Albus craned his neck to get a better view from the edge of his bed. He spied a solitary box at the foot of his bed, and his heart sank rapidly. The hangings of the scarlet four-poster were drawn back, and the dormitory was filled with a chilly silver gloom. Outside, flurries of snow swirled thick and fast past the window, and distant voices of early-risers shrieking with excitement floated up into the gray glow of the room. There was a loud thump, and a large snowball whacked and shattered against the pane. Shaking his head in disapproval, Albus got up, shivering slightly in his pajamas. After struggling for a time, he managed to slide the pane up, but not before a couple more of the snowballs had whizzed and crashed into the glass. A blast of icy air hit him, freezing the tip of his nose instantly. He stuck his head out, trying to ignore the stinging, and spotted a lanky boy with a pig's tail sticking out of the seat of his pants and a violently red-haired girl, giggling and chasing each other.

"Teddy!", Albus shouted. "Teddy Lupin!"

The lanky pig-tailed boy looked up, grinning.

"What?", he called.

"Stop pelting the windows!", Albus tried looking faintly annoyed.

"Ah, stop being such a spoilsport and join us!", Teddy laughed warmly, chucking yet another snowball in the general direction of Albus's stinging nose. But Albus was too quick for him. He flicked his neck to the side and caught the ball deftly with his left hand, throwing it back at Teddy, on whose derrier it proceeded to explode.

"Look what you've done now!", Teddy complained in mock protest. "My beautiful tail!"

And sure enough, the pig's tail was hanging limply to one side. The girl giggled again.

"Stop it Victoire.", Teddy grumbled as his tail rapidly shrunk back into his pants, wet snow and all.

"Oh and merry Christmas by the way", Teddy added, turning back towards the window. But Albus' head had already disappeared.

"Merry Christmas...", Albus grumbled. He had always hated Christmas. Every year people would be too busy unwrapping presents in the morning to remember to wish him. A few hours back he'd turned twelve, and had resorted to singing "happy birthday" to himself softly before turning in.

"And a merry Christmas to you too!", Rose beamed, hugging him and proceeding to hold out a small box to him.

"It's not much I'm afraid", she said shyly, but Albus looked suddenly happy. He began unwrapping it hurriedly.

"The only other thing I've gotten so far is grandma's jumper", he mumbled while his fingers fumbled with the string, nodding towards the large golden A.S on his chest. "I'm glad she got the colour right though. She keeps forgetting it's Uncle Ron who hates maroon, not me."

The string finally came loose and Albus, tearing through the paper eagerly, drew out a dark, highly polished rosewood box. He peered at it closeley – the lid was exquisitely detailed with an ornate motif of vines and leaves, and in the center was a gold-inlaid carving of a fluttering Snitch. He opened the box gingerly and gasped. Once open, the two halves lay flat, and three small hoops (much like the ones Muggle kids use to blow bubbles with) raised themselves at either end. Tiny ghost-like figures on broomsticks materialised out of thin air and flitted across the pitch and in and out of the stands. One of the halves bore a small dial that displayed the date and a tiny legend beside it. Albus turned it once. 12th July 2014, Quidditch World Cup Final, the dial read. At once, the players started to zoom around. He squinted his eyes and noticed that he could even read the names on the robes. One of the scarlet figures read Viktor Krum, while another – a dark green robed player with flaming red hair – read Ginny Weasley. Albus twiddled the dial again, and set the date at 22nd August, 1994. The robes of the players changed. A small voice could be heard squeaking "Presenting – Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaand - Lynch!" as seven tiny green blurs zoomed onto the pitch. He spotted a much younger looking Krum doing barrel rolls in midair, waving at the invisible audience.

Albus grinned and looked up.

"Wow! Thanks a bunch Rose."

Rose smiled, "I loved the book you gave me. I'd always wanted to read about Egyptian curses but I'd never gotten around to buying anything on them."