Summary: Twelve keys. Twelve days. Twelve Weasleys. One insane Christmas.

Disclaimer: JKR is awesome and amazing. Sadly, I am not she.

The Weasley Keys to a Perfect Christmas

Chapter One

Try and Make it Spectacular

Love: A temporary insanity curable by marriage

~Ambrose Bierce

Teddy Lupin stood outside the picket fence of the Burrow, awaiting the arrival of his girlfriend. They always intended to leave together, but something always delayed Victoire. It amazed Teddy that she always did it, no matter what the situation was. Victoire was always late.

A soft pop over his shoulder signified Victoire's arrival. Teddy patted his jacket pocket, ensuring the small velvet box was still there. He wasn't sure what he would do if he lost it.

"Hey! You ready?" Victoire asked, coming up behind him, a large plastic container clutched tightly in her hands. Teddy had been expecting her appearance, yet his nerves were so shot as a result of that small box that he jumped nearly a foot in the air. He was so on edge lately that he jumped at even the smallest provocation.

"You okay, hun? You sure are jumpy lately," Victoire spoke as she unlatched the gate and walked up the snow-covered pathway. Teddy stood and watched her progress, building up the never to do what he was about to. When she was halfway up the path, the front door swung open and a mass of red hair poured out and engulfed the petite blonde.

"Come on in Teddy!" a voice in the crowd called out as they made their way back inside. Teddy chuckled to himself and made his way up the path. When he entered the Burrow, he was assaulted by a blast of heat from a warming spell and greeted by a cacophony of food smells. He really loved visiting the Weasleys.

The first five minutes of being at the Burrow always consisted of a whirlwind of greetings and pleasantries and Molly Weasley trying to shove massive amounts of food down his throat. All he had to do was make it through that craziness and he would be afforded at least a half an hour to himself. Personal time was something he really needed at that moment.

When he was finally given that moment, he climbed the stairs up to the bedrooms, found the door to his childhood room, and locked himself on the other side. He needed time to collect himself and his thoughts and figure out exactly what he wanted to say. However, Teddy should have figured that in the Burrow, especially around Christmas time, being truly alone was an impossibility. Not five minutes after he'd barricaded himself in the small room, a knock sounded on the door, followed by Fred Weasley's loud voice.

"Theodore, I know you're in there! Now open up before I'm forced to gather reinforcements. You won't like my reinforcements! They are loud, obnoxious, and in-your-face, exactly what you don't need right now. So opening this door is you safest option. Just me is the lesser of two evils! I'll give you until the count of ten and then I'm getting James, and Al, and Al's annoying friend, and even Hugo! All very discomforting individuals at this moment in time. So open up! One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six! Seven!"

Teddy opened the door simply to shut Fred up. He could be extremely annoying most of the time and Teddy wondered why they were such good friends.

"Only my grandmother calls me Theodore, Frederick," Teddy remarked as he once again closed and locked the door. Fred quickly walked across the floor and hopped up onto the bed that had belonged to him as a child.

"So, what's with the isolation and the secrecy? You disappeared up here pretty quickly. Everyone else was so focused on Vicky they didn't notice your departure. I, however, couldn't care less about the princess. So spill, what's your secret?" Fred asked as he laid out on the bed.

"I think you of all people would understand wanting to keep a secret, Fred."

"I do, but nobody can keep a secret forever, Ted. All secrets eventually come out." Teddy did a double take at Fred's cryptic words.

"Fred? Are you- are you saying what I think you're saying? You're going to tell them? Today?" Teddy exclaimed in disbelief.

"I've kept this secret for too long and its getting too hard. I'm ready to tell them. Now, you should get your secret off your chest and tell me what it is."

Teddy considered telling Fred his secret, but as he hesitated, the words he'd been searching for, for months, materialized in his head. He knew exactly what he wanted to say, and now that he knew, he did not want to wait to say them. He quickly bolted to the door, only stopping to unlock it.

"If you want to know my secret, follow me," he called over his shoulder. He heard, almost instantly afterwards, the sounds of the springs compressing as Fred launched himself out of bed and made to follow Teddy out.

Teddy walked down the stairs and into the kitchen where Victoire and her aunts were busy discussing dinner that night and Victoire's attempt at her grandmother's Christmas tarts. When no one acknowledged his presence, he cleared his throat. Every one turned, and he suddenly felt very self-conscious.

"I need to ask you something, Vic," Teddy began.

"Okay, what is it?"

"Not here," he replied, grabbing her hand and leading her to the sitting room where he knew the males of the Wealsey-Potter clan would be located. He bet that his cryptic nature would entice the female's interest and they would follow him.

He was right.

Once he had the attention of the entire Weasley family, he took a deep breath and began to speak.

"Victoire," he began, his voice hesitant, "from the moment I met you I knew you were special. Every day we spend together fills my life with joy, laughter, and insanity. I hate when we're apart, and I don't want to ever spend another moment of my life without you. I want to spend the rest of my life in joy, laughter, and insanity, with you." He took another shaky breath and focused only on Victoire and not the fifty plus eyes he could feel burrowing into him.

"Victoire Apolline Weasley, will you marry me?"

The entire room went silent, a rarity in the Burrow. Teddy began taking deep breaths and willing Victoire to answer him. The one time he needed the perpetually talkative blonde to say something, she was silent. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Victoire finally spoke.

"Yes!"

To be continued