After discussing with Hermione at great lengths the letters she had found, Harry had devised a plan. He had been part of James and Ginny's lives for a few months, and he couldn't shake the desire he always felt to be a real family with them. He wanted them to have a little house, with a red door, like he had promised her years ago. He supposed he had gone a bit out of order, with the baby coming first, but he was all right with that. He and Ginny had never been typical.

When he arrived at Ginny's house on Christmas Eve, he was beyond nervous. He had the box, wrapped like a present. He was going to be spending the evening in her home. Their first night like a real family. He was going to give her this box after James had fallen asleep, and hope that a god did exist and she did not slap him and kick him out.

"Hello Harry," she greeted as he entered her flat. She had given him a key a few weeks before. He could smell Christmas cookies as soon as he entered.

"It smells delicious, Ginny," he complimented. "Where's James?"

"Napping," Ginny said simply. "I set up another bed in my room. I'm sorry if that's weird for you, but we don't have a lot of room here and I don't want to blow the surprise of Santa when he's only two if I put you in the living room."

Harry gulped. "That's fine."

Ginny continued to make her cookies. "I'll also need your help wrapping the gifts. Ron's going to bring them by right after we put James down. He's reached the phase where he looks around for presents. Not that he needs anymore, when his birthday was barely two weeks ago."

"He gets spoiled for a month, that's for sure," Harry agreed, looking at the living room. Toys were scattered all around it. "Dunno how we'll even have room under that tree."

Ginny laughed. "I know, really!"

James began to cry, and Ginny was mid-icing. "Harry, can you grab him please?"

"Of course," Harry said, leaping up and going to James's room. "Good morning, sleepy head!"

"Da!" James exclaimed, reaching his chubby hands up, his cries ceasing completely. "Hi Da!"

"Hi buddy!" Harry chuckled. "Let's change you, shall we?"

"Umm..." James said, seeming to think about this prospect. "No."

Harry laughed heartily at this. "I'm afraid 'no' isn't an option, Jamie. Your mama is making Christmas cookies!"

"Kissmas cookie?" James questioned, bouncing now as Harry held him up on the changing table.

"Yes, Jay, kissmas cookies!" Harry cooed. "Aren't you just the most handsome boy?"

"Always the puppy," Ginny laughed from the kitchen. Harry's heart nearly stopped at the reference.

"Do I need to make you the snitch again?" Harry teased. James's eyes lit up.

"Mama snitch?"

"Not right now, Jamie."

James pouted for a moment but seemed to accept this as his father finished changing him and took him into the living room to play.

"He did the silliest thing," Harry said. "I asked if I could change him and he goes, 'ummm, no'. It was hilarious."

"He's developing into a little person," Ginny laughed. "Isn't that right, my little boy?"

"Ummm..." he said again. "No."

"This seems to be a new thing," Ginny said, giving Harry an amused look. He could never get enough of that twinkling, kind-hearted mischief in her eyes.

"It appears so!" he agreed, going to join James. He watched Ginny in the kitchen as she finished decorating the cookies, humming to herself as she swayed back and forth to the music softly coming out of the wireless. In her Weasley Christmas sweater and jeans, she was still stunning, even with a smudge of flour and icing on her face.

A few months ago, when he had shown up at Ginny's flat, he never thought he would end up here. He never believed that things would be all right between them, but they had reached a place where things were okay. As okay as they could be, of course. There were occassionally awkward moments. They had yet to reach a place where pain would not flash across their faces when their past was mentioned, by each other or by a friend or family member. However, they went out in public, as a family, and often were complimented. Ginny never corrected people when they referred to Harry and Ginny as a single unit. She would roll her brown eyes with a twinkling laugh and say, "It's nothing we've never been labeled before, I suppose."

"Da, Santa come bring presents?"

Harry felt his heart melt as his messy haired son crawled into his lap with wide, hopeful green eyes. "Yes, son, Santa's bringing presents tonight."

James squealed and began to clap and he heard Ginny's tinkling laugh come from the kitchen. "It's cute, you know, he thinks you hold all the answers to the world. If I give him an answer he doesn't like, he always says "ask da". It's adorable, actually."

Harry's grin grew wider at her words as James nuzzled into his arms. "It's good to know someone always thinks I'm right," he said teasingly. Ginny laughed again and he could practically hear her eyes roll from the other room.

"He'll learn one day that his mother is always right, you'll see. He just likes you better 'cause you're new!"

It still sent a small jolt through his heart whenever she said things like that, but he shook it off. He knew he was deserving of any pain that her offhanded comments might cause; and he knew that they were simply that, simply offhanded things that hardly even caused her a second thought. She would never intentionally hurt him with a snide remark; that was the beauty of Ginny, of her forgiveness and kindness and compassion. Ginny was the kind of person who would forgive you even if you hurt her a hundred times, and it sometimes occurred to Harry that he might be taking advantage of that fact, as many did. But then, she smiled at him, and he couldn't help but feel like she forgave him because she cared for him.

"I'm cooking tonight," Ginny said suddenly. "Ron and Hermione are coming, they're bringing Teddy. It should be nice for James to have someone to play with."

"Teddy won't be with his grandmother tonight?"

Ginny sighed. "She gets overwhelmed during the holidays. Ron and Hermione take him a lot."

Harry felt another stab of guilt as he thought of his godson, who he had sworn to be there for.

"They love it though," Ginny jumped in. "He loves them. They just love playing house, those two. I can't wait until they pop out a kid of their own so they stop stealing everybody else's."

"Don't be greedy now," Harry laughed. "James is communal property."

"My family seems to think so," Ginny giggled. "Anyway, the three of them should be here in a couple of hours. D'you want to just...play with James until then? I've got a lot of cooking to do."

"James seems to be entertaining himself," Harry pointed out, watching his son play with some floating Quidditch figurines. "I can help cook, if you'd like."

"Oh, I don't know about that.'

"C'mon, Ginny, I know how to cook."

"Fine," she said grudgingly. "You can make the rolls."

"Right then!" Harry said, rolling up his sleeves and rubbing his hands together. "Set me up here, Miss Weasley."

"As you wish," Ginny joked, setting his supplies in front of him. "You better not muck this up!"

"I won't, I won't!" Harry protested with a laugh. "I've only lit my place on fire once."

"How comforting," came Ginny's wry reply.

Harry set off to work, Ginny humming along to the wireless beside her as she bustled around him with ease. Harry marveled at the warm feeling in his chest as he watched her red hair sway over her white jumper as she began to lightly sing.

"What?" Ginny asked, touching her face. "Am I covered in sauce or something?"

"No, no," Harry said, blushing slightly. He continued putting the dough onto the cookie sheet.

"All right then," Ginny said slowly, turning back around to the stove.

Harry closed his eyes tightly, cursing himself for nearly slipping up before he had the chance to do it the way he had planned.

It was several hours of cooking, humming, and bantering, later that Ron, Hermione, and Teddy made their appearance. Teddy immediately crawled down from Ron's arms to play with James and his toys. The adults sat down, beginning to chat over hot chocolate as they waited for the finishing touches on dinner to be finished. Soon enough, the six sat down for a dinner, looking very much like two families enjoying a Christmas Eve supper together; Teddy had changed his hair to a deep red, imitating Ginny and Ron, to which Ginny had grinned and said "Dunno why on Earth he'd ever choose this cursed hair".

Dinner was over in an hour, and Ron and Harry played with the boys while Ginny and Hermione cleaned up in the kitchen. After the guests left, Ginny sighed with a small smile.

"Come on, my boy, time for bed," she said. "Santa won't come unless you get some sleep!"

"SANTA!" James shrieked at a surprising volume.

"Merlin!" Harry exclaimed. "Careful there, iron lungs. C'mon, then."

He lifted him off the carpet and followed Ginny into James's room, placing him in his crib and kissing the top of his head. "Goodnight, buddy. I'll see you in the morning."

"Daddy stay?" James questioned, looking quite puzzled as he blinked his round green eyes.

"Yes, Daddy is staying tonight," Ginny smiled softly, bending down to kiss him. "Goodnight, angel, we love you."

Harry and Ginny left his room quietly, and Ginny softly closed the door. Harry quirked an eyebrow.

"He'll sleep better that way," Ginny shrugged. "I keep it open for security purposes but with you here, there's really no point."

Harry's heart swelled with pride that she trusted him to protect her and their son. They set out putting James's gifts from Santa under the tree. He found his perfect opportunity when Ginny glanced over and said nervously, "I got you a little something, if you'd like to open it."

"Let me grab your gift," Harry smiled, running to her bedroom and grabbing it from his overnight things.

He came out and found her sitting cross-legged on the floor, a glass of butterbeer in her hand. She handed him one as well as he sat across from her next to the fire.

"You open first," Ginny said with an excited little smile as she pushed it over to him. "You know, I never expected to ever spend a Christmas with you."

"Neither did I," Harry said, his voice shaking slightly as the moment of truth approached. "But I'm really glad I am."

"Me too, Harry," she smiled.

He opened the shiny green paper to reveal a photo album. She giggled at his expression. "I got the idea from you gift to James for his birthday. There are some pictures in there that I don't think you've ever seen."

He opened it. The first page was a photo of the two of them, standing quite awkwardly and quite far apart, when she was eleven and he was twelve. It was clipped from a Daily Prophet article about his rescuing her, which was also attached to the other side. He grinned.

"I never saw the issue," Harry laughed. "I just remember you being red as a tomato when we took this photo."

"Oh hush!" Ginny giggled, taking a sip of her drink. "Keep looking."

He flipped through the pages, enjoying the reminiscing with Ginny, when his eyes settled on a photo of them in the common room, his head in Ginny's lap. She was running her hands through his hair, and he suddenly remembered that moment. It was just one day after the battle at Hogwarts.

Harry came down stairs to find Ginny sitting on the couch, curled up and staring into space. He slowly approached her.

"Hey Gin," he said, standing apart from her. She looked up at him with a tired smile.

"Hi love," she greeted, and she reached up to tug on him. "Come lay, you need rest."

"I'm okay, Gin, really."

"Hush," she said softly, and he grudgingly lay down, placing his head in her lap.

"I'm scared, Gin," he said after a moment, and his voice was choked.

"I know, handsome," Ginny said, her voice soothing. "But don't be. I promise you, you're safe. At least at this moment. So don't be scared."

And despite having watched his mentor die, and his godfather, and his mother, and having just been a part of a massive battle, he let himself be comforted by the sweet scent and soft touch of the redhead whose lap he occupied.

"Who took this?" Harry breathed.

"Colin," Ginny smiled. "Little creep, that one was. He took a lot of the ones in there."

"Ginny, thank you," Harry said, and he fought to keep the tears of hope from springing to his eyes as he handed her his box.

Ginny excitedly tore it open, reminding him much of their son. As she lifted one eyebrow and opened the top of the box, Harry's heart stopped. What if this was a mistake? What if he shouldn't have given her these? What if it was just too much too soon? He had only been back for a couple of months.

"What on Earth.." Ginny whispered, running her hands over the tops of the envelopes. "Harry-"

"I wrote to you," Harry began, swallowing hard, "every single day since the day I left."

"I can't believe this," Ginny said, her hazel eyes wide, and slowly filling with tears.

"I'm sorry, Ginny, I didn't mean to-"

She cut him off as she flung herself at him, knocking him backward onto the carpet. His arms instinctively wrapped around her hips as her lips found his. She kissed him hard, years of pent up frustration, passion, and love burning through her very skin.

"Ginny," Harry panted. "Ginny, I've got to make sure you're not making a mistake." He sat them up, brushing her hair out of her face. "I love you, Ginny. And I don't know if you're ready for that. And I understand. I will be here, waiting, as long as I know that I stand a chance. And if I don't...I'll still be here. Loving you and loving our son."

She bit her lip and stared at her hands. "I'm not sure how I feel, Harry. Is it okay if I start reading?"

"Absolutely."

She grabbed the box and moved to the couch, patting the spot next to her encouragingly. He tentatively sat beside her as she picked up the first letter and opened it anxiously.

My dear Ginny,

It's day one. I'm miserable. I can't stop thinking of you, of your every freckle, your one dimple when you smile, your eyes and the way you would be laughing at me and teasing me if you could see what a mess I am. Because you could fix it, I think. And I hate myself for having too much pride to just ask for your help. I miss you so much all ready, knowing that I've given you up forever. It honestly gives me almost no desire to continue on. Knowing that one day, another man will be able to call you his wife. That you'll have beautiful children that will look half like you, but half like someone else that I won't recognize; because he won't be me.

I promise you, Ginny, that I never meant to hurt you. And I know you, you would fire back with something like 'it hurts just the same', and you'd probably stick a wand in my face and I would love you so much for that.

I would kill to be on the receiving end of your wand right now.

Love,

Harry

Ginny sniffled, wiping a tear from her cheek. "Harry."

He nervously looked at her sideways. "Yeah, Gin?"

"I want to do this," she said resolutely. "We'll take it slow. Or, as slow as two people with a child can really take things."

"Nothing would make me happier."

She placed a hand on her heart. "I've spent years building up all of these walls, and in just a couple of months, you've started to knock them down. But only time can knock down the rest. I need to know that you can handle that. And I need to know that you aren't going to walk out on our son."

"I promise you, Ginny," Harry said earnestly, grabbing both of her hands. "I promise you that I am never leaving, ever again. Not you and especially not our son."

She nodded and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. "Thank you."

She stood, taking his hand and leading him down the hall to her bedroom. With one swift motion, she banished the camp bed from the corner.

"Ginny, we shouldn't."

"You really think I'm that easy?" Ginny teased, crawling into bed. "It's sleeping, Potter, and that's it if you know what's good for you."

Harry grinned and crawled in next to her, reaching slowly to put his arm over her hip. "Ginny," he whispered. "Is this happening?"

"Yes, Harry," Ginny giggled, "this is happening."

"Promise?"

"Promise."