Christmas morning brought many surprises. Though it was the hottest summer on record, it was also the coldest winter. Snow began to fall the morning Aquila woke up, a blanket wrapped around her at the foot of the fireplace. Dudley was sprawled on the couch, his mouth wide open and a thin stream of droll falling onto the pillow beneath his head.

It was disgusting, but she couldn't help but laugh. Falling back onto the pillow she had placed under her head, she could see Petunia curled up in the far chair, a blanket tucked around her body, one that hadn't been there when she had fallen asleep.

"Happy Christmas." Dudley. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and smelling the peppermint in the air. Peppermint and cookies. But the peppermint was moreso on her than anything else. Oh, her head.

"Happy Christmas," she replied quietly, exhaling again and opening her eyes to see the nearly dead fire. It was Christmas morning. She awoke slowly, her headache pounding, and sat up just as slowly, staring at the Christmas tree. An abundance of presents was underneath - presents that hadn't been there the night before. "Woah."

"Santa came last night," Dudley told her. She glanced at him, her eyes wide. He shrugged when her expression clearly told her to elaborate. "You must have fallen asleep."

Petunia gave a snort in her sleep, turning over slightly, teetering dangerously close to the edge of the chair. "But... you said he wasn't real," she said, confused. She groaned. "Bloody hell, how drunk did I get last night?"

"Pretty drunk," Dudley chuckled. "I think you and Mum sang the neighbors out of the country."

"Oh, bloody hell... I don't remember anything past that snowman movie."

Dudley laughed at that. "We usually wait until Mum and Dad are awake to open presents... so, I say we open them now."

"Are these all yours?" Aquila asked in surprise. There had to have been at least fifty presents under the tree.

"Of course not." He climbed off the couch, kneeling down next to the tree and sorting through a few of them. "There's some for Mum, Dad, and you, too."

"Me?" Aquila asked in surprise. "But..." She frowned. "You shouldn't have gotten me anything."

He shrugged. "They're not all from us. This one says Fred and George. And this one says ... Man-Mary? No, Manisilea."

"Oh, she's a distant cousin," Aquila admitted. She slowly moved towards where Dudley was kneeling, seeing the pile that was building of presents with her name on the front. Merlin. "How did these get here?"

"Santa," Dudley grinned.

"Be serious," Aquila giggled. "Really."

"Your house-elf apparated over with them and started to put them at your feet, but you kept tossing and turning, so when he was gone, I started to hide them under the tree..." She smiled to herself, listening to the tale. "What are you doing today?"

"I was invited to the Burrow, for lunch," Aquila said regretfully. "I'll be back later, though."

Dudley shrugged. "We've got all break. Don't worry about it." He passed her a present, one from her mother. "Open that one first."

"Shouldn't we wait for your parents?" Aquila questioned. "I don't want to break tradition-"

"Like Mum said, we aren't that traditional." She took the present carefully, the wrapping much nicer than Euryale's usual gifts. Those being designer clothing Aquila only wore when she was going out. "Go on."

She opened it, expecting a simple looking pair of flats or something, to go with whatever other outfit she had gotten her daughter, but the object was heavy, and when Aquila freed it from the wrappings, she was more than a little surprised to see the box.

A broom servicing kit, but not new. Aquila shouldn't have expected that much, nor did she expect anything like this at all. It was an old cherry wood with deep red coloring in some places. Aquila turned the wooden box over, seeing an engraving, which was hard to read, as the box was very old, but she gasped once she got them. R. A. B. Her father's broom kit from when he was in school.

"What is it?"

"It's a broom kit," she explained. "To polish your broom, or fix up the tail, but... but this is my father's. Merlin, this must be at least twenty-five years old." She opened it up, finding the items inside weren't her father's originals. He most likely used them all up and kept the box. But each item inside was brand new, sealed, and ready to get to work on her broom. "Merlin's beard... Mum usually just gets me some dress."

"Maybe she's coming around to the idea of you being a Quidditch player," Dudley suggested. Aquila snorted at the possibility. Her mother was most definitely not coming around.

Aquila grabbed a package with Dudley's name, handing it to him. "This one is from ... Marigold."

"My grandmother," Dudley admitted. He tore the paper off, as Aquila set the servicing kit to the side, and chuckled. "Typical. Every year she sends us one of these dolls. No matter who you are. Dad even gets one. She collects them, see." He showed the small, miniature doll to Aquila.

"It looks like me," she said curiously.

Dudley squinted, inspecting it further. "Yeah, I suppose so." He shrugged. "That's weird." Aquila agreed. "Your turn..." He grabbed a present with her name on it. "From..." He didn't seem to be able to read the handwriting. "Bloody hell, do all of your lot write all fancy like this? I think it says Amos, but it could be Amy."

"Well, I don't know an Amy, so my money's on Amos." She took it out of his hands and recognized the handwriting. "Yup." She ripped the paper, trying not to make a mess, and grinned at the Ireland scarf. A new prototype for the team's merchandise. She inspected each stripe and grinned. "There I am," she said, pointing to her name embroidered on her own stripe. "Each team member has one. Reserves on this side and field players on this one."

"Wicked," Dudley commented. "Greek looks good on you."

She was touched by the odd compliment as she wrapped the scarf around her neck. "Thank you." She swallowed, grabbing one for him. "Here you go. From a Primrose Evans."

"Ugh, mum's aunt." It revealed a set of keys, and a note saying that he was welcome to vacation at her summer home in the Caribbean if he wished. "Wicked. She never lets anyone go there!" Dudley glanced at Aquila, grinning. "I reckon you can cut travel fees by about a hundred percent, yeah?"

"Apparating," Aquila agreed. "But its illegal to apparate internationally unless you're twenty five and have a Ministry official's approval." He shrugged.

"Worth a shot." He tossed the keys back into the box they came from. "Definitely going to use that gift. Alright... your turn so..." He grabbed a small, thin object. "Right, this is from Gin...Ginevra?"

"Oh, Ginny," Aquila corrected, taking it from him and tearing it open. She immediately flushed a bright red and hid the object back in the paper. "Oh my Merlin... How on earth did she even-" Aquila kept her eyes closed, taking a deep breath. Perhaps she could unseen that. "Well, I know what to bring up at lunch."

"What is it?" Dudley asked, confused.

Aquila tried to hide her laughter, but failed. "Um... Just not something that should be ... well, let's pretend we never opened this one. Alright. Next one-"

"Wait isn't that one of those..." Dudley's eyes widened in realization and he too flushed. "Oh. Right."

"Next one," Aquila repeated, setting the object aside and reaching for Dudley's present. "Here you go. A Mr... No, Mrs. Marge Dursley."

"My other aunt," Dudley explained. He opened it, the large and fluffy sweater obviously something he didn't like. But it looked warm, and the dog on the front of it was cute. "She sort of breeds pugs."

"They're adorable," Aquila commented. She touched it lightly. "I've never seen a dog like that before. Wizards don't tend to have dogs, unless it's a breed like the Queen's, Corgis, or Afghan Hounds."

"Well, they're annoying buggers that like to bite your ankles." She giggled, watching as he tossed the sweater over his shoulder. He grabbed a present for her, and read the tag. "Fred and George."

"Oh, Merlin. It's probably going to explode." She tore the paper carefully, making sure not to suddenly move, until she could slide the paper off as a whole. It was ... "What is this?" She shook the box, which she figured probably wasn't smart, and heard jingling inside.

"Do you need scissors?" Dudley asked.

"No... Hold on." She felt along the box until she came to a seam and she tore it through, opening it until she was presented with an assortment of what looked like sweets. "They're inventing again."

"Those look good," Dudley admitted.

"Toxic, no doubt," Aquila sighed. "Puking pastels? Honestly? And Peruvian Instant Darkness powder."

"These things are genius!" Dudley insisted. "Do you know how many classes you could get out of?"

"Precisely," Aquila sighed. "Professor McGonagall is going to throw a fit if everyone comes back and has a set of these. She's probably the only teacher that truly cares about the rules. Professor Snape on the other hand would make you go to class even though you're vomiting everywhere."

Dudley chuckled. "Well, if you're ever having a bad day."

She agreed, setting the package down. "Oh! Here's one from Angelina." She passed it to him, seeing his surprise. "She really liked you."

"I didn't get her anything," he admitted.

"Don't worry about it. They don't care about stuff like that," Aquila shrugged. "Go on, open it!" He did so, a confused expression coming to his face almost immediately. "It's a cauldron cake... Well a box of them," Aquila explained. "They're sort of like candy. Actually really good."

"Oh," Dudley said softly. He opened it, taking out a piece of the candy and inspected it. He took a bite, surprised by the caramel filling. "This is actually really good."

"Which reminds me of the assortment of candy I brought from Honeydukes..." She smirked. "I usually only have one trunk... I may have had to transfigure another for all the sweets."

"One of those things is full of nothing but sweets?"

Aquila shrugged, "Maybe."

"Bloody hell, which one?"

"The heaviest...?" Aquila admitted. He chuckled, setting the box of sweets down. He grabbed one for her, from her brother. She knew it was a book just by the way it felt. Bloody hell. She giggled when she saw it. The brand new edition of the Quidditch rule book. Her annual read.

"Quidditch?"

"I read this every year on Christmas. There's a new rule book put out every year. Hardly anything really changes. I have seventeen copies. My father would read it to my brother and I... at least, that's what Evan says. I don't remember much." She set the book aside. "I'll start it later." She grabbed one from the twins. "This ought to be dangerous."

It turned out to be the same Skiving Snack box as she had received, but this time safe for Muggles. She shot a warning look at Dudley. "Don't go using this to skip classes."

"Now why would I do that?" She laughed, finding this hilarious, and he passed her another present. "Evan, again?"

The laugh faded as she didn't recognize the handwriting as her brothers. She slapped it out of his hands, the present falling to the ground with a thump. "Don't touch it," she gasped as he reached for it again. She pulled her wand out, prodding it slightly. Nothing happened. "Evan Rosier. My uncle, who is involved in the Dark Arts." She prodded it once more, casting a charm to see if there was any Dark residue. There was none.

"Are you guys close?"

"He's never sent me anything in my life," Aquila said simply. "I'll save that one for when I go to the Burrow. Maybe the Order has an idea what to do with it."

"Oh, well, next one then."

They continued opening gifts, and by the time Vernon and Petunia were awake, only a select few were left. She had them open the gag gift for them all, which was the abundance of sweets she had made Dudley lift into his car. "Bloody hell," Dudley gasped. "Now I know why it was so heavy."

"There's one for each of you, and it's all of the safe sweets I could find," Aquila explained.

"Safe sweets?" Vernon echoed.

"Oh, yes, acid pops are very painful. Burn a hole right through your tongue. And a few others are along those lines. Each one has a note explaining what they are," Aquila informed them. "So you don't have to try them if you don't think you'll like them. And any allergy ingredients also are on the package. Wizards don't have allergies, you see, but kids buy them for friends or their parents so... they're included."

"Oh, it's lovely! Which one do you recommend?"

Aquila pointed to the Bertie Botts beans. "You never know which one you'll get. I once got a dirt flavoured one. When they say 'Every Flavour' they truly mean every flavour."

"Good God," Petunia murmured, picking up different types of sweets to read the packaging. "And you lot eat these?"

"Blood pops are particularly popular amongst the vampires." Petunia set the pops down in surprise. "They're actually good. Especially A positive." Petunia didn't seem to believe her.

"This is brilliant!" Dudley insisted. "Chocolate frogs?"

"Oh! Careful with those," Aquila giggled. "They like to jump away."

"Are they alive?"

"Oh, Merlin, no. But they're charmed to jump around once released," Aquila explained. "So keep a firm grip." Dudley presented her with a present while she began to explain and recommend a few to the bewildered parents, and she took it in confusion. It was addressed to her, and the sender... Dudley's parents.

"Oh! That has to be opened last," Petunia said suddenly. "Give her the other one, Dudley."

There was a certain order? She supposed her presents for them were in order too. Dudley took the package and then gave her another, this one slightly larger. "We didn't know what to get you," Vernon explained.

"Oh, shhh, Vernon," Petunia chided. "Let her open it first! We hope you like it."

Aquila tore at the paper carefully, as it seemed the paper was rather expensive looking. Once the paper was gone, she was left staring at what seemed like a rather nice silver box. "My sister mentioned that in your world, on your seventeenth birthday, you get something nice, for turning of age. And it took a while to find something so I didn't have it for your birthday, but... it's pure silver, and I asked your mother what your middle name was... So I had it engraved."

"It's beautiful," Aquila breathed. She lightly ran her fingers along the engraving. "Thank you so much! Oh, I'll cherish this..." She shook her head, lifting the lid to look inside. Inside was much more expensive than the outside. "Oh Merlin..." She set the box down gently, lifting the necklace. "You guys..."

"It matches that red dress," Petunia input. "The one you wore before you went to school. It's a ruby, and the other gems are pink rhinestones. I hope you don't have anything like it already."

"No," Aquila promised. "This is breathtaking. Thank you so much! I... I'm speechless. You guys shouldn't have spent this much."

"You're a beautiful girl, doing so much for our family, and you've opened our eyes to a world of things we had before refused to accept..." Aquila glanced up from the necklace, tears in her eyes. "Oh, my dear, don't cry!"

"This is the nicest present anyone has ever given me," she said quietly. "It's so thoughtful and... thank you. All of you. Can someone put it on me, please?" Dudley reached for it, volunteering, and she pulled her Ireland scarf off, lifting up her hair, which she knew was no doubt a tad tangled, and he clipped it in place.

Once it rested on her throat, she touched it lightly, brushing away at the tears with her other hand. "Okay, before I keep repeating thank you over and over again..." She took one of the few presents left for them, one from her. She handed one to Vernon first. "You're a very difficult man to shop for," she informed him. "But I didn't my best..."

He tore off the ribbon tied around the package and when he pulled it open, his eyebrows lifted in surprise.

"It's a magical object," she admitted carefully. "I wasn't sure if that was okay. I-It's an object for the car. I know how much you love your car. It ensures that you never have to use gas again. It's sort of like a never-empty tank. Um, I mean, it runs your car off magic. You won't have any of the magical car qualities, like flying or invisibility, but you don't have to get gas..."

"That's fantastic!" Vernon insisted. "Your lot has a lot of this kind of stuff?"

"Oh, sure," Aquila shrugged. "A few families have magical cars. Not a lot, but enough that they make products for them. These are specifically made for Muggle models. I can help you install it, if you'd like. The Weasleys have a car that I used to watch Arthur fix up."

"That's bloody brilliant!" Vernon cried. "This is bloody brilliant!"

Aquila giggled, passing a present to Petunia next. "And this... well, I had to get a few ideas from Dudley on what you wanted... I didn't know, see, but he mentioned something like this... I think you'll like it, too."

And Petunia did. Self-sharpening knives, and self-washing pans - all of which wouldn't activate if someone Muggle (other than the three Dursleys) looked at it. "Oh, this will give me so much more free time," she sighed. "And kitchen scissors! Oh, I've always wanted kitchen scissors!"

Aquila giggled, glancing at Dudley. He had been the one to prod his mother about what she wanted for Christmas. "And finally, Dudley," Aquila said quietly, handing the last package to him. "Er, I sort of second guessed myself about eight different times... sorry for the hasty packaging. I took what I originally got you back for the third time and got this for the third time." She bit her lip to stop talking.

Dudley tore the package open, not really caring that it had been hastilly wrapped. He threw the paper over his shoulder and grinned as he inspected what was in front of him. "Medical books?"

"Er, yeah," Aquila admitted. "Anatomy, um, diseases in the Muggle world. It's so hard to find these things in Flourish and Blotts." She swallowed as he flipped through a few pages. "For you to get a head start on your medical career..." She began to gnaw on her lip, as he kept flipping pages. "And in the anatomy one, the pictures will move to explain things, or to show examples. A lot of healers use that if they're specializing in surgical magic."

"This is going to be so wickedly helpful," Dudley insisted. "Thank you so much, Aquila."

She exhaled in relief, smiling slightly. "Er, there's something else... in the anatomy book."

Dudley grabbed the second book immediately, flipping it open to see not only the inscription she had written, but the second gift. "Your mum actually helped me on this one... I didn't know who your favorite team was... She said you watched their games pretty religiously... So, I pulled some strings, because I sort of just have a lot of strings, apparently." Dudley's eyes widened.

"You're joking."

"There's Arsenal, Chelsea, and England's national team for Rugby." He picked up the small post-card sized posters of each team with the current members. "Luckily enough, one of my old Quidditch buddies plays on each of them." He kept flipping through each of the three post-cards, as if the black marker would disappear. "It's every member, and the coaches. Uh... and look at page three hundred and twenty six."

"Oh, bloody hell," Dudley whispered. "These are real?"

She giggled. "Yes, they're very real." He put the autographs back in the front cover and then turned to the page she designated.

"No way."

"Um, they may have been a bit generous when I asked for their signatures... and offered you free tickets for four people?" Aquila admitted, but it came out more like a question and Dudley, she swore, was near tears.

"Bloody hell, Aquila. This is... Bloody hell!" His excitement was mounting, and he set the books down before engulfing Aquila in a hug. "You're the absolute bloody best girl friend in the entire world! Thank you!"

"My pleasure," Aquila insisted. He held onto her for a while, almost refusing to let her go, but she needed to breath and his grip was a bit tight. He let her go and touched the tickets almost reverently. Then he sort of blushed. It wasn't like his cheeks turned a bright red, but his face was a little pink under his eyes.

"I sort of had the same idea for you. They aren't the same teams, as its so hard to get tickets, but-" He handed her a present addressed from himself. "These teams are still wicked." Her eyes got wide.

"Tickets?" she questioned. She tore open the envelope, seeing the abundance of tickets. "Football? We're going to see football!" There were pairs, two tickets each for two separate matches, back to back, day after day. Oh, Merlin. It would be like a party, then. She squealed, tackling him into a hug, in thanks. "This is awesome! I've never been!" She inspected the tickets further, finding they were very similar to the ones she'd given him. "These are in two days."

"Er, yeah... I hope you're not busy-"

"Of course not!" Aquila insisted. "This is awesome! Thank you!"

He seemed relieved by her enthusiastic response. "Good. Uh, you're welcome." She giggled, still inspecting the tickets when a thump sounded in front of her. She jumped, glancing up, to see Petunia attempting to hide her smile.

"This is the last one, we swear," Petunia insisted. It was a medium sized object, and soft. She could tell that much as she picked it up. She set the tickets down on the silver box and pulled the paper loose. It was a article of clothing. An article of clothing that she knew was going to be worn quite often.

"Oh, Merlin, this looks so comfortable." It was a very large sweater she knew she'd drown in, but it was a large sweater that she would happily die in. "What is this made of? It's so soft!"

"Cotton," Petunia answered.

"Oh, it's lovely," Aquila sighed. She slid her arms through the designated holes, and then put it over her head. "And warm! Thank you. The castle gets so cold, especially in the winter."

And just like that, all of the presents were opened, leaving a disaster in their wake. "Well, we certainly caused a mess," Petunia admitted, sighing as she looked around.

"Oh, I'll take care of it," Aquila volunteered. She reached for her wand, and flicked it casually towards the mess of torn and colorful paper. It disappeared with the sound of a zipper.

"Oh, well that's a useful one, isn't it?" Petunia stood, her joints cracking as she had been sitting for a very long time. "Oh, I need to stop sleeping in that chair. It's not comfortable in the slightest."

"How drunk were we?" Aquila questioned. She fell on her side, where she had fallen asleep the night before. "Merlin, it must have been bad. I'm sorry in advance for any actions."

"You just sang lyrics to a song I'm quite certain you've never heard before," Dudley snorted.

"I didn't!" Aquila gasped. "Oh, I'm so sorry-"

"Haven't had that much entertainment since my school days," Vernon insisted. "Felt young again." Aquila's emarrassment, however, wasn't lessened that much. She stayed for breakfast, and just long enough for her to see a rather touching kiss be exchanged between Vernon and Petunia, before she decided she needed to go to get ready for the Burrow.

Dudley helped her carry all of her things and she transfigured a bag out of a few items, which she stuffed most of her things in. The book, for example, wouldn't fit.

"Thank you," Aquila said quietly to Dudley, near the front door of his home. "It was lovely... and I had so much fun-"

He kissed her, for silencing purposes at first, and then his hands drew her closer, holding her tightly. She melted, she was pretty sure that's what it could be called. He pulled away after a few moments and struggled to catch her breath. "Happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas," she answered.

"You should probably go, before your owl starts to nest in your hair." She laughed, smacking his arm and moving towards the door. "I'm kidding!"

"I'll see you later."

"Have fun."

"You too," she giggled, nodding her head towards where she could hear Petunia ask Vernon for the left over peppermint schnaps.

Her mother was still asleep when Aquila got home, and so she quietly creeped up the stairs, setting her gifts down in the trunk. She pulled out the gift from Evan Rosier, eyeing it carefully, setting it on her bed. She'd check on it later.

She took a record time shower and dressed once more in the warm sweater that the Dursleys had gifted her. And she discovered it was a sweater dress, and so comfortable she felt like she was a walking bed. She only wrote a note to her mother, telling her she was heading to the Weasleys, and then she apparated, Evan Rosier's gift clutched tightly with her. She desperately wanted to know the contents inside.