The Trouble With Love

15 years later, Christmas-time

"Allyson, are you ready?"

"Of course I am," the dark-haired woman replied.

"Have you corralled the children? Have you set the table? Lit the tree? Have you-"

"Harry, stop worrying. In answer to your questions, yes, I have corralled our mischievous children, I have set the table, and I've lit the Christmas tree. And yes," she added as she saw he was about to open his mouth again, "I have turned on the outside lights."

Harry sighed in relief. "Okay, that's good," he murmured, and was leaning over to kiss her when the doorbell rang.

"You'd better get it," she said, her eyes twinkling in anticipation of company.

"Yes, I suppose I had," he replied, and jogged off through the house. Presently, Allyson heard the door open and Harry say, "Well, so nice to see you, come in, it must be freezing out there."

Soon after this, three people walked into the kitchen, one of them, of course, being her husband. The other two were old friends. Okay, so Draco wasn't exactly an old friend, but nonetheless a friend. Harry, Ron, and he had become close friends in their last years at Hogwarts. His wife, Ginny Weasley, however, Harry had known since he was eleven or so.

Allyson embraced the red-haired woman. "Ginny, so nice to see you! And where are your little rascals?"

"Oh, they're at home with the babysitter. Speaking of which, where are yours?"

"They're in their bedrooms. Harry made sure they couldn't get the doors open."

"Ahhh, I see," she laughed.

"Would you like something to drink while we're waiting for the others?" she asked.

"Sure. Some iced tea would be good. Thanks," she said as Allyson moved around the kitchen, doing various things.

"It's no problem. Here you go."

And with this, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Harry called, voice already fading as he set off down the hallway. They heard the door open again and wind rush through the entryway.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered the kitchen. Hermione promptly flung herself at Allyson and Ginny while the men greeted each other and slapped each other on the back, like old friends are supposed to. Then, the men went off to watch the football game while the women finished preparing dinner.

Half an hour later (and two touchdowns for the Colts) dinner was served. As Harry entered the kitchen and sniffed the aromatic air, he announced, "Smells good. What is it?"

"You'll find out," the women replied in unison, "once you eat it," Allyson finished.

"Hmmm, you aren't going to serve us anything dangerous, are you?" Draco asked suspiciously.

"No, of course not," Ginny told him, while the other two tried to stifle laughter.

The men glanced at each other, down at the dishes sitting on the table, and up to the women.

"Somehow I don't believe you," Ron said.

"You'll just have to find out," Hermione replied.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was about ten minutes later when the men discovered just what their wives had done to the food. Ron had taken a bite of sweet potatoes when suddenly he turned into a canary! This made the women start laughing uncontrollably, and eventually Draco and Harry joined in, while Ron sat there looking upset and rather sullen, if the look on his beaked face had been interpreted correctly.

"Oh, Ron, don't look so upset, it was just a joke," Hermione said, still wiping tears from her eyes. At this statement, Ron squawked indignantly, and then put his wings over his beak when he realized that he couldn't talk anymore, instead being limited to squawking, whistling, and chirping. So, he resorted to glaring at Hermione and the other two women, who were still laughing, although not quite so hard anymore.

Ron eventually grew so annoyed at the laughing that he started emitting a series of screeches, whistles, squawks, and chirps.

"I think," Harry announced, "that he means-" stopping because Ron had suddenly turned back to normal.

"I mean that that was not funny, and I do not appreciate you lot laughing at me!"

Hermione rushed over and kissed Ron, making him turn a bright red. "There, does that make things better?" she inquired.

"Oh...yeah...sure..." he mumbled in a daze.

"I thought so."

"Hey, why don't we go out to the Christmas tree, Allyson and I have gifts for you."

"Okay, Ginny replied, and the rest of them quickly agreed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Shadows danced on the snow, white as if it had soaked up all the moonlight. A house stood not far away, and a Christmas tree could be seen through the window. Its lights twinkled with all the colors of the rainbow. And into the night drifted the sounds of a song about love and peace, wishing all a good night.