CHAPTER 3: HIDDEN COMPARTMENT

The great hall boomed with excitement. It was the first official day of classes for the old students and the new. The 4 house tables Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were lined up near each other all crowded with the bodies of the Hogwarts students. Christmas made her way to breakfast meeting with the other kids that had already arrived. She was wearing her uniform as everyone else, representing her house and making her way towards her table. 3 books were held in her crossed arms along with more in her bag. Her chin stuck high in the air as she passed the others trying not to look at Draco Malfoy sniggering over with the Slytherins and settling herself at the first seat high up on the row of benches.

She swung her book bag down on the wooden surface taking out her schedule for the day. Her eyes turned slowly out of its corners noticing everyone watching. She was used to strange attention, nonsense of made up stories going around but she figured she was getting it because of Neville Longbottom. "Staring is rude, but I guess one could expect that from such childish behavior." They turned their heads and began talking amongst themselves, probably about her she thought as she took a sip of some pumpkin juice from her goblet.

"Better drink a lot of liquids today Snow! Wouldn't want you dehydrating and passing out!" The hall erupted into a laughing fit as Draco Malfoy made an insulting pass at her from across the room. She spun around quickly gazing at him, his mouth hanging open, his eyes squinting as he laughed with the others. They all stared and pointed at her except for Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley who had similiar events occur to them. She looked towards the Gryffindors, the trio looking at her with sympathetic expressions. She stuffed her belongings in her bag and wrapped it around her shoulders. She stormed towards Draco, her fists clenched to her wand inside her robes though she knew she couldn't physically harm him but it comforted her.

"You want to make rude comments, go right ahead!" She displayed a notebook filled with pink parchment and Malfoy stopped chuckling. "Make them in detention." She said slapping a slip into his chest and walking away as the kids oooooh'd at his punishment. "Oh and try not to pass out while your cleaning the toilets. I heard the facilities on the 3rd floor are a nasty business." Her voice rang out back to him as she headed to her first class early catching a glimpse of his sneering face.

Green House number 5 smelt horribly of Manure. It wasn't a welcoming for her first class of the year, Herbiology. She was happy she shared it with the Gryffindors, not noticing a sleek long blonde haired boy anywhere. She stood in front of the class, the first table and person next to Professor Sprout who was dragging down buckets of the horrid stench. Everybody in the room crunched up their noses and let out funny sounds of disgust. Professor Sprout, a very short stubby witch with short curly gray hair and fat rosy cheeks, wiped her brow while finally acknowledging their presence. "Good morning class." "Good morning Professor." The students called back. "Welcome to Green House 5, Herbiology for the 5th year students. I am professor Sprout as you know and this year the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws will be partnering up for the projects we will be doing in this class." Christmas turned her head slowly to Harry Potter, feeling he was watching her closely. His eyes were locked on her, it looked as though he was eager to speak with her about something. He grinned slightly as she looked back at him. She raised her left eyebrow and turned back to Sprouts speech.

"You may have noticed a very grotesque smell as you entered today. I have here in this bucket Centaur droppings." "Erugh!" The sound of distaste was made through out the room. "Yes I know, not the best subject to work with on your first day but I have to teach it so toughin' up! It's very common to cow droppings in stench but in texture it is not. This here will fertilize the Balutus plant. Does anyone here know what that is?" At once Christmas' hand shot up, Hermiones' second to hers. "Yes Ms. Snow?" "The Balutus plant provides a deadly poison known as Benznik which exists in the venom of a Basilisk. If mixed properly with exotic herbs and bats blood it can cure all burns, restoring the skin to it natural state. It resembles a pink daisy with thorns and will be fatal to those who get pricked by it." Hermione Granger looked oddly disappointed as Ravenclaw was awarded 10 pts. She was usually the one who answered the questions but with Snow around it was going to be difficult. Ron shrugged as Hermione looked at him and Harry while Professor Sprout made the class split into groups of 2.

Almost all the kids had partners now, talking and huddling over their tables. The assignment was to take a heap of Centaur droppings and fertilize a small seed that she gave you, along with a ceramic pot to grow it in. Christmas knew no one would ask her to join them so she asked Sprout if she could work alone. "I know your very independent Ms. Snow but I would like everyone to work with another. Plus if I let you work alone Mr. Potter would have no partner as well." She turned her head to Harry who sat at an empty table with his materials. Ron and Hermione teamed up together leaving him by himself. "Mr.. Potter you and Ms. Snow will be partners for this project." Sprout said leading Christmas to the empty seat across from him. "Share the work and help each other out."

Christmas sighed hotly, but she thought working with Harry wouldn't be so bad after all. "Did you want me to get the droppings?" He asked staring at her as she wrote down everything they needed and drew small square boxes next to them with words "done" and "did not do" to check off. "You know how much is needed I expect?" "Yes, your not the only one who pays attention you know." He pushed the wooden chair out making a screeching sound against the cement and scooped two cups full out of the bucket. She checked off the box next to Centaur feces and poured it into the pot. She went back to her notebook seeing Harry's hand flinch a little, his mouth ajar ready to say something but he looked hesitant. "What is it?" He looked at her as she placed her quill to the side. "What are you talking about?' "Your staring at me like a deer in headlights it's not polite." He looked away grabbing the seed and digging a little hole to place it in. She frowned slightly noticing he didn't answer her question, but she pushed it aside getting back to work.

They were the first ones done as class ended and they wrote their names on a piece of parchment next to there plant. Her second class was bout to begin, Advanced Muggle Studies, but before she could make it inside the castle someone tugged on her robes. She turned around, it was Harry. "Come to stare some more?" "No. I was thinking whether to ask you this back there but its been eating away at my brain." "I thought you didn't have any personally." She said in an aggravated tone as she continued to walk. he clenched his teeth and stood where he was but he was eager to ask his question. "What happened to you on the train!?" He bellowed out on the lawns catching a few peoples eyes as they passed. Christmas stopped and gave an odd side grin. "Hmph, come to make fun of me as well?" "No, its not like that." "I don't buy that Mr. Potter. Your going to tell your friends what I say and then they can throw a comment at me as well? I think not." "No! I didn't mean it to sound like that. It's just..." He wanted to say what had happened to him but was reluctant for every ones ears to hear. "Your wasting my time, I'm going to be late." She said while shaking her bushy brown curls that blew around her face. She opened the castle doors as Harry headed in far behind her.

The class was very small, about 12 kids usually there were 30 but not many people were interested in muggles, especially for an advanced classroom. The houses weren't sorted her, people from all 4 sat around waiting for the Professor to arrive. She sat next to a Hufflepuff boy. he had sandy blonde hair, dark eyes and a few freckles on his nose. She hadn't recognized him, probably because he never got in trouble and she respected that greatly. A tall thin man glided in behind them wearing maroon robes and a vest suit underneath. His shoes were polished to shinned perfection, his brown hair short and his bangs combed perfectly straight resting a few inches above his eyebrows. He had a stingy thin mustache, grays were starting to appear underneath some of the hair. He had his hands clenched together behind his back as he strode over to a black desk, examining all the faces staring at him.

"I take it here at least one of you lives with a muggle?" Christmas, the boy next to her, a girl to her right with red hair and a big eared blonde haired girl in the back raised their hands. the man smiled and nodded. "I assume you are half bloods or less?" Their hands didn't go down but he soon made the gesture that they could. "Then you will know a lot of their ways, but for those who don't keep notebooks handy at all times. I am Mr. Lennox, I know your used to professor terms but in here we will do it the muggle way." Christmas noticed he never sat down once but stood by his desk looking around the room several times. "You! What is your name?" He asked pointing at the sandy haired boy sitting beside her. "Cody Walker." He replied in a high pitched voice. He was nervous, she could tell, as he left hand prints on the table from his sweaty palms. "Mr. Walker, tell me about your family." Cody looked around, every ones eyes were upon him and he cleared his throat. "My moms a muggle she came here for teaching she was the only one in her family to attend Hogwarts. She met my dad here also, he's a halfblood." "Interesting bond." Mr. Lennox placed his forefinger to his chin and urged Cody to go on. "My grandmother on my dads side was a pure blood, my grandfather was a muggle." "Very interesting Mr. Walker. Does your family use a lot of magic around the household?" "Yes." He nodded in response. "And you! What is your name?" Christmas' heart raced , she knew he would ask about her personal life. "Christmas Snow." "Beautiful name Ms. Snow." He said smiling as she gave a faint one back. "tell us about your family." She swallowed hard. "I'm a halfblood, mom is pure my dad was ..." She stopped. the word was would indicate no more and she didn't need more questioning. "Is a muggle." She looked at him seeing his eyes pierce into hers. She could feel he knew she had changed her words on purpose. She didn't know whether to stop speaking or go on but she continued anyway. "they both attended Hogwarts but didn't meet here, my dads a few years older than my mom. They met up at the Ministry of Magic." "Both your parents work there? What fields of work are they in?" "My mom works in Muggle artifacts but she met my father while she was in the Department of Mysteries. My dad worked in Muggle Artifacts and she sort of went to work with him after they got married." "Good jobs have there. Very nice Ms. Snow." "Thank you Mr. Lennox." He smiled. "You remembered, most students slip up and say Professor." She smiled back. She liked his presence and felt like she belonged with him.

The lunch bell rang. They spent the whole period learning each others blood history and now it was time to eat. She didn't really want to go inside, the morning events still lingered in her thoughts as she heard laughing from everyone inside the Great Hall. She stood beside the large wooden doors, the big brass handles showing her reflection. She had to go in sometime, she couldn't starve herself forever. She put her head down and turned the other way. She wasn't ready to face them again, Draco would probably throw something really harmful towards her after being humiliated. Instead she sat in the empty library reading her Advanced Muggle Studies book and writing her name on the inside cover. The scribbling of her quill echoed in the empty study, Madam Pince wasn't even around, probably getting her lunch like everyone else. The silence was making her drowsy and it didn't help that she kept herself up the night before. She looked at the clock its hands showing 11:30, she had half and hour before lunch was out and she decided to take that time to rest.

Her head lay on her arms. She closed her eyes seeing nothing but black now. Her chest was heaving up and down at a steady pace, her breathing lightly heard as it blew on her skin. The flaps of her eyelids began to change color and take shape of the large old house she dreamt of before, but this time it was empty. She found her 16 year olds self looking down from the top of the staircase to the spot where her father had died 13 years before. She stood still for about 10 minutes, her eyes focused on the last few steps and slowly she turned hearing something from another part of the home. She was facing a long dark corridor now, it was lined with a red carpet, red walls with painted white flowers and picture of the little girl she once was. There was another loud crash coming from a room a few ways down. She was floating to it, her feet not touching the ground as she reached a white framed door and pushed it open. It was her old bedroom. Dolls of wizard and fairies, small broomsticks flying around a tiny pink bed, music box with a ballerina who actually danced around to the melody and a book self with tons of novels about everything. She couldn't figure out where the noise came from but she heard it again coming from under the bed. Her feet were floored now as she grabbed the bed by its posts and dragged it away from the wall but there was nothing, no latched to open up anything. She placed her ear to the floor but there was only silence. She pushed herself off the floor placing her hand on the wall hearing a hollow echo as she did so. It was coming from inside. It suddenly occurred to her that she knew what to do, but she didn't have what was needed. Something caught her eye on the comforter of the mattress, a wand glowing faintly waiting there for use. She gripped it between her slippery sweaty fingers anxious to get inside. She placed the tip to the middle and said "Varoo Mun Tookus!" White sparks stuck to the wall making a squared shape and a round handle appeared. She gripped it and turned, her teeth digging into her lips.

RING!!! The bell rang, lunch was over waking Christmas abruptly. She sat bolt up right shocked. She hadn't finished the dream but she wasn't sure if she wanted too. She felt a pain on her mouth and ran her fingers along her bottom lip. She could feel the indents of her teeth and raised her eyebrow wondering if she was really biting them that hard.

The last period of the day went by pretty slow as she had History of Magic with the Hufflepuffs. Professor Bins, a very round and slow talking ghost taught the class ending in its usual manner to the sounds of snoring. The bell rang once again for dinner and Christmas made the decision that she would join. To her surprise no one chuckled as she stepped in, instead they were gossiping about what peeves the poltergeist had done to Filch's cat. Apparently he had shaved the fur off Ms. Norris and the caretaker lost his top at the sight of his hairless animal. She ate in peace once again, taking little bites of her mashed potatoes and steamed veggies as she highlighted her notes from her last class.

"Chrissy, I need to talk to you." It was Harry again, what could he possibly want she thought. "Harry I told you before..." "It's important. His eyes were anxious, it really must be if he came to talk to her during their eating hour. "Harry I'm eating, can't it wait?" "I need it to be a private conversation anyway. Meet me after dinner by the girls bathroom where Moaning Myrtle dwells." She watched him as he met Hermione and Ron by the doors and headed out seeing Draco Malfoy watching her curiously.

She was undecided whether she would go, but she made her mind up when she settle her things in the common and strode out for her hallway duties, her first stop Moaning Myrtles toilet.