Choirs were singing in the snow-covered streets and there were Christmas displays in every window. Al grinned as he and Joanna passed by a shop window full of gnomes dressed as Christmas elves. Joanna had asked him to accompany her to Hogsmeade to do a bit of Christmas shopping, and Albus had been more than happy to do so. Christmas was possibly his most favourite time of year, and he couldn't help but be excited by the spectacle of it all; the snow, the decorations, the fairy lights, the shiny wrapping paper… it all made Albus feel rather warm and fuzzy inside.
Since their first snow earlier in the month, the stuff had hardly stopped falling. The pathways had been cleared, of course, but on either side of the road lay a pile of snow nearly three feet deep. Joanna had caught the look on Al's face when he'd first seen them and told him with nothing more than a withering look that he was not to dive into one, which Albus had grudgingly accepted. He silently pledged to come back to Hogsmeade with Scorpius before the holidays, though, and have his snowy fun. It never snowed where he lived, in Cornwall. The most they got was a nasty, grey sludge the day after a heavy rain. He wanted to make the most of the snow before it was gone.
They carried on walking for a while, before a fairy, glowing a rather brilliant shade of blue, flew in a spiral around Al's head and darted off to perch herself on the branch of a nearby Christmas tree. Al grinned at her and turned to Joanna, amused.
"Did you see that?" he asked, unsure whether he should be confused or tickled.
Joanna smiled. "I did," she said, nodding. "They say that's meant to bring you good luck. It's a fairy blessing."
"It is?" Al raised his eyebrows, then beamed. "Brilliant. I wonder why she blessed me, though?"
"Your raw, animal magnetism, probably." Joanna said, taking Al's hand and giving it a playful squeeze. Al squeezed back and laughed as they made their way further into the village, passing several similar fairy-lit trees and busy shoppers all going about their business. As they reached Honeydukes, Joanna gave Al's arm a gentle tug and pulled him inside. The shop was decked out like a sort of Santa's Grotto, with wreathes of holly hanging from every beam and tall, sparkling Christmas trees dotted along each wall. There was magical snow falling from the ceiling and not quite settling on the floor and more gnomes dressed as Christmas elves running around the shop, carrying bundles of brightly wrapped presents. Albus smiled and looked around when he heard Joanna chuckling beside him
"You look like a child on Christmas morning," she said, shaking her head fondly. Albus knew she was probably right, his cheeks almost hurt from where he'd been smiling so widely. Christmas did seem to bring out the nine year old in him.
"What do you need to get?" Joanna asked, reaching into her pocket for the list she'd written out on the carriage ride over. "I need to buy for mum and dad, but I doubt I'll get anything for them in here. Sarah, though… I can get her some Fizzing Whizbees and some of those cream-filled snowmen."
Albus shrugged. "Well, Lily likes Ice Mice, so I'll get her some of those, I guess," he said, unable to tear his eyes away from all the bright colours and lights. He was too busy looking at the decorations to be thinking too hard about anything else, really.
"Well," said Joanna, still clearly amused. "I'm going to go shopping. You feel free to go and look at all the pretty shiny things." She gave Al's hand another squeeze before making her way through the forest of trees and customers until Al lost sight of her. The smile was still fixed on his face as he walked further into the shop, looking around at all the displays. One in particular that caught his attention was a pile of boxed Chocoballs stacked in the shape of a giant snow man, complete with Sugar Quill scarf.
Albus wondered if he could convince his parents to decorate the house like this for Christmas this year. Not that they didn't all do a good job of making the house look festive, but there was just something special about the extravagance of Hogsmeade at this time of year.
He slowly made his way along the aisles of sweets and baubles, stopping by the Ice Mice to pick out several small boxes of multicoloured and patterned mice for Lily, and by the Exploding Bonbons to pick out the least suspect box he could find for James. He also picked out some Acid Pops and Jelly Slugs for himself and stopped to consider Scorpius' gift. Of course, he'd get him more than just sweets, but since he was here he might as well pick something out for him.
He still wasn't entirely sure what he was going to get Scorp, to be honest. It was strange, but his mind kept going blank every time he thought on it. He'd never had trouble buying for Scorpius before – usually a pair of gloves, or something silly from the new Zonko's – but that didn't seem enough this year. This year, for some reason, he felt any gift he got Scorpius needed to mean something, be somehow more significant. He wasn't even entirely sure what that meant, but trying to pick out Scorp's gift this year was not proving easy.
He sighed, realising again that he wasn't here with Scorpius and picked out a box of Clove Christmas Trees and Bertie Botts to be going on with.
He made his way around the shop nearly three times, still fascinated by all the lights, when Joanna appeared in front of him holding an armful of assorted sweets.
"I think I'm done," she said. "Are you ready?"
Al nodded and they made their way to the counter to pay.
"You know," said Al, when they'd finished and pushed their way through the crowd and out of the shop. "I think I could live in Honeydukes." He laughed as Joanna rolled her eyes and popped a Jelly Slug into his mouth. Jelly Slugs were a seriously underrated confection in his opinion; the gooey slime-like juice in the centre was possibly Al's favourite part of any sweet.
He and Joanna walked back along the road, past carollers singing 'Feast of the Founders', and were almost back at the carriage stop when Al stopped dead in his tracks.
There, right in front of them, glowing like a beacon of other-worldly light, was the Christmas window display of Lightfast's Quidditch Supplies.
Albus nearly dropped his bags. He stood, transfixed, for several moments before making his way over to the shop. The new Stratus was hovering against a snowy backdrop, a tiny Golden Snitch fluttering about the display. In the right hand corner, however, was a plinth with a pair of gloves on it. These were what had caught Al's attention.
"Are you looking at that broom again?" asked Joanna, appearing at his side.
Albus shook his head. "No… the gloves." His nose was practically pressed up against the glass and his breath was frosting up the window. "They're the new Salamander hide gloves. Extra touch grip and so strong. Look at them… they're gorgeous."
There was a silence while Joanna leaned in closer to the glass. Al could feel his saliva glands working over-time.
"Aren't they the ones that burst into flames every now and then?" Joanna asked, and Albus nodded.
"Yeah." He grinned.
"Isn't that painful?"
Albus scoffed. "Of course it's painful. But it's like… a badge of honour. All the Pros are wearing them now." He sighed as he looked at the price of the gloves – seventy Galleons – he'd never be able to afford that. It wasn't fair. He was one of the best players in the school – he should have a pair.
"Well, you'll catch pneumonia if you stand here salivating all day," said Joanna, giving him a slight nudge with her elbow. "Come on."
Al grudgingly pulled himself away from the window, looking back over his shoulder at it until they turned a corner and it was out of sight. He'd definitely be coming back before the term was out.
The ride back to Hogwarts was quiet, mainly due to Al thinking about the gloves, and when they got back to the castle Joanna grabbed him and kissed him so long and so hard that Albus thought he was going to fall over. He blinked as they finally parted. "What was that for?"
Joanna sighed and smiled at him, reaching out with her free hand to tug gently on Al's scarf. "Because I love you," she replied, leaning in again to kiss his cheek. "Remember that."
Al blinked again, unsure what to say. He'd not exactly been expecting that. He returned the smile and shrugged. "I will," he said, trying not to sound as confused as he felt.
There was a short silence, and Joanna let go of Al's scarf. "Where are you going, now?" she asked.
"Uh… the Common Room."
"Do you want to come up to Gryffindor with me?" Joanna asked. "We can wrap presents together and maybe you can spy on Stephen and Mike. They've been talking Quidditch a lot lately."
Albus felt awful, but none of that sounded in the least bit appealing. He'd been quite looking forward to getting back to the Common Room and talking Scorpius into coming to Hogsmeade with him next weekend. Truth be told, he'd missed him today. Rather a lot, actually.
"Um… maybe tomorrow?" he said, hating the look of disappointment that appeared on her face. "I don't really feel up for wrapping presents today. Sorry."
"Oh…" she said, face falling. "Alright."
Albus felt like such a total git for wanting to spend time with Scorpius instead of his girlfriend… but not enough of a git to change his mind, he noticed. He frowned, suddenly stuck by how odd that was.
Joanna gave him another small smile, though Al could tell it was forced, and shrugged. "Well, I better go and wrap these, then. See you at dinner." She kissed him on the cheek again and made her way hastily up to Gryffindor Tower, not stopping to look back or wave her usual goodbye
Albus just stood in the entrance hall for a while, staring after her. His brain was trying to put things together and failing miserably. It wasn't a terribly nice feeling, either. After a few long moments he sighed and gave up, making his way down towards the Common Room to find Scorpius.
