The day after Christmas was always meant to be a relaxing one. You often imagined staying in bed, sleeping in until the sun set, or waking up and lying on the couch, observing the fireplace until your eyelids drooped.

Never did you imagine standing in the fireplace, dressed in your work attire. In one hand was a handful of Floo power, and the other held on to a briefcase. Carelessly, you threw the powder and said in a very unenthusiastic voice your desired destination.

"Ministry of Magic!"

A burst of green flames obscured your vision and you felt yourself fall, zooming through invisible tunnels. Your cozy living room disappeared, replaced with the mundane looks of your workplace. Honestly, you wouldn't mind coming back to work, but not on the day after Christmas. It's a real holiday mood breaker.

The Ministry was deserted. It was so silent, you swore you heard an owl dropping splat on a window somewhere. You walked towards the lift, stifling a yawn. Your heels clicked with every step you took, echoing throughout the building.

It was a comforting feeling to know that there was hardly anyone at work. It gave you a little more freedom to do whatever you want. Yet thinking of your colleagues at home, probably sleeping in, enjoying life, instead of being here, made you really jealous. It's not that they didn't have any work to do, or that you didn't finish your work before the holidays. You were an auror, one in training, and unfortunately your mentor had assigned you extra work in preparation for your auror tests next year. You were to file in several reports that you and your mentor had gone through the past month.

All to be submitted today.

As the lift stopped one floor before yours, you caught a glimpse of how empty the floor was. It was extremely empty. There was not a soul in sight, save for the house elf wiping the window of someone's office. He looked in and saw you and your glum face. He grumbled a greeting but you swore you caught him grinning. The lift doors closed and the elf was out of sight.

Finally, you arrived at your stop. Just like the other floors, the level where all the auror offices were situated was empty. You sighed, dragging your tired soul to the office you shared with your mentor. Once you graduated from auror training, you were definitely going to get your own office. No more having to share with your mentor and inhale his poisonous cigarette smoke, a nasty muggle invention he picked up.

You walked past a couple of doors, peering in to every single office in hopes that someone was there. Unfortunately, everyone seemed to be at home. Curtains drawn, you could only assume no one was in.

"(Y/N)?"

Well, apparently there was a person here today. Good, you could finally share your sorrow with someone. And from the sound of his voice, it was possibly one of your friends who was also in auror training. You gathered your frustration, ready to greet this person and start ranting about having to come back to work today, and hopefully he has the same thought.

When you turned around though, it took everything in you to swallow your frustration back inside.

"T-Theseus?"

The Head Auror waved, clearly in amusement at your shock. Hands in his pockets, he walked up to you with a smile plastered on his face.

"This is a surprise."

It sure was a surprise. Not only were you not expecting any auror in the higher levels to be here on such a day, but you were definitely NOT expecting the auror you've been crushing on to be here. Your mood took a 180 degrees turn, but it wasn't from grumpy to happy. It was like butterflies had made its way into your stomach without your consent.

"Surprise...indeed," you managed to get at least two words out without making a fool of yourself. Theseus raised a brow, and you prayed that he couldn't see how red your face was turning.

"What're you doing here?" he asked, but before you could reply, he answered the question himself, "Oh, don't tell me Wayne sent you back to finish up?"

Unable to get any word out, you simply nodded. Theseus let out a sigh and shook his head.

"That man. Tell you what, (Y/N), I'll make sure he gets it when he comes back. Can't believe he's sending his junior to do his dirty work."

A surge of joy spread throughout you, "Thank you, Mr Scamander."

Maybe it was the lighting, because you couldn't help but notice a light pink tinted on Theseus's cheeks.

"Oh, I thought we were pass the 'Mr Scamander' stage," he said, hand rubbing the back of his neck, "You know you can call me Theseus, right?"

Slightly taken aback, you nodded and miraculously, found your voice much more confident than before, "Um yeah, Theseus. What brings you here, then?"

The tension in your shoulders started to disappear and you felt yourself relax. Theseus gestured to his office, "Same as you. Finishing up some paper work. Let's get to it then, shall we?"

A bit disappointed that the conversation didn't last long, you bid him goodbye for now and headed into your mentor's office. The stack of paper that lay peacefully on the desk was daunting. Suddenly, you didn't seem to mind. You could be here all day with Theseus just down the corridor. With that motivation in mind, you set off to work.

—

Knock.

Knock.

There was something being very irritating and you didn't like it. You were already comfortable among the stacks of paper pillows that you had conjured for yourself.

"Go away."

"(Y/N), the sun's already set."

"What?!"

You jolted right up and your head hit something hard. You heard a groan as you rubbed your own head and looked up, only to realise...

"Merlin's beard, I'm so sorry Mr Scamander!" you rushed over to Theseus who let out a laugh, much to your confusion.

"Morning. Had a good sleep then?"

Your face flushed as you realised how much trouble you had gotten yourself into. Falling asleep and then hitting a senior auror in the chin.

"I'm so, so sorry Mr Scamander, I promise that won't happen again."

"Don't worry, I'm good!" Theseus gave you a thumbs-up, "And what did I say about the formalities?"

"Oh, right," you averted his gaze, "Sorry Theseus."

Theseus flashed a smile, a sign of an apology accepted. Then, he made his way to the stack of papers that had gone down significantly. He picked up your paper pillow and threw it in the air, catching it again with one hand.

"You made this?"

"Yeah..." you sheepishly smiled. Theseus returned it.

"Can I have one? It's really good," he said as he examined the pillow in his hand.

Stunned, you quickly gathered yourself, "Sure, help yourself."

"Thanks (Y/N), hopefully I'll look as cute as you when you were sleeping," Theseus must have let the words slip out, because he quickly turned his back on you. Your eyes widened at his comment.

On the outside, you may seem cool and collected, but inside, you were freaking out. Did Theseus just compliment you?

As if he forgot what just happened, he picked up a cup on the shelf and handed it to you, "I made you coffee. Thought you could use some to make it through the rest of the day."

You accepted it and muttered a quick word of thanks, not believing what was happening. You probably violated so many work rules and Theseus brushed it off like it was nothing. He even gave you a cup of coffee, and a praise he probably didn't mean to say!

If you hadn't been worrying, or rather panicking, about how you were presenting yourself, you would have noticed Theseus being as fidgety as you. You bit your lip as you stood in the silence with Theseus facing you, but avoiding your eye contact. Suddenly, Theseus looked up, and the expression on his face was nothing like you've seen before.

The once confident auror, highly respected among others, seemed like a child asking his mum for permission. In other words, innocent.

"Could you come to my office?" he asked so fast you barely caught what he said, "I want to show you something."

Blinking, you set the coffee cup down and nodded. You could feel your own heart beating wildly in your chest as Theseus grabbed your hand and led you out of your room. It was a good thing his hands were cold and sweaty. He wouldn't notice yours in the same state.

You entered his office like a child entering a candy store. To a normal person's eye, it was nothing special. It was neat and tidy, just like any typical office. To you, however, it was amazing. You had never dreamt of being in Theseus' office, but here you were.

Theseus let your hand go and hastily walked over to a corner with a stack of boxes. He tripped, but you tried not to notice and laugh, so you busted yourself with the photographs on his shelf. One showed a picture of him when he was younger, squashing a smaller boy. Another showed a picture of him now, with that same boy beside him.

"You look nice here," you accidentally let your thoughts slip, to which Theseus responded with a "What?".

"Nothing!"

You clearly knew Theseus heard you so you hid your face from him. There was another photo frame behind the two, and you cranes your neck to hopefully get a good look at it. From your angle, you could make out that it was a girl, and she seemed vaguely familiar. If you could just move the frames a little...

"Over here, (Y/N)!"

Tearing your eyes away from the photographs, you walked towards Theseus who had laid an open cardboard box on the ground. Confused, you shot him a puzzled look. He offered his hand out to you.

"Shall we?"

"What're you doing?" you asked.

He noted the hint of fear in your voice, "I'm not going to kill you, I promise."

One voice in your head told you not to go in, but another screamed to take his hand. So you did.

"If I die, I'll kill you."

"I'd like to see you try."

Carefully, you followed him into the box. The sight that greeted you was stunning. It was a mini living room, with a fireplace and a coffee table. How did Theseus even manage to fit all this inside?

"Undetectable extension charm," he said, and it answered your question even though you didn't ask, "I got inspiration from my brother."

"Also," he took out his wand and produced confetti, "Happy Boxing Day!"

"What in Merlin's name...happy Boxing Day?" you started to laugh. The day was getting ridiculous but you had to admit it was better than you expected. You got to hang out with Theseus in a box.

"Theseus, this is really cool and all, but what are you up to?" you asked as you inched closer to the auror, "I barely talk to you and today's the only time I've spoken more than one word to you. And when I fell asleep and hit you, you didn't do anything except give me a cup of coffee. Now you've created a box home?"

Theseus was quiet for a while, seeming to digest your words thoroughly. Worried that you said something wrong, you continued.

"Don't get me wrong, I love it, I really do!" you said, talking much faster than before. You felt your face become warmer, "But it's just...you're an auror that's up there and I haven't even graduated from training. Why're you being so nice to me?"

In the dim lighting, you could see Theseus become slightly redder, "I thought it was obvious."

"What was?" you asked, heart near jumping out of you any time now.

Theseus tried to look at you, but he decided your shoes were more fascinating, "I don't know. Everyone kept talking about it, and I thought you knew. Then I heard you were coming back today, so I..."

"You came back for me?"

Nodding once, Theseus' voice started to get softer, "I thought maybe today would be the day I'd find the courage to ask you out. But I probably made a fool of myself from the way you put it, you probably won't want to go out anymore."

The next thing you did completely surprised the both of you. You put your hands firmly on his drooping shoulders and looked him straight in the eye.

"Ask again."

"I'm sorry?" Theseus' eyes lit up and you couldn't help but grin.

"Ask again. Maybe I'll say yes," you said playfully.

Eyes widening, Theseus' mouth twitched as he was unable to hold back a smile. You were sure fireworks were going off in his head, just as they were in yours.

This time, as the auror gained back his aura of confidence, he asked, placing his hands on your shoulders.

"Ms (Y/N), do you want to go out with me?"