Chapter 10: Christmas Holidays Begin

Chapter 10: Christmas Holidays Begin

"And that was my first Christmas at Hogwarts," Connerly grinned at the laughing class, "Looks like we have a while before class is over. Just talk among yourselves."

"Tell another story!" someone called out.

"You guys have storied me all out!" she cried, getting off her desk with a jingle. Of course, that was probably because she had a string of bells on each wrist.

Harry had never seen a teacher decorate for Christmas in such a manner. Holly was strung all around the room and in one corner she had her own Christmas tree that sang 'Deck the Halls' if you got near it. Then there was Professor Connerly herself. Her robes were bright red and green and she wore a matching hat. Around the brim was a wreath of mistletoe, "Just in case," as she said. Ron and Hermione seemed to have faded off into their own little world, so Harry chatted away happily with Azar.

"We do the same thing for Christmas every year," Azar was saying, "After my little sister 'oh' s and 'ah' s about what Father Christmas gave her, we head over to my grandmother's house where I get to spend the day watching my snooty cousins gloat over what they got."

"Wish I had that. I'm just going to stay here at Hogwarts for Christmas. Ron and his family are going to visit his brother Charlie in Romania and Hermione and her parents are going on a cruise."

"You're not going to spend Christmas alone, are you?"

"Basically."

"Oh," Azar said, thinking something over, "Hey, Harry. After dinner tonight, meet me in the Entrance Hall, 'kay? I want to give you your gift today so I can see your reaction."

"Okay," Harry smiled, "I'll bring your gift, too."

The bell rang and they all started for the door. When Hermione went through, Ron gave her a peck on the cheek.

"What was that for?" Hermione said, blushing.

Ron pointed up at the doorway, smiling. "Mistletoe."

Harry stayed to the edge of the door as best he could to avoid it.

"A-hem," came a giggly voice behind him.

Harry turned around and saw Paravati standing right in the middle of the doorway, grinning at him. With a sigh, he followed Ron, Hermione, and Azar.

"Why didn't you give her a kiss, Harry legs?" Azar cooed.

"Ah, shut up."

"Ooh, strong words from the little Seeker."

"Shouldn't you be going to Divination?"

"I don't know. Haven't checked my crystal ball yet. But according to Trelawney's tarot card reading, you'd better watch your back, Harry."

"Don't tell me she predicts my death in your class, too."

"Okay, I won't. See you after dinner!"

"Harry," Ron said as they headed for Charms, "what exactly is between you and Azar?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on, Harry!" Hermione laughed, "You can't say you're just friends."

"You-you really think we're something more?" Harry asked, a trace of hopefulness in his tone.

"If you're not, you should be."

Despite his attempts to hold it back, Harry smiled.

****

"Hey, Harry!" Azar called, rushing down the stairs, "Sorry if I kept you waiting."

"No, I wasn't waiting long."

"Wanna go outside?"

"Outside? There's a foot of snow on the ground!"

"Oh, it's not that cold. And besides, there're benches out there."

Azar eventually convinced Harry to go outside and they found a stone bench not covered in snow.

"Here," Harry said, handing her a fairly large present, "It may make your Christmas a little more entertaining."

Azar ripped off the paper and pulled out a leather briefcase.

" 'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes' Little Kit of Mayhem'," she read off the top.

"Compliments of Messrs. Fred and George Weasley," Harry added, grinning.

Azar laughed, opening it. Inside were small compartments containing sweets, vials, and gadgets of every shape and size.

" 'Ton-Tongue Toffee- a great way to silence any chatterbox'," she said, reading some of the labels, " 'Sparkling Salamander- why use a normal firecracker when you can have one that rains salamanders?' And a Characteristic Contorting Concoction! Ha! Harry this is wonderful! You know me too well."

Closing the case, she pulled a small package from inside her cloak.

"Hope you like it," she smiled, handing it to Harry.

"To Harry legs; From Zarina," he laughed, reading the tag.

Harry pulled off layer upon layer of paper, finally spotting a glint of gold. Glancing at Azar, he pulled off the last sheet.

"Oh wow," he breathed.

He found himself holding a small figurine of a golden lion.

"Hold your hand flat," Azar said, shifting over and taking the lion out of his hand.

She gave the end of its tail a twist and put it back on his hand. It began pacing around his hand, turned a circle, and then sat down, licking its paw.

"Oh wow!" Harry repeated, unable to take his eyes off it, "Where'd you get it?"

"I made it," she smiled.

"You made it?" Harry asked, staring, "It's amazing, Azar."

"All you need to do is twist its tail to make it come alive or be a normal sculpture."

"I don't know what to say… It's…wow."

Azar laughed, blushing slightly. They looked at each other, a slight breeze the only sound. Azar closed her eyes and leaned forward expectantly. Harry gave a little gulp.

"Brr, it is cold out here," he said, turning away nervously, "Set to go inside?"

"Oh…okay," Azar answered, opening her eyes, a little embarrassed.

They picked up their gifts and trudged back to the castle. In silence, they walked through the corridors toward their towers. Harry wanted to say something, but the words just wouldn't come.

"Well, this is where our paths split," Azar said as they came to a fork in the halls, "See you after Christmas, Harry."

"Bye, Azar."

Harry made the rest of the trip to the Gryffindor tower alone, just thinking. When he entered the common room, he didn't stop, but headed straight for his dormitory. He flopped down on his bed, holding his head with both hands as he muttered to himself.

"And I wonder why I don't have a girlfriend."

****

Harry sat a little uncomfortably on one of the common room chairs, waiting for Katie Bell. He had attempted a number of times to find out why Alicia was quitting the team, but each time she just ran off. As a last resort, he was hoping Katie knew. All he wanted to do was find out before everyone left the next day. He kept his eyes locked on the common room entrance, just waiting for any movement.

"Katie!" he called when she finally entered, "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure, Harry."

She hurried over to him, smiling brightly. "What can I do for ya?"

He took a deep breath. "Do you know why Alicia quit the team?"

"Oh." The smile melted from her face. "Yes, I do."

"Do you think…you could tell me?"

"Well…I'm pretty sure it will be fine. I'm not the only one who knows it and I'm sure Alicia would like you to know. Her…her sister was killed."

"Her sister was killed?"

"Yes, and her brother-in-law and niece. By You-Know-Who. She's been trying to play quidditch, but just can't seem to keep her mind on it. She might come back…later. When she can keep herself together."

"Oh." Harry felt a little stunned. "Th-thank you, Katie."

Katie walked back to where her friends were sitting. Harry just stared off into space. Silently, he made a vow to himself.

"Whatever it takes, even if it's the last thing I do, I will stop Voldemort."

****

"Make sure and send me an owl, because I'm pretty sure there won't be any on the ship."

"I will."

"I've already put your gift in the Distributor, so if it's not there in the morning, don't blame me. And I'll try to send you a dragon fossil, if Charlie will let me sneak one."

"And I'll make sure to send an owl telling you the wonderful havoc I was able to wreak!"

"Okay," Harry answered, smiling.

"Oh, Harry, I feel so awful for leaving you like this."

"Don't worry about me, Hermione. Just enjoy your holiday. You guys better hurry or you'll miss the carriages."

Ron, Hermione, and Azar hurried off to a carriage and then all popped their heads out the windows, waving good-bye to Harry. He waved back until they were out of sight and then, with a sigh, headed back into the castle.

"Poor Potter. Missing your friends already?" came a sneering voice from nowhere.

"Yeah, well at least I have friends to miss, Malfoy."

There was no answer for quite a while. Then Harry heard something he could have sworn was a sob, followed by Draco's footsteps running down the hall. Harry stood stunned for a moment. The reaction surprised him. Normally when he said anything remotely offensive to him, Draco would just give a jeering comeback, but this…

Harry went to his tower to grab the gifts he needed to put in the Distributor. 'The Distributor' was only what the students called it, but it was a fitting nickname. Every Christmas, the students would put their outgoing gifts down the chute that went to who-knows-where and then on Christmas Day, the presents would be by the receiver's bed. Harry had always wondered how, but wasn't brave enough to go down the chute. Fred and George had tried once or twice and had just gotten stuck in the opening.

He looked around the empty common room and gave another sigh. He was the only Gryffindor staying for Christmas. Despite his attempts at optimism, Harry knew it was going to be awfully lonely. 'Maybe I'll go visit Myrtle,' he thought, then quickly shook his head, 'No, that'd just be more depressing.' Sighing again, he went up to his dormitory and grabbed the gifts. He decided to go to the Distributor and after that, just wing it.

****

Harry lied on his bed, thinking. He had been looking at his photo album, wondering about how his parents' lives had been. He knew they had been Head Boy and Girl and that his dad had been Chaser for the Gryffindor quidditch team, but past that…nothing. He knew it was late, midnight at least, but didn't really care. After all, he had nothing to do the next day. He didn't need sleep.

He was so deep in his thoughts that Harry didn't even notice the dormitory door squeak open. Nor did he hear the soft footsteps approaching his bed. Harry had just applied himself to getting some sleep, when the curtains of his bed were flung open and there floated the head of Draco Malfoy.

"Aaaaaahhhhhh!!!"

"Oh, shut up, Potter," Draco scorned, pulling the rest of his cloak off.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?"

"Getting you."

"Huh?"

"Dumbledore just told me to come here and get you. That's all I know. He said to grab your wand and 'the cloak' and come to his office."

Holding back his many questions, Harry opened his trunk and grabbed his wand and invisibility cloak.

"You have one, too?" Draco asked, a little surprised, "So that's why I saw your head in Hogsmeade in our third year."

"You didn't figure that out already? Boy, you're slow."

"Let's just go."

As they rushed into the common room, Harry just had to ask another question.

"Are you sure you don't have any idea what this is about?"

"Yes, I'm sure. But by the way Dumbledore was acting, it's not good news."

~*~*~

A/N: Tee-hee! Well, I hope you enjoyed it. And that you'll be wondering about Dumbledore's bad news…

Ah, Harry came this close *indicates millimeter* to kissing Azar. Apparently Azar thought he was going to. ^-^ Oh well, that's amore.

Thank you all for the reviews!!!

Sweets: lol Thanks. And I'm not saying ANYTHING about Sirius!

Jona: *sigh* I dunno. I guess Seekers of a feather flock together. *rolls eyes at self* Thanks, Jo!

Abbey: *grins* Yeppers!

Franny: And now I've put up 10! ^-^ Thanks, Franny!

Kelly: You think Ron and Hermione are lovey-dovey? Hehe…there's more to come. ^-^

Allison: I was planning on leaving that as a cliffy for a long time, but changed my mind. ^-^ 'seamless, perfect'? Wow, thanks!

Lucky Woods: Thanks!

Lady Grizabella: *tries to hold back laughter* Yep, hairy legs. ^-^ Thanks, I was hoping the game would come out well. "yum!"? ::rolls eyes:: Ah well, ya think what ya think.

Princess: Thanks! All I wanted to do was have Alicia break her arm in some way and…TA DA! *cough* Yeah, thanks again!

Well, thank you all! I love my reviewers!!!

Be excellent to each other!

-Ady