"George!" Florence scolded, swatting his hand away from the cookie batter that she was preparing, "I expected you to know better than to jab your dirty fingers into food." she scoffed at the redheaded boy, before setting the whisk down.

The Weasley twins had been sitting on the kitchen countertops after they had been kicked out from the living room as they kept dropping the Christmas balls and breaking them, now watching Florence scurry all around the kitchen trying to get all her ingredients together. They had approximately five hours until the big Christmas dinner, and Mrs. Weasley wanted heaps and heaps of dessert for everyone.

"Does she sound like someone we know, Freddie?" George called upon his twin, who he had caught in the act of pocketing one of the gingerbread cookies, which made him burst out into a loud voice, "Your boyfriend stole a cookie!" he tattled to Florence, who had swiveled around to glare at Fred.

"Well my boyfriend should return the cookie, otherwise he will be banned from eating any of the desserts later."

"But your boyfriend is hungry." said Fred, still not giving up the cookie. But the hazardous expression on Florence's face made him give up eventually. She flashed him a small smile, before taking another batch of warm cupcakes from the oven.

"He took the cookie back." George said as soon as Florence had their backs to them, hearing a soft smack after his voice, to be followed by Fred's frantic voice. "Flo, I swear I didn't take a cookie. He was just distracting you so that he could take a swipe off of your cookie batter."

"Why do you prefer the raw stuff? You're literally like Nicolai. Why would you want to eat the raw stuff when I'm going to bake those in to perfectly edible food if you wait a little longer?"

"Because he's impatient." chimed Fred, his response making her feel a sort of deja vu. She shook her head, "I swear I've had this exact conversation in the past."

Molly strode in to the kitchen a few moments later, one stern glare towards the Weasley twins was enough to get them to hop off of the counter, a warm smile replacing her previously threatening look as she went over to check on Florence, "Things are looking good, sweetie. Have we got enough for everyone?"

"Yes we do. I just need to pop them in the oven and they'll be good to go for tonight."

"Perfect. Thank you, dear." she smiled, before turning to Fred and George, "You two best help her in cleaning up...and not just sitting around."

Fred gave her a mock salute, before she retreated back to the living room, saying something about Sirius potentially breaking another case of Christmas decorations.

"You know," he said, before ever so cautiously sliding a cookie back onto the tray, "It would have been a nightmare for me if you and my mum didn't get along. But then again, this looks like a nightmare too. You're like...a brunette version of my mum."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Florence smiled, "Your mother is a very lovely woman."

"To other people," the twins snorted simultaneously, Florence raising a brow at them, before she continued creaming her cookie batter. Sloan had came in to the kitchen momentarily, wordlessly getting a glass of water before storming away, as though he was mad at the world.

Julien had flooed to France earlier that day, as he was going to spend his Christmas with the Franssons, at the conjoined request of Alanna, who claimed that she missed her brother so much, and his mother, who basically argued her way through Sloan's protests.

Sloan, on the other hand, was not okay with this at all, his reason being that Julien had two other relatives that he has yet to spend Christmas dinner with them. But Julien, who did not want to make a big fuss about it, promised to come back to Grimmauld place on Christmas morning, despite the fact that he would get zero sleep with doing so, as Christmas parties at the Franssons always lasted until early morning.

"Weasley." he said almost snappily, "Er, any one of you. There are doxies loose in the hallway. I need one of you to help me."

"I'll go..." said George after a moment's hesitation, "I guess."

"Great. Let's go."

"Speaking of mothers..." Fred trailed off, as soon as they finished watching Sloan walk back out, George in tow, "Have you told your mother about the thing?"

"What thing? The Auror training or moving in with you and George?"

"Both..." he said, "You know, you really need to come clean with everything. Soon."

"I could always tell her about the moving in part any time." she said, "I think mum would be happy about it. Then maybe I can hit her with the bad news...?"

"Or the bad news first then the good news to soften the blow." Fred suggested, "Do you really think she's going to be okay with you just moving in like that?"

"I guess. I mean, I don't really see a reason why she'd be opposed to it. She likes you and George, and she knows that I'm happy with you." Florence shrugged, "You know who's going to freak out, though? Sirius. Sirius is going to freak out. Merlin, thinking about it makes me want to not tell him."

"Well you can't not tell him. Or he'd feel bad." he pointed out, before enveloping her in a bear hug, "Okay you know what? Just forget about it. Forget everything for now. It's the holidays, for Godric's sake...I'm sorry I brought it up. You shouldn't worry about things... Everyone's supposed to be happy during the holidays."

"No, it's completely fine. And you are right about the coming clean part. The longer I hide this, the worse it's going to get." she sighed, "With how complicated this is, now I wish that I had just taken that stupid Quidditch offer instead."

He squeezed her hand lightly, "No, no negative attitude, my love. We have to face this with a positive approach."

"Just think about it this way, yeah? You want the Auror job. You'd love the feeling of being out there and making a big difference, yeah? So, as hard as your situation is right now, if you love it enough, then you'll know it'll be okay in the end."

A smile grew on her face, "Thanks. You always know what to say."

"I'm doing an exceptional job on this whole relationship thing, huh?"

"You bet you are."

                                         ——————

"Dinner's ready!" came the shrill voice of Mrs. Weasley from downstairs. Florence quickly pulled away from the passionate, entrancing kiss that she had shared with Fred, glancing up at the clock. They had about twenty minutes before midnight. She sat up, pulling Fred up along, who groaned at the interruption, "Can't we just skip the dinner?"

"No..." Florence said, as she patted down her wild bed hair, "I worked very hard on the dessert, and I want to eat some of it too. We can continue later... Plus, if we're not down there, someone's going to think that we're up to something. Now go! I need to get dressed!"

"I can't believe you're kicking me out," he pouted, before realization dawned upon him, "No matter. We'll be sharing a room soon, anyway."

"Out, Fred!"

Slipping on her jumper that she had gotten from the Weasleys from last year, Florence descended down the stairs to find everyone in very enthusiastic moods. Pixie lights were strewn around the living room and the dining room, the Christmas tree glowing with different colorful ornaments and garlands hung on it. A pile of presents also sat under the tree, Florence seeing the presents she had shopped and wrapped right in front.

Soon, everyone had settled in to their seats at the dining table, a flurry of various conversations going around. Sirius was chatting animatedly with Harry, who looked just as delighted to be in the company of his godfather. Jane, meanwhile, had been helping Molly pass out dessert plates to everyone.

The dinner began as soon as the clock struck twelve, clanks of spoons and forks against the ceramic bowls and plates heard as everyone reached around to fill their plates with as much food as they could possibly manage.

Ofcourse, small talk was inevitable. Molly was the main person who had gone around and engaged in different conversations with everyone, when her eyes finally landed on Florence, just as they had run out of things to talk about with Tonks.

"So, dear," Molly began excitedly as soon as she passed the pudding to her husband, "Jane told us all about your Holyhead Harpies invitation. International Quidditch. Must be exciting, yes?"

Fred had choked on the cookie he was munching, George thumping his twin's back as he handed him some water. The smile faded from Florence's face, looking all around the table except at her mother, who was now looking at her for answers. She shot Fred a desperate look.

"Oh, mum." He spoke, trying to distract Mrs. Weasley away from the topic, "You know, I think there might be another boggart hiding in the room that George and I are staying in. It keeps rattling—"

"Will you please talk to me about that another time, dear? I'm trying to talk to Florence." she told them curtly, before averting her attention back to the panic stricken girl, an expectant look on her face.

By this time, Sloan was staring directly at his plate, segregating his diced carrots from the peas.

Florence cleared her throat, wanting the ground to open up and swallow her whole at that moment. "Um, yes. My friend Alexander, her sister, she's currently playing for the Harpies... she was the one who recommended me."

"Everyone's mentioned to me how good you are," Arthur chimed in, "That's a very fitting career for you, then, pursuing Quidditch professionally... Nothing makes better money than the job that you actually love."

"Speaking of which, did you owl them your application form already?" Jane asked, to which Florence glanced nervously at her mother, now picking at her mince pie with a fork, stabbing at the surface repeatedly.

"I..." she began, her voice trailing off nervously, not wanting to ruin the holidays. But her mum needed to know. She couldn't keep lying. "I didn't turn it in."

This caught Jane by surprise slightly, "Did you forget? Try owling them...maybe they will consider late applications if you send it within the week. Maybe ask Adrianna about it?"

"No, that's not what I mean, mum. I mean...I didn't fill it in... I threw the application away."

The whole table turned silent, as Jane's frown deepened, "What do you mean? Why?"

"I..." she stammered out, feeling as though a rock was lodged in her throat. She felt Fred clasp her hand under the table, despite the fact that they were slightly clammy, which gave her the kick of support that she needed. "The Auror Department selected me to be one of their trainees, Mum. And I...I accepted the offer."

She saw Jane's jaw clench as she dropped her silverware onto her plate, the sound of it making Florence flinch. Without another word, she pushed her chair back, got up, and left, leaving everyone in the dining room stunned.

"I'm sorry." Florence muttered, before setting her napkin down onto the table and following her mum out. She heard someone's chair screech back as well, Florence too dead set on following after Jane to even care.

"Mum, please!" she begged, picking up her pace to get to her mother, who made a sharp turn down one of the hallways. She heard the door open and slam shut, with faint sniffling too. Her heard sunk down into what seemed like a bottomless pit, along with a stinging, hurtful sensation that was caused by the fact that she had hurt her mother.

She opened the door to the room that she had stormed in to, seeing Jane sitting at a corner, her legs drawn up to her chest, face buried in the tangles of her blonde hair. Even the sight of her distraught, emotional state made Florence feel like a monster, cursing herself mentally with every step she took towards her.

Slowly, she crouched down, and put a hand on her shoulder, and from their, her whimpering cries were heard more evidently, "Mum... I'm so sorry, mum. I love you."

Jane slowly lifted her head, Florence looking into her sapphire blue eyes only to find it clouded with deep sorrow, "I love you too, honey." Jane sniffled, "And it's because I love you that I don't want to loose you."

"You're not going to loose me, mum. It's not going to be like what happened to dad."

"He promised me that, too. The last time I ever saw him... Gabriel promised, that I wouldn't loose him like I lost my family, he promised that he would come back and we would be a family. Then I ended up raising you alone..." she caressed her daughter's face,

"You're the only person in this world that's keeping me together. I can't let you go. I can't, Florence. I won't be able to take it if something happens to you."

She took her mother's hand in hers, Florence now having tears in her eyes. "Mum. Nothing is going to happen to me. I promise you. I promise you, mum. You will always have me."

"I will always have you," Jane repeated, before embracing her daughter as though she was clinging on to her for dear life, "I love you, my sweet Florence. Don't ever leave me."

"I won't. I promise you."