Mistletoe Kisses
Part 1
It was going to be an important day. Molly Weasley had cooked the christmas dinner and kept it magically warm, the presents were hidden under the tree using a disillusionment charm, and everyone had been invited. So waited.
First to arrive were Harry and Ginny, directing a pushchair along the winding path to the burrow. Sitting in the pushchair and peering around curiously, was a two-year-old Albus Severus. Excitedly running past the pushchair was Albus' older brother, James Sirius, a six-year-old little boy, bursting with energy. Ginny was carefully mcradling her two-week-old newborn baby, Lily Luna. Lily was giggling and blinking her bright blue eyes.
'Welcome home!' exclaimed , hugging Harry and Ginny, then picking up the baby and taking them inside.
'Mum! It's so great to see you again!' Ginny cried, flinging her arms around her mother,'where's Dad?'
'Arthur!' called, and came running down the stairs, delightedly looking at Ginny and Lily.
'Oh, she's gorgeous!' he exclaied, stroking the baby happily,'Harry,,James, Albus, how amazing to see you! We can't wait until the others come so we can ask you about-'
Just then, there was a noise outside the Burrow. Outside the window, Hermione and Ron could be seen, each carrying a two-year-old, red-headed child. Hermione was carrying a girl called Rose, and Ron was carrying a boy called Hugo.
and ran out to greet them, both of them exclaiming at how Rose and Hugo had grown ('more than Ron when he was their age!' compared), and inviting them in, telling them that Harry, Ginny and their family were there. At this, Hermione and Ron ran inside and gave Harry a choking bear hug.
'Oh Harry!' Hermione squealed, 'we've missed-'
'Can't-breathe,' gasped Harry, patting them on the back as they released him.
'Been too long, mate,' Ron said,'heard my sis had the baby?'
Hermione let out a squeak as she saw Lily in Ginny's arms.
'Ooh, she's so beautiful!' she exclaimed.
'Hey, there's Charlie, and Teddy's with him!' Ron said, staring out of the window.
'I picked up Teddy on the way here,' Charlie said when they were inside, 'Bill and Fleur are on their way too-i saw them on the way here.'
Teddy smiled and his streak of turquoise hair turned to scarlet, and back again to turquoise.
'Hey, Molly, Arthur,' he said, 'it's been too long.'
'How's Andromenda?' asked .
'She's fine, grandma's fine,' Teddy answered.
'Hey, there's Bill and Fleur!' Charlie said.
Teddy ran his fingers through his hair.
Bill and Fleur were walking along the path with their three children. Louis, the youngest, was six years old, and was just as mischievious as James, if not more. Dominique, the nine-year-old middle child, was playing with her hair absentmindedly. Victoire, the eldest, was twelve years old, and was staring at Teddy, just like he was staring at her. However, they looked away quickly when they saw that the other person was looking. Dominique and Louis spluttered with laughter, having seen this action before, and Dominique having sneaked into Victoire's bedroom and read her diary.
' 'Arry!' Fleur squealed delightedly,' we 'ave missed you all! Ooh, is this the baby? She is beautiful!'
As Fleur ran over to Lily, Percy could be heard coughing inside the kitchen. 'They must have come through the Floo network,' , running into the kitchen. Five minutes later, Percy and his wife Audrey emerged, each holding a three-year-old child.
'Come on Molly, Lucy, get down,' Percy said, fishing from his pockets two baby rats.
'Here you go,' he said, giving one, which was called cheese-eater to Molly, and the one called Quidditch to Lucy.
'Mummy, where Santa?' squealed Lucy, 'where presents?'
'After dinner,' Audrey answered, 'look!'
She pointed at the fire, where George, his wife Angelina, and their two children appeared, spluttering and shaking soot out of their hair.
'Mum, Dad!' George exclaimed, 'missed you! I-'
His words were drowned out by a loud crying from Angelina's arms. It was their six-month-old daughter, Roxy.
'Ssh, Roxy, it's okay, do you want your dummy?' Angelina cooed, 'here's dummy!'
She stuck the dummy in Roxy's mouth, and, at this, Roxy immediately stopped crying and fell asleep.
'Finally,' their bored ten-year-old son Fred mumbled, taking Roxy from her mother's arms and cradling her.
'So let's all sit down!' said, and all of the adults and older children sat down, either alone, or with a baby on their laps.
'So...anything happened, Perce?' George asked, feigning interest.
'Well, see, do you remember that breakthrough report on how dangerous Gobstones can be? Well they-' Percy's words were drowned out by George's fake snoring.
'Look, if you don't want to know,' Percy started,'then why did you-'
'Did you hear,' interrupted Charlie, 'Norberta had babies! Me and Hagrid agreed on the names Colin, Sammy and Hayley!'
He hurried to pull out from his jacket a photo of three baby dragons.
'They look just like Norberta when she was their age!' Hermione squealed, while Ron mimed vomiting, making Harry splutter with laughter.
Just then, there was a loud tapping on the door.
'Oh, i wonder who that could be,' murmured. As she opened the door, several owls poured into the Burrow, showering the Weasleys with letters.
'Oh, this is just like Hogwarts,' Ginny said, passing Harry a letter adressed to him.
'Mum! LOOK AT THIS! CIARA'S SENT US ALL JUMBO BOXES OF HONEYDUKES' SUGAR QUILLS-' screamed James.
Dear, don't shout, I can hear you,' Ginny interrupted him,'you really don't have to yell. And you're not having him now, wait until we get home!'
'But mum-'
'Your mother has spoken,' Harry said, in a very serious tone. Ron chuckled, and Hermione hid a smile.
'Who's Ciara?' Ron asked.
'Our next door neighbour,' Harry replied.
'Hang on...aren't we your next door neighbours?' Ron asked, clearly puzzled.
'Oh, honestly, Ron,' Hermione interrupted, 'Ciara lives at number thirteen Grimmauld Place, we live at number eleven, don't you have a brain?'
'Well...is she new?' Ron asked, clutching at straws.
'She's lived there for five years, Ron,' Hermione replied, her eyebrows raised.
'Well...where's our presents, then?' Ron demanded.
'Your quills are in your lap, Ron,' Hermione muttered, exasperated, pointing at the bulky package in Ron's arms.
'But-' Ron started.
'Daddy's got it wrong again,' Hugo and Rose sang simoultaneously.
'So, anyway, what's happened at the Ministry, Perce?' Bill asked, eyes bright with genuine interest.
'Well,' Percy explained,' the Ministry have been thinking about imposing a new law, stating that any Gobstone-inflicted injuries with malicious intent should be treated as seriously as-'
'Let me guess,' George interrupted, 'as serious as a cauldron with a base shallower than 1cm? A lot of things have changed since you became the Minister of Magic, Perce.'
'Oh,' Percy huffed, narrowing his eyes, 'I won't deny that you're right, but shallow-based cauldrons are no laughing matter.'
'What you got there, Ted?' asked Harry, as Teddy stuffed whatever he was holding deep into the pocket of his jeans, his hair turning electric-blue.
'The dinner'll be ready, should we go and eat?' asked, and when everyone nodded, she said, 'it's outside, but i've cast spells so that we'll all be warm, and no snow'll fall on us, so it really will be quite a view! I'll go and get the food.'
'I'll go and help you shall I?' Teddy offered.
'It's okay, Teddy, you shouldn't bother-'
'I insist,' Teddy replied, walking towards the kitchen.
'Okay, people, let's go out,' Harry said loudly, then looked back at the kitchen just in time to see Teddy grow a few inches taller...
Part 2
'So this is Victoire's soup bowl,' told Teddy,'and this is Dominique's, and this is Bill's. Can you carry them outside for me, please?'
Teddy rummaged in his pocket to find the package he had stuffed inside hurriedly. Unwrapping it, he hesitated for a moment as he read the words, 'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes Love Potion,' but then opened the bottle, and emptied a few hours' worth of potion into Victoire's soup bowl. He stirred the potion in with the soup, and read the instructions, 'Will Start Working After 15 Minutes.' He then stuffed the bottle into his pocket, and brought the soup outside.
Victoire, Dominique and Bill were waiting for their soup.
'What took you so long?' Bill asked, lowering his soup onto the table. Teddy sat down, amidst the chatter of the rest of the family, and checked his watch.
'11:55,' he murmured to himself, 'should start working around 12:10.'
'Oh, this soup is delicious, Grandma!' Victoire exclaimed, slurping it down.
'Why, thankyou,' replied, smiling.
When the Weasleys had finished their soup, levitated the plates and bowls, and made them float into the kitchen with her.
'5,' Teddy muttered, staring at Victoire, who was sitting next to him,'4,3,2,1-'
Victoire suddenly looked at him and blushed. 'D-did I ever t-tell you that you have r-really nice eyes?' she told him nervously,'and a nice smile, and...' she trailed off, giggling.
Everyone else was so immersed in their own conversations that they had not noticed the change in Victoire's behaviour.
'You've got really nice eyes, too,'Teddy told her,' In fact, they're like-like sapphires.'
Victoire giggled, and her large blue eyes lit up with happiness.
'Dinner's ready,' Mrs. Weasley said, as she brought out a massive plate of roast potatoes, and a vast bowl of peas, 'everybody just take what they want.'
Molly grabbed hold of a pea and immediately squished it until it popped out of it's skin.
'Mummy, i made pop!'Molly squealed.
'That's nice, now pop it into your mouth and chew,' Audrey told her.
'Look, a broomstick!' Ron cooed, waving a fork with a parsnip impaled on it,'let me land it! zoom!'
He popped the parsnip into Rose's open mouth. She swallowed it and giggled delightedly.
'So, Ron, I heard you got promoted?' Harry asked, leaning over his empty plate.
'Yep,' Ron replied,'you are now looking at the new Head of the Improper Use of Magic Office!'
'That's great!' Ginny exclaimed,'really, that was so nice of you, Percy!'
'What?'Ron asked, puzzled.
'Well, surely, the fact that your brother's the Minister of Magic had something to do with it, otherwise you would never have gotten the job!' Ginny laughed, while Ron pulled a face.
'D-d'you wanna go out sometime?' Victoire asked Teddy nervously.
'Yeah,' Teddy murmured, not daring to believe his luck.
'sooo...see you at the New Years' Eve party at Uncle Harry's and Auntie Ginny's house?' Victoire suggested, opening up her diary.
'Yeah,'Teddy agreed,' so see you then?'
'yep,' Victoire answered,' see you then.'
When the Weasleys had all eaten their dinner and dessert, it was time to open presents. The disillusionment charm had been lifted, and, underneath the huge christmas tree, wrapped in brightly coloured paper, were the presents. large and small, soft and hard, none of these parcels looked exactly the same. The Weasleys ran into the room where the tree was, causing a massive door-jam.
After every one of the Weasleys were standing near the tree, they started to pass round presents.
'A teddy bear!' Molly squealed delightedly.
'A toy broomstick!' Louis exclaimed happily.
Victoire was carefully unwrappping her present, pulling the ribbon tied around it off gently.
'What do you think it is?' Teddy asked.
'I dunno,' Victoire replied, shrugging.
When she had unwrapped the parcel, lying in her hand was a small necklace. Victoire's eyes widened.
'Oh, mum,dad!' Victoire exclaimed, 'thanks for this! It's so beautiful!'
The necklace was silver, in the shape of a heart, and it was shining with the light of a small diamond in the center.
'Hey, open my present!' Teddy told Victoire, holding a carefully-wrapped parcel. Victoire unwrapped it;inside was a blue leather diary.
'Aw, thanks, Teddy,' Victoire said, smiling at him.
'And that's not all,' Teddy said, pulling something small and white from out of his pocket, 'mistletoe.'
He held it above their heads and they slowly leaned towards each other.
And her lips were touching his, and he could smell her sweet, flowery scent, and their lips were moving rapidly, and his hands were around her waist...
Suddenly, Victoire pulled away from Teddy. Teddy looked at her, confuse, then realised that the love potion had worn off.
'I...I thought...what are you doing? I thought you didn't like me,' Victoire said, hiding a smile.
Teddy bit his lip, and explained how he put the love potion in Victoire's soup, and everything else that had happened up to then.
'I really like you, Victoire,' Teddy told her,'I thought...hoped, that the love potion would make you feel the same way, permanently.'
'So, you feel the same way, then?' Victoire asked him.
'You...you like me?' Teddy asked her.
She nodded.
'Well, we can't let good mistletoe go to waste, can we?' teddy asked, smiling, and the pair kissed again.
As they were kissing, Harry whispered to Ginny, 'is it just me or did you see this coming?'
'Oh, it's long overdue,' Ginny whispered back, before kissing Harry.
xxMissMoodyxx