"You ready? We should be leaving soon."

It was Christmas Eve, and Fred and (Y/N) were preparing to head over to The Burrow for the family dinner; but both found themselves feeling nervous. "Just a second, I forgot where I put—"

"It's in the draw next to the bed!"

"Found it!"

  The two ran to meet by the door, (Y/N) tossed Fred his coat as she threw her own on her shoulders. She checked the time on the clock on the wall – if they set off now they might only be a little late. "Have we got everything? I feel like I've forgotten something."

Fred shook his head. "No no, we've got everything, and if not I'll just pop back, okay? Don't worry so much." He wrapped his scarf around his neck, and an arm around her shoulders. She huffed out a breath of nerves, taking the bag from his arms. "It's gonna be fine, they're all gonna love you y'know? Especially Mum – I'm just a little worried they'll scare you off." He laughed, resting his chin on her head.

(Y/N) shook her head. "Nah, it'd take more than that to get rid of me."

They straightened up and Fred took her hand, rubbing his thumb over it comfortingly. "So I probably should've mentioned this earlier..." he started as (Y/N) gave him a curious look, furrowing her brows in suspicion, "erm... how do you feel about apparating?"

"Excuse me, what--?"

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They landed not far from The Burrow, Fred (having apparated many times) only wobbled slightly, (Y/N) however, almost fell on her face, being held up by her wizard. She leant forward, with a heavy feeling in her stomach as she gagged. "Oh God... why? Ugh..."

"Sorry love, I forgot how it feels the first time." He answered as he rubbed her back until she stood straight.

As she did, (Y/N) took in her surroundings; the blankets of white over the fields, the crumpled leaves buried beneath snow and ice, and of course the amazing sight of the Weasley house; the layers of floor towering at different levels; it was magnificent.

"I-its not much but y'know, it's home." Fred shrugged, feeling a little nervous now that they were actually here. He took a breath, and he took her hand; pulling her to his home.

That heavy weight came back to her stomach as (Y/N) stared at the door, her heart beating faster with each step. Then, before she could turn back, Fred opened the door.

Instantly, the smell of potatoes and meats and vegetables and cookies and God knows what else hit them in the face, a bold difference to the clean, cold air from outside. The bustling sound of voices and footsteps and children could be heard all around the house, lights and decorations were dotted about, a Christmas tree with an abundance of gifts to and from every family member and guest. Warm air swarmed them in a welcoming home-like feeling and the smell of hot beverages lingered on it. It was like an overload to the senses, and if (Y/N) could put the whole holiday into one picture – one moment – it would be this. Just as she was about to say something, to comment on the extravagant nature or the multiple magical objects or the faint smell of something burning, a cheerful voice interrupted her. "Fred! Oh, dear, it's wonderful to have you back!" A short red-headed woman squealed, pulling her son down for a hug as if she hadn't seen him in the longest time. (Y/N) stood a little behind him, watching the scene with a smirk; Fred blushing with embarrassment as his mother kissed his face, but hiding the smile that said he'd missed this just as much.

"Muuuummm..." Fred groaned, "stop it – I'm a grown man!"

"I dont care how old you are." Said the woman, sounding like such a typical mom. "Now tell me, where's this girl I've heard so much about? You did bring her, didn't you?" She asked, looking behind Fred's shoulder to see the girl in question, then shoving him aside. "Oh! You must be (Y/N)! Wonderful to finally meet you, dear!" Then she pulled her into a bone crushing hug, clearly very excited.

(Y/N) tried to hug back the best she could, but with her arms trapped by her sides, it was a little difficult. "Muuum, let er breathe..." She heard from beside her, just able to see Fred in the corner of her eye, covering his face.

She was released from the death grip around her a second later, getting a full view of the woman. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs Weasley." (Y/N) said, a little shyly.

"Oh, please dear, call me Molly." She took the girls hand and brought her further into the house, Fred desperately trailing after them. "I just can't wait for you to meet everyone. Arthur!" Truth be told, (Y/N) was feeling a bit overwhelmed, but was still quite comforted that his mother was so nice. "Arthur!"

A red-headed man came into view, grinning after a moment. "Ah! Yes, hello." He said, then patted Fred on the shoulder before he introduced himself. "Right, yes, Arthur Weasley – lovely to meet you," he put out his hand for her to shake, which she did, but then the man seemed to lose himself in a small burst of impatience. "So! Tell me, how is the muggle world? How is America? What exactly is a croc?"

(Y/N) stuttered a little to find an answer (and trying to recover from her immediate confusion) while Fred squeezed his eyes in (figurative) pain. Oh Merlin, someone please help...

"I heard the door, are they here?" A voice came as if on cue; Fred looking up to the ceiling with wide eyes suspiciously. A bushy haired young woman turned into the room, wearing blue jeans and a classy flowing black top – looking very beautiful, (Y/N) thought. She took in the scene, and Fred's desperate look, and knew that this was the perfect time to interrupt whatever was about to happen. "You must be (Y/N), I'm Hermione." The brunette informed, smiling kindly as they shook hands. "Why don't I introduce you to everyone?" She sent a look towards Fred, then lead (Y/N) away from the clearly very excited parents, telling Molly that she'd be down soon to help with the rest of the cooking. Hermione took her up the creaky wooden stairs and, once they were out of ear-shot, gave her a brief explanation. "Sorry about that, they're just really excited to meet you – Fred's not brought a girl over before, apparently, but he's probably talking to them about it all now. Anyway, George sent me a letter asking for my help, since the boys are usually completely clueless when it comes to these things. Their parents are really nice, just a little too much sometimes is all, but that's why I'm here. The backup." She concluded with finality, rushing it all out quite quickly and giving (Y/N) the impression that she was the head-strong type of girl for sure. "Any questions?" Hermione asked as they reached the first floor, hearing voices and ruckus from behind doors all the way up. (Y/N) shook her head, feeling that everything had been covered, then Hermione lead her to the first door. "Great, I figured you'd want to meet the girls first – believe me, in a house this full of men weve learned to stick together." She sent her a wink then opened the door.

It was a bedroom, quite cosy, with a couple of beds inside where these women were sat. One with beautiful silvery blonde hair pulled into a bun, who looked just a little older than them, and a red-head who seemed younger. She assumed this was Ginny, the youngest and only girl, Fred talked about her quite admirably – though he would definitely hate it if she found that out. This woman stood quickly and embraced (Y/N) in a hug – much like her mother. "Hi, Im Ginny," she beamed as she pulled away.

"(Y/N)," she replied; truth be told, she wasn't very sure on what to say, she'd never met a boyfriend's wizard family before. Obviously.

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After being introduced to some more of Fred's siblings, spouses (such as a Harry Potter, who had a very smug look on his face), and some children that were also very excited to meet her and marvelled at her accent, trying to imitate it.

Soon she was lead into a living area by Ginny, Hermione having gone to help Molly as promised; there was a fireplace and sofas, with many people that she had already met sitting comfortably, and an old-fashioned radio was playing Christmas music that (Y/N) couldn't recognise. Fred came up behind her and put a hand on her waist. "Hey," he greeted.

"Hey."

"How'd it go? They weren't too much, were they?" Fred asked, still worried that someone would screw this up for him.

She shook her head and giggled. "No no, they're great."

"Good..." he mumbled. He looked a little on edge, (Y/N) thought, with his slightly creased brow and how he kept tapping his leg. "So," he cleared his throat, "d'you wanna meet George? He...uh he's nicking some shortbread from the kitchen."

She nodded eagerly; wanting to meet her boyfriend's twin, his closest friend. "Sure."

Meeting his twin was... well it was pretty weird. George looked exactly like Fred, as she'd expected, but it was still strange. It was just so weird to see just how alike they were. "Hey! I'm George." He'd said, shaking her hand and sending his brother a suspicious look. "Well, (Y/N), I've heard so much about you. Seriously, so much. Like, a lot. Its a miracle if I can get this one to shut up—"

"-George—"

"-Honestly, he talks about you a lot. I'm not kidding, loads." George said as he wrapped an arm around her and lead her away, Fred trying to chase after them and stop any embarrassing disasters. "I've basically already met ya. Y'know, the only way I can get him to shut up is—"

"-George," Fred's face was beat red, redder than his hair, and he looked like he was about to combust. George started snickering as (Y/N) tried to contain her laughter, Fred pulled her back to him, resisting the urge to bury his face in her neck.

"Anyway," George laughed, "it's good to meet ya." Finally, it seemed he's had enough of torturing his brother. "You two are staying the night, right? Mum got our rooms all ready, the kids are all sharing a room, most of 'em are sleepin' on the floor. But anyway, looks like you'll have to share." He sent a wink and disappeared, probably to go cause some trouble elsewhere – some people just don't change.

Fred groaned and his face in her hair, giving in to temptation. "Sorry 'bout that..." He said, "he told me hed be on his best behaviour, I just forgot to get him to specify what behaviour that was." He pulled her back to the living room, where they squeezed onto a sofa and started to chat with others. It was nice, hot drinks where passed around with cookies and treats. Laughter filled the room along with the smell of hot chocolates melting in a pan from the kitchen. After an hour or so, (Y/N) felt a small tug on her sleeve. She looked down to see a little boy, about four or five maybe, with fluffy brow hair.

"Hi," she said curiously as the boy stared up at her.

"Hi..." he said, wringing his hands nervously as his hair took on a yellow-ish tinge, making (Y/N)s eyes widen slightly. "I'm Teddy."

"I'm (Y/N)." She replied sweetly.

"'Mione said you're from America." He mumbled shyly, but clearly very curious.

She nodded, "That's right, (Y/S)."

"Whoa..." he whispered, making (Y/N) laugh quietly. "What's it like there? I always wanted to see the t-the Grand um... Grand Canary."

Cute, thought (Y/N), ruffling his hair. "How about I take you some day?" She offered, then the boy smiled widely and his hair turned blue, shocking her. "How'd you do that?" She wondered allowed.

Teddy blushed lightly. "Uncle Harry says I'm a... um- a metamomo- er... met—"

"Metamorphagus," Fred offered from beside her, obviously having been listening in.

"Yeah," Teddy said, his hair flashing back to brown for a second, then back again. "Is it true that in America they have cheese in bottles?"

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By six oclock everyone was sat at the dinner table, which had been extended (with magic of course) to fit both the many people and the many foods. Arthur had asked some seemingly ridiculous questions quite often, which (Y/N) tried to answer to the best of her ability. And whenever things seemed to get a little out of hand, Hermione would draw attention to something else or start a new topic of conversation; the backup, as promised. Even though they were a little much sometimes, (Y/N) really thought they were amazing. Mrs Weasley was so kind and loving, Mr Weasley was inquisitive and open-minded, Fred's siblings were all so nice to her too, even Percy who she had been told was the grumpy one. Harry and Ron seemed to be very close, and both liked to joke around with her. Overall, this Christmas was going to be great.

So, after spending hours around the fire talking with everyone and sharing stories, (Y/N) and Fred were among the last to head up to bed. And with the house already being so full it meant that the two would be sharing Freds old bed, though neither of them were complaining – they were adults after all. Crawling into the bed as quietly as possible, trying not to wake George, Fred wrapped his arms around her to fit them both in more comfortably. They stayed like that for a while, enjoying the silence. Fred drew a hand over her shoulder lightly, checking that she was still awake. "So how was it?"

"How was what?" (Y/N) whispered, eyes still closed.

"Y'know..." he replied softly, "meeting everyone." He'd really hoped that this would go well.

"They're great," she said, reaching her hand behind her to stroke his, "I love 'em."

Fred released a breath that he hadn't realised hed been holding, bringing her closer and kissing her hair. "Good." He couldn't see her face from this angle, but he could tell she was almost asleep. He couldn't possibly describe how he felt. In his childhood bedroom, bundled under the covers with the woman of his dreams; sure it was a little chilly, the wind would occasionally rattle the windows, and his twin's snoring was becoming increasingly annoying, but he'd never felt so content. And he couldn't wait to wake up on Christmas morning just like this, and spend the holiday with all of his family. (Y/N) included. And he hoped for the same thing for the next Christmas. And the one after that. And the one after that.

"Love you, (Y/N/N)."

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