A Very Cangie Christmas

[Cassius Lestrange]

It had to be after midnight now, but Cash was maintaining that it was still Christmas until and unless he went to sleep. Besides, coming now felt much more festive than the alternative of showing up tomorrow morning or last night, so here he was, outside of Angie (and Eli's) door at midnight, with his present for her tucked underneath his arm.

He stepped inside when his best friend opened the door and kicked the door shut behind him before pulling her into a quick hug.

Face pressed to her hair, Cash said, "Merry Christmas."

It wasn't until he had let go that he actually took a look around; he grinned when he saw it, looking a little crooked in the corner of what he was pretty sure was the living room. "You have a tree!"

  

[Angie Swan]

Angie was sitting very comfortably in her flat with Cora, a fire, a good book and a mug of eggnog with good rum in it. She'd splurged on the rum as a present to herself, in addition to purchasing gifts for Cash and Eli. She'd put up a tiny evergreen tree in the living room and decorated it the best she could with charms, but Cora had made short work of the tree and Angie was tired of straightening it up.

She and Eli had done Christmas morning together, Angie surprised by a delightful breakfast in bed from her roommate. It was certainly a first and a lovely surprise, so much so that she felt a little spoiled. While Angie had grown up in the upper class lifestyle, it hadn't been as hard to adjust to her lower class status as one would assume. She had gotten used to cooking for herself, so she never expected anybody else to do it for her at this point.

The knock at the door sounding Cash's arrival took her by surprise as she was quite absorbed in her book. She'd been expecting him, but certainly hadn't noticed the hour. Her second-hand pocket watch told her it was midnight, but she didn't mind. Ang was prone to keeping strange hours thanks to her new position and therefore wasn't tired.

Swinging the door to admit her best friend, Angie eagerly reciprocated his hug. "I thought it festive; Cora thought it was a toy." She eyed the fluffy grey can and returned to her spot on the couch, motioning for Cash to join her or take the worn armchair they'd purchased. "There's eggnog and rum, and your present is under the tree."

  

[Cassius Lestrange]

"Of course she did," Cash said, not without affection. He was, after all, responsible for the presence of that cat in their lives - and she was good for Angie, he thought, even if she could unarguably be a pain in the ass.

He flopped onto the couch next to Angie, curling his legs up to his chest only to get up again when she mentioned rum and his present. He tossed her her own present - unmistakably wrapped by Cash himself as opposed to a house elf, there was something just a bit shoddy about the taping - and sauntered over to the kitchen to get rum because he was more than capable of serving himself when he was in the house of friends at midnight, especially since he had been here enough to know where things were.

"Do you want any?" he called from across the house, (though really in the Lestrange home the distance would have been practically nothing,) preemptively grabbing two mugs from the kitchen cabinet regardless.

  

[Angie Swan]

Catching the present tossed her way rather easily, Angie realized her training was starting to pay off; she actually had reflexes now. When asked if she wanted something to drink, Angie debated quickly. She'd already had a glass with rum, but figured another couldn't hurt. It wasn't like she was going anywhere tomorrow, a little fun tonight wouldn't kill her. Ang shipped out for her next assignment after the new year, thankfully somewhere warm this time. If she was sent to another cold country straight away she may have killed somebody.

"Sure." She agreed, after another moment's consideration. Angie poked at the present in her lap, a bit hefty, though oddly shaped and clearly wrapped by Cash himself. While she waited for him to return to the couch, she turned it over, wondering what it could possibly be, though she wasn't coming up with much. Admittedly her present this year was not as amusing as her one from last year, but it was useful at least. Of course he wasn't in some ministry job like they'd anticipated, but once she disappeared again, the only communication they would have was writing, whether it be letters or their journal, so she figured the quill and ink would suit him well.

When he finally made his way back, Angie smiled over her present at him. "And how was your Christmas?"

  

[Cassius Lestrange]

He filled both of the mugs with rum and set them down on the coffee table before he went to retrieve the present she had gotten him from under the tree. Cash tucked it under his arm and sat down on the couch next to her, curling towards her and half-smiling.

"A bit weird, honestly - not for me, not really, but for Claude, sure," Cash said, "Other than that it was -" he shrugged "- the first Christmas without Alexandria around. I missed the background noise."

They were almost out of mourning now. The beginning of February, and it would be done - it had almost been an entire year since the last time he had seen her, and when he did think about her death he still was not sure what to think.

The Carrow girl's necklace had made him think about it, really.

"How about yours?"

Angie didn't have to do family functions, not anymore - she had burned her bridges in a way that Cash never could have managed, but discarding that Cash imagined that she had to have done something earlier today (or yesterday, rather) even if it was just with Eli.

  

[Angie Swan]

Angie quirked an eyebrow at the mention of Cash's brother who, truth be told her only experience with was bringing Eli back from Singapore and leaving him there, but that was beside the point. She was mildly curious about what would have impacted one brother and not the other, but the comment about Cash's mum put a stop to it before the question could fall off her tongue.

"I'm sorry." She passed him a soft, almost sad smile. She knew very well Cash had never been particularly close to his mother, but it was still a sad thought. "Oh nothing too outrageous, Eli made me breakfast in bed, it was rather lovely." Certainly the first time she'd ever had that happen! They were definitely learning to manage on their own with the cooking and cleaning and what not. Angie was doing much better with the cooking that she could have ever anticipated, considering her upbringing. Most of the time it was just one of them home at a time, but when they're paths overlapped at their own place, Angie and Eli were doing alright.

"We opened presents and that was about it. I mailed a small package for Connor-" Her young brother probably didn't even remember her and her parents were probably still furious at her, but she felt she ought to try at least. It wasn't Connor's fault that things fell through, though her mother's pregnancy with him had been a huge catalyst in her life. "But it's mostly been me and Cora, enjoying a good book by the fire. I think Eli disappeared while I was taking a nap." She had no idea where he'd gotten off to, but she was sure he had his reasons.

  

[Cassius Lestrange]

"That sounds fun," Cash said with a genuine smile, when she was done. He hadn't spoken to Eli in the past month - at first it had been because he was pissed but even after he had stopped being mad it had just sort of continued - and he hadn't mentioned this to Angie. He didn't really have any intention to, either - either he and Eli would handle it or they wouldn't, and he didn't think that it was the sort of thing they should drag Angie into. Especially since she probably would be less than thrilled with both of them.

"I hope that Cora didn't make too much of a nuisance of herself," he said, arching his eyebrows at her. It had been a while since Cash had last owned a cat, but he knew that they could be pains in the ass when they wanted to be - although he supposed that the fire definitely could have tempered that.

He took a sip of his rum.

  

[Angie Swan]

"Cora is always a nuisance." Angie teased as she ran her fingers down her cat's back. She was never as bad as Cat had been though. Aelius had been one of a kind, though had always seemed to like Angie and the two had shared a devious little bond. Still, Cora was very behaved, even while Angie was away, so far as she could tell. She paid one of the neighbor's kids to come over and feed her and change her water. It wasn't something that made Angie terribly comfortable, but Cora seemed to be doing fine, so she couldn't complain. Angie also suspected that her very savvy little cat also got out and fended for herself sometimes.

Taking a sip of her drink, Angie stretched out her feet and plopped them gently in Cash's lap. Merlin's beard if anybody knew he was here, he would be in so much trouble. Her reputation was already in the gutter, socially anyway. Professionally, she didn't think she was doing too poorly. But Cash was her friend, her best friend and they had been through too much together to pretend otherwise. This was comfortable and it was just who they were.

Realizing she'd neglected to open the present tossed her way, Angie set her drink aside, out of Cora's reach and pulled at the paper. It had been a little heavy to catch, but as she tore open the paper, it could have been heavier. "Boots?" She questioned, eyebrow raised curiously. Certainly she wasn't complaining, but it was kind of odd, even for them.

she got Cash nice writing stuff, new ink/quill // I had to look it up XD

  

[Cassius Lestrange]

"Boots," Cash echoed, "They're magically - enhanced? Charmed? I don't know, but your feet won't get cold the next time you're up in Merlin-knows-where." He had put a surprising amount of thought into them, and he really did hope that she liked them - mostly he hoped that they worked, because Cash was willing to bet that a frozen Cursebreaker was more likely to make a mistake.

A little over a year ago, they had sat in the Room of Requirement and drunk a bottle of bourbon, and Cash had told her about Russia. Before that, she had gone to Singapore with him to retrieve Eli - and Cash was half-convinced that he wouldn't have lasted without her, in the spring of his sixth year, when Eli was lost.

He didn't know what he'd do without her, really - and he didn't think that boots would save her or anything, she could do that herself, but they certainly wouldn't make her any less likely to survive her adventures.

And they were nice, besides.

"They're also fireproof," Cash added, almost as an afterthought, "Just because, really."

  

[Angie Swan]

"Fancy!" Angie beamed as she turned the boots over in her hand. The lining was incredibly soft and they would nearly reach her knees. Angie had no doubts they would do everything Cash promised. "I will always have my toes, if nothing else." She joked. It was nice to know he was thinking of her, something practical for the work she'd come to absolutely love. Funny how she hadn't had these plans until Eli and now she couldn't imagine doing anything else.

She leaned over to peck him on the cheek, "Thanks." They really were spectacular. Her own gift felt a little less special, but what did you buy the guy who had everything? Buying quidditch equipment was out of the question as she would have no idea what to get, nor did she think he needed anything new. As far as their inside jokes went, last year's present had been her best ever, their talk of a flying ship bar, but trinkets and things didn't always feel appropriate. At least hers was practical too she supposed, for the amount of 'letters' they wrote and his eventual ministry job.

  

[Cassius Lestrange]

Cash pulled Angie into a one-armed hug. "I'm glad you like them," he said, genuinely, before opening his own present. He was bad at wrapping presents, but fairly neat at opening them - years of being a part of Lestrange Family Functions had him well trained, he supposed.

He beamed at the sight of the writing stuff. "Oh, Ang, it's excellent," Cash said with a grin, hugging her again. He went through quills like nothing else - between writing to her and writing to Ellory he used them even more often now than he had back in Hogwarts. Never mind his tendency to lose them, as well!

  

[Angie Swan]

Angie snuggled into the hug for a moment before leaning back. Their lives may have turned out exactly the way they anticipated, or something close to it, which realistically meant they shouldn't get moments like this. Angie though, would always try to find a way to make things like this work, even if their time together was brief, it would still be worth it.

"How else am I supposed to keep tabs on you when were both all over the place?" She teased, thinking that Eli's creation of their journal was genius. It was confidential and easier than letters, not to mention faster!

  

[Cassius Lestrange]

Cash shrugged at her. "There really isn't any other way," he said. Then, smirking: "Unless we manage to master telepathy, of course." If anyone could do it, it would be them - Angie knew him so well that sometimes he wondered if she knew what he was going to do before he did.

He wished that they could have seen each other more, but she was busy saving the world and he was busy - avoiding his father, among other things. It was never going to be as easy as it had been when they were in school, but at least they still had moments like this.

  

[Angie Swan]

"I'll get right on that." Angie chuckled, thinking that she should probably at least learn legilimency and occlumency sometime in her career. It would however, take close to a decade for her to master either, let alone both, so it wasn't exactly a valid point here and now.

Ang snugged into Cash again, just trying to soak up the moment. Neither one of them knew when they'd get to spend time together like this, so drinking eggnog in front of the fire and catching up was the perfect way to waste a few hours.