The fire crackled as Hermione ran her iced finger over Victoire’s small nose, leaving behind a streak of vanilla sugary confection as Fred, George and Bill raced back into the Burrow giggling. The three of them pulled off their overcoats, snow falling from their hair onto the floor.
“You three better dry up my floor over there!” Mrs. Weasley yelled. “You lot and your snowball fights.”
“C’mon mum! It’s tradition!” Bill threw his arms around the twins. “Been schooling these two since they were tots.” He said as he giggled and pushed both of them forward slightly.
Fred stumbled as Victoire giggled loudly while Hermione enchanted the gingerbread men to dance around the table, causing the attention to shift towards the two of them.
“Isn’t she gorgeous?” Bill gushed at his bright blue eyed daughter.
Fred smiled as Hermione glanced up at him, his eyes fixating on her. “She sure is.” Since Hermione had started working at the Ministry he very rarely got to see her like this, a smile plastered on her face and a glint in her eye like when she’s reading a good book.
“Bloody hell mate.” George followed his brother's gaze.
“What?” Fred groaned as he turned to his brother.
George threw his arms in the air. “Oh nothing, just feel like I need to get a boat for all the drool you’ve let out staring at Hermione.” He said sarcastically.
“What are you talking about?” Fred rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “It’s not like that we are just friends.”
“Right, right.” George folded his arms over his chest. “And I’m the Minister of Magic. Hey Hermione!” he yelled. “Did you know I’m the Minister of Magic?”
Hermione glanced over, cocking her head in confusion as Fred hit George’s arm. “Cut it out!”
Bill walked over to the table Hermione was sitting at and picked up Victoire, tossing her lightly in the air and catching her. “Hi there my little teacup. It looks like you’ve got more icing on you than the gingerbread house.” He poked at her stomach and made her giggle.
“I hate to take away your building partner Hermione, but I should get this little one cleaned and ready for bed.” Bill winked at George.
“It’s okay, Bill. She’s been a big help.” Hermione smiled at Victoire.
“I have an idea, Hermione!” George yelled.
“Georgie, what are you…”
“Freddy here can help you!” He interrupted as he clapped his hand on Fred’s shoulder.
“I think that’s a great idea.” Bill agreed. “We all know he has a knack for building things. Just don’t let him hide any explosives in the house.” He laughed as he jogged up the stairs with little Victoire in tow.
“Yeah, yeah. Very funny.” Fred swung his leg over the bench and sat down next to Hermione as George disappeared.
She handed him a bag of white icing, while she squeezed some of her own onto the cookie and added a peppermint to the top for a window.
“Am I doing this right?” Fred asked as he added some icing to the base, before carefully placing gumdrops on top to make a fence.
“Have you never done a gingerbread house before?”
“Not the muggle way. Usually we charm the gingerbread men and let them build their own house the way they would want.” He explained as he placed another gumdrop down.
“You’re doing fine.”
They fell into a rhythm together, Hermione iced and candied the top while Fred worked on the bottom. He playfully iced her hand, breaking some licorice wands and placing them on top to make a face.
“I don’t remember being made of gingerbread, Fred!” She laughed as she ate the candy from her hand.
“I could always test that theory for you so we can make sure.” Fred’s cheeks flushed.
There was an awkward silence as Hermione tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, accidentally dragging icing on her cheek.
Fred chuckled. “You um, you got some icing on your cheek.”
“Where?” Hermione asked, running his hand down her face trying to clean herself up, but she only made it worse and added more icing.
“Let me help.” Fred gazed at her as he ran his finger down her cheek, wiping the sugary substance off. “There.”
Hermione turned her head, staring into Fred’s eyes a silent conversation moving between them as they sat there and stared at each other. They sat there for a moment before Hermione cleared her throat and looked down at the table. “Uh, thank you.” She said shyly.
There was a faint noise, causing Fred and Hermione to look up while green leaves and vines began to grow from the ceiling with small white buds. The vines twisted and turned all the way down, to lay gently on their shoulders.
Hermione glanced back and forth between Fred and the beams above them. “Is that…”
He slid his hand over her cheek, caressing it lightly as he gently turned her to look at him. “Mistletoe.”
She stared at him with anticipation as he leaned in closer to her, he paused for a moment. Waiting to see if she would pull away from him. His stomach twisted as she sat there, waiting for him to kiss her. There was a hitch in her breath as their lips connected for the first time, the years of longing for a moment like this finally coming to a head. He kissed her with every ounce of wanting he had for her, until they were both breathless.
“I can confirm, you are not made of gingerbread.” His lips curved into a smile.
“George!” Bill yelled excitedly from the stairs.
“Did you do the mistletoe!?”
“It worked! They kissed!!” Bill announced.
“Bloody hell! Bout time!”