This is a little fluffy holiday present for Fremione lovers and anyone who enjoys Christmas fluff. It comes in nine installments, which I will be posting like an advent calendar every two to three days between now and Christmas Eve, 2018. Enjoy, and happy holidays! Comments are always appreciated and used as writing fuel! :-)

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It was the sixth of December. Definitely time to think about some Christmas shopping. With her own parents lost and no other blood relatives to speak of, Hermione Granger had gratefully accepted Molly's invitation to spend the holiday season with the Weasleys at The Burrow. She was planning to head over on the afternoon on Christmas Eve and then stay until Boxing Day or perhaps beyond, and she was looking forward to it immensely. Her work at the Ministry tended to wind down towards the end of the year, giving her more time than she wanted to think about being alone.

As she walked slowly down Diagon Alley, enjoying the sparkling lights and the sound of carols, Hermione stopped to buy a mug of mulled wine from a street vendor. She sipped the warming liquid as she continued on her way, peering into the frosted windows of the gift shops and planning her gift purchases for the family who had adopted her and welcomed her into their hearts.

Upon reaching the tall building with the orange and purple doors, she drained the remainder of the wine and held the mug aloft. Whispering the words that activated the charm placed on it by the vendor, she watched it slowly rise into the air before taking itself safely back to its owner. Steeling herself for the volume of noise that she knew would greet her inside Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, Hermione pushed open the door and entered the joke shop.

Almost immediately, a small furry object sailed past her left ear, and she automatically moved her head to one side.

"Sorry, Hermione!" A familiar voice called from the counter. Hermione didn't need to look over to know who owned the voice. She had never had any problem distinguishing the owner from his brother, by sight or sound. Or in any other sensory dimension, come to that.

"Hi Fred!" She smiled and waved at the tall redheaded man who was, as usual, grinning widely. It was clear to all that he was truly living his dream, along with his twin brother George. They had come so close to being separated by the horror of the last battle of the wizarding war, and indeed several people had declared Fred to be amongst the dead. But then Hermione had leaned down to kiss his handsome face, tears cascading from her eyes as she said her final goodbye, and felt the slightest movement of his breath upon her cheek.

Quickly, she had set to work, casting spells, summoning help and being instrumental in his survival. She had wiped away her tears and brought back the man who she had grown up with. As a result, his twin regularly and publicly declared himself her eternal servant, and today was no exception.

"Hermione! What's a gorgeous, clever little witch like you doing in a shop like this?" Once he had reached her, George's hug was tight, long and as full of feeling as ever. Angelina, his girlfriend, waved to Hermione from the other side of the store, shouting to George to make sure he didn't break their friend. He raised his hand in acknowledgement, but didn't release his grip on Hermione for a good few seconds more. When he did, he took her mittened hand in his own much larger one, and led her to see the shelf displaying their newest holiday gift range.

"Check this out, love," he told her. "Just let me know what you fancy, and you'll have a lovely full stocking come Christmas morning. Although…" he looked around, to check that none of the customers or staff were close enough to hear, "just so you know, love, I'm going to give you what you most want for Christmas this year."

Hermione huffed, unable to resist glancing across the shop to where his brother was entertaining a couple of second year Hogwarts students with a demonstration of their new exploding quill range. She highly doubted that even her greatest fan could make that dream come true.

George had always been very quick and highly observant, so there was no chance he would miss that small movement of her eyes. Grinning, he moved even closer to Hermione and she felt his breath on the shell of her ear. "Oh I am, love. I'm not sure how I'll manage the gift wrap, but I've finally worked out a way of giving you the Christmas treat that you've been dreaming of these long years…"

He paused for dramatic effect but stayed still for a moment before whispering into her ear the three words that both confirmed Hermione's greatest hope and - if George was involved - fuelled her greatest fear.

"Frederick Gideon Weasley."

His eyes flashed with delight, promise and just a little bit of mischief as he pulled back and continued to show Hermione the gift shelf, acting as if nothing unusual had happened. But Hermione's heart was beating a tattoo and her mind was racing. How had George managed to figure out that she was holding a torch for his twin? What mad scheme did he have in mind for her? And how on earth was she going to cope with a Weasley Christmas if her greatest secret – her love for Fred – was revealed to everyone?

She was going to need more mulled wine.