Christmas at the Burrow

The crooked house looked beautiful in the dark night. It was decorated for the holidays, lit up like a Christmas tree. Fluffy snow covered the ground and landed lightly on the roof.

As the small family stepped up to the front door, Victoire tugged on the hem of her dress. Her stomach was all tangled up into knots like it usually did when she went to family events like this. She let out a little huff and she bit her lip.

"Victoire. Stop fussing" Her mother said in her French accent and she swatted Victoire's hand away. "You look beautiful"

"You're supposed to say that. You're my mother" Victoire muttered under her breath, but her mother didn't hear her as she was now trying to help her husband seperate their other two children, who were bickering. To Victoire, it sounded like her youngest brother, Louis, had been tugging on her younger sister, Dominique's, hair.

"I didn't do anything!" Louis said, obviously trying to hold back his laughter. He reached over when Dom wasn't looking and tugged on her long, strawberry blonde hair again.

"Louis!!" Dom squeaked, turning around to look at him with a horribly annoyed look on her face.

"That's enough, you two" Victoire's father, Bill, sighed. He grabbed Louis' collar on his coat and pulled him away from his sister. "You don't want Grandma Weasley to see you two acting like that"

Victoire let out a little laugh, quickly covering her mouth to hold back her sniggers. Grandma Weasley was the threat that Bill always used and it always got the kids to stop what they were doing. Fleur sighed and just as she reached out to knock on the door, it swung open. Standing in the doorway was a plump woman with a warm expression on her face.

"Grams!" Victoire grinned and she stepped into the house and into the arms of her grandmother. Victoire loved seeing her grandmother, it always made her feel warm and loved. Grandma Weasley kissed her cheek and Victoire stepped around her, moving into the house a bit more. She slipped off her coat, looking around. From the living room, she could hear a group of people talking and music playing softly.

Once her whole family was in the house, Victoire turned to look at her grandmother. "Is everyone here?" Victoire asked in what she hoped was a calm voice but there was a little twinkle in her grandmother's eyes when she answered her.

"No, not yet. We're still waiting for Harry and his family. They should be here any minute" She said in a patient voice and she took everyone's coats. "There is some snacks in the sitting room, if you're hungry"

Slowly, Victoire worked her way back to the sitting room. She didn't want the others to see that she was nervous, even though it was pretty obvious. Victoire was usually very bubbly and talkative. However, as she walked into the sitting room, Victoire gave her everyone in her large family a hug then sat down by the fire to quiety twist a piece of her blonde hair around her finger. Every few moment, she would turn towards the window, trying to see if anyone was walking up to the house.

"You're going to hurt yourself if you keep doing that" Dom teased with a grin on her face. Victoire looked over at her little sister and her lips formed a little pout. The knots in her stomach were getting tighter and tighter. What if they weren't coming anymore?

"Piss off, Dom" Victoire muttered and she turned once again to look out of the window. Dom laughed and she turned to look at Uncle George, who was talking to her a little bit. Victoire could hear him ask her about how she was liking her fourth year at Hogwarts and Dom started talking about her grades and the classes. Dom was a very smart girl and she loved the classes. Uncle George sounded a little disapointed but Uncle Percy was congratulating her on getting top marks last year.

"What about you, Victoire?" Uncle George asked her and Victoire turned to look at him quickly with a slightly stunned look on her face, like she wasn't expecting anyone to talk to her. "How is school going?"

"Good" Victoire replied. She was in her sixth year and she was just happy that she had made it through her OWLs. She opened her mouth to say something else but Dom cut her off.

"Victoire was in detention for two weeks just before Christmas break" Her voice was teasing and there was a grin on her face. Victorie snapped her head over to her younger sister with a livid look in her eyes. That was supposed to be a secret. Uncle George, however, lit up and he had a wicked grin on her face.

"What did you get detention for?" He asked in a happy voice. Victoire blushed a little bit and she pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"Nothing bad..really" She said, thankful that he wasn't getting mad at her or anything like that. Uncle Percy looked upset, but he didn't say anything. "I let off a dungbomb in Potions so that I could sneak away and go play in the snow" She admitted with a little shrug. Uncle George roared with laughter.

Just then, there was a knock at the door and Victoire's heart skipped a couple beats. Grandma Weasley jumped up and she hurried over to the door, opening it up and letting in the guests. Victoire could hear her welcoming them and kids laughing. A few moments later, a little girl with curly brown hair bust into the sitting room and ran over to Victoire. "Toire!" She giggled in her little voice and she threw her arms around Victoire's neck.

"I missed you too, Jazz" Victoire laughed, hugging the small girl. Jazz peeled away from Victoire and she began to run around the room, hugging eveyone. Victoire turned her gaze back to the doorway and she smiled, waving as Harry and Hermione walked in, holding hands. They weren't her biological family, but they had been in Victoire's life so much, it was like they were family.

"James…would you shut it?" A familiar voice chuckled. A young boy ran into the room with a grin on his face, like he had said something that he was rather proud of. He looked just like his father, with messy black hair and bright green eyes. Following him, with his hands shoved in his pockets, was the person that Victoire had been waiting for. Teddy Lupin had a confident look on his face and a twinkle in his dark eyes, but his cheeks were pink and his hair was turning back to it's regular dark brown from bright red. Victoire knew that whenever he was embarrassed or flustered, his hair would turn a vivid red.

He walked in and his eyes landed on Victoire, a smile spreading across his face. Victoire gave him her best smiled back and she waved at him but soon enough, he was being swept over to James and his cousins.

The night seemed to pass slowly for Victoire. She kept looking over at Teddy and her heart would skip but they never had a chance to just talk to each other. Whenever Victoire would try to slide over to him to say hello, her sister would tease her or an uncle would ask her something. so Victoire was stuck where she was, listening to her mother complain about the fact that they had to listen to Celestine Warbeck again.

Finally, after eating supper and a few drinks, everything started to settle down. The large family was sitting around the table, talking between themselves. In the middle of the table, was a large pile of dishes. Victoire wanted to be alone for a few moments. She wanted to be able to be upset for a few moments before she had to put a smile on her face. Pushing her chair back, Victoire stood up and grabbed as many dishes as she could. "I'll go take these to the kitchen" She said and she gingerly walked out of the dining room.

With a huff, Victoire placed the dishes down on the counter and she yawned. She had been so looking forward to seeing Teddy and having a few moments alone with him. They had known each other her whole life. Teddy was two years older than her and they had been inseparable from the moment they met. They had always been best friends but for the past year or so, Victoire had been confused. Whenever she saw Teddy, her stomach knotted up and her heart skipped. He had a way of making her feel beautiful just by looking at her. There was no way that he felt the same way about her. She was just the silly Weasley girl who followed him around as a little kid.

"I didn't think that it was possible for one family to make so many dishes" A voice chuckled and Victoire gasped a little bit, out of shock. She looked up at saw Teddy Lupin walking through the doorway into the kitchen and he placed an armful of dishes down on the counter.

"Yeah…we could probably win some sort of award" Victoire said softly, a little giggle in her voice. She turned around so that she was facing him and she leaned against the counter, playing with her bracelets a little bit.

"How was your Christmas?" Teddy asked her, looking down at her with a little smile. Victoire looked up at him, her eyes locking with his and her heart skipped a beat.

"It was really good" Victoire told him and she took a small breath. "What about you?"

"Oh, it was great. It's a little more exciting now that Jazz is getting older and she understands what Christmas is, you know?" Teddy told her and he leaned on the counter beside Victoire. His arm brushed against hers and Victoire swore that she felt a spark shoot through her whole body. There was a small silence before Teddy cleared his throat and he pulled a little box out of his pocket. "I got a present for you" He told her and Victoire blushed deeply.

"Oh, Teddy…you didn't have to do that. I didn't get you anything" Victoire admitted and her bit her lip. Teddy shook his head and he passed the box to her.

"I didn't want a gift from you" Teddy said and Victoire tore her eyes away from his handsome face so that she could look down at the little box. Gingerly, she opened the lid and gasped. Nestled inside was a small silver ring with a tiny star. "I went into muggle London with Hermione when she was shopping for Harry and the kids and I saw this in a window. It reminded me of you, in a way" He told her and Victoire slipped the ring onto her finger.

"Ted..this is.." Victoire breathed and he chuckled a little bit.

"Since when are you speechless?" Teddy teased and Victoire wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you so much.." She said and she pulled herself away from him to look down at the ring again.

"Look…mistletoe" Teddy said in a low voice and Victoire looked up at the ceiling with a slightly confused look on her face. She could have sworn that it wasn't there a few minutes ago. Glancing at Teddy, she saw him hastily shove something in his pocket that looked suspiciously like a wand.

"Yeah…look at that" Victoire said in a would be calm voice, her cheeks a bright pink. Before she could say anything else, Teddy had his hand on her hip and he was lightly pulling her towards him. Was this really happening? It seemed too good to be true. If it was a dream, Victoire didn't want to wake up. She looked up at him, her eyes locking with his for a moment. He paused, like he was expecting her to push him away but Victoire just moved a bit closer to him.

Then his lips were brushing against hers and the whole world went away. Victoire leaned into him, kissing him lightly. It was an innocent, gentle kiss but it was the best kiss Victoire had ever experienced. Her heart was pounding in her chest and her hands were shaking. Almost too soon, Teddy pulled away and he ran his fingers along her jaw. "Happy Christmas, Victoire"

"Happy Christmas, Teddy" Victoire breathed.