Whispers in the dark

Chapter 32: Viscum album

A/N: I own nothing except my mistakes

Peeking through the blinds in the kitchen, Hermione felt a smile creep up on her face as she looked at the snowy landscape greeting her. The streets were all packed, and a bunch of children let out excited squeals as they chased each other with snowballs.

It had been a long while since she had such playful fun, and at the moment, just by watching those kids, she couldn't help but feel like she would love to get in and join them in their game.

"D'you s'pose we should prank someone?" Hermione heard Fred say, which made her pull back from the window to focus back on the rustling behind her. "Yeah, I s'pose you're right," he continued, a little bit disappointed. Perhaps George had managed to talk him out of it.

"Come on, dear, get a seat. I'll be calling for the others," Molly said as she spotted her, a big grin resting on her lips as she quickly hurried off to the other room, vaguely hearing her call out for her sons.

Taking a seat, she gratefully let her eyes roam to the end of the table, Arthur having just gotten back from St. Thomas. Alive and well, even though he was still heavily bruised. It was no wonder that all of them were in such bright moods, as she watched Ginny cackle at a miniature Santa Claus sitting on a broom, who had just ran into her head by accident.

It took only a couple of seconds for Ron and the twins to join, the latter choosing to sit on either side of her, with Ron opposite them.

"Daddy's back," Molly announced gleefully as she came to stand behind Arthur, resting her hands on his shoulders. The children began to clap, and Hermione joined in with them, a stretched out smile on her lips as she knew how hard this time had been for the Weasleys. They were such a close family, and none of them could imagine losing one another.

"Time for presents!" Molly went on, a glimmer in her eyes as she handed the first one to Ron: a yellow box decorated with a red tie.

Upon opening his present Hermione could see he wasn't all too enthusiastic with his hand-made vest, but for the sake of his mother, he still smiled at her gratefully and thanked her whole-heartedly.

As Ginny was unpacking hers, Molly moved on to the twins, doubtfully switching the presents a couple of times before finally handing it over. Fred and George didn't so much as pass a glance between each other before immediately switching them around, Fred leaning slightly into Hermione as they did, whispering with a quirky undertone "Mom always hands us the wrong ones."

And he was right indeed. As they had opened up their presents they now had the right letter on their scarves, even though the colours and patterns were similar.

"Here you go," Molly said as she passed Hermione a present as well, and Hermione gave her a quick "thank you" before letting the package rest on the table in front of her.

Hermione had to take a moment as her heart gleefully jumped in her chest. She, herself, was a family-orientated person as well. And yet, being around the Weasleys, especially Molly, made her heart always beat a little bit faster. Because this woman was absolutely incredible if you thought about it.

Because it was no secret that the Weasleys had little to no money. Let alone when still having to feed four children still living at home. Plus an extra one if you counted Harry, who they had practically adopted ever since the first year. Hermione, too, had been more than welcomed into their family since the third year when she had begun to visit them during the holidays.

And here she was, making the most out of their situation by still providing their children with presents, as well as Hermione and Harry, and it being the best presents every single time, mainly because it was made with so much love.

"Open up, I want to see your faces," Molly encouraged at Hermione, and so she finally untied the ribbon, pulled the package aside and took out a beautiful, warm purple scarf. At the ends of them they had little pompoms dangling off.

"This is wonderful, thank you, Molly," Hermione beamed, but the woman waved her off with a hearty chuckle.

"Harry, dear," Molly said as her eyes averted to the doorway, Harry entering the room with Sirius following suit. "There you are," she hurriedly spoke as she grabbed a stray present from a cabinet as she made his way over to him, taking him into a hug before handing him his present.

"Want some fruit punch?" Hermione didn't even need to turn her head to know what twin was talking to her. She could hear it in their voices from the very moment they had opened their mouths. "Yes, please, George." And gladly handed him her cup.

After a moment or two he handed it back to her, going around the table to scoop up some for the rest without any complaint. Clearly the return of Arthur even got them in such a good mood that no bad thoughts were on their minds.

Hermione sure did prefer it that way as she dared a quick glance at Fred – who was reaching for some garlic butter to batter his bread with – and adored the easy smile on his face that had resided there since the moment Arthur had put a foot into this house again.

She quickly averted her eyes, however, the moment he turned his head to meet her staring eyes, a grin popping on his face. "It's all right to stare," Fred joked lightly as he dropped a couple slices of bread onto her plate without her needing to ask (Hermione felt very touched by this, despite bracing herself for the teasing that was bound to happen), "I know I'm a looker," he finished with a smirk as she lightly hit his arm.

Even though it had been a couple of days since Arthur had gotten into the hospital, Fred nor Hermione had felt the need to talk about the kiss yet. Their minds still on other matters. Besides, they frequently visited the hospital. There was no time to have a serious conversation.

And to tell the truth, Hermione had been quite grateful for that. Because what does one say after one has kissed each other?

"To Mister Harry Potter," Arthur began, lifting up his fruit punch as he pointed it at Harry – the latter looking a little awkward as he fumbled on his spot – "without whom, I would not be here."

At this everyone at the table, including Hermione, lifted up their glasses to Harry before taking a big gulp, everyone chuckling a bit as it turned messy with some of them.

"Now sit down and eat everyone," Molly joyfully spoke as she too, took a seat next to Ginny. "Plenty enough soup for all of us," and with that she started to grab the plates from everyone around the table, scooping some spoonful of soup into their plates before handing it back.

Loud chatter and a bunch of laughter filled the table again that had been so quiet the past few days. Every one of them were exhilarated, with the exception of Harry perhaps.

Once in a while she tried to catch his eyes so she could cheer him up a little, even trying to converse with him, but he kept quiet and avoided her eyes every single time. It was obvious that he still felt like he was the one to blame. She just hoped that she would catch a moment with him sometime to convince him otherwise.

It didn't take long for everyone to finish up eating, considering the fact that it was just lunch with some bread and some soup, and before long half the table had already excused themselves to head off to the living room to play and chat a bit, but Molly, Arthur, Hermione and Fred remained seated in the kitchen.

Molly was the first to get up to go ahead and tidy up, but Hermione felt it wouldn't be right to let her do it all by herself, and thus she jumped up as well, joining her at the countertop. "Let me help you with this, Mrs Weasley," Hermione politely suggested as she reached for the big pile of plates in the witch's hands.

"Oh, thank you, dear. That would be nice," Molly reluctantly gave in as Hermione was already holding the plates and bringing them to the sink.

"Yes, mom, how about you and dad go ahead and have a bit of fun in the living room? We'll tidy up here," Fred jumped in as well, and both Hermione and Molly turned their heads simultaneously to his direction.

Hermione's expression was one laced with a bit of suspicion, but Molly's was downright shocked and wary. "If you're planning to blow this place up, Fred Weasley-" Molly began, but was quickly shut up as Fred gently grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her to Arthur.

"First off, I'm very offended that you think I would ever do such a thing," Fred said, not sounding offended at all. In the slightest, actually. He sounded rather proud. "Second off, it's Christmas. The only time in the year to be nice. So enjoy it, mother."

Molly was rather hesitant, shooting an uncertain look at Hermione – who quickly shot her an encouraging smile – before she made up her mind and pushed Arthur out of the kitchen.

Knowing what Fred was trying to do, she quickly turned on the tap so the room would fill itself with the rushing sound of water, an occasional clattering as a cup would bump into a stray plate floating around.

To her astonishment, however, Fred remained completely quiet. All he did was carry a faint smile as he lowly whistled a Christmas song under his breath, a towel fumbled up in his hands as he dried off the dishes that she had passed him.

This gave her some hope, and thus she wishfully continued cleaning the dishes, trying to ignore his hand that was deliberately bumping into hers whenever she passed him a clean dish, a grin popping on his face every time as he held on a bit longer than was necessary.

"Can't ignore it forever, y'know," Fred began to say right before they were finished with the job, crushing Hermione's hope of being able to escape this conversation. "Watch me, Weasley," she playfully spoke as she let the sink drain itself from the water it had collected as Fred was now hurriedly drying off the last remaining cup.

He lightly tutted at her as he put the cup back into the cupboard. "Now where is your Christmas spirit, Hermione?" Fred spoke, a light chuckle escaping his breath as he hurried away from the cupboard so he could walk right next to her.

"I think I left it in the living room, I s'pose it would do well to go ahead and find it back," Hermione countered, earning her a grin from Fred.

However, before she could even step one toe over the threshold, she was immediately bound to her spot, Fred coming to an abrupt hold as well as he had been walking alongside her.

"What-?" Hermione mumbled under her breath, trying to put a foot over the threshold again, but being held back by some unknown force.

Irritably, she turned to look at Fred, who was carrying a wide grin, realizing the close proximity they were in. "If this is some prank of yours, Fre-" Hermione was about to say, but got cut short immediately as Fred pointed upwards, a laugh escaping his lips.

Slowly looking up, she watched in surprise as she saw a small plant dangling from the ceiling, its green leaves and berries still growing majestically. Groaning, she turned to look back at Fred's smirk smitten face.

"Looks like we're going to have to talk about that kiss after all," Fred grinned, his warm breath prickling her face.

Taking a deep breath, she lightly bit her lip as she quickly debated her options. Coming up with a clever idea, she matched his grin as she smiled mischievously. "No, we don't," she simply said as she gave him a quick kiss on the lips – barely brushing them, but still being effective enough for them to be released from the magic spell and for her to walk away.

Before she could, however, a hand grabbed her wrist firmly, giving it a good tuck so she had no other choice but to turn back around and get close again with Fred.

"Yeah, I really think we should," Fred breathed, before dipping his head in and confidently resting his lips against hers, him smiling into the kiss as she gave a light groan in surrender, easily letting her arms rest around his waist as he pulled her in closer. Maybe she wasn't so mad about that mistletoe after all.