Yes, it's obvious but I don't care!

Chapter 7 – Mistletoe

Gabrielle thought very seriously about leaving the house that very second. God forbid she be the cause of anyone's suffering!

She paced her bedroom and ran through the options of where she could go at this time of night. The Ministry was closed so she couldn't catch an international floo and she wasn't particularly comfortable apperating.

It was a shame she didn't have her broom with her so she could just fly home. The journey would be cold but at least her parents would be glad to see her. They'd ask some awkward questions though. The same went for any other Weasleys.

Perhaps she could just go back to Hogwarts and spend Christmas there. But again it would have to wait until morning.

It seemed that one way or another she was stuck here for the night.

Then a tap on the window caught her attention. It was Ron's bizarre little owl with a reply from Mel.

Mel. She could go and stay with her!

Gabrielle managed to catch Pig long enough to retrieve the parchment.

Hi Gabrielle,

Don't worry about me. I'm just glad you're alright. I bet Ron didn't know what hit him. He, he, he. Keep up the good work!

Gabrielle sniffed in annoyance. That wasn't the sort of advice she had been hoping for.

You just caught me actually. After the whole fuss at Diagon Alley I was late home and you know we're leaving for Germany tonight. Mum had a hairy fit because I wasn't packed. Honestly sometimes I think she forgets she's a witch!

I'll write properly tomorrow. Such a sweet little owl, by the way.

Love, Mel.

Damn! Gabrielle had forgotten Mel was leaving. She threw the letter onto the nightstand and then threw herself back down onto the bed.

The more she thought about it the more she realised that she needed a better plan than running away. Gabrielle never ran away! She needed to start acting more like herself, a person she recognised and trusted, instead of a silly heroine from a romantic novel in short pyjama's.

No, she needed to take control. And that started with not loosing sleep over a stupid little kiss that she had managed to blow out of all proportion.

Gabrielle shut her eyes. Then she opened them again. This wasn't going to be quite that simple.

Ron woke up thinking about Gabrielle, which made him smile and put him in a very good mood.

Sometimes it took him a little while to get his head around things and the Gabrielle situation was proving to be no different. He had given up on trying to figure out exactly what was going on because it just sent him into a tailspin of unpleasant confusion.

What he did know was that after yesterday he couldn't think of her in the same light. She definitely wasn't like a little sister anymore.

Where that left them wasn't clear but he found himself hoping that he would get another opportunity to make something happen and not behave like the gormless idiot he had the first time.

Now that he had had time for things to sink in Ron felt far more relaxed and strangely optimistic about the day ahead. Between quiddich, Christmas Eve dinner and Gabrielle it seemed to him that it could only contain good things.

For Gabrielle too things seemed a little better in the morning. That was until she went into the kitchen and saw her suitcases stacked neatly by the fire.

"Happy Christmas Eve!" Ron said brightly in between spoonfuls of cereal.

"What are my bags doing 'ere?" Gabrielle cried.

"Oh, yeah," said Ron. "That. Bill dropped them off. He thought you might want a change of clothes for tonight."

Gabrielle looked up questioningly.

"Christmas Eve at The Burrow. Tradition. No way out of it unless you're out of the country. Sometimes not even then. On the plus side, Dad never skimps on the mulled wine."

"Fleur will be zere, I suppose..."

"Well, yes. But you're not going to let her run you off are you?"

Gabrielle thought about that. It wouldn't really fit with her plan of being mature and not running away from things not to go. "Of course not, but I'm not going to just let her win."

"Oh no," Ron said with a barely concealed grin. "Definitely not."

"You're making fun of me," Gabrielle accused.

"I wouldn't dare, just in case you painted a gag on me," Ron said standing and putting his bowl in the sink. While his back was turned Gabrielle allowed herself a small smile.

"Okay," Ron said, turning back and rubbing his hands. "What are your plans for the day?"

"I don't know. Wrapping presents I suppose..." Gabrielle trailed off uncertainly.

"I've got to work but if you don't want to stay here on your own you can come with me."

Gabrielle didn't know which part of that she wanted to react to first. She was perfectly capable of being left on her own; she didn't need babysitting! On the other hand, wrapping presents would probably take half an hour and then the rest of the day would be spent in total boredom.

Ron seemed to read her mind. "Look, I feel really bad about the way things turned out. It can't be much fun for you to be stuck here when you could have been doing better things. The thing is, this house is a bit... daunting if you don't know it. Actually, maybe not for you," Ron chuckled, "But Mrs Black is the least of it."

"Wouldn't I be in your way?"

"Nah," Ron shrugged."But I can't promise you won't be bored to tears. It's your call."

"Alright," Gabrielle said wondering how agreeing to follow Ron to work could be considered part of The Plan, "I'll go with you."

It turned out that "work" consisted of refereeing an under-10's quiddich match in Nottingham. Gabrielle found it quite interesting. It seemed that children's quiddich was far easier to follow than some of the league matches she had seen. She found herself cheering for the away team (out of solidarity) and handing out oranges at half time. She even gave an animated pep-talk to the Nottingham keeper who had fallen off his broom six times - You must get back on ze 'orse. Fly through ze pain to victory!

Ron had laughed at her and said, "I could have used a coach like you when I was playing."

"Zat was very good," Gabrielle said about the match. "Why did you think I would be bored?"

"I just assumed you would be." At the sharp look she gave him he quickly added, "Won't be assuming anything ever again."

They flooed back to Grimauld Place where Ron took a bath and Gabrielle wrapped presents feeling mellow and significantly less hostile to the whole world.

And actually, it fitted in with The Plan quite nicely. She congratulated herself on behaving normally all day. Yes, she did feel a little flutter when she saw a windswept Ron jump off his broom at the end of the game and walk towards her smiling, but it was only a little one. And anyway, she could see a few of the mums eyeing him appreciatively so it was at least an objective flutter.

She could do this, Gabrielle thought confidently. And in any case she was sure that when they got to The Burrow Ron would suggest she spend tonight somewhere else. Perhaps Hermione and George would have room for her. And then she didn't have to worry that she was stepping on Ron's toes.

Ron never admitted it but he loved refereeing kids quiddich. Sure, you didn't get the bragging rights you did with the big league matches, but it was a hell of a lot more fun.

Not that he expected anyone else to match his enthusiasm. He had learned long ago that once he started to get the funny looks from various friends and family that it was probably time to shut up. Which was why he was surprised and delighted that Gabrielle had seemed to have a good time. It would have been a poor lookout if all he had succeeded in doing was to convince her that he was a quiddich obsessed madman as had been the case with various other girlfriends.

Grinning like a loon, Ron shaved and bushed his teeth. There was only one thing that might have been a teeny tiny fly in the ointment – his family. Just when Ron had made up his mind that he wanted to spend as much time with Gabrielle as possible he had to go and share her with dozens of people. At least nobody had mentioned her going to stay with anyone else, except Harry and Ron was pretty sure that had been to wind him up.

When he had changed he went downstairs to find Gabrielle. She too had swapped her day robes for a very expensive looking cream outfit. She did know that there would be numerous sticky children at The Burrow, didn't she? Ron was about to advise her against such an impractical choice but self-preservation kicked in at the last moment and the words that actually came out were a rather ineloquent, "That's a nice dress."

Gabrielle smiled and thanked him and asked if they were ready to go.

"Yep," Ron said checking his watch. "A bit late but with any luck we'll miss Percy's annual report on magical accidents in the work place or whatever it is. Do you want to floo or apperate?"

Gabrielle looked down and her cream robes and then at the sooty fireplace dubiously.

"Apperating it is then. Do you know where you're going?"

"I do," Gabrielle said slowly, "It is just that I don't really like to apperate by myself. I don't trust myself to end up in the right place."

Ron was surprised at that. Gabrielle struck him as a confident sort of person but he just shrugged.

"Harry's the same. Still goes everywhere by broom if he can get away with it."

"I'll side-along, if you don't mind," she said apologetically.

"Of course I don't mind. But are you sure you trust me?" He held up his right hand and said, "Splinched myself, see. Never did find the rest of my fingernail." That probably wasn't the thing to say to put her at ease but she didn't seem to be bothered.

"Who really needs half a fingernail?" Gabrielle smiled slipping her hand into his. "Just make it quick."

"Everyone," Mr Weasley called merrily, "Ron and Gabrielle are here!"

Ron felt a funny twist in his stomach at the sound of their names being coupled. To cover his awkwardness he helped Gabrielle out her coat and busied himself putting it away. Luckily no one seemed to notice anything amiss and there was a general chorus of greetings from the hoards of Weasleys, Potters, Tonks and even one very boisterous, green-haired Lupin.

While Mr Weasley was introducing Gabrielle to the people she didn't know Ron found himself being pulled into the dining room by an oddly exited looking Harry.

"Well?" he demanded.

"What?" Ron said cautiously. This was pretty weird behaviour from his best friend.

"What's happing with Gabrielle?"

"Seriously? That's what you dragged me away to ask. No offence, but that's pretty girly, mate."

"Hey," Harry whined. "I'm trying to be supportive here."

"Have you been drinking!?"

"Actually," Harry admitted, "Me and George did open a bottle of Firewhiskey while Gin and Hermione were getting ready."

"And is there any left?" Ron said sarcastically.

"No, now you mention it, but we did get talking about you…" Harry was cut off by the screech of a small child as Teddy barrelled into the room.

"Uncle Ron!" Teddy yelled. "Presents!"

"Saved by the bell," Ron told Harry severely. "We'll finish this conversation later."

Harry nodded meekly.

As they came back into the living room, Ron pointed Teddy back in the direction of his grandparents and let him go. It was like putting down a wind up car; Teddy just zoomed off.

Nearly everyone was there. They were just waiting on Bill, Fleur and Victoire.

Almost the second the thought entered his mind there was the crack of floo powder and new voices sounding in the kitchen. Ron glanced around the room and saw mostly smiles. There was only a hint of unease from Hermione and George. Gabrielle, to Ron's astonishment, was talking happily to Penny and didn't seem at all bothered by the prospect of her sister's arrival. Perhaps she hadn't even noticed.

This should be interesting, Ron thought.

There was a tense second as Fleur and Gabrielle faced one another. The people who knew what had happened looked on apprehensively. Even those who weren't aware of the situation picked up on the frosty atmosphere.

Eventually Bill coughed pointedly. Fleur sniffed in annoyance but then gave Gabrielle a minimal head jerk accompanied by a grudging, "Désolé."

Gabrielle crossed her arms and hesitated for a moment before replying. "Moi aussi," she muttered not making eye contact.

An awkward moment followed as the sisters exchanged a chilly kiss to cement their Christmas truce.

And that seemed to be the extent of the reunion. Neither sister seemed inclined to remain in each others company and they quickly got some distance between them.

"That went okay?" Ron said quietly as he handed Gabrielle a drink.

Gabrielle clicked her tongue noncommittally. "I like your parents too much to set fire to their house which is what I would have done if we had been anywhere else."

"Oh," said Ron. "So the hatchet isn't buried quite yet?"

Gabrielle frowned. "What is a hatchet?"

"Umm, a kind of axe, I think."

"That's a thought," Gabrielle mused as she threw a suspicious look at Fleur. "We should try and disarm her."

Ron broke out into loud bellowing laughs that drew some unwanted attention from the people nearest.

"I wasn't joking," Gabrielle said. "She can be vicious."

"I doubt she's going to try anything here, Gabby," Ron said soothingly. "But if she does then it falls in with the Christmas tradition of the family argument. At least it gets it out of the way and we can all relax tomorrow."

Hermione had been holding her breath since Fleur had first walked into the room but now the confrontation was over she decided that it would be safe to let her hair down a little. She allowed George to top up her glass and watched with interest as Ron whispered something to Gabrielle over on the other side of the room.

Attentive. It was an old fashioned word but it was the one that seemed to fit. Protective also sprang to mind as she saw the way he shielded the young woman from the disdainful glares of her older sister. Hermione suspected that Ron liked Gabrielle a lot more than he actually realised and wondered if the time for the "Gigantic Push" had come.

"George," she said, giving her husband a subtle shove. "Where did you put that mistletoe?"

The Mischievous Meddling Mistletoe was a seasonal best seller at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. It could be set randomly or programmed to harass specific victims until they gave in and kissed. Hermione generally disapproved of that sort of product but she was prepared to make an exception to steer her friend in the right direction.

"What, really?" George said with a huge grin. "I didn't think you were going to let us put it up."

"And you still brought it, which means you were going to do it anyway," Hermione pointed out.

"Yes, but this way I know we aren't going to get busted…" George realised what he was saying and the sentence turned into a vain mumble.

"Just make sure it gets Ron and Gabrielle first," she told him.

"This is interfering," George scolded with a waggling finger. "There's a fine line between interfering and pranking, you know."

"It's just as well I married you then," Hermione said happily.

Ron was helping himself to second helpings of his mother's hotpot when he heard a buzzing in his ear. Thinking it was some kind of insect he batted it away. But the buzzing came back and out of the corner of his eye Ron saw a green and white flash.

"Hey, Charlie," he called, "Did you let the snitch out of the quiddich box."

"No!"

Mrs Weasley rushed into the kitchen tutting crossly. "Indoor voice, Ron, please."

"There's something flying around in here. Look," he said pointing, "There it is again."

"What is that?" Mrs Weasley said. "It better not upset my pudding."

"Gah!" The weird green snitch dive bombed his head and Ron abandoned his food and stumbled into the the hall in an attempt to escape. But he was hustled onward into the living room where he bounced off Gabrielle.

"Are you alright?" she said putting out a hand to steady him.

"Ahh, look," Andromeda said, "It's mistletoe."

"Mistletoe? Mistletoe doesn't fly!" Ron complained as he tried to sidestep the thing but when he moved away from Gabrielle it attacked him again.

"It looks like this stuff does," Mr Weasley said jovially. "It is traditional to kiss, Ron."

That stopped Ron up short. He wasn't so obtuse that he didn't immediately figure out that this was someone's idea of a joke, but what could he do? As much as he wanted to kiss Gabrielle again he certainly didn't want to do it in front of twenty of his closest kin.

Nor could he refuse without being either childish or insulting or both. Perhaps a swift peck on the cheek...

Fortunately he was rescued from making any sort of decision by his brain short circuiting at the feel of soft lips on his own.

Bloody hell! Gabby had kissed him. Again!

TBC.