Ginny brushed the soot off her robes and set her trunk against a wall. Oliver did the same and then they went into the dining room. Ron looked up and said, "Oh good, you're here. I'm starving. I've been waiting for you three to get here for forever. Now we can eat."

"It's good to see you too, Ron," Ginny said slapping her brother. "I'm glad to know you missed me and that you value me more than food."

Ron shrugged. "It's not that; it's just I can't eat you when I'm hungry."

"Tell Kallie that," Ginny joked. "She seems to be of the opinion that she can eat my fingers."

"How is my favorite sister's daughter?" Ron asked looking up at his niece for the first time. "Kallie, do you want to see Uncle Ron?" he asked in completely different voice. Kallie stretched out her pudgy little arms to him and he took her in his arms.

Ginny sat down in the empty chair next to Ron. "So, where's Parvati? I thought Mum said you were going to bring her with you tonight."

"We split," Ron said. "She was getting weird. I thought that this would be the relationship that would last but it just fell apart. Ginny, don't you know anyone you could set me up with?"

"I'll think about it and get back to you before New Year's," Ginny replied. "I'll definitely try to get you a date for New Year's."

Oliver sat down between Ginny and Alicia. Alicia smiled at him. "So, how is teaching going? Is it better than professional Quidditch?"

Oliver smiled and immediately Alicia knew he was happier now than he'd ever been playing Quidditch. "It's amazing. I always thought that Quidditch was the greatest thing on earth but I've discovered that there's something even better than Quidditch."

"It's a pity he couldn't have discovered this when we were at Hogwarts," Alicia whispered to George. Then she turned back to Oliver. "So, Arithmancy is that amazing?"

He shook his head with a smile. "Arithmancy and teaching are wonderful but its Ginny who has made the past five months so wonderful for me. My sisters have caused so much trouble and Ginny's been the one sane person in the middle of all of that. My parents are ready to kill Beatrice and Helena but Ginny is just calm and normal and loving."

"What happened with Beatrice and Helena?" George asked.

"You haven't heard?" Ginny said, shocked.

George shook his head. Then Oliver said, "Beatrice was expelled from Hogwarts last night for cheating in five of her classes. And Helena announced a few weeks ago that she's pregnant with her ex-boyfriend's baby."

Alicia shook her head. "Your poor parents, and poor you, seriously, are you really sure you want to be teaching at the school that your sisters attend?"

Oliver shook his head. "It'll calm down after the holidays. Beatrice won't be back and Helena, well, I can deal with her. I know her so well and I'm used to dealing with her. Also, it's not really her that I'll have to deal with but rather her ex. He's a jerk."

"Who was she dating?" Alicia said. "Anyone I know?"

Oliver shook his head. "She dated half the Gryffindor common room. The father is Ed Jacobs."

"Oh I remember his older sister," Alicia said. "She was a constant flirt. She was the only person I ever met who would flirt with George while I was sitting on his lap making out with him."

George looked at his wife. "She was flirting with me? I thought she had something wrong with her back."

Alicia laughed and kissed her husband's cheek. "I'm glad that you find me more attractive than her."

"Despite what the title of the muggle movie says, this gentleman prefers brunettes," George said.

"And this gentleman prefers redheads," Oliver said, kissing Ginny's cheek. "Redheads have so much spunk after all. Blondes are lovely people but I personally prefer this redhead."

Ginny smiled and kissed him. "I'm glad to hear that. I personally prefer men with brown hair. And this man I have here is wonderfully good-looking."

Oliver smiled. "Thank you, darling."

A few minutes later, Mrs. Weasley looked at her daughter and said, "So, how is Kallie? You wrote me almost three months ago that she's crawling. Has she started to stand up yet? Is she teething yet? Is she walking yet?"

Ginny smiled at her mother's eager questions. "She's teething. I have to keep at least five teething rings around the rooms to keep her happy. She cries through the night otherwise. But she's getting better at sleeping through the night."

"That's good," Mrs. Weasley said. "But what about my other questions?"

"Oh," Ginny said with a smile of motherly pride. "She stood up for the first time three days ago. It was so cute. Oliver and I were sitting in my little living room talking and she was crawling around. Then she grabbed a firm hold on the couch leg and pulled herself up. It was so adorable."

Oliver nodded the affirmative. "It was wonderful. She pulled herself up and then looked around with a look that said aren't you both just so proud of me? Then she had a look like aren't I just the cutest baby ever born? It was so sweet."

"I think that I detect a hint of fatherly pride in Oliver's voice," Fred said with a smile. "I think that Oliver is just slightly enchanted with our delightful niece, Kayleigh Estelle." Fred liked to call Kallie by her full name when he was joking around. "Personally, I believe that Miss Ginevra Kathryn and Mr. Oliver Thomas ought to marry. George, do you not agree with me on this subject?"

George stroked his chin thoughtfully and then said with a mischievous glint to his eye, "I agree with you most definitely. I think that Oliver Thomas ought to ask our delightful sister to marry him on the most wonderful and romantic night of New Year's Eve."

"That sounds absolutely marvelous to me," Fred said. "Oliver, what is your opinion on this absolutely delightful subject?"

Oliver looked at Ginny. She raised her eyebrows and smiled. Oliver turned to the twins and said, "I must speak with your delightful sister about this concept. I'm not quite certain that she is quite ready for marriage yet. Ginny, what do you think of your brothers' idea?"

Ginny sat thoughtfully for a few moments. Then she said, "I think that marriage is a decision we need to make on our own without the help of my esteemed brothers, Frederick and George."

Fred sighed. "Well, I hope you make it soon. I'm not getting any younger and I would like to live to see the day when I have nieces and nephews with the last name of Wood."

George nodded. "Just yesterday I thought I found a gray hair in this gorgeous mane of mine."

"I've found several recently on my head," Fred said.

Katie playfully slapped her husband. "Honestly, you're twenty-four years old. I personally know for a fact that every single strand of hair on your gorgeous head is red. Stop goofing around with your poor sister's life."

Alicia nodded. "George, I love you but Ginny is your only sister. You need to be nicer to her. She's an adult now and she can make her own decisions. She doesn't need you to run her life for her."

George moaned. "But I want to run her life. It's so much more fun that letting her live her own life. Honestly, she needs me to run her life for her."

"No she doesn't," Molly Weasley said. "Ginny is an adult and she doesn't need her brothers trying to run her life for her. She needs to live her own life. Let her grow up boys. All of you just let your sister grow up. Do it for me, please."

"Oh fine," the twins moaned in unison.

"Thank you," their mother said.

After dinner, Ginny and Oliver were in the living room playing with Ginny's fourteen nieces and nephews. George and Alicia were talking to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley in kitchen, Fred and Katie were out taking a walk, Charlie and Maya were upstairs talking, Ron had gone over to the Potters', and Bill and Angelina had gone with Ron. This left Ginny and Oliver in charge of the children. Bill and Angelina's oldest son, Alex, ran to the window. "Auntie Ginny, Uncle Oliver, look it's snowing!"

Oliver followed the boy to the window. "It is. It looks like we may have a white Christmas after all."

"Really? Are we really going to have a white Christmas?" squealed Larissa, Maya and Charlie's five-year-old. "My mummy loves white Christmases. She says in Romania, where she grew up, they have white Christmas every single year. She'll be so happy if we have white Christmas this year."

"Well," Oliver said. "Your mum will be very happy because it looks like we're going to have a blizzard."

"We already are," Katie said bursting into the room. She and Fred had just come in. "It's beautiful out there but it's impossible to see two inches in front of your face. The snow is coming down like there's no tomorrow."

"There's no tomorrow, Auntie Katie?" Larissa said with a look of fear pervading her face. "Why isn't there going to be any tomorrow?"

Oliver picked up the little girl. "That's not what Aunt Katie said. She said it was snowing like there's no tomorrow but there is going to be a tomorrow. I promise you. You'll wake up tomorrow morning and tomorrow will be here."

"Okay," Larissa said reluctantly. She was still a little confused. "Uncle Oliver, are you going to marry Auntie Ginny? My daddy says you should and my mummy says she agrees but you should wait a little longer. Daddy says you two should get married now."

"Really?" Oliver asked, sitting down with the little girl in his lap. "Why do they think that?"

"Daddy says that you make Auntie Ginny happier than he's ever seen her. You make her complete."

"Really?" Oliver said thoughtfully.

"Really!" Larissa said with a smile. "I like you. You're the best uncle ever. You're not crazy like Uncle Fred and Uncle George, you're not weird like Uncle Percy, you're not always in love with weird ladies like Uncle Ron, you're not always busy like Uncle Bill, but you play with me all the time. I like you." She kissed his cheek and gave him a hug. "I would be very happy if you'd marry Auntie Ginny."

Oliver smiled. "Well, then when I ask her to marry me, you'll be among the first to know. But that day won't be for a while, probably not until the end of this school year."

"Cool!" Larissa said with a smile. She hopped out of his lap and ran over to Katie who was watching Maggie and Callie play on the floor. "Uncle Oliver says he's going to ask you to marry him at the end of the school year."

Ginny looked at Oliver and smiled. "Well, I love him very much and hope that he loves me in kind."

Oliver smiled and went over to her. Then he kissed her.

Top of Form