You and Theseus were in your fifth year of Hogwarts, but you've known each other way before that. Your families have been close, despite your dad being a muggle, and the weekly visits to the Scamanders household for hippogriff sessions helped build the bond.

Every year, the Scamanders would usually host a Christmas party, inviting many of their close friends. This year was no exception.

Your family arrived slightly later than usual, but the party was already in full swing. You gazed in awe at the decorations that the Scamanders have put up. The blinking lights, the dancing snowmen on the Christmas tree, the singing baubles...it was all amazing. There were people occupying the space near the fireplace, the kitchen and pretty much every available space they could find. The group closest to you included Mr Scamander, who was chatting animatedly about the latest Quidditch season.

Mrs Scamander greeted your family with warm hugs. After thanking her, you asked, "Where's Theseus?"

She scanned the sitting room briefly and furrowed her brows, "Not here, I believe he's upstairs."

You looked around, and she was right. There was no sign of the Hufflepuff anywhere. What you did spot, however, were a bunch of Hogwarts students whose families were close to the Scamanders. Not in the mood to greet them and to avoid an awkward situation, you quickly thanked Mrs Scamander again and dashed up the stairs.

The entire atmosphere changed at once. It was obvious the second level was out-of-bounds, and none of the cheeriness from downstairs spread up here. It was not exactly gloomy though, it was more peaceful and calm.

You recognised Theseus' room right away, because you've been up here many times. Knocking twice, you swung the door open, but there wasn't anyone inside. It was dark, and only the lights from outside illuminated the room.

"Theseus?"

Despite your soft voice, someone heard you.

"In here!"

He was in the room next to yours. That was his younger brother's room.

You made your way there. Inside, the lamp on the bedside table gave off a soft, yellow glow. The room was in a bit of a mess, with sketches of paper littered all over the table. There was a little aquarium under that same table, and as you bent down to take a closer look, your eyes stared straight into someone else's. He quickly looked away.

"Hello, Newt."

Newt stared at the aquarium, which you had just now noticed contained little tadpoles and and fishes. He tried to look up at you again, but decided the paper was less intimidating.

"Hi," he mumbled before he started to sketch.

"Don't mind Newt, that's his little hideout."

The one that you've been looking for was sitting on his brother's bed. Theseus looked the same as he did back at Hogwarts, but maybe because of the light, a little more...enchanting. His face seemed to glow, radiating a certain warmth that drew you closer to him, like a moth to a light. You took your seat next to him on the bed.

"Hi," was all you could manage to breathe out.

"Hello (Y/N)," Theseus waved his hand in front of your face to which you didn't respond. He did it again, and again, and again, until you finally blinked and came back to reality.

"Am I that handsome?"

Thank Merlin the lights were so dim in Newt's room, or else Theseus would have seen how red your face was.

"No," you said as you maintained your composure, "don't get ahead of yourself, Theseus."

He smirked and touched your nose lightly. The twinkle in his eye made you laugh, and he flopped back onto the bed. You grabbed a pillow and threw it at his face.

"What did I do?" his voice was muffled since his face was in the pillow.

"That's for sheer cheek," you said, "Why you weren't put in Gryffindor is a mystery."

He removed the pillow from his face, "Well, the sorting hat did consider that, but not complaining, I love Hufflepuff."

"Why're you even here anyway? Shouldn't you be downstairs showing everyone that handsome face of yours?"

Getting back up to a sitting position, Theseus didn't answer your question. Instead, he said, "So you do admit I'm handsome?"

"Merlin's beard, Theseus, get a grip of yourself!"

He laughed until you smacked him hard on his arm, to which he faked an exaggerated pain expression while rubbing his sore arm. You thought you heard a snicker coming from under the table.

"Newt doesn't like crowds," he finally answered, looking at his brother, "I'm looking after him."

You glanced in Newt's direction, who was surely pretending to sketch. The offended look that Newt was trying to hide made you realise that Theseus had other reasons to be here.

"So Theseus Scamander," you said, directing your attention back to him, "decides that this Christmas, since everyone got tired of his handsome face, he'll hide up here to watch his brother."

"That's right," he winked, "Glad you're not tired of looking at this face."

You rolled your eyes as you took out a small pouch, "Keep that attitude up and you won't get your Christmas present."

Suddenly, the smirk on his face disappeared and he put his hands up, "Alright! Alright, I'm sorry. Was that too much?"

The innocence in his question was almost believable, but you weren't going to fall for it. It was your turn to smile as you reached into the pouch to grab a rectangular shaped present. Theseus looked at you hopefully, but you ignored him.

"Newt, here's yours!"

It was hard not to laugh at Theseus' disappointment. You nudged him and shot him a look which he understood perfectly. Both of you then turned to Newt, who slowly set his pencil down.

"Come on, Newt, she won't bite," Theseus tried to reassure him, "You've seen her loads of times."

"He's probably afraid of you biting him."

"Hey!"

There was a flicker of a smile on Newt's face as he approached you. Once he was just a foot away, you handed him the present. He received it with both hands and tried to look at you again.

"Thank you," he muttered, but then he pointed at your pouch, "What's that?"

Raising a brow at his sudden question, you replied, "It's a pouch. My mum made it."

"How...how can it fit..."

"Undetectable extension charm," you explained before Theseus had a chance to interrupt, "My mum said it was hard but once you've done it, it comes in handy."

Newt nodded and shuffled away to put his present on the table. He went back into his hideout. As you reached in to grab Theseus' present, you looked at Theseus. He shrugged.

"Is it big enough for people?"

You and Theseus looked back at the boy under the table, and this time, he managed to keep his eye contact with you.

"Um...well," you tried to make yourself as convincing as possible, "I guess so? You probably need a lot of the charm for it to work though, especially if you want to actually go in and have a stroll."

Seeming satisfied, Newt thanked you before continuing his work.

"I hope he doesn't get any ideas."

You pulled out another rectangular box, slightly bigger than Newt's, and handed it to Theseus.

"Why not?"

His voice dropped to a whisper, "He might find a way to keep his creatures without us finding out."

"Seriously Theseus, he's only seven. He's not even at Hogwarts yet."

"You never know," he shrugged and took your present. Holding it up to his ear, he shook it, and you snatched it away from him.

"Don't do that!" you chided, "It might break!"

Theseus gave you his most apologetic look ever. With a sigh, you gave him back the present, and a large grin broke across his face.

"Can I open it?"

"No," was your firm reply, "It's not Christmas."

He gave a small pout as he put the present aside.

"If you do," you continued, "Santa will put you on the naughty list."

Theseus had no idea what you were talking about.

"Santa?"

"Yeah, Santa," you said as though it was obvious, "You know, big man, beard, gives presents to all the kids in the world on Christmas Eve-"

"Dumbledore?"

You blinked twice, "No?"

Seeing ten more question marks appearing in his mind, you explained, "Santa has a workshop in the North Pole where he prepares all the toys and presents for the kids. Then, on the night before Christmas, he rides this sleigh pulled by his flying reindeers to deliver all of them. He's got a list to know who's been naughty and nice, and to those naughty kids, they get coal."

"So Santa's a wizard?"

"It's a muggle tale, but now that you mention it..." you pondered on the idea that Theseus had given you. It seemed possible yet not, because presents never turned up from Santa before. They were all from your parents pretending to be Santa until one night, you busted them.

Theseus lay his back against the bed frame as he stared out the window, "Sounds cool. Maybe Dumbledore's Santa."

"Don't be ridiculous. Santa's a bit more round than Dumbledore."

You looked outside as well. The sky was decorated with stars scattered across its canvas. The two of you sat in silence as you watched snow lazily fall from above.

"I bet you're on the nice list," Theseus broke the silence first.

"Why's that?"

"Because you'll accept my gift no matter how bad it is."

You looked at Theseus and noticed how he was starting to act like his younger brother. He was looking at you but not directly.

"What would that be, then?"

He caught your gaze and looked away, "You'll have to close your eyes first."

Hesitantly, you did as you were told and sat there. You waited, and waited, feeling more stupid as the seconds passed. Your heart started beating faster in anticipation. What in Merlin's name was Theseus doing?

And then he gave you the answer.

You felt a soft pair of lips brush against yours. Startled, you pulled back slightly, heart thumping in your ear. His finger stroked your cheek and you relaxed, and finally the kiss was made. It lingered for a good five seconds, and you thought it would never end. Alas, he pulled away.

Opening your eyes, you found a very anxious Theseus staring straight at you. You could see his hand, from the corner of your eye, fiddling with a pillow.

"Did you just-"

"Yes!" He accidentally raised his voice before you could finish what you were saying. You didn't say another word after that, still processing what had happened. Fireworks were going off inside you, but Theseus couldn't see that.

"I-I'm sorry, was it too much?" he stuttered, face flushed, "I-I thought, maybe, I don't know, oh Merlin, maybe I shouldn't have, I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"Theseus!" you said as calmly as you could, your nerves getting the better of you, "Theseus, shut up."

He looked absolutely terrified, like someone close to him had died.

"Shut up and do it again."

"What?"

It was like you cast a stunning spell on him. He froze there, you could hear his fast breathing. Seeing as he was not going to move, this time, you initiated the kiss.

And time slowed down again. You could feel his tense body relax as he got used to it, and you felt yours relax too. This was right, it felt right. It seemed like nothing could go wrong, everything was perfect. You and Theseus enclosed in a little bubble of space and time, enjoying only each other's presence.

Except it wasn't just the two of you.

There was a loud crash, and you and Theseus broke apart immediately. Surveying the room, you found the source of the sound.

"Newt!" Theseus jumped out of bed, "How long have you been there?"

The younger boy got up to a standing position, rubbing a spot on his head, and muttered, "I've been here the whole time."

"What happened to you, Newt?" you managed to ask, heart still beating wildly.

"Nothing."

"No, you hit your head against the table, right?" Theseus asked. Before Newt could answer, he was already embraced by his brother. You stifled a laugh as you noticed Newt's expression which clearly said he did not want to be hugged.

"Newt," you said in an attempt to save him, "Do you think Theseus is a better hugger or a better kisser?"

Theseus instantly let go of his brother and shot a look at you. Newt smiled, glad to be free.

"Come on then," Theseus said, keeping his eyes on you, "Let's go down. You're probably starving."

"No, not really-"

"Let's go, Newt!"

Newt reached for the door knob and turned it. Theseus walked ahead, gesturing for you to come too.

As you exited Newt's room, you saw Newt standing at the stairway, trembling slightly. Theseus took his hand and you heard him whisper, "It's alright, I'll be here the whole time. Don't tell mum what you saw though."

Your face felt warm as you just realised Newt had seen everything.

"(Y/N)! You coming?"

You walked up to Theseus, who offered his hand. Slightly flustered, you took it, and the three of you rejoined the party downstairs.

Sometimes, the best things happen away from the party.