InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "let the crazy out"

Maggie set her journal back beside her amid the chaos that was her flat's sitting room. It was an annual tradition: having amassed the gifts for her myriad family members, Maggie sat on the floor and begins to wrap them. There was something about the art of wrapping that she never caught on to, however, and every year they ended up less-than-ideal — and yet, she proudly stuck a bow on top of each and placed it to the side with its peers.

Peggy had apparated down from the castle (which was not that big and hard to find people in, and in any case Bethoc would tell her Maggie was there or bring Maggie to her) with a little gift that she'd got for Maggie all neatly wrapped up in her gloved hand. She rapped on the door of Maggie's and waited for Maggie to open up.

They'd made up over journals but Maggie was hesitant to believe it until she saw Peggy in person, and it was awfully convenient that Alec's latest owl had contained an envelope that only his sister could open.

"Just a– oh, fuck–" could be heard, along with some clattering, until Maggie finally opened the door. There was spellotape stuck to her hair, and apparently more around two of her fingers, but this wasn't the most disastrous gift-wrapping session Peggy would have seen. As she stepped back to let the other woman in, all she could really come up with as a greeting was a pathetic "Hullo."

Peggy came in and gave Maggie a big hug, heedless of spellotape and shreds of wrapping paper. "We're good," she reminded Maggie, adding, "I didn't mean to get us in such a corbandie. My feelings were just hurt."

She offered Maggie the box, which was perfectly wrapped, and possibly had achieved that state with Bethoc's assistance. "I hope you like them," Peggy said. "They seemed like they'd be your sort of thing."

Maggie hugged back, a little too hard (as per usual), and pulled back with a sheepish smile. "It was my fault to begin with, but let's blame Circe and Skeeter." Then she paused, "Scrimgeour's fault. We can start with her."

She accepted the box with another hug and beckoned for Peggy to follow her back to the gift-wrapping headquarters, where she sat back on the floor. The sofa was free, at least. "Ta! I've got one for you somewhere here, but it's going to take some excavating. I'm... not sure where it went."

Peggy found a spot on the sofa, tossed her coat next to it and settled into it, jackknife style. "Don't worry about that. Where is Alec's envelope? And what do we need to do to protect ourselves from my brother the master prankster?"

Maggie unstuck a piece of spellotape from the envelope and passed it up. "It may be filled with glitter. Our... tiff was what set him on the path to darkness, so making up may be the first step to a safe and peaceful kingdom." She was digging through the pile of 'wrapped' gifts while she spoke but there was the hint of a smile on her face. "We may've created a monster, though, depending on what's inside."

Peggy took the envelope and looked it over for anything that had changed since the last timt she'd seen it. "I love my brother but he's always had the monster potential. I think the Sorting Hat put him in Hufflepuff as a cruel prank to try to convince the rest of us he's harmless.

"Shall I open it? Or do we have a glitter protection charm we should do first?"

"It worked. Turns out he's got a diabolical streak." After a considering look, Maggie shook her head. "If we get festooned I'll clean it up as penance. For nothing at all, of course, because I've done nothing related to glitter or pranks."

"Of course not." Peggy giggled at the patent untruth. "Now let me have a go at this thing." She tapped the seal with her wand and the flap of the envelope popped up.

Carefully, Peggy removed what looked like a photograph, but all it said was Glad you two are talking again. She frowned and passed the photograph to Maggie, then inspected the inside of the envelope for anything else Alec might have put in there.

Maggie mirrored the frown and turned the photo over, but... nothing. No glitter, not fanfare, no... well, text, now and–

Suddenly, the frown broke into a gasp, then a grin, as the blank paper began to change again, and it was a photograph of Alec in the castle grounds, holding up a hand that matched his face and the statue behind him — covered in glitter. Laughing to the point of snorting (which was, by the way, very ladylike), she handed it back up to Peggy as the house elf burst into the frame and doubled over.

Peggy took the photograph, where poor Bethoc was looking horrified at the mess she was about to have to clean up, and then the photograph replayed for her, and she burst out laughing too. It took a moment for her to stop long enough to read the inscription on the bottom of the photograph: "Merry Christmas both of you."

"That," Maggie snickered from her place on the floor, "was not what I expected."

"It's the second best Christmas gift I've had so far." Peggy slid off the sofa to land next to Maggie on the floor.

The other girl flapped the photo of Alec in her face, still giggling. "And the first?"

"Is having my best friend back." Peggy put her arms around Maggie for another hug.