TITLE: Christmas as the Crossroads
CHARACTERS: Ernie MacMillan, Zacharias Smith, Susan Bones, Hannah Abbott, Justin Finch-Fletchley.
SUMMARY: A Hufflepuff Christmas tradition continues, despite the reality of life at war. Written in March of 2005.
"Ouch. That's my foot, Zacharias."
"Well, I'm sorry, but if we could maybe, oh, use magic to levitate the tree, we wouldn't be having this problem, would we, Mr. I-Like-Doing-Everything-The-Hard-Way."
"I believe I've told you--no less than twice--that the candle charms don't react well with levitation charms, and I personally don't want to be chasing escaped candles up and down the corridors, do you?"
"No. But do we really need these candles? Call me paranoid, but the less opportunities to set the school ablaze, the better."
"That's why the flames are enchanted and therefore controllable. There's a reason why I was chosen as prefect, and not you--I make a habit of thinking through things in a logical manner. Now, stop complaining and keep pushing."
"I'm not complaining, I'm just pointing out--"
"Ahem." Susan, standing at the entrance into the common room, cleared her throat, and Ernie and Zacharias looked up from their task guiltily. She raised an eyebrow at sight of the two of them wrestling with a bulky, half-decorated Christmas tree. "If you two are finished bickering, we'd like to set up the tree now. Unless you want Filch to catch you here, of course."
"We're coming," Ernie huffed, pulling at the tree as Zacharias pushed from the other side. Susan held the entrance open, and the boys managed to maneuver the tree through.
The Hufflepuff common room, located downstairs from the main hall, was a warm and cozy underground living space, well-lit by self-renewing candles and crammed with mismatched armchairs and tables. Two over-stuffed bookcases framed the wall opposite of the entrance, and in between were bulletin boards filled with posters detailing house and school activities, postcards from Hufflepuff alumni from all across the world, and plenty of photographs of current Hufflepuff students.
At the moment, the common room was even messier than usual. Every year during the first week of December, a group of seventh-year Hufflepuffs would sneak down into the common room late one night, decorating it for Christmas and leaving small gifts for every Hufflepuff student. The tradition had started years ago, during the first war, when a large number of Muggle-born Hufflepuffs had decided to stay at Hogwarts over the holidays for their own protection and for the protection of their Muggle families. Their classmates decided to do what they could to make being at Hogwarts almost as good as being at home, and so began the tradition of turning the Hufflepuff common room into a home for the holidays. Now, in the midst of the second war, this tradition was especially poignant--especially for the seventh-years, who were acutely aware that they would soon be leaving the shelter of Hogwarts for the turmoil of the war.
A frazzled-looking Hannah, struggling with a garland twisted around her ankle, led the way to an empty space by the large fireplace. "The tree goes over here!" Ernie and Zacharias continued their struggle with the tree as she supervised. "Yes, right there. Oooh, perfect"
"What I want to know is why it has to be hidden in the basement every year," Zacharias said, as he and Ernie disentangled themselves from the tree. "How about this year, we shrink it, then stuff it somewhere here in the common room? That will be our gift to next year's decorators."
"Hey! Now that the tree's here, how about helping me out with these crackers?" Justin called out from behind one of the couches. The other four moved to where they could see Justin, who was sitting on the floor amid a mess of colored paper, ribbon, and cardboard tubes. He had a piece of Sellotape between his teeth and a few yards of ribbon thrown across his shoulders, but he was determinedly plugging away at his task. "Everything is inside the tubes already, we've just to wrap them up and charm them closed," he explained happily, as the others joined him.
"How many of these do we need to make?" Susan asked, peering inside a tube inquisitively.
Justin shrugged. "I don't know. One for everyone?"
"Do we know how many that is?" Zacharias asked skeptically.
"No," Justin said amiably. "But we'll know when we have enough."
"How?"
"We'll know."
Zacharias gave up, and they all focused intently on their task.
It was a few minutes before Hannah, lying on her stomach, suddenly spoke up. "You don't think anything will happen over the holidays, do you? You-Know-Who, he…he wouldn't attack over Christmas, would he?"
Zacharias and Ernie exchanged an uncomfortable glance, and Justin became very absorbed in untangling some ribbon. No one enjoyed talking about the war or the danger they were in, and in fact, they all usually tried to avoid the subject during casual conversations. It was something to discuss in class, at DA meetings, or during political debates, but not here in the common room, not here amidst the Christmas decorations, not here amidst safety and normalcy.
Susan finally spoke up, her voice concerned. "We can't really know for sure, Hannah."
"I wouldn't put it past him. You-Know-Who doesn't understand human decency," Ernie said, poorly masking his nervousness with indignation.
Hannah nodded, not looking up from the cracker she was anxiously twisting. "Next year, when the war is over," she said slowly, "let's get together for Christmas, the five of us. Let's promise, all right?"
"Of course," Ernie said, a little too quickly.
"We'll do that," Susan said softly. "I'll mark it on my calendar now."
"Next Christmas?" Justin asked, managing a smile sad sort of smile. "Maybe I can squeeze it in. My schedule fills up fast, you know."
"As long as I don't have to move that stupid tree again, I'll be there," Zacharias said, but even he couldn't attain his typical level of bitterness.
"Good," Hannah said. "I'll look forward to it."
They fell silent then, each of them thinking how badly they wanted that plan to come true, and each of them knowing how lucky they would have to be for that happen.