OK, I'll do a different POV for each chapter, starting with, of course, Lils and Gideon.

Thank you to ShortieJ and siriusfan28.

Lily's POV

...stared blankly at it. Then realization dawned on me. I grabbed Gideon's hand and dragged him out of the Hall, a few pairs looking up at us in wonder before looking immediately back at their clues, seemingly determined to "catch up" with us.

"Lils," Gideon said to me as I continued walking briskly, dragging him along with me, "do you know what it is?"

I snorted. "Heck no. But I'm smart enough to realise that half the battle is psyching out the competition. If we trick them into thinking we're ahead then they won't be thinking straight."

"Lily," he told me, "I am infinitely glad I am with you."

"I know," I said, quickly turning my head and grinning at him before turning back to the front.

We reached a corner that was bordering a whole corridor of portraits that seemed to be filled with different fruits and vegetables, and I decided this was far enough.

"OK," I said, grabbing the clues from the bag, "let's figure out this clue."

The first Christmas item on your list is one commonly found in mist.

It is sampled very often as the elves wait for it to soften.

"OK first line first. What could mist mean?" I asked.

Gid shrugged. "Cloud mist, steam, fog, I don't know."

I decided to move on."We'll leave mist for later. What about the second line? It is sampled very often as the elves wait for it to soften?"

"Well, the elves work in the kitchen-" Gid began.

"They do?" I asked in surprise.

He looked at me strangely. "Yeah," he told me, as if I was insane, "they've worked here for centuries, ever since a descendant of Helga Hufflepuffs started showing kindness to elves."

All this achieved was a more sceptical look from me, and a blushing Gideon.

"Whatever. Just trust me on this one," he said.

I nodded. What else did I have if I couldn't trust my partner?

"Well following that theory the Christmas item is either a food or something else you would find in a kitchen," I said.

"Specifically the Hogwarts kitchens," Gideon supplied helpfully.

"Well then let's use the kitchen theory. And you said mist could refer to steam, which of course can be found in a kitchen. Steam occurs when something is boiling," I mused.

"So basically we're looking for something, probably a Christmas food, that the elves cook, that involves boiling something," Gideon summarised, to which I nodded.

"Then let's go to the kitchens," he said, looking around him at our surroundings, "actually, we're basically here already."

I was gobsmacked again as Gideon led me to a portrait of a bowl of fruit. He stopped in front of it and reached out a finger, touching the pear in a way that I assume was meant to be a tickle.

"You continue to surprise me Prewett," I whispered as we wondered along a corridor.

"And I will forever more Lily Bean," he told me.

I was about to retort but then we reached the end of the corridor and I really did gasp this time. Right here before me was this huge cavernous space. However it certainly wasn't empty. It was divided into sections, four altogether, and in each section there were several (more like dozens) working stations with fires and other wizarding kitchen appliances. There were also a few tables and chairs in each section, some of which were occupied by eating elves.

I turned to him. "When did you find this and why haven't you shared this with me?" I challenged him.

He just grinned and walked over to the farthest section (which I learnt to be the Gryffindor one). He stopped by one of the benches that sported a female elf rolling out some sort of dough.

"Dolly my darling," Gideon said, "long time no see."

She looked up, looking a little flustered, but as soon as she recognised Gideon her adorable face broke into a huge grin and she hugged Gideon.

"Master Gid, Master Gid! How is you?" she asked him, smiling.

He smiled back at her. "I'm spiffy Dolly. By the way, this is my dear friend Lily. Lily, meet Dolly."

Dolly gave me another big hug and began introducing me to all the other elves. There was one that struck out at me. He looked younger and he seemed so innocent, like the kitchen could swallow it up in one swallow. I walked over to this little elf (who I found stood in the Slytherin section) and knelt before her.

"Hello," I said kindly, "my name's Lily. What's yours?"

She smiled a little at me. "My name is DiDi. Nice to meet you Miss Lily."

I grinned. "Nice to meet you too DiDi. I'm sorry I can't stay and chat but maybe some other time I can come back?"

She nodded vigorously. "Of course Miss Lily. You're welcome here at any time."

I smiled and gave her a hug, before walking off with a wave.

As I returned to Gideon and Dolly, Dolly smiled at me.

"Thank you for that Miss Lily," she told me, "DiDi hasn't been the same since her husband passed away and she found she was pregnant."

I just nodded my head. "If we didn't have to find the clue I'd have stayed and talked with her."

Gideon, seeming to remember we didn't have all the time in the world, slapped his forehead. "Yes Dolly, I came to ask for some help."

I was about to protest; I mean, as nice as it would be we couldn't blatantly cheat. But Gideon held up his hand.

"Chill Lil, I only meant if she could tell us about Christmas foods that required boiling."

I nodded. That didn't seem too bad. He turned back to Dolly and asked.

She considered this for a second before speaking. "Well we be making the traditional Christmas Pudding that we serve every year at the big Christmas dinner."

"And what's the cooking process like?" I asked eagerly, hoping this is what we were looking for.

"Well first, each of the elves, in all the sections, starts boiling the fruits that we's be putting in the pudding. You see, elves don't use the fruit that wizards do, the one that is packed and kept for a long time."

"Preserved foods," I told her.

She nodded. "Yes, that one. So we cook the fruits, usually hard ones, and we check lots of times to makes sure they isn't burnt. When they're soft enough we-"

"Gideon," I said excitably, "these fruits might be what we're looking for!"

He grinned and nodded back at me. "Dolly, could you possibly get us a serving of this fruit?" he asked her.

Dolly nodded and walked off, looking a little bemused at my behaviour. She came back shortly with a round bundle and a piece of cake on a little plate.

"This be some for you to take in your pack and some for youse to eats now," she said to us.

Gideon and I nodded at each other. Assuming we were correct in our riddle guess, no one else had figured it out. So we had time for a little break.

We had sat down and nibbled on the absolutely delicious cake, sipping tea as well. After five minutes or so we quickly got up, thanked Dolly and the other elves profusely, promised to come back later, and made our way out the portrait once again. Gideon placed the bundle in the bag and got out the clues.

"One down, nineteen to go," he said.

"Way to sound positive Gideon," I snorted.

What do you guys think? I think I'm heading in the right direction with this scavenger hunt concept. Anyway, was my clue OK? I mean, could it really connect to the kitchens? That's why I made sure to use elves. Never mind, I'm babbling. Talk to you guys later.

Opinionated1234