Disclaimer: Don't own diddly. Maybe Isabella. Probably the plot. Yup. Definitely her and the plot.

A/N: Hi there! Told you that I'd get a new chapter up soon. It's actually sooner than I thought it would be, but inspiration strikes at the most random and inopportune times. You know, the times where you are doing something that you can't stop doing at that moment, then try to hold on to the thought until you can write it down? Yeah, happens to me a lot. Most the time I forget what it was that I was supposed to be remembering. Sorry that the last chapter was so short. This one is going to be a little on the long side, but don't worry, lots of Weasley fun to ensue. The entire Christmas break will take place over a couple of chapters or so because some pretty important stuff is going to happen. Bear with me! Please remember to Review when you're done! Enjoy Chapter 11: Happy Weasley Christmas!

KK

Isabella could barely contain her excitement as she watched the scenery passing by. The wizard behind the wheel of the enchanted car was silent except for the occasional profanity directed at muggle drivers. Ron, Harry Ginny, Hermione, and Bella all sat in the backseat as the car raced to it's destination.

"I can't wait to meet everyone in your family Ginny," Bella commented. "I hope they are all as wacky as you and Ron. I know the twins got an excess of that gene."

Ginny laughed. "I'm not sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult, but I'm going to go with the compliment. The only one who didn't get the 'wacky gene' is Percy. Trust me, he's so dull he could make a textbook on different varieties of sand look interesting. You won't see him this holiday, as the stupid git is still at odds with Mum and Dad."

"He wouldn't be at odds with them if he just admitted that he was wrong," Ron said, sounding as if talking about his brother left an unpleasant taste in his mouth.

"But that would mean he would have to pull that long point stick out of his arse," Harry stated mildly, munching on Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

Everyone started laughing, if only because Harry's face and voice had been completely deadpan.

Bella reached down to fiddle absently with her necklace as she stared out the window again.

"What's that you're twirling 'round your finger, Bella?" Hermione asked

"Oh, this? It's a locket."

"I've never seen you wear that before. Did someone give it to you?" Ginny inspected the small golden heart.

"Um, well…" Bella stammered, not knowing what to say. Oh yeah, your brother gave this to me. He sent it by owl the night after we almost shagged on the astronomy tower. Inside there is an enchanted engraving that scrolls through all the romantic poetry known to muggles. And here's the kicker: I think I may be falling for him.

She must have been silent for too long, because Ginny got that mischievous look in her eye that Isabella had labeled as the 'Twins' Twinkle'.

"You got that from a bloke, didn't you?"

Isabella blushed furiously. She never blushed. Ginny started grinning

"Alright, spill. Who is it?"

All four were leaning in to hear Bella's answer. "Ah, well, you see…"

"It was Draco Malfoy, wasn't it?" Ginny didn't seem to be able to wait for Bella to speak a coherent sentence.

"No! Why on earth would you think that?"

Ron and Harry rolled their eyes.

"Anyone can see that he's panting after you," Ron murmured. "And he hasn't been as foul to us this year as he has been. Mostly he just ignores us because it pisses you off when he picks a fight. He wants to be on your good side so he might get a little on the side."

"Ronald!" Hermione admonished. Ron just shrugged.

"Draco and I are…peaceable foes. No, that's not the right word for it. It's like we're not friends, yet not enemies either. It's kind of an odd relationship. But nothing that would have him giving me presents."

Bella hoped that was the end of the discussion. But it seems that once Ginny gets a hold of something, she won't let go 'til she's through.

"So then who's it from?" Ginny raised an eyebrow. She wasn't going to give up. Bella sighed.

"Fred."

The silence that ensued was deafening. All the moment need was a few crickets chirping in the background to provide the comedic relief. Four pairs of eyes stared at her for what seemed like hours before four voices all shouted at the same time:

"FRED?!"

Before they could start asking questions however, the car rounded a particularly sharp corner and the Burrow came into view. Molly Weasley stood out front, holding some sort of clock and waving frantically at the approaching vehicle.

They stepped out of the car and Isabella was immediately enveloped in a warm embrace. Mrs. Weasley stood back and smiled.

"Welcome to the Burrow, dear."

The Weasley family was boisterous and loud and Isabella loved every one of them. They laughed and teased and fought, but it was all done with an underlying love that was obvious for anyone to see. Bella laughed right along with them.

Fred and George he yet to arrive, but Bill and Fleur were there, right along with Mr. And Mrs. Weasley and, of course, Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Bella.

Bill's face was horribly scarred from the werewolf he had fought off the previous summer, but it didn't seem to affect Fleur's love. Bella sighed with longing.

I wish I could find somebody to love me like that, she thought.

"Thinking of someone in particular?" A familiar voice whispered in her ear. Bella whirled around with a huge grin on her face.

"Fred!" She wrapped him in a huge hug. "I wasn't expecting you until later. Your mum said that you and George wouldn't be coming over until you closed the shop. Where is George? You guys are usually attached at the hip."

Fred sighed dramatically and put on a world weary expression. "Alas, my dear brother is easily tempted, and Mum's scones and tea caught his eye on the way in. Tea is thicker than blood I guess."

"Fred, you goober. Your mother is your blood. You should have been an actor instead of a joke shop proprietor." Despite herself, however, she found herself grinning along with him. When he placed his hands on either side of her head, trapping her against the wall, Bella felt a thrill trail a path of goosebumps down her spine. The look in his eyes was positively ravenous.

"I see you're wearing the necklace I sent."
"Yes. It's lovely by the way, thank you. Couldn't keep it from the Inquisition though." At his raised eyebrow, she explained, "Your sister and company. They saw it on the ride from Kings Cross."

His face was now barely an inch from hers. There was no mistaking that he was going to kiss her, but Bella felt a little uneasy, seeing as how anyone could just walk in. The living room was not exactly the most private of places to have a decent snogging session.

"Your welcome," was all he said as his lips touched hers.

He had meant for the kiss to be light and teasing, a promise of what might be, but as soon as she melted into him, it deepened into something much more elemental. He felt as if his body was going to go up in flames at any moment. He had to touch her, to know that she was real, not a figment of a clearly demented imagination.

He tugged her sweater up so that he could splay his hands over her toned belly; both of them completely enveloped her waist.

"Hey Bella, Fred and George are ---- AH! What the bleeding hell are you two doing?!" Ron's voice broke through the haze of desire like a bucket of ice water. Isabella tried to jump back, feeling much like the child with the hand in the cookie jar, but Fred held her fast, looking lazily over at his brother.

"Well, it would seem as if I was trying to snog her senseless before some stupid git had to ruin the mood." Fred gathered her closer to him. He told himself it was to taunt Ron, but in truth he felt a little protective over the petite imp. He could see that she was blushing as she buried her face in his chest. Fred thought he heard a giggle, but he couldn't tell.

"Um, right then. I'm going now," Ron stated and turned on his heel and strode back into the kitchen.

"I'll bet my best pair of knickers that he is more embarrassed at having caught us than we are of being caught," Bella said, her eyes dancing as she looked up at him.

"Do I get to keep them?"

Her answer was a smack to his shoulder. A very nice, muscular, broad shoulder, if she cared enough to admit it. "You, Fred Weasley, are incorrigible."

"I haven't heard that since the last time my grandmother said the same thing about me. Quite different context though."

Bella pulled away from his embrace and looked saucily over her shoulder at him. "But I'm not your gram, am I?"

Thank God for small favors, he thought. Then he gave her a swat on the bum and replied, "Most certainly not," as he swept through the door to the kitchen. The sound of her laughter following him put a loopy grin on his face.

Bella woke the next morning rather regretfully. She had been having such a nice dream. She couldn't remember the exact details, but Isabella knew it had the twins in it, and a few naughty scenarios.

Somebody was shaking her. Damn it. She was going to kill them. That is, she was going to kill them until two loud cracks reached her ears, and two ginger haired jokesters were sitting on top of her, making her breath leave her body in a great whoosh.

"I guess I'll leave her to you two," she heard Ginny say as she shut the door behind her.

They scrambled off with alarming speed, ripping the covers off of her. "Happy Christmas, Sleeping Beauty!" They chorused, identical grins on their almost identical faces. If Bella didn't know about the difference in their freckles, she would have a hard time telling them apart.

"What the heck you guys, it's way to early to be up." What was it with all the men she knew feeling the need to take her blankets away?

"Everyone's all ready downstairs…"

"It's almost ten o'clock, and we haven't given you your presents yet!"

Isabella studied the twins for a moment, debating whether trying to get the quilt back would be a waste of effort. She dove for it.

What ensued could only be described as a game of keep away, or rather, as the twins were thinking of it, getting to wrestle with Bella. After several minutes of vain attempts, Bella glared up at them.

"It's not fair. You two are nearly a foot taller than I am."

Fred and George just stared at her.

"What?"

George cleared his throat, but his voice was still rather husky as he said,

"Uh, well, your top is a bit, um, falling off…"

Isabella looked down and saw that her oversized shirt had slipped off her shoulders and was now resting precariously on her breasts. One breath might send it slipping off to lie around her waist. Thank you Lord for large breasts, she sent the silent prayer and casually slid the shirt up onto her shoulders again.

She raised an eyebrow at the twins. "You two look like you've never seen a pair of breasts before. And I believe we all know that isn't the case. Now, about those presents you mentioned…"

She walked out the bedroom door, leaving Fred and George gaping at her, then turning and grinning at one another. They shook hands as a sign of good sportsmanship and followed the intriguing young woman down to the living room.

By the time they got there, her lap was all ready buried with gifts, and she was laughing with Ginny over something silly. A pink pygmy puff had crawled onto her shoulder and was busily cooing as it rubbed against her neck. Bella giggled at the sensation and looked at George with mirth-filled eyes.

"Thank you, she's completely adorable!"

"What are you going to call her?" George asked, absurdly pleased that she had opened his present before his brother's.

Bella seemed to think about this for a moment, then said: "I think she should be named Shay."

She stood up, Shay cooing still on her shoulder, and wrapped George in a hug. "Thank you. I've always wanted a pet of my own," she whispered.

"Me next! You have to open my present next!" Ginny tugged Bella away from her brother and handed her a rather awkwardly shaped package wrapped in shiny blue paper. Bella looked at it. And looked at it. Finally, she started to tear the paper off.

She peeked under the paper, and everyone saw her eyes widen, then look at Ginny as if she'd lost her mind.

"Ginerva Weasley, you can not be serious." At Ginny's mischievous grin, Bella shook her head. "No way in hell. You take these right back where you got them. I'm so glad your parents went to go fix breakfast."

At this statement, the other occupants of the room suddenly became very interested in the mysterious gift. "What is it?" Bill asked. Bella shook her head.

"Aw, come on beautiful, show us what Ginny got you," Fred cajoled. When she still denied them, George snuck up and took it. Fully opening it, he hooted with laughter and showed the room.

In a translucent box, on a bed of black velvet, lay a pair of gorgeously crafted…handcuffs. The golden cuffs were fashioned so that they were comprised of two dragons. Mouths biting their tails was the clasp mechanism. It was charmed to make the dragons themselves move as if alive. Their eyes were brilliant emeralds, the teeth made of small pearls.

Bella glared at Ginny. "You're horrible, you know that?"

Ginny put on her best innocent face. "Well, you did say it was your most favorite of fantasies"

This comment made jaws drop in astonishment. Bella kept glaring at Ginny, then petulantly sat on the floor and studiously ignored everybody except Shay, who was still cooing away on her shoulder.

After a few unsuccessful attempts to get her to smile, Fred and George sat down on either side of her. They could tell that she wasn't really mad, just miffed at having been embarrassed in front of a roomful of people.

"Hey, gorgeous. You still haven't opened my present yet," Fred murmured, nudging the box into her lap.

Isabella nodded, and peeled the paper off the box. The box in and of itself looked plain, but when she opened it, a gilded hand-held mirror reflected her delighted face back to her.

"Oh, Fred, it's beautiful! It probably cost a fortune. You really shouldn't have." But her hands betrayed her voice as they reached out to pick up the pretty mirror. On the back, flowers were engraved, flowing in an imaginary breeze.

"It's a memory mirror. It shows whomever is holding it their favorite memory. Quite handy at cheering one up, that thing is."

Ron asked in a slightly disgruntled voice, "Didn't get the rest of us anything half as nice. And we're family."

Fred just shrugged and grinned.

Bella held the mirror up in front of her, wanting to test it out. Slowly, an image shimmered to the surface, and tears of happiness pricked her eyes. There where her reflection should have stared back at her, was an image of Christmas morning with the Weasleys.

She looked up with a brilliant smile. Giving both Fred and George each a kiss on the cheek she said,

"Happy Christmas everyone. And thank you."