A/N: Sorry I have been away so much.. and for posting the Christmas story so late. I have been on vacation, and have not had internet. Anyway, it's up now, Happy holidays, whatever you're celebrating.
To: iLoveRomance2o11: thanks! I liked that storyline, too. Maybe once I finish a few stories and get some more published I'll expand that into its own story :)
Was it you who caught me staring?
It was nearly Christmas and Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was just about to close for the holidays. The last customer sauntered out of the shop and into the snow just as the welcome sign magically changed from open to closed. The front door ceased singing jaunty Christmas carols halfway through "God Rest Ye Merry Hippogriff", the garlands that were magically strung around the shelves stopped twinkling, and the angel that had been flying around getting products off high shelves for the customers floated back to her spot atop the large rotating Christmas tree in the centre of the room. Fred, George, Verity, and Lee slumped in various postures of exhaustion. Verity had fallen asleep where she sat at the front register, leaning backwards against the shelf to her left. Lee Jordan was sitting on the floor with his legs straight out in front of him near the Wonder Witch products, his eyes glazed over. Fred and George were still standing, barely, using each other for support as they stood on the balcony above the shop, overlooking the rows and rows of merchandise.
Fred, with a yawn, pushed off from George and made his way to Verity, waking her gently and sending her out the door with a smile. "Happy Christmas, Verity," George called from across the shop, where he was hauling Lee to his feet. Verity, eyelashes fluttering, turned toward Fred. "Do I get a special Christmas Present, Fred?" she asked, moving closer to him slyly. "Er... Sure. You can have some rubber wands," he summoned them and, oblivious to her attempt at flirting, pressed them into her hands. She sighed, slipping the wands into her shoulder bag. "That's not what I had in mind, but thanks. She's lucky, whoever it is you're so in love with. Happy Christmas." She trudged out into the snow, leaving a mildly bewildered Fred at the door. He couldn't think who she was talking about, he wasn't in love with anyone.
George, meanwhile, had drug Lee all the way to the side door that led into the alley, and was struggling to open it. Fred, noticing this, moved quickly to the door and opened it easily. "Allow me, brother mine." George shot him a mischievous grin before throwing Lee face first into a snowdrift. "Happy Christmas, you tosser!" the twins shouted, simultaneously. Lee sat up and aimed two snowballs at their grinning faces. George's missed him, and instead both hit Fred in the face, causing all three boys to burst out in raucous laughter. The twins then proceeded to lock up the shop and, after looking through the massive pile of inventory in the back, decided to put it off until after the holidays in favour of making it to their mum's in time for Christmas dinner. George shoved Fred out of the way in order to reach the floo first, and Fred in return jumped on his twin's back, vaulting over him and shoving him backward. He toppled into a pyramid-shaped display of muggle magic tricks, sending them cascading over the floor, before leaping to his feet again. The two tumbled around on the floor, knocking over a few more displays and using the last remnants of their energy.
George eventually conceded defeat, lying on the ground panting heavily, his shoulder digging painfully into Fred's ribs. Fred rose unsteadily to his feet, as his legs felt more like gelatine then muscle. He instinctively felt in his pocket for the little wrapped box that he'd been carrying around all day, making sure it hadn't fallen out, and closed his hand around it reflexively as he tossed floo powder into the fireplace. He barely managed to get the words "The Burrow" out before George shoved him face-first into the fireplace. He landed with a thud on the mantle, at his Mum's feet. "Hello Fred, dear. Nice of you to join us, it's nearly supper." She greeted him as though he had just strolled through the back door and wasn't lying on his face in the den. He scrambled to his feet and hurried to hug her before slipping his little box under the tree. George emerged from the fireplace as Fred was turning around, and was immediately shoved backward into the wall, knocking a vase off the mantle. Fred, who would inevitably be blamed for the shattered vase, quickly repaired it and shoved it back into place.
Since George was now nowhere to be found, Fred wandered into the kitchen, lured by the scents of the Christmas feast his mum always put on. He stole a taste of the Yorkshire pudding that was cooling on the counter, and was moving to stick his finger in the mince pie when his mum walked in to check the ham. He tried to sidle away before she noticed him, but she called out, "You'd better not be eating any of this food, Fred." He coughed and ran out the side door, nearly colliding with Ginny, who was looking for Harry. The golden trio was missing, and nobody appeared to have told Ginny where they went. She scowled at him, her swollen belly poking out from beneath her shirt, before flopping on the couch and massaging her ankles. Fred grinned at her and pulled her hair back from her face. Her scowl turned to a grateful smile as he tucked her hair expertly at the nape of her neck. " Why're you being so kind to me?" she asked, suddenly suspicious. He shrugged, not entirely sure himself. "Christmas spirit?" he offered. Ginny laughed but accepted his explanation.
The main door opened, admitting Harry, Ron, and Hermione to the front room. They stood at the door, laughing, chatting, and shaking the snow from their cloaks. Harry, once he had removed his shoes and socks, hurried to Ginny's side. Ron smiled at Hermione and tried to talk her into going upstairs with him. She shook her head, sending droplets of water everywhere. He shrugged and tried not to look upset, but his eyes narrowed when she walked over to greet Fred. She met his eyes and grinned at him before he pulled her into a hug. A surprising friendship had bloomed between the two over the years, Hermione had become almost as close to Fred as George was. Fred still wasn't sure how it had come about, but he decided as he took in her faint gingerbread scent that he wouldn't have it any other way. He sat on the couch and beckoned to her; she sat without hesitation, extending her feet over his lap the way she always did. George walked in after a moment and sat on the arm behind her. He began conversing with Fred in a series of half-sentences and phrases that they had used since their childhood to exchange ideas in front of their mum. As he spoke, he took bunches of her hair in his hands and toyed with them absently.
Fred found his attention split between Hermione's feet, which he was currently massaging, and the message that George was relaying. Apparently, his mum was in a right state about something that happened in the kitchen. "Hap?" he asked, trying to discover the cause. "Pie." "You?" George nodded and left the room, leaving Hermione looking disconcerted. "I think I understood that," she remarked, "George stuck his finger in a pie and now Molly is upset." Fred, who had been teaching her their language for the past few months, felt a burst of pride that left his heart hammering. "Perfectly right," he told her, and received a grin. They sat in companionable silence until his mum called them in for supper. Christmas dinner was always a spectacular occasion at the Weasley home, and this year was no exception. The large dining room table was piled with everything from the Yorkshire pudding Fred had sampled earlier to a large ham and an even larger turkey, to a steaming loaf of gingerbread that Fred suspected Hermione had made. He piled his plate high with food, making sure to take a large chunk of the gingerbread before anyone else had gotten any. Hermione looked pleased, and served him an extra-large helping of potatoes.
The conversation was jovial and light, Ron was discussing with Ginny how many presents he had counted under the tree this morning, while Harry asked Charlie about Romania, where it was the dragons' mating season. Hermione was sitting between Charlie and Fred, and occasionally piped up with information about dragons. Bill and Fleur were on George's other side, along with Percy and his mum and dad, and they were all, with the exception of George, talking about the ministry. Fred decided that now was the perfect time to carry on a private conversation with George. "Hey Gred?" Fred asked, unconcerned about being overheard, "Can I ask you something?" George nodded agreement, and Fred proceeded to tell him what had happened between him and Verity. George was little to no help in deciphering the meaning of her comment, but Hermione said, with a blush, "maybe she thinks you didn't respond to her flirting because you're already in love." Fred turned to her quickly. "That's brilliant, 'Mione!" he said loudly. "I told you you should write a book. Mad things girls do and how to understand them," Ron piped up, having heard the tail end of the conversation.
Fred laughed as dinner was swept from the table and replaced by several dozen pies of various flavours. he loaded his plate, taking another large chunk of gingerbread, and was consequently rendered silent for the rest of the meal. Once all the dishes were washing themselves in the sink and everyone was comfortably settled in the living room (or had headed home, in the case of Bill, Fleur, and Charlie) Ron began hurriedly counting out presents and separating them into piles. Fred, seized by a sudden idea, knelt to help, deftly snagging the box he had placed under the tree earlier. If Ron noticed this, he didn't say anything. Fred continued to help sort the presents, tossing Hermione's presents at her while announcing who they were from, and hoping she would notice whose name hadn't been called out. She caught them using her wand, lowering them slowly to the ground and into a neat pile at her feet without looking up from her book, and said nothing about them. Ron's pile, which was substantially larger then Hermione's, paled in comparison to Harry's. He had been sent dozens of gifts from witches and wizards that he'd never met, just like he had every year since he defeated Voldemort. Mrs Weasley and Hermione together had enchanted a large red bag to hold all of Harry's gifts, which was ceremoniously hauled out by Fred and Ron from behind the tree and covered with presents from people he knew.
Fred had gone in with George to give Harry a pile of their merchandise, including a few things that they hadn't released yet. It looked as though his mum had knit him a sweater, like always, and Hermione had gotten him two suspiciously book-shaped packages. Ron's was a lumpy package tied with blue ribbon. The rest of the Weasleys, Andromeda, and Teddy had all gotten him something, ranging from small from Teddy to auspiciously large from Charlie. Hermione left her pile to sit beside her, too engrossed in the book she had picked up to check through them, but Ron eagerly pawed through his. He complained once that he didn't see one from Bill, but he eventually found it under a larger one from his mum that likely included the usual Weasley sweater. Fred glanced through his own, looking for only one name, and when he found it, left the remainder of his pile untouched. "I wonder what Granger got me?" he wondered aloud, and she abruptly looked up from her book. "You'd better not open that before Christmas," she warned, and looked down again. Fred wasn't done with her, however, and continued to speak. "Maybe I should just take a quick peek inside?" She narrowed her eyes but said nothing.
He began peeling back the corner, and the box began shrieking in protest. He clapped his hands over his ears, dropping the box into the rug, where it immediately ceased it's bloodcurdling scream. "I warned you," Hermione said with a chuckle as his mum entered the room to send them all to bed. Fred rushed for Hermione as she stood up, grabbed her, and tossed her easily over his shoulder. She gasped with shock, and Fred grinned as he hauled her up the stairs, her bum conveniently close to his face. He tossed her gently on the bed that had been set up for her in Ginny's room, kissed her cheek swiftly, and left the room. When he entered his old room, George was waiting for him, his eyes alight with curiosity. "Is Granger's arse as nice close up as it is farther away?" he asked, grinning wickedly at Fred. "Better, Gred, so much better," he replied, throwing his shirt into a corner and pulling the little box out of his pocket before discarding his pants, too.
The next morning, as on all christmas mornings, Fred and George woke up far too early, and apparated silently into each of their siblings' rooms to wake them up. Ron was given his usual treatment by Fred of a quick aguamenti charm, and his screams woke Harry. Ginny, and by extension Hermione, were woken by being apparated on, Fred took Hermione and George landed atop Ginny. He disapparated before she could cast her signature bat-bogey hex on him, but Fred sat on Hermione awhile longer, pinning her down by the wrists, before apparating away under Ginny's threat to curse him. Percy was awoken by a loud and rather rude version of several Christmas carols, screeched by an enchanted muggle greeting card. In order to avoid waking their parents, a silencing charm was cast on Percy's bedroom by George, so all Fred could hear was him running into things as he stumbled about attempting to discover the source of the noise. Finally, they were all downstairs in the kitchen and, as was tradition, began cooking their parents breakfast.
Percy put on the teapot and started some toast, while Hermione began cooking eggs and Harry started frying bacon. Fred retrieved plates from the cupboard and George got the teacups, while Ron made the silverware dance across the table toward him. Together they set up two trays of food, which were levitated to their parents bedroom. Once their parents had finished eating and the rest of them had scarfed whatever didn't get put on the plates, they moved to the den, where the piles of presents were waiting, as well as the rest of the family. Ron opened his first, exclaiming happily over Harry's gift (season tickets to the Chudley Cannons) and pulling on his mum's Christmas sweater. Harry, with the help of the entire Weasley clan, opened all of the presents in the red sack, discovering everything from a three-hundred year old bottle of firewhiskey to a chocolate frog card with his picture on it and an enormous quantity of chocolates and candies from Honeydukes. He offered the group their pick of the stash, and then began opening his other presents.
While he was thus occupied, Hermione began opening her own presents. She got to the bottom of her pile and Fred saw her face fall. "F-Fred... Why isn't there a present from you?" "I reckon he must've forgotten to get you one," Ron spoke up quickly, shooting Fred a dark look. Fred, who had been waiting for this since yesterday, said, "Ronniekins must've lost it," and made a show of looking around. Eventually, he turned to the pretty witch sitting beside him. "I think I found it," he said, reaching behind her ear, and pulling out the little wrapped box. She gasped as he presented it to her. She smiled and began peeling off the wrapping, just as a bolt of clarity hit Fred. "Wait," he burst out, placing a hand over Hermione's smaller ones so she stopped opening the gift, "I've just figured out what Verity meant." Hermione looked confused, and then uncomfortable. "Can't it wait?" she asked, but he shook his head emphatically. "She meant that I'm in love with a bird, but that I didn't know it. And I think she's right. Hermione, I think she meant you. So, er... will you please be my girlfriend?" Hermione didn't answer, and instead continued opening her gift in silence. She pulled out the bracelet that Fred had spent hours choosing for her, still silent. "Er... Could you say something, love?" She looked at him, and then at the bracelet, and held her wrist out to him. "Could you help me put it on? It wouldn't do for your girlfriend to not be wearing your gift." Fred whooped with joy and, after carefully clasping the bracelet around her wrist, swooped her up into a hug. "Thanks for making this the best Christmas ever," he whispered into her ear, causing her to turn scarlet. "You're welcome," she whispered in return, "Happy Christmas, Fred." "Happy Christmas, Hermione."
Or was it me who caught you?
Hermione was woken up on the day of Christmas eve by a shrieking and obviously upset Ginny. "It's nearly Christmas and I haven't gotten any of my Christmas shopping done! Wake up Hermione, for Merlin's sake and help me!" Hermione, who had finished her shopping for everyone but Fred, agreed readily enough to go shopping with her friend. They apparated to the alley behind the leaky cauldron, and Hermione pulled out her wand. She tapped the bricks on the wall in quick succession and opened up the passage to Diagon Alley. "Why didn't we just apparate onto the other side of the wall?" Hermione asked Ginny, who had taken her on side-along apparition. Ginny, eyes narrowed, muttered incoherently as she tugged on Hermione's arm, pulling her further up the rows of shops. Hermione spent the first three hours following Ginny around and enchanting her packages to float behind them. She glanced with cursory interest in Flourish & Blotts, but Fred wasn't nearly the fan of books that she was, and indeed rather enjoyed plucking the books from her hands as she was reading them.
Ginny led her into the potion shop, where she bought a new set of brass scales, and it was there that Hermione saw it. A pure crystal phial, with real silver trimming. Fred had discussed getting one, since his current phials made his shredded boomslang skin turn green and mottled very quickly. He suspected it was because he was using glass instead of crystal, but he hadn't got 'round to replacing it yet and crystal was expensive. Hermione carefully took it off the shelf and handed it to the shopkeeper who, after taking her fifteen galleons, wrapped it with a touch of his wand, packing it into a small box for her. She accepted it gratefully and added it to the group of packages floating behind her. She returned to Ginny, who was waiting outside for her, and helped the pregnant girl to her feet. "Pick a good present for Freddie, did you?" Ginny, who had known about Hermione's crush on her brother for years, said with a smirk. Hermione ignored her, much more concerned with keeping a now laughing Ginny from bumping into people as they made their way to the leaky cauldron to floo back to the burrow.
When they arrived, Ginny hustled her packages upstairs to her room to wrap them, while Hermione found herself in the kitchen, helping Molly make the christmas feast. The woman exclaimed over what a wonderful girl she was, and thanked her profusely for her help. She set to work making eight loaves of Gingerbread by hand, the way her mum had taught her. By the time she finished, she smelled distinctly of gingerbread and Molly had finished most of the rest of supper. She waved Hermione off with a smile, so the ex-Gryffindor left to check on Ginny. The girl was still feverishly wrapping presents, having never been very handy with household charms. Hermione offered to teach her the charm, but the girl wanted to finish on her own. "Maybe next year," she replied with a smile. When Hermione reached the base of the stairs, she found herself being drug outside to participate in Harry and Ron's snowball fight. She had barely set foot outside before she was thoroughly soaked, and freezing cold. She enchanted several snowballs to follow the boys around, and then began forming a stockpile as they ran away from the enchanted snow. By the time they were able to throw any more snowballs, she had built herself a small fort, by magic, and was bombarding them with snow.
After about two hours of this, Harry and Ron conceded defeat, and decided to head inside. As they stepped inside, Ron turned to Hermione and began talking to her. "Hey 'Mione, d'you want to come upstairs to my room for a bit before supper?" Hermione, who had noticed Fred from the corner of her eye, shook her head. "Sorry," She murmured before turning to face Fred. As soon as she met his eyes, she felt a huge smile break out on her face. Fred pulled her into a hug, and she hoped to Merlin he couldn't feel her heartbeat racing. Fred beckoned to her from where he now sat on the sofa. She hurried to sit beside him, her feet across his lap as was their custom. he began to massage her feet, and Hermione reflexively closed her eyes. They snapped open a moment later when George sat beside her on the arm of the couch and began playing with bunches of her hair. "Kit no-go." he said to Fred, "Mol mad." Hermione, who had been trying to learn the twins' intricate language, began trying to decode the sentence. "Hap?" Fred asked, his hands still rubbing lazy circles into Hermione's feet and quite distracting her. "Pie," George replied. "You?" George nodded and left, dropping Hermione's hair back into place.
She looked at Fred, who seemed to be watching her. "I think I understood that," She said finally, "George stuck his finger in a pie and now Molly's upset." "Perfectly right," Fred told her with a smile, and she grinned in return. Fred went back to massaging her feet, and they sat in a comfortable silence until Molly called them to supper. As they dished their plates, Hermione noticed with joy that Fred had taken a rather large chunk of the gingerbread she'd worked so hard on earlier, and cheerfully served him a large portion of potatoes. As the meal wore on, Hermione found herself listening in to Fred and George's conversation, even though she tried to keep herself occupied with the conversation Harry and Charlie were having about dragons. But when the twins couldn't figure out what Verity had meant by implying Fred was in love, she had to interject. "Maybe she thinks you didn't respond to her flirting because you're already in love." She felt her cheeks burning as she hoped he would say yes he was in love, with her. Instead he burst out with, "That's brilliant, Mione!" "I told you you should write a book. Mad things girls do and how to understand them," Ron added, evidently having heard part of the conversation. Fred laughed, and the table was swept of supper and replaced by pies, and the rest of the gingerbread. Fred, she noticed, took another large piece.
When the meal ended, Charlie, Bill, and Fleur went their separate ways, promising to be back in time for presents tomorrow. The rest of the family moved into the den, where Hermione found herself engrossed in Break with a Banshee. Somewhere near the middle of the chapter, someone began tossing her presents to her. She caught them using her wand, without looking up. The presents stopped flying toward her just as she finished the chapter, and three chapters later, her concentration was broken by Fred. He picked up the present she'd gotten him, and shook it gently. She'd placed a few charms on it before she placed it under the tree, in anticipation of exactly what was happening right now. "I wonder what Granger got me?" he asked, grinning mischievously at her when they made eye contact. " You'd better not open that before Christmas," she told him, feeling it only fair to warn him. "Maybe I should just take a quick peek inside?" He continued, undaunted. She stuffed her fingers in her ears just as he began peeling the paper back. The caterwauling charm kicked in, and the package began shrieking. He dropped it, and the screaming ceased. "I warned you," she reminded him, chuckling. Just then, Molly came in to send them off to bed, and Hermione found herself being thrown over Fred's shoulder, her head resting on his back. Next thing she knew, he tossed her gently on her bed, kissed her cheek, and was gone. Hermione placed a reverent hand over the spot where Fred had kissed her, closed her eyes, and fell asleep before Ginny even made it to the room.
The next morning, she was awoken by a crack, and sudden pressure on her chest. She opened her eyes to Fred Weasley, who was not only sitting on her but had her pinned by the wrists, and a furiously cursing Ginny. "Good morning, love," He grinned down at her. "It's Christmas, you know." Hermione lifted an eyebrow but remained silent. "You really should be getting up now." "I will as soon as you get off me, Frederick Weasley." Fred laughed and tightened his grip on her wrists. "I think I'd rather stay right here." "Get off her right now or I'll curse you into oblivion," Ginny snapped, her wand level with Fred's face. His eyes widened, "Er... On second thought, I'll just see you downstairs." he disapparated with a chuckle. Hermione dressed and then, once she was sure she wasn't blushing, headed downstairs to help make breakfast. She began making eggs as Percy put on the teapot and worked on toast, and Harry started bacon. Fred and George got the plates, cups, and saucers, while Ron enchanted the silverware to dance around the table. Ginny levitated the trays up to her parents room, and the rest of the family descended on the leftover food. By the time Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came downstairs, Charlie, Bill, Fleur, baby Victorie, Teddy, and Andromeda had all joined the rest of the clan in the living room. Hermione found herself wedged between Fred and George on the sofa, her pile of presents sitting at her feet. She sat patiently through Ron's gifts, and helped Harry unwrap his, before finally turning to her own pile. She carefully checked every name on every package, and found herself disappointed when she reached the bottom. "F-Fred.. Why isn't there a present from you?" Ron, shooting Fred an angry glance said quickly, "I reckon he must've forgot to get you one."
Fred leapt to his feet and announced, "Ronniekins must've lost it." He began searching the room for it, looking in all sorts of ridiculous places. Finally he turned to face her. "I think I found it," he told her, smiling as he reached behind her ear. When he pulled his hand away, a little wrapped box was sitting on his palm. She took it in shaking hands, acutely aware of where his fingers had grazed her ear, and began to slowly open the wrapping. Fred surprised her again by shouting, "Wait!" and putting one of his hands over hers. "I've just figured out what Verity meant," he informed her. It took a moment for this to register, and Hermione's first thought was that he'd probably realised he was in love with Angelina Johnson, or Katie Bell, the two ex-chasers he frequently went drinking with. "Can't this wait?" she asked, feeling extremely mortified. He shook his head and continued speaking. emphatically. "She meant that I'm in love with a bird, but that I didn't know it. And I think she's right. Hermione, I think she meant you. So, er... will you please be my girlfriend?" Hermione was shocked silent. Fred had lifted his hands during this speech, so she did the only thing she could think of- she kept opening the present.
When she saw the delicate bracelet inside, she knew she couldn't keep him waiting any longer. "Er... Could you say something, love?" She looked at him and then quickly at her wrist before holding it out to him. "Could you help me put it on? It wouldn't do for you girlfriend to not be wearing her gift." Fred made a joyous whooping sound as she said this. He obligingly clasped the bracelet around her wrist before he picked her up and hugged her tightly. "Thanks for making this the best Christmas ever," she felt his breath tickling her ear and went scarlet. "You're welcome," she managed to say, "Happy Christmas, Fred," "Happy Christmas, Hermione," he responded kissing her cheek fondly. They spent the rest of the morning blissfully, engrossed in each other's company. Fred didn't talk to anyone else until Ron directly addressed him, a bit angrily. "I've been trying to get her alone for ages to ask her out, how'd you manage it?" Fred, very calmly, answered, "Easy there, Ronniekins. I'd appreciate you not talking about my girlfriend as though she's not here," He smiled down at her, and kissed the top of her head fondly. "For your information, all it took was a little magic."