Christmas — or at least the days before Christmas — at Hogwarts was truly magical. The snow that had coated the grounds was soft and pure white, the weather was chilly but the castle's warmth and coziness made up for it, and the overall vibe was simply relaxing. Walking down the corridors at this time of the year without worrying about deadlines or the next class was such an amazing feeling for Jessica.
As much as Jessica loved spending time with her friends, being alone felt just as, if not more, refreshing. With all the drama that went around the school and the amount of work the teachers gave them, it felt great to be on her own for a while. Besides, she would only stay in the castle for two days, meaning she would be leaving tomorrow evening.
The morning of her first day alone at Hogwarts, Jessica ate breakfast alone, comfortably seated in the Gryffindor table. There were a few recognizable faces here and there including Harry Potter and the youngest Weasley boy, Ron, seated a few feet away from her.
Jessica had the mentality that getting everything done right away was the equivalent of being productive. This meant that in group works, she ended up doing majority of the work before the others could even help. It wasn't that she was a genius; she was just a hardworking student who wanted to do well in her classes. It was a flaw, really — she didn't know when to ask for help. She knew she had to fix that little problem of hers, but at the moment, she didn't care. She was alone for two days of the Christmas break and wanted to get started on most of her homework to be able to rest and spend more time with her family when she got home and to not procrastinate once she returned to Hogwarts.
She decided to begin with the Potions group work she was assigned to with Chopra and Higgs. She didn't know their work ethic and as usual, wanted to make sure everything got done on time.
With her cup of steaming hot cocoa and a plate of two eggs, a few strips of bacon, and a slice of toast barely touched, she began writing down notes based on one of the books she borrowed from the library as well as possible points to tackle in the essay portion of the assignment on a fresh roll of parchment. Although she didn't actually start writing the essay, she ended up jotting down countless bullet points of what should be tackled in it that it filled up a good part of the parchment.
Jessica leaned back to look at what she had written so far, deciding that she should give herself a well-deserved break and give her group mates the benefit of the doubt when she heard laughter behind her, followed by the sound of footsteps running down the hall. She turned her head to see what the commotion was, but before she could even register the two boys dangerously near the Gryffindor table, one of them had bumped into her. It wasn't hard, but it was just enough to accidentally knock both her bottle of ink and cup of hot cocoa onto the roll of parchment she finished working on not even a minute ago.
A shocked gasp left her lips and she groaned in disappointment. She had already done a good part of the group work and somebody just had to ruin it for her.
"Oh, shit," a deep voice muttered behind her. "Let's go."
But Jessica didn't want to let it go. She didn't get mad easily, but she could be feisty when she wanted to. She whipped around and came face to face with two Slytherins, one she didn't recognize and one she knew well enough: Terence Higgs.
"I'm so sorry, Hawthorne," Higgs chuckled nervously. When Jessica didn't reply, he explained, "Wright here stole my first ever Quidditch jersey and threatened to burn it if I didn't pay him back for this bet we had so I chased him down here."
"Uh-huh."
Hearing the uninterested tone of her voice, his smile dropped and he actually did look guilty.
"Look, I really am sorry. I'll get you a new bottle of ink to make up for it and —" He paused to look at what else had spilled. "... hot coca?"
Jessica scoffed. "You don't have to do that," she sighed, not wanting to trouble him.
The other boy, Wright, nudged Higgs and muttered, "You heard her. Let's just leave."
Higgs sent him a pointed look before turning back to the Gryffindor girl seated before him. He eyed the parchment, pulled out his wand, and said, "Scourgify."
The liquid that had spilled vanished, but the parchment remained smudged with barely any legible words left. However, Higgs seemed to catch a few words and frowned.
"'Possible casualties of overusing the Sleeping Draught'?"
Jessica simply nodded. She had almost forgotten he was her group mate.
"Isn't this for our group work?" the boy questioned, stepping closer to take a look at the parchment. When he realized he couldn't read much more of it, he stepped back to stand beside an impatient looking Wright. "Why are you doing it already?"
"I wanted to get some stuff done before I head home," Jessica shrugged.
Higgs pursed his lips. "You do know you're not being graded individually, right?"
Jessica knew he was right, but she didn't like the all-knowing tone of voice he used.
"I do," she said bluntly. "I just like getting things done on my own sometimes."
Higgs nodded before glancing at his friend.
"You go ahead," he said. "I'll catch up with you and Pucey later."
Wright frowned almost in disgust, obviously not liking that his friend was going to stay behind with some Gryffindor he didn't know. However, he chose to keep quiet about it, simply scoffing before turning on his heel and walking away.
"I'll help you rewrite all that," Higgs said, motioning to the parchment.
Jessica shook her head. "Oh, no, it's fine," she insisted, now feeling bad that he felt obligated to rewrite all of it. "I was just taking notes of a few things. It's nothing —"
"Hawthorne." She stopped talking. "I'm doing this not only because it was my fault I bumped into you, but also because it's still our homework."
He sent a small smile to show her he was really fine with it. Jessica sighed, knowing once again that he was right. They were group mates after all, so might as well get started on doing the assignment together while they can. She chose to accept his offer, unsure if he'd ever be this willing again to get their homework done once the break was over.
"Okay, then."
Terence Higgs did as he promised: he rewrote the notes Jessica initially took that he ruined when he and Wright bumped into her at breakfast. The two group mates sat mostly in a comfortable silence, speaking to one another regarding their assignment but also occasionally making small talk here and there. Despite Jessica having one of her best friends in Slytherin, the prejudice against the house still lingered and she couldn't help but sometimes see them in a bad light, which was why she was mildly taken aback that Higgs wasn't as mean as she thought he would be. She heard from Alista that he was known to be one of the "nicer" Slytherins, but it was still a pleasant surprise to find that out in person.
While Terence was deciphering the smudged words as well as adding his own ideas to the parchment, he asked, "So, why aren't you with my fellow Slytherin like you always are?"
Jessica raised her eyebrows. "You mean Alista?"
"Yeah, Greene. Still don't get why she chose to hang out with Gryffindors."
Normally, Jessica would have taken that offensively. But strangely enough, there was a humorous tone to Terence's voice that stopped her.
"She's back home with her family," she replied instead.
"Why aren't you doing the same?"
"You ask a lot of questions, Higgs."
The brunette boy chuckled, nodding as he flipped a page from the library book Jessica had borrowed.
"Maybe I have an ulterior motive."
"That sounds very Slytherin of you."
"Are we attacking houses now?"
"You're the one who questioned why Alista hangs out with me," Jessica reminded him, folding her arms.
"Touché." Looking back at the roll of parchment that looked nearly finished, he continued, "So, what's the answer?"
Jessica paused, unsure of whether to give him a complete answer or not. It would just lead to a longer conversation, and she wasn't planning on having one with Terrence Higgs. She just wanted him to fix their homework, which was luckily just the start of it. But, seeing as there wasn't really anything to hide from him and he wasn't as bad as he thought, she gave in.
"I just like spending part of the break in Hogwarts," she eventually answered. "How about you? Why are you still here?"
"Parents have unfinished business to attend in Scotland," he answered simply. "They're stopping by Hogwarts later to bring me along with them." Before Jessica could say anything else, Terence had set her quill down and with a triumphant smile, said "Done."
Jessica looked over at the parchment to confirm his words.
"Thanks, Higgs," she told him once she was sure it looked fine.
He shrugged. "At least I did part of my work already."
"That doesn't mean you're gonna slack off for the rest of the assignment, are you?"
With a mischievous glint in his eye, he simply said, "No promises. See you around, Hawthorne."
The Slytherin left without giving her the chance to retort, his long legs bringing him out of the Great Hall faster than Jessica could ever do. She sighed to herself and began packing up her things, deciding that maybe she should tackle her other individual requirements instead. She could at least start on most of them today, relax and finish packing tomorrow, and then she would head back home and get the rest she deserved.
★ ★ ★
The view from the steam train as it left Hogwarts was magnificent. Snow blanketed the grounds and topped the roofs and balconies of the castle. The trees surrounding it were almost completely white from the snow and the Black Lake looked particularly shiny from the layer of ice covering it.
Jessica had spent two quiet but relaxing days at Hogwarts on her own. While it was refreshing, she was now ecstatic to come back home and see her family. As an only child, she was very close to her parents. She would also be seeing her aunts, uncles, and cousins soon, too, all of whom made her feel less lonely as an only child.
The ride back to Kings Cross Station was quite silent considering that she was one of the only few students heading back on that specific day and time; most would leave Hogwarts once the break officially began.
Eventually, the scenery changed to a more urban one and Jessica found herself approaching the station in a few minutes, which the conductor announced as well. She wore her cream colored jacket over her already thick sweater once she felt the train slowing down. When it came to a full stop, she exited right away since there were barely any other students on the train. She had written to her parents the day before, telling them the exact time the Hogwarts Express was set to arrive at King's Cross, so she knew they would be waiting for her. Sure enough, she almost instantly spotted her mother and father, Katherine and Ian Hawthorne, bundled up in thick clothing, waiting for her by one of the pillars of Platform 9 3/4.
"I've missed you so much," her mother said, wrapping her in a hug once she had approached them.
"You haven't grown at all," her father joked next, embracing both women.
Ignoring her dad's teasing comment about how she still looked like a kid to him, she said, "I missed you both, too. How's Bucky?"
"He's the one who grew a lot. I doubt he remembers you anymore."
"Of course he does," Katherine said, glaring at Ian before looking back at her daughter. "You're the one who taught him how to sit and shake, after all. Oh, and your father taught him how to roll over just recently."
Jessica grinned, excited to see her now 2 year old pet beagle.
"Will you be baking sugar cookies again?" Katherine changed the topic as the family of three made their way to the exit.
"I thought I already gave you the recipe last year," Jessica said.
"It's not the same if I make it. I'd eventually use magic and it never tastes the same."
"You should bake them again," Ian agreed. "Henry and Lucille love them."
"Even they can tell when your father doesn't cook the muggle way even though they're muggles themselves. They noticed something was off when he cooked during one of the family barbecues last month," Katherine sighed.
"Besides, Charles likes them, too," said Ian, ignoring Katherine's disapproving tone much to her annoyance. "I heard Puddlemere put their team on an intense diet, so I'm pretty sure your cookies would make him feel much better when they come over this weekend."
The mention of Charles reminded Jessica of Quidditch, and now she was reminded of Oliver and how she was supposed to buy him a gift but couldn't find the right one back in Hogsmeade when the two shopped for presents together.
"Well, can we stop by Diagon Alley then?" the girl asked. By now, the Hawthornes had arrived at where their car was parked and began loading her luggage in the trunk.
"We can just buy cookie ingredients in a nearby grocery," Katherine told her.
"Oh, well, I was planning on finishing my Christmas shopping for some of my friends after we buy the ingredients." Specifically, Quidditch gloves for Wood, Jessica thought. Maybe while she was at it, she could throw in a cute bracelet or pair of earrings for Alista and Bethany that some of the stalls in Diagon Alley would sell during Christmas time as last minute gifts.
"Alright, then. We can go tomorrow morning."
A/N: So... I'm literally the worst author ever. I have no idea when I last updated but damn, I'm pretty sure it was a hella long time ago HAHA (edit: it was literally almost 2 years ago omg???). I say almost the exact same thing whenever I update one of my stories after a long period of time, but I'll just say it again: I've just been really busy with school (especially since I'm in college now) so other than forgetting to write new chapters, I also don't have as much motivation to write as I used to. Don't worry, I really do want to finish my stories, but it's just really difficult to find the time to do so and when I do have free time, I usually spend it resting. I recently checked Wattpad and saw how much people have been commenting for me to update both this and my Cedric story, so I hope this suffices for now!