Status: Week-long hiatus :'( Will update this Friday 1/14/10

I Can't Stop Digging the Way You Make Me Feel

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

Emilie groaned and buried her head in her pillow as she heard Katie and Alyssa yell in her ear and felt her jump on her sleeping body.

"Go away, leave me alone." Emilie grumbled into her pillow

"It's Christmas morning! Wake up so we can go open presents! Now move!"

Alyssa and Katie jumped off of Emilie, grabbed their presents, and slammed the dormitory door shut. Emilie groaned again and sat up, her eyes straining to open. Even though the Yule Ball ended promptly at midnight, Emilie and George stayed up until dawn simply talking about everything: classes, prank ideas, past Christmases, and the Yule Ball. The only thing that really didn't come up was the fact that they kissed...twice, which Emilie was thankful for. She didn't want to have that talk after a great, unforgettable night. So, having only been asleep for a mere three hours, it took Emilie about a minute to get the strength to stand up. When she did, she put on a pair of socks and a grey sweatshirt over her pajamas and headed downstairs with her presents in her hands. The common room only had a few inhabitants. The Hogwarts Express had left earlier that morning, taking students who wanted to go home but stay for the Yule Ball to London that Christmas morning. Emilie dropped her presents and plopped down on the couch, still exhausted.

"What're we waiting for?" Emilie asked

"George. Fred went up to get him. He's still sleeping." Alyssa said

Emilie smirked and shook her head. "Of course he is. So what did you two do when you left last night?"

"Well, Will and I made out in front of his ex-girlfriend because he wanted to make her jealous to get her back and---"

"Is that the only reason he asked you?" Alyssa interrupted

"Yeah, but I don't care. He's hot but he's a douchebag. And his ex-girlfriend's a huge bitch so my thought was that they should get back together so they can't individually screw any nice, respectable person over."

Emilie and Alyssa shared a glance of disbelief.

"Okay well, don't develop that reputation. You'll never have a serious relationship if you do." Emilie warned

"Don't worry, I'm not going to do it again. Even though Will's a really good kisser, it didn't do anything for me." Katie said

"I could've told you that." Alyssa muttered

Footsteps were heard coming down from the boys' dormitory and a wide-eyed, excited-looking Fred jumped the last step while his sleepy-eyed brother slowly trudged behind him.

"Why couldn't we have done this later? It's so early." George grumbled, his red hair all messy and out of place

"Quit your whining! God, you and Emilie are really bringing down the holiday spirit." Fred said

George plopped down on the couch and laid down, placing his head on Emilie's lap. Emilie laughed to herself and began to absentmindedly play with his hair while the three wide awake teenagers passed out presents. As soon as they were all passed out, they went in a Circle and opened them all. From Alyssa, Emilie received a miniature Quidditch field complete with players and equipment. From Katie, she received a photo book full of pictures she had found over the summer of the two of them were little. And finally, from the twins, Emilie got a huge box of every prank item from Zonko's mixed in with her favorite candy. By the time her friends were opening her presents, Emilie felt much more awake; that and the fact that George was still lying on her, the shaking of his laughter making her realize how happy he is and how even more happier she thinks he could make her. When presents were done being opened, Fred, Alyssa, and Katie engaged in eating candy which made their voices come out as animal noises, whereas Emilie just sat back, enjoyed, and laughed.

"Hey, Em."

Emilie looked down at George and saw a glint of seriousness in his eyes. She raised her eyebrow, signaling him to go on.

"I didn't bring this up last night, well technically this morning, but I think we should talk about---"

"Yeah, I agree, especially because---"

Emilie stopped talking when she noticed Fred, Alyssa, and Katie staring at her and George. She and George glanced at each other and stood up.

"Hang on, I have to grab something."

Emilie quickly rushed up to her dormitory. She rummaged through her trunk and got out two wrapped gifts: one in purple wrapping and the other in dark green wrapping. She went back down to the common room, nodded when she made eye contact with George, and the both of them walked towards the portrait hole.

"Where are you two going?" Katie yelled after them

"Away from you three." Emilie said

"Just for a bit." George also said

The portrait hole closed and Emilie and George walked down the corridors. When they reached a landing, George suddenly went down a set of stairs.

"Wait, where are we going?" Emilie asked

"Down to the kitchens. They won't be able to find us on the Marauder's Map." George smirked

The castle was desolate as the two of them made their way down to the kitchens, so they ran into no one that could punish them for going in there. When they got there, George tickled the pear and the portrait swung open. They stepped inside and were immediately greeted by the house elf, Dobby.

"Good morning Mr. George and Miss Emilie." Dobby squeaked happily, excited to see two of his most frequent visitors

"Good morning, Dobby. Happy Christmas." Emilie replied equally happy

"Happy Christmas, Miss Emilie. What can I get you today?"

"Can we get a variety? Say, some treacle tart, crumpets, and custard tart?" George asked

"Yes, sir!" Dobby said, giving George a quick salute

"And take your time. Emilie and I need to talk." George quickly added. Dobby nodded his tiny head and retreated further into the kitchens. Emilie, who was leaning forward against a counter with her hands folded in front of her, smiled as she watched the little house elf waddle away. She felt George come around her and he leaned against the other side of the counter.

"Here, I got you something...special, I guess you could say." Emilie said, pulling the dark green-wrapped gift from her pocket. She gave it to George and he opened it. His eyes widened as he held the gift in his hand.

"Is---is this---?"

"The first beater's bat you ever owned? It is indeed. It took me awhile to fix it up, but I finally finished it about two weeks ago."

"It's engraved." George said in awe

Emilie smiled and nodded.

"Emilie, this is incredible. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"I also got you something special."

George pulled out a small wrapped box from his pocket and handed it to Emilie. She opened it and held in her hand a black velvet box. She opened it and her jaw dropped.

"My necklace? I thought this was lost on the great de-gnoming adventure we had when we were seven!"

"I found it over the summer before you came to the Burrow."

"This is seriously the necklace you gave me when we were five?"

"Polished and put on a new chain."

It was Emilie's turn to look at her gift in awe as she took it out of the box. The necklace she had in her hand a small, fake-diamond-studded teddy bear. She unclasped the gold chain and placed it around her neck.

"I can't believe you found this." Emilie scoffed, looking down at the necklace

George smiled as he watched Emilie admire his gift. She then looked up at him and started twiddling her thumbs, something she did when she was anxious.

"So....." Emilie started

"Alright well, I'm just going to say it. I like you, Em."

Emilie glanced up at George, who shrugged with a ridiculous smile on his face, although his face was easily turning red.

"I mean, I really do. I know we've been best friends for a long time and all, but I want to be more than friends. And I know I'm probably taking a shot in the dark but---"

"George, I like you too. I thought I made it pretty obvious when we kissed. Twice." Emilie interrupted

"Yeah, I guess you did...that and Katie kind of told me."

"Is that what she talked to you about when she took you to the hospital wing?!"

George nodded and Emilie threw her hands up in the air in frustration.

"I'm going to kill her."

George laughed and walked to her side, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Here's what I think we should do: you should be my girlfriend and next Hogsmeade trip, we will go out on our first official date." George stated confidently

"Oh, yeah? What makes you think I'm going to agree with that?" Emilie smirked

"Well one, you'll hurt my feelings. And two, I'll do this."

George suddenly poked Emilie in the side and she squealed loudly.

"No, don't!" She laughed

But George didn't stop. He kept poking her as she walked backwards, trying to avoid him, until her back was pressed completely against the counter and he was practically squishing against it. She stopped squealing, giving up, and putting her hands over her head, taking shelter. George then stopped and wrapped his arm around her in a warm embrace. She took her hands off of her head and looked up at George, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"So, what do you say?" George asked softly, smiling down at the girl in his arms

"I say yes. To going on our first official date and to being your girlfriend."

Emilie had never seen George smile as wide had he did as he leaned down and gently pressed his lips against Emilie's. He then pulled back and pulled Emilie into a hug.

"Happy Christmas." He whispered in her ear, unknowingly giving her the good kind of goosebumps

"Best Christmas ever."

A soft and squeaky clearing of the throat suddenly interrupted their moment.They both pulled back and saw Dobby standing a few feet from them, looking coy and holding a bag of goodies in his tiny hand.

"Here's your treats! I hope you enjoy them!"

"Thank you Dobby. And here, Happy Christmas." Emilie pulled out the purple package from her pocket and knelt down in front of Dobby. He took it from her hand and unwrapped it. His big eyes widened when he saw what was inside the wrapping paper: a pair of woolen socks.

"Thank you Miss Emilie!" He squeaked as his eyes began to water

"You're welcome. Tell the other house elves we say 'Happy Christmas', as well." Emilie smiled as she stood up. Dobby nodded, bowed slightly, and hobbled back into the kitchens. Emilie turned and stopped short when she saw George beaming at her.

"What?"

"You are the most wonderful person." He said, indicating the gift that Emilie just gave Dobby. She simply smiled and blushed.

"We should get back to the common room. I'm sure they're all speculating about what's going on." Emilie said with a knowing tone

"I'm sure they've been thinking of that since last night." George pointed out

Emilie scoffed and nodded. The two of them started walking back and as they walked, their hands kept brushing against each other until George had the courage to lace his fingers with hers. Her hand was a perfect fit. A wide, giddy smile was plastered across Emilie's face the entire walk back. When they entered the common room, Katie jumped up from the chair.

"I knew it, I knew it, I KNEW IT!" She exclaimed loudly

Fred and Alyssa, who had their backs to the portrait hole, turned and saw their two friends finally together.

"Okay, say all the crap you want. Come on, bring it on." Emilie said, still holding George's hand

"Well, I personally have nothing to say except finally. We all knew it was going to happen, but we just thought it was going to be last night after we left." Alyssa said

"And I'm okay with this as long as you two aren't clawing at each other while you're around me." Fred added

"Anything else?" George asked

"Um, who was it that is technically responsible for making you two finally realize that you like each other?" Katie asked

George and Emilie looked at each other and then at Katie.

"You did." They both said

"Well, good. Now that that's out of the way, we can continue our lovely Christmas day." Katie smiled proudly for herself

"I vote we get dressed and sneak into Hogsmeade for some Christmas butterbeer. Anyone up for it?" Fred asked

Everybody raised their hands and then went upstairs to change. After Emilie changed and brushed her teeth, she put on a little bit of makeup and as she looked in the mirror, she saw the necklace that she was wearing glittered beautifully against her skin. She smiled at how truly meaningful it had meant to her that it had been found and how truly lucky she was to finally have George, her best friend and now boyfriend.
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Woo! I'm 10 chapters in! Hooray!! Thanks to everyone who has been reading and subscribing!! Please keep it up :) And the comments I've been getting are lovely, so please keep those up too!!!

If you're ever wondering when I'll do updates, I usually post an update under "updates" while I'm online, so you can always check there!

-Kaitlin Xx