"Get off!"
"Fred!"
"Mrpht."
"Not fair!"
Albus stuffed snow in the hood of Molly`s jacket and pulled it over her head, showering her in snow. She turned round and tried to run after him, but she tripped over Hugo who was bent down meticulously trying to make a perfect snowball. Her sister Lucy laughed, and Molly chased after her and Albus, yelling "Mom!", but luckily Audrey was inside with the other adults, out of earshot.
They ran right in the middle of a war zone, unluckily for them.
"Alright ladies, status report. How much ammo have we got?" I turned and addressed my loyal comrades.
"We`ve managed to arm each of the four sleds with an equally huge pile of snowballs." Rose said, her fiery hair barely contained by her hat. Roxanne and Lily sat in the snow behind her, straightening out the sleds and making more snowballs for reserves.
I nodded. "Excellent work. We`re almost ready to strike." Cupping my gloved hands to amplify my voice, I yelled, "Molls, Lu! Come `ere. Stop messing around."
The two sisters ran over, falling in line. "Did you successfully hide the red herring mitten?"
"Yeah, I think Al saw Lucy hide it. It`s under the wood pile."
"Good work, ladies. And now we wait." I stared off towards the enemy fort, where the sky blue haired general was commanding his troops. I could see Hugo and Al rejoining them, proud of themselves for supposedly finding our mitten before the war had even started. Fred and James were loading up tarps with snowballs and tying them to the back of the sleds. Little Louis came running out of the woods behind them and over to Teddy and whispered in his ear. He`d hidden their mitten. Teddy patted him on the back and went back to surveying the construction of the fort, which he now had Hugo and Al making some last-minute repairs on.
I`d decided to use our tarp to make a blind around the top of our camp, preventing snowballs from getting in, except for the small holes we`d cut to see and to launch snowballs out of. Unfortunately, the game was no magic allowed, so there wasn`t as many traps around the camp as I`d like there to be. We`d made a small snow fortress inside the blind, and a small tunnel in case of a need for a quick exit. The majority of the day had gone into the making of the fort, and now it was about to be attacked.
My dark-haired sister crawled in through the tunnel at last. "Dom, how`d it go? Mission accomplished?"
Dominique brushed down her hood and walked over. "Louis hid their mitten about fifty feet to the northeast from their base, in a small hole under a bush. I hid ours," She lowered her voice, "At the top of the largest pine I could find. It`s got really scratchy branches and I hid it really far up, so it`s really hard to get at."
"Awesome. Everyone, to your battle stations!" I took the whistle from around my neck and checked one last time to make sure everyone was ready.
"Remember, Lucy and Molls, you guys guard the fake mitten in the woodpile with your life. Roxy and Lil, stand guard at the fort. Rose and Dom, go get their mitten. I`ll guard the real mitten. Everyone good?"
"Let`s do this thing, Vic." Rose said.
I blew three short blasts into the whistle.
My team waited in silence.
After a few short moments, I heard the responsorial three blasts. "Go, Go, Go!" I shouted.
Molly and Lu ran out the hatch with one of the sleds full of snowballs. Rose, Dom, and I climbed out through the tunnel with two more sleds of snowballs. Before we left, I hid my whistle under an abandoned scarf, just in case I didn`t make it back with the mitten. The other girls knew what to do if I was captured.
The tunnel came out a little behind the fort. After we got out, I put a few branches over top of it so it looked like even ground.
"The tree`s down there a bit. You`ll recognize it when you see it, it`s huge." Dom said, pointing down the hill.
"Alright, thanks. Good luck." I ran off down the hill, pulling my sled, and scoped out a good place to wait and ambush the seekers of our real mitten.
I found the tree, and hid nearby in the thick brush. Off in the distance, in the direction of the woodpile, there was muffled screams. I breathed as quietly as I could, hoping Molly and Lu were able to out run the boys so they didn`t become prisoners.
The game was simple. Get the other team`s mitten, and don`t let your team get captured. If you stormed their base and made it out with your troops they`d captured, then your troops were free. Capturing all of the other team insured a victory, but the only way to win was to bring the other team's mitten back to your camp. The whistle signified the end of the game.
Fortunately, victory is my name. Literally.
I sat in the cold snow for at least ten minutes before I saw Hugo and Teddy coming through the woods. Why were they coming all the way over here? Had one of my girls cracked? Was little Lils scared, or maybe Molls traded the info for a bathroom break?
Suddenly, I realized they were looking at the ground. They were following my tracks. I was the one who was at fault.
I threw a snowball over Hugo`s shoulder and hit a tree behind him. The loud thump made both boys turn, and I took the opportunity to jump out and start chucking snowballs at them like mad, absolutely making it rain down in a furry of snow. For one brief moment I was reminded of a scene in that American movie about an elf in New York City, where the elf is in a snowball fight with the kids and is absolutely killing them.
I ease up on throwing them at Hugo, mostly because he`s one of the little ones and I don`t want him to cry, and also so I have more to throw at Teddy. I make sure to throw at the ground and at my tracks too, as to cover up where I`d been.
When I reached for another snowball, I realize that I`d managed to throw them all. The sled was empty.
Before Teddy and Hugo had a chance to recover, I picked up the sled and took off running towards where the ground dipped down into a large hill. I ran and jumped head-first with the sled underneath me onto the hill.
The unfortunate aspects of going head-first is that snow and grass hits your face, and if you`re going fast enough, it hurts quite a bit. Also, I realized when I went over a bump and felt the weight on one of my feet decrease and a freezing rush of air seize my foot, there is a great potential to lose your boot.
At the bottom of the hill, I tumbled off my sled and hit the icy ground hard. I looked up at the top of the hill, where Teddy and Hugo were sliding down feet-first, the smart way. Teddy grabbed my boot from where it lay abandoned in the snow.
I stood up and tried to ignore the freezing numbness stinging my unbooted foot as I ran away. Unfortunately, I had left my sled, which Hugo climbed on and rode after me in. Teddy sprinted after me. Bootless, I wasn`t as fast as I should have been. Hugo passed me and stopped.
I looked back at Teddy now inches from me, and accidentally tripped over Hugo. I reached out and grabbed the only thing in my reach: Teddy`s jacket. For a second, I stopped falling and our eyes connected both wide with fear. Then, Teddy slipped on an ice patch and tripped over Hugo, and both of us were sent tumbling onto the ground.
For a second we laid there on the ice, with him on top of me, staring into my eyes. His blue hair brushed against my forehead, he was so close.
"Ouch. You`re ankle is in my neck." Hugo`s voice rose up from beneath us. He must have shifted, because I felt myself rolling sideways and Teddy rolled with me. We finally landed with me on top of him with his back in the snow.
"Sorry," I said, realizing I was still holding on to his coat. I got up and brushed off some snow from my pants, not meeting his eyes.
"Gotcha!" Hugo said, holding my arms behind my back.
"What? No!" I pulled my arms away and backed up.
"You`re trapped, Vic. I`ve got you`re boot. The rest of our team is back at camp guarding your girls and waiting for us to catch the last few miscreants. We were looking for Dom and Rose when we found your tracks." Teddy said, slowly walking forward.
"I`m not going easily, if that`s what your suggesting." I started to run, but Teddy caught me by my waist and heaved me over his shoulder.
"Stop it! Let me down!" I said, hitting his back and squirming. I could feel the blood rushing to my head and I felt like I was going to pass out. "I`m getting dizzy."
"Not a chance. This is the only way I can be certain that you`re coming back to our camp." I could hear the smirk in his voice. "Besides, you`re nicer this way."
I hit his back. "Hey!"
Hugo dragged the sled back with us. "You`re not gonna let him bring me back like this, right?" I asked Hugo.
Hugo smiled deviously and shrugged. "Hey!" I shouted as he ran up ahead.
Teddy laughed.
"You`re enjoying this too much." I said.
"What`s not to enjoy?" He asked, and I felt myself blushing and being insanely thankful he couldn`t see my face.
"Can I have my boot back? My foot`s gone numb."
"If I give it back now, who`s to say you won`t manage to jump down and run away?"
We trudged on in silence for a few more minutes. I felt myself drifting in and out of consciousness. I tried to lift my head up to stop feeling so dizzy. When I had my head against his back, I could hear the beating of his heart.
"Vic? You okay back there?" He called, and I closed my eyes and focused on not throwing up from dizziness.
"Vic? VIC!" He lifted me off his shoulder and laid me on the ground. "Merlin, Vic, say something!" He leaned over me and shook my shoulder.
I jumped up and tried to run off, but I was so dizzy I almost collapsed. He picked me up newlywed style and returned to the trail back to his camp.
"You`re not going to win you know." I said.
"Give up, Vicky. They`ve probably caught the other two by now. All we have to do is get your mitten."
"Really? I`d be willing to bet my broom that my girls are going to win."
"I`d eat a frog if you won." He laughed.
"They`re not that bad actually. Mum makes them sometimes." I scrunched my nose at the memory.
"Fine, then I`ll kiss Aunt Muriel on Christmas."
"The parents make us do that anyway when she comes. Something else."
"Alright, then I`ll kiss you." I looked away so he wouldn`t see me blushing.
I covered the awkwardness up by laughing. "You really think I`m not gonna win, huh?"
We had come to the boy`s fort now. He put me down and led me in. James, Fred, Al, and Louis were standing around. Teddy led me over to the corner of the fort where the girls were sitting in dismay.
"Who got Rose?" Teddy said.
"Al. He had to climb a tree, but eventually he got her." Fred said proudly.
I sat next to Roxanne and Molly. "We`re not through yet, ladies." I whispered to my troops. "You all are doing excellently." Lily crawled onto my lap and Rose inched closer, closing the circle around me.
"Did they fall for the red herring?" I asked Lucy.
"Hook, line, and sinker. Al and Fred totally thought they`d won until they realized it was just a balled-up hat. Then we ran back to the fort."
"They got reinforcements, James and Louis and stormed our camp. We held them off for a while, but then Teddy came and we just couldn`t hold them anymore." Roxanne said.
"You fought bravely." I said.
"Alright Gentlemen, let`s go get that mitten!" Teddy yelled, and he, James, and Fred walked out with their sleds.
"It`s not over yet, boys!" I yelled after them.
"Al and James went after Dom and I after they captured them. Dom got away, and I don`t know where she`s at. The boys were going to send out another search party after they got you." Rose whispered.
"Did she have the mitten?"
"Yeah, but she couldn`t get back to camp because everyone was attacking."
"Al?" I called over.
"What?" Albus said, walking up to us.
"Are they focusing on finding the mitten now that you`ve caught the bulk of us?"
"Yeah, mostly." Albus said proudly, leaning against the wall.
"DOM! GO! NOW! THEY`RE NOT IN THE WAY! MY WHISTLE IS UNDER A SCARF IN THE FORT!" I screamed as loud as I could. Albus` eyes went wide.
There were far off shouts, and the sound of branches breaking.
"Thanks." I said to a dig raced Al.
Suddenly , eight short blasts sounded. We had won.
"Yeah!" Roxanne shouted, jumping up.
Everyone started to do victory dances and high five each other. Albus had an 'aw shucks' look on his face.
"It`s alright Al. Maybe next time you`ll be on my team." I mussed his wild hair and lead my triumphant troops back to the Burrow.
Dominique was waiting outside with my whistle and the boy`s mitten.
"You were brilliant." I told her. She glowed with happiness and victory.
Later, I was drinking hot chocolate alone upstairs in the room I shared with my sister and our girl Weasley and Potter cousins to get away from the madness, when Teddy walked in.
"Hey." He sat down on Molly`s bed. He`d changed his hair to red since the snow war, I noticed.
"Hey." I put down my book.
"So, having a nice winter holiday so far?" He smiled.
"Yeah, and it`s only Christmas eve." I sipped my hot chocolate. "Are you going to stay with Harry over the summer?"
"Probably. No offense to my grandmother, but it`s much more fun staying with the Potters and Weasleys. Something`s always happening."
I smiled, remembering all the Christmases, birthdays, Easters, Halloweens, Free Maraca Days, and New Years that we`d celebrated. There was always something going on even when there was nothing to celebrate.
"So…" He said, nervously rubbing his glasses.
"So…?" I said.
"You won."
"Yep." I said, unsure what he was getting at.
"And I made a bet."
"Oh." I looked down, remembering. "That. Um, you don`t have to. It`s fine. We were just kidding around. It doesn`t matter. If you don`t want to."
"I don`t mind." He said, walking over and sitting next to me.
"Okay." I said, and suddenly his lips were on mine, soft, comforting. A flurry of emotions rushed at me, and I tried to suppress them. It wasn`t like any other kiss I`d had before.
But he was my best friend, and pretty much my adopted cousin. Was it wrong to admit that I`d liked him secretly for the past year and a half?
Yes, I decided, it was. I had to think of what it would be like for my cousins and siblings. Would that be like a betrayal to them? I had no way of knowing. But I really did l-no, I couldn`t allow myself to think about that.
We broke apart, and I said, "We can`t tell the others."
"Definitely." Teddy said.
I smiled at the playfulness in his eyes.
"That was…" He started.
"Definitely." I smiled wider, knowing he had felt it too. The spark.
"Do you want to…" I cut off.
"Definitely." He said, and kissed me again.
A few minutes later, I looked at the clock again. "We`d better go downstairs for dinner before people come up to get us and see."
He stood up. "Okay."
As we were walking down some of the many stairs, Teddy took out his wand and pointed it over the step I was on. I looked up and saw that there was now some mistletoe there.
I rolled my eyes. "Merry Christmas, Ted."