Hey guys! Here is the next chapter! This is Christmas with the group! ^.^ It's a little bit of a longer chapter this time. I hope you all like it. There's a shock at the end of it. Just a heads up guys. I may not upload at my normal time next week. My finals for college start next Tuesday, so I am going to be very busy with that! So I will either upload that Friday, or the following week. I haven't finished chapter ten yet! But I decided that the entire group's Christmas at home will be in that chapter, so that one will be kinda long as well!
Disclaimer: T_T I checked... And I still don't own any of these characters, or the plot.
A response to a comment that someone left on the last chapter: The majority of this story is going to take place in their sixth year, which means it will be set during the Goblet of Fire. Beyond that, I am not certain about when I will end the story, though I may write a sequel all things considered. I have ideas for it. But after these Christmas chapters, I am going to time skip, and have a chapter dedicated to each book, until we reach Goblet of fire, and then things will slow down once more, and the story will really begin to unfold.
Word Count: About 4130 words
Christmas seemed to sneak up on Hogwarts that year. The students had begun to run around, upper years going to Hogsmead, trying to get gifts for their friends. Couples were either bickering, or being completely lovely to one another, knowing that they had gotten the best possible gifts for their significant others.
The twins had apparently come up with the best gifts for their friends in other houses, and had apologized ahead of time to their friends if their mother may have sent them a sweater. Gemina had told her friends that she was staying in the school over the holiday, as her family back home couldn't get to Britain to bring her home for the break. John had said that his family expected him home for the break, because it was a big deal for the muggles.
Of course it was. Most Wizards celebrated Christmas simply as a way to get together as a family and exchange presents. Some pureblood families used it as an excuse to show off whichever sibling had the most money, whose kids were more successful, and things like that. There was the whole religion part of the muggle's Christmas.
Then there was Sherlock, who had never been overly interested in Christmas, was only going home for the short vacation so that he could conduct some research.
As the group met in the library for one last study session before the end of the term, Gemina was reading through a new letter with a scowl on her face.
"Who even writes you so much Liz? You have a new letter like… Every week." Fred said, wondering what was in the letter that made her so angry.
"Eet ees from my fazer. 'E wants me to come zere for zee winter, since I cannot go 'ome." She said.
"Well, what's so bad about that?" George asked.
"It probably has something to do with who her father is." Sherlock said, as he opened a book. He had been going through several books on wand theory all year, and now was no different. He had all of his homework up to the start of next term finished, so he was doing some reading for fun now.
Gemina jumped, and turned and glared at the male. "What makes you zink zat?" She asked. She still hadn't told her friends who her father was, as she didn't want anyone to know. It was not a pretty truth, and one she was still wishing she could deny.
"Well, you're really secretive about it. Whomever he is, it's not someone you are fond of, or look up to. Whenever you get a letter from who I would assume is him, you scowl, and place it in that pouch of yours. But you never burn, crumple, or rip the letters. Which makes me think that there is either something really important in them, or it's simple that even though you quite clearly dislike the man, some part of you still wants to get to know him. Prove to the rest of you that he's not actually that bad." He said.
Gemina sighed. "I just don't know 'im. Or 'is family. Why should I 'ave to go zere for Christmas when 'e 'as never made an effort before to meet me?" She asked, seeming to get angrier the more she thought about it. The man really made her mad it seemed.
"Isn't this him making an effort?" John asked. He thought she should at least give the male a chance, but knew if she said that aloud, the others would waive the statement off as a sign of his housemates rubbing off on him.
"Well. I suppose so…" She conceded. Letting out a sigh, she pulled out a small piece of parchment and wrote a quick response to her father.
"So I guess that means you will get Christmas with your family after all!" Fred said, trying to help her look on the bright side. Gemina grimaced.
"Maybe…" She said standing. "I am going to bring zis letter to ze owlry." She informed them.
Sherlock stood. "I'll come with you." He offered. The girl just nodded, and the two walked out of the library silently. Once they were out of the library, and a few corridors away, Sherlock made sure that no one was nearby, and placed a hand on Gemina's arm.
"I think you should tell the others who your father is."
"So zat zey can 'ate me? No zanks."
"I don't hate you… And I doubt they will either."
"…. You don't know zat zough… Do you?"
"Well, no…"
"Exactly. Eef you could tell me zat zey will forgive it… Zen I would consider eet. Zee fact zat you know ees bad enough."
"But I know, and I don't think any less of you. But think about it… Gemina, if you don't tell them, and he decides to announce the finding of a long lost child, and spin some story, forcing you to live with him… Don't you think that they will find it harder to forgive you then, finding it out second hand?"
Gemina sniffed, and looked down at the ground. Sherlock realized the girl had thought about that. Of course she had. She wasn't a Ravenclaw for nothing after all. But the possibilities were endless, and neither of them had any clue what would happen in the future, and that fact made her more upset than anything.
"Hey… Don't cry. I can guarantee that even if the twins have a hard time accepting it, John will be fine. Even if his brain has been filled with bad things about him from his housemates, he'll thank you for telling him yourself. And the twins… Well, if they can't get over it eventually, then the family hate and bigotry goes deeper than I thought, but they haven't been that influenced yet, I don't believe." Sherlock said, he had intended to say more, but he was shocked into silence when Gemina threw her arms around the male, hugging him fiercely. He awkwardly hugged her back, not overly used to the experience.
"Can you go and tell zee ozers zat I would like to exchange presents before we all go off for Christmas? You're right... I am going to tell zem zen." She said. Sherlock smiled, and the two parted ways, Gemina going off to the owlry to send a letter, and to think about how she wanted to word the hardest confession of her life. Sherlock went back to the library to tell the others that they had to get together to exchange gifts before they all went home, as per Gemina's request.
A few days past quickly, and the day that the quintet had agreed on as their Christmas date arrived. The five ended up in an empty classroom, a few snacks from a house elf, and several pillows, two red, one blue, one yellow, and one green, were laid out in a circle on the floor, with a small pile of gifts in front of each. The pillows had come from each common room.
"Okay, ladies first. Gemina, open your gifts first!" The twins said in harmony. Even though the group had decided that they would do a secret Santa to save some money, that hadn't stopped everyone from getting something small for each person, and something a little bigger for whomever they had drawn. Gemina picked up a small gift, and when she opened it, there was a chocolate frog, with a blank card beneath it. She blinked, and picked up the card, reading the note written on it.
Gemina,
Yes, I know. It was odd of me to give you a chocolate frog. But it's a sign of our friendship. Remember the first day on the train? When I had no clue what a chocolate frog was, and you told me I had to be a muggleborn?—at this Gemina flushed —it's okay, I know you didn't mean it like that. Anyway, that was a sign that I was going to have to work harder to catch up to all of you who grew up in this environment. I was worried I wasn't going to make many friends. But looking around at our group, that comment you made really instilled in me to make friends, and do well, I realize, I did that. I have been learning more than I would have thought possible.
Thank you,
John
Gemina smiled brightly at John, and placed the note back in the box with the candy, and closed it, setting it back down. "Zank you. Eetz a great present." She said. Next she picked up a box that on closer inspection was two boxes, combined somehow. She knew that this was from the twins. When she opened it, she let out a small laugh.
Sitting in the box was a multicolored flower, a rose that shimmered, going back and forth between to colors. "We couldn't decide what color to make it. So we decided that we would split it. The yellow as a symbol of our friendship. The dark pink color signifies our appreciation of you as a person, and of the help you have given us this year, despite the fact that we're always getting in trouble, and causing problems." Fred explained.
"I love eet. Zank you." She said, smiling. It was obvious that the twins had put a lot of thought into showing that they cared about their friendship. She wondered how that would change after she gave her big announcement at the end of this all.
Her big present came from Sherlock, suggesting that he had drawn her for their gift exchange. She smirked. Anything from the male would prove to be quite interesting, she was sure.
She opened the gift, and her jaw dropped at the sight of the books in her lap. Magical Creatures: Their Place in Society, and The Secrets Dark Families Keep About the Taints in Their Bloodlines. "Sherlock…" She started, looking at them. She knew that those books had to be first editions, and going off the look of them, very old. She opened the book on Dark Families, and gasped at the realization that they were handwritten.
"Before you get all bent out of shape over me having spent a lot of money. I didn't. I wrote to my parents. I explained that as these books have been in our family's archives for years, but no one uses them, I knew someone who would put them to better use, and who would have a great interest in the books. As my family is known for its neutrality, having the book on Dark Families was just pointless. It's the only known copy. So take good care of it."
Gemina sat speechless for a moment. She knew why he had given her the book. Because of her family. It was a way to know more without the risk of asking them. And the fact that it was handwritten… She was sure that the author had gone to great risks to get the information for this book. She swallowed hard, and smiled at Sherlock. "Zank you… So much. Zis meanz so much… I will treasure eet always." She promised, hugging the books to her chest, and then setting them down beside her other presents.
"Fred. You go next." She said. The twin nodded, and looked down at the presents he had gotten from his friends.
He picked up a gift that was clearly from John, and opened it, to find a deck of cards, and a couple of little weirdly shaped pod-type things. He gave the male a strange look. "They're muggle tricks. The cards have directions on them, on how to use them to fool your friends, and if you throw the other things at the ground, they pop, and make a loud noise." He explained. He knew that the twins liked jokes and pranks, so he figured he would get them muggle things that they may not be familiar with. "Wicked." He said, putting down that box, and picking up Sherlock's gift. He opened it, and found a small book that had a couple of elementary spells for pranksters. When he opened it, he realized it was handwritten, and the binding was simple.
Sherlock shrugged. "I found some spells while I was doing research that I thought you may find interesting, so I put them into a book. Each has a description of what it does, and the proper wand movements. I left space for notes, if you figure out ways to improve upon the spells." He said, knowing that between the twins, Fred was slightly better with the spell casting.
The twins had decided that they would exchange their gifts at home with the family, so there was nothing from George for Fred.
Fred then opened the big gift, which was from Gemina, who had drawn his name for the gift lotto. He smiled as he pulled out a picture that had the five of them in it, and each was a different color. "Ze colors correspond wiz each of ours emotions. Zer ees a guide for what each color means een ze bottom of ze box." She told him. He pulled it out, and looked it over. And when he saw that the turquoise color that was over Gemina meant nervousness, he assumed that it meant she was nervous about what he would think about the gift.
"I love it." He said, smiling at her brightly. "John, it's your turn now." Fred said.
John nodded, and started with his gift from George, which was a small box. John opened it, and then looked at George oddly. "It's empty." He said. George smirked.
"Is it?" He asked.
"Yes."
"But are you sure?"
"George… There is nothing in the box."
"Huh… Well… try to remove whatever is in it."
John gave George a withering look, and sighed, knowing that the male wouldn't give up until he actually did what he was told. He reached into the box….. And nothing happened. "Huh… Weird. Here, Sherlock, you try." George said, urging John to pass the box to Sherlock. John did as he was told, and handed it over. Sherlock who looked at it suspiciously, and when he tried to reach into the box, a spray of water hit him in the face.
Sherlock sputtered, and tossed the box at John, who chuckled slightly.
"It's a trick box. It will spray anyone who tries to reach into it who isn't the owner. It's great for fooling your friends. Or even to keep someone from stealing something. And surprisingly cheap." George said, sounding quite proud of himself. John nodded.
"Thanks. This is actually pretty cool." He said, setting it down, and picking up the gift from Sherlock.
"Did you get everyone books?" John asked, as he opened it, and saw that it was a notebook much like Fred's. Sherlock shrugged.
"Sharing information is surprisingly easy to share. And if you give the right person certain information, it can mean a lot." He explained. "For example. That notebook is filled with common ingredients for potions that can be found in muggle homes. Many muggles and wizards alike don't realize that the simplest things can have some of the most magical properties. Any herbs that a family member may grow in the garden, if they can be used in a potion, I wrote it down, and then listed its properties in magical potions, and a couple of potions it can be used in."
Sherlock shrugged it off like it was no big deal, but it had taken him quite a bit of research to pull all of the data together for John. Though he wasn't going to admit that.
John smiled. "Thank you." He said. Sherlock knew how John was very interested in the theory behind potions, even if he wasn't very good with the applied things, and wanted to be able to help in any way he could.
John opened his gift from Gemina, which was a box full of vials. "Each vial 'as an eengreedeent een eet, or a scent zat you may find soozing… Or somezing similar. Eet ees for cooking, or even potions. Or zere are some zat can act as a perfume of sorts. Zings zat I 'ave and use often at 'ome zat I zought you may like. Maybe even eef eets just to give to your muzzer as a gift, or eef you decide to use some of zem as potion eengreedeentz. 'Owever, I would not suggest trying to brew a potion wizout supervision." She said, causing John to chuckle at the rule abiding part of her standing out.
"I would never." He said, and then picked up his final gift, which was from Fred. He opened it slowly, and let out a puff of air when he saw what it was. He lifted a stuffed pillow version of the school crest, though each animal within the crest moved, and they interacted with each other.
"I asked our prat of an older brother Percy to cast the spell. It should only move when a wizard is touching it. If someone who doesn't have magic touches it, it will just look like the crest. But I wouldn't risk that if you're around people who don't know about magic. I just figure this way… We're all represented you know? Since we're in different houses. And you can show your family the pillow, and give them a taste of the magic without setting off the trace and getting in trouble for doing magic outside of Hogwarts." Fred explained.
"It's great. Thank you Fred." Everyone so far had been giving and getting the perfect gifts, and John was a little nervous for George to see what he got. Would it be too generic? "George… You're up." John said, not trying to make it obvious that he was nervous about the male's reaction.
The red head nodded, and opened his first gift, from Sherlock. Which was….
"You seriously did get us all books." George said, sounding amused as he flipped through it.
"They're potions that can be used in pranks, or to make prank-like effects." He explained. "It's similar to Fred's gift. But I know that you're better with the hands on stuff like potions."
"It's great." He said. It seemed like the group were trying to aid the twins in becoming better pranksters. And then there was that weird paper that they had found in Filch's office when he had taken them in for detention one day. They were still trying to figure that out.
Next he picked up the present from Gemina, and looked at the object curiously. It looked like an hourglass, but had multicolored grains of sand, which corresponded to the house colors. At the moment all the grains were on one side. When he tried to flip it, they all stayed on that side, as opposed to changing their position.
"Eet ees not a normal 'our glass, as you may 'ave guessed. Eef we 'ave a disagreement, all of us, 'ooever ees on one side and on zee ozer will spleet by colourz. Eets a way of knowing eef we are all een agreement on somezing, or not."
George nodded, though the gift didn't make much sense to him at that point in time. He set it down, and picked up the large box that was John's gift.
When he opened it, he was shocked to find a box that advertised "magic".
"It's a muggle magician kit. A bunch of simple tricks that claim to be magic and what not. I thought you guys would get a kick out of the things in it. Hell, maybe even find a way to incorporate real magic into the tricks." John explained.
"Sweet. Dad will love this." George said, riffling through the box, and looking at the "magical" items.
"I suppose that makes it my turn." Sherlock said, picking up the gift from John, and opening it. It was a book on wands, one that Sherlock had not yet read. "Where did you get this…?" He asked.
"I saw it back in August in Flourish and Blotts when I was buying my school books, and didn't think much of it. But I remembered that you were studying wands, and sent a letter out requesting it."
"Thank you." He said. John just nodded with a smile.
Next, Sherlock picked up the gift from Gemina, and when he opened it, gave a sidelong glance at the title. "It's in French." He said.
"Oui. Eets a book on Veela. 'Owever, I know you 'ave read a lot of books written about Veela by Wizards, but zis one was written by a Veela. Eet ees very eenformative. Usually, a Wizard would not be allowed to read zis, but I pulled some strings wiz my muzzer, and convinced 'er zat you could be trusted enough to know some of zee zings een zer. Zee notebook attached to zee back 'as translations for some of zee passages, and tells which pages, so zat you may look at zee words as well. Zer are also some diagrams een zee books zat you may find eenteresting." She said.
Sherlock stayed quiet for a moment, not sure how to respond. This was an amazing gift that she had given him. He knew that many magical creatures were very secretive about their kind, and the fact that she trusted him enough to share this information, even if it wasn't all of it, was humbling. "Thank you. Tell your family I will take very good care of this book."
"Of course." She said, nodding slightly.
Sherlock lifted the last gift which was from George, and opened it, to find that it had two parts to it. The first part was a planner that Sherlock could use to write all of his assignments in. The planner also had several spots for additional notes, or outside work that Sherlock might chose to engage himself in. The second part of the gift was a little black book. When the male opened it, he found several pages of spells from every category of study, and a few potions. Each had notes from professors or older years who George had approached in his house or after a class, explaining what the gift was. "They are the favorite spells and potions of every professor we have, of the Head Boy and Head Girl, and from some of the prefects. Everything in there is legal of course, and things that we either wouldn't learn for a few years, or things that the person took upon themselves to study. I figured that, seeing as you're so ahead, this could give you something extra to work on during your free time." George explained. It was obvious that he had put a lot of time and thought into the gift, and had written very slowly and carefully, so that it would be neat enough for Sherlock to be able to read it all.
Sherlock nodded. "Thank you. This is a great gift. And I'm sure it will help me to kill some of the excessive free time I have."
"Well. Is that everything?" Fred asked, moving to stand up.
"Erm… Not quite…" Gemina spoke, glancing at Sherlock, and then back at the others.
"O-okay…" Fred said, sitting back down. The twins and John sat confused as the female stood, and made eye contact with each of them.
"Sherlock pointed out to me zat eet may be made public… And zat eet would be better eef you all 'eard eet from me, and not from a paper… and of course, I did not tell 'im first… 'e simply guessed zee truth." She rambled.
"Gemina. Just tell them. Right now you're ranting, and that's just confusing them." Sherlock said, cutting her off.
"Right… So, well… zee reason I do not want to go to my fazer's for zis break ees because of 'oo 'e ees." She said. "My fazer ees…" She mumbled something under her breath.
"What was that?" Fred asked.
"We didn't quite hear it." George added.
John looked at the girl, wondering why this was so bad. "Come on Liz… I am sure it's not that bad…" He said, if only he wasn't been so wrong.
Gemina looked up, and met Sherlock's eyes, before looking back down at the floor. She would finally confirm his sucpsions aloud, as she had never done that before. "'E ees Lucius Malfoy…" She said softly, but this time loud enough for the others to hear her. She looked up as the door slammed, and noticed George sitting there bewildered, his twin having stormed out of the room.
I hope you enjoyed! ^-^ Please review!
