WHO: George and Lydia WHEN: Wednesday Evening WHERE: Lydia's Flat WHAT: Adorableness RATING: Lowish for some smooches and allusions STATUS: Completed in Docs
Lydia was very much looking forward to this Christmas season, probably more so this year than other ones in the past few years. She was well aware that it was probably because it was her first Christmas with George. They had been together for most of the year and she was very thankful for it but something about spending Christmas with him had her very excited. She probably had went a bit overboard with all the presents she had bought him but she figured he wouldn’t put up too much of a fuss.
Leaving work a few hours early she went home and wrapped all the presents. It was less than a week before Christmas and they wouldn’t be opened until that morning but she still liked having everything wrapped early for enjoyment and ease. Now she had changed into some comfy clothes, lit a fire and was preparing some hot cocoa for when George got home, which was to be any minute now. Westley was following her along everywhere she went, trying to figure out what had Lydia in such a good mood.
When she heard the door open she smiled and called out, “George? Come into the kitchen?”
--
George loved Christmas. Maybe not as much as other people did, but it was hard to ignore how festive and colorful everything was. The excuse to bother his family was a nice bonus, too. And then there was Lydia. She made him feel like Christmas all the time, so the holiday was bound to feel twice as special when spent with her. He wasn't ashamed to admit that he had quite a few romantic images in his head about how the pair of them could make it through the dark and cold winter nights together.
Now, he wasn't as organized as Lydia apparently was - and thankfully he hadn't realized that yet. He had a few things picked out and stashed in his bedroom at his flat but had yet to settle on the perfect thing for her. He was confident, though, that inspiration would strike eventually.
It was well on its way to dark when George locked up the shop and headed over to Lydia's. Her home felt more like his own every day, but there was that extra glow in his stomach when he thought about the home they were going to make together in just a few weeks. This put a bit of a bounce to his step as he headed down the hall to her door to let himself in.
It was warm and comfortable inside her place and he quickly shed his coat and scarf and followed Lydia's voice into the kitchen. Beaming when he saw her, he crossed the floor join her. "Hey, beautiful."
--
Lydia smiled when George came in, perfect timing as always. Dropping a peppermint stick in each cup she looked up at him and gave him a quick kiss. “Hi there, I made cocoa for us,” she smiled. “I figured after the long day and it being cold out you could use it.”
“How was your day at the shop?” she asked as she handed him his mug. Lydia wanted to make sure it didn’t get spilled since Westley was very excited to see George. The dog acted as if no one ever paid attention to him and she couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the silly antics.
“I started a fire as well, if that’s okay? I figured a nice relaxing evening would be a nice change.” Walking to the living area she settled into the sofa and waited for him to join her.
--
George felt giddy like a little kid when he spotted the cocoa and the cute little peppermint stick poking out of the cup. He resisted grabbing it right away, though, because first he had to kiss Lydia to give his thanks for the gesture and then to bend down and calm the dog that was trying to climb his legs. After a quick rub behind Westley's ears, George was able to accept the cup of cocoa and follow Lydia into the living room.
“It was fine,” he replied as he followed her. "Lots of people realizing there's only a few days left to shop. I'm expecting a very busy week," he added happily.
He paused upon entering the living room to just appreciate all she’d done. The fire was warm, the lights were low, the cocoa smelled excellent. He wanted nothing in the world more than to just curl up with his love and not worry about anything else.
He let her get situated before joining her, making himself comfortable and drawing her gently against him with his arm around her shoulders. The dog wasted no time in jumping up to flop on George’s other side.
“This is perfect,” he said softly against her hair. “Thank you.”
--
“I’m sure being so busy helps the time fly by though doesn’t it? Although it doesn’t give you and Fred that much time to get back end stuff done I imagine,” Lydia thought aloud. She was grateful that George still maintained a good balance and that she was able to spend time with him. She had worried if she would ever get to see him except when it was time to go to sleep but George made good on quality time.
Snuggling up next to him she smiled at his comment, “I’m glad you enjoyed it. I figured we won’t have much down time coming up soon with the holidays, place hunting, and then moving so I wanted to enjoy whatever time we could get.” It was silly and simplistic but for once in her life Lydia just wanted to relax and not think about all the work coming up. Her and her little family before their world got flipped upside down.
“Plans are all set up to spend Christmas Eve with my family whenever you can get away. Mum and Dad are excited to have you.”
--
Maybe it was a side-effect of being domesticated, but the list of grown-up things that Lydia gave him didn't bother him in the least. He knew, realistically, that finding a new place and moving was a pain in the ass, but the end-result would be completely worth it.
"I always enjoy my time with you," he said softly as he ran his fingertips over her arm. He took a slow sip of the cocoa, his eyes fluttering closed briefly at the flavor and he made a little 'mmmm' noise of pleasure. He then set the mug down within reach and wrapped Lydia up in both arms and buried his face in her hair, breathing in the scent of her.
"I'm excited to go," he said, grinning against her neck, "I'm very interested in the Christmas rituals of the Winters clan." He brushed her hair away gently with his fingers so he could kiss her cheek. "Is there a dress code? Some hideous sweater, maybe? Because I have lots of those."
--
Giggling a bit at the feeling of his lips on her skin she shook her head, “We really aren’t that exciting actually. I’m sure we will be quite boring compared to what you are used to with your family. Mum’s always had to work one of the days at St. Mungo’s so we always just accommodated that as much as we would. As she has to work Christmas Day this year it works out perfectly with our schedules.”
Lydia pondered on the crazy sweaters that George had and if she could lie to make him wear one. Deciding not since it was his first one she shook her head, “No funny sweaters are necessary. I’ll probably just wear a plain skirt and a nice blouse? I’m sure whatever you wear will be just fine. Bring lots of layers because there might be a snowball fight with James.”
--
"Ours can be surprisingly boring," George said seriously. “Or they would be if Mum had her way.” He broke into a grin. “Fred and I usually are able to whip things into pandemonium if it gets too dull. But with so many, it gets noisy pretty quick, so it really doesn’t take much provocation.”
He grew a bit more serious again - this time for real - and he hugged her a little tighter. "Well, I do want to make a good impression," he said, "so if you dress nice, I will too." Though the thought of getting into a snowball fight with her brother pleased him very much. "Well, I hope he's ready to get buried by the master of snowballs.... Unless he and I team up." It was very hard to keep the evil giggle out of his voice.
--
Laughing she leaned up to kiss his cheek, “I can’t imagine you and Fred letting anything ever get boring when you two are together.” It was a bad thing at all, in fact, sometimes it could be quite helpful to ease any awkwardness that arose. Besides what kind of girlfriend would she be if she hindered such a large part of George’s personality?
“I’m sure James will want you on his side. Once I graduated from Hogwarts and I could use magic at home he quickly lost. Ravenclaw beat the Hufflepuff every single time and I’ll be sure to remind him of it,” she laughed as she reminisced. “I will not hold it against you should you betray me and pick another team,” she winked.
--
George made a show of pondering this, weighing invisible options in his hand. “Hm,” he said as he reached for his cocoa. “I have no doubt that you can take on both your brother and me without difficulty. It may only be fair that I take pity on him.” He winked at her as he sipped from the drink - which was now just above the perfect temperature - and then set it down again so he could resume holding Lydia.
“To Fred and me? The word ‘boredom’ is spoken in hushed, fearful whispers. It is a dark force that must be fought at every turn.” He closed his eyes and kissed Lydia’s temple. “You’re very lucky you’ve got a warrior like me to protect you from boredom.”
--
After taking a couple of sips of her drink she set hers down as well, shifting her body so that she could snuggle up and wrap her arms around George. “I’m sure he will very much appreciate it baby. You’re such a caring human,” she joked. In all honesty she figured if James had George on his team she would certainly lose, however she wasn’t about to tell him that.
At his comment about him being a warrior she smiled, “I thank Merlin every day that I got so lucky to have you looking out for me. How in the world could I ever repay you for all the happiness you have given me George Weasley?”
--
George gave a small sigh of contentment as the two of them twined together. It was extremely comfortable, here in front of the fire with the dog curled up against his leg. He was sure that a furious snow war would be terribly fun, no matter whose team he was on, but the snow was cold and he was warm. He’d much rather be warm right now.
He kissed her temple again at her last and chuckled a bit. “Well, to be fair,” he said, “you repay me most every night, and I have to say it’s spectacular. But really, just getting to be around you is thanks enough.”
He then winced. “Was that too sappy? That was too sappy.”
--
Giggling, Lydia shook her head, “It was the perfect amount of sappy,” she replied. Lydia was very happy that she found herself with someone who wasn’t afraid to be romantic and open with their emotions. It would be hard for her to be with someone who wasn’t as open to communication, she thought.
After taking another sip of her drink she looked over at him and studied his face. The shadow of the fire danced across his face and highlighted his features. Reaching up she wrapped her one hand around his neck and whispered, “Hey I love you,” she said before leaning in and kissing him.
--
“Well good,” George replied with a half smile. “I wouldn’t want to disgust you with the wrong amount.” He had always been a bit of a hopeless romantic, but he’d never been able to express it before. That he could do so with Lydia without worry of scaring her away was, perhaps, one of the very best parts of being with her. Like, top five, anyway. There were some other terribly wonderful things, like the way she smiled or how she was looking at him right then.
At her whisper, such an intimate gesture that it sent thrills through his nerves, his arms tightened around her just a bit. “I love you, too,” he replied quietly, and then he was lost to the kiss, returning it with enthusiasm.
--
Lydia smiled against his lips when he kissed her. This was one of her favorites, just being with him and having him show her how he felt. She continued kissing him as she pulled herself closer, however she was making sure not to bother the dog that was curled up on the other side of her boyfriend.
After she broke the kiss she ran a hand through George’s hair, “You're my favorite person did you know that?” Giggling she smiled, “you make me so happy.”
--
Not bothering Westley while making out with Lydia was one of the greatest challenges George faced in life. The dog loved being close to his humans, even when the humans wanted to be close to each other, and George didn’t have it in him to shoo the little guy away. But they’d become rather good at it over the near-year they’d been together, the three of them.
He made a tiny noise of protest when she broke the kiss but then leaned into her hand, smiling in a vague, lightheaded sort of way. “You make me happy, too,” he said softly as his vision refocused on her shining face. “And I’m terribly honored,” he added truthfully, then he bit his lip. He didn’t necessarily feel bad that he couldn’t fully return her sentiment because of his twin brother (who would always be the greatest human who ever lived), but it was a little awkward.
“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” he replied instead.
--
It didn’t bother Lydia that George didn’t respond in kind to her, maybe to most people it would have but she didn’t take offense. To her, she knew that George wouldn’t pick between Fred and Lydia and if he did, it would be Fred. Nothing would beat a twin and she understood that. Now if someone came before her, besides Fred, well then she might throw a bit of a fit. He didn’t need to know that unless it happened though.
“Do you want to call it an early night? Put Westley to bed and lock ourselves in our bedroom for the rest of the night?” she asked. Sure it wasn’t exactly festive and everything but she wanted to be with George, enjoy his company and the simplicity of their lives before the crazy holidays.
--
It was true that George had once or twice playfully ranked his brothers, but when it came to reality, he hoped that he never had to choose one important person over another. But as it stood, Lydia and Fred were his two very favorite people in the world and he was glad that he had both of them.
He made a thoughtful noise as he stroked his fingers lightly through her hair. “I think I would like that very much,” he said, “but of course that means we’d have to get up and we wouldn’t have this cozy fireplace anymore.” Then he grinned and put his lips against her ear. “But there are things in the bedroom much hotter than fire, aren’t there?”
It didn’t take much for Lydia to get George going, and he was just fine with that.