Festive One Shots

Last Christmas

"Ugh," you grunt as you sit, exhaling heavily the second you're comfortable. "I'm fine. I just saw him on my way here."

Harry cringes, producing a noise somewhere between "oh" and "ew".

"I don't care," you shrug, "forgot all about it the minute I saw your pretty face." You tease with a subtle wink.

He giggles again, looking towards the window as his cheeks flush more. "That's not fair, you know I can't wink."

The reminder of your ex-fiancé today was unexpected and unwanted. Sometimes it's hard to avoid him given you still live within two miles of one another, but you have to try. You also have to try and forget what he did, especially at this time of year.

You remember it vividly, too. Going home in the middle of December one night last year, finishing work earlier than usual and having the opportunity to surprise him. So you were digging around the wardrobe for something extra special, when you came across a ring box in the pocket of one of his nicer jackets. And you, being the foolish girl you are, had assumed it was for you. Because who else would it be for? You'd been together nearly five years.

He'd come home just then, as you were gawking at this beautiful piece of jewellery you hadn't meant to find, and when he didn't immediately say anything - too fraught with what you thought at the time was shock, you asked him if it was for you. And he was very quick to say it was. So, for the next twelve hours or so, you'd been inundated with utter joy.

Joy never lasts long, though.

Sometime the next afternoon, while you were traipsing around your shared home in next to no clothes after a morning of bliss, you saw his phone blowing up on the coffee table. Not thinking much of it, assuming it to be his needy mother, you picked it up and unlocked it. You found yourself looking at a string of texts from a girl you can't remember the name of, all asking similar variants of "have you told her?" and "where are you?" and "what's taking you so long?". After scrolling up a bit, because you'd never heard of this girl in your life, you became swaddled by a number of explicit texts and graphic images shared between the two.

Long story short, he and his side piece are now engaged, and you are completely and utterly alone.

Today was the first time you'd seen him in about six months, the last time being in the park in the summer. He was always one of those men that took his shirt off in public the second the weather starts warming up. Looking back, you can't quite believe you were with him so long. He was with a shirt today, and a coat - fully clothed, actually - prepared for the weather. And, unfortunately, with her. Yes, contrary to popular belief, where once a cheat, always a cheat - he and his affair are going strong, or at least that's what it looked like as they clung to one another in the middle of the market on the highstreet. There's still time, though.

"Did y'talk to him?" Harry's warm voice interrupts your reverie.

You shake your head calmly, picking off a mini marshmallow and popping it into your mouth. "Only briefly. I was already late as it is and I didn't want to stand there watching them fuss over one another like grooming monkeys."

Harry snorts, bringing his mug to his lips. "I'm glad I weren't there."

You hum, contemplating what might've happened if he was. Though the thought of Harry getting verbally defensive over you (or anyone for that matter) is fairly amusing, you can't particularly see it happening. Harry had never liked your ex. Even though he never admitted it in words, it was always obvious, and everyone knew it.

"Humour me," you lightly tap the table, and swipe your index finger through the top of the cream, collecting a small peak onto the tip, "what would you have done?"