Chapter 7- Merry Christmas
Harry had to try over hundreds of clothes because Mrs. Granger wanted to buy the finest for him, when finally the shopping was over everyone decided to head back home, as they were on their way to leave the mall Hermione spotted a familiar form, it was Justin, Harry's Quidditch teacher, Hermione was a great fan of him, she had always wanted to talk to him, she had requested Harry many times to help her befriend him but the former had always excused her saying that he and Justin got really little time to train thus Justin won't appreciate if Harry would bring any of his friends to meet him during working hours, but now was the opportunity, Hermione noticed that he wasn't alone but there was a second figure standing beside him, and again a one whom Hermione admired a lot, it was 'Emmy Rossum', the senior head girl, it wasn't only Hermione but everyone at Hogwarts knew her well, she was famous over the entire school for her beauty, brilliant mind and was an inspiration for all her juniors including Hermione of course. The brunette was overwhelmed, she had never expected that she would come across two of her most favorite people at some random place like a mall, she couldn't wait anymore,
"Justin, Emmy," she called out to them,
Justin and Emmy turned their heads to find the prettiest little brunette staring at them with a beaming smile, Harry, Alex, Annabeth and the Grangers who were very busy discussing something about Christmas also began to look in Hermione's direction, following her gaze,
"Harry!"
"Justin!"
Harry and Justin, who had not noticed each other earlier, exclaimed simultaneously,
Harry ran towards him while the Grangers and other two girls followed,
"HeyHarry, what a coincidence? I wasn't expecting to see you here," exclaimed Justin.
"Neither was I," exclaimed Harry,
"So if you here it means you must be living here in West Carleton, but if I remember you once told me you live in Little Winching, right?" asked Justin,
"Oh yes, I do live there but I am here in West Carleton to celebrate Christmas with my friend Hermione and her family, but what about you Justin? do you live here?" asked harry,
"Yes, I do, my and Emmy's family are neighbors since the time when we both were only two years old, thus you see we are childhood friends, we live in the nearby Sanberg street," answered Justin,
"Oh I see," Harry nodded.
Hermione was really surprised to know that the two seniors she admired so much lived so near to her house.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Granger, I am Justin Chatwin, Harry's Quidditch instructor and this is my friend Emmy Rossum," said Justin while Emmy greeted everyone with a hello,
"It's very nice to meet you too, children," said Mr. and Mrs. Granger,
Next Harry introduced Justin to Annabeth and Alex,
"Alex russo, the future girl, nowadays whether seniors juniors or the teachers, everyone talks about you in Hogwarts, even we were so surprised to know that you have come from the future, if I ever get time I would be glad to know from you how our future world will be, and also I am really sorry for the fact that you cannot go back to your home," said Justin, Alex was starting to look a little numb at the mention of home.
"From the future!" exclaimed Mr. and Mrs. Granger in unison,
Harry was giving a look to Justin which clearly said that he had raised the wrong topic at the wrong place, Justin seemed to realize this and so he quickly changed the subject,
"And hello Hermione, Harry always tell me a lot about you. But you know what? Even if he wouldn't have told me about you, we seniors know you so well, after all you are so famous all over Hogwarts for your wit, many teachers say that once you reach the senior year you will become the head girl of Hogwarts just like Emmy and that you surely will turn out to be the finest witch of your time, isn't it Emmy," Justin laid out eyeing the brunette,
"Very true," replied Emmy, smiling at Hermione.
Hermione knew that she was famous for her wit but all over Hogwarts, that was a little surprising for her, and what Justin told her, about what the teachers think of her and how much he, Emmy and other seniors admired her was making her heart flutter with happiness.
"Alright everyone, Harry, as it is that today is Christmas, we had come here for some Christmas shopping, and now it's already evening so I think we should get going now, our parents would be waiting for us to start the ceremony," said Justin,
"Why don't you two along with your respective families join us on this occasion? It will be so much fun, we live just nearby at Jordan street," said Mrs. Granger,
"That would be great Mrs. Granger," said Justin and Emmy nodded happily,
"Please do come," Mr. Granger added.
"We will be at your house by seven," said Justin, then he and Emmy and everyone else after wishing Christmas and bidding goodbye to each other, left the mall.
For Hermione it was all so awesome, first she got the surprise that Annabeth would be there to celebrate Christmas with them and now, even Justin and Emmy whom she liked so much and had never thought that she would ever get a chance of even talking to them, were coming to her home, this Christmas surely was going to be the best Christmas of her life.
On the way back home, the Grangers were continuously asking about what Justin was saying about Alex being from the future, but seeing how upset Alex was starting to look, Hermione kept telling them that she would tell them about it later on, the Grangers also noticed Alex's fallen face and so they finally stopped saying anything about the topic.
"The future, sorry for the fact that you cannot go back home," Justin's words were rotating in Alex's mind, they were reminding her of her parents, her two brothers, it was not like she wasn't reminded of them earlier, since the very morning of Christmas she was remembering her family, she loved Hermione and had grown fond of the Grangers, Annabeth and Harry, but still it doesn't meant she wasn't going to miss her own family as it was she had celebrated every Christmas with them and now it was going to be her first Christmas without them, she was trying hard to control her emotions.
When finally everyone reached home, Mrs. Granger got busy in the kitchen, ready to cook delicious dishes for the party ahead, while Mr. Granger and children began to decorate the house,
Hermione was the most excited, she was decorating the Christmas tree when suddenly the inevitable smile across her face vanished, as if all of a sudden she was reminded of something, of someone may be. Everyone was busy with the decorations but this change in behavior of the brunette couldn't escape Annabeth's eye who followed Hermione as she (hermione) left the hall and went into her room.
Annabeth saw that the brunette threw herself in her bed and lay there quietly,
"Hermione," Annabeth called to her with great concern in her voice,
"Hey Annie," responded Hermione, in a very low and unenthusiastic voice,
"Just a moment ago you were beaming with happiness what happened now? Is something wrong?" inquired Annabeth,
"It's just that, I am reminded of a friend at Hogwarts, she is very sweet, I like her a lot, so I was just wishing if she would have been here with me, it would have been so good," replied Hermione,
"Oh C'mon, Hermione, already so many people are here, your two best friends, me, your parents, and now there is also the inclusion of those two seniors of yours of whom you seem to be very fond of and who would be arriving here soon, yet you aren't happy?"
"Of course I am happy Annabeth, but it's just that, this girl is so important for me, I am missing her," said Hermione,
"You're strange Hermione, but if that girl is so important to you that even among so many of your dear kith and kin's you are getting upset over her then I can help you," saying this Annabeth got up and started to grope about for something in her bag that was kept on a small shelf, after searching for few more seconds she took out a tiny bottle, all the while Hermione observed her actions curiously trying to figure out what her cousin was going to do,
"Here, take this," said Annabeth placing the bottle in the brunette's hand and taking a seat beside her,
"Magical mist," Hermione voiced the initials written on the bottle, and then looked at Annabeth for explanation,
"It's a magical liquid, you have to spray it in the empty air, then closing your eyes visualize the person whom you want to see and this mist will connect you to that person but only you will be able to see her and hear her, you need to say Concetum, then she would also be able to see and hear you and it would be just like a video chat," said Annabeth,
" You are a great cousin, thank you so much, but where did you find this liquid?" inquired Hermione,
"It was given to me by Chiron as a reward, when I had won my first capture the flag battle," said Annabeth with a look of pride in her eyes,
" That's great Annabeth, and this word Concetum, seems a spell, while I thought the half bloods never use spells but only there physical supernatural powers and magical objects," said Hermione,
"That's true, but there are very few and very rare spells too that we use, so now try connecting to your friend," said Annabeth,
"Oh right," said Hermione, but still she didn't made any gesture which showed that she was going to spray the mist any soon,
"What? Go ahead," Annabeth proposed,
"Annie, I know you will find this very awkward but I should tell you that my friend is very shy, she won't be able to talk to me properly if you remain here," said Hermione,
"Now this is actually awkward, Hermione don't you think your friend is kind of weird?"
"I know, but she doesn't know you, and she is very shy and takes a lot of time to get comfortable to others, she would get nervous and won't be able talk to me openly if someone else is also present with whom she isn't very familiar with," said Hermione,
"Ok, ok, fine, I am going, but be in the hall in half an hour the ceremony is about to start," said Annabeth.
"And one more thing, what's the name of this friend of yours?" she asked,
Hermione seemed a little paled out at this question and after a pause she replied,
"Daisy, her name is Daisy."
"Oh, Ok then I am going," said Annabeth, and then she left the room,
Hermione released a huge sigh of relief that she seemed to be holding for long, quickly she spread the mist and closing her eyes began to visualize the person she was longing to see.
Date: 25thDecember 1992.
Place: Malfoy Manor.
Malfoy stood eyeing the huge and nicely decorated Christmas tree, in front of him, beside him was standing a fragile and shabby looking house elf,
"Merry Christmas Dobby," Malfoy said to the elf, in a polite yet sad voice, his gaze still fixed on the tree,
"Merry Christmas to you too gentle young master Malfoy," the elf said, slowly moving closer to him the elf took Malfoy's little soft hand into his own chapped ones and patting it gently he said,
"Whatever is happening should not happen with such a nice boy like you master, I can understand how you feel, but be happy for the sake of this occasion, for sake of your parents," said Dobby, the house elf,
"Parents you are saying, parents who always promise but never come to see me even on Christmas, parents who just send gifts and think that these material things will make up for their absence, for the love of parents that I have always been lacking." Malfoy ranted in a frustrated voice, but then he calmed down seeing that Dobby seemed frightened by his outburst,
Malfoy took a deep breath in order to control the anger he was feeling towards his parents, he moved towards the sofa and launched himself on it,
"Is he back yet?" he asked the elf,
"Not yet sir," Dobby answered,
"What's taking him so long?" Malfoy voiced his thought, suddenly his eyes fell on a small nicely wrapped box lying in the heap of the gifts that his parents had sent for him, it looked so different from the other wrapped boxes, the reason that among so many gift only this particular box got the attention of Malfoy's eye,
"Dobby, can you please bring that wrapped box to me?" he asked pointing towards it,
"Sure master," Dobby replied, he quickly took and gave the box to Malfoy.
"How many times do I have to tell you Dobby? Not to call me sir or master, just call me Draco, Ok?"
"Yes master," the elf said,
"Oomph!" Malfoy exclaimed at Dobby's thick headedness and then began eyeing curiously the box lying in his small palms,
It was wrapped in green paper, Malfoy's favorite color, the Slytherin color, it looked so simple yet equally special, and the most strange thing about this gift was, that it didn't had any label on it, Malfoy searched for any name or something on it but found none,
"Who could have send it? It's sure is not from mom and dad, otherwise it would have looked anything but simple," Malfoy thought,
"May be it is from one of your friends," suggested Dobby,
"May be, but who? Crabbe and Goyle would never sent me a gift, cause those two pigs will never get a break from eating and if they can think of something it will only be food, it couldn't be from Parkinson because I know her well, and her gifts are always wrapped in feverish pink with Drakie Poo written on it," when Malfoy said that about Pansy, he had a disgusted and horrified look on his face as he eyed the large heap of pink wrapped gifts lying in one corner,
" Rest I don't have any close friends, many others do admire me but none among them is worth to be given a chance to be my friend, so I adopt a reserved attitude towards them and never allow them to get very friendly with me,"
"You are saying Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson are worth your friendship?"
"Of course not Dobby, I have a friendship with Crabbe and Goyle just because they are my room partners and so it was inevitable if I wanted a peaceful life, talking of Pansy, she's the worst pain in my head, but you know, it was father who wanted me to befriend her, he was after my life for it, Merlin knows why," said Malfoy, again getting agitated,
"Open the gift sir, let's see what's inside, I am sure it is from someone from your classmates who has forgotten to write his or her name on it," said Dobby,
"Alright," said Malfoy as he began to unwrap the box, when he opened it he found a lovely golden quill lying inside it,
"Wow!" he exclaimed as he picked it up gently and began to have a closer look on it,
"That's a very beautiful quill, I will bring some parchment, you should try writing with it," said Dobby as he quickly went to fetch the parchment without waiting for Malfoy's reply,
Dobby returned with the parchment and handed it to Malfoy, now the blonde began to write with it, the first line he wrote on it, was,
"My name is Draco Malfoy,"
"Hello Draco, my name is Fluffy," this line appeared automatically below the line Malfoy had written,
"Dobby did you see it? The quill is replying to what I am writing," Malfoy exclaimed happily,
Dobby flashed him a smile with a nod, he hadn't seen Malfoy so happy since a long time, but now the elf was very happy that finally something did cheer up the little boy's mood, he was so thankful to whoever had send this gift to Malfoy,
Malfoy was about to write his next sentence when certain footsteps took away his attention,
"Malfoy, what are you doing? See what I have got for you," said Professor Snape,
"Snape, look, someone has gifted me a golden magical quill," said Malfoy as he came hopping to Snape like a three year old,
"Someone, who?" inquired Snape,
"I don't know but it's so awesome," Malfoy replied innocently,
Snape took the quill from Malfoy and after examining it carefully he gave it back to him,
"Malfoy, if you are so found of this quill you can keep it, I can see it's harmless, but you have to be careful from next time, never accept things from unknown senders, it can be harmful, your enemies can use such methods as a trap against you," said Snape,
"But professor, whose my enemy?" asked Draco,
"You don't understand Malfoy, you are very young and thus ignorant, but soon you will realize, you should know Malfoy that you aren't an ordinary kid, you are born for a task and thus your life is anything but ordinary," said Snape,
Draco couldn't make out, what exactly Snape was trying to say but the words of the professor were not making him feel good,
"Leave it for now Malfoy, see I have brought your favorite candies for you, let's start the ceremony and celebrate Chirstmas," said Snape, placing a small bag full of candies in Malfoy's hand,
The blonde took it happily,
"Did finding my candies took you so long?" inquired Malfoy,
"I had some other business too, better don't ask which," said Snape,
"Fine," said Malfoy, and then he began munching some of his candies, Snape gave a thoughtful sigh considering how innocent Draco was, he didn't asked many questions, nor he tried to be nosy like others kids, to know why someone was not telling him something or what were they keeping from him, maybe he was scared to know the ans, and even when sometimes he seemed a little curious it was very easy to divert his mind. But how long was this innocence going to last?
Everyone sang the Christmas song, including Snape(I know it's very difficult to imagine Snape singing a Christmas song and at the same time hilarious but anyways he did it), after the song, Snape and Malfoy had a good time talking and sharing a laugh, eating candies and delicious food, Snape wanted to make this Christmas memorable for Malfoy at any cost because he knew that the following day was not at all going to be easy for the boy, in fact it was going to be the very day when Malfoy's entire life would change once and forever.
Date:25thDecember 1992
Place: Grangers Apartment, Jordan street, West Carleton.
Hermione sat on her bed with a glowing smile on her face when the door of her room opened and Annabeth came in,
"I asked you to come down in half an hour, you seem to be done chatting with your shy friend so why are you sitting here? Come fast, the ceremony is starting," she said to the brunette,
"Alright Annie, calm down, I am coming," said Hermione, she looked very happy now.
"That friend of yours really seem to have great impact on you, you seem even more happier than you were when we returned from the mall"
Hermione replied to Annabeth only with a giggle as both of them made their way to the hall where everyone was waiting, Justin and Emmy were also there along with their gorgeous parents.
After few more introductions, the ceremony started with the Christmas song which was followed by a nice party, comprising of delicious food, and melodious music, everyone appreciated Mrs. Granger's cooking skills, this way the party went on till late at night, everyone got chance to become more open and close to each other, Harry no more felt awkward towards Alex and they had become kind of friends already. So this Christmas really proved a special and memorable one for everyone, for some in terms of making new friends, for some in sorting out their differences, for some, just in terms of enjoying themselves.