Forty-four

                                    

                                          
"Fucking gnomes." I heard Fred mumble as he entered the house, handing the garden gnome to George who put it on top of the Christmas tree that Ginny had decorated.
                          
"You good?" I asked, grinning at Fred who limped over to sit next to me on the sofa.
                          
"The dumb gnome bit my ankle when I was pulling carrots out of the garden." he told me and leaned down to rub his ankle.
                          
I frowned, staring blankly at him.
                          
"Fred?"
                          
"Yeah?"
                          
"Where're the carrots?"
                          
He looked at me and paused for a moment before groaning, pulling himself up from the sofa again, then limped outside while George took his spot to sit next to me.
                          
"Have you looked yourself in the mirror today?" he asked, watching me while placing a hand against my knee.
                          
I rested my elbow against the back of the sofa, resting my head in my palm. A smile was planted on my face, studying him.
                          
"Do I have something on my face?"
                          
"No." he smiled. "But you look incredibly beautiful."
                          
My smile only grew as I leaned in and kissed his lips softly before I put my focus back on the atmosphere in the room.
                          
Molly's favourite singer Celestina Warbeck was playing in the radio for some kind of Christmas Podcast. Fleur didn't seem to like Celestina. She was over in the corner, talking so loudly that Molly kept pointing her wand at the volume of the radio, turning it up.
                          
Lupin was staring into the fire. He looked thinner than the last time I saw him – almost miserable. The loss of Sirius must've been hard. It's been six months.
                          
Harry and Ron sat close together next to George and seeing as it was a small sofa, George and I sat pretty close too.
                          
We hadn't announced our engagement yet. We wanted to wait until the right moment but we were hoping we'd get to do it during the Holidays.
                          
"Are you tired?" George asked as I put my head on his shoulder. I hummed in response, wrapping an arm around his torso. With a smile on his face, he rubbed his hand up and down my arm, pressing a kiss to my head.
                          
"Just a little bit." I whispered. "But it's the night before Christmas, so I'm trying to force my eyes to stay open."
                          
"I don't think anyone would mind if you took a nap." he told me softly, resting his head against mine. "You look like you could need it."
                          
"Maybe." I mumbled before a yawn left me. George kept his head resting against mine, his hand rubbing my arm in small and soothing motions.
                          
The calmness of everything, of George, of the chatter around us, the music... it got harder and harder for me to keep my eyes open and eventually, I fell asleep against his shoulder.
                          
When I woke up again, George had moved me so I laid against the corner of the sofa. He had put a blanket over me and was now sitting on the floor with Fred and Ginny, playing a game of Exploding Snap.
                          
I rubbed my eyes and covered my mouth as I yawned into it. I looked around, trying to get an idea of how long I had slept for.
                          
Lupin was still staring into the fire and Harry and Ron were still sitting on the same sofa as I was. I couldn't see Bill anywhere but Celestina was still playing.
                          
"We danced to this when we were eighteen!" Mrs Weasley said as she glanced towards her knitting that she had started. "Do you remember, Arthur?"
                          
"Hmm?" Arthur lifted his head to look at his wife, then nodded. "Oh yes... marvellous tune..."