Christmas wasn't something Evan or Barty grew up enjoying. Christmas with their families had always been a stunt, a party with too many gifts and too little love. It was practical and showy but never fun.
Christmas was a holiday that they had sworn to make their own the day they left, it would be a day they cherished instead of a day where Barty got the newest broom even though his parents knew he never liked quidditch.
But now, Barty and Evan were free. It wasn't something that came easily for either of them but that didn't matter to them because they had never been more at home then they felt in the trashy one bedroom apartment that they called home.
They had enough money to move, both having respectable jobs, but they stayed in their first apartment. The place that taught them to live and to love. It was decorated in a way that only Barty and Evan would allow a place to be decorated.
Paintings in all different mediums that Barty had made that never quite matched Evans knack for style.
It didn't help that every day Barty would come home with a new Christmas decorations that was uglier, and sometimes more explicit than the last. Whether it was a small ornament or a giant inflatable, their apartment was covered floor to wall with chaos.
"What did you do?" Evan laughed seeing the entirety of their living room pulled apart and built with the cushions
"pillow fort..?" Barty smiled at him, there was a timidness of getting caught in the act, even when Evan would never care.
At Hogwarts, Barty was untouchable. Safe and protected within magical walls. With teachers who might have not liked Barty, but would always protect him.
"Pass me a pillow, prick." Evan smiled at him, laying on the other side of the carpet.
"Sure thing, lovely." Barty smiled back at him. It was smug and more of a smirk than a smile in a way that was so painfully Barty. It was a smug smile that had never met his eyes until he met Evan.
When Barty turned the movie "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," Evan waited for the punchline, where Barty laughed about how much he knew Evan hates this movie and turned it off.
But instead he laid comfortably on the carpet, watching the movie he knew irked Evan in every way possible.
He waited for Barty to break, to find the humor that he knew caused him to start the movie in the first place. He shifted from side to side on the blanket, shifting from watching Barty watch the movie, to attempting to watch it on his own.
"Having fun, lovely?" Barty finally asked. He seemed genuine, but the facade slipped slightly as his lips quirked up.
"You done?" Evan countered.
"No, I happen to love this movie." Barty smiled at him.
"That's a fucking lie." Evan laughed and Barty finally broke, joining in the laughter. "Give me the remote."
"But lovely, I want to finish this movie." Barty continued to cackle, though it didn't last long as Evan charged at him causing Barty to shriek out a laugh as he fought to hide the remote from Evan who easily stronger than him.
"Asshole," Evan muttered, though he didn't even pretend to hide his smile. Switching the TV to Barty’s favorite Christmas movie "A Muppet Christmas Carol," and smiled a touch brighter as the fire lit behind Barty’s eyes.
"I like you better like this." Barty smirked at him.
"Like what?" Evan raised his eyebrow.
"Happy." Was all Barty said, resting his on Evan’s lap. "I love you, Merry Christmas, lovely."
"I love you too, Happy Christmas, Barty."
"Would you just say Merry?" Barty complained the whine went deaf from Evan's laugh.