"What is that?"

I clamped my hand over the side of my neck instinctively as Ginny hissed the question at me. It was a few hours after dinner. She and I had volunteered to help Bill bring in some more firewood from outside. I'd slipped on my coat and reached up to pull my hair from underneath the collar, exposing the mark on my neck in the process. It had darkened since the night before, but I had still chosen to rely on my hair to cover it up-as well as the scarf I'd worn to and from the house, even though I'd taken that off once I'd arrived at the Burrow.

"It's just a—it's nothing, really. Just a mark."

Ginny snorted. "Yeah, from my brother."

"You two ready?" Bill asked, passing us to get to the back door.

"Look what Fred did to Sophie's neck," Ginny said with an amused laugh. I tried to squirm away from her, but she still managed to grab my hair and shift it back to reveal the side of my neck.

That got Bill's attention. "Fred did that?" He asked, his tone both amused, like Ginny's, and also impressed. He leaned closer to get a better look. "He got you good," he laughed.

"Right?" Ginny said, smirking. "I'm disgusted, yet oddly impressed. Even I've never had one like that. Or been able to give one like that, for that matter."

"Gross," I muttered as Bill also shot his sister a look.

"You are never allowed to say anything like that in my presence again," he said. "I'll let it slide this time, but the next time, I'm going to hex Harry's brains out."

"How do you know I was talking about Harry?" Ginny asked. "It could've been Dean or Michael or—"

"Okay, enough," Bill sighed.

"Anyway," Ginny went on, nudging her eldest brother. "Who would you say told Fred how to do that, huh? He must've asked someone about it at some point and I know it wasn't Percy."

Bill shrugged innocently and fought back a smile. "Not the faintest idea. Could've been Charlie."

"It was probably both of you," Ginny said.

Bill crossed his arms and sent Ginny a devious smile. "I'll pay you ten Galleons to bring it up in front of Mum and get Fred in trouble."

"I'm not sure I want to advertise this to everyone," I said.

"Well then you would have used more than just your hair to hide it," Bill said. "Besides, Fred clearly didn't care about it when he was doing it."

"We kind of joked about what would happen if your mother saw it," I said, "but it was just that-a joke."

"You mean you wouldn't find it funny in the least to watch Fred get yelled at?"

I stared at Bill. "I don't think so," I answered slowly.

"Trust me, it'll be good," Bill said. "And I also know you won't get into trouble at all. Believe me, Mum will yell at Fred for doing such a thing to poor, innocent Sophie." He clapped me on the shoulder and winked before turning for the back door.

I sent Ginny an exasperated look and she shrugged. "He's right. Mum won't yell at you," she said. "If it were me walking around with one of those, it would be a different story, which is a complete double standard and very unfair. So at least one of us should be able to wear it with pride." When she saw my unsure expression, she laughed. "It's really nothing to be ashamed of. If anything, it means you're too irresistible for my brother to keep himself off of you. Or that your neck just tastes really good. One or the other."

I actually snorted with laughter at that, and Ginny burst into giggles herself before the two of us followed Bill outside.

Once we'd brought the firewood inside and Bill had finished adding it to the fireplace, I headed over to where Fred was playing a game of wizard's chess against Ron in the corner of the room.

"Hey," he said, leaning back in his chair and looking up at me as Ron continued to consider his next move. Fred smiled and reached out to hook a hand around my thigh, slowly pulling me closer. I smiled as I leaned against his chair and slid an arm across his shoulders. "Are you winning?" I asked, jerking my chin towards the chessboard.

"Yes," Fred matter-of-factly, his thumb brushing over my jeans as he adjusted his hand on my leg.

Ron snorted, still studying the pieces. "No, he's not. It's very close, though."

"Hence why he's concentrating so hard," Fred muttered to me. He looked at Ron. "Want to make your move sometime before we all turn eighty?"

Ron's eyes were still on the chessboard, but I was sure he'd also just rolled them at Fred's remark. "Just busy yourself with your girlfriend and I'll be finished before you know it." He paused. "In fact, if you want to busy yourself with her enough to loose all your focus, that works just as well."

"No such luck, Ronniekins," Fred smirked. "Nice try though." He turned back to me and smiled slightly. "I shouldn't be too much longer." He tilted his head towards the chessboard. He raised his voice enough for Ron to hear. "As long as Ron makes his moves in a timely manner."

"Take your time," I insisted. "It's okay."

Fred looked back up at me and nodded, his eyes wandering over my face. His smile suddenly turned into a slight smirk as he used his free hand to reach up and shift my hair away from my neck. He looked at the bruise-like mark on my skin before letting out a breath of laughter and slowly shaking his head.

"Stop admiring your handiwork," I whispered teasingly.

Fred lowered his hand from my neck. "Why should I?" He asked, his eyes meeting mine.

"Ginny saw it," I whispered. "Bill, too. They wanted to tell your mother for a laugh. So...just a heads up."

Fred groaned slightly before recovering. "I don't care if they find out and I don't regret doing it," he said. "But Ginny and Bill are going to be complete pains in the asses about mentioning it." He removed his hand from the back of my leg up and snaked his arm around my waist instead, his hand coming to rest on my hip.

"Your move," Ron suddenly said, kicking Fred lightly under the table. "Hurry up."

"Oi," Fred said, frowning as he turned to look at Ron. "What the hell was that for?"

"You were rushing me," Ron pointed out.

"Yeah, but I didn't kick you," Fred answered, trying to sims kick of his own at Ron, who moved his legs out of the way.

"You'd better think really hard about your next move, you know," I told Fred, distracting him from trying to connect his foot with any part of Ron's body. "It does seem like Ron's beating you--pretty well too," I added teasingly, poking Fred's shoulder.

He scowled as Ron laughed. "I've been unbeatable at this game for how long, exactly?" Ron asked.

"Ever since George and I taught you how to play," Fred retaliated. "You owe your success to us."

"I owe you nothing," Ron argued back as one of Fred's pieces slid across the board.

Just then, Mrs. Weasley came back into the room with a tray full of mugs of tea for everyone. She passed them all out, then took the last one for herself and sat down on the couch next to Mr. Weasley.

I sat down in the chair beside Fred and cradled the warm teacup in my hands as I watched Fred and Ron continue their game of chess.

"Hey, Mum," Ginny suddenly said, "have you seen Sophie's neck by any chance?"

Even though I had been expecting the truth to come out, I nearly choked on my tea. Part of me had hoped Ginny wouldn't announce it in front of the entire family. And my mother.

I almost choked on my tea a second time, however, when Mrs. Weasley pursed her lips, set her own tea cup down and said, "Of course I've seen what's on her neck."

"Told you she'd notice," Fred murmured in my ear. "X-ray vision."

I giggled, but stifled it when I saw the look Mrs. Weasley was shooting Fred. "Do I even want to know the reason why it doesn't look like the first time you've done that?" she asked.

"Merlin, Mum," Fred groaned, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. He rubbed his hands over his face and down his jaw. "It's not, okay?" he said as his ears turned red and he glanced at me. "You're going to put thoughts in Sophie's head that don't need to be there."

Ginny snorted. "Thoughts about what? All the hundreds of girls you could've been snogging in order to get so good at it?"

Fred glared at her as Mrs. Weasley almost choked on her tea.

"Hundreds, Ginny? Really?" She asked in distaste.

"It has not been hundreds, Ginny, for fucks sake," Fred practically growled.

"Fifty, then?" I asked dryly, smirking at him. He rolled his eyes.

"One," he answered. "I haven't been snogging loads of girls, if that's what you're all accusing me of. I just...I was snogging one other girl a lot. That's all."

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and stared down at my tea cup. Angelina. Fred had made a valid point earlier--it wasn't something I wanted to think about. His lips all over her neck. Doing what he'd done to me behind the Leaky Cauldron to her instead. But even though I hated the thought, I didn't necessarily mind. I wasn't upset by it. I just didn't want to think about it. I had always known he'd been in love with her before. It was nothing new. He'd loved her, dated her, been attracted to her...all of it. He'd done all this before. He'd been in a stable relationship for three years. Well...it had been stable for a while. Until it wasn't anymore. But in any case, the thing that did bother me a bit was that here I was with only one other relationship under my belt. One that had barely gotten underway before it ended. And now I was scared to let Fred go too far with me half the time. I knew he didn't mind and I loved him for it, but I suddenly felt incredibly young, naïve, and inexperienced in that moment.

"That's not entirely true," Ginny was saying now to Fred, a taunting note in her voice. "What about that time you and Alicia were dared to snog each other for three minutes in a broom cupboard? And I also know about that girl visiting from Ireland during your fifth year."

I raised my eyebrows in amusement as I looked at Fred.

"Ginny," Fred warned, glaring at her even harder now.

"Okay, enough," Mrs Weasley sighed. "Look, Fred, I only wanted to make it clear that I don't think you should be giving marks like that to any girl, if you ask me. I don't understand the appeal. They're not attractive in the least."

"That's funny," Mr. Weasley suddenly muttered, "because I don't recall you objecting to the few you got from me back when we were teenagers."

There was the collective sound of gagging from every Weasley child in the room. "That's gross," Ron muttered.

Mrs. Weasley sighed. "I just want you to be gentle," she said, looking at Fred before her eyes moved to each and every one of her children, one by one. "All of you. I want you to be gentle and respectful and kind to the people you love."

"Oh, so shoving Katie off my lap and onto the floor is out of the question, then?" George teased, pretending to shove Katie off of him as she scoffed and swatted playfully at him.

Mrs. Weasley rolled her eyes, but a small smile was turning up the corner of her mouth. "I just want to know that I've raised you all right."

"You have," I chimed in. "Trust me, you have." I glanced at Fred, who was gazing at me with a soft smile, before I looked back at Mrs. Weasley. "Fred is...well, he's Fred," I laughed. "And I know that. But when it comes down to it-when it's important-he is incredibly kind, patient and respectful. He has been since I've met him."

"This guy?" Bill asked, leaning over to shove Fred's shoulder and ruffle his hair as Fred swatted his hand away. "Really? Are you sure you're talking about him? Frederick Gideon Weasley, royal pain in the ass?"

I smiled. "I told you--Fred is Fred. I get that. And I've told him this several times as well, but even though he is a lot of things, one thing he isn't is mean." I gestured to my neck. "This mark is not the worst mark I've had on my body. It's the one that hurt the least and it's the only one I've had that wasn't put there out of hatred. It's literally called a love bite, yeah? Trust me, I'd prefer this mark over the ones on my back. Those are more hideous and awful, if you ask me." I shrugged. "I've started to see them as marks of survival instead of being so ashamed of them. But even then, they're still marks of survival. They're marks that permanently remind me of what I went through. The mark on my neck will go away, but like I said, it's one that originated from love, and attraction, and-and, well, good things. Things I wanted so badly for a long time. How could I possibly be ashamed of that?"

Fred reached out and put a hand on my knee, the smile on his face widening a bit.

"You know, I never thought about it that way," Mrs. Weasley said quietly, looking at me in surprise. She was quiet for a moment before she turned to Fred, giving him a serious look. "But you do know that isn't the only way to show her you love her, don't you?"

Fred groaned again and tilted his head back in exasperation.

"Mum, he saved the girl's life," Bill said with a laugh. "I don't know what better way to show he loves her than that. Cut him some slack."

Mrs. Weasley continued to study Fred in slight annoyance for a moment before her expression softened and she sighed. "Maybe just this once," she said.

"Wait, so hang on," Ginny interrupted. "If I come home with a mark like that on my neck and say it's a mark of love, you won't get angry?"

"Do not get any ideas, Ginevra," Mrs. Weasley huffed.

"I bet if Bill gave one to Fleur, you'd let him off the hook easily, too," Ginny argued.

"Fleur is my wife," Bill pointed out.

"So?" Ginny asked. "Harry is my fiancé! Sophie and Fred just barely started dating!"

"Sophie, do you see what you started?" George asked with a half-groan, half-laugh as Bill and Ginny continued to bicker, while Harry and Fleur looked mortified.

"Technically, Fred started it," I said.

"And I don't regret it," Fred sighed, leaning back in his chair as Mrs. Weasley tried to put an end to Ginny and Bill's debate. "Now I get to relax and enjoy the chaos that I started but narrowly escaped from being dragged into."

I looked at my mother across the room and smiled. She looked torn between discomfort and amusement as she slowly sipped her tea and tried to ignore the raised voices around her. At least she hadn't run for the back door yet. That was something. She saw me looking at her and smiled back before shrugging and taking another sip of her tea. I laughed before leaning back in my own chair and resting my head on Fred's shoulder.

"That was a nice speech you gave, though," Fred said quietly. "Mum lapped it right up. It was a big contributing factor to her not murdering me on the spot."

I let out a quiet laugh. "Sure. I did mean it, though. Every word."

Fred was quiet for a moment. "Yeah, I know," he finally whispered, leaning over to press a kiss to my temple.

As Christmas slowly drew nearer, I began to panic slightly. It hit me at the very beginning of December that I suddenly had people to buy gifts for. I'd never had to do that or even think about it.

"Do you think I should get my mother a Christmas gift?" I asked Rachel one night as we were nearing the end of our work shift. It was almost closing time on a Thursday and I was exhausted.

She smiled slightly as she looked over at me from where she was wiping down the counter in the kitchen. I was at the sink, getting the dishes started on washing and drying themselves.

"Do you want to get her a gift?" Rachel asked.

I shrugged. "I don't want her to feel left out. I know she's already a little uncomfortable about being here. And I planned on getting Martha and Mrs. Weasley gifts."

"Then get her one," Rachel said with a shrug. "It can't do any harm."

"But what do I get her?" I asked, turning around and leaning against the sink.

Rachel raised her eyebrows at me. "How am I supposed to know?" She hesitated. "You know, I noticed that one guy at the corner table eyeing her all night. The dark haired guy who was here with his brother?"

"He was?" I asked. "I wasn't paying attention. That's...weird. But what are you suggesting? That I get her a man for Christmas?"

Rachel laughed. "No, not exactly. She wasn't into it anyway. I told her she should go for it and talk to him, but she laughed in my face."

I let out a laugh of my own. "She probably isn't interested in dating, which I can understand."

"But you said the same thing! And you're on guy number two since you've been here, so..." She trailed off and shrugged, a smug smile on her face.

"Shut up," I scoffed.

"I'm just saying that she shouldn't have to be lonely. And I do think she'd enjoy being included, don't you? You know how uncomfortable she was feeling about coming back here with you."

I thought about that. "I know. On the bright side, though, everyone has slowly come around to having her here. Even Fred. So I think that makes things easier, but I wouldn't blame her for wanting to form her own relationships."

"Like I said, you certainly did," Rachel said. "Whether you intended to or not."

"Definitely not," I answered. "You know how much I fought spending time with anyone."

"Until I forced you to be social," Rachel quipped. She finished what she was doing and threw the dirty cleaning rag into the hamper before untying her apron and doing the same thing with it.

"What do you usually do for Christmas?" I asked her as I put away the now empty dish bin and untied my own apron. I put it into the hamper and lifted the basket up so that I could take it upstairs.

"We spend it with my aunt and uncle and cousins in Cornwall," Rachel said. "Nothing major. There aren't too many of us—only eight in total. Nothing compared to what I'm sure the Burrow is like. Did Fred mention if Charlie will be coming home this year?"

I nodded. "He did. He said once Charlie found out about me, he had to come home and meet the girl who was crazy enough to date his brother."

Rachel laughed. "Charlie's pretty great. He's kind of a mix between the twins and Bill. You'll like him. I used to have a huge crush on him, actually. He, on the other hand, only ever saw me as a little kid, considering there's a four and a half year age gap." She sighed dramatically. "By the time I had evolved into the gorgeous young woman you see before you, he'd been in Romania for quite a while."

"Want me to let him know you're not a kid anymore?" I asked with a wry smile. "I'll tell him just how gorgeous you are now and that he should move back from Romania at once."

"Oh, I wish," she laughed, swatting at my arm. "How did he find out about you, anyway?"

"Mrs. Weasley and Ginny both mentioned me in letters," I answered. "Although, I feel like Ginny did it more so to gossip at Fred's expense."

"I don't doubt that," Rachel said with a quiet laugh. "Well, anyway, Kayla, Allie and I were planning on going Christmas shopping this weekend. Want to come? We were planning on hitting Hogsmeade first then coming back and doing Diagon Alley."

I nodded as I pulled my hair down from my ponytail and ran a hand through it. "Yeah, that sounds great, actually."

"Great," Rachel said cheerfully. "We'll meet you here at one on Saturday afternoon."

Saturday afternoon was freezing. It had snowed a few inches the day before, but by one o'clock on Saturday, there was a weak amount of sun shining through the clouds despite the cold temperatures.

I adjusted my knit hat over my hair and tucked my chin down into my scarf as I walked through Diagon Alley with Rachel, Kayla and Allie. We'd already made our way through Hogsmeade before stopping at the Leaky Cauldron for a lunch break. And now we were almost done with Diagon Alley. I'd done pretty well for myself as far as gifts went. I'd managed to find gifts for almost everyone I'd needed to buy for. Which was a pretty lengthy list, actually. I didn't want to leave anyone out and I'd never really had anyone to buy gifts for in the first place, so I wondered if I'd gotten a little too overexcited. But then I shook the thought away.

I'd bought something for Tom, Martha, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny, and even a little something for Bill, Fleur, Ron, Harry, Hermione, Kyle, and even for Charlie. Now, all I had left was to find gifts for Fred and George, Rachel, Kayla and Allie (which I would do when I wasn't actually shopping with them), and my mother.

"Well, we're down to our last stop for the day," Rachel said as we came to the end of Diagon Alley and all gazed up at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. "It's Sophie's favorite."

I nudged her playfully. "Maybe I'll buy your Christmas gift here, Rach. A big box of Skiving Snackboxes."

"My favorite!" Rachel gushed. "I love getting violently sick for the fun of it. How did you ever guess?"

"Don't act like you've never taken one before to get out of work," Kayla snorted. "That time last summer when you wanted to go out with that guy—remind me what his name was?"

"Jake," Allie piped up.

"Jake," Kayla repeated, snapping her fingers. "But Martha had you working all weekend. So you took a Fever Fudge and a Fainting Fancy and collapsed your feverish ass onto the kitchen floor."

"With no warning!" Allie went on, starting to laugh. "Not even to us. So Kayla let our that inhuman screech and tried to catch you, but dropped someone's plate of food all over the floor in the process."

"Okay, that's quite enough," Rachel said, her cheeks turning red. But she was laughing a bit herself. "I'm just appreciative no one told Tom and Martha the truth."

"What about that day during the spring?" I asked, suddenly skeptical. "When I had to fill in for you because you were throwing up?"

"No, that was real," Rachel sighed. "Unfortunately. Besides, I've never lied to Tom and Martha again about not being able to come to work. I felt surprisingly awful about it that time."

"What about when you came with me to Salem?" I asked. "You didn't tell them the truth then."

"But I didn't lie either," Rachel argued. "I told them I had personal business, which was the truth, if not a little vague."

"A little?" Kayla snorted.

"Besides," Rachel went on, raising her voice just slightly in order to tune Kayla out, "the reasoning behind the trip to Salem was so much better than me sneaking out to see a boy." She threw an arm around my shoulders as I smiled.

"Thanks, Rach," I said.

"Okay, enough with the mushy friendship and love fest," Kayla groaned. "Can we go inside now? I'm freezing to death out here."

"Aw, Kayla, don't worry, we love you too," Rachel said, turning from me and throwing her arms around Kayla instead.

"Okay, okay, get off me," Kayla complained, trying to push Rachel away as Allie and I laughed. I headed for the joke shop door and pulled it open.

"Come on...let's get inside," I ordered with a giggle. "Kayla's right, it's freezing."

The four of us entered the shop which was busier than usual due to the Christmas holidays, but not as busy as it could get during the summer, when all the Hogwarts students were home. It would probably be extremely busy when school let out for the holiday in a few weeks.

"Maybe one of you should buy me one of these for Christmas," Allie sighed dramatically as she stopped by the display of love potions and picked one up.

"You don't need that, Al." Rachel shook her head and raised an eyebrow at Allie. "You can get a boy entirely on your own. And besides, if you use a love potion, the whole thing will be entirely fake. Also, I don't have a boyfriend. You and I can be single together!"

"You have so much fun being lonely, though," Allie complained as Kayla and I both stifled laughter behind our hands.

"She has a point," Kayla said when Rachel shot us a look.

"Well, who else am I going to rely on to have fun if it isn't myself? We all know how it went the last time I tried to have fun with a boy."

My smile faltered as I realized that would have been Nick.

"Rach..." I began.

"Don't apologize, Sophie," she said, holding up a hand. "It wasn't your fault. Besides, it was fun while we were actually hanging out with the guy. It just turned out to be not so great the second time around. And it was my fault, okay?"

"I thought we agreed it was Eric's," I said quietly.

"Yeah, even still," Rachel shrugged. She brightened after a second and looked at Allie. "We could go to the Three Broomsticks tonight and see who's around if you wanted to."

"I thought you were perfectly fine to rely on yourself for fun," Kayla snorted.

"I am," Rachel argued. "I'm relying on myself and my friends to have a night out, which is fun. And if we happen to see some boys while we're there, then that's all part of the fun, isn't it?"

"Oh, Merlin," Kayla and I both groaned as Allie laughed.

"Hey, I'm in," she said, putting back the vial of love potion. "These things don't create real love, like you said. And I'm sure they don't work as well as they say they do."

"Oi, they work just fine."

We turned to see Fred standing behind us, leaning against a shelf and pretending to be offended at Allie's words.

"Did you test them?" She asked.

"Of course we tested them," Fred said, pushing off the shelf and coming closer. "George and I personally test every item we stock."

"And how did testing the love potions go for you?" I asked curiously.

The tips of Fred's ears turned slightly red. "Brilliantly," he said.

"How brilliantly?" I asked.

"They worked perfectly." He gave Allie a teasingly pointed look. "Just as well as the packaging says."

"Okay, so what was with your ears turning red?" I asked.

"Why do you think?" Fred asked. "George and I are the one testing the products, and if they work, then-"

"No," I said with a laugh. "You—it made you—" I tried to fight back my laughter. Kayla and Rachel, however, were not as successful, letting out loud hoots of laughter from behind me.

"We didn't quite think it through," Fred said. "George was the one who handed me the vial and quite literally gave me the love potion. So I kept trying to flirt with my own bloody twin until he held up a mirror and I started flirting with my own reflection. Because we're identical and the love potion didn't distinguish between us."

"Weren't you already essentially flirting with yourself anyway?" Kayla asked.

"Witty, Kayla, really," Fred said dryly. "Quite the sense of humor."

"Right back at ya," Kayla quipped with a smile and a shrug.

"I didn't think that story could get any crazier," I said, "but at least you figured out the product worked."

"Sure," Fred answered with a roll of his eyes. He turned back to Allie and lowered his voice. "If you want my opinion, love potions aren't all they're cracked up to be. You don't even feel like yourself when you use them." He shrugged and looked up to meet my eyes, but kept speaking to Allie. "If you ask me, the real thing is much better."

"Merlin, how gross," Kayla muttered, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes as I blushed and tried to nudge her with my elbow.

"Why do you even sell these, then?" Allie asked, pointing to the love potions.

Fred laughed. "Are you kidding? So many young, single girls go crazy for them. And even some older single women too."

"Have we really stooped that low as women?" Kayla muttered. "Where we need to buy love potions to be happy?"

"Your commentary is top quality, Kayla," Fred sighed, turning towards her. "Is there anything else you'd like to add?"

"Just that I'm not surprised this is all about making money," she went on.

"Ah, well this is a business and I am a businessman," Fred said. "But as you've just witnessed, I am more than happy to give honest and insider opinions to only the best people."

"You mean your girlfriend's friends," Kayla said. She shook her finger in Fred's face. "You wouldn't be giving us this insider information if you weren't dating Sophie."

"So?" Fred asked with a raised eyebrow. "It doesn't sound like you want my opinions anyway."

"I don't," Kayla answered.

I let out a breath of laughter and a quiet groan. "Okay, enough," I said. "Stop picking on each other."

"Whatever," Kayla said with a roll of her eyes. "If anyone needs me, I'll be over by the posters. I'm going to treat myself to an early Christmas gift and get myself an Umbridge one this time."

"Ooh...I need another Umbridge one," Rachel said. "Mine's finally had it."

Kayla, Allie and Rachel began to walk away as I turned to Fred. "What kind of posters are they talking about?" I asked. "I don't think you told me about that product."

Fred smiled slightly. "They're kind of a well known secret item. Well—only kind of secret at this point. George and I didn't fully advertise them at first because we came up with them while we were in hiding during the war. And we were already high on the list of targets for Death Eaters, so advertising something like these posters really would've gotten us into trouble. Normally, we would've advertised them with a great slogan and everything but given the circumstances and how dangerous it would be for the whole family, we kept it on the down low. But now we can advertise them as much as we want. Except for we don't really have to because word spread quickly."

"So what are they?" I asked again.

"They're posters of a bunch of Death Eaters and other well-hated people. We usually sell the posters and vandalism tools separately, but sometimes we'll stock up on kits and sell them together. We've got markers of all colors, tape, glue, feathers, you name it. Anything that can be used to vandalize the posters without magic. People are free to use their wands too, of course, once they've brought the posters home. But the other items add a nice touch usually. So for posters, we've got Bellatrix Lestrange and her husband, Rodolphus. We've got Yaxley, we've got Dolohov-he was the one who killed my uncles. We've got Voldemort himself, and we have Augustus Rookwood-he was the one that caused the explosion that killed Percy." He stared aimlessly across the shop, lost in thought. "I took a lot of anger out on that one not long after Percy died. It must have been within a week. I threw darts at it and then tried to move on to knives before George stopped me and actually removed all the knives from the flat for a week straight." He shrugged. "And then I ripped the poster to shreds and burned it. It felt good, but not good enough."

"What's the most popular one?" I asked, giving his hand a comforting squeeze.

"Umbridge and Voldemort are both pretty popular," he said, snapping out of his trance and looking down at me. "Followed by Bellatrix. But I think quite a few people were doing what I did and taking out their frustrations of losing a family member on the Death Eater that killed them, so we were selling quite a few right after the war. People started sending in photos of their best work. George and I keep them in a binder in the back room." He smiled. "One of my personal favorites is a poster of Dolohov with giant googly eyes, hot pink feathers in his hair, and a large splatter of spaghetti sauce across his whole face."

"Someone threw their spaghetti at the poster?" I asked with a slight giggle. "What a waste of perfectly good food."

"Normally, I'd agree, but it was amusing to see the photo," Fred said.

I smiled slightly. "Yeah, I would think so."

Fred turned to me, a grin lighting up his face once again. "How's your Christmas shopping coming along?" He peered down at the bags I was carrying. "Anything for me in there?"

"I wouldn't tell you either way," I answered, moving the bags away from him and laughing.

"Come on, you've got a lot of things in those bags. Something in there has to be for me."

"Not telling," I insisted.

"Fine," Fred pouted. He broke into another smile before reaching out to take my hand. "I also wanted to ask you—what are your plans for New Years Eve?"

"I think Rachel mentioned going out," I said. "To the Three Broomsticks. She said to invite whoever, so if you, George, Katie and maybe even Ginny and Harry don't have plans..."

"I think we can arrange making an appearance," Fred said quietly as he reached up to tuck my hair behind my ear.

"Just an appearance?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I had a surprise in mind for us," Fred said. "But I expect we should be able to do both."

"What's the surprise?" I asked curiously.

Fred laughed. "You know I can't tell you or else it would defeat the purpose of it being a surprise. But I'm certain you'll love it."

"You're very confident," I said, eyeing him in amusement.

"I am," Fred said, his eyes wandering over my face, lingering an extra second on my lips before flicking up to my eyes again.

"Are you allowed to kiss customers while you're on the job?" I asked, my voice a whisper.

"Who's going to fire me?" Fred laughed. "George? Besides, you're not just any customer."

"True," I answered.

Fred smiled wider before leaning in and kissing me. He pulled away and rested his forehead against mine. "I don't think it would be professional to really go at it though," he whispered with a smirk. "As much as I'd like to."

"We could always just say we're testing the love potions," I murmured.

"Now there's a thought," Fred said. He leaned in again and gave me another kiss.

Suddenly, we heard Kayla talking from behind us. "Merlin, now he's scaring away his own customers," she said. "Don't you want to make any money, Weasley?"

"We're testing the love potions," Fred called back, pulling away from me, but keeping his eyes on my face as we smiled at each other and tried to hold back our laughter.

"Why don't you demonstrate that Instant Darkness Powder at the same time so none of us will be able to see you?" Kayla asked.

"She's not really this bitter," I muttered with a laugh. "You should hear the way she talks about Chris. Gushes about him, really."

Fred got a thoughtful, yet devious look on his face and I almost regretted saying anything. But before I could stop him, he looked up at Kayla.

"I hear you aren't much better," he said. "I could convince Sophie here to spill a little information about you and Chris. I already heard that you gush over him."

"Sophie, I'm going to kill you," Kayla announced. I didn't have to turn around to know she was standing with a hand resting dramatically on one jutted out hip.

"No death threats in my shop," Fred said as I laughed. "Especially directed at my girlfriend."

"Whatever," Kayla said, rolling her eyes. She turned to the shelf next to her and grabbed a few items off of it, cradling them in her arms with one of the posters she'd mentioned getting earlier.

"You know," Fred said, "for someone who's had a snarky comment for everything, you certainly seem to have taken a liking to a lot of products."

"Most of your products are pretty decent," Kayla said. "Don't let it go to your head." And with that, she walked off towards the register to pay for the items.

"I think she just complimented me," Fred said.

"I think so, too. Her telling you your products are pretty decent is like her saying she loves them. You should be honored."

"I am," Fred said.

"I'll let you get back to work," I finally said. "I know you're busy and I'll just look around for a bit. I still need a few more gifts anyway."

Fred nodded and gently kissed my forehead. "I'll see you tonight?"

"Yeah. We might be going to the Three Broomsticks, if you want to meet us," I said. "If not, I'll just stop by after. But Rachel and Allie are apparently looking for boyfriends."

"I got that much from Allie's interest in the love potions," Fred laughed. "But yeah, I'm sure George and Katie wouldn't mind coming along." He paused. "You know, I could invite Lee along as well. If not tonight, then on New Year's Eve for sure. It just so happens he's looking for a girlfriend. He's gone on a few dates recently and they've all been terrible. I'm pretty sick of hearing him whine about it."

"So you're saying we could try to set him up with-?"

"I think he and Allie would get along pretty well if they got to know each other. They never had a reason to talk while we were in school. Different houses, different classes, almost entirely different people..."

"Right," I said. "Allie's sweet and Lee is a lot like you and George. He may corrupt her."

"You're pretty sweet yourself and I haven't corrupted you, have I?"

"That's up for debate," I said quietly, a smirk turning up a corner of my mouth. "But, sure, invite Lee. The worst that can happen is that they despise each other."

Fred laughed. "Yeah, I suppose so." He kissed me again and began backing away. "What time tonight?"

I shrugged. "Eight, probably. Definitely no earlier. According to Rachel, no one good gets there before eight."

"Eight it is," Fred said with a chuckle.

I blew him a kiss and he pretended to catch it before sending me a wink and walking away.