Archive of Our Own

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Matt’s listening to a lecture when Foggy stumbles in three hours later than he’d said he’d be, smelling of doughnuts and coffee. He collapses into his bed and groans causing Matt to smile and take his headphones off.

‘Long day?’

Foggy rolls over. ‘If I ever agree to study with Angelica, kill me.’ Matt laughs outright. ‘Oh you’re laughing but I swear she just tortured us for five hours .’

‘It’s just study.’

‘There’s study and there’s what I just went through. Colour coordinated notes. She wouldn’t let any of us leave until everything was colour coordinated.’ There’s the shifting of the bed as Foggy sits up. ‘At least she let us hold the group in the cafe.’

Matt smirks. ‘I figured. I can smell the doughnuts from here. Could that have something to do with how long it took?’ Foggy throws a pillow that Matt doesn’t bother to dodge and falls back to lie on his bed.

‘You think you’re so funny.’ Foggy rises, making a lot of noise and Matt scrambles to get his laptop out of the way. He only just manages by the time Foggy reaches the side of his bed. ‘Cannonball!’

Foggy drops onto the bed as Matt tries to wriggle out of the way. He’s not quick enough and soon he’s pinned by Foggy’s weight. ‘Foggy!’

‘Do you think you’re funny now?’

With an innocent smile, Matt gets a hand under Foggy’s shirt and wriggles his fingers while pushing his magic. There’s a moment when he can practically hear Foggy’s confusion but then the spell kicks in.

‘No, Matt! No!’ It’s Foggy’s turn to wriggle and cry out as invisible hands tickle his ribs. ‘Matt, no, no, cheating, cheating!’

Matt rolls off his bed and listens to Foggy’s laughter. ‘I think you’ve proof I’m hilarious.’ But he snaps his fingers and ends the spell. Foggy stops moving and lies on Matt’s bed, panting.

‘Use that on my cousins’ kids at Christmas and you’ll be the most popular person there,’ He says when he gets enough of his breath back to talk.

Something like delight surges through Matt, matched only by the fear he’s misunderstood Foggy. ‘I’ll be seeing your cousins’ kids at Christmas?’

‘Oh yeah. It’s Dad’s turn to host everyone Christmas Day though we’ll get there a couple of days earlier to help set up. I think Uncl-’

‘We’ll?’ Matt can’t keep the surprise out of his voice.

The bed creaks as Foggy rolls over so he’s facing Matt. ‘You’re not coming? I thought yo- oh. Shit.’ Matt hears the slap of his palm to his face. ‘I just facepalmed because I totally forgot to ask. Matt, what are you doing for Christmas?’

‘I’m not sure,’ Matt shrugs. ‘Why?’

‘Would you like to come to my place to have a Nelson family Christmas?’

Desire wars with uncertainty in Matt. ‘I won’t be intruding?’  

‘Nope! I think Mom might disown me if I let you spend another Christmas alone in the dorm.’ Foggy shifts nervously and Matt can taste the salt of his sweat. ‘And there’ll be magic?’

A magical Christmas… literally. Even with his Dad, Matt’s never been as… as loose with his magic as Foggy’s family seems to be, following his Dad’s lead in keeping it secret, keeping it hidden. Something that helped once he… once everything happened.

But that doesn’t mean Matt’s never wanted to be loose with it. ‘Okay. Okay, I’ll come.’

********

‘Foggy!’ They’re barely in the door before a woman - Foggy’s Mom Matt assumes - grabs him and pulls him into a hug. Matt stands by the wall awkwardly, waiting.

‘Mom!’ Luckily for him Foggy always knows when Matt’s uncomfortable. ‘Matt, I’m being hugged within an inch of my life. You’d think I’ve been gone years not months.’

Foggy’s Mom laughs. ‘Isn’t a mother allowed to miss her son?’ But she steps back and Matt senses her turning to look at him. ‘Matt I presume?’

‘Matt Murdock,’ he agrees, holding out a hand for her to shake. ‘I hope I’m not intruding?’

She ignores it to pull him into a hug. ‘I’m Anna. And you couldn’t. Any friend of Foggy’s is welcome here.’ With a pat to his back, she releases him. ‘Foggy, you’re okay with Matt sharing your room?’

Foggy takes Matt’s arm. ‘Fine by me. Matt?’

‘Sounds good.’

Anna’s smile is in her voice. ‘Perfect. Edward will be home in an hour and we’ll have dinner then, so go settle in.’ Foggy starts to lead Matt upstairs when she speaks again, ‘Oh and Foggy, I cleaned it up a bit.’ Matt feels his friend’s confused jerk but Anna walks off before he can ask.

‘Foggy?’

‘I just shrugged. No idea why Mom’s suddenly decided to clean my room. Come on, there’s twelve steps.’ Matt trips up the last step. ‘Sorry, thirteen.’

Matt whacks him with his cane. ‘Bad guide dog.’ Foggy’s laughing as he narrates the path to his room and opens the door.

Then he freezes. ‘Oh. Shit.’

‘What? Foggy?’ Matt pushes past his friend and taps his way to the cot beside Foggy’s bed, dropping his bag onto it. ‘What is it?’ he asks as he carefully sits on it.

‘I know why she cleaned.’ Foggy walks over to the wall and runs a hand over it, confusing Matt. ‘Mom took down all my rune cheat sheets.’ He turns to face Matt. ‘Actually, holy shit she took everything.’

Everything? Does Foggy mean… ‘All your magic things? Why?’

‘Standard procedure when someone brings home a non-magic partner. We hide everything magic… I guess she figured even though you’re blind it was still worth doing?’

It takes a moment for the meaning of that to stink in and Matt laughs incredulously. ‘You didn’t tell your family I have magic?’

‘I did!’ Foggy sounds outraged then pauses. ‘Well, I thought I did. Maybe?’

Matt collapses back on his cot. ‘What did you say, exactly?’

Foggy throws himself on his bed, causing the springs to groan in protest. ‘Mom asked what you knew about magic; I said you knew ah… well, you know nothing about our kind of magic and she went ‘That’s fine, thanks for telling me’.’

He’s silent as he thinks through that. ‘So you said I knew nothing about your kind of magic? Or… just magic in general?’

‘I may have accidently worded it as magic in general?’

‘So your family is hiding magic from me?’

‘Yes?’

Matt’s silent for a long moment before he starts to laugh. Foggy joins in a second later. ‘Foggy you idiot . You have to tell them.’

‘I know.’ But Foggy does not sound regretful. Instead he sounds contemplative. ‘I have to tell them.’

This does not sound good. ‘You do. Foggy, you do .’

‘But… well, hiding magic is hard. Especially when they’re living or staying with you.’ Matt hums in agreement because yeah, it’s hard to hide magic from someone you like and live with. ‘And I’ve had to hide it a dozen times for my sisters and it sucks .’

‘So tell them and they won’t have to hide. Simple.’

‘But… what if we don’t tell them?’

Matt considers it. ‘They’ll have to hide magic for no reason?’

Foggy sits up. ‘Exactly. And some of the funniest memories I have of family Christmas is of people trying to hide magic.’ Matt suddenly realises where this is going and goes to protest but Foggy doesn’t let him get a word out. ‘Come on Matt, consider it! Us watching them hide magic knowing they can’t spill a secret you already know and them getting practice at hiding magic in a no-risk environment.’

‘Not to mention you get revenge for having to hide magic from your sisters’ partners those ‘dozen’ times,’ Matt says dryly. ‘And you get to laugh at your family.’

Foggy nods. ‘I just nodded. Yes. Come on Matt, it’ll be brilliant.’

Matt sighs. ‘Fine. But if they don’t find us out by Christmas Eve, we’re spilling. I was promised a magical Christmas counselor and I expect you to deliver.’

‘Counselor. I like the sound of that.’

Of course Foggy would focus on that. Matt rolls his eyes. ‘Yes, it sounds nice. If you ever want to make it to being a counselor you’ll agree.’

‘Okay fine. It’s what, the 21st? If they’ve not figured us out by lunch on Christmas Eve, we’ll tell them. Agreed?’

‘Agreed.’ Matt offers his hand and Foggy shakes it.

‘This is going to be great.’

********

They briefly unpack - basically open their bags and throw their pyjamas onto their beds for easy access later - before heading back downstairs. Foggy leads Matt around the house, narrating the location of the living room, dining room before pulling him into the kitchen.

There’s two people in it; Anna and another woman who’s shorter than Foggy but taller than Anna, the faint scent of her apple shampoo making Matt’s noise twitch. Matt can hear the sounds of knives cutting vegetables, smell the beef baking in the oven and practically taste the spices in the air. His mouth is already watering.

‘Di! I thought you were getting home tomorrow.’ Foggy pulls the woman into a hug that she loudly protests.

‘Got a lift here instead of the bus. Friend in my Modern History class has family nearby and didn’t mind me tagging along for the trip. I’m going to have to leave earlier too, they’re heading back the 6th.’ She turns slightly, the movement causing her skirt to brush against Foggy’s leg. ‘Who’s this?’

‘Matt Murdock,’ Matt says as he offers his hand in her direction.

She takes it lightly. ‘I’m Diane, call me Di. Foggy’s mentioned you.’

He blushes. ‘All good I hope?’

‘Matt! Don’t flirt with my sister!’ Foggy’s faking his outrage but Matt plays along anyway.

‘Not my fault your sister has such a lovely voice.’

That gets everyone laughing. ‘That’s a new one.’

‘Well, I could say you were beautiful but I’m told that coming from me that’s a bit of an empty compliment.’ Foggy’s the only one to laugh, used to Matt poking fun at his blindness. He smiles to let Di and Anna know it’s okay. ‘I’m sorry. I’m told my blind jokes get old fast.’

‘Wait until he starts on the justice and blindness jokes,’ Foggy snarks.

It’s then it dawns on Matt that he can still hear two knives cutting, despite the fact that Di is turned towards him and Anna just opened the oven with a burst of warm air. ‘What’s for dinner?’ he asks, subtly nodding towards the knives. He hears Foggy biting his lip to hide his smile when he spots them. Strike one for hiding magic.

‘Oh nothing fancy, just some meat from Dan’s shop and some vegetables. I’m saving the fancy cooking for Christmas dinner.’ Anna’s heart beat picks up and Matt knows she’s noticed the automatically cutting knives combined with the fact that Matt’s facing them. In a fast move, she’s back in front of one and Matt hears Di’s squeak as Anna pulls her over to her knife.

‘Sounds good,’ Matt says. ‘Foggy, could you show me the bathroom?’

‘Oh yeah sure.’

They’re barely out of the room when Foggy huffs a laugh into his hands. ‘Strike one.’

‘Are they always this bad? If I knew nothing about magic, that would have given it away.’

‘It would have?’ Foggy asks as he leads Matt to the bathroom.

Matt shrugs. ‘I have to keep track of where people are in the room or they’ll surprise me when they speak or move. I’m pretty good at it. So yeah, knives cutting vegetables when I know no one is near them is suspicious… or would have me thinking I’m going nuts.’

‘Huh. Okay.’

********

They’re setting the table with Di as an audience when the front door slams open. ‘I hate him!’ a girl screams as she breezes into the dining room. Foggy steps out of her way.

So do the table and chairs. Luckily Matt is behind Foggy and doesn’t have to dodge but the movement of the table and chairs isn’t exactly subtle, scraping along the floor. Matt raises an eyebrow.

‘Are you okay?’ he asks.

‘What?’ the girl asks, stopping on the other side of the room.

‘It sounds like you just walked into the table?’ Matt makes sure to look confused and can hear Foggy swallowing laughter.

‘Oh shit,’ she mutters, so quiet that Matt’s sure no one else heard it. ‘Yes, I’m okay,’ she says a bit louder. ‘Sorry, you are?’

Matt holds out his hand. ‘Matt Murdock. You’re… Bianca?’

Her heartbeat is starting to calm but skips a beat when he says her name. ‘Yes, how’d you know?’

‘Foggy’s talked about his sisters. I guessed from there.’ Matt cocks his head as Anna comes into the room. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Yes, please explain all the yelling,’ Anna says and Matt deliberately jumps. ‘Oh, sorry Matt.’ He waves it off.

‘I have homework for the break. So much homework from my dic-’ Anna coughs, ‘diabolical Math teacher that I doubt I’ll have time to breathe let alone you know, actually celebrate Christmas.’ She throws herself into one of the chairs. ‘I’m going to have to use ma-’

‘You’re not going to cheat,’ Anna cuts in. ‘Get Candy to help. Now fix the table and get ready for dinner. Foggy text Candy and find out if Heather’s coming, Di, finish setting the table. Matt, come be my taste tester?’

Matt smiles. ‘Sure.’ He taps Foggy’s ankles with his cane twice and takes the resulting light elbow to the ribs with grace.

He knows Foggy got the message. Two more strikes.

********

Foggy’s Dad Edward - don’t you dare call me Mr Nelson son - comes home just as dinner’s being served out. They’re apparently not waiting for Foggy’s other sister Candace, who’s eating at her girlfriend’s place, so as soon as Edward changes from his filthy, dust covered clothes, they eat.

Matt fades into the background of the conversation, content to let their words flow around him and settle into the familiarity Foggy’s family has with each other. He’s… he missed this.

‘Matt,’ Anna calls, breaking him out of his thoughts. ‘How is everything?’

‘Lovely,’ he says with a smile. ‘I’ve not had the like in years.’ And he’s not lying. The mass produced food of college and large hurried meals of the orphanage do not compare to this.

He can hear her smile in her voice. ‘I’m glad. Foggy tells me you’re a good cook?’

‘Only compared to him!’ Matt laughs and everyone joins in a moment later.

‘I’m making an outraged face here Matt and everyone is laughing at me. Thanks a lot buddy.’

‘I live to help you pal.’ That causes another laugh and the conversation moves on to Bianca’s teachers.

********

After dinner everyone migrates to the living room and Matt finds himself sharing a sofa - and blanket - with Foggy while his parents take the armchairs and his sisters sit on the floor. Bianca sits against Foggy’s legs and pokes at him, causing him to start to fiddle with her hair in revenge.

‘Foggy, how have your classes been going?’ Edward asks in the ad break of whatever show they’re watching - Foggy’s narrating but Matt has no real interest in it so he’s lost track of what’s going on.

His friend shrugs, the movement disturbing the blanket. ‘Alright. Harder than last year but I’m coping. It’s been… okay.’

‘That’s good.’ Matt can hear Foggy’s parents shift in their seats. ‘Ah, how’s your other study going?’ It takes him a moment for Matt to realise what Edward means and then he feels like sighing. How the hell is he supposed to pretend not to notice magic when they’re this unsubtle about it? He hopes they pick up their game soon.

Foggy’s heartbeat jumps for a moment. ‘Fine? Matt, did you want a drink?’

‘I’m fine. What other study is this?’

‘Oh you jerk,’ Foggy mutters under his breath, knowing Matt is close enough to hear. His family start to panic, their breathing and heartbeats speeding up. ‘Ah… it’s a surprise.’

Matt raises an eyebrow. ‘You could’ve just said it was none of my business.’

‘It’s none of your business,’ Foggy repeats in a monotone. ‘So what do you think of this show?’

‘Best I’ve seen recently.’ There’s a moment of consideration, then Foggy hits Matt with a pillow as he starts to laugh.

********

Later that night, as they’re getting ready for bed, Matt turns to Foggy. ‘Is everyone in the family as poor a liar as you are?’

Foggy groans. ‘Hey, I was put on the spot!’

‘And? Lying is improvising.’ Matt pulls down the sheet of his bed and slip under the covers. It’s cotton but he’s used to it and knows how to handle it. He runs his hands along the sheets and pushes subtly at his magic. Slowly the sheets begin to feel like silk, the spell spreading along them from where Matt is touching them. It doesn’t cause a complete transformation but it’ll stop Matt’s skin from being irritated all night and that’s all he needs.

With a sigh Foggy crawls into his own bed. ‘Yeah okay. We’re not good at lying really. It’s kinda a family wide flaw.’

Matt smiles. ‘I don’t think it’s a flaw.’

‘Of course you don’t; you’re like the most honest person I know and you own your honesty man.’

That strikes at Matt, nearly a physical blow but he can’t argue with Foggy without revealing how dishonest he’s been. So he just hums in reply and Foggy lets the matter drop as they both fall asleep.

********

Foggy is still asleep when Matt wakes around seven - he’s not one to wake early when he doesn’t have to - so Matt drags himself out of bed and stumbles downstairs in search of coffee. There’s someone else in the kitchen when Matt gets there, cooking toast by the smell of it. He pauses a moment to concentrate and smells the apple of her shampoo before he’s able to place the person as Di. God, he really needs coffee.

But it’s clear he’s not the only one not focusing this morning. ‘Oh hey Foggy. Pass the thyme would you? I’m working on a spe-’ Di must finally look up, ‘meal. A meal. That needs thyme.’

‘All meals need time,’ Matt jokes and Di’s laugh is extremely forced. ‘Sorry, I’m not exactly the best for finding things in a strange kitchen or I’d pass it.’

‘That’s fine. I’ll grab it myself. What were you after?’

‘Coffee,’ Matt says as his fingers brush the coffee machine, exactly where Foggy said it was last night. ‘Coffee.’

Di laughs, this time more natural. ‘Want creamer?’

Matt can’t help the disgusted face he makes. ‘No creamer.’ He feels along the cupboards, trying to recall which one Foggy said had the cups. Di must notice his dilemma because she reaches over him and hands him a cup. Matt barely touches it before she’s gasping and pulling it out of his grip. He knows why; the brief touch was enough for Matt to feel the magic in the cup.

‘Sorry, that one’s still dirty. Dad’s shit at washing dishes. Here, take this one.’ She hands him another cup, free of any magic. He pours his coffee and takes a long sip.

What does this make? Five strikes? No that was last night. This makes seven strikes. Foggy was right, it is kind of amusing watching his family hide magic, though mostly in how unsubtle they are at hiding it.

‘What’s so funny?’ Di asks and Matt shakes his head.

‘Nothing. Just wondering if we’ll get Foggy out of bed before midday.’

That causes her to laugh and Matt smiles.

********

It turns out that Foggy will wake up before midday if Bianca is cooking bacon and he falls into the kitchen not two minutes after the newly awake Bianca throws the meat into the fry pan, followed closely by Anna.

‘You can see where he gets it from,’ Edward jokes to Matt who’d been forced to take a seat at the table and not move. Foggy’s father had taken the seat beside him and begun to narrate his daughter’s attempts at cooking. It seems that they, like Foggy, have one dish they can do well while failing at all others. It seems Bianca’s dish is a bacon omelette that’s making Matt’s mouth water while acting as a Nelson summoner.

‘Dad I will protest that just as soon as I have had enough coffee to think.’

‘Get me one,’ Anna says as she takes the seat beside Edward and collapses onto the table. ‘We have a lot to do today so no disappearing after breakfast.’

Di’s fished out a pen - Matt can smell its ink - and she’s fiddling with the coffee cup Foggy just poured coffee into. Magic fills the room and the cup jerks into the air causing everyone’s heartbeat to race. He cocks his head as the cup floats haphazardly across the room and lands on the table in front of Anna with a thud that spills half the coffee over the table.

‘Di! You don’t throw full cups!’ Anna cries and Matt, who is already struggling to keep the disbelief and shock off his face has to duck his head to hide his expression and laughter. By the sound of it, Foggy is doing the same thing behind him. ‘Actually, come with me.’ She grabs her daughter and drags her out of the room as Foggy takes Anna’s seat.

Matt has to bite his lip as he tries not to eavesdrop on Anna and Di’s argument - ' Just because he can’t see you floating cups doesn’t mean you can do!’ ‘But I need practice!’ ‘I don’t care!’  - and focus on the conversation in front of him.

‘Matt?’ Foggy calls and it dawns on Matt this isn’t the first time he’s been called.

‘Sorry, not awake. What was that?’

‘We’re in charge of untangling the Christmas lights and decorating the living room.’

With a frown Matt says ‘The living room isn’t already decorated?’

The room falls silent. ‘Ah oops, forgot to narrate that,’ Foggy finally says. ‘We usually wait until everyone is home to decorate.’ He shrugs, ‘It’s tradition. Oh yeah, I just shrugged.’

Matt smiles. ‘Sounds like a good tradition.’

‘It is. And everyone helps decorate this afternoon.’

But hang on… ‘I thought that was our job for today? Untangling the lights and decorating.’

Foggy laughs. ‘Oh trust me, it’ll take until then to get the lights right.’

********

‘You weren’t kidding,’ Matt says after an hour of trying to wrangle what feels like a foot long living snake of Christmas lights which will not do what he wants. ‘What did you do  to these?’

Foggy laughs. ‘A part of it is normal Christmas lights tangling but we also charm the lights Christmas Eve and well, then we magic them away and it results in… this.’

‘Joy,’ Matt deadpans. ‘Can’t you use magic to untangle them?’ Foggy’s heartbeat picks up and there’s a long pointed silence. ‘Oh you do usually, don’t you?’ Matt puts as much annoyance into his voice as he can.

‘Okay yes. But well. This is fun and keeps us out of the way of Mom’s cleaning spree.’ Matt nods at that, able to hear the sounds of Bianca cleaning under Anna’s direction. He’s just grateful he doesn’t have to deal with the scent of their cleaning products up close.

With a final tug, the knot Matt has been working on finally comes undone. ‘Sure. Fun  is the best way to describe this.’

It’s then the front door opens and slams shut, causing Foggy - and the lights he’s holding - to jump. A woman storms into the living room and stops. ‘Oh. Hello.’

‘Candy, could you make anymore noise?’ Foggy asks. ‘I think the neighbours didn’t hear you. Matt be grateful you don’t have sisters.’

Matt smiles. ‘If you say so.’

‘Oh, you’re Matt! I’m Candy - Candace. Just don’t call me that.’ There’s a pause and Matt knows she’s holding out a hand for him to shake but doesn’t move.

‘Matt, Candy has her hand out to shake,’ Foggy narrates and Matt makes a production of jumping.

He offers his hand. ‘Sorry, didn’t see it there,’ he says causing Foggy to groan.

‘Just for that, you have this knot. It’s a beauty.’

‘Why aren’t you guys using ma-’ Matt hears the surprised huff of breath Candy realises as Foggy elbows her and frowns. Is that cheating? ‘-more people. To do this. It looks like a disaster. Which needs more people.’

Anna clears her throat from the doorway. ‘Why don’t you take a seat and help them?’ Candy must nod because Matt hears her shuffle lights around to take a seat on the floor and then feels the tug on the lights as she takes a section. ‘Is Heather eating here on Christmas?’

Candy nods. ‘Yeah, we’re having dinner at hers Christmas Eve and spending the day here.’

‘Is George here for Christmas too?’ Foggy cuts in, then adds ‘George is Bianca’s boyfriend Matt. We’ve known him forever and he’s a standing invite for holidays.’

‘Your sister hasn’t said.’ Annoyance is in Anna’s voice.

Matt starts to do the math. While he’s never been able to keep an exact hold or count of Foggy’s extended family, he knows there’s at least four uncles and an aunt all with varying amount of kids. If even a third of them come... ‘Your house is going to be crowded already, isn’t it? Just with the nine of us…How will everyone fit?’

There’s an awkward silence. ‘We’ll fit,’ Anna says shortly and walks out. Right, magic. Matt glances at his friend in confusion.

‘I’ll explain later,’ Foggy whispers and pulls at the lights. ‘Urgh, why do these lights hate us?’

‘Because you mistreat them?’ Matt jokes and feels Candy pull at the lights too.

Actually, she’s pulling them in a particular way, almost like she’s trying to move them into a pattern… or a shape. A rune. ‘Candy-’ Foggy says but he’s too late. The lights start to move, wriggling around. ‘Candy, you’re being an idiot! Stop it, this isn’t funny.’ Matt can feel the magic in the air. She’s using it to untangle the lights he’s still holding .

‘What’s happening?’

Matt can sense Foggy freezing, knowing he’s unwilling to pretend to lie to him but also knowing if Foggy was really hiding magic he would have to lie.

Luckily Candy steps in. ‘I’m shaking up the lights. I find it always helps untangle them. Let go for a second Matt.’ He does with a raised eyebrow and feels the lights jerk out of his lap. ‘There, try now.’

Reaching out, Matt grabs the section he’d been working on. It’s still tangled but nothing like what it was before; a light knot instead of a tangled disaster. ‘That’s an effective method,’ he says mildly. ‘More effective than I would have thought it would be.’ Matt is vaguely pleased to note the mild signs of panic Candy is exhibiting. Good. He’s blind not stupid.

‘More effective than usual,’ Foggy says and there’s an angry note in his voice. Matt takes note and backs off. Foggy might be his friend but he is still an older brother.

‘So where are we going to put these?’ Matt asks and the tension in the room dissipates.

********

After a quick lunch it’s time to decorate the living room and trim the tree Edward and Di are trying to lug through the door. Matt can feel the magic covering it from the other side of the room and he’s not surprised to hear the top of it scrape the roof.

‘Why did you pick this one?’ Foggy groans as he helps his sister and father get the tree around the furniture. ‘Matt Dad picked a tree that’s so big it’s literally touching the roof.’

‘I know. I can hear it scraping the roof from here.’ There’s a silence as everyone listens and then a general hum of surprised agreement. ‘Yeah, it’s not exactly subtle.’

With an exaggerated groan they get the tree into position. ‘I wouldn’t have noticed that without you buddy,’ Foggy says. ‘But hey, tree’s in position. Want a feel?’

Matt reaches out a hand and lets Foggy guide him to the tree. Definitely pine and now he’s touching it the magic is even more obvious though Matt has no ability at identifying what spells are on it. He runs his hand around it and reinforces the image of it that his senses have formed. ‘What colour is it?’

There’s a long silence. ‘Green,’ Edward lies. Huh. Is the colour one of the spells?

‘Here you go Buddy,’ Foggy says, breaking the resulting silence by passing Matt a decoration. It too has magic clinging to it and Matt quickly identifies it as a bauble. ‘You can hang the lucky first decoration.’

‘But it’s your turn!’ Bianca cries.

‘And Matt can have it.’ Foggy doesn’t give Matt the chance to protest but steps away so quickly and quietly that Matt can’t follow him without raising awkward questions. So he turns to the tree and carefully feels out a place to hang the small bauble.

The second he does he feels the spell shift from it to him and realises the bauble is literally  a lucky one as he senses the strong good fortune spell on it. He glares in Foggy’s direction but doesn’t fight the spell. ‘What colour is this?’

‘Red.’ Foggy passes another. ‘This one is blue and the rest are either blue or green.’

Matt puts the blue bauble above the red one. ‘Only one red bauble?’

‘It’s the lucky one.’

‘Huh. I do hope you’re not expecting me to colour coordinate.’ Foggy laughs and starts putting up decorations too, passing Matt ones to hang as he does.

Behind them Matt can hear Edward and Di fiddling with the rustling tinsel before he hears it lift into the air. Matt cocks his head as the tinsel starts to wrap itself around things in the room; one piece settling on the mantelpiece and others along the windows and doorways. But then a piece heads for the tree - and Matt.

He manages to act natural until it brushes his hand and gives him a reason to jump. ‘Shit!’

‘Oh sorry!’ Di calls out and Matt wants to groan because she’s still behind him, how the hell is he supposed to pretend he didn’t notic-

Actually, he doesn’t have to pretend anything. ‘Where’d that come from?’ Matt makes a show of reaching with his cane and can smell the sweat as Foggy’s family starts to panic.

But it seems Candy is a better liar than the rest of her family. ‘Sorry, I’ve bad aim. I meant to hit Foggy.’

‘With tinsel?’

‘Well he’s certainly about as pretty as the tree.’

‘Hey!’ Foggy yells and throws a pillow, ‘Matt I just threw a pillow at Candy and I’m leaving right now I’ll be back.’ He sprints from the room with a rush of movement; Candy brushing Matt as she takes off after him, yelling.

Matt can’t help laughing, especially as Anna sighs, ‘They’re always like this. You wouldn’t think they’re the oldest.’ She moves up to pass Matt another decoration which causes him to pause because it’s not a bauble. He runs his hands over it and smiles when he feels the lamb next to the cradle.

Then he feels the bottom of the decoration and traces the rune there. He has a second to realise what he’s done before he feels his magic rising. Panic races through him and he tries to push it down, causing a crawling sensation under his skin as his magic tries to defy his will and cast the spell he summoned it for.

Luckily it’s this moment Foggy bursts back into the room and throws himself at Matt; grabbing his shoulders as he tries to hide behind his friend. Matt takes his chance and grabs Foggy’s hand, shoving the decoration into it as he releases the spell. He feels Foggy jerk in surprise at the sudden magic but they’re so close that no one should be able to tell that it’s not Foggy’s magic - just that a spell was cast.

Matt’s hand is still on the decoration so he feels it when the lamb starts to move. ‘Oh,’ he breathes, shock and surprise in his voice. But it’s then he realises that Foggy still had momentum from his charge across the room and his jerk of surprise threw his balance off - and Matt’s. They’re currently falling.

There’s time, if Matt was willing to reveal his abilities, to prevent the fall. But instead he grabs Foggy’s shoulder with his other hand and twists slightly so they fall beside the tree instead of into it. Foggy lands on top of Matt and knocks the wind out of him while Matt hears the clink that is his glasses falling off.

‘Matt! Foggy!’ Anna cries, Edward’s voice a beat behind hers. ‘Are you okay?’

Foggy is scrambling off Matt, just as worried. ‘Buddy, are you okay?’

Matt finally gets enough breath into his lungs to laugh and nearly rolls over with the force of it. He can hear Foggy groaning and instinctively dodges his light slap, only realising a second later he did so. Hopefully Foggy passes it off as luck.

‘You jerk,’ Foggy says but Matt senses him sitting back on his heels and hears the soft sigh of relief. ‘You had me worried.’

‘It was your fault.’ Matt pats around the floor. ‘Did I break -’

‘Oh no, it’s beside Foggy,’ Di cuts in.

‘I don’t think you could break any of our decorations if you tried,’ Bianca adds and the room audibly freezes.

Matt sits up. ‘Plastic for you guys?’

Foggy’s family isn’t subtle, their sigh of relief is actually audible . ‘Wood actually. My father made a lot of them,’ Edward says. ‘And we bought a few.’

Oh. Family heirlooms. Matt looks down. ‘That’s nice.’

Edward seems to realise he’s said something to upset Matt. ‘Yes. Foggy, why don’t you and Matt go make hot chocolate for everyone while we finish up here?’

Foggy must nod before he grabs Matt’s arm and leads him out.

********

‘Are you okay? Really?’ Foggy asks once they have the milk heating up. ‘Dad wasn-’

‘I know. I get it. I’m not upset.’ Matt shrugs. ‘We didn’t actually have much in the way of decorations for Christmas and I… well a lot of the unimportant things got lost over the years. I guess whoever packed up the house only passed on the important things to the nuns to store for me.’

Foggy doesn’t say anything but does give Matt a soft pat on the back. ‘Okay. Okay.’

Matt offers a small smile then frowns. ‘What was with the lucky bauble?’

He can practically hear Foggy’s eye roll. ‘Tradition. There’s a good luck spell on it from Grandpa Nelson. It moves onto whoever hangs it. He gave one to each of his kids for his last Christmas, as if he knew it was his last… Grandpa always knew when things were coming.’

‘He had the Sight?’ Matt might not know a lot about formal magic but even he’s heard of this.

Foggy shrugs. ‘I just shrugged. Maybe? It’s not like the Sight is reliable really and it’s rarely ever testable. In fact Grandpa’s ‘Sight’ seemed to only ever fail when we were trying to test it. Uncle John has something similar but again it’s not testable and definitely not teachable. The only one who puts any stock in it is his wife, even he thinks he’s a bit weird most of the time, if only a weirdo who makes good guesses. And Grandpa could be a bit odd so his ‘predictions’ were just as bad.’

‘Oh?’

‘Yeah,’ Foggy laughs as he pours the milk into the first cup. ‘He once told me I’d save and follow the Devil; that I’ll love him and protect him from those that would harm him and be loved and protected in turn.’ Matt half gasps, half laughs. It’s a weird prediction… unless? No, it can’t mean him. ‘Yeah, I know. That was like, a week before he died and he… well that was probably the most sense he made for that whole year. But Grandma - Nelson - is still around and she’s amazing at herbology. You’re going to love her.’

Matt smiles. ‘I’m sure I will.’

********

Candy comes in to help carry in the cups and Matt can smell the smoke of Edward’s attempts to light the fire. He settles into the sofa again, Foggy beside him and Candy beside Foggy and listens to yet another attempt.

Edward curses out the fireplace and Matt jerks as he hears the Latin spell buried in his multilingual curses. The fire roars to life and Matt finds himself smiling at Edward’s creativity. ‘Marshmallows?’ Edwards asks and there’s a chorus of yes’s, including Matt’s. There’s the clang of metal as Anna passes over metal skewers then Matt smells the scent of slowly roasting marshmallows.

Matt, as the guest, ends up eating the first one done and pauses after his first bite. ‘This is amazing.’ It’s more than amazing, it’s perfect  without the cloying taste of sugar he was expecting. There’s a vague buzz in the back of his head, like he’s about to cast a spell but he’s not using magic so Matt ignores it.

‘It’s just a marshmallow,’ Anna lies and Matt pauses. Magic? Huh.

‘Still amazing.’ He shuffles in his seat, suddenly much more comfortable and finds his head sliding onto Foggy’s shoulder as the family argues over what to do. He has another marshmallow, then another and another until he loses count of how many he’s had.

At some point Matt loses track of the room and drifts off.

********

‘Come on Matt, bedtime buddy.’ Matt tiredly slaps at the hand disturbing him and snuggles into the soft thing at his back.

‘I think you put too much power behind your spell,’ Edward mutters. ‘What did you even cast on him?’

‘Nothing! I mean, nothing beyond the usual spell we’ve on the firep- oh dear.’

Someone pokes at Matt and he groans. ‘Come on, stand up.’ The person helps Matt to his feet and gets him moving.

Each step clears his head and it begins to dawn that someone cast a spell on him. He should feel angry but right now he’s still too sleepy and comfortable to care.

‘Do you need a hand Foggy?’

‘Nah, I got this. It’s not the first time.’

Distantly, Matt is outraged. ‘’elped you ‘ore than you’re ‘elped me,’ he gets out.

‘Hey, you’re awake!’ Foggy pushes him up a bit. ‘Now, stairs.’

Matt groans but starts to move his legs so he can get up the steps. ‘Thirteen.’

‘Yeah Buddy, thirteen.’

********

Matt blinks awake and is vaguely confused to find himself in a bed. Last night fades into a bit of a blur after the marshmallows but he has faint memories of being poked and prodded into moving by… Foggy?

‘Hey, are you awake?’ Matt sits up as Foggy enters the room. ‘You okay?’ he asks as he sits at the end of Matt’s bed.

‘Yeah, I’m okay. What happened?’

Foggy sighs. ‘Well it seems that you need way more sleep than you get and you kinda overdosed on magical marshmallows.’

‘What?’

‘There’s a rune-’ Foggy takes Matt’s hand and traces a tilted square in his palm, ‘that means a few things including home and comfort but also rest and relief. It’s used for comfort and home spells in rune magic but also sleeping spells, depending on how you apply it. Mom drew it into our fireplace years ago as a comfort spell that usually passes onto anything cooked in the fireplace. But last night, somehow, you managed to turn it into a sleeping spell you cast on yourself.’

Matt blinks. 'How? ’

Foggy shrugs. ‘No idea pal. Your style of magic is completely foreign to me but I’m guessing the spell on the marshmallows just affected you differently. It happens sometimes.’

‘So your family knows.’

‘Ah…’

Confused, Matt tilts his head. ‘Your family still  doesn’t know?’

‘Well...no. It’s not like they asked!’

Matt blinks, aware that he doesn’t have his glasses on and Foggy can see the confusion on his face. ‘But what do they think happened? If it was my magic that cast the spell?’

‘Mom thinks you reacted badly to the comfort spell. Which also happens!’ With a sigh Foggy flops onto Matt’s bed, so he’s lying beside Matt. ‘But not as often as another witch-’

‘Not a witch,’ Matt growls, angry at the thought Foggy can’t keep that straight even after all this time.

‘-another magical person’s,’ Foggy continues, undeterred, ‘magic sending your spell into disarray.’ He pauses and Matt can sense him fiddling with the blanket. ‘But they did notice your spell yesterday.’

It takes Matt a moment to remember. ‘The lamb?’ The memory of the lamb moving under his fingers makes Matt smile. ‘What spell was it?’

Foggy shrugs. ‘One of Grandpa’s. Mom yelled at me for activating the rune on it but she made it clear she wasn’t sure how I did it considering I was busy with the whole knocking you down thing.’ Matt huffs a laugh at Foggy’s phrasing and Foggy lightly elbows him. Only the angle he’s at is such that he elbows Matt’s thigh which causes Matt to laugh again and slap at Foggy’s hand.

‘They’re suspicious?’ Matt asks.

‘They’re suspicious,’ Foggy sums up. ‘I don’t think we’ll make another two days of this.’

No, they probably won’t. ‘How about an addendum to the agreement?’

‘I’m listening.’

Matt lies down so he and Foggy are lying side by side and rolls, so they’re face to face. After a moment, Foggy rolls too. ‘We said the 24th?’ They’re close enough Matt can feel Foggy’s head moving on the bed and he smiles. ‘Then we keep it the 24th, but breakfast not lunch. A minor adjustment.’

‘I’m smiling right now Buddy, so wide. That’s perfect . We’ll get up early tomorrow, cook breakfast with magic and you can have a magical Christmas Eve too. It’ll be brilliant.’

‘Then we are agreed.’ Matt reaches out a joking hand for Foggy to shake.

‘We are agreed.’  Foggy ignores it and pulls Matt into a hug. Matt stiffens for a moment, then relaxes into it.

********

They stumble downstairs a half hour later and before Matt can manage a hello, Anna is by his side.

‘Oh, you’re alright!’ She pushes him into a chair. ‘I was so worried,’ she says as she runs a hand through his hair, before placing it to his cheek.

Matt finds himself both wanting to soak up the attention she’s giving him and shy away from it. He settles for remaining still and neither rejecting nor expliciting accepting it. But he can’t help leaning onto the hand on his cheek with a soft sigh. ‘I think I was just tired,’ he offers with a soft smile. ‘I needed the sleep.’

Her heartbeat picks up but Matt’s not sure why. ‘I’m glad you’re okay now.’

Foggy places a cup in front of Matt causing Anna to step aside. ‘Coffee at two o’clock Buddy. Do you want toast? Candy’s making some.’

‘Sure,’ he says as he reaches out until his knuckles brush the handle of the cup and he can get a firm grip on it. ‘Does she need help?’

‘If you move from that chair I think Mom will find the duct tape to well, duct tape you to it.’ Foggy drops into the seat beside Matt. ‘But we’re not needed. Candy has a production line going and at last look she’s already made a leaning tower of toast.’ AKA, Candy’s using magic to cook breakfast and she’s gone overboard. Got it.

Matt smiles. ‘Well then. Sounds like having toast will be doing Candy a favour.’

‘A massive favour,’ Di says as she takes the seat across from Matt. Focused as he was on Foggy, her appearance is  a surprise and he jumps.

‘Di, announce yourself!’ Foggy snaps, actual anger in his voice. Even Matt feels like shrinking back.

‘It’s okay,’ he says with a small smile. ‘It’s fine. Di, how are you?’

She and Foggy are staring at another and they must be making faces at another because there’s the nearly inaudible shift of movements. Finally Di speaks, ‘I’m fine. Mom’s put me in charge of cleaning up the backyard with Bianca and George so I’m basically making sure they don’t sneak off to make out.’

‘Good luck,’ Foggy says and Matt raises an eyebrow at his friend. ‘What? I might be her older brother but I trust Bi; she’s not an idiot and they’re her choices. Plus she’s fully capable of making George suffer if he pushes her and then I can get involved.’

Di takes a deep breath at Foggy’s words so Matt decides not to comment. The front door opens quietly and Matt tracks an unfamiliar young man down the hall. ‘Something you’ve already planned?’

‘In great detail,’ Foggy sounds delighted. ‘Right George?’ The young man pauses in the doorway of the dining room.

‘Umm, yes?’

‘Good man. George, Matt. Matt, Bianca’s boyfriend just walked in without knocking or an invitation. What laws has he broken?’

Matt shakes his head. ‘None, if there’s a prior standing invitation that he had no reason to believe had been revoked.’

Foggy clutches at his chest and rocks back in his chair. ‘Betrayed! Backstabbed! By my friend! How dare you act as counsel for the defence?’

‘Isn’t you who says that everyone deserves a good defence?’

‘You two are such nerds ,’ Di cuts in, causing both Matt and Foggy to break into laughter. Candy brings in a plate of toast as they stop.

‘Oooh, magical toast!’ George says and Matt has to bite his lip to prevent himself laughing at the frantic - and highly audible - waving from Di, Candy and Bianca, who’s hovering in the doorway. Foggy just facepalms, though Matt can hear the smothered laughter.

‘...because it’s the best toast ever.’

Matt reaches out and lets Foggy correct his aim to grab a piece. ‘Well, with that praise I’d better have some.’

Everyone breathes a sigh of relief and Matt realises he’s lost track of what strike they’re up to. How the hell have they ever managed to hide magic from anyone?

********

‘Ta-da,’ Matt says as he finishes wrapping his latest present. The room is silent for a long second before Foggy swallows a laugh and Candy giggles. George and Bianca are also breathing like they’re trying to hide laughter and he can sense Anna biting her lip. Matt frowns, ‘What?’

Everyone swallows another laugh. Then Di sighs, ‘Matt, did you flip the paper at any point?’

‘Oh, not again!’ Matt runs his hands over the present but he can’t feel any difference from the presents he wrapped before - at least not the ones he knows he wrapped the right way around.

‘Don’t worry Matt,’ Edward laughs. ‘If anyone complains we’ll tell them off.’ He takes the present from Matt. ‘Who was this for?’

Matt thinks it over. ‘Your… great-niece Alice? The one who is Foggy’s second cousin?’ This after lunch ‘family’ activity of wrapping presents for the extended family has been a lesson both in the specific members of Foggy’s family and specific family relations. Matt still isn’t sure he has the relations right; he loses track of what the difference between a second cousin and cousin once removed is. Foggy’s family is far too big.

And he loves it. As George passes him another present for yet another young cousin, Matt finds himself wishing that he was actually a part of a family like this - this family really - instead of just intruding upon them for the holiday.

The doorbell rings and everyone pauses. ‘Who could that be?’ Anna does a quick count under her breath. ‘The whole family’s here unless… is Heather coming?’

Candy shakes her head. ‘Not until Christmas.’

Foggy turns to Matt and whispers, ‘No one unrelated to us ever visits.’

‘That’s because you’re related to half of New York,’ Matt whispers back and Foggy lightly slaps his shoulder as he laughs.

Anna stands, still counting the people in the room. ‘Is it too early for carolers?’

‘Mom it’s 3pm!’ Di calls out as Anna answers the door. Matt cocks his head in surprise as he hears Anna’s breathing change.

‘You,’ she says softly and angrily . Shocked, Matt turns his head towards the door as the woman at it pushes past Anna. ‘I told you you’re not welcome in my home!’

‘And I’ve told you I have every right - every legal right - to be here,’ the woman snaps. Beside Matt, Foggy goes tense. As does everyone else in the room. Hopelessly confused, Matt turns his head to his friend.

But Foggy doesn’t explain; just stands up slowly. ‘Listen to Mom please,’ he says mildly but with a note of anger in his voice to the woman who’s just entered the room. She flinches when he says ‘Mom’; a movement so small Matt’s sure no one else noticed it. ‘I don’t want to speak to you.’

‘You’ve never known what you want Franklin-,’ Matt bristles at the use of the name he knows Foggy dislikes, ‘-and I want to speak to you. Why did I have to hear about you being in law school from Reggie York?’ The mention of the cranky old professor who once tried to accuse Foggy of cheating causes Matt to grimace.

Foggy shifts, his heart pounding with his anger. ‘Wait, you’ve only just heard? I’ve been in law school for over a year .’ Matt stands too and he notes he’s the last one to do so. Everyone else in the room rose when this woman walked in.

She sniffs. ‘Well you didn’t bother to inform me-’

‘When could I? It’s not like you’ve seen me since high school,’ Foggy snaps. ‘Why are you here?’ he says, his voice softer but no calmer.

‘I need to speak to you. Privately.’ She glances in Edward’s direction and Matt hears his heart skip a beat while his breathing picks up. Lus- no, anger. Edward hates this woman… and so do most of the people in this room, Matt realises.

Who the hell is she? ‘Speak here or leave.’

‘I want to speak to you privately . This is a matter that does not concern these… people.’ Matt stiffens in anger. ‘Especially not that one. Who’s he?’ It dawns on Matt she’s pointing at him .

‘My best friend,’ Foggy says softly. ‘Something you’d know if you’d seen me at all in the last year.’ He steps forward, so he’s between Matt and the woman. ‘Leave. I’m not interested in listening to you.’

‘Why not? I’m going to help you-’

Foggy raises a hand and cuts her off. ‘You keep insulting my family and you want me to listen to you? Really?’

‘If you choose them over me, you’ll never get anywhere.’

Finally, Foggy loses his temper. Matt’s vaguely impressed he held onto it this long. ‘Oh shut up -’

‘You don’t speak to me like that. Be silent,’ the woman snaps and Matt feels the magic in the air. Before everyone can react, she draws a symbol in the air and Foggy stumbles back a step into Matt. He catches his friend and supports him, swapping their positions so Foggy is now behind Matt.

‘What are you doing?’ Edward roars. Frantically he gestures at Matt, something that Anna joins in with. It takes Matt a moment to realise they still don’t know about his magic and think this woman just performed some in front of him.

‘Please, like he’d notice.’ Anger floods Matt and he turns away from Foggy to face her. Behind him, Foggy tries to speak but can only manage huffed breaths and horrific coughing noises.

‘Who are you?’ Matt knows his voice is low and full of veiled threat but he doesn’t care. He can hear how it’s affecting the heartbeats of Foggy’s family but that fades into the background of the way it’s making this woman’s heart jump.

She sniffs, hiding the fear Matt can sense in exaggerated bluster. ‘I’m Rosalind Sharpe.’ Matt recognises the name as that of a well known New York lawyer but doesn’t care. Not when her next words freeze his blood. ‘I’m Franklin’s mother.’

Foggy takes a deep breath and Matt can hear the upset hitch in it. If he could talk, Matt knows his friend well enough to know he’d be denying her claim.

So Matt’ll do it for him. ‘That clears it up Ms Sharpe, though I’m quite sure being a mother means more than being an egg donor.’ The whole room gasps but Matt can hear the smothered laughter of Foggy’s sisters and with his focus on Foggy, hear the twitch of his lips that means he’s smiling.

‘Why you-’ Sharpe sputters. ‘How dare you?’

‘How dare you ?’ Edward snaps, breaking into their conversation. ‘You said you wanted to speak with Foggy-’, he ignores her muttered ‘Franklin’, ‘and since you’ve made that impossible, you are going to leave.’

She huffs. ‘I have every right-’

‘You have no right,’ Anna says softly but with pure venom in her voice. ‘Foggy is my son, more than he’ll ever be yours, and he’s made it clear he doesn’t want to speak to you. Leave. Now.’

With a flap of her coat, she turns to leave. It’s then Matt realises she’s not going to remove the curse from Foggy - that he’ll have to wait for it to lift - and he loses hold of the Devil in him.

‘Ms Sharpe?’ he calls and she pauses in the doorway.

‘What?’

‘Have you ever heard that if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all?’

He can practically hear the confusion in the whole room but Matt doesn’t care, focusing on Sharpe’s sigh. ‘I have. I find it impractical advice,’ she says snidely.

‘Listen to it,’ Matt says and summons his magic to layer his voice. ‘And don’t speak again until you actually understand it.’ She gasps as his spell settles on her and coughs three times.

Then she tries to speak, the huffs of silent air like music to Matt’s ear. Her heartbeat picks up as she realises he wasn’t bluffing and he has the magic to make his threat reality. The whole room is silent as Sharpe tries to speak for a full minute, before she turns on her heel and flees the house.

Matt’s anger begins to fade as she slams the door and he turns back to his friend, offering his hand. ‘Foggy?’ Foggy hums and takes his hand with a squeeze. ‘I’m sorry… I think I lost my temper.’

‘You don’t say,’ Edward says with an even tone but there’s an angry note to it that has Matt bowing his head, fear and shame filling him. ‘That was… quite a show.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Matt repeats and he can’t keep the note of instinctive panic at revealing his magic out of his voice. He must look awful because Foggy steps closer, so they’re not quite hugging but definitely not just standing side by side. His movement, if Matt’s calculated correctly, also blocks Edward’s line of sight so he can’t see Matt - and if Matt could see, he wouldn’t be able to see Edward. It’s a nice, if useless gesture. Matt knows he’s there regardless.

But it seems, it wasn’t a gesture for Matt. ‘Oh God no. Matt-,’ Edward says.

Anna interrupts him. ‘Matt, it’s okay. Sit down.’ Foggy guides Matt to the sofa and pulls him closer, so Matt’s leaning on his side. ‘It’s okay really. We’re not angry at you for cursing Rosalind.’

‘She deserves it!’ Candy snaps. ‘Someone should’ve done it sooner. I glad you did it and so strongly! It’s not going to wear off for weeks.’

Matt shrinks into Foggy’s side at the praise, unused to so attention paid to him - or his magic.

Unfortunately for him, Anna is an observant woman. ‘Matt, are you okay?’ He tries a smile but even he knows it’s more of a grimace than anything. ‘Is… is this why you and Foggy lied? Why you kept your magic a secret?’

‘Wait,’ Bianca says. ‘Foggy knew?’

Di sighs. ‘You’re really oblivious aren’t you? Did you not see the look on Foggy’s face? He wasn’t surprised when Matt used magic. He knew.’

Matt’s close enough to Foggy that he can feel him nod. ‘I-’ he coughs, ‘-ew.’

A sigh of relief spreads through the room. ‘Short lived spell.’ Edward says.

‘Mine isn’t,’ Matt mutters into Foggy’s shoulder.

It’s the wrong move. Everyone’s focus snaps back to him. ‘Matt? Foggy?’ Anna says, pushing for an answer.

Matt sighs. ‘It... it was a mistake. Foggy said he’d told you and then it turned out he hadn’t… and ah…’

‘You decided not to correct us,’ Anna’s tone is mild but it has the note of annoyance Dad always had when Matt lied about doing his homework. Matt hasn’t had that tone directed at him in years and it strikes at his core.

‘No-’ Foggy coughs, ‘-ot -att’s f-au-t.’ He starts to have a coughing fit and Matt pulls himself off his friend and turns, so he’s holding Foggy.

‘Breathe,’ he says.

‘Not Matt’s fault?’ Anna says when Foggy regains his breath. ‘Matt, you wanted to tell us?’

Matt shrugs, still wanting to cower in fear but knowing he can’t. ‘I was promised a magical Christmas. I’ve… I’ve never had one.’

‘But you’re magical!’ George says, reminding Matt that yes, he’s still in the room. ‘How could you not have had a magical Christmas?’

After so long hiding magic it feels weird talking about it openly but Matt forces the words out. ‘My Dad wasn’t big on using his magic for ah, small things and after he died…’ Matt shrugs again. ‘I had to hi-... I didn’t think the nuns would be too big on an actual magical Christmas.’

The room is silent for a long time. ‘Foggy, why don’t you and Matt go upstairs until dinner? Bianca, Di, it’s your turn to help,’ Edward finally says.

Grateful for the reprieve Matt grabs Foggy’s arm and all but pulls him out of the room.