Bella was happy to see Seamus kept his word and was indeed waiting for her in the common room after her detention. She told him about the lines she had to write; 'I will not assault other students'. And Seamus promised to blow up his cauldron on the first day back. Once in her dormitory Bella told her friends all about her short kiss with Seamus and Hermione squealed so loud Bella thought the boys might hear her. In the days that followed Freya and Emily tried with all their mite to make sure Bella and Seamus were always together. Bella saw right through them and Seamus believed the entire thing to be comical. When Ron found out about the kiss he was determined to hex Seamus' head off until Harry, rather reluctantly, helped him see reason. Fred and George took every opportunity to mock Bella and again, Seamus found this to be rather comical.
When Christmas morning finally came Bella was out of bed before everyone else for a change. She shook her friends awake and they crept quietly into the boys dorm.
"Freya, you get Neville. Hermione, Ron. Emily, Harry. And I'll get Seamus." Bella whispered before slowly pushing the boys dormitory door open. It creaked and Bella winced as she took a small step back. The sound of the boys snores drifted lazily from the room and the intruders shared a grin as they inched further into the room. Bella drew back the hangings of Seamus' bed slowly as the others did the same. Bella counted down from three on her fingers and when she reached one they sprung onto their unsuspecting victims. Groans echoed around the room as the boys fumbled to release themselves from the confines of their blankets.
"What's happening." Came Seamus' groggy voice from under the blankets and Bella let out a laugh as she pulled the blanket off his face, revealing his confused, sleepy face.
"This was your idea wasn't it." Ron's voice came from the other side of the room and Bella turned her head to look at him.
"Well yeah, it's Christmas!" Bella exclaimed.
"Well what we all still lying about for then?" Seamus laughed below her and she grinned at him before hopping off the bed.
"Well, come on then!" Bella called over her shoulder as she left the dorm.
The common room was littered with presents as the students who were staying for Christmas tore into their gifts, throwing the paper everywhere. Bella ripped into her presents with great enthusiasm and was shocked at what she received; her usual green and purple Weasley sweater with a huge tub of fudge from her parents, a box of chocolate frogs from Ron, perfume from Emily, a muggle book from Freya, some muggle sweets from Hermione and a huge bag of dungbombs from the twins.
"Hey, this one's got your name on it." Fred called from the sofa, chucking a small box in Bella's direction.
Once grasped in her hand Bella saw the small name tag had her name written in an elegant flow. Looking at her friends with confusion written on her face she pulled open the lid and gasped. A beautiful emerald green necklace was encased within the box.
"Who is it from?" Emily asked, looking over her shoulder at the small box grasped tightly in her hand.
"It doesn't say." Bella breathed as she looked again at the necklace sat before her.
Hermione turned her head towards Seamus and he shook his head. The necklace hadn't come from him, so who had it come from? The necklace was immediately forgotten as Seamus called her name and she lifted her head as he thrust his arm in her direction, a gift in his hand; she took it from him with a shaky hand.
"You didn't have to get me anything Sea." She smiled.
"I know. But I wanted to."
With all eyes on her Bella pulled off the wrapping paper and grinned from ear to ear when she saw the gift inside.
""What is it?" Freya asked excitedly.
"A blanket." Bella smiled as she pulled it from the wrappings, spreading it out before her.
"You're always cold so now you won't be." Seamus announced proudly. "I charmed it so it's always warm."
Bella quirked an eyebrow at him while she held the blanket at arms length, eyeing it suspiciously
"Well, I didn't charm it, me mam did."
Bella threw her arms around his neck spouting 'Thank you' every few seconds. Seamus laughed as he held her in his arms. They pulled back and Bella felt all eyes on her as she cleared her throat and pulled all her gifts into her arms. Without a word she escaped the common room for her dormitory and dropped her gifts on the bed. The girls followed after her and put their gifts away before sitting on the bed across from Bella. She lifted her head and found three pairs of expectant eyes staring back at her.
"What?" She asked innocently.
"That was the cutest thing ever." Hermione squealed.
"What was?" Bella asked again.
"That." Hermione explained, pointing to the door of the dormitory.
"Seamus bought you a blanket." Freya added
"Not only that but he got his mum to charm it for you." Emily said.
"I suppose it was sweet. I just feel bad I haven't gotten him anything." Bella smiled sadly.
"Don't worry about that, you'll just have to give him a big kiss later." Freya laughed.
Christmas day passed quite pleasantly for Bella. She had expected to miss her parents and Ginny but they had been the furthest thing from her mind as she joked around with her friends and ate her body weight in delicious food at the Christmas feast.
Exhausted and stuffed full beyond anything she had ever felt before Bella curled up on the sofa in front of the fireplace wrapped in her blanket, smiling softly to herself as she listened to Ron and Hermione bickering. Her smile widened as Seamus plopped himself down on the sofa next to her.
"Have you had a nice Christmas?" He asked her.
"It's been nice." She sighed.
He chuckled as she stifled a yawn, her tired eyes drooping.
"Why don't you go up to bed if you're tired." He urged.
"Because I don't want this day to end."
Seamus didn't get a chance to retort before he felt a soft weight hit his shoulder and he turned his head slightly to see Bella's head resting there, having fallen into a sound sleep. He smiled to himself as he pulled the blanket tighter around her and placed a soft kiss to her forehead.
Bella felt a hard surface under her head and opened her eyes groggily to realise she had fallen asleep in the common room, on Seamus' shoulder. She turned towards his face and found his eyes on her.
"What happened?" She asked, rubbing her eyes.
"You fell asleep and you looked comfortable, I didn't want to disturb you."
"You didn't have to wait down here with me." She smiled shyly.
"Its' alright." He smiled back at her.
She pulled herself into a sitting position, letting out a yawn. She pulled the blanket from around her legs and bundled it under her arm, pushing herself to her feet.
"Thank you for staying with me." She turned her head to him and offered him her hand, helping him to his feet.
"Anytime."
The pair bid goodnight at the top of the staircase with a lingering hug before retreating to their respective beds. Tiptoeing as to not wake her roommates Bella moved her presents from the foot of her bed to the floor. She pulled her pyjamas on swiftly and climbed into bed, her foot colliding with something sharp. She reached her hand into the duvet at her feet and her fingers collided with the jewellery box that had riddled her brain with confusion earlier that morning.
She pulled the box to her, opening it once more to stare at the necklace that lay within. There was nothing on the box or concealed within to give her the faintest clue who had gifted it to her. The necklace itself screamed wealth and Bella knew no one with a vast amount of wealth who may want to gift the necklace to her.
Closing the box with a soft click she placed it on her nightstand before shuffling further down the bed, wrapping herself in her duvet. She fell into a deep sleep that night, dreaming of beautiful emerald necklaces and sandy-haired Irish boys.
