My Mute Life (Fred x OC) Book 1

Chapter 12

Draco had gotten me a beautiful bracelet, with a lovely silver and green serpent intertwined with a silver rose. I opened the note that came with it.

'Merry Christmas! I have a bracelet identical to the one I got you, and I enchanted them so that when one of us is in danger the other person's bracelet will glow. We can also send messages through the bracelet, so we can talk to each other without being caught. By the way, if you're up to it, meet me at the Black Lake tonight, I have a surprise planned. -Draco'

This only left one parcel. It was a small box. I unwrapped it, and opened the box, and there was a beautiful ring enclosed. The ring was silver, and had a small heart engraved into the center of it.

An included note said, 'Merry Christmas Ser! I'm really sorry about the night at the Hospital Wing, I was just really worried about you. Can we just forget about the whole day and be friends again? I hope so. -Fred'

I smiled. I wanted to be friends with Fred again too. I missed him and George. I slipped the ring on my finger, admiring it.

I looked over at Harry, and he only had one present left, which he unwrapped.Something fluid and silvery gray went slithering to the floor where it lay in gleaming folds. Ron gasped.

"I've heard of those," he said in a hushed voice, dropping the box of Chocolate Frogs he'd gotten from Hermione. "If that's what I think it is -- they're really rare, and really valuable."

"What is it?"

Harry picked the shining, silvery cloth off the floor. I poked it. It was strange to the touch, like water woven into material.

"It's an invisibility cloak," said Ron, a look of awe on his face. "I'm sure it is -- try it on."Harry threw the cloak around his shoulders and Ron gave a yell.

"It is! Look down!"

I gasped. There was only Harry's head suspended in midair, his body was completely invisible. He pulled the cloak over his head and his reflection vanished completely.

"There's a note!" said Ron suddenly. "A note fell out of it!"

Harry pulled off the cloak and seized the letter. Written in narrow, loopy writing he had never seen before were the following words:

Your father left this in my possession before he died.

It is time it was returned to you.

Use it well.

A Very Merry Christmas to you.

There was no signature. Harry stared at the note. Ron was admiring the cloak.

"I'd give anything for one of these," he said. "Anything. What's the matter?"

"Nothing," said Harry. He felt very strange. Who had sent the cloak? Had it really once belonged to his father?

Before he could say or think anything else, the dormitory door was flung open and Fred and George Weasley bounded in. Harry stuffed the cloak quickly out of sight."Merry Christmas!""Hey, look -- Ser and Harry got Weasley sweaters, too!"

Fred and George were wearing blue sweaters, one with a large yellow F on it, the other a G.

"Theirs are better than ours, though," said Fred, holding up my sweater. "She obviously makes more of an effort if you're not family."

He smiled faintly at me, which I returned, and held up my hand to show his ring on my finger. Relief showed in his eyes.

"Why aren't you wearing yours, Ron?" George demanded. "Come on, get it on, they're lovely and warm."

"I hate maroon," Ron moaned halfheartedly as he pulled it over his head.

"You haven't got a letter on yours," George observed. "I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. But we're not stupid -- we know we're called Gred and Forge."

"What's all this noise?"

Percy Weasley stuck his head through the door, looking disapproving. He had clearly gotten halfway through unwrapping his presents as he, too, carried a lumpy sweater over his arm, which Fred seized.

"P for prefect! Get it on, Percy, come on, we're all wearing ours, even Harry and Seraphine got one."

"I -- don't -- want -- " said Percy thickly, as the twins forced the sweater over his head, knocking his glasses askew.

"And you're not sitting with the prefects today, either," said George. "Christmas is a time for family."

They frog-marched Percy from the room, his arms pinned to his side by his sweater.

I had never in all my life had such a Christmas dinner. A hundred fat, roast turkeys; mountains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas; tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce - and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table. 

Harry pulled a wizard cracker with Fred and it didn't just bang, it went off with a blast like a cannon and engulfed us all in a cloud of blue smoke, while from the inside exploded a rear admiral's hat and several live, white mice. Up at the High Table, Dumbledore had swapped his pointed wizard's hat for a flowered bonnet, and was chuckling merrily at a joke Professor Flitwick had just read him.

Flaming Christmas puddings followed the turkey. Percy nearly broke his teeth on a silver sickle embedded in his slice. I watched Hagrid getting redder and redder in the face as he called for more wine, finally kissing Professor McGonagall on the cheek, who, to my amazement, giggled and blushed, her top hat lopsided.When I finally left the table, I was laden down with a stack of things out of the crackers, including a pack of nonexplodable, luminous balloons, a Grow-Your-Own-Warts kit, and a lovely white rose. The white mice had disappeared and I had a nasty feeling they were going to end up as Mrs. Norris's Christmas dinner.

Harry and the Weasleys and I spent a happy afternoon having a furious snowball fight on the grounds. Then, cold, wet, and gasping for breath, we returned to the fire in the Gryffindor common room, where Harry broke in his new chess set by losing spectacularly to Ron. I suspected he wouldn't have lost so badly if Percy hadn't tried to help him so much.

After a meal of turkey sandwiches, crumpets, trifle, and Christmas cake, everyone felt too full and sleepy to do much before bed except sit and watch Percy chase Fred and George all over Gryffindor tower because they'd stolen his prefect badge.

It had been my best Christmas day ever. But it wasn't over yet! I crept out of the dormitory, down the stairs, across the common room, and climbed through the portrait hole. I walked quickly down the corridor.

Once I was outside, I ran across the grounds and down to the Black Lake. There were small, round orange lights strung from tree to tree, and a quilted blanket was spread across the ground, with a radio resting atop it. As I was looking around in amazement, Draco stepped out from behind a tree.

"Do you like it?" He asked nervously.

"I- I love it!" I said.He smiled. "That's great! I know we haven't really been able to talk much, and I wanted to make it up to you by giving you the perfect Christmas."

He looked at my wrist. "You're wearing your bracelet!" 

"And you're wearing y- yours!"

He bowed and held out a hand to me. "Would you give me the honor of having this dance?" He asked playfully.

"O- Of course, my good sir!"

He snapped on the radio, and it started playing one of my favorite songs, 'Castle on the Hill.' He twirled me around, and we danced the night away to all my favorite songs, and others I didn't know. After that, we laid down and watched the stars, pointing out different constellations. Draco walked me back to the Gryffindor common room when the sun started to peek over the horizon, and I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.