TWENTY EIGHT

RORY AWOKE ON CHRISTMAS MORNING to a pile of presents at the foot of her bed. She could barely see the floor with the combination of her, Hermione, and Ginny's gifts filling the tiny bedroom. Rory shook the two girls awake and they opened their presents together.

All three girls received a classic jumper from Mrs. Weasley, each a different color. Rory's was an ivory color with a crimson "R" on the front. Hermione received a black one, and Ginny's was a mustard yellow.

Sirius gifted Rory a collection of dusty piano songbooks with a note attached that read, "Found these in the drawing room. Thought you'd enjoy." Remus got her a copy of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" (she had mentioned studying Shakespeare in Muggle Studies and how she wished she had one of his plays to read). Marina's gift had gotten to her and was a new deep red shade of lipstick, a color Rory had not yet sported but Marina was always encouraging her to be more bold. Angelina sent Rory a Gryffindor Quidditch banner, and Ginny got her a poster of the most famous female Quidditch players in history.

As Rory unwrapped the chocolate frogs Ron and Harry had gotten her, a strange smell entered the room.

"Damn Hermione, what's that?" Ginny asked, sniffing.

"Oh! Ron got me this perfume... it's a bit strange but... I think I like it!" Hermione beamed.

Rory smiled to herself and realized she hadn't seen a gift from Fred in her pile. She didn't really mind if Fred didn't get her anything. After all, he had to save as much as he could for the shop. Rory had gotten him a new jacket because she noticed he had outgrown his old one ages ago. She also got him a framed picture Colin Creevy had snapped of the two of them cuddling in the common room. She wanted to see how he liked her gifts, so she headed over to their bedroom and swiftly knocked on the door.

"Password?" One of them shouted from inside.

"Really guys?" Rory sighed, ".... fine! Oi Oi!"

Fred opened the door with a wide grin on his face and let her walk in.

"Happy Christmas, darling," he said planting a soft kiss on her lips.

"Happy Christmas to you too, love," she smiled. "Have you opened my gifts?"

Fred nodded, "I love them, thank you. That picture is going to be right by my bedside every night. I actually wanted to... give you your gift myself."

He gave George a look and the boy got up and nodded, "I'm going to see if Mum needs help with breakfast."

It was only the two of them now.

"Alright, shut your eyes." Fred said quietly.

Rory began to feel butterflies in her stomach at his words. She nodded and closed her eyes, a bit nervous of what his gift could possibly be.

She heard Fred's careful footsteps around her and the soft noises of the room. She felt him stand behind her and something tickle her neck. He had brushed her hair aside and was placing what she assumed was necklace around her neck.

She got goosebumps as his cold hands brushed against her skin. Eyes still closed, she felt him plant a kiss on her neck before placing her hair back.

"You can open them now." He said, still in a quiet voice.

Rory slowly opened her eyes and looked down. On her neck was a dainty silver necklace with a charm that had the letter "F" on it. She smiled and touched the charm.

"Thank you, Fred. I love it." She gave him a kiss and ran a hand through his unkempt red hair.

"Now everyone will know that Rory Archer is Fred Weasley's girl," he winked and gave her another kiss, one that lasted a bit longer.

"This is much better than that other thing you left on my neck to mark your territory the a few weeks back." Rory joked with a smirk.

Fred tiled his head, "Really? You seemed to enjoy it when I was giving it to you —"

"Fred!" Rory blushed, but decided to continue teasing him, "How about you leave another one on me later tonight... in a place nobody'll see. Think of it as an extra Christmas present from me."

The boy's eyes widened and a dopey grin appeared on his face.

"Hey lovers!" George said from outside the door, "Breakfast time! Get dressed!"

Rory sighed and gave Fred one more kiss before going to her room and changing. She put on her new jumper and a pair of jeans. She decided to try out her new lipstick from Marina and headed downstairs for breakfast where Aaron and her father were smiling at the table.

"Happy Christmas, sweetheart." Andrew said giving his daughter a hug, "Here you go." He handed her her gift which was two packages stacked on top of one another. One was significantly smaller than the other. She opened the larger one first.

It was a scrapbook of sorts. The girl saw a still photo of her and her father on the outside. Rory must have been three years old in the picture. She opened the book and saw images just like that one of the first five years of her life. Some pictures were moving, some were still. Most of them were of her and Andrew, but some were of her with grandparents who died before she could even remember them. Some of them were of just her, dressed in a silly outfit or in front of a marquee of a theatre performance. Rory had never seen any of the images in the book, they were just memories to her. A lot of memories from her childhood Rory had no clear images of, but now she did.

"Dad..." Rory said softly, trying not to cry.

"I did some digging through a bunch of old boxes... I figured you'd want to see pictures of the start of your journey." He said. "Open the small one now."

Rory did as he said and unwrapped the small gift. It was a tiny red box. Rory opened the box to see a set of small shiny earrings with ruby red gemstones.

"Your grandmother's." Andrew said simply, "She told me to give them to you when you turned sixteen, that's when she got them. Of course, I wasn't there to see your sixteenth birthday. Hope this makes up for it, though."

The girl was speechless, all she could do was give him a hug and whisper a "Thank you. I love you," to him.

[][][][][]

"YOU KNOW, RORY," Fred smiled into his cup of tea, "You should wear lipstick more often."

"Thanks, Fred," she said, taking a seat at a small table. After lunch, the Weasley's plus a few Order members decided to visit Mr. Weasley at St. Mungo's. However, due to a conniption over Mr. Weasley allowing Healers to try Muggle techniques, Bill, the twins and Rory decided it would be best to get themselves some tea on the fifth floor of the building.

It was a calm little area. There was a tea shop as well as a small area to buy gifts for loved ones and round tables to sit at. The atmosphere was a lot more cheerful than the rest of the hospital.

The three Weasley brothers and Rory sat and sipped their tea. Rory grabbed a copy of CosmoWitch off the table while Bill whipped out a small pocketbook... dictionary? Rory squinted and looked a bit closer. French Dictionary. The girl suppressed her giggles and used the magazine to cover her face.

In the special Christmas edition of the magazine, the cover showcased an image of a scantly dressed witch wearing a Santa hat with a devious grin on her face. Headlines were printed around the image of the model that read: OUR TOP TEN POTIONS TO HELP DROP THAT HOLIDAY WEIGHT! and THE BEST MOVES IN BED TO PUT YOU ON THE NAUGHTY LIST! also HERE'S WHAT OUR CRYSTAL BALL TELLS YOU ABOUT YOUR 1996 HOROSCOPE! (interview with a real seer! page 18) the girl raised an eyebrow and flipped through the glossy pages. She was slightly familiar with the magazine, given Marina was a subscriber and received copies of it every once in a while via owl post.

"Are you seriously reading that filth?" Fred scoffed.

Rory sighed and harshly turned the page, not looking up at the boy, "Just because it's marketed as a women's magazine doesn't make it filth, Fred."

The boy rolled his eyes, "That's not why it's filth. There's nothing of substance in there."

Rory scoffed and looked up, "Really, Weasley? You don't think "Sex Tips So Good, It's Just Like Magic!" is of substance? Alright then —" She tossed the magazine down.

"Actually —" Fred said, grabbing it, "Maybe I was wrong."

Bill groaned, "When will you two realize you're not the only people in the room when you speak to each other?"

"Oh! Pardon-moi," Rory rolled her eyes, "Maybe once you finally pluck up the courage to ask Fluer out, you'll understand."

Bill remained silent, he slowly closed the dictionary and took a slow sip of tea, not breaking eye contact with Rory. He didn't even need to say anything for her to swallow her words and step down. The eldest Weasley cracked a smile and shot Rory a wink.

"Whoa! Check it out, George!" Fred beamed looking at the magazine, not even paying attention to Bill and Rory's staring contest. "Next year is the Year of The Rat!"

[][][][][]

THE REST OF BREAK WENT BY too quickly. It was spent sneaking into Fred's room late at night, catching up on homework, and trying to beat Ron at Wizard's Chess. Mr. Weasley came back from St. Mungo's fully healed as they entered the new year.

However, Rory was so sad the day they had to head back to school. She was going to miss Sirius and Lupin, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Tonks, and most importantly her father. At dinner on the night before they all left, Rory made sure to enjoy every moment. She definitely learned the hard way to not take time spent with her loved ones for granted.

She took note of the way Sirius glowed every time Remus spoke to him. She payed attention to how her father laughed and how Tonks made him do so. Rory couldn't wait to leave school and join the Order. She was ready to be an adult, or at least she thought so.

Mrs. Weasley prepared a delicious pasta dish for everyone that night. Rory made sure to get seconds because not even the food at Hogwarts could match the woman's culinary skills. A permanent smile seemed to be painted across everyone's face as they talked and laughed at the dinner table. Sirius had left the Christmas decorations up, making the atmosphere seem still as cheerful. Rory never wanted to leave and go back to Hogwarts. She didn't want to see Umbridge especially. However, she missed Angelina, Marina, and Lee loads.

She couldn't wait to hear about how their holidays had been, she hoped they felt the same joy Rory had whatever they did over the past two weeks.

Although, to Rory, nothing could ever beat hiding in an alleged murderer's childhood home with a werewolf, a metamorphmagus, the Weasley's, her dad and her brother.

END OF PART III