"Will Ginny remember me?" Bill asked anxiously. "What about Ron?"

"I'm sure they will, Bill," Arthur said, giving his eldest son a reassuring pat on the back.

"Are you sure?" Bill asked.

"Positive," Arthur said firmly, directing Bill along the platform.

"How are we getting home?" Bill said.

"So many questions," Arthur laughed, ruffling Bill's hair affectionately. "We're going to walk to the Leaky Cauldron and we'll floo from there. But enough about that, how's school? How's Hogwarts? You're a whole term in now, Billy!"

"I told you not to call me that," Bill grumbled.

"Ahh, are you too cool for 'Billy' now?" Arthur chided.

Choosing to ignore his father's comment, Bill said, "Dad, can my friend Darren come to visit one day in the holidays? After Christmas?"

Arthur hesitated. "Probably," He said, "We'll have to check with Mum though, won't we? Come on, let's get home."

XXXXX

"Boys! Leave Ron alone!" Molly screeched, watching from the kitchen table as Fred and George tried to get Ron to eat from the packet of Owl Treats Fred was holding.

"Sorry, Mum," George said shamefacedly whilst Fred gave a wicked grin.

"You're lucky I'm holding your sister," Molly told them. "Or you'd both be in for a good smack. Wait 'til your father gets home and hears you're trying to force feed Ron animal food again."

"Is Bill coming home?" George asked excitedly, ignoring his mother's previous comment.

"Yes," Molly said for the umpteenth time. "You knew that, Georgie. Tell you what, why don't you and Freddie go upstairs and get changed before they get home – you don't want Billy to see you in your pyjamas, do you?"

George looked doubtful, but soon felt Fred's warm hand in his.

"Come on, Georgie!" Fred cried. "Let's go get changed!"

Molly watched as the twins made their way up the stairs, then looked down at Ginny.

"I shouldn't have let them do that, should I?" She said sadly to her daughter.

"No," Percy piped up, looking up from his Maths text book. "They'll probably set the whole house on fire now you've left them alone!"

"Don't worry about it, Perce," Molly laughed, ruffling Percy's hair. She arched her back in the chair, hissing slightly as she tried to work the knots out of her neck.

"You alright, Mum?" Charlie asked, wandering into the kitchen.

"Fine, darling," Molly smiled. She stood up, shifting Ginny's weight slightly, and set about making herself a cup of tea.

"Now," She said, "Bill will be here in just under half an hour. Have you tidied your room?"

"No," Charlie said simply.

Molly nearly dropped the mug. "Why not?" She half shrieked.

"Because Bill never goes in my room, does he?" Charlie shrugged. "It's completely unnecessary for me to tidy my room. I cleared my stuff out of Bill's room though."

"Good," Molly said distractedly, stirring some extra sugar into her tea. She felt she needed the energy. Sighing, she sat Ginny down on the floor next to Ron, propping her up slightly with a cushion.

"Percy," Molly said wearily. "Do me a favour and make sure the twins don't come through here on a rampage and knock these two over, alright?" She gestured to where Ron and Ginny now sat on the rug, staring at each other in some confusion.

"Yes, Mother, will do," Percy said, his chest swelling in pride of being given such a responsibility.

XXXXX

A short while later, Molly sat down on the sofa, clutching the mug of tea in her hands. It was a rare moment of quiet in the Burrow. Well, Molly said quiet... Ron was rolling around in front of Ginny, who laughed gleefully at her older brother. Percy, as per usual, had his nose buried in a book. Fred and George were standing with their noses pressed to the window, watching in awe as Charlie flew around the paddock on Bill's broom, mindful of the fact that he wouldn't be able to use it once Bill returned for the Christmas holidays.

It was Ron who alerted Molly to the return of Arthur and Bill, by pointing excitedly at the side gate; he could see it perfectly from where he sat.

"Daddy!" Ron squealed, holding out both his arms.

"Daddy'll come and see you in a minute, sweetie," Molly reassured him, walking past him to open the door to the kitchen.

"Mum!" Bill cried, running past the hen coop to greet his mother.

"Oh, Bill!" Molly beamed, enveloping her son in a bone-crushing hug. "I've missed you!"

"I – can't – breathe!" Bill joked, scrambling out of his mother's firm grip and ducking past her into the kitchen. "If I find out Charlie's out in the paddock using my broom, I promise you, I'll –"

"Play nicely, Bill!" Arthur called to his son's retreating figure. He lifted Bill's trunk, which was considerably lighter than it had been in September, into the house and gave Molly a kiss on the choke.

"He seems well," Molly said, a note of pride in her voice.

"I don't think I realised how scared he was of You-Know-Who," Arthur muttered.

"What do you mean?"

Arthur paused. "I think he was really worried about it. I don't think he ever felt free, he felt like he was continuously being watched, like he couldn't do anything without being attacked. Now... I mean, since You-Know-Who's disappeared he... he seems much happier."

"We all are," Molly smiled, giving Arthur a quick hug and disappearing into the living room.

"You'd think Bill would want to come and see you two, wouldn't you?" Arthur asked, bending down next to his two youngest children and tweaking Ron's nose.

Ron giggled, rolling onto his father's lap.

"Argh!" Arthur mock-struggled. He grabbed Ron's small body and lifted him into the air, causing Ron to squeal in delight as he watched the furniture flash past him.

XXXXX

"Is she actually going to eat that?" Bill asked in disgust, looking at the stewed pears in a bowl placed in front of Ginny's high chair.

"You used to eat it," Arthur remarked, laughing at the look of repulsion on Bill's face. "Now, come on, sit down."

Grumbling and chattering, the Weasley children sat themselves around the large kitchen table. Once Fred and Percy had finished squabbling over who got to sit next to Bill, Arthur lifted Ron from the floor and onto his high chair.

Molly ran a hand through her hair before flicking her wand and conducted seven large plates (and one child's plate for Ron) each holding a variety of delicious food into the air and through to the kitchen, where they landed on the table, each with a soft clink.

"Well," Arthur said, once everyone was sitting down. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!" Everyone chorused, whilst Ginny gurgled contently.

"Tuck in!" Arthur exclaimed, picking up his own knife and fork.

It was not longer into the meal when Molly put her knife and fork down, the clink of metal on china echoing slightly around the room. She picked up a plastic spoon and began to coax Ginny into eating some of the pear.

"Can I just say," She mused, teasing the spoon into Ginny's mouth, "That it's really nice to have everyone here."

"That's cheesy," Charlie said with his usual bluntness as chatter around the table ceased.

"Cheesy!" Fred echoed.

"Thank you, Charlie, Freddie," Molly said dryly. "I just mean it's lovely having Bill back."

"Glad I could bless you all with my presence," Bill said airily, taking a nonchalant sip from his glass.

"Shut up," Charlie laughed, digging his brother in the ribs.

"Yeah! Shut up!" George copied, reaching up to poke Bill in the cheek.

"Cheers, mate," Bill said, grabbing George's fist with his hand and pushing it away from his face.

"What I meant," Molly continued slightly crossly, "Was that it's the first time we've been together since September."

"Mum," Bill reminded her. "I've been home a week. We've had plenty of family meals since then."

"Oh, never mind," Molly huffed, putting down Ginny's spoon and picking up her own cutlery, before going back to her dinner.

A/N: This is so not going to be done by Christmas. Ah well, hope you like it anyway! Please review, I won't bother continuing it otherwise