By now it was December 24th. Elise and Nicholas had gone on one lovely date two days ago and had since been almost inseparable. He had the week of Christmas off from work so he came over and helped her prepare the small party she wanted to host. "Helping" relegated him to Harry duty, as she quickly discovered his mother was right about his cooking skills.

"You make and sell potions for patients all the time, how are you so bad at cooking? Are you sure you can trust the medicine you make?" Elise had said while laughing at his poor attempt at sugar cookies.

"It's different!" He had whined, sulking away to go hang with the baby.

Elise had rolled her eyes and continued her preparations. At five o'clock sharp, Charlie arrived with a basket of wrapped presents. Her parents came shortly thereafter and they gathered in the living room. Harry was treated to a mountain of presents, most of which Elise tucked under the tree for the next morning. She left one present for each person out for them to open tonight as a fun treat for Christmas Eve.

Her parents opened one each, her mother received a set of earrings she had been wanting from Elise. Her father opened a signed copy of one of his favorite books from his wife. Charlie went next, she opened her gift to find a nice winter coat, Elise pointed it out to Nicholas in the shops and he knew she would like it so they bought it then. Nicholas was next, his gift said it was from Harry. He opened to find a few Polaroid-sized pictures of him, Harry, and Elise.

"I made copies for you both; his are already hanging in his room." Elise commented with a smile.

Nicholas placed them in his wallet gently. "Thank you! You're next."

Elise grabbed her gift, it was from her father. She tore the wrapping open carefully. Inside a cardboard box was a collection of children's stories. She looked at them quizzically.

"These are all the books you used to love when you were very little." Her father chuckled. "I read each and every one of those books everyday for years. Now, I figure you can share with Harry." His eyes held the same mischief they always did, he was poking fun at her for something, but she could quite tell what yet.

She opened one of the copies. In the front cover, written in pink sparkly ink were the words. "Property of Elise Clarke." Underneath that in red marker was "AND NO ONE ELSE." That phrase was underlined and circled. She laughed out loud, showing Nicholas. She had forgotten how possessive she was of her toys and such, for no reason whatsoever, considering she didn't have any siblings to take her things.

Her mother told the story to Charlie who smiled brightly as they chatted. Elise was glad they seemed to get along.

"Little man's turn!" She called, pulling Harry to her lap.

Nicholas handed him a present from himself. Harry made quick work of the thin wrapping paper and tore out a box. In the box was a set of small foam balls. When Elise looked closer, she noticed they were the quidditch balls. The quaffle, bludgers, and even the snitch were in this little collection. They even appeared to be charmed. Elise could already feel the headache coming on from this particular toy. She sent a playful glare over in his direction, he only smiled innocently back. Harry was trying to eat the box to get it open, so she relented and let him hold one of them.

She handed him the quaffle and he threw it back at her with a disinterested groan. She sighed, reaching for a bludger. He threw that one back too. Finally she handed him the snitch, expecting the same treatment. Instead, Harry's eyes grew wide as he stared at the shiny ball, glinting in the overhead light. The plastic wings folded out and it began to dart around his head. He giggled with delight, chasing after the snitch. Elise had a feeling he'd be entertained for quite a while.

"Well well well, looks like you got yourself a little seeker there." Charlie chuckled.

"Indeed." Nicholas agreed, watching Harry grab at the tiny ball relentlessly.

"That boy better not be doing any quidditch, I'll be sick in the stands for every game." Elise grumbled.

"You might be sore outta luck there, kiddo." Her father said as Harry actually managed to grab hold of the snitch. "He's a natural."

She rolled her eyes, announced that dinner was ready and together they made their way to the dining room to enjoy the spread she had worked so diligently on all day. Even Nicholas's failed sugar cookies were set out on the table. Harry even managed to eat one, before bursting into tears that is. Nicholas just dumped the rest of the platter in the trash, mumbling something about "unfair" and "what's wrong with me". The adults all stifled laughs and hid grins.

The rest of the dinner was spent sharing stories and discussing future plans. Her parents talked about a trip they wanted to go on soon. Unsurprisingly, the conversation soon switched to the two young adults. Their parents teased them for having silly crushes on eachother and wondered if they might end up together. They tried their best to avoid suspicion but failed miserably. They shared matching bright red faces when they started mentioning them getting together for real.

Her father became rather silent for a while, eyeing Nicholas like he was a rabid beast set out to eat her. Her mother was overjoyed, just happy she found a nicer man than her last. Charlie said nothing, eyeing the two of them with a knowing smirk. Soon after that, dinner was finished. They left in good spirits and wished each other a happy Christmas as they bid each other farewell.

—

The next morning, Elise excitedly got to work on setting up the perfect Christmas for Harry. She set out breakfast and his presents in the living room, intent on having him open them as soon as he was up.

He was awake by eight and practically snatched out of his crib to be dragged down to the living room. His eyes grew wide with the mountain of presents left for him, shiny wrapped boxes and bags stuffed with sparkly tissue paper, Elise could tell he was going to enjoy ripping to shreds.

She set him down on the rug, pulling out her camera to take pictures and videos. One by one he opened his presents, setting aside enough toys and clothes for a small army. It seemed her parents went a bit overboard with the shopping, she'd have to remind them that she only had so much room in the house for this stuff.

When he finished with that it was off to Christmas breakfast, and a day full of movie watching and snuggling by the fire. Elise thought it truly was picture-perfect, and hung a printed out picture of the two of them in the foyer. Harry sat in her lap with a huge grin on his face, she held the camera above them with a smile similar to his own. The print was of course taken out through magic and made to move. She had to stop herself from staring at their laughing and smiling for hours on end.

She opened her own presents that morning as well. Some clothes and things for the house were gifted from her parents. Charlie got her a bunch of board games to keep, hoping one day Harry might enjoy playing with her. Nicholas bought her a necklace with a silver pendant. Inside the pendant was two stones, an aquamarine crystal and a smaller ruby, her and Harry's birthstones. She thought it very special and put it in immediately.

"Look little man, Nick got a necklace for me, this little red ruby is you!" She showed the toddler excitedly.

Harry laughed and touched the pendant, pointing at the other crystal. "Ma!" He said.

"Yes, that one's for mama." She nodded, thinking once again he was much too smart for an almost 18 month old.

While she put the presents away, Harry was taking a nap in his room. She had just finished with the last one when the doorbell rang. She raced to the door, knowing who awaited.

"Jackie!" She cried, flinging the door open.

A short girl with curly dark hair stood in the doorway, a bright smile on her face. They threw their arms around each other excitedly.

"Eli! Oh my goodness how I've missed you!" Jackie squeezed her tightly, rocking them back and forth.

"You've no idea how much I've missed you too!" Elise pulled back, looking at her with wide eyes. "I can't believe you could make it!"

"Me either, they said my deployment would last another 6 months, but here I am!" She let herself in, checking the new house out.

Jacqueline Meyers was Elise's best friend. They met in school and had been inseparable ever since. They even went to the same Uni. Jaqueline was a pilot in the Air Force, and her husband was a professional photographer. Jacqueline had been deployed to America for a training requirement to advance in rank. She had contacted Elise a few weeks earlier, saying she might get to come home. Elise was over the moon, she'd missed her friend terribly.

"So you've got a whole house? My my, look at you little miss financially stable." Jackie laughed from a ways down the hall.

Elise stopped dead in her tracks. The door was still wide open and she felt the cold wind hit her back, only making her freeze more comical.

"Jackie, there's something you should know.." she said, realizing Jackie wasn't aware of the past two months and their many events.

"Elise, why's your door open?" She froze for a second time, making eye contact with Jackie as she heard Nicholas in the doorway.

"Nick!" She turned on her heel, staring at him strangely.

He stood rooted to her porch, a bouquet of flowers and a wrapped box in his hand. She eyed them both and smiled.

"Nick, come in, it's cold." She let him in and finally closed the door.

"Jackie, Nick. Nick, Jackie. Now you're acquainted…" She stepped back and let the two see each other.

Nicholas gave a polite nod but turned to her worriedly. "I'm sorry, did I come at a bad time?"

"Not at alllll, sir." Jackie drew out the L, a smirk on her face. "What do you think you're doing at my girl's house with flowers huh?" She clicked her tongue, walking over to them.

"Jackie please, we're all adults here.." Elise rolled her eyes, holding her hands out to Nick for the flowers. "Thank you!" She smiled brightly at him.

"Happy Christmas." He chuckled, looking only slightly afraid now.

"Is this what I need to know?" Jackie laughed. "You went and got yourself a man while I was gone? Tragic, how will I ever move on?" She sighed dramatically, crossing her arms.

"You're literally married." Elise deadpanned, hugging her flowers to her chest.

Jackie blinked. "So? Who said you could betray me like this?" She turned to Nicholas. "The audacity on this one I swear. Can you believe it, cheating on me with some guy? Traaaagic."

Nicholas was frozen with a frightful smile, unsure of how to handle Jackie's comfortability.

"Just ignore her, she's always like this when I try to date someone. She's been married for three years." Elise patted him on the shoulder apologetically.

"Oh…alright." He nodded. "I have to get back to my mother soon, but I wanted to drop off one last present." He smiled at her. "Happy Christmas, Elise."

"Happy Christmas, Nick." Elise reached out and squeezed his hand as he turned to leave, a sweet smile on her face.

As the door closed Jackie gagged dramatically. "Oh, eww, you're in love." She laughed. "He's a cutie Eli, much better than that other ass hat. I already like him better." She shot her two thumbs up and a wink.

Elise sighed. "Must you do that every time?"

"Yes!" Jackie smiled brightly.

"To answer your earlier question," Elise started, choosing to ignore her. "No, that's not what I was going to tell you."

Jackie started to say something when a cry echoed from the monitor. Elise groaned, her surprise was ruined once again. Jackie whipped to her, eyes wide and mouth agape.

"You had a baby while I was gone?" Her tone was a mix of shock and anger, Elise only laughed.

"Hang on, hang on. Come see him!" She motioned for her to follow her up to his room.

"No, no. Don't dodge the question, you had a BABY?" Jackie's voice was shrill.

"No, Jackie. It's a long story, but he's not mine. Just come see him, he's precious." They got to his room and she showed her inside.

Harry sat in his crib, pouting. His face told her she had taken too long to get him.

"Hey little man, I'm here." She laughed softly, picking him up. "I want you to meet my friend, this is your auntie Jackie!"

Elise turned to face her. Jackie broke immediately, squealing with delight.

"Ohhh Eli, he's adorable! Can I hold him please?" She cried, holding her arms out.

"Of course." Elise laughed, handing him to her. "Did you hear about the Potters?" She asked tentatively.

"Yes, I did. Absolutely awful. Especially their little boy, I hope they managed to save him." Jackie held Harry close, looking at Elise strangely. "Why?"

Elise only glanced at Harry, a sad expression on her face.

"No…am I holding Harry Potter?" Jackie gasped, looking at the sleepy toddler in awe.

"Well, technically you're holding Harry Clarke, but yes, you're holding Harry Potter." Elise smiled, running her hand across his head.

"Wow…" Jackie breathed, looking from the baby to Elise. "What did you get yourself into?"

The two chuckled lightly, gazing at the boy fondly. He babbled to himself and them, saying nonsense and making funny noises. Jackie sat down with him on the floor to watch him talk. Elise sat next to them, watching him too. Eventually he began crawling around the room and diverted his attention to the many toys and books scattered about.

Jackie glanced over at Elise. Her best friend was grinning ear to ear watching him play and laugh. She thought it was good that Elise had someone like this in her life now. Someone who would grow up and under her care and be there for her as she grew up too. She thought of their years at school together, how Elise struggled to fit in with their classmates and was often the subject of many jokes and rumors.

Jackie had been there for her too, of course, but not always. They hadn't become close until third year, and by then she'd watched Elise suffer through the cruelty of the children their age for two years. She noticed that Elise never really talked about that much. If you asked her about school she'd gush about the classes, teachers, and any particularly fun memories she could recount. Never the hardship she suffered in her first years. Jackie thought that was somewhat admirable, but mostly feared that Elise never really got to heal from those instances because she worked so hard to sweep them under the rug.

"What are you so deep in thought about?" Came the voice of the girl in question.

Jackie refocused her eyes on those of her best friend once more. "Nothing." She smiled and stood up, making her way over to her honorary nephew.

"Okay, whatever you say." Elise chuckled, following her.

Jackie stayed for a long time that day, talking and telling stories to Harry and Elise. They hosted a dinner and invited Nick and his mother, as well as Elise's parents to come. Jackie's husband also came, and brought presents for Elise's family.

By the time Elise was hugging Jackie goodbye for what felt like the 100th time that evening, it was already close to midnight. Harry had long since gone to sleep, and everyone else had already gone home.

"You're here for good now, right?" Elise mumbled into her shoulder.

"Mhm." Jackie nodded, giving her one last squeeze.

With that, she left. Elise watched her go, closing the door behind her only after she was truly gone. That night, she went to bed with a smile, the day's events filling her with that light, calming feeling. What a good day, indeed.