Friends Kiss Too | F. Weasley

Chapter 49 - Flames & Fury

Molly was not entirely excited about celebrating Christmas with Aunt Muriel which had led to an argument between her and Arthur about their safety and staying hidden. In the end, Molly had agreed with Arthur that they needed to stay as safe as possible and they couldn't risk anything, no matter how much they wanted to.

Christmas was meant to be quiet, just between the family and no one else. Milena had had a little hope that Remus and Tonks would stop by for dinner, but she knew they wouldn't be able to risk it. Milena hadn't seen Tonks in months, not since before she had gotten pregnant and now she wanted to see her friend more than anything, but she understood that with a baby on the way, it was even more important for them to be safe now than ever.

Ginny had returned from school for their Christmas break and just as when she had been dropped off, she had a small army of people to escort her to Aunt Muriel's house for the holidays. Milena had made sure to get the extra bed in her room ready for Ginny and the moment they were home, the two were off to the shared bedroom to get her unpacked and catch up on the last few months.

So much had happened at Hogwarts in only just a few months and Ginny was bursting at the seams to tell someone about it all. The moment the door was shut, she immediately began to tell Milena everything. She went on a tangent on how Snape had taken over as headmaster and how these two Death Eaters called the Carrow twins had taken over the Defense Against the Dark Arts class and renamed it to just Dark Arts and also the Muggle Studies class. They had been teaching students awful things, trying to convince them that using dark magic was fine and they should be encouraged to use it on muggles and anyone who refused or stood up to them were physically punished. It sounded like a nightmare.

"Neville, Luna, and I brought the DA back in secret too. Plenty of recruits have joined us from every house... well except for the Slytherins, unfortunately even the ones who want to join risk other Slytherins exposing them." Ginny explained. "Anyways, you'd be surprised how daring Neville's gotten. He's really starting to show his Gryffindor side."

"This all sounds so horrible though. I mean not you three being leaders, that's fantastic, but Snape? The Carrow twins? The physical punishments?"

"Oh those aren't that bad, we've made it through for now." Ginny brushed off. "Besides, it's not like you exactly back down to this sort of thing."

Ginny tapped her nose insinuating the scar that was still lashed across Milena's face.

"Do as I say, not as I do." Milena laughed. She paused for a moment, becoming a little more serious again. "Please though, don't get yourselves into too much trouble, definitely keep resisting, but don't get yourselves killed."

"We won't, Milly." Ginny said. "I promise."

Christmas Eve arrived and Molly and Milena had taken it upon themselves to decorate the house for Christmas as much as Muriel would allow them too. They had searched for what seemed like hours looking for any Christmas decorations and eventually Milena stumbled on a box tucked into the corner of the attic that had a healthy amount of ornaments, tinsel, and a few small wreaths they could decorate with. When she had brought it down, Fred and George had just finished setting up a stubby pine tree and were wiping the dirt from their hands. Muriel had been less than impressed by the dirt they had dragged in which she promptly made them clean up.

They spent the next hour or so decorating the tree and then the fireplace mantle while Fred, George, and Ginny looked for places they could hang the assortment of wreaths. When they had finished the decorations, Milena took a step back to take a look at it all, feeling pleased with what they were able to do with just one box of decorations.

"The tree looks nice, Love." Fred complimented, snaking an arm around her waist.

"I think we did an alright job." Milena smiled.