[mp] let it snow, let it snow, let it snow [poesy]

"The Ship and Shovel," Poesy echoed with a nod - she'd remember that. She didn't have a local pub. She supposed she could get one and she'd been in London long enough to warrant one, but it wasn't quite home yet. She'd been adopting houseplants in a vain effort to make a flat more cosy but alas. "Yes," she answered, almost instantly. Muggle? She didn't mind. She'd always liked those little bags of peanuts. "I mean I'd love to," she added hastily with a sheepish grin that soon turned into a full blown one.

"I'm throwing absolutely everything at it," she told Hunter, half joking but definitely serious. "Fairy lights, tinsel, the tackier the ornaments, the better," she explained, eyes sparkling. Decorating a tree with Hunter whilst drinking hot chocolate was quickly becoming the best Christmas present she could have asked for. Hunter was a genuinely nice guy and there was a big chance that he was going along with it, simply as to humour her, but she hoped that wasn't the case. "Buy something," she coaxed him. "Anything so I can put it on my tree. I promise I'll keep it safe." Which was less than she was going as she tore through Diagon Alley.

Poesy turned her head just in time to catch Hunter's comment and she gazed him at him, momentarily starstruck as her dimples appeared. If anyone was amazing, it was definitely him. While he didn't have her believing in Santa, he did have her realise that she wasn't too old to have fun. Rather than answer, she bit her lip and turned her head away so he couldn't see the big dippy smile on her face.

It was hard to concentrate when Poesy's attention was being pulled in  a hundred different ways. "It's got to be," she agreed with Hunter's guess at the species of dragon. She lifted her hand in the air to catch some snowflakes, turning slightly to show him the little flecks of sparkle in her palm upon closer inspection.

Their touch was on accident but Poesy had no intention of moving away. If anything, she took a half-step backwards and towards him as he reciprocated with an arm around her shoulders. Her breath hitched in her throat as her eyes watched the scene in front of them unfold but she wasn't really paying that much attention - every fibre of her being was focused on how warm his skin was and how nice he smelled and how comfortable this was.

"I don't think I want to know," she admitted as her eyes followed the arc of an acrobat in the air. You should make a move, the voice in her head blurted out suddenly, causing Poesy to frown. She really wanted to. Christmas, snowflakes, cold noses, festive cheer. The set up was impeccable. There was a crowd. No one would be looking if she leaned in for a cheeky kiss. There would be no pressure on Hunter, either.

With her eyes locked forward, she surreptitiously lifted a hand, her fingers feeling for the ones he had on her shoulder. Her fingers touched Hunter's knuckles gently, then she gripped them in surprise as a cannon went off. The delighted shrieks of children and laughter from adults soon followed as more confetti rained down, glitter gathering on her eyelashes as little teeny shimmery green Christmas trees landed on her cheeks. With her head tilted backwards to watch the spectacular, Poesy grinned from ear to ear, unabashedly loving it. Her toes curled in her boots excitedly. "This is mad!" She yelled to Hunter over her shoulder as she laughed, her bright eyes wide in wonder. "They've got reindeers!" She cooed, pointing them out, as though they were hard to miss.

Hunter wanted to take Poesy there. He wanted to introduce her to Jimmy and teach her how to play darts and buy her a pint of Theakston's Old Peculier. They could have a chat and a laugh, and then at the end of the evening...

Oh, yes. The tree. The tree they were going to decorate later. Hunter pulled his thoughts firmly back to the present and glanced vaguely around. One one side was a roasted chestnut seller, the other appeared to be selling hideous designer handbags. "One of those perhaps?" he grinned, nodding towards a neon orange monstrosity that was barely large enough to hold a galleon "That'd look lovely hanging off your tree. Freddie would see that as a real challenge..." Ah. Hunter had temporarily forgotten about their jointly-owned cat. If rats liked climbing Christmas trees, he was sure cats would as well. Maybe they could charm it so Poesy wouldn't be woken by a huge crash in the middle of the night when the cat leapt onto it?

Maybe they should make a second decoy tree. One with catnip toys on it so Freddie would be suitable distracted, he thought as they watched the parade. And maybe he could find a miniature dragon model to fly around the top of the real tree as a memento of the afternoon. And maybe...Hunter was full of crazy thoughts, all of them about making Poesy smile. He'd heard other people talk about how romantic Christmas could be, but had just smiled indulgently and assumed they were infatuated - or exaggerating. Now though, he knew exactly what they meant. Everything seemed special and exciting and he didn't want the day to end. When Poesy reached up for his hand, his head was filled with thoughts of spinning her around and kissing her, but for the sudden bang that startled them both.

Okay, so maybe in the middle of a crowded parade wasn't the best place for a first kiss.

Reindeers? He was craning his neck like a little kid, trying to see further down the street, even as his fingers entwined with Poesy's. She'd look round at him a moment earlier, her face decorated in tiny glittery Christmas trees tha should have looked ridiculous but were actually adorable. "There's a baby...no, two babies. They've got twin baby reindeers!" he said, sounding as excited as she had. The handlers were walking either side of the animals, producing a steady stream of tiny model reindeer from their wands which floated into the crowd. Hunter reached up with his free hand and grabbed a couple. They were about three inches long and looked just like the ones that were walking past them. He was about to hand one to Poesy when he noticed a small boy standing next to them. Clearly his parent hadn't been quick enough to grab any.

"Here, something for your tree" he said, holding one out for Poesy and then, releasing her hand so he could crouch down to the kid, he held out the other one. The little boy's eyes lit up (though he still needed prompting from his mother to say thank you) as he delightedly took the small reindeer. Hunter stood up, pitching forward slightly in the crowd and leaning temporarily against Poesy. "Sorry" he whispered, though he took the opportunity to loop an arm around her shoulders once again and move a little closer. As he did, a fanfare sounded further down the street, signalling the approach of the next attraction.

Following Hunter's line of sight, her eyes widened. "How did you know that was my favourite colour?" Poesy joked with an easy grin before she laughed, wondering both why and how anyone would want it. She tilted her head, momentarily lost in a pile of questions before he mentioned Freddie.

"Oh no, the cat," the blonde suddenly remembered before she winced. Oh he'd have an absolute field day. Poesy could already imagine shredded tinsel, broken baubles and smashed glass as the tree inevitably collapsed through the display cases. There had to be a spell for that, some kind of deterrent, surely? Poesy was looking forward to a cosy evening of tree decorating with Hunter, full of festive music and laughter and "accidental" touches. She frowned. "He might not even be interested in it?" She joked weakly.

In all fairness, thought of the impending destruction seemed miles away as she watched the parade, wrapped up in Christmas-themed anticipation. Poesy had quite forgotten this. Christmas in Paris had been lovely but it felt rather...artificial. Though beautiful, everything was perfectly manicured, not a string of lights or a bow out of place and there wasn't an inch of tinsel or a cross-eyed angel anywhere to be found. But this? This was what she remembered as a kid, being filled with giddy glee and the promise of presents in the morning - she still had to open Hunter's but she'd manage to wait. Somehow. Even if she had to sit on her hands.

"You're kidding?" The petite blonde gasped, holding onto Hunter to use him as a quasi-climbing frame as she leaned on her tiptoes to  see the animals more clearly and gave a squeak of sheer joy when she did. Distracted by pretty much everything at that point, Hunter's hand loomed into view and she offered him a sparkling smile as he presented her with the little reindeer. "Thank you!" She gushed, cradling it to her chest as though it was made of solid gold, only to have her heart swell with affection for his next action.

Poesy's toes curled in her boots as she watched the interaction, forcing herself to bite on her lower lip as her heart threatened to burst. That was almost too adorable. The little boy seemed as pleased with his gift as she did with hers. Quickly, she offered a friendly little wave to the toddler before her eyes flickered over to Hunter. She watched him, maybe for just a second too long, her eyes skimming across his face. It was official - Poesy had a mega crush on him.

Her hand reached out to steady Hunter's arm before she shook her head eagerly. "Don't be," she replied quickly, about to tell him that he could lean on her whenever he wanted to, before the tension was getting too much for her to take.

"Hey," Poesy said softly as she turned to face him, twisting her body more snugly so she slotted easily under his arm. "Let's follow it back?" She asked, meaning the parade. "And we can get the tree and a few bits for it like tinsel and lights and that tiny bag," she grinned, her nose wrinkling in mirth. "Maybe get some beers and head back to my place?" Even though he'd kindly agreed to help her decorate, voicing it in such a manner filled her with some doubt that he might change his mind. "This little guy's going on the top of it," she declared as she held up the reindeer with a smile, shaking it front side to side so the little bell around its neck tinkled.

"Okay, we're putting a charm on the tree so he doesn't go near it" Hunter said, oblivious to the fact this was the third or fourth time he'd described them as 'we'. "Yeah, maybe..." he agreed, though even with his limited knowledge of cats the former Gryffindor was sure that, given how much cats liked climbing trees, bringing one into the house was likely to be received as the best cat-gift ever. He just wondered what sort of charm would deter Freddie from being interested...or maybe they would just need to get another tree specifically for the cat...

He laughed quietly at the thought, but there was no fear that Poesy might think he was laughing at something she'd said or done. He couldn't say how he knew exactly, just that this was the perfect Christmas eve afternoon and Hunter felt like he might have regressed to his childhood. The sense of delight and excitement was just the same, and he was pretty sure that even if his drinking buddies were standing right next to him, they'd also be cooing at the baby reindeer and trying to catch a tiny model to take home. "I saw some last year...I was doing an article at the Reindeer festival in Sweden - but they didn't let us get close to them. And they were bigger than these ones" he added, suddenly remembering the herd and, of course, the freezing cold. Maybe next year they could go there - and he chuckled quietly again. This time Poesy seemed to notice and turned to face him, and he realised what he had been thinking.

Hopefully his flushed cheeks could just be put down to the extreme cold.

"Yeah, lets do that!" he exclaimed, as excited as she seemed to be. Follow the parade, collect the tree, buy whatever random monstrosities they could find... "It's a date" he said, not caring how that sounded "though let's get the decorations before we pick up the tree? Oh, and I need roast chestnuts in my life! The candied kind, if they've got any left...to go with the beer, of course" he added, thinking that this could well turn out to be the best Christmas eve of his adult life. He suddenly remember the mistletoe Jimmy had stuck to him earlier and grinned again as they started to walk in the direction he'd glanced moments earlier.

"So if you could have only one thing, which would it be - the chestnuts, or the handbag..?" he asked as they approached the stalls.

Poesy grinned. This was nice and goodness knew how badly she needed something nice. Her nose wrinkled in mirth as she shrugged. They both knew pretty well that Freddie was a law unto himself and the saying dogs have owners, cats have staff couldn't be more true. "Maybe we can just close the door," she joked, the undertones ripe before she cleared her throat.

She smiled at Hunter before her eyes fell back to the little reindeer in her hands. He'd already bought her some gifts (she was going to open them tomorrow morning with a cup of coffee) but this was precious. "You did?" The blonde asked, her head snapping upwards and her bright eyes wide. "That's amazing," she gushed. The faint stab of jealousy she felt was brief and fleeting. The fact that there was such a thing as a reindeer festival made her brain stop working. "Do you still have that article?" Poesy asked as she very carefully slipped the little reindeer into her coat pocket for safe keeping. "I'd love to read it." And imagine she was in snowy Scandinavia. Although, this corner of London was shaping up to be quite nice, too.

Her smile only grew as Hunter accepted her proposal. His comment about a "date" was subtle but she grinned, eyebrows arched in jest. "It's a date," she confirmed as they walked, just about keeping a grip on herself so she wouldn't squeal in delight. Decorations? Poesy had quite forgotten - her mind had been somewhere else.

"I think I need everything," she admitted with a wince. Poesy's family weren't the type to have decorations that they used year after year, passed down through the generations but she thought she might like to do that. One day. She could start right now. She laughed. "Of course," she nodded solemnly, her lips curving into a smile as she followed him.

She stopped at a stall as she ran a length of fluffy silver tinsel through her fingers. Poesy didn't have  a colour scheme in mind. She just wanted to sort of throw everything at it. Would it be messy? One hundred percent but it would be joyful. Posey looped the tinsel around her arm and gathered some more strands, peering into various boxes as she wondered what other trinkets she might want to add to her haul. She needed some lights, she didn't care if they were twinkling or static. Maybe some glass baubles? She liked those.

"Ooh," Poesy gushed, her eyes wide at the almost impossible choice. "Well," she went on, her fingers gently touching a candy cane that was hanging up before she decided to pay for a box of six. "I only get chestnuts once a year," she conceded to Hunter with a smile, her stomach grumbling, despite the rather large baked potato she'd eaten before. "But that handbag is once in a lifetime," she winked before she dissolved into laughter.

"What colour ribbon?" She asked Hunter, torn between traditional red and green or the more outlandish purple and pink. "Can I have one?" Poesy asked, gesturing to the chestnuts. "I'll trade you a candy cane."

Hunter thought for a moment, frowning slightly "Yeah, I think so, I'll see if I can dig it out for you" he said finally "I sold it to a paper on the South Coast, they haven't had snow there for eight years so they were pleased to feature it" They had also been the only journal who had wanted to buy it, but he didn't mention that part. Truth was, Hunter didn't much mind, because he'd got himself a trip out to see the reindeer and it had paid for that week's food bill, so it was win-win as far as he was concerned. Being rich was't something that had ever been high on the former Gryffindor's list of priorities.

Okay, so they were officially on a date - not now, but when they got back and decorated the tree. Hunter was happy with that, even if it was going to be a date largely composed of untangling tinsel from an enthusiastic cat. And he was just as happy that Poesy apparently turned back into her inner six year old at this time of year. He watched her pick out multicoloured strands of tinsel, then picked up a set of snowflake-shaped baubles that would change colour through a rainbow spectrum when a simple charm was activated. "How about these?" he asked, holding up the box, sounding almost as excited as she was.

""That one" he said, pointing to the traditional candy canes "and while you're getting those...I'll be back in a minute" Or rather, however long it took him to buy the chestnuts, though there were only two people in front of him in the queue. He picked a large bag and, as Poesy still seemed to be busy with choosing decorations he crossed to the hideous handbag stall and glanced at the price tags. His eyes went wide, he winced, and backed away quickly before anyone could speak to him. Really, what was the point of having a lot of money if you were going to spend it on something as dreadful as that!

The chestnuts warmed his hands as he returned to the stall with the decorations "I think a candy cane's worth at least two chestnuts" he said, standing behind her before she could notice him approach. Then he added with a grin "I would have got the bag as well, you know, for Freddie to keep his cat treats in, but...would you believe eighteen galleons?!"

"That'd be lovely," Poesy gushed and with a bright smile. They'd sort of known each other in Hogwarts but she had no idea that he was a published reporter. She hadn't received The Daily Prophet in France (or Italy) but that wasn't really an excuse. As Hunter spoke, her smile widened. It was a cute story and who didn't like reindeers?

Hunter left her briefly to buy the chestnuts and Poesy, as surreptitiously as she could, peeked over her shoulder to watch him. This was nice. She was having a lot of fun. Since moving back home, she'd been lost. She didn't fit in, she didn't know anyone (except Fergie but they hadn't spoken since his birthday months ago), London seemed so cold but this? Her heart felt light and full. Maybe it was festive magic or maybe it was just Hunter Street.

To her haul, Poesy added a beautiful coloured glass bauble of a church that would catch the fairy lights and make it seem like it would glow from the inside. She'd actually forgotten how big the tree she'd bought was. A frown creased her smooth forehead before she shrugged; the more, the merrier. Next, she added some bows, having the idea of fastening them to the branch tips to make it seem like a giant present before she turned with a smile as he returned.

"Deal," she laughed, holding out a candy cane to Hunter before popping a chestnut into her mouth, chewing, and promptly choking on it.

"I beg your pardon?" Poesy wheezed once she'd stopped coughing, her eyes wide as they slid from Hunter's face to the bag in question. "That's actual insanity," she gasped, despite laughter bubbling up from deep inside her gut. The bag might be handmade, sure, but the ghastly colour made her eyes water. "You could probably get an actual reindeer for that," she cracked a grin. "I'll think I'll just keep Freddie's treats in a box in the cupboard." At least he hadn't figured out how to open those. Yet.

But a blush suffused her cheeks as Hunter said he was willing to buy it. "After all those gifts and this lovely afternoon? Surely not," she laughed, her stomach doing somersaults. "I think I'm ready to go," she announced as she held up armfuls of mismatched decorations. "Here," she went on as she stepped closer. "Could you grab this for me, please?" Poesy asked, holding out a pretty wreath dotted with red bows, mistletoe and winter berries. She laughed again. "Pop your arm through it," she coaxed him with a snort. "Suits you."

Just about keeping hold of her purchases, Poesy paid the stall holders and wiggled her fingers in a wave as she shifted the box to fit more snugly in her arms as she fell into step beside Hunter. "I've never done this before," she admitted, referring to the tree as they stopped past the stall where they'd bought it earlier. They'd gotten a great deal but she couldn't help but feel as though the stall holder had gotten a better one.

"Do we start from the top?" She asked as they wandered away from the festivities, arriving at Deja Brew a few minutes later. After fumbling with her keys, Poesy shoved the door open with her hip, keeping it open with her foot to let Hunter enter the coffee shop. Setting her box down, she stretched as the lights flickered on. She tied her hair back into a ponytail as she rubbed her hands together. "Tree," she announced, pointing at it, extracting her wand to restore it to its full (and lopsided) height. "Beer?" She asked Hunter before they got going.

When he got back it seemed she was buying half the decorations stall. Hunter grinned, as they swapped a candy cane for chestnuts, feeling like a kid again and actually hoping he would be allowed to put some of the decorations on the tree. When he'd been small, Mama had charmed whatever branch or half-dead tree they'd managed to scrounge together to look incredible, and he hoped this one was going to be just the same. Even if it was slightly-weird shaped, it at least looked in good enough condition to last through the Christmas season without dropping all it's needles on the carpet.

Wait...did Poesy have carpet or tiles on the floor of her living room? And why did he even care? No, not just care, he wanted to know, wanted to walk into her home and look around, see how she decorated it, where Freddie slept, where she...

"Are you okay?" he asked, patting her on the back and rubbing between her shoulder blades as she choked on the chestnut he'd just given her. "Sorry, I should have made sure I gave you a well-trained one" he opened the bag again and glared inside at the hot chestnuts "Now listen up, the rest of you. You're NOT to make anyone choke, you hear me?" Okay, so hopefully Poesy was going to appreciate his sense of humour, unlike the old woman with the huge umbrella who was staring as if he'd just lost his mind.

"A reindeer would be more fun, too. I mean, you can actually ride one of those" he agreed, sticking the candy cane between his teeth as he took the wreath just before she dropped it "Can you manage the rest?" he asked, his words slightly stilted through the candy cane. He'd put the rest of the chestnuts into his coat pocket so even with the wreath hanging on one arm he was able to carry the miniaturised tree for her as well. Poesy still had the lions' share of goodies though - exactly how many decorations had she got in that box?

He was still grinning as they walked down the street and away from the festival. As they rounded the corner it became noticeably warmer as they left the charmed area. "Yes! The fairy always goes on the tree first! Then the lights, then the tinsel and then the decorations and...oh! We didn't get any crackers!" he exclaimed, though given that Poesy had said she was spending tomorrow by herself she probably wouldn't need any. He wished he'd remembered, though. Maybe Jimmy would have a box of muggle ones leftover that he could drop round tomorrow morning before they went up to Mama's place.

As they entered the coffee shop a familiar meow greeted them "Hey Freddie" Hunter said, putting the tree and wreath down as the little cat first wound around his legs in greeting and then began sniffing their purchases, though he hissed in surprise as the tree was restored to it's original size. "Please..." he said at the offer of beer, then "no, you leave that alone..."

Predictably, their four-legged friend was already examining the tree, wiggling his bottom as if he planned to jump straight into it. Hunter caught the cat just as he prepared to leap and picked him up, where he pretended to protest before snuggling up and purring. "Where are you going to put it? In the window?" he asked as he tickled Freddie's fluffy ears.

Hunter's touch was warm as he kindly patted her on the back. Or maybe his hands were cold but they felt warm through her layers and she laughed in response. "Smashing," Poesy answered quickly once the shock caused by the price of the handbag had worn off. Hunter chastised the chestnuts and she giggled (giggled!) at the spectacle, it soon turned into an unladylike snort and she clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle the sound. The look the lady had shot them both simply made her laugh harder.

"Oh no," she wheezed as she wiped at her eyes with her coat sleeve. Maybe all of the excitement and merriment and mulled wine had caught up with her. Or maybe, just maybe, she was finally having fun.

The notion of riding a reindeer made Poesy's eyes widen. "They are fairly large," she told Hunter with some trepidation, as though either of them would ever get a chance to ride one. The Potioneer barely scraped five feet in height, she'd require some assistance. Rather than voice hypothetical scenarios, she chose to focus on the current one and cracked a grin as Hunter took her purchases like a champ. "I'm fine," she smiled.

Falling into step beside him, Poesy nodded as Hunter listed the steps to tree decorating. "Okay," she agreed before she looked at him at his exclamation. "Crackers?" She asked dumbly, wondering what the snacks had to do with anything before realisation dawned and she laughed again.  "Don't worry about it," she soothed him, about to reach out a hand and squeeze his arm before she realised she was loaded up like a game of Buckaroo. "I can't really pull them by myself," she admitted with the tip of her nose scrunched and her eyes sparkling with mirth.

Far from finding it upsetting, Poesy was looking forward to spending Christmas by herself. There wouldn't be any family feuds, no presents to hastily wrap, no eating too much and feeling sick and then worrying how she was going to pay for everything. She didn't like turkey that much, either. She could get some much needed rest, spend the day in her pyjamas, go for a walk when it got dark to look at everyone's festive lights and go to bed feeling happy and content. And it had everything to do with Hunter.

Freddie meandered over almost instantly and rubbed himself against Hunter, merrily weaving in and out of his legs and ignoring her completely. It was a common occurrence. The little sod slept on her bed at night but only really seemed to want her attention when he was hungry. She didn't have time to stroke the feline because Freddie soon decided that the tree was the enemy but Hunter, ever the gentleman, caught him mid-flight and Poesy blinked.

"I'm impressed," she grinned as she returned, holding a bottle out for Hunter to take before sipping from her own. Swallowing the beer, she nodded. "I think so?" Poesy asked, assuming that was the best thing for it. The tree wasn't heavy, probably because it was so dehydrated, so she wasted no time in gently shuffling it across the floor before retrieving her wand to clean up the needles.

It needed fixing but Poesy was rather attached to the fact that their little tree was wonky. It was endearing. Pink cheeked and out of breath, she placed one hand on her hip as her bottle hand loosely from the fingers of the other. It was starting to go dark outside, the sun setting. Placing her beer down, she yanked at the tangled lights before she soon realised she might need help.

"Maybe we can distract him with a box?" Poesy offered as she held up a bit of tinsel and shook it, getting the cat's attention. "Short term solution," she admitted with a grin as she sat down on the floor cross-legged as she began to unravel the lights. Her fingers worked carefully, teasing out the light bulbs between the green loops of wires with diligence. Reaching out her hand, she patted the space opposite her in an invitation for Hunter to sit down.

"What else do you do for Christmas?" Poesy asked as she twisted the lights around her fingers. "I need some new traditions if I'm going to be staying here for a while."

"Yeah, well I never said I'd ridden one" he added hastily, lest Poesy should imagine he was showing off. Really, riding anything that wasn't a broomstick seemed too much like hard work to Hunter. With a broom, you could just stick it in the cupboard when you were done riding you didn't need to take off saddles and feed it. His mind drifted for just a moment as he thought about the rumours he'd once heard that people in Eastern Europe and Russia actually rode dragons. No way could that be true...

Once they got inside Hunter shivered a little, belatedly realising how cold it had been at the Christmas Market. While they'd been walking around it had felt normal but now they'd stopped he realised the cold had actually seeped through his clothes, and it was probably the same for Poesy as well. It was warm now they were inside, and already he began to feel more comfortable, at least warm enough to remove his gloves. He had to put Freddie down onto the floor to manage that though, and the cat immediately began pouncing on an imaginary mouse before letting out a little chirp and trotting up to Poesy as she returned with beers.

"Thanks. I think we deserve this" he said, taking a swig and putting the bottle down, then immediately picking it up again as Freddie returned and jumped up and sniffed curiously. "Not yours" he said, petting the cat's head absently, who immediately lost interest as soon as the tinsel caught his attention.

Now that the tree was full sized and standing, Hunter remembered a bit more about Christmasses as a child and conjured a bright red bucket which he sent to stand the tree in. Weighted down, and with some water so the tree would lose less needles, it looked better, but there was still something missing. He couldn't quite remember how to cover the bucket though so sat down opposite Poesy, mirroring her cross-legged pose and watching as she unravelled the lights.

"I haven't seen ones like that since I was a kid...well, not close up" he admitted, fascinated. He remembered how they were attached to a white thing Jimmy called a plug, and how you put it into holes in the wall and they lit up. These ones would be lit by a simple charm of course, but it was close enough that a little, hidden part of him felt like a child once again. "I told you Mamma puts real candles on her tree?" he said, hoping he didn't sound like the sort of moron who repeated the same thing three times in a conversation, but stalling while he tried to think of other traditions.

The truth was, he wasn't sure what counted as a tradition and what happened just because there hadn't been much money when he was growing up. "Mamma always made me something for Christmas. A new coat, or a scarf...one year she actually made me a pair of boots. I was in third year at the time, and I'd outgrown my old ones. Turns out she'd spent weeks learning how to work with leather and what charms were used to make the soles waterproof. I thought everyone's parents  did stuff like that" he said finally, watching Poesy continue to struggle with the lights. He wanted to suggest an untangling charm but then thought this might be a tradition of hers. Maybe she'd untangled the lights when she was a little girl and not yet old enough to use a wand.

Then he grinned again "I drink too much and fall asleep early on Christmas night. I guess you could call that a tradition..." he offered as Freddie, unnoticed by either of them, crept up on the almost-untangled string of lights.

"Oh," Poesy blushed and internally scolded herself. "Of course not," she nodded eagerly to show her agreement when in actual fact, the whole idea seemed rather fun. Not that it mattered because Hunter was in her home and he seemed comfortable. She tried her best not to peek as he removed his gloves, momentarily fascinated by his hands before Freddie put a stop to her daydreams.

"It's like having a toddler," she snorted fondly as the excitable cat scrabbled around on the floor and got the traditional evening zoomies as he skidded. With wide eyes and a grin, she clinked her bottle against Hunter's with a laugh and drank. Was beer traditional around Christmas? The mulled wine she'd had earlier had already left her a little woozy and she blinked as Hunter helpful conjured up a bucket for her lopsided tree. Poesy hadn't even thought of it.

They were sitting close and Poesy was convinced she could smell whatever soap he'd used this morning. Her long fingers unwound the wires and she shifted, scooting a little closer to him before she looked up at his face and smiled. "Not sure," she answered gently. He may have done but she'd been too distracted by the way his smile made his whole face light up.

Her own smile widened, momentarily lost as Hunter spoke. Poesy had stopped working on loosening the strands as he began, giving him her full attention as she tilted her head. "No," she replied gently with a dimpled smile. "No they don't. She must love you so much," she went on. Poesy struggled to imagine what it was like, having to raise a child with very little funds. Poesy's parents had money but no time. They weren't bad parents and she was sure they'd done the best they could but she was grateful that she'd moved away when she had.

Her heart swelled with affection for Hunter's mother and step-father, both of whom she was dying to meet. "Your mum sounds amazing," she offered with another smile, dropping her gaze coyly as she twisted the wires around her finger, the warmth of the house making two spots of colour rise on her cheeks. Jealous would be the wrong word to use but Hunter was so, so loved, it was almost impossible not to feel at least mildly envious.

Poesy liked this, just chatting with someone. She hadn't realised she'd missed actual human interaction.  On the sleepy street outside, real snow was falling softly. It was nice.

Quickly, she laughed, loud and genuine. "Sounds fantastic," she grinned, meeting Hunter's eye for perhaps a second too long before she bit her lower lip. The idea of being snuggled up with him on the couch Christmas night, wine drunk and with a full belly, suddenly seemed like all she'd ever wanted. There was a beat of silence. Every fibre of her being was screaming at Poesy just to do something. She glanced at Hunter again and she shifted, about to lean closer when Freddie appeared and Poesy let out a squawk.

"No no no no!" She squeaked as the cat shook his tail and promptly pounced, rolling onto his back as he chomped on the wires, causing Poesy to hastily reel them back in, all the while swatting Freddie as gently but firmly as she could, only to have him avoid her hand, his eyes trained on the lights. "You are such a bloody nightmare!" Poesy huffed as she yanked the lights with such force, she ended up flopping backwards and landing flat on her back with a squeak, Freddie offering a meow and a swish of his tail before deciding to stick his head in the cardboard box instead.

Panting, Poesy squinted at the ceiling, surrounded by fairy lights, around her head like a halo as she gave a breathless laugh before she sighed. "Hunter?" She asked quietly, because she couldn't see him. "I had a really lovely time today," she added softly. "Probably the best time I've had in ages."


[sorry for the wait! <33]