Regulus Arcturus Black had never considered himself someone who loved Christmas. Sure, he didn’t hate it, but it wasn’t his favorite holiday either. He would have preferred to spend Christmas watching a movie while sipping hot chocolate with a few close friends, rather than being overwhelmed every year by hordes of relatives he wasn’t even sure he knew.

Fortunately, after moving in with you in a London apartment, Christmas celebrations had become much closer to what he had always wished they could be as a child.

You had started dating right after finishing school, and a year later, you moved in together. Both of you were rather introverted, but, for some reason, you became incredibly outgoing during the holiday season. You wanted to go out more often, sometimes to buy Christmas decorations and other times just to see the city slowly being covered in snow.

It was Christmas Eve, and you had celebrated together, just the two of you—a small, intimate affair. Of course, afterward, you had insisted on going out despite it being practically midnight. The streets weren’t very crowded, and the sidewalks were a bit slippery due to the snow and ice. Regulus had spotted an ice-skating rink, which had always been one of his favorite Christmas-themed activities that actually required the effort of leaving the house. You, on the other hand, had never tried ice skating before. So, when you stepped onto the rink (which was practically empty at that hour), you clung to him, terrified at the thought of falling.

“Come on, love, I promise it’s easier than you think,” he said, chuckling softly at the sight of your nose, red from the cold, and your desperate grip on him like he was a lifeline. His neatly kept ebony curls, with a few snowflakes caught in them, and his pale skin made him look utterly enchanting, especially under the moonlight casting a soft glow on his face. “Sometime, you’re going to have to try it—you can’t cling to me the whole time,” he teased.