I.

Victoire

Silent Night

14 December 2034

Silent night.
Holy night.

Victoire hummed softly under her breath, tucking herself comfortably into her armchair by the fireplace and rubbing her pregnant stomach. The Christmas tree in the corner of the parlor was glowing fiercely in the dimly lit room, illuminating the faces of the four boys who were sleeping soundly underneath it, a tangle of small limbs and rumpled pajamas.

Cocking her head to the side, Victoire smiled across the parlor at her sons, all completely exhausted from spending the evening at the Auror Office's annual holiday party. Ten-year-old Remus was snoring the loudest, his soft chin twitching. Eight-year-old John lay, spread-eagle, across Remus's chest, with his mouth hanging wide open. Five-year-old Pierre was sprawled out on John's legs, his head lolling as he snuffled in his sleep. And tucked safely into the combined, protective cocoon of his elder brothers' arms was three-year-old Isaac, who was sucking his thumb.

With a soft sigh, Victoire closed her eyes, wiggling her toes and listening to the distant sounds of her husband preparing two cups of hot cocoa in Grimmauld Place's basement kitchen. As a young girl, Victoire had always known the holiday season to be difficult for Teddy. She had watched him ache for a family of his own and then immediately feel guilty for wishing it, when his godfather and his grandmother both worked so hard to make him feel loved and included.

But now, after ten years of being a mother herself, Victoire understood Teddy's feelings better than ever before. Because it was different. It was different to have a family of her own, to hold her sons in her arms and know that they were hers—her own. More than once in the past decade, Victoire had found herself marveling at the amount of strength and resolve that Teddy's mother had had, to have parted with her two-week-old baby, to have sacrificed her own safety to join her friends and her husband at Hogwarts, in a dangerous fight for her son's future…

Tears sprung unexpectedly to Victoire's eyes and she cursed softly, hastily wiping her cheeks with the sleeve of her Christmas jumper.

"Are you all right?"

Victoire jumped, turning towards the doorway. Teddy had emerged from the basement kitchen, bearing two mugs of steaming hot cocoa and a concerned expression.

Victoire gave him a watery smile. "I'm fine," she said thickly, sniffing and rubbing her stomach. "It's just—hormones."

Teddy smiled sympathetically, walking over to her armchair and handing her a mug. Then, he bent down and gently kissed her forehead, before sinking into the armchair across from hers.

"Everybody loved you tonight," he told her, grinning. "Corner and Abercrombie have decided that you're going to sing at every Christmas party from now on."

Victoire laughed, shaking her head. "Well, in that case, they can babysit the kids. One more Auror party like this one, and we'll be lucky if we can get them into the house again, much less up to their bedrooms."

Teddy chuckled, turning around to look at the untidy heap under the Christmas tree. "They're sort of cute, aren't they? When they're asleep like this?"

"Don't get any ideas, Lupin," Victoire warned, laughing and patting her stomach. "Five is plenty."

Teddy gave her a sheepish grin, running a hand through his dark green hair and taking a sip of hot chocolate.

Victoire gazed at her husband, tightening her grip on her own mug. And then, quite suddenly, she was inexplicably overwhelmed with emotion. Her throat swelled shut, and her eyes began to sting with tears. Swallowing heavily, Victoire set her mug down on the coffee table and faced Teddy.

"Teddy, if—" she cleared her throat, trying to unstick her voice, "—if the baby's a—girl, d'you…would you want to name her after your mum?" she asked softly.

Teddy was quiet for several moments, turning away to stare at the flickering embers of the fireplace. Then, at last, he looked around and met her gaze, his expression inscrutable. "Ginny's always told me that my mum hated her name," he said—in what Victoire knew was his best attempt at a tone of nonchalance, though it did not completely mask his hope and longing.

"I know that," Victoire said quickly, half-smiling. "That's why—well, I was thinking—maybe just…Dora."

Teddy's expression went blank. He stared at Victoire in shock, his dark gray eyes widening. Then, very, very slowly, he reached out and laid a gentle hand on her stomach. "Dora," he whispered.

Victoire nodded, tears spilling over. "Yeah, I think she's a girl, too," she said softly. She laughed, swiping her hand under her nose. "At least, I don't remember being this emotional with any of the boys."

Teddy gave a slightly hysterical laugh, setting his mug on the coffee table and kneeling down in front of Victoire's armchair. "Merlin, I love you so much," he said in a strangled voice, taking her hands and squeezing them.

Victoire sniffed heartily and smiled, leaning forward and gently resting her forehead against his. "Happy Christmas, Ted," she whispered.

All is calm.
All is bright.

—Franz Xaver Gruber

Author's Note:

Hello, my lovelies, and welcome to my super dooper exciting holiday project!

Basically, it's a collection of romantic one-shots, one for each of the Weasley cousins (and one for Teddy too). All of these stories feature the Weasley grandkids as adults, so there'll be a fair number of OCs, but you'll start to see a LOT of recurring names/events/details. Also, the stories are more about love/family than they are about the actual OCs.

The inspiration for this story goes to the wonderful MandyinKC and her wonderful story 'Another Weasley Christmas.' Go check it out! Actually, go check out all of her stories!

Each chapter of this story is based off of a holiday hit single. Victoire's, here, was 'Silent Night.' The next chapter, which is James's, is for 'Cold December Night.'

Updates will be daily, as each chapter takes place on one of the days leading up to Christmas (but on different years). Then, one of the chapters will be for Christmas Day itself. And then, the last one will take place on Boxing Day. GET EXCITED, EVERYONE! Over the course of thirteen chapters, we will see a proposal, a wedding, a couple of babies for cuteness factor, and just a whole lotta Christmas spirit!

Also, it's not important, but just in case anyone is curious about ages while reading this story, these are the birthdays of the Weasley kids in my head canon (for reference):

Teddy: 17 April 1998
Victoire: 2 May 2000
Dominique: 16 December 2002
Freddie: 9 September 2003
James: 25 March 2004
Louis: 19 July 2004
Albus: 18 May 2006
Rose: 21 June 2006
Hugo: 27 October 2007
Roxanne: 30 November 2007
Lily: 29 February 2008
Molly: 3 September 2008
Lucy: 30 August 2010

I hope you enjoyed this first chapter! Stay tuned for more!

Ari