A/N – Welcome to my new story. The story has 17 chapters plus an epilogue and an After The End. Updates will be Mondays and Thursdays. I was originally going to publish this story later in the year as although it's not a Christmas story exactly, it is primarily set at that time of year, but I am working on a proper Christmas story I'm hoping to have finished by December and I want to have time to publish that as well. Although even starting to post now, this story won't be complete until December anyway. I hope people enjoy this story, and hopefully there will be a few one shots to come over the next few months as well.
It was surprisingly mild for the first week of December as Molly Weasley battled the crowds in Diagon Alley. With Christmas fast approaching, Molly wanted to get her Christmas shopping finished so she could concentrate on making sure the food and drink was organised for the festive period. In her pocket was a list of people she still had to buy for, and a few ideas for what to get them.
Christmas had always been an expensive time of the year for the Weasleys since they had quite a few children. These days there wasn't just Molly and Arthur's children to buy for, there was their children's partners and their eight grandchildren. Molly sorted her children and their partners by buying gift vouchers and knitting various bits and pieces all year round. While her grandchildren also received a knitted gift she liked to buy them a little something else as well.
Molly already had presents sorted for seven year old Victoire and three year old Louis, who were Bill and Fleur's two children. She also had something for Percy's four year old daughter, Molly. On her list was a trip to the Quidditch shop where she hoped to pick up a little something for Harry and Ginny's five year old son, James, and possibly something for George's mischievous two year old, Fred. Little Fred was named after his late uncle, who'd perished in the war eight years ago, and he'd inherited all the mischievousness Fred and George had possessed as children.
With five of her grandchildren sorted, Molly then just had to think about her other three granddaughters. Harry and Ginny's daughter, Lily, had just turned one and Ginny had already told her mother that clothes never came in wrong for the little girl. Ron's wife, Luna, had also said clothes were the perfect present for their two year old daughter, Rose.
That just left Molly with her four year old granddaughter, Anya, to think about. Anya was Charlie's daughter with Ron and Harry's best friend, Hermione Granger. Charlie and Hermione had indulged in a brief fling when Charlie was over for Ginny and Harry's wedding, with Anya being the result of them being a bit careless with the contraceptive spell. Molly was less than impressed when the pair informed the family of their situation, but she was even less impressed when it became clear that the pair weren't planning on bringing the baby up together.
Throughout Hermione's pregnancy, tensions between Molly and the pair had begun to escalate. It had soon became clear that Charlie wasn't planning on leaving his job in Romania, nor was Hermione planning on moving to be near him. Molly was not impressed that Charlie wouldn't be living in the same country as his child, but the pair hadn't budged on their plans. Together the pair bought a small house for Hermione and the baby to live, which didn't impress Molly as she'd offered to let Hermione move into The Burrow so she'd have some support without Charlie being around.
Things didn't get any easier between Molly and Hermione once Anya was born. With her other grandchildren Molly often looked after them when their parents were at work, but when she mentioned doing the same with Anya, Hermione politely refused the offer. While she was pregnant Hermione had reserved a place at a local muggle nursery and she made it clear that her daughter would also be attending a muggle school when she was old enough. Molly didn't see any reason that she couldn't have just looked after her granddaughter, but Hermione had been adamant with what she wanted.
Another thing Hermione had been adamant on, which Molly didn't agree with, was Anya's surname. Hermione refused to let Anya be called Weasley, she ensured her daughter was a Granger like her. Molly worried that Anya's lack of the Weasley name would alienate her from her family, especially since Charlie lived in Romania and he didn't see that much of his daughter.
Out of all of her grandchildren, Molly felt she knew Anya the least. As such she was struggling over what to get her granddaughter for Christmas. After finishing the rest of her shopping with ease, Molly was still wandering around with no clue as to what to get Anya. In hopes of finding some inspiration she headed into a shop that had opened a year or so ago that specialised in children's toys and clothes. Molly had been in the shop with Ginny, but the prices were pretty high and with eight grandchildren she couldn't really afford to get them all something from the shop. However, that didn't mean she couldn't get some inspiration from what was on sale.
After looking at the toys, and being amazed that anyone would pay the ridiculous high prices they were charging, Molly headed to the clothes section of the shop. Entering the girls section, she frowned when she spotted Narcissa Malfoy examining two fancy dresses. Narcissa didn't have any grandchildren, but judging from the size of the outfits Molly could make a good guess as to who she was shopping for.
Since the middle of the previous year, Hermione had been dating Narcissa's son, Draco. Anya was rather taken with Draco, and from what Molly had picked up Draco's parents lavished attention on Anya when they saw her. The fact her granddaughter was getting so close to the Malfoys was yet another point of contention between Molly and Hermione. Molly was convinced that Draco was trying to take Charlie's place in Anya's life and she was terrified that her granddaughter would end up not knowing who her true family really was.
"Ah, Molly," Narcissa smiled as she looked up and spotted the other witch hovering at the end of the aisle. "What do you think?" she asked, holding the dresses up.
"They're lovely," Molly replied honestly. One dress was a shimmering lilac colour, while the other was deep green, but they were both equally as gorgeous.
"I just can't decide between the two of them," Narcissa said, turning back to look at the dresses in her hands. "Anya would look lovely in them both."
"Yes, she would," Molly sighed, looking at the prices of the two dresses and finding she couldn't afford anything like that for her granddaughter.
"I think I might get them both," Narcissa decided with a firm nod.
With a thin smile that hid how jealous she was of the other woman's ability to buy expensive presents for her granddaughter, Molly turned the corner and carried on browsing through the racks of clothing. Spotting a sale rack, she headed over to it and set about scouring every item that was on sale. If there was a bargain, she was going to snap it up.
As she was browsing she was aware that Narcissa was the in the aisle next to her, but Molly didn't really pay attention to the other woman until Draco entered the shop and walked over to his mother. Clearly the pair were shopping together as Narcissa wasn't the slightest bit surprised to see her son.
"Did you get it?" Narcissa asked Draco in a quiet voice.
Intrigued by the fact Narcissa had lowered her voice, Molly moved closer to the shelves and managed to peer through the clothes to see Draco pull a small box from his pocket. When he flipped the box lid open and revealed a beautiful diamond ring, Molly had to stifle her shocked gasp. Luckily Narcissa's small squeal of excitement hid any noise she may have made.
"It's beautiful, Draco," Narcissa told her son.
"Now all I have to do is hope she says yes," Draco replied, putting the box back in his jacket pocket.
"Of course she'll say yes," Narcissa tutted. "Now, let me go and pay for these dresses before we go and get some lunch."
Molly waited until the two Malfoys had headed off to the cash register, before hurrying out of the shop. Despite the fact she still didn't have a present for Anya, she decided to end her shopping trip and she made her way to the apparition point and headed home, her mind whirling with what she'd overheard. Arriving at home, Molly dropped all her bags onto the floor of the front room and collapsed onto the sofa just as Arthur poked his head around the door from the kitchen.
"Did you get everything?" he asked his wife with a smile.
"No," Molly replied grumpily. "I still need Anya's present."
"Perhaps we can ask Hermione what Anya would like," Arthur suggested.
"I am perfectly capable of buying my granddaughter a present without asking for Hermione's advice," Molly snapped.
"What's happened?" Arthur asked with a sigh. "Have you and Hermione had another spat?"
"I haven't seen Hermione for days," Molly answered.
"Then what's wrong?" Arthur asked gently.
"We're losing her, Arthur," Molly whispered, looking up at her husband with tears in her eyes.
"Losing who?" Arthur asked, entering the front room and sitting down beside his wife.
"Anya," Molly answered. "I saw Narcissa today and she was buying Anya dresses we could never afford."
"You're Anya's grandmother, Molly," Arthur insisted. "You don't have to compete with Narcissa Malfoy. Sure, the Malfoys might be able to buy Anya expensive dresses, but we are her family."
"That's not all," Molly continued. "I also saw Draco, and I overheard him telling Narcissa he was going to ask Hermione to marry him."
Arthur nodded his head, quietly trying to digest the news. He'd accepted Hermione's relationship with the youngest Malfoy because of Anya, but that didn't mean he fully approved. He knew most of the family had no real issues with Draco, but too much had happened between the Weasleys and Malfoys for Arthur to ever be truly comfortable with having Draco in their lives.
"I can't say the idea thrills me, but at the end of the day, it's none of our business," Arthur finally said.
"None of our business?" Molly screeched. "Of course it's our business. Anya is our granddaughter. Hermione wants to replace Charlie with Draco, and us with Lucius and Narcissa. Do you really want your granddaughter calling Lucius Malfoy, Grandpa?"
"Of course I don't," Arthur said, shivering at the very thought of his old rival being so close to his granddaughter. "But as I said, it's Hermione's life and we can't dictate who she marries."
"Maybe not, but we can help put her straight," Molly insisted. "We can't let this happen, Arthur."
"I can't see how we can stop it," Arthur confessed with a slight shrug.
"We have to," Molly cried desperately. "Right from the beginning Hermione has tried to shut me out of Anya's life, and this is just the final straw. Anya's already the grandchild we see the least, and this will just makes things worse. Hermione won't want to bring Anya here, not once she's a Malfoy. Mark my words, if this wedding goes ahead, we'll be cut out of Anya's life."
"Do you really think Hermione would be so cruel?" Arthur asked with a frown. He knew tensions were strained between Molly and Hermione, but he'd never thought Hermione was being vindictive where Anya was concerned, she just had different ideas on how to raise a child than Molly.
"If it hurts me, then yes, I do think she would be that cruel," Molly confessed. "Hermione hates me, she's made that very clear over the last five years. All I've ever done is try and help her, and she's just pushed me away. Nothing I ever do is good enough for her, and no matter how hard I try, I'm always in the wrong. I can't win, Arthur. Hermione wants me out of Anya's life, and by marrying Draco, she might just achieve it."
"No-one will force us out of Anya's life," Arthur reassured his wife as he wrapped a comforting arm around her. "Anya is a Weasley, and that will never change."
"But she's not though, is she?" Molly replied with a sad sigh. "Hermione wouldn't let her be called Weasley. I bet she changes her name to Malfoy though."
"No, I won't let that happen," Arthur insisted firmly. "And I won't let anyone take Anya away from us, Molly. She is our granddaughter, and that is all that matters."
"Maybe it's time we spoke to Charlie," Molly mused. "Maybe it's time for him to come home and face his responsibilities. It's not right him living in another country than his daughter. He needs to be here, with Anya."
"Perhaps the time has come for him to return home," Arthur agreed with a thoughtful nod. "He'll be home for Christmas, we can talk to him then and make him see sense."
"Yes, we can make him see that Anya needs him," Molly said, agreeing with her husband. "Charlie's her father, not Draco Malfoy. It's time people realised that. Anya is a Weasley, and she's going to stay a Weasley. I am not letting my granddaughter be corrupted by those blasted Malfoys. I won't let them win. I will do whatever it takes to keep hold of my granddaughter."
As Arthur comforted Molly, she was unaware that one of her sons had been in the kitchen with Arthur when she'd returned home. She was also unaware that he'd heard everything she'd said and couldn't stand to see her so upset. Blaming Hermione for his mother's hurt, he quietly slipped away from The Burrow, his mind whirling with ways he could make Hermione see sense and realise that the Weasleys were Anya's family, not the Malfoys.