Of Life, Love And Weasleys
Chapter Eleven: Cosy Fire
She's an extraordinary girl, with a bell-like laugh and long shimmering hair.
He's just an ordinary guy, with a slightly nasal voice and boring brown hair.
But they both work at Gringotts and so their bond is formed. He works in the front, behind a desk, managing transactions and many thousand of keys and she's a beautiful curse-breaker, travelling all over the world and exploring wondrous places.
"Don't you hate the holidays?" she asks. "I want to get back out there and do my job!"
It's Christmas and they're together in his flat, lounging on the floor and toasting marshmallows over a merrily blazing fire. The snow is a good few inches thick outside and the stars are shining through the window.
"To be frank, I'm glad to be away from the place," he answers, withdrawing his stick from the fire and examining the marshmallow. "Goblins make me nervous."
"You are funny, Graham," she giggles, leaning against him. "Do you mind if I sleep here tonight?"
"Not at all," he says, wondering at the thought of this beautiful woman wanting to share a flat with him for an entire night. "Shall I make dinner?"
"No, don't get up!" she exclaims, pulling him back down. "Stay down here with me."
Silence reigns for a few minutes, except for the crackling of the flames and the faint strains of carol singers making their way down the street. He looks at her, taking in her sheet of silvery-blonde hair, her opalescent blue eyes, the festive jumper she's wearing and her long legs stretched out in front. She's special and out-of-the-ordinary, so very different from his normality and how mundane everything about him is. He puts an arm around her and she snuggles against him.
"Haven't you decorated your house yet?" she asks, looking around at the plain white walls without the faintest trace of tinsel or fairy lights.
"I do have a tree and all the decoration, I just haven't got round to it," he explains. She leaps up, away from the cosy little position they'd got into.
"Come on, let's do it now!" she exclaims. "It'll be just the thing to make us feel really Christmassy!"
He leads her to a cupboard filled with shoes and coats and pulls down boxes filled with colourful, glittery Christmas decorations. She's like a child in a sweetshop, the way her face lights up and she keeps picking things up to look at them.
"This stuff is brilliant!" she squeals. "You find the tree and I'll start hanging up the banners!"
By the time he returns, panting and sweating from the effort of dragging a rather large tree around, his living room, kitchen and hall all resemble a scene from a corny Christmas card. Glitter is spilled over the floor and multi-coloured fairy lights are string across every wall, with tinsel wrapped around every free-standing objects and banners with Christmassy slogans splashed across them nailed over every door.
"You really like Christmas, then?" he asks as Victoire, smiling and glowing, bedecks the tree with little bells and sequin-studded birds and feathery owls and glittery baubles and multi-coloured string of tinsel.
"I love everything about Christmas," she sighs, pausing in the act of rooting through the boxes, looking for an angel to place on top. "Turkey and family and presents and carols and everything."
"Speaking of carols, sounds like they're almost here," he says, listening to the singing of the carollers.
"Wait!" she shrieks as he starts to move. He freezes, staring at her and wondering what can possible be going on. She looks at him briefly and kisses him gently. For a moment her hair brushes his shoulders before she pulls away. "Mistletoe."
"There are five berries," he says, pointing at the plant over his head. "I insist on five kisses." She giggles and obliges with the second kiss.
His fingers glide over her fragrant skin and he closes his eyes to fully appreciate her. Outside, the carollers sing Mary's Boy Child and, inside, the cosy fire crackles.
I guess I was feeling Christmassy today ;)
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