Harry-Dementor

9- Snacks

It was in high spirits, looking forward to going back to Grimmauld and getting out from under the worried gaze of the headmaster, that Harry stepped into Remedial Potions. "Happy Christmas!" Neville called out from where he had an arm around a disgruntled looking Draco who still glared at Harry every chance he got about the last quidditch game.

"Happy almost Christmas, Neville," Harry smiled back and took in the room. Most people were milling about and chatting like normal, but there was a large, dragon-like creature in the corner that was completely black and had scaly wings wrapped around him with a large, yellow eye just peeking out from under a scaly wing. "What's going on there?" Harry asked, wondering which student it was.

"Graham is still sulking about the match," Ginny answered him and gave her friend a tight hug.

"He's being a child," Hestia, the Ravenclaw sixth year accused the seventh year with a glare.

Montague the gargoyle just huffed and laid a wing over sharp, pointed ears on either side of his head.

"It really was a great catch, Harry," Eir smiled at him with a laugh towards the sulky gargoyle.

"Hannah and Ernie broke up!" Colin exclaimed as he and Dennis ran into the room. Everyone groaned, even Harry who had gotten used to Colin's regular updates on his, hopefully, mate.

Matthew very dramatically sighed and banged his head on the table he was sitting at with Brook and David. Brook patted him on the head. "Don't worry, you'll be fine," she reassured him.

"What's the countdown now?" Aurelius, the half-werewolf, asked as he laid down a card nonchalantly in his game of Exploding Snap with Aceline, Aurora, and Kara.

"One week and six days," Draco answered for Matthew. "Right before he gets back to Hogwarts, though I doubt he'll find his mate before returning."

"She's not going to like me," Matthew groaned into the table, everyone was completely ignoring Colin at this point who was still vibrating with excitement from the door.

Snape billowed into the room at that moment in a dark cloud of an imposing aura and physically moved the Creevey brothers out of his way. "Colin, sit down and plan how to ask her out after the holidays. Matthew, your mate will like you, you're a veela; it's almost guaranteed. Graham, stop sulking and turn back. And everyone, eat the snacks so I can leave and start my teenager-free holiday," he sneered at the room before claiming his normal armchair.

A huge spread appeared on the long table in the front of the classroom, courtesy of the house elves. Deciding to hang back and observe what people took to help him guess what species they might be, Harry stood in a corner. Draco rushed over to a beautiful platter of sushi that the house elves must have spared no expense in making. "Ah! No!" Brook immediately swatted his hand away, causing the blond to glare at her. "Naiads get first run at the seafood," she smirked as Draco rolled his eyes and made a dramatic bowing gesture to the platter. "I'll try to leave you a few pieces."

Harry nodded. So, Brook was a Naiad, and she was dating David, a Drus or Dryad. If he remembered correctly, the species were actually fairly similar, one was just connected to the land and one the water. He wondered at Snape's comment from the first meeting that their species were not supposed to like each other. That sounded like a soap opera if he'd ever heard of one, and he made a mental note to sit with them and talk later.

Most of the other food was fairly normal with biscuits, cakes, finger sandwiches, and crisps. There was a large bowl of what looked like crickets and earthworms off to the side though. He watched Hestia scoop some up on her plate beside a piece of cake as well as Ginny who put some on a piece of bread. He wrinkled his nose at that, but assumed it probably wasn't any stranger than him eating people's emotions. The normal pitcher of blood was visited by Snape, of course, as well as the third year Ravenclaw, Bartholomew. Harry marked him as a vampire in his head.