Feallan Steorra

Chapter 5: Christmas Snow

Author’s jibberish: For those few loyal readers, thank you!

Dear Sirius,

How are you doing? I hope you’re well wherever you are. My potions test was a complete disaster! Well, I couldn’t really concentrate; I kept thinking about the holidays and Potions was my last class on Friday. I was dying to get out.

The Yule Ball was moved to New Years’ Eve instead of Christmas. Having it on New Years defeats the purpose of the name “Yule”...

Ron’s older brother, Charlie, invited everyone to Romania for Christmas so all the Weasleys will spend their Christmas together. They did invite me but I decided not to go. One horntail will last me a lifetime, and besides, Hermione would be the only Gryffindor left if I went with Ron.

I’ve been meaning to tell you, I feel as if something is wrong. My scar isn’t burning but every now and then, I get these spontaneous, pulsing headaches that last for a few minutes before they disappear. It’s a throbbing sensation; I’ve seen the nurse a couple of times and she’s given me medicine just in case. I’ve had the headaches for a total of five times. Is it because I’m not eating enough or is it like migraines? I don’t mean to worry you. I promise if it gets worse, I’ll see Professor Dumbledore.

Harry

PS- Say “hello” to Buckbeak. Happy Holidays!

Harry folded up the letter and gave it to Hedwig. “I’ll have an owl-treat waiting for you here, ok?”

She hooted, nodded and took off with the letter.

Harry woke up face-to-face with a pair of yellow eyes. They meowed, and then licked his nose. Harry almost jumped out of his bed. “Crookshanks! What are you doing here?”

Hermione came in through the open door. “Merry Christmas Harry!” she came to his bedside.

“Merry ‘istmas Hermione,” he said with a yawn.

“Come on, the presents are waiting for us downstairs,” she took his hand and pulled him out of bed.

The common room was properly decorated for the season. A wreath laid against the wall, and the large tree was decorated in red ribbons and gold tinsel; an appropriate color combination for the Gryffindors. The fireplace was roaring, giving the stack of presents an inviting glow.

They made their way downstairs and knelt beside the Christmas tree. It was only when Harry attended Hogwarts that he enjoyed Christmas. Harry never got presents from the Dursleys during the holidays but ever since attending Hogwarts, he never failed to receive presents from his friends. Harry received a forest green sweater, with his initials on the left breast, from Mrs. Weasley, Quidditch Strategy from the Master Wizards from Ron, and what seemed to be a truckload of sweets from Sirius. Along with his present was a response to his letter:

Dear Harry,

I hope your presents don’t melt and remember not to eat too much of them; you could get sick. I’m glad everything is well with you. Buckbeak is fine; he’s sleeping at the moment. I was able to let him fly around last night. He’s been getting quite restless so he was very happy to spread his wings for a few hours.

Give Hermione my regards for the holidays.

Sirius

PS- Pay close attention to those headaches

“Headaches?” questioned Hermione.

Harry shook his head. “Nothing to worry about.” He looked down to the gift lying on Hermione’s lap. “What are those?”

“Bath products from my parents. Want to smell?” she opened a shampoo bottle and held the nozzle towards Harry. He inhaled; it was a gentle scent of cinnamon.

“It’s making me hungry,” he smiled. He turned to a small gift with his writing on it. “Here, this is yours.”

“Thank you,” she took it and pulled the ribbon off. She opened it and gasped. “Harry! Where did you get this?” Inside was a band that reflected the sky outside.

To Harry, it was really nothing. She had bought him a full broom care kit; it only seemed fair to buy her something just as expensive.

“It’s nothing really,” he told her.

She became teary-eyed as she slipped it on her finger. “Oh, thank you Harry!” She embraced him, almost tackling him down. He gasped, the wind knocked out of him. Before he could hug her back, she got up and pulled out a large box from under the tree. “Here Harry, this is yours.”

Harry took it, and then pulled the wrapping off. It was a Quidditch board game. “It’s supposed to be a little game; you have to use your wands to move the players,” she explained. “You can even charm them so the players wear certain teams’ robes…I suspect when you’ll play with Ron, he’ll make his team the Chudley Cannons.”

“This is amazing, Hermione! Thank you!”

The small charmed harp near the window continued to play Christmas Carols.

Later, as Harry was putting his presents in his trunk, Hermione knocked on the open door. Harry turned. “Hermione, are you dressed for dinner? That’s not for another hour.”

She was wearing jeans, a white turtleneck, the violet sweater Mrs. Weasley knitted for her and a white scarf. “Say you’ll come outside with me Harry.”

“Why?”

“Just dress, ok?”

He dressed in the sweater Mrs. Weasley gave him and jeans. He came down to the common room where Hermione was waiting. “What’s this all about?”

“Let’s go outside,” she said, leading him out of the portrait hole. Harry didn’t notice she was carrying a box with her as they walked to the lake outside. The snow was thin on the grounds and the lake was completely frozen over. When they got to the lakebed, she opened the box and handed him what looked like two ice blades, dangling on white string. “Here,” she told him.

Harry took hold of them by the strings. “What are these?”

“Wizard blades, for ice skating. I burrowed them from the school. You just tie them to the bottom of your show and they magically attach.”

Harry and Hermione sat down on a log lying on its side. They aligned the blade to their shoes and tied the string around it. Magically, it attached as if it was glued. Hermione was first to get her blades on and she got on the feet. She hovered over the frozen lake about an inch off the ground. She glided and indentations were made on the ice, tracing her blades’ movements. “Come on Harry!”

He hesitated. “In all honesty, I’ve never skated before.” She made it seem so easy, but it was as if he could feel the slippery ice underneath his feet. He stayed still but the blades carried him across the ice. He was only able to stop as he grabbed hold of Hermione’s shoulders.

“You’ve honestly never skated before. Not even muggle skating?” she asked.

“No. Aunt Petunia bought Dudley ice skates for one of his Christmas presents. He only used them once.” Harry shrugged. “When they went to the lake, I stayed with Mrs. Figgs.”

“Who?”

“An old lady that lived nearby. Uncle Vernon would dump me there because Dudley didn’t want me along and they thought I might burn the house down.”

Hermione shook her head. She would never be able to understand those muggles. She began to glide across the ice. “Well, I hope you’re having fun Harry. I know I’m not amusing like Ron--.”

“What are you talking about?” Harry asked, skating beside her. “You’re one of my best friends. You shouldn’t worry about things like that.”

She smiled back at him. “So,” she casually changed subject. “Who did you ask to the ball?”

Harry got pink in the face. “C-Cho.”

“Did she say yes?”

He nodded.

“Oh.”

“What about you? Who are you going with?”

“Well… no one as of yet.”

“You haven’t asked anybody?”

“Hermione shook her head. “I’m awfully old-fashioned about these sorts of things. I’m waiting for someone to ask me. Besides, I probably wouldn’t ask a boy unless I really like him.”

“Did you have a boy in mind?” Harry asked.

They both stopped skating at the same time. “Harry…” Hermione asked, “Did you realize we were holding hands?”

Harry looked down and saw his right hand holding her left hand. “I know but if you let go, I would fall.” He looked up at her when he noticed her hand coming towards his face. She touched the tip of his nose; a white cluster of snow was now on her fingertip. Then more clusters descended from the clouds. Small snowflakes fell upon the earth with its winter splendor.

The two looked up. “Beautiful,” Hermione whispered.

Harry nodded, looking at her. When they met each other’s gaze, they exchanged smiles. “We better get to dinner,” he advised.

Together, they left for the castle.