Wednesday – BOXING DAY

The effects of yesterday's excess were being felt by most of the Gryffindors, and so nothing more than laying about was really being done in the common room that morning. The exceptions were Lavender Brown, who was surreptitiously dieting and hadn't eaten much, and Fred and George Weasley, who were looking shifty in a corner.

Ron was beginning to feel uncomfortable with the way his brothers kept glancing his way, and turned his chair slightly so that he didn't have to look at them. 'What's up with them?' he grumbled to Harry. 'You'd think they wouldn't have the energy to even stand up, with the amount of food they consumed between them.'

'Well, they aren't exactly exerting themselves,' said Hermione.

'Yeah, and you managed to find the energy to beat at least seven people at chess this morning,' Harry pointed out. Just then, the conversation was interrupted by a crash outside the portrait hole.

Several Gryffindors, including Harry, piled out to have a look. Harry was surprised to see the dark-haired girl from yesterday, standing amidst the wreckage of a green-and-gold vase that had until a minute ago stood on a plinth nearby.

'Hello,' he said, trying to hold back a smile. 'Did you run into it?'

She stared at him for a moment, obviously trying to place him. Then her expression softened and she gave a sheepish smile. 'Well… yes.'

Harry grinned. 'It's probably OK,' he said thoughtfully, and produced his wand. 'Reparo!' The pieces of the vase sprang back together.

'Oh, thanks, that's the third time I've broken one of those vases this term… my name's Andromeda Green, by the way. I do run into things rather a lot.'

'I'm-'

'Oh, I know who you are,' said Andromeda. Then she looked embarrassed. 'Sorry – it must get really annoying, people saying that.'

'Not too bad,' lied Harry.

'Listen, you don't have the History of Magic assignment for the holidays, do you? There are no Slytherins from my class here, and I've left it somewhere as usual… I know your class gets the same work as us, Binns was going on about how behind we were.'

Harry assured her he would fetch the assignment, and headed back into the common room to get it. On entering he saw Fred and George, wands drawn, levitating a piece of enchanted mistletoe slowly towards the area just above where Ron and Hermione were sitting. He shook his head and dashed up the stairs into his dormitory, where his homework was in a large pile under his bed.

As he walked back down the stairs he could hear a chant of 'Kiss! Kiss!' led by the twins, and Ron and Hermione were both very red-faced and annoyed-looking beneath the mistletoe sprig. Harry resisted the temptation to join in and left the common room rather reluctantly.

'You have to kiss, it's the rules,' said George impatiently to Ron and Hermione.

'Yeah, it's bad luck if you don't,' added Fred.

'You've just made that up,' Ron accused.

'OK, but you still have to! Come on, Ron, just get it over with…'

The chant got louder again and Ron, almost purple in the face and unable to bear the embarrassment any longer, leant forward and pecked Hermione very quickly on the cheek. Her face glowed as deeply as his. The Gryffindors cheered and a moment later were back to their business.

Harry handed the piece of parchment to Andromeda, then hesitated. 'Do you mind if I work with you?' he asked, before he had time to reconsider.

She looked slightly puzzled, but said, 'OK.' Working on Boxing Day? Harry thought to himself. What would Ron say? Oh well, Hermione would approve. And they headed for the library together.

Ron, horribly embarrassed by the mistletoe event, had retreated to a corner of the room where the silence wasn't as uncomfortable as it had been between him and Hermione. Unfortunately, Fred and George seemed to see his solitude as an invitation to join him.

'So, ickle Ronniekins, what was that all about then?'

'What?'

'That under the mistletoe!'

'Oh, that. That was about you two humiliating me in front of everyone, including…'

'Hermione?'

'No! Why would that… I mean… You embarrassed her too.'

'I wonder why?' said Fred, looking curiously at George.

'Maybe…'

'…it's because…'

'…those two…'

'Look,' said Ron, annoyed, 'I don't know what you're implying but it's getting on my nerves.'

'Yeah, you don't,' said Fred sceptically.

'I don't. And stop with the Twinspeak.'

'Twinspeak? Don't…'

'…know what…'

'…you're talking…'

'…about.'

'Seriously, Ron, haven't you noticed?'

'Noticed what?'

'You… and… her!' said George, as though he was talking to someone very stupid.

'Me and Hermione?'

'No, you and Professor McGonagall,' said Fred, then winced. 'No, I shouldn't even have joked about that one.'

'No, you shouldn't,' George agreed. 'Ron, honestly! Why else would you have been so embarrassed about having to kiss her?'

Ron was dumbstruck. 'Hermione? Hermione Granger? Me and her? That's… that's ridiculous! She's just Hermione! You are SO WRONG.' And he turned around to storm off – only to find himself staring at Hermione, who was standing as though frozen just a few feet away.

Time had passed quickly for Harry. He had found that Andromeda, despite being clumsier than Neville and about as forgetful, also had a wicked sense of humour and was very intelligent… as well as having bright, sparkly blue eyes. It was a shame she was a Slytherin, he thought.

'Better get back to the common room,' she said with a sigh after they had finished the History of Magic homework. 'Great…'

'Not great?' Harry said.

'Not great. Half the Slytherins' families are Death Eaters, so most of them have gone safely home, leaving a few of us to rattle around over Christmas. It's better than when they are here, I suppose. At least there's no Draco Malfoy behaving like a prat…' She caught the expression on his face at the mention of Malfoy's name. 'Do you know him?'

'You could say that,' Harry said diplomatically. Then he abandoned all pretence. 'So he acts like that to Slytherins as well, then?'

'Oh, yes, especially ones like me that aren't purebloods. He's such a… well, you know.'

Harry nodded and grinned. 'Oh well, you can always come and visit me in the Gryffindor room.' Oh no, he thought, I shouldn't have said that. What am I doing?

But Andromeda was smiling back. 'That would be nice,' she said. 'Oh! Damn! I still haven't started my Potions essay, I promised myself I'd have that finished by Christmas Day…' And she was off again, before Harry could say goodbye.