Frowning at her favorite pajamas clinging to her freezing body, Ally chattered out, "No f-fair, 'Mione," rubbing her pink nose bashfully. Feeling a bit sorry for her friend, Hermione stopped the water still flowing from her wand, and stashed it away in her nightgown. Ally stuck her bottom lip out childishly, upset that her game had been ended, and Hermione grinned impishly at her, before letting out a tired yawn, and with one final glance at her shaking friend, Hermione gloated, "Revenge is sweet, happy early-Christmas Ally." And with that, and a swish of her frizzy bed head, Hermione marched straight back up the stairs, intent on going back to bed.

Ally shivered, suddenly remembering her predicament, she was soaking wet from head to toe, and she now felt the chilly air in the Common Room, penetrating her clothes to her very bones. She had woken up extra early that morning, as was her usual pre-Christmas ritual, barely able to contain her excitement. Her countdown for Christmas had just started and Hermione was leaving today, one of the many students who was going home for the holidays, and she had wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. Clearly, however, Hermione wasn't too keen on being woken up by her horrible singing at nearly 3 in the morning. Oh well. She was in for something, as Ally brimmed with bubbly, insatiable holiday spirit, a trait she attributed to her mother.

She felt a pang, she remembered when Monty had come one morning, with a letter on thick creamy paper in a sealed envelope bearing the family crest. Inside was her father's neat, swooping cursive, saying,

To Miss Allison Hopewell,

I hope you are doing well and receiving top marks as always. This Christmas you will be staying at Hogwarts, as I have some business to take care of. Stay good.

~ Father

The letter was cold, blunt, and awkward, too much like Father, and Ally frowned deeply at the words as she read them. I guess he really hasn't changed. It wasn't like it would matter much though, Christmas hadn't been the same since Mum died, and going home for Christmas wouldn't feel jolly at all. Mum was always the one who had decorated and made everything bright, she knitted them warm jumpers with a heart stitched somewhere special. She would wrap her long pale arms around Father, kiss his stubbled jaw, and whisper something softly that always managed to make him smile or blush. Mum not only hung up the lights around the tree, she illuminated the darkness in Father's otherwise dark eyes. Ally missed seeing her father smile.

Now, the mansion was dark, empty, and lifeless; much like what Ally had seen that day at the funeral. Shaking her head, Ally tried to clear her thoughts, she had to keep her promise. "Smile baby," Mum had smiled softly, "Smile though your heart is breaking, don't forget to smile. I'll always be happy, if you just smile." Ally stared out into the darkness, it was quiet in the Gryffindor common room. The castle hadn't woken up yet, and no warm fire glittered in the fireplace.

Distinctly, she could see the stars winking at her from the window looking out over the Quidditch Pitch, Sirius shining the brightest of them all. Smiling to herself slightly, Ally plopped onto the common room floor, not hearing the footsteps behind her. They paused for a second, staring at the shivering girl before they hesitantly began to approach her.

Ally was so lost in her thought that she didn't notice when Harry came down the stairs or when her stared at her with an odd look in his eyes, or when he finally lowered himself next to her. So it was then, in the dark of the common room, a few nights before Christmas, that Ally turned her head and was suddenly face to face with a pair of brilliant emerald green eyes. Her breath caught in her throat as she looked into Harry's eyes for what felt like forever, her own olive eyes clashing with his own. A bubbly feeling erupted in her belly, accompanied by a warmth she later convinced herself was due to the company of her good friend- that, or hypothermia- and nothing more than that.

Yes sir, indeed, nothing more than that.

But for that single quiet, breathless moment, it felt like so much more.

"Hullo Harry," Ally finally stumbled out, her mouth felt like it was in Langlock and she tried her best to play it off. Why was she so nervous all of a sudden, this was Harry. Ally twisted her damp hair around her finger.

"Couldn't sleep?" asked Harry softly, hiding a smile at her Christmas pajamas.

Ally shook her head, "Technically, I did sleep, but I just find so terribly hard to stay asleep when Christmas is less than a week away!" And lowering a bit, she whispered to Harry comically, "Remind me next year to not wake up Hermione by singing Christmas carols at the top of my lungs without proper wand protection."

"Of course," Harry responded somberly.

They looked at each other for a serious moment, the light bulb in Harry's head going off at her soaking pajamas, and continuing this silent staring contest, the corner of Ally's mouth twitched up a bit. That set them off, and they burst out laughing, without much reservation for the fact that it was nearly 3 in the morning and that Percy could come down at any second and give them both detention. Tears streamed down Ally's face, and she and Harry had to hold on to each other to keep from falling over. Shushing each other whenever they got too loud, only to end up bursting into laughter once more.

Ally was sure that if Hermione came down again, she would think they had snuck a bottle of Firewhiskey, that of they were just plain stupid.

Their laughter slowly dissipated into small chuckles and giggle here and there, until finally, flushed and still slightly damp, Ally leaned her head on Harry's shoulder, her breath finally even.

Ally still couldn't figure out why she felt that a certain way around Harry, it didn't feel like a crush because crushes were different. They made you all blushy, giggly, and full of light butterflies.. Harry, Harry made her happy and she felt different around him than with anyone else. They just clicked, always seeming somehow perfectly in sync; and they didn't need words or silence to feel comfortable or uncomfortable. Around Harry- with Harry- she felt understood. Yeah, Harry was special, very special indeed.

And it was with these thoughts still swirling in her mind, that Ally felt Harry's arm wrap around her shoulders. He had done this several times before, especially after the incident with Fluffy. Sometimes when going to class, or times in the Great Hall, or while they sat outside the by the Lake. This time was no different, as Ally instinctively snuggled closer to Harry, reeling in his warmth, mumbling out, "Harry you'll get wet."

"I don't care," Harry whispered back, but Ally didn't hear him, her soft breathing steady and her eyes shut away. She was already dreaming of a fat Muggle man with magical powers and a red suit, carrying a bag full of marshmallows he had stolen from McGonagall's underwear drawer. Ahh Christmas, what a wonderful time of year.

With that the two Gryffindor first years fell asleep in the common room, wrapped in each other's arms, unaware of the dangers that awaited them in the years to come. For now, they slept peacefully together, with dopey smiles on each of their faces.

When Hermione Granger bounded down the stairs, having gotten a good couple more hours of sleep after the unceremonious Ally-Christmas carol-debacle, the last thing she expected to find was a sleeping Harry and Ally looking quite comfortable on the floor. Hermione smirked, and got out her digital camera, snapping a couple of pictures before returning it to her bag. They would thank her later, she grinned.

Picking up her bags again, Hermione exited the common room, smiling to herself knowingly all the way.

At the slam of the portrait door, Ally nuzzled her head closer into Harry's shoulder, and her mouth slightly opened, drooling a bit on Harry. At the feel of Ally's movement, Harry felt himself yawn, and he cracked open his eyes, surprised when he saw Ally's distinctive fiery mane pressed up against him until he remembered the events of last night.

Glancing down at his arm wrapped around Ally, and their entwined fingers that must have connected at some point during the night; Harry smiled to himself with an odd sense of satisfaction, and discreetly pulled Ally closer.

Ally wasn't sure why, but she felt very warm and...wet? She groaned softly when she finally registered the tell-tale itching at her nose that could only mean one thing; she had caught a cold. Scrunching up her nose without opening her eyes yet, she snuggled closer into the warm lump that was next to her, inhaling deeply as she buried her face further into the warmth. Suddenly, she felt the lump twitch and she tried to ignore it as she hugged it tighter to herself, but there was no ignoring the chuckles that erupted from her cuddle-buddy. Squinting blearily at the light in the Common Room (Ally couldn't remember for the life of her what she was doing there) she came face to face with the, more so than usual, messy-haired Boy-Who-Lived who was doing a right awful job of not bursting out laughing at her face.

Ally quickly jumped to action, quickly dismissing the fact that she and Harry has spent the night cuddled up on the floor of the Common Room and thinking to herself that she would absolutely die if Oliver Wood had seen her in that state, and wriggled her fingers to aggressively tickle her best friend. Harry laughed uncontrollably as he tried to pull her arms away from his stomach and neck, while also fixing his glasses that were skewed on the top of his nose. Finally they decided to declare a truce when Ally's weakness for breakfast foods cause her to lose her concentration and Harry, ever the Seeker, retaliated with full speed.

Ally didn't bother to change out of her pajamas and merely cast a quick Heating spell, because although her clothes were no longer wet, it did not mean she wasn't still bloody freezing. She got quick a few looks with her messy hair pulled into a bun and reindeer slippers matching her Christmas themed pajamas. Harry, at least, had the decency to pull on a shabby looking jumper and proper shoes to go down to the Great Hall. Ally sneezed delicately all the way down to breakfast, covering her mouth and nose with a frilly sort of pink handkerchief that had her initials, A. B. H., stitched into the silk; so much that once they reached where Hermione and a sleepy-looking Ron were sitting, Ron perked up long enough to say, "Bloody hell, woman, don't go sneezing all over my bleedin' pancakes."

Hermione smacked the back of Ron's head in retaliation ("Ow!") and looked at Ally in concern, "You should probably go see Madam Pomfrey after breakfast, I'll walk you down before I leave."

"Thanks 'Mione," Ally smiled gratefully, "And by the way Ron, waffles are so much better than pancakes." Ron spluttered incoherently, stuck between finishing the pile of food on his plate and arguing with Ally, who was currently making eyes at Oliver Wood from where he sat, laughing with his other fifth-year friends.

"By the way 'Mione," Hermione looked up from where she was reprimanding Ron for his terrible table manner, "I have your present for you here right now, so you can take it with you and open it on Christmas." Ally pulled out a brightly wrapped package with a glittering bow tied elegantly from her trouser pocket, and Hermione blushed pleasantly. She told them all that she would Owling them their presents, as she still had some things she wanted to buy in Muggle London.

Harry looked at all of his friends from where he was sitting squashed between Ron, who had since then decided to continue eating his breakfast savagely, and Seamus Finnegan who was recounting his latest debacle (explosion) in Charms class. He felt a warm feeling in his chest he could only identify as finally feeling like he belonged, and despite all of the uncertainty and mystery surrounding Nicholas Flamel, he felt that it was going to be the best Christmas ever.

A/N: And there you have it! After a loooooong absence, yours truly is back with more of Ally and her friends. I understand I must have let a lot of my faithful readers down and for that I'm sorry. It's been over a year since the last chapter and I feel like my writing style and level of maturity has changed since I first started this story when I was 13. I'm almost 16 now and I feel like I'll be able to update with a little more frequency, but don't expect any weekly updates! I will try to update at least once monthly, as I do want to get to the next installment in Ally's story. At this age they're only 11, so it's mostly just fluffy friendship bits and they most likely won't realize any more mature feelings for each other, especially being best friends.

Anyways, I just wanted to thank all of my loyal readers who stuck with me and reviewed! I would also like to thank my new readers and I hope to assure you that I won't be falling off the face of the earth any time soon! With that said I plan on focusing on this story before I get to any of my other works. This is my first story on this site (aside from a one chapter embarrassment that I quickly deleted years ago) and I'm very partial to it. There will be a sequel, yes, as it follows Ally year by year at Hogwarts.

I love you all! Please review (they provide lots of inspiration and more frequent updates as a result!) and stay golden!

Vera