THC
Hufflepuff
DADA Professor
Round 7, Year 8
Drabble
Words: 795
Prompt: (Event) Family Dinner
A/N This is an AU in which Fred, Tonks, and Remus never died, Hermione married Severus, and Ron married Lavender.
Family dinners at the Weasley household were always a sight to behold. They were usually loud and jovial, especially now that all of the Weasley children were all grown up and had children of their own. The biggest dinner of the year was always on Christmas Eve, and it was then that the entire family spent the holiday at the Burrow.
This year was going to be a much bigger affair than usual. All of the Weasley children, as well as their spouses and children, were going to be there, but the Lupins, Malfoys, Snapes, and a few stragglers were going to attend as well. The grand total for the night was going to be somewhere in the ballpark of fifty people.
In the days leading up to Christmas Eve, Molly Weasley worked herself into a tizzy. She always prided herself in having the best holiday dinners, but now that she was hosting more than just her immediate family – even though they were close with their other guests – she felt as though she needed to outdo herself
After a confrontation with his stressed-out wife, Arthur had made it a policy to stay out of Molly's way, for fear of getting attacked by a spatula. Again.
It was Christmas Eve morning, and Molly had been up since before the sun had risen and the rooster had crowed to finish preparing the house for the guests. The first of the Weasley children were supposed to arrive at dawn by way of a Portkey, and the rest would be trickling in throughout the rest of the day. The last of their guests would be arriving an hour before dinner was to be served.
Harry and a very-pregnant Ginny arrived promptly at 9:02, along with little Albus and James. The children went running into the kitchen to hug their grandma, while Harry helped Ginny waddle to the house.
"Hi, Mum!" Ginny greeted breathlessly as she plopped herself down on the nearest seat.
Molly bustled over to her youngest child and kissed her on the forehead. "How are you feeling? Do you need anything to eat?"
Ginny smiled. "I'm good. Where's Dad, though?"
Molly chuckled. "I'm afraid I scared him away a few days ago. I think he's been hiding in the garage and working on something. Merlin knows he shouldn't be."
"Why am I not surprised?" Ginny muttered jokingly.
"Assuming you ladies don't need any help, I'm going to find Arthur." Harry quickly excused himself before either of them could stop him.
"Guess I've scared away my husband as well," Ginny said, and they both burst out laughing.
The rest of the Weasley children and the Lupins made it to the Burrow for lunch. Shortly after they had eaten, the Malfoys arrived with the Snapes. Hermione, like Ginny, was very pregnant. Their due dates were only a few weeks apart, and they were already planning on their children being best friends – much to their husbands' dismay.
By three o'clock, all of the guests had shown up. All of the young children were having fun running circles around the men. They all knew better than to mess with the women, who were busy helping Molly prepare for the meal that night.
"Thank Merlin for firewhiskey," Tonks said, as she toasted drinks with Astoria and Fleur.
Ginny glared at her. "Speak for yourself. Hermione and I over here are restricted to water and soda."
Tonks smirked. "Bully for you."
Ginny and Hermione both threw a pillow at her.
The men and children were in the middle of a snowball fight. It was adults versus children, and they were all having a blast.
"Watch out!" Victoire yelled at Teddy, as a snowball went flying towards him.
Teddy didn't react in time, the snow exploding off the back of his head. In the near vicinity, he heard his godfather laughing. "Really?" he yelled at Harry.
The laughing only got louder.
Suddenly, they all heard Molly calling them into the house to get ready for dinner. All the children and men walked into the house and were instantly told to change out of their wet, dirty clothes.
Once everyone was back downstairs, they all sat down at the table for dinner.
"Who's helping me serve?" Molly asked from the kitchen.
All of the Weasley children and their spouses instantly put their fingers on their noses and exclaimed, "Nose goes!" This left the grandchildren to help Molly serve dinner.
The adults chatted around the table as their children served the meal. They heard something shatter and a shouted curse from the matriarch of the family.
Everyone stopped dead and turned to look into the kitchen, where they saw the turkey sliding across the floor. The adults knew they shouldn't laugh, but they couldn't help themselves.