Lestrange

Christmas Wishes

After their two days of detention, Viktor swore he would never do anything to earn him such a punishment again. He was already a stickler for rules and the order they created, and he believed in his values even more when he nearly died on their last day of detention. It started how it did yesterday. Charlie would set the pace, and he would stay by her side while looking out for any stray pack of wolves or any other forest inhabitants lurking along the path. The only problem was the mountain troll they ran into was right in the center of the trail, and it noticed their presence immediately. Vikor considered himself rather brave given his age, but when a giant, full-grown mountain troll decides to charge at you, not even Merlin could put on a brave face.

By some miracle, they managed to escape with their lives, leaving the troll in an unconscious heap alongside the path before sprinting back to the castle. A couple of well-placed spells, some of Orlov's defensive moves, and luck wouldn't keep the beast unconscious for long, and they definitely didn't want to be there when it woke up. While Viktor had been terrified for their lives, dangerous situations such as this were commonplace for Charlie as she was nearly in tears laughing when they ran through the castle gate into the central courtyard.

"Stop laughing! It was a mountain troll! How is nearly getting crushed to death funny?" Viktor questioned, still gasping for air as he reached where they dropped off their training gear and started chugging from his canteen.

"You should have seen your face!" Charlie leaned against the castle to keep herself from falling. "I have never heard anyone swear so much in my life! And coming from me, that's saying something." She laughed and even continued to laugh when Orlov arrived.

Seeing her laughing so hard was odd, considering it took an effort to make Charlie crack a tiny smile "Something funny?" He questioned as he noticed how out of breath they both were.

"She thinks it's funny a mountain troll almost killed us!" Viktor yelled before realizing who he was yelling at. "We saw one while running." He quickly adjusted his voice so he wouldn't earn another day of detention.

Charlie could barely calm down as she pointed at Viktor "His face when it charged at us." she choked out before bursting into another fit of laughter. "I will never forget the sound he made." She finally calmed down, and Viktor was left irritated and Orlov rather amused at how humorous a near-death situation was to the girl.

"Seems to have been quite an eventful run. Now I mean it this time. No more detention for the rest of the year." He warned with a glare before settling on Charlie. "I mean it. Now off to bed." He muttered as he motioned them off.

"I'll have to see if I can get more next year." She threatened when her laughing fit settled before following Viktor inside, making the older man groan with a shake of his head.

The two walked casually along the halls, still catching their breath. Tomorrow was Christmas Day, and the castle was teeming with excitement for the arrival of various gifts and the special breakfast the house elves in the kitchens make for the students who stay behind.

As the two were about to part ways, Viktor grabbed her arm, but as soon as she flinched away from him, he immediately let go. "Sorry, I just wanted to give you this before you returned to the girl's dormitory." He muttered nervously as he reached into his bag and held out a beautiful package wrapped in crimson and silver wrapping paper with a long strand of red silk ribbon to tie it all together. "You said you never got anything for Christmas, so I wanted to get you something. It's your first year celebrating, so I thought it should be special." He rattled on, attempting to hide the blush creeping across his cheeks.

Charlie gingerly took the decent-sized parcel in her hands, scared even to crease the wrapping paper. "You got me a gift?" She whispered, unable to take her eyes off the box. It was hers. It wasn't a trick or any joke but a present just for her. It would have looked beautiful if it had been wrapped in newspaper, but with ribbon and the shine from the silver and gold, it made it practically magical. "But I didn't get anything for you." Charlie panicked as she finally looked away from her gift to meet Viktor's smiling face.