Chapter [XI] Feast of the Snowing
"Jamieson, Jamies, wake up," A pair of strong hand shook the boy awake. Looking around, Jamieson felt especially groggy that morning due to how late he slept last night. He'd been up helping far too many people around the castle. Part of him was happy that he had something to do, especially since all of his homework were finished before the holiday began, another part was disgusted that he volunteered to stay up till' 3AM helping Professor Finnigan...
Wait, what did he do?
He couldn't even remember. All he knew was he stayed up till 3 in the morning, helping the short professor with things. "It's too early," Jamieson groaned, laying back onto his bed. "Well that's a first," Graham lifted a brow, wanting to comment on how Jamieson is usually the first to wake up ridiculously early, ultimately deciding against it. "It's Christmas day," The older boy grinned, poking Jamieson in the hips many-a-times, sending the boy into a fit of giggles.
"Fine! I'm up," Jamieson squeaked, shoving the older boy's arm away as he sat upright, scowling exasperatedly at a stupidly-grinning senior. "You have presents," Graham exclaims, seeing the boy's scowl immediately soften into a curious smile, "I... I do?" Jamieson awkwardly asked, having a hard time thinking who in their right minds would send presents to him.
"Yeah, it's in the common room. Hurry up or I'm opening it," Graham teased, leaving Jamieson's dormitory. Standing up and stretching, Jamieson peered out the window next to his four-poster, noticing the snow had continued piling up, Grawp's hut in the distance now looked like a crater in the middle of a mountain.
With skipped— though careful— steps, Jamieson made his way down to the common room, seeing a Christmas tree next to the fireplace, he remembered no such thing when he entered last night. Or maybe it was already there and he didn't notice, due to how sleepy he was. Indeed, there were presents for him. Three boxes of it in fact, evident with the tiny 'To Jamieson,' ribbon tied on top.
Jamieson decided to unwrap the first box, which was from Frona. 'To Jamieson, how are you? Hope you haven't lost your senses at Hogwarts. Don't worry, it won't be too long till' Leonidas and I return to Hogwarts. Enjoy the sweater my mother made for you, hope it's not too big or too small. Also, I included a bunch of wizarding treats I think you'll like. Looking forward to seeing you guys again soon. Sincerely, Frona,' was written on the note, Jamieson grinning at how obviously Frona-like the note was, he ripped open the wrapping and pulled out a neat yellow and red sweater. Slipping it over his head, he was immediately pulled into a warm world of soft wool, the sweater just slightly bigger than him, which was perfect.
Jamieson sat on the couch for a few moment of silence— simply loving his new sweater— before reaching for Leonidas' present, which he excitedly unwraps and seeing a small note on the inside, 'Jamieson, I missed you! I can't wait to get back, I know for a fact that you've gone on adventures while me and Frona were away, can't wait to hear all about it. I got you a broom servicing kit! I mean, you're definitely entering Quidditch next year so it wouldn't hurt to prepare early. Anyways, see you soon!' Jamieson finished reading, excitedly unwrapping the present and finding a neat black velvet box. Opening it, Jamieson finds a complete kit of Broom Servicing kit, including Fleetwood's the 3rd's Upgraded High-Finish Handle Polish, a pair of silver Tail-Twig Clippers, a brass clip-on compass for long-distance flying navigation, and a Handbook of Do-It-Yourself, Professionally Broomcare.
"Thank you, you two," Jamieson whispered under his breath, lovingly holding his broom servicing kit and being embraced by the softness of the sweater, he proceeded to the third unwrapped box, wondering who it was from since it didn't have the same small ribbon saying who sent it. Jamieson lifted a brow, finding a single unused piece of tissue inside with a simple note scribbled underneath it, 'Meary Kristmes' It took him no longer than 2 minutes to figure out it was the Dursleys, remembering how horrendous his step-sister was at spelling, despite his step-parents claiming she was a star at school.
"Welp, at least they remembered that I existed," Jamieson shrugged, knowing full well he'd have to go back at the end of the year before beginning his 2nd year. The boy chucked the unused tissue to the pile of gift wrapping to the side, deciding to inspect his new broom servicing kit instead, until a fellow Gryffindor student waltzed into the room through the entrance facing the stairs, one other roommate of his who hadn't gone home for Christmas.
"Ooh, nice. You got a broom servicing kit?" Nurrizq Narama asked, donning his own oversized red sweater vest, something Jamieson had seen the boy wear everywhere he went. "Yeah," Jamieson smiles, setting it on the floor as his fellow roommate joined him on the couches. "I'm bored. A letter came in this morning from the Headmaster, he said we're not allowed to exit the common room until 1 hour before Christmas Feast," Complained the black haired boy, slouching deeper into the red couch.
"You're kidding," Jamieson groaned, getting up and sprinting towards the entrance to the common room. Try as he might, he couldn't push, pull nor slide the door, giving up once the portrait of the Fat Lady hissed in annoyance, "No leaving allowed! The headmaster's orders," She sternly yells, her voice somewhat muffled.
"Might as well give up, they're decorating the halls for the Christmas Surprise," Graham emerged from the same place Nurrizq came from earlier, his hair extremely messy as he yawned. Jamieson was quite amused at the sight, since Graham usually had his hair in a tamed state, it was nice seeing someone with hair similar to his.
Don't get him wrong, Jamieson had tried many times taming his hair, it didn't matter what gel or substance he used, he even tried Uncle Talbot's hair gel, which was insanely sticky, but no matter what he did his hair would just stick up in various places prompting him to eventually give up and let it be free.
"They do that every year. We're locked up in here, even the prefects, until the decorating's finished," He grumbled, sitting down on one of the study-area's chairs, drifting back to sleep with his head laid on the table.
"Well, that's it then. I'm gonna go back and nap till' we're allowed out," Nurrizq sighs, quickly standing up and shuffling his way back upstairs to their dorm, leaving Jamieson and Graham in the common room again. Pulling out a chair, Jamieson pulled out a chair, sitting across Graham. He began thinking of all the things he could do while cooped up in the tower, slowly slipping into a deep slumber instead of actually doing them.
"Mr. Potter-Diggory, Mr. Woods," Jamieson heard a soft, familiar voice call them out repeatedly, said voice seemingly excited as they poked both boys repeatedly. "Mmm..." Graham stirred, Jamieson quickly waking up, realizing it was Doozy the kitchen house-elf. "Doozy, hi..." Jamieson yawned, rubbing his sleepy eyes awake. "What is it?" Jamieson asked, his sleepiness still evident from his unsynced eye-blinking. "Doozy has been tasked to prepare breakfast for Mr. Potter-Diggory and Mr. Woods," The house elf grinned widely, her eyes big, watery and practically screaming excited.
"Oh," Jamieson hummed, waking Graham up as he racked his brain for breakfast idea. "Y'know what, surprise me," Jamieson grinned, immediately knowing he made the right choice upon seeing Doozy's eyes twinkle in excitement so much, people would think she'd gone insane.
"Same," Graham hummed, standing up and doing a little stretching routine as Doozy disappeared, Jamieson excited to learn they could teleport. Once again the two boys sat in silence, now both fully awake, neither knew what to talk about and settled with a comfortable quietness between them.
"Something on your mind?" Graham's voice snapped Jamieson out of his wandering trance, "Oh, huh? N-No. I was just day dreaming," Jamieson squeaked, realizing he had drifted off yet again. 'I have got to stop doing that,' The messy raven-haired boy thought realizing he had been drifting off a lot lately... Probably since he didn't have either Frona or Leonidas to occupy him.
"Wanna play chess?" Graham spurted out, which Jamieson nodded to, knowing he needed to do something else, otherwise he'd go nuts soon if he continued not doing something. Usually he'd just go wandering around the castle, discovering new nooks and crannies of the place, so you could only imagine how torturous it was for him to stay cooped in with absolutely nothing to do.
The older boy whipped his wand out, chanting "Accio chess set," with the proper wand movement. After a short while, a boxed chess set came flying towards them, with it going so fast Jamieson could hear it whizzing towards them. With a loud thud, Graham caught the box mid air with one hand, the younger boy wondered if it hurt, judging by how loud the thud was.
But then again, seeing how built and calloused Graham's hands were, he wasn't surprised if it didn't.
"I... have no idea how chess works," Jamieson admits, realizing he'd never even read about it before. He's seen it being played on TV, now regretting he didn't pay even the slightest bit of attention to it.
"Here, it has a list of all the ways the pieces can move," Graham began teaching the younger boy the basic rules of chess as he set up the pieces, the boy responding with excited nods, seeing how the chess pieces looked like miniature real people instead of simple constructs as he'd seen on muggle TV. "...and I get check mated if I can't move my king, which is this one. Everything good?" Graham finished explaining, Jamieson repeatedly nodding in excitement.
"Okay, good. Since I'm white, I'll be starting first. Pawn to D3," Graham instructed, Jamieson once again awed by how the chess piece moved on its own, hopping from its original grid to the grid Graham had called out. "Uh... Pawn to F6," Jamieson ordered out, still trying to figure out a strategy. It didn't take Graham long to beat the younger boy, humoured at how bad the boy was playing. "Checkmate," Graham grinned triumphantly, successfully forcing Jamieson's King piece into a corner with no possible moves. "You didn't have to eat all of my pieces, y'know," Jamieson pouted, excited to go another round.
"I think it'd be better if you watched me go against someone who could actually play," Graham lifted a brow, trying to think of who else in Gryffindor he could go up against, realizing everyone else who could actually play wasn't available. He'd call over Samuel, who had been the only one to beat him on numerous occasions if it weren't for the movement restriction they had at the moment.
Their moment of silence was quickly broken by Doozy, startling both boys as he apparated back into the room, carrying two large trays of food covered with cloches. "Eek," Jamieson adorably squeaks, Graham chuckling as he moved the chest board gently to the side, letting the house-elf set their trays on the table. Considering how big the trays were, Jamieson wondered how such a small creature could carry it with her twig-like hands.
"Here are your breakfasts, Mr. Potter-Diggory and Mr. Graham, cooked to your hearts' desires," She gleefully announced, lifting both cloches. Underneath Jamieson's was a warm bowl of mushroom soup, decorated elegantly and mixed in with chopped mushrooms, a bit of white meat and garnishing, the smell wafting into his nose and sending him to another plane. Served on top of Graham's tray, on the other hand, was an entire tray filled with different assortments of white and red meat, cooked, garnished and served beautifully, Jamieson almost didn't believe it was cooked by this tiny creature.
"Exactly what I wanted," Graham grinned, licking his lips as his eyes lay upon the beautifully cooked meats in front of him. "Here are yous' complimentary drinks," Doozy had magically whipped out two mugs of hot chocolate, serving it beside their food before bowing down. "Doozy will leave now and let Mr. Potter-Diggory and Mr. Woods enjoy their breakfast," The house elf elegantly bowed, disappearing with a small pop.
"That's all you're eating?" Graham wondered, glancing at Jamieson's beautiful mushroom soup. "Seeing how much is in this, I have a feeling I might not be able to finish it," Jamieson jokingly frowns, poking at his warm soup, both soon began to indulge in their food. "Mh," Graham let out a small moan of satisfaction, "Hogwarts food never fails to amaze me," He huffed out, digging into his food, tearing meat from bones quite quickly. 'Welp, I knew he couldn't be 100% perfect in every way,' Jamieson thought, chewing at the bits of chicken hidden in his soup, thinking how Graham looked like a savage as he ate.
"I am full," Jamieson huffed, letting out a small burp as he finished his soup. He was right, there was more than what the surface showed, the chunks of chicken and mushroom being more than fulfilling. A hot warm of cream of mushroom soup was exactly what he needed, along with hot chocolate, to get through the wintry weeks. If you were to tell Jamieson he'd be able to eat amazing food a few months ago, he'd think you were out of your bonkers. The boy grew up with eating scraps from the Dursleys, which meant coming to Hogwarts was a huge culinary turn-around for him.
The boys then set the food trays aside, resuming their chess games with occasional sips of hot chocolate accompanying them. "Checkmate," Graham proudly smirks, once again beating Jamieson. "One more," The boy responded, cogs in his mind turning and forming new strategies as the games continued, both boys oblivious to the jealous eyes who had began creeping on them near the stair entrances after their breakfast.
"How come he gets to hangout with Graham," An unfamiliar voice sneered, eyeing the boys from far. "You're asking me?" Another answered, both of them continuing to eye Jamieson with jealousy. Usually, they wouldn't dare do so, fearing the judgement of the students coming and going, but with so little staying behind in Hogwarts, the two had been jealously spying on Jamieson and Graham every chance they could, wondering why Graham, one of the most popular students in Hogwarts, was hanging out with the likes of Jamieson, while they've been trying to get the older boy's attention for years.
Minutes turned into hours as the games went on, with Graham being both impressed and anxious at how far Jamieson had come with only a few games. He noticed their games getting longer and far more challenging, with Jamieson coming close to actually beating him a few times, forcing him to not hold back. "Aaand... checkmate," Graham grinned yet again, beating Jamieson for the 12th time that day. "12 winds in a row, you gotta' step up little brother," Graham's grin was simply hiding his anxiety of almost having his win streak broken. Beating Jamieson for the 12th game that day meant his win streak had gone to 98 wins in a row, which he was sure the boy hadn't realized.
"Another game?" Graham lifted a brow, hoping he'd reach 100 with Jamieson that day, though part of him was starting to feel guilty of using even thinking of using the younger boy to reach 100 wins. "No, no more. I'm done being bullied," Jamieson pouted, crossing his arms, Graham sighing with a small smile as he packed up the chess set, "Vicis," He chanted which Jamieson assumed as the opposite of Accio, returning things to their original place.
Standing up, the boy stretched and yawned, looking around the room for a bit. "I'm gonna go up to my dorm and work out," He simply sighed, Jamieson nodded in response, watching him leave. Not knowing what else he could do, the boy departed for his dormitory hoping he'd be able to find something to do... "Okay, maybe not," Jamieson groaned, vigorously knocking on the door to his dormitory, stopping once he had gotten death glares from the paintings all around him.
"Great, now where do I go..." He wondered, leaning against the stairs for a few seconds before deciding he'd go bug Graham again, Jamieson made his way up the stairs carefully, waiting for the marble stairs to turn before he'd make his next move. "One sec," Jamieson hears the all-too-familiar voice yell from behind the wooden door he'd knocked once he finally reached the floor where Graham's dormitory is located.
"Jamies," Graham smiled, opening the door, Jamieson shocked at the boy being practically nude. "Something happened?" Graham asked, his smile slowly softening into a worried frown. "U-Uh... N-No," Jamieson stuttered awkwardly as he explained the situation, his embarrassment growing after Graham had let out a chuckle. "Sure. My doors are always open for you, and Samuel," Graham shrugged, stepping aside and letting the boy in before shutting the door again.
Jamieson scanned the room after stepping inside, he could easily figure out which bed belonged to Graham. "I'm guessing this is your bed," Jamieson gestured towards a four-poster, the bottom bunk being completely replaced by various work out equipment who'd seemingly been shrunk. "Spot on. Now if you don't mind me, I'll continue my routine," Graham smiled before continuing his seemingly altered version of push-ups.
"Can I ask something? Or, two things," Jamieson began, sitting down on a different— empty bed— the boy could tell Graham was the only one staying behind in his dormitory. "Blast off," Graham simply answered between huffs, counting his sets underneath his breath. "First off, how come you get a bunk-bed all for yourself? And second, why... do you work out? Why do wizards work out in general? I mean, there're literally potions to cure almost every disease here and spells to do all the heavy lifting," He spurted out, blabbering away his thoughts and wonders.
"200," Graham huffed, taking a quick break by resting on the floor cross legged. "Well, for the first one, the guy bunking underneath me got expelled, don't ask," Graham paused, seeing Jamieson's face turn into that of a horrified one— since he initially thought that wasn't a possible thing— He chuckled before continuing, "And second, it's a hobby thing. Plus, you can't always rely on magic. What if your wand snapped and you're broke? You wouldn't be able to do squat! Also, it's fun. You, twig arms—" Graham once again paused at the mock-offended face displayed by Jamieson, "—should try that out sometimes,"
"Thank you for your answers and I shall simply ignore that last sentence," Jamieson rolled his eyes, settling into a comfortable silence, the only noise coming from Graham's occasional grunts and rep-counting under his breath. The younger boy soon waltzed over to the window, realizing Graham's room was far higher up on the tower compared to his own, Jamieson enjoyed staring at the beautiful view.
For the first time in days, he could see the snowy scenery ever so clearly, the harsh winter winds had finally died down, revealing the familiarly beautiful snowy land, the whomping willow seemingly still instead of angrily shaking off snow from it's twigs, content with the snow piling up on it now. Grawp's hut still seemed the same to Jamieson, the familair hut surrounded by grass that seemed yellow-ish instead of green now, with Grawp himself emerging from the forest behind it.
"Tickle shark," He hears a low growl behind him, not realizing he had once again drifted off. Before the boy could react, he felt two strong hands grab his waist, hoisting him upwards and onto an empty bed. Before long, he was laying on top of a bed, being attacked with soft jabs from every direction in an endless fit of giggles. Graham mercilessly attacked him with tickles from every direction he could, humoured by the fact that Jamieson was ticklish in every typical spot.
"Please, please, stop," Jamieson begged, "No," The older boy firmly answered, only stopping when he got tired. By the time he stopped, Jamieson was a teary mess with Graham himself feeling as if he'd just done another rep of cardio. "I hate you for that," Jamieson hissed, actually sweating by how hard he was laughing and trying to fend the larger boy off.
"Go take a bath or something, you reek of sweat," Jamieson shoved the boy once he found the strength to sit upright, pretending to be disgusted at his touch. "Oh, my sweat reeks, does it?" Graham grinned mischievously, Jamieson immediately getting up and darting to one end of the room once he'd notice that all too familiar grin. The same grin Leonidas would have before committing what he'd call a crime against humanity.
"Do not come near me, you're literally soaked in sweat," Jamieson growled, realizing he had backed himself up to a corner of the room, with Graham creeping slowly like a predator nearing a prey. Jamieson didn't even want to ask how the boy was still sweating, considering how cold it was.
"Smell my sweat!" Graham howled with a loud laughter, tightly hugging the younger boy. "Noo!" Jamieson fake-cried, feeling his clothes somewhat soaked by the boy's post-workout bodily-fluid. In truth, it didn't smell bad at all, in fact, Jamieson had to admit he somewhat liked the smell in a way he didn't understand. He did enjoy running around the room like a little kid though, something he never got to experience with the Dursleys,
"Now you're Stinky Junior," Graham grinned with satisfaction, letting out a small laugh at Jamieson's fake gagging. "Fine, I'm gonna go take a bath for a bit. You can stay here if you want," Graham stated, putting on a random shirt and making his way towards the boy's bathroom at the lower part of the tower.
Jamieson decided to take a wander about in the room, closely inspecting the shrunk workout equipment, he wondered when he'd learn shrinking spells. By the time he had finished, looking at the adorably small equipment— which took quite some time, mind you, because of how many were there— Graham had returned to the dormitory, a heavy smell of fresh lavender following behind him.
"You're thinking of working out?" Graham smirks, wondering if he could be the big brother and trainer, since he'd successfully trained Samuel from twig-arm to decently built like him, falling in love in the process. "Well, maybe. Not now though," Jamieson shrugged, remembering he'd read somewhere before that working out far too early could stunt your height growth.
Graham climbed up to his bed, picking up a book to continue before doing so. His book reading was interrupted by a pair of very intensely staring eyes, finding Jamieson peering at him over the bed's ladders. "What?" Graham chuckled, wondering what the boy wanted.
"I want cuddles," Jamieson adorably says. It was right then that Graham was reminded the boy was still young young. "Sure," Graham grinned, scooting slightly to make room for the boy, who quickly climbed up and snaked his way into Graham's open arms, surprised by how soft his biceps were, he'd always thought build people would have a stone-like body.
Before Jamieson could ask what book the guy was reading, he found himself fast asleep.
Hearing soft snores coming from Jamieson, Graham let out a small smile of contempt. Though his eyes were still scanning every word on the book he'd picked up, his mind had wondered off. Initially thinking about the things he could do with a younger brother now, though not blood related, he soon moved over to thinking what Samuel was doing.
The aforementioned boy was nearly insane himself, having almost nothing to do down in the dingy dungeons, he began to regret not hanging with Graham and Jamieson before the movement control order was implemented. Don't get him wrong, he liked hanging out with his roommates as much as he liked hanging out with Jamieson, grateful to get like-minded roommates, but none of his other roommates had stayed behind. He couldn't bother to interact with the others who stayed behind, since most of them would try to gouge out anything they could about Graham, either for fanatics purposes or just ways to take him down. He knew he loved Graham too much to even think of sharing such things.
They'd been going strong for 4 years, he wasn't about to destroy that for some tea, as the muggles would say it. "Great. Reading it is, I guess," He huffed, picking up the same 3 books he had read far too many times.
Hours went by and soon, the sun was setting over the giant castle. Graham was pleasantly surprised at how still Jamieson was, budging only slightly with small twitches the entire time he'd been reading. "Jamies, wake up," Graham gently shook the boy, remembering about the dream the younger one had a few days ago, he didn't want him to wake up panicking.
"Mmm... What time is it?" Jamieson yawned, rubbing away the sleepiness through his eyes, he looked around quite confused for a few seconds. "C'mon, it's almost time for the feast," Graham smiled gently, gesturing towards the window, where the younger one saw the sun setting. "O-Oh. I'll go get ready... assuming that Nurrizq had finally woken up," He sighed, climbing off the bed, almost falling off due to how sleepy he was.
"Are you alright?" Graham asked, seeing the boy falter slightly as he made his way towards the door. "All good, see you in a bit," Jamieson smiled, waving at the older boy before leaving his room, giving himself a small slap on the cheeks before making his way back down to his dormitory, knocking vigorously once again.
"Did you not hear me knocking at all, earlier?" Jamieson asked, his voice slightly laced with irritation as Nurrizq stepped aside, letting him in. "I... I don't know... I didn't lock the door," The sleepy boy answered with a yawn, soon realizing the sun was setting. "Wait... I... I don't think I fell asleep," He began, though ignored by Jamieson, who quickly made his way to his bed.
"Still, you should hurry and freshen up. I think the feast is in another hour," Jamieson shrugged, making his way down towards the bathroom with a yawn. For the first time in his life, he was rushing his bath. Leonidas had teased him for how long his baths took before, but his excitement over finally leaving the tower was too much for him to to take a slow bath.
"You ready to leave?" Graham called out, knocking at Jamieson's dormitory door, startling the boy who was desperately trying to tame his hair for once. With an annoyed huff, he spun around, "Yeap. Nurrizq, let's go," He smiled, glancing over at his roommate. He didn't bother asking about George, knowing full well the boy had probably been in the Hufflepuff common room before the movement control order was enforced.
"I... You two go first, I'll be there in a bit. There's something I need to check," He answered, Jamieson nodding as a response before following Graham down the stairs, somewhat nervous. Why was he nervous? He wasn't sure either.
"Hey portrait lady, can we leave now?" Graham asked, gently tapping the back of the portrait, "Yes, one sec," The Fat Lady replied from within her portrait, taking a bit of time.
"Hold on to your thoughts and eyes, you're gonna love this," Graham grinned, remembering how awed he was every year. Though the decorations weren't all that different in general, there was always something new with the Christmas decoration. A short silence fell upon the duo until the portrait eventually opened, Jamieson's mouth immediately gaped at the sight in-front of him. "Put these on," Graham smiled, handing the younger, gaping-mouthed boy a pair of dark brown snow boots, slipping on his own.
Jamieson averted his eyes towards his boots for a bit, realizing it was a bit too big for him. "Ah, sorry. These are my backup boots," Graham chuckled, whipping his wand out afterwards and chanting 'Reducio' and shrinking the boots just enough for Jamieson to wear it comfortably.
"Lets go," Graham smiled, part of him excited to show Jamieson how beautifully the school had decorated the halls, another part excited to see Samuel after a whole day cooped inside. Jamieson walked behind the older boy slowly, taking in the beautiful view.
Instead of the long dingy walls he'd usually see, every corner of the corridors was lit up by various glowing decorations, from glowing candy canes to wooden houses seemingly embedded into the wall, to random pine and decorated fir trees here and there. Moreover, there were glowing clouds on top, raining magical snow which seemingly disappearing into the snowy ground. What intrigued Jamieson the most was how beautiful the snowy ground was, looking as if the snow itself was made of trillions of beautiful small crystals. As they walked down towards the Great Hall, Jamieson spotted a few animals which looked like they were made out magical gas, disappearing into the school walls once they were spotted, creating a bell-jingle sound with each movement, he didn't think the school could scream Christmas any louder until they finally reached the Great Hall.
They had to walk through thick fir trees to enter, though as soon as they did, a loud voice announced their arrival. "Announcing the arrival of Mr. Potter-Diggory and Mr. Woods," Professor Dolevia's voice rang through the hall, presumably though magic which was evident with her pointer her wand at her neck. Jamieson looked around, seeing a Fir trees decorated as Christmas trees lining the walls, the usual floating candles now replaced by glowing snowflakes.
"Graham!" A loud voice cried out.
Jamieson had to step to back a bit, worried he'd be tackled by Samuel, who had ran at full speed towards them, immediately leaping into the boy's arm, both of them sharing a kiss. "Ah yes, the traditional Mistletoe tradition," Professor Dolevia announced, Jamieson awkwardly stepping away once realizing they were literally underneath a giant mistletoe.
He continued on, making his way down the rows of tables, seeing how it was either wrapped or transfigured into a lime, red and white pattern instead of the usual wooden ones, Jamieson figured it was the latter. He knew though there weren't many who'd be present, obvious at the number of plates laid out on the tables.
Even the professors and staffs looked like they popped out of a Christmas commercial. Grawp donning a dark green coat over a white shirt, Professor Sprout literally wearing a Christmas tree as a hat, Ajax himself wearing a green, white and red-striped sweatshirt.
Speaking of Ajax, the young professor immediately waved with excitement upon spotting Jamieson, who waved back with a smile. With a small chuckle, Jamieson sat down on where he'd usually sit, he soon found himself reading a miniature version of the Charms text book, realizing there was a long wait for the other students.
"You're seriously reading a text book now?" Ajax teased, nearing the boy and startling him. A bit annoyed at how many times he'd been startled that week, the boy growled out, "I didn't really bring any other books to read," He shrugged.
"Whad'ya think of the school deco?" Ajax grinned stupidly as Jamieson set his book down on the table. "Did you guys really set this up in one day? It's amazing," Jamieson breathed out, once again scanning the beautifully decorated Great Hall. He thought Hallowe'en was a step-up, he was wrong.
"Yeap. A bit of charm works, transfiguring, potions and herbs here and there and a bit of spell-o-tape," Ajax explained, adding on how everything was set to magically disappearing two hours before the first few students return, making clean-up basically effortless. Ajax hung around for a bit, asking about Jamieson's days and life so far in Hogwarts until the rest of the students came in, Samuel and Graham soon coming over to sit next to the younger boy, who was once again somewhat annoyed at his reading session being disturbed.
"Good Evening students, welcome to this years' Christmas Feast. Apologies for having everyone cooped up in their dormitories for the day, but we assure you it was worth it. I hope everyone's been enjoying their Christmas so far with your presents, Hogwarts' gift to the students this year will be the amazing feast we've prepared. As we all know, the term will begin soon, along with the return of the rest of the student bodies, I hope everyone's prepared for the upcoming term. Enough said, please, enjoy the feast!" Professor McDuffel announced. As soon as he finished, a huge variety of food appeared in-front of them. If Jamieson thought the Hallowe'en Feast was diverse, he was once again wrong.
Food of all kind ranging from soups to meat, pastas and so much more. Even the sweets looked inviting. "Welp, at least I worked out earlier," He hears Graham breath out before the boy stood up to grab a huge assortment of food. Soon, even though there weren't many in the hall, loud chatters and laughter filled it just as it would on any other feasts, Jamieson almost forgot about the absence of the other students.
It took at least an hour and a half for the first few students to stand up, their stomachs looking bloated. "I'm done," Samuel cried out, letting out a rather loud burp, earning a gentle shove from his boyfriend, "Rude," Graham laughed out, stifling a burp. "Same here," Jamieson huffs, finally downing the last tart he'd mistakenly pick up and ending up with more food he should take. Jamieson was tired from eating, something he never thought he'd experience.
"Right. Let's go before we end up exploding," Graham chuckles, struggling to stand up himself. With a big smile, Jamieson waved at Ajax, who had returned to the teacher's table, receiving a big wave before he left. It took quite some time for them to reach Gryffindor Tower due to how tired the trio felt after eating so much.
"Oh, Grahan," Jamieson suddenly remembered as he stepped foot into his dormitory, he crouched down to untie his boots. "Hey, no need. Consider it my Christmas gift," Graham smiled warmly, patting the boy's soft hair gently.
"Wait, you didn't tell me we were getting gifts!" Samuel scowled at his partner, gently hitting his arm. "I uh, I'm sorry. I didn't prepare anything," The older boy squeaked with embarrassment, receiving a hug from Jamieson instead, "As long as you're here," Jamieson innocently grinned up at his other older brother, seemingly tugging a string in Samuel's heart, who almost let out an 'aww'.
"G'night you two," Jamieson smiles, waving at the two, who waved back before moving upstairs. Thinking the day had ended perfectly, Jamieson changed into his pajamas and slipped into his bed, feeling like his life couldn't get any better.
Slowly, Jamieson slipped back into the beautiful world of dreams...
For about an hour.
"Jamieson, Jamieson. Wake up," Jamieson jolted awake, blinking a few times, he realized it was Nurrizq who had woken him up while looking rather panicky. "E-Earlier, I didn't fall asleep. I remember what happened," The boy panicked, inciting anxiety in the boy.
"W-What...?" He gasped, his sleepy brain struggling to digest the information that had just been dumped on him.
A/N: I've adjusted the general timeline of the fic, evident in the earlier chapters so that it'd make sense, continuity-speaking. Also, thank you for the reads, it really does fuel me to continue.