A Game of Cat and Mouse

T H I R T Y S E V E N

It was a cold, snowy Christmas Day and Elio was fucking miserable. He'd been waiting for a sign, a word, something from Annie. Something that said she was okay, that she was thinking of him as much as he was thinking of her, that she would fulfill her promise soon. But there was nothing. Nothing but the sudden onslaught of winter on the Nott family estate.

Elio scowled at the fierce blizzard outside. He'd already felt stir crazy in the time that he waited for Annie but the storm just made it worse. Clumps of white pounded on the window like a mini-thunderstorm. He knew that tomorrow, the world would be caked in shades of white and grey but for now, there was nothing to see but the interior of the house.

The hearth crackled in vibrant shades of red and orange as if they were playing a symphony together. Of course, thinking of symphonies had him thinking of Annie and that just made his scowl deepen.

"Sweetheart, you're going to get early wrinkles if you keep frowning like that," his mother chastised from where she sat on the sofa writing to Astoria as if they didn't see each other practically every other day.

"Let the boy frown, Aria," Theo murmured as he read the Daily Prophet. "He's getting his sulky-teenage phase late."

"I am not!"

His father pierced him with a look. "And you would call the past few months... what exactly?"

Elio scoffed and crossed his arms. "I miss her."

"We all miss her. I'm sure you more than anyone," Theo said before Elio could interrupt him, "Annie was a wonderful girl and I think I speak for both your mother and I when I say that we would have loved to have her in the family. But, alas, things do not always work out how we want. Do you think she'd want you to mope on the couch for eternity?"

"I think Annie would want to be on the couch with me," he grumbled.

His father smiled sadly. "It'll all work out. It always has."

"What?"

"You have a 100% success rate in getting through your hardest days so far. In business, we'd say that's a wise investment to make. Trust that what is meant to be will be."

A small smile spread across Theo's face, one that Elio matched. "Thanks, Dad."

"Oh sure, thank him. Not the one bringing you meals and companionship while you sulk in your bedroom twenty-four hours a day!" His mother exclaimed.

"Thank you, Mummy," Elio said sweetly before walking over and kissing her cheek. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, my darling." Aria squeezed his hand and smiled sadly. "Love has a funny way of winning. Do not lose your heart. It's the best piece of you." She smiled and sent him to bed with the promise of making his favorite breakfast in the morning.

It wasn't late by any means but Elio knew that somewhere behind the thick blizzard clouds, the moon was out. And, honestly, he was ready for this day to be over. All he could think about all day was how he should have been celebrating his first Christmas with Annie. She should have been next to him as they dug under the tree for presents that he spoiled her with, she should have been there when his mother carved the ham, she should have been under the mistletoe waiting for him. But instead, all he had was a cold bed and a bunch of gifts that paled in comparison to his greatest gift: her.

He trudged up the stairs and opened his bedroom, slipping off his sweater so he was just in the rather comfortable pajama bottoms his mother had gotten him. They were green and red and softer than he expected when she pulled them out. His mother insisted on getting them all matching pairs for a family picture. It took quite a bit of convincing to get Theodore Nott to wear matching Christmas pajamas but one look from Aria settled the argument. Needless to say, there was now a wonderful photograph on the mantlepiece with the three Notes in matching Christmas pajamas.