Walking up to the shop, Fred dragged a hand through his hair as mixed feelings of excitement, relief, and nervousness washed over him. As he stepped in and made his way to the counter to start his day, he spotted his twin in conversation with Harry – who soon saw Fred and waved him over, "Hey Fred, Where've you been?"

Before he could get a word out, George quickly answered for him, "With his girlfriend." He replied smugly as he crossed his arms and leaned on the counter.

Harry grinned in amazement and looked back to Fred, "Oh, really?" He teased, turning to face him properly, "Who's the lucky girl?"

Blushing against his will, Fred cleared his throat, "(Y/N) (Y/L/N)." He scratched the back of his neck anxiously – did everyone really have to know everything about his love-life?

"Don't know the name," Harry responded, scratching his chin in thought, "Did she go to a different school?"

Fred was about to come up with a perfectly composed answer, explaining why Harry didn't know her and simultaneously giving away very few details so Harry couldn't possibly figure out any more than what he wanted him to know. But, yet again, his brother beat him to it with his own answer. "She's a muggle," he replied plainly as he sipped his luke-warm tea, "from America."

Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise, standing a little straighter. "A muggle?" He repeated, "From America?" The twins nodded as Fred shuffled his feet sheepishly. Harry let out a laugh, "How'd you come across this one then?"

"Met her in muggle London, di'n he? Spent all bloody day with her, came home at gone midnight! Dirty-stop-out he is, took me ages to get him to tell me anything about her." By this point, Fred was starting to wonder if he was even a part of this conversation – 'Would he let me get a bloody word out?'

"And how long have they been together?"

"Well, he met her in August, right? Then he asked her out in early September – came home all love-struck like he'd just proposed." Fred stood there awkwardly as they talked about him, feeling awfully left out as Harry asked questions and George answered. Until one particular question caught his attention.

"So how's that gonna work?" Harry implored, "y'know, with her being a muggle and all?"

Both pairs of eyes looked to Fred, awaiting an answer that George couldn't give. He took a breath as he nervously played with his fingers – unsure of how this was going to go. "Well I... er I actually already told her... everything." He paused as the men stared at him in shock and disbelief. "Last night, actually."

There was a silence; Harry looked both shocked and pleased with his wide eyes and growing smirk; George, however, seemed completely bewildered and maybe just a little bit impressed.

"So," George started, clearing his throat and setting down his mug, "so its actually... like... serious then?" He asked awkwardly.

Hesitantly looking up from his shoes, Fred nodded shyly as his cheeks burned redder than his hair; stood before his brothers, the young man had never felt more like a little boy.

Harry was the first to crack, his face breaking into a humorous smile as he started to laugh. "Oh man, I can't wait to tell Ginny."

"Wait! N-no, y'can't tell her!" Fred interrupted with eyes bulging from his head.

"Why?" The brunette frowned in confusion – George looking up at his twin incredulously; Harry tells his wife pretty much everything – of course he would tell her about her brother's girlfriend.

Sighing, he leaned against the counter, "Because if you tell Ginny, then Ginny's gonna tell Mum. And if Mum finds out, then everyone will find out, and they'll ask loads of questions and then I'll have no privacy. Not to mention the fact that Mum's gonna want to meet her pretty much immediately – I don't want her freaking (Y/N/N) out! It took long enough for her to process this from me – I-I don't want Mum scaring her off and—"

"Whoa whoa," George stopped him and patted Fred's shoulder. "You're really overthinking it, mate. I mean, yeah Mum might find out, but she's gotta find out eventually anyway." He persuaded; besides, he couldn't wait to meet her himself, with the way Fred talked about her.

"I suppose," Fred grumbled, still hesitant at the idea of his mother finding out; Oh Merlin she's gonna embarrass me.

"Great!" Harry exclaimed, beaming at the new gossip he could tell his wife. "Well, I'll be off then, gotta run, I'll see ya later though!" Giving a quick wave, he apparated away excitedly – not at all helping to settle Fred's nerves.

George clapped a hand on his shoulder roughly as the front door opened to let in their morning customers, "C'mon then, Freddie – just because you're all high on love doesn't mean I'm letting you off work again."

******************

"So, my mum wrote me a letter," Fred admitted as he sunk into the sofa next to (Y/N), having just apparated into the apartment.

(Y/N) jumped and held her heart, almost throwing her laptop across the room in the process. "Jeez, don't do that!" She cursed as she glared at him harshly.

Ignoring her, the wizard continued with his point, "It's only been three days – barely a week – and she's already going on about it." He held up the folded parchment with excitedly scribbled letters covering almost all of the page, barely a spot of white behind the ink. "It's all 'When did you get a girlfriend?', 'Is she really a muggle? Your father would love to meet her', 'When were you planning on telling me about her?'. Honestly she goes on for three pages – front and back!" He groaned as he littered the pages onto the coffee table.

Biting her lip guiltily, (Y/N) took the letters to read; despite Mrs. Weasley seeming so enthusiastic, she couldn't help but feel bad about the situation. "Sorry, you shouldn't have had to go through all this trouble." She said, putting the letter back.

Freds eyes widened as he began to protest, "No no – that's not what I meant! No, I just meant that well it's just my mum. I don't regret telling you or anything, or even that she found out. It's only that... well she's just gonna tell all my brothers, and all her friends, and my friends, and everyone she meets, then they're all gonna start asking me things and gossiping and stuff and I just..." he drifted off, cheeks reddening slightly from embarrassment.

She nodded in understanding, laying back next to him as he slung an arm around her and tucked his head into her shoulder. He sighed deeply and pulled her closer as he closed his eyes; George had made him make up for a few hours at work, which mostly included doing any paperwork that his brother had procrastinated. (Y/N) leaned back and Fred followed, resting on her as he resisted the urge to fall asleep. She combed her fingers through his ruffled red hair comfortingly and kissed the side of his head, letting him have a moment to relax. He tried not to pass out, knowing he probably wouldn't move until morning, but (Y/N) proved to be making that difficult for him. As he neared unconsciousness, his mind started to wonder to his mothers letter; when would they all meet her? Certainly not too soon, while (Y/N) was still getting used to magic; he didn't want to overwhelm her. But he'd quite like her to meet his family – and he was sure they'd all love her. She could come over for dinner one day maybe? Or he could take her to Diagon Alley to meet George, surely if anyone in the family would like her it'd be him. Or maybe some time in December? A month should be enough for her to get used to it all, right? Christmas maybe? Yes – definitely.

"(Y/N/N)?" Fred mumbled into her neck, earning a 'hmmm?' in reply. "D'you wan spend Chrismas wi' us?" He slurred tiredly as his breathing started to get deeper. "B'cause your famly's in 'Merica."

She took a second to think it over; spending Christmas with his family? Thats a whole new step forward in their relationship – not to mention his family is full of wizards and witches! Would it be weird? Her not only being a muggle but also from another country, surely it'd be a little awkward, at first at least; but she'll probably have to meet them some time anyway, why not at Christmas when she's got nothing else to do? Looking down at her boyfriend, (Y/N) checked he was still awake (just barely) and gave him her answer: "Okay."

******************

"You what?" George exclaimed, throwing his hands up.

"I invited her over for Christmas," Fred repeated nervously as he scratched the back of his neck, unsure if he had made a good decision or not.

Slowly, George let out a low whistle and sunk back into the sofa. "Well... he started, "you're gonna need backup," he stated matter-of-factly and combed a hand through his hair.

Furrowing his brows, Fred looked to his twin in confusion. "Backup? What d'you mean, backup?"

"What I mean is," he explained, going over to a scrap piece of parchment and writing something down, "You're planning on introducing your girlfriend - your American muggle girlfriend - to our family, to our Mum. Mum's gonna be practically obsessing over her and Dad's gonna be asking loads of questions about muggles and America and who knows how the others are gonna be. Believe me, youre gonna need it."

"So, what are you writing?" H e asked as he peaked over his brothers shoulder.

"A letter."

"To who?"

"Hermione."

"Why?"

"Because," George said, folding the letter into an envelope and taking it to their owl, "she's gonna be about sixty-percent of your backup."

"I thought you was gonna be my backup?" Fred tilted his head in confusion, still feeling nervous about this situation.

"Well yeah, but let's face it, mate we need Hermione."