"I haven't built a snowman since I was a little girl," Hermione said, patting the large rounded ball that would form the base of their winter statue. "My parents and I used to build one every Christmas."
"I don't remember ever building a snowman," Harry put in. Looking down at the crumbling pile of snow at his feet, he added, "Maybe that's why I'm not having any luck with this."
"Don't feel bad, Harry. Ron and I never got to build snowmen either," Ginny said, moving over to help him with his section of snow.
"Really?" Hermione asked. "It seems like something that could be a Weasley family tradition, everyone out here in the yard, building an entire snow family."
"The Weasley family tradition for me and Gin was having snowballs launched at your head by five older brothers," Ron sniggered. "The only thing we could ever manage to build out of snow was forts."
"Well, your five older brothers aren't here yet," Hermione replied, "so we're building a snowman. You can build a fort and throw snow at them later."
Harry and Ginny finally managed to get a solid enough ball to be sat on top of the base, and the four of them added it to the growing structure. Hermione and Ginny ran inside for a scarf, mittens, and the other items they would need to complete their work of art. When they came back out, Ron and Harry had added the head. The girls added their items while the boys went scavenging about the yard for sticks and small rocks.
Hermione had just stuck a carrot in for the nose when Ron blurted out, "You've got it all wrong! That's not how it goes!"
"Excuse me?" she sputtered. "I thought you never got to build snowmen, so how would you know?"
Ron rolled his eyes at her. "Everyone knows how to build a snowman, Hermione, and that's not right."
"All right then, let's see you do it better," she retorted, folding her arms over her chest.
Ron marched over and stood directly in front of the snowman, the carrot nose almost poking him in the chest. He stared at it for a moment in concentration, then a smile lit up his face and he took his wand out of his pocket.
First he transfigured the dull stone eyes into shining black rocks. Next he removed the carrot nose and transfigured it to a pipe and stuck it in the mouth. Then he transfigured one of the rocks into a button and placed it as the nose.
He looked over his work, counting something off on his gloved fingers, then nodded and turned back to the others. "There! Now that's a snowman!"
"I don't get it. What difference did that make?" Harry asked.
"Oh come on!" Ron yelled, throwing his hands in the air. Then in a singsong voice he added, "'With a corncob pipe and a button nose, and two eyes made out of coal.' You know, jolly, happy soul and all that."
"Wait," Hermione said, shaking her head. "You know Frosty the Snowman?"
"Doesn't everyone?"
"Well, yeah," she replied. "I just thought it was a Muggle song."
All of a sudden Ginny started laughing and shared an amused look with her brother. "Should we tell them?"
The look Harry and Hermione shared was bewildered. Harry was just as confused as Hermione, and he asked, "Tell us what?"
"Frosty the Snowman, that actually happened," Ginny explained.
"Apparently it was a pretty popular enchantment back then, but once the Muggles saw a snowman walking around, the Ministry told everyone to stop," Ron added.
"You've got to be joking," Harry said. Ron shook his head and smiled. "So that whole thing with the top hat and marching through town…?"
"Well, it was exaggerated a bit," Ginny answered.
"They had to make it rhyme," Ron said.
"How'd they do it?" Hermione asked, a curious look on her face that the others all immediately recognized.
"Just like they said in the song, I guess," Ginny supplied. "I've never seen it done, and Mum and Dad never said."
"I bet they just didn't want Fred and George getting any ideas," Harry said with a grin.
"Like they need anyone to give them ideas," Ron laughed.
"I bet they could figure it out though. It can't be that difficult," Hermione said, still wearing the same curious expression. "I imagine it would be something like the spell placed on chocolate frogs to make them look alive for a short time." She reached up and pulled the hat off her head, idly spinning it in her hands.
Ron, Harry, and Ginny looked at each other and tried to hide their smiles, then simply waited for Hermione to reach her inevitable conclusion.
"Enervate wouldn't work, that only wakes something up. Vivisco might do it though," she mused, no longer paying attention to the others. "I wonder if they…"
"Ron, Ginny, Harry, Hermione, come in here!" they heard Molly call from the house. "Bill and family are here!"
Hermione shook her head and smiled at her friends. Harry and Ginny headed for the house hand in hand, and Ron winked at Hermione before following them.
When Hermione made it to the house, Ginny was sitting on the couch with baby Fabian in her arms and Fleur hovering behind her, saying, "Watch 'is 'ead!" Ginny scowled and rolled her eyes.
Ron noticed Hermione join the group and said, "What took you so long?"
"Oh, nothing, I was just shaking all the snow off before I came in the house. I didn't want to tramp it all over the floor like you did," she replied.
"Thank you for that, dear," Molly said, bustling a newly-arrived Fred and Angelina into the room. Casting a pointed stare at Ron, she added, "At least someone is being courteous."
"Who's being courteous?" Charlie asked, sticking his head in through the doorway. "Surely not someone in my family!"
"Of course not," Ron shook his head. "It's Hermione!"
"Ah, well, that explains it."
"I just didn't want to get snow everywhere, and I wanted to get it off of me. I'm cold enough the way it is," Hermione explained, but she blushed while she said it.
"That's your snowman out there then?" Charlie asked, pointing over his shoulder.
Harry answered for her though. "Yeah, she made us stay out there for hours building that thing."
"Did not!" she retorted. "Besides, I thought building a snowman on Christmas day could make a nice new Weasley family tradition."
"And Potter family," Ginny added, beaming at her husband.
"Potter family's as good as Weasley family, Gin," Ron replied, and Harry smiled in return.
"That's right, dears, there's no difference at all now," Molly said, patting Harry on the shoulder, then bending down to kiss Ginny on the cheek.
"Anyway, Hermione," Charlie said, "Good job on that."
She blushed even more, muttered a word of thanks, then headed to the kitchen for some tea.
Remus and Tonks were the last to arrive, and they both looked flushed from the cold. "Sorry we're late, Molly. We had a bit of trouble back in the village," Remus explained as he hung their cloaks by the door and joined the others at the table.
"What kind of trouble?" Arthur asked, and the atmosphere in the room turned suddenly very serious.
"Oh, nothing major," Tonks added quickly. "It was actually a bit funny."
Remus cocked an eyebrow at her. "Funny? Maybe for you. You don't remember how serious people used to get about this type of thing. It was a big deal when I was a kid."
"It was funny and you know it, old man," she retorted.
"If you say so, darling," he replied, resigning himself to her judgment.
"Are you going to let the rest of us in on the joke then?" Fred asked. "Or are you just going to talk about how funny it was all evening?"
"Someone charmed a snowman to walk about like they used to do in the earlier part of the century," Remus answered. "Caused a bit of a commotion down there. Everyone rushing out of their houses to look, singing Frosty the Snowman, all of it."
Arthur threw his head back and laughed. "I haven't seen that since I was a kid!"
Ron, Harry, and Ginny all whipped their heads around to stare at Hermione, who blushed once again and tried to sink into her seat.
Molly, however, failed to notice. "Fred! George! What did you do?"
Luna answered on her husband's behalf. "George didn't have anything to do with it. He didn't leave the bedroom all morning, and I think I would have noticed if he'd charmed a snowman." Fred snickered, but George only grinned widely at him in response.
"So it was just you then, Fred?" Molly wasn't about to let them get away with this.
"Oh no, it wasn't! Remember how early we got here? I was right here with you when it must've happened. I had nothing to do with it!" Fred insisted.
"Then who? Ronald? Charlie? Which one of you did it?" Molly glared at each of her children in turn.
"Why don't you ask Hermione, Mum?" Charlie suggested, smiling in her direction.
Hermione winced. "Was it bad?"
Molly stared at her, her mouth agape. "Hermione? You can't… you wouldn't… how did you…?"
"'He was made of snow but the children know how he came to life one day,'" Ron said quietly to Harry, and they both chuckled.
"I Viviscoed my hat" Hermione answered in a small voice. "I didn't figure it would last long enough to hurt anything."
"Vivisco!" Arthur exclaimed, slapping his hand on the table. "That's a new one! How'd it work?"
"'He was alive as he could be,'" Harry added, laughing so hard now he was holding his stomach.
"I'd say it worked remarkably well, Arthur," Remus replied, as Tonks and Ginny collapsed into a fit of giggles.
"Oh yes, 'he could laugh and play just the same as you and me,'" Fred said, joining in the game.
"Alright, that's enough," Molly said. "Hermione, why on earth would you do such a thing? Didn't Ron tell you the Ministry frowns on charming snowmen?"
"No, he told me. I just wanted to see how it worked, that's all," she replied, shrugging sheepishly. "Ron knew the song, and I always thought it was just a Muggle story, and I didn't think it would…" Hermione paused and sighed. "I just didn't think."
"Well, fortunately, most of the Muggles thought it was someone in a costume, so no real harm done. We redirected him 'over the hills of snow'," Tonks said after a moment. "Besides, I'm sure they've seen worse over the years, living so close to Fred and George."
"We never tried to animate our own Christmas stories," Fred argued.
"Are any of the other Muggle stories real though?" Harry asked. "You know, like Santa Claus, or Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, or the Easter Bunny?"
"Well, St. Nicholas is real alright, but they got the story all wrong," Remus answered. "And the Easter Bunny is completely made up as far as I know." Arthur nodded his agreement.
"And what about Rudolph?" Hermione pressed, apparently over her embarrassment.
"A flying deer with a glowing red nose?" Ron snickered. "Never happen."
"Don't be so sure, Ron," Charlie argued.
"Yeah," George chimed in. "Hermione could always bring one to life for us and add some truth to those rumors."