Squib Who Scrubbed | ON HOLD

Chapter Thirty

The evening had been more than enjoyable, and Tania felt herself becoming more and more comfortable. She ended up sitting between Sophie and Joshua, and as the night wore on, felt herself dozing on and off.

Finally, Sophie broke out the firewhiskey and ice cream. Tania took her own small bit, but having never drunk any alcohol before, the taste surprised her. It truly lived up to the name 'firewhiskey', and paired with the vanilla ice cream, led to a surprising taste.

They ended up creating a pit of blankets and pillows in the middle of the floor, and sat with each other giggling and sharing stories of Christmas past while they played cards. Slowly, each of them slipped off into sleep, Tania being the first to fall asleep against Joshua.

When she woke up, she realized that she hadn't had any bad dreams that night. Or at least, she couldn't remember them. She wanted to cheer, but as she opened her eyes, she realized she wasn't in the Leaky Cauldron room.

Stiffening, she panicked for a couple of seconds before realizing where she was, and how she was sleeping.

Her head was laying on Joshua's stomach, and his arm lay on her stomach. Sophie had her head on Tania's bent thigh, and Mika layed on top of Sophie. Her other leg was on top of Fitch's stomach, who laid on Mika. They were all laying on the several blankets and pillows they had piled up the night before.

Laying there, Tania realized it was probably the most comfortable she had been in years. She wondered how they had all managed to end up like this (because last she checked, they had been sitting in a circle before she fell asleep), but decided not to worry about it.

She heard a yawn, and looked up to see Joshua waking up. He frowned down at her accusatively.

"You're hot," He complained, and she couldn't help it. She burst into giggles.

Her giggles woke up Sophie, who yawned, causing everyone else who was awake to yawn as well. Sophie blinked her eyes slowly, getting her bearings before sitting up abruptly, causing Mika to fall off her, waking up both her and Fitch.

"It's Christmas!" She squeaked, and they all gave a laugh before sitting up. Mika rubbed her eyes and muttered something about the bathroom before stumbling off, and Fitch yawned, making everyone around him yawn too.

Sophie dove towards the Christmas Tree and began sorting the presents into small piles. The other three watched her in amusement at her excitement.

Tania was surprised to find out that she had her own pile of presents, one from each of the people there. She felt a grin break out across her face. She had never received presents from the Malfoys after she had turned eleven.

Mika walked back into the living room, looking remarkably more awake and fresh.

"Are we opening presents now?" She asked, taking a seat right next to Fitch.

"Yes!" Sophie said, clapping her hands together. She then pushed each pile towards the correct person and sat down.

"How about we go in turns?" Fitch suggested.

Joshua nodded. "That way we can see what each person got from one another."

"That sounds like a good idea," Tania said quietly, and Mika and Sophie agreed.

"Sophie, how about you go first?" Mika said, and Sophie readily agreed.

"I'll open Ani's present first!" Sophie decided, and began tearing into the package.

She gasped when she opened box, almost dropping the package.

"Oh, Ani, it's beautiful!" She whispered in awe.