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As the weather grew colder, Harry came to the slow realization that Caelum had never been ice skating. Now she herself wouldn’t say she was any expert at it, but she was good enough to hold her own. And with Christmas markets set up across Wizarding London, including more than one with an ice rink, she knew she had to take him.
She couldn’t imagine that Caelum had had very many (if any) enjoyable Christmases before. She herself was responsible for a very unenjoyable Winter Gala for him.
…
They had a calendar affixed to the wall by the door with a sticking charm, and Harry added “Fun Winter Surprise!”to it in big block writing on December the twenty-fourth.
The first time Caelum saw it, he turned to her with the most adorable concerned expression on his face. She simply winked and then leaned in to give him a kiss.
“I really think you’ll like it,” she said as she pulled away. “And you should feel free to put any surprise outings of your own on there.”
The flashing of his eyes possibly should have scared her—would have scared her when she was younger—but now it was something she welcomed and even cherished; she kissed him again, gently caressing his cheek.
…
At last the day of their ice skating date came, and Caelum looked apprehensive as he waited by the door in his puffy coat.
“Don’t you trust me?” Harry asked him.
He raised an eyebrow back, though a grin played across his lips. “More than I used to.”
Harriet laughed. That was a very low bar.
“I think you’ll like this,” she said and grabbed his hand. “Come on.”
They could have taken the Floo, but she quite liked walking through the streets with him—absolutely nothing to do with the way the Floo hated her.
Ultimately Harry had decided on the rink at Pendragon Alley for their excursion. Truly, she didn’t want to make Caelum that uncomfortable, and the only people who should be at that one were people he was familiar with after the past few years.
The set up wasn’t all that dissimilar from the free dueling tournament, just now with the centre being comprised of an ice rink rather than a dueling arena.
Harry pulled the skates out of her moleskin pouch and offered the pair she’d acquired for Caelum to the man himself. “Hopefully these fit,” she said. The Court of the Rogue had extra skates one could borrow, but she really wanted these to work out.
Fortunately, she had gotten his size correct, but she could tell he hadn’t laced them up quite tight enough. After she was finished with her own skates, she kneeled in front of him. “Here, let me help.” She smiled up at him as she unlaced his skates. “You really don’t want them too loose.”
Once that was all done, she lead him over to the entrance of the rink.
Margo, Jason and Cora, among other alley kids were playing a game of shinny nearby, and Harry grinned their way before reaching her hands out to Caelum. “Just take my hands and step onto the ice. You’ll be fine.” Actually she was pretty sure he would fall, but saying as much wasn’t exactly conducive to him putting his trust in her and getting on the ice. There was no learning to skate without falling, anyways.
They’d just reached the short end of the rink when a puck flew by them. “Hey, be careful!” She called to the kids. “You wouldn’t want to injure your favorite potions professor, would you?”
Jason grinned at her. “Professor Snape isn’t here.”
Harry supposed she deserved that. After years of talking about the man and how much learning under him had meant to her, the kids had convinced her to ask him to teach some lessons and he had quickly become their favourite—she was fortunate he was both too busy and grumpy to take over the lessons entirely.
“Okay then, if you injure Caelum, I’ll tell Professor Snape not to come and teach any more lessons,” Harry threatened and Jason immediately paled as he skated over to fetch the puck. “We’ll try our best, Miss Harry.”
She smiled and ruffled his hair with one hand as he stopped next to them—something that was harder than it used to be given his recent growth spurt. “I know you will. I don’t want to impose on your fun.”
He grinned at her then scooped up the puck and skated back to his friends.
Harry watched him go a moment before turning back to Caelum.
They only glided a few feet more before his feet slipped out from under him, and he landed firmly on his butt. He glared up at her. “I hate you.”
“No, you don’t,” she said cheekily and pulled him up to standing again. “Come on, this will be fun. And you are getting better.”
She continued skating backwards, pulling him along with her. “You’ve just got to get the hang of gliding. Don’t try to walk on the ice. That’s what’s making you fall.”
“It feels weird,” he complained, but he at least seemed to be trying to follow her instructions this time.
“Do you remember when you were first learning to brew?” Harry asked.
“No.”
She laughed. “Okay, I should have expected that.” She didn’t exactly remember when she was first learning to brew either; it had been a part of her for as long as she could remember. “But, even if you can’t remember, there must have been a time when you weren’t that great at it. How about when you were learning how shaped imbueing?”
He nodded, albeit grudgingly, and she beamed at him.
“Well it’s kind of like that. Feels a little weird, but if you just practice you’ll get the hang of it.”
“This is a death trap,” he said. “Ice and knives on my feet, let alone everyone else’s? It’s just asking for bad things to happen.”
She let go of one of his hands and patted his cheek, which only caused him to glare at her harder. “You’re a wizard,” she said. “A rather talented one. Don’t let a little ice scare you.”
Caelum grabbed her hand as soon as she let it drop. “Just don’t let go of me,” he responded.
Harry softened and squeezed his hands. “Don’t worry; you’re stuck with me for as long as you allow. I’ll never willingly do anything to put you in danger. Now, do you really want to get off the ice?”
He looked around the rink—retaining his tight grip on her hands—before shaking his head, a slight grimace on his lips. “We can go around again.”
…
All in all, it was a successful trip ice skating. By the end of it, Caelum even dared to let go of Harry’s hands—though he insisted she stay close—and made it around the rink all by himself. Harry was so proud she would have given him a kiss if they weren’t in public.
Harry’s Perfect Christmas for Caelum wasn’t over just yet, though.
She’d set up a tree in their flat at the beginning of December, and it certainly wasn’t bare, but she had kept a few baubles and ornaments back for Caelum.
She flicked her wand to turn the Christmas lights on as soon as they arrived back at the flat. “Come on,” she grabbed his hand and tugged him into the main room.
She’d set the ornaments out on the table near the tree, still in their boxes. “Here,” she picked one up and handed it to him.
Caelum picked the—in Harry’s opinon adorable—potions cauldron ornament out of the box and held it in front of him like he was utterly unfamiliar with the concept and it might explode at any moment. “What am I supposed to do with this?”
Harry raised an eyebrow at him and then gestured to the tree. “Put it on a branch. Any branch.”
“But what if I choose wrong?”
Oh, her poor, dear Caelum Lestrange. Harry walked closer to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. “No such thing,” she reassured him. “Now put it on the tree. You have three more ornaments after this.”
He gaped at her. “Three?”
Harry refrained from pointing out that there were already several dozen ornaments on the tree that she had put there all by herself. Instead, she kissed his cheek. “You’ll be fine.”
And after he got over his ridiculous fear, he was.
“Okay, time to go to sleep now,” she said.
“But it’s nine o’clock,” he replied, brow furrowing in that familiar adorable way.
Harry lifted a hand and gently smoothed the crease out. “One night of going to sleep early won’t hurt you.”
He still seemed ready to argue, and she pressed her index finger over his lips. “Come on, Caelum,” she said. “It’s part of the Fun Winter Surprise!” This only caused his eyes to narrow, but that was about what she suspected.
“Sleepy time,” she repeated and grabbed his hand. “Actually, one more thing first!” She couldn’t believe she’d almost forgotten. Still holding his hand, she pulled him over to the tree and the small amount of wrapped presents underneath.
“Here,” she grabbed a box she’d carefully wrapped and written ‘For Caelum, on Christmas Eve’ on. “Open it.”
Caelum eyed it warily, which was more than a bit adorable. “Would I give you something dangerous?” She asked. She didn’t want to think about any previous gifts he might have received that were in fact dangerous.
“Only as potions ingredients,” he replied and lifted his eyebrows. “Is that what this is?”
Harry laughed and shook her head. “Just open it. I promise it’s not dangerous.”
He shook his head back at her but ripped into the wrapping paper in a way that made her wince.
Harry watched closely as he opened the box, and her heart thrummed with joy at the expression on his face, just as her heart ached at the apparent shock there too. She knew it had been rough for him, but surely, surely, he had received Christmas presents before.
Caelum pulled the pajamas out of the box and grinned at her. “Thank you.”
“Well, put them on!” She encouraged. She had her own set of matching pajamas; although, she hadn’t wrapped them up. Maybe next year, with Caelum more comfortable about celebrating Christmas, they might exchange eve pajamas with each other.
He disappeared into their bedroom to put them on, and she grabbed her set out of the spot she had hid them in.
By the time he opened the door again, she was all dressed and grinning.
He gaped at her and looked from her pajamas to his and then back again. Then, smile broad on his face, he shook his head at her. “Why?”
“Why not?” Harry responded and quirked an eyebrow at him. “Do you have an issue with matching pajamas?”
“No, of course not,” Caelum’s chest bristled. Harry’s eyes crinkled at the corners. He really was too adorable.
“Good. Now, sleep time then.”
He still didn’t seem all too pleased about it, but he went nevertheless. They’d been sharing a bedroom for a few months now, and Harry found the cuddling very relaxing; she just had to ensure James never found out. He’d ruin it, make it weird and an indication that there was “something more” between her and Caelum, things it very much was not.
…
Having set her wand to wake her at five am, Harry was the first awake. Caelum had an arm resting over her waist, so she gently and carefully lifted it up and placed a pillow where her body had been.
She’d bought the stockings at the same time as she’d bought the pajamas, and in her opinion, it was a crucial part of Caelum’s Christmas Experience.
She filled both their stockings up with candy as well as some new stirring rods she’d spotted Caelum eyeing last month.
Once that was done, she snuck back into their bed, exchanging the pillow for her body again and going back to sleep.
…
Harry woke to someone shaking her gently and then slightly more vigorously. “What?” She grumbled, stretching her arms out and then rubbing her eyes.
When she opened them, she was greeted with Caelum’s face, right in front of her own. “Merry Christmas,” he said, and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
She grinned to herself and sat up. “Merry Christmas, to you too.” The blanket pooled in her lap as she watched him eyeing the stockings at the foot of their bed like a kid.
He was solidly in his twenties now, but if she personally could make up for his abysmal childhood one celebration at a time, she would do so.
“Can I?” He asked, his hand inches away from the stocking.
“Please,” she said and motioned him ahead. “You can grab mine as well.”
He grabbed them both and retreated back to sit right next to her. “Let’s open them at the same time.”
It was a bit silly considering she already knew everything that was inside, but she would do anything for Caelum.
She pulled her gifts out at the same time as him, but she only had eyes for his reactions. She soaked up his excitement, his enthusiasm, his joy. It was infectious and made her look at him in a whole new light. Happy Caelum was a dangerous creature, and she couldn’t help but lean over to kiss him.
“Merry Christmas,” she whispered again as she pulled away. “So, what’s the final verdict on your Fun Winter Surprise?”
His expression was so very fond, and she knew her own face was echoing it. “Perfect.” He kissed her again, sweetly and chastely. “Thank you. Even for the ice skating.”
Harry winked at him. “Practice, remember?”
Caelum rolled his eyes and searched through the blankets to grab her hand. “For you and only you. But not too often, alright?”
“No promises,” she said. “Now, come on. Let’s make hot chocolate and then we can open the rest of the presents.”
He scrambled out of bed with minimal complaints about how sore the skating—and primarily falling—had left him, and when they exchanged gifts later that day, she was overjoyed to unwrap a handknit hat that was surprisingly only slightly lumpy.
“I asked Leo for help,” he said bashfully, and that was practically a gift in itself, knowing he had gone out of his way to seek out Leo’s help.
“Leo, huh?” She asked, eyes dancing.
Caelum rolled his eyes. “The lumps are his doing.”
Harry laughed and reached up to pat one of the lumpy patches. “Well, it’s beautiful. And I’ll get you to admit you like him yet.” She looked into his eyes. “I got you to admit you liked me, didn’t I?”
He nodded and leaned closer to her. “Yes, you did.”