We have reached the final chapter, folks. I hope you enjoy this final chapter and it brings everything together.

The entirety of Christmas Eve all I could think about was my feelings for George. Was I in love with him? Was that even possible when we'd only been together a little over a month? The last thing I wanted was to sound like a lovesick school girl with her first crush. Only, this didn't feel like that to me, it felt very real.

"Hey, Sammy, can we talk?" I asked as he passed by my door.

He back up and entered the room, pushing my door closed behind him. "Sure, little sister, what's up?"

"It's a relationship question and I'm a bit reluctant to ask mum anything after the alcohol incident," I explained as he came over and sat on my bed with me.

"Lay it on me, 'dia," he said, reclining backward and getting comfortable for my dilemma.

"George and I have been together for a little over a month and I adore him," I started, trying to ease him into the problem. "We were laying in his bed last night and he was just playing with my hair and I realized that I'm pretty sure I'm in love with him or at least as close to love as I've ever been in my life."

"I don't understand the problem, you sound like you know what you want," he replied. "What's the problem?"

"Isn't it too soon for me to be in love with him? I don't want to rush into things and get hurt again, but at the same time I can't make myself go slow," I huffed in frustration. "Help me! How do I know if I'm in love?"

"Shit, little sister, that wasn't a bomb I was expecting this morning," Sam sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I think you know the answer, you're just too afraid of what everyone's going to say to admit it."

"You are the opposite of helpful!" I grunted, flopping backward in frustration.

"I've never been insightful, I don't know what it's shocking," he replied, coming up to lay beside me. "If you're worried about him not feeling the same, I can tell you that's bullshit. He's disgustingly in love with you, too."

So he saw it as much as my mom did, that was promising. "So you're saying I should just tell him how I feel because he feels the same way…"

"No, I'm saying you shouldn't worry about this right now because it's Christmas Eve. We're going to go downstairs and build a gingerbread house with our family because it makes mum happy," he replied, standing up and pulling me with him. "Come on, everything will work out like it's supposed to."

I grumbled under my breath good-naturedly and went downstairs with Sam's arm around my shoulders. Mum was sitting at the kitchen table with John and Alex sneaking bits of candy without her seeing. I figured dad and Will were outside hiding until mum shouted for them to come inside like always.

Things were still a bit rocky between mum, dad, and me and I didn't really know how to fix it. I wasn't sorry for the way I spoke to him yesterday, I meant everything I said. Even at age twenty-four, I'd never really done anything against their wishes. This was my first act of 'rebellion,' if you could even call it that.

"It's about time you two joined us!" mum exclaimed when she saw Sam and me walking into the kitchen. "Sam, go get your brother and your father from the garage."

He saluted her before heading out outside into the cold to get them. I sat beside John and ate a couple of the gumdrops without mum noticing. By the time everyone was together, mum actually realized a portion of the candy was gone and whirled to face the three of us.

"Will there ever be a year that the three of you don't eat all the candy before we even get the house itself out?" she sighed, but the grin on her face told us she wasn't really angry.

"We didn't eat anything!" John argued, but his tongue was blue so his lie fell apart easily. "Okay, maybe we ate a little…"

"And there are spice drops missing so I know Lydia had some too!" mum continued, making me chuckle and drop the three in my hand back into the container. "Let's make this house before everything is gone."

Gingerbread houses were so much harder than they should be. Icing was not good at keeping things together, even if it did look charming. In the end, I used magic to keep it together like I did most years and we decorated it with only a couple arguments.

"Would you look at that? It's put together and doesn't look like a mudslide slammed into it," John bragged, eating one of the leftover candy canes. "That's progress, my friends."

I rolled my eyes at his dramatics and pushed up from the table to wash my hands. I still had some last minute wrapping to do before tomorrow morning so I excused myself upstairs to finish them. I locked my door because I didn't trust my brothers not to barge in while I wrapped up their presents.

Unfortunately, being by myself gave me way too much time to think. I was in love with George, that was obvious and I was a couple steps away from accepting it at this point. This brought up a new problem, the possibility of him not being in love with me like I was with him. No matter how sure my family was he returned my feelings, it didn't stop the knot from forming in my belly.

I knew the only way to stop the feeling was to be honest with him, but that wouldn't be a possibility until at least Sunday after Christmas. I just needed to box this feeling away until I could deal with it. That wouldn't be too hard, I'd been blocking my emotions instead of dealing with them for years now. A couple more days wouldn't hurt.

Christmas morning was always over too quickly for all the preparation we put into it. I loved seeing the happiness on my family's face when they opened their gifts, especially Sam's when he opened the love potion I got him from George's shop.

I saw mum raise her eyebrows so I quickly explained, "You're always saying you want babies, that's the way to get Sam to fall in love with a woman and have them."

"Oh my god, you're a terrible person," Sam exclaimed, his cheeks turning pink at my insinuation. "I thought it was for me to get the man of my dreams to love me back."

"Love potions doesn't make real love, big brother. It just makes intense infatuation," I replied, flicking a ribbon at him and hitting John instead. "Don't actually make babies while under the potions' influence or you end up with Voldemorts who are unable to love –just a disclaimer."

"Jesus, like Sam needs anymore of a reason to never have kids!" Will exclaimed, looking up from the telescope I'd gotten him. "Let's focus on more important things like going outside and looking at the sky with this puppy!"

"It works better at night, doof," I replied. "Your eyes will melt out of you skull if you aim it the wrong way and magic can't fix that."

We were all teasing each other when I heard a tapping on the window. Penelope hooted from her place perched on the top of the tree. I got up to let Boom inside and saw that he had a parcel attached to his foot that looked kind of heavy.

I immediately started doting on the bird as Penelope came over to my shoulder to check on her friend. "Watch over him, baby, while I get him some water."

With the two of them sitting together on her perch in the living room with Sam rubbing his head, I disappeared into the kitchen. After I gave them water and some food, I sat on the couch to open the package.

It was from Molly Weasley according to the front and happiness filled me. She liked me enough to send me a Christmas present? I must have really made a splash with his family and that made me happy.

Inside the brown paper was a thick, cable knit shawl. It was the same shade of yellow as my favorite scarf and my name was sewn into the side of it. The shawl was handmade and the most amazing thing I have ever seen. It was more beautiful than anything I'd ever seen on a boutique shelf.

"What's that, love?" mum asked, squishing down between me and Alex. "Is that a scarf?"

"It's a shawl, but I think I can also wear it like an infinity scarf," I replied, handing it to her so she could see it closer. "George's mum made it for me, it even has my name stitched on the side."

It was done in very delicate, loopy cursive lettering that looked nearly impossible to hand stitch. She must make those sweaters every single year just like George said because it showed in her work. The shawl was also expertly made and my favorite color.

"Wow, she made this?" mum asked, handing it back with a look of awe on her face. "That's impressive. I hope he doesn't expect me to be able to do things like this because I can barely color in the lines."

"I didn't know she was going to make me anything, I don't have anything for her," I replied, looking at mum with big eyes. "What do I do?"

"You write her a thank you letter that is very heartfelt," mum told me, squeezing my hands. "She's a mother, I promise she's not going to expect anything back."

I knew she was right so I gathered my things and took them upstairs so I could get parchment to write on. Then I came back downstairs and sat at the kitchen table with Boom and Penelope cooing beside me as he picked at the leftovers from breakfast while Penelope tried to groom him. The two of them were so much like me and George it was funny sometimes.

Mrs. Weasley,

Thank you so, so, so much for my shawl! It is so beautiful, I don't think I've ever seen anything that well-crafted in my entire life. I'm honored you decided to make something for me, it makes me feel like I'm welcome in your home all the time.

Gratefully,

Lydia

I finished my letter and stuck it to Boom's leg once he was content to fly back to the Burrow. I gave him one final biscuit and Penelope smoothed down the feathers on his face gently with a hoot. He hooted back and nipped at her beak before launching himself out the window and leaving Penelope on her roost where she immediately settled in for a nap.

That didn't sound like too bad of an idea actually.

I was currently sitting on George's kitchen counter as he cooked dinner for me. I'd made a kettle of hot chocolate from scratch and was currently sipping on a mug of it while I watched him. He was so sure of himself, it was very attractive to watch.

"You're very sexy when you're concentrating," I said, hopping off the counter.

I made my way over to him and wrapped my arms around his waist, sliding my hands under his jumper to rest on my bare stomach. He hummed in contentment and turned to face me, lifting me to rest on his hips as he moved to lean against the wall instead of the stove.

"You're very sexy whenever you're breathing," he replied, making me giggle and his cheeks dust red. "That didn't come out nearly as complimentary as I intended."

"I thought it was sweet," I promised, playing with the ends of his hair. "I think you're even sweeter."

He smirked and walked over to the counter I'd just abandoned, sitting me back on it with his body between my legs. I leaned forward and started kissing his neck, then I nibbled on his earlobe teasingly. Then I kissed his jaw and his temple before just nuzzling into his neck with my nose.

"What's got you so affectionate tonight?" he asked, laughter clear in his voice.

I took a breath and left my head leaning against his shoulder when I said, "I love you."

His hands didn't pause their rubbing against my lower back when he replied, "Oh, is that all? I love you, too."

I pushed back from him to flash a confused look. "What's that supposed to mean? I've been driving myself mad the last couple days with being in love with you because I thought it was too soon, and you just say it with so much certainty. It's like you're talking about the weather or the color of your walls."

He gave me a strange look and said, "I am certain that I'm in love with you, 'puff. I've known I was in love with you since you fought with your entire family about my sobriety. It is just as obvious to me as the weather or the color of my walls."

That made me laugh and lean my forehead against his chest. "I don't know what I'd do if you made something easy, Weasley."

His laugh echoed mine and he kissed the crown of my head. "It's just not my style, baby."

"Stop being a knob and check on your chicken," I told him, pulling back and picking up my cocoa.

He held up his hands in surrender and placed a final kiss on my forehead before heading over to the roast chicken. I watched his sure movements as I thought about what just happened. He loved me too and thought it was ridiculous I didn't realize it. Warmth filled my entire being at his certainty and realized I shared it.

"I'm also certain I love you," I said, sitting my empty mug in the sink and walking over to lean beside him. "I'm sorry if it seemed like I wasn't."

He turned off the stove and tossed his oven mitts onto the table so he could hold me with his hands. "You're always a couple steps behind me, love. I'm used to it by now."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Thank you so much for sticking with me until the end! It means the world!