A Journey so Far - A Harry Potter Fanfic

11. Christmas

Christmas was coming. One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The lake froze solid and the Weasley twins were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban. The few owls that managed to battle their way through the stormy sky to deliver mail had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could fly off again. No one could wait for the holidays to start.

While the Gryffindor common room and the Great Hall had roaring fires, the draughty corridors had become icy and a bitter wind rattled the windows in the classrooms. Worst of all were Professor Snape's classes down in the dungeons, where their breath rose in a mist before them and they kept as close as possible to their hot cauldrons.

Malfoy had been even more unpleasant than usual since the Quidditch match. Disgusted that the Slytherins had lost, he had tried to get everyone laughing at how a wide-mouthed tree frog would be replacing Ellie as Seeker next. Then he'd realised that nobody found this funny, because they were all so impressed at the way Ellie had managed to stay on her bucking broomstick. He had eventually given up but every time he passed Jamie he would shove him, trying to get his own back on the fact that his half-brother seemed more popular than him.

When they left the dungeons at the end of Potions, they found a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead. Two enormous feet sticking out at the bottom and a loud puffing sound told them that Hagrid was behind it.

"Hi, Hagrid, want any help?" Ellie asked, sticking her head through the branches. "Nah, I'm all right, thanks, Ellie. "

"Would you mind moving out of the way?" came Malfoys cold drawl from behind them.

Ellie gritted her teeth to stop herself from losing her temper with him and Jamie glared at him.

"Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall, looks a treat." Said Hagrid, noticing that the three of them had lost some of their cheeriness. So the three of them followed Hagrid and his tree off to the Great Hall, where Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were busy with the Christmas decorations. "Ah, Hagrid, the last tree -- put it in the far corner, would you?"

The hall looked spectacular. Festoons of holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls, and no less than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles.

"How many days you got left until yer holidays?" Hagrid asked.

"Just one." Replied Hermione. "I can't wait - mum and dad are taking me to Paris! I'm coming back here a few days early to stay with Ellie."

Jamie nodded. "I'm staying with Ellie the whole holidays so technically we aren't leaving school."

They said goodbye to Hagrid and made their way back up to the Gryffindor Commonroom.

"You will keep looking for Nicholas Flamel while I'm away, won't you?" said Hermione to Jamie. The two of them had spent hours in the library looking for the man Ellie had mentioned but had found no trace of him. Ellie was relieved, of course, to find that they were looking in completely the wrong books. Jamie nodded.

"And send me an owl if you find anything."

"And you could ask your parents if they know who Flamel is," said Jamie. "It'd be safe to ask them."

"Very safe, as they're both dentists, " said Hermione.

As soon as the school broke up for Christmas Ellie and Jamie heaved their trunks up to the fourth floor and into Dumbledore's office.

"I though you said your living quarters were further up on the eagle stairs." Said Jamie, intrigued as to where he was being taken.

"They are, but you can also get to them this way." She lead Jamie up the stairs at the one side of the desk at the back of the headmaster's office. From there there was a small door which revealed a spiral staircase. Ellie levitated their cases and they walked up the small flight of steps and through the door.