Out
By Izzy

Marcus might have taken the whole five days to thaw out, but when Katie got her new Cleansweep a day early and wanted to go out for spin on Christmas Eve, he insisted on going with her. He was a bit eager to escape her parents, who had learned to accept him, but still didn't really approve of their daughter's choice of boyfriend.

Five minutes out and Katie was very happy to have him. His big hands on lay on top of hers, protecting them from the chill, and his big warm body pressed into her colder one. The contrast of the icy wind on her face was even thrilling.

That wind sometimes whistled in very odd ways, and the snow fell thick and fast, limiting visibility. So Katie didn't notice the red light until she very nearly collided right into Rudolph's antlers. She managed only at the last moment to swerve sharpy away, then stared, stunned, at the reindeer, who pulled to a halt in surprise.

"Ho Ho Ho!" Katie followed the sound of the laughter and brought them alongside the sleigh. There sat Father Christmas sat, with holly in his hair and thick red robes which nonetheless looked thinner then their many layers, yet he didn't seem to feel the cold at all.

Marcus voiced both their thoughts, "But-but-you don't exist! You can't; I never got coal!"

Father Christmas laughed again. "And have you two been good this year?" he asked.

"Er..." Well, he hadn't. And her? She considered her year, from her breaking of the rules at Hogwarts to her being a complete idiot with the quarrel that had nearly kept her and Marcus apart over the holidays. But then, most of her disobiedience had been for a very good cause. And with the exception of a few things like the quarrel, she had done her best to do her part in uniting people to fight against You-Know-Who, in her own small way anyway. And so had Marcus for the matter. He's been especially good to her, in a way he hadn't been back when they'd been snogging in empty corridors.

Marcus still wasn't responding, so Katie said, "I think that would depend on your definition of good."