Callisto

10

Christmas Eve dawned cold and cloudy, with snow falling outside. Hardly anybody was out enjoying it, however, and the dormitory was a mess of girls.

Callisto's nerves were jumping, but she gave her gifts out chocolates for her friends and a jumper for Jaron that matched his eyes, though he gave her a box of Chocolate Cauldrons.

"Chocolate Cauldrons?" Louisa said, wrinkling her nose. "That's not very....romantic, is it?"

"It doesn't need to be romantic," she said, smoothing the box.

Adele paused. "Aren't you allergic to dairy? Didn't you tell him?"

"Yes, but I suppose he forgot. It doesn't really matter. You can have them if you like."

Adele and Louisa shared them, and Callisto asked, "Where's Sarafina?"

Adele's eyes darkened, but Louisa simply said, "In the dormitory, I think. She says she's not going."

"Why not?"

Louisa shrugged, but looked at Callisto meaningfully.

"She hasn't got a date."

"She doesn't need one. Lots of people are going without dates."

Louisa raised her eyebrows but said nothing else.

"Did Tadhg give you anything for Christmas, Lou?" Adele asked, biting into the chocolate.

Louisa glowed. "Yes, he gave me a necklace. It's the same as his cufflinks, so we'll match."

Callisto stayed silent, though she could not help but be a little jealous, wishing Jaron had been so thoughtful. But then, she and Jaron had only been together for little over a month. It was probably hoping for too much. And anyway, of course Jaron was better than Tadhg....though Tadhg held hands with Louisa when they went to Hogsmeade, and sat with her friends. Jaron didn't like to hold her hand, especially not in front of his friends, and had never spoken to Adele or the others. And when he'd gone to Italy for a week in October, he'd brought Louisa back a stuffed panda teddy that she'd cooed over for ages. Not that Callisto wanted a fluffy panda, as such.

Adele too, looked unsure.

"Will you and Grace match, Adele?"

"Oh, not really," she said vaguely, picking at the sticker on the back of the box with her long nails. "She's wearing pink. I'm not really a pink kind of girl."

That was stating the obvious. Adele's wardrobe made her look like a member of the Addams family. She sighed.

That night, Callisto went to give Draco his present. He was the only one left in the common room, his dress robes laid out. She sat beside him, passing over the wrapped parcel.

"Merry Christmas, Draco."

"You too," he said, and got up to fetch hers, bringing it to her. The fire was warm and cheery, and they opened their gifts quietly. He found a new set of books on Quidditch, whilst she found an eyeshadow palette, the very one all the girls were desperate for.

"I wasn't sure which one to get," he said awkwardly. "But Pansy helped. She said that's their new range."

Callisto was so touched she almost cried. "Thanks, Draco," she managed. "I love it."

She looked to Draco's dress robes, and her heart lurched. There, nestled in their little box, were Lucius' cufflinks. The very ones he had long ago promised to Orson on his seventeenth birthday.

"Did Father send those?" She asked, and her voice wobbled a little, though she knew she had no right to be upset. She had given up her claim to them when she became Callisto.

"What?" Draco asked, looking up from his new books, and then he flushed. "Oh – yes. He said....well, he said I would do him proud."

Despite his blush, she heard the pride he had in those words. Draco had always wanted Lucius to be proud of him.

"Unlike me, you mean," she said roughly. "His gay son who thinks he's a girl. He's ashamed of me."

"He isn't. He just....doesn't understand. Neither did I, for a while."

"But you do now?"

His flush grew deeper. "I....I think so. I mean, you're not my brother anymore, but that's okay. You're my sister."

And then Draco hugged her tightly, something he hadn't done since they were very young.

When he pulled back, his pale face was bright red. "Yeah," he said, and cleared his throat when his voice was oddly thick. "I suppose I'd better go to bed."

"Me too," Callisto said, and coughed. "Goodnight, Draco."

"Goodnight, Callisto," he said, and they went down the separate stairs.