The Best Christmas Present Ever
By: Polgara (melindoranightsilver@hotmail.com)
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Through Season Seven of Buffy and OOTP for Harry Potter.
Summary: Dawn receives the best Christmas present ever.
Notes:
- This was written for Sibling for his Secret Santa Fic. Sorry that your original author didn’t follow through so I hope you enjoy this.
- I usually pair Dawn up with Draco, but since you specifically requested not to have that pairing it gave me an opportunity to write a pairing that I always thought would work, but haven’t had a chance to write. So thank you for giving me this opportunity.
- Warning: I was watching the BTVS episode of Potential when I wrote this. You’ll soon see why I warned you.




The Best Christmas Present

Dawn smiled as she let the dinner conversation wash over her. It was always her favorite part of the day at the Order of the Phoenix’s headquarters. Everyone gathered together to eat Molly Weasley’s superb cooking and it felt like family.

Buffy, Willow, and Xander had been invited to join the Order after the activation of all the slayers; and the original scoobies couldn’t tell them no. So Dawn had gone with them to England. Giles was also in England, but he was busy rebuilding the Watcher’s Council and finding all of the new slayers.

This dinner was especially exciting for Dawn, however, since they had guests that evening. Molly’s two youngest, Ron and Ginny, had come back from their school with their friends Harry and Hermione. Apparently there had been some serious discussions whether it was safe for the students to leave the school which is why they hadn’t arrived until today, Christmas Eve.

She had gotten to know the four of them while they had stayed over the summer, although Harry hadn’t arrived until the last two weeks. The raven-haired boy with the sparkling green eyes was the past and future savior of the wizarding world, a fact that weighed heavily upon his shoulders. She could sympathize. It was a hard thing to accept that you were some sort of chosen one at an early age. Buffy had had several long talks with the boy about it.

Dawn easily got along with Hermione and Ginny. Both girls were bright and witty; not to mention thoroughly exasperated by the boys. Hermione was thankful for a friend who was a girl and familiar with both the wizarding and muggle world. Ginny, who was a year younger, was one of the sweetest girls Dawn had ever met and was always willing to listen to the brunette’s problems. The girls had exchanged many letters since they had returned to school.

Then there was Ron, the youngest of the six Weasley boys. It had taken her some time to get to know the tall, redheaded young man. He seemed to be part of the group, and yet not part of the group all at the same time. It seemed more pronounced whenever Harry was around.

“You’ll come and watch the game, won’t you?” Harry asked, interrupting her wandering thoughts.

“Huh?”

“Our quidditch game against Slytherin next month,” Ginny told her.

“I’m sure I could find a way,” Dawn said cheerfully. She could have sworn she saw Ron’s eyes light up at her statement. “Are you sure I’ll be able to follow the game? Remember, muggle here.”

“You’ll be fine,” Ron assured her. “It’s the greatest game ever!”

Dawn giggled. “Yes, Ron. So you have said many times.” A red flush crept up his neck to his cheeks. “I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.”

*******

After dinner, Dawn headed up to her room. She loved the four students from Hogwarts, but she suddenly felt the need to be alone with her thoughts; or more precisely, her thoughts about Ron.

She had finally figured him out after the first month of his summer vacation. He personified something Xander had pointed out about herself. Ron’s two best friends were always in the spotlight. Harry was because he was the wizarding world’s chosen one and a natural born seeker. Hermione was frightfully intelligent and was on her way to be Head Girl next year.

Yet, there was Ron, who had nothing to make him stand out from the crowd, but still fighting. He stood bravely beside his best friends, no matter what, his loyalty never wavering. It made him more than special, he was extraordinary.

It had been downhill for her ever since she realized it. The more she watched him, the more handsome he became. The better she got to know him, the more enamored she became. Until she was startled to find that she was in love with him.

And he had absolutely no idea.

Of course, it’s not like she was trying to make it obvious. She had hoped that while he was away at school the feelings for him would diminish. And she actually thought they had -that is, until he had arrived that night.

Dawn groaned and dropped her head into her hands. How was she ever going to make it through the next week and a half without letting him know?

“Are you ok?” Came Ginny’s voice from Dawn’s open doorway.

The brunette lifted her head and placed a smile on her face. “Yeah.”

Ginny let out an indelicate snort. “You forget, this is me you’re talking to. So, you still fancy my brother, huh?” She asked as she sat next to Dawn on her bed.

Dawn just dropped her head back into her hands, effectively muffling her reply.

“What was that?”

“Yes! I still like him,” cried Dawn.

“Merlin only knows why,” Ginny teased gently. “Why don’t you tell the stupid git?”

Dawn looked at her with stricken eyes. “I couldn’t. I mean he doesn’t look at me like that, it would be too embarrassing. Besides, I don’t even think he’s aware that girls exist.”

Ginny laughed. “Oh, he’s aware. He’s just really shy with girls.”

“Whatever. He has no reason to be shy.”

The redhead sighed as she realized her friend wasn’t ready. She knew how hard it was to harbor a crush, after all, she had done so herself for years with Harry. But she knew Dawn’s feelings went beyond a mere crush, for she saw through Ron’s outer skin of laughter and jokes. She only hoped he would open his eyes to see that.

“Well, I’m going to go see what Hermione is up to. Although it’s probably homework. Want to come?” Ginny asked finally.

“Maybe in a little bit.”

Ginny just nodded and left the room.

Dawn sat there for a few minutes before grabbing a cloak and climbing out her window. She had lucked out by having a nice sized part of the roof below her windowsill. She liked to sit out there at night to look at the stars.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t realize that she was no longer alone until she heard, “Kind of cold out isn’t it?”

Dawn jumped slightly and turned to see Ron standing next to her. “A little,” she replied sheepishly. “Hence the cloak wearing.”

“Can I join you?” He asked softly.

At her nod, he sat down next to her. A shiver ran down her spine that had less to do with the cold air and more to do with his leg touching hers.

“Pretty,” he said after a few minutes.

“Yeah. It’s a nice place to do some thinking without twenty people falling all over you and asking what’s wrong.”

“I get that. You excited about tomorrow?”

“What’s tomorrow?”

“Christmas,” he said slowly, as if she had lost her mind.

“Oh, yeah. I thought you meant something else. But yeah, I’m excited. I love Christmas.”

“Me too. I just wished I had more money to spend on my friends.”

“I know what you mean,” Dawn said. “Money has been tight for us ever since mom died. Being a slayer isn’t exactly what employers look for on a resume so Buffy’s had a hard time finding a job and keeping it. You don’t exactly get time off to stop an apocalypse.”

“I can see where it would be a problem,” he said with a chuckle.

Dawn looked at him. “Then you’ll understand that your present isn’t all that big?”

He turned his brown eyes to look into her green ones. “Of course, and will you do the same?”

She smiled softly. “I would be honored to receive anything from you.”

Ron suddenly seemed nervous. “I came out here to talk to you - actually to give you your present now.”

“Why?” She asked, curiosity dancing in her eyes.

“I didn’t want everyone to make fun of it.”

“I’m sure they wouldn’t do that,” she assured him. “What is it?”

Before she knew it, he was pressing his lips to her. She was so stunned she couldn’t react.

He pulled back after a moment and said, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have...”

She cut him off by kissing him back. It didn’t take him long to respond in kind. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. He moaned softly as her tongue flicked against his lips, begging entrance. He parted his lips and their tongues softly probed each other.

When the kiss finally ended, he kept her close, resting his forehead on hers.

“That’s the best Christmas present I’ve ever received,” she said breathlessly.

“Definitely.”

~finis~