Dan stood in front of the doors to Hogwarts, watching Phil collect his trunk and Susan.

Phil turned to him. "Won't you go home for Christmas, Dan?"

He shook his head. It wasn't that he didn't like his family, it was just that his parents were overseas for the holidays and his family was scattered. So he'd told his mum that he'd just stay at Hogwarts for Christmas.

Winter break had started that morning, and Phil was leaving for the holidays. Dan would be lying if he said he wouldn't miss him. He hadn't been at Hogwarts without Phil yet.

The castle was already mostly empty. Students had left early that morning. Phil had decided to leave later in the day to properly say goodbye.

"Well…" Phil trailed off. "Send me plenty of owls, won't you? It's only for a couple weeks. Plus, I'm sure Amber would appreciate the exercise."

Dan could only nod. He was trying to keep stoic. Truth be told, he didn't want Phil to leave. He wanted to spend his first Christmas at Hogwarts with him, but Phil had to go visit his family.

Phil reached forward to give Dan a hug. Dan squeezed him back tightly. "Don't get undressed on the train, Phil."

Phil laughed, not letting go. "I won't. I'll be careful."

The pair stood there for a moment, before Dan finally pulled back regretfully. "You're gonna miss your train at this pace, dummy."

"Yeah. I'll see you later, Dan. Happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas, Phil."

With that, Phil turned to the street and left Dan standing at Hogwarts's entrance alone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Three days until Christmas.

Dan hadn't left his bed since Phil had gone home. He just slept and occasionally wandered down to the Great Hall, which still provided delicious food for the students that remained during the holidays.

Every so often, he'd see another student that decided to stay at Hogwarts and he'd put his head down. He didn't really feel like talking to anyone.

The only other thing he did was go up to the owlery and say hello to Amber. She'd hoot at him and ruffle her feathers, waiting for a letter to send. For some reason, Dan never gave her one. He just couldn't bring himself to send a letter. But three days before Christmas, he received his first letter from Phil:

Dear Dan,

How're thing at Hogwarts? I bet it's beautiful around Christmas. I only got to see a few of the decorations, but I bet you're enjoying the lights. Or you're holed up in your room and won't come out. Try to go outside, won't you?

Things are well at home. I don't enjoy getting my face squished between my relatives' fingers, but it's nice to see my parents. I told them about you. They wish you well, and mum says to tell you she'll make you a pie.

On the train back home, I met a rather tired girl. She fell asleep on the ride and kept muttering stuff under her breath. Susan jumped on her head and she screamed. I had to explain to the conductor why a ferret was tangled in a girl's hair. Oops. At least all my clothes were on.

Please reply soon. I miss you and Hogwarts already. Try to get out and do something fun for Christmas. I'll see you soon.

Phil

Dan set down the letter.

He didn't know how many times he'd read it. Every time he tried to pick up a quill and write back, he couldn't find the words. What could he say? Phil was so honest and his letter made Dan miss him more.

I miss you, Dan wanted to write, but he couldn't. So instead he just didn't send a letter.

He did take Phil's advice. Phil was right–Hogwarts was beautiful this time of year. He hadn't even noticed before Phil had written. Lights were strung, gigantic trees decorated the Great Hall, and even the ghosts were singing old Christmas carols. Snow fell outside, and frost clung to the windowpanes. All of the fireplaces were lit with roaring fires, and tinsel and holly were hung around the halls.

Dan went outside. Despite the cold, it was pretty. The snow was glistening and soft rays from the sun filtered through the trees and made everything glitter. Laughter rung from where a couple second-years were having a snowball fight.

Dan then trudged toward the Quidditch field. It, too, was sprinkled in snow. He enjoyed the soft crunching sound his feet made on the ground. Stopping in front of the hoops, he kicked the ground a little, shuffling up the snow. He sighed.

"Something wrong?" A voice spoke from the sky.

Dan jumped and looked up. To his astonishment, the headmaster sat there, perched on a broom. He had a bright green jumper on, and a scarf wrapped around his neck. His blue eyes twinkled from his seat.

"Professor! Um…"

He lowered and hopped off of his broom. "Beautiful morning, isn't it? I love this time of year."

Dan nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Yeah."

Professor Kjellberg paused. "You seem lonely this morning, Dan."

He froze. Is it that obvious?

"Um, well, it's pretty quiet around here."

The headmaster seemed to take this in, then looked up at the sky. "How about a few rounds?"

"What?"

"Quidditch. You play, don't you?"

Dan could only stare in astonishment. "Uh. Yeah. But, Professor…you…you play?"

"Are you kidding? I was quite the Keeper when I went to Hogwarts. That was only a few years ago."

"Well…" it was better than lying around being sad. Plus, how many students could say they played against the headmaster? "Okay."

Professor Kjellberg wasn't kidding. He was good at Quidditch. Dan fancied himself a pretty good Chaser, despite his inexperience, but the headmaster was excellent. He scored point after point. Dan couldn't believe it.

Afterwards, they landed on the ground of the field. "Professor, I didn't know you were that good," Dan stammered.

"Thank you. But, Dan, you're pretty good yourself. You're only a first-year?"

"Yes. Should I even be using a broom?"

Professor Kjellberg laughed and waved it off. "It's Christmas."

Dan found himself smiling. He hadn't smiled since Phil left.

"There's the smile." The headmaster turned towards Dan. "Would you like to walk with me back to the castle?"

"Sure."

So the pair made their way back to Hogwarts. Dan looked around on their way. Dusk was settling. As the last rays of the sun made their way across the snow-sprinkled lawn, the Christmas lights began to twinkle to life. Dan gazed at the castle and caught his breath. Phil was right. It was spectacular.

"Mr. Lester went home for Christmas, then?"

Dan turned toward the other man. He was gazing at the castle, too, but his eyes were still sparkling. "What?"

"Your friend, Phil Lester. I didn't see him around."

"No…Phil went home."

As they entered Hogwarts, the professor suddenly stopped in front of the Great Hall. "What would you like for Christmas, Dan?"

He looked at the professor, surprised. "Uh. I don't know. I hadn't really thought of it."

"I see."

Silence stretched across the corridor. Dan finally turned to look at the professor. A smile was settled on his features. "I'll see you on Christmas, Dan."

He nodded. "See you, Professor."

Dan left Professor Kjellberg standing in the corridor, looking thoughtfully at the decorations in the hall.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was Christmas Eve.

Dan was sitting on his bed, another letter in his hand. It was from Phil.

Dear Dan,

Have you sent a letter yet? I can't wait to hear what you've been doing. Is Hogwarts lit up? I wish I could see it.

All my family's come down. It's been so busy around here. To be honest, I'm kind of bored. I keep seeing things you'd make a snarky comment about or laugh at, and I turn to tell you, but you're not there. I keep forgetting.

I suppose you're laughing at me right now, but that's okay. It's my job. And it's Christmas, after all. By the way, I hope you like your present.

I miss you.

Say hi to Amber for me. See you soon.

Phil

Dan put the letter down. He could feel his throat start to constrict. If he could be honest with himself, he was lonely.

He just wanted to see Phil.

As it grew darker, he just sat in his room. Phil's words kept swimming around in his mind. I miss you.

"I miss you, too," Dan murmured, his voice cracking.

Suddenly, something bit his nose.

"Ow! Damn, what the hell?!" He sat up.

Susan was sitting on his bed.

Dan stared at her.

"Susan?" he whispered.

Susan looked at him resignedly. She suddenly jumped off the bed, scurrying toward the door.

"Wait!" Dan jumped up and ran after her. "Wait! Susan! How the hell did you get here? Wait!"

He chased her out of the Slytherin common room and around Hogwarts. He followed her out of the dungeon and across the corridors right into the Great Hall.

He threw the door open.

He hit someone with the door.

"Ow!"

"Shit! Sorry!"

"Dan?"

"Phil?!"

Just as the clock struck midnight, Dan found himself face-to-face with Phil, who was holding his arm as he smiled brighter than Dan had ever seen.

Susan jumped up on Phil's shoulder smugly.

Phil looked up as the Christmas tree in the hall lit up. "Happy Christmas, Dan."

He was speechless. Finally, he threw his arms around Phil and hugged him tightly, finally managing the words: "Happy Christmas, Phil."

"Why are you crying?"

"Shut up, I'm not."

"Come on, I have your present for you."

"How on earth did you even get here? Why are you here?"

Phil laughed. "Christmas miracle?"

"You're so full of shit."

Phil nudged a present toward him. "Here."

Dan took it and opened it. Inside was a handmade sweater with a Snitch on it. It was black.

"I'm not very good at knitting," Phil said regretfully, "and I know you want to be a Chaser, not a Seeker, but I thought it'd be nice."

Dan looked up at him. "Thank you, Phil. I love it." He suddenly remembered. "Your present is still up in my room!"

Phil laughed. "It's okay. You can give it to me later."

"Phil…what are you doing here?"

He looked down. "You didn't write."

Dan felt his chest constrict. "I–"

"I know, Dan. You couldn't." Phil looked at him, and he was smiling. "But to be perfectly honest, I missed you. I wanted to be with you for Christmas."

He didn't know what to say. Did Phil know how much this meant to him? What about Phil's family? How did Phil get here?

And he suddenly found that he didn't care.

He didn't care.

Phil was here. He was here for Christmas, and that's all that mattered.

Phil nudged him. "C'mon. Let's go get some eggnog."

"Ew, Phil…"

"It's either that or Christmas caroling."

"Okay, okay, you win."

They both heard a shuffling and turned to see Professor Kjellberg pouring some eggnog at the main table. He smiled at them. "Today's a big day, boys. Better eat up."

Honestly, Dan wasn't even surprised anymore.

They walked over, and Phil started drinking eggnog and piling food on his plate, blabbing about this and that. Dan, however, was watching the headmaster. He walked over to him.

"Did you like my Christmas present to you?" Professor Kjellberg asked.

"What?"

The headmaster smiled and put down the pitcher. "Happy Christmas, boys," he said as he walked out, winking at Dan as he disappeared.

"I don't get him," Dan muttered.

"Hey, Dan."

He turned around to face his friend. "Yeah?"

"Are the lights as beautiful as I thought?"

Dan grinned, taking a seat next to Phil in front of the Christmas tree. "Yeah, Phil. They're absolutely magical."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

A bit late for Christmas, but still fun, right? I hope you liked it!

(Merry belated Christmas!)

Let me know what you think!

Bye now.