Potions & Charms

Christmas Day (1)

The night had been uneventful. After a mug of hot chocolate in front of the fireplace the two men had decided to make their way to the bedroom and once under the duvet Avi had almost automatically scooted closer towards Scott. The man had welcomed him against his side and after a few moments of adjusting Avi had gotten comfortable with his cheek resting on Scott's chest. 

It was a different position, with the bass tucked against Scott's side and his arm across his upper body, resting near his face on Scott's chest, but he liked it. Avi liked being close to him. He couldn't suppress his yawn and when he felt his friend's warm hand on his back moving up and down under the blanket he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer and fell asleep. 

Avi woke up when soft lips brushed over his forehead and fingertips tucked his wild hair back.

The Potion Master sighed. He balled his hands to fists for a moment, squeezed parts of the blanket's fabric and then opened his eyes after a nice and long stretch. Scott was still in bed and for a moment he wondered why the baritone would wake him if it wasn't urgent until he remembered. Christmas. 

"Christmas?"

"Yeah! C'mon, we have to unwrap presents and I am getting hungry. You can't spend your first, real Christmas in bed all day." 

"Mhm..fine with me" the bass mumbled and sat up. He was thankful for the warm pajamas Scott had given him after their arrival in Norway since they kept him warm even after he had left the bed, something he wasn't used to from his life in the castle. 

They made their way to the living room and when Avi saw the large tree, lit up and sparkling with fairy lights and a tiny bit of magic he felt all warm and fuzzy inside, especially when Scott's arms snuck around his waist and he hugged him from behind.

"Merry Christmas, Avi" the man mumbled close to his ear and squeezed him lightly before he let go again. "Do you want tea first? Or see what you got?"

Avriel frowned and looked at him. "Presents?" he asked in surprise and then approached the tree. He noticed all the presents underneath the branches, big and small ones, wrapped in different types of wrapping paper, some more messily than the others. They had unusual shapes as well, and there were a bunch of little see-through bags as well which had been filled with baked goods and nuts, magical candy and even chocolate frogs. 

"Of course! Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without presents, hm?" Scott smiled when he saw the man on his knees in front of the tree carefully touching the presents. He turned on the kettle and then joined him on the floor. "Found one with your name on it yet?"

He nodded and carefully pulled one out. Avi turned it in his hands and couldn't help but smile when he noticed Scott's handwriting on the small tag. "Merry Christmas, Sir" he mumbled. "Are you sure?"

"No." 

The Potion Master's smile turned into a grin and he carefully removed the tape holding the paper together. The present wasn't bigger than a shoe box and he gently shook it for any clues, but he didn't hear a single thing. Once the paper had been removed Avi chuckled. The box contained a whole bunch of socks of different colors and sizes as well, as some seemed to barely  fit Kirstie while others were even too big for Scott. "Winky?"

Scott nodded. "She asked me to give them to you. She said you always have cold feet in the dungeons." 

"Why didn't she give them to me earlier? I saw her the day before we left Hogwarts." 

"Maybe she was scared that you would throw something after her, huh?"

Avriel blushed and looked down. "Understandable" he mumbled but kept touching the socks. "I really appreciate it. I've never gotten socks." 

"Now you can scratch that off your bucket list" Scott said and chuckled. He took a sip of his tea and then reached for another present, this time from him to Avi. "Merry Christmas, Avi. And thank you for being my friend." 

"More?" Avi asked in disbelief and reached out to take it. It was soft and he thought about a robe or something else, only to find out that he held a scarlet red hoodie in his hands. "For me?"

"Yep! Even has your name on it so it doesn't get lost in my closet" the Charms teacher explained and pointed to Avi's name which had been embroidered with golden thread right on the left side of his chest, in the same spot where Avi had spotted Scott's name many times before. 

The man couldn't believe his eyes. He pouted slightly before he slipped it over his head and smiled when the fabric reached over his fingertips. 

Scott sighed. "Maybe a size too big?"

"No" Avriel said immediately "Perfect. Just like yours. This one is way softer though.."

"They start off like that but over the years they lose some of their fuzziness" he explained. "I've had mine since before graduation. It's an official Gryffindor hoodie so don't walk around in the castle with it. Peeves gets really annoying and even aggressive when he sees them." 

"Peeves is scared of me" the man just mumbled and kept touching the soft fabric. Moments later he had his arms wrapped around Scott and hugged him tightly. "Thank you so much, Scott. It's perfect. I would've never thought that I would ever receive something for Christmas." 

The baritone smiled. He wouldn't tell Avi that there was more to come though, for now he just enjoyed how happy the man was with just the hoodie and a few pairs of socks he had received. "You're more than welcome."