Strange Benefits (James Potter)

twenty eight

note: this is long. i quite love it.
also: 18k reads! ahhhh! thank you thank you!

The holiday festivities proved to be the sole mode of entertainment for the last remaining weeks. Christmas lights lined every corner, decorations such as mistletoe and various variations of Christmas trees were spread all over Hogwarts. It was most beautiful at night, though, when the sparkling castle shows its stark contrast against the cold darkness of the night.

Before Milla knew, she was already packing up the few things she was going to bring home for the winter break on Sunday. In two weeks, she will come back to Hogwarts embracing the new year. She could only hope that 1978 would be kinder to her. She didn't need a repeat of the past year's drama, confusion, break-ups and what-nots. She was more than prepared to put all her focus on her NEWTs and put more dedication into being Head Girl.

She was just almost done placing the last set of clothing she was bringing into her small hand bag when a knock was heard on her door. "Come in," she called out to possibly the only person who could be waiting on the other side.

James peeked his head in first, taking a quick look around the messy but otherwise pleasant room and giving her a sheepish smile before stepping inside. In one hand, he held a large paper bag with a red ribbon tying in shut. "I'm not interrupting you, am I?"

"No," she told him, standing straight up. "I'm pretty much done with packing, so your timing's great so far."

Grinning, he let himself take a few steps, approaching her. He cleared his throat and pushed his eyeglasses up his nose. "I, uh, I wanted to give you my present. Well, I actually got you a few things but I just threw them all inside this bag," he explained, raising the bag for her to see.

"Oh," Milla's eyes widened and she could almost feel blood rush to her face but she managed to keep her reaction at bay. "You didn't have to..."

James rolled his eyes. "Yes I did. We're friends, right? Besides, I knew we would most likely be busy tomorrow and even if we share a compartment in the train, I wanted to have some privacy, you know? Or else Sirius would be all up in our business."

"I don't doubt that," she giggled before hurrying to one corner of her room and pulled out a thin square item, carefully wrapped in red paper with a shiny, gold ribbon, showing the Gryffindor colors proudly. "I actually got you something as well. And the other lads, of course. So..."

Milla had to mail with her brother a few times to acquire her gift for James. At first, he was reluctant to help, his brotherly instincts kicking in when he realized that his baby sister would go through such trouble getting a gift for a boy instead of just purchasing something from Hogsmeade. But one howler from Milla was all it took for the older Rosamund to comply.

James cleared his throat yet again. "Here," he handed her the bag, the blonde girl finding it surprisingly heavy.

When she moved to set the present aside, James gasped and pouted. "What are you doing?"