‘What? I know you have something to say so just say it,’ Fred said with his hands behind his head, watching as Hermione looked at him through the mirror as she tugged on a t-shirt after taking a quick shower.

‘Nothing... just Amelia,’ Hermione sighed as though it was ‘the usual’. Fred raised his eyebrows, sitting up a little in bed. She didn’t elaborate but only turned to face her husband, ‘merry Christmas, love.’

‘Merry Christmas,’ he leaned over the bed, taking half the sheets with him as he did so, and kissed Hermione who smiled against his lips and enjoyed the kiss for a couple of seconds before pulling back. Hermione smiled as she looked into his eyes and let her fingers tangle in his hair.

‘You should get changed,’ she sighed, running a hand through his too long hair. Fred closed his eyes at her touch and kissed her hand as Hermione roamed her eyes over his countless freckles, ‘the kids are all up. I heard them a couple of minutes ago so get up, Fred, and get changed so we can open our presents!’

‘Not so fast,’ Fred frowned, catching her hands as she tried to move away from him. He turned her around so that he could look into her eyes, searching for whatever it was that she wanted to say but wasn’t able to. Fred raised his eyebrows as she opened her mouth to object, ‘what’s wrong, Mia?’

‘I just... I...’ Hermione sighed and climbed onto the bed so that she was sitting in front of him. Fred moved back a little to give her some space, pooling the sheets around his waist to cover himself as he took her hand. Hermione looked down at their entwined hands, ‘we’ve fought so hard against everyone who said that we wouldn’t work out, that we couldn’t keep the child, who were against us from the very start and the ones who wouldn’t accept Amelia into the family.’

‘Like my father,’ Fred whispered and Hermione nodded a little, ‘well, forget about him, Mia. James and Amelia are best friends which is why Dominique is starting to warm up to Amelia too; she’s not alone in this family.’

‘But she is the odd one out. She doesn’t have the famous Weasley hair, she’s not like the others and we knew that from the start,’ Hermione sighed, shaking her head, ‘what I’m trying to say is that I hate this. I hate how she thinks she is in love with that Malfoy boy! I hate how she apparated away with him! I hate how I thought you were the one and only person she would listen to... but she disobeyed you. She never disobeys you, Fred, and I know it’s all because of that boy! The Malfoy’s are driving me crazy!’

‘I don’t want her to be with Malfoy either, Hermione. If it was up to me, I’d kill that boy if he even looked at Amelia. I’d hex Draco Malfoy into craziness if he dared to touch you but... I can’t do that,’ Fred sighed and took her face into her hands. Hermione looked up into his eyes and waited for him to say the thing that would make her feel better like he always did, ‘I don’t condone Amelia running off with Malfoy’s spawn but... if her own mother is against the relationship she’ll start to rebel against her family. As you said everyone was against our relationship and we rebelled against them all to get to where we are today... Amelia will do the same and I don’t want her to turn her back on us.’

‘So... what you’re saying is that I should let Amelia date that boy and potentially get heart broken and bear her crying over someone who will never love her?’ Hermione asked, frowning at him. Wasn’t Fred supposed to be on her side rather than trying to get this relationship to go on? She felt her chest tighten at the mere thought of a Malfoy being near her daughter.

‘No, what I’m saying... suggestingis that you shouldn’t turn your back on her. She’s a teenager which makes it so much worse since she’ll be angry at you for even suggesting the smallest of things; we’ve all been through that phase and it’s tough. I’m not telling you to cheer her on, I’m telling you to talk to her like you have through her whole life, helping her with every problem-’

‘But I’m not the one to help her, Fred! She turns to you every chance she gets!’ Hermione sighed, shaking her head as she thought that over in her head. If Amelia had any question to ask about classes, she would ask Fred even though Hermione was a lot smarter book-wise. If Amelia needed help with anything she would go to Fred before thinking of going to Hermione.

‘I know that and I think it’s time you dealt with her boy problems. Plus... I wouldn’t do a good job of being unbiased when it came to my daughter and a boy,’ Fred rolled his eyes and Hermione smiled as she put her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek, ‘she’d hate me at the end of it but she won’t hate you. You’re compassionate and caring so you’ll be able to hear her out.’

‘You’re basically dumping all of her boy problems onto me, love,’ Hermione chuckled in spite of herself. Fred smiled and kissed her cheek as Hermione rested her head on his chest, ‘fine, Fred, I’ll talk to her. In no way am I telling her to go to this boy.’

‘She doesn’t know about you and Draco Malfoy’s little... affair. Keep it that way, she won’t like to hear that,’ Fred added, frowning at the word affair. Hermione also tensed up and they stayed like that for a second; Fred’s arms around her waist and Hermione resting her head on his chest. Fred kissed her head, ‘I’ll be down after a quick shower.’

‘I love you,’ she whispered, pulling back a little to look into his blue eyes as though to get rid of the awkwardness that followed the word ‘affair’.

Fred beamed visibly and told her that he loves her too before pulling away. He got out of bed, taking the sheets with him, and Hermione watched him walk into the bathroom, naked. She thought of last night and couldn’t stop her cheeks from going red. They hadn’t exactly been intimate in the Burrow before and there was a strange feeling that came with being intimate in Fred’s childhood home. She laughed out loud, the sound seemed foreign to her ears.

Hermione smiled as she heard the shower start and she stood up, yanking on some jeans. She brushed her hair and got her wand, flicking it so that their sheets were immaculately made and clean. Hermione looked at herself in the mirror, smoothing down her top. She slid her hands over her stomach and frowned. She wasn’t as slim as she was in Hogwarts but she wasn’t fat either. The only time she had been ‘fat’ was when she was pregnant with Amelia but straight after the birth of her daughter and after she had recovered, Hermione lost that weight. She looked good now, by physical looks and weight. Most woman really did let themselves go after getting married but Hermione had stayed her usual self and even began to go for runs in the mornings. Hermione’s thoughts drifted off as she stood in front of the mirror, circling a soothing hand over her stomach. She left a minute later.

---

*Amelia’s POV*

Amelia was sitting in the living room with all of her cousins who were excitedly opening presents from parents and grandparents and friends. She was curled up with a book by the window but none of the words were sinking in. She fidgeted with the necklace around her neck, running her hands over the soft curve of the letter ‘G’.

‘Merry Christmas, kids,’ Hermione and Fred walked into the room, smiling. Amelia didn’t look up from her book as they got handed their presents.

She turned to look out the window at the snow falling gently to the ground. It looked so pretty but she wished she wasn’t around anyone even though it was Christmas. She wanted to go home; to her own home with Hermione and Fred. James was ignoring her, Dominique didn’t really know what to say, Harry and Ginny had gave her a small smile when she woke up. That was all. She just wanted to leave.

‘Merry Christmas,’ Hermione said, walking over to her. Amelia looked up from her book at her mother as Hermione sat down next to her. She hugged Amelia tight, ‘didn’t you open your presents?’

‘Yeah, I did,’ Amelia held up her hand. A small bracelet hung around her wrist, the light made the green twinkle brighter. She smiled at her mum, ‘thank you, I love it.’

Hermione smiled and hugged her, kissing the top of her head. Amelia closed her eyes; feeling the strain of the last day come back onto her. When she was upset and was hugged by someone, Amelia would feel a strong urge to cry and let out every thing that had happened to her in the form of tears. Most people felt that way; being comforted lead to letting out your feelings. Eyes closed and smelling in her mother’s perfume, she bit her lip and her hand started to play with her necklace again.

‘Don’t do that ever again,’ Hermione said in a quiet voice.

‘I’m sorry-’

‘Sorry isn’t good enough,. You disobeyed your family for a boy, do you realise just how bad that is? Family before everything, Amelia. Keep that in mind and you’ll be fine,’ Hermione sighed, patting her head once, ‘what you did was wrong.’

‘It wasn’t wrong,’ Amelia frowned, moving away from her mother. Hermione raised her eyebrows at her daughter and Amelia snapped her book shut, standing up. Keeping her voice low so that no one else would hear, she said, ‘I love Scorpius and I had to show you that.’

‘One minute you’re apologising and the next you’re talking back to me? That isn’t how I raised you.’ Hermione frowned, standing up too. At that moment, Fred walked over and hugged Amelia and over the top of Amelia’s head, he gave Hermione a “calm down” look. Hermione crossed her arms over her chest, ‘I’m going to help with breakfast.’

‘Merry Christmas,’ Fred smiled as Amelia pulled away from the hug, watching Hermione walk out of the room.

‘Merry Christmas, Dad,’ Amelia muttered, sitting down on the sofa again. Fred sighed, moving her book to one side, and sat down next to her.

‘At least don’t fight with your mother today. It’s Christmas which means family time,’ Fred said, putting an arm around her shoulders. Amelia let out a sigh, making eye contact with James who had been glancing at her from the other side of the room. James and Amelia looked at each other for a second before he dropped his eyes to the presents he had received.

‘Dad, I don’t want to stay here. I want to go back home and spend Christmas with you and Mum, without all of these people. There’s just so many people here and I... I want to leave! I want to be alone,’ Amelia buried her face in her hands. She didn’t want to be completely alone, she wanted to be with Scorpius. She wanted him to make her feel better about fighting with her mother on Christmas and about James ignoring her.

‘We can’t go home. This is the first Christmas with my family and I’m sure they want us to be here,’ Fred said, ‘now get up and talk to James. It’s killing me to watch you being apart from him.’

‘You’re only saying that because there’s no way I’ll fall in love with James and disapparate with him,’ Amelia said bitterly, standing up.

‘Being rude might work with getting rid of your mother but it doesn’t work with me,’ Fred said simply, looking right at her. Amelia crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, ‘Amelia, you’re just going through a rough time but that doesn’t mean you can be rude to your parents. I can take it but it infuriates your mother.’

‘Breakfast is ready, kids. Get in there, Victoire has some news before we eat,’ Mrs Weasley popped in and waved her wand so that the remaining wrapping paper flew to the bin.

Amelia left the room without another word to Fred but he followed right behind her. Victoire and Teddy were standing by the breakfast table; Teddy with his arm around Victoire’s waist and the biggest of smiles on their faces. Fred sat down next to Hermione who was looking down at the table.

‘Is that proof enough for you?’ Hermione asked, taking Fred’s arm and resting her head on his shoulder.

‘What?’

‘That Amelia will never open up or listen to me. You have to be the one to talk to her or else I’ll just get angry,’ Hermione sighed, ‘you’re so great with her.’

‘She didn’t talk to me about anything. She just... snapped at me,’ Fred said, ignoring Hermione’s eyes that widened as she turned to him. He sighed and glanced at her, ‘fine, I’ll talk to her. Just you take it easy and don’t shout at her.’

‘Everyone, listen up!’ Teddy shouted so that a silence fell onto the table, ‘we have some good news.’

Everyone looked up at the about-to-be-engaged couple. Hermione glanced down the table at Amelia who was looking down at her hands, Ron and Isabelle who looked really tired, Mr and Mrs Weasley who were excited to hear the news, Harry and Ginny were holding hands and smiling , and all of the other kids and Bill, Fleur, Charlie and Percy waiting patiently.

‘Well, we’ll be engaged in a couple of days but we just thought it’d be good to tell you before the engagement,’ Teddy said, glancing at Mr Weasley. He wasn’t sure how Mr Weasley would react to the news as he was so against “illegitimate children”.

‘I’m pregnant!’ Victoire squealed, beaming as everyone started to cheer for her. She was hugged by Mrs Weasley first and everyone else followed suit.

Hermione and Fred, already aware of the news, turned to each other whilst everyone made a fuss over Victoire. Fred smiled and leaned in to kiss her, his hand resting on her stomach.

‘You do remember how everybody reacted when I was pregnant with Amelia, right? I couldn’t have been older than Victoire at the time,’ Hermione sighed, leaning her forehead against his.

‘I remember the reactions very well. I don’t remember Dad being happy with our news like he is now,’ Fred frowned, looking over at Mr Weasley who was enveloping Teddy and Victoire in a big hug.

‘Makes me wish we could have another child,’ Hermione admitted sheepishly, thinking of the day she found out she could not have any more children as it was a hazard to her own health.

‘I would if we could, you know that,’ Fred said quietly, lightly touching her cheek with his thumb. Hermione nodded and kissed him again as everyone took their seats.

‘Wow, getting engaged and having a baby,’ James said, taking his seat next to Teddy. Hermione smiled at them and passed over the toast as James smirked at Teddy, ‘what’s your secret?’

‘The secret is to wait for the one you love. I mean, the one you truly love. Not the crushes you get at school; those will look pointless,’ Teddy said, raising his eyebrows at James, ‘I’ve heard you’re quite the player in Hogwarts.’

‘How could you possibly know that?’ James asked and then quickly added, ‘not that I am... a player.’

‘I’ve been told about what you get up to at school,’ Teddy grinned, lowering his voice so that no one could hear them, ‘you’ll soon learn.’

‘You’re like a year older than me, mate,’ James rolled his eyes, ‘and you’re acting like you’ve got so much experience.’

‘Yet I’m the one getting engaged in a couple of days. Not just getting engaged to anybody but I’m getting engaged to the girl I’ve loved for years,’ Teddy smiled, ‘seems like I know better than you, James.’

‘Take his advice, son, you might learn something,’ Fred added in, handing over some breakfast to them.

James just rolled his eyes, thinking he already knew what he needed to. They ate breakfast, laughing and chatting. Amelia sat at the end of the table, eating only a  little and leaving the table as soon as everyone had finished.

---

Amelia,

Merry Christmas! I hope you’re having a better time than I am. Christmas in my house is always breakfast, opening some presents that get delivered, me going to my room and my father having some strong alcohol which leads to him getting drunk and talking about that girl he loves.

I love the watch you gave me, it’s amazing! I hope you like your present too and I was wondering if you wanted to meet up soon? At, say, 11 am? I know you can’t tell anyone you’re meeting up with me but if you could make an excuse and come to Diagon Alley? I’m dying to see you. If you can’t come, it’s fine. We’ll meet in Hogwarts.

I love you forever,

S.M

Amelia fingered the scarf around her neck that Scorpius had gifted her. It really was a beautiful scarf that snuggled into her neck. She smiled for the first time that day after feeling depressed the whole morning. Even the Victoire being pregnant news didn’t make her happy and her parents weren’t helping like they usually did. And now it was 10:50 am and she had to leave in ten minutes.

She wanted to see Scorpius... needed to see him.

The door opened and she looked towards it, shoving the letter down into her pocket. Dominique saw her and widened her eyes as Amelia looked like she had been caught doing something she shouldn’t have.

‘Sorry, I just... thought I’d see where you had gone,’ Dominique gave her a small smile and noticed the scarf, ‘that’s a nice scarf. Who gave you it? Let me guess... James?’

‘Nope, I didn’t get anything from him this year,’ Amelia sighed, going to her trunk to get her shoes.

‘You didn’t? Huh, that’s weird. I’ve noticed you haven’t been speaking to him either, you’re usually so close,’ Dominique said, walking into the room and going to the mirror to fix her hair. Amelia didn’t reply and just tugged her shoes on, ‘where are you going?’

‘Going to meet a friend,’ Amelia lied easily, going to the mirror and picking up some eyeliner.

‘It’s Christmas though... shouldn’t you tell your parents?’ she asked, frowning at her through the mirror. Amelia just shrugged and Dominique clasped her hands together, ‘hey, maybe when you come back I could do your make up and hair and you could do mine?’

‘Maybe,’ Amelia shrugged and turned to her bed where her wand was lying. She picked her wand up and turned to Dominique who was looking at her, ‘if anybody asks where I’m going, just say I’m going to meet a friend.’

‘Wait!’ Dominique grabbed her arm and Amelia shrugged her off instantly. They frowned at each other and Dominique bit her lip, ‘I don’t think you should leave on Christmas day... if you are going to go, can you tell your parents first? Or... or tell James? He worries about you.’

‘He worries about me? He hasn’t looked at me today nor has he gave me a present. I gave him one but he didn’t even touch it!’ Amelia growled, fixing her hair, ‘tell him I’m dead then maybe he’ll be happy.’

‘Don’t say that,’ Dominique frowned and then sighed, ‘can I at least go with you?’

‘Why the hell would you want to come with me to meet a friend?’ Amelia asked, feeling all of the anger bubbling to the surface.

‘Because it’s not a friend. It’s that Malfoy boy that you’re going to see,’ Dominique said, putting her own shoes on and then grabbing Amelia’s arm, ‘and I want to make sure you come back so no one will worry since I’ll be with you. We’ll lie and said we went for a coffee or something. So shall we?’

‘I really don’t want you to come,’ Amelia admitted, knowing she sounded rude.

‘Tough. I’m coming,’ Dominique said, raising her eyebrows, ‘let’s go.’