Harry sighed as he stared out the window into the freezing cold. The rolling hills were sprinkled with snowflakes, different, though the same.

As he leaned against the thin pane of glass, his breath collected on the window. He imagined what Sirius would have said about these hills and snow.... Sirius

A pang filled Harry's heart and he wiped his eyes furiously, muttering about the cold drying his eyes.

Ron wasn't fooled, though as he watched his best friend stare out the window, broken and helpless, into the dark night; he felt sorry for him.

Just as Harry was about to stand, there was a knock and the door opened, a red head in its place at he threshold.

"Ron, Mum wants you to help cook" Ginny said, sounding almost bored. Ron glanced up and nodded, but then got a far away look.

"Uh! I can't! Hermione, er, she asked me to, er, to work on a project with her! It's ah, Muggle Studies! You know how much I... Love Muggles" He squeaked the last part. Ginny didn't look convinced, but Harry stepped up, not wanting another sibling row.

"I'll go Ginny" He said miserably, looking out the window one last time as if expecting Sirius to bound down the path to the Burrow with his hands full of a huge turkey.

"You sure Harry? Mum wants us to go to the store too" She said, crossing her arms and looking him up and down. He nodded, waving her off.

"I'm sure, Ginny" Said Harry "I'll just go put on my trainers" He said, walking over to his trunk. She bit her lip before turning around and walking away.

Harry sighed, tying his shoes and standing. He grabbed his Muggle coat and bid Ron goodbye.

Ron looked Harry up and down too, as if measuring his stability. Harry found that this annoyed him, but much more than it did when Ginny was doing it. He couldn't shake the feeling of unease as he thought about running through the Muggle store with her.

They both went downstairs where Ginny was waiting. She waved him on to hurry him.

"Come on!" She rushed out the door to the kitchen and to Mrs Weasley. She smiled before leading the children outside, where she offered Ginny her arm.

Harry was left with taking Ginny's hand. He was not wearing gloves, and neither was she, so when he joined hands with her, he wasn't expecting the shock.

He almost pulled his hand away, but Mrs Weasley Apparated.

When their feet landed on solid ground and they were rushed into a Muggle store with a item list shoved into their hands, he was quite nervous.

Mrs Weasley scurried off, running to the butchers to get the ham and turkey. Harry gulped, aware of the girl beside him, looking intently at the shopping list with a piece of her hair falling in her face.

"Mum doesn't usually shop at Muggle places. But with all the precautions.... She figured it would be safer to not enter a wizarding area for now" Ginny explained.

"Okay, let's go" Harry said, his voice devoid of emotion. This worried Ginny, as she had been hoping this trip would take his mind off Sirius. But it obviously hadn't.

They ran through the store, grabbing stuff they needed, and at one point, they came across a big sign that said 'Ten for ten! By one for two!' and Ginny stared at the board for a minute before turning back to Harry.

"They can't even spell buy right. And doesn't the by one for two cancel out the ten for ten? Idiots"

Harry looked into her eyes and suddenly cracked up. She was alarmed, as she hadn't meant to be funny. He held his stomach as his loud guffaws echoed through the itty bitty store. Soon enough, Ginny joined in. Their laughs wrapped Harry with a security that he hadn't felt in a long time.

And he felt, deep in his heart, as he stared into Ginny's brown eyes, something was stirring this Christmas. And he was sure he liked it very much.

And he did, for that night. The twins set a prank. A prank that they didn't expect would bite them in the bottom.

They set up a moving mistletoe.

And as Harry walked through the hall on Christmas to go eat dinner, so did Ginny.

At first, Harry was a teeny bit fazed by the song hat was playing, but thought of it as another of Mrs Weasleys Christmas songs. So, as he looked up, then down at Ginny who looked really good to him.

He realized something. He realized that though she looked absolutely wonderful in her baby blue Weasley sweater, and her red locks were flowing down her back in waves. He realized that he had feelings for her, but not because of the way she looked, but because she was the only one who could make him laugh. They were so different, yet the same. He kept that look in his eye, that said he'd seen death and destruction. So did she. And Ginny Weasley was the only person he could think of, to make him feel whole again.

So as he leaned forward, her brown eyes wide and waiting, he really hoped she would always be there for him.

And as he caught her lips, he knew. With that spark and the fire that raced through his heart, he knew that what he felt, just over that simple laugh in the middle of a Muggle store, was not a fancy. No, he did not fancy Ginny Weasley.

He had fallen in love with her