The punchline to Jamie's little practical joke took its time coming around, but when it finally occurred to Julia that she'd been subliminally coerced into playing Christmas music in the middle of November, he had to laugh. It wasn't exactly an answer to her question, and it probably seemed like he was making fun of her, but he was only having a small celebration over the success of his unintentional prank. “Merry Christmas!” he offered brightly, giving her a pat on the back with the arm that was around her shoulders as he took it back and dropped both hands back in his lap. It was never too early for Christmas music, if you asked him... though that might have been because, when he was young, he'd had to start practicing his music for the Christmas pageant in November and it had seemed perfectly normal. As soon as the leaves started falling from the trees it was time for Away in a Manger. 

”Is it almost the holidays yet? I think I’m ready for a break from school.”

“Not yet, no,” he told her sadly. He knew better than to start convincing himself that he was on the cusp of a trip home. He had enough trouble keeping on top of his schoolwork when he wasn't mentally checked out. If he let himself think that there was only a little while left and school wasn't worth the effort then he'd end up in deep water. At this point his professors didn't expect all that much from him, but if he got any worse then they'd probably throw him out. It wouldn't be much of a “break” if he couldn't come back. “Reckon we get to go into Hogsmeade before school's out for Christmas?” he asked her, unable to remember if the previous Hogsmeade trip had been the last for the term. He hadn't used it very productively if it was. 

“You know, I wonder...” he started, then paused, deciding whether he wanted to say anything at all. He seemed to decide to go for it, however, because just a second or so later he picked up where he'd left off. “There's a bird goes to me church, and I'll be seeing her around Christmastime, at mass, and before that when we sing the Messiah. She's in choir. She doesn't play nothing, but she sings better than anyone I know,” he explained. He hadn't been thinking in terms of muggles when they'd started discussing finding him a heartbreaker, but her face sprung to mind when they started talking about Christmas and home. His hand rapped absently against his knee. “Mallory.” 


a simple rule that every good man knows by heart: its smarter to be lucky than its lucky to be smart