After dinner on Christmas Eve, everyone relocated from the kitchen into the living room where Mr. Weasley started a fire in the fireplace and Mrs. Weasley brought us all hot chocolate.
I was situated on the floor, leaning up against the couch as I played with Victoire. She had gotten her hands on one of Mrs. Weasley's balls of yarn and she kept unraveling it in bunches before bringing a handful of the unraveled yarn to me and placing it in my hand with a smile, babbling animatedly in baby talk as she did so. Every time she got close, I'd reach out quickly to tickle her and she'd squeal with laughter before toddling away again.
A moment later, Fred came out of the kitchen and situated himself on the couch behind me, placing his feet down on either side of me. "I come bearing pie," he said, setting a plate of blueberry pie down on the coffee table. I noticed Victoire immediately eyeing it and I reached out to push the plate out of her reach as Fred moved to do the same. Our hands bumped each other as we nudged the plate further towards the middle of the table.
I looked back at him over my shoulder with a laugh. "Just when I think you have terrible observation skills, you prove me wrong," I joked.
"I do not have terrible observation skills!" Fred protested. "That's Harry and Ron."
I was distracted from retaliating by Victoire throwing herself into my lap and making herself comfortable in the crook of my arm as she continued to play with the mess of yarn she'd created.
"She likes you," Fred commented as he grabbed my plate of pie from the table. He scooped a bite into the fork and then held it out to me. I turned towards him and opened my mouth, allowing him to feed it to me.
"And I like that pie," I sighed. "So good."
"I told you my mother makes the best blueberry pie," Fred laughed, scooping another bite onto the fork and feeding it to me.
"I'd say it does rival Martha's pies," I admitted, tipping my head back against Fred's knee and gazing up at him. Victoire was still lying in my arms, quietly playing with the yarn as I absentmindedly played with her soft blonde hair that was already growing in quickly for a child her age. It covered her ears at this point and there was certainly a lot of it.
"She's falling asleep," Fred said quietly, gesturing towards Victoire with his chin as he smiled slightly.
I lifted my head and looked down to see that she was, in fact, nearly asleep. Her eyes were drooping closed as her head rested against my shoulder, the yarn lightly gripped in her fingers. I smiled and let out a quiet laugh as I brushed her hair from her face. A few seconds later, she was completely asleep and I found myself sitting completely still-I almost felt afraid to move in case I woke her.
"Are you even breathing?" Fred teased, his voice a whisper. "Come on, open your mouth, you've got to finish your pie." He waved the fork in front of my face, but I ignored it as I continued to stare down at Victoire.
She looked so content and peaceful in my arms. It was interesting, really. I'd told Fred I'd never been able to give much thought to my future before-which included the thought of one day having children. I'd also told him that now that I was here and that I had a stable life for the first time in a long time, that I could afford to think about things like that, and that it was something I could see myself wanting-no, not just wanting. Doing.
Looking down at Victoire now, I was suddenly even more sure that I wanted something like this. I wanted a family of my own.
Just knowing that Victoire felt content and comfortable enough with me to fall asleep nestled in my arms made me feel an odd mix of emotions including pride. It may not have even been all that serious-Victoire was more than likely just exhausted from all the excitement and fallen asleep in the nearest most comfortable place. But I couldn't help but feel glad that it had been me. Glad, proud, and even hopeful. Hopeful that this was a small sign that I could do this on my own one day with my own child and that it wouldn't be as impossibly difficult as I'd feared.
The thought had crossed my mind several times since my talk with Fred-the thought that I couldn't do it. I couldn't raise a child. I'd be awful at it. I worried it wouldn't come naturally and I'd fumble around blindly, trying to avoid all the mistakes made by any of the adult figures in my own childhood. I worried I'd spend to much time trying not to become them and that I would anyway. But I couldn't afford to think that way. I wouldn't allow myself to do the things they'd done. Fred wouldn't allow it either. Besides, that just wasn't who I was. I wasn't my mother and I sure as hell wasn't like Eric. Even wondering if I would ever behave the way he had was absurd.
But besides that, I'd never had to interact much with babies before. Actually, I'd never had to interact with them at all. Any knowledge I had on how to take care of one came from what I'd seen from everyone helping to take care of Victoire. Mostly Fleur, but the family would pitch in when needed. They'd all tried to help put her down to sleep when she was being fussy, they'd all taken turns feeding her, and they all practically fought each other for a turn to play with her.
But it was so much more than that. Back before Ginny had gotten married, she'd said it took a village to plan a wedding, and Katie had corrected her, saying it took a village to raise a child. And she was right. Clearly. Fleur was just lucky enough to have enough people to practically constitute a small village. And I knew that I'd have the same one day. I wasn't alone. I had a family now. A large one. And it was kind of a hodge podge of a lot of different people, like a huge quilt sewn with different colored squares.
Essentially, while I was still apprehensive about being a mother someday, I now felt hopeful for the first time that things would be okay. That I would be okay.
"Fleur, will you take your incredibly adorable spawn from Sophie so that she can breathe?" Fred asked with a sigh, his voice cutting through my thoughts as I looked up from Victoire's sleeping face.
Fleur scoffed. "Spawn, Fred? Really?"
"I said she was incredibly adorable!" Fred laughed. "But look-Sophie's afraid to even move right now. She's going to turn blue from lack of oxygen if you don't put your baby to bed."
Fleur let out a huff as she stood up from her chair. "Are you sure you don't want to do eet? You're her favorite uncle as you always are so quick to point out. Or maybe one of her other favorite uncles want to pitch in?"
"Hands are full," Fred said simply, holding up the plate of pie in his hands. "Pie."
"Of course," Fleur sighed. She turned to me and knelt down, gently reaching out for Victoire. "Let me get 'er," she said softly. "Sorry she fell asleep on you-I didn't even notice. You could have said something. You didn't have to sit 'ere and 'old your breath." She let out a quiet laugh as she cradled a still sleeping Victoire against her shoulder.
"I didn't want to wake her," I whispered with a slight laugh of my own. "I was afraid to move too much."
"Well, for future reference, you are allowed to breathe," Fleur teased.
I let out a quiet laugh as Fleur began heading for the stairs, Victoire's cheek pressed against her shoulder and her mouth wide open as she continued to sleep. As they disappeared up the stairs, I sighed and turned away from them, craning my neck to look up at Fred instead. My mouth dropped open as I saw he was now working on eating my slice of pie after finishing off his own.
"What do you think you're doing?" I asked.
"I was waving your fork in front of your face forever, but you were too enthralled with the baby, so I thought you weren't interested in pie anymore."
"I'm always interested in pie," I said, reaching upwards and trying to grab the plate from him.
"Ah, no, it's too late," Fred said, tugging the plate further out of my reach.
"Fred," I whined.
He laughed and dug his fork back into the pie. He leaned forward and held the fork out towards me. I opened my mouth and he fed me before immediately going back for the last bite left on the plate and sticking it into his own mouth.
"You're kidding," I deadpanned, raising my eyebrows as Fred dusted off his hands and looked at me almost smugly.
"Usually I am, but not this time," he said, leaning forward and quickly kissing me. "I just happen to like pie just as much as you." He stood up and reached down for my hands, pulling me to my feet. "To make up for it, I'll agree to go ice skate with you out on the pond."
"Now?" I asked in surprise.
"Now," Fred nodded. "I told you to bring your skates tonight, didn't I?"
"Yeah, but I assumed you meant we'd be skating tomorrow. Not now while it's dark outside and after I'm way too full of food to even think of moving."
Fred laughed. "Come on, get your coat on. I'd think you'd want to take advantage of one of the rare times I'm actually offering to skate with you."
"You have a point there," I answered as we crossed the room to where our coats were hanging. I grabbed Fred's, passing it to him before grabbing my own and pulling it on.
"Sophie and I are going down to the pond for a bit," Fred announced to the others. "We'll be back in a bit."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him mouth something to George. George nodded and smiled, but by the time I turned back to Fred, he was holding his hand out to me.
"Ready?" He asked.
I tugged my hat lower over my ears and fixed my scarf before taking his hand. "Ready."
We made our way down to the pond and sat on the edge of the dock while we laced up our skates. Once we were finished, Fred stood up on the ice, only slightly unsteadily, and skates forward a few paces.
"You're much better than you were a year ago," I said.
"How can you say that?" Fred laughed, turning around and skating back towards me. He put his hands on my thighs as he leaned in and kissed me. "I didn't move very far, so how can you say I'm so much better?"
"Last year, you fell almost as soon as you stepped onto the ice," I pointed out with a laugh.
"You have a point," Fred said quietly, smiling as he took my hands. "Let's see how much you've improved, then. Come on."
He tugged me to my feet and I stood on the ice in front of him. I wobbled only slightly before regaining my balance. Fred dropped one of my hands, but kept hold of my left one as we began skating around the perimeter of the pond.
"Not bad," Fred said, looking at me with an impressed expression. "It's been nearly a whole minute and neither of us have fallen."
I laughed. "Expectations were really low for us tonight, weren't they?"
"Clearly," Fred answered.
We managed to stay upright for a whole ten minutes before Fred fell, crashing suddenly down to the ice and pulling me down with him in a jumble of limbs.
"Why do you always fall like that?" I groaned from beside him as I rolled onto my back and splayed my arms and legs out like a starfish.
"Like what?" Fred asked, turning his head in my direction from where he was lying beside me.
"You just...collapse." I giggled and turned to look at him.
"That's what falling is," Fred insisted. "Is there another way you'd like me to do it?"
I laughed again. "I just mean that there's almost never any kind of warning or indication that you're going to fall. If there is, it's little to none. One second you're upright and in the the next, you're on the ground."
"You're honestly critiquing me on how bad I am at falling?" Fred asked, looking at me in amusement. "Being an awful ice skater is already bruising enough to my ego, but now you're telling me I'm awful I am at something I can't control!"
I simply smiled at him before sliding my arms and legs back and forth across the ice, sweeping around whatever thin layer of snow and crushed up ice covered the frozen water of the pond.
"What are you doing?" Fred sighed, raising his eyebrows at me.
"Making a snow angel," I answered, matter-of-factly.
"You're on ice," Fred pointed out. "You're supposed to make snow angels in the snow."
"Shh," I murmured, turning my face back up towards the sky as I closed my eyes. "Just let me have some fun, okay?"
"Okay," Fred whispered back.
I peeked open one eye to see him still staring over at me, studying my face with an amused, but loving smile on his face. A moment later, he looked away from me as he stretched out his own arms and legs and swept them back and forth, making his own snow angel on the ice.
"Couldn't resist, could you?" I asked.
Fred let out a breath of laughter. "I suppose not. But I still don't see the point. There won't be anything here when we get up."
"Well, at some point, we can make real snow angels if it means that much to you," I told him, rolling onto my side and hovering above him.
"Tomorrow," Fred said with a teasing smile. "All day."
"Ha, very funny," I answered, rolling away from him and starting to stand up.
Fred got to his feet as well and we continued to skate for close to an hour before we decided to head back inside.
Fred pulled himself up onto the dock before leaning down to help me up as well. We sat in a comfortable silence on the edge of the dock as we removed our skates and put our regular shoes back on.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you actually somewhat enjoy skating now," I said with a teasing smile as I turned towards Fred.
"What makes you say that?" Fred laughed.
"You seemed like you were having more fun than you were when we were in New York," I pointed out. "Less grumpy, you know?"
"Well, I'm spending less time falling," Fred retaliated. "That's certainly enough to make me less miserable."
I smiled. "When can we take your newfound skills back to New York?"
"Whenever you'd like," Fred answered, his voice a whisper as he studied my face. "We could go again on New Year's Eve."
"That's in a week," I pointed out as if Fred were crazy.
"So? It didn't take much planning on my part last year."
"Yeah, because you used magic."
"Do you have an objection to that?" Fred raised his eyebrows and looked at me skeptically.
I shook my head. "No. I've told you that the weekend we spent in New York was probably the most fun I've ever had." I looked over at him and smiled as I rested my chin on my knees. "I'd like to do it again one day. But this year...I think I'd like a quiet New Year's Eve."
"Just because we stay here doesn't mean it'll be quiet," Fred pointed out. "You should know that by now."
I laughed and buried my face in my knees. "I do," I groaned before peering up at Fred with a smile. "But I'm okay with that."
Fred smiled back, but didn't reply as he pushed himself to his feet and then reached out a hand to help me up as well. Once we were both standing, he kept his hand in mine, lacing our fingers together as he looked down at them.
"You okay?" I asked, frowning slightly.
Fred nodded. "Yeah." I saw him swallow before he looked back up at me and met my eyes, his typical wide smile lighting up his face again. "For the record, I did have fun skating," he said. "If I'm honest, I even had fun skating in New York. Even if I did rupture a kidney."
"You didn't rupture a kidney!" I exclaimed through a laugh.
"Who are you to say? Are you a Healer?"
"No, but I know you didn't rupture a kidney."
"How?" Fred asked jokingly. "How do you know?"
"Because if you had, you would've been in too much pain to get through the rest of the trip. And you had no problem getting through any of it."
"Good point," Fred replied with a quiet laugh. He looked down at our hands again before glancing at his watch and smiling slightly.
"What was that about?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.
"What was what about?" he answered innocently.
I tilted my head towards his watch. "Checking the time." I looked at him teasingly. "Got another hot date lined up?"
"The last time you asked me this, I was actually taking you to the grave of my dead brother," Fred teased, "so do you really want to ask me this again? The look on your face last time when you found out where we were going said otherwise. You were mortified." He let out a laugh and shook his head at the memory.
"Well, that depends-do you have any more graves to rush off and visit tonight?"
"No," Fred answered with an amused smile.
"Okay, then, yeah, I'm asking you again," I laughed. "What's so important that it has Fred Weasley keeping track of time? You never keep such a close eye on the time. We were late to dinner just earlier tonight."
"You know, you're right," Fred sighed. "I do have another date after this. Actually, I have several, if I'm honest." Fred shrugged and kept his demeanor as serious as he could. "You're only date number one of at least five."
"I'm flattered," I answered with a roll of my eyes.
Fred looked back at me for a moment with a smile before suddenly shifting his gaze to the sky. "Are you any good at finding constellations?" he asked suddenly.
I blinked In surprise at the change of subject before turning so that I was standing beside him. "No," I replied, tilting my head up to study the star-filled sky. "What about you?"
Fred shrugged. "Not really. I've always been able to find only three."
"Which three?" I asked.
"The Big Dipper, Orion, and-naturally-Gemini. George and I made a point to remember that one. With it symbolizing twins and all."
I smiled in amusement as I turned my head to look at him. "That's my zodiac sign, you know. Gemini."
Fred looked down at me in slight surprise. "Is it? I never realized-I don't usually pay attention to that sort of shit. George and I laughed our way through Divination..."
I shrugged. "I'm not all that knowledgeable about it either. I liked my Astronomy classes well enough at school, and Divination was only mildly interesting." I shrugged and gazed up at the sky for a moment longer, lost in thought before glancing over at Fred with a wry smile. "But obviously, I do know my own zodiac sign though. Doesn't everyone? I bet you know yours."
Fred looked over at me with an amused smile. "You're sure about that? You want to take that bet?"
"Yes, I would," I insisted. "You're just trying to mess with me. Of course you know your zodiac sign."
Fred laughed. He was quiet for a moment before he spoke. "Aries," he finally said.
"I knew you knew!" I exclaimed.
"Why is that information so important to you?" Fred asked with a chuckle. "Are you going to tell me we're compatible? That it's literally written in the stars that we should be together?"
I snorted with laughter. "No, I was just curious. I have no idea what the stars say. Nor do I particularly care. They're way too far away to know anything.
Fred laughed before gazing at the sky over my head, in the direction of the Burrow. "Huh," he said thoughtfully. "It's interesting you say that."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because to me it looks like the stars are quite literally telling us we should be together."
"What?" I asked in confusion. I turned around and looked up, blinking a bit in surprise.
I wasn't quite sure what I was seeing at first. I was looking up at the sky and it certainly looked as if I were seeing stars, but I couldn't have been. Not completely, anyway. Because a cluster of these so called stars had formed words. I was seeing words in the sky. Words made up of numerous, glittering, small specks of light.
Say yes.
I read the words quickly, but still didn't understand. I read them again, and then once more as I frowned in confusion.
"Fred...?" I began, turning towards him. As I did, he dropped my hand and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small square box and lowered himself to one knee as he pulled it open, revealing a ring that glittered just as brightly as the stars.
A whoosh of air escaped my lungs as I covered my mouth with my hands and immediately crouched to the ground. I was level with Fred again, but it didn't matter. My legs could barely support me anymore. I could barely even breathe, never mind stand. While I wasn't totally surprised that this moment had come, at the same time, I somehow still couldn't believe it was happening.
"You've told me before that when the time came for this, you wanted me to ask you, not tell you," Fred whispered. My eyes flickered up from the engagement ring to his face. He was looking at me earnestly as he swallowed and continued speaking. "I would've asked you anyway..." He shook his head and half-smiled. "I wanted to ask, no matter what I said about telling being effective. And it clearly was important to you that I do ask. But I began thinking about why being asked was so important to you. For a long time, you didn't have much control over your life. You've had a lot of choices made for you-in the events you were even given choices. You were treated as if your own feelings and opinions didn't matter. But they matter to me. You matter to me, Sophie. More than anything. You can answer my question with one of two little words. One will make me the happiest bloke in the entire northern hemisphere, and possibly even the world. The other will probably break my heart, if I'm honest. But I've trusted you with so many parts of me since the day I first met you, so it seems right to offer you my future, too." He smiled and let out a breath of laughter before meeting my eyes again. "Soph...will you marry me?"
I was still crouching down in front of him with my hands over my mouth and I finally dropped fully to my knees as my chest constricted with emotion. I suddenly felt as if I'd forgotten how to speak entirely. "I don't even know what to say right now," I finally whispered. "I can barely even think."
"Ah, see, I was thinking you might say that," Fred said. "Which is why I enlisted George's help for those special fireworks." He jerked his chin over my shoulder towards the glittering words that still hovered in the sky.
Say yes.
I let out a watery laugh as I sniffled. "They didn't even make any noise and they haven't faded away yet. And they look just like stars."
"I did say they were special," Fred shrugged. "Worked hard on them too."
I smiled and glanced back at the words in the sky before laughing again and shaking my head. "You just had to work in a demand somehow, didn't you?" I asked.
"Does that surprise you?" Fred asked with a snort of laughter.
"No," I answered with another giggle.
It was quiet for another second before Fred raised his eyebrows at me as I studied the ring almost in awe.
"Do you plan on giving me an answer or just leaving me kneeling here?" He asked. "I was hoping you'd take less time to answer than it's going to take you to master wizard's chess."
"You're awful," I laughed, brushing my fingers underneath my eyes to wipe away the tears. My laughter subsided as I sighed and looked at Fred, a soft smile on my face as I met his eyes. "But my answer's yes," I whispered. Of course my answer's yes."
Fred broke into the widest grin I'd ever seen and dropped down to both knees. He leaned forward to kiss my forehead, the hand that wasn't holding the ring box gently cradling the back of my head. I closed my eyes and let out a sigh at the touch of not only Fred's hand, but his lips on my skin. Finally, he pulled away and got to his feet, pulling me up with him as he did so. The second we had stood up, I threw my arms around him and he lifted me off of my feet briefly before setting me back down and kissing me. His hands were on my hips as he even dipped me backwards a bit as he continued to kiss me. I giggled before pulling away and giving him another quick kiss.
There was a sudden loud rustling from the thicket of trees along the side of the pond closest to the house-just below the area the Say Yes fireworks had been set off.
"Did she say yes?" a voice yelled from the trees. Ginny's voice.
"I'd say she did considering they were just kissing." This time it was George.
"Well, I can't see properly! Your big head is in the way."
"I needed to have the best view," George argued. "I'm the one who's in charge of the fireworks. I don't see your ass putting in any effort."
"Neither is yours!" Ginny retaliated. "If she said yes, than why aren't you doing your job? You were supposed to set off more fireworks by now, yes?"
"Shit," George muttered. "You distracted me-ouch!"
"Oh, come on, I didn't even hit you that hard."
It was quiet for a moment before George's voice came again. "Soph-you did say yes, didn't you? Just to be sure."
"She said yes, Georgie!" Fred whooped from beside me.
George let out a nearly identical shout of joy. "Then it's all systems go!" He yelled back as I let out a giggle.
Seconds later, several real fireworks were being let out from the space in the trees where George and Ginny were hiding. Even though I knew they were coming, I flinched a bit at the first bursts of loud noise before recovering and looking back up at the sky.
Fred slid an arm around my waist and pulled me to him as he kissed my temple. "It's okay," he murmured against my skin. "You're okay."
"I know," I whispered back as the two of us stood there and watched the fireworks exploding. "Just a reflex."
We stood and watched the fireworks for a bit until Fred pulled away from me and reached into the ring box. "Hold out your hand," he said quietly, removing the ring from the box before snapping it closed.
I did as he'd told me and held out my left hand. It was trembling slightly, but stopped once Fred lightly took it in his and slid the ring onto my finger.
"It's beautiful, Fred," I whispered. "It's so shiny."
Fred laughed. "I would hope so. It is a diamond, after all."
I brought my hand closer to my face as I admired the ring. It was simple-a thin silver band that split into two pieces that twisted together towards the top until they met the sparkling diamond in the middle.
"If it were up to me, you'd have a neon orange and green ring that also shot out stinksap when you pressed the side," Fred said with a smile. "But I thought this one was more your style."
I laughed. "I love it. Although...the stinksap feature could come in handy. Good for enemies."
"I could always add it, if you'd like," Fred said, half-jokingly.
I smiled as I shook my head. "It's perfect just the way it is. I'll let you know if I ever change my mind, though."
Fred smiled and leaned in to kiss me before throwing an arm around my shoulders as we began our walk back to the Burrow.
Just as we neared the trees, there was the sound of rustling leaves as well as voices. Fred and I stopped and I blinked in surprise as I saw not only George and Ginny emerging from the trees, but nearly the entire family. Katie, Bill, Ron, Hermione, Harry, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, my mother, and even Tom and Martha.
"Were you all watching the entire time?" I asked.
"No," George said, "they only all came running after Ginny and I set off the fireworks. Mum thought we were trying to burn the house down."
"Don't exaggerate, George," Mrs. Weasley sighed. "Although, I did suspect you were up to something. I just didn't know it would be this." She turned to me and gave me a tight hug. "Welcome to the family, dear."
"It's about time Fred made it official," George added, throwing an arm around my shoulders and pulling me to him. He ruffled my hair as I smiled and turned a light shade of pink at all the attention.
Martha hugged me next, even tighter than Mrs. Weasley had. "I told you he'd be asking you to marry him soon enough," she said joyously. She pulled away and took my face in her hands. "It's good to see you so happy."
"Is it really that obvious?" I asked.
"Yes-and as it should be!" Martha exclaimed. "You deserve it-and you and Fred make such a lovely couple."
"Thanks," I said with a quiet giggle.
The next few minutes were a whirlwind of congratulations and excitement directed towards both me and Fred. Even Tom seemed excited-he even lifted me off the ground in a hug, which was unexpected at first, until Martha whispered in my ear that he'd had one more firewhiskey than he should have.
"I'm surprised you aren't lecturing Fred right now, Tom," I said, looking Tom over as he pulled Fred into a hug as well.
"No, he wanted this, remember?" Martha asked. "He wanted Fred to show he was committed." She rolled her eyes slightly as I laughed.
"You two should be thanking me, if you want my opinion," Fred said, looking at Tom.
"Thanking you?" Tom asked in surprise. He narrowed his eyes a Fred. "For what?"
"For taking Sophie off your hands," Fred replied. "We all know how troublesome she is." He sighed dramatically. "I may be the only one in the whole world who can handle her."
I gaped at him as Martha let out a scoff of laughter from beside me. Tom, however, surprised me by playing along.
"You may be right," he sighed. "Sophie's been a challenge, and like Martha always says-she and I aren't the spring chickens we once were."
"Tom!" Martha gasped, her mouth falling open.
"What?" Tom asked, holding up his hands. "You're the one always saying that we're old."
"It's the truth, but it did help that you always disagreed with me. It was nice hearing that I'm young, even if it was from you."
"You're not old," I assured them. "You may not be twenty anymore, but you're hardly old."
"I appreciate that, dear," Martha said, smiling up at me fondly.
"You could tell that to my grey hair and poor eyesight," Tom added with a snort. "Not to mention the wrinkles."
"What wrinkles?" Martha asked.
"Don't act like you don't see them, Martha," Tom chastised, wagging a finger in Martha's face. "And don't act like you don't have them yourself."
Martha shot him an offended look. "What are you saying, Thomas?" She asked. I could see her stifling a smile behind her offended expression and I let out a giggle.
"Now, Martha," Tom said, flushing red as he began to backtrack, "you know I think you're as beautiful as ever. But all I was saying was..."
"I think it's best we leave them to it," Fred said, grabbing my hand and tugging me back towards the Burrow, as everyone else muttered in agreement and began to trail behind us, leaving Tom and Martha standing alone by the pond.
"Will that be us in fifty years?" I asked, looking over my shoulder as Tom and Martha continued to bicker.
"Possibly," Fred shrugged. "But so what if it is?"
"What do you mean so what?" I asked, turning to him with a raised eyebrow. "They're arguing."
"Soph," Fred chuckled. "They're not seriously arguing right now. It's all in good fun. It's playful. And of course, that's not to say we won't ever get into real arguments. I know we will. We're going to argue, we're going to disagree, we're going to sometimes stick one-or perhaps both-of our feet into our mouths."
"Speak for yourself," I muttered as Fred laughed.
"My point is that I know what I'm signing up for here. Contrary to what some people may think, I'm not afraid of hard work. I just only take on what I think is worth working hard for."
I smiled. "And I'm one of those things?"
Fred nodded as his eyes drifted over my shoulder towards Tom and Martha. "Just look at them, Soph." He jerked his chin in the direction he was looking.
I did as he said and saw Tom and Martha now walking back towards the Burrow. Tom's arm was around Martha and she was leaning into him as they both laughed.
"If being together for as long as Tom and Martha have-or even as long as my parents have-means that we sometimes bicker like children out by the pond, I'll take it," Fred said. "If it means we get into an occasional nasty fight where we can't stand to look at each other, then I'll even take that. I'll take the bickering in our sixties if it means we're still together in our sixties. Still married. Still crazy for each other. That's what I meant."
I turned and stared up at him for a moment, a small smile on my face. "When did you get so utterly sappy?" I asked.
Fred laughed. "You're the one always telling me to talk about my feelings instead of bottling it all in. Didn't you say that was my entire problem?"
"Well...maybe not your entire problem," I answered. "Just...a problem."
Fred laughed. "See? You're already telling me I have issues."
"You're always saying I've got them too," I retaliated.
"Yeah, but you also acknowledge you have them," Fred laughed. "You were essentially the chairperson for the Sophie-is-fucked-up club. You were saying you were screwed up long before I ever admitted it to you."
I half-laughed, half-groaned and tilted my head back to look up at the sky. "I suppose you're at least good for keeping me in check."
"That I am," Fred said proudly, letting out a laugh of his own. "And honestly, you do the same for me, so...right back at ya."
I let out a breath of air through my nose as I looked back at him, reaching out and running my hand through his hair. The ring on my finger caught the moonlight, causing me to smile.
"Well...I can't wait to bicker like children with you," I finally whispered.
"Right back at ya," Fred said again, letting out a chuckle as I groaned and buried my head in his chest. His arms snaked around my waist and he kissed the top of my head. I tilted my head up and he kissed my forehead and then my lips.
"All you seem to be able to say is right back at ya," I laughed. "And you call me the woman of few words. Aren't you proud I didn't say oh when you asked me to marry you?"
"Very proud," Fred answered. "Although, what you did was essentially say nothing. You literally admitted you didn't know what to say. I had to give you some help."
I rolled my eyes and pulled away from him. I kept hold on his hand and began walking towards the house, tugging him along with me. "Come on...let's go inside. I want to see if there's any leftover pie, considering you ate most of my slice earlier."
"If you know anything about my family it's that you can't leave food unattended for too long," Fred said. "Someone else will almost always eat it instead. So, in all fairness, if you snooze, you lose."
"Great, so you're saying there might not even be any pie left inside," I laughed.
"It's more than likely that is the case," Fred replied.
"I blame you," I sighed. "For all of it."
"We haven't been engaged for an hour yet and you've already told me that I have problems and then you even proceeded to blame me for your problems," Fred remarked with an amazed shake of his head. "Incredible."
"You just essentially told me you didn't mind if we spent the rest of our lives bickering," I replied, continuing to tug him towards the house. "We'd better start now."
Fred laughed and tugged me back towards him. "That's not what I said."
"Essentially it was!" I replied.
"You're twisting my words," Fred answered with another laugh. He grabbed me by the waist and picked me up, lightly tossing me over his shoulder as if I weighed nothing. I let out a squeak and a giggle as I clutched onto the back of his shirt.
"You think I'm going to drop you?" Fred asked with a laugh as he carried me towards the back door.
"Wouldn't put it past you," I muttered.
Fred laughed and pretended to drop me, loosening his grip just slightly before tightening it again, keeping me steady. But not before I'd let out a shriek and clutched onto his shirt even tighter.
"You complete ass!" I cried, smacking a fist against Fred's back. He didn't even flinch. Instead, he actually continued to laugh.
"What was that?" He asked. "You like my ass?"
"That's not what I said and you know it," I said with a huff. I lifted my arm to sweep my hair away from my face before going back to gripping Fred's shirt.
"That's rude," Fred quipped. "I like yours." He shifted his hand from my thigh and playfully swatted at my behind.
I let out another huff and gave him a slight pinch in the spot just by his armpit. Fred winced and let out a string of curse words.
"Do that again and I really will drop you!" He exclaimed.
"I didn't even pinch you that hard, you big baby," I answered, rolling my eyes.
We finally reached the Burrow and Fred carried me into the kitchen before setting me back down. He made a beeline for a corner of the counter, where the remainder of the blueberry pie from earlier still sat.
"Just enough left for two people," Fred commented, picking up the pie. He tilted it towards me and smiled, showing me what was leftover. It was, as he'd said, just enough for two slices.
I grinned. "Perfect," I said, pulling out a seat at the table and plopping down into it.
Fred grabbed two forks from the drawer to his right and then brought the entire pie dish over to the table. He set it down in the middle and sat down across from me, grinning as he held out one of the forks across the table for me to take.
"I'm not that impatient, you know," I said in slight amusement as I took the fork from him. "I could have waited for you to cut it and put it on a plate."
"I thought I'd save Mum some dish washing," Fred answered with a laugh as he began digging his fork into the pie. He stuck a bite into his mouth and sighed happily before grinning at me again. "You'd better start digging in yourself or else I'm going to end up eating it all again."
I giggled as I leaned forward and reached out with my fork to nudge Fred's fork away from the pie. "Hands off my pie, Freddie."
Fred laughed and started trying to nudge my fork out of the way. I let out a scoff of annoyance and darted my hand away from his, scooping the biggest bite that I could manage onto my fork, and sticking it all into my mouth with a triumphant grin.
Fred gaped at me. "Bloody hell," he said with a breath of laughter. He was staring at me with a look that was equal parts amused and bewildered. "I didn't know you were capable of opening your mouth so wide."
"Shut up," I mumbled, my mouth still full.
"You'd think with a mouth that big, you'd talk more," Fred retaliated, going in for another bite of pie.
"I talk just enough," I answered, pretending to stab his hand with the tongs of my fork.
Fred quickly moved his hand and went back to dig into a different section of the pie. "You talk just enough now. Took you a while to get to this point. And you still don't talk as much as George and I do. Or as much as anyone in this family does."
"Why would I when you do enough talking for the entire world?" I asked, glancing up at him playfully as I stuck another bite of pie in my mouth.
"Because I like hearing you talk," Fred responded with a shrug.
I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "You do not. What guy loves hearing their girlfriend talk all the time?"
"Hey, its fiancée now," Fred reminded me.
"Right," I whispered, smiling down at my left hand as I wiggled my fingers slightly, letting the diamond on my finger catch the light.
"I guess what I meant is I mostly like talking to you," Fred shrugged. "It's also easier now that the conversation isn't so one sided." He grinned at me. "You no longer look at me like I have ten heads-at least not constantly. And you now say more than just the word oh."
I let out another insulted scoff as I tried to lightly stab Fred's hand with my fork again. But he was too quick. He moved his hand away and dug his fork into the last bite of pie.
"Asshole," I muttered, smiling slightly and shaking my head as I dropped my own fork into the now empty pie dish.
Fred brought his fork to his lips and slowly opened his mouth, looking at me teasingly as his hand hovered right in front of his face. Finally, he grinned wider and closed his mouth, holding his fork out to me. "You can get the last bite this time," he said.
I smiled and leaned forward, opening my mouth and letting Fred feed me the last bite of a very delicious blueberry pie.
"I'm sad it's gone," I sighed, leaning back in my chair and gazing down at the now empty pie dish. I glanced back up at Fred and smiled. "But thanks for sharing it with me this time. And letting me get the last bite."
Fred grinned. "Next time, it'll be me getting the last bite, so enjoy the victory now."
I let out a snort of laughter just as Ron and Charlie appeared at the doorway at the same time, both of them shoving the other to force their way through it.
"I'm getting the last of the pie, Ron, and there's nothing you can do about it," Charlie said through gritted teeth, grunting as he continued trying to push Ron out of the way.
"No, I was the one who said I was going to get some. You only even considered the option because I said it!" Ron gave Charlie a hard nudge in the side with his elbow and Charlie did the same back.
"Well, then you should've kept your mouth shut," he said, shoving Ron harder.
"Neither one of you are going to get any pie." Ginny's voice came from the living room behind them, and the next thing I knew, she was sliding beneath Ron and Charlie's legs on her stomach. "I'll have finished it all by the time you two finish arguing," she cackled. She gracefully pulled herself to her feet and turned around. Her mouth fell open when she saw Fred and I sitting at the table, the empty dish of pie sitting between us.
"Hate to break it to you," Fred sighed, leaning back in his chair and lacing his fingers behind his head, "but none of you are getting any pie." He tilted his head towards me and smiled. "Sophie ate it all. You would not believe how wide her mouth can open. I'm pretty sure she actually unhinged her jaw trying to fit the last bite of pie in her mouth."
I aimed a kick at his leg as hard as I could, but he didn't even flinch. He did, however, laugh and stick out his tongue.
Ron and Charlie had both made it through the door by now and were standing on either side of Ginny, looking down at the empty pie dish in disappointment.
"All three of you were sadly just not quick enough," Fred said, not looking the least bit sorry or sad. He shrugged. "Besides, Sophie and I just got engaged. We're entitled to the last bit of pie."
"I can tell you exactly what you're entitled to," Charlie muttered, shooting Fred a look.
"What was that?" Fred asked casually. "Couldn't quite ear you, Charlie."
"Like hell you couldn't," Charlie answered. "George only just barely gets away with that joke because he went and got his whole damn ear blown off. But you-" he punctuated the word with a playful punch to Fred's shoulder-"you can't use that bullshit excuse."
He punched Fred's arm again and Fred swatted him away before getting to his feet. "You really want to do this right now?" He asked with a laugh, trying to smack Charlie upside the head.
"I do if you do," Charlie answered, deflecting Fred's hand and trying to hit him back in return.
Fred swung out again and Charlie swatted him away. A second later, Fred had Charlie in a headlock and the two of them bumped into the counter, jostling some dishes that had been left there. The dishes rattled and teetered slightly.
I got up from the table and moved out of the way as Ginny used her wand to prevent the dishes from falling off the counter.
"Your mother was right when she compared Fred to a bull in a china shop," I muttered, glancing at Ginny.
"This happened all the time growing up," Ginny snorted. "You have no idea. But you should definitely consider yourself lucky that you never grew up around boys. They're always knocking each other around. Usually it's Charlie starting something with one of the twins. When he's not around, it's not as bad. But in Charlie's absence, Fred and George do tend to gang up on Ron."
"I'm perfectly happy to let them beat each other to death," Ron shrugged, jerking his chin towards Fred and Charlie. "As long as it's not me this time." He picked up the pie dish from the table and examined it. He finally picked a piece of leftover crust from the side of the dish and popped it into his mouth.
Mrs. Weasley burst into the kitchen just then, swatting at Fred and Charlie to get them to stop moving. "Not in the kitchen!" She cried. "How many times have I told you? If you're going to behave like animals, take it outside!" She pulled Charlie out of the headlock that Fred had him in and then she simply stood there glaring at them.
"Fred ate the rest of the blueberry pie," Charlie complained, massaging a hand over the back of his neck.
"Seems to me that it's Ron holding the empty dish," Fred shrugged, still breathing heavily as he tilted his head towards Ron.
Ron let out a scoff and set the empty dish down with a clatter as he shot Fred a look. "Weren't you just blaming Sophie earlier?" He asked. "You even said she had a big mouth."
I let out a snort of laughter and covered my mouth with my hand. Fred, however, leaned over the table and started repeatedly flicking Ron in the side of the head, a teasing smile on his face as he did so.
"Oi, don't talk about Sophie like that!" He chastised.
"You said it first!"
"In jest!"
"I know that!" Ron answered, flinching away from Fred. "I was just pointing out that you'd said it at all!"
"Which wasn't even necessary."
"Alright, enough!" Mrs. Weasley demanded, marching around the table and pushing Fred away from Ron. She pointed her wand in Fred's face. "If you don't keep your hands to yourself, I'll put you on non-magical dish duty."
"Mum," Fred whined, "come on, not dish duty."
"Then keep your hands to yourself," she ordered.
"Why aren't you threatening Charlie with non-magical dish duty?" Fred complained.
"Because," Mrs. Weasley began, turning to Charlie and pointing her wand in his face instead of Fred's, "I'm threatening him with non-magical bathroom duty instead."
Fred let out a bark of laughter as Charlie groaned.
"Bathroom duty?" He asked in horror. "Mum, it's Christmas! Can't you just lay off?"
"You know, Mum, none of us were really fighting," Fred said. "Just messing around."
"Doesn't matter." Mrs. Weasley jabbed her wand in Fred's face again. "I don't care if you've just gotten engaged. It does not excuse you from behaving like a civilized adult."
"Fred doesn't need an excuse," Charlie piped up. "He's never acted like-"
"And you," Mrs. Weasley said, turning back to Charlie. "Don't think I don't know that you're just as much to blame, if not more. The infamous instigator of the family."
Charlie took a step back from her and put his hands up in surrender. He and Fred looked at each other and they were both fighting back laughter.
"Merlin, Mum," Charlie said, "no one got hurt. It's fine."
"It wouldn't be fine if you'd knocked over all those dishes," she said. "You'd be the first to complain when you had to clean them all up."
"You know, Mum," Charlie began, "all of this started because of your blueberry pie. You should be honored."
Mrs. Weasley clucked her tongue and let out a scoff, but her expression softened and she shifted her gaze to the empty pie dish on the kitchen table.
"If I'd known it would be this popular, I would have made two," she said.
"You've always known your blueberry pie is a hit," Fred snorted. "I don't know why you didn't make two to begin with. One entirely for me and one for the rest of the peasants."
"Oh, hush," Mrs. Weasley said, lightly swatting him. But she was smiling now. "I'll keep that in mind for next time."
"An entire pie just for me?" Fred asked hopefully.
"No. Two pies for everyone," Mrs. Weasley responded.
"You know, you can just say it, Mum," Fred said, glancing at me. "One whole pie needs to be for Sophie's big mouth."
He and Charlie began to laugh, while the rest of us looked on unamused and Mrs. Weasley pointed her wand in Fred's face again.
"Enough of that. You haven't been engaged a full hour and you're already making jokes at Sophie's expense. If you keep it up, you're going to send her running."
"Sophie's not going anywhere," Fred answered defiantly, sending a wink my way. I felt my face flush.
"That's a good point," Charlie chimed in. "If she hasn't run away from you by now, I think you're safe."
Mrs. Weasley rounded on Charlie now, as Ron leaned towards me. "Hey, you know...don't worry about Fred's comment too much," he told me in a low voice as Mrs. Weasley continued to berate Fred and Charlie. "Once he finds something like this to tease you for, he doesn't want to let it go for a while. If ever. Usually it's me on the receiving end of these kinds of jokes."
I smiled at him. "Thanks, Ron. I appreciate that. Luckily, I know him well enough to know that he's not actually trying to make me feel bad. A few years ago, I would have thought otherwise, but now...Now I know it's just a joke."
"But when he gets other people in on it and they're just laughing and looking over at you..." He shrugged. "Sometimes it gets under my skin when they do it to me. And they know that which makes them do it more. So I'd get used to it if I were you. But remember that it doesn't mean he likes you any less. If anything, it means he likes you more."
I actually laughed. "That's good to know. I would certainly hope he wouldn't start liking me any less."
"Wouldn't you hope he more than just likes you?" Ginny asked. "You're marrying him."
"You make a good point," I said, looking over at Ginny.
Mrs. Weasley was ushering us out of the kitchen now, and Fred stopped beside me to wrap an arm around my shoulders and kiss my temple.
"You more than just like me, don't you?" I asked teasingly, grinning up at him.
"Who said I even liked you at all?" Fred asked, wrinkling his nose.
I scoffed. "You were the one who just got down on his knees to beg me to marry you, were you not?"
Fred stopped short and gaped at me as he blinked a few times. "I didn't-I wouldn't say I begged you."
"As I said, you were down on your knees, yes?" I asked innocently as Ginny held back a laugh from beside me.
"Yes, but-I asked you," Fred insisted. "That was the point, wasn't it? I asked you as opposed to telling you, just like you said you wanted. We never once talked about begging."
"You still begged."
"I asked you."
"You asked in words, but physically...you were begging," I laughed.
"Thats how it's supposed to happen!" Fred exclaimed, continuing to gape on me. "I was supposed to get down on one knee."
"According to who?" I asked, glancing at Ginny and nudging her as we both stifled giggled behind our hands.
"Oh, bugger off," Fred scoffed, lightly shoving my shoulder and rolling his eyes. He turned to Ginny, who was still laughing. "And you too," he said, swatting at her as well as she aimed a kick at his shin.
"You bugger off," she retaliated, sticking out her tongue. She turned to me and grabbed my arm. "Come on, let's go celebrate your engagement properly." She gave Fred a pointed look. "Without anyone fighting and nearly knocking dishes onto the floor."
"Can I come?" Fred asked. "I'll behave, I promise."
Ginny scoffed and tugged me upstairs towards her room. "No. You're not allowed. Girls only."
Fred rolled his eyes as I looked back at him and shrugged. Once Ginny had pulled me around the corner and up the stairs, I turned back to her. "So what's your idea for properly celebrating an engagement?"
"Well, normally I'd suggest we go out somewhere for drinks, but considering it's Christmas Eve and we're here, we're bringing the drinks to us."
"How?" I asked as Ginny pulled me into her room, where Hermione, Fleur, and Katie were already waiting.
Without missing a beat, Ginny let go of my arm and knelt down, pulling some butterbeers and firewhiskys from under the bed. She also produced a pumpkin juice and handed it to Fleur.
"Since you can't drink," she said.
Fleur nodded and began using her wand to uncap her drink. She was nearing seven and a half months pregnant now and while she was definitely showing, she had the smallest baby bump I'd ever seen. I actually wasn't sure if I was surprised or not by how good she still managed to look while pregnant.
"When did you go out and buy all of this?" I asked Ginny, uncapping my own drink and sitting down cross-legged on the bed.
"I didn't," Ginny admitted. "Charlie always keeps a stash hidden in his room when he's home. I stole it from him."
"All of it?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"All of it," Ginny repeated. "He's going back to Romania after the New Year. What does he need all of this for?"
"You make a valid point," I laughed, taking a sip of my drink. My ring caught the light and I found myself staring at it again. I had a feeling I was going to be doing that often. I couldn't help it. The ring was beautiful and the fact that I was engaged felt surreal.
Ginny finished uncapping her own drink and held the bottle out in front of her. "Cheers," she said, smiling at me, "to the newest Weasley."
I flushed red, but extended my arm nonetheless. Everyone else did the same and we clinked our drinks together.
"What are you thinking for a wedding date?" Ginny asked, lowering her drink and swiping at her lips with the back of her hand.
I looked at the other girls in alarm. "I only just got engaged, Ginny."
"Even still, you must have some idea," she shrugged. "Don't think about it, just say what your first instinct tells you."
I hesitated for a brief moment before blurting out: "I don't know...next fall maybe?"
"Perfect," Ginny nodded. "Spring would probably be too soon, so I'm not sure that would be possible. But this way you'll have enough time to plan, and you won't be getting married in the winter. I think winter is too damn cold for a wedding. And there's always the chance of snow! Personally, I think even the fall is too cold. Spring and summer are the best, if you ask me."
"No one did," Katie muttered under her breath as she took a sip of her drink. Ginny still heard her and stuck her tongue out.
"September might not be too bad," Fleur suggested. "Usually the weather eez still fairly nice. Eet eez not as hot as July and August, but eet won't be as cold as November and December. And there certainly won't be any snow."
"Unless there's some fluke storm," Katie chimed in. When we all looked at her, she shrugged. "What? It could happen!"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "I second what Fleur said. September is perfect."
"Aren't you forgetting that you don't have a say in this?" Hermione reminded Ginny, raising her eyebrows in amusement. "You already got married. Now it's Sophie's turn."
"It's just an opinion, Hermione," Ginny argued.
I looked between them with almost an expression of panic. I'd been euphoric in the moments after Fred's proposal, but now it was sinking in that I'd have a wedding to plan. And at the end of all the planning, I'd actually be getting married. I was going to be a wife. How on earth was I going to be able to do all of this? I didn't have the slightest clue of how to do any of it.
"I think she's glitching," Katie said, nudging Ginny and looking at me in amusement. "Her eyes are as wide as saucers and I think she stopped breathing."
"Merlin's beard, Soph, breathe," Ginny said, leaning over to thump me on the back. I immediately took in a gasp of air.
"I can't get married!" I blurted out.
The girls laughed. "You need to get ahold of yourself," Ginny told me. "You can't afford to be getting this overwhelmed this early."
"Will you lay off?" Hermione scolded. She got up and came to sit beside me on the bed, looking at me kindly. "Why do you say you can't get married?" she asked, her voice patient.
I turned my wide eyed gaze to her and shook my head. "I don't know how to plan a wedding. I don't even know what I want. Flowers, music, food...All I do know for sure is who I'd invite. It's a short list on my end." I swallowed. "And besides all that-I just don't know what I'm doing. I don't know how to be married."
"You think any of us do?" Ginny laughed.
Hermione shot her a look before turning back to me. She sighed. "Ginny does have a point. No one really knows what they're doing. With anything, really." She smiled. "Just do what you've been doing. Fred loves you. He wouldn't have asked you to marry him if he didn't love you and want you exactly the way you are."
"I suppose you're right," I sighed.
"Being married isn't all that different from dating," Fleur added. She shrugged. "Eet is just more...official."
"Right," Katie said, nodding. "The biggest change when I married George was that the Ministry now has a record that we're married. So it is now harder for me to dump him. I swear I've considered doing just that at least once a month since we started dating and now if I actually did want to go through with it, there's a lot of bloody paperwork. And I hate paperwork." She smiled and shrugged. "But nothing else really changed between me and George. Not for the worse anyway. Does he still drive me absolutely crazy? Yes. But I swear since we got married, I love him even more."
I thought that over. It was just another instance of me not knowing what to do with my sudden option of having a forever with someone. My sudden opportunity to have a future. And having choices about what to do with that future. Now that I had these things, I didn't feel well-equipped. In fact, I felt less equipped than most might feel in my situation. I knew I wanted to marry Fred. I'd known for a while now. But I couldn't help the random bouts of panic that seemed to occasionally overtake me like what had happened just now. I couldn't help the sudden worry that perhaps I wasn't as ready for this as I'd thought.
"Like Hermione said," Ginny told me, "Fred loves you. And if you love him back, and if you want to marry him, than you're ready. The rest you figure out as you go."
I looked up at her and smiled. "Thanks, Gin. And the rest of you, as well. Thanks."
My sudden wave of panic had gone just as quickly as it had come. And now it had been replaced with nothing but gratitude.