A/N: Hello and welcome to the third part of my Seven Days of Christmas! Still a fair few more to come, hope you're all having a lovely winter!
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Harry snorted, his eyes taking in the decorations their room hadn't previously had. There were vines strewn about the place, plants hanging all about, new potted trees that hadn't previously been present and flowers galore; there was even a little nature shrine in the corner of their room. He rolled over, the smell of pine and the other floral scents causing him to stir more than he'd like if he wished to return to bed.
But he managed. His eyes were fluttering shut, and that sense of peace washed over him as sleep just began to take him into its embrace… but that wasn't to be. No, there came a noise from the ground floor and it caused him to jolt. Ever since the war, he'd been finicky with noises like that — either way, now, he was good and well awake.
Thus, he threw aside the covers, the cold air of the morning striking him as a hex might. The fireplace was still burning and the snow was still coming down outside, and th—
Merlin's beard! It's Christmas Day!
Harry had nearly forgotten, and so he rushed himself getting washed and dressed. It took him five minutes or thereabouts, but in that span of time he'd managed his morning's business and rushed down the stairs to find Elaine. They hadn't exactly made plans, that much was true, but he still reckoned she had something in mind.
She was Elaine, after all.
"Hey Elaine," he called out once he finished descending the stairs. "I was thinking, wh— oh. Corene. Good morning."
Corene, sure enough, was standing right before him. She wasn't dressed in any colour that was traditionally Christmassy.
"Good morning, Harry," Corene returned, her eyes tracing him up and down. "Joyeux noël."
He blinked at her. "What?" Merlin, he'd sounded right British then.
A rare and elusive smile came of her then, her lips raising in that small fashion they always did. "Happy Christmas," she said then, cocking her head at him. "You celebrate it, do you not?"
"I do," he said after a few seconds. "I didn't know you did. I thought most Purebloods kept to the older traditions."
Corene shrugged. "My family keeps to both. One side is traditional, and the other isn't," her thin smile grew larger. "It is nice to receive twice the gifts from family, and nicer to see them for so long."
Harry imagined it was. What he wouldn't give to have a family large as she did. He opened his mouth to make mention of how kind her family was to him when last he visited, but then, as before, there was that bang. He glanced at Corene and then nodded in the direction of the noise. "Walk with me?"
She slid into step beside him as soon as he turned, the pair making their way over, quickly, to the source of the noise.
When they reached a set of twin doors and yet another bang came, he pushed one open, allowed Corene to enter first, and then followed her in shortly thereafter. He stopped dead in his tracks at what he saw.
It was Elaine, only, she wasn't as he was expecting. Not remotely. There was no extravagant dress, no makeup, no jewellery, nothing that resembled her typical appearance. In place of it all was a simple, warm set of pyjamas with an apron worn over it. An apron that was covered in flour. Based on the flower-made footprints that went around the kitchen aisle in a circle, he guessed she'd been down baking for a fair while.
He looked over at Corene, expecting to find a strange look or one that'd not be all that understanding… but as it turned out, the day wasn't through with its surprises, and to think it was only the morning!
Corene, much to Harry's dismay, had rolled up her sleeves and with a wave of her hand, did up her hair into a perfect ponytail without so much as one errant strand; he expected as much from her. Silent and still continuing on her course of surprising him, she walked through the bits of flower until she was beside Elaine, whereupon reaching the other girl she began to speak.
Harry couldn't make out the conversation on account of the many items Elaine had mixing of their own volition. That wasn't to mention the others that were boiling, chopping and the like. Really, the place almost seemed as if it were a restaurant.
Not one to be left out, Harry kicked off his slippers and walked on through the mess. He didn't mind if his pyjamas were covered in flour and the like.
When he approached the two, he saw them side-by-side, kneading dough with what looked to be chocolate chips inside it. Harry moved over as soon as he noticed that small detail, and with the dexterity of a seeker, plucked a chip straight from Elaine's dough. He made to do so again, but she tutted and caught his hand.
"Bad," she said, the teasing tone in her voice thick.
Harry couldn't help himself. He spun her around, picked her up and set her on the counter after shoving aside the dough she'd been working on. Not a second later and his lips met hers, feverish and frenzied; the first thing he noticed was how sweet she tasted. The many sugared goods she'd been eating had certainly altered made him wish he could snog her for hours unending.
But he couldn't, he was mortal, unfortunately, and so he withdrew. When he did, he took in her blushing face and swollen lips with a grin. "I re—"
Elaine spoke over him. "It's Christmas, Corene," a hidden meaning evident in her tone. "Think of it as my present."
Harry was just about to ask what she meant, especially when that devious look fell upon her face, but he couldn't. Before he knew what was happening, he'd felt one of Corene's slight, soft hands turn his head, and then he was snogging her. His eyes widened, they sought out Elaine even as the elf-like Corene kissed him with all the softness he imagined clouds had.
Merry Christmas, she mouthed.
And then she sad idly by no longer; the three of them together certainly made for an interesting Christmas.