"She has boundary issues," Ron heard Sirius grouse to Remus as he entered the kitchen.

"Boundary issues?"

"Yes. And by that I mean, she has none."

"Good morning, Ron," Remus said when he noticed the redhead.

"Morning, Remus, Sirius. Tonks again?" he guessed from experience.

"Who else?" Remus said wryly. "You missed quite the conversation."

"Luna and I were up late," said Ron, wondering why Remus nearly spat out his coffee and Sirius started laughing. "Ah, coffee. Thanks, Kreacher."

The elderly house-elf cast a malevolent look at Ron as he shuffled out of sight. Though under strict orders by Sirius to not only serve the entire household but also to refrain from insults, the elf satisfied himself with glares and silent mutters. If looks could kill, mused Ron, all would have been dead long ago, including Sirius. Ron wasn't sure what was worse – Kreacher's hatred or Dobby's hero-worship of Harry. That house-elf was as bad as Ginny had been her first year, with much less embarrassment about showing it.

Sirius and Remus were leaving by the time Luna arrived.

"Luna, I was hoping you could help decorate for the party," Remus said after the morning pleasantries were exchanged. "You have such unique taste."

"Of course," Luna agreed, smiling with pleasure. "You didn't get mistletoe, did you? Nargles are known to infest mistletoe."

"We wouldn't want that," Sirius said gravely.

"No, it's likely they would steal the presents from under the tree."

"That would be terrible," Sirius continued, his eyes twinkling.

"Sirius," Ron said warningly. He hated it when they went along with Luna's crazy ideas. Luna might think they truly agreed with her, but Ron knew they were just taking the piss.

"It's alright, Ronald. I know Sirius is just teasing me," Luna interjected, demonstrating once again not only her perceptiveness but her capacity for tolerance.

"And I only tease those I care about," Sirius said with a deep bow. "I'll leave you to it."

"Luna, I wish you wouldn't let him have a go at you. You know he doesn't believe in Nargles."

"Just because he doesn't believe in them doesn't mean they don't exist," she said serenely, taking a bite of toast. "And it's better to be safe than sorry. I don't want the Christmas presents to be stolen."

"Right, right," Ron muttered, humoring her.

"I have your present, by the way," Luna said suddenly. "Do you want to wait until tomorrow with everyone else, or exchange them privately?"

"Our Christmas presents?" Ron said, his voice higher than normal. He cleared his throat. "We, uh, we can wait. For later. If – if that's okay."

"Are you alright, Ronald?" Luna frowned, smoothing his hair. "Is it Wrackspurts? I didn't feel any."

"No, no Wrackspurts. I, er, I had a dash of Gurdyroot infusion in my pumpkin juice this morning to ward them off."

"Gurdyroots ward off Gulping Plimpies, not Wrackspurts. Remember?" she said patiently.

"Oh yeah, sorry. I'm just distracted. Maybe it is Wrackspurts." He rose so quickly his chair fell over, and he hastened to pick it up. "I'm going to take a shower."

"Ron?"

"Yeah, Luna?"

She smiled. "Whatever is bothering you, just know I love you."

Ron smiled in return, filled with warmth as his nerves melted away. "I love you, too."

When Ron finished his shower, he meandered downstairs, following voices to the drawing room. Luna and Tonks were decorating the room, draping it with streamers and evergreen. Harry sat on the sofa with a bowl of popcorn in his lap.

"A show on, mate?" Ron asked, dropping next to Harry and grabbing a handful of the snack.

"Technically, I'm supposed to be stringing the popcorn to go on the tree," Harry replied, not taking his eyes off the girls. "But just listen."

"Luna," Tonks was saying as she waved her wand at the tree, levitating baubles. "I work at the Ministry, have for years. There's no such thing as the Rotfang Conspiracy. I have perfect gums."

"Of course you do," Luna explained. "You're an Auror. They're behind it."

"We are not!" Tonks declared indignantly. "Kingsley's great. I have no wish to overthrow him."

"Of course you don't," Luna continued in a matter-of-fact tone. "You can't see it because you're inside the conspiracy."

Tonks's mouth worked several times as she tried to come up with an argument, finally shaking her head in resignation. The corner of Ron's mouth twitched; one of the things he most liked about Luna was that she was so steadfast in her beliefs, no matter how odd. And yet somehow it never came out as intolerance.

Harry leaned over to Ron. "Remind me to have Dora, Luna, and Hermione sit together at dinner tonight," he said quietly.

"Always good value," Ron replied, stifling a laugh.

"Did you paint these, Luna?" Tonks asked interestedly, apparently having given up on the Rotfang Conspiracy. She held up a bauble. "They're lovely."

"Yes, there's one for everyone."

Exchanging a curious glance with Harry, Ron walked to the tree. He was startled to see his own face smiling at him from a green bauble. As she said, Luna had painted one for each person in the entire clan, from Ginny to Kingsley to Hagrid. He even spotted the two house-elves.

"They're great," Ron agreed, sliding his arms around Luna's waist. "I wouldn't let Kreacher see his, though. He'll probably throw it at someone."

Tonks laughed as she waved her wand one final time, sprinkling tinsel over the towering evergreen. "There, I think it's done. And now for –" She snuck a glance at Luna before casually walking over to the doorway and fastening something above it.

"Tonks, I told you that wasn't a good idea," Luna said. "It's infested with –"

"Nargles, I know, I know," Tonks muttered, rolling her eyes. "But it's Fred and George's special mistletoe that traps you until you kiss, so I reckon the Nargles can't go anywhere." She pointed her wand at the plant with a flash of light. "See? Once the spell is activated, it –" She tried to move her feet, which were firmly stuck to the floor. "Oh. Oh, bugger me."

Ron and Harry started laughing. "This is what you get for not taking Nargles seriously," Ron managed to get out between guffaws.

"It's the Revenge of the Nargles!" exclaimed Harry, ignoring his girlfriend's dirty look. Even Luna was laughing in that soft, delighted way Ron loved.

"Harry, come on, love, help a girl out," Tonks pleaded, attempting to look seductive and failing. "I'll make it worth your while."

He held up his hands. "Sorry, no can do. I think you'll have to get yourself out of this one."

"What's so funny?" Sirius slid past Tonks in the doorway, taking in her predicament in one glance.

"Sirius! Sirius, be a dear and give us a kiss."

"Sorry, if I remember correctly, 'that's a bit wonky, mate, seeing as I'm your cousin,'" he retorted with a smirk.

"I hate you all!" Tonks declared.

"I suppose someone has to do it." And with that, Luna walked up to the Metamorphmagus, took her head in her hands, and kissed her square on the mouth, to the open-mouthed awe of all three men. When she pulled away, she smiled. "Cherry?"

"Er, yeah. Thanks." Looking both amused and bemused, Tonks glanced at Harry. "I told you."

"Told him what?" Ron questioned, looking at the pair.

"Oh, nothing," Tonks replied in a sing-song voice, following Harry to the sofa and perching on his lap with an affectionate "git."

"Now that Nymphadora has been rescued, I remember what I came in here for," said Sirius. "Did we get any of those cherry-filled chocolates that we had last year? Remus liked them."

"No, I didn't," said Harry.

"I remember them," said Luna, who had returned to decorating the mantle over the fireplace like nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. "I quite enjoyed them."

"I'll go get some!" Ron volunteered hastily.

"You don't have to do that," said Sirius.

"No, no, I need to get out anyway. This day's going slower than my old Shooting Star. And I want tonight to be perfect."

"It will be," Tonks and Harry said in unison, sharing a mysterious smile.

"Someone better tell me what's happening tonight and why perfection is so important," Sirius proclaimed, for some reason glaring at Tonks. "It's my house, and I demand to know." He was thoroughly ignored by all parties.

"I'll be back soon," Ron told Luna with a kiss. He licked his lips as he headed out. Mmm, cherry, he thought, then was immediately weirded out by the fact that he had just tasted his best mate's girlfriend's lip gloss on his own girlfriend's lips.

"Hey, Ron!" Ron turned to find Sirius following him with a shifty look. "Pick up some canary creams for me, will you? Keep the change." He offered a handful of golden coins.

"WWW isn't open today."

"Yes, but I'm sure Fred and George are home. They'll let you in." When Ron shrugged, Sirius grinned. "Oh, and don't tell Tonks."

Ron enjoyed walking in the cold, brisk air. It cleared his jumbled head and dried his sweaty palms. He hadn't been this nervous about anything since his days of playing Quidditch at Hogwarts. Even though, or perhaps because, it was Christmas Eve, Diagon Alley was packed, and it took some time for Ron to get the sweets and make his way to Fred and George's flat above their shop.

He had to ring the doorbell three times before Fred opened up, clad only in a bathrobe. "What do you want?" his older brother asked bluntly.

"I need inside the shop. Sirius wants some canary creams."

Fred stared at him, blinking. "Why didn't you just buzz us on the Floo? No need to come over."

"Do you remember the last time I Floo'd unannounced? She was my Quidditch captain, mate!" Fred grinned reminiscently, and Ron brushed at his hair in agitation, trying to cancel the memories. "And I was out anyway."

"Shopping on Christmas Eve? What'd you do to get stuck with that?"

"Nothing! Can I just get the bloody candies and go?"

"Calm down, little bro. No need to mess your pants." Fred closed the door and led Ron downstairs.

"Fred, listen. Can you and George try to behave tonight?"

"Why, yes, Mum, of course. We'll be right angels," Fred said sarcastically.

Ron grabbed his arm. "I'm serious."

Fred shook him off. "Sod off." Then he relaxed. "As it so happens, George and I already planned for a low-key evening."

"You and George? Low-key?" Ron repeated uneasily. The last thing he wanted was one of his brothers' pranks. "What's going on?"

"You'll find out tonight, little bro," Fred said, clapping him on the shoulder and handing him his change.

Despite his misgivings, Ron couldn't help but agree with his brother as he followed him back upstairs to leave. Indeed, everyone would find out tonight.