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Anna had been puzzling over the spell the Grey Lady had given her for several weeks now.
She had tried it, waving her wand in the air, when no one else was in the dormitory. She had checked out various spell books from the library, searching hour after hour for the words, but with no luck.
The other girls had noticed Anna seemed more withdrawn as of late. They had asked her if she was still upset about the fight, but she assured them, time and time again, that she was not. Padma figured she was just studying harder than usual now that they had reached their second term, but Lisa and Ophelia doubted that, as she still didn't seem to have enough time to work on Potions seriously. If anything, Anna was paying less and less attention in that class, and her grade was suffering. She was certain Snape had given her an unsatisfactory mark for the first time the other day. When he stopped by Anna and Susan's cauldron, a cold smirk grew on his face, and he wrote the figure in the grade book with relish. Mandy and Ophelia exchanged worried glances, and made themselves mental reminders to ask her about it later.
Anna, in her frustration over not being able to solve her little mystery, could have cared less about Potions. She didn't want to ask for help, though she had considered enlisting the girls, and in a moment of desperation, even thought about asking Professor Flitwick. But something in her head kept telling her that this was a personal matter, not one that she wanted to share with anyone else. So instead, she had begun to point at various inanimate objects while muttering the words under her breath, in hopes that something would happen. But it never did. She did manage to attract the attentions of Pansy Parkinson, who happened to be walking by at the moment Anna was whispering to a tapestry in the third floor corridor.
"You're mental," squealed Pansy, wrinkling her snout-like nose up even further. "You'll be admitted to St. Mungo's, that is, if they don't break your wand and expel you first for falling asleep in class."
Anna began to open her mouth to fire back a witty retort, but at that moment, Professor Flitwick rounded the corner. Pansy gave Anna one of her superior looks, turned on her heel, and headed off toward class. Anna glared at her back. Pansy had laid off the Ravenclaw girls for awhile, but ever since Anna's potions grade had begun to fall, she had returned to her old favorite past-time with a vengeance.
However, it was hard to be in a foul mood with the castle looking so festive. As Christmas steadily approached, twelve magnificent trees appeared in the Great Hall, each decorated magically. Around the rest of the castle, boughs of holly mysteriously appeared overnight, and (much to Anna's amusement) sprigs of mistletoe. The teachers were beginning to get into the holiday spirit, and Professor Flitwick abandoned his lesson plans for the last week when Mandy inquired about the charm he had used to create the lovely golden bubbles on the Christmas trees. They spent the rest of the class making their own glowing ornaments. Lisa draped a shimmering gold circle over Anna's head, giggling, and Padma was busy decorating the tips of Ophelia's fingers with icicles. Everyone had a wonderful time, and the Ravenclaw's were rather reluctant to leave class that afternoon. Snape's lesson the following day was normal - the potions master was dour as usual, and seemed to snap at the students even more. But perhaps that was only in comparison to their other teachers - even McGonagall had managed a smile, and wished them all a Merry Christmas. Lisa poked Anna in the small of her back while Snape wasn't looking, and passed up a note. Anna unfurled it under the table, and had to shove her fit in her mouth to keep from laughing aloud. Lisa had quoted one of the many muggle books that Anna had loved at Miss Marple's.
"The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season!
Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason.
It could be that his head wasn't screwed on quite right.
It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight."
When she was finally able to keep a straight face, she glanced back, and grinned at Lisa. Susan peeked under the table to see what was so funny, but when she read Lisa's note she looked very puzzled. Apparently she had never been read Dr. Seuss as a child. But soon enough, class was out, and the girls practically ran from the freezing cold dungeon, settling in front of the fire in the common room. Lisa rubbed her hands together, and turned to Anna. "Like my poem?" she asked, keeping a straight face. Anna laughed once more, and the others just stared. Some things, she thought, just can't be explained.
The girl's took full advantage of the long weekend to relax. All of the five were to be staying at Hogwarts for Christmas (though Padma's parents, along with Ophelia, had taken a lot of pleading to convince). "Think of all the homework you'll be able to do!" Mandy had said to Ophelia, a large grin on her face. Tuesday night they stayed up late, talking by the fire. Padma had managed to smuggle up some hot cocoa from dinner, and they sat around drinking it from it's flask until their yawns wouldn't stop. Anna was the first to retire to the dorm. She pulled her velvety blue covers over her head, and fell fast asleep.
She awoke the following morning to a whoop of excitement coming from the direction of Mandy's bed, and the sound of frantic scurrying about the room. A beam of light momentarily blinded her as she blinked away sleep, wondering what Mandy was on about. She sat up, rubbing her eyes. Mandy was standing there, one hand holding back Anna's curtains, the other planted firmly on her hip.
"It's about time. Honestly, you four, sleeping in on Christmas morning!"
It was Christmas. The fact struck Anna suddenly. She hadn't had a proper Christmas since the ones at Miss Marple's, but today she would have a feast, and gifts. four were guaranteed, plus one if Witt had remembered. Anna hopped out of bed. The other girls were already sitting on the floor, unwrapping their gifts.
"Oh! Thanks Padma. I was almost out."
"Lisa, this will be great."
"I've wanted one of these forever, thanks Mandy!"
"Wonderful - Sugar Quills!"
Then came the presents from home. Anna was quite surprised to see several parcels wrapped in plain brown paper, and tied up with string. A note was pinned to one, and Anna recognized Witt's neat handwriting.
Thought I'd send you a little something with Darius - I'm sure he'll be happy to stretch his wings. Love, Witt
Anna grinned, carefully unwrapping the smallest box first. She was surprised at it's weight. Underneath the brown paper, the box was neatly stamped with 'Arpeggio & Fortissimo ~ Mystical Music Shoppe since 1311'. Anna was quite intrigued - she played no musical instruments, so what could this be? Carefully, she slid off the lid.
Inside was a beautiful wooden box, small, with a hinged lid and an intricately carved design on top. She gently lifted the lid, and strains of a melody came that brought tears to her eyes - it was the same melody that her mother sang in her dream.
Mandy looked up. "What did you get, Anna?" she asked. Anna held up the box, momentarily unable to speak.
Ophelia closed her eyes and listened. "I love this aria," she whispered.
Anna turned her head sharply. "You know the tune?"
Ophelia nodded, smiling, her eyes still closed. "Of course I know it. It's the most beautiful song from the most famous wizarding opera ever written - Merlinus by Andante Largo. It's the song that the Lady of the Lake sings to Merlin in the third act." Her eyes opened. "Oh, you do need to see it, it's simply wonderful. but if it's not playing, you can usually hear it on Wizarding Wireless - they play the classics on Sunday afternoons."
Padma nodded, looking up from her new set of potions bottles, all various size, colors and shapes. "I think I've heard it before."
Anna smiled, closing the box. Her mother's song had a name.
"Aren't you going to open the others as well?" inquired Lisa, who was carefully examining the new camera her father had sent her.
Anna set the box down gently, and started to unwrap the larger box. Her fingers dug through the tissue paper inside, and pulled out.
"Oh, Anna," breathed Lisa, "it's lovely."
It was a nightgown, a beautiful, long white one, with lace at the collar and wrists. A pink satin ribbon tied in a pink bow around the neck. Anna grinned, holding it up to her body, and twirling around.
"I'm going to wear it all day!"
"But Anna," said Lisa skeptically, "what about the feast?"
"Oh. right."
Mandy plopped down next to Lisa. "You know, you can send away for chemicals to make the pictures you take move. I've done it before. Instead of adding the fix, like the Muggles do, you add this stuff called 'magical mover'."
Ophelia meanwhile held up the bowed set of books she had received from home. "It's the newest series by Cordelia Wexler. you know, the author who wrote Lydia Trendille? You can borrow it when I'm finished if you'd like, Anna."
The girls spent the rest of the morning Oohing and Ahhing over their presents. It was Lisa who finally let out a little shout of excitement, glancing down at her brand-new wristwatch.
"Oh! The feast's in ten minutes - we'd better get down there!"
There was a scurry to get dressed. When everyone was almost ready (Padma was still braiding her hair as they walked out the door), they left for the Great Hall.
The feast was fantastic, a meal Anna would have never dreamed she would have been having this time last year. This thought brought a guilty jolt to her stomach, as she sat there, laughing and eating with her four best friends. What was Linnea doing this Christmas? Anna had forgotten to send her even a card. She glanced up at Lisa, who looked so much like her old friend, yet different somehow. Lisa didn't notice Anna looking at her rather sadly, as she was preoccupied with serving herself a large slab of roast turkey. Anna was jolted from her thoughts by Padma, who was sitting to her right.
"Pass me the cranberry sauce, would you Anna? Thanks."
Anna shook her head, trying to snap herself out of it. Feeling gloomy at Christmas would do Linnea no good, wherever she was. Anna coated her potatoes with a thick layer of dressing, and began to eat.
Between dinner and desert (Flaming Christmas pudding), the Ravenclaw girls turned their attention to the large pile of wizarding crackers in front of them. Mandy offered Anna the end of one, and laughed heartily when Anna nearly fell off her seat in surprise at the noise it made, along with the cloud of bright yellow smoke that engulfed them all. Out of the cracker came all sorts of wonderful treats that could have only fit inside by magic. Anna collected a tiara, a pack of non-explodable balloons, two decks of exploding snap cards, and several different kinds of wizard candy, from Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans to Chocolate Frogs.
When the feast was over, the girls lugged their hoard up to the Common Room, which was a happy buzz of activity. Penelope showed them the new charm she had received for her bracelet, a tiny silver eagle that flapped his wings as he moved. The girls sat around, taking turns with Anna's decks of Exploding Snap, Mandy's Gobstones and Ophelia's Wizarding Chess set. The fire crackled merrily, and some of the first year boys set about roasting marshmallows over the fire. Terry Boot offered his to Lisa, who blushingly accepted.
It was in all this commotion that Anna was able to slip away unnoticed. She had gathered away some sandwiches from the dinner table, tightly wrapped, along with a good portion of her candy, and wrapped them tightly. She hurried up to the owlery, and scribbled a hasty note.
1 To Linnea - Merry Christmas - Anna
She managed to get a school owl to wake up and fly down from his roost. He stuck out a leg, and Anna attached the note, and tied on the parcel, scribbling down Lisa's street address, though she wasn't sure if the owl needed it. She watched it fly off into the sun, setting slowly over the snow, then turned and hastened back to the dorm.
She found the four up in their dormitory, pulling on heavy socks and mittens, and bundling up with scarves.
"There you are Anna! We're going outside, Susan invited all of the Ravenclaw first-years for a big snowball fight on the front lawn."
"Splendid!" Anna grinned, reaching into her trunk for her own gloves.
It was a good bit of fun, rather than splitting up by houses, the first- years divided arbitrarily - Anna and Padma were on one team, with Susan Bones; Hannah Abbott, Ophelia, Mandy and Lisa ended up on the other. Even though her fingers started seizing up with the cold, and her cheeks grew pink, and felt warmer than she had in a long time, laughing, and throwing snowballs at her friends. One caught Mandy full in the face. "Excellent!" Padma crowed, just before getting hit in the ear with a snowball from Ophelia. At long last, Professor McGonagall marched out of the castle, and berated them for staying out past dark.
"But it's Christmas," Mandy moaned as they trudged back inside, dripping all the way down the hall. Filch would have a field day if he saw them.
The girls returned to the fire to dry off and warm up, but not for long. Lisa was the first to yawn, then Padma, and so on. The girls went up the stairs, one by one, and got ready for bed. Anna drew her curtains, and changed into her new nightgown, coming out to model it for the others. Then she returned to her bed, pulled the blue blankets up around her face, and fell into a deep sleep.
The rest of the Holiday went by lazily, and as the excitement of Christmas wore off, Anna's mind wandered back to the spell the Grey Lady had given her. She was no closer to cracking it now than she had been a month ago.
The Saturday night before school began again, Anna lay in bed, eyes still gazing at the words of the spell on the slip she had scribbled it on, so as not to forget. "Amo Materna," she whispered, running her fingers over the piece of parchment in her hand. She closed her eyes to the darkness of the curtains around her. "Amo Materna."
Anna felt her head growing heavier. Her eyelashes fluttered against her cheeks as she began to drift off. With a lazy hand, she reached out to her bedside table, and propped open her music box, bringing it back into the curtains onto the pillow next to her. The soothing melody lulled her into the hazy beginnings of dreams.
Suddenly a movement, and a sound, a sound like that of rustling wings, awoke her from her brief slumber. The sound seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. Anna sat straight up, eyes searching for the source of the noise. She ducked in terror as invisible wings dived toward her, she covered her head with both arms as it seemed to land directly behind her. She turned, face still covered, to see what had caused the commotion.
Anna gasped as her wooden headboard seemed to take on a life of it's own, swirling around like a whirlpool. The carved bird in the center stretched it's wings, and with a noise like a violent gust of wind, craned it's neck out at her. Anna clamped a hand over her mouth, as she felt certain she must be screaming. But no sound came. She threw herself toward the foot of the bed, eyes fixed on the large bird. Her eyes caught a sudden glimmer of silver, and a ribbon, sparkling from the creature's beak.
Just then, a bitter breeze blew through, shaking even the heavy blue curtains. There was a loud bang, as if the window had blown out from it's casement and thudded upon the wall. Anna still didn't break the eye contact between her and the wooden eagle. It blinked once, then was still as stone. With a tentative hand, Anna reached out, and pulled the ribbon toward her. Something slightly heavy fell onto Anna's pillow. "Lumos!" came a voice, then a chorus of voices, from outside the draperies. Meanwhile, the bird sank back into the woodwork, and with a single swirl, was as still as he had been for the past four months.
"Anna?" Lisa whispered, just outside the curtain. "Are you all right?"
"Yes, I'm fine," she whispered back, doing her best to keep her voice from trembling.
"Bloody window blew open," she heard Mandy grumble. There was the sound of several pairs of feet padding across the cold floor.
"Oh, dear!" That was Ophelia.
Anna heard Padma muttering as she examined the window. "Shattered the top pane. How d'you like that? Reparo." Anna swung her curtain back in time to see Padma swing the window shut, and latch it once more. The four girls were standing there, barefoot, around a patch of snow that had blown in onto the floor.
"Anna, you're good with water charms. Move that, would you?"
Anna retrieved her wand from her nightstand, and steadied her shaking hand. With a well placed flick of her wrist and a few words, the snow was melted in the pitcher that stood on the table by the window.
"Well," said Lisa, with a yawn, "G'Night."
The rest of the group shuffled off to bed. It wasn't until the last curtain had closed that Anna dared to bring out her wand. She wanted to examine the object that her headboard had dropped out onto her bed. Her hand had been clenched around it tightly as the girls had spoken. It was a small, vaguely round, very cold piece of jewelry, she supposed, from it's weight and the ribbon that was attached to it. "Lumos," she whispered. The tip of her wand illuminated the small, comfortable space with a sudden glow. Anna brought her other hand up to it's light.
It was a pendant of some sort, a perfect silver circle. She ran her fingers over it's face. A smaller circle of opalescent stone was set in the larger one, off to the side, making the silver orb appear to be a crescent moon. Three small sparkling stones, that looked to be diamonds, were implanted in the silver of the crescent, glittering like tiny stars. Anna ran her fingers over it again, admiring it's beauty. Then, at the edge of the pendant, she hit a ridge that felt curiously like a clasp. Anna turned it on it's side to examine it. She pressed the tiny button with a gentle fingertip. The face swung open, and Anna's heart leapt into her throat as the two faces stared back up at her from the faded picture.
The picture was of two young people, a man and a woman, both smiling and waving. The man leaned over to the lady and whispered something in her ear. She lifted a hand to her mouth, laughing. They both seemed strangely familiar. He had brown hair and laughing brown eyes, and held his arm around the lady. Her hair was long and wavy, dark as a raven's wing. Her sparkling eyes were green. And at her throat sat the very same locket as Anna now held in her hands.
Anna stayed awake for a long time, examining the picture over and over again. The dress the lady wore, though all you could see was the neckline, looked beautiful. It was square cut, with a row of lace and violet ribbon surrounding it. The dress itself was a shimmering sea-green material. The man, on the other hand, wore sensible wizards robes of dark blue. They looked so happy. Anna wondered if anything was written on the back of the photo. She dug her nail under the tiny silver frame, and slid the picture out into her palm. Turning it over, she read ~
Jonathan and Madeline Moon
August 1st, 1974
Tears sprung in Anna's eyes. Somehow, she had known. But this. here it was, inscribed on the back of a picture - proof that Anna's parents had been real, living people. Though she had dreamed of them often, they never had the same faces - the features were never quite clear, and they changed from one dream to the next. But here - here they were, smiling up at her. For the first time in her life, she knew what they had looked like. She traced her mothers face with a fingertip. Gently, she closed the locket, and tied the ribbon around her own neck. "Good night," she whispered, hand lying across her throat.
Anna had been puzzling over the spell the Grey Lady had given her for several weeks now.
She had tried it, waving her wand in the air, when no one else was in the dormitory. She had checked out various spell books from the library, searching hour after hour for the words, but with no luck.
The other girls had noticed Anna seemed more withdrawn as of late. They had asked her if she was still upset about the fight, but she assured them, time and time again, that she was not. Padma figured she was just studying harder than usual now that they had reached their second term, but Lisa and Ophelia doubted that, as she still didn't seem to have enough time to work on Potions seriously. If anything, Anna was paying less and less attention in that class, and her grade was suffering. She was certain Snape had given her an unsatisfactory mark for the first time the other day. When he stopped by Anna and Susan's cauldron, a cold smirk grew on his face, and he wrote the figure in the grade book with relish. Mandy and Ophelia exchanged worried glances, and made themselves mental reminders to ask her about it later.
Anna, in her frustration over not being able to solve her little mystery, could have cared less about Potions. She didn't want to ask for help, though she had considered enlisting the girls, and in a moment of desperation, even thought about asking Professor Flitwick. But something in her head kept telling her that this was a personal matter, not one that she wanted to share with anyone else. So instead, she had begun to point at various inanimate objects while muttering the words under her breath, in hopes that something would happen. But it never did. She did manage to attract the attentions of Pansy Parkinson, who happened to be walking by at the moment Anna was whispering to a tapestry in the third floor corridor.
"You're mental," squealed Pansy, wrinkling her snout-like nose up even further. "You'll be admitted to St. Mungo's, that is, if they don't break your wand and expel you first for falling asleep in class."
Anna began to open her mouth to fire back a witty retort, but at that moment, Professor Flitwick rounded the corner. Pansy gave Anna one of her superior looks, turned on her heel, and headed off toward class. Anna glared at her back. Pansy had laid off the Ravenclaw girls for awhile, but ever since Anna's potions grade had begun to fall, she had returned to her old favorite past-time with a vengeance.
However, it was hard to be in a foul mood with the castle looking so festive. As Christmas steadily approached, twelve magnificent trees appeared in the Great Hall, each decorated magically. Around the rest of the castle, boughs of holly mysteriously appeared overnight, and (much to Anna's amusement) sprigs of mistletoe. The teachers were beginning to get into the holiday spirit, and Professor Flitwick abandoned his lesson plans for the last week when Mandy inquired about the charm he had used to create the lovely golden bubbles on the Christmas trees. They spent the rest of the class making their own glowing ornaments. Lisa draped a shimmering gold circle over Anna's head, giggling, and Padma was busy decorating the tips of Ophelia's fingers with icicles. Everyone had a wonderful time, and the Ravenclaw's were rather reluctant to leave class that afternoon. Snape's lesson the following day was normal - the potions master was dour as usual, and seemed to snap at the students even more. But perhaps that was only in comparison to their other teachers - even McGonagall had managed a smile, and wished them all a Merry Christmas. Lisa poked Anna in the small of her back while Snape wasn't looking, and passed up a note. Anna unfurled it under the table, and had to shove her fit in her mouth to keep from laughing aloud. Lisa had quoted one of the many muggle books that Anna had loved at Miss Marple's.
"The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season!
Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason.
It could be that his head wasn't screwed on quite right.
It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight."
When she was finally able to keep a straight face, she glanced back, and grinned at Lisa. Susan peeked under the table to see what was so funny, but when she read Lisa's note she looked very puzzled. Apparently she had never been read Dr. Seuss as a child. But soon enough, class was out, and the girls practically ran from the freezing cold dungeon, settling in front of the fire in the common room. Lisa rubbed her hands together, and turned to Anna. "Like my poem?" she asked, keeping a straight face. Anna laughed once more, and the others just stared. Some things, she thought, just can't be explained.
The girl's took full advantage of the long weekend to relax. All of the five were to be staying at Hogwarts for Christmas (though Padma's parents, along with Ophelia, had taken a lot of pleading to convince). "Think of all the homework you'll be able to do!" Mandy had said to Ophelia, a large grin on her face. Tuesday night they stayed up late, talking by the fire. Padma had managed to smuggle up some hot cocoa from dinner, and they sat around drinking it from it's flask until their yawns wouldn't stop. Anna was the first to retire to the dorm. She pulled her velvety blue covers over her head, and fell fast asleep.
She awoke the following morning to a whoop of excitement coming from the direction of Mandy's bed, and the sound of frantic scurrying about the room. A beam of light momentarily blinded her as she blinked away sleep, wondering what Mandy was on about. She sat up, rubbing her eyes. Mandy was standing there, one hand holding back Anna's curtains, the other planted firmly on her hip.
"It's about time. Honestly, you four, sleeping in on Christmas morning!"
It was Christmas. The fact struck Anna suddenly. She hadn't had a proper Christmas since the ones at Miss Marple's, but today she would have a feast, and gifts. four were guaranteed, plus one if Witt had remembered. Anna hopped out of bed. The other girls were already sitting on the floor, unwrapping their gifts.
"Oh! Thanks Padma. I was almost out."
"Lisa, this will be great."
"I've wanted one of these forever, thanks Mandy!"
"Wonderful - Sugar Quills!"
Then came the presents from home. Anna was quite surprised to see several parcels wrapped in plain brown paper, and tied up with string. A note was pinned to one, and Anna recognized Witt's neat handwriting.
Thought I'd send you a little something with Darius - I'm sure he'll be happy to stretch his wings. Love, Witt
Anna grinned, carefully unwrapping the smallest box first. She was surprised at it's weight. Underneath the brown paper, the box was neatly stamped with 'Arpeggio & Fortissimo ~ Mystical Music Shoppe since 1311'. Anna was quite intrigued - she played no musical instruments, so what could this be? Carefully, she slid off the lid.
Inside was a beautiful wooden box, small, with a hinged lid and an intricately carved design on top. She gently lifted the lid, and strains of a melody came that brought tears to her eyes - it was the same melody that her mother sang in her dream.
Mandy looked up. "What did you get, Anna?" she asked. Anna held up the box, momentarily unable to speak.
Ophelia closed her eyes and listened. "I love this aria," she whispered.
Anna turned her head sharply. "You know the tune?"
Ophelia nodded, smiling, her eyes still closed. "Of course I know it. It's the most beautiful song from the most famous wizarding opera ever written - Merlinus by Andante Largo. It's the song that the Lady of the Lake sings to Merlin in the third act." Her eyes opened. "Oh, you do need to see it, it's simply wonderful. but if it's not playing, you can usually hear it on Wizarding Wireless - they play the classics on Sunday afternoons."
Padma nodded, looking up from her new set of potions bottles, all various size, colors and shapes. "I think I've heard it before."
Anna smiled, closing the box. Her mother's song had a name.
"Aren't you going to open the others as well?" inquired Lisa, who was carefully examining the new camera her father had sent her.
Anna set the box down gently, and started to unwrap the larger box. Her fingers dug through the tissue paper inside, and pulled out.
"Oh, Anna," breathed Lisa, "it's lovely."
It was a nightgown, a beautiful, long white one, with lace at the collar and wrists. A pink satin ribbon tied in a pink bow around the neck. Anna grinned, holding it up to her body, and twirling around.
"I'm going to wear it all day!"
"But Anna," said Lisa skeptically, "what about the feast?"
"Oh. right."
Mandy plopped down next to Lisa. "You know, you can send away for chemicals to make the pictures you take move. I've done it before. Instead of adding the fix, like the Muggles do, you add this stuff called 'magical mover'."
Ophelia meanwhile held up the bowed set of books she had received from home. "It's the newest series by Cordelia Wexler. you know, the author who wrote Lydia Trendille? You can borrow it when I'm finished if you'd like, Anna."
The girls spent the rest of the morning Oohing and Ahhing over their presents. It was Lisa who finally let out a little shout of excitement, glancing down at her brand-new wristwatch.
"Oh! The feast's in ten minutes - we'd better get down there!"
There was a scurry to get dressed. When everyone was almost ready (Padma was still braiding her hair as they walked out the door), they left for the Great Hall.
The feast was fantastic, a meal Anna would have never dreamed she would have been having this time last year. This thought brought a guilty jolt to her stomach, as she sat there, laughing and eating with her four best friends. What was Linnea doing this Christmas? Anna had forgotten to send her even a card. She glanced up at Lisa, who looked so much like her old friend, yet different somehow. Lisa didn't notice Anna looking at her rather sadly, as she was preoccupied with serving herself a large slab of roast turkey. Anna was jolted from her thoughts by Padma, who was sitting to her right.
"Pass me the cranberry sauce, would you Anna? Thanks."
Anna shook her head, trying to snap herself out of it. Feeling gloomy at Christmas would do Linnea no good, wherever she was. Anna coated her potatoes with a thick layer of dressing, and began to eat.
Between dinner and desert (Flaming Christmas pudding), the Ravenclaw girls turned their attention to the large pile of wizarding crackers in front of them. Mandy offered Anna the end of one, and laughed heartily when Anna nearly fell off her seat in surprise at the noise it made, along with the cloud of bright yellow smoke that engulfed them all. Out of the cracker came all sorts of wonderful treats that could have only fit inside by magic. Anna collected a tiara, a pack of non-explodable balloons, two decks of exploding snap cards, and several different kinds of wizard candy, from Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans to Chocolate Frogs.
When the feast was over, the girls lugged their hoard up to the Common Room, which was a happy buzz of activity. Penelope showed them the new charm she had received for her bracelet, a tiny silver eagle that flapped his wings as he moved. The girls sat around, taking turns with Anna's decks of Exploding Snap, Mandy's Gobstones and Ophelia's Wizarding Chess set. The fire crackled merrily, and some of the first year boys set about roasting marshmallows over the fire. Terry Boot offered his to Lisa, who blushingly accepted.
It was in all this commotion that Anna was able to slip away unnoticed. She had gathered away some sandwiches from the dinner table, tightly wrapped, along with a good portion of her candy, and wrapped them tightly. She hurried up to the owlery, and scribbled a hasty note.
1 To Linnea - Merry Christmas - Anna
She managed to get a school owl to wake up and fly down from his roost. He stuck out a leg, and Anna attached the note, and tied on the parcel, scribbling down Lisa's street address, though she wasn't sure if the owl needed it. She watched it fly off into the sun, setting slowly over the snow, then turned and hastened back to the dorm.
She found the four up in their dormitory, pulling on heavy socks and mittens, and bundling up with scarves.
"There you are Anna! We're going outside, Susan invited all of the Ravenclaw first-years for a big snowball fight on the front lawn."
"Splendid!" Anna grinned, reaching into her trunk for her own gloves.
It was a good bit of fun, rather than splitting up by houses, the first- years divided arbitrarily - Anna and Padma were on one team, with Susan Bones; Hannah Abbott, Ophelia, Mandy and Lisa ended up on the other. Even though her fingers started seizing up with the cold, and her cheeks grew pink, and felt warmer than she had in a long time, laughing, and throwing snowballs at her friends. One caught Mandy full in the face. "Excellent!" Padma crowed, just before getting hit in the ear with a snowball from Ophelia. At long last, Professor McGonagall marched out of the castle, and berated them for staying out past dark.
"But it's Christmas," Mandy moaned as they trudged back inside, dripping all the way down the hall. Filch would have a field day if he saw them.
The girls returned to the fire to dry off and warm up, but not for long. Lisa was the first to yawn, then Padma, and so on. The girls went up the stairs, one by one, and got ready for bed. Anna drew her curtains, and changed into her new nightgown, coming out to model it for the others. Then she returned to her bed, pulled the blue blankets up around her face, and fell into a deep sleep.
The rest of the Holiday went by lazily, and as the excitement of Christmas wore off, Anna's mind wandered back to the spell the Grey Lady had given her. She was no closer to cracking it now than she had been a month ago.
The Saturday night before school began again, Anna lay in bed, eyes still gazing at the words of the spell on the slip she had scribbled it on, so as not to forget. "Amo Materna," she whispered, running her fingers over the piece of parchment in her hand. She closed her eyes to the darkness of the curtains around her. "Amo Materna."
Anna felt her head growing heavier. Her eyelashes fluttered against her cheeks as she began to drift off. With a lazy hand, she reached out to her bedside table, and propped open her music box, bringing it back into the curtains onto the pillow next to her. The soothing melody lulled her into the hazy beginnings of dreams.
Suddenly a movement, and a sound, a sound like that of rustling wings, awoke her from her brief slumber. The sound seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. Anna sat straight up, eyes searching for the source of the noise. She ducked in terror as invisible wings dived toward her, she covered her head with both arms as it seemed to land directly behind her. She turned, face still covered, to see what had caused the commotion.
Anna gasped as her wooden headboard seemed to take on a life of it's own, swirling around like a whirlpool. The carved bird in the center stretched it's wings, and with a noise like a violent gust of wind, craned it's neck out at her. Anna clamped a hand over her mouth, as she felt certain she must be screaming. But no sound came. She threw herself toward the foot of the bed, eyes fixed on the large bird. Her eyes caught a sudden glimmer of silver, and a ribbon, sparkling from the creature's beak.
Just then, a bitter breeze blew through, shaking even the heavy blue curtains. There was a loud bang, as if the window had blown out from it's casement and thudded upon the wall. Anna still didn't break the eye contact between her and the wooden eagle. It blinked once, then was still as stone. With a tentative hand, Anna reached out, and pulled the ribbon toward her. Something slightly heavy fell onto Anna's pillow. "Lumos!" came a voice, then a chorus of voices, from outside the draperies. Meanwhile, the bird sank back into the woodwork, and with a single swirl, was as still as he had been for the past four months.
"Anna?" Lisa whispered, just outside the curtain. "Are you all right?"
"Yes, I'm fine," she whispered back, doing her best to keep her voice from trembling.
"Bloody window blew open," she heard Mandy grumble. There was the sound of several pairs of feet padding across the cold floor.
"Oh, dear!" That was Ophelia.
Anna heard Padma muttering as she examined the window. "Shattered the top pane. How d'you like that? Reparo." Anna swung her curtain back in time to see Padma swing the window shut, and latch it once more. The four girls were standing there, barefoot, around a patch of snow that had blown in onto the floor.
"Anna, you're good with water charms. Move that, would you?"
Anna retrieved her wand from her nightstand, and steadied her shaking hand. With a well placed flick of her wrist and a few words, the snow was melted in the pitcher that stood on the table by the window.
"Well," said Lisa, with a yawn, "G'Night."
The rest of the group shuffled off to bed. It wasn't until the last curtain had closed that Anna dared to bring out her wand. She wanted to examine the object that her headboard had dropped out onto her bed. Her hand had been clenched around it tightly as the girls had spoken. It was a small, vaguely round, very cold piece of jewelry, she supposed, from it's weight and the ribbon that was attached to it. "Lumos," she whispered. The tip of her wand illuminated the small, comfortable space with a sudden glow. Anna brought her other hand up to it's light.
It was a pendant of some sort, a perfect silver circle. She ran her fingers over it's face. A smaller circle of opalescent stone was set in the larger one, off to the side, making the silver orb appear to be a crescent moon. Three small sparkling stones, that looked to be diamonds, were implanted in the silver of the crescent, glittering like tiny stars. Anna ran her fingers over it again, admiring it's beauty. Then, at the edge of the pendant, she hit a ridge that felt curiously like a clasp. Anna turned it on it's side to examine it. She pressed the tiny button with a gentle fingertip. The face swung open, and Anna's heart leapt into her throat as the two faces stared back up at her from the faded picture.
The picture was of two young people, a man and a woman, both smiling and waving. The man leaned over to the lady and whispered something in her ear. She lifted a hand to her mouth, laughing. They both seemed strangely familiar. He had brown hair and laughing brown eyes, and held his arm around the lady. Her hair was long and wavy, dark as a raven's wing. Her sparkling eyes were green. And at her throat sat the very same locket as Anna now held in her hands.
Anna stayed awake for a long time, examining the picture over and over again. The dress the lady wore, though all you could see was the neckline, looked beautiful. It was square cut, with a row of lace and violet ribbon surrounding it. The dress itself was a shimmering sea-green material. The man, on the other hand, wore sensible wizards robes of dark blue. They looked so happy. Anna wondered if anything was written on the back of the photo. She dug her nail under the tiny silver frame, and slid the picture out into her palm. Turning it over, she read ~
Jonathan and Madeline Moon
August 1st, 1974
Tears sprung in Anna's eyes. Somehow, she had known. But this. here it was, inscribed on the back of a picture - proof that Anna's parents had been real, living people. Though she had dreamed of them often, they never had the same faces - the features were never quite clear, and they changed from one dream to the next. But here - here they were, smiling up at her. For the first time in her life, she knew what they had looked like. She traced her mothers face with a fingertip. Gently, she closed the locket, and tied the ribbon around her own neck. "Good night," she whispered, hand lying across her throat.
