Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Grace was sitting by the lake in her big baggie cozy sweatshirt a gift wrapped present on her lap. She had gotten a badge on her Campfire sash last year for sewing and well, she decided to make her best friend the first ever Grace Miller official sweater. She had spent all the free time she had when Tamara was busy to knit the sweater. She wanted it to be perfect for Tamara. She'd made it a size bigger than Tamara usually wore so she could wear it longer. It was a big green and blue sweater (the colors of their house) with a big Cerisier tree on the front of it, on the back was "Perle" in big white letters. She was so excited to give it to Tamara. Finally her best friend sat down beside her.

Tamara had finished what she was working on and glanced at the clock. Oh no! She forgot she was meeting Grace at the lake. She grabbed a light sweater and hurried out of her dorm and down to the lake. The two had become such good friends so quickly and that made her so happy, seeing as she really didn't have any friends before. She grinned seeing the blonde head sitting at the lake. She walked up to Grace. Tamara sat down beside her. "Hey." She grinned at her best friend, tilting her head at the package on her lap."What's that?"

"Hey." Grace grinned broadly. "Well, we'll be leaving for winter holiday next week and I wanted to make sure you got your gift seeing as the owls are much slower in winter, so I decided I'd give it to you today." Grace explained as she put her hair up in her trademark pony tail. "So, well, Merry Christmas, Tamara." She handed her the box. "If you don't like it, I can get you something else. But, I figured you might appreciate something hand made more than something not so hand made." Grace played with her fingers. She hadn't really even thought about the chance Tamara might not like it until now. She bit her lip gently.

Tamara grinned at her friend. "Oh, really? And you made it?" She carefully unwrapped the package, pulling out the sweater. It was soft and looked so comfortable. She examined it and turned it over, tracing her last name. "You...you made this.. for me?" Her voice squeaked slightly. No one had ever done something so kind for her. Her mother wasn't a sewer or a knitter and her father always just bought her gifts. "Oh, Grace!" Tamara flung her arms around the girl. "I love it, thank you so much!" She pulled away, grinning brightly. Tamara couldn't wait to actually wear the sweater. "I don't have your gift yet... but I promise I will get it to you."

Grace nodded sheepishly. "Yes-Yes I made it." She watched as Tamara pulled the sweater out and then grinned at her reaction. "Y-Yes I made it for you." Then Tamara did something Grace hadn't been expecting she pulled her into a tight hug and Grace went bright red, she could literally feel the blush on her cheeks which also confused her ever so slightly.I'm just being shy about how much she liked the gift. She thought to herself. Grace hugged Tamara back tightly. "Y-You're welcome." Drop the stutter, you're being a weirdo over something as stupidly simple as a friend hugging you, knock it off. She thought to herself and smiled at Tamara. "You don't have to get me a gift."

Tamara hadn't even noticed the blush on Grace's cheeks. She waved off her protest. "Of course, I have to! You're my first real friend and my best friend, Grace, and after this... well I need to do something special for you too." She grinned happily, holding onto the sweater tightly. "I can't wait to wear this." And, so, she pulled Grace into another hug. "I'll be so lonely during break without you. Can I still write you while we're gone? I know the owls will be slower... but would that be okay?" Tamara pulled away from the hug, asking quietly. She didn't want to annoy Grace.

Grace's cheeks were red again and she was letting herself get comfortable in Tamara's arms this time when Tamara pulled away. Which nearly caused a pout from Grace, instead she pulled Tamara into a hug, holding her close. "Of course you can still write to me! If you wanted you could even come and stay with us a couple days. My mum wouldn't mind. Fiona had her friend Rene over last summer." Grace was smiling. The more she thought about it, the more amazing it sounded to have Tamara over for the winter break. They could do all kinds of things like bake snowman cookies and drink hot cocoa. And it all sounded so wonderful.

Tamara's cheeks turned pink and she hugged her friend back tightly. "Really? You would want me to? I wouldn't want to intrude on your family or anything." She bit her lip. Though... she would love that. Spending a couple of days with Grace. She would finally be able to show her all sorts of muggle things. And oh, Merlin, Tamara couldn't wait to hang out with her. "I'll have to have you come home with me over summer breaks sometime." She smiled at the idea. Plus, her family almost always went traveling in the summer and her family wouldn't mind at all if she brought a friend along.