By 6 o'clock, the Burrow was bursting at the seams with Order members, family and friends. Neville and his gran had joined the party, though Neville just looked relieved to see his gran talking to Flur and not him for a night. Neville, Ginny, Draco, Fred, Angelina and George had reserved a corner of the kitchen and were enjoying a game of Exploding Snap. Or rather, Fred and George's version of Exploding Snap. In this game, as the player gained pairs, they must take a shot of Firewhiskey. If your cards explode on you, you must give your pairs to the player to your left and you are "out". Eventually all but two players are left. The final two players must then play with "extra exploding snap cards", or cards that explode with enough power to potentially burn your fingers should you be picking up the card at the wrong moment. The first person to get their fingers burned looses and a winner is proclaimed. Like most Fred and George approved games, this game was certainly not Molly approved. However, during certain celebrations, she turned a blind eye to the twins' game as long as everyone playing was old enough to fend for themselves.
"Alright gang, I'm going to grab some more cookies, round of cookies for everyone?" Fred asked the group. Everyone nodded and Fred disappeared after stealing a kiss from Angelina.
"So us Weasleys have this Christmas tradition and we would love to have lot," George looked to Angelina, Neville and Draco, "join us."
"Would love to, what's the tradition?" Angelina asked taking a sip of punch from her cup.
"A little before midnight, we grab some fireworks and our brooms and head up past the clearing a bit and send them off at midnight. Its not a lot, but it's a lot of fun." George explained.
"Mum made us go out to the clearing after the year we set them off on the roof. Course it was after midnight and everyone had gone to bed." Fred jumped into the conversation laying a plate of Mrs. Weasley's Christmas cookies in the middle of the table.
"Poor Ronniekins couldn't sleep for the rest of the night." George started laughing at the memory.
"To be fair, I think Mum would have let you off a lot more if you didn't take Ginny with you." Charlie appeared at the table stealing a cookie off the platter and grabbing the Fireball that was hidden in Fred's inside jacket pocket.
"She wanted to go." Fred threw his hands up in innocence.
"She was 5, she followed you guys around anywhere you went." Charlie chuckled.
"Well at least I'm not a grown ass man stealing liquor from his baby brother." Fred teased lightly.
"There's only so much adult one man can handle in a night." Charlie sighed. "Hey, George, deal me in."
Charlie magicked himself a chair and took a seat between George and Draco.
"So, Draco, I heard Ron and Harry kicked you out of their secret club." Charlie turned to Draco casually taking a sip of the Fireball he stole.
"Something that like that, yeah." Draco nodded grimly.
"I'm honestly surprised that you lasted as long as you did. Those gits don't know how put two and two together when their lives depend on it. You're going to do a lot more good to this war on this side of things." Charlie clapped a hand on Draco's shoulder before picking up his cards.
"That's the hope." Draco replied shocked by Charlie's actions.
"Don't worry, Draco, we aren't going to rip you apart. You're on our side and I, at least, am really warming up to you. You've put your life on the line for my brother and Harry, so that makes you a pretty awesome person in my books."
The next round of Exploding Snap ended in a heated last round between George and Angelina. Fred, excited for both to win, kept bouncing as being cheerleader for both sides. Finally, it was Angelina who ended up with burned fingertips leaving Fred and George to do their victory handshake as Angelina healed her finger tips magically. When the twins finished their entertaining handshake, they both turned to Angelina and yelled "suck it!" Angelina, having dealt with the twins' behavior for nine years, returned the childish behavior by sticking up a middle finger towards the two. As George cleaned up the cards, the almost empty Fireball bottle was passed around the table so everyone could take a shot before leaving the empty bottle in Fred's pocket. Nobody had enough alcohol to make them drunk, but they were all smiling and laughing easier than they normally would.
"Oh good, you kids are done with your game." Mrs. Weasley approached the table, her curly red hair bouncing around her Christmas sweater with each step. "Come into the living room, we're about to start singing carols!"
"This is Mum's favorite part about the Christmas party." Ginny told Draco in a hushed voice as everyone followed Mrs. Weasley into the living room. "Everyone gathers around and we all sing. Its an acquired taste, I guess."
"It sounds like fun." Draco smiled remembering Christmas celebrations with his mother and father. His father would host a huge Christmas ball, but that was only to show off his wealth and position. But every Christmas night when Draco was little, his mother would tuck him into bed and sing him Christmas carols. A pang of sorry hit Draco suddenly as he thought about his mother and wondered what she was doing this night. Ginny must have sensed it, as she always did, as she grabbed his hand subtlety and gave it a tight squeeze before they entered the living room.
Everyone was crowded around the small room either on sofas, chairs placed around the room or standing wherever a spot was available. Ginny handed Draco a cup filled with something that looked like hot chocolate, but smelled like it had something extra added to it.
"Charlie spiked it." Ginny confirmed his suspicions, "It'll make your ears bleed a little less."
"Thank you, Charlie, then." Draco's eyes sparkled slightly.
"Now that we have everyone gathered," Mr. Weasley's voice drew a hush from the idle chatter and Mr. Weasley pulled his wife against his side, "Molly and I would like to thank you all for coming out and joining us. During this time of trouble and unknown, celebrations like this are all the more important. So lets celebrate to all of those who are here, to all those who are out keeping our world safe tonight. I always think of how amazing it is that this party can grow every year. I wasn't sure this house would survive last years celebration, but we managed to fit even more people in here!" Everyone laughed easily at the small joke. "Over the year we have added a few more members to our family. Flur of course who married our son Bill this summer," Arthur held up a glass towards Flur while several people clapped or whistled, "And Draco, who joined the Order this summer. We never would have expected you to be here, but I think it is safe to say our family would be in mourning this Christmas if it weren't for you." Arthur held up his glass towards Draco. The room had a different hush to it as collectively the whole room held up their glasses towards Draco. He could not explain the gratitude Draco felt towards this simple action, nor did he know how to respond to such an action. So, he nodded towards Arthur lifting his glass in turn.
"We have so much to be thankful this Christmas, and so much to celebrate. Happy Christmas everyone!" Arthur finished raising his glass towards the ceiling and everyone followed suit yelling 'Happy Christmas' and clanked glasses with the people around them.
"Happy Christmas, Draco." Ginny turned to Draco holding her glass towards him.
"Happy Christmas, Ginevra." Draco clinked his glass against Ginny's before turning to Neville.
After everyone had the chance to wish everyone a 'very Happy Christmas!' Mrs. Weasley started everyone off with some Christmas carols. As the singing filled the room, Fred and George added wildly inappropriate verses of the songs that Draco was sure Mrs. Weasley would hang them for if it weren't for the holiday. Angelina joined the twins in their "misinterpreted carols" and the three had their arms linked across their shoulders and were waving over enthusiastically to the beat of the song. Neville and Ginny shared a few random dance moves in accordance with the songs trying to convince Charlie and Draco to join in. By the fourth Christmas Carol the whole back corner of the living room was exuberantly enjoying the party earning a few stares from Neville's gran and a few other older folks in the room. As Draco swayed with his arm linked around Ginny's shoulders as he, Ginny, Neville, Charlie, Fred, Angelina and George kicking their legs in alternation while singing "Oh Tannenbaum" very loudly and off key. Draco was fairly certain that the words Fred and George sang past 'oh tannenbaum' were complete gibberish, but he also quickly realized it did not matter because they were enjoying the night and the company. The entire room, whether singing the song properly sitting on the couch or in the odd dance line of young adults going against everything proper in the world of proper, everyone was loving their evening and the celebration. Draco had never experienced anything like this. Sure, he had gone to parties and celebrated but they were always formal and stiff. This celebration was loose, warm, happy and Draco realized he did not ever want to call a stiff and formal party to replace a Weasley party. He caught Ginny's eye and gave her a very rare laugh that made his eyes twinkle long after he finished laughing.
After the carols were finished around 11:30, some people excused themselves to retire to their homes while Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Angelina, Neville, Ginny and Draco headed to the broom shed. The fireworks were tucked in the back of the closet ornamented with two gold 'W's signifying they were from Fred and George's joke shop. Neville, being a nervous flyer took one of the oldest brooms the Weasley's owned, the one all of the Weasley children learned to fly on. Bill and Charlie brought their own brooms while Fred, George and Angelina hopped on their own new Firebolts. Ginny grabbed her Firebolt, a present from Draco while he rode George's old broom, a fast and well taken care of Nimbus. Bill stayed in the back of the line with Neville coaching him during their small flight while the others flew carelessly carrying the fireworks. They landed within the safety wards of the Weasley land, but as far from the house as they could. Fred and George busied themselves with setting up their fireworks just right while Charlie pulled a bottle of vodka and cranberry juice and a large blanket from his pocket. The small party enjoyed drinks, more Christmas carols while waiting for midnight to strike.
Most of the group was fairly drunk by the time midnight rolled in and were very exuberant in counting down to midnight. As the group yelled out '1' Fred and George sent sparks flying out of their wands towards the first two fireworks which simultaneously flew into the sky. Beautiful red and gold sparks flew one after another keeping a circular shape. The next set of fireworks displayed a Christmas tree decorated with colored lights. The group clapped and cheered at this set, and they heard fait cheering from the house letting them know everyone was watching. Fred had now wrapped himself over Angelina with his head resting on top of hers and his lank arms draped over her torso. Ginny felt as though the largest battle she would ever fight was holding back from latching herself onto Draco. By the way Draco held his hands behind his back at a distance from her, she could tell he was feeling the same.
The last firework brilliantly displayed "Happy Christmas" in large red, green and gold lettering across the sky, the flashing sparks holding in the sky for several long minutes. Fred pulled Angelina in to a long kiss as the last shimmer of "Happy Christmas" fell to the ground. George, Bill, Charlie and Ginny began yelling "Happy Christmas!" at the top of their lungs while Neville applauded the firework show. Draco kept his youthful grin while watching Ginny jump up and down chanting with her brothers.