Elf Bites ❄ l.s. AU

23: Lunch and Lullabies

                  Her lips tightened into a straight line; her eyes dropped to her boots. Harry worried he might have overstepped, but before he could apologize, she said, "After he left. All Mum ever told us was that he had some other family to take care of for a while and that he'd be back, but..." she shrugged. "He's not back yet, so."

                  "Oh," Harry frowned. "I'm sorry. And I didn't mean to pry, I just – "

                  "It's okay," she said quickly, touching his arm. "It wasn't all bad. My siblings were young enough that I was able to convince him he was going to take over Santa's job at the North Pole." Her smile returned little by little with every word. "Mum said his family was all in the north, so. It was sort of believable. For them, anyway. And I liked telling the stories."

                  Harry nodded. He felt bad for asking so many questions, but at the same time he was glad that he knew more about her now. He did promise, after all, that he'd make this the best Christmas Olivia's had in years. And now he knew where things went wrong for her. He wasn't sure what he'd be able to do yet, but something would come to him. If there was one thing he was good at, it was Christmas.

                  Then a thought occurred to him.

                  "Did your mum ever, like... Tell you where north, exactly?" he asked slowly, the gears in his head turning.

                  "If you're asking so that you could offer to help me track him down, don't bother," she sighed. "Tried that already. She either didn't know or wouldn't say. I kind of think she knows, but whenever I try to get her to tell me anything, she shuts down the conversation entirely. I don't know. I figure if she doesn't want me to know, then that's all I can do. Right?"

                  Harry could feel that his eyes were narrowed while he thought about this, but he hoped Olivia couldn't really tell why. To distract her, he said, "You seem really...healthy about this."

                  She shrugged. "My dad raised me and my siblings well. I was old enough to not resent him for it. I believe that he loved us, you know? Never had a reason to doubt it. So I can only assume that he left for something really important, and I can't hold a grudge against him for that I guess. I don't know."

                  "It's impressive, honestly. I don't know many people who would feel the same way. It's cool to hear."

                  She smiled. "I've got to head out. I'm actually meeting my sister for lunch soon to discuss holiday plans."

                  "Invite her to the party here. Invite all of your siblings!"

                  "We'll see," she nodded. "It's an option. Regardless, I'll be there. You've made a promise, and I'm too interested to see how you keep it."

                  Harry shut his brain off for a second to beam at her. "From my professional point of view, you're going to love it."

                  "Your professional point of view?"

                  Startled, Harry nearly laughed aloud when he realized who he was quoting.

                  "And my regular point of view," he breathed. "Both of them agree."

❄●❄

                  HARRY WAS GOING to bring Louis lunch at work. They haven't spoken all morning, as they were both quite busy, but Harry had the day off and he's always wanted to surprise Lou at the school. Today would be perfect.