Ron, Hermione, Harry, and I trudged out onto the grounds, where the
snow glistened, blindingly white, like a gigantic fluffy blanket covering
the ground. My eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the crisp lighting, and
in those seconds, five snowballs all came hurtling in my direction, making
me stumble back into Harry.
"That wasn't nice," I complained, shaking snow out of my hair. "Why do you always gang up on me?"
Ron shrugged. "It's fun."
"Well, in that case," I laughed, swooped down, grabbed a handful of snow, packed it into a ball, and hurled it at Ron. "Can you say frostbite, Ron?" I teased. He blinked and wiped the snow from his face, grinning.
Our snowball fight lasted for a good two hours, Lily and James finally emerging from under the Cloak after the first hour. When we went back inside the castle (Lily and James were once again concealed under the Cloak), all of us were cold and bantering good-naturedly with each other.
The time until the Christmas feast felt like nothing. Ron, Hermione, Harry, and I only went down after Lily and James told us they'd grab something from the kitchens. Of course, the feast went by just as quickly; thankfully, because I could feel Draco Malfoy's fierce gray eyes boring holes into my back the whole time. Despite this, we came back light-hearted and giggling, carrying the prizes from the wizard crackers.
When I ran up to my dormitory to drop everything off, I saw Lily and James sleeping peacefully in each other's arms. Smiling softly, I drew the curtains around them (they were sleeping in my bed) and bounded back down the stairs, flinging my arms around Harry. He toppled back onto the couch, looking alarmed as I slumped onto the ground and started laughing.
"You really have had too much egg nogg," snickered Hermione. I shook my head.
"I'm just hyper!" I told her. "When I'm hyper and have nothing to do, I get... odd..."
"More so than usual?" inquired Ron. I threw a pillow at him, slamming him in the stomach. He grinned broadly. "Bored, huh?"
"Oh, no," I said, knowing what he meant. "I had enough during the snowball fight."
"But you said you were bored," added Harry, twining his arms around my shoulders.
"No; I said I had nothing to do," I corrected him. He shrugged and slid down next to me.
"Same difference." I glanced towards him and noticed that familiar glint in his eyes which meant he was up to something.
"I know that look," I said. "Don't you dare--"
Harry tackled me, pinned my arms behind my back with one hand, and started to tickle me with the other. I squirmed, laughing crazily, as Ron and Hermione started to whap me with pillows.
"Why do you always," I giggled, "gang up on me?"
"'Cus it's fun," Harry whispered in my ear.
"Not for me!" I exclaimed, pulling my hands out of his grasp. I turned, tackled Harry, and kissed him lightly on the forehead. Then, as I heard the swish of air that said someone was readying a pillow attack, I rolled to one side. A second later, Hermione brought her pillow down on Harry's face. I fell over laughing.
"It's not funny!" said Harry, glaring at me, his glasses dangling from one ear.
"Yes it is!" I giggled, clutching my sides. Harry sat up and tried to grab my wrist, but I scrambled to my feet, dodged his hand, and flung myself up the staircase and into my dormitory. Soon after, Ron, Harry, and Hermione followed, but stopped, like I had, as soon as they entered.
Lily and James were still lying asleep on my bed in each other's arms. They looked so peaceful; we didn't want to wake them. But, just as we were leaving, Lily woke up, rubbing her eyes.
"There you all are," she yawned. "Took you all long enough to come back up here."
Lily nudged James awake, then said, "Sit down! We need to catch up on what's been happening the past fifteen years."
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I all took a seat on Hermione's bed, made ourselves comfortable, and spent the next four or five hours talking. We mainly talked about what had happened at Hogwarts, because Harry summed up his first ten years with the Dursley's in less that five minutes.
"See? Aren't you glad now that I put that bag of Dungbombs in Petunia's pillow? James asked Lily. Lily shook her head, laughing.
"That's probably one of the reasons she treated Harry like that," Lily replied. "So anyways... tell us about your first year.."
Hour after hour flew by as we told Lily and James about the Sorcerer's Stone fiasco with Quirrel, and then the Chamber of Secrets adventure, then the meeting with Sirius and the revealing of "Scabbers," and finally, the rebirthing of Voldemort the previous year. Harry became suddenly silent when we started to talk about it, so I had to tell most of the story.
"That horrible bas--"
"Lily!" said James, astonished. Lily went pink. I glanced at Harry, not knowing whether to look stern or to grin.
"Well," said Hermione awkwardly after a few moments, "that's about all that's happened to us... except the arrival of Emerald over the summer."
"You don't have to tell us about that; we know what happened," said Lily, glancing at the clock. "Wow, is it 11 already? I don't even feel tired... but we all should get to bed."
"Yeah," I agreed, yawning. As Ron and Harry left, I called a sleepy, "G'night." Lily and James rose from my bed and situated themselves on a vacant one, and I lay down on my bed. Hugging my pillow, I fell asleep in seconds.
"What were you thinking?" exclaimed D.C. as soon as the mist surrounded me. "You could have been killed!"
"That was the original plan," I said sheepishly. "But I'm still alive, aren't I?"
"Yes," sighed D.C exasperatedly, "but promise me you'll never do that again unless absolutely necessary!"
"OK, I promise," I said. Suddenly, the mist dropped away, leaving me in complete blackness.
What felt like a few moments later, I opened my eyes to find myself in a small, dark, damp room. The walls, floor, and ceiling were made out of grey stone; moss covered most of the stones. The only light in the room came from what shone in through the tiny, barred window on the door. I was in a dungeon cell.
I looked around behind me, wondering if it was only a dream, and saw a pale-faced man, sleeping right now, with his wrists chained to the wall. Though he was dirty and wearing tattered clothing, I realized who he was in an instant.
"Dad!" I whispered. I ran over to him, kneeled down, and put my hand on his shoulder. It went right through him So I was dreaming...
The sound of faint footsteps jostled me out of my thoughts. They got louder as the seconds passed, and a shadow soon passed in front of the door. A key clicked in the lock, and the door swung open.
Victoria and Pristina were standing in the doorway, holding their wands and looking absolutely disgusted.
"I hate being down here," complained Pristina, glaring at my dad.
"Father said we have to," sighed Victoria. She twirled her wand in her fingers absentmindedly. "But I hate it down here, too. It's so dirty and grimy."
"Honestly," replied Pristina. Sighing, she added, "I suppose it's best..."
"Yes, you're right," agreed Victoria. "We'll need all the practice we can get if we're to become as great as Father."
You mean as horrible, I thought with disgust.
"Then let's start. The faster we finish this, the faster we can go."
"Let's," answered Victoria. She pointed her wand at the slumped-over figure of my dad. "Ennervate"
He stirred, groaning a little. Looking up at the two in the doorway, his eyes flared, and he said roughly, "What do you want?"
"An answer to a simple question."
"What's Dumbledore planning?"
"Probably dinner, right about now." I grinned, glad to know my dad still had a sense of humor.
"You know what I mean, smart-ass. What's he planning to counterattack our father with?"
"I'm not going to tell you."
"You will, in time," sneered Pristina. She raised her wand, aimed its tip at my dad, and shouted, "Crucio!"
"No!!" I screamed, trying to get in front of my dad to block it. The beam went right through me, however, and I watched helplessly as my dad screamed and writhed, as Victoria and Pristina watched his agony calmly... and then I woke up.
It was still dark out, and the dormitory was quiet. I flung the sheets of my bed off me and bolted down into the common room, just as Harry entered.
"You too?" Harry asked breathlessly. I nodded, then flung myself into his arms, sobbing.
"Those evil... those evil creatures!" I finally exclaimed, wiping my eyes and hiccupping. "I can't believe I thought they were my friends!
"I know, I know," Harry whispered soothingly, stroking my hair. "It's alright..."
"No it's not!" I said fiercely. "I swear, if they.... if they...." I shuddered. "I'll kill them!!"
"Calm down." Harry hugged me tightly to him, and I could feel his body shaking, his heart thudding against his chest. "I'm sure he'll be alright."
I let out a shaky breath, unclenching my fists and letting them fall limply to my sides. "I'm sorry. that was really selfish of me... I just... seeing him in pain was too much.... I totally lost it..."
"You're upset, and I don't blame you for it," Harry assured me, kissing the top of my head. I hugged him tightly, fighting back another wave of tears.
"Harry. I don't. I'm not going to be able to go back to sleep tonight."
"Me, either," he sighed. "How about we just stay down here for a while?"
"Sounds good to me." Harry and I walked over to one of the couches and curled up on it. I rested my head on his shoulder, my eyes half-closed, listening to the soft crackling of the fire. My breathing slowed to a peaceful rate, and my eyes closed.
"Thank you," I murmured to Harry, "for staying with me."
"Any time," he whispered back. I grinned sleepily and nestled in a little closer to him. Whether it was because Harry's arms around my waist were warmer and more comforting than a fleece blanket, or if I just wanted to fall asleep like this, or both, I'll probably never find out, because sleep stole quickly over me in the next few moments.
The next thing I knew, I was being shaken softly awake by someone whispering, "Wake up before you miss them go! They're leaving soon."
I yawned deeply, stretching the sleepiness from my limbs, and sat up. Bleary eyed, I glanced quickly around the common room. Lily and James were standing by the fire, wrapped in dark green cloaks and carrying a small suitcase each.
"That wasn't nice," I complained, shaking snow out of my hair. "Why do you always gang up on me?"
Ron shrugged. "It's fun."
"Well, in that case," I laughed, swooped down, grabbed a handful of snow, packed it into a ball, and hurled it at Ron. "Can you say frostbite, Ron?" I teased. He blinked and wiped the snow from his face, grinning.
Our snowball fight lasted for a good two hours, Lily and James finally emerging from under the Cloak after the first hour. When we went back inside the castle (Lily and James were once again concealed under the Cloak), all of us were cold and bantering good-naturedly with each other.
The time until the Christmas feast felt like nothing. Ron, Hermione, Harry, and I only went down after Lily and James told us they'd grab something from the kitchens. Of course, the feast went by just as quickly; thankfully, because I could feel Draco Malfoy's fierce gray eyes boring holes into my back the whole time. Despite this, we came back light-hearted and giggling, carrying the prizes from the wizard crackers.
When I ran up to my dormitory to drop everything off, I saw Lily and James sleeping peacefully in each other's arms. Smiling softly, I drew the curtains around them (they were sleeping in my bed) and bounded back down the stairs, flinging my arms around Harry. He toppled back onto the couch, looking alarmed as I slumped onto the ground and started laughing.
"You really have had too much egg nogg," snickered Hermione. I shook my head.
"I'm just hyper!" I told her. "When I'm hyper and have nothing to do, I get... odd..."
"More so than usual?" inquired Ron. I threw a pillow at him, slamming him in the stomach. He grinned broadly. "Bored, huh?"
"Oh, no," I said, knowing what he meant. "I had enough during the snowball fight."
"But you said you were bored," added Harry, twining his arms around my shoulders.
"No; I said I had nothing to do," I corrected him. He shrugged and slid down next to me.
"Same difference." I glanced towards him and noticed that familiar glint in his eyes which meant he was up to something.
"I know that look," I said. "Don't you dare--"
Harry tackled me, pinned my arms behind my back with one hand, and started to tickle me with the other. I squirmed, laughing crazily, as Ron and Hermione started to whap me with pillows.
"Why do you always," I giggled, "gang up on me?"
"'Cus it's fun," Harry whispered in my ear.
"Not for me!" I exclaimed, pulling my hands out of his grasp. I turned, tackled Harry, and kissed him lightly on the forehead. Then, as I heard the swish of air that said someone was readying a pillow attack, I rolled to one side. A second later, Hermione brought her pillow down on Harry's face. I fell over laughing.
"It's not funny!" said Harry, glaring at me, his glasses dangling from one ear.
"Yes it is!" I giggled, clutching my sides. Harry sat up and tried to grab my wrist, but I scrambled to my feet, dodged his hand, and flung myself up the staircase and into my dormitory. Soon after, Ron, Harry, and Hermione followed, but stopped, like I had, as soon as they entered.
Lily and James were still lying asleep on my bed in each other's arms. They looked so peaceful; we didn't want to wake them. But, just as we were leaving, Lily woke up, rubbing her eyes.
"There you all are," she yawned. "Took you all long enough to come back up here."
Lily nudged James awake, then said, "Sit down! We need to catch up on what's been happening the past fifteen years."
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I all took a seat on Hermione's bed, made ourselves comfortable, and spent the next four or five hours talking. We mainly talked about what had happened at Hogwarts, because Harry summed up his first ten years with the Dursley's in less that five minutes.
"See? Aren't you glad now that I put that bag of Dungbombs in Petunia's pillow? James asked Lily. Lily shook her head, laughing.
"That's probably one of the reasons she treated Harry like that," Lily replied. "So anyways... tell us about your first year.."
Hour after hour flew by as we told Lily and James about the Sorcerer's Stone fiasco with Quirrel, and then the Chamber of Secrets adventure, then the meeting with Sirius and the revealing of "Scabbers," and finally, the rebirthing of Voldemort the previous year. Harry became suddenly silent when we started to talk about it, so I had to tell most of the story.
"That horrible bas--"
"Lily!" said James, astonished. Lily went pink. I glanced at Harry, not knowing whether to look stern or to grin.
"Well," said Hermione awkwardly after a few moments, "that's about all that's happened to us... except the arrival of Emerald over the summer."
"You don't have to tell us about that; we know what happened," said Lily, glancing at the clock. "Wow, is it 11 already? I don't even feel tired... but we all should get to bed."
"Yeah," I agreed, yawning. As Ron and Harry left, I called a sleepy, "G'night." Lily and James rose from my bed and situated themselves on a vacant one, and I lay down on my bed. Hugging my pillow, I fell asleep in seconds.
"What were you thinking?" exclaimed D.C. as soon as the mist surrounded me. "You could have been killed!"
"That was the original plan," I said sheepishly. "But I'm still alive, aren't I?"
"Yes," sighed D.C exasperatedly, "but promise me you'll never do that again unless absolutely necessary!"
"OK, I promise," I said. Suddenly, the mist dropped away, leaving me in complete blackness.
What felt like a few moments later, I opened my eyes to find myself in a small, dark, damp room. The walls, floor, and ceiling were made out of grey stone; moss covered most of the stones. The only light in the room came from what shone in through the tiny, barred window on the door. I was in a dungeon cell.
I looked around behind me, wondering if it was only a dream, and saw a pale-faced man, sleeping right now, with his wrists chained to the wall. Though he was dirty and wearing tattered clothing, I realized who he was in an instant.
"Dad!" I whispered. I ran over to him, kneeled down, and put my hand on his shoulder. It went right through him So I was dreaming...
The sound of faint footsteps jostled me out of my thoughts. They got louder as the seconds passed, and a shadow soon passed in front of the door. A key clicked in the lock, and the door swung open.
Victoria and Pristina were standing in the doorway, holding their wands and looking absolutely disgusted.
"I hate being down here," complained Pristina, glaring at my dad.
"Father said we have to," sighed Victoria. She twirled her wand in her fingers absentmindedly. "But I hate it down here, too. It's so dirty and grimy."
"Honestly," replied Pristina. Sighing, she added, "I suppose it's best..."
"Yes, you're right," agreed Victoria. "We'll need all the practice we can get if we're to become as great as Father."
You mean as horrible, I thought with disgust.
"Then let's start. The faster we finish this, the faster we can go."
"Let's," answered Victoria. She pointed her wand at the slumped-over figure of my dad. "Ennervate"
He stirred, groaning a little. Looking up at the two in the doorway, his eyes flared, and he said roughly, "What do you want?"
"An answer to a simple question."
"What's Dumbledore planning?"
"Probably dinner, right about now." I grinned, glad to know my dad still had a sense of humor.
"You know what I mean, smart-ass. What's he planning to counterattack our father with?"
"I'm not going to tell you."
"You will, in time," sneered Pristina. She raised her wand, aimed its tip at my dad, and shouted, "Crucio!"
"No!!" I screamed, trying to get in front of my dad to block it. The beam went right through me, however, and I watched helplessly as my dad screamed and writhed, as Victoria and Pristina watched his agony calmly... and then I woke up.
It was still dark out, and the dormitory was quiet. I flung the sheets of my bed off me and bolted down into the common room, just as Harry entered.
"You too?" Harry asked breathlessly. I nodded, then flung myself into his arms, sobbing.
"Those evil... those evil creatures!" I finally exclaimed, wiping my eyes and hiccupping. "I can't believe I thought they were my friends!
"I know, I know," Harry whispered soothingly, stroking my hair. "It's alright..."
"No it's not!" I said fiercely. "I swear, if they.... if they...." I shuddered. "I'll kill them!!"
"Calm down." Harry hugged me tightly to him, and I could feel his body shaking, his heart thudding against his chest. "I'm sure he'll be alright."
I let out a shaky breath, unclenching my fists and letting them fall limply to my sides. "I'm sorry. that was really selfish of me... I just... seeing him in pain was too much.... I totally lost it..."
"You're upset, and I don't blame you for it," Harry assured me, kissing the top of my head. I hugged him tightly, fighting back another wave of tears.
"Harry. I don't. I'm not going to be able to go back to sleep tonight."
"Me, either," he sighed. "How about we just stay down here for a while?"
"Sounds good to me." Harry and I walked over to one of the couches and curled up on it. I rested my head on his shoulder, my eyes half-closed, listening to the soft crackling of the fire. My breathing slowed to a peaceful rate, and my eyes closed.
"Thank you," I murmured to Harry, "for staying with me."
"Any time," he whispered back. I grinned sleepily and nestled in a little closer to him. Whether it was because Harry's arms around my waist were warmer and more comforting than a fleece blanket, or if I just wanted to fall asleep like this, or both, I'll probably never find out, because sleep stole quickly over me in the next few moments.
The next thing I knew, I was being shaken softly awake by someone whispering, "Wake up before you miss them go! They're leaving soon."
I yawned deeply, stretching the sleepiness from my limbs, and sat up. Bleary eyed, I glanced quickly around the common room. Lily and James were standing by the fire, wrapped in dark green cloaks and carrying a small suitcase each.
