Going Away and Coming Home
"Finally!" I say as I pull out one of my socks from under my bed. I was packing my stuff, picking up the ones I want to take home. "I can't wait to go home and sleep in."
"My parents and I are planning to go skiing," Hermione says. "They wanted to bond during the holidays before I disappear again for months. Ready to go?"
"Just one last check," I reply while looking around the room that had been 'home' for the past few months. "Yeah, let's go."
We say goodbye to Harry and the Weasleys who were staying for the holidays and wish them a happy Christmas. We step out of the portrait hole and dragged out suitcases down out of the castle. On our way out, we couldn't resist sneaking a peek at the Great Hall where Professor Flitwick was finishing up on decorating a large tree.
There were horseless carriages waiting to take us to the train station. I've always wondered how they had moved but, seriously, if you lived in a world of magic, too, you'd just take things as they are, no questions asked.
The air was chilly and I couldn't help but fall asleep for the train ride. I feel Hermione shaking me awake as we neared King's Cross Station.
"We need to change into muggle clothes," she tells me. We took out our robes and put on regular muggle jumpers to hide the rest of our wizard clothing.
"I guess this is it," I tell her as we step out onto the platform. "See you in a few, Hermione," I say as I push my cart towards my mom waiting for me on the platform.
"How was Hogwarts?" she asks me as we hug.
"Wonderfully eventful," I say with a smile.
"Tell me everything."
I spent the next morning enjoying a slow morning at home, made myself some hot chocolate with marshmallows and watched TV. I hear our door open and my mom joins me on the couch.
"Any plans?" She asks.
"I was thinking of going to Diagon Alley later to buy stuff. Anything interesting at work?"
"The usual. You know, I never thought talking to elephant-eared wizards who responded by quacking would get boring." She yawns, "Alright, I'm gonna go get some sleep. Love you, sweetie."
"Love you, too, mum."
Diagon Alley was as lively as I've ever seen it. Apparently, wizards wait until the last minute to Christmas shop, too.
Stalls were set up in every space that is not walked on by the crowd. One particularly caught my attention. There were rows pots with pretty looking plants, but one particular row caught my attention.
"See anything you like, dear?" A kind, grandmotherly woman asks me.
I point to the dried up plants and ask, "What are those? Are they supposed to do that?"
"Those are serbian phoenix flowers, dear. The dried up form is easier is transport so we sell it that way." She stands up and takes a bowl with water. "But when you water one of them," she pours the water on one of the dried plants, "they resurrect." Slowly, the plant seemed to open up a bit. The old lady takes out another plant with delicate purple flowers and dark green leaves. "It might take more than a few hours or so."
It was amazing and I could think of someone that would appreciate them. I looked into my purse and asked, "How much?"
"8 sickles each," she says with a smile.
I pretended to hesitate, "Er… How about two for 15 sickles?"
She chuckles, starts to put two plants into a bag and hands it to me, "15 sickles then."
One of the stalls were selling Honeyduke's candy mix and I bought enough for the rest of the Gryffindor first years, except for Hermione, she gets toothflossing stringmints.
A/N: I was going to include the actual Christmas day but I didn't like that there were a lot of time cuts in this chapter. New chapter in a week or so.
TIP: Reviews MAY speed up the writing process ;)