Preface:
This is a Harry Potter AU One-shot written to commemorate New Year 2023. This OS in set in no particular timeline and contains all canon ships, mostly Hinny (Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley) and Romione (Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger).

It was the New Year's Eve when The Burrow was flooded by letters brought by a tawny owl. All of them had one message: invitation to Dumbledore's New Year Party at. . . Godric's Hollow?

Of course, Harry could not decline the invite. It was his Headmaster who had personally written the letters after all.

And so, that evening, he and Ron sat facing the cloth cupboard. "Mate, why don't we just pick something out blindly and wear it?" Ron questioned.

"But the girls want to match," Harry reasoned. Hermione and Ginny had strictly said that they wanted to match with their respective partners and this was approved with doe eyes by Mrs Weasley. That was why Harry and Ron were staring at the innocent yet cruel cloth cupboard for ten long minutes whilst questioning their own sanity.

"Heck, where do I get a pink robe from?" Ron exclaimed, exasperated. Harry shrugged in response. "What, green is much better than wearing pink!"

"You think so? It brings out my eyes for Merlin's sake and I definitely don't want everyone reminding me about my parents deaths again."

"Blimey mate! Oh wait, blimey!" Ron got up in a jolt and grabbed something out of his cupboard before holding it out in front of him for Harry to see.

"That's–"

"Your Yule Ball robes, Harry! You can use this, only you need to adjust the size. I bet Mum can do something about it," Ron suggested, throwing the cloth at Harry who caught it. It was still as good as new and although he did not particularly want to wear it, the fact that how Ginny would react anticipated him.

"Thanks Ron," he thanked before heading downstairs to get it adjusted to his current height.

⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡

Ten minutes later, Harry was standing in the living room, fancily dressed along with a grumpy looking Ron. He was wearing a blue robe which had a pink tie. The two boys were waiting for the girls to descend the stairs.

When they finally did, their jaws were left hanging for the chuckling Hermione and Ginny to shut. "Blimey Hermione! You – look – ruddy hell!" That was Ron's compliment. Hermione rolled her eyes, trying to act annoyed although a pink tint was present on her cheeks.

"Am I hellish then, Ronald?"

"Not at all! I meant you look amazing!"

"Good."

Ginny looked at Harry, raising her eyebrows. His throat suddenly went dry. "You – look – er –"

"I look like some sort of stuttering idiot?" she asked, crossing her arms. Harry did not trust his voice so he just hugged her before everyone Apparated to Godric's Hollow. The place was filled with snow and resonated a peaceful vibe.

Harry looked to his side to see Ron and Hermione holding hands so he offered Ginny a hand too. However, she took his arm. They headed to a wall where the invite had requested them to come. A human-sized drawing of a house was stuck on it.

"Now what?" Ron asked.

"We go in," Hermione answered before leaving his hand and stepping forward. She flashed her invite at the doorknob and the paper door opened. "Follow my lead." She stepped in and disappeared. The door closed behind her.

"Hermione!" Ron shrieked.

"Er, let's try going in," Harry suggested. Ron nodded and flashed his invite at the doorknob. The door opened again and he walked in. Harry indicated for Ginny to go first. "Ladies first." Ginny raised her eyebrows before shrugging and following Ron. He did the same.

When he walked into the room, his foot hit something hard and he yelped in pain. Harry withdrew his wand and lit it with a simple spell. "Lumos." With the help of the light, he saw a stairwell which descended to nowhere.

Without anything better to do, he descended the staircase, his shoes making an odd and pleasing sound. All of a sudden, the light from his wand vanished and he missed a step, crashing onto something, trying to catch it, or rather someone, but instead falling down with a crash.

"What the–?"

The lights suddenly turned on and Harry saw red. "Umph!"

Ginny got off of him and glared at him. "Harry!"

"I'm sorry!"

Ron quickly hustled to them and gave them a hand. Dumbledore arrived with Hermione. "Good evening, Professor," Harry and Ginny greeted.

"Good evening, Harry, Miss Weasley. Welcome to my party! I hope you have an amazing time here. If you are in search of things, edible or not, to fill your tummy, I suggest you go to Hagrid. If you want your feet to ache, I suggest you to ask the DJ to play a song of your fancy. Have a good time! Nitwit, Blubberwood, Pajama Trouble, Workfire!" Dumbledore winked and skipped away.

"Well, that was weird," Ron admitted and the other three nodded. "But I guess I want to check to food out. Come on, Hermione!" He grabbed Hermione's arm and dragged her to a table.

Harry looked at Ginny who shrugged before following her brother. Harry walked behind her, thinking hard of a way to initiate a conversation. He knew that she was upset because of him not telling anything about how she looked.

When they approached the table, they saw Hagrid and Lockhart engaged in a fierce fight. "Yeh came 'ere for free food!"

"I did not! I am a popular star and was invited here! I am, after all, the five times winner of the Witch Weekly's Charming Smile award," Lockhart shot back before looking at Hermione and Ginny. "Ain't I, ladies?"

Hermione clapped her hands over her mouth in awe and Ginny looked like she was ready to melt into a pool. Harry felt a deep sense of jealousy settle in his heart at Ginny's reaction. He thought to do something about it but then Hagrid interrupted.

"Headmaster Dumbledore did not invite yeh! Yeh gotta get outta 'ere!"

"Fine, fine! I don't fancy eating your rock hard cakes anyways, giant. For my prestige, I can easily dine in a fancy hotel. Good evening, Miss Granger and Miss Weasley." With a swish of his hair, he walked away. Harry and Ron looked disgusted and Hagrid seemed to agree with them.

"Anyways, yeh want some cakes, Harry?" Hagrid asked. Harry agreed despite his stomach telling otherwise; he did not want to hurt Hagrid's feelings. Ron agreed as well and the four of them got a plate filled with not only delicious looking cakes but also candies and chips.

"What do you know? Dumbledore arranged for this party," Ron reasoned when they found themselves a table. Everyone agrees before digging in.

The party was alive with dancing folk and chatting noises. Harry even spotted Neville dancing with Hannah Abbott. They seemed very happy as they swayed in the other's arms. His eyes shifted to Ginny, who in his eyes, was the prettiest.

The shade of her dress was nearly the same as his dress robes' colour and her hair just seemed to be ablaze as it trailed down her shoulders, glowing its way down to her waist. Her brown eyes glimmered as she laughed at something Ron had said.

Soon enough, Ginny caught Harry staring. She raised her eyebrows not for the first time that evening and he coloured deeply upon being caught.

"May I have this dance?" he nearly shouted, drawing several eyes including Ron and Hermione's.

"With me?" Ron asked, being the oblivious guy he was.

"Hell, no!" Harry denied. Hermione and Ginny had, by that time, started rolling around with laughter. Harry cleared his throat before repeating. "I meant Ginny." The girl in question looked at him, as if searching his face for something before nodding and taking his extended hand.

Harry led her away from Hermione's teasing and they approached the DJ for a change of song. Harry had the perfect song in his head and it disappeared as soon as he saw who the DJ was: Dean Thomas. He yelped and stopped on his tracks. Unfortunately, Dean had already spotted them and looked offended, of what, Harry did not know.

"Hey mate, do ya want me to play something for ya?" he asked in a cheerful voice although his hurt was masked.

"How about Rewrite The Stars?" Harry suggested. Dean nodded with a blank look and the requested song came up. Harry thanked his dorm mate before pulling Ginny away from the DJ area. Ginny was wearing a smug look. "What?"

"Nothing," Ginny said, nevertheless the smirk never left. Harry squeezed her hand before bringing it up to his lips and placing a kiss on her soft skin.

"May I?" he asked with a wink which left her speechless and blushing. All traces of her previous smirk was gone and were now transferred to Harry.

They started swaying in rhythm, smiling and basking in the other's presence. Harry loved the way she fit right in his arms and admired her petite frame for it. He decided to end the silence between them just as the song came to a climax.

"Ginny, you look absolutely gorgeous and I-I could not tell you that because . . . because you left me stuttering and speechless. Truly!" He pulled away from her and looked her in the eye. Her lips were parted slightly as she returned his gaze. "You are the most beautiful girl in here," he repeated before closing his eyes and leaning in.

"Blimey!" Ron's voice broke them apart and Harry cursed him internally. "Zabini?!" Everyone turned to look at the annoyed looking Slytherin. "Geoff that food table right now! That's mine!"

"Ron!" Hermione called but it was late; Ron had already rushed to the table where Zabini was sipping on some punch. Harry rolled his eyes and turned to look at a chuckling Ginny.

"You are cute, Gin," he complimented and bowed, as if trying to regain his charisma.

"Stop being so cheesy, Potter. It's New Year, not Cheese Day," she retorted back, poking his chest. A sudden snore alerted them and they turned to look at another dreamy voice coming from the sofas.

"Nargles surround you. . ." It was Luna. She was asleep on the sofa, curled up like a cat. Ginny turned to look at Harry.

"Do you happen to have a blanket?" she asked earnestly. Harry scratched his head.

"No –"

"But I do!" A blonde haired guy came out of nowhere with a blue blanket. He passed it to Ginny. "Call me Rolf. I am Luna's friend and was in search of a blanket when she dozed off. I got one from the great Master!"

Harry figured that he was addressing Dumbledore who standing just a few feet away, his eyes twinkling. Ginny thanked Rolf before draping the blanket over her sleeping friend and returning to Harry. Ron had, by this time, won his fight over Zabini who seemed to be complaining about the party. With the way Ron was walking they could make out that he was drunk.

"Her-my-knee," he stammered, hugging Hermione. She wrinkled her nose. "Do you – know that I - I lobe you?" Hermione froze. Although it was a drunken confession, which wasn't even said correctly, it was still a confession.

"Lately, my brother has become an hopeless romantic," Ginny commented causing Harry to turn towards her.

"You know what?" he asked. "Everyone loves to intrude on us. How about another dance, m'lady?"

⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡

Harry had one of the most fun evenings as he danced the night off with Ginny. They twirled around, swayed on spot, moved madly and Harry even dropped Ginny before catching her. She had laughed madly then and even playfully hit his arms. Her merry brown eyes in the sunset had forever etched as an image in his mind. When it was nearly midnight, DJ Dean stopped the music, forcing the playful couple to stop dancing.

"Oh, it's almost time!" Dumbledore declared, making a motion to follow him. There was an exodus of the guests to a stairwell which ascended for an eternity. Harry stuck close to Ginny and held her hand tightly in order to not lose her. He had already lost Ron and Hermione in the crowd. Neville and Hannah were behind them, Hannah holding Ginny's other hand.

After a while, they reached a landing. Dumbledore turned towards the crowd. "Let the countdown begin! Ten to one!" he exclaimed in his magically amplified voice. Harry and Ginny exchanged grins.

"Ten!" Neville shouted.

"Nine!" Hannah, Harry and Ginny joined in.

"Eight!" Ron's voice was heard clearly along with Hermione's.

"Seven!" Harry shouted his highest for his Quidditch number.

"Six!" Ginny shrieked for her number.

"Five. . .!" The complete crowd started. "Four. . .! Three. . .! Two. . .! One!"

There was a loud sound and Harry's heart beat speeded up. "Happy New Year!" Dumbledore greeted. The crowd echoed and Harry as well. Fireworks set by Rolf exploded in the sky, sparkling and glimmering clearly against the black and starry sky. The asterisks seemed to blend in with the firecrackers, creating the perfect sparkly scenery. Harry held Ginny close. Towards his left, Hermione and Ron stood.

Ron had a box in his hands which held more firecrackers. He looked quite attentive, as if he had never gotten drunk in the first place. "Hermione gave me a potion which cleared my mind. You are brilliant, Hermione!" he complimented the bushy-haired girl who blushed in response.

An orange firework was set off by Ron and Harry saw Ginny's brown eyes melt into a golden shade as it reflected the sky. It took his breath away and made him gulp down the ecstasy at being able to look at her so closely.

Ron interrupted his musings by handing him a rocket. "Fred and George wanted you both to set this off. Dunno why. Go ahead."

With Ginny's hand on his arm, they set off the rocket which flew up to the sky making a 'whoosh' noise before exploding into broom shaped sparkles. "That was brilliant!" Harry complimented then added, "Just like you, Gin."

Ginny turned to him with a resolute smile. "May this year be wonderful to you. Happy New Year, Harry Potter." And she kissed him, like the way she did on his seventeenth birthday.

"Mhm, H-Happy – New Ye – ar – Gin," he responded. He heard wolf-whistles all around him and when he pulled away, Collin Creevey was covering his little brother, Dennis's eyes. Ron was looking everywhere but them and Hermione was beaming. Harry's eyes sought Dumbledore's. The aged Headmaster was smiling wisely at him, the twinkle in his eye more pronounced.

"I must say this was a magical night and I am glad to have hosted his party. Happy New Year," Dumbledore finished and a golden firework exploded behind him, illuminating the sky and promising a year of bliss.

Happy New Year!

Thank you for reading!

Miyoko x