8

Christmas was a week away and as usual Harry signed up to stay for holidays. Ron had to go home because his aunt Dolly is staying at the Burrow and she wanted him to be there as well. Hermione also had to go because her parents wanted to spend this Christmas with her since she had spent the last three here at Hogwarts. Linda stayed because her parents are on business trips so they couldn't take care of her. That Sunday morning the three of them (Linda was somewhere with George) went to visit Hagrid.

" Where's yer other friend?" asked Hagrid while he was pouring them tea.

"She's probably coping with my brothers tongue down her throat." said Ron causally.

Harry felt awfully uncomfortable at those words. So he quickly tried to change the subject.

"Hagrid?" he asked hoping he would think of a question in time.

"Yea?"

"Ah…can I have some more tea?" quickly Harry drank all the tea in his cup.

He wished he had said something else because all the tea in his stomach made him sick.

"Wha's got into yeh Harry? Alright," Hagrid said pouring Harry more tea. " but I wouldn't drink it so fast."

The afternoon at Hagrid's went by. The sun went down. Back in the Gryffindor common room, as they would expect, George and Linda was kissing.

"You'd think they can do no more than only that" sniggered Ron.

Harry chuckled unenthusiastically. As he went up the stairs up to his dormitory Neviola came and started to brush her body against Harry's legs. He picked it up. It started to purr loudly.

"You picked up Neviola!"

Harry looked up. Linda was by the foot of the stairs.

"Sorry. Was I not supposed to pick her up?" Harry questioned as he put Neviola down.

"Oh it's fine by me to cuddle her, I give her a little snuggles all the time, but every other time someone else has tried to pick her up she goes berserk. You must have something that makes her trust you Harry."

"Really?" Harry tried to sound happy and excited but the tone that came out was the opposite.

"Alright then. Well goodnight Harry!"

"Night."

*

Early next day Ron and Hermione had to leave for home.

"Hope you have a wonderful Christmas Harry! I'll send you your present at Christmas eve!" Hermione also said a whole lot of other things but Harry was too busy trying to hear Ron talking as well.

"Can you send Hedwig over at Christmas eve? I need her for delivering your present. I don't think Errol can make it. Oh no! Aunt Dolly! It makes me shudder every time I think about the time she-"

"It wouldn't be a bad Christmas Harry! Just because Malfoy and his numb brained cronies will be staying…maybe it will be that bad-"

Harry was walking them to the great entrance hall to meet professor McGonagall. Both of them were talking so fast and walking so fast that Harry could barely keep up.

"I don't think I have forgotten anything…got my books, my notes and my-"

They reached professor McGonagall, there was a little crowd of other kids.

"I guess we're early then."

After about fifteen minutes the rest of the students arrived.

"Hey. Have you guys seen Linda?" George asked looking around.

"Nope sorry."

All right then…" he went off.

"Well bye Harry! See you when I get back!" Hermione said.

"Yea bye bye Har-"

"Hey!"

They all turned their heads and saw Linda coming down the stairs.

"Sorry I'm late!" she said giving Ron and Hermione a hug. "See ya guys!"

Harry decided he would go back to his dorm now. "Bye now." he knew that Linda and George would start kissing soon.

Surprisingly Linda followed.

"Aren't you going to say bye to George?"

"Hey you want to get breakfast?"

And that's what they did. The whole time at the long tables Harry wondered why Linda didn't care about George going.

Then he heard a loud fluttering sound and recognised it immediately, it was the owl post. Harry was shocked to see Hedwig flying among them. Harry quickly caught the letter before it was dropped in his bowl of cereal. It was Sirius wanting to know when the next visit to Hogsmeade is so he could see Harry.

"Do you know when will we go to Hogsmeade again?" Harry asked Linda.

"Um…I think it's just after Christmas, why?"

Harry never thought about telling Linda about Sirius. To the rest of the world he is still a serial murderer on the loose. He wondered if he should risk scaring Linda and spreading the word.

"Oh no reason in particular." he said making it sound cool. He decided that since it's after Christmas, Ron and Hermione would've been back so he would wait until then.

"Hey? Let's play wizard chess!"

There was nothing better to do so Harry agreed. After breakfast they went up to the Gryffindor common room. Linda lent Harry a set of shiny black chessmen, she had pearly white ones herself. Harry was amazed at how good Linda was at chess.

"Winning five times in a row is starting to get boring…" she said yawning. "No offence Harry. Let's sneak into the Slytherin common room and set off dung bombs!" she stood up hastily.

"What? How? Can we? No I don't think it's a good idea." Harry couldn't help but sound like a wimp. He thought sneaking into another house's common room will be a big offence and even if it isn't, he wondered if it was even possible.

"Yeah…it's not a good idea…Lindsay got expelled when she did that…" she lowered her voice.

"Lindsay?"

"Yea. She's my big sister. She's in New Zealand looking after the Antipodean Opaleyes." Linda explained "Somehow she got into the Slytherin common room a few years back and she got expelled. I never knew why she did it, I would like to think she did it for a evil reason."

*

That night Harry laid in bed. He couldn't go to sleep, at the back of his head he kept thinking that he's forgetting something. Something important.

"Voldemort!" he whispered loudly to himself. Before he realised that he was the only one in the dorm he looked around making sure he didn't wake anyone up.

How could I have not thought about Voldemort? Maybe because of all the distractions. He's alive and he might be as strong as ever. No one has mentioned anything about him, could he have been defeated once again? There were so many questions he wanted answers to. Then pictures of everything that has happened over the last few years flashed in his mind. The philosopher's stone, the basilisk, Peter Pettigrew escaping, Voldemort coming back to life, looking at the dead Cedric, everything. He felt uncomfortable so he got up. He didn't want to think about all this. He decided that maybe he should go and have a little walk, he had to send Hedwig to Ron. When he reached the Owlery he saw a figure there. He quickly got behind a wall and carefully looked at who was there.

It was whispering something to the owl. It didn't take long for Harry to realise that the owl was Linda's owl.

She turned around and was stunned at the site of Harry.

"Oh! Harry…I can explain."

It was Linda.

"Explain what?"

"…" she looked at him strangely and then looked like she understood something, "ah…why I'm up, you can't sleep either?"

"Yeah. Flashbacks, what was your reason?" said Harry beginning to feel confused

She paused for a little while.

"What did you have flashbacks of?"

Harry couldn't help but to trust her, he told her everything that has happened on their way back to the Gryffindor common room. From the philosopher's stone to Moody. It took two hours for him to finish.

"I told you my reason, now you have to tell me why you're up!"

She yawned. "We should really get some sleep. Goodnight Harry, or should I say good morning." she smiled sleepily then slowly walked up the stairs leading to her dormitory.

Days went by, Harry and Linda played countless rounds of wizard chess and every time Linda won except when Harry's set of chessmen got sick of losing and smashed Linda's set into pieces.

*

"Harry! Harry! Wake up! Presents!"

Harry opened up his drowsy eyes. Linda sat down beside Harry's bed dropping a whole heaps of presents next to another heap, which was twice as small. He guessed that was his pile.

"Come on! Get up! I don't know how you can sit there looking at all these still wrapped presents!" she began ripping a small parcel open. "A bracelet!" she gasped.

Harry took a look at the bracelet; it was gold with a kneazle pendant.

Harry got out of bed and started opening his presents. Exactly one hour later the Gryffindor boy's dormitory was full of messy wrapping paper, ribbons and boxes. Harry looked around. Then it something struck him.

"Hey? You're not supposed to be in here!"

She giggled. "Sorry. I'll see you down at breakfast then." she waved her wand, "Omarish!" then all the wrapping paper disappeared. She waved it again, "Heldendentate!". All her presents flew up and followed her out the door.

Harry looked down at his presents; a dead half eaten rat from Hedwig, a badly made Malfoy dart board from Ron, a batch of pear muffins and a navy blue sweater from Mrs Weasley, the book Everything You Ever Needed To Know On: Famous Witches and Wizards from Hermione, a box full of Dragon figurines from Hagrid, a ball of lint from the Dursleys and a letter apologising about a present that will be coming soon from Sirius.

A while later he went down the breakfast tables and he did not see Linda anywhere. He sat down at a seat and after ten pancakes and three eggs he saw her coming in.

"I'm so sorry. I remembered I had to do something." she took a slice of bacon.

That afternoon Linda kept appearing and then going off again. She never stayed long enough for Harry to ask her what she had to do but just long enough for a hello.

"What have you been doing these days?" Harry finally asked on the last day of the Christmas holidays.

"Um…nothing really, I'm sorry I kept going away but it's just something I have to do."

From that time on every time Harry asks that she would change the subject.

Ron and Hermione came back the next day. Harry found the time to tell them what has been going on.

"You don't find it suspicious Harry? She must be up to something!" Hermione said decisively. "Let's follow her!"

"No! what if it's nothing, then we'll look like idiots!" Ron crossed his arms and shook his head.

Hermione sighed, "fine! Not like I need you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing."