Rory spent most of her time at the Burrow in the living room, reading or journaling or helping Ginny with decorations. Harry kept making an effort not to spend all of his time with Ron, but she always shooed him away after a while. She didn't mind backing off, they were on Ron's turf after all, and she monopolized most of Harry's limited free time at school, especially now that she wasn't speaking with Ron outside of class.

But also most of her interactions with Harry were a little stressful now that they were all stuck in such close quarters together. He wasn't irritating or troublesome. The opposite in fact. He was his usual charming self.

The trouble was that twice now he'd been coming up the stairs to go to Ron's room just in time to see Rory stepping out of the bathroom in a towel before she headed off to Ginny's room. Every kiss goodnight she'd given him since they'd arrived had weight to it. When they were together, they couldn't talk without flirting or teasing each other. They'd both been joking about keeping their hands to themselves over winter break, but now it was really starting to feel like a chore. And it'd only been four days.

She was glad for the commotion of Christmas Eve and the distraction it brought. The house was full now and they were all gathered in the living room listening to a broadcast of Celestina Warbeck.

She was sitting on the couch with Harry, resting her head on his shoulder as she listened to the music. Harry had his fingers loosely entwined with hers. He was relaxed and happy. This was one of her favorite versions of Harry and he was always like this at the Burrow.

"Am I losing my mind or does Mrs. Weasley keep turning the music up every time Fleur speaks?" Harry whispered in her ear.

"You are definitely not imagining it," Rory said.

"I kind of feel bad. I mean, she is marrying Bill. Kind of have to get over it at some point," Harry said. "I don't know how it's not driving her nuts."

"She's half-veela. She's magically predisposed to women kind of icing her out. She probably doesn't care enough to be bothered," Rory said. "Plus, she's marrying Bill."

"What's that got to do with anything?" Harry asked with a chuckle.

Rory felt her face heat, but she pressed on.

"I just mean, Bill is very good-looking and charming and he's a curse breaker," Rory said. "People were going to be jealous of her anyway. It's the same with you."

"Me?" Harry asked.

"I'm sorry, do you remember the mountains of hate mail I got during the Tri-Wizard Tournament?" Rory asked.

Harry chuckled. "Good point." He reached over and brushed her hair behind her ear, her skin tingled. He leaned in close and whispered, "You are annoyingly popular yourself."

"With Zach maybe," Rory said.

"Idiot," he grumbled. "But he's not the only one I've threatened to hex this year."

"Oh, Arthur! Do you remember when we danced to this song when we were eighteen?" Molly asked.

Mr. Weasley was sitting on the opposite side of Harry and he seemed to be fighting to keep himself awake. He'd been working long days since she'd gotten here from school and this was the first time she'd seen him for more than a few minutes.

He looked over to Harry and Rory and smiled apologetically. "Don't worry. It'll be over soon."

"I'd be the same way if there was a special ABBA broadcast on," Rory said.

"That's muggle group you like. The Swedish one?" Mr. Weasley asked. Rory nodded. Mr. Weasley chuckled victoriously. "I do remember some of the things Ronald tells me about you lot."

"How nice of him," Harry said, looking pointedly at Rory. She rolled her eyes.

Yes, it was lovely that Ron talked about her outside of school and remembered things she liked, but that was not going to soften her heart to him today.

"How are things at the Ministry? Busy?" Rory asked, swiftly changing the subject.

"Quite," Mr. Weasley said, before delving into things at the Ministry and the arrests they'd made that were going absolutely nowhere. Harry asked about the latest search that took place at Malfoy Manor and how there was nothing of note found.

And not to Rory's surprise, he found this was the opportune moment to bring up Slughorn's party and the conversation he'd overheard between Snape and Draco. This drew the attention of Sirius and her dad from the fireplace, which Rory also found unsurprising.

While she agreed that Draco was up to something, she was certain he was doing whatever it was under duress. But Snape, she didn't trust Snape as far as she could throw him.

"Has it occurred to you that Snape might have been pretending to offer help so that he could find out what Malfoy was up to?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"I figured you would say that," Harry replied. "But how do we know?"

"It's not our business to know," Remus chimed in. Rory restrained her eye roll. "Dumbledore trusts Snape and that should be good enough for all of us."

Instead of going off on another one of her patented "Dumbledore is kind of the worst" tangents, she looked to Sirius who also rolled his eyes.

"But what if he's wrong? Dumbledore says so himself that he makes mistakes, and," Harry paused and looked Remus right in the eyes, "can you honestly say you even like Snape?"

"I neither like nor dislike Severus," Remus said.

"Come on," Sirius scoffed.

"We're never going to be friends, obviously," Remus insisted. "But I haven't forgotten that the year I taught at Hogwarts he reliably made the Wolfsbane potion for me every month."

"And then he just 'accidentally' let it slip that you were a werewolf so you had to leave," Harry said. He sounded as frustrated as Rory felt, which she appreciated.

Remus seemed unbothered by this though. "It would've come out sooner or later. He could've done much worse by sabotaging the potion. But he kept me healthy the whole time and I'm grateful for that."

"Seriously Dad? He put your livelihood- and mine by the way, in jeopardy and you don't mind it because he didn't go out of his way to poison you? You need to have a higher bar when it comes to passing out gratitude," Rory said unable to hold her tongue any longer. "And Snape's not an idiot. He made that potion for you every month because Dumbledore asked him to. He wasn't going to not follow a directive from Dumbledore. He knew it would be much more effective to just force you out anyway. Which, by the way, is also crap. If Dumbledore could go to bat to keep an 'ex' deatheater on the payroll for over a decade he could've easily done it for you as well."

"It's more complicated than that, Aurora," Remus said.

Rory looked at Sirius again and he looked just as annoyed.

"I understand completely your feelings about Snape, and Harry, by all means, tell him about what you overheard, but I wouldn't expect him to respond any differently. I wouldn't be surprised if he already knows," Remus said. He looked at Rory expectantly. "Anything else you want to add?"

"It's Christmas Eve. I don't want to bring the mood down," she replied as Celestina Warbeck came to an end. "But maybe tomorrow."

"I appreciate your restraint," Remus said.

Rory rolled her eyes.

"Rory told me about your assignment," Harry said switching the subject entirely. Rory got to her feet.

"Take my seat, Dad. I'm going to sit by the fire," Rory said. She didn't want to hear him recount his time with the werewolves. It already stressed her out to think about him being out there. She didn't want to hear about it.

She took her dad's seat by the fire and was surprised to be joined by Sirius.

"You can't blame him for always wanting to see the best in people," he said. Behind them, Mr. Weasley walked off to the kitchen, offering up a nightcap to everyone.

"Snape is a pretty hard sell," Rory said. "And he's been nothing but nasty to me since I started school. And I don't trust him."

"I don't need convincing. I'm fully on your side here," he said.

"Are you?" she asked. She knew Sirius was a bit wary of Dumbledore since the summer, but to say that he was fully on her side was a big step.

Sirius thought over his words. "I've had some concerns lately. About Dumbledore's… His priorities?"

"And what priorities are those?" she asked.

Sirius shook his head. "Don't trouble yourself with it for now. I'm scheduled to have what's sure to be a very loud conversation about it on Boxing Day. Until then, just know that not all of us are taking him at his word. And you know my feelings about Snivellus."

"Not dissimilar to mine," she replied.

Sirius nodded towards Harry. "Usually he'd sound like Remus when talking about Dumbledore. Singing a bit of a different tune today. Things still going well with his lessons?"

Rory nodded. "He's enjoying them actually. He's just been a little frustrated with Dumbledore since… I told him about Dumbledore telling me that I was a liability. Well, he overheard me tell you about it. He was pretty upset about it. He talked to Dumbledore about it even though I told him he didn't need to."

"And what did Dumbledore say?" Sirius asked.

Rory shrugged. "Harry didn't say. He just told me that he wasn't going to let people talk badly about me, even Dumbledore. I'm guessing Dumbledore just doubled down though."

"That would make sense for Dumbledore," Sirius said.

"As much as I'm not a fan of Dumbledore, he is essential in all this," Rory said.

"He's not the end all though," Sirius said. "Glad Harry has his ear."

When Christmas morning came, Harry saw Ron sitting on his bed scowling at a small, open gift box in his lap.

"Happy Christmas," Harry said. "Did you get a bunch of coal?"

Ron glared at him and then looked back down to the gift. "Lavender got me… I just… I don't understand… Why would she—"

"Full sentences might help me to help you," Harry teased.

Ron held up a necklace. A gold chain with the words "My Sweetheart" hanging from it.

"Amazing. Definitely wear that in front of Fred and George," Harry said.

"Why would she think I would want something like this?" Ron asked.

"Well, think back. Have you ever mentioned that you want to go around with the words 'My Sweetheart' hanging round your neck?" Harry asked.

"No. Don't really talk much though," Ron said. "Mostly we're just—"

"Snogging. Don't worry. We've all noticed," Harry said. He thought back to how much grief Ron had given him when he'd first started dating Rory about how they were snogging all the time. Harry didn't think they were at the time, but in retrospect, he might've had his blinders on.

"She can't expect me to wear this," Ron said. "I mean, would you wear jewelry if Rory got it for you?"

Harry held up his wrist and showed Ron the leather bracelet that Rory had gotten him for Christmas last year.

Ron rolled his eyes. "That's different. That's not… It's subtle."

"Lavender isn't exactly a subtle person," Harry pointed out.

Before Ron could continue on, there was a shriek from downstairs. Harry immediately recognized the voice as Rory's and was on his feet. There was commotion and shouting as he and Ron headed downstairs.

"What the hell have I ever done to him to warrant being sent a box of maggots?" Rory yelled from Ginny's bedroom. Sirius was already outside of the door.

"Unfortunately, it's probably just that you were born," Sirius said.

"What's happened?" Harry asked.

Sirius looked over. "Kreacher sent her a present."

"Present my ass," Rory shouted from the room. "This is an act of terrorism."

"Calm down," Remus said from in the room. "I think I've got them all."

"I'm going to have a shower and I still don't think I'll ever feel clean again," Rory said.

She walked out of the room and grimaced as she passed Harry.

"Happy Christmas," she grumbled. She walked into the bathroom and slammed the door.

"So, it's a little funny isn't it or am I a terrible person for being amused?" Sirius asked as Remus walked out of the room.

"Because it was Kreacher, it is a little funny," Remus agreed.

Sirius chuckled and then swung his head over to Harry and Ron. He gave Ron a curious look.

"What've you got there?" Sirius asked. Ron was still holding Lavender's necklace in his hand. He held it up. "Oh, is that for your girlfriend?"

"From his girlfriend," Harry said.

"Oh," Remus and Sirius said in unison. They exchanged a look that said "Yikes."

Ron shook his head and went back up to his room.

"About Ron's girlfriend," Sirius said once Ron was out of earshot, "I'm still a bit confused about this whole double date that neither of you mentioned."

"Because it never happened," Harry said. "It's like Rory said. They don't mesh."

"But why?" Remus asked.

Harry sighed. "They just don't get along. They never have really."

"Then why'd you all agree to go on the date in the first place?" Sirius asked.

"Well, it was Lavender's idea and Rory agreed to it because she wanted to try to get along with her for Ron's sake," Harry said.

"For Ron? They're not talking now," Sirius said.

Harry didn't want to say more, but he needed to get the point across.

"Rory… Is very… She says what's on her mind almost always. And with Ron being her friend and Hermione saying to let it go, she really bit her tongue on the whole situation," Harry said.

"Until she didn't," Remus said.

"Correct," Harry said. "So we did not go on the date."

Sirius and Remus accepted this.

Harry went back upstairs to get dressed and grabbed one of his Christmas gifts for Rory. She was going to be annoyed that he'd gotten her more than one thing, especially after having gotten her a birthday present. But he couldn't help himself.

When he came back downstairs, Rory was out of the shower and dressed in her new Weasley sweater. Her hair was still wet and she was frowning.

"Still irritated about the maggots?" he asked.

"Beyond," she replied. "I feel like they're still on me."

Harry would have kissed her, but they were in the living room. Most everyone was there and he was not in the mood to have a snog in front of her dads. But he had an alternative option to cheer her up. "Will a present help?" Harry asked, holding his package up.

Rory managed a smile and walked over to the Christmas tree. She returned with a package as well.

They traded and Harry eagerly insisted that she open her gift first.

Rory unwrapped her present and he saw her eyes go wide when she saw Paul Hollywood's Bake cookbook.

And then she laughed. Which he hadn't expected. He started to say something but then she smiled at him.

"Please open your gift," Rory said.

Harry looked at the parcel in his hand. He knew it was a book from the beginning, but now that he was thinking about it, it was almost identical in size and shape as the recipe book he'd gotten her.

"No. No way," he said shaking his head. As he peeled the paper back Rory began to laugh harder, but sure enough, Harry unwrapped the same book. And they were both laughing.

"Tell me the two of you didn't get each other the same thing," Sirius said. "That might even be too obnoxious for me to tolerate."

"Too bad," Rory said holding up her book proudly.

"I think I'm going to need more coffee to deal with the two of you today," Remus said getting to his feet.

"Agreed," Sirius said joining him.

As soon as they were out of the room Rory kissed him.

"I love it," Rory said. "And I didn't even read it before I wrapped it for you so it'll still be a surprise."

"Good," Harry said. "And for my part, I did—"

She groaned. "You got me something else, didn't you?"

"I did," he said. "A few other things."

"More than one thing?" Rory asked. "You do too much."

"And I probably will forever," he said.

"You don't need to," Rory said. "I don't know why you even bother."

"Because I love you," he said.

"And I know that," she said. "Even without presents."

"Sure. But my love language is gift-giving," he said.

Rory shook her head. "Receiving gifts is what it is, Harry."

"Right," Harry said. "Receiving gifts, acts of service, quality time, words of affirmation… I can't remember the last one."

"Oh, the one that's your actual love language?" she chuckled. She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "Physical touch."

"Ah," Harry remembered. "I am a fan of that."

She chuckled again. "I'm more of a—"

"Quality time," Harry said. Rory nodded. "See I know things."

"We got each other the same gift. I'm not worried about you not knowing me well," she teased.

"I think I just," Harry paused and thought over his words. "I never got gifts, Rory. Not until I started at Hogwarts. And that was the first time I ever felt loved. I mean, I'd met Mrs. Weasley for five minutes and she knit me a sweater."

Rory nodded. "I get it." She kissed him again. "And if you must shower me with gifts then I suppose I cannot stop you."

"The rest of them are in my room back home," Harry said. "I'll give them to you tonight."

When they finally sat down for lunch, everyone was chatting happily amongst themselves and Harry was taking it all in. He was happy. Everyone around him was happy. This was the best Christmas yet.

Across the table, Fleur asked for gravy and Ron quickly went to hand it to her, nearly spilling it as he did.

"You are almost as bad as zat Tonks," Fleur said. "She is constantly knocking—"

"Remus, have you seen much of Tonks since you got back?" Mrs. Weasley asked interrupting Fleur.

Remus was obviously startled by the question. "Oh, not much. Last I saw her was at the train station."

"You know, I invited her to come," Molly said.

"She's probably spending Christmas with her own family," Remus said.

"I know she was going to visit with them yesterday, but she gave me the impression she was going to be spending today alone," Mrs. Weasley went on.

Harry did not miss Rory and Sirius exchanging amused glances with each other across the table. This was the worst kept secret in the Order.

"I'm sure she'll be by," Rory said.

"Did she write to you?" Sirius asked.

"No, but," she started, and she raised a finger and pointed it at the kitchen door. Just as she did there was a knock. "I wonder who that could be."

Fred and George applauded as Mr. Weasley opened the door to reveal Tonks.

"Spot on with that timing, Tonks," George said.

"And Rory as well," Fred said. "I think using your abilities for comedic timing is the key to your success."

"I'll remember that," Rory said.

"Not sure what I just walked into, but happy Christmas," Tonks said.

"I was afraid you wouldn't come," Mrs. Weasley said, embracing Tonks tightly. "How are you? How are your parents?"

"They're well. So am I," Tonks said. "I do want to say that I'm also here with ulterior motives though."

"And what are those?" Sirius asked.

"I have it on good authority that someone let the Minister find out that Harry and Rory are spending Christmas here, and he's come up with some ruse to drop by," Tonks said.

Harry groaned. This was so low on the list of things he wanted to deal with today.

"The audacity of that man to try to show up on Christmas," Rory said. "Zero tact."

Mrs. Weasley huffed. "Well, only one thing to do then. Everyone finish up. Quickly now. Sirius, is your house ready for company?"