Title: This Christmas
Category: Romance
Summary: Sequel to 'It's Christmas'. The Fates of our six couples are revealed on Christmas Days years after the ending of 'It's Christmas'. Not completely DH's compatible.
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author notes: It is BEST if you read It's Christmas first but I don't think it will be mandatory. I'm actually planning to do a one-shot for every couple (even those who DID NOT get the girl) in It's Christmas. It's going be like a homage to the original story. The Theme of this Series of One-shots is my favorite Christmas music; every one-shot will be named for one of my favorite Christmas songs!
This Christmas:
Installment 5: "Christmas is Coming"
+ December 24 +
"Well, if you had only taken off when I suggested it then we wouldn't be doing all this last minute shopping," grumbled Ronald Weasley as his wife pulled him into yet another store. His arms were full of packages, his pockets were full of shrunken gifts, and he could not shake the thought that his knees were about to give out on him.
"Oh, Ron, do stop it," Pansy retorted nonchalantly, as they made their way into the crowded Quality Quidditch Supplies shop. "It really isn't that bad and you must help me pick out something for the boys. I just don't know what they are into these days."
"Just be grateful it isn't pot and other nefarious activities, Pans," he snapped, as he was elbowed by another suffering man who was holding more packages than he could count.
"Ronald, that's not funny, in the least," she replied, sending him a disapproving glare. Her twin sons were her pride and joy, it was a Weasley family joke that they were the reason she was sorted into Slytherin. Because only the Sorting Hat really knew what protecting her children could bring out of Pansy Parkinson-Weasley. She could be a beast when it came to her boys, including her husband.
"You know, Pans," Ronald began, as they approached the display of the newest edition of the Firebolt, "I don't really think Henry is going to want this new Firebolt, he's more of Cleansweep kind of guy."
"But Cleansweep's only new product for the holidays is a Bludger set," Pansy replied, with a frown, "And I don't think that is a fitting gift at all."
"How about we buy the new Firebolt for Thomas and we can go invest in something else for Henry?" Ron suggested, hoping that she would see the Leaky Cauldron and beg for a nice glass of Tea, a truffle, a warm biscuit, anything to get him off his feet.
Every year it was the same. Every year Pansy would wait for the stealthy approach of Christmas before she would even begin to realize that she would have to actually go out to fill the spaces between the Christmas trees and the floor. And every year she would leave the boys at someone's house so she and Ron could trapeze the city of London -- and sometimes the continent of Europe -- to find the perfect gifts for their family and friends. It was a job that she did not trust her husband to do alone but it was also a job that she could barely find time to actually do. As she hastily approached her fiftieth birthday she was more than secure in her job at Gladrags International headquarters, as well as her position as the head of the remaining Parkinson family fortune. She and Ron had spent ten Christmas' without each other and not one apart in twenty-two years since Pansy had given up hiding their relationship from the world.
It was that very fact that kept Ron smiling on days like this. It was this season that had made his dreams come true and that gift, twenty years before, made the Holidays all the more magical to him. Somehow he understood his sister's love for the season and embraced it in his own way; this time of year was all about family for Ron, his own, Pansy's, and most importantly his two best friends in the world. The moment Thanksgiving rolled around Ron would find himself making excuses to have everyone over or even just make impromptu visits to people he had not spoken to in ages. It was something about the season that brought out the warmness in Ronald Weasley's heart.
"Henry would probably much rather have a Potions set or something, wouldn't he?" she commented with a smile, turning to her husband before grabbing a Firebolt for Thomas.
"He'd love it," Ron answered, this time leading her to the counter for check-out, "it'll be a nice diversion from the jumper that he might get from my mum."
"Might?" Pansy laughed. "After fifteen years of receiving a jumper from their grandmother I think Thomas and Henry have both learned not to expect anything less."
Ron chuckled. "Well, nothing makes my mum more giving than Christmas."
"Well, you'd think after five children and numerous grandchildren that she would tire of making all those jumpers every single holiday," she replied as they left the shop and made their way back into the crowed street of Diagon Alley.
He shrugged, struggling not to drop the packages under the weight of the Firebolt. "It's her signature gift. I think we'd be disturbed if she didn't give them."
Suddenly Pansy stopped, turning to her husband with an expression of horror on her face. She began to feverishly search the boxes for something that Ron obviously could not see. Frowning, he asked, "What in the blazes are you looking for, Pans?"
"I can't believe I forgot!" she exclaimed, frustration filling her face.
Ron studied his wife before inquiring any further and fought an urge to smile. There was something charming about her now that was not there twenty years ago, something that made him watch her intently whenever she was around, something that made him seek out the gray locks that were slowly taking over her blond mane, something that made his heart long for her each and every second of every day. The snow, which had been barely noticeable before, began to increase its descent, causing Ron to finally speak, "What'd you forget?"
"Fred's flowers," she answered simply before turning to make her way toward Francine's Fancy Flower Shop which was right next door to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor.
Ron wordlessly followed his wife. He never chose to take an active part in picking out the flowers that his sons and Pansy took to Fred's gravesite every year. Even thirty plus years later it was still too definite for him, it was still making it too real for him. And without the dangerous nature of denial, Ron chose to just ignore the painful tribute to his fallen brother. He would go to the site, stand twenty kilometers from the grave, watch his wife and sons remember, and all the while wonder what Christmas would have been like if Fred had made it through the battle of Hogwarts. It was only in that moment that the season did not look so bright but it was also in that moment that he could feel Fred pushing him to make the season great for his boys, just like their Uncle would have done.
It was also that tradition that made him love his wife a little bit more. It was at her insistence that they make their own little trip to see Fred without the rest of the clan. In the beginning, he was staunchly against the visit, he could not imagine how he could make it through one visit a year yet alone two. But Pansy was a willful woman and she took their eight-month-old twins to meet their Uncle Fred on the day before Christmas fourteen years ago and the family had been going every Christmas Eve since. And the first Christmas morning George walked into the Burrow and pulled Pansy into the saddest hug he had ever witnessed he knew it was the right thing to do; somehow he knew he would never be able to let his brother spend another holiday season without a visit from his youngest brother.
He stood outside the flower shop as she ran in to pick out some flowers that would survive the winter onslaught with the smallest help from magic. It was something about real flowers that Pansy insisted made it a little more special. They would go right before sunset tonight, leaving only the flowers and whatever the boys chose to leave their uncle. He struggled to force back the rising tide of tears; it was the very juxtaposition of the season that made him look up into the falling snow, his heart warm but aching. Only his family knew what it meant to feel the two so strongly at the same moment.
A few moments later Pansy emerged holding a package that she decided to hold on to herself. "Now, I think we only have one more stop to make. Where do you find decent potions sets these days?"
Ron attempted to clear his head of thoughts of Fred. It was Christmas, you do not mourn on Christmas you celebrate. He had to remind himself of that every year and every year he did his best to celebrate the life of his brother. He moved to stand beside his wife, leaning over to kiss her cheek, while delicately balancing the packages in his hands. "I love you, Pans."
She gave him a sweet smirk, her eyes running over his face, sometimes she could swear he had never aged from that seventeen-year-old she used to know. "I know. Now, about this Potions set . . . ."
"The Cauldron Shop has just finished its renovation so it should probably have some new products," Ron answered. "Or we could try the Apothecary; they should definitely have some nice sets. I know Harry bought Lucas a gold set from there on his birthday."
"Sounds like a plan," she retorted as she turned to make her way to the Cauldron shop.
Ron sighed; glad to see her going toward the Leaky Cauldron, so at least maybe, eventually, he could get a warm drink and a chair to rest his weary body in. It was almost Christmas and he could feel the warmness from his heart taking over every inch of his body. No matter how long Christmas Eve always turned out to be or how horrible a shopper his wife always turned out to be or how painful it was to go visit his brother in such a cold place it could not ease the excitement that was steadily rising.
He would have never imagined that his life would turn out this way, not in a million years. Who would have ever imagined that he and Pansy Parkinson would fall in love? Who would have ever seen that after Voldemort life could be this normal? He would have never believed that he would be spending Christmas without Fred. Or that he would be raising twin sons that loved Quidditch and Potions equally, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Who would have imagined that at forty-nine years old that his wife would be talking about having another child? Somehow he chalked it all up to the magic of Christmas. Nothing else in the world, since he was a little boy, had seemed so powerful to him. It was always in these reflective moments that he understood the Muggle understanding of Magic. Everything seemed like a miracle during this season, everything.
Ron sighed as he followed his wife into the Cauldron shop, it was almost over, and the shopping was almost done. Christmas was only a few hours away and he could not wait. It was almost time for breakfast with his boys, lunch at the Parkinson's, and Christmas dinner at the Burrow. It was almost time to see his grandparents and hold small talk with some Pansy's well to do family members. It was almost time to watch the excitement on the boys face as they realize their mother found everything that they asked for this year. It was almost time to see his nieces and nephews again, to embrace his siblings, and reminisce with Harry as if they did not spend the past twenty Christmas' doing the same thing. It was almost time for Hermione and her family to come by after dinner was served for a short visit after they return from Blaise's family château in Italy. Christmas was right around the corner and it was making his heart sing!