For the Fanfiction Tournament - December: Round 1

Also for the OTP Boot Camp with the prompt: sacrilegious

Charlie put an arm around Katie's shoulder as they walked up to the Burrow. The landscape looked like a winter wonderland; snow covered the ground and icicles lined the roof. The chimney was spouting out smoke, and even from several feet away, the couple could hear shrieks of laughter coming from inside. Clearly they were the last to show up which was mostly due to Charlie's stalling.

It was rare for him to come home for Christmas to begin with, but he'd never brought home a girl before. His mother had come very close to bursting into tears of happiness when he'd told her, and he sincerely hoped that she would be composed when Katie arrived. Or at least, as composed as it was possible for Molly Weasley to be.

"Are you ready?" he asked, slowing down at the thought of going inside.

"It'll be fine," Katie insisted. "I honestly think you're more nervous than I am."

"Well, my family is a bit insane," he said.

"Yeah. I know." Katie walked faster so that he had to lengthen his strides to keep up. She wasn't going to waste time listening to him try to talk her out of spending Christmas with his family. She'd already made up her mind.

He caught up and opened the kitchen door to reveal Mrs. Weasley and Fleur bustling around the kitchen while Bill and Percy were talking in the corner. At the sight of the newcomers, Mrs. Weasley threw up her hands in excitement and rushed over to hug them both. "Mum, don- ugh!" Katie elbowed him in the ribs before he could get the rest of the words out, and his mother appeared not to have heard him anyway.

"Oh, it's so good to have the two of you here! Charlie never comes home, you know, and it's been so long since we had proper Christmas with everyone and…" Mrs. Weasley continued to ramble on while she went back to tending the stove. Charlie opened his mouth to speak again, but he soon admitted defeat and just shoved his hands in his pockets.

He attempted to find a way to extract Katie from his mother's clutches but there seemed to be no excuse to get her out of the kitchen. He thought he might be saved when George came and grabbed him by his sleeve. Charlie gestured to Katie. "But…"

"Leave her. It's no use. Trust me."

"I…"

"No worries, mate. She'll have to get used to it, won't she?" George grinned smugly at him before calling out to Angelina who was sitting with Ginny by the fireplace in the living room. "Hey, Angel! Go save Katie from my mum, won't you?"

Angelina squeezed Charlie's shoulder in greeting on her way by, but he barely registered it. He was too busy replaying George's words in his head. She'll have to get used to it, won't she? For some reason, the thought that this was only the first Christmas had never really crossed Charlie's mind. They would have to get used to this. And he had just been hoping to get through today…

Finally, dinner was prepared and everyone sat down to eat, though there were now so many people that they could no longer fit around one table. Every once in a while, Charlie was able to catch Katie's eye and she would just wink at him before chattering away with Ginny or Angelina. She was in her element, and any concern he'd had completely disappeared and he even started to think that he should come home for Christmas more often. Merlin, what was happening to him?

But it didn't really hit him just how much it meant for her to be there until after dinner. The whole family somehow settled themselves in the living room after Mrs. Weasley threw everyone out of the kitchen. As there were not enough chairs, a few people had sat down on the floor. Mr. Weasley was leaning against the mantelpiece and surveying the family like the proud patriarch he was. Katie took her place on Charlie's lap, and she rested her head against his shoulder. "Now this isn't so bad, is it?" she teased.

"No," he said, stroking her hair. "Not bad at all."

Mrs. Weasley began running around handing out gifts, and when she stopped to give Katie hers, she gave Charlie an especially teary smile. Charlie's eyes widened as he watched Katie carefully take off the wrapping paper to reveal one of Mrs Weasley's infamous sweaters- green with the Holyhead Harpies logo on it. It shouldn't have been a surprise; Mrs. Weasley not giving her a sweater would almost have been sacrilegious. But something about receiving one made it seem like Katie was officially part of the family.

And as Charlie kissed her under the mistletoe later, he decided that he could definitely get used to that idea.