So it's been a very long time since I've updated and I've tried my best to find some time to write but my schedule is soooo hectic. I've got early morning starts all week and the workload is no joke. I guess I'll have to get better at managing my time if I want to keep updating regularly. Sorry again, but hopefully the wait was worth it!

The Christmas holidays were certainly going to be awkward this year. It wasn't often that I spent the break with someone that wasn't family, let alone spending it with someone else's family. My parents were off celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary and I had not wanted to go along with them. Of course I had thought this mean that, at the age of 17 - an adult in the eyes of the law - I was old enough to be left alone at home. But my parents hadn't agreed.

Mum had made some arrangements behind my back and suddenly I was being shipped off to the Burrow of all places where I was going to stay under the watchful eye of mum's decades old friend. Honestly, I wasn't a child. I knew how to cook for myself, how to clean, how to make sure the wards were up. What did they expect? For me to burn the Christmas tree down before their return? Well, I had done that once before but in my defence it had been an outburst of accidental magic!

The adults, oblivious to my internal annoyance, were talking quietly between themselves as Mrs Weasley told me that I'd be sharing a room with her daughter. The youngest Weasley grinned excitedly at me, clearly pleased to have another girl in the house and all I could down as smile weakly in return. Helga, there was just so many of them!

Of course, I knew the eldest Weasley child; he was our current head boy and we'd shared potions classes since I'd joined the school. And Charlie, well, he was legendary in our common room for stealing the hearts of most of the fifth-year girls which he had no clue about. The boy was too wrapped up in his Care of Magical Creatures textbook to notice. And Percy, I knew Percy because of a particularly ugly run in with a group of Slytherins that I'd managed to prevent him from getting hurt in. Little Ron was unforgettable and I had never seen a 7-year-old with such chubby cheeks. Merlin, I just wanted to pinch them! The twins though, they were going to prove a problem to tell apart. But I had weeks to learn to do that.

Bringing my attention back to the older witch standing before me, I smiled thankfully when, with a wave of her wand, my bags had disappeared.

"They're in Ginny's room," she explained distractedly, looking away from me at the sound of a rather loud thud. She sighed wearily and called out, "Bill, show her to the room please."

"Come on Irwin," Bill called out from behind me and I turned towards the sound of his voice, finding him waiting at the bottom of the stairs for me. He tapped his feet a little impatiently and I fought back the retort that he didn't need to show me the way if he didn't want to, but I kept those thoughts to myself. Who knows how many floors this place had. I needed all the help I could get.

Without a word I walked to his side and shadowed him as he led me up the stairs and to Ginny's room. Once we reached the room he pushed the door open, gesturing for me to step inside. I did so with a little caution and scanned the room, finding my bags beside one of the two beds that occupied most of the space. Crossing the room towards my bags I half expected Bill to walk away now that he'd brought me to the room. But he didn't. Despite his clearly annoyed attitude, he waited in the doorway in case, I assumed, I needed anything.

"I'm fine," I assured him quietly, just as two small heads of red hair brushed past Bill and into the room.

Ginny launched herself onto my bed and grinned at me hopefully. Meeting her eyes for a moment, I blinked in surprise and instead looked to the boy that had walked in with her and found myself face to face with one of the twins. But which one?

"Can I help you?" I asked slowly, as the still unfamiliar twin blinked up at me, the beginning of a smirk on his lips.

"You're hot," he said bluntly, making me splutter slightly.

"I - I'm sorry?"

"Be my girlfriend?"

"Ok," Bill drew out the word, stepping into the room to fist the back of his brother's jumper. He pulled him away from me, restraining him against his side. "Ignore Fred; he's going through that phase where he flirts with every girl he sees. Don't read too much into it."

"I won't," I assured him, fighting not to roll my eyes when Bill began to drag a struggling 'Fred' out of the room. The younger Weasley, realising that his 9-year-old strength, was nothing compared to his brother's strength, allowed himself to be dragged out of the room but not before throwing me one last wink. Bill shut the door behind them and I allowed a small smile to play on my lips.

Remembering that I wasn't alone, I turned to the other girl in the room who was bouncing a little eagerly on the bed, clearly waiting for my attention. How did you talk to 6-year-old girls? Especially when one was looking at you so expectantly?

"Ginny," I tried out cautiously, making her nod excitedly, "is there - do you want me to braid your hair?" I asked remembering the girl pestering her mother to braid her hair. At the time Mrs Weasley had been too busy handling the twins who had Ron in a double head lock and as a result Ginny's hair was still un-braided.

"Please," she said eagerly, clambering off the bed to get a hair brush and a hair tie.

Settling down on my bed, I waited for Ginny to sit in front of me and began to gently run the brush through her hair; I wouldn't want to hurt her.

"You know," she murmured contemplatively, "I think I like you more than Bill's girlfriend."

"You've only just met me," I protested quietly, thinking of Bill's girlfriend; the current head girl.

As I parted her hair into three equal sections, Ginny muttered, "Doesn't matter. I still like you better, she made fun of my hair."

"She did?" I frowned, surprised at how protective I suddenly felt over this little girl. "Didn't Bill say anything?"

"She did it when he wasn't around."

"Cow," I muttered under my breath, clearly not quietly enough. The single word set Ginny off into a peal of giggles.

**********

A few days into my stay with the Weasleys, snow had begun to fall and it blanketed the land surrounding the burrow. The children, eager to get outside woke early in the morning and after a filling breakfast they had all wrapped up warmly and only then were they allowed outside to play in the snow. I had been tempted to stay inside because I did not mix with the cold weather and despite Ginny's insistence, I had chosen to curl up with my book and sat by the windowsill, watching as they had a snowball fight. The siblings played excitedly with the first snow and I frowned when the playful snowball fight soon became Ginny vs her brothers. Or rather the brothers who were currently playing outside. Bill and Charlie were still sleeping in and I couldn't contain my surprise when even Percy began to gang up on his little sister. Well that simply wouldn't do.

Setting the book aside I walked back to my room and changed into my winter clothes, tying the scarf tightly around my neck. I didn't want to come down with another cold. Casting a final warming charm as a precaution, I hurried outside to join the kids.

The first thing I did when I stepped onto the snow was to charm four snowballs to simultaneously hit the four Weasley boys. They fell on their bums from the force and Ginny looked at me in surprise, cheering thankfully at the sight of me.

"Are you here to help me?" she asked excitedly as I used my wand to construct a small snow shield between us and the boys.

"I couldn't watch them gang up on you," I explained, rolling my eyes when the boys claimed I was cheating for using magic. "Well considering that there's currently four of you against Ginny I think I'm allowed to use magic!"

The four shared a glance before retreating to discuss tactics. I watched them go with a smile, startling slightly when Ginny wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. I patted the top of her head, unsure how to respond but then she was pulling quickly away from me and beginning to make snowballs to prepare for the inevitable attack.

"Hurry up Irwin," she urged, falling to her knees in the snow to form the snowballs. "We need to stock up as much ammunition as possible."

"Where are your gloves?" I asked as I settled down beside her to help, waving my wand at the snow to form the snowballs twice as quickly.

"Lost them at some point during the war," she answered shortly, clearly not liking to be disturbed.

"The war?" I repeated, amused.

"Yes," she enthused, peering over the top of our barricade at the approaching boys. "This is war."

And she was right.

The snowball fight soon became a fully blown war and I had severely underestimated just how passionate the Weasley's became during snowball fights. And even with the aid of my magic we were struggling to fend off the four boys who were steadily advancing towards us thanks to some of Percy's tactical thinking. Whenever they got too close I'd use my magic to cover them in a mound of snow so Ginny and I could take a moment to regroup.

The real turn in the war came when the cavalry arrived, having just woken up. Charlie headed straight for his brothers and I watched, mouth agape as he easily pulled each of his brothers out from under the mountain of snow. Now that Charlie had arrived the boys switched leaders with Percy easily relinquishing his command to Charlie who spoke a few words with the boys which had them grinning. Helga, that didn't look good.

"So," Bill said after approaching our little shelter and crouching down beside us, "what's the plan then?"

"The plan?" Ginny asked, confused for only a moment before throwing her arms around her brother. "You're on my side Bill!"

"Course I am you little pipsqueak." He ruffled her hair, briefly meeting my eyes for a moment before he looked away from me. "So, the plan?"

"We don't have one," Ginny admitted and it was then that I noticed she was chattering slightly, her hands having turned a little blue from the cold.

I took her hands quickly between mine, rubbing them to bring some heat back into them. She met my eyes with a sheepish smile.

"Why didn't you say anything?" I demanded, slipping off my own gloves and shrinking them until they would fit her hands. She pouted at me when I handed them over to her. "Not a word Ginevra Molly Weasley. Put them on or else we're declaring surrender and heading inside."

She gasped as though the thought was high treason and hurriedly slipped on the gloves. "There. It's fine now, right?"

"Almost," I muttered, becoming aware of the heavy gaze watching my every movement. Trying to pay little attention to him, I cast a warming charm over the younger girl.

"There. Now we're done."

"Good," she grinned widely, looking to Bill expectantly. "The plan, Bill?"

"I have a plan," he said quietly, eyes remaining on mine for a moment longer before he looked to his sister. "Gather round and listen closely."

Unsurprisingly Bill's plan had been a success and if I said so myself, we slaughtered the boys who grumbled on their way inside the house. Ginny was in high spirits as we shrugged out of our outerwear and crowded around the fire. The younger girl was currently chattering loudly, teasing me for the way I'd accidentally slipped as I'd walked back into the house. I would have fallen on my bum had Bill not caught my arm and hauled me steadily to my feet. I had been embarrassed beyond compare but he had headed without a word into the house.

Mrs Weasley made her way round the room with hot chocolate when Ginny clambered into my lap, handing me a hairbrush and I couldn't help but laugh. At some point the younger girl had decided that I braided her hair better than her mother did and I was certainly gentler as I did it. So she took every chance to have me brush her hair.

With a playful sigh I took the hairbrush from her and slowly teased the knots gently out of her hair. She squirmed slightly on my lap but that didn't stop her telling story that I had long stopped paying attention to between taking sips of her hot chocolate.

I finished braiding Ginny's hair when I felt a shoulder brush against my own as Bill settled down beside me, two mugs of hot chocolate in his hands. "That looks pretty Gin."

"I'm not the one that did it," she chimed, moving off of my lap and admiring the end of her fishtail braid.

"It looks pretty," Bill repeated again, handing one of the mugs to me.

"It's easy to do," I protested, raising the mug to my lips and promptly burning my tongue.

**********

Almost a week into my stay with the Weasleys and I had already come to terms with the fact that Ginny was a nosey little bugger. Every night she was promptly sent to bed at her bedtime and was still awake when I eventually went up to go to bed hours later. The first few nights I had believed that the younger girl would be sound asleep and had made sure to be as quiet as possible, only to find her wide awake.

I'd long given up trying to keep silent and instead engaged her in conversation as we laid in bed. And Helga, the girl could talk. She spoke excitedly about anything and everything in a way that was full of childish innocence. It only endeared me more to her. Somehow the girl knew just when one of her parents would walk into the room to check on her and she would promptly feign sleep and as soon as the coast was clear again, she was back to her talking.

Last night she had confessed to me that her favourite activity to do during the wintertime was to go ice skating on the lake. I had admitted that I didn't know how to ice skate, or rather I had never tried it in the first place. She had reacted as if it was the greatest sin I could have committed.

That was the reason that I found myself struggling to stay upright as I attempted to skate along the frozen lake outside the burrow. Attempted, being the key word. I couldn't count the number of times that I'd slipped during the short time I'd been practicing for. The Weasley children had taken turns to try to teach me how to skate before promptly giving up. Percy was the one to stick it out the longest and I almost felt sorry for the boy; he couldn't accept that this was of no use.

Both of my hands were held securely in his as he skated backwards, effortlessly managing to remain upright as I tried madly to not to fall over again. Merlin, I was sure that my bum was already bruised from the number of times I'd fallen.

I struggled to remain standing as we skated over an uneven patch of ice, the front of my skate catching on the ice as I pitched forward suddenly. Groaning aloud at the impact, I realised unimpressed that I'd managed to fall on my front this time. Letting out a huff, I managed to sit and looked up to find a hand held out to me. I took it right away and gladly rose to my feet with the offered help.

"Thanks," I said patting the chipped ice off from my coat.

"No problem," Bill said with a slight smirk, reaching out to pat a still standing Percy on his shoulder. At least I hadn't dragged him down with me.

"You looked like you needed the help Irwin," Bill muttered, gesturing for his brother to leave. "Why don't I give it a shot now? Everyone else has tried."

"You really don't need to," I protested, really just wanting to head back inside. "I don't think I'm ever going to get this. Maybe it's just something I'm not meant to be able to do."

"That's stupid," he said, offering me his hand again. "What reason do you have to give up without trying again?"

"I don't think I can take another fall on my bum," I insisted, even as I slipped my hand into his with a sigh.

He used my hand to pull me towards him, "I'll break your fall."

"Suddenly I don't want you as a teacher," I muttered with a roll of my eyes. "What kind of teacher begins with the anticipation of a failure?"

"A realistic one." He smiled suddenly, "Look at your feet Irwin."

I frowned, doing as told only to gasp. "How am I -"

I fell forward suddenly, the ease with which I'd previously been skating disappeared. He caught me, like he promised he would and I heard distant teasing as I pushed away from him.

"You were doing it just seconds ago," he pointed out, reaching out to prod my forehead, "You just think too much."

"I have that problem," I agreed.

"Come on," he insisted, holding his hand out for mine again, "Stop your thinking for a minute and let's try again."

I eyed him distrustfully for a moment longer before taking his outstretched hand and this time I didn't focus on preventing a fall. Instead I tried my very best not to focus on the hyper warmth of Bill's hand in mine. Merlin, no one's hand was supposed to be that warm. Eventually, when I realised that I perfectly capable of skating by myself I came to a stop and dropped his hand awkwardly.

"You're a good teacher," I admitted a little begrudgingly.

"I try," he said quietly, growing a little more serious than I had seen him in a few days.

This was the Bill that had been here when I first arrived, since then he had relaxed a little more. And yet, in a single second he reverted back to the more isolated version he was previously. Helga, had I done something to upset him?

But there was something in his eyes that said the very opposite.

I wasn't so out of tuned to have no idea what boys were like. I'd seen that look before; I'd been on the receiving end of that look before but never had it affected me in such a way. Helga what was I doing? What was he doing? He was the one with a girlfriend.

"Ginny!" I called out loudly, keeping my eyes on Bill's blue ones for only a moment longer before it grew too hard to meet his stare head on. "Let's play together."

The younger girl raced over to my side and I took her hand. Together we skated around the frozen lake and I tried to listen to her chattering, I really did - but it was difficult when all I wanted to do was tell off my heart. It needed to learn to stay in its lane.

**********

Almost without meaning to I had grown very close to the Weasley siblings and now that I was supposed to be leaving tomorrow I was sad to realise that I had very little time left to spend with the younger Weasleys. I could always see the elder three in Hogwarts if I wished but Merlin, I had grown to simply adore Ginny. Returning home was definitely going to be odd.

The burrow was always a hive of activity with kids running around constantly and our own home was going to be so different with only the three of us at home. I was definitely going to feel lonely for a while.

I hadn't set out to spend my final night at the burrow in front of the fire place but now it didn't seem like a bad way to spend it, especially when all the Weasley siblings were curled around me. Ginny had been the first to approach me, whining that I was leaving so soon. She begged for me to tell my parents not to pick me up tomorrow, or ever and I took her words with a small smile and simply patted the space next to me. She settled down beside me with a sigh, leaning against my side and handing over a book for me to read.

"You've been here weeks and this is the only think we haven't done yet," she explained with a large frown.

"Aren't you a little too old for bedtime stories?" Ron asked as he settled down beside Ginny.

And one by one the rest of the Weasley siblings followed their lead, settling around me as I read the words of the time old story. By the time I had passed the first five papers most of the Weasley children had joined us and as Charlie too settled down on the outskirts of the small cluster of redheads around me, there was only one missing. But he too was listening in. I'd spied Bill the moment he decided to hover in the doorway of the room.

I continued to read, watching as my voice lulled the younger kids to sleep; they'd tired themselves out by spending yet another day out in the snow. As I reached the end of the book I briefly looked towards Bill again as he pushed away from the door, walking into the room and together both he and Charlie began to usher the rest of the kids to bed. Mr and Mrs Weasley had called in for an early night, trusting their eldest sons to look after their younger children.

Charlie shook the twins awake as Bill lifted Percy up to his feet and helped the still half-asleep boy to his room. The twins soon followed, leaning heavily against each other as they walked. Charlie attempted to pull Ron into his arms and I watched, impressed, as he eventually managed to lift him into his arms. He took to the stairs with him in his arms. I looked to the remaining Weasley who was snoozing soundly against my side.

Closing the book and setting it aside, I went to move when Bill appeared, easily taking Ginny into his arms.

"I've got her," he assured me, cradling her more securely against him. I rose to my feet, watching as he grinned at me from over her head, "Want me to carry you up too? You're not that much bigger than her."

"Make fun of my height again Weasley and I'll shrink you to the size of a garden gnome," I threatened half-hearted, thrown by the sight of that smile.

"I'll keep any comments about your height to myself," he promised as we both took to the stairs, walking slowly up the stairs. We were quiet to make sure that we didn't wake anyone up. When we reached the room, Bill stepped inside to put Ginny into her bed and then hovered a little awkwardly.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked cautiously, waiting for him to leave so I could get changed.

"About before," he began hesitantly, "when we went skating."

"A few days ago?" I asked when he stopped again.

He nodded, swallowing slightly as he murmured, "About that - I might have come across as if I -"

"As if you?" I prompted.

He shook his head suddenly, "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Are you sure?" Because you really wouldn't be making such a big fuss over it if it was nothing. Keeping those thoughts to myself, I instead watched as he bid a hasty exit.

He stopped when he reached the door, pausing as he went to close it behind him. "Goodnight, Irwin."

"Night, Bill."

**********

The next morning unfortunately came around all too quickly and around midday my parents had arrived at the burrow to pick me up. Because of Mrs Weasley's insistence we were going to stay for lunch and then head home. Ginny was the most reluctant to let me go. And perhaps her mother felt the same as lunch passed hours ago and she seemed reluctant to allow us to take a single step towards the fireplace. Instead she kept plying my parents with food and snacks, regaling them with stories and asking about their travels. By the time mum and dad admitted that this trip had been like their second honeymoon, I'd beaten a hasty retreat and headed up to Ginny's room, claiming that I had forgotten to pack something.

Ginny followed me up the stairs, wanting to stick by my side until I left. She was currently trying to guilt trip me into sticking around longer by asking if I didn't pity her because I was going to leave her as the lone girl of the house again.

"Can't you go tomorrow?" Ginny asked eventually, stepping towards me and hugging my waist tightly.

"Even if I stay tonight, you'll only say the same thing tomorrow," I said knowingly, reaching out to run a soothing hand over the top of her head. "Tell you what; if you miss me you could always get your family to come and drop you off at mine? We could have a sleepover."

She seemed excited by the prospect for a moment before remembering that she was supposed to be upset. She huffed, letting go of my arms and sitting on the bed with an annoyed pout. "It still won't be the same."

"I'm not a Weasley," I reminded her with a roll of my eyes, spying a pair of earrings which I'd forgotten to pack lying on the dresser. "I'm not a Weasley so I can't stay here."

"Well that's stupid," she muttered petulantly as I walked towards the dresser to retrieve the earrings. I caught sight of Bill in the mirror as he lurked in the doorway, contemplating whether or not he should step into the room.

"You have an awful habit of hanging around in doorways," I informed him, watching him through the mirror. His eyebrows rose a little in surprise at being caught. He said nothing, but then I hadn't expected him to either. "Are you going to come in or not, Bill?"

"Yeah Bill," Ginny said with a roll of her eyes, "Come in or go away, you're interrupting our talk."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, taking the cue to walk into the room.

"I'd have thought you knew," I teased slightly, packing the earrings away, "what with all your lurking."

"Tell her not to go Bill," Ginny pleaded, clinging to her older brother. "If you tell her not to go then she won't."

"That's not true Ginny," he cajoled as we shared a glance. "Besides, she needs to go home in time for Christmas."

"She can do Christmas here!"

Helga, I could already tell that the girl was going to end up in Gryffindor. She was certainly stubborn enough to fit right in amongst the lion cubs.

"I might come back before Christmas," I said a little hesitantly, worried she was going to hold me to my words. "I've bought Christmas presents for all of you so I might come to hand deliver them."

"That's so long away," Ginny whined, throwing herself backwards and splaying herself across the mattress.

"Ginny," Bill called out warningly and it was the first time I had seen him act sternly towards his sister. He was more likely to try to reign in his brothers in a similar manner but when it came to his sister he had an infinite amount of patience. Except, maybe he didn't.

"Why don't you go and talk to mum," Bill suggested, helping his sister sit up. "She might be able to convince the Irwins to stay until after dinner too."

Willing to take the chance, Ginny shot to her feet and ran out of the room. I heard her thunder down the stairs, calling out loudly for her mother. Left alone with the eldest Weasley child I hovered a little awkwardly on my feet. If he noticed the awkwardness then he said nothing about it. Why should he? The awkwardness was something I'd caused with the realisation that I was attracted to him when I really shouldn't have been.

"Was there something you needed?" I asked in an attempt to cut through the awkwardness as I sat down on the bed beside him. "I mean you were hovering for a while so I thought -"

"No, I just," he sighed quietly as he admitted, "I just wanted to see you before you left."

"Why?" I asked, unable to help myself.

"I don't know," he confessed quietly and even I could hear the lie in his voice.

But I didn't question him on it. Neither did I question him on why he reached out to put his hand on top of mine and leave it there until Mrs Weasley called up the stairs that we were going to be staying for dinner. Even then, I had been the one to pull my hand away at the sound of her voice.

Heart hammering in my chest, I walked promptly out of the room without a single glance back at the silent boy.

**********

The new term at Hogwarts always brought with it news of what had happened during the holidays as well as the latest gossip which, for the first week back, seemed to circulate at twice the usual speed. And, considering we had returned to school just yesterday, the gossip train was full and very interesting in a sense where apparently one of the first years had been claimed as victim to a curse fired by a heartbroken witch. The witch in question, a seventh year Ravenclaw who had just been dumped threw the curse at her new ex-boyfriend and the first year had been hit by accident. Luckily the head boy had been on hand to reverse the effects of the curse.

"But get this," Ceri said quietly as we sat at the table for breakfast the next morning. She leaned across the table towards Madhuri and I as we poured ourselves some tea. "It turns out that the boyfriend - the ex the witch tried to curse was our esteemed head boy himself."

My eyes flew to Ceri's in surprise, the tea pot hitting the table with a soft thud as I set it down. She misinterpreted my shock.

"I know!" she hissed, a little giddy that we clearly thought the news was as scandalous as she had.

"So Weasley broke up with his girlfriend then," Madhuri said, taking a small sip of her still scalding tea. "He broke up with her and our wonderful head girl decided to act very unlike the head girl and hex him? Only to miss and have her curse hit a first year? And then our very heroic head boy fixed her botched wand work?"

"That's the gist of it." Ceri nodded, "She might even lose her badge for creating such a scene."

I shook my head, not wanting to dawdle on the thought and took a sip from my tea as Madhuri wondered aloud, "Why did he break up with her?"

"Apparently there's someone else," Ceri confessed, making me jump slightly, scalding my tongue.

There was no way -

Helga, I was getting too big of a head to think that I had anything to do with this.

Madhuri tutted slightly, reaching out to hand me a napkin so I could pat my mouth dry. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing," I insisted.

So, it was one kiss. He wasn't the sort of person to break up with his girlfriend over one kiss, was he? I mean, the kiss wasn't even my fault! He'd been the one to initiate it.

I'd simply returned to the burrow on Christmas Eve to hand deliver the Christmas presents as I had promised I would. He'd been the last person that I needed to deliver his present to and according to Ginny he was hiding out in his room, doing some work and she had offered to show me the way. But I had assured her I'd be fine. Merlin, if I'd only taken her along then it would never have happened!

Reaching his door, I had knocked on it and he'd opened it after a short pause, clearly stunned to see me. I had handed him his present and been prepared to turn back when he stepped aside to let me in. I had hovered a little awkwardly by the window as he asked when I'd arrived and other mundane questions.

I answered each of his questions and when they stopped, I turned only to find him suddenly standing less a metre away from me with a sprig of mistletoe held between his thumb and forefinger.

It was held at his side, unsure before he raised it slowly to hang above our heads. My breath stilled in my throat for a moment and I tried to call out to him. But the moment his name passed my lips he'd kissed me and there was no turning back. Helga he'd kissed me and he had a girlfriend. I remained unresponsive against him and when he pulled away I searched his eyes in silence, wanting to ask him why he did that and what he could possibly be thinking. But I kept those questions to myself.

Instead I stepped away from him and hurried out of the room. In a few short weeks I had gained the habit of walking away from him.

"How do you know there's someone else?" I asked quietly, touching the tip of my burnt tongue and wincing a little.

"According to my very reliable sources, he said it himself," Ceri admitted. "Apparently he told her that it wasn't fair and he didn't like her anymore. Doesn't that automatically make you think that there's someone else?"

"Not really," Madhuri said sceptically before turning to face me. "You stayed with the Weasleys over the holidays, right? What was he like?"

"We didn't really talk?" I muttered, trying to turn my attention to my breakfast.

"He didn't mention someone else? Or losing any interest in his ex?"

"We're not exactly close enough to talk about our love lives," I reminded them as my stomach gave an uncomfortable lurch. I hadn't signed up for any of this.

**********

I tried to make it a habit to get to the prefect's meetings on time and yet I was dreading this one. Dreading it so much that I turned up late on purpose so I could sneak in late and settle somewhere at the back of the room. The idea had been for me to sneak in without drawing any attention to myself - without drawing Bill's attention to myself - but I clearly hadn't thought it through enough.

Of course the moment I walked into the room, the prefect's meeting had just begun and the head boy and girl had been standing at the front, addressing everyone. The creaking door of the room brought all attention to me and I flushed an unattractive crimson. So much for not bringing any attention to myself. Helga, I could always sneak out at the end of the meeting.

But for now, my main focus was lessening my embarrassment. I hurried to the first empty seat I found and settled down, burrowing my head in my hands until the heat left my cheeks.

"Do you make it a habit to be late, Irwin?" I looked up from my hands towards the voice only to want to hide away again when I met the amused eyes of one extremely smirking Charlie Weasley.

"The one time I'm late and you're never going to let me hear the end of it, are you?" I hissed quietly as the head boy and head girl began a rather tension filled meeting.

The head girl who, according to the very correct rumours, was one small mistake away from losing her badge, made sure to maintain her utmost professionalism but didn't even so much as glance in Bill's direction. Bill was doing his best to seem oblivious to the gossip filling the room as the prefects wondered whether the head girl would draw her wand again.

"How do you manage to sit through these?" Charlie asked curiously, leaning in to whisper in my ear. "This is so bloody boring."

"You're only a fifth year," I snorted with amusement, "this is what - you're third meeting? Helga, how are you going to make it to your seventh year?"

"I didn't actually want to take the role," he admitted as the paper schedules were passed around the room. "I wouldn't have taken it if Mullan hadn't been one."

His sudden confession took me by my surprise, making me glance towards him. "Mullan?" The seventh year Gryffindor prefect? "Bill's best friend?"

Charlie let out an announced breath, "Why does everyone keep linking her to him?"

"You have a crush on her?"

He didn't bother to deny it and instead he chuckled a little mirthlessly. "Do you want to know the real kicker? She's in love with Bill - has been since they were kids."

"Oh Charlie," I murmured, reaching out to pat his thigh in what I hoped was a comforting gesture.

"It only gets worse Irwin, if Bill liked her back then I'd have no issue. But -"

"But?" I repeated, hating that I sounded so hopeful.

"Do you really need me to tell you the rest?" Charlie rolled his eyes. "Bill's mad for you - has been for a while."

And I was silent. What was I supposed to say to that? Charlie Weasley had managed to render me silent in a way very few people had before.

"Should I be pleased you told her for me? Or annoyed?" We both looked up then, at the head boy who was towering over our still seated forms.

He had two copies of the timetable held out towards us and a quick glance around the room showed that we were the only people left in the room. The meeting had ended and we'd had no idea.

"I'm going to head back to the common room," Charlie muttered, snatching his copy of the timetable from his brother and beating a hasty retreat.

Bill watched his brother leave the room before settling into the now vacant seat beside me. I avoided glancing his way, clearing my throat and taking the schedule that he still held out to me. What was I supposed to say now?

"So," Bill said quietly, drawing out the word and rubbing is hands awkwardly against his trouser legs.

"So," I repeated after a moment. "It's a bit late, I should get going."

"Wait!" He reached out a hand, stopping me from standing from my seat. I hesitated. "You're just going to go? You're not going to say anything?"

"What am I supposed to say?" I questioned awkwardly, scratching at the back of my neck.

"Are you kidding me, Irwin?" He was not amused. Eyebrows drawn together he leaned in close to me. "You're bloody joking, right?"

"No."

He let out a sharp breath. "Irwin -"

"Look Bill," I said quietly, licking my bottom lip. "You haven't said anything for me to say anything to. Yes, Charlie told me but that's about all that's happened so really there's no need for you be getting into such a hissy fit over this."

Was I being deliberately obtuse? Yes. Was I trying to rile him into letting me go? Yes.

"Let's just get this straight," he said after a moment. "You've heard about my feelings now what's your response? Because there's no way I'm letting you bury this in the sand."

"I can't," I said quietly, avoiding his eyes again. "Even if I did like you back Weasley," and Merlin, did I, "What would people say? You've literally just had a very public break up with your ex."

"What would people say?" he repeated, incredulously. "What would people say? Why does that matter?"

"You have no idea what type of rumours would spread about me stealing you away from her. Merlin, girls are vicious Bill. You have no idea."

"You girls are also bloody confusing," he muttered, eyeing me steadily. "Look, I'm going to be honest here; I hadn't meant for it to happen but at some point, I began to fall for you. Even before you came to stay at ours and that's why I was so cold to you before - because I didn't want to fall and I wanted to be a good boyfriend. And yet I couldn't."

"Because of me," I finished for him, letting out a breath. "That's just what everyone else is going to say."

"I had no idea you cared so much about what other people have to say," he said finally after struggling to find the words.

"Neither did I," I admitted.

"Think about it once more," he asked quietly.

**********

Since when had I cared about what other people thought about me? Hadn't I been raised to not care about any of that? And before this incident I had thought that I didn't care what people thought about me, and I wouldn't let words spoken by others run the way I lived my life. And yet here I was, doing the very opposite. Helga, help me; I couldn't keep it out of my head. I couldn't keep him out of my head.

Was he disappointed? Disappointed that I clearly wasn't like he thought I was. Maybe I had disappointed him to such an extent that he didn't like me anymore? Maybe I should have at least told him that I liked him too? Or would that have made me seen even worse? Because I liked him and yet I was letting the possibility of some rumours stop me?

"You're doing it again," Madhuri called out, settling down beside me as I sat on my bed, lost in my thoughts. "You're overthinking again."

"Sorry," I said with a little shake of my head, coming out of the maze that was my wonderings.

"You've been like this since that prefect's meeting a few days ago," she said, watching me with searching eyes. "What happened that's got you so lost then?"

"I -" I shook my head, stopping myself. "If there was something you wanted to do, but you know that people wouldn't approve what would you do?"

"Are these people your parents to not approve?" she asked bluntly, raising an eyebrow. "If they're not then what does it matter?"

"Madhuri," I said quietly, tentatively.

"You've clearly got something you want to say so just spill." I met her stare and after another moment's hesitation I decided to just admit it. At least Ceri wasn't around; it was likely that the first thing she'd do was squeal.

"Bill Weasley likes me."

She went still for a moment, clearly thinking over my words. And yet she didn't seem to believe it at first and then all of a sudden she was grinning, leaping towards me to hug me. I pushed her away from me, holding her at arm's length.

"This isn't something for you to be so pleased about," I insisted. "This is bad."

"Why is this bad?" she asked, unsure of where my current thoughts were.

"The rumours -"

"What rumours? It's not as if you snuck around with him when no one was looking. You didn't seduce him away on purpose - Helga, you're so awkward that I'm not sure how you managed to do it."

"This is serious," I insisted, smacking her with my pillow when she began to laugh. "If I tell him the truth and we date - what would people say?"

"Who gives a fuck?" she asked bluntly, "Aren't you the one that always says not to care what other people say about you? Or is that just advice you dish out without ever following it yourself."

"I don't know what to do," I admitted quietly.

"Let me be honest with you," Madhuri said quietly, reaching out to hold my hand between both of hers. "You're one of the least selfish people I know, so much so that even over such a ridiculous thing, you're considering how other people might feel. Stop doing that and for once, think of your own happiness before I have to step in and knock some sense into the pair of you."

"As if you could," I said with an uneven smile. "Mads, you're as scary as a teddy bear."

"You've clearly never faced the end of my wand," she said with a large frown that didn't fade even as Ceri stepped into the room.

Looking between the pair of us, Ceri raised her eyebrows and frowned as if to express her displeasure at being left out of the loop. She shut the door of the room hesitantly behind her.

"You two were bitching about me, weren't you?" she asked heatedly.

Madhuri and I shared a look, speaking together. "Yes."

"You cows," she hissed, stalking towards my bed. "I'd rip into you a new one if I didn't have news."

"News?" Madhuri asked quietly.

"Bill Weasley's waiting outside the common room for you Irwin, apparently you have rounds?" Ceri asked, turning her eyes to me.

"Rounds?" I repeated, reaching over towards the bedside table where I'd kept the timetable. "I don't have rounds until - shit."

"You're late?" Madhuri guessed as I scrambled to my feet.

"I thought I had rounds tomorrow instead of today," I explained, shrugging into my robes and grabbing my wand on my way out of the room.

I hurried out of my dorm, running into the common room and to the hall. When I stepped out into the hallway, I smiled apologetically towards Bill as he waited against the wall.

"Sorry," I said, fisting my robes in my hands. "I guess I didn't look at the timetable close enough."

"Don't worry about it," he assured me, pushing away from the wall and walking down the corridor. "Let's get going or else we'll end up spending the entire night patrolling."

I followed after him in silence, half expecting him to bring up what happened during the prefect's meeting. But he didn't. In fact he went out of his way not to mention it and if I hadn't made up my mind to talk to him about it, then I would have thanked him for it. But I was reduced to cursing him quietly, wishing he'd just bring it up or give me some kind of hint.

But even as we drew closer to the Hufflepuff common room he didn't say a word. Helga, the man was going to frustrate me to no end!

We reached the entrance to the common room and I waited for him to say something. And when he did speak it was simply, "I'll wait for you to head in before I go."

I made a face that he couldn't see and instead stepped towards the stack of barrels, tapping out the code. The entrance to the common room was revealed and I glanced back at Bill who seemed a little surprised at what it took to enter the Hufflepuff basement. I cleared my throat, walking back towards him and rising to my toes I pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.

"Goodnight," I said quietly, hurrying away from him and towards the entrance of the common room once again.

My cheeks were aflame and I was sure that the embarrassment was going to eat me alive. And yet, that didn't stop me from looking back at Bill as the barrel began to swing shut yet again, shutting out any view of the outside hallway. But not before I saw the beaming grin Bill was wearing.

Who said Gryffindors were the only brave ones?

**********

7 YEARS LATER

Today was going to be a long day.

I'd already gotten into two arguments today with the heads of other departments who were insistent on trying to make mine smaller. Just because we dealt with nonhuman creatures they were under the impression that we were a less important department but I'd show them. If they thought they could push me over because of how young I was then they had another thing coming. They were underestimating the wrath us badgers were capable of inflicting.

Helga, it was only time for my lunch break and I could already feel a headache coming on. Dropping my head into my hands I let out a loud sigh, trying to convince myself to get started on the rapidly growing pile of paperwork that had taken over the cluttered right-hand corner of my desk.

The timid knock on my office door was enough for me to lift my head. Straightening out random things on my desk, I called out, "Come in."

Sophie, my new assistant, peered into the room with a small smile. "I'm not disturbing, am I?"

"Course not Sophie," I assured the younger witch, ushering her into the room. My eyes instantly zeroed in on the pile of papers in her hand. I suppressed another sigh. "And you've brought my favourite thing with you; paperwork."

"Actually," she said shutting the door behind her and crossing the room. "This is McNeil's spending report."

"Helga help me," I muttered, taking the papers from her and flicking through them. "How many times do we need to tell the man that the ministry is not going to reimburse him for that holiday he went on, no matter how fervently he claims it was a business trip." Something caught my eye and I paused, looking at her in shock, "Tell me he isn't demanding a raise? For what! The man doesn't do anything. This is more than I get paid!"

"I don't think he's over you beating him for the promotion," Sophie said with a roll of her eyes. Merlin, I was so close to firing the man.

"Want me to have a word with him?" I looked to the door at the sound of Bill's voice and sure enough, standing there in the now open doorway there he was. He still had the habit of lurking.

"He doesn't respect my authority Bill," I muttered with rolled eyes, watching as Sophie decided to give us some alone time. "I don't think sticking my curse-breaker boyfriend on him is going to make him respect me anymore, now do you?"

"Someone's stressed," he said as he walked around my desk.

"Like you wouldn't believe," I let out another sigh, smiling instantly when a bouquet of flowers was held out to me. "What are these for?"

"Just," he said with a shrug, smiling when I took the flowers and stroked one of the petals gently with my thumb.

Bill walked around my chair, reaching out to rub the tension out of my shoulders. An automatic sigh left my lips as leaned further back in my seat. My eyes drifted shut as I let myself relax in his presence.

"Marry me."

My eyes opened at the statement. I pulled away from Bill's touch, turning in my seat to meet his earnest eyes. He smiled encouragingly at me and before he could repeat himself, I held up a hand to halt his words.

"I accepted the first time you asked me," I reminded him with furrowed brows.

"Marry me today," he proposed, leaning against the back of my chair with crossed arms. "Let's run away and do it today."

"Have you lost your mind?" I asked, eyes wide. "Not only is your mother going to kill us but we'd never hear the end of it. What's got you so desperate to marry me anyway, Weasley?"

"I just don't want to wait any longer," he protested innocently and I fought not to narrow my eyes at him. "Isn't the waiting driving you mad too?"

"Nice try," I scoffed, pushing his arms off from my chair. "Now how about you tell me truth?"

At first, he seemed reluctant to tell me the truth and I usually knew better to push because when you pushed Bill Weasley, that was when he got angry. And his sort of anger wasn't the loud kind, the kind where they screamed and shouted. No, Bill's anger was the quiet kind, the kind where he clammed up and clenched his jaw tight. I'd always found it much scarier

I knew better to push. But this was about our wedding. I couldn't just leave him to stew about whatever it was that was concerning him so much.

Except I didn't need to. He suddenly let it all out.

"Why are there so many types of flowers and who the hell is going to bother to look up the meaning of the flowers? And why do they all look the same?" he questioned fiercely. "How many details can there possibly be left to plan?"

"Flowers?" I repeated cautiously, "Is this about the centrepieces?"

He nodded, the word centrepieces making him shiver in repulsion. "This whole big wedding stuff isn't for me."

"I don't think it's for me either," I admitted honestly. "But I thought we agreed that this was more for your mother than for us?" Again, Bill nodded whilst sighing a little wearily. I couldn't help but ask, "So, which ones did you prefer then?"

"The red ones," he said after a moment's thought.

I tried not to snort; they were all red.

"Why don't we head out for lunch?" I suggested instead of bringing up anymore wedding talk. Pushing my seat away from my desk, I stood and grabbed my bag. "We can get your favourite to make up for you having to, Merlin forbid, help plan your own wedding."

"You're making fun of me, aren't you Irwin?"

"No, I wouldn't dare."

____________________

So, what did you guys think?

I know it's not up to my usual standard but it's something after no posts for such a long time, right? It was definitely good for getting back into the swing of writing these.

Here are your hints for the next one:

* He's a member of the Order of the Pheonix

* He failed his apparation test the first time