Moonstruck ⟡ HS

16!

"I don't think your Grandma knows my name."

"Yeah, she does." Josephine chuckles with a small swat to his chest, "She called you Harry earlier—now, let's sit down." She says as her family floods the kitchen, and as he sits beside her, the same pair of glowering, blue eyes stare at him from across the table, clearly annoyed that he stole the little boy's spot next to Josephine once again. He couldn't blame the little twerp, he would want to sit beside Josephine as well if he wasn't already, but he doesn't think about it for long before someone's asking him to pass something down the table.

"Where does your family live, Harry?" Josephine's aunt asks him as they all help themselves to the food set out on the table, and once he realizes that he's the one being spoken to, he replies.

"London." He answers, and it was as if he told them his family lived in outer space with how they reacted, amazed and excited with wide eyes full of curiosity.

"Why aren't you with them?" He wasn't surprised her grandmother asked him this, he was actually expecting the question to come sooner, but he waits to finish chewing the food in his mouth before swallowing it and answering.

"My mother rather me make the trip for her birthday rather than Christmas." He explains with a small shrug of his shoulders, "She also—um, she works at a nursing home, so she doesn't get many days off." He adds, almost feeling awkward to share more about himself despite her family wanting him to do so.

"Well—" Josephine's aunt begins, but is quickly cut off by her grandmother.

"What about your father?"

"He's dead." He doesn't waste a second replying, it's something he's not shy to share, but it sucks the air out of the room as he shrugs his shoulders. No sense of wavering sadness or undeniable despair seeps from his words, his face, or his body. He doesn't feel anything, especially not towards his father, and it's not until hearing someone clear their throat does he look up and see everyone staring at him. "It's fine, we weren't close at all." He says to them with a small, crooked smile on his lips, something reassuring in order to move on from the topic.

"Well, we're sorry for your loss." Her grandmother says to him, still obtaining the familiar grit to her voice, but his words contrasted greatly, causing him to nod while internally scoffing. He didn't give a shit, why did they? He can see sympathy plastered on every face at the table—even the kid who was plotting his death over a seating arrangement—but in his chest, he felt nothing about his father being six feet under.

As dinner goes on, he can feel Josephine's eyes on him, and when he glances over at her, quick to notice the small sparkle in her eyes, she offers a small smile, and even the smallest of smiles was enough to send a sense of warmth fluttering through him. He doesn't know how she does it, because for the past twenty four years, he has spent his time and effort trying to figure out how to make things like that happen, and a small smile from a certain pair of lips seems to be the antidote he was searching for.

"I have your gift," He tells her in a whisper as everyone else around them talks amongst themselves, and as he smirks at her she looks over at him with a clench to her brows and a frown to her lips. "'s at the house, didn't wanna give it to you in front of everyone." He really didn't want to give it to her in front of her family, simply because most of what he got was not family friendly and he knew Josephine would kick his ass if he let her open up an inappropriate gift with a crowd.

"I know I said I was getting you a gift, but you already spend so much on me." She whispers back to him, and while he does spend some money on her, he would spend every last dime on her if he wanted to—whether she likes it or not. He would've spent more on her if he knew she wasn't going to throw a fit about it, and he's almost glad he didn't know with how she reacted to him simply telling her that he had a gift for her. In reality, he has several gifts because who else was he buying for?