Chapter 4-It is the season
Under cover of night, Godwin meets up with Merula within the Slytherin common room.
"Let's get this over with, I don't fancy getting caught being stuck with you!"
Godwin did his best to ignore her, leaving with her in silence as they went through the halls of Hogwarts until they came across the same hall they had found before; Godwin went in first, finding that there was noone to be seen.
"Well, we're lucky." He said as they began to look around the hall.
"Yeah, well, Finch can't be too far. Let's make this quick." Merula said as they made their way to the door. Godwin tried to open it, but all he got was the rattling. The door wouldn't budge.
"It's stuck?" He murmured curiously under his breath as Merula knocked him aside.
"Move! I'll do it."
She pointed her wand at the lock and whispered, "Alohomora!" Yet the door merely rattled once, then fell still.
"Well, great work, Merula. You sure did it." Godwin mocked.
"Shut up! It's not my fault — if the door is protected by an enchantment then we could at least be on the right track maybe Filpendo could work. . . .?"
Godwin began to tug furiously at her sleeve.
"What are you doing!? Get off me!" Merula hissed. as she turned to him, Godwin pointed towards the door on the opposite side of the hallway, where Finch's cat was standing at the door. The pair of them bolted for it as the cat began letting out loud cries. They ran out of the hall and kept going until they were red faced and out of breath.
"So close — too close, in fact. That bloody cat!" Merula said angrily under her breath as Godwin kept an eye out for Finch."Let's just get back to the common room now. It's not worth the risk." He said, turning to her. Silently, she agreed, and the two of them began their trek back to the common room and went to bed.
The next morning, Godwin met up with Rowan and told him all that had happened.
"I'm glad you're alright. Working with Merula, though. . . I'm still not sure how I feel about that."
"I'm finding it odd myself, honestly. Hopefully I don't have to keep it up for long. There was something good to come out of all that, though! Something is definitely behind that door; we just need to get past Finch's bloody cat!"
"I'm sure we can think of something together." Rowan said.
Later that day, Godwi went to his detention for dueling with Tonks and Charlie, while Merula and her friends were given another task. On his way to detention he found himself cut off by Finch, who was staring at him with a nasty glare. Godwin tried to keep a straight face as he walked over to him.
"You — Le Fey! Don't think I don't know what you're up to! You stay away from that corridor, you hear me?!"
"I don't know what you're talking about!"
Finch couldn't have seen him — unless he was going to get his cat to testify against him, he was safe.
"I'm going to have my cat guard that corridor day in and day out from now on!I just dare you to try again, boy — see what happens! I know it was you. . . you and your foul brother are a family of trouble makers!"
Godwin did his best to keep a lid on his temper."Get out my way, old man! You can't do anything to me without proof!" He said,storming past Finch. He could still feel the linger of his nasty glare as he made his way to Snape's classroom, where he found out he and his friends were to clean every inch of his classroom. . . without magic Snape kept them at it for hours.
Godwin and Merula kept a close eye on the hallway from that point on. Finch seemed eager to keep good on his threat, considering his cat had her bed and bowl placed within the corridor, and she indeed guarded it all night and day. Soon enough, Christmas time was around the corner, and so came the last potion lesson of this year; this time they were learning to craft the sleeping draught potion.
"Yuck! You know, whenever I see one of these things, I think of you, Godwin." Merula said upon squeezing the juices out of the slimy, fat flubber-worm into her cauldron.
"You say the sweetest things," he snapped back, looking away in disgust as he did the same task. After the horrid flubber-worm was juiced, he switched with Rowan, who began stirring the potion and as Godwin double-checked his walked over to them, studying their potions.
"Good work, Merula and Ismelda," he told them, then looked over to Rowan as he was stirring the potion.
"Mister Khanna, stir the potion more vigorously than that." Snape said as he went on by.
"We should test this by putting it in his drink — do us all a favor.'' Rowan whispered to Godwin, causing him to have to stifle a laugh.
At the end of the lesson, Merula popped something into his robes. When he took it out, he found it was a note.
"I know how to deal with the cat. Leave it to me."
It was Christmas time, and Godwin found out that his mother was going to America to visit family, so he would spend Christmas at Hogwarts. He soon discovered that Hogwarts was barren and empty at this time of year, and in search of some company, he went to the Great Hall. To his relief, he saw Penny, Tonks and Rowan hanging out. He also saw Merula on the far side of the hall, her head within her arms. He strolled over to Penny and the others.
"Hey Godwin!" Penny said, welcoming him, before quickly following it up with a gentle, "Are you ok?""Fine," Godwin said, forcing a fake smile.
"Hey guys," Charlie said, sitting down by them, along with his big brother from Gryffindor — Bill Weasley. One the most popular boys in school. "Do you mind if my brother joins us?"
"Of course, please sit," Rowan said, and the two brothers sat opposite of them, Bill flashing them a friendly smile as he did.
"I thought you were going to go home for Christmas, Charlie?" Tonks asked.
"We were, but our little brothers Fred and George laid waste to the burrow; Mom and Dad said it's not safe to return home yet." Charlie said with a sigh.
"What did they do?" Tonks giggled.
"No idea, and I don't think I want to know," Charlie said, shaking his head.
"I get more and more worried about them each year they grow. I just hope they get out of their trouble-making phase before they get to Hogwarts." Bill said.
Talking about brothers made Godwin's heart sink, and he glanced down onto the table, reflecting over the last Christmas he had spent with his own brother, his brother thrasting him a wizards chess, the pair of them winding up there uncle by singing rudolph the rednosed reindeer, not because of his nose but because of his two large lumps upon his bald head which they called antlers, stealing food from the kitchen christmas day and tricking there gullible little cousins, when they could get away with it.
"Godwin?"
He felt Penny's hand rubbing his back, and as he looked over towards her, she seemed to look concerned.
"What's up?" She asked.
"This will be the first Christmas without my mother… and my brother." He said, giving in to her.
"I'm sorry to hear that… Godwin, wasn't it? I'm struggling with being away from my brothers this Christmas, I couldn't imagine what it would be like if one of them went missing. . . or worse." Bill said, sympathetically, and Godwin flashed a grateful smile.
"Hey, what about me?" Charlie asked with a cheeky grin.
"You know what I mean!" Bill said, gently whacking him on the arm, smirking.
"Where has your mother gone?"
"She's visiting her side of the family, she wanted to stay there for the holidays and new year. I told her I didn't want to come, I hate my uncle and most of my cousins, but now the holidays are here, well, you know." Godwin explained sheepishly. At that monument, Tonks jumped to her feet.
"Well, let's have some fun then! Most of the castle is barren — we practically have the place to ourselves!" Tonks said with a burst of excitement.
They made their way outside and together made a snow dragon with coal eyes and carrot fangs.
"Perfect. If only it was the real thing, it would be my dream to meet a dragon." Charlie said, looking on to their masterpiece with pride.
Godwin wasn't too sure about that. The thought of meeting a dragon sent a shiver down his spine. Suddenly, there was a gentle whack on the back of his head and something cold went down his back. He turned around to see a mischievous smile upon Tonks' face as four more snow balls slammed into him. He smirked.
"This means war!" He said, withdrawing his wand, conjuring a batch of snowballs and throwing them towards Tonks. One of them smacked into Penny, who smiled and threw another into Rowan, and soon enough, the whole group was getting into one big snowball fight. Later on, they made their way back into the castle to warm up and have lunch. At that moment, Penny had an idea
"Hey, I had an idea! Why don't we all have our own Christmas Party together and exchange gifts?"
"I love it," Tonks said with a wide smile.
"So who exchanges gifts with who?" Rowan asked.
"Well, I've gotCharlie! He'll be easy to get a gift for," Bill said.
"And I'll get a present for Tonks!" Penny chimed.
"That leaves me and Godwin," Rowan concluded, and the group chatted over who would do what over lunch until they had a plan.
"So, Tonks and I do the games and make the eggnog, Bill and Charlie make the foods, Rowan and Godwin do the decorations. . . " Penny said, listing out their plan. Upon everyone's approval, they split up to do their own tasks
"I'll catch up with you Rowan, I need to talk to Merula and find a present for you first."
Rowan left with the others and Godwin made his way over to Merula.
"What do you want, Le Fey?" She asked bitterly. Her eyes were red, and she had a long, glum frown upon face
"How is dealing with Finch's cat going?" Godwin asked. Even though he could see something was wrong, he decided not to be nosey.
"Good. It'll be ready by New Year. I would like to be alone now. Please."
Godwin left quietly and found himself stumped. What should he get for Rowan?But then, all of the sudden. . . water fell from above, soaking him from head to toe! An all-too-familiar chuckle echoed throughout the halls, one that could only belong to one person.
"PEEVES!" Godwin yelled with a tone of irritation. Peeves danced down, meeting him face-to-face. she laughed away, Godwin couldn't help but smile.
"Do you want something? Or have you just come to get on my nerves?"
"Both!" Peeve sing-songed with a wide grin. "Peevie-poo overheard you talking about gifts and parties!"
"Wanna join in?"
Peeves laughed once more, seemingly quite happy, as he was dancing in circles.
"Peeves makes his own fun, but thank you, thank you! Peevie actually came because he wants Godwin to get a prezzy for Merula!"
Godwin's face fell into a look of confusion.
"No offense, Peeves, but. . . why do you care?"
"Merula is an awful troublemaker : she bullied people, hit them with curses and hexes, pulled pranks on them, and duelled you. . . . Peeves like her!" Peeves said with an enthusiastic nod.
"Of course you do," Godwin said, rolling his eyes.
"And Peeves hates to see sad little Merula crying." The ghost added with a glum sigh.
"She was crying? Why?" Godwin asked, his smile falling.
"Merula, she got no parents to give her a present. She is getting nothing this Christmas!"
"Surely she has an extended family?"
"No one," Peeves said, shaking his head.
"Who does she live with then?"
Peeves shrugged, having no idea, and Godwin thought back to the state Merulahad been in within the Great Hall. Something tugged at his heartstrings. The thought of Merula having no one . . . he couldn't imagine what that would be like.
"Alright, I'll do it," he agreed.
"I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! I knew Goddy would help!" Peeve saids, dancing around him. "If you want to know what Merula would like, follow me!"
Before Godwin could ask anything more, Peeves shot off down the hall. Godwin hurried to catch up with him — whenever Peeves flew out of sight, he would listen for laughter. Just when he was beginning to think he had lost him for good, Peeves dropped down right in front of him with a big, thundering, "BOO!"
tartled, Godwin fell to the floor, while Peeves' laughter echoed throughout the hall once more. Godwin shook his head as he picked himself back up.
"Are we even going anywhere? This isn't a long winded prank, is it?" He asked, dusting off his robes.
"We're already here!" Peeves said then, flying over to a nearby door.
"What's inside?" Godwin asked, eyeing the door up suspiciously.
"No devils' snare or any pranks laying in here, promise! Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in Finch's eye!" Peeves sang while raising one hand into the air.
Cautiously, Godwin nodded and approached the door. After a moment of hesitation, he opened it to find a dusty old storage cupboard — and not a single Peeves prank in sight.
"What on earth could she want from here?" Godwin asked,looking around.
"That would be telling," Peeves sang in an irritating voice.
"Yes it would, so why don't you?" he said looking up at him.
"That would be too easy! But Peeves will give you a hint, since you're ice cold!"
"You have got to be kidding me. We're not playing at that are we?" Godwin said, shaking his head, before giving a heavy sigh. "Alright, fine. I'll play your game.,"
Godwin began the search with Peevesyelling "colder!" or "hotter!" whenever he moved closer or further away to the spot where Merula present lay, until finally, he found it.
"RED HOT DRAGONS' FIRE!" Peeves yelled as Godwin picked up the small little song book, old and covered with dust.
"She wants this?,hy?" Godwin asked, holding the book up. Peeves tapped his nose and winked, then an idea struck him.
"Hey, Peeves — you owe me one right after this, right?"
"Mmm, depends. What does Goddy want?" Peeves asked, eyes narrowed. "I need someone to distract Finch and give him a hard time at some point in the future while I go off and break some school rules. Could you do that for me?"
A wide grin spread over Peeves' face.
"You've got a deal, Goddy! Just give Peeves the word when you need him!"
Just like that, Peeves flew off though the wall, leavingGodwin to take a good look around. Maybe there was something in here for Rowan, too?
He carried on looking through the storage room, and not quite trusting Peeves, also found a second present for Merula — a wooden dragon pendant, just in case. He also found a book for Rowan, and he spent the rest of his time wrapping the presents. He found himself done by dinner time.
By Christmas eve, the group had everything planned and ready and had decided to use Snape's classroom for the party, as he had gone home for the holidays.
Snape's classroom was covered in many different kinds of paper Christmas decorations. White stars hung from the ceiling, long lines of cut-out Christmas trees were strung across the walls, and there were paper characters of Santa, snowman and reindeer upon the tables. There were two tables — one had many kinds of food and drinks, and the other was where all the gifts would be put.
Together, they all sat around the table covered in food and tucked into the vast array of food Bill and Charlie had prepared. Tonks entertained them by morphing into the faces of the many teachers and students of Hogwarts, one of the faces she picked being Snape, followed by her standing up and strolling around the classroom with the same cold demeanour.
"What are you all laughing at? I will not permit happiness and joy in my classroom! A hundred and fifty points from you all!" She bellowed, causing the light giggling of Le Fey to burst into louder laughter of joy. Tonks turn her gaze to him,
"You, Mister Le Fey! Another hundred and fifty points for simply existing!"
"Don't give him ideas!" laughed Godwin.
"What about Harry Potter!" Shouted Penny, and Tonks' gaze sharped as she turned to look at her. Penny burst into giggles.
"What did you say!? Don't you dare mention that name in my presence!" She bellowed, stomping over to Penny then, "Well, there's no other call for it!"
Tonks began violently tickling Penny, who roared with laughter. They went on like this and when they had eaten all they could, they played many games such as exploding snap, gobblestones, and wizard chess. Then came time to open the presents.
Penny gave Tonks a cuddly werewolf teddy bear, and Tonks gave her potion supplies.
"Thanks Tonks, but some of these supplies are really rare. Where did you get them?"
"You don't want to know." Tonks said with a giggle. Penny smirked and rolled her eyes, giving Tonks a big hug.
Bill gave Charlie a handcrafted wooden statue of a dragon, while Charlie got him a book on curse breakers, and they shared a hug.
"Charlies' easy, he'll love anything to do with dragons." Bill said, smiling.
"And Bill loves anything to do with the curse breaker." Added Charlie with a chuckle.
Next came Rowan and Godwin. Rowan went first opening his present to find his books, and then Godwin went for his. Upon opening the gift, he froze — before him was a framed picture of his mother, his father, his brother and a much younger him all together, all of them within their castle.
"Where did you get this?" Godwin asked as he looked up at Rowan, mouth gaping wide open.
"It was in the Daily Prophet — I cut it out, but Bill made the frame."
Godwin smiled warmly. He'd been avoiding the Daily Prophet, not wanting to read the slander they had written about his brother, so this was a pleasant surprise. He gave Rowan a big hug.
"It's wonderful, thank you!''
They all shared one big hug and when the time came to leave they made sure the class was spotless. The next Morning it was Christmas, and Godwin had a sudden feeling of dread. It was the day he had to give Merula her present.
He went in search of her, and was unable to find her within the common room. He searched around Hogwarts until he found her within the courtyard. She was laying on her back against the fountain, looking into the sky, flicking her wand up to make snowflakes fall all around her. Her eyes were as red as ever with no life in them, though that quickly changed when Godwin walked into the courtyard. She saw him walk in with something behind his back, and her eyes narrowed as she sat up.
"Stop there, Le Fey! I don't know what it is you're planning, but you're not moving until you show me whatever it is you're hiding behind your back!"
Godwin's eyes rolled, but still, he couldn't really blame her. He likely would have had the same reaction if their roles were reversed. Slowly, he pulled the present out from behind his back.
"Present." He said, simply, hoping she would take him at his word.
"Very funny. Let me guess, I'll open it and it'll blow up in my face?"
Realizing she really had no reason to trust him, Godwin placed the present before her on the floor and took a few steps back with his hands in the air.
"Look, it's right there, I'm nowhere near it — just open it with a spell." Godwin said, tension gripping his heart. Please let this not be one long winded prank by Peeves!
"Ha, thought you could trick me? Never!" Merula said as she walked towards him until she was a meter away from the present. "Wingardium Leviosa!''
The present floated up into the air and began to unwarp itself, Merula's eyes working to scan for whatever trap or trick she had thought was in them.; Her mouth dropped open as her head tilted in a look of confusion — there was no trick or trap. Just a book and necklace. her lips stammer as she tries to think of what to say, but only one word comes to mind, muttering under her breath.
"...Why?"
Godwin's arms and legs shook as his cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. "Umm... look, Peeves told me that he saw you crying and that you had no family to give you presents this year. I thought that was sad, so I did what I could. Really, it's no big deal."
Godwin could swear he could feel his heart stop. He closed his eyes and waited for laughter, but there was none. When he opened his eyes, Merula was looking at him with that same look of embarrassment. Peeves had been telling the truth? That had to be a first.
". . . .Thanks" Merula said, finally breaking the silence as she brought the gifts toward her with a flick of her wand. "A song book? How did you know I wanted one?" She asked as she inspected the book and the necklace.
"Peeves again. He's a bit of an eavesdropper, apparently — the dragon pendant I found just in case the song book was some kind of joke." Godwin found it hard to believe Merula would love to sing, but apparently she does. There was another moment of awkward silence.
"...Well, I hope you weren't expecting anything from me, because I have nothing to give."
"No problem — there is something else, though. Err, Peeves agreed to help us district Finch when the time comes to try and get into the cursed vaults."
"That's good." Merula said as she started to nervously roll her wand in between her fingers. Godwin took in a huge sigh of relief, and then turned to leave.
"Le Fey, wait," Merula called out, suddenly. He turned back to glance towards her. "Merry Christmas…" She said, then returned to the fountain. Godwin flashed a smile and left to find his friends, proceeding to spend the rest of the day with them and later meeting Bill and Charlies' parents.
Meanwhile, Merula returned to the Slytherin common room and enjoyed her song book.