A/N: Admit it, you lovvvvvve me! :D Because I'm back! (Temporarily!) Read and enjoy, I'll blabber on at the end!
Platform 9¾ was packed as school administrators tried to move small groups of people through the barrier and girls sobbed their goodbyes, clinging onto their friends. It was insane; we were only going to be on holiday for a few weeks, not like summer break which lasted about three months. Those girls really needed to get a grip, bloody pathetic. You didn't see Teag and me crying hysterically about being split up for the next two to three weeks.
"James Sirius, I swear on mine and Teddy's hidden collection of Chocolate Frog cards if you let go of my hand and I get stuck going through the barrier with Lawden, I will kill you before we get back to Nana and Granddad's!" I hissed at my cousin, tightening my grip on his hand. Teagan stood beside me, her arm linked through mine, holding tight to Freddie's hand.
"Ow Rie," he whined, trying to stretch out his fingers. "Why do we always have to go with the two of you? Why can't Fred and I ever go with Teddy and Tucker?"
"Because Rie has eyes like a hawk," Teddy said. He stood behind me in a line with Tucker, Katie, and Layla. "You always try to escape to prank the Slytherins when it's up to me and Tuck to babysit you."
"I thought you liked our pranks?" Freddie said.
"We do," Tucker said with a grin. "But Victoire sa…"
"But there's no need for you to run off and create complete and utter chaos when the administrators are already stressed out enough trying to get us all through the barrier so we don't draw attention to ourselves," I said, cutting Tucker off. "Let's just get out of here and head to the Burrow so we can see the family."
"Is Percy going to be there?" James asked.
"He's family, so yes," I replied.
"How many muggles do I have to perform magic in front of to a get a holiday sentence to Azkaban?"
"I don't know James," I sighed. "Why?"
"Because I'd take dementors over Uncle Percy any day," he said in a very serious voice, which earned a laugh from Fred.
"Oh c'mon James," Teddy said. "He's not that bad."
This was semi-true. After the second war, back when my Uncle Harry was seventeen, Uncle Percy had lightened up a ton. Aunt Hermione told me that it was because he had sided with the Ministry instead of the family back when Voldemort began his return to power. When he finally came to his senses and apologized, he had about two minutes with the whole family before Uncle Fred was killed in the Final Battle. He'd been nicer and more open to the family's sense of humor ever since, but he could still be pompous Percy.
"Teddy's right," Freddie agreed. "The only real problem with Uncle Percy is that he married Aunt Audrey and had those stuck up twins of his Molly and Lucy."
"Point!" Teagan and Katie giggled.
Layla nodded. "Those girls are way too much snob for one family."
"Next group," the man in faded gray robes shouted. He pushed me, Teag, and James through the barrier with a grinning Lawden next to my friend. I turned to shoot Freddie a glare but a stone wall had moved between the two of us. Thankfully, before Lawd could say a word, Teddy and Fred appeared next to us with Adelina and Timmy.
"Don't even look at her Marks," Teddy snapped, moving in between Teagan and Lawden, virtually shielding me.
"What are you going to do Lupin?" Lawden smirked. "Pull out your wand and hex me? There are muggles surrounding us, in case you haven't noticed. You really want to get kicked out of school in your last year just because I try to talk to V?"
"No, but I will beat you to a pulp," Ted replied. Knowing he would , though I wasn't quite sure Lawd realized it, I moved past Teagan and rested my hand against my best friend's arm.
"Teddy," I said softly. "Just leave it, okay? Please? He's not worth your time and I just want to go home." I widened my eyes, hoping it made me look innocent and young. It must have worked because Teddy, shooting my ex-boyfriend one last glare, took my hand and led me away from the platform entrance. Layla, Tucker, Teagan, and my cousins followed closely behind us.
"Thanks Ted," I whispered, knowing only my best friend would hear what I had said in the loud train station. He turned to look at me.
"You know the only reason I don't beat that guy up is because you asked me not to, right Rie?"
"I know," I nodded.
"Hey kids," Teagan said, moving closer to the two of us. "Lay and I are ditching. Her mum's here and I just spotted my dad. Have a good Christmas."
"You too dearie," I said quickly, hugging my friend. "Try not to kill the Menta's…Okay?"
She laughed, letting go of me and running off to meet her dad. "Bye babes! Have fun!" Teag called over her shoulder.
"I'm leaving too," Tucker said, giving me a quick hug to which I replied with a kiss on the cheek. "Just spotted my mum. I'll see you lot at the New Year's party."
"Bye!"
Tucker leaving meant it was just us Weasley kids (and Teddy!) now. My cousins scanned the crowd, hoping to see their parents or Granddad. No one, nada, zip. Just a ton of muggles that were completely oblivious to the fact that we had just walked through a stone wall only moments before.
"You don't suppose they forgot us again, do you?" Ted asked finally, glancing at Katie, Fred, James, and I. We all laughed appreciatively as if my friend was making a joke, but even Lily would know that he was being completely serious. Since everyone stayed at the Burrow during the holidays, Nana only ever sent one of her sons to come pick us up, and we had been stranded at the train station before. Nana Molly never let poor Uncle Ron forget it either.
"Nana Molly would kill said person in charge of retrieving us if they did," Katie said after a few moments.
"That's true!" James agreed, searching for his father or the signature Weasley red hair that the rest of my uncles and father possessed.
I glanced around the train station as well, my eyes searching the crowd of people leaving on holiday or picking up loved ones, it was then that I saw him. He was about three inches taller than me with a bright, shaggy mop of red hair that I'm sure Nana would trim the second she got the chance. His face bared a huge resemblance to my father's, complete with several scars running along his jaw line and forehead. But not from werewolf bites like those that ruined my father's complexion. The scars on this man's face were from burns, dragon burns. Uncle Charlie.
"Victoire?" Teddy yelled as I took off towards my uncle. "Where are you going?!" But I ignored him and kept running. I hadn't seen Uncle Charlie since last Christmas. Working in with dragons in Romania kept you pretty much busy year round.
"Uncle Charlie!" I shrieked, throwing my arms around his neck and allowing him to spin me around as if I were five again.
"Victoire Weasley," he laughed, setting me back on my feet. "Sixteen years old and you still greet me the same way your seven year old cousin does!" By this time, the others had made their way over to greet the second oldest Weasley boy. Katie hugged him in a similar fashion that I did, Freddie and James snickered as he ruffled their hair and asked what kind of trouble they'd gotten themselves into lately, and Teddy grinned as they shook hands.
"So," Uncle Charlie said as he magicked our trunks onto the trolley. Fred and James climbed up to ride on top as if they were still little kids. "I do believe the five of you owe me big time considering Mum almost sent Ron to get the lot of you. I volunteered of course, knowing you didn't feel like waiting an extra hour for a ride back to the Burrow."
I laughed. "You know you just wanted to get away from Percy."
"True," my Uncle nodded, "but can you blame me? Kept going on and on about his new work at the French Ministry. All that talk of reports and filing gave me the chills!"
"Because you're a manly-man!" Katie giggled. "And you like risking your neck everyday!"
"That I do! Now pile in," Uncle Charlie said as we reached Granddad's car. For some reason that is unknown to my younger cousins, Uncle George, Uncle Ron, and Uncle Harry always chuckled at the mention of car. Whenever we asked what was so funny about it their wives shot glares in their direction and told them not to give us any ideas. I was fourteen when Granddad confessed the whole story of his old flying car and how it ended up lost in the Forbidden Forest after an adventure in Harry and Ron's second year of Hogwarts. "James and Freddie help me with the trunks…oh stop whining! Your grandmother would wash your mouths out with soap if she ever heard you say that!"
Which was really all my uncle could say in scolding them about their swearing, as he would say it about ten times worse…Working with creatures that tried to burn you to a crisp and then eat you on a daily basis gave you quite the potty mouth.
"All set then?" Uncle Charlie asked on he'd settled into the driver's seat. My cousins and I nodded, how we could move in the tight space was beyond me. Katie was squished between James and her brother in the back seat, something she didn't look to happy about, while I sat on top of Teddy's lap in the passenger seat.
"Granddad really needs to put an expanding charm on this car already," Katie grumbled as Fred and James began a rendition of "99 Bottles of Butterbeer on the Wall", it was going to be a long trip home.
---
Christmas. It's a time when normal people sing carols, decorate gingerbread houses, exchange gifts, and hug family members they haven't seen in months. A time where children run around outside with the family pet in waist-deep snow, building igloos and making snow angels, and then fall asleep curled up by the fireplace. All of this adds up to a normal and perfect Christmas holiday. We Weasleys, we're far from normal.
A Weasley Christmas means James and Freddie screaming songs at the top of their lungs (changing the lyrics in, as Nana puts it, a distasteful way), the Burrow smelling like a gingerbread house for a month while Nana Molly cooks up a feast, Lily blurting out what the package you're opening contains before you can get the bow undone, and being tackled by cousins I see almost every day of my life. It means building up huge walls of snow and never turning your back on the boys in fear of being hit by a snowball and falling asleep on the floor squeezed between my cousins and Ted while Uncle George hurls in the bathroom because he drank too much eggnog. It was a holiday full of chaos, and it was everything I knew and loved.
Currently I was avoiding the family part of that everything I knew and loved, examining old picture albums Nana kept while sitting on the stairs near the kitchen. James and Freddie had already found a stash of candy canes and were running around the house on a sugar high.
"Oh thank Merlin!" I looked up from a picture of Uncle Harry, Uncle Ron, and Aunt Hermione at the Burrow to see Aunt Ginny standing in front of me, looking like she regretted ever having that first born of hers. "Victoire could you give your grandmother a hand in the kitchen for me? Alicia and I are on a mission to calm down your cousins, and it's not going very well."
"Does it ever?"
"No," Ginny sighed. "Could you help her for me though Victoire? Please?"
"Of course Aunt Gin," I said, realizing that my aunt was becoming more stressed by the minute. "You go give them the beat down with Aunt Leesh and I'll help Nana."
"Thanks Victoire."
I simply smiled and headed off to the kitchen. As the door came in sight the smell of chocolate chip cookies filled my nose. Nothing was better in this world than my grandmother's chocolate chip cookies.
"Afternoon Nana Molly," I greeted my grandmother cheerily, hoisting my body up to sit on the counter and snatching a freshly baked sugar cookie out of the basket next to my thigh. When she turned around it was very clear that my grandmother hadn't left the kitchen all day. There was a streak of red frosting on her right cheek, almost symmetrical to the green one that was smeared across the left side of her face. Kind of like the intimidation lines American football players wore during their matches, only slanted and not intimidating at all. Her apron was coated in smudges of chocolate and flour covered her forehead.
"Oh, hello dear," she said, surprised to see me. "Have you seen your aunt?"
"Which one?" I asked, stealing a cookie when she turned the other way.
"Drop it," Nana said, her back still turned, as I brought the cookie to my lips. Reluctantly, I put the desert back in the basket I had found it in. "Those are for our friends, not you, and your Aunt Ginny."
"She took off after her son with Aunt Leesh," I replied. "And I will never understand how you do that."
"I had six sons dear; I'm two steps ahead of everything anyone does." She turned to face me. "Do you have any idea when she'll be back? I could really use her help."
"Admitting to needing help?" I gasped in fake surprise. "Nana, you're losing your touch."
"Hardly dear," she chuckled. "Just accepting the fact that I can't do everything by myself anymore. Including cooking dinner for everyone, baking baskets and baskets of sweets, keeping everyone happy and getting those chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate out to your grandfather." She picked up a plate and thermos and held them out to me.
"Of course Nana," I said quickly, taking them from her. "But I was going to help you…"
"Oh just send in one of your Aunts, I'm sure they'd be happy to help."
"Living room?"
"I certainly would expect them to be."
I grinned and headed out of the kitchen towards the family room. As always, the room was heavily decorated (thank you Hugo and Lily) with homemade ornaments created over the years. Then there was the tree, which looked like it would fall over if anything else was put on it. Nana always put it up about a month or so before Christmas in preparation of everyone coming over. Uncle Percy tells her every year that most people don't put up a tree, but she ignored him every time, especially when Aunt Audrey would but in and offer to buy new ornaments. Nana didn't like the idea of having a bunch of unknown ornaments on the tree, she said that the tree was who we were as a family…Aunt Audrey didn't like that a whole lot, she liked to think that decorations should be, as she put it, "elegant and classy"…Aunt Audrey has a lot of nerve.
"Nana needs help in the kitchen," I shouted, being careful to avoid stepping on Rosie and Albus who were playing Exploding Snap on the floor with Katie. Teddy was teaching Lily to dance by the fireplace while Hugo intimidated Celestina Warbeck. Molly and Lucy were seated with their mother in the corner farthest away from everyone else in the room while Uncle Percy chatted up Uncle Charlie and Dad. Uncle Harry, Uncle Ron and Uncle George were discussing Auror and Ministry stuff while Aunt Gin and Aunt Alicia chased James and Freddie in and out of the room.
"I'll go." Andromeda got up from her place on the couch next to Mum and Aunt Hermione moved towards me. "Good to have you home dear," she said as she passed, patting my arm. "Oh and your mother says to say hello to your father."
"Will do," I replied, moving towards Dad and my two uncles. "Hi Daddy." I carefully gave him a one-armed hug, trying to avoid spilling the sweets I was supposed to be taking out to Granddad.
Before Dad could reply, Uncle Percy asked, "How are your classes going Victoire?"
"Fine Uncle Percy," I said.
"What are you studying to be?"
"Well I was thinking of doing some Ministry work originally, but now I've decided that I'm not cut out for that whole cart-pushing, desk-loving work, you know? So this summer my friend Andy is taking me to California with him and he's going to teach me to surf," I tried not to laugh, watching Percy's face become confused and slightly horrified. Next to him, Dad and Uncle Charlie were trying to contain their laughter, already knowing where I was going with this. "I think I'm going to go ahead and take that route, you know? Become a professional surfer in America. But I'm supposed to get these out to Granddad before they get cold, so we'll have to all catch up later." And with that, I left Percy Weasley absolutely horrified that someone related to him was going to throw their schooling down the drain to surf with my dad and Charlie going red in the face from trying not to laugh.
---
"Hey Granddad!" I called out, walking through the door of his tool shed. My grandfather was nowhere to be seen, probably buried beneath the many muggle contraptions and inventions he left piled everywhere. "Nana sent me with hot chocolate and cookies."
"Chocolate chip?!" Granddad lifted his head to look at me, temporarily ignoring the pile of plungers in front of him.
"What else?" I grinned, moving a box off the work bench and setting down the treats. He motioned for me to take a seat, pushing aside the latest muggle objects he was investigating.
"How've you been Victoire?" My granddad asked, taking a long sip of hot chocolate.
"Really good, glad to be home from school though."
"What are you planning on going into once you graduate?"
"Erm, no idea actually," I confessed. "Mum wants me to look into law enforcement, but not like the fun stuff like Uncle Harry, the in-the-Ministry-everyday stuff. Which I'm just not interested. I was thinking I might start off something in the business area. But other than that I'm completely lost…Just don't tell Uncle Percy. He thinks I'm going to California with my friend Andy to become a professional surfer."
Granddad chuckled and then stayed silent for a moment, thinking. "I took your Grandmother to California once, back before your father was born." I smiled, remembering the story he used to tell Teddy and me when we were kids and slept over at the Burrow. "I was so fascinated by the idea of balancing on top of a board in the middle of the ocean, gave Molly a panic attack just thinking about it though. I was excellent at it though. Only fell off a few times."
"A few meaning every time you stood up if I do recall the story correctly," I said.
"Yes well," he said, shaking his head slightly. "Is this Andy your boyfriend?"
"Nah, just a good friend I met this year around Halloween."
"And what about Ted?" Granddad asked with a knowing look on his face.
"What about him?" I replied.
"Are you two…?"
"What?! Me and Teddy? Not a chance Granddad. We're just friends."
"Whatever you say dear," he said with that look still plastered on his face.
"Granddad…" I started.
"I think that's your Grandmother calling me," he cut me off. Before I could say anything else he was on his feet and out the door, heading back up to the house.
I sighed and got up to follow, walking slowly across the frost-covered ground. Is that how people saw Teddy and me, as a couple? I mean, I know Lawden always thought something going on between my best friend and I, but did my family think so too? Ted and I had always been a close as possible, but we had grown up together. He had been there since the very first day I was born, and we'd been attached at the hip ever since. But we weren't like, acting like a couple…Were we?
"Hey!" Speak of the devil; Teddy was standing a few feet in front of me. "Nana Molly wants a picture of all of us kids by the tree. James tried to argue it but Nana insisted that she never sees all of us together so she wants as many pictures of us all as possible. No one had the guts to argue that we spend all summer here."
I tried to grin, but I could tell by the way my friend's face fell that it wasn't very convincing.
"What's wrong?" Ted asked, concerned.
"Teddy, does it ever seem like everyone else thinks that you and I are a couple?"
"What you mean like Marks and them at school? Yeah, but they're dumb Rie."
"No, like the family. Like my parents and aunts and uncles. Has Andromeda ever said anything to you?"
"Is that what has you looking all upset?" he chuckled. "Rie, everyone knows that we're best friends. Plain and simple. None of your family thinks that we're dating. And Grandmum certainly doesn't think that we're together. That would be completely crazy Rie. Now come on before Nana Molly flips out on everyone."
I tried to stop thinking about it, truly I did. But for some reason I felt like everyone was staring as Teddy pulled me into the living room by the hand. Teddy would say that I was being paranoid. But suddenly I felt like everyone was thinking that we were either together, or that maybe we should be.
"Smile," Teddy whispered and I plastered a grin on my face. "And stop thinking about it Rie, your psychotic." My smile widened and I did as I was told, forgetting Granddad's suggestions that Ted and I were…you know…dating. Maybe I was psychotic, but something in my stomach hurt as I thought about how quickly my friend said that the two of us together as a real couple was a crazy idea.
A/N: Yayyyyy! I'm back for a chappie. First off, thanks all for understanding those dreadful months without updates. Second, I know this is short, and I know it's rushed at the end. But I really wanted to get this submitted today. Third, YAYYYYYYYYY! :) Here's the deal: Finals week starts the 19th for me, and after that I hope to be better about updating kids. So REVIEW!REVIEW!REVIEW! Because I gave up extra hours of sleep for you lovely people!