Snow was quietly falling when Katie woke up Christmas Day. She sat with her legs crossed at the foot of the bed to gaze out the window at the shimmering snow banks while Oliver continued to sleep.
The street below was mostly deserted, except for a young family piling into a car, presumably off to spend the day with loved ones.
It wasn't the Christmas morning Katie had ever envisioned — she'd grown used to spending holidays at The Burrow, but waking up at the Woods' home felt comforting. It felt nice to be welcomed into another warm, loving family, though it also made Katie long for her own.
Holidays during her early childhood years had been fine. Since she was an only child, she received plenty of attention and gifts, but what her parents were willing to give her in material items, they lacked in giving affection. On one hand, her upbringing made her smart and independent; on the other hand, she constantly found herself seeking approval from her parents, only to feel like she'd completely alienated herself from them when they learned she was a witch.
Still, they were her parents and days like this made her wonder about them. Were they sitting by the same artificial Christmas tree that always sat in the front window, her mother quietly watching her soap operas while her father read the paper? Was there a Christmas ham in the oven, filling the entire house with the smells of brown sugar? Would the neighbors still stop by in the morning to gift them a platter of Christmas sweets and pastries? Most importantly, were her parents wondering about her, too?
Oliver stirred, pulling Katie from her reminiscing. She turned and offered him a smile as she took in his sleepy, disheveled appearance. It was endearing and she couldn't help but find it cute.
"'G'morning," Oliver said as he fended off a yawn.
"Morning, Happy Christmas."
"Happy Christmas," Oliver replied, stretching his legs beneath the covers. "You sleep all right?"
"I slept fine, minus your snoring," Katie answered with an amused smirk.
"I do not snore!"
"You absolutely do. You were mumbling, too. Probably dreaming about quidditch tactics."
"Well, you like to steal the covers," Oliver retorted. "I spent half the night nearly freezing."
"You seem to have survived just fine," Katie said with narrowed eyes. Oliver shrugged and sat up on his elbows.
"Ready for Christmas?" he asked.
Katie nodded. "What's the plan for the day?"
"Honestly, not a whole lot. Mum makes pancakes for breakfast, but that's really it. We don't really swap gifts now that Gretchen and me are grown. My aunt, uncle and three cousins will come over for supper. That's really all the entertainment needed. They're… boisterous." Katie rose an eyebrow. "They're just very loud. And I'm the youngest, so they love taking the piss out of me."
Katie flashed him a gleeful smirk. "Oh, this'll be fun."
"Before we head down, I want to give you your Christmas gift," Oliver said, crawling out of bed to rummage through his belongings. Katie frowned.
"You didn't need to get me anything," she said, though she was relieved she had thought to get something for Oliver as well. She'd been excited to give it to him but hadn't been sure when to do so.
Oliver produced a flat, square item wrapped in simple brown paper with a red bow. "It's not much," he started as Katie began to carefully peel away the paper. "But I noticed in your flat that you have quite a collection of records for your gramophone, but you didn't have this one."
Katie squealed as she tore the remainder of the paper away, revealing a vinyl record. "Is this an original first edition pressing? These are so hard to find and I think they're pretty valuable," she said as she excitedly examined the photo of The Weird Sisters on the cover.
"Aye, I found it at a record shop at Charing Cross Road."
"I love it," Katie said, hugging the record to her chest. "It's perfect. Thank you." She pressed a kiss to Oliver's cheek and grinned at him. "Now I get to try to one-up you," she said, rising to her feet to dig through her bag.
She presented Oliver with a soft package wrapped cleanly in wintry blue paper. As Oliver tore open the parcel, Katie couldn't help but grin in excitement, especially as Oliver's jaw dropped.
"Blimey. No way," he said as he unfolded the fabric. He finally tore his gaze from the gift to look at Katie in astonishment. "How did you get this?"
"Pulled some strings at work," Katie answered happily. "I knew he was your favorite and someone in the department's a friend of his."
Oliver's favorite quidditch player and hero growing up was Brevis Birch, retired captain of the Tutshill Tornadoes. Katie had managed to find a game-worn Birch jersey, which she had autographed by Birch just for Oliver.
"I hope it's not weird, giving you another pro player's jersey," Katie said. "I wasn't sure if the appeal was lost now that you're pro too."
"Are you kidding? This jersey is legendary." Oliver was talking fast, a signature sign that he was excited. "It's brilliant. Really, thank you. I can't believe you did this."
He squeezed Katie in a tight hug and planted a kiss on her forehead before he giddily stripped off his t-shirt to try the jersey on. Katie snorted.
"It's like you're sixteen again," she laughed. "Next thing I know, you'll be waking me up at 5 a.m. for quidditch practice."
"There's a field not far from here if you're interested."
Katie rolled her eyes, certain that Oliver was only half-joking.
Oliver's relatives arrived shortly after noon. Katie had spent the morning helping Gretchen and Mrs. Wood with some holiday baking while Oliver and his dad discussed quidditch. The fireplace burned with warmth and a Christmas tree sparkled from a corner in the living room, but as soon as the guests arrived, the quiet house clamored with chaos.
"Oi!" a voice shouted as the front door slammed open. "I hope there's pudding!"
Katie startled at the sudden interruption, but the Woods seemed completely unfazed. Three men, ranging from their mid twenties to late thirties, crowded into the room, followed by an older couple, seemingly in their sixties.
"Oi! It's Ollie!" one of the men exclaimed. He removed his winter coat and tossed it haphazardly on a chair.
"Thought Mr. Quidditch Star was too big to spend Christmas with his wee little family," another said. Before Oliver could reply, the three men were making a beeline to the kitchen to raid the platters of sweets Mrs. Wood had spent the morning assembling.
"Oi! And who's this?" one of the men said as he spotted Katie hovering near the kitchen island.
"It's Ollie's girlfriend," another answered. "I recognize her from the papers."
"Hi," Katie said, trying her best to sound confident as she extended a hand to the nearest cousin. "I'm Katie."
"Bloody hell, I can't believe Ollie really brought a bird home! I'm Duncan." He shook Katie's hand and offered her a grin. "So how much is Ollie paying you to be here?"
"Huh?" Katie quickly looked toward Oliver, who was rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, surely you can't be here on your own will," another cousin said. He clapped Katie on the back as if she were one of his oldest mates. "I'm Dougie, the eldest of this trio." He motioned toward the remaining unnamed cousin, who appeared to be the youngest. "And that's the baby, Declan."
"It's nice to meet you all," Katie said, hoping she didn't look scared. She'd assumed that if she could handle all those years around the Weasleys, especially the twins, she could handle any family, but the Woods were giving them a run for their money.
"But really," Declan said as he reached for a fistful of biscuits, "How did Ollie convince you to come?"
"Will you three leave the poor lass alone?" Oliver's aunt said, narrowing her eyes at her sons. She turned to Katie and offered her a kind smile. "Hello dear, I'm Ollie's aunt Noelle. Lovely to meet you."
Katie was also introduced to Oliver's Uncle Malcolm, who suggested she hex any of his sons should they become too obnoxious. She learned that Dougie owned a magical creature supply shop in Diagon Alley, Duncan worked in security at Gringott's and Declan was an apprentice to a broom maker.
Mr. Wood boasted about Katie as if she were his own daughter, telling the group about Katie's work at the Ministry and her plans to lead her department someday, and Oliver bragged about Katie's quidditch skills. Katie couldn't help but feel embarrassed by the attention, her cheeks turning red as Oliver reminisced during supper. She wasn't used to anyone speaking about her with pride, especially given the shame her parents had felt for her.
Oliver noticed this and gave Katie's knee a gentle squeeze beneath the table. She offered him a reassuring smile as she realized Oliver was probably relieved to have the attention on someone else for once.
"So how'd the two of you end up together?" Duncan asked with a mouth full of potatoes. "I mean, I know you went to Hogwarts together but how'd you end up as a couple? Or did the two of you just knock boots and decide to keep it up?"
"Duncan!" Oliver's Aunt Noelle scolded while the other two cousins snickered.
"Oh, er, well, I suppose our friendship just sort of grew," Katie said awkwardly. She and Oliver had never worked out any kind of story on how their relationship came to be.
"I just sort of decided to ask her out," Oliver chimed in. "The story's not really all that remarkable."
"And just like that you managed to land a lass like her?" Declan mused. Katie narrowed her eyes at him. She wasn't a fan of being discussed as if she wasn't in the room.
"Like I said, I just decided to ask her out and we evolved from there," Oliver said with a shrug, tossing an arm around Katie's shoulder for good measure.
"And you, you genuinely fancy this wanker?" Declan said to Katie, who couldn't help but feel taken aback by his rude demeanor.
"I… of course I do," Katie said, unsure how to react. Oliver had told her that his cousins enjoyed teasing him, but she didn't think she'd be dragged into their antics.
"I don't buy it," Declan said with narrowed eyes.
"Wh-what?" Katie wondered if Declan somehow knew about their charade, though how could he? Oliver hadn't even told his own mother about it.
"A fit lass like you and a buffoon like Ollie? It doesn't add up. What's a lass like you want with an oaf who can't talk about anything but quidditch?"
"Oi, don't call her fit," Oliver warned.
"It was a compliment, you weasel!"
"So let me get this straight," Katie started. "You think I'm out of Oliver's league? Have you seen the papers? Or Witch Weekly? They named him one of their Hottest Bachelors."
"They're just taking a piss," Oliver told Katie, hoping she wasn't upset.
"Don't think much of it," Gretchen muttered to Katie. "They're wankers."
"Yeah, we're just teasing our little Ollie," Duncan chimed in. "We're just proud of our little cousin for actually getting laid."
"Duncan!" Aunt Noelle cried.
The cousins backed off for the remainder of the meal, much to Katie's relief. Oliver didn't appear too bothered by their remarks, but pulled Katie aside as the dining table cleared out and the cousins had wandered into the living room.
"You do know they're just being arseholes because they can, right?"
Katie heaved a sigh and nodded. "I know. I just don't think it's fair to you."
Oliver smiled. "Nothing's fair when you're the youngest. But I appreciate your concern for me."
"They do this all the time?"
"Since I was a wee lad."
"They're just jealous, you know," Gretchen, who had been clearing dishes from the table, chimed in quietly. "They've always been jealous of Ollie for getting all the attention. Now that he's handsome and famous, it drives them completely mad. Seeing him with a pretty lass is probably too much for them to bear, considering not one of them can even get a date. Might as well rub it in." She winked at them and scurried off toward the sink.
Once the table was clear, Mr. and Mrs. Wood and Aunt Noelle and Uncle Malcolm retired into the living room to enjoy the fire, leaving their kids and Katie to sit at the dining table to play Exploding Snap.
"Let's play with Bavarian Rules," Katie suggested. Declan let out a whistle and Dougie quirked an eyebrow.
"Brave one you've got there, Ollie," he said. "She doesn't know what she's getting herself into."
"I'm sitting right here, you know," Katie said matter-of-factly. Dougie grinned.
"Feisty one, too. This'll be fun."
Dougie quickly explained that the group liked to turn their games of Exploding Snap into a drinking game, with the loser of each round drinking a shot of firewhiskey and answering a truth. They also all threw in five galleons each, with the winner set to take all. Katie, who had learned to play Exploding Snap from the Weasley twins, immediately agreed to the challenge.
It took eight rounds until Katie finally lost. "Cheers," she said as she downed the firewhiskey and leaned with her elbows on the table. "Okay, what's my truth question?"
The three cousins grinned. "What are you really doing with Ollie?" Duncan asked. Katie frowned, confused why they were still on about the validity of her relationship.
"What do you think I'm doing with him?" she replied. "I'm in a relationship with him."
"But what do you see in him?" Duncan pressed.
"He's brilliant," Katie answered, making it a point to cuddle up next to Oliver. "He treats me well and makes me happy."
"Nuh-uh, not good enough," Duncan answered. "Why now? You knew him all those years at Hogwarts, so why are you suddenly interested in him now? You a gold digger or something?"
"Duncan!" Gretchen hissed.
"Not that it's any of your business, but I always had a crush on him," Katie said, repeating the little fib she'd told Mrs. Wood the previous day. "I was just too shy to tell him. He had a lot of girls after him back then, too."
"Can you believe this, boys?" Duncan said as he shook his head. "She really thinks our brainless, quaffle-snogging cousin is something else."
Katie planted a kiss on Oliver and shot an annoyed glance at Duncan. "The only thing he's been snogging is me. Maybe you wouldn't have to snog the goblins you work with at Gringott's if you were a little nicer."
She high-fived Gretchen and managed to win the entire pot of money by the end of the night.