloves but the pen had her confused.

"It's a fountain pen, you stick it in your ink well and pull that little lever to refill it, then you write with it as if it were a quill. Plus it was in Slytherin colors so..."

"Thank you...both of you. I don't know if I can use this in my regular circle of friends but it makes a lot of sense. If the Muggles have come up with something better than a quill that still allows writing to have flair then I'm all for it. Now what is this?" She said poking the last package from Molly.

"If I had to guess it's likely a hand knit sweater and some fudge but don't let me ruin the surprise." Harry said with a smile.

Sure enough it was a Weasley Sweater in Deep green with a silver A embroidered on the chest along with some home-made fudge. Astoria still looked confused however as she held the sweater up to her form. Harry chimed in again. "Those are hand-made by her every year for her family, well until she included me after my first year. I am guessing she had too much time on her hands and was glad of something to do. But honestly, those sweaters mean the world to me because she took the time to lovingly make them and even personalize them. That was actually one of the first gifts I ever opened..." He trailed off before he got pitiful.

Astoria was looking more compassionately at him as some things fell into place about his behavior, she then looked down. The sweater really was nice and since she hadn't gotten him a gift she sighed and pulled it over her head before pulling her hair out of the collar and smiled at him before turning to her sister out of habit.

"July 31st?" Asked Harry; when everyone motioned for him to go he tore through his presents.

From Dobby he got a pair of hand-knit socks, from Winky a charmed comb which he doubted would work, from Susan he got another book on Wandless magic, he got his Weasley sweater even though the rest of the Weasley gifts were waiting for New Years when they could open them together. He grinned despite the underwhelming amount of gifts and tried not to bounce too much as he motioned for whoever was next.

"July second? Anyone younger?" Daphne asked. When nobody replied she dug into her presents with more vigor than she would normally just to please Harry. She ended up with a similar bracelet from her father, a book on lesser known charms from Blaise, a box of her favorite sweets from her sister and a beautiful set of silver hair clips from Pansy. Susan had gotten her a set of lotions, shampoo and conditioner in her favorite scent and Harry's gift was the same fountain pen. "Thank you all, who's next?" She asked.

"June seventh." Susan and Blaise both chorused before looking at each other in confusion.

"Well isn't it a small world?" Harry chuckled. "Guess you open them at the same time.

The notable gifts between them were that Blaise got a new broom from his Uncle and Susan received a set of jade earrings that matched her necklace which earned Harry a kiss. So far everyone had gotten a sweater and they were all wearing them whether or not they liked them simply to please Harry and because the thought counted more than the item.

Pansy sighed at being last and therefore oldest and opened her gifts at a sedate but respectable pace ending up with the pen, some books, some sweets and some mittens. Harry grinned at everyone before turning to the smallest among them. "Alright Dobby, Winky go ahead and open your gifts. And note I said gifts."

The elves looked at him strangely but opened their presents and Winky immediately burst out crying Harry shook his head before calming them down. "Winky! I am not giving you clothes so that you are released from my service! I'm giving you a uniform to wear so that you can be proud of yourself!"

The elf looked more closely at the dress in her hands and found the Black and Potter crests intertwined on the breast. She held them close to her body before launching herself in a Dobby-esque manner at his leg and hugging him while she cried into his robe. "Harry is the bestest Master ever!"

He patted the elf on the back a bit taken aback by her unusual show of emotion before turning to Dobby. "I have the same for the rest of the elves in my employ if you could distribute them, make certain they know these are gifts not that I am dismissing them."

Dobby nodded before blinking out quickly reappearing in his new suit, he seemed to know where the uniforms were as he popped away after giving Harry another hug. Winky collected herself enough to pull away from him and also blinked out and back in with her new dress on. "You's will be needing breakfast! Winky will make, will you eat here?" At Harry's nod she popped out.

"That was interesting...I never thought I would share Christmas with an elf." Pansy commented.

"Hermione would be proud of you." The girl blushed but nodded. "So, what say we skip training and just be lazy all day and watch movies?"

There was a groan as everyone nodded, "As long as you don't make us watch Star Wars again. Don't you have something romantic?" Daphne asked.

"Hey Star Wars is romantic! What about Han and Leia?" He tried to defend his favorite movies.

"What about Luke and Leia? Ew!" Astoria commented back.

"They didn't know they were related! And it isn't like they snogged or anything, it was just a peck on the lips for luck!"

The girls all rolled their eyes, "Fine, why don't you look through the titles in the cabinet under the telly, there is bound to be something you like in there. I just grabbed one of everything.

Winky popped in and placed breakfast on the large coffee table which included croissants and fruits so they could snack while watching the movie if they wished. For the next several hours Harry suffered through girly movies in silence, the only upside being how cuddly his witches were getting with the hormones flowing. They watched 'Sense and Sensibility' which although he appreciated Jane Austin, nearly put him to sleep followed by 'The Scarlett Letter' which at least had some sexy scenes at the beginning. The whole time his hands were gaining more and more of a mind of their own as they idly stroked and rubbed Pansy on one side and Susan on the other.

Finally he caught a break when they put in 'First Knight' which was a romance set during the time of Camelot. It had enough action to keep him interested and it was about King Arthur! He could stand the love story when it was only one ingredient.

Noon approached and everyone was getting hungry again so they ate lunch upstairs as well. Soon however Harry was getting moody; Susan knew what the issue was but wanted him to talk about it. "Knut for your thoughts Harry?"

He grumbled something incoherent before she nudged him. "I don't want you to go okay? I just got you back." He said with a frown.

"Aunty can only get so much time off, I'll see you on the express Harry and time apart won't make me love you any less." She said kissing him quickly on the lips before wrapping her arms around him. "What has Gabrielle told you about dark emotions?"

Harry grumbled again but was smiling; Susan was the only one of the group he had confided in about his nightly visitor. She had been a bit worried about him at first until he gave her more details and she had either accepted that it was true, or decided it was a harmless fantasy that made him happy and never tried to make him feel crazy. "To stop it?" He asked lightly.

She nodded, "That’s right, stop with the dark emotions like being sad that I'm going to visit my aunt, or afraid that you will lose me. Otherwise who is going to keep you company at night?" As she said this she looked over his shoulder and he followed her eyes before realizing she was looking at Pansy.

"It's not like that." He said quietly.

"Yet." Susan said with a smile.

"What is it with you witches? Always trying to get some other girl in my pants?" He asked knowing what the answer would be.

She shrugged as they always did and smiled up at him, "Once you learn to share it's fun to think about. So think about it alright Harry? I know you two like each other at least enough to cuddle. You should just snog her and get it over with."

"Hey! I'm not Ron and she isn't Hermione you know?"

She shook her head, "I seem to remember some pretty pointless fights between you two. I believe the main argument always ends up you two trying to show the other one you care less about a situation."

"Huh?" He asked stupidly.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes, "I believe it goes something like this. I don't like you...Oh yeah? Well I don't like you either!...Really well that’s just fine!....Well then Fine!...Fine!...Fine! and usually ends up with you getting a door slammed in your face?"

He hadn't realized they had been flirting at the time and he wondered if he should feel ashamed of the fact. "But Ron and Hermione didn't work out and they fought like that all the time!"

Susan shook her head again, "Ron was a prat Harry, and they didn't fight like you two. Their fights were always mean and Ron always tried to make himself feel superior to Hermione by making her feel like a swot or a bookworm just because she understood something better than he did. At least that’s what I saw."

He couldn't believe he hadn't seen it that way, "Most of Gryffindor Tower just assumed they were fighting like an old married couple."

"Nope, they were fighting like oil and water, and you were the egg Harry."

"Great, now I want something with mayonnaise on it." He pouted playfully even though her analogy made so much sense it was scary. "So you sure you have to go?"

She nodded and pulled her shrunken trunk from her pocket to show him. "See? All packed."

He walked her over to the Floo and kissed her passionately one more time. "To remember me by." He commented lightly.

She kissed him back even more passionately before tossing some powder and disappearing into the green flames.



A/N:
I am doing beta work on my early chapters, most of you can agree I got alot better after 30 chapters or so (still making mostly homophone mistakes). If you want notification when its a new chapter not just an updated chapter please join http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gml_fanfic

This was kinda fluffy substanceless chapter, sorry. But there have to be some of those to keep everything else together.