Yes, I know. Slow updates are slow. The reason for this is that I started a full time job, so I have less time, and what time I do have I set aside for my other project, The Swan Princess. Which is also going a bit slow :D If any of you happen to like Fairy Tales/Disney, I'd appreciate it if you popped over and gave me an opinion; I've never done anything like it before, but I think it's turning out rather well. I haven't abandoned the Risa ship, though, so don't worry. :) I have most of it planned out, different chunks of plotlines written down, but it's just going to be a little slow for the time being. Thank you guys so much for sticking around, I hope you can understand. Anyways, enjoy this little Christmas Chapter!

Chapter 14

The Perfect Gift

Remus stood in front of the store as the cold snow fell around him. Two galleons and twenty-seven sickles. That was all he had.

His attention slipped away from the items on display and lingered on his reflection. He was not even twenty yet, but a few white hairs had started mixing with his brown hair. He wondered if Lisa had noticed them yet, and if she would still thread her fingers through his locks the way she loved to do if they were peppered with grey. The shabby brown coat did little to shield him from the cold; he definitely needed a new one. The hands in his pockets were ice-cold, but he had no gloves.

Two galleons and twenty-seven sickles. That was all he had. And it was almost Christmas.

His eyes focused the items on the other side of the window again. The owner of Quality Quidditch Supplies had decorated his store, and garlands of holy and heaps of enchanted ever-lasting snow could be seen in-between the new broom models, various team jerseys, chaser gloves and numerous other Quidditch-related merchandise. Remus thought of Lisa and how much she loved Quidditch. The injury on her right arm made it impossible to go pro after Hogwarts, but she still read the sports column of the Daily Prophet almost religiously and loved talking for hours with James about their favourite teams.

There was a white sign hanging on the door of the shop.

'Pre-order your tickets for the Amazing Match – The Montrose Magpies versus the Holyhead Harpies!'

They said this would be the match of the century; both teams had been on unusual winning streaks. The Montrose Magpies had been Lisa's favourite team since she was nine years old. She put up with so much for him, and he really wanted to make her happy, to get her a present that would make her eyes lit up and allow her to forget their struggles, if even for a moment. But he couldn't afford Quidditch tickets. He couldn't afford anything in this store. His heart sank a little, remembering how she told him that, at one point, she owned at least half of the merchandise on sale. She would never again be able to afford so much as a jar of broom polish from here.

Remus gripped the wallet in his pocket. Two galleons and twenty-seven sickles.

What could he do with such a measly sum?

The young werewolf sighed deeply and turned away from the store, slowly heading down the cobbled street. His hands going numb from the cold and his head hung low, he felt his chin sink into the comforting softness of the red scarf around his neck, which Lisa had made herself two years ago. 'Perhaps,' he thought, 'there's something I can make.' He may not be good for much, but he was a relatively capable wizard. If he only knew what to make...

His eyes swept the street absentmindedly and fell on a second-hand jewelry store. He stopped. To his knowledge, Lisa never wore any jewelry. But he wondered, if it was from him, would she make an exception?

After a bit of hesitation, the werewolf walked inside and came out twelve minutes later, with only three sickles in his pocket.

oOo

Lisa sat on the worn-out second-hand couch and stared at the wall. It was almost Christmas.

The young witch just sat there, in the tiny, one-bedroom flat, and thought. She had never faced such a problem before. Even when she was rich, Lisa had never really been spoiled; she never pestered her parents for clothes, jewels, or fancy trinkets. There weren't that many things she asked for, but what she wanted – she always got. She had never had to sit down and face the reality that she simply couldn't afford something she really wanted before. And she really, really wanted to buy Remus a nice present for Christmas.

Her eyes travelled from the scratched coffee table to the tatty curtains, looking fruitlessly for a solution to just jump out and present itself. What could she do to raise money? There was still her trust fund, but Remus would never accept anything bought with that. He would only feel guilty about whatever she got him, and Lisa did have her eye on a present. She had seen it in a muggle shop on her way back from work, and the instant her gaze fell on it, she knew it was made for him. It was so perfect and simple, Remus just had to have it, but one look at the price tag had quickly cooled her enthusiasm. Even if she worked non-stop for half a year, she still couldn't afford it.

However, Lisa wasn't going to let that little hurdle stop her. She would get Remus that gift, all she had to do is figure out how. Her first thought before had always been to sell something, which was why she didn't have anything valuable anymore. The first things to go were the fancy dress robes her mother kept buying for her, which she had only worn once for the occasion they were bought. Next were the numerous bracelets, rings and necklaces, which always made her feel like she was suffocating. There was a particular pendant with a heavy blue rock she really hated; the thing was so heavy she felt like it would anchor her to the floor if she even leaned forward slightly. Remus had had his guilt crisis over her selling them, but in reality Lisa couldn't care less; she never wore such things anyway.

But now... she was only down to things she needed. Her currant clothes wouldn't fetch that high of a price, seeing as none of them were designer labels anymore. What few other possessions she had would never earn enough either, she would have to sell them second-hand.

Lisa sighed and went over to her travelling truck, kneeling down and popping the lid. Old school books, potion supplies, small nick-knacks, ink bottles... Her fingers came upon smooth, hard wood, and she froze. Her broom.

Slowly pulling it out from beneath the pile of clothes, Lisa stared at her Silver Arrow. It was the latest model when she had whined it out of her grandfather three years ago, the only fastest broom on the market currently was the Nimbus 1000. The blonde witch's fingers went over the handle lovingly. She had spent Merlin knows how many hours polishing it, pruning stray straws, making sure it was as sleek and as fast as possible. But that was when she had dreams of playing professionally, before werewolf claws dug into her skin and took away her ability to lift her arm past her shoulder. What use was a racing broom to her now? When would she have time to take pleasure in flying when a killing curse could take her out of the sky at any moment? The only time she had even taken it out of the trunk was when she and Lily flew to Azkaban, but she didn't need such a high-class broom for that. Even a Cleansweep would do the job.

Lisa felt tears sting her eyes and hugged her dear Silver Arrow. She couldn't sell this broom, she just couldn't! She had spent too much energy on it, it held such precious memories; it represented a different time in her life when flying was a daily pleasure she could afford, when she felt that rush of scoring a point and hearing the roar of the crowd...

Yet... was that really something she should cling to so desperately?

Lisa wiped the corners of her eyes and held the broomstick at an arm's length, realizing something. It wasn't the physical object she was attached to – it was her time at Hogwarts. It was Quidditch.

But she couldn't have that anymore. This broom was not important; it didn't have any real value to her anymore, other than holding on to the glory days. It was the past, and Remus was her future.

Lisa stood up determinately, threw on her coat and left the flat, the Silver Arrow still clutched tightly in her fist.

oOo

It was already past ten at night on Christmas Eve when Remus tiredly made his way up the stairs of his building, a small, frozen chicken under his arm (turkey was too expensive). He wished it didn't have to be this way, but on this day people felt more charitable than usual and he managed to land a few hours of work, loading heavy packages into muggles' cars at a London supermarket. He got paid in pounds, of course, which was not a lot with the galleon exchange rate in these times. This was why Lisa always frowned upon him taking muggle jobs. Even the lowest-paying wizarding job earned more than the muggle minimum wage. Wizards didn't need physical labour around Christmas, however, and he had to take what he could get, if he didn't want their Christmas dinner to consist only of scraps again. He had allowed himself the small luxury of a fist-sized chocolate Christmas pudding and a bottle of cranberry sauce.

When he approached the door to his flat, he could hear quiet humming from inside. Not bothering with his keys, Remus turned the handle, and the view before him had him stumped.

The tiny flat looked like a child's drawing. The walls were adorned with spots of distinctly muggle, palm-sized snowflakes, cut out unevenly out of plain paper. In the far corner, there was a thin, shabby, sort of sick-looking Christmas tree, decorated with pinecones, red bows and pieces of colourful construction paper, twisted and bended in strange ways, only barely resembling big five-pointed stars, red-and-white candy canes and golden snitches. The remainder of cut-outs in different colours still cluttered the floor, next to a pair of scissors and an empty tube of glue. Lisa was leaning against the window, gluing more of those cartoony snowflakes to the window, humming 'Deck the Halls'.

Remus closed the door, and the slam caused his girlfriend to turn around sharply. As soon as she saw him, her whole face lit up and she abandoned her project, rushing over to envelop him in her warm embrace.

"I was just finishing! Couldn't you have been five minutes late?" she scolded him playfully and pulled back slightly, still keeping her arms around his neck.

He took another amazed look around the room. "What... is all of this?"

"It's muggle decorations! It cost me only a sickle, come look!" She took his hand and dragged him to the tree, gesturing to each ornament as she explained how she made them. "See, I saw this muggle woman today, she lives on our street, and she was going to throw this tree away. I talked her into letting me have it, and as I was dragging it back up here, I saw that muggle place where they sell notebooks and the like, you know the one? And then I remembered your mum and how she used to make things out of paper for your tree, and I just bought a whole bunch of colourful paper and I cut out all of these! And look, look, I even made that popcorn thing!" Lisa beamed proudly and touched the single string with popcorn that coiled around the tree. "And I did it all the muggle way, not even a simple spell! So what do you think?"

Remus looked down at her, but the words just wouldn't come. He remembered how Lily said once that purebloods are a bit like children when it comes to mundane muggle things, and the fond smile bloomed on his face almost unwittingly.

"I love it," he said, placing a hand on her cheek.

"Oh, but wait, you haven't seen the best part!" Lisa exclaimed and let go of him, running over to the light switch and submerging the room in darkness. Then her hands slipped around his waist, and she whispered in his ear, "Look up."

Remus' eyes soared to the ceiling and found it covered with dozens of fluorescent, glowing stars.

"I did that without magic too," she murmured near his neck. "Took me two hours, but it was worth it. I had to move the chair all around the room, the Chinese lady from down stairs began knocking on the floor at some point." Lisa chuckled softly and kissed his neck. "I'm sorry that the snowflakes are sort of crude. I've never done things without magic before."

Remus turned around, and the plastic bag slipped from his grasp as his arms coiled around her waist and he buried his head in her shoulder, inhaling her sweet scent deeply. "Thank you," he breathed.

"Oh, it really wasn't that much trouble," she said lightly. "And it was sort of fun, trying to—"

"Thank you for being here," he cut her off. "Thank you for putting up with all of this, for—"

"Stop," Lisa said gently, pulling back so she could look at him. "You've said that a million times already. I think it's my turn now. It's Christmas, and it made me think about my life and how things worked out for us since we left school." His face fell. "Things... really aren't the way I thought they would be. I know you tried to tell me, but I guess I never fully grasped that you really would have so few opportunities; you're so brilliant, and I've never had to worry about money before... I suppose I figured it would be okay, that you'd get hired despite your condition, that it would all work itself out. It's been half a year now, and we can barely make ends meet, but there are no signs that this will change anytime soon. This is just... what our lives are going to be like."

Remus looked down, his heart filling with dread. He knew all those things, and the fact that she was confirming how he'd always been afraid she felt didn't bode well. For a second, the cold, horrible thought that she would tell him she's leaving him crossed his mind, but then her fingers touched his chin lightly, lifting his head. Their eyes met and Lisa was looking at him in that way again - so lovingly, that for a second he lost himself and forgot where he was and what he was doing. Then her voice brought him back to reality.

"We are shabby and poor, but you're worth every galleon we don't have. I wouldn't give this up for all the gold in Gringotts."

She slowly closed the distance between their lips, and everything else faded into a white swirl, leaving nothing but them and this moment in existence.