DEDICATED TO Hufflepuff7 FOR GUESSING RIGHT!

Song For This Chapter: Stay With Me - Sam Smith

Ch. 14: Presents & Places

     Mrs. Weasley had prepared an extravagant dinner for everyone while a witch on the radio sang magical Christmas carols. I thought it was kind of odd, but it was fine once you became accustomed to the music. 

     We all stood around the table, waiting for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to come inside the dining room. I had to admit, I was a little nervous on seeing the poor fellow. Before dinner, Ginny had explained that he was attacked in the Department of Mysteries by a snake.

     As she brought him in, I kept a pleasant smile on my face, even though I felt like cringing slightly. He was covered in bandages and bruises. He could barley move his hands, and he just looked broken. "Ah," He sighed, still managing to grin at us all. "Happy Christmas, all!" 

     My smile wavered as the air turned slightly sad. Was it really a merry Christmas? "Oh, sit down every one, sit down." Molly waved at us, grinning happily. Pulling out my chair, I took the seat across from Hermione, next to Ginny. "That's it," She nodded and motioned towards the foot of the table were everyone had placed their presents. "Now, let's do presents, shall we?" 

     Mrs. Weasley handed out the ones she'd got first, handing one to every body. I was a little touched when she handed me one, slightly guilty that I hadn't bought anything for her. "Oh, thank you Mrs. Weasley." I grinned as she waved me off, saying it was nothing.

     "And, a nice big box for Ron." She grinned happily, handing him a box while I looked towards Hermione who was watching Ron smile timidly up at his mother. The way she smiled when he smiled told me all that I needed to know, she still liked him. More now than ever.

     Tearing open my package, I was greeted by a green and white knitted sweater that had a big, canary yellow 'E' stitched into the middle. Grinning down at it, I picked it up out of the wrappings and beamed towards her. "Thank you so much, I love it!" I could hardly contain my smile as I pulled the sweater over my head and put it on. It was a little too baggy, but it was perfect. It truly made me feel like a Weasley.

     Chuckling, Hermione opened her gift and pulled out a yellow and white scarf. "Awe, thank you Mrs. Weasley." She blushed, putting it on.

     Mrs. Weasley nodded at her. "Well dear, I figured you already had that one sweater I knitted for you, so I thought a scarf would go well." Hermione nodded and thanked her again.

     Harry slowly made his way down the stairs, late for dinner. None the less, Mrs. Weasley beamed at him and handed him her gift. "Lovely to have you here, Harry. Happy Christmas, dear." Harry smiled softly and nodded opening the gift that contained another scarf.

     "A Christmas toast," Mr. Weasley called from the head of the table, lifting a glass of pumpkin juice. Nodding, we all picked up our glasses after him. "To Mr. Harry Potter. Without whom, I would not be here today."

     Smiling lightly, I bowed my head towards Harry as he nervously held his glass. "To Harry." We chorused, giving him our appreciation. From the back of the room, Sirius toasted to him as well, drawing Harry's attention. 

     "Alright, present time." I rubbed my hands together with a small smirk. Handing out the gifts, I made sure to watch everyone's reaction as they saw what they'd received. "Hermione first, then." I waved towards her as she rolled her eyes, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. 

     Ripping off the packaging, she rolled her eyes and sent me a teasing frown. "Really?" She held up the cook book so the others could get a good look at it too. "Why?"

     "Every good witch needs one." I teased, direction my gaze on to Ron. "Isn't that right, Ron?" Hermione blushed and ducked her head, glaring daggers at me in the process. Motioning towards Ron, I smiled lightly as he pulled the lid off of the box of Muggle candies.

     "What are they?" He rose a brow, pulling a package of Red-vines out and opening them, already familiar with those. 

     Chuckling, I shrugged my shoulders and explained my reasoning. "Well, you seemed to like the Red-vines so much, I figured you could try some other candies." Hermione peered over Ron's shoulder, looking into the box where there was an assortment of American candies.

     "I've never even heard of some of these," Hermione furrowed her brow, seemingly disappointed. "You don't have any 'Crunchie' bars?"

     "What's a 'Crunchie' bar?" I questioned, not understanding what she was talking about while tossing Ginny her, rather large package.

     Ginny shook it with a cheerful grin on her face, eyes wide. "One for me?" Nodding, I waited as she tore the wrapping paper and let out a small squeal of delight. "Is this real leather?" She asked, pulling the leather bound ball out of the box and running her hand over the surface while her brothers gawked at it shamelessly.

     "Yea! I got it for a really great price over the catalog." I nodded, pointing towards the Quaffle she was stroking with love, not letting her brothers come close to it. "You like it?" I chuckled slightly as she smacked George's hand as he reached out to touch it.

     Ginny nodded quickly, tossing Fred and George their presents from me. "Yes, thank you so much." George slipped open his box and rose a brow. "A pair of tube socks?" Fred cocked his head towards his twin and opened his own box, rolling his eyes and pulling the tube socks out. "The same tube socks? It's like you don't even know us at all."

     Folding my hands together, I grinned a little. "Sorry boys, but I kinda ran out of money before I could purchase your gifts." George chuckled, putting the tube socks on and tell me that it was fine, he hadn't gotten me a gift anyway.

     "Well, that is slightly anticlimactic." Fred pouted a little, putting the tube socks next to his plate. "I was hoping for that Beater's club." He winked, chuckling slightly in good jest.

     Shrugging my shoulders, I stuck my tongue out at them both. "My gift is my services. And, keeping Hermione off your backs when you torture first years." Hermione shot me a small, motherly glare, but brushed it off, small smile on her face.

     "Cheap skate." Fred joked back, lifting up the two left over packages from me. "Who are these for?" His eyes lit up as he shook them, trying to guess what was inside. Yanking them out of his hands, I handed the two boxes to Harry and Sirius, catching them both off guard. 

     "Happy Christmas, guys." I smiled, egging them forward to open their gifts as they gradually took the presents into their hands. Harry adjusted his glasses and sent me a small thank you while Sirius peered down at the box with a shocked gleam in his eye.

     "A broom kit." Harry grinned, opening the wood polish and holding the pliers. "Thank you, Elle. It's brilliant." 

     Grinning, I brushed it off. "Well - I figure that next year Quidditch will be back. And your broomstick will really need a good round of TLC." Ron and Fred gave me looks of confusion and I rolled my eyes, back tracking to explain. "Tender love and care." 

     Sirius furrowed his brow, peering into the box for a minute or so, not saying or doing anything at all. Biting my lip, I suddenly had the sinking feeling that he was not happy by the gift. I was afraid I'd insulted him.

     "I'm sorry," I heaved out after he only stared into the box, not saying anything. "I thought it would be a lit-" Sirius cut me off, pulling the bright red chew toy out of the box, Harry grinned and a few of the boys chuckled while Hermione gave me a look of surprise.

     Sirius squeezed the toy, making a high pitched 'squueeaaak' erupt from it, a deep smile growing on his face. Slowly, he belted out a laugh and shook his head, laughing for a good minute while every one else nervously chuckled. 

     "Woah, it has been a while since that trick has been pulled," Sirius smirked, squeezing the toy again. "You wouldn't believe how many times James had sent me these as a gag gift. Never Lupin though, he was more 'mature'." He nodded, a delighted twinkle in his eye. "Thank you, Elizabeth." 

     I shrugged, happy smile on my face. "Well, you did keep me from dying. And, it was kind of an apology for hitting you with that lamp. Sorry, again." Sirius waved it off and we all sat down for dinner while I unwrapped the few gifts I'd received from Ginny, Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Fred. 

     Ron had gotten me a pair of gloves to match my sweater that Mrs. Weasley knitted. After a small glare from me, he admitted that his mother really had made them and he just didn't get me anything. Rolling my eyes, I thanked Harry for the package of Wizarding candies and Hermione for the blank journal.

     "They are for your potions, and other things." She nodded with a small smile - happy that I liked it. It was leather bound and scarlet colored. 

     Fred pushed his small, little box towards me and gave me a tiny smirk. "Happy Christmas, Letter." 

     Raising a brow, I picked up the small box. It fit in the palm of my hand snuggly and was wrapped in The Daily Prophet. "Nice wrapping paper." Fred rolled his eyes at me while Ginny leant forward, eyes glued on the box curiously.

     "It's not the outside that counts." He teased.

     Ginny got a little closer, making me feel uncomfortable. "What is in the box?" She asked, sparing her brother a look of burning curiosity. "Open it!" She demanded.

     "Woah, call your roll, redhead." I giggled, waving her excitement away. "It's just a Christmas present wrapped in newspaper." She ignored that comment, twitching do to the intrigue. Just to torture her, I slowly opened the wrappings, savoring each piece of The Daily Prophet.

     Finally getting it off, I lifted the lid to the small box to reveal an old fashion, steel key. "Oh," Ginny and I said at the same time, giving each other the same look. "A key?" I asked, picking it out of the box and holding it up in the air with a smirk. "What does it open?" Ginny crossed her arms over her chest, huffing out an insult. She looked defeated.

     "You want to see?" Fred asked, getting up from his chair and extending his hand.

     "Now, Frederick Gideon Weasley," Molly shot his a sharp glare. "It's nearly eight - and, dinner is already on the table. I'm sure this can wait until morning." Fred huffed out a sarcastic grunt of protest and nodded, while Mrs. Weasley spared me an apologetic smile. "Sorry dear, it's just getting late."

     "I completely understand, Mrs. Weasley." I grinned, nodding in appreciation while Ron mocked me across the table. Hermione snot him a snarky glare and kicked him, high-fiving me as he winced.

     Dinner was spent talking about school and what we wanted to do when we left Hogwarts. When Mr. Weasley directed this question onto me, I was stuck. "Uh...." I paused, scratching the back of my neck. "Well, I haven't the slightest idea."

     "That's an easy one, dad." Fred piped up, in between swallowing his chocolate pudding. "She's going to be working with George and I."

          Snorting, I rolled my eyes. "I guess that is always an option." George rose a brow at this and spared his twin a look.

     "What?"

     "You don't want to be our partner?" They said at the same time, feigning hurt faces."

     Chuckling, I ate a spoonful of ice cream. "Of course I do, but I want to keep my options open." I trailed off, avoiding their eyes while Hermione backed me up, saying that I didn't have to be part of their shenanigans.

     "Well, you know dear," Molly popped into the conversation, grinning cheerfully at me. "You can always be a stay at home mother." Her eyes shimmered happily while I silently choked on my ice cream as Hermione giggled into her hands. 

     "Uh, yeah - I just never th-thought about that..." I trailed off, staring wide-eyed into my bowl of dessert, face breaking out in red blush. No matter how hard I stared, I couldn't shake the feeling that everyone else's attentions were now trained onto me.

     "It's a lot of work. You'll see of course, boys are a handful." Mrs. Weasley continued the topic, not realizing how much I was dying on the inside due to the subject. "How many do you want?" 

     My eyes nearly fell out of my skull as I turned towards Hermione who was dying, burying her head on Ginny's shoulder as Ginny snickered uncontrollably. "U-uh, I-I don't. I don't... Hermione," I quickly turned towards my sister, catching the grin plastered onto Harry's face and shooting him a deadly glare. "Hermione, how many do you want?"

     Hermione's smile quickly dripped off her face as she sent me a glare. "Maybe two or three, to be perfectly honest."

     My eye twitched a little at how easily she brushed the topic off. Obviously she was more accustomed to this talk than I was. Ron, who didn't seem to want to drop the conversation, turned to Fred. "How about you, mate? How many do you want?"

     Fred smirked a little, leaning back in his chair. "Perhaps five. That seems like a nice, round number."

     "That's an odd number." I countered, feeling my stomach drop a little. "And, five?"

     "Why not?" Fred chuckled, motioning around the table. "Mum had seven."

     Ginny hopped up out of her seat, sparing me the glance of salvation. "Well, this has been pleasant - but Hermione and Elle and I really need to retire for Christmas tomorrow." She quipped and grabbed Hermione and I by our wrists, leading us out of the room. "Good night, mum!" 

     "Oh, good night dears!" 

     As soon as our door shut, I heaved a sigh of relief. "Kill me!" I blurted out, earning a giggle from the girls. "That was so horrid." I groaned, flinging myself onto the make-shift bed and burying my head into my pillow. 

     "Could have been worse." Hermione chuckled. "Molly could have grouped you and Fred together and asked you what you were going to name your children."

     Ginny snickered and rolled her eyes, holding up the key that Fred had given me. "All that anticipation for this little key. I wonder what it unlocks."

     "His heart," Hermione sung sarcastically, clutching two hands over her chest and fluttering her eyes. "Of course." 

     I glared a little towards her and stuck my nose in the air. "You all are mean to me." Pouting, I crawled under the covers and willed myself to sleep - ignoring Ginny and Hermione's protests. 

     The next morning, there was fresh snow on the grounds. Grinning, I jumped out of bed and pulled on my rubber boots, not caring that I was wearing only shorts and a tank top under my robe, I raced out side into the white downy, tossing clumps into the air. 

     Snow had always seemed magical to me, no pun intended. My reasoning was due to the fact that I'd grown up in a place where it'd never snowed. So, each time was amazing to me. "Oi! Letter, what do you think you're doing?" A tired voice called out from above me.

     Turning around and looking up, Fred's bed head was sticking out one of the top windows as he peered down at me. "Playing in the snow!" I breathed out, breath steaming out of my mouth.

     "You're gonna get sick." Harry chuckled, looking down at me as well. "There's no way you are wearing enough to be out for long."

     "You all are just a bunch of buzz kills." I pouted, turning my back on them and tossing my body down onto a hill on snow, brushing my legs and arms up around me, creating a snow angel. Listening to them argue about me, I snickered as Ron muttered that I was 'completely mental'.

     They left me alone after a little while and I continued to play around, not caring about the freezing weather. It was Christmas morning, and I was going to have some fun. After an hour of being outside, I could no longer feel my face, and decided I should head back inside.

     "Oh, there you are. Poor dear." Mrs. Weasley rushed towards me as I made my way inside. Motherly, she brushed the ice from my robe and gave me a stern smile. "Did those hooligans lock you out in the cold?" 

     Raising a brow, I seriously considered lying, but changed my mind last minute. "No, I was just having a bit of fun, Mrs. Weasley." I chuckled, shivering slightly as the warmth of the house began to seep into my bones. 

     "Yeah, she's a bloody idiot." Fred called out as he and George munched on some toast. Fred held up a red mug and slid it over to me. "Drink of the gods, am I right?" He chuckled a little as I peered down at the steaming black liquid with a loving grin.

     "You made me a cup of coffee." I assessed, wiping a fake tear from the corner of my eyes. "You are the best boyfriend ever, Frank." I pushed a fake look of horror on my face as if I'd slipped up. "I-I mean Fred."

     "Yeah, yeah - just drink your coffee and get ready." He rolled his eyes. "I thought you wanted to know what the key goes to."

     I opened my mouth to say what Hermione had the night before when Harry slid into the kitchen, nodding towards me and adding his opinion. "And it's not his heart." I stuck my tongue out at the 'boy who lived' and guzzled the drink, burning the back of my throat slightly.

     "Alright, alright - don't get your knickers in a twist." I sighed, taking the stairs three at a time. As I burst through the room, Hermione peered over her novella to give me a look over. "Don't. Say. Anything." I breathed out dramatically whilst she rolled her eyes at me.

     She closed her book, setting it aside. "I wasn't going to - but now... What's going on?" 

     "I need an outfit." I paused, scratching the back of my neck. "I've never needed an outfit," I paused again, eyes flickering everywhere before landing on Hermione in desperation that she cringed at. "I need Jenna." 

     Hermione's eyes softened at this and she hopped out of her chair. "I'm sorry, Elle. Maybe I can help you?" She winced a little, both of us knowing that combined we didn't really meet the standards of 'well dressed girl'.

     "Sounds great." I sighed, popping open my trunk and sifting through all my crap. "There has to be something in here that we can agree on." I moaned while Hermione spared me the same exact expression I was throwing at her.

     Ten minutes passed when we both cried out in defeat. "I give up." 

     "We make a great team." I chuckled, lifting my shoulder and tossing all my discarded belongings back into the trunk. "But, this is really dumb -" 

     "Why are we doing this again?" Hermione finished my sentence, leaving me chuckling slightly. "I've got it," Hermione scoffed, hitting herself slightly. "Oh, why didn't I think of it before?" Turning on her heel, she grabbed Ginny from the other room and dragged her inside. "Problem solved."

     It was pathetic. Ginny took one look around our room and had thrown together an outfit. "That sweater Mum knitted you," She pointed to it as it hung limply off the back of a chair. "Those matching gloves Ron pretended he got," She smirked a little. "A pair of jeans and boots - you're fine.." She chuckled, rolling her eyes and pushing a strand of red hair behind her ear. "Honestly, you both make me sad." 

     "I don't know what you mean." Hermione and I blurted out at the same time, sparing Ginny mirrored glances of confusion. 

     Ginny snickered and shook her head. "My nieces and nephews are going to have fashion problems." She sighed in dismay while Hermione and I groaned out foul play.

     "Hopefully they didn't hear that." I snorted while pulling everything on that she had directed. There was a muffled cough from the other room as a guy leant against the wall, voice slightly muffed but still easy to understand. 

     "They did," Harry called.

     "Stop listening in you perverted wankers!" I yelled back earning a round of laughter from the other room. Ginny pat me on the shoulder, smiling in dismay. "They won't listen to you, trust me - I've tried for years."

     "That's right." Fred walked into the room without knocking, luckily I'd already pulled on my jeans or he'd be unconscious. "You ready to go or not? We are late." He smirked, making me shake my head. I wasn't even wearing makeup right now.

     "I didn't know we were on a tight schedule." 

     Fred only shrugged his shoulders and extended his arm. "Are you coming or not?" Pushy.... I sighed and nodded, waving goodbye to Hermione and Ginny as I latched onto his arm.

     "Are we using Floo Powder?" I asked as Fred took out his wand.

     Fred chuckled and shook his head. "No, I just thought we'd apparate there." My stomach dropped and I made a move to step away from him, but he preformed the spell before I could. I guess you could call the feeling of being ripped through time and space 'sensational' in the most horrific way imaginable. It was like being sucked through an extremely small tube and than expanded as big as a building, then being shot back to normal all in one second. 

     Once we landed on our feet, I stumbled away and sucked in a large breath, trying my hardest not to throw up on my new sweater. "How dare you!" I belted out, smacking Fred's arms as he just stood beside me, laughing his arse off.

     "What?"

     "What?!" I hissed, flailing my hands around in anger. "You could have splinched me!" I paused as a guilty look spread over Fred's face. "Have you... Have you ever even transported another person through apparation?" 

     Fred quickly turned on his heel, grabbing my wrist and dragging me with him, ignoring my question. "Anyway - I told you that during the holidays I'd take you to see it - so, here we are." He grinned, bringing me to a complete stop outside a rather large building under construction. "Isn't it beautiful?" He beamed down at me, wiping a fake tear from his cheek. 

     Peering up at the massive structure, I nodded, smirking slightly. "It's actually really nice." It wasn't much so far, but I could tell they had put a lot of work into it. There was the beginnings of a large mannequin on the front of the building, but it had yet to be sculpted and such.

     "Did you bring your key?" Fred asked, peering down at me with a small glint to his eyes.

     Pulling the steel object from my jeans, I held it up in the air like a torch. "I hold the key, sir!" I smirked a little and ran at the door, trying to jam the key into the lock, but it wouldn't budge. Furrowing my brow, I cocked my head to the side. "I don't get it? It doesn't go to the front door?"

     Fred shook his head, laughing lightly. "No way! Like George and I would let you have that key. Nope." He shook his head at me, but stalked up to the door, shoving his own key into the lock and pushing it open for me.

     "I'm confused..." I sung out towards him. He didn't seem to be making sense to me. Was there a hidden box in here or what?

     "Don't worry your little head about it, Letter." He sung back, mimicking me and leading me up a flight of wooden stairs. Following his footsteps, I trudged up the stairs and waited behind him as he reached a thick, oak wood door. "This, is going to be George and I's flat."

     "Above the store?" I questioned, not sure if that was a good thing or not - what if there was a robbery? They'd be in direct harm.

     Fred nodded and pushed the door open. To my surprise, the flat was already decked out - it seemed ready to live in. "Wow." I nodded in appreciation. "It looks great, Weasley." I teased, walking inside and taking in the place. It definitely looked like a bachelor's pad. 

     "Well, that's not the only thing," Fred shrugged, pulling me once more through the place and in front of a grey door. "Here we are." He smirked down at me. 

     Raising the key, I couldn't help but try to steady my hand and I placed the key into the lock, hand shaking. It clicked open. "A room." It was the only thing I could say. I was shocked. I had my own room? "Don' you think that's a little forward?" I teased him, feeling butterflies in my stomach.

     Tilting his head to the side, Fred smiled a little. "What do you mean?" 

     "You are asking me to move in. Don't you think it's a little too soon." I asked, slightly joking, but keeping my voice flat to be completely serious. 

     Fred rolled his eyes and motioned around the room. "Calm your hormones, this is the guest room."

     "Then why did you give me a k-"

     "LIZA!" Two stalkers blurted out, popping out from behind the open door. "Happy Christmas you skank!" 

     Jumping back, I stared at them in confusion, turning to smack Fred on his arm in shock. "You jerks!" I cried out, feeling my eyes water. "You can't just do this to me." My bottom lip quivered a little as I stumbled forward into the waiting hugs of Jenna and Lana. 

     "I think my job here is done," Fred called out softly. "I'll be down stairs putting somethings up." With that, he left us to talk amongst ourselves for hours.

     Hugging Lana tightly, I pulled away and glared into her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me you were alive?!" I accused her, shooting daggers at Jenna who had also kept the secret from me. "How long have you been awake?" 

     Lana ducked her head and chuckled a small bit, eyes flickering from Jenna to me. "Well... since November second, but details, details." As she spoke, her voice was thick with a heavier French accent. 

     "French? Have you been hiding out in France this whole time?" I narrowed my eyes at her while she tucked dark red hair behind her ear and shrugged, obviously yes. "Did you get my flowers?" 

     "Yes, thank you for them, Liza - they were lovely." Lana chuckled and Jenna pouted in the corner, sad that we were leaving her out of the conversation. "Jenna is mad that you didn't get her anything." 

     "She didn't get me anything." I countered while Jenna whined about being talked about in third person. "So, what have you guys been up to these days? Any new boyfriends or anything?" I blurted out while we all sat down on the mattress in the room. 

     Turns out that Lana had been transferred to Beauxbatons Academy of Magic in France while Jenna was back at Sorcellerie's School for the Gifted in America. And here I was, at Hogwarts. All three of us had been dispatched into separate schools this year. Separate countries. 

     "You both are coming back to Hogwarts, right?" I asked, widening my eyes to look as pitiful as possible. Lana barked out a loud laugh, shaking her head.

     "Yeah right. I've heard about all the torture that the 'Ministry' is inflicting on that school right now. Not a chance. Besides, each enrollment in contracted for a year." She shrugged, chewing on some chocolates that Jenna had produced. 

     Frowning, I sighed and decided that she was probably right. "But, if she leaves next year - you guys will come back - right?" 

     Jenna frowned and shoveled a piece of chocolate into her mouth. "Well," she quickly swallowed. "You see... My parents don't exactly like Hogwarts right now. There is a lot of rumors floating around about Dumbledore and You-Know-Who. If the negativity keeps up - then maybe not." She furrowed her brow, jabbing a thumb at Lana. "But, she'll definitely be coming back."

     "Fine," I turned away from Jenna, shooting Lana a wink. "All I really need is Lana any way." 

     "Hey!" 

     We continued talking well into the afternoon. In fact, we probably would have kept talking if Fleur hadn't come in with a small smile on her face an blurting out apologies. "Zorry, but Lana and I 'ave to get go'ng." She looked towards the wall with a blush spreading onto her beautiful face. "Who waz that handzome man down stairz?" 

     Raising a brow, I smirked a little uncomfortably. "Ur... Fred?" 

     "No, no." She giggled, fanning herself slightly. "But, zhey looked alike. Perhapz zhey are brotherz?"

     Curious, Jenna, Lana, and I tiptoed down stairs - creeping around the corner to peer upon who Fleur was possibly gushing about. As we looked, Fred was standing in the middle of the room talking with a tall man, a little older than him, with longer, red hair, and dark eyes.

     Fred didn't even turn around when he called out, "Hey girls - this is my brother. Bill Weasley."  

So....tired - WELL I HOPE YOU ALL ARE HAPPY WITH THIS LONG @SS CHAPTER! IT IS 2:22 (make a wish) in the morning and I need sleep - so, I apologize for any errors, but I'm too tired to care. Good night, Jess.

OH! Send in all your questions for the Q&A which will take place around the 20th chapter!