Pawns | A Draco Malfoy Love Story

Christmas Gifts

I woke up on Christmas Day to the sound of pots and pans clanking in the kitchen. With my eyes still closed I smiled up at my ceiling knowing that my dad was making his famous chocolate chip and cinnamon pancakes - our Christmas breakfast tradition.

I slipped on a pair of fuzzy slippers and threw on a thick knit sweater. I descended our tall wooden staircase and passed the living room where our beautifully decorated tree stood tall.

I pushed my way through our two swinging kitchens doors, and was greeted by his bright smile.

The kitchen was chaos with things thrown everywhere and multiple timers going off loudly. And he kept dropping things which only added to the noise. He did it all with a smile though, like it was part of the process.

There wasn't even the slightest chance that I'd have been irritated by the noisy wake up - this was the best part of Christmas.

When the pancakes were finally cooked, I grabbed us both some orange juice and we sat across from each other at the table, inhaling them like animals. Outside, the snow was falling lightly, leaving little flakes frozen on our window. I could see the neighbourhood Muggle children jumping around in the snow excitedly. Some were testing out what looked like brand new sleds, even though there were no hills and they had to aggressively propel themselves forward on their flat lawns. A girl around my age was jumping on her parents, attacking them in a tight hug. I scanned the area and I noticed a big red bow on top of a shiny black car, dusted lightly with snow.

I returned my focus to back inside the house and I scooted back my chair, grabbing my dad by the arm so we could make our way to the tree. We left our plates unwashed as we were too excited to watch each other open our gifts.

I sat cross legged near the tree (where I usually do as I'm the designated gift grabber) and he laid back on the couch, pointing at which boxes we should grab next.

The first gift I opened was from my aunt on my mom's side. Mom and her weren't really all that close, but she was always nice to me. She bought me two fancy quills with ridiculously flashy feathers, and a jar of fresh ink. My dad laughed at me and told me to tell Colin to snap a picture of me using those "peacock feathers." I then handed him the gift that she gave him and I watched as he pulled out an emerald cloak from a big box.

I laughed while pointing at him for revenge. "Wear it now!" I ordered him.

He scrunched his nose and put his arms through the holes.

"I like it," he said, nodding - an obvious lie. He stood up and smoothed it out. "I like this magic stuff, I really do," he said, this time almost earnestly. He looked down at it again, "it's just, the colour doesn't really go with my complexion, that's all."

I proceeded to laugh at his reasoning and his use of the word "complexion" and he took it off promptly. He pointed for me to open another gift. We spent about twenty minutes opening gifts from family and friends, trying them on or testing them out. Finally, he pointed to the big box that I had put under the tree a few nights ago - it was his present from me. I smiled as I threw it over to him. He caught it with both hands, pretending that it was heavy and grunting.

"Hurry up, hurry up," I urged excitedly.

"Bells, you know you don't have to get me gifts. I'm a grown man, I don't want anything."

"Oh just open it already," I said waving my hand in the air. He proceeded to embrace the idea of gift-receiving and shook it around like a small kid, trying to make me laugh.

He untied the bright ribbon that held it shut and opened the lid. The items at the top made his smile light up - 5 packages of chocolate frogs. He removed them all and stashed them next to him, jokingly narrowing his eyes at me like he was suspicious that I'd steal them back for myself. Under those chocolates was a folded grey sweater. He grabbed it by the neckline and shook it open so he could see it better. Instantly, the sweater changed its appearance, turning to a nice deep blue.