Fell in Love Without You

Chapter 15: Mistletoe

The castle cleared out completely the next day and soon it was just myself, my friends and sisters left in the Gryffindor house. The next week was amazingly blissful and quiet, although we did have to watch anything we ate in case it had a Canary Cream hidden in the centre. Twice Angelina burst into feathers in the common room after eating something George had given her. You'd think she'd learn not to take anything the twins offered her.

The holidays continued until Christmas was finally upon us. I was woken early on Christmas morning by someone diving into my bed.

I shrieked and sat up, fumbling around in the dark for my wand.

"Merry Christmas love" Fred's face was inches from my own. He was brandishing a box wrapped in bright yellow paper and grinning at me like a loon.

I groaned and threw my arm over my eyes. "What's the time Fred?" I sighed, flopping back onto my pillows.

"About 3:30ish" He sounded too chipper and I wondered if Annabelle had taken polyjuice potion as some kind of twisted prank. I scowled.

"Why the hell are you even awake?" I sighed, rolling over and pulling the covers over my face.

"Because I wanted to give you your present early" He said, tugging on the blanket. "Come and open it" he demanded.

"No... I'm still sleeping" I mumbled.

"No you're not, now get up!" he huffed, pulling my blankets off me. I sighed and struggled to sit up. I was still half asleep.

"Persistent little bugger aren't you?" I yawned. He grinned and handed me his present.

I unwrapped it to reveal a small box. "What's in it?" I looked at his expectant face.

"Have a look for yourself" He rolled his eyes.

I frowned and opened the box delicately. Inside lay a simple gold chain with a small pendant on it shaped like a lion, a gorgeous gold lion, so delicately crafted that it could have only been done by magic. My breath caught in my throat.

"This is... beautiful" I breathed, fingering the lion delicately.

"I saw it in Diagon Alley over the summer and thought of you" He smiled. A light blush touched his cheeks. "Can I – ?" He gestured to the necklace.

"Sure" I nodded, giving him back the box and lifting my hair. My face was burning and my stomach was in knots as he draped the necklace around me. "This is really... this is amazing" I smiled, turning back around.

"Merry Christmas" He played with the charm for a few seconds before letting it drop to my chest.

I smiled and leaned over my bed to retrieve his present. "I suppose I better give you yours as well" I handed him an unwrapped, cube shaped box. "I was going to wrap it, but seeing as how it's 3:30 in the morning I didn't exactly get the time" I smiled.

He grinned and opened the top. He pulled out the iridescent blue dragon claw and smiled. "Is this a dragon claw?" He asked, glancing up at me through his hair.

I nodded and hugged my legs to me. "There's legend in Romania that says if a dragon befriends you and gives you a gift, the holder of the gift will have a incredible luck and fortune wherever they go" I recited the legend to him. "This claw is from the dragon I was studying over the summer, a Swedish Shortsnout by the name of Albastrita... She gave it to me after a month of studying her... Charlie said he'd never seen anything like it..." I bit my lip to stop babbling and waited for his reaction.

"But why give it to me?" Fred frowned slightly, still twirling it in his fingers.

"Because I don't need incredible luck or fortune... You, however, are opening a shop and need both" I smiled.

Fred looked at the shiny claw in his fingers and smiled. "This is the best gift I've ever gotten" He looked up at me, his crystal blue eyes shining happily. He pulled me into him and wrapped me in a tight hug. "You're amazing Avery".

I smiled and didn't say anything, struggling to breathe a little bit from how tight he was holding me. He kissed the top of my head, like he always does and let me go. "When I get the shop, I'm going to hang it somewhere where everyone can see it" He grinned.

"I'm glad you like it"

"I love it" He corrected me.

I blushed and fingered the necklace he'd given me. I loved that more than anything. I'd never gotten jewellery from a boy before... I had to kick myself to remind me that he didn't like me in a way anymore than 'just friends'.

How depressing.

Fred yawned and stretched. "Well I don't know about you but I'm beat" He shifted the wrapping paper and slid under my blankets.

"What are you doing?" I laughed, raised an eyebrow.

"Shh I'm sleeping" He mumbled, closing his eyes. I shook my head and flicked my light off. I slid back under the covers.

"We haven't done this since we were kids" I smiled into the dark.

"Since our mothers decided that we couldn't be trusted because I'm a testosterone riddled boy and you're a smoking hot piece of – OW!" He exclaimed when I smacked his arm. He laughed and pulled me close to him. He was so warm and cuddly and smelled so good. I sighed happily and fell asleep almost instantly against his side.

I woke a few hours later to weak sunlight streaming through the curtains. There was an arm slung around my waist and for a moment I was disorientated. I looked up at Fred and tried to remember why he was there.

Christmas. The word flickered around my head.

Of course... he'd come into my room and given me the gorgeous necklace. I slid from between his arms and the covers and slipped into the bathroom to shower and make myself decent. I charm dried my hair and then straightened it, making it a sleek curtain around my face. I changed into some jeans and a black turtleneck sweater, leaving the necklace to sit on the outside. It was so delicate and tiny. I loved it.

"There you are" Fred stretched when I went back out into the bedroom. "Wondered where you went"

"I needed a shower" I shrugged. He smiled at me and sent the butterflies in my stomach into a frenzy. "Are we going down to open presents with everyone else?" I asked, ignoring my butterflies.

"Do we have to?" He mumbled as he stood up and stretched. I charmed the presents to float and walked to the door, trying to work out what he meant by that. "Hey A.V..." He said. I turned around and saw he was standing right behind me.

"Oh... yes?" I blinked and looked up at him. He smiled.

"Merry Christmas" He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine. I gasped in surprise and he pulled me close to him. It seemed like forever until he pulled away.

"Wh-what was that for?" I stammered, trying to remember how to breathe.

"Mistletoe" He grinned, pointing above our heads. I looked up and saw the small plant hanging above our heads.

"How did that get there?" I raised an eyebrow. He wiggled his eyebrows at me.

"Magic" He grinned before opening the door. I re-levitated the presents, because I dropped them from the shock of his lips against mine... my lips against his of god they were still tingling... and stepped out the door. Then I stopped.

"You can't go down these stairs" I turned to look at him. "How did you even get up them!" I exclaimed, realising my balcony doors had been locked and shut tight. He grinned.

"Magic love! and sometimes..." He stepped onto the stairs with me. "The slide is fun" He gripped my waist and laughed as the floor dropped out from underneath us and we slid all the way down to the common room.

Plea's Note:

Ok I know, it's cheesy, it's tacky, it's a TOTAL cliche... but... I love it :D I really hope you do to because your opinion means the most to me.

Just a side note: My computer is going in to be fixed for four days (from the 5th til the 9th or 10th) I apologise but I will have a back up copy for the chapters on those days so it won't be too bad. I'm SO annoyed at my little brother... he pulled a couple of keys off my keyboard, making this very difficult to type.

Anyway, I would also love to thank all the lovely reviews I got from the last chapter... it made me feel so confident about continuing writing :) (some even made me cry a little!)

Love as always,

Plea
xo