Author's Note: I only realized today how much I loved this pair, and how much I felt it when it was disclosed in the book. This whole story was based off a picture I stumbled across on DeviantArt, which can be found here:
h t t p : / / t o e r n i n g . d e v i a n t a r t . c o m / a r t / I f - t h i n g s - h a d - g o n e - d i f f e r e n t l y- 6 6 5 0 0 4 0 2 ? q = g a l l e r y % 3 A t o e r n i n g % 2 F 1 5 0 5 0 4 & q o = 6 3 .It would mean a lot if you checked it out before reading the following, and if you can, leave a comment for toerning, without whom this story could not have been written.
Christmas
She would find some little place, some run-down, forgotten, all-night corner café in the middle of London, and take him there at midnight. They would take their time through the streets, talking, in silence, laughing. Whether it be flakes, falling leaves or clear moonlight overshadowing them, they'd be there, every Friday. She'd wear his scarf when it was cold, and he'd hold her cold hand in his gloved ones. She'd toss a snowball from behind and catch him in the back, make him laugh.
They'd turn the corner and she'd present her miracle. He'd inspect it and make some dry comment about its location or drop a How did you ever find this one? She'd just smile and guide him down another street. He sometimes wonders what would have happened if things had been different, if there was no Lily to make him laugh. He probably would have passed little cafes and street corners with indifference. It was Lily that made them special.
There were Christmas lights hanging in the windows, the cheap kind that glow yellow wrapped in stringy white wire. The flickering neon sign read, Carol's. He smiles at the irony and leaned into her side, knocks into her a little, purposefully; playfully. She slips an arm through his, as they continue, passing street light after streetlight, occasionally passing a car, or a Muggle.
"Happy Christmas, Sev!" she says before they enter Carol's. "This is my present to you!"
He smiles at her, and she stands on tip-toe, resting her hands on either side of his face.
"I love it," he replies. "And I love you." She smiles too.
"I love you too."
And that, in his opinion, was the best present she could have given him.