Our First Celebration

[Stefan Archer]

The young teen had been through a lot. He was fairly young and he was sure that he had fought more battles than almost all other people his age. He had seen so much and carried with him so much. However the tragedies that surrounded his life were not the things that he let define him. Through everything the boy had never lost one very crucial thing, hope. The belief that things would get better, and it was still what kept him going, well that and one other thing. The act of hoping had carried through this boy like else had. It was the constant in his life. Whenever he lost hope, or forgot it for some time, things would go more south than he would ever care to admit to. But he was working on it, keeping up hope and keeping up the aspirations of a better tomorrow. A better world that he could wake up to, this always seemed like a very tall order for him to ask of the folks around him, but he was happy to. Because like them he strived to do better, to be better. It was why despite everything he had been through, everything he had suffered and seen, he was still fighting. Every time something, or someone knocked him down he got back up and kept going. The mixture of hope and strength being strong enough within to keep him alive. The boy was a lot stronger than he gave himself credit for. A part of him, the part that spoke more dominantly told him that what he had lived through anyone could. People were strong in general, and he could be as strong as they might've been in his situation. He didn't see that a lot of people would have never made it. That a lot of people would not have done better, would've caved. Never for Stefan. Through everything, he just kept going. Of course, still throughout his life until that very day, there had been times when the young teen thought he would never be able to get back up. That standing wasn't worth the fight he was putting up. He was glad he had stuck it out. He wasn't in the best situation currently but he knew that it could also be a lot worse. He had off days, he had days where, no matter how much hope and strength he could muster up he still didn't want to have to get out of his make-shift bed. But the days of truly feeling like nothing more than a speck were gone. He still had a long battle ahead, everything he had been through would stay with him the rest of his life, but he was sure that with the right people, and the right factors from there on out, things could really only improve. And along with that, he had one thing he knew would help him. One person that had been there for him when he thought he'd pushed them all away. A girl he was happy to say was his girlfriend. The first person he truly loved, and he was sure the first person to have ever loved him back.

It was the holidays, the Christmas holidays and Stefan knew this from the fact it was warmer, and that the local town had little bits of decoration up. He wasn't feeling overly festive. The boy had no fond memories of the holiday. He didn't really know of its existence when he had first gone to school. It had never factored into his life, his father had made sure of that. Which had made the first conversations following the break difficult for the young boy who had been adjusting to a half normal life. He hadn't ever really spent a Christmas in the sense that others had. He had never believed in a Santa Claus, and he had never received gifts on that day. Even in the foster family, they hadn't celebrated it with Stefan. The former Slytherin had not been invited to the festivities. He was however keen to create some better memories of the holiday. In the weeks leading up to it, he had done a lot of reading. Trying to figure out what Christmas meant, what it stood for, what you were meant to do for such an occasion. There had been a lot of information, but one thing had been clear, the holidays, no matter what denomination you could be, it was about family, friends, those you cared about. Which had left poor Stefan feeling a little lonely. The boy had then remembered one little thing, Kate. She was one of the core people he cared about, and one of the only people he'd be willing to spend his first real Christmas with. However, preparing to do such a thing had been hard. For one, At the time Stefan hadn't had any money. But, he'd done a few odd jobs for the folks in the local town and gotten a bit of money from them. Not an awful lot but enough to buy a few things. More food, Kate wasn't used to his minimal sort diet, and he was feeling fairly hungry. But nothing that needed electricity, because he didn't have any of that. He'd also managed to buy a few Christmas type things, lights(though there was nothing to power them), baubles and tinsel. Of course he had gone to a second hand store and asked many questions about the colours and if they would match on a tree. He had even managed to get Kate a very small something. The only thing he had been missing by the end was a tree. The tree he ended up finding in someone else's bins as he was exiting the town. It was a half broken tree only standing at half a metre off the ground. He assumed it was green in colour, and was right to make that assumption. The last thing he really needed was to be sure Kate would come. His first real Christmas would be fine alone, but he desired Kate to be there. He did also realise that she might've just gone home, back to England and had no way of getting to him. She had her only family, why she'd want to spend it alone with him instead of with them was asking a lot.

At the first light of dawn, on what was the 25th of December Stefan was up. He had spent the previous evening tidying up. Though he was living alone in his own home, it was abandoned and it was pretty run down. He lived mostly in the main living area and kitchen, but he had to make everything better. He made sure there were no bits of broken glass, no splinters. He couldn't get rid of the stains, or the dents in the walls. Most of the furniture he'd moved into the empty room that had once been a dining room. He was sure. The main living room had a mattress on the ground beside an old worn sofa, a table and a few chairs in the corner, and very small book shelf in the other corner. It had large windows, though one was boarded up, and the others let in a draft if it was very windy. The floor was carpet, and had many very old, dried in blood stains. Some of the newer ones Stefan had been made to clean after they had happened. Generally while he was still bleeding from the wounds. Not many of those were left. He had tidied most of the boxes of his father's belongings into the corner. The upstairs was left mostly untouched. Nothing he really thought would give so much away. Maybe his old room. There the glass was mostly gone, not boarded up. A small bed with a thin mattress and thinner sheets on top. Many stains and dents, the wardrobe in a dire state of repair. Paint peeling. Generally just not a nice room. But this was not where he had spent a lot of his time. Not surprisingly it was the place he'd spent the least of time. And avoided it at all costs. That morning, on the 25th December, he had gladly woken up in the main living area and had done the finishing touches to the tree. He had put the lights on, and the tinsel and the baubles. When he was pleased with his work, he found scraps of paper and cello tape and wrapped her gift. Now all he needed was for her to join him. Five days before, he had written her a letter, he'd been in the local library and had gotten his home address. He had checked the date and written her a letter. He hadn't said much in the letter. Just a very simple, I would very much like to spend the holidays with you. Spend a first Christmas. He had given her a time and a date, and a place. However he had also said, he'd meet her over half way. His house as it turned out was a good 45 minute walk from the small town. It was down a little street and had a lot of trees blocking it from view. He had told her to follow the road, until she saw him. He would wait at the turn off, which would be a short ten minute walk from his current place. He would give her four hours, if she didn't turn up by then, he would know she wasn't coming. He just really hoped she would.

Once everything was in place, and the boy was happy with his handy work, he put on his shoes and headed out the door. He had keys, and he used them, though the door was very weak. In his house there was nothing of value. The house was the last thing that his father had owned. He had paid it off, and With the way it worked out, when Stefan hit eighteen the place would be more legally his. Though he hoped by then he would have the opportunity to move out. The Christmas morning was turning out to be a fairly lovely one. The sun was rising in the sky, and it was actually fairly warm, a good thing. Stefan had taken great care in washing his clothes and looking smart. He was dressed very casually. He didn't really do smart. He didn't have the clothes, or the money to buy the clothes to do smart. However, Stefan was out without his jumper. It was warm, and he didn't need to wear one. It was Kate. And there was nothing new. His arms were a patchwork of old fading scars, of large and small burns. The palm of his left hand still having the large scar across it. The one that he had gotten, when he had cut the tomatoes too thickly. But for her he didn't mind. He was still stick thin, but for Kate he didn't want to hide. He felt ashamed for everything he had let his father, and the foster family do to him, but he didn't want to hide it from her anymore. Hiding had gotten him nowhere. Stefan walked the short walk to the end of the street and sat down. He was an hour before he had told her, but he would rather be early than late. He just hoped she'd find her way. He just wished she was coming. After all if he could spend his first Christmas with the girl he was in love with, his belief that things could get better would be completely confirmed. His hope had been answered.
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[Kate Archer]

Kate walked off the plane and into the airport. There hadn't been many people in the plane, most people were at home celebrating Christmas at home with their family. Kate had spent Chirstmas Eve on a plane which had been an interesting experience. It had kind of been nice also because since there hadn't been many on the plane on such an early flight, everyone had come together and had had a mini party. The reason Kate was on a plane was because her parents had only decided to let her go to New Zealand on the twenty second.When she had first recieved the letter she had been surprised but touched by the idea. She would love to spend her Christmas with Stefan. When her parents had told her at first that she wouldn't be allowed go she had been gutted. She had also ad no way of telling him that she couldn't go as she didn't know his address and she could hardly send Squishy across the world to send the letter. She had felt terrible because she didn't want him to think that she had not gone on purpose, that she had just left him,abandoned him, something she had promised him she would never do. But after pleading to her parents they had finally given in though she was going to be doing a lot of jobs when she came home and she owed her parents big time. It's not cheap to book a flight a day in advance and so close to Christmas.Personally she thought the airports would be closed but apparently the twenty-fifth is even busy in some countries like New Zealand. But thankfully they had enough money to do that without feeling anything. So she had literally thrown clothes into her bag and had tried to get her other things organized. It had been confusing because she was mentally preparing herself for a cold,snowy winter like it was in England but then she would have to remind herself that it is the middle of summer in New Zealand. She had left her house early on the morning of the twenty third. Her flight had been at ten am. Once in the air they had stopped in L.A for an hour and had then arrived in New Zealand now at eleven am on Christmas Day.

It was weird walking into warm weather. She had changed her clothes on the plane though she had forgotten a t-shirt so she was left in her jumper but she didn't mind too much. She went through passport control and continued walking till she got to luggage. Her bag wasn't that big, it was very hastily backed too and Kate wasn't sure what was in it.She just hoped she had some suitable clothing and other essentials. She was going to stay with her Mam's best friend Sophia who was gladly taking care of her for Christmas. Kate was running a bit late on time. It was now half twelve as luggage had been slow coming out. Workers obviously weren't happy with working today and Kate didn't blame them she would hate to be working on Christmas day. This was her first ever Christmas without her family but she would be spending it with someone just as special.It was weird being alone in New Zealand. She had always been with someone before, this was her first time travelling such a distance by herself.Her parents had put a lot of faith in her and she wasn't going to let them down. She knew it had been hard for them to let her go. Since entering Hogwarts she had been drifting away from her parents, especially since things with Stefan. This was taking it a step further and she knew it was hard for them to continue letting her go.

Kate walked out of the airport and looked for Sophia. After a few minutes of searching she finally found her. She said her hellos and gave her a big hug. Sophia was her closest thing to an aunt and Kate had missed her since she had moved to New Zealand. It was good that she went to boarding school her because she saw her a lot more often then she would if she went to school in England.She thanked her for everything again as she got into the car. She was doing pretty okay on time. Sophia lived just outside Wellington which meant she was actually closer to Brightstone then she would be if she was in a hotel. When they arrived at her house Kate went in and quickly unpacked. She hadn't done too bad, her clothes maybe weren't best suited for this sort of weather but she could easily buy something. She carefully took out Stefan's present. She had seen this while she had been giving clothes into a charity shop in London when she had come home for the holidays. Her mind had been on Stefan and when she had seen them she had thought they would hopefully be useful and they hadn't been expensive. She wasn't even sure if they would fit him right but maybe they would make things easier for him in some way. She would have wanted to get him a better present but she hadn't had time to look, if she hadn't gone into the charity shop she wouldn't have a present for him. She hoped he didn't mind she would somehow make it up to him if he did mind.

Kate took a quick shower and put on her nicest clothes which wasn't very fancy but she doubted this was very formal. She tied up her hair and added some hoop earrings. She put on some lipstick and mascara and she was ready. She grabbed her bag which contained her wand, purse, phone and Stefan's present she and Sophia then walked out to the car and got in. Sophia was going to her friends house for dinner after she had dropped Kate off. The two caught up as the drove. Finally Kate arrived to where she thought she was supposed to meet Stefan. She wasn't exactly sure where they were but Sophia had seemed to know where she said. Kate thanked her and said she'd text her when she would need a lift back. She got out of the car. She was running slightly late and Kate began looking for Stefan. Finally she saw him and her heart nearly leaped out of her chest. She hadn't seen him in so long and now she was so happy to finally see him. Kate couldn't help it,she walked quickly towards him "Stefan!"She called smiling and waving at her boyfriend. When she stood before him she gave him a big hug and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips before looking at him again "It''s great to see you"She said smiling widely. She was so happy to see him again and she had missed just being around him. "Thanks for inviting me"She said a bit more shy this time. It was only now she realized she would actually see his house for the first time. Funny how that never popped into her head. It had all been go,go,go since she had been told she was allowed go. All she had thought about was seeing Stefan again.​

 

[Stefan Archer]

The teen was unsure of what to think about this entire situation. He would be showing Kate the place that he would say held some of the truly horrible nightmares he'd suffered through. He didn't even know if she was coming. After all it wouldn't surprise him if she didn't, with a much more normal life than his, no matter how she painted it. His entire life could be fitted into a box if he was asked. He slept in the living area, on a mattress on the floor because he was never allowed on the couch, and still won't even sit on it. As much as his father was gone and he was getting braver and braver when it came to breaking the rules he had set, that was one he just hadn't managed to. It had all been because of the one time, the singular time he had gone to put his had on the thing to support himself and his father had completely flipped at him. The boy had never understood why. Why of all the things, that was important to his late father, but the man was gone now, and he was working up the courage to sleep or use the pillows that sat on top of it. Stefan knew that if she stayed with him over a few days, that he would let her sleep on the couch. Even if he couldn't touch it, she would've been allowed. With near perfect vision, and a face to be envied. His father would've preferred Kate as a daughter a hundred times over than Stefan. His father had hated him so much that Stefan truly believed it was his fault that he had done something to hurt his father so much that he would have to then hurt him as punishment. Sure, Kate had always been the one to say that it wasn't. Elevra had said it, but he still didn't believe it. On the good days, he could see how it wasn't in any case his fault but on the bad days, Stefan thought of really only that. Of how pointless and worthless his entire life was. How stupid he was and how was it possible that his father had put up with him for so long. He knew now that really if his father had just gone a little further he wouldn't be there. He wouldn't be breathing the fresh air, or thinking about spending his first real Christmas with the person that he loved. Stefan had the scar, to show that his father hadn't been afraid of harming him to the point of almost death. It was in the past now, and Stefan really didn't want the thoughts of his father ruining his day. Ruining this Christmas too. The one he had worked so hard, to set up. A way of showing to himself and anyone willing to watch that he was ready to start afresh in this life. To move forward and live a little better. It would take time, but he was willing to work at it. Just like before. For himself and so he could have a chance of building a normal life with Kate.

The boy had an old watch, it moved slowly and he was sure was at least fifteen minutes slow. He had no idea how Kate was getting to his place. He had imagined by walking, but that was only because he thought of everything in that sense, since, there was no possible way of him learning to drive. Nor did he really have the desire to. Learning to drive was complicated, it seemed hard, and he had too many horrible experiences of his dads driving to ever really safe in a car. He was waiting for a bit of a long time, but not that Stefan minded, he had always been good at waiting. He was a patient guy. He just sat and waited. There was nothing else for him to do. There was no electricity, so nothing would need to be heated. All the decorations were up, all he needed was for Kate. He kept his gaze mostly to the ground, looking up every so often in both directions, it was fairly boring, but he didn't complain. If he got to see her, it would all be fine. If not there would be other Christmases. Then, as he looked up again, he could make out something in the distance, with his eye sight he wondered if it was her, or just someone else. The roads were fairly quiet but, the odd person came by every so often, looking for a long walk away from the town, or just a break from the city by being in the open air of the countryside. However, he very quickly realised the person was who he was waiting on. His beautiful girlfriend Kate. Stefan stood up. A huge smile was on his face. He was so happy to see her. He had spent so long alone in his house a little company would go a long way. He wasn't sure how to even greet her, after so long. So he responded was a shy little wave. This was all new to him. The last time he had been with her the adrenaline had been powering everything within him. His close brush with the other side, and the realisation that he truly loved her had powered within him. Now he was a little worried he would do the wrong thing. The good thing about Kate was where he didn't know how to act she did. She made up for what he lacked in basic knowledge about relationships. She hugged him, and while for most he would stiffen and try to get out of it, here he stiffened a little from habit, he relaxed, and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight against his body. He felt his dark, colourless world light up as she planted a kiss on his lips. He could only return the kiss, and the same smile to her as she pulled away slightly.

"Thank you for accepting. You have no idea how much it means to me that you came," Stefan smiled at her, "I have missed you so much" he leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips. Before breaking away. He was sure they could spend all of their time out here, but he wanted to get started on the walk to his place. "It's not far." he said, as he took her hand a intertwined it with his , keeping her close to him. He was smiling, this was such a good day, he was with the girl he loved and he was celebrating Christmas. He didn't talk much, not from a lack of things to say, but mostly because he wanted to get there quickly, however, he to a moment to just take in the beauty of his girlfriend. "You look incredible. Did you travel much?" he thought saying that would spark enough conversation until they got to his house. When they did, about ten minutes later, Stefan stopped. They were stood outside, an old two story house. It was surrounded by unkept grass, and most of the windows had cracks in them. His bedroom window could be seen from the front. The lack of glass on that window was why Stefan could survive cold temperatures. He didn't know how to introduce this place. Kate knew this was the place the he'd spent the worst years of his life, Stefan knew that she knew that, she could do two add two, it was then why he had no idea how to present it. "this is it." the former Slytherin said quietly. It was a small house. Nothing compared to what Stefan imagined she would be used to. "It's not much, and there is no electricity. But it's the closest thing I have to a home," Stefan squeezed her hand Lightly before heading towards the door. He opened it up and motioned for her to step in before him. "After you, just head into the living room, which is just in the door and to the left." Stefan was going through all the marks in the wall, and the old dried in blood stains on the floor. He hoped this would be okay. Stefan was incredibly nervous, he had never been this open with anyone. Stefan just wanted to spend his first real Christmas with the girl he loved, and the old memories would not stop him.

Sorry about how terrible it is, I was falling slowly asleep as I was writing it, and apologies for the slight godmod
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[Kate Archer]

Christmas had always been a big thing in the Moon household. They hadn't been very religious, the only time they had gone to mass was for Christmas and Easter but they always celebrated Christmas as big as anyone. There wasn't much extended family so it had usually always been the six of them and sometimes family friends would spend Christmas day with them. Their house in Ireland had been quite small but they had always decorated every inch of the place. They would have an indoor and an outdoor Christmas tree. Every bush and tree outside would be covered in lights. The inside of the house would have tinsel,lights,Christmas ornaments and other Christmas decorations. It would usually take them a week to have everything up and running.What made Christmas even more magical was when it had snowed. After playing with their new toys they would go out and play in the snow. It had just made Christmas that bit more special. What was even better was the fact it didn't snow much on Christmas so when it did it was even better. She had always loved Christmas. It was just a great time of the year, everyone was a lot kinder to each other and there was generally a happier atmosphere. It wasn't the same anymore. It was just as nice, the house always looked amazing but they never did the decorations as a family anymore. Herself,Sara,Ryan and Star were all in school when they had generally put up the decorations and her Dad was usually busy with work. It just wasn't as special which was a shame because they had once been amazing Christmases. Kate hoped this would be a special Christmas. She had a feeling it would, she would be spending Christmas with the person she loved, who she cared most about in the world. There weren't a lot of things which could top that for her.

Kate had never known where Stefan had lived. He had said New Zealand but never where. She knew that she would be going to a place where he must have some horrible memories. She wasn't sure if she would be able to return to a house which was associated with so much pain and anger.She hadn't really thought about the fact that she would be seeing his house for the first time. She had only been thinking about seeing him again. She hadn't had much time to think of anything else and now that she was almost there it was one of the only things she could think about. She started imagining what it would look like, she knew he didn't have much money and that her Father hadn't had much money so there was no electricity or heat in the house, thankfully it was summer as neither of them would be freezing. Kate wouldn't have really minded anyways as she would just focus on the fact she was spending Christmas with Stefan. She wasn't really sure what to expect, she didn't really mind what the place looked like, it could be a cardboard box for all she cared. She hoped he hadn't gone to too much effort for her, she really didn't know what to expect for the afternoon. She really had no idea as to what they would be doing, she guessed Stefan had it all planned, she would just go with the flow really. When she hugged him she was glad there was little or no stiffening. She remembered the times he would completely freeze up, it was a nice change. His arms wrapped around her and Kate felt her do few summersaults. Her whole world lit up when she was in his arms or around him.

Kate smiled, she was glad that it meant so much. It was nice to be spending some quality time with him and moving on from all those years. "I've missed you too"She said returning the kiss and smiling, she had missed him. She hadn't seen him since the holidays and she had been missing him everyday since. It was great to finally see him and talk to him again, she had missed being close to him. Kate smiled and intertwined her fingers with his. She leaned in slightly beside him, her head lightly resting on his shoulder as they walked, it was a lovely afternoon and the sun was shinning brightly. It was weird going to somebodies house in this sort of weather. Never had it been this warm in Ireland or England. In a way it wasn't the same but it was more so getting used to the fact of being in shorts for Christmas. Kate was slightly puzzled when they stopped for a moment, she smiled shyly at him. "Thanks"She said squeezing his hand slightly. It made her feel all fuzzy inside when he said things like that. He made her feel special for a good reason and not many people were able to do that. "Just around twenty-four hours, it wasn't that bad. We had a small party on Christmas Eve, they had the plane decorated so that was nice"She said smiling up at her boyfriend. The cabin crew and her fellow passengers had been lovely so she had enjoyed Christmas Eve and the early part of Christmas day.

Soon they arrived at Stefan's house. It was an old two story house and the windows had cracks. The grass was unkept and there was one room without a window. How he hadn't froze in this house during winter was beyond her but then again he had spent most of his life here so he had probably gotten used to it. Kate took a few minutes to take everything in. She nodded as Stefan spoke, it was the closest thing he had to a home. Her old house in Ireland wouldn't have been much bigger. Things had been squished back then but they had lived there for so long things had worked,moving to England had been a complete shock to the system,even Hogwarts had been different. "Thanks"She said as he opened the door for her. She walked into the house and walked into the room on the right. This was as he said the living room, she noticed the dried blood stains but she didn't say anything. She just looked at the rest of the room and then turned back to Stefan and smiled "It's great, I can't wait to get things started"She said walking over to him and putting her two arms around his waist and standing close. She could only guess how hard this had been to be so open and she appreciated it. She was not going to think about all the horrible things that had happened her, she wanted Stefan to have a happy memory of his time in this house.