The Forgotten 7th Year

Christmas Dinner with Hannah

Neville's POV

Christmas Dinner with Hannah was fun.

Hannah helped me make cookies, and showed me how to use a magical mixer. I put all the flour in at once, not knowing that you needed to add it in small amounts, or it would spray everywhere. We laughed as it got into our hair, and onto the ceiling.

Hannah's eye acquired a mischievous glint, and her hand snaked into the bag. Suddenly it flashed out, and I was choking on flour.

"Oh, it is so on!" I grabbed some in each hand and threw them in quick succession.

She returned fire, and I ducked out of sight. I crept behind her, and waited until she was distracted. Suddenly, I jumped up, and dropped flour down the back of her shirt.

The cried out, and her eyes narrowed dangerously. With surprising strength, she upended the whole bag over my head.

I'd had my mouth open, and I spluttered. We were both laughing hysterically, until we weren't. She was looking at me with an intensity that was palpable.

Her dad coughed loudly, and we jumped.

I wasn't sure when he'd gotten downstairs. His eyes roamed around the kitchen. Somehow, we'd even managed to get flour on top of the ceiling fan, and in every nook and cranny was covered in white powder.

With a wave of his wand, the flour returned to the bag.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." He said in a tone that made in clear he felt the opposite. "The turkeys' done."

Throughout dinner, her dad looked daggers at me. But he was relenting. By the time we reached dessert, he'd stopped glaring, and when we were done, he was almost talking to me normally.

I wondered why he'd initially disliked me.

Hannah's mum, Mary, on the other hand, was ecstatic to have me here. She treated me like a celebrity. Her older brother, Jacob, was somewhat distant, but I didn't get the impression that he disliked me.

After the meal was done, they waved goodbye to me as I prepared to disapparate.

Right before I spun, the door opened, and a hand pushed Hannah out. She shot her brother a death stare, and ran over to me.

"Hi."

"Hi."

"Thank you, for coming. You made Christmas so much more magical."

"It meant a lot to be here."

She was chewing her lower lip, and my eyes couldn't help but linger there. The air seemed to crackle with electricity, and suddenly, I knew what I wanted to do. Her gaze flicked to my lips, and then up to my eyes. She seemed to be closer now. I began close the few inches gap. I could see each of her eyelashes.

A light turned on in her house, and we jumped apart. She looked sheepishly at her feet.

"Well, um, it was nice having you here." I wanted to go hide in a hole.

"Bye." I quickly turned on the spot. As the black suffocating pressure consumed me, I couldn't get the moment to stop replaying in my mind. I felt a stinging in my hand, and when I materialized, and realized I'd lost two fingernails, and a little skin. A drop of blood fell to the snow.

Serves you right for being so distracted.

Gran had been worried, but try as I might, I couldn't feel overly bad.

The last moments with Hannah continued to play over in my head, again and again. But, she was just my friend.

That's all

Then why did I want to be more?

Luna's POV

Ollivander was still shaken from his ordeal, but he recovered with surprising speed. Within hours he was back to sort of normal.

At least, he was walking and talking. But there was still a shadow of pain in his eyes that I didn't know how to fix.

I tried to help, but I knew nothing about healing magic, and didn't have a wand to cast the necessary spells anyways. All I could do was talk with him, and try to help where I could. But I had other concerns.

The food Draco had given us was almost gone, and I really didn't want to go back to being curled up on the floor in agonizing hunger. But there was nothing I could do about it, and the helpless crushed me like a physical weight.

No 16 year old should have to deal with these things. I should be worried about my next date with Rolf, or my Transfiguration homework. Not trying to avoid starvation while locked in a cellar.

My thoughts were interrupted by raised voices from upstairs.

"What do you mean no more Order members have been caught?" Bellatrix shrieked.

"We mean, that the safe house's enchantments have held, and nobody's been captured." Narcissa Malfoy's voice was even and cool.

"But I haven't been able to interrogate someone in ages!" She pouted.

"Go out and catch someone yourself then, Bella!"

"You know what? I think I will, Cissy. I'll prove just how incompetent those Half-breed Snatchers are. They are not worthy of the honor of serving the Dark Lord."

"Knock yourself out." Narcissa sounded bored.

Quick footsteps, then a slam. Far away, the distance crack of someone disapparating.

The antics from upstairs meant very little to us, except for the purposes of entertainment. But I couldn't help feeling immensely sorry for whoever Bellatrix would catch. But... if our defenses were as strong as Narcissa said, she might not catch anyone.

However, she was powerful and mad. She was likely to break through at least one barrier, and I shuddered to think what would happen to those inside.

I hoped they weren't anyone I knew.

Hey, my school is going back to on campus, and so I will probably be updating every two days.

Here

Thanks,
Aria