The Burrow was restored with a nifty bit of magic. But it had been burnt to near cinders, and that was heartbreaking to see. Before the Death Eaters left the field in their mists of smoke, they crashed through the entire house and sent it timbering to the ground. Harry and Ginny had been rescued from within the field by Arthur and Remus, before returning to the clearing where The Burrow once sat. The rest of the Weasleys and their acquaintances watched as their safe place burn and flicker in the night.

Molly had been the most upset. Even though Arthur, Tonks and Remus were able to reverse the flames' effects and get the house back to its quirky glory, she had to be helped back into the house and immediately disappeared into her bedroom upstairs. Her children had been worried about her drooping, crestfallen glaze that pulled at her face when The Burrow went up in flames, and the eldest of her sons chose to have a talk with her to ensure that she was okay.

Blair could understand what Molly was feeling. The Burrow was her sanctuary and the place that she worked on everyday to make it warm and welcoming for all of her children and their friends. Although it was easily fixed by magic, she had to watch as everything she worked for and owned burned. They were just lucky that they had all been in the same room when the house caught alight, otherwise not everyone may have been able to get out in time.

Remus and Tonks had left almost immediately once The Burrow had been restored and Ginny and Harry were taken into the other room for a stern talking to by Arthur. With Bill and Charlie comforting their mother, Ron, George, Fred and Blair sat in the living room in an eerie silence. They had all been scared and thought that the Death Eaters had come to finally eliminate them at last. From what they heard from Ginny and Harry's frantic babbling, Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback had been the ones to attack the house. There had been taunting on Lestrange's part about Sirius and Greyback seemed to only sneer and growl at the two kids through the long grass. But Harry and Ginny were safe and The Burrow was as good as new, meaning that Christmas could continue and the family wouldn't lose their festive spirit.

Blair had purposely avoided George's gaze throughout the whole ordeal, but that didn't stop him from piercing through her with his own stare. She knew that he was worried and had abandoned the idea of 'relaxing' for the holidays. Blair suspected it was a lost cause before the attack had even happened. Without letting him utter a word, she turned to him when they first entered the house and said,

"I'm fine."

Her stern stare had made George shut his open mouth that had been ready to ask the question that she answered. He withdrew his ambition to ensure that she was without a scratch and nodded his head, turning to Fred who was nursing a small scab that had appeared over the tiniest of burns on his pinkie finger. Blair took to making cups of tea in the kitchen with her wand doing most of the work and sent a steaming cup upstairs to Molly's room. She charmed it to knock politely on the door, where either Bill or Charlie would open it and let it descend slowly into Molly's hands.

"I think that we should all go to bed for the night," Arthur announced as he came back into the room with Ginny and Harry heading for the stairs behind him. The rest of them didn't argue and extinguished the lights, heading to their respectful rooms for a long awaited night's rest.

Blair changed into her pyjamas and got into George's childhood bed, knowing that he was preparing in the bathroom to do the same. They had been given the particular room so that they could sleep in different beds, but that obviously wasn't going to happen. George came in from brushing his teeth and turned to Fred's neatly made bed that hadn't yet been touched. His eyes travelled towards the next piece of furniture in the room and say Blair snuggled down to her chin under his duvet.

"I should've known I'd be having a bed hogger for the holidays," he attempted to joke and was relieved when he got a smile out of Blair.

He pointed his wand at the lights in the room and headed over to the last piece of mattress that Blair had tried to leave for him. The single bed wasn't made for two growing adults, but it wasn't much different from when they used to sleep in each other's dorm rooms back at Hogwarts. It brought back a sense of nostalgia and mischief regardless of how little room there was to move around. George didn't mind that Blair's legs were hooked over his and most of her torso was on top of his chest. It eased his conscience at being so close to her and made him somehow, and he had been struggling immensely to do this recently, relax.

"It must have been hard for your mum," Blair whispered through the silence; the room now dark and peaceful. She lay with her head on George's shoulder and her arms around his middle, while his hand settled on her side with his other arm hanging over the edge of the bed.

"Yeah. It was hard for all of us, I think," he replied, staring up at the ceiling. "Lestrange and Greyback really have it out for us."

Blair hummed and went quiet, leaving George to assume that she had nodded off to sleep after the stressful night. His suspicions were confirmed when he heard her soft, even breathing, leaving him to drop into one of his deep thinking sessions. Christmas would soon be over and the Order would be gathering again for meetings and missions. This meant he could bring up the idea of Blair's safety and ask for more security around The Burrow and the flat. Her potions were appreciated and widely used throughout the Order, but he valued her safety more.

But for now, Christmas was less than three days away. The Order could wait and so could George.

---

Christmas had stretched surprisingly slowly over the last few days and it was soon time for Ron, Harry and Ginny to head back to Hogwarts. The twins and Blair decided to see them off with their family before apparating back to the shop. They were keen on getting young people into the store with their Christmas money that many had bound to have received over the holidays, and they made sure to restock everything and keep the shelves full for the swarm of customers.

And boy did they swarm. The first day they opened, they were full to the brim with eager and chatting customers. They cleared out shelves and adopted many, many, many Pygmy Puffs. Blair was happy to see so many of the fluff balls leaving the store with good homes waiting for them outside the walls of the vibrantly orange shop.

She worked behind the counter while Verity tried to keep shelves stocked with at least some items. Fred and George scurried around helping customers and bringing things to and from the back store room. At some point, Verity had practically fallen over the counter where Blair was standing and cried,

"We have no more Portable Swamps!"

"Do we have the packaging still?" Blair questioned through serving a customer, handing the woman her change with a polite smile.

"Yeah! And the powders that come pre-made. But we have no more of the potion that combines with it!" Verity panted and clutched at the counter to keep her up right.

"I'll have to go upstairs and make some more," Blair replied. "Can you take over here?"

Verity agreed while catching her breath and took her place, letting Blair weave through the crowd to try to find the staircase that led up to the flat. She tried to be polite and excused herself continuously, but eventually go to a point where she'd just jab an elbow into the side that was blocking her way and sneak through the gap that was made. Fred had seen her fall out from between a tightly packed couple that had refused to part for her regardless of her obvious work uniform. He caught her elbow before she could start running up the stairs that she thankfully reached and questioned where she was going.

"You're not leaving us to deal with all this, are you?" he accused and Blair rolled her eyes.

"No! We have no more Portable Swamp mixers left. I need to make some more in the storage room," she quickly explained. "Verity's on the till."

"Just be quick about it. We're dying here!"

Blair huffed and sprinted up the stairs after Fred let her go. She tripped on the Decoy Detonator that had been left wandering on the steps but thankfully didn't set it off. She fell through the door of the flat and sighed at the temporary peace that came with shutting the door behind her. But she didn't dally and headed straight for the spare room, counting how many she could make in the fifteen minutes she allowed for herself to be away from the chaos downstairs.

Before hurrying out the door with five new potions in her arms, Blair decided that she wanted a bottle of water to take with her. She was practically dying for a drink and could take this opportunity to grab one for the twins and Verity. Putting the bottles down, she opened the fridge and found what she was looking for. But she also noticed that the fridge was practically empty. She hadn't had the chance to go food shopping and refused to let her and the twins have another night of takeout food.

Once the rush was over and the rest of the Portable Swamps had been sold, Blair embarked on her next hurdle; food shopping. She took off her badge that displayed her name and told Verity that she would be going on her overdue break. Customers had thinned out considerably in the shop and she would be able to slip out without it having much of an effect. She was sure that the twins were in the backroom and Verity was on the register. They would be fine until she got back.

"If either of the boys ask, tell them I've gone out to get something for tea," Blair informed Verity and started heading for the door. Verity nodded and Blair left the shop, leaving the bell to chime after her.

What she hadn't noticed were the two figures that had followed after her once Verity turned around to look at the shelves behind her. One had been hiding behind the Love Potions display and had watched Blair leave before leaving the shop also. The other figure had shoved their small head between the door of the flat and the door frame, before padding down the stairs and slipping out the shop after the girl who he adored.

It took thirty minutes for the twins to come out from the backroom and head to different places of the shop. Fred went to usher the last of the customers out and turn the sign on the door to 'Closed' while George headed over to the counter where he would find Blair. Closing time couldn't have come quicker at the ripe time of five o'clock and Fred was eager to lock the door and George to count the money that was sure to be overflowing in the till.

"You can go home now, Verity," George said as he came to the counter, the girl nodding and heading for the door that was being held open for her by Fred. But George then realised that Blair wasn't the one that had been in Verity's place and stopped her before she could get too far.

"Wait, where's Blair?" his eyebrows pinched together in confusion.

"Oh! She wanted me to tell you guys that she went out to get something for your tea," Verity answered with a casual smile, but George's heart plummeted into his stomach.

"She went out?!" he exclaimed. "When did she leave?!"

"About half an hour ago?"

Verity gulped at her bosses' expressions and suddenly feared that she had done something that she shouldn't have. She looked to Fred and saw that his mouth was open in shock and he had let the door close with a 'ding!' from the bell above it. The twins stood with identical looks of horror and shock, making Verity fear for her job.

"W-Was I not supposed to let her go?" she squeaked.

"Where did she go? Did she say?" Fred forced out and the girl turned to him with the body language of a child that has just been called over after being seen doing something they shouldn't.

"N-No. She just said she was going food shopping," Verity shook her head. "Please don't fire me, Mr Weasleys!"

The twins momentarily ignored their hysterical employee and exchanged communicative looks. They agreed on something telepathically and George swerved around the counter like bludgers did after locking on a new target to injure. He made sure his wand was pressing against his ribs in his jacket pocket before ripping open the front door and leaving the shop in a sprint. Fred swallowed his concern and stepped forward to Verity who was beginning to hyperventilate.

"It's alright, Verity. You couldn't have known. Just go on home. Georgie will find her."