"My friend Willie gets lots of presents!" Farley proclaimed loudly.

"Yes," Septimus hesitated, exchanging a glance with his wife Cedrella. "You will probably get just one present this year, Farley."

"Why?" Farley said incredulously, looking up from where he sat at the kitchen table.

"Well..." Cedrella paused, averting her children's gaze whilst under the pretence of folding piles of robes. "Wouldn't you rather get one good present than lots of not so good ones?"

"S'pose," Bilius said, puffing out his lower lip.

"Don't frown," Cedrella said automatically. "Or the wind will change and you'll be stuck like that forever."

Bilius rolled his eyes but did as he was told and his face changed to neutral.

"Can we open presents now?" Farley asked excitedly.

"I don't see why not," Septimus nodded. "Do you want to come and open your presents, Arthur?"

"Hm?" The youngest member of the Weasley family, Arthur, looked up from where he sat on the floor, playing with a toy train.

Septimus frowned. He was often worried by Arthur's behaviour. Bilius and Farley were both loud and possessed obvious talent. Arthur, on the other hand, preferred to blend in with others and rarely spoke unless spoken to.

"Do you want to open your presents?" He repeated.

"Erm, if everyone else wants to," Arthur said, always eager to please.

"YEAH!" Bilius and Farley shouted together.

"Shh," Cedrella scolded. "Come and sit round the tree then."

Farley jumped down from the table and ran to sit next to Billius, who promptly hit him on the shoulder. Arthur, meanwhile, shuffled slightly where he was sitting to be slightly closer to his brothers.

"Who wants to go first?" Cedrella asked.

"Me, me, me!" Bilius and Farley half screamed in unision. "Meeee!"

"Arthur," Septimus said kindly. "What about you?"

"S'alrigh'," Arthur shrugged. "Billy and Farley can go firs', I don't mind."

"Yay!" Bilius cried, accepting the present his Mother passed to him.

"Nicely!" Cedrella reminded him. "I want to keep the paper for next year."

Bilius scowled, but began to carefully untie the ribbon and ran his finger under the spellotape that binded the paper together, discarding the paper and turning to the gift that he now clutched in his hands.

"Wow," He breathed, staring in disbelief at the present. "Is it a proper one?"

"It is," Septimus grinned. "I know yours was a bit broken. It's not new... We couldn't afford a new one for you, but it should work okay."

"It's great!" Bilius cried, jumping up and flourishing his new wand.

"Uh-uh," Cedrella shook her head. "You know full well you're not allowed to use magic outside of school until you're seventeen."

"But that's not for another six years!" Bilius moaned.

"Well, tough," Cedrella said. "I'll take this, thank you."

Bilius gaped at her as she snatched the wand out of his hand.

"Don't look at me like that," Cedrella said, raising her brow. "I'll give it to you before you go back to school, and you've no use for it until then, have you?"

"No," Bilius said sulkily, drooping his head.

"Shut up, Billy," Farley said, digging his brother in the ribs. "Can I open mine now Mum? Can I, can I?"

"Absolutely," Cedrella nodded, taking Bilius' discarded wrapping paper and folding it neatly, smoothing over the folds.

Farley grabbed the large package with his name on from the pile of two left under the tree and sat it down next to him.

"It's bloody huge!" Bilius commented; he hadn't bothered looking at either Farley's or Arthur's gifts until now.

"Language," Septimus barked. "Come on then, Farley, open it."

Farley didn't need telling twice. He made to tear at the wrapper then, remembering his mother's earlier instructions, carefully untied the ribbon and peeled at the paper.

"Whoa!" He gasped as the present came into view. "Is it-?"

Cedrella beamed at him. "Open it," She laughed.

Farley's eyebrows were raised, his eyes wide in amazement as he pulled off the wrapping paper and tore it aside.

"It is!" He exclaimed. "It's a broom!"

"Do you like it?" Septimus asked, half sarcastically.

"It's brilliant!" Farley said, his voice full of amazement. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"That's not fair!" Bilius cried, snatching the broom off Farley and inspecting it in detail. "It's better than mine!"

"It's newer," Cedrella said softly.

"But... but... But Farley isn't even at Hogwarts yet!" Bilius protested. "And first years can't bring their own brooms! What's Farley going to do with a broom?"

"You used to play before you went to Hogwarts," Farley pointed out.

"Exactly," Septimus said firmly. "Bill, you've got a wand. Farley gets a broom. End of."

"Fine," Bilius huffed, crossing his arms.

"Grow up, Billy," Farley sighed.

"Arthur," Septimus said, turning to his youngest son. "Do you want to open your Christmas present now?"

Arthur, who had been watching his brothers' with interest, looked somewhat doubtful.

"Come on," Cedrella said, handing the six year old a much smaller, badly wrapped package. "Dad wrapped that one," She added apologetically.

Arthur gave a small smile, too small to show the gap in his front teeth. Gingerly, he reached out and took the present from his mother. He set about carefully unwrapping it, taking care not to rip the paper.

"Wha' is it?" Arthur asked, as a oddly shaped, plastic object fell out of the package and onto the floor.

"It's a... What are they called, dear?" Cedrella asked Septimus as she snatched up Arthur's wrapping paper.

"A plug," Septimus informed her promptly. "Ah, no, a pug, I do believe. Or it might be a pulg... No, no, I'm sure it's pug."

"Pug?" Arthur repeated questioningly.

"Yes!" Septimus nodded enthusiastically, crouching down on the floor next to his son whilst Cedrella rolled her eyes. "It's something Muggles use, Artie."

"Wha' for?" Arthur asked.

"Oh, err..." Septimus paused. "I'm not sure! But don't you think it's incredible? One day, Artie, when you're a bit bigger, I'll let you take the pug apart and we can see what's inside, yeah?"

"Yeah!" Arthur said, giving a toothy grin for the first time in months.

"Good boy," Septimus smiled, ruffling Arthur's hair and turning back to Farley, who was fighting with Bilius over his wand.

For once, Arthur chose not to watch his brothers engage in physical attack, but instead sat quite still on the living room floor, transfixed. The 'pug' lay in his hands as he turned it over and over, as if hoping something would appear with each turn. As it was, he gazed at it, his mind whirring.

He had always liked Muggles, with their photos that didn't move and their odd modes of transport, and now he had a Muggle toy of his very own! He could barely contain his glee as he sat analysing the plug, blissfully unaware of the arguments and tears from his brother as Farley's broom snapped in half.

This was the day that Arthur Weasley's fascination with Muggles was born.