Christmas morning dawned, cold, white and, for Viola at least, lonely. She was entirely alone in the dormitory. There were only a few other Slytherins staying over break, including Draco Malfoy and his cronies. Viola didn't like the three second years. Oddly enough it wasn't Gregory Goyle or Vincent Crabbe, but Draco Malfoy who intimidated her the most. While the former two boys were huge and menacing, there was just something about Draco. His smirk and the way he strutted, suggested he could ruin your life without even lifting a finger. So, to avoid them, Viola decided she would just lay in bed, where it was warm and cozy, for a while.
Eventually she did have to get up to feed her pets. A small package, wrapped in red paper, slipped off her bed. She froze, her bare feet hovering above the cold stone floor. Viola stared at the package. Who had sent her a gift? Surely not her parents. Last year for Christmas her mother had given her a humongous dictionary to "keep her busy". While a dictionary might interest some people, Viola was not one of those people. She hadn't expected them to send a gift this year. It was too easy not too. The last time her father had written to her was over a month ago. They'd probably forgotten they even had a daughter in her absence.
Viola slid off her bed and picked up the package. There was a tag attached. She read it with interest.
Happy Christmas Viola!
I hope you're enjoying yourself (and not worrying about how to prove your theory about the Chamber)! Eat lots of food, sing some carols and be merry!
~ Hugo
Viola stared at the tag. Why had he sent her a present? It wasn't like they'd actually become friends over the weeks they'd been following Ginny. Viola still found him incredibly annoying. She only kept him around because it was good to have a teammate.
She hesitated before ripping open the wrapping paper. A small smile escaped her lips when she saw the gift. It was a silver charm in the shape of bat. No one had ever given her a gift so thoughtful. A gift that she'd actually like. Her mother only bought her things that she thought would keep her busy, and out of her way.
As much as Viola adored the little bat, she hoped Hugo didn't expect her to actually like him after this.
🦇🦇🦇
"Happy Christmas, Ginny," Harry said to her.
"Happy Christmas," Ginny mumbled. She looked down at the table, abashed.
It was Christmas morning and they had all settled down at the table to eat breakfast.
The great hall looked beautiful Enchanted snow drifted down from the ceiling. Huge Christmas trees had bee set up by Hagrid and decorations of holly and berries were everywhere.
Ginny was not at all in the Christmas spirit. She unenthusiastically picked at her breakfast while the others chattered loudly. She just huddled in the orange sweater her mother had sent her and tried to look like she was having fun. She failed miserably.
The day involved mainly many loud games of exploding snap, lots of food, Fred and George antagonizing Percy -they bewitched his prefects badge to read pinhead rather than Prefect- and Ginny being lost in misery.
After supper Ginny noticed that Ron, Harry and Hermione had disappeared.
"Where did the other three go?" Ginny asked Fred and George, who were enlarging Christmas pies they had swiped from the table.
"Dunno," said Fred, waving his wand. "Engorgio!"
The treacle tart before him swelled.
"I haven't see Percy in a while either, now that you mention it," said George, performing the same on his cherry pie.
The three looked around the empty Common Room.
"Maybe Perc went to go see a girlfriend!" suggested Fred, sniggering.
George laughed. "Ha! Percy with a girlfriend! Good one Fred."
While the two joked the whole thing off, Ginny went to sit by the fire. She was slightly worried. What if there had been a mass attack? But she knew where she had been all day. She hadn't had a single memory lapse. All she could do was anxiously wait for their return.
The portrait door swung open. Ginny perked up, then saw Percy marching in.
"Where were you?" asked George, looking up.
"None of your business." snapped Percy. He marched up stairs to his dormitory.
"Way to spread Christmas cheer Perc!" Fred called after him.
Ginny leaned back in the armchair. Soon she dozed off. She fell into a rather nightmarish dream about a wand that could freeze people with a single wave.
"I wonder how long she'll be in the hospital wing-"
"Yeah...but you know what this means don't you?"
"Er...what?"
"For once in her life, Hermione did something wrong!"
Ginny bolted up in her seat. Harry and Ron jumped.
"Whoa, Ginny! What're you doing up?" asked Ron.
Ginny looked in between the two boys, who she could make out only by the orange light if the slowly dying fire. It appeared they had just entered the Common Room. A member of their trio was noticeably missing.
"Where's Hermione?" Ginny asked frantically.
Harry and Ron glanced at each other. Fear clutched her.
"She's, er, in the Hospital Wing," said Harry.
"Why?" Ginny flew to her feet. She had fallen asleep. Maybe while she was sleeping she had gone and attacked Hermione. "Was she...was she attacked?"
"No!" said Harry and Ron together, quickly.
Ron rubbed the back of his neck. "It's sort of an, you know, embarrassing thing . She doesn't really want us telling everyone." said Ron.
"But she'll be alright," added Harry, noticing the fearful expression on Ginny's face. "In a couple of weeks."
"Good," breathed Ginny. She relaxed.
"You should go up to bed Ginny," said Ron.
Ginny looked around the Common Room and realized it was empty. Fred and George had apparently forgotten about her in their way up to bed.
"Alright. Goodnight."
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"Viola! Hullo!"
Hugo came skipping over to where she was sitting at the Slytherin table during breakfast. Everyone had returned from Christmas break. Viola looked around anxiously to make sure no one was watching before replying. "Hello Hugo."
He sat down. "How was your Christmas?"
Viola shrugged. "Alright...yours?"
Hugo gave her a thumbs up.
"Brilliant!" He lowered his voice to a confidential tone. "Learn anything new about Ginny?"
Viola shook her head. They both glanced over at Ginny at the Gryffindor table. She looked happier than she had in awhile as she greeted her friends.
"No, but she was miserable all through Christmas," said Viola.
"I heard a Gryffindor girl, Hermione Granger, was attacked!" said Hugo.
Viola shook her head again. "No. I'm pretty sure that's just a rumor. She is in the hospital wing though."
The two were silent for a moment then "Oh, did you get my present?" asked Hugo.
Viola nodded hesitantly. "Yes." She said rather stiffly.
"Did you like it?"
Even more stiffly. "Yes." Viola didn't want to give him any false ideas about them being friends.
"Good," said Hugo. As usual, he was not at all put off by her unfriendly tone.
Viola quickly changed the subject. "So now that your back, we can continue our spying. If we can only find proof that it is Ginny, we can save the whole school!"
🦇🦇🦇
Ginny decided she needed to keep track of herself at all times. She took a notebook and lined it so she could write down what she had done at each hour of every day.
She used it throughout January, and it worked exactly how she wanted, but it terrified Ginny to discover that there were long periods of time where she had no idea what she had been doing. Luckily no more attacks occurred, if they had it was doubtful Ginny would've been able to handle it emotionally.
Unbeknownst to the girl, she was still being followed. Quite persistently by a dark haired Slytherin and a cheerful Hufflepuff. The two spies were sourly disappointed in their pursuits. Either Ginny wasn't doing anything interesting, she was in the Gryffindor Common Room, or they lost track of her completely. They were not deterred from their goal however. They continued relentlessly.