Standard disclaimers apply!

I do not own Harry Potter. I have nothing to do with Scholastic, Warner Bros or Bloomsbury. I'm not JKR and I am certainly not making any profit out of this.

Still Christmas Eve

"Merlin's balls, I thought I'd never get away from old Perkins," George murmured in Angelina's ear when he joined her, Ron and Dean by the fireplace and casually dropped his arms around her shoulders.

"Don't complain," Angelina smiled and nodded at Professor Flitwick, who was waving at them merrily from across the room. "If Ginny hadn't rescued me from your Aunt Muriel ..."

"Awww, you got stuck with Muriel?" He wrapped his arms around her and brushed his lips over hers. "Poor thing."

"Oi," Ron turned from his conversation with Dean. "Keep it clean."

"I am!" George laughed. "Angie was with Muriel. She needs moral support."

"Oh, well." Ron nodded. "That's completely different. Carry on then." He took a moment to scan the room and broke into a grin when he spotted Hermione weaving her way in their direction, clutching a large bottle of champagne.

"You come bearing gifts," Dean chuckled when she joined them.

"Here," she passed him the bottle. "I rescued that from your Uncle Lancelot," she told George. "I think it's safer with us."

"Old Lancelot is here?" George craned his neck in an attempt to see to the opposite side of the room. "I haven't seen him for years. He's mental!"

"Yes, well." Hermione smiled up at Ron and leaned against him gratefully, giggling when he made of show of blowing her hair out of his nose. "Luna caused a diversion and I snuck away with it."

"Luna?" Angelina smiled too. "I was talking to her earlier." She poked George in the arm. "She may well have given me the answer to my little work dilemma."

"Oh, really? Do tell?" George said.

"Not yet," Angelina shook her head, "Laurel would skin me alive if I didn't tell her first, but if it works out it'll be great."

"Fair enough," George shrugged. "I've learned to listen to Luna."

"Me too," Hermione agreed fervently, while Ron hugged her tighter and nodded his agreement.

Dean frowned at them curiously. "What?"

"Luna," Ron said seriously, "helped us get together in a way. She explained me to Hermione when I couldn't even explain myself."

"You too?" Angelina laughed. "She does get to the heart of things, in her own way."

"Hm." Dean drained his glass and then tapped it thoughtfully with his forefinger. "Where is she? I might go and have a chat."

"Problems, mate?" Ron wanted to know.

"No, not problems, exactly." Dean shook his head. "Just stuff. It's a long story."

"Last I saw her she was over by the Christmas tree talking to Eva and Susan," Hermione told him.

"Thanks."

oOo

"Oh, I'm not surprised," Luna said mildly, "but you don't seem altogether happy about it."

"I wouldn't go that far," Dean frowned slightly and selected a piece of candied fruit from a sliver tray as it floated slowly past. "I suppose I'm happy about it. I should be, shouldn't I?"

"What does Valerie make of it all?"

"Dunno." Dean shrugged. "I haven't told her yet; don't really know what to say."

"Ah." Luna's expression was unusually perceptive. "So that's why you dragged me over here and away for the conversation."

Dean just shrugged again, glancing over Luna's shoulder at his girlfriend, who was currently deep in conversation with Percy and Audrey Abbot.

"Nevermind," she smiled sympathetically. "It's a funny old life, isn't it?"

Dean snorted his agreement. "You've got that right. Dad said I should talk to Kingsley about ... well, him."

"You don't want to?" Luna looked surprised.

"Yeah, I do ... but ... it's just weird, you know?"

"It's probably weird for him too," she observed, "finding out that his late brother had a whole life he knew nothing about. I think you should talk to him."

Dean nodded slowly. "Yeah, I will."

"He's over by the windows with Mr Weasley and Madam Pomfrey," she nodded to their right.

"What? You want me to talk to him right now?" Dean sounded slightly panicked.

"No time like the present," Luna smiled encouragingly.

"I suppose so." He laughed suddenly and hugged her impulsively. "Thanks, Luna. You're a good mate."

oOo

Some people, quite possibly most people, seem to have an intense dislike of being one of the few sober individuals in a large group of merrymakers.

Arthur Weasley was not one of those people.

Well, sober wasn't strictly accurate either. But near enough.

As the night wore on, several people had said their goodbyes and now a core group remained, comprising of their closest friends and family. Surprisingly enough, it was the younger set who had fallen into quiet conversation, while those slightly more advanced in years had become increasingly ... well, rowdy was the only word for it.

Pomona was clearly deep in her cups, leading Aoife, Andromeda and Augusta in a rather ribald sea-shanty. Molly and Stella were giggling loudly at a story Minerva was telling them in a low undertone. Apolline, Poppy and Olyme, meanwhile, were engaging in a friendly – but clearly competitive – drinking game that seemed to hinge entirely on the phrase "Merlins Pants!"

"Oi! Keep up Weasel!" Kingsley nudged him, none-too-gently.

"Sorry, sorry!" Arthur glanced at the cards in his hand. This "Pokey" game Stan and Eamon were teaching them was quite complicated, but also ripping good fun. "I think I'm out."

Leaning over his shoulder, Filius giggled loudly. "Terrible hand! Arthur's out!"

oOo

"So!" Fleur muttered under the cover of conversation. "You and Percy?"

Audrey couldn't help smiling. "I don't know," she whispered. "Maybe? What do you think?"

"Absolutely." Fleur nodded sharply. "'E is very interested, I know the signs. You should, as Ginny would say, go for eet."

"Oh god! I couldn't!" Audrey protested, much louder than she intended.

"Of course you could," Fleur replied equally loudly,"'ave another glass of wine."

"Well, if you insist," Audrey held out her glass dutifully – eternally grateful for the way Fleur had so easily covered her slip.

"I will see to eet," Fleur added quietly, "come with me now." Standing gracefully, she caught Angelina's eye and tapped Hermione's arm for her attention.

oOo

"But of course you must to this!" Fleur insisted as she fluffed her hair in the bathroom mirror. "It eez perfect!"

"Trust me, it'll be SO worth it," Angelina laughed.

"But ..." Audrey was running out of arguments, and in truth she didn't really want to argue the point at all. She actually rather liked the idea.

"No buts!" Fleur frowned as she turned from the mirror. "'Ermione, 'elp us!"

"Yeah Hermione," Angelina giggled, "help us! Don't you think Audrey deserves a Weasley?"

"When you put it that way," Hermione laughed as she carefully placed her glass of wine on the side of the bathtub. "Weasley's are ... yeah," she laughed again. "You should go for it."

"He might not be interested," Audrey pointed out in what she hoped was a reasonable tone.

"As if," Angelina snorted rudely, squinting into the mirror. "He's positively gagging for you."

"Anyway," Hermione tilted her head to one side, "Mrs Longbottom clearly isn't ready to go home any time soon, and it wouldn't be fair to make Neville and Hannah leave early, would it?"

"See!" Angelina pointed at the ceiling, drawing amused looks from Hermione and Fleur. "When in doubt, apply logic!"

oOo

"What was that?" Bill eyed his wife with fond suspicion as he approached with a fresh bottle of elf made wine.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Fleur opted for a goblet of water and and passed the bottle to Luna.

"You're up to something!" George's lips twitched.

"How blind are you?" Hannah sniggered, accepting the bottle from Luna, pouring herself a drink and then passing it on to Hermione – who shook her head, mentioning to her already half full goblet and immediately gave the bottle to Ginny.

"What?" Neville looked confused.

"Percy and Audrey, of course," Ginny snorted.

"I just gave them a leetle push in the right direction," Fleur shrugged.

oOo

"Thanks for bringing me home, Percy," Audrey smiled up at him, not really minding that she needed to hold onto his arm for a moment longer to steady herself.

"It was my pleasure," he said quickly. "I hope you had an enjoyable evening?"

"Oh yes," she nodded and reluctantly released his arm. "Did you?"

"Indeed." He gave a self-depreciating little chuckle. "I probably bored you silly. I've been told I do rather bang on a bit."

"No!" Her eyes widened. "I think you're really interesting." Then she blushed. Again. Lord, she really had to stop doing that. But he was blushing too, so it wasn't so bad ... and suddenly she felt impulsive. "Would you like a cup of tea?"

"I – that ..." he cleared his throat and gazed at her with an earnest expression. "That would be lovely."

Am I on a roll? Lord, I hope so! Thanks for the support, I really appreciate it!