Julia had hugged him gently,"It's not your fault." She said softly. She agreed when he mentioned going inside, as it was starting to get colder out. She was surprised when he brought her to the kitchens to get something warm to eat. She watched the house elves prepare things for them,"Thank you all so much." She said to them with a smile.

Caelum led Julia towards the benches by the wall and just as they sat down, a house elf arrived carrying a tray with two bowls of soup and two slices of apple pie. The house elf conjured a table and the necessary cutleries before arranging the food in front of the two before disappearing to join his fellow elves in cooking the Christmas dinner.

Caelum took a bite of the apple pie before facing Julia. And with a grin and a mouthful of pie, he asked, "Shall we open the last presents now? Or do you have a place in mind?"

Julia smiled, taking a sip of the soup. It tastes amazing and it was warming her through and through gently. She nodded,"That sounds good to me." She said, grabbing her bag. She pulled out the last of their gifts, which weren't too many to say the least.

(I'm so sorry! I went out of town and I meant to tell you if be gone but we left earlier than planned so I didn't get the chance. Please forgive me.)

(It's alright ^_^ I've been absent from the site as well, ahaha~)

Caelum eyed the emerald and silver-wrapped box in Julia's bundle of gifts with a sense of both excitement and trepidation. 'What if it broke in the box? What if she doesn't like the necklace? What if she likes Longbottom's gift more than she likes mine?' he finished with a hint of Jealousy, remembering the bracelet that Frank got for her.

"Uhm ... so which one are you opening first?" He asked as he played with the gift that Julia got for him with his lithe fingers.

"The only ones I have left it seems are from you and Frank." Julia said,"I believe I already opened Aren's gift of Chocolate Frogs and the gifts from my parents." She was nervous about her gift for Caelum. She had gotten him some really nice Quidditch gear since she had planned to get his ban from the pitch removed. She hoped it would be enough. She hoped he would like it. She had also gotten him some of his favorite sweets and a picture of the two of them, one that had been taken from the Yule Ball. It was taken while they had danced, and it was a beautiful picture of them.

"Then ... what about you open Frank's first then we open ours at the same time?" he asked her, still nervous. Caelum hoped that his gift would be the 'grand finale' to the gifts. He was alright with Frank giving her a bracelet. They're friends, they're good. He even hoped that she'd like Frank's gift. He just wished that she'd cherish his even more.

He replayed his thoughts when he bought the necklace. 'I give my heart to you.' he would say as he took the heart-shaped pendant out of the box, then cringed at the cheesiness of it all.

Julia smiled and nodded, pulling Frank's gift over and starting to open it,"Oh wow..." She smiled, seeing Frank's gift,"Its beautiful." She pulled out the bracelet and slipped it on,"I'll have to thank him when he gets back."

Caelum smiled softly when he saw her smile. He had to thank Frank for existing. The bracelet did look good on her, just as he said it would. He looked down at the box in his hands before looking back at Julia. "Shall we?" he asked, a hand ready to open the gift.

He paused when he saw the contents of the box before a grin displayed itself on his lips. He took out a pair of Quidditch gloves and a repair kit. He inspected the gloves before smirking at Julia. "Nothing's really dissuading me from thinking that you and my mother planned this. Next thing you know, they'll be asking me to return to the team." He proceeded to empty the box and discovered a pack of sugar quills before looking back into the box and gently pulled out the picture.

It moved, like all wizarding photos did, and Caelum's grin turned into a soft, content smile as he watched the figures dance. He turned back to look at her with a grateful look in his eyes. "I really am glad that I dropped by your compartment on the Hogwarts Express."

Julia smiled,"I really am too." She said,"I didn't realize how much things would change since then." She was relieved that he had seemed to like his gifts from her. She hoped he really liked them and wasn't just playing. She looked down at her gift from him and started to open it.

"They're really nice. Thank you." He told her before placing the quidditch gear and candy aside but held on to the photo he just received.

Caelum couldn't help but smile as he continued to watch the photo until he heard Julia start to open the gift. He watched her movements nervously as he swallowed and played with the ring on his finger. Would she like it?' was a phrase that continuously played in his mind.