Summary: Christmas arrives. Carina receives presents, one of them from someone she wasn't expecting. She spends the day in the Hufflepuff common room, and at the end of the day finds Hermione in an unusual situation.
Ever since everyone saw that Harry is a Parselmouth, many people think he's the heir of Slytherin. Even my roommates have been talking about it, well, everyone except Ginny, for some reason.
Christmas morning arrives. I wake up feeling the winter chill. Only Ginny and I are in the dorm, as the other girls have gone home for Christmas. I get out of bed and see that Ginny still seems to be asleep. I get dressed and head down to the common room.
As I go downstairs, I see Harry, Ron and Hermione already sitting by the fire. Strangely they stop talking when they see me coming. I approach them and sit down on the floor near the fireplace.
"Merry Christmas," I say.
"Merry Christmas, Carina." Hermione is the first to speak.
"Merry Christmas." Harry and Ron say at the same time.
We are silent for a few seconds, an awkward silence given that I had just interrupted whatever they were talking about before I arrived. The only noise was the fire.
"Oh, I think you've got presents too." says Hermione before getting up and walking towards a small pile of presents that I've just noticed.
She reaches for one of the presents and I thank her. I eagerly open the package before reading the letter that came with it. It's a beautiful necklace with a delicate ruby pendant. I feel something furry brush against my legs, I jump in fright before realising it's Lyra, my cat.
"She's lovely." Hermione says with a gentle smile, referring to Lyra. "It seems that she and Crookshanks got on very well."
Then I see Hermione's cat approaching. I reach out to stroke it, and it seems to accept the caress. I take the letter that came with the necklace, open it and read it.
𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒂,
𝑰 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑫𝒊𝒂𝒈𝒐𝒏 𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝑮𝒓𝒚𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒓. 𝑨 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏. 𝑲𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈.
𝑰 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑴𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒎𝒂𝒔! 𝑰 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖.
𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆, 𝑵𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒂.
Mum's letter makes me feel tears forming in my eyes, I blink quickly to try to get rid of them. I get up to open the other presents I've received. A box full of sweets made by Mum, I open it and offer some to Harry, Ron and Hermione. I open a letter from Draco.
Mᴇʀʀʏ Cʜʀɪsᴛᴍᴀs, Cᴀʀɪɴᴀ.
I'ᴍ sᴀᴅ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴇ ᴡᴏɴ'ᴛ ʙᴇ sᴘᴇɴᴅɪɴɢ Cʜʀɪsᴛᴍᴀs ᴍᴏʀɴɪɴɢ ᴛᴏɢᴇᴛʜᴇʀ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ Sʟʏᴛʜᴇʀɪɴ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴏɴ ʀᴏᴏᴍ ᴀs I ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʟɪᴋᴇᴅ, ʙᴜᴛ I ʜᴏᴘᴇ ᴡᴇ ᴄᴀɴ sᴘᴇɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀʏ ᴛᴏɢᴇᴛʜᴇʀ, ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ. - Dʀᴀᴄᴏ
I smile as I read his letter. I miss the relationship we both had before I got sorted into Gryffindor, before Draco and I started studying at Hogwarts. I move on to another present with my name on it. I open the box and see a writing quill. Curious to know who gave it to me, I look for the letter that came with the present. When I find the letter and open it, I don't recognise the handwriting.
𝓓𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓒𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓪,
𝓘'𝓶 𝓪𝓯𝓻𝓪𝓲𝓭 𝔀𝓮 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮𝓷'𝓽 𝓶𝓮𝓽. 𝓘 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓯𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓘 𝓭𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓴 𝓘'𝓵𝓵 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓶𝓮𝓮𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓫𝓻𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻. 𝓑𝓾𝓽 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓘 𝓯𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭 𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾, 𝓪 𝓜𝓪𝓵𝓯𝓸𝔂, 𝓱𝓪𝓭 𝓫𝓮𝓮𝓷 𝓼𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓸 𝓖𝓻𝔂𝓯𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓭𝓸𝓻, 𝓘 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓪 𝓵𝓸𝓽 𝓪𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝔀𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓵𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓸 𝔂𝓸𝓾. 𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓼 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓶𝓾𝓶 𝓱𝓪𝓼 𝓷𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓮𝓭 𝓶𝓮, 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓘'𝓶 𝓝𝓪𝓻𝓬𝓲𝓼𝓪'𝓼 𝓼𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻, 𝓐𝓷𝓭𝓻𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓭𝓪, 𝓘'𝓶 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓪𝓾𝓷𝓽.
𝓘 𝔀𝓪𝓷𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓪𝔂 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓘 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝔀𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓲𝓽'𝓼 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓯𝓸𝓵𝓵𝓸𝔀 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓷𝓭𝓪𝓻𝓭𝓼 𝓲𝓶𝓹𝓸𝓼𝓮𝓭 𝓫𝔂 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓯𝓪𝓶𝓲𝓵𝔂, 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓲𝓽'𝓼 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓮 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓼𝓲𝓭𝓮𝓻 𝓪 '𝓫𝓵𝓸𝓸𝓭 𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓲𝓽𝓸𝓻'. 𝓘𝓷 𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼, 𝓘 𝔀𝓪𝓷𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓽𝓸 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓘, 𝓣𝓮𝓭 (𝓶𝔂 𝓱𝓾𝓼𝓫𝓪𝓷𝓭), 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓝𝔂𝓶𝓹𝓱𝓪𝓭𝓸𝓻𝓪 (𝓶𝔂 𝓭𝓪𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓮𝓻) 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓪𝓵𝔀𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝓫𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓸 𝔀𝓮𝓵𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓭 𝓾𝓼, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓪𝓵𝔀𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝓫𝓮 𝔀𝓮𝓵𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓲𝓷 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓱𝓸𝓶𝓮.
𝓐𝓼 𝓘 𝓭𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝔂𝓸𝓾, 𝓘 𝓭𝓮𝓬𝓲𝓭𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓾𝔂 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓪 𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓰𝓮𝓷𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓬 𝓰𝓲𝓯𝓽, 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓘 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓴 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓮 𝓾𝓼𝓮𝓯𝓾𝓵. 𝓘𝓽'𝓼 𝓪 𝓢𝓹𝓮𝓵𝓵-𝓒𝓱𝓮𝓬𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓺𝓾𝓲𝓵𝓵, 𝓼𝓸 𝓪𝓼 𝓼𝓸𝓸𝓷 𝓪𝓼 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝔀𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓲𝓽 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓬𝓸𝓻𝓻𝓮𝓬𝓽 𝓪𝓷𝔂 𝓶𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓴𝓮𝓼 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓶𝓪𝔂 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓶𝓪𝓭𝓮. 𝓘 𝓱𝓸𝓹𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓮𝓷𝓳𝓸𝔂 𝓲𝓽. 𝓜𝓮𝓻𝓻𝔂 𝓒𝓱𝓻𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓶𝓪𝓼.
𝓟.𝓢: 𝓘 𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓪𝓼𝓴 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓪 𝓯𝓪𝓿𝓸𝓾𝓻. 𝓟𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓮 𝓭𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝓽𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝓪𝓷𝔂𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓪𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓵𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻, 𝓘 𝓭𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓱𝓸𝔀 𝓹𝓮𝓸𝓹𝓵𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓬𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓘'𝓭 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝔂𝓸𝓾.
𝓘 𝓱𝓸𝓹𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓶𝓮𝓮𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓭𝓪𝔂, 𝓐𝓷𝓭𝓻𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓭𝓪.
Well, if I could hold back the tears before, now it's impossible. I never thought Andromeda would ever get in touch with me, but ever since I was little I've always wished I could meet her. Mum talks very little about her, in fact Mum talks very little about her two sisters, not just Andromeda. I'm sure that not only her childhood seems to be a sensitive subject, but her relationship with her sisters is also a sensitive topic for Mum. But I'm sure that deep down she misses them both.
"What's wrong?" I hear Hermione's voice ask, worried.
I quickly wipe away the tears streaming down my face. "Nothing, I'm just homesick." I reply, not entirely untruthfully.
And then I feel Hermione hug me hesitantly. I can't say that we're exactly friends, but I feel that from this moment on I can consider her one. I feel comforted and better with her embrace. And, as I was brought up in this environment, I can't help wondering what my father would say if he saw me hugging a muggle-born.
The Great Hall is magnificent, completely decorated for Christmas. As there are far fewer of us, I walk towards the Slytherin table, where Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, Emma, and even Stella, who is apparently the only Hufflepuff student remaining at the school, are.
Stella promptly gets up and runs to hug me and wish me a Merry Christmas as soon as she sees me. I hug her back, also wishing her a Merry Christmas. I soon realise that her face looks a little puffier, as if she had just cried. I'm about to ask if she's all right when Draco pulls me out of Stella's arms and hugs me.
As soon as we've disentangled ourselves from the embrace, my brother, holding my hand, leads me to the Slytherin table, casting threatening glances at Crabbe and Goyle, who were looking strangely at me as I approached. I hear Emma giggle.
"Siblings love..." she says. "I'm glad you've worked it out."
I see Draco roll his eyes.
"Speaking of siblings, there's mine..." says Emma, getting up and walking over to Harry, who was on his way to the Gryffindor table before his sister hugged him.
While Draco chats about something I'm not interested in with Crabbe and Goyle, I turn to Stella.
"Were you crying?" I ask, curious but worried at the same time.
She smiles slightly. "It's nothing bad, don't worry." she says before explaining. "Your mum gave me a Christmas present and sent me a letter."
I look at her curiously, waiting for her to specify the gift and the letter.
"She gave me a necklace with a yellow diamond pendant." she starts to say. Considering the present Mum gave me, it's obvious that she did the same for Stella, presenting her with something that reminded her of Hufflepuff. "And in the letter she said that I will always be welcome in your family, that she considers me her daughter."
I smile when I hear that. "Our mum is something, isn't she?" Stella cries when she hears me say that.
Stella invites me, Draco, Emma and Ginny to spend the afternoon with her in the Hufflepuff common room, as we wanted to do something special on Christmas Day and it's too cold to go round the school. Draco is a little hesitant at first, as if he's fighting an internal battle over the prejudice of entering the common room of another house, but in the end he accepts.
So that's how we find ourselves walking down to the school basement, a place I've never been before. Stella explains that in addition to the Hufflepuff common room, the kitchen is in the basement of Hogwarts.
We stop in front of what appears to be a giant barrel, and then Stella approaches and taps in a specific rhythm, which causes the barrel doors to open.
The four of us: Ginny, Draco, Emma and I, look at each other, intrigued by the unique way of entering the Hufflepuff common room.
"I wish Gryffindor was more creative, I think the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room is awesome." I say, and Ginny nods in agreement.
I'm even more impressed when I step into the common room. It's a very large place, with high ceilings and lots of plants decorating the room. It's just as cosy as the Gryffindor common room, maybe even more so. Even my brother seems surprised.
We spend the afternoon together. We play wizard's chess and chat. I can't help but notice that Ginny seems lost in her own thoughts, occasionally nodding.
As soon as we leave the common room, everyone disperses towards their own common room. Emma and Draco go one way, while Ginny and I go another. On the way, Ginny says she's arranged to meet Fred and George somewhere, so I continue on my way alone.
As I reach the second floor, I hear what sounds like crying coming from the girls' bathroom. I approach cautiously. When I enter the bathroom, I jump backwards, startled to see the ghost of a girl.
"She looks awful." says the girl, who I see wearing a Ravenclaw uniform.
"She who...?" I ask, but stop talking when I hear a cry coming from one of the bathroom cubicles again.
"Go away!" I recognise that voice. It's Hermione.
"Are you all right?" I ask hesitantly. "I just want to help."
My eyes look around me when I notice a cauldron on the floor. Someone had made a potion. And apparently it was Hermione.
When she realises that I'm stubborn and won't leave until she tells me what happened, she abruptly opens the door. I quickly turn towards Hermione, but immediately jump back when I see her furry, cat-like face.
"What happened?!" I ask frightened.
"Looks like the Polyjuice Potion went wrong, doesn't it?" I hear the ghost say.
Polyjuice Potion... What on earth did Hermione want with a Polyjuice Potion? And to turn into a cat?
Hermione glares at the girl. "Shut up, Myrtle."
Hermione then turns to me, ready to explain whatever has happened.
"You know what? You don't have to tell me anything, at least not now. I think we have other priorities... Come on, I'll walk you to the hospital wing."
And then the two of us walk together to Madame Pomfrey.