“So, what do you think?” Arthur Weasley questioned, draping his arm gently around his wife.
From an outside point-of-view, the pair stood in a slightly crooked house, looking affectionately towards their Christmas tree. In truth, Arthur had just made the voyage into the large backyard to retrieve the couple’s first Christmas tree. To a Muggle, the house they stood in might have looked more like a death wish than a cosy place to live. However, after some magical reinforcements and a large sum of their limited Gringotts account the couple had bought The Burrow as their first house. After all, The Burrow was quite a large step up from the small third floor apartment they had lived in previously.
“It…needs something,” Molly Weasley replied with a coy smile. Carefully, she sifted through the box of family ornaments as she searched for her wand that had been buried underneath the load of fragile decorations. Moments later Molly's wand rested playfully against her chin as she eyed the pine tree.
“It needs…” Molly tapped her wand against a metal bowl filled with freshly popped popcorn. Immediately after, the small kernels began threading themselves with an invisible binding.
“Popcorn.”
The witch slowly lifted her wand into the air, and the popcorn string began wrapping itself around the chubby tree. The placement of the food decoration looked as if someone had taken hours in decided exactly where each string would go on the separate branches. Molly grinned in accomplishment.
Arthur nodded in appreciation of the addition. He distractedly murmured something along the lines of “looks much better” as he kissed Molly lightly on the cheek. Happily, the couple settled onto the old patched couch that sat across from the warm fire, their joyous grins evident.
“One moment,” muttered Arthur as he leapt from the couch. His even steps lead him to the old record player that was tactfully hidden behind the holiday decorations. With practiced precision he lifted the needle from its position and placed it onto the ancient looking record. Within moments, a magically magnified Christmas song erupted into the room.
When Arthur returned to the only piece of furniture in the room, Molly had disappeared. With a sigh that bordered on the edge of impatience, Arthur sunk onto the couch and waited for his wife to return.
Molly returned to the room with an exaggerated sour expression. “I thought you were going to get rid of that old thing,” she joked. On a few occasions they had talked about giving the gaudy record player away to anyone who would take it. It was most defiantly outdated, but Arthur refused to part with it.
“You could do with a few new records, you know,” she added before she caught the edge on her tongue. Her pale hand flew to her mouth, anxious of his reply. Of course, if she hadn’t insisted on getting a new place of their own, her husband could have afforded several new records. Much to Molly’s relief, her husband only laughed at her comment, brushing it off.
Laughter continued to echo across the room as Arthur swept his wife into an embrace as a Christmas sounding waltz began to play from the record player. Soon, the pair were dancing in the limited space the living room provided, their steps small and rotations of the sequenced dance tight.
Finally, Molly broke away from the waltz, collapsing tiredly on the couch. However, a large Muggle looking camera was now held carefully in her pale hands.
“Smile!” she exclaimed as the flash went off on a surprised Arthur. Her chime-like laughter filled the room once more, overcoming the continuous Christmas music.
“I wasn’t ready,” returned her husband disapprovingly. Arthur grimaced inwardly as he thought of how horrible the portrait would turn out. No doubt it would be the next addition to the dreaded wall of portraits Molly had insisted on hanging.
“Those are the best types,” responded Molly, waving her hand as to brush the topic away. “Those are the ones that have life in them,” she said through her recurring laughter.
“No,” rejected Arthur, “those are the ones that have me with a weird look on my face.”
“Same difference,” Molly returned through a sloppy grin. With a sobering look, she patted the cushion next to her, indicating she wanted her husband to join her.
Noticing the serious look on his wife’s face, Arthur joined Molly on the couch. He slowly crossed his legs so he could look towards his wife’s perplexed face. He nodded slightly, an indication that she could pour her problems whole-heartedly on him.
“You know,” began Molly in what she hoped to be a thoughtful tone, “we really don’t have to get each other anything for Christmas. What with the baby on the way and the new house…” As she spoke, her hand gradually found its way to her slightly rounded belly. She was only a few months along, but she knew they had to begin considering the impact that children would have on their lives. Molly nodded slightly, as if enforcing her statement.
“Are you sure?” questioned Arthur. “I’m sure we could manage something. It is, after all, our first Christmas together. Maybe just something small?” he questioned, his loving nature for his wife emerging before his economic sense could take control. If he had been thinking economically he would have agreed automatically. For in truth, they really didn’t have any money to spare, but he was sure he could “and would- manage something for his wife.
“No, no.” Molly’s brightly coloured hair bobbed in protest. “No, this house and our new lives are enough of a present. We really need to think of the future of our family, Arthur.”
Her husband grudgingly gave in. “It will still be a memorable Christmas,” he promised persistently as he kissed his wife lovingly on the cheek.
“We don’t need new shiny things to be happy.”
Christmas By Numbers by FeatherTrader
Chapter Notes: I would like to give a huge thanks to my Beta reader, Susie!