Harry Potter and the Year that Changed Everything

Harry Potter and the Year that Changed Everything (16)

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Chapter Sixteen: Bold As Love.

December brought the chill of winter to Hogwarts. The freshly fallen snow mixed with the anticipation of the approaching holidays caused the students to long for the chance to get out in it so that they could wage snow ball fights and sled down the steep slopes of the hills that surrounded them. The official last day of classes before break was the 18^th, but that was a mere date on the calendar. Trying to keep the students attention was an effort at the best of times, but after the first door was opened on the large magical advent calendar? You'd have had a better chance of finding Snape caroling. Still, all of the staff was dedicated to doing their best to stuff as much knowledge into their charge's minds as possible. Apart from the fact that they were currently missing one of their Divination teachers, things were going along smoothly.

Hagrid had been asked to look for Firenze, but there had been no sign of him. It wasn't unusual for Firenze to go off for a few days to study the stars, but this time he hadn't mentioned he was leaving. Hagrid had even asked some of the centaurs that remained friendly to him, but they had little information they were willing to pass on. The half-giant sensed that they knew more than they were admitting, but he also knew that getting a straight answer from a centaur was a near impossibility. He would have to continue searching the forest for clues about his friend's disappearance.

For the students, the last days before break seemed to stretch on forever. The teachers all seemed to load them up with assignments that would surely take all of their holiday time to complete. It was during the night of the 17^th of December that the group all sat together at their usual table in the library. It was the same one that Hermione had claimed during the first week of her first year. It was widely known that it was "her" table. In fact, Madam Pince would not even allow others to sit there. Very few were stupid enough to even try.

"Could someone remind me again why I'm taking Ancient Runes? I've had bouts of the flu that I've enjoyed more."

Ginny slammed down her quill and raked her hands through her flaming red hair. The boys all laughed as Hermione huffed.

"Ginny, if you want to help doing research for the Order, you are going to have to study Ancient Runes. And how can you say it isn't interesting? I think it's fascinating! I actually wanted to start an Ancient Runes club, but for some reason there wasn't any interest. I can't get enough of it, myself."

Ginny shook her head.

"I will never understand what you love about it, Hermione. Of course, you also like my bother, so you obviously have strange taste."

Everyone except for Ron and Hermione laughed at this and laughed even harder when Ron attempted to hit his sister with a pinching hex that missed her completely and ended up striking Lavender in the posterior. The unintentional victim then gave a little yelp of surprise before turning on the closest person to her. Within minutes, she and Dennis Creevy had arranged a meeting over the holidays. He would never know what had brought him such luck, or why she seemed to have a penchant for grabbing at his bum.

"Good aim, Ron. We'll work on that in the next Advanced Defense meeting. I don't know anything about Ancient Runes, but this Advanced Charms work is going to be the death of me. I had enough of charmed wizard's chess during my first year. Flitwick wants us all to do it now! And what game do I get? Candyland! And I have to have it perfect by the end of winter term! Sugar Quill Swamp has become my own personal hell!"

Ron had little sympathy for Harry.

"Hey, you think I've got it any better? I got Clue! Now I've got people running around with ropes and candlesticks. And I could give a rat's ass what happened in the bleeding drawing room!"

Yet again, Hermione gave a disapproving glare.

"You two sound like first years instead of seventh. This is our last year! What did you expect, basic wand handling? You don't hear me complaining about getting Risk, do you? If you paid enough attention in class, you wouldn't have so much trouble with it. I've already taken North and South America and am planning my invasion of Africa. If you took the time I do with my studies, you'd be top in all of your seventh year classes as well."

Luna suddenly looked up from her upside down magazine.

"Except Defense, of course."

The rest of the table all stopped what they were working on to stare at the blonde girl. When no further comment came, Hermione replied.

"What do you mean by that, Luna?"

Luna looked up from her magazine again. The look on her face was that of a person having to explain something quite obvious.

"Except Defense. You are tops in all your classes except for Defense. Harry is top in that."

The rest of the table now turned fearful eyes to Hermione. For one, she hated to be corrected. Second, she was being corrected about her grades. This could amount to a serious blow out. Would they allow Hermione to stay Head Girl in Azkaban?

The look on her face was murderous to be sure. And then, suddenly, she sighed and seemed to deflate.

"You're right Luna. I'm not top in Defense. Harry could cast and maintain a corporal patronus in our third year, while it took me until fifth. He's the first and only person to survive the killing curse, and he's the only person in history that has been able to destroy a dementor. How could I measure up to that? I can't. I just can't."

Hermione lowered her head and hid her face behind her cascade of hair. A heavy silence hung in the air as the others around the table wondered what to do. Luna made the decision for them.

"Of course, you are beating the pants off everyone else in all your other classes."

Hermione's head snapped up from the table.

"That's right! I may not be top in all my classes, but I am tops in my year. Besides, coming second to Harry Potter in Defense isn't anything to be ashamed of. And he is my brother, so that's acceptable."

Neville and Ron looked at one another across the table and came to a silent agreement. They both stretched and provided fake yawns before Ron got up from his chair.

"Well, I'm going to turn in. The train leaves in the morning and I haven't packed yet."

Hermione broke out of her academic stupor and also stood up.

"You haven't even packed! We leave in the morning, Ron! Why do you always wait until the last moment for everything?"

Hermione trailed along behind Ron out of the library, harping on him all along the way. Back at the table, Harry turned to Neville.

"Neville, didn't Ron pack this afternoon after lunch? Dean told me that he had to jump up and down on his trunk to get it closed."

Neville grinned.

"Yeah, he did. Ron and I came up with a plan at the start of the year to get out of studying if Hermione was getting carried away. No offense, Harry, but it's the night before Christmas break! Who wants to worry about school work all night?"

Harry laughed at the sheer brilliance of the plan. Leave it to Ron to come up with a way to get out of studying.

"No offense taken. I love my sister, but that doesn't mean I want to study all the time. What do you say we pack up and study the whipped cream melting in hot chocolate? Dobby promised to save me some fruitcake. The kind my aunt makes could be used as a doorstop, but the kind that the house elves make for the teachers is soaked in Ogden's. I think a little Christmas cheer is in order, don't you?"

The four of them then packed away their books and made their way to the kitchens. The holiday tunes that they sang on the way there were much more coherent than the ones on the way back.

The platform at Hogsmeade station was crowded as usual with students going home for Christmas break. Since most students went home for the holidays the train was nearly full, although the group did manage to get their own compartment. Settling in, the six of them discussed what all they were looking forward to over their holiday, along with what they thought about the upcoming wedding.

"I'm looking forward to being a bridesmaid. With Charlie and Bill not making any noticeable progress to the altar, I was starting to worry that I'd have to wait for Ron or the twins. I'd hate to try and hold my bouquet in one hand and my walking cane in the other."

Everyone laughed at Ginny's joke while Ron threw a still wrapped cauldron cake at her. With the reflexes Quidditch had honed for her she merely grabbed it out of the air and took a bite. Hermione gave her boyfriend a reassuring hug and leaned her head against his chest.

"Be nice, Ginny. I am surprised that Bill hasn't proposed to Fleur yet. It's obvious that they're very much in love with one another. Ooh, I wonder if he'll propose at the wedding? That would be so romantic!"

Ron laughed.

"Why would Bill want to do that? They're getting along fine, why mess that up? Besides, Bill is the complete opposite of Percy. Bill likes adventure and excitement and Percy likes rules and regulations. There's no way Bill will get married. Well, unless he makes a mistake and gets her pregnant."

Hermione lifted her head off Ron's chest and glared at him. Ron merely shrugged.

"Hey, I'm just telling you what I think. Guys like Bill don't want to be shackled down. Back me up on this guys."

Ron looked across the compartment in hopes of gaining support. He didn't.

"Getting married doesn't mean giving up your freedom, Ron. I plan to get married someday, and I don't think there are many people who have had more adventure and excitement than I have. What do you think, Neville?"

"I agree, Harry. Even though the situation in the magical world is bad now, there will be a time when it will all be over. We have to believe that. When that happens we can all live the lives we want to lead. Getting married and having a family is part of that."

Ginny crossed over the compartment and kissed both Neville and Harry on the cheek. She then came back over to Ron and punched him hard on his right shoulder causing him to yelp in surprise and pain.

"OW! What was that for?"

Ginny sat back down and smoothed out her skirt.

"That was for using the term 'shackled down'. I honestly don't know what you see in him, Hermione."

"I wonder that myself. Ok, Ron, let's see how much you know. I'll bet you that Bill will propose over the Christmas break. If he does, you have to stand up in front of the whole school when we get back and apologize to all the females for being a chauvinist. If you win, I'll never complain about anything you say again. How about it?"

Ron thought this over carefully. Getting up in front of the school sounded like a nightmare. However, never hearing Hermione nagging at him ever again seemed like a dream come true. It was too good of an offer to pass up.

"You're on! Ooh, I can't wait to raid Honeyduke's and eat it all in front of you. For once in my life, I can't wait to get back to school!"

Ron and Hermione shook hands on the bet and the deal was set. With four witnesses present, both knew that they would have to make good on their promise. Neither party seemed worried in the slightest. One had good reason not to be.

The group made an early night of it when they arrived at the Burrow. They had been fed the usual delicious meal by Weasley and discussed Order matters with Mr. Weasley. Since final plans for the wedding still needed attending to with the wedding now only six days away on Christmas eve, they all said their goodnights by ten to make an early day of it tomorrow. Of course, the "secret" rendezvous in various closets had them all actually getting to bed well after that time.

The next few days were filled with cooking, cleaning, and other work that had all those at the Burrow occupied. Everyone had a responsibility. Ron and Ginny, since they were in the wedding, were constantly being instructed by their mother about what to do, along with what they were not to do under penalty of death. Knowing the wrath of their mother from long experience, all of the Weasleys promised to behave.

As Neville was the expert in horticulture, his job was to plan the floral decoration for the event. He had experience in this from decorating his own home for his grandmother. In the case, however, he was given free rein to spend whatever he wished, as the Longbottom's fortune was a sizeable one. In his current role he would have to be much more cost conscious. Neither the Weasley's nor the Clearwater's had very much money, hence having the ceremony at the Burrow. The Longbottom's had a standing order at the Cozy Posy in Diagon Alley for dozens of flowers to be delivered every week. Here, Neville would have to make due with much fewer. He did what he could to stretch the budget by picking flowers that grew up around the Burrow and by using cheaper flowers as filler. The other two males in the group gave him some good natured ribbing about his floral talents, but the appreciation he got from Ginny more than made up for it.

Harry, Hermione, and Luna were assigned to helping set up everything else. Harry was mostly used for lifting and carrying, while Hermione and Luna were in charge of making sure that everything looked perfect. By the time the night of December 23^rd came around, Harry's arms ached as much as they ever had when he was doing chores back on Privet Drive.

Of course, at the Burrow, he was rewarded each evening with a neck and shoulder massage from Luna. She would often remark on the size of his toned biceps, while Harry would mostly mumble incoherently, moan, or sigh. Molly Weasley happened to go by Harry's room one night as Luna was massaging him and was stunned by what she heard through the door.

Throwing the door open, she was greeted by the sight of two very startled, but also very dressed, teens. Demanding an explanation, Luna told her that she was merely easing Harry's aching muscles. This did not seem to appease Molly in the slightest. However, at Ginny's offer of helping, Mrs. Weasley stated that Luna could carry on, although they would have to leave the door open. She then promptly told Ginny to get to bed and made sure that Ron and Neville were accounted for in their own beds. As the clock struck twelve at the Burrow, all of its inhabitants were to be found in their own rooms. The morning found them in the same manner. The hours between those times? Let us just say that many members of the wedding had a hard time stifling yawns, and that it had nothing to do with boredom.

December 24^th dawned bright but seasonably cold on the Burrow. The wedding was to be held at 1:30 in the afternoon so that they might have a decent chance of getting some sunlight. In the Muggle world, holding a wedding as the hands of the clock swung upwards was done for luck. In the magical, it was believed that the rising of the hands on the clock encouraged fertility. As Molly and Arthur had held to this tradition themselves, it was hard to refute the idea.

Molly, Arthur, and Penelope's parents were all busy making last minute adjustments as they made sure that the great amount of effort that had gone into the event went off looking as if it was effortless. Penelope's parents, Oswald and Harriet, had offered to pay for everything, but Molly and Arthur had refused. The Burrow was the perfect setting for a wedding, and crowds were never a problem. The more people that showed up, the more the house seemed to add on to accommodate them all. Just before the ceremony as to begin, it ended up taking Harry a full five and a half minutes to walk down the hall from his room that had previously been mere feet from the stairs.

As the time got closer, nerves began to show. Percy, Ron. Arthur, Fred, George, and Harry were all holed up together in Percy's room. The groom to be had walked back and forth so many times now that a rut was being worn into the carpet. Fred and George had replaced Penelope's bouquet of flowers with one that would shoot water at Percy upon the verbal command of "I do" but Arthur had wisely thought ahead and made sure Neville checked everything over just before the wedding. Harry and Ron tried to keep everyone's spirits up, but it was hard work. The twins would normally have filled this role, but they were too occupied with thinking of their girlfriends. Percy was caught up with wishing that it was all over with, and Arthur was worrying about the fact that this was only the first wedding. He still had six children to go.

Penelope and her group were sequestered in Ginny's room. Penelope, her mother, Ginny, Hermione, Angelina Johnson, and Molly were set to the business of making sure no hairs were out of place and that all tailoring was correct. This had all been done a dozen times already, but it helped calm their nerves. Angelina had been Penelope's best friend in Hogwarts and was her Maid of Honor. There had been some speculation on which sibling Percy would pick as his best man, and there was an equal amount of surprise when he had selected Ron. When asked, Percy said it was to make up for being hard on Ron at school and for being a first class prat to all of them during his alienation from the family. Ginny had joked that it worked out well that way since he and Angelina would have to dance together at least once, and that since Angelina was 6'2, she was the closest to Ron's height of 6'4.

Once everything was taken care of and the clock tolled half-two, all of the party was assembled in the magically heated garden in the back of the house. Penelope had a considerably larger group of friends than Percy did, but the other members of the Order helped fill in the difference.

A magical wedding took about 3-4 times longer than a Muggle one, but it also has a lot more rites to be performed. Each of them stood before Professor Dumbledore and read and responded to various selections from both the Bible and ancient magical texts relating to matrimonial union. Both of them took the life candles given to each of them by their parents and used them to light the larger unity candle provided by Dumbledore. It was another belief that the number of wax spots left from lighting the unity candle was an indicator of how many children the couple would have. Arthur would state later that he had been nervous at their wedding and accidentally dropped his altogether.

After the lighting of the central unity candle, the couple exchanged wands and bonded themselves to them. Then, with all the necessities taken care of, the couple was presented to the audience for the first time as man and wife. It was at that verbal command that the fireworks that had been cleverly concealed inside the holly wreaths went off and wrote a message in the winter sky.

"Good Luck, Penelope! You'll Need It With Percy!"

Yours Truly,

Gred and Forge

Molly set off into a run after the twins who were already making a break for the house. Percy, on the other hand, gave no reaction at all. He was too busy at that moment kissing his new bride.

The reception started as soon as the chairs could be put away and replaced by tables. Bill and Charlie were left in charge were left in charge of this and did well enough until Charlie suggested a rematch of their "table war" from three years ago. Molly, who had dealt with the twins, quickly curtailed their plans and employed them and others in bringing out the massive supplies of food from the kitchen. With the magical heat continuing to warm them, the garden of the Burrow felt as comfortable as a spring day spent out in the sunshine. The crowd quickly sat down to generous helpings of food and drink and to catch up with one another. One such person hurried to sit beside Harry. She was a very attractive blonde, but not the one he had expected.

"Harry! It is so good to see you again! I have waited so long to give you a proper thank you for saving me three years ago!"

Harry suddenly found himself being hugged tightly by who he had thought was Fleur when she had approached him. Now that he was able to see the girl up close, very close, he knew he had been mistaken. This girl looked slightly younger. She actually looked prettier, of that were possible. This girl was...

"Gabrielle? Uh, hi! It's, uh, well, good to see you, too. I didn't really save you from the lake, though. You would have been fine even..."

The young veela cut him off.

"Oh, you are as modest as ever, my hero. I have had my sister teach me English for when I would meet you next! I have asked her so many times about you, but she failed to mention how you have grown up so well. Your arms are even stronger now than the last time you held me in them."

Instead of releasing him from her embrace, Gabrielle snuggled herself even closer to him. Harry noted that she had gotten a good deal stronger as well. Just as the girl was nuzzling her head into the crook of her neck, the rest of the group arrived. Harry breathed a sign of relief upon seeing them thinking that they would help save him.

They didn't.

"Hey, Harry! Looks like Fleur's sister found you. She'd been asking about you ever since the wedded ended. You are her hero, after all."

Harry flushed in both embarrassment and anger at Ron's teasing. He wasn't the only Weasley to get into the act, however.

"Yeah, she didn't sleep a wink last night just thinking about you. You just seem to have that effect on girls, Harry. And did you know that people born with veela blood mature faster than the rest of us? Tell him, Gabby."

Gabrielle chose to ignore the nickname that Ginny had given her and instead pulled her head back enough to look at Harry.

"Yes, we do. I was explaining it to Ginny this morning. A veela will look younger then her age until she turns twelve. Once that happens we mature at an accelerated rate. By the time we turn thirteen, we are at the development level of a normal girl four years older. This continues until we are around twenty-one, and at that point our appearance remains the same until we die. While I may only be thirteen in actual age, I have the development of a seventeen year old. The same age as yourself, Harry."

Gabrielle placed head back on Harry's shoulder and squeezed himself against him so that he could feel evidence of her development. She certainly was much more developed than the last time he had seen her three years earlier. With Ron, Ginny, and Neville all now laughing at his predicament, Harry turned to his own sister and his girlfriend for help. If she had chosen her look to kill, Hermione would have been on her way to Azkaban.

"Gabrielle, why don't you go back and sit with Fleur? Harry may be a hero, but he still needs to breathe."

Gabrielle turned a very pouty face towards the bushy haired girl that she hadn't liked since the first time she met her.

"My sister is fine without me. Besides, Harry and I haven't seen each other in a very long time. You can talk to him any time. Bill was telling me about a pond not far away. Maybe we could go down there where it is more, how do you say, private?"

Gabrielle then grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him up with her. She would have made off with him right away of there wasn't someone blocking her path.

"Excuse me, but I don't think we've been introduced. My name is Luna Lovegood. Harry and I are dating. You're the little girl he rescued from the lake in the Tri-Wizard tournament, aren't you?"

Luna's manner and tone of voice was that of someone stating that it was raining outside. There was no malice, no possessive edge to her words. To Gabrielle, however, she was issuing a challenge.

"You? You are dating Harry Potter? Is this one of your English jokes? I know that Harry is very sweet and kind, and I'm sure he sees the best in everyone, no matter who they are. However, to a veela? There is no such thing as a rival. I am sure that Harry can make his own decisions on the matter. Now, if you would excuse us, we are going for a walk...alone."

Gabrielle made to brush past Luna but was stopped short when Harry remained motionless. Luna put a hand on her shoulder to help her keep her balance.

"I think Harry has made his decision. You see, Gabrielle, a veela's emotive power will only work on those who are not already in love with someone. That's why Ron, Neville, and Harry are immune to the magic you are using now. I agree with you that Harry is the best friend you could ever hope for. He values his friends in the way most would value their own family. But, I'm afraid that is as much as he can give you. I'm sorry."

Gabrielle shrugged off Luna's hand and let go of Harry's. The look on her face now was nothing at all like the angelic one she'd had moments ago. Her once warm eyes were now ice cold as they bored into Luna's prismatic ones.

"We shall see who will be the one to claim Harry's heart as their own, girl. Enjoy yourself while you can. When my sister marries Bill, I will be back. Just as she got what she wanted, I will get what I want."

With a final look at Harry, Gabrielle sulked off towards Fleur. Harry immediately embraced his girlfriend.

"Luna, I'm so sorry about that. I thought she was Fleur when she was coming towards me and by the time I realized it wasn't her, she was all over me. I tried to get away, but she wouldn't let go. Nothing happened, I swear."

Instead of being angry with Harry, she beamed at him.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Harry. In fact, Gabrielle only managed to prove something that I had been too afraid to fully accept. If you or any of the other boys weren't truly in love with us you would have been subject to her emotive magic. I don't blame her for wanting you, Harry. How could I? Sometimes I feel like all of this is some kind of dream and that I'll suddenly wake up back in Ravenclaw tower with all of my possessions missing. I can't help over hearing the other girls when they wonder how someone as handsome and perfect as you are could possibly want to be with someone like me. I lie awake some nights and doubt so many things that I desperately want to believe. This just proves once more that you really do love me. I don't know if I'll ever truly believe that I am worthy of you, but I will always be thankful for you."

Luna then raised her head up and kissed Harry deeply. After the need for air seemed to have been discarded, Hermione's cough brought them back down from the heavens.

"Guys, people are starting to pay more attention to the two of you than they are Percy and Penelope. Besides, it's time to start the dancing."

Harry and Luna then reluctantly pulled back from one another and looked into their now flushed faces. Both of them grinned like mad at one another but remained motionless. Hermione merely huffed and walked away form them. Giggling, Luna gave Harry one last kiss and went off to fix her now mussed hair and dress. Once she was out of his sight, Harry turned back to the remaining group and smiled menacingly.

"Now, about those of you who were doing the laughing..."

**********

Percy and Penelope left that night for a honeymoon in the Canary Islands where they would spend Christmas and New Year's. The rest of the Burrow's inhabitants woke up the next morning to the smell of the legendary Molly Weasley Christmas Breakfast.

Ron, as had been the case for the last nine years, was the first to arrive at the heavily laden breakfast table. Molly quickly admonished him, as had also been the case for the last nine years, to slow down and leave some food for the rest of them. Although with the sheer volume of food present, even Ron could not possibly consume it all. It was around five minutes later that a tousled haired Neville climbed down the steps. Sleeping in Percy's room, he hadn't gotten much sleep. Strangely enough, Ginny hadn't either.

Harry and Hermione both came down about five minutes after that, also looking very sleepy eyed. Harry had slipped out of his room in the middle of the night to join Luna, while Hermione had passed him in the hall on her way to Ron's room. No defloration had occurred, but all six of them had to agree that it was the best Christmas Eve they had ever had.

Soon enough, ravenous eaters took up the entire table. Despite the fact that there was an even dozen of them there still seemed to be an endless amount of food. And yet, after nearly two hours, the last Swedish pancake had been dealt with. Far too full to get up, Arthur clapped his hands and rubbed them together. The look on his face made him appear as if he was the youngest person there as opposed to the eldest.

"All right, you lot, let's get to the presents! I thought I heard Santa moving around here this morning!"

Bill laughed.

"That was Santa? I thought it sounded more like hormone driven teenagers to me."

Ron and Ginny shot their eldest brother a glare while Molly made an effort to pretend she hadn't heard him. Arthur was too focused on opening presents to take notice, but Charlie had.

"Teenagers? That's funny; I thought it sounded more like French being spoken. Well, moaned, actually."

Bill quickly deflated as Molly spun around to face him. She wasn't about to pretend she hadn't heard that one.

"William Woodrow Weasley! I thought you said that Fleur was spending the holiday with her family! I will not have this house become a brothel!"

Bill's face turned the infamous Weasley red color. He knew he was in trouble when his whole name came out.

"Fleur is spending the holiday in France..."

Molly frowned but went back to collecting empty plates and chargers. She was out of earshot when Bill finished his sentence.

"Now."

**********

By the time that all of the presents were opened, there was quite nearly no uncovered area of the Burrow's living room. In fact, a large amount of the presents had to be put away in bedrooms so that they all had a place to sit. While the rest of them all looked over their new possessions, Ron pulled Bill aside. He thought that this would be an opportune time to help pad his chances on his bet with Hermione.

"Hey, Bill! So, no Fleur, eh? Well, I guess you did see her all day yesterday. Seeing too much of someone would get pretty tiresome I would guess."

Bill put down his newest Weasley sweater and turned towards his youngest brother.

"Yeah, I suppose so. Why, are you and Hermione having problems?"

Ron laughed.

"Us? Of course not! I've got that girl in the palm of my hand. She's crazy about me! Its just that, well, you know how these women are. She's always nagging me about the future and how we should get married. I mean, come on! A guy like me, get married? As if I'd ever want to be tied down like that. I want excitement in my life, you know? Marriage if for people like Percy who needs rules and order to survive. Guys like you and me, we need freedom to do our own thing, right?"

Bill looked away momentarily and then looked back at Ron with a strangely twitching top lip.

"You know, I never thought about that. I guess you're right. I love my job and all the excitement in it. If I were married to Fleur, I'd have to work my life around hers. And what if we had kids? How can I go on dangerous adventures if I'm stuck at home changing nappies? I'm glad you brought this up, Ron. Fleur has been bagging me, too. She's always complaining about us dating for this long and not being engaged yet. I guess I'll just have to tell her that things are going to have to change."

Ron smiled in quiet triumph. He could practically hear Hermione's silence already. Well, something like that.

"Yeah, she'll just have to deal with being your girlfriend and be happy with that."

Bill shook his head. He seemed to have his lip twitching under control now.

"No, that won't work. She'll never settle for that. You've convinced me Ron. I'll just have to break up with her."

Ron's smile vanished immediately to dissolve into a look of horror at what he had unintentionally done.

"NO! I mean, no, you don't have to break up with her. You're both young, maybe you could get married somewhere down the road."

Bill continued to shake his head and walked back into the living room. By the time Ron caught up with him he was standing resolutely before the fireplace. Before he could stop him Bill had already floo-called Fleur at the Delacour manor in Cannes.

"Fleur, I'm sorry to interrupt your Christmas with your family, but could you come to the Burrow for a minute?"

In a matter of seconds, Fleur Delacour was standing alongside Bill and Ron in the Burrow's living room. Ron was still in a state of shock. Bill was going to break up with her now, on Christmas day? What had he done? As he attempted to distract Fleur's attention, Bill diverted it back to himself.

"Fleur, I know that we agreed to spend today with our families, but there's something I need to tell you that can't wait another minute."

Fleur's loving smile turned into a look of concern. Ron thought he tasted bile in the back of his throat as his palms became very sweaty.

"What's wrong, Bill? Has something happened? Are you all right?"

Fleur began to look her boyfriend over for any apparent problems. Bill quickly stilled her tiny hands by clasping them in his own.

"No, there's nothing physically wrong with me. I've been talking to Ron and he made me realize something I need to do. It's something that involves you and I."

Fleur looked at Ron when Bill mentioned his name. The youngest male Weasley merely laughed a very nervous laugh and took a step back away from the two of them.

"What is it, my love? Have I done something wrong?"

Fleur began to look apprehensive while Bill's expression failed to reveal anything.

"No, you haven't done anything wrong. It's me that has made the mistake. I realize it now, and I'm going to make up for it."

Ron was sweating in places he didn't know a person could. Why had Bill mentioned that the idea had come from him? Fleur would hate him now! And what about mum? She'd actually started to like the girl and now he'd ruined everything. And what about Hermione? She'd know this was his doing and never forgive him! For real this time! He'd have to make a run for it. He'd wait for Fleur to start crying and he'd be off. Did the Knight Bus run on Christmas?

While Ron was pondering his exit strategy, Fleur was pondering what Bill was leading up to.

"Bill, what is it? What mistake have you made?"

Ron's looking to make sure his path to the back door was open caused him to miss his brother's next move.

Fortunately, Bill was still on bended knee when he turned back.

"Fleur, my beautiful, sweet, love. The mistake I've made is not doing this a long time ago. I know I don't have the money to keep you in the lifestyle you're accustomed to, but I love you more than anything else in this world. I promise to always love you, always be there for you, and to cherish you for all of my life. Fleur Verite' Delacour, will you marry me?"

Fleur had begun crying the moment Bill's knee touched the floor. He hadn't needed to convince her of anything, but she loved him all the more for the effort he had put into it all. Choking back another sob before it overtook her she pulled Bill up off his knees so that she could hold him in her arms tightly.

"Oh, Bill! I love you so much! Of course I will marry you! I have dreamed of this day since I first saw you in the stands at the Tri-Wizard tournament. I knew you were rooting for Harry, but I hoped that you might one day notice me. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world! Ooh, I must tell my parents about this! No, wait, we must! They will be so happy for us! We'll go now and tell them we are engaged! But, first, I think there is one more thing to take care of."

Fleur untangled herself from her fiancée and allowed him to put the ring on her finger that he produced from his pocket. She then kissed him deeply before swooping over to hug Ron just as energetically.

"Ron, you are so sweet! I don't know what you said to Bill, but I will forever be in your debt for it. Thank you so much!"

Fleur then gave Ron a kiss on each cheek and moved on to hug her future mother and father in law. Ron remained rooted to the spot in utter confusion as to what had just happened. Bill then came over and clapped him on the back.

"Thanks for the good advice, Ron. I couldn't have done it without you. Oh, by the way, when you get up and address the girls at school? Make sure you speak up. You don't want to have to do it more than once, would you?"

Bill then grinned and joined his fiancée in hugging his parents. The sound of a throat being cleared caused Ron to snap out of his continuing stupor. He turned around to see Hermione beaming at him.

"Well, what do you know? Who would have thought that Ronald here would be able to talk Bill into proposing? I never knew you were such a romantic, dear."

It now dawned on Ron that he'd been set up. The rest of the group was also smiling at him. His face began to redden immediately.

"You cheated! You conned Bill into proposing just so I would lose the bet!"

Ginny laughed along with the rest of them and shook hands with Hermione.

"Nope, no illegal coercion was needed, dear brother. Bill told me over the summer hat he wanted to propose to Fleur at Christmas and asked me to help him pick out a ring. He wanted it kept a secret, so I knew telling you about it was out. I told the girls about it and Hermione thought it might prove useful to keep it to ourselves. I'd say she was right, wouldn't you?"

Ron's face may have continued to match the vivid color of his hair, but he also knew that he had been outwitted. With Hermione as a girlfriend, it seemed to happen a lot.

"Fine, you win. I'll make sure to amplify my voice and apologize to any of the girls I may have offended at school."

Hermione nodded, but also prompted him to continue.

"And?"

Ron grimaced as if a sharp pain had run through his entire body.

"And I'll try not to be such a prat all the time and not be so...unthinking."

Hermione smiled at him again and kissed him gently on the lips. She would be gracious in winning. This time.

"Very good, Ron. Well, it's been an eventful holiday, hasn't it? A wedding on Christmas Eve followed by a proposal on Christmas day. Of course, it shouldn't be overly surprising. If people are truly in love with one another, why shouldn't they propose? I mean, if they TRULY do love one another."

All three girls now turned an expectant face to their respective boyfriends. All three males suddenly remembered vitally important tasks that they had neglected to attend to.

"Um, I should check and see if mum needs any help with...well...anything."

"Yes, and I should floo call gran and check on her. I wouldn't want another incident like last year with the wassail and the vicar."

"Right, and I should send and owl to my aunt and uncle! This is the first year I ever got anything from them worth sending a thank you for."

All three boys then went off in different directions. The three females looked a bit daunted, but no less determined. Ginny began to absently rub her hands together in the same manner her father had earlier.

"Well, for a first strike, that wasn't as bad as it could have been."

Hermione huffed.

"Ginny! They ran away! How can that be a positive?"

Even Luna failed to see a positive in the event, which was a rarity for her.

"Hermione's right, Ginny. The boys all looked rather intimidated. How will this possibly lead them to propose to us someday?"

Ginny thought this over for a few minutes before the infamous Weasley grin returned to her face.

"Elementary, my dear Luna. How do you make sure a proposal is made? I'll tell you how."

The boys would never know what hit them.