Notes: First week of class and I'm already missing the holidays. As always, thanks to everyone that has been following this story so far. I really enjoy getting your feedback.

Any questions or comments, just PM me!

…

(T-5)

Chapter 27: Winter is Coming

Harry groggily ate his breakfast that morning. A night filled with nightmares was one thing, but a night filled with nightmares and a freak electrical storm was another. Needless to say, he hadn't gotten much sleep. With all of Hogwarts buzzing at the strange occurrence, it became almost impossible to get in a few minutes of rest before class, or during Divination. By lunch period, Hogwart's rumor mill was working at full capacity, while he was only working at less than half. To make matters worse, since it was Wednesday, they had to stay up late for Astronomy.

Asides from that, nothing seemed to drift away from what had become his routine. Well, except perhaps that a rather upset Zidane was sent to the Hospital Wing after being attacked by a several Fanged Geraniums.

'But it looks like Christmas Holidays are finally on their way.' Harry thought to himself.

And indeed they were.

December arrived with more snow and a mountain of homework for the fifth years. Harry was seeing less and less of Hermione and Ron who were now busy with their prefect duties. Instead, he found himself more in the company of Zidane, Neville, Luna , the twins, or maybe Hagrid who he would often visit.

He had even become familiar with the sight of Mog, the strange creature that had yet to leave the castle and seemed to mostly stick to Zidane. Of course, there were always times when the 'moogle' could be seen exploring the castle, especially while they were in class. Though whenever anyone tried to approach the skittish little creature when it was alone, Mog would quickly turn tail and run away. Somehow, she had also managed to stay under Umbridge's radar, which was quite an achievement in his books.

'The DA also seems to love her. Well, at least the girls do.' Harry thought as he recalled the meetings where the little creature would come to watch. Most of the girls seemed to find her irresistibly adorable and had even suggested to make her their official mascot. The guys however didn't seem to want to be associated with anything 'cute', or at least most guys didn't (Neville just blushed slightly and Zidane shrugged, saying 'you haven't seen her when she is angry'). Harry couldn't deny the slight wave of jealousy that rose within him when he saw the amount of attention that Cho was paying Mog. He believed that something similar happened to the guys, at least on some level.

Unfortunately, almost everyone in the DA would be leaving for Christmas break, which meant that the only thing he looked forward to in Hogwarts would be gone. At that point, Harry realized just how much his holidays would stink. Ron would be away with his family for a warm Christmas, and Hermione would go skiing with her parents. Ron laughed when Hermione explained it to him. He apparently thought that tying boards of wood under your feet to slide over the snow was a rather ridiculous idea.

The trio then questioned Neville, as he played Exploding Snap with Mog, on what he would be doing over the holidays, and the round-faced boy mentioned that he would be leaving the school and spending it with his grandmother. When they asked Zidane what he would be doing, the blonde simply looked up from the rather old and slightly charred tome he was reading and told them that he would be going to France, before putting his book away and watching Mog beat Neville, Crookshanks purring loudly on his lap.

That did not make him feel any better.

It was only until Ron mentioned forgetting to formally invite him to spend Christmas with him (apparently Mrs. Weasley had arranged it weeks ago), did he snap out of his sulking. He then decided that Christmas might not be so bad after all.

'And we still have one DA meeting before the Holidays start.'

…

Zidane whistled merrily to himself as he traversed the streets of Hogsmeade. It was not a Hogsmeade weekend, so he had his cloak on and his face completely obscured by its hood and the scarf that covered the lower part of his face. Next to him, a completely invisible Mog hovered above ground. She had been quite stubborn in accompanying him, but he supposed she was just excited on her first visit to a wizarding town.

The real reason as to why he was here was that Christmas was fast approaching and he thought that with Mog still here, it would be the perfect opportunity to send presents to his friends back in Gaia. He would also use this small visit to get himself a broom (even though the next Gryffindor match was apparently in March), and restock on his already-drained supply of spirits, you know, now that he was already here.

His first stop was Honeydukes, where he bought a bit of everything so he could send them over to Eiko and Quina, of course, he avoided some of the more disgusting looking sweets like Blood Pops (he did not want to give the Qu a craving for blood) and Cockroach Clusters (He supposed that cockroaches were like this world's version of Oglops). He knew that Eiko would definitely enjoy the sugar quills and cauldron cakes, besides the other assortment of sweets he planned to send. Quina on the other hand would be ecstatic with Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and the Chocolate Frogs (particularly because he/she could chase and hunt them down).

'Though I am actually surprised that nobody seems to find a cloaked guy shopping for sweets at least a bit suspicious. At most all I am getting is a slight once-over.' Zidane thought to himself, but then shrugged. 'Sirius mentioned that this shop has an underground tunnel to Hogwarts in its cellar. I'm sure these guys must have seen weirder things.'

"Hey but are you really sure these will survive the trip?" The thief whispered just loud enough for the moogle to hear. After all, candy could melt rather easily, and based on what he saw when Ramuh left, it wasn't a very gentle process.

"Kupopo." The creature replied. Zidane took it as an "I guess".

His next stop was Zonko's, where he got some present for his bros at Tantalus, since nobody else would likely appreciate the beauty of the products sold there. Rusty would pretty much skin him alive if he gave him one of those nose-biting teacups. He also planned into getting some of the twin's products, and sending them as gifts too. Eidolons knew that they could use those in their particular line of work, and no, he wasn't referring to acting.

Afterwards he went to 'Tomes and Scrolls', a bookshop where he bought a few books that would, no doubt, interest Garnet and Doctor Tot. He also took the opportunity to stop by 'Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment', where he found an Omnicular for Baku, a weapon's maintenance kit for Rusty and Beatrix, and also one of those nifty cameras that could take moving pictures. Dagger would love that.

In 'Dominic Maestro's', a music shop, he also got Eiko a flute on Mog's behalf. Afterwards he made his way to this antique shop he had seen on his way. They also happened to repair things, but what caught his attention the most was a pair of small two-way mirrors that could be used to communicate in long distances. Zidane didn't think it would work if they were worlds apart, but while it wasn't of use to him, it did make the perfect gift for Freya and Frately. He also bought a pocket Sneakoscope for Amarant, and also one for Ruby, who'd often complain about constant thefts in her theatre.

After all the gifts were taken care of, and all of them tucked away in the safety of his travel pouch, he headed over to the Quidditch supply story to get a broom. When he first entered, he thought it would just be a simple matter of getting a broom and just getting out. Simple, correct? Yet as it turned out, there were several types and brands of brooms. From Cleansweeps to Comets, Silver Arrows to Moontrimmers. Each came with specific statistics that he just couldn't quite wrap his mind around. The clerk at the store had only made things worse. Why would he care that the shaft was made of oak? Why was that any different from reinforced ash? Why would making the tail out of birch twigs decrease air resistance? What the hell did they mean by altitude and braking maneuverability dependant ratio of aerodynamics?

'Why is it so hard to get a damn broom?!' Zidane thought to himself in frustration. Luckily the clerk couldn't see this since his face was shrouded in shadows. He didn't want something that could accelerate to a hundred and fifty miles an hour in ten seconds. He just wanted something reasonably good, that wouldn't kill him, and wouldn't make him feel like he had a stick jammed up his nether regions.

In the end he just got a Nimbus, one called a Nimbus 2001 to be specific, but it wasn't like he actually cared. They were supposed to be good, rather safe, and also easy to maintain. He supposed he could change the color later. The polished black broom was a bit too gloomy for his tastes anyways. The clerk was nice enough to show him a spell to do it himself.

Zidane also stopped by 'Dogweed and Deathcap', the local herbology shop, but he only did it reluctantly. He would never willingly step inside such a place without a real reason, the reason being that he still needed to get gifts for his friends here. Neville in particular, who had a huge fascination with plants (why one would like the green monsters was totally beyond him). Unfortunately, since he didn't exactly share the same passion, he just couldn't think of what to get him or what the boy would like.

'How about those plants over there?' Zidane thought as he approached some potted plants that were barely just sprouting. Neville would like to take care of them for sure. But when the plant started hissing at him as he approached, the teen quickly turned and walked away. 'Nope, there is no way in hell I'm getting near them. Maybe I'll just get him a nice pot, or some fertilizer.'

Yet this thought made him frown. That was not nearly as special as he wanted his gift to be. This was going to be his first and likely last Christmas with Neville, and he really wanted to give him something memorable. The same could be said for Luna, who despite being a little on the odd side, was someone he'd already grown very fond of. Giving a small sigh, Zidane exited the shop and looked down at his travel pouch containing all his possessions. It was then that an idea formulated itself in his head.

'Maybe I already have something for them.' Zidane thought with realization. He still had all the items he had acquired during his travels, including various artifacts, weapons, gemstones, miscellaneous add-ons that he never really used, and also some very random items. 'And if I recall correctly, I still have a bunch of Dead Peppers and some Gysahl Greens with me. As far as I know, they count as plants… harmless, innocent plants, too. I also have a bunch of accessories I don't use. I could give them off as presents. As long as they don't scream 'I'm from another world'. Luna might like the pair Fairy Earrings I kept.'

The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea. Not only would they make unique gifts, but everyone (well, everyone in Gaia and Terra) knew that most accessories, weapons, and gears where charmed in some way to provide some sort of advantage in combat, in a way similar to amulets in this world. In a way, it was like indirectly providing protection for his friends.

With the way things were going, they would sure as hell need it.

"Well, then I suppose we are done with our Christmas shopping, right Mog?" Zidane said with a smile that only faltered when he thought about just how much effort it would take to wrap the gifts up. He supposed it was the bad side of having so many friends.

Just before making his way back to the castle, he paused as he felt something warm inside his pocket. At first his only thought was just how comfortable that felt against the bitter cold of winter, but those thoughts quickly changed when the heat became painful rather than comfortable.

'Alright, geez. I get it already!' Zidane thought to himself in frustration as he reached inside his pocket and retrieved the golden coin that he kept separate to the rest. Checking the small numbers on the coin closely, he let out a smirk. 'Looks like Harry finally set the time for the meeting.'

….

Harry arrived early for their last DA meeting before the Holidays. Now that he knew he was spending them over at the Weasley's, he didn't feel as miserable anymore. He just hoped that Mrs. Weasley would be willing to have Sirius over as well, in fear that the falsely accused convict would have to spend Christmas alone with Kreacher in Grimmauld Place. Many would consider that worse than not celebrating Christmas at all.

Stepping inside the Room of Requirement, Harry quickly felt the urge to slap his hand against his forehead. Apparently, Dobby had taken it upon himself to decorate the Room of Requirement to match the festive mood infecting Hogwarts with the upcoming advent of Christmas. How did he know this? Well, for starters he knew of no one else who would decorate the entire place with golden baubles bearing his image and the words 'HAVE A VERY HARRY CHRISTMAS!'. Harry appreciated the gesture, he really did, but there was a very fine line between 'helpful', and 'embarrassing' (or alternately 'creepy'). Again, he was glad of being the first one here. Hopefully he would be able to take those down before the others arrived.

Just as he took down the last one, the door creaked open, and he was greeted by the sight of Luna. The girl looked as dreamy as usual as she practically skipped into the room. "These are nice, did you put them up?"

Harry looked on as the girl pointed at the discarded baubles on the floor. "No, it was Dobby the house-elf. I was just taking them down."

"That's good. Mistletoe tends to attract Nargles." The girl said as she pointed at the branch hanging just by Harry's head.

The two were interrupted when the doors opened once more and the Chaser Trio arrived. All three girls; Angelina, Katie, and Alicia looked cold and slightly breathless. Harry supposed that they had been practicing Quidditch, and mentally winced at the thought of practicing at such low temperatures.

"Well, we've finally replaced you."Angelina said.

"Replaced me?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, and the twins." Angelina said dully.

"Well, who is it?" Harry asked.

"Ginny Weasley." Angelina replied.

Harry just gapped at her.

"Yeah, I know. But she is pretty good, actually. Well, nothing on you, of course. But since we can't have you…" Angelina said, giving Harry a dirty look.

Harry bit his tongue to avoid giving a bitter retort. It wasn't like he wanted or enjoyed getting banned either. Instead he just directed his next question to the girl. "What about the Beaters?"

A mixed look crossed Angelina's face, before she seemed to answer him. "Zidane Tribal and Andrew Kirke."

"Zidane?!" Harry asked in shock.

"Well, he isn't the best on a broom, but I'm pretty sure we can fix that. His batting skills are brilliant, though." Angelina said, and then grimaced. "It's the other one I'm worried about. Kirke nearly took out three of our players, and yet somehow, he was still better than all the other idiots that turned up."

"You can't be serious." Harry said, expecting it to be a joke. The three girls seemed to grimace.

"I'm not joking. This guy, Jack Sloper, actually hit Zidane in the back with a bludger." Angelina said and even Harry winced at the thought. "The guy wasn't even playing! We were just showing him how to take care of his broom."

"Is he okay?" Harry asked in concern, and all three girls seemed to avoid his glance.

"I'm just fine, but thanks for the concern." A voice called as the door opened once more. Zidane and Neville had just entered, the exchange looking worse for wear. His hair looked a bit tousled and he walked with an odd limp. Mog seemed to trail after him like always, though the small creature could do nothing to brighten up the blonde, whose expression reminded him a bit of a rather annoyed cat.

"What did Madam Pomfrey say?"Angelina asked.

"She said that I should take it easy, though she seems to think that I am trying to break Harry's record of most Hospital Wing visits in a year." The blonde said with a smirk while Harry felt some heat rise to his cheeks in embarrassment. Okay, so maybe he got hurt a lot. Based on what had happened since first year, he didn't really think it counted as his fault.

"So did you talk to Sloper? I mean, he must've at least apologized." Katie asked.

Mog seemed to give an indignant 'kupo' upon hearing the name while a scowl quickly made its way to the blonde's face. "I did speak to him. He told me I was an idiot for not moving out of the way."

"What did you tell him?" Alicia asked.

"Well, first I punched him in the face, and then I told him that he was an idiot for not dodging." Zidane said. The others just seemed surprised, while Mog flew over and rested on his head.

"You know, you could get in some real trouble for that." Angelina reprimanded him. "We can't afford to lose another player right now."

"Don't worry, he won't go spilling out to anyone, and if it makes you feel better then I'll stop." The blonde said, rolling his eyes.

"Kupo!" Mog seemed to reprimand as well and gave him a slight smack on the head with her paw.

"I said I will!"

…..

"So I was thinking that we could just go over what we've done these past few weeks rather than start something new." Harry began once the entire DA was seated. Well all of them except Zidane. Those cushions always aggravated his tail. "I just don't see the point since we will only have this meeting before the Holidays."

"We aren't doing anything new? If I'd known that I wouldn't have come." Zacharias Smith said in displeasure.

"We are all really sorry that Harry didn't tell you, then." One of the twins said loudly and several people sniggered.

"We can practice in pairs. We will start with the Impediment Jinx and then we can take out the cushions to practice stunning." Harry said and everyone automatically split up. Walking closer to the injured blonde, Harry continued. "You can sit out on this one if you want. It's just a revision anyways."

Zidane looked like he was about to protest, but after seeing the look that Mog gave him through small squinty eyes, the cyan-eyed teen just gave a sigh of defeat. He knew that Mog would probably go tell Eiko later, who would likely tell Dagger, and if she did, then he wouldn't hear the end of it when he got back. Neville too gave him a worried look since he had seen him get the injury firsthand. He had even been the one to help him get to the Hospital Wing since he had been unable to do it himself. To his great embarrassment, Neville had to practically carry him bridal style.

"Alright." The genome said. "Harry do you think you could work with Neville for now?"

"Yeah, don't worry." Harry replied and got to work with Neville.

The emerald-eyed teen should have been glad that Neville had vastly improved. After all that practice with Zidane, the boy had lost a bit of his self-confidence issues. Mostly because he knew that the cyan-eyed teen could (hopefully) handle whatever he sent his way. That did not mean that Neville's spells were perfect, no, the teen still needed practice. But it did mean that the round-faced boy was now willing to give it a shot.

Zidane slowly lowered himself on a puffy chair that was provided by the room and watched the others practice. He wasn't really in pain. Well, technically he was, but with his high pain tolerance, it was really more of a discomfort at this point. Madam Pomfrey had really insisted on hospitalizing him, but he had stubbornly refused and even used several 'Cures' in rapid succession, besides several potions, to heal the injury.

In the end, the woman only gave him a foul tasting concoction of her own and ordered for him to get plenty of rest, after seeing that he could at least walk on his own. There was one downside however, and he wasn't referring to the horrible taste the potion left in his mouth. No, he was talking about the fact that shortly after he had taken his potion, his tail had gone completely numb and uselessly limp. Madam Pomfrey assured him that it was a temporary side effect, and that it was only because his back was healing. Such a side-effect occasionally presented itself on a patient's legs, but in his case it had showed up mainly in his tail. Sadly, that left him with an annoying limp and the lack of balance one would normally associate with too much drinking.

'I really hadn't realized how long my tail was until now. Seriously, I kept tripping on the damn thing on my way over.' Zidane thought with a grimace. He was pretty much forced to tie it around his middle like any rope while he walked around like a drunken sailor on a moving ship. 'This had better wear out by morning.'

After a while of watching the other DA members, Zidane quickly became bored so he pulled out his spell book from his travel pouch (which he always wore around his waist and underneath his robes), and began to read since Mog was off playing with other DA members. He quickly browsed over the spells he already knew, and those he just didn't care to learn. He paused briefly over the Ultima spell, but then quickly flipped pages. Dagger would kill him if he decided to learn one of Kuja's signature spells. Only after browsing over the last few pages did he notice something odd. It looked like some of the last pages were thicker, or rather, they were stuck together. Carefully grabbing one such page, he began to slowly and carefully peel the pages apart and then noticed that there was writing on it.

It was a weird feeling; to read a language that you don't recall ever studying, and yet somehow understand all of it. The more he looked into the writing, the more he seemed to 'remember'. It was like suddenly delving into his own mind so deeply, that he suddenly discovered, or rather, re-discovered a part of him that was forgotten. He suddenly found himself knowing the Terran names of different things he knew and others that he didn't. He knew how to use them in sentences. The information flowed freely from his inner depths like water.

And yet, he found himself pushing even further in search of the end of the tunnel, something in his mind telling him that there was more. The book contained several passages. Zidane was surprised to see it talk about other things than just Terran spells. The pages seemed to contain large passages transcribed directly from what looked like research notes.

'Genetic modification? Recombinant genes? What is this?' Zidane thought in confusion. Glancing over the contents of the passages, he realized with some morbid fascination that he was looking at Garland's notes on the creation of genomes.

Another surge of information hit him and pulled him along like a current. There were pictures, smells, and sounds of all kinds, all which seemed to invoke a different feelings out of him. The most prominent being a soothing blue light.

Zidane switched pages again. The notes on this page were a lot different and seemed to belong to a much later date. These passages were not about Terra, but rather, Gaia, specifically Gaia's Eidolons and their summoners. There appeared to be even more recent notes over those. These were written in a different handwriting. One Zidane recognized it, from the other tiny notes written in the book, as Kuja's.

Another wave of information washed over him. It was with some shock that Zidane finally recognized them as memories. Only, they weren't any memories he recalled. In fact, he somehow felt that these weren't his at all. But before he could withdraw himself and return to reality. He felt himself be washed away by the current against his will.

He was looking down at a rocky village. The sky was dark and stormy while the entire village was ablaze. Even the sea surrounding the village had become a tempest, frighteningly large waves continued to crash against the rock, but it did nothing to put off the fires that illuminated the entire place like an eerie campfire. Strong winds blew over the entire thing, turning into small tornadoes that only made the fire spread further. He could faintly hear the sounds of people screaming and running away, yet a cold detached part of him knew that few, if any, would survive.

The Eidolons painted upon the walls danced with the shadows as the fire raged around them. He merely let the corners of his mouth turn upwards in a dark smile.

The reaping of souls was complete.

"Zidane!"

The blonde jolted upwards with a gasp, heart thumping rapidly inside his ribcage while the hair lay plastered onto his face by a sheet of cold sweat. His book lay face down over his lap and completely forgotten. His blurred vision seemed to focus on the three figures standing close to him, and he quickly came to realize that it was Neville with his hand drawn back, Mog floating next to him, and Luna just beside the moogle.

"Kupo?" Mog seemed to ask, but the blonde brought a hand up to his head as if to fight a headache.

"What happened?" Zidane asked while trying to do his best to mask the slight tremble in his voice.

"Well you fell asleep during practice. It looks like you were having a pretty bad nightmare. Are you alright?" Neville asked with concern clearly written across his face.

"I told him it was probably the Wrackspurts. They do funny things to you head." Luna said.

"Yeah I'm fine." Zidane assured the teen, even though he wasn't very sure of it himself.

"You don't have to lie to make us feel better. You do look really tired, you know." Luna said. "You should get some sleep…or dance under the moon."

Zidane just shook his head. "Did the meeting finish already?"

"Yeah, I was going to get you so we could leave, when I found you like that." Neville said, and looking around, Zidane saw that everyone was milling out of the room. Since the spot he had chosen to sit down was rather isolated, he wasn't surprised that nobody else seemed to see him.

"Alright, let's go." The blonde said, picking up his book, and getting up on shaky legs. Mog perched over his shoulder once more, giving him a worried look, but Zidane just ruffled her head to reassure her. Just before leaving the room, he caught sight of Harry and Cho talking, a mistletoe hanging right over them.

….

"Did you two kiss?" Hermione asked briskly now that the trio was alone in the Common Room.

Harry was torn between telling them about what happened after he was left alone with Cho, and just keeping quite. Unfortunately, Hermione had just hit the nail on the head. And Ron, well Ron had just spilt his ink bottle in shock.

"Well?" Ron asked, now intently looking at him. "Did you?"

Harry looked at both his friend's expression and with a sigh, he nodded.

Ron pumped his fist in a gesture of victory and then proceeded to laugh out loud in joy. Hermione just looked at him in disgust, but then again, as a girl she probably didn't comprehend the excitement one male feels for his friend when he has kissed another, quite attractive, female.

"How was it?" Ron asked, now looking at his friend in the eyes.

"It was…wet." Harry decided. Cho had been quite upset about Cedric's death before they kissed. Ron made a noise that could have either been out of jubilation, or disgust. It was hard to tell. Harry just gave a sigh and clarified the apparent misunderstanding. "It's because she was crying."

"Oh." Ron said. "Are you that bad at kissing?"

"Of course he is not." Hermione seemed to reply for him as she scribbled something down.

"How would you know." Ron asked suspiciously.

"Because Cho spends half of her time crying these days." Hermione said.

"You'd think a bit of snogging would cheer her up." Ron said, grinning.

"Ron, you are the most insensitive wart I have ever had the misfortune to meet." Hermione said and after some protests from Ron, and some questioning from Harry, the girl tried to explain the current situation with Cho in a male-friendly way, keyword being 'tried'. "She's feeling sad because of Cedric's death, while she is also confused because she likes Cedric and now she likes Harry, so she really can't make out who she likes best. Then there is obviously the guilt of somehow insulting Cedric's memory by kissing Harry. She also doesn't know what others will think of her going out with Harry or what she really thinks about him because he was there when Cedric died. It's all just very mixed up and painful. Then, of course, is the fear of being kicked out of the Ravenclaw team because she's been flying quite badly."

There was complete silence after the explanation, before Ron seemed to snap out of his thoughts, and talk. "One person can't feel all that at one, they'd explode!"

"Just because you have the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn't mean we all do." Hermione retorted.

"Well what am I supposed to do?" Harry asked.

"You are meeting her again aren't you?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, we still have DA meetings after the holidays." Harry said nervously, though the look Hermione gave him clearly told him that she wasn't talking about that.

"You know what I meant." The girl said.

Hermione's words brought up new frightening possibilities. He imagined himself walking hand in hand with Cho, going on Hogsmeade weekends together, and even snogging next to a warm fire. They would be spending more time together now, and yet the thought of that made his stomach clench.

He had always imagined himself in different scenarios with Cho. Be it a trip, or a picnic, or even in the Quidditch pitch flying together. But in all those little fantasies, Cho had always been enjoying herself. That picture had shattered the moment Cho began to sob uncontrollably onto his shoulder. Just how was one supposed to deal with that situation?

Even as they began finishing their homework, or in Hermione's case a letter for Victor Krum (much to Ron's chagrin), Harry's thoughts continued to wander. He was desperately wishing for Sirius to miraculously appear in the fire and grant him some advice about girls.

To be continued…

….

A/N: It was surprisingly hard to decide on the Christmas gifts for each of the Gaian characters, but I think it came out fairly well. Next chapter things WILL GO DOWN.