The Fear You Won't Fall

XXXV

You groaned against your pillow when loud bangs on the door woke you up. You had spent the whole night talking to Tonks and had only fallen asleep maybe at four or five in the morning.

"Wake up," you heard outside. "It's Christmas!"

"It's also too early," you groaned. "Go away."

Instead of complying, the person only entered the room, and you instinctively kicked the direction when hands tickled your sides.

"Bloody hell, woman!" George cussed loudly, moaning in pain and you sat up quickly, recognizing your boyfriend's face behind his hands. "I didn't know you had fighting skills!"

You stood up, reaching for his wrists.

"George! Merlin, are you okay?" you pulling his hands from his face, seeing his nose red and bleeding. "Don't sneak up on me like that! What were you doing?"

He groaned.

"I just wanted to surprise you!"

"You certainly did!" you pulled your wand from under your pillow, fixing his broken nose quickly and summoning the closest cloth to clean up the blood. "Don't do that again!"

You two heard a chuckle and turned your heads to its direction, finding Tonks casually putting on a robe over her pajamas.

"Good morning, fighter."

You looked down at the foot of your bed and felt confused. You only expected George's gift to be waiting for you, but the pile clearly had six presents.

"Who are those for?" you questioned your boyfriend.

"Uh... I think they are for you. But it's just a guess."

You side-eyed him, and approached the pile with hesitance, ready for it to explode on your face.

On the very top, you could see George's name and raised your eyebrows at him.

"Go on," he gave you a shy smile. "Open it."

"It's not a Pygmy Puff, is it?" you enquired without opening it. "George, we both know..."

"You don't have time to take care of a Pygmy Puff," he interrupted you. "And, let's be honest, I'm the only one who will get your cuddles."

You chuckled, finally opening the gift and smiling a bit when you recognized the pink magic fireworks.

"Well?" you glanced at him.

"We're gonna light that up later," he promised.

"Okay."

The following gift was Fred's, with a sappy Christmas' Card that made you smile, followed by a book from Granger and a pair of freshly knitted socks from Mrs. Weasley – which you imagine had come from you complaining to your boyfriend about always forgetting to get thicker socks.

You froze when you reached the second last gift.

"What is wrong?" George questioned.

"Uh... It's from Tonks and her mother."

He made silence for a moment, and you two just stared at each other for a moment before you opened said present. It was a bottle of perfume.

"It's nice," your boyfriend said when you sprayed it on your wrist. "Smells good."

"Yeah," you shifted on your place. "It's nice."

But he knew better than that.

"What is it?" he enquired.

"She got me a gift," you crossed your arms, rubbing your own skin, trying to comfort yourself. "I mean, I've seen her in my life and she got me a gift."

Your boyfriend walked to you in response, putting his hands on your side.

"Well, that means she wants something with you," he affirmed. "She's your aunt, after all, and Tonks is your cousin. That's a bridge, right? She's trying to get close to you, both of them are."

You nodded a bit.

"Still feels weird," you whispered.

George chuckled.

"You need to get used to people being nice to you," he pointed. "Affection isn't bad."

You bit your lip in response, embarrassed, and he kissed your cheek not a second later.

"Just write her a letter," he suggested. "I'm sure she'll be happy to be hearing from you."

You nodded once again, and George leaned closer to give your lips a peck which reminded you of a single detail you seemed to have forgotten to do after getting up.

You covered your mouth with both your hands in a rush.

"I haven't brushed my teeth!"

Your boyfriend laughed.

"Go on."

You almost jumped into the bathroom, making sure your mouth smelt fresh and your hair looked its best before getting back to your room, and George grabbed your hand before you could even put a second foot inside, kissing you passionately while hugging you with a single arm.

When he stepped back, your eyes went wide and you could feel your face burning deeply.

"Happy Christmas!" he smiled.

"Happy Christmas," you managed to say and looked behind your back at the door. "Let's go down to breakfast, I'm starving."

He was about to leave the room, but you both stopped when you held his elbow, noticing the last gift on the foot of your bed.

"There's one left," you pointed.

He stopped to wait for you, and you knelt down to lift the green large box with Sirius' name on top and unwrapped its paper gently. Inside, there was another green box, this time made of velvet, and that made you frown.

Why would Sirius give you something that came in a velvet large box?

You opened it carefully after glancing at George and almost dropped it when you caught a glimpse of what was in front of you.

"Bloody Merlin!" you yelped.

Inside the box, there was a set of circlet and earrings made of Sapphires and studded diamonds.

That was definitely not something you were expecting out of a gift.

"I need to talk to Sirius."