'Don't forget that your family is gold.' - Madonna, Keep It Together

The next few weeks pass in a blur of homework (the teachers have noticed that we'll be off with about a month of holiday soon when we'll forget everything (no one's cruel enough to give out homework over Christmas) so they're trying to fit as much as they can into the lessons now, and give out as much homework as possible before it's too late), and no sex.

I am continuously cornered by eager girls, but not to fornicate with me, instead to ask me to tell them who I've got a crush on. Guys walk around looking at me forlornly now I've let slip that it's a girl I'm interested in.

Hogwarts is a rumour mill with me at the centre, teeming with accusations about 'Al's mystery love interest'.

However, I make no further progress on the asking-Ria-out-on-a-date front, partly because I'm too chicken, and partly because I've convinced myself to wait until after the New Year.

And before I know it, it's the middle of December and I'm lying in my lonely bed in the Potter mansion, staring at the ceiling.

"ALBUS SEVERUS POTTER, GET DOWN HERE NOW!"

I ignore her.

"ROSE IS HERE TO SEE YOU!"

Urgh. Definitely not going down.

"IF YOU DON'T COME DOWN RIGHT NOW, YOU'LL HAVE NO DINNER TODAY!"

Mum makes nice dinner. But I really don't want to deal with Rose right now.

There's silence.

If I had more sense, I would be worried, but as it is, I just continue to stare at the ceiling.

My door bursts open, and a whirlwind of denim and ginger hair enters.

"Let's go, go, go!" My cousin yells, running to my wardrobe.

I ignore her.

She rifles through my wardrobe critically before tossing a T-shirt and jeans onto the bed, not even blinking at me lying on my bed in just boxers.

"Rose."

She ignores me and now goes through my underwear drawer, pulling out a clean pair of boxers and a pair of socks, which she also throws at me.

"Rose."

She looks around, frowning, and spots my wallet lying on my desk, which she grabs, before turning to look at me.

"What?"

"I'm not going out."

She rolls her eyes, exasperated. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Al. Your mum told me that you've been lying in your room doing nothing for three days. Which is why I'm here: to get your lazy arse out of bed."

"No."

She cocks a hip. "Have you done your Christmas shopping?"

I frown.

"Thought not. Now get going!"

She pulls me up and pushes me into my bathroom, shoving my clothes in after me. "You've got two minutes to get ready, Al!"

There's really no point arguing with Rose when she's in a mood like this, so I just pull on my clothes and open the door to see Rose waiting for me impatiently.

When she sees me, she thrusts a leather jacket at me and pulls me out of the door without waiting for me to put it on.

I follow her obediently as she races down the stairs and out of the front door, waving goodbye to my mum.

"Rose!" I catch up to her and grab her wrist as we reach the end of my long driveway. "Where are we going?!"

"To Diagon Alley, of course." She grins and steps out of the gate, pulling me with her as we Disapparate.

This is how I end up spending a whole day shopping with Rose, something I would never in a millions years have envisaged myself doing.

And it's actually not that bad. Rose has plenty of good ideas for Christmas presents, and I help her as she agonises over what to buy for Scor, laughing when she finally decides on a pot of hair gel and a pair of plane tickets to Egypt in the Easter holidays.

We, dare I say it, actually have fun together, and end up in Fortescue's, having ice cream.

I stir the brown gloop in my bowl thoughtfully. "Rose?"

"Mmhmm?"

"If you had been the one to ask Scor out, how would you have done it?"

She sets her spoon down and cocks her head, pursing her lips. "I'm not the best at asking people out, so I probably would have pounced on him and tried to force myself on him before asking him out and crying when he said no to my awful proposal."

I laugh and she soon joins in.

"However awful you were at asking him on a date, he still wouldn't have said no." I say, when the laughter has died down.

Rose smiles and takes a spoon of my ice cream. "I know."

I push her thieving hand away from my bowl and she looks at me with puppy-dog eyes. I sigh and roll my eyes, pushing the bowl over to her, taking her half-bowl of strawberry ice cream in return. She slurps up the last of my melted chocolate ice cream and puts the bowl down, closing her eyes contentedly.

We sit in comfortable silence for a bit before she suddenly opens her eyes and looks straight at me. "But why so curious, Al? Thinking of asking out your mystery ladekhi?"

"Ladekhi?"

"Hindi for girl." Her eyes don't move from my face.

"How do you – you know what? Never mind." Best not to ask.

"Well?"

"What?"

"You didn't answer my question."

"Oh." I pause, thinking. "Yes. Yes, I'm planning to ask her out."

Rose grins. "Good on you, cuz. So when will this happen?"

"After the New Year."

Rose frowns. "But that's years away!"

"It's actually in less than a month."

She waves her spoon in my face. "Details, details. Do it at the New Year's Eve party. Wait - ", she leans forward, eyes wide. "- Is she coming to the party?"

"Yeah. But I can't do it then. I'm not ready. I want it to be special."

I nearly gag at my words after I've spoken. Special? Where did that come from?!

"You've really got it bad for this girl, huh?"

I fiddle with my spoon.

Rose snatches my spoon, forcing me to look at her.

"Didn't mean to make you shy, cousin o' mine. It's just that you've never been this way about a girl before, other than Amy Livingston in first year."

I flip her off. "That's what Lysander said."

"Great minds think alike. But I digress. Ask her out soon or I'll go crazy trying to figure out who she is."

"I'll do it when we get back to school."

"Fine." She narrows her eyes. "Do it on Valentine's Day. Or her birthday, if that's before February 14th."

I pause. "Rose, that's actually a good idea." Ria's birthday is on February 21st. After Valentine's Day, but I'm not cliché enough to ask her out on the international day of love.

Rose smirks. "Just full of them today, aren't I?"

I laugh. "Don't let it go to your head. Godric knows it's big enough already."

She blows a mocking kiss at me and pushes herself to her feet. "Much as I would like to continue this convo, dad made me promise to be home by seven, so see you later, alligator."

"In a while, crocodile." I say, but she's already spinning away, ginger hair flying as she winks at me before Disapparating.

And I'm left in Fortescue's with two empty bowls of ice cream and too many shopping bags, smiling after spending an unexpected day with my craziest cousin.

And before I know it, it's Christmas day in the Potter household. This consists of opening presents in the morning, arguing with the parents, then Flooing over to the Burrow for a day of hell and Christmas dinner with the rest of the family.

This Christmas proves no different.

I am woken in the morning by my duvet being stripped back, leaving me shivering in my boxers.

I open my eyes to catch sight of dark red hair and soft brown eyes before a pillow is thrown at my face.

"AL, GET UP, IT'S CHRISTMAS."

I hear James shouting the same down the hall in my parents' room, although I doubt he pulled back the duvet on them after finding them naked one year.

He screamed and tried to Obliviate himself.

Good times.

I groan and push the pillow away, focusing on my clock hanging on the wall opposite. "Lils, it's six o'clock."

"SO GET UP!"

She yanks my hand and then runs away, leaving me dangling half off my bed.

I moan and stand up as James thunders past, just as excited as Lily, with my parents in tow.

I pull on a t-shirt and sweatpants and make my way downstairs as slowly as possible.

"AL, HURRY UP!"

I chuckle to myself as I slope into the living room to see my family sitting by our Christmas tree, looking impatient.

See, we have a rule that we can't open presents until we're all present. A rule that I make full use of.

I sit down next to Lily, and the presents under the tree immediately begin floating to their respective owners.

Lily claps her hands excitedly. "Who wants to open their presents first?"

"Oldest first." Mum smiles at James.

I don't even pretend to be interested in James opening his presents, only nodding when he says thanks for the shower gel set I bought for him. I do sit up a bit when he holds up Ria's present to him of 'What to do once the girl says yes'. He grins happily as he flicks through the book, and this is the first time I hear of the fact that Amy finally said yes to going with him to the New Year's Eve party.

Whatever.

But even I can't feign uninterest when James yells as he opens his present from mum and dad: a Firebolt 500, the fastest and overall best broom on the market that's due to come out next month.

Mum smiles at his obvious pleasure, "We know you have scouts coming to your games in the new year, so we can't have you playing on your old Cleansweep, can we?"

When she says 'old Cleansweep', she means the very new Cleansweep model that James bought in July.

Dad grins. "I had a word with the Firebolt manufacturers, and they said they could get me the new broom a bit early. So there you go."

James squeals girlishly and hugs mum and dad fiercely. "This is the best present ever!"

"What about the shower gel I gave you?" I say acidly, even though I just picked it out randomly.

James turns to me uncertainly. "I love the shower gel, Al. I actually really needed some, so thanks. One of the best presents."

I scowl. I want him to scream at me for not getting him a more thoughtful present, not be so fucking nice.

Lily pipes up quickly, trying to break the tension. "Right, my turn!"

I actually tried to buy a nice present for my sister, so I'm pleased when she beams as she opens it. I take out the delicate gold necklace with an oak pendant that I bought her and fasten it carefully around her neck. "Thought it'd match your eyes." I say quietly.

"I love it." She kisses me on the cheek happily. I look up to see my parents watching our exchange curiously, and I ignore them.

And then it's my turn.

I take significantly less time than the rest of my family, as only my siblings and parents give me presents on Christmas day; I'll exchange presents with my friends on New Year's Eve, and the rest of family stopped giving me presents after I stopped buying for them.

I rip open the first of the three presents, and suck in a shocked breath when I see what's inside.

"James, what the hell?"

He shrugs bashfully. "I thought you'd like it." He sits up slightly, all body language indicating that he's anxious for me to like the present, though I have no idea why. "You can clip it onto any of your leather jackets if it's raining."

"I know." I say softly, looking at the black leather hood lined with soft sheepskin, in awe. "It's amazing."

James beams.

"I mean," I cough quickly, trying to hide that slip in my usual apathy towards my brother, "It's pretty good, and all that."

But James doesn't stop beaming.

I quickly pull the next present towards me. It's wrapped meticulously neatly, with my name written on a little label in loopy handwriting.

I grin at my sister and take the care not to rip the wrapping paper as I open the present.

I laugh as I pull out '12 Failsafe Ways to Charm a Witch'. "What makes you think I need this?"

She smirks at me. "Figured you might need some help in charming your mystery girl."

Really? Is everyone obsessed with my mysterious crush?!

Mum frowns and opens her mouth to say something, but I cut her off quickly, flipping through the book. "I actually got this same book for Lysander, but for charming wizards instead of witches."

Lily grins, but dad looks confused. "Lysander is gay?"

"Of course." Mum rolls her eyes.

I scowl at my parents and finally open their present to me, which I have saved until last, somehow hoping they might actually give me a good present this year.

And I'm disappointed, like always.

I don't even say anything, just take the shirt out of its wrapping paper and put it to one side, turning away as their faces fall at my reaction.

"Er, mum, dad? Your turn." Lily says quickly.

Mum bites her lip and starts to open her present. I lose interest again, as she pretends to be grateful for the soap set I gave her.

Then dad shrugs and opens his presents. I got him a pair of socks, like I have since I was eleven, like the thoughtful son I am. Like an idiot, he still makes a big deal of it, as he does every year, giving me a hug, which I do not reciprocate.

The last present of the day is mum's present to dad, which he opens eagerly. Out of the little black box that has been wrapped carefully, he takes out a pair of cufflinks. "Ginny, they're great." He gives my mum a kiss and James mimes retching.

"They're not just any cufflinks." My mum says anxiously. Godric, why is she prolonging the end to this torture? I want to go back to sleep, but she continues. "They have an inbuilt shield charm. I thought you could wear them when you go on your Auror missions."

Dad doesn't say anything, just wraps his arms around mum and kisses her again. This time, Lily mimes retching.

When mum pulls back, she's smiling as she turns to me. "If you ever become an Auror, Albus, I'll get them for you."

And just like that, I blow.

"AUROR?!" I stand up, screaming. "HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU, I DON'T WANT TO BECOME AN AUROR!"

"Albus, I just – "

But I don't want to hear her excuses. I turn away and run a hand through my hair, frustrated. "You got James a new broom. Fine, he wants to go into professional Quidditch. You got Lily a book of tips on making a great speech. Perfect, she wants to be a famous politician. But what do you get me? A SHIRT! I HATE SHIRTS AND YOU KNOW IT! Even James knows I wear leather jackets, NOT FUCKING SHIRTS!"

"Albus, watch your – "

"WATCH MY LANGUAGE?! That's what you get from what I just said. It's like you don't even care about me. Well, fuck you mum."

Lily takes my arm and sits me down next to her, whispering calming words into my ear, but I can't take back what I just said. And I don't want to.

Dad stands up, looking angry, but James stands up too and cuts him off. "Believe it or not, Al's right, dad. As he said, even I know he hates shirts, and mum should have known too, seeing as he makes a big fuss every New Year's Eve when she forces him to wear one for the party. You could have put a bit more thought into his present."

There's a stunned silence. James has never stood up for me.

But somehow, it pisses me off. "BACK OFF JAMES! IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT YOU. FOR GODRIC'S SAKE, EVEN WHEN I ARGUE WITH MUM AND DAD, YOU MANAGE TO INVOLVE YOURSELF! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"

I know I'm being unfair and a total bastard to my brother, who looks shell-shocked, but at the moment I just don't care.

I storm out of the room, taking childish pleasure in hearing the door slam behind me.