Kate Fontaine
On Christmas Eve, Bill would be joining his family and we would be telling everyone the news of our engagement. It had been difficult, trying not to blurt out at random times how excited I was or how happy I was to be an engaged woman.
The Weasleys and their guests were sitting in the living room that Ginny and I had spent hours decorating. Ginny decided she wanted to go extreme this year and Harry told us it was like sitting in a 'paper-chain explosion'. Ginny was quite happy with the response as she set an angel at the top of the Christmas tree. She even made the angel herself.
Mrs Weasley had planned for us to listen to a Christmas broadcast by her favourite singer, Celestina Warbeck, whose voice was warbling out of the large wooden wireless set. As her jazzy song 'A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love' played through the wireless set, Fred and George began their game of Exploding Snap with Ginny. I could tell they were going to find a cheeky way to win.
Bill eventually got up and pulled me with him, placing his hands on my waist lightly so we could dance to the music together. Mrs Weasley looked joyfully at us as we did and Bill kept whispering adorable things in my ear. They were mostly Christmas related.
Meanwhile, Remus, who was thinner and more ragged-looking than ever, was sitting beside the fire, with a look, I couldn't quite place. It was almost longing, and also like he was trying to block out the whole world.
"We danced to this when we were eighteen!" said Mrs Weasley, wiping her eyes on her knitting. I smiled bashfully as Bill kissed my temple and whispered that he loved me. "Do you remember, Arthur?"
"Mphf?" Mr Weasley was peeling a satsuma and nodding his head in beat with the music. "Oh yes... marvellous tune..."
As Bill and I stopped dancing when the song ended, Harry told us about what he had seen at school regarding the Severus and Malfoy situation.
"Has it occurred to you, Harry," Mr Weasley began. "that Snape was simply pretending-"
"Pretending to offer help, so that he could find out what Malfoy's up to?" Harry speedily interrupted. "Yeah, I thought you'd say that. But how do we know?"
"It isn't our business to know," Remus spoke up unpredictably. His back was now facing the fire as he looked over at Mr Weasley and Harry. "It's Dumbledore's business. Dumbledore trusts Severus, and that ought to be good enough for all of us."
"But," Harry continued. "just say- just say Dumbledore's wrong about Snape-"
"People have said it, many times. It comes down to whether or not you trust Dumbledore's judgment. I do; therefore, I trust Severus." Remus retorted, giving him a stern look.
"But Dumbledore can make mistakes," Harry contended, not stammering at all. "He says it himself. And you-" He made sure to stare Remus straight in the eyes. "-do you honestly like Snape?"
"I neither like nor dislike Severus," Remus said sharply. "No, Harry, I am speaking the truth," he added, as Harry pulled a dubious look. "We shall never be bosom friends, perhaps; after all that happened between James and Sirius and Severus, there is too much bitterness there. But I do not forget that during the year I taught at Hogwarts, Severus made the Wolfsbane Potion for me every month, made it perfectly so that I did not have to suffer as I usually do at the full moon."
"But he 'accidentally' let it slip that you're a werewolf, so you had to leave!" Harry pointed out, displeased. Remus simply raised his shoulder in a shrug.
"The news would have leaked out anyway." Remus riposted. "We both know he wanted my job, but he could have wreaked much worse damage on me by tampering with the potion. He kept me healthy. I must be grateful."
Harry looked exasperatedly around him. "Maybe he didn't dare mess with the potion with Dumbledore watching him!"
"You are determined to hate him, Harry," Remus mused with an indistinct smile. "And I understand; with James as your father, with Sirius as your godfather, you have inherited an old prejudice. By all means tell Dumbledore what you have told Arthur and me, but do not expect him to share your view of the matter; do not even expect him to be surprised by what you tell him. It might have been on Dumbledore's orders that Severus questioned Draco."
"Shall we have a nightcap, then?" Mr Weasley asked, trying to change the subject and diffuse the tension. "Who wants eggnog?"
Everyone went off to their own conversations and Mr and Mrs Weasley went off to fetch the egnog from the kitchen. Billy took my hand and led me a little further away.
"We should tell them," Bill spoke. "Now."
"Now?" I repeated. "Really? Are you sure the timing is right?"
Bill smiled. "I love you," he said. "I love you so much. And I want nothing more than for my family to know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
I blushed, leaning up to peck his lips quickly. "I love you too. And if you think it's the right time then I trust you." Bill reached into his pocket and got out my engagement ring, slipping it onto my finger and then leading me back towards the others.
"Thank you!" I smiled, accepted a glass of eggnog from Mr Weasley as Bill declined one. He took a sip from mine and I rolled my eyes, unable to subdue my smile.
"Mum, dad?" Bill said, earning everyone's attention without even having to ask for it. "Um, Kate and I have an announcement." I noticed Ginny considerably brighten despite losing her game of Exploding Snap to George and she grinned. "...I proposed to Kate a few weeks ago."
I held my breath, waiting for an answer.
"What did she say?" Fred teased and Mrs Weasley gasped, smacking his shoulder. "Ow! It was a valid question."
"I accepted," I informed Bill's family, leaning up to kiss Bill's face. Everyone cheered and Mr Weasley rose his eggnog to the ceiling.
"To Bill and Kate – may they live happily together!" he chanted, and Mrs Weasley burst into tears. This is just like when I announced our engagement to Tonks.
"Kate!" she exclaimed, hugging me as she sobbed. "I-I'm so s-s-sorry!" Mrs Weasley was wailing and my eyes widened, not sure of what to do with her reaction.
"Whatever for?" I inquired, patting her gently on the back.
"I've been horrible about your relationship with Bill. But now I realise that you're in love and I've been nothing but foul to you!" and then Mrs Weasley kept crying.
"Don't worry about it, Mrs Weasley," I promised and she began to calm down. "I didn't expect you to immediately accept me. Especially with your first born..." Mrs Weasley nodded and wiped her eyes.
"And don't call me Mrs Weasley," she smiled. "that's going to be your title soon, too. Call me Molly." I nodded my head and grinned too. Molly went over to go and hug her husband as Ginny gave me another hug, followed by Charlie.
"You're still out of William's league," he commented, causing me to let out a laugh. "but if you really want him to ruin your life-"
"Hey," Bill said, giving Charlie a stern look. I pecked his cheek before Fred and George hugged me.
"Don't say anything," Molly warned her sons, who all mocked offended looks.
"That's terrible!" Fred exclaimed.
"And to think we were just going to congratulate them, totally peacefully without any-"
"Alright, you two," I interjected George's words. "Thank you for your wonderful thoughts."
"Felicitations." Harry said and I furrowed my brows. "That's just an obnoxious way of saying 'Congratulations'." He admits sheepishly. I hug him and Ron afterwards.
"Well thank you guys so much." Ron grinned.
"I'm going to have a sister!" he pointed out. "A proper one too!" Ginny threw a cushion at Ron with a scowl and I lightly hit his chest. "I was just joking." Ron murmured, rubbing is chest before he went back to talking to Harry.
"That wasn't so bad," Bill commented, twirling me around in a circle and hugging me. He had to dip his head as he buried his face in my neck, rubbing my back at the same time.
"I love you." I replied instead. "So, so much."
"I love you more." Bill sighed, kissing me softly. Our lips pulled apart and made a small smacking sound, to which Fred and George pretended to vomit afterwards.
"Ginny," Molly spoke up. "you wouldn't mind giving up you room for Bill and Kate tonight, would you?"
"Oh, I let her do-" Molly and Ginny both waved me off immediately.
"Nonsense!" Molly smiled. "The two of your are engaged now. You deserve your own space."
"That doesn't give you the right to be loud at night and-" Molly glared harshly at George, silencing his words entirely. I mentally thanked her because I didn't really want him to say what he was planning to say out loud in front of everyone.
"It's no trouble." Ginny promised, hugging Bill before racing upstairs to get ready for bed.
"It's getting quite late," Molly concluded. "Off to bed everyone – come on!"
Bill led my upstairs to Ginny's bedroom and closed the door quietly behind us.
"I missed you." I whispered, connecting our lips. It was true. I always missed Bill when we weren't together. I was so acclimatised to hearing his voice every day, and spending time with him the whole day that I longed to see him every time I left.
"I missed you too." Bill replied, bending down without disconnecting our lips and lifted me up to twirl me around. "Now that we're engaged I really can't get enough of you. I just love you so much."
My lips quirked upwards. "So I heard." I joked, standing back on the ground. "When do you want to get married?"
"Soon." Bill immediately answered. "In the summer."
"How about..." I racked my brains for a random date. "The first of August? It's a month before everyone leaves for Hogwarts so they'll have plenty of times for other things after we've married."
"Perfect." Bill concluded, shrugging off his button-up and searching through his bags for something else to wear. I went through my bags and changed into my pyjamas too. "Goodnight my love." I smiled as Bill kissed the side of my head, tucking the blanket around us.
"Goodnight, William."
