Everyone soon went to bed after some while and Sirius left the Burrow for the night. But he said that he would join us for breakfast the next morning, though he had to leave soon, seeing as he already had other plans.

When I woke up the next morning, I saw Mrs. Weasley's present wrapped up at the end of my sleeping bag. So smiling to myself, I opened it to see a beautifully knitted scarlet sweater inside.

       Wearing it proudly after taking a quick shower, I went downstairs to see the others, only to meet Fred halfway up the stairs.

       "Well hello, Sexy Lexi." He grinned up at me as I walked down the stairs to reach him.

       "Ugh, I regret saying those words." I groaned to myself.

       "Merry Christmas to you too!" he said happily before placing a small kiss on my cheek. "Now where's my present?"

       "I didn't get you any," I said simply with a light smirk.

       "What!?" he exclaimed, his smile fading.

       "I'm broke, remember?" I said with a chuckle. "I spent all the money I had earned from the joke shop on my wand and books and stuff. And also... you know... to buy sweets."

      "Oh, well... I guess I won't give you my present either, then," he said with a mocking sigh, taking out a small box from his coat's inner pocket.

       "Oooh! Gimmie!" I said excitedly, snatching up the box from his hand.

      With that, I started opening it. But the moment I did so, something exploded in my face, relishing a pink gas.

Looking up with gritted teeth, I saw that Fred was running away from me as he laughed.

     Cursing under my breath, I ran toward the bathroom to look at my face in the mirror, only to see that my skin had turned a deep shade of pink.

        "DAMN YOU, WEASLEY!"

       I shrieked, running out of the bathroom and down the stairs, chasing Fred around the house, until we got to the kitchen where everybody else had gathered, all wearing their Weasley sweaters.

      I chased Fred around the kitchen table, growing more furious as he kept on laughing.

       "Oh, good Gracious!" Mrs. Weasley gasped when she saw me, pacing forward and stopping me from running. "Settle down, dear. I can fix it in a heartbeat."

       "Hey!" George retorted angrily at Fred, frowning. "We were supposed to give her the present together! I wanted to see her reaction!"

       "You were in on this too!?" I fumed as I sat down on a chair, waiting for Mrs. Weasley.

       "Of course, it was my idea." George grinned. "By the way, pink looks beautiful on you, Snappy."

       I made a move to stand up to go and punch him, but Mrs. Weasley placed a hand on my shoulder so I would sit back down, and so she started rubbing an antidote potion on my skin.

       "Honestly," she started, "how that boy got you to go out with him, I'll never know."

       "He probably got her drunk," said Ginny with a smirk from across the table, causing Mrs. Weasley to come to a halt and Sirius's head to shot up, gaping at her as he went pale. "I'm kidding!"

       Sirius sent an unconvinced glance at Fred who gulped, looking away uneasily and sitting around the table next to his brother.

      That morning, Mrs. Weasley was sporting a brand-new midnight blue witch's hat glittering with what looked like tiny starlike diamonds, and a spectacular golden necklace.

       "Pretty necklace and hat," I said as she pulled away.

       "Fred and George gave them to me!" she said with a proud smile. "Aren't they beautiful?"

       "Well, we find we appreciate you more and more, Mum, now that we're washing our own socks," said George jokingly.

        "Gravy, Fleur?" said Ron, trying to raise the plate for her.

But in his eagerness to help her, he knocked the gravy boat flying; Bill waved his wand and the gravy soared up in the air and returned meekly to the boat.

       "You are as bad as zat Tonks," said Fleur to Ron, when she had finished kissing Bill in thanks. "She is always knocking —"

        "I invited dear Tonks to come along today," said Mrs. Weasley, setting down the carrots with unnecessary force and glaring at Fleur. "But she wouldn't come. Have you spoken to her lately, Remus?"

       I smiled to myself, turning to face Lupin amusingly and watching him warily.

       "No, I haven't been in contact with anybody very much," said Lupin. "But Tonks has got her own family to go to, hasn't she?"

        "Hmmm," said Mrs. Weasley. "Maybe. I got the impression she was planning to spend Christmas alone, actually." She gave him an annoyed look.

        "Tonks's Patronus has changed its form," Harry suddenly told him. "Snape said so anyway. I didn't know that could happen. Why would your Patronus change?"

       Lupin took his time chewing his turkey and swallowing before saying slowly, "Sometimes... a great shock... an emotional upheaval..."

        "It looked big, and it had four legs," said Harry, going deep in his thoughts as he spoke.

With that, Sirius gritted his teeth together and raised his hand, only to smack Lupin at the back of his head hardly.

       "Ouch!" Lupin yelped, turning to glare at him. "What are you!? Eight!?"

       "No, but clearly you are," Sirius retorted, and I knew it was because Lupin wouldn't just man up and tell Tonks how he felt.

       "Arthur!" said Mrs. Weasley suddenly. She then raised up from the chair with her hand pressed over her heart, staring out of the kitchen window. "Arthur — it's Percy!"