It was fifth year. Christmas holidays were coming in a few days. The teachers had started decorating the Great Hall. Some of them even forgot schoolwork during classes and just let the students play Wizard's Chess or Exploding Snap.
Scorpius was staying at school this holiday. His father was away going to a conference, but had promised to send presents to Hogwarts. He would have gone to Rose or Albus's house but the Rose's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were taking a trip to Australia to commemorate the anniversary of their engagement and the Potters were being dragged off to Mr. Potter's cousin's house for a day and then they were going to try a muggle sport called skiing. So Scorpius was staying at Hogwarts with Rose and about ten other students. He was glad that he had a friend who was staying with him, and was especially happy that it was Rose.
On Christmas Eve, all the students and teachers sat down in the Great Hall at one table since there were so few of them. The banquet was delicious. Scorpius sat next to Rose and a Ravenclaw second year. Across from him, Professor Tuero, the professor of Defense against the Dark Arts, sat talking happily with Professor McGonagall. Soon the feast was over and Scorpius walked with Rose, Hugo, and a seventh year named Nye Dewhurst back to the Gryffindor Common Room. There was no conversation; they were all too full. When they reached the Fat Lady, he said the password Tarandro and they all silently went to bed.
While lying in the empty dormitory, he thought about what he wanted for Christmas. He had wanted a new pair of trainers since his were already a bit small. Also, he had hinted to his father in a letter that he would love a box of candy from Honeydukes. Right as he drifted into dreams he thought of what he had gotten Rose. Rose. He thought about Rose as he departed into the dream world.
The following morning, he opened his eyes to see a pile of presents at the foot of his bed. He decided he didn't want to open them alone so he took them down to the Common Room and waited for Rose to come down, as he knew she would. Soon she ran down the steps with their unopened packages.
"Happy Christmas!" she yelled giving him a quick hug before sitting down in a comfy armchair by the fire. "Hugo's still asleep. Lets open these presents!" she said.
He opened his present from his father first. He had gotten not only the box of candy that he wanted but also the trainers and a new Wizard's Chess set. His aunt and cousins had given him a book on the Quidditch teams of Great Britain. Albus had given him a box of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Finally he saw a small package at the bottom from Rose. He looked over to her and saw that she had gotten a new sweater from her grandmother, and Chudley Cannons scarf from her parents, a package of sugar quills from her brother, and an owl cleaning kit from Albus and his siblings. She was holding the present he had wrapped for her.
She smiled shyly and said, "Lets open them together."
He began to unwrap the delicately wrapped package trying to to rip anything too badly. She did the same. When he had gotten the wrappings off, he saw with a start that she had gotten him a small model stallion that galloped around by itself. They had learned how to make patronuses earlier in the year and his was a stallion. He looked up at her just as she looked at the cover of the book he had gotten her. She looked up and said, "Advanced Charms for the Advanced Wizard or Witch. Scor, how did you remember? I told you I wanted it back on the train at the beginning of this year. That's almost five months!"
He smiled and she hugged him. He hugged her back. It was a very prolonged hug. Suddenly they heard someone coming down the steps and they broke apart. She looked at him embarrassedly as Hugo came down the steps.
"Happy Christmas!" he said.
Scorpius and Rose said, "Happy Christmas!" back in unison.
"I already opened my presents upstairs. Rosie, thanks for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. You know I love Care of Magical Creatures. Who wants to go get breakfast?"
So the three of them went to the Great Hall for breakfast. It was nearly empty except for a pair of Slytherins. They ate quickly then decided to visit Hagrid. Hugo wanted to stay at the castle and hang out with his friend Archie Sorin, a Ravenclaw in his year. Plus it was warm inside. Scorpius and Rose headed down to Hagrid's Hut. There was a good few inches of snow on the ground. By the time they got to the hut, Scorpius was glad he had worn his boots instead of his new trainers.
They knocked on the door three times before a shaggy grey mane peeked out the door.
"Hello, you lot! Come on in! Happy Christmas! Come in, have some tea!"
They came in. It was warm in there so they settled themselves on the huge sofa. One thing about the sofa was that it was old and had a tendency to dent in the middle so any people sitting in it would slide into the middle and be pressed together. Scorpius remembered this right as he and Rose sat down. Unfortunately, it was too late to move, so he found himself, happily but still awkwardly, pressed against Rose's warm body.
"So, Albus went away with his family. To see his cousin, Dudley. Fat old bloke. Once I almost turned the kid into a pig. Got the tail on him but the rest was already to similar."
Rose and Scorpius laughed, pretended to eat rock cakes, drank tea, and left after an hour. It was snowing when they headed back to the castle for dinner. They sat down for what, almost impossibly, was a better dinner than the previous night. After dinner, they returned to the Common Room. They talked and laughed for a while until Scorpius realized something.
"I left my horse that you gave me in the Great Hall!"
"Lets go get it. I know its past curfew but we can sneak. Hugo and Nye went up to bed already so they won't tell," Rose replied.
Scorpius must have looked skeptical because Rose said, "Come on Scor, its not the first time you've broken the rules. Lets go! It will be an adventure!"
Next chapter: "All of a sudden, they heard Filch behind them yell, 'I knew there were children out of bed! Come back here! I'll catch you brats!'"
