p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Christmas holiday was approaching swiftly. This fact was made plain by the amount of decorations that appeared overnight. The house elves have really out done themselves this year. Dan awoke to find the common room adorned with garlands, all proudly sporting green and silver. Baubles hung from strings and lights brightened the usually depressing dungeon. As Dan admired the festive fixings, he realized he'd wasted about five minutes just staring around the room like an idiot and would most definitely be late for breakfast if he didn't hurry along. In record time Dan was fully dressed and attempting to tame the bird's nest atop his head he called hair. Dan swiftly shouldered his bag and exited the dungeons. Through the hallway he kept his head down, and hoped by chance someone might hit him with a disillusionment charm. To simply fade away into the wall seemed like a dream come true. Dan hadn't always been so cynical, no. It took years of verbal abuse from classmates and countless punches to the middle for Dan to realize: most people are just pricks and it's best to keep one's head down. In an attempt to fend off any potential interaction with others, Dan usually carried a book. Reading while walking the corridors. He knew Hogwarts like the back of his hand and often didn't require eyesight to get from point A to point B. Today, however he was in between novels, and couldn't muster the motivation to start a new one. So, he simply kept his head down, using his fringe to shield his eyes from people passing by. As the fifth year conquered the last flight of steps, he thought how lucky he had been to not encounter a single twat the whole way to breakfast. He soon realized, however, he shouldn't think so soon. As he rounded a corner he bumped into a boy much larger than he who was surrounded by other Gryffindors. 'Perfect' Dan thought, 'how fortunate I am..'/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Why don't you watch where you're going dipshit?" The elder boy asked, his friends laughed at the jest as he pushed Dan aside. The Slytherin fell to the ground and the pack of meat-heads left. Dan stood slowly straightening his robes, and brushing dirt from his trousers. No one in the hallway said a word, or even gave him a second /In the Great Hall Dan sat alone, as usual, and stared into his oatmeal. Thinking instead of eating. His first class of the day was Herbology and Dan was dreading going out in the freezing cold just to care for some bloody gillyweed. He racked his brain for ways to escape Professor Sprout's inevitable lesson. Deep in thought, his eyes began to glaze over as he stared a thousand miles into the distance. While thinking up ways to make himself sick, Dan hardly noticed someone trying to talk to him until fingers were snapping directly in front of his gaze./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Mr. Howell do kindly listen when others are speaking to you." Snape chastised, short tempered as always. A quill clutched in his long fingers and a piece of parchment floating beside him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Sorry, sorry. I was just thinking about-"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Truthfully exhilarating conversation," the potion master said without a hint of emotion, unless annoyance counts, "but I did come by with an intent. I do have better things to do rather than discuss your inner most thoughts." Dan closed his mouth tightly, and didn't dare to utter another word, "The headmaster wishes to know how many students will be staying at the castle over the holiday."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Oh, right," Dan hadn't even thought about whether he wished to stay or go back home, but he honestly would like nothing more than to stay here, "I'll be spending my Christmas at Hogwarts, sir."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Professor Snape flicked his quill haphazardly across the gravity defying piece of parchment without bothering to glance down at it and proceeded to the next group of children without another word./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Dan would be staying. Not like his parents would mind, they couldn't relate to their freak of a son anymore. He fantasized about having the Slytherin common room to himself. Visions of high pitched singing and bad dancing around the common room while blasting muggle music brought a smile to his face. Muse and Fall Out Boy and Christmas carols, of course, would flow through the dungeon. Filling the usually damp and dank room with joy and music seemed like a perfect way to spend his holiday. Dan was soon pulled back to reality when he looked at his watch and saw he had less than three minutes to get out to the greenhouses. Dan jumped from the table, spilling orange juice on himself in the process. Uttering an obscenity, Dan hurried through the great hall out the front door and into the frigid December air. Pulling his robes around himself more snugly, he jogged down the frosty lawn. Dan could see his classmates now, some were staring at him. Dan couldn't bring himself to care what they thought at the moment. When Dan finally caught up with his fellow fifth years he was breathing heavily, the icy air setting his lungs on /"Alright there Howell? Wouldn't want you exercising too much." A snarky Hufflepuff by the name of Holly Baxter jeered. Dan ignored her and tried to steady his breathing, however every billowing breath produced a cloud thereby making it very obvious how hard he was in fact breathing, stirring more comments. Dan wished Professor Sprout would just start the goddamn lesson already. Thankfully she did just that not twenty seconds later. She discussed some uses for gillyweed in potions and beverages, and the effect it produces therin. As she rambled Dan noticed the he had zoned out, and had, unfortunately, been staring right in the direction of a Ravenclaw girl. She had short pink hair and olive green eyes. She looked very uncomfortable and was giving Dan a dirty look. He shook his head and smiled, trying to communicate his embarrassment, but evidently ended up looking more like a head-case. Giving up, Dan decided to actually listen to the Professor's lesson./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""...temperature the gillyweed cannot survive since it's native home would be the Mediterranean. So, we need to transplant them before you lot leave for the holiday. Now, in order to successfully move these plants into the green houses, I would like you to pair up in twos or threes, and each group should be able to do about three or four plants each. Gloves are on the table behind me and pots, soil, and trowels are in these cabinets. Off you go." She dismissed the class casually and everyone sprang to action. Not to work of course, but to find their friends and claim themselves a group. Dan silently cursed the head of Hufflepuff for forcing him to socialize. He waited for all the people with friends to filter out. Once the room had thinned significantly, Dan spotted another boy standing alone, and approached him. He was a Hufflepuff whom Dan had seen many times but couldn't put a name to his face./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hey are you working with anyone?" Dan smiled./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No, should we be partners then?" The Hufflepuff asked heading towards the glove table and grabbing two pairs./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Dan took a pair, "Seems like it. I'm Dan Howell, by the way. Please don't call me Danny."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The shorter boy chuckled as he put the gloves over his near-translucently pale hands, "And they call me Phil, Phil Lester... don't call me Danny either."br /Dan smiled and nodded, finally someone with a sense of humor around here./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Why don't you watch where you're going dipshit?" The elder boy asked, his friends laughed at the jest as he pushed Dan aside. The Slytherin fell to the ground and the pack of meat-heads left. Dan stood slowly straightening his robes, and brushing dirt from his trousers. No one in the hallway said a word, or even gave him a second /In the Great Hall Dan sat alone, as usual, and stared into his oatmeal. Thinking instead of eating. His first class of the day was Herbology and Dan was dreading going out in the freezing cold just to care for some bloody gillyweed. He racked his brain for ways to escape Professor Sprout's inevitable lesson. Deep in thought, his eyes began to glaze over as he stared a thousand miles into the distance. While thinking up ways to make himself sick, Dan hardly noticed someone trying to talk to him until fingers were snapping directly in front of his gaze./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Mr. Howell do kindly listen when others are speaking to you." Snape chastised, short tempered as always. A quill clutched in his long fingers and a piece of parchment floating beside him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Sorry, sorry. I was just thinking about-"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Truthfully exhilarating conversation," the potion master said without a hint of emotion, unless annoyance counts, "but I did come by with an intent. I do have better things to do rather than discuss your inner most thoughts." Dan closed his mouth tightly, and didn't dare to utter another word, "The headmaster wishes to know how many students will be staying at the castle over the holiday."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Oh, right," Dan hadn't even thought about whether he wished to stay or go back home, but he honestly would like nothing more than to stay here, "I'll be spending my Christmas at Hogwarts, sir."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Professor Snape flicked his quill haphazardly across the gravity defying piece of parchment without bothering to glance down at it and proceeded to the next group of children without another word./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Dan would be staying. Not like his parents would mind, they couldn't relate to their freak of a son anymore. He fantasized about having the Slytherin common room to himself. Visions of high pitched singing and bad dancing around the common room while blasting muggle music brought a smile to his face. Muse and Fall Out Boy and Christmas carols, of course, would flow through the dungeon. Filling the usually damp and dank room with joy and music seemed like a perfect way to spend his holiday. Dan was soon pulled back to reality when he looked at his watch and saw he had less than three minutes to get out to the greenhouses. Dan jumped from the table, spilling orange juice on himself in the process. Uttering an obscenity, Dan hurried through the great hall out the front door and into the frigid December air. Pulling his robes around himself more snugly, he jogged down the frosty lawn. Dan could see his classmates now, some were staring at him. Dan couldn't bring himself to care what they thought at the moment. When Dan finally caught up with his fellow fifth years he was breathing heavily, the icy air setting his lungs on /"Alright there Howell? Wouldn't want you exercising too much." A snarky Hufflepuff by the name of Holly Baxter jeered. Dan ignored her and tried to steady his breathing, however every billowing breath produced a cloud thereby making it very obvious how hard he was in fact breathing, stirring more comments. Dan wished Professor Sprout would just start the goddamn lesson already. Thankfully she did just that not twenty seconds later. She discussed some uses for gillyweed in potions and beverages, and the effect it produces therin. As she rambled Dan noticed the he had zoned out, and had, unfortunately, been staring right in the direction of a Ravenclaw girl. She had short pink hair and olive green eyes. She looked very uncomfortable and was giving Dan a dirty look. He shook his head and smiled, trying to communicate his embarrassment, but evidently ended up looking more like a head-case. Giving up, Dan decided to actually listen to the Professor's lesson./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""...temperature the gillyweed cannot survive since it's native home would be the Mediterranean. So, we need to transplant them before you lot leave for the holiday. Now, in order to successfully move these plants into the green houses, I would like you to pair up in twos or threes, and each group should be able to do about three or four plants each. Gloves are on the table behind me and pots, soil, and trowels are in these cabinets. Off you go." She dismissed the class casually and everyone sprang to action. Not to work of course, but to find their friends and claim themselves a group. Dan silently cursed the head of Hufflepuff for forcing him to socialize. He waited for all the people with friends to filter out. Once the room had thinned significantly, Dan spotted another boy standing alone, and approached him. He was a Hufflepuff whom Dan had seen many times but couldn't put a name to his face./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hey are you working with anyone?" Dan smiled./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No, should we be partners then?" The Hufflepuff asked heading towards the glove table and grabbing two pairs./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Dan took a pair, "Seems like it. I'm Dan Howell, by the way. Please don't call me Danny."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The shorter boy chuckled as he put the gloves over his near-translucently pale hands, "And they call me Phil, Phil Lester... don't call me Danny either."br /Dan smiled and nodded, finally someone with a sense of humor around here./p