Artemis Hexley and the Portrait of the Vault

Chapter 10: Christmas at the Burrow

Having owned Fergus the cat for four years now, Artemis was used to waking up nose-to-nose with him staring at her. However, the morning after her arrival at The Burrow, the hair tickling her cheeks was more red than marmalade-coloured, and the eyes that were blinking at her in the dim light were brown rather than green.

"It's Christmas!" Ginny whispered, her face less than two inches away from the startled Artemis.

"Merry Christmas, Ginny," said Artemis, starting to sit up and rub her bleary eyes as Ginny backed away from her, feeling almost proud of herself for not swearing out loud at the awakening. Ginny, satisfied that Artemis was awake, jumped off of her mattress to wake up Merula, too. Merula wasn't as self-controlled as Artemis.

Ginny gasped and giggled, before running to the door and hissing into the landing, "They're awake!"

"Are they decent?" Bill's voice replied from outside the room. Ginny turned to Artemis and tilted her her head, and Artemis nodded her own in response.

"Yes, they are."

With that, Bill opened the bedroom door and peered inside.

"Morning, you two," he whispered. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas."

"We are going downstairs to open the stockings before Mum and Dad get up. Do you want to come with us?"

Artemis was already on her feet before he'd finished his question, and she, the Weasley siblings, and Merula all tiptoed downstairs to investigate the stockings hanging over the fire, each of which was filled with a handful of sweets and chocolate coins, a pair of knitted socks, a bar of soap, and a clementine orange. The teenagers each had a new quill, and the younger Weasleys had a small game or toy. Artemis' stocking also contained a homemade felt mouse for Fergus, which managed to distract him from the low-hanging baubles on the Christmas tree that he had taken a shine to.

Although they had all attempted to open the stockings as quietly as possible, it didn't take long for the seven voices to get louder, and soon they were joined by Mr and Mrs Weasley. Festive greetings shared and the mess in the sitting room cleared away, they had breakfast together in the kitchen. A flurry of owls appeared whilst they were eating, delivering more cards and small gifts.

"Aunt Muriel sends her love," Mr Weasley read aloud, "and the Diggorys have sent their annual letter. Cedric will starting Hogwarts in September."

"You boys will have to be nice to Cedric," said Mrs Weasley, with a meaningful stare at the twins. The twins glanced at one another mischievously before returning their respective gazes to their cereal.

"Looks like there's a letter here for you, Artemis," said Mr Weasley. "I expect it's from Sally."

Artemis smiled blankly and took the letter from his outstretched hand. She sincerely doubted that it was from her mother. On opening it, she found that she was right.

"It's from my Great-Aunt Tina," she told the Weasleys, recognising the handwriting immediately. "She's travelling in the Americas with my Uncle until next summer."

Artemis read the letter, her face creasing into a deep frown as she did so. Reaching the end of the letter, she read it again, twice, a sinking feeling growing in her stomach as she did so.

"What does she say?" asked Bill. He, too, was frowning, clearly having seen the look on Artemis' face.

"Oh, nothing much. Just wishing 'Happy Holidays' from her and my American family," Artemis replied, forcing herself to smile. "They're all there together, so she says she wishes I was there, too, but hopes that we are all having fun. Which we are, so it's fine." Across the table from her, Bill and Charlie exchanged looks of concern, so she shook her head and added, "Really, it's fine. Please may I have some more orange juice?"