Two weeks later, Olive Finnigan sat in her living room, right next to the frosty window and drinking hot chocolate with her mother. It was the perfect Christmas picture. The great, hot, steaming mugs, the two people sitting curled up opposite the fire, blankets over they're feet and the picture of snow falling thickly and beautifully out the window to the left of them.
Olive finished her mug of hot chocolate and sighed deeply.
"OK," her mother said, in a concerned voice. "That is not a good sigh."
"Nothing," Olive lied.
"Olive," her mum said, taking her empty mug and gesturing to her daughter to follow her into the kitchen. "I am your mother. I know when I'm being lied to. Now tell me what's wrong."
Olive sighed again, collapsed on the dining room table and buried her face in her arms.
"Mum, have you ever had boy trouble?" she asked, her voice slightly muffled.
"Sweetheart, I didn't understand a word of what you just said."
"I said," Olive said, lifting her head off the table. "Did you ever have any boy trouble?"
"Aah," Lavender replied, handing her a fresh mug of hot chocolate and sitting down opposite her with her own mug. "Is this the same boy that gave you the necklace you're wearing?"
Olive held a protective hand towards her necklace.
"I do know everything that I have and haven't given you, dear," she said, matter-of-factly. "It's a nice necklace anyway. Whoever this boy is, he's got good taste. So, what happened?"
And reluctantly, after a deep breath, Olive told her mother the whole story.
"Hmm," Lavender said thoughtfully, sipping her mug of hot cider. "That is quite a pickle. Do you want me to tell you a story about a boy problem I had?"
"Is it about Dad?"
"Yes."
"Then no."
"Fine! I'll tell you one that's not about your father."
"Who's it about?"
"Well, would you feel better if it were about Ron?"
Olive paused thoughtfully. "No."
"Well, I don't have much else to tell you then!"
"Fine! You can tell me the one about Mr Weasley."
"OK. Well, I went out with Ron in our sixth year-"
"So, I've heard..." Olive muttered, looking uncomfortable but interested.
"Let me finish!" her mother said sternly. "OK. Well your father and I-"
"You said this wasn't about Dad!" Olive exclaimed, indignantly.
"Well, it is about Ron, but your father sort of comes into the loop a little," she confessed.
"Go on," Olive muttered, relucantly.
"Well," Lavender said, again. "Your father and I didn't start going out until the Yule Ball on Christmas Eve in our fourth year. Then, we broke up again in the middle of our fifth year. It was..really very silly. You see, I liked Harry at the time, and that year, your father and he had been through a little bit of a..well, they weren't as close as they usually were. At the end of the year, right before the summer, he wanted to make it up, but I was far too stubborn. Then, in our sixth year, I went out with Ron. Yes, Ron," she said, after her daughter gave her a surprised look.
"But I was very stupid and thoughtless doing this," Lavender went on. "Because it ended up hurting both your dad and Hermione as well, because I went out with Ron even though I knew she liked him."
"Why did you do that?" Olive asked. She felt a little angry. She knew how horrible this felt and her own mother had done the same thing.
"I suppose I thought that if I went out with Ron, then Seamus would be jealous and maybe want to go out with me again. AndI never asked him, but I suspect Ron was doing the same thing for Hermione. It was a far more complex situation with them though. Because Seamus was an ex-boyfriend, but Hermione and Ron were best friends. They didn't speak for the majorty of that year. And honestly, I still feel terrible about it."
"So, what happened?"
"Well, Ron and I broke up. Then, at the end of the year, your dad and I got back together."
"And you've been together since."
"Pretty much."
"So, what does that have to do with me and Max?"
"Olive, haven't you realized?"
"What?"
"You're me, twenty-one years ago!"
"What? I didn't go out with anyone to make anybody jealous!"
"But you're stubborn just like me! I wouldn't take Seamus back and deliberately went after someone who obviously had feelings for someone else, just to make him feel bad. Now granted, a went a little further than you, but don't you see? It's still the same. You're stubborn!"
"I am not!" Olive argued. "I just don't want to give him the benefit of the doubt! I just-"
"Don't want to get hurt again," Lavender finished. "Life is all about taking risks, darling. If you don't try, how will you ever know? You'll regret it and always wonder what would've happened if you don't."
Olive sighed deeply and nodded. "I guess you're right, Mum."
"So, I think you know what you have to do, don't you?"
"Yep," Olive replied, sighing again and getting up. "I've got to get to Hogwarts."
"Mum," James said, walking into his own kitchen and finding his mother, sitting down and drinking eggnog.
"Yes dear," she said.
"What do you buy a girl for Christmas?"
"Why?" she asked.
"Oh, because Poppy didn't really appreciate the present I got her last year, so now I have to get her something really good for this year."
"Wow," Ginny said, putting down her glass. "Girls only fail to smile and pretend to like they're presents when they're really bad, so what on earth did you give her?"
"Socks," James said, sheepishly.
"Socks?" Ginny repeated, disbelievingly. "Socks? You bought her a pair of socks for Christmas?"
"I didn't buy them," he confessed. "They were Dad's. You know, the ones with the Snitches on them?"
"James! No wonder she complained! Of course you have to get her a better present this year! It has to be really good!"
"So, what should I get her?"
"You know what? I need to go to the shops to buy food for Christmas dinner and a present for Hermione as well. Why don't you come with me? I'm sure we can pick something out."
"OK. Thanks Mum! Oh, and you won't tell Dad about his socks, will you?"
"My lips are sealed. Besides, he'll probably just go out and buy another pair and I can't stand having another pair in the house!"
Just then, Harry walked in.
"What are you all talking about?" he asked, taking Ginny's eggnog and sipping it.
"Nothing," she replied casually.
"Dad, when are Rose and Hugo coming?" James asked, changing the subject swiftly.
"Two days," Harry replied, sitting down opposite them. "Ron and Hermione are coming as well."
"Wow," Albus said, as he walked through the door. "We're going to have a pretty full house then."
"Well, Christmas is all about family," Harry answered, looking around at Ginny reading the Daily Prophet, Lily rushing in and blowing a rasberry at James, and Albus stealing the Snitch out of James' back pocket while he turned around angrily to face Lily. Harry smiled, knowing that he could not asked for a better family.
