Still Delicate

Confessions

"What's the catch?" I frown.

"There's no catch," he shrugs, "Just being friendly. Tell me, are you always this uptight?"

"Are you always this friendly?" I snap in reply. I've said it before, I know only one friendly person, not including Daisy, who doesn't count as a real person. I just can't deal with people being friendly.

"Yep," he smiles, "No catches. Promise."

*

It's true that January really is the most depressing month of the year, but there's one day in January that I've come to look forward to since James got on to the Chudley Cannons Quidditch team – the annual Christmas party. Yes, it's the 22nd of January, but nobody actually really knows when Jesus was born, do they? We should celebrate it every day, we have a one in three hundred and sixty five (sometimes sixty six) chance of getting it right.

Anyway, this year James is hosting the party in his 'apartment'. I love these parties mainly because only the likeable members of my family are invited to it, along with the exceptionally gorgeous team members (and unfortunately their exceptionally gorgeous wives and girlfriends) and some of James's other friends. I drop Aidan round at Mum and Dad's before heading over to Al and Jenny's to get ready for the party. Even Jenny gets excited about the party, despite the fact that she's pregnant and engaged. Just because she's on a pregnancy-induced diet doesn't mean she can't look at the non-folic acid menu.

I took it upon myself to invite Laura too, even though that's probably not the best of ideas given her past history with James. She and Jenny generally don't get along either. Oh well, maybe a few punches will be thrown if the party gets a bit dull.

"I'm getting so fat!" Jenny complains as she appears out of her room in a black dress.

"Jenny, you're what, six weeks pregnant?" I ask, "Believe me, you haven't seen fat yet." She looks scared. This is fun. "Wait until your arse gets big – it'll never be the same again. And your fingers get all swollen. And you're ankles too. And your boobs become huge – and not in a good way –"

"Stop it!" she cries, "It's not that bad, is it Rose?" I'm unsure whether or not to keep taunting her. "I mean, you get the gift of a beautiful child at the end of it – all the pain is worth it, right?"

"Well, I suppose it is in the long run," I tell her, "But you won't think that when the brat is screaming at four o'clock every morning, draining all of your energy –"

"Stop talking," Jenny snaps.

We meet up with Dom and Laura before heading off to James's place. The party is already in full swing by the time we arrive. James has put his Christmas decorations back up and people are dancing to Christmas music. It's so very sad. As I suspected, all of the good looking team members are paired up with model-like women, who probably don't have two brain cells to rub together between them. The uglier team members are trying to cop off with anyone who'll have them.

"Alright love?" Taylor Harman, one of the ugliest men on the team – no, in the world – approaches me as soon as I get in the door. "Kiss under the mistletoe?"

"I wouldn't kiss you under an anaesthetic," I tell him and allow Dom and the others to drag me away to say hello to James. James is standing up on his coffee table wearing a pointed wizard's hat, singing some awful Christmas song to a crowd of his mates, who are cheering him on.

"Red!" James cries, jumping off the table and running over to me, "You came! I thought you weren't speaking to me." He reeks of drink already and it's only half nine.

"I wasn't," I tell him, "But I suppose life's too short to hold a grudge."

"Too right," he agrees, "And just so you know, I think Daisy's a plank." Part of me suspects he's just saying that to keep me happy, but I throw my arms around him in a hug anyway. I really missed James's bluntness.