Since the age of eleven Harry had been a part of the Weasley family and it wasn't much later that Mrs Weasley considered Hermione as one of hers as well. The two of them had spent many a Christmas with the Weasleys and only a few years after the war, Harry officially joined the family when he and Ginny got married. However, as much as Mrs Weasley loved her sons and Hermione, she gave up hope of the bright witch ever officially becoming a Weasley, when her short-lived relationship with Ron fizzled out and they decided, they were better suited as friends. Even more heartbroken than the two of them, it only became a little easier for Mrs Weasley the following Christmas when Ron brought Luna along and it was clear as day that the dotty woman was the one for her youngest son. Though Luna did on occasion try Mrs Weasley's patience, she couldn't have asked for a better daughter-in-law.
In fact, all of her daughters-in-law were rather impressive. Over the years, she had grown to love Fleur, even though they'd had a rocky start way back when. Unlike Fleur, Angelina and Katie - Fred and George's wives respectively - didn't even give her the chance to find fault with either relationship as the two women made it clear that whatever they got up to with her sons wasn't for her to criticise or otherwise comment on. Angelina made the point with a little more tact than Katie, but Mrs Weasley could respect their attitudes either way. Percy's wife was a different matter altogether. While Audrey didn't have a bad bone in her body, Mrs Weasley had never managed to connect with her and as such they never had much to talk about. However (and more importantly), she was happy that Percy had found someone whom he loved so wholeheartedly and who loved him just as much in return.
Then there was Charlie. Although she would never admit to it if asked by her family, Mrs Weasley had given up on Charlie ever bringing someone home to meet the rest of the family. She figured that he had relationships in Romania, but whether they were with women, men, or both she had no idea. Right after the war, Charlie used to be her favourite target for meddling. It was different back then with Fleur being pregnant, Harry and Ginny moving in together, and everyone else pairing up and settling down as well. Charlie was the exception, and she always felt like he just needed a push in the right direction - a few pointed comments here and there, inconspicuous blind dates with friends' unattached daughters, one blind date with a friend's single son. No matter what she tried, it was no use though, and after a couple of years she gave up.
That only left Hermione for her to be concerned about.
The Christmas after the war everyone was only just beginning to think about their futures and what to do with their lives following You-Know-Who's defeat, and the year after that Hermione and Ron were still a couple. The following year, Ron brought Luna along and Hermione didn't spend Christmas with them because they had at last found a way to return her parents' memories to them. Another year passed and Hermione's parents decided to stay in Australia, but because of her busy work schedule, Hermione couldn't visit them and ended up at the Burrow with the Weasleys. The year after that Hermione almost brought someone along to meet the rest of the Weasleys for Christmas, but she broke up with whoever it was and in a bid to escape the pitying looks of her adopted family and her friends, she escaped to Romania. Charlie hadn't been able to get any time off because of a sudden wave of the flu among the dragons and they needed every helping pair of hands they could get. Although Mrs Weasley missed Hermione and Charlie that Christmas, she knew that they at least weren't alone come Christmas Day.
The years after that Hermione threw herself into her work and alternated between going to Australia for Christmas and spending the holidays at the Burrow. That was until last year, when she broke with the tradition. Hermione achieved something everyone had thought impossible. With the help of Luna, as well as some blood from Harry and Tonks, she brought back Sirius Black from behind the Veil a couple of weeks before Christmas. Having spent over a decade in limbo, stuck between life and death, Sirius had trouble adjusting to being alive once more. He'd completely missed the Second Wizarding War, but what had been even more disorientating to him had been the fact that he was now closer in age to his godson than his best friend, Remus.
On top of that, said best friend had married his cousin and they'd had a son, who was already nine years old. While it wasn't just Sirius who needed time to adjust, he was the one who needed the most help the first few weeks after he was back. Since Harry and Hermione had been so involved in Sirius' rescue, they spent all their time following the ritual helping him settle in and sort out all the paperwork to officially bring him back from the dead. As a result, the three of them missed most of last year's Christmas at the Burrow. However, Mrs Weasley wasn't all that worried - these things tended to sort themselves out over time and she was certain that come Christmas the following year everything would be back to normal.
A/N: Hello, everyone!
Thank you for reading the prologue of this story! It's going to be quite a bit longer than anything else I've posted to date, and I wanted to use this space to tell you about how I'm planning on posting this/some technical stuff in advance.
I'm tentatively planning on updating every two weeks. I work full-time, which sometimes includes working on weekends, so currently updating every two weeks seems the most reasonable to me. Depending on whether my workload is lighter or heavier, updating times might be adjusted as well.
This will be posted as I write, though I'm currently a few chapters ahead, and I know where the story is going. However, to keep some surprises for you guys, I won't be updating the pairing until this story is finished. Yes, there is an "endgame couple" and I know which one it is, but until we get to that point, there will be a few other pairings and types of relationships thrown into the mix. I'm planning on this being a slow burn c:
Lastly! Anyone interested in beta-ing? Shoot me a pm~