The NEW Silva Household!

Yes, by now, Max and Libby were settled into their house by Christmas time. Their BIGASS house, that was. And it was all decorated for Christmas! Lights were strung all around it, and Max had insisted on putting one of those tacky light up deer on the roof.

But, the decorations still weren't done on the inside. Max was decorating one of their trees (One in the entrance room, another one in the living room, and one in the kitchen) while whistling "Oh Christmas Tree" with a Father Christmas hat that was way to big for his head.

[[B'aww teehee]]

Libby was reading a book next to the big fireplace in the living room. It was a nice, big fire, with two stockings hanging up above the fireplace--one embroidered with Max's name and the other, Libby's. She had put on her warm, fuzzy socks and felt completely at ease.

But, a bit of her was nervous. She had quite the surprise for Max on Christmas Day, and she really hoped he would like it.

"Libbyyyy!" called Max from the entrance room in a sing-song voice. "I need some help here, please!"

"With whaaaaaat?" Libby called back in a matching sing-song voice. "I'm reading!"

"To decorate! Have you ever tried to decorate an eight feet tall tree by yourself?!" Max whined.

"But you're like six-two!" Libby mockingly whined back at him, but set her book down and shuffled into the room that Max was in. "What do you need?"

Max pointed to a large red box beside his feet. "You can start with these! I'm glad we loaded up on Christmas decorations while we were in Germany..."

"We went to Greece, not Germany," Libby corrected, pulling a big, ornate snowflake out of the box. She stood on tip-toe to put it up high on the tree. After a few decorations, Libby stopped, and ran into the living room, coming back with her wand, waving it about and making the ornaments levitate up onto the tree.

"I know that silly! But remember a couple of weeks I was in Germany for work? You should work on your memory!" he teased. Max then looked over at the wand with shock.

"But that's cheating!" he exclaimed.

"No, it's being a civilized wizard!" Libby grinned. "Come on, just because we live in a Muggle area now and have some Muggle things in our life, it doesn't mean that we can't use wands! I've always done this for Christmas decorating."

"I know..." but he sighed. "It's just not the same!" And he stubbornly continued to decorate the tree the Muggle way.

Libby sighed. "You're too stubborn sometimes!" she said while she levitated a crystal Santa onto one of the top branches.

"I know!" But he was still smiling. "So, what's this 'surprise' you keep mentioning?"

Libby smiled coyly, manually putting a decoration on one of the lower branches. "You'll find out in the morning!"

"Why not now?!"

"Tomorrow's Christmas, and it's a Christmas present!"

Max sat back on the floor by the tree, and smiled up at Libby. "So, tell me about this surprise."

"It's... small. For now. And quite rambunctious. It's also kinda golden colored."

"Uh..." Max thought this for a minute, before jumping up with a huge grin on his face.

"You got me a golden snitch, didn't you!" He chuckled. "Nice gift and all, but you know I don't play Quidditch."

Libby held back her giggles, and smiled coyly at him. "Nope, it's not a snitch. It's a bit bigger than that."

Max debated again for a minute.

"Uh... I give up." he said, with a shrug.

Libby crossed the large room and opened one of the nearly floor-to-ceiling sliding doors, disappearing into the soft morning light for a few moments before the soft tinkling of a metal tag against a collar was heard, then a little golden retriever puppy waltzed into the house with Libby following it.

"His name is Paul!" she announced, hands on her hips.

Max stared at the adorable furball for a minute in face, but then he broke out into a huge grin, it could have cracked his face.

"A puppy!" he shouted excitedly, as though he were only five years old again. He ran over towards Paul, and threw himself into disposal. Max knelt down beside him, and began to rub his belly, and wrestle with him.

"I swear," Libby shook her head as she shut the door behind her, "Sometimes I really think you're a little kid in an adult b--" she stopped midsentence when she felt something rising up her esophagus. Without a moment's hesitation, she bolted towards the nearest bathroom and threw up.