When Christmas morning arrived, everyone was very excited to open their gifts and Rose blushed when she saw that Fred had gotten her a bracelet that matched the necklace she had gotten for her birthday. On the inside, he had engraved "I love you, always. Fred Weasley" and she absolutely loved it and immediately put it on. She felt like she was wearing his colors when she wore them. The rose on her bracelet opened and, inside, she found a small picture of Fred, blowing her a kiss. She chuckled, imagining George taking this picture, encouraging his brother to kiss.
She also happily wore the dress Harry had gotten her with the belt Remus had gotten for her. Sirius got her a hair bow that would match it as well and she wore it in her hair, leaving them free and wavy. She usually tied her hair for class and it surprised her when she realized how long they had gotten. They reached way past the middle of her back and she hadn't realized how much they had grown. She loved it, Jenny usually forced her to cut them.
It was a big party at Grimmault Place that day, the entire Weasley family, including Percy, was present along with half the order of the Phoenix, though most of them just came for a quick drink before going back to their own families. Bill had invited his new girlfriend Fleur Delacour to come along but she had decided to go home to her parents in France, she missed them and her little sister.
It seemed like almost everyone had gotten a sweater knitted by Misses Weasley. Now that she had Winky at home, Molly Weasley had more time to herself and so she had knitted for more people. Rose had one too but she decided not to wear it immediately, she knew Misses Weasley would understand. Besides, she wasn't the only one who wasn't wearing hers.
When they saw Albus Dumbledore arrive, Harry and Rose immediately looked at his feet and the old man, smiling happily, showed them that he was indeed wearing their socks by lifting his robe a little.
"Thank you for remembering, Harry. I always wanted people to give me socks. I detect magic in them though, so I can't wait to see what they do. Oh, and the candy inside, I love it. Gave me ideas for my new password." He told the Potter twins with a smile.
"You should wear them all day to see everything they do." Rose suggested.
"Even tonight. Silently." Harry added with a smile that made the Headmaster chuckle.
"And you should ask for a drink tonight, while wearing them." Rose hinted.
"I will. Thank you." He smiled, handing them both a box of candy each before he went to speak with Remus about the progress of his latest mission.
Sirius was standing proudly among his guests, wearing one of the set of original robes Harry and Rose had gotten him. It was a red and yellow robe (a very Gryffindor robe) with a big black dog running all over it, chasing a grey rat. They had bewitched it themselves and, when the dog caught the rat, multi-color sparkles danced all over it. Hermione had helped.
Sirius had arrived downstairs a little later than everyone else and, with a blush, he explained that he had more presents than he expected to open. There were presents from witches who wanted him to be happy for his first Christmas as a free man, after being so long in Azkaban, and there was also presents from students who liked him, sometimes a little too much.
"There was a lot of candy, but I burned it all, couldn't take the risk of it being poisoned with love potion and I didn't want to have to ask Snape to check them all for me. It would have been embarrassing." Sirius added, making them chuckle and making Alastor Moody nod in approval at this very safe gesture.
They were surprised to see that Tonks was here, since she had a family, but she explained that she just came quickly, to say hi and share a drink, before she went to spend the day with her parents. Rose and Ginny couldn't help but notice the looks she gave Remus as she spoke and Rose decided that she'd try to find out what was going on between these two.
All in all the day was pretty joyful, full of jokes, songs, great food and love. Everyone was happy, especially Arthur, who had all of his children around him. Of course, Percy had come but his siblings weren't speaking to him. They weren't attacking him either, so that was good (he had half expected to end up covered in sauce), but Percy felt pretty lonely because very few people wanted to speak with him, either because they were upset about the way he had treated his family before or because they weren't sure they could trust him.
Dumbledore made an effort to speak with him, but the conversation died down pretty quickly. Talking to Percy reminded him of his own past, and of the way he had treated his younger brother and sister after his mother's death and he didn't like thinking about this.
Rose was happy to be able to spend all this time with Fred and she was starting to wonder how she'd be able to handle the next 2 years, with him working away and her in Hogwarts for her 6th and 7th year. She'd miss him terribly. She was thinking of, maybe, asking him to give her his old sweaters, the ones who didn't fit him anymore but would fit her. She'd be able to wear them whenever she missed him.
"So, did you receive anything from your cousin and his parents? I know you sent him candy and that you had something for his parents." Sirius asked the Potter twins.
"Well, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia made a real effort this year. I got a complete outfit with a pair of jeans, sneakers and a t-shirt that actually fit me. A good brand too, one that Dudley likes to wear." Harry started to say.
"They sent me a summer dress, I like it, it's pretty. I've got a pair of sunglasses and summer shoes that goes with it." Rose nodded.
"It's the best present I've ever received from them, one year I got a paper tissue, and once a toothpick. I almost expected this but I guess they're trying to change too. Dudley sent us a box of chocolate candy, muggle chocolate, it's a good brand, I snuck one from Aunt Petunia's box once a few years ago, I was 6 I think. I'll let you try it later if you want, I promise we didn't fill it with Amorentia." Harry replied, making everyone chuckle.
"And does he think he'll be able to visit you this summer like you wanted?" Ron asked his best friend.
He didn't have a good opinion of Dudley Dursley, but Harry was his best friend and if he truly had changed, then he would give him a chance as well.
"He's working on it. So far Aunt Petunia knows he's been writing to us and as long as he's happy, she's fine with it. I think she's been this hard on me this entire time because she didn't want her son to grow up jealous of me like she grew up jealous of our mother. Uncle Vernon knows he's writing to us but not that he wants to spend the summer with us, they're waiting on a good moment to tell him. If they can't find it, then he'll lie and say he's going to spend a few days with a friend of his but he'd rather his father be aware of it." Harry explained.
Further away, Charlie and Bill were discussing Bill's relationship with Fleur, while Charlie was trying to tease his big brother, Bill was teasing back Charlie, trying to find out if he was dating someone in Romania or if he was still single.
For some reason, Charlie refused to answer and that made his siblings wonder if, maybe, he was actually seeing someone and that he was afraid they wouldn't accept or like. Half of his siblings believed that he was gay and maybe dating a man and that he was afraid of saying so. The other half didn't care as long as he was happy but still enjoyed teasing him about it, as siblings do. Still, they had agreed, over the summer, to hint anytime they could that they'd be alright with him being gay. Ginny, on her part, thought that Charlie simply wasn't interested in these things, that the only thing he cared about was his dragons.
Ginny was sitting happily next to Harry, wearing the necklace he had sent her for Christmas. Ginny had hesitated on what to give Harry this year, because a simple box of candy wouldn't be worthy of the boyfriend she had been waiting for for so long, so she gave him a t-shirt with her face on it. He could wear it to sleep and dream of her.
Rose was happy to sit between Fred and her Godfather, two of her favorites people.
A few times during the day, Dumbledore's socks did their purpose, surprising everyone the first time they did, even the great wizard himself, who didn't hide how impressed he was at the Potter's work. He couldn't wait to wear them the next time he went for a drink with his brother.
"That's actually something we could sell in our shop!" George exclaimed happily.
"We could put it in the Marauder branch of products." Fred nodded.
"I knew you'd feel this way, I have a lot of different ideas for it, I wrote them all down. I'll give it to you later. I left the notebook with the ideas at school. You can make pairs that cheer on a specific house, others specific for boys or girls, Birthday specials, Valentine's day specials... Like I said, I have tones of ideas." Rose told her boyfriend.
"You're just going to give him the idea, just like that? You could make it yourself and make lots of money on it!" Ron exclaimed, looking at Rose like she was crazy.
"She's investing in her future." Fred stated.
"She'll own part of the shop eventually." George added with a nod, bringing silence to the table.
"Really? How so?" Remus asked.
He was still smiling, but everyone could see how serious he suddenly was.
"Well, when we get married what is mine will be hers, naturally." Fred replied as he took a bite of his pie, not realizing that everyone was looking at him and that the table was completely silent.
"Did I miss something?" Sirius asked, his last smile gone from his face.
"Didn't you forget to ask us something here?" Remus asked as well.
"Aren't you two a bit young?" Sirius added.
Both marauders were very serious suddenly, as was everyone around the table.
"Are you two engaged?" Molly asked, surprised, and Rose didn't know what to say.
She was blushing a deep red. It was one thing for Fred to mention it during a conversation when it was just the two of them but this was something else entirely. He didn't seem to realize how surprised people were, he was acting like this was natural, normal behavior. Just like when he had mentioned it to her. He was so serious in his feelings for her that he thought everyone was on the same train of thought he was. She found it touching, but at the moment, she wished someone else would bring attention to themselves.
"Not yet, I'll propose sometime next year I think. I'm planning on asking for permission some time next year. Maybe next summer if I can wait that long. Then we'll get married after her 7th year if Rose doesn't have any other plans that would push it back. Nothing is set in stones, I'm willing to change the timetable if Rose has plans. I'm willing to wait as long as she needs, 5, 10, 35, even 50 years even if this is the price to pay to call her my wife in front of everyone." Fred replied, speaking a calm voice, like it all made sense and had been discussed hundreds of times before.
"Rose?" Molly asked.
"Yes Misses Weasley?" Rose replied in a small voice.
"Did you know?" Arthur asked, knowing what his wife, the love of his life, would ask.
"I... He did mention it in passing during a conversation before, that he was thinking this far ahead, but I didn't know his plans were so specific... We haven't spoken about it though, not really. Not that I'd mind." She replied with a blush.
"It's the first time I feel this strongly for someone and it's definitely going to be the last. That kind of feelings only comes once in a lifetime. Of course I'm marrying her, I'm not letting her go without a fight! I'm not a fool." Fred shook his head, smiling at Rose adoringly as he held her hand and dropped a kiss on the back of it and making her blush again.
"Well, unless you majorly screw up, I'll probably say yes." Rose replied, making Fred's brothers smirk.
"So adorable!" Remus and Sirius said at the same time.
"Reminds me of the way James was with Lily." Sirius added, making Remus nod.
"Well, I guess you will be a Weasley eventually then. Welcome in the family sweetie." Molly told Rose with a smile.
"Yes, the Weasley family didn't have enough red heads, we needed more." Ron chuckled.
"And I get a second daughter!" Molly smiled happily.
"Now, what about you and Ginny, Harry, any plans for the future?" Sirius asked his godson, to try and take some of the attention from Rose, which she was thankful for.
"Oh, you'd have to ask Ginny, Sirius. She's the one who's probably been planning everything. She's wanted him since the first time she saw him at the train station for his and Ron's first year." Bill replied before Harry could open his mouth, making both Ginny and Harry blush while everyone else chuckled.
"What about you, Sirius, anyone in your life that we should know about?" Charlie asked, making everyone chuckle a bit again.
"Me? No, who am I going to meet while at Hogwarts? You should be asking Remus, he's the one with the interesting Love life right now." Sirius shook his head before he gave his best friend a wicked smile.
"I'm pretty sure Sybille Trelawney is single, Sirius." Albus spoke, making everyone laugh.
"I think I'd rather date Snape, and that's saying something. The only time I made the effort of letting her speak to me she predicted my painful death because I wore the worng socks!" Sirius replied, making everyone laugh even harder.
"Do you want us to tell him? Arrange something for you?" George asked, making Sirius shake his head eagerly, afraid they'd take him seriously and bring him more humiliation.
"While Minerva is widowed, it's been a while now and she can also be considered single." Dumbledore added with humor, making Sirius look at him in horror.
"She was my teacher! She could be my mother! Actually she was more of a mother to me than my own mother... Though not as much as Misses Potter was but still..." Sirius exclaimed, making everyone chuckle.
"Charity Burbage broke up with her boyfriend last summer and she's only 2 years younger than you." Albus added.
"She barely said 2 words to me that weren't related to school since I started working at Hogwarts. Nothing in common." Sirius shook his head.
"Then there's all those students who like you and went as far as to send you presents for Christmas." Arthur commented.
"You know what they say, Sirius: Age is just a number." Percy teased him, trying to fit in with his brothers.
"Yeah, and Azkaban is just a place. I have no interest in going back there." Sirius shook his head, hoping the focus would shift on someone else soon.
"What did Sirius mean earlier, Remus? How is your love life interesting? Anyone we should know about?" Rose asked in a sweet voice.
"Remus?" Charlie insisted with a smile and the werewolf blushed.
Charlie sure seemed to like teasing people about their love lives, probably because his brothers often teased him about his none existant one.
"No, nothing." He shook his head.
"Really? You mean that there isn't anything between you and Tonks? I was so sure I saw something there, passing between the two of you." Ginny commented.
"I... It's complicated." Remus replied, trying to end this discussion.
"Nothing complicated there, Moony." Sirius shook his head, acting like he was picking a discussion from a long time ago.
"She's your little cousin!" Remus exclaimed.
"Not so little anymore." Sirius insisted with a smile.
"She's a very smart and capable young woman." Albus commented.
"I'm pretty sure she only came to talk to you today." Rose insisted.
"Remus, though he returns her feelings, believes that they can't be together because he's a werewolf, a bit older than her and... Well, he's found plenty of excuses." Sirius explained.
"Not excuses, REASONS, Padfoot. I'm older then her, I'm a werewolf, an outcast, and I'm too poor to take care of a family comfortably." Remus growled.
"Excuses." Sirius insisted in a sing-song voice.
"Once we open the shop and your book is released, you'll be making money too with your part. And you're not that much older than she is." George added.
"Well, I will not rest until you see reason, Remus, because I love you and you deserve to be happy." Rose told her godfather.
"Hey Fred, remember at the beginning of the year when you were afraid Rose wouldn't want to date you because you were older than her?" George exclaimed, teasing his brother.
"Older? You two are barely 3 years apart!" Ron exclaimed, looking at Fred like he was crazy.
"I was nervous, that's all." Fred blushed before he shifted the focus of the discussion by asking Percy if he was dating anyone new or if he was planning on getting Penelope back.
All in all, it was a very joyful day for everyone, with songs sung and games played.
After dinner, Albus left them to join his brother, as was always his plan.
This was one of the longest chapters so far I thnk.
Next chapter we take a look at Draco's christmas vacation.
200 reviews! Great, Thank you! I do try to answer them all. I hope you'll leave me lots of reviews on this chapter to help motivate me to keep writing, inspiration has been a bit harder to find lately.
Don't forget to review please!
Lorelei Candice Black