Merry Christmas! Thank you for following, favouriting (I made up a word) and reviewing this rather short story, and I hope you enjoyed it up until this chapter.

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns the characters (to whom I can only hope to do justice) presented in the story, and the story line is a parody of O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi". The text in bold is from the story's last paragraph.

3

Christmas

And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house.

Remus woke up and starred at the ceiling for a while, Tonks snuggled up against his chest, his arm thrown around her like they'd fallen asleep.

When she started stirring he sat up and watch her slowly come to her senses.

"Merry Christmas, love," he said brushing her hair from her face. Her eyes shot open and her lips pulled into a smile.

"It is Christmas, isn't it?" She smiled to him. She sat up, but her hand behind his neck and kissed him. It was a holiday kiss, for a day where people chose to be happy.

Pulling the piles of quilts off her feet, Tonks slipped out of bed and let her hair grow long. Honey blond with strands of green and red braided together.

"Too much?" She asked turning around to face him.

"It's Christmas," he said shrugging.

He made vegetarian omelettes for breakfast. They didn't really have a Christmas tree or decorations, but something about it being Christmas day made it so that it didn't matter. The atmosphere was giddy and happy.

He had her Christmas present in his pocket, wrapped in white paper and red ribbons. She'd swapped her hair about a dozen times, and now it hung in long, loose purple locks over her shoulders, framing her face. Tonks wasn't beautiful in a delicate or fragile way, she was strong and well-built. It was the important things about her – the joy in her smile, the sparkle in her eyes- that added beauty to what every face was; a blank canvas. But mark his words, she was beautiful.

They were in the living room an hour or so later, the radio playing in the corner as they tuned in for Potterwatch.

"Merry Christmas our dear rebellious viewers! This is River wishing you enough holiday cheer to make You-Know-Who smile!" Lee announced.

"Well, maybe that's a little much," Fred announced.

"You really think so, Rodent?"

"I know so, River. I also know that I am Rapier so for the sake of Merlin and Dumbledore's pants, stop calling me Rodent. Now; mum will kill us if we're late for Christmas and we'd like to keep the crushing of spirits to a minimum on this good day, so today's broadcast will be quite short!"

"Thankfully the Death Eaters have agreed to cooperate with this arrangement by taking Christmas breaks. You-Know-Who's latest fury is because a loophole was found in the contract binding their souls to him forever, aforementioned loophole being bank holidays." George said.

There was a minute of silence for a family whose house had burned down and whose smallest daughter was in the hospital, the parents' arms burned up, and for a muggleborn who'd been arrested and awaited trial this very day.

"Now we're going to play "Find the Potter". As you all know, Harry Potter has separated himself into several pieces as to be able to be spotted by ten people at the same time all around the country! So today we have special guest Red-hot as a host, how are you Red-hot?"

"More attractive than you'll ever be," said a small voice.

"No way- that's Ginny!" Tonks said. "I knew she'd sneak herself in there somehow!"

"Oh, Molly will be furious," Remus said, shaking his head but smiling nonetheless.

"Just start the game and don't get smart," Fred replied.

"So today your choices of where Harry Potter currently is are: a) In Studio, b) Hogwarts, c) Koh Kong Province, Cambodia, d) a ditch, e) lying in a cold marble room withering in his own blood- for the love of Merlin, who came up with these? I expect its River. And you also have option f) a French café where he is enjoying a hot café au lait and croissants."

"So helpful Red-hot. Okay listeners, time to vote!" Lee called out.

"'In Studio' would be nice," Tonks said cuddling up with Remus. He nodded and put an arm around her.

"And the answer of where Harry Potter currently is: d, a ditch because he is Quidditch fan and the two rhyme. Yes, I certify this as a legitimate guess." Ginny said.

"Thank you Red-hot, now get off the air." Fred said as Remus and Tonks laughed.

They did some more hoax-killing and:

"Now to bring a little holiday cheer into your slightly gloomy lives, here's some music." Lee said.

"They always do say that music is the food of the soul." Fred commented before a recorded carol played, very familiar, tune. It sounded nearly normal at first, and then Fred started singing.

"Voldy the tyrant was a nasty bitter soul- Rapier, does he have a soul?"

"I don't know, mate." Lee said.

Fred resumed singing, with George as an unmistakable background singer.

"Voldy the bad guy was a nasty biller soul

With a hairy heart and no nose at all

And two eyes that scourch your soul

Voldy the bad guy, is a defective mannequin they say,

He was made of hate but the Potterwatchers

Know how he came to life one day…"

The opera style of this song was the real killer, and Tonks laughed so hard she snorted, making him laugh even more. By the end of the song they were both killing themselves laughing.

"We wish you a Merry Christmas folks, and we leave you to your gifts because we sure as heck wants ours!" River said. "There's going to be a real broadcast next Tuesday. The password's going to be 'Bones'."

The radio faded to static and Tonks wiped a tear from her eye.

"Those two are killing me," she said smiling.

"I sure hope not. I got you something," Remus said. "I want you to open it before we go to the Burrow."

"Molly will be furious that we've even touched food!" Tonks suddenly realised. "I mean- sorry- carry on?"

Remus smiled and handed her the package. Her eyebrows slanted as she eyed him suspiciously, wondering what it was, a smile playing on her lips. She was just excited to have a present in her hands. She pulled at the ribbon gently and acted more like herself as she ripped open the paper.

She took the lock in her head and starred at it in amazement.

"That's lovely," she said turning it over. "And the key that goes with it- holly smokes, that handle is gorgeous!"

"It burns intruders," Remus said. "I thought you could use it for your case." He smiled, waiting to see her reactions. The smile wasn't as bright as he'd hoped, and it looked a little forced. He panicked a bit. Had he completely messed everything up? Was the present horrible? Should he have just gotten her a ring or a new cloak or a normal, conventional present?

"It'll be handy at the office," she said turning it in her fingers, looking at each detail a little too intensely.

"I thought you were tired of having to hide your medals of honour instead of showing them off," Remus said. "I swear, you have more to show off than the Minister of Magic."

She looked up at him, her eyes melted, smiling, and kissed him.

"That's really sweet, and this is beautiful," she said. "I can't wait to see its magic!"

"It's impressive," Remus promised her, hoping that maybe she'd like it more once she saw it in action.

"I bet," she said. "Speaking of presents, I didn't forget you."

She handed him a case coated with blue velvet. He opened it and saw a set of four glittering cuffs, resting on a bed of fabric. Runes were carved on them, and he recognised the symbols immediately as Celtic runes. The animals featured threw his heart up his throat, and he looked up at her. He was usually well-spoken, but he didn't have the words for this one.

She beamed at him, her whole face lighting up. Apparently his understanding of how deep the present's meaning went was plain on his face.

"I thought they'd top off the whole fancy look you have with your coat," she said.

Oh no.

"Go get it, I want to see," she said tugging on his sleeve.

"Actually, Dora…" He said.

"You're using my real parent-given name," she said. "What's wrong?"

"I don't have the coat anymore." He said figuring that beating around her bush and testing her patience wasn't something he particularly wanted (or should attempt) to do.

She frowned.

"Why? It's your favourite thing, what happened to it, is it broken- I can mend it for you or- no, better get my mother to do it, or Molly I'm sure she'd be happy to. Oh no- did someone..?"

"Calm down," Remus said putting his box down and taking her hands. "I traded it."

"You traded it?" She asked, jaw hanging.

Remus nodded.

"For what in the world are they worth trading for?"

He didn't say anything and she connected the dots herself, before she started laughing.

"Oh thank God, I was feeling like a real twit for a second!"

"What?" He asked confused by her reactions. Her eyes were shimmering.

"I don't have my case. I did the same thing."

"No…" He said. She kept laughing.

"Oh yes, I didn't have nearly enough gold…" She turned to look at him, shaking her head.

"What now?"

Remus looked at the lock and the cuffs.

"Well, if they're not going to be practical, let's put them away somewhere safe." He said. "We'll save up, and get your case back when we can."

"And your coat, in that case," Tonks said.

"Yes," he nodded.

"And until then let's just consider that we gave each other sentimentality and love for Christmas." Tonks said. "And to the first person who tells us that it's cheesy: we have hell of a story to tell."

Remus put an arm around her and kissed her.

"I suppose that's what we were trying to do," Remus said.

"I think we did it too well," Tonks said leaning against his chest.

"I don't think there's such a thing," Remus said.

"Maybe. Maybe not," Tonks said. "We're both pretty new at this."

"We sure are," Remus agreed.

"So how about we make a new rule?"

"I'm all ears."

"Next year: we just establish a budget."

But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.

The End

6:09 12/3/2012

7:18 12/25/2012

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