Chapter Twenty<br><br>The rest of the holiday was a strange mixture of delight and dread for Ginny. She was delighted at the time she spent with Harry. Walks in the snow, playful snowball fights and stolen kisses under icicle-laden trees by the frozen lake were blissful memories that would last her a lifetime, but the dread was also there. Fear of what was to come – random Dementor attacks were only the tip of the proverbial iceberg – Ginny wasn’t too naïve to believe otherwise. <br><br>And no matter how hard she tried to forget – to push the dreadful thoughts to the back of her mind as she walked to the lake holding Harry’s hand, the Aurors stationed on the school grounds were a grim reminder of what was lurking out there, somewhere – <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>waiting</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->. But there was one thing Ginny knew now – one thing she was positive about. She wasn’t helpless. <br><br>*****<br><br>It was the last day before the new term of school was to begin. Ginny positioned herself so she could look at Harry and the ice-covered lake, but not the castle – or the ominous-looking Auror standing guard at the entrance. For a short time anyhow, she was only going to live in the moment. She was going to pretend, if only for a moment, that there were only two people in the whole world.<br><br>And as she stole a last kiss before she and Harry would have to withdraw to the confines of the bustling Gryffindor common room, she wrapped her arms tightly around the one she loved and desperately wished she knew how to freeze time. <br><br>For many years to come, both Ginny and Harry would look back on that Christmas as one of the best Christmases they’d ever had – it certainly wouldn’t be the last one where they’d experience fear mingled in with festivity – but it was the first Christmas they’d spent together and that meant an awful lot to both of them.<br><br><!--EZCODE CENTER START--><div style="text-align:center"><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>THE END</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--></div><!--EZCODE CENTER END--><br><br>**********************************************<br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Author's Note:</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> I'm glad you all enjoyed this! <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :) --><img src=
http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /smile.gif ALT=":)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> Big thanks for all the positive feedback. It's so easy to write when you know people are liking what you're writing! <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START ;) --><img src=
http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... s/wink.gif ALT=";)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br><br>And anyone who's interested ... my darn muse has been putting sequel plot bunnies in my brain. Darn her! I wrote a teency bit tonight and I'll post that in a new thread. The sequel is currently untitled ... it has been forming in my overly-shampooed head since the weekend, but I have a lot of bugs to work out. Wish me luck and wish me luck that my silly muse gets my other stories in motion soon as well. I kind of miss writing about Gen & Lupin. <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :love --><img src=
http://216.40.249.192/mysmilies/otn/love/yllove.gif ALT=":love"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br><br>Thanks again, everyone!!! {{{HUGS}}} to you all!!! <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :) --><img src=
http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /smile.gif ALT=":)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br><br><br><br> <p><!--EZCODE CENTER START--><div style="text-align:center"><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="
http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/image ... <!--EZCODE IMAGE END--></div><!--EZCODE CENTER END--></p><i></i>
Astrid
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