AN: I know historically the Yule Ball is held on Christmas day, but I don't think that's fun. So, in my story, the Yule Ball is held on Christmas Eve.
After disentangling from the unlikely embrace of Draco Malfoy—who turned out to be a marvelous dancer (but she dared not think about it), she ran frantically to the nearest, darkest corner of the ball room.
Tucked beneath her skirts was a garter band with no other purpose than to secure her trusted flask full of fire whiskey. With no other option that to gather her skirts and crawl beneath the tablecloth of table, she sat alone and upended the entire thing down her throat.
Jamie herself would call it personal growth to have maturely explained to Cedric why she was emotionally unavailable and no good for him, however, she was this close to screaming loudly and shrilly if he approached her one more time asking her if she had changed her mind yet.
Jamie knew deep down she didn't know how to let go of Cedric, but she was forcing herself to. She was going to have to be the bad guy, she was going to be the one he didn't understand, because as much as she could force her words to say one thing, her eyes were always going to say otherwise.
So yeah, she was pissed at Cedric.
"Shack," two feet appeared between the gap of the tablecloth and the floor. She peeked an eye out, blinking up at George.
"Georgie my dear boy," she raised the corner of her lips into a smirk, waving him to join her under the table. The twins were tall and gangly, so it took some contortionism for George to bend and twist his body to fit under the table alongside her.
"Nifty place you got here," George said as he took the flask from her, taking a swig. He was hunched over, his neck must have had quite the kink caught in it, but George was gentle with her. She always could tell her boys apart, George humored her and was her confidant, Fred debated with her and often was her fellow mastermind in schemes. Fred was the schemer; George was the dreamer. Jamie was just lucky to be along for the ride, truly.
"Thanks, I live here now," she grumbled sullenly, taking the flask back. Her knees was curled, chin propped on them, looking absurd and incredibly sad in her fancy dress.
"Plenty of room," George swept his gaze around the small space. "Entertainment over here, sleeping there, eating there, kind of an all-in-one multi-purpose area."
"Right, I got a good deal out of it," she felt her lips curl up a little more into more genuine smile. He bumped her shoulder with his and she chuckled, a tear drop falling her eye.
"Who's broke your heart?" George asked hergently.
"Nobody," she sniffed, swiping the teardrop away. "I'm breaking my own."
"That's no good," he sighed. "I know how it feels, Shack. It hurts."
"Angelina," Jamie said in acknowledgement and George nodded solemnly. The twins were both in love with her best friend, she was caught between them. Fred was the aggressor; he was bolder and more confident and out there with his feelings for her. George was mellower, even in the standards of how out there the twins and Jamie were, George was the calm of the trio and especially between he and Fred.
"She loves you both, I know she does," Jamie told him.
"And I love him," George shrugged. "I can't take her from him, either."
Jamie knew Fred would never knowingly taking Angelina from George either, but they all knew it. It was a hard situation to be in, and for a moment, she realized she still had it pretty good. They were both quiet for a moment, soaking in their own sadness.
"Tomorrow is Christmas," she said quietly.
"Do you remember the Christmas Eve's when we were kids?" George leaned back slightly against a leg of the table, subtly stretching out his back. "We would all gather into a bedroom and try to stay up all night—even Percy, hoping we'd hear Santa Claus come and catch him… and then somehow we would all fall asleep and the presents were always under the tree in the morning, taunting us. Santa Claus had come, and we'd missed him…again and again."
"We never ever could catch him," Jamie shook her head, laughing.
"We should stay up together tonight," George proposed. "Just the Weasley's, you, and Harry. How it should be. Just us."
"Yeah, we should," Jamie nodded and somehow the notion of it prompted more tears to fall from her eyes. George held his arms out for her, hugging her tightly and comforting her the only way he knew how. George or any of her Weasley 'cousins' had ever spoken out loud the fact they knew the truth: she wasn't their blood—and she knew they never would.
Jamie was their family, just as Harry had become.
"I think I'm done with the ball tonight," Jamie said after another while. George nodded and helped her slither out from beneath the table. They stood, greeted by Fred.
"Plotting without me, best mates," Fred asked good naturedly, no doubt taking in her red-rimmed eyes and sad aura.
"We've made plans to gather up you, Ron, Ginny and Harry and stay up together to catch ol' Saint Nick, like old times," George told his twin brother. Fred beamed at that, taking Jamie's hand.
"I think that's a splendid idea, Shack," he told her. "We could all use a little family time, I reckon."
The ball was winding down. High heels clutched in her hand, skirts held up in the other, they wandered around the ballroom seeking out their family members. Ginny was gently pried away from Neville and they went on to find Ron and Harry in their dormitories.
Less than an hour later, they had changed into warm pajamas and had taken up a spot on the sofas while the common room emptied out and quieted for the night.
"What would be your picture-perfect Christmas?" She asked her brother. It was the early hours of the morning. The rest of the Weasley's were passed out on the sofas and floor of the common room.
"I would have said me and our parents, or just you know, parents, a loving family in a nice home," Harry said quietly. They were perched facing each other on a window seat of the tower, the firelight reflecting in the frosted windows. "Maybe a tree, some presents, simple. Just being together."
"And now," she asked quietly, picturing it in her own head.
"I think this, what we have here, is what it would be," Harry smiled softly at her. "I found my own family with you and the Weasley's and Hermione, I think that's the sort of thing I always wanted."
"One day Harry, when we're older, when we have kids," she reached out and clasped his hand in hers, squeezing it. "We'll have Christmas together, every year with the Weasley's, and all of our kids will stay up late like this and we'll just laugh and let them. Every year, together."
"Every year," Harry echoed, a smile on his face. "I bet mum and dad would love that."
AN: I know this chapter was all over the place emotionally, I wanted to make sure you understand Jamie is evolving and growing as a character while also dealing with some very heavy things. Also, I'm going to jump ahead to the Second Task next for Chapter 25, and it will be a big one.