Changes: {George Weasley}

XII: Holidaze

After the Ball I went to sleep pretty quickly as I was in the mood to shut the whole world out. I was awoken on Christmas Day by Teddy throwing himself onto my bed.

"Aunt Gianna!" Teddy said. "Wake up!! It's Christmas!" I opened my eyes as I felt Teddy tackle me.

"Calm down, boy. I'm up." I said. "Merry Christmas!"

"Come here! I have to show you my gift!" He said. "Draco gave it to me!" I followed Teddy into the living room. There I saw a kid-size broom. The finest I'd ever seen.

"Wow, Draco." I said. "You really outdid yourself."

"I have something for you too." He said.

"Is that so?" I said. "Cousin, you're extra generous this year." I followed him outside.

"I spoke to the guys at the Hippogriff farm." He said. "I bought you something." He proceeded to take out a Baby Hippogriff.

"Oh my!" I said running towards him. "Draco!! This is amazing!"

"His name is Howl." Draco said. "You're welcome." I bowed and the Hippogriff did too.

"Andromeda will kill me." I said.

"I asked some house elves to build you a stable thing to keep him." He said. I hugged him.

"Thanks so much, Draco!" I said. "How about a raincheck on my gift? I only got you a sweater." He chuckled.

"It'll do."

"Are you coming with us to the Burrow?" I asked.

"No idea." He said. "I wouldn't be well-received."

"It won't matter if you do it flawlessly." I said. He chuckled.

"Their gingerness will rub off on me." He said, I chuckled.

"Come on. Look at Fleur." I said. "She's not ginger." He chuckled.

"True."

"Kids, let's go." Andromeda said.

"I'm in my pajamas, give me a second." I said as I rushed inside leaving Draco with Howl. I changed into a long sleeved black dress with a leather jacket and boots. We traveled by floo powder this time. We were so different to the Weasleys. We were all wearing black, even Teddy but his blue hair gave him charm, while the Weasleys were always a crayon box. When we arrived one by one, we received the weirdest looks again. Four people dressed in all black and a baby Hippogriff traveling by chimney, not something you see everyday.

"Andromeda. Children! I'm so glad you could make it." Mrs. Weasley said. Draco and I awkwardly smiled. Teddy went over to all of the Weasleys and hugged them. Draco and I had absolutely no idea what to do. We walked towards the dining table and sat, surrounded by the food.

"What do you normally do at these?"

"I don't. I stay at home." Draco said. "This is the first time I've bothered to come."

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Hermione said as she passed us.

"I've actually been invited here if you care so much." He said. Everyone glared at him. George's attention shifted to us.

"Gianna." He said and came towards me. "You survived." I rolled my eyes.

"Barely." I said. "You'd be surprised how my grandmother's portrait reacted to seeing me."

"Yeah, you'd be surprised to see how Miles Bletchley was all over her too." Draco said. George looked awkward.

"He literally told me he wasn't flirting." I said. "Not that I was interested. He was just as miserable as me."

"If it makes you feel better, you look miserable in every social situation." George said.

"Thanks. Those are the words every girl wants to hear." I said and rolled my eyes.

"I'm telling the truth." George added. "You both do."

"Obnoxious." Draco muttered. George laughed.

"Merry Christmas." He said before leaving.

"George. Where eez Angelina?" Fleur asked.

"We broke up." He said, looking rather sad.

"You made a mistake there." Percy said. Familiar words.

"I love her and everything but it was unbearable." George said. "We fought a lot, you can ask Ron." Ron nodded. Draco and I sat there talking amongst ourselves while Howl slept on my lap. I had conjured a protection and healing charm on myself because of those claws.

"Say, Gianna is it?" Charlie said. "How do you keep that from hurting you?"

"He kind of scratched me real hard so I just conjured a healing/protection charm literally a second ago." I said.

"We didn't hear you." Said Hermione.

"In Ilvermorny we were taught to practice magic without having to say the spells or charms out loud." I said.

"That's strange." Bill said.

"Yeah. Not really, it makes sense if you think about it." I said. "You know, with the Salem witch trials..."

"Right." Percy said. "That's horrifying."

"Yeah, it's terrible." I said. "Silent spells are very efficient though. I wonder why Hogwarts doesn't teach their students to do so."

"Hogwarts hasn't had an event like that so they enforce their students to practise spells proudly." Draco said. The conversation died out after that. Draco and I spent the rest of the time alone, speaking. Then, we ate and drank firewhisky. Andromeda left early. And Percy, Draco (who took Howl) , Bill and Fleur and Victoire too and Charlie. It was just George, the trio, Ginny, Mrs and Mr. Weasley and me and Teddy, who really didn't want to leave.

"You should go." George said as he put a hand on my shoulder. "This time is when mum gets kind of.. sad."

"I'm sorry." I said. "I didn't mean to disturb."

"I'd love for you to stay but you know.." He said. I nodded.

"Teddy, it's way past your curfew." I said. "Gather your things, we're leaving." Teddy frowned at me. "Don't give me that look. What if I give you a ride on my broom?" He nodded. "That's my boy." Accio, Broom. A few seconds later, my broom came flying.

"Thanks for the hospitality, Mrs. Weasley." I said.

"Thank you, dear. For coming. It makes me very happy to see Teddy's other side of the family." I smiled at her.

"I'll walk you out." George said. "I'll just send these to your house." And he sent Teddy's gifts away.

"Thank you, George."

"No. Thank you, Gianna." I looked at him questionably.

"Why?"

"Despite your awkwardness and lack of social skills, you're fun to have around and you've really helped me around the store." He said. "And you've made Malfoy a little more bearable." I chuckled.

"You're very welcome, then." He smiled at me and with that Teddy and I mounted my broom and left to Andromeda's house.