Time passed. Fred didn't see Gigi, and, likewise, Gigi didn't see Fred. Did either of the two ever think about each other? Absolutely not, and as far as anyone knew, it was better that way. Of course, whatever related to Fred and Gigi that was "better that way" couldn't stay the same way.

Especially when you got the rest of the Weasley brood involved.

Why them? It's a sad story, but the rest of the events may not make any sense unless you know, so while you're perfectly welcome to ignore all of this, you're also perfectly welcome to read on.

In the time that passed from the wedding to the present day, most of the Weasley seven (Bill, Charlie, Percy, George, Fred, Ron, and Ginny, in case you happen to be uninformed somehow) had weddings of their own, with the exception of Ginny who was in the process of planning hers, and Fred who was having a rather unfortunate time with women. He was now 30 years of age, and barely any relationships he had been in had lasted past a couple of days. The rest of his family had been supportive the whole time, and had given advice and anything else that happened to be useful (or not), but now it was time to take matters into their own hands. For weeks now, Fred had been set up with girls, in hopes that one of them would put a stop to his bachelorism. Also for weeks now, Fred had found something wrong with each and every one of them, and so the quest to find someone for Fred was discouraged and seemed quite hopeless indeed.

Paige, however, was not about to give up so easily, and with a bit of trickery on her part, the return of everyone's favorite smarty-pants was brought about. So begins a Weasley Christmas that would surely be unforgettable…

The Burrow was full of Christmas cheer (and redheads). Even Fred was happy; he'd forgotten all about being set up once again. He and Bill were bringing decorations down from the attic, and it seemed to be enough of a distraction for him. Molly, the original Mrs. Weasley, was cooking. Ron and Hermione (Mrs. Ronald Weasley, for your information, and it was really about time they got together) were situating the tree just so, so it wasn't horribly out of shape and ugly despite embellishment, and whatever else needed done was being done by everybody else. That was when Paige, George, and Gigi arrived, though Paige was practically dragging Gigi in. While she knew she was supposed to be a date for a Weasley, she wasn't aware of exactly which one. Fred of course had no idea of the plan at the moment, and even if he did remember, there was no way he would've know beforehand who they'd found for him this time.

"Don't forget to smile!" Paige said, looking ecstatic, and she wandered off to find the others, George having no choice to go after her, as she didn't let go of his hand. Thus, Gigi was left on her own. Of course, Paige had gone to the kitchen to inform Mrs. Weasley that Fred's date was there; just to let her know there wasn't a random stranger in the house, you know.

"Sorry!" two voices said at once. Gigi had accidentally backed into someone. Someone thought they'd back into her. They both turned around and it was a wonder why nobody screamed. Fred saw Gigi. Gigi saw Fred.

The family braced themselves.

For a while nobody said anything, and the two single ones just stared at each other. It made perfect sense now, to Gigi, why she was there. The rest of them were married. All the other Weasleys were married! Fred was the only one alone, and Gigi was the only non-Weasley there, so it made sense to Fred why she was there, too. They didn't look too happy about it. In fact, they looked horrified. Finally they unfroze, as it were, and backed away slowly from each other.

Stay calm. Gigi thought. Just stay calm. Blowing up won't help anything.

Bloody hell, whoever brought her here is so going to pay. Fred said to himself. To him, any sane person would know not to even think of bringing that woman anywhere near him. So, of course, he knew it was all Paige's fault.

"Hello Fred," Gigi said coolly. Fred nodded slightly. Everyone else still braced just in case hell was unleashed, as they all feared would happen any moment now.

"Gigi," he said in reply. What now? They knew the purpose, were undoubtedly going to try their hardest to avoid it anyway, had greeted one another… What now?

Silence settled in again, until Paige emerged from the kitchen. She saw what was going on, and became determined to make them acknowledge the other more than that. Oh boy.

"Good! You found each other, I'm guessing you know what's supposed to happen?" At least somebody else was able to speak. Gigi and Fred nodded grimly, eyes still on the person in front of them, in disgust. Paige just smiled. "Good! Come on, then; don't just stand there gawking!" Thankfully her words seemed to rouse everyone, and soon enough the place was busy again.

Paige, George, Fred, and Gigi all ended up decorating the tree. The foes tried to stay as far away from each other as they could, but then barely any of the tree was done on one side. Despite their efforts, they were stuck beside one another, miserable because of it.

"Don't even think of mentioning my eyes this time," Gigi muttered. Paige, who was trying to listen to the conversation from she and George's side of the tree, stifled a giggle. Fred, on the other hand, rolled his eyes.

"That wasn't even my fault," he said. "You took it the wrong way." Gigi didn't say anything this time, as she searched for a place to hang one of the various ornaments. On the other side of the tree, Paige frowned at the lack of conversation. Gigi wasn't even arguing with him! Not only was that weird, but it was also… well, okay, maybe just weird. After a bit of thought, Paige moved enough to "accidentally" push Gigi into Fred, which earned her a glare from both of them. She just grinned.

"Oops!" she said, as she skipped off to the kitchen once again. Time to check on those Christmas cookies, eh? George followed his wife, in case they did decide to explode. Both Fred and Gigi rolled their eyes and decorated in silence. Now not only were they quiet, but alone as well.

"I never would've expected you to be the only single Weasley," Gigi admitted after a minute or so of more silence. Given her current status with Fred (and how it had been since they were 11), it surprised herself that she would say that. It surprised Fred, too. He blinked a few times, even almost smiled.

"Why not?" he asked. "You're supposed to hate me. I thought you'd want me to be alone since I'm so unbearable." Gigi was tempted to snap at him, as it seemed like he was mocking her in a way, but she kept her cool (somehow).

"What do you mean, 'why not'?" She rolled her eyes. "Girls adored you when we were at Hogwarts. It doesn't make sense to me that you of all people would be single at 30." What am I doing? she thought. I hate Fred! I'm not supposed to talk about his romantic status with him!

"I guess," Fred said, but he shook his head regardless. "Those girls, most of them didn't know me, or George, at all. Not really. They wanted the smooth-talking, Quidditch beater prankster. Never looked past whatever me and George did." That "smooth talking" was just you being an ass. Gigi thought, though a little more contemplation of his words followed.

"So they were all shallow, basically?" Fred nodded. Gigi smiled a little. Somehow, it was relieving to know he didn't want just a pretty face or a hot body.

"Yeah, I'm kind of picky, I guess," Fred mused. They were quiet again, but not because they were annoyed; they were decorating again.

Paige peeked out on them, just in case they'd killed each other, and went back to helping her mother-in-law once she'd seen they were alright.

"You know, this is the first civil conversation we've ever had," Fred observed. Mostly because you've been a sarcastic bitch the entire time I've known you. he thought. A smirk grew on her face as Gigi nodded.

"It's not so bad, either," she said. "We're a little too old to hate each other over something I can't even remember. What did this whole thing start from?" Fred could only shrug his shoulders, as he levitated a Christmas ball to one of the branches near the top that they couldn't reach on their own, even with a height advantage.

"I have no idea," he admitted. "Probably something we'd laugh about now, though." He smiled, just a little bit, and Gigi… Gigi laughed. One could only wonder what two eleven-year-olds had come up with to hate each other over for years. For all they knew, it could've been because she had black hair and he had ginger, or freckles, or eye color, or some other pointless thing that had no effect on anything at all in the long run. Fred looked at her quizzically, head tilted slightly to the side. "What?"

"Nothing," she said. "It's just how stupid it probably was."

Paige came back out, and the conversation came to a stop. It had been fine to be civil for that short period of time alone, but to be civil in front of Paige would just give her the satisfaction of knowing that no matter how hard they tried to show disdain towards one another they were really fine. Giving Paige satisfaction about this was a definite no-no.

"Dinner's ready!" she announced.

So begins part two of this ordeal.

Author's note:o

Hello readers! I'm so sorry for taking so long! D I meant to have a chapter for you guys sooner… but, well, obviously that didn't work out too well. More of Christmas time is to come, rest assured, but if I had it all in one chapter it would be so hugely long it scares me. So it'll be separated, so don't go thinking this is it!

'Kay, enjoy. o

-Cru. 3