It took almost an hour for the entire Weasley family to gather, realise what had happened and stop talking about their newest couple long enough to begin the Christmas Eve party for real. Molly and George's squeals were loud enough to get the attention of Harry, Ginny and Ron, and Fred was immensely relieved that the only thing that Ron had to say on the matter was, "about bloody time you picked a Weasley man, Hermione."
Charlie had watched the scene from the doorway and, unsure of how Ron really felt about this new development, slapped his youngest brother on the back, saying, "you and me taking Romania by storm at New Year as the only surviving single Weasleys then?" Ron had loudly signed up to that plan and the two of them had left the room in search of firewhisky.
Hermione had let go of Fred long enough to press herself to George in a heartfelt hug. "Thank you for my lovely Christmas present, George," she whispered into his ear.
"Thank you for saving my brother's life, Hermione," he whispered back, taking her wand from the pocket of his robes and slipping it into her hand.
"I have a question though?"
"What's that then, love?" George held her gaze, the grin never leaving his face.
"Why didn't Fred's hair change colour too?"
George threw his head back in a loud laugh, which made Fleur 'shhhh' him from the other side of the room as she indicated towards her sleeping baby. He lowered his voice a bit. "Do you think he would have cared, Hermione?"
Her face changed as she considered George's words. "No, I suppose not…"
"It would have been a waste of energy, love. And besides," he added with a wink, "I didn't want to risk changing his looks and making you fancy him any less, just when I had a chance to get you two hooked up!"
Once Fred had reclaimed his own wand from George, the two of them wandered back into the living room, hand in hand, where they commandeered the armchair next to Bill and Fleur who were enjoying a peaceful cuddle after getting Victoire to sleep. Fred and Hermione settled themselves down and began chatting to Arthur, who was trying to add a few final muggle touches to the Christmas tree.
After that, the news spread quickly through the rest of the family and, by the time the traditional Christmas Eve buffet dinner was served, Molly had officially rearranged the table seating so that Fred and Hermione were next to each other. Hermione was pleased to see that Ron genuinely seemed to be fine about the new development (albeit slightly the worse for wear, thanks to Charlie) and, although it felt slightly odd to be over the other side of the table and in between Fred and George rather than Ron and Harry, it was also lovely. She immediately enjoyed her new perspective, well aware of how much fun Fred and George had at mealtimes. As this particular meal was a buffet, it was a lottery as to which foods were safe and which would make one sprout an unwanted characteristic or new hair colour. It was no help to watch what Fred and George ate either; the food seemed to have been spiked randomly and, as George had illustrated earlier, the two of them didn't mind being on the receiving end of their own products, especially if it would lure others into eating them.
On the other side of George, Angelina leaned forward. "Welcome to the madness," she smiled, her eyes sparkling. Hermione laughed, whispering a thank you to the older witch for playing her own part in bringing her and Fred together.
George enjoyed regaling everyone with the story of what he had done and insisted on bringing the pensieve TV down to the living room while they were having a rest before dessert, wanting everyone to watch his efforts. At first Hermione wasn't keen on this idea, concerned about what would happen when Ron saw what she had said to Fred about their kiss. But George whispered in her ear, "stop worrying … we made a family safe version with just music and no spoken words. The director's cut will only ever be for you and Freddie, love."
There wasn't a dry eye in the house when he was done, and the tears led to a large number of toasts to absent friends who had been lost in the war before Arthur stood to thank Molly for her work on the food – both this evening and that which was to come – and request that dessert be followed by a huge effort from everyone to clean up and get The Burrow ready for the next day so that everyone could enjoy the rest of their evening. That activity lightened the atmosphere considerably, and Fred and Hermione volunteered to form a washing up squad with George and Angelina. They allowed George to escape for a few minutes to transfigure the boys' bedroom back to normal and enlarge the beds, while Fred whispered to tell Hermione that he and George were staying at The Burrow for two or three nights and he would love it if Hermione would like to share his bed.
Her eyes grew large. "Will Angie and George be there too?" Angelina smiled and nodded at her.
"Yes, of course. And we're only going to cuddle, before you ask. Though I may give you a goodnight kiss or three once we've said nox … if you're lucky," Fred winked. "Good clean Christmas kissing and snuggling; that's all, love. And then waking up in each other's arms on Christmas morning and opening our stockings with George and Angie before we come down here for breakfast and tree presents."
"Won't your mum know?"
"Probably … she turns a blind eye at Christmas though. Puts a whopping great baby prevention charm over The Burrow and lets everyone get on with it. Didn't you know?" Laughing, Hermione shook her head. "Is it a date, then?"
Hermione looked at Angelina, who smiled reassuringly and added, "It'll be fun. Especially for Freddie. The last couple of years he's had to put up with George and I cosying up while he slept alone on his side of the room. Thought he was going to ask to come into our bed last year, he was that sad and lonely!"
Fred flicked a tea towel at Angelina in response to that, and she simply raised her eyebrows and laughed at him. Sliding his long arms around Hermione's waist, he kissed her lips and said, "please, love?"
"Of course," she whispered, stroking his hair, which had fast become one of her favourite things to do once she had realised how soft it was. "I'd love to spend the night snuggling you, Fred."