~Mystical Magician rushes over, panting~ I did it. ~waves papers in the air~ It's Christmas Eve and I updated my Christmas special! Alleluia! ~breaks out in what she calls song and others call noise~ Enjoy!
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Eriol blinked and fumbled for his glasses, wondering for a moment where he was. Then he remembered. The group, minus Nakuru and Spinel who were checking on his mansion, had decided to have sleepover Christmas Eve. They had settled in Sakura's in front of the fireplace on couches or the floor, silently agreeing that the bed would not be used.
It occurred to him to wonder why he was up at...4:03 AM. He attempted to snap his fingers and succeeded after a few tries. He had never been in very good shape with very little sleep.
The lights flickered on, dimly enough that it would wake no one. That's when Eriol saw the blur of orange bouncing off of the walls. It was amazing that Kero hadn't broken anything yet.
CRASH.
No, wait. Scratch that. He winced as Kero collided with the Christmas tree and glass ornaments rained down.
Forgetting himself, Kero began chanting, "Presents, presents presents!" in a loud voice.
The others began to stir.
Sakura, not fully awake, stuffed a pillow over her head. "What time is it?" she growled.
"4:00 in the morning," replied Eriol helpfully.
Sakura snarled. Eriol blinked at how much it sounded like a wild animal. But then, she had never been a morning person.
"Tell him to shut the bloody hell up or I'll make him." Her voice, although muffled, was perfectly understandable and Kero immediately stopped.
Everyone quickly dropped off to sleep and the event faded into a dim memory.
Thus began their first Christmas at Hogwarts.
*~*
"Is it time to open presents yet?" whined Kero with barely suppressed impatience.
They had just finished a small breakfast knowing that there would be a large feast at the Teachers' Christmas Party that evening. Harry had gone to Ron's this year for Christmas, so Sakura decided to give him the break off.
She had begun training him through his dreams, although he did not know it was her. He had almost mastered the meditation lesson she had begun him with and Sakura hoped he wouldn't forget it over the vacation.
Sakura sighed, pretending to think this over and glanced at the others who had just finished eating. She grinned. "Of course."
Kero cheered and raced for the tree. They had cleaned up the shards of glass and repaired them earlier that morning.
Soon the floor was covered in wrapping paper and ribbon and a pile of presents had accumulated next to each person. Kero was at the moment working his way through the presents of food he got, which was about three quarters of the pile. The rest was a handbag with cleverly disguised air holes from Eriol and costumes to match Sakura's and Syaoran's new costumes by, you guessed it, Tomoyo.
Sakura sweatdropped. "Um...Tomoyo-chan, when are we going to use all of these?" she asked holding the top set up against herself.
"I'm sure we'll find a use," replied Tomoyo dreamily.
Everyone glanced up as an owl swooped in and landed in between a crystal charged with extra energy and shaped into a cherry blossom pendant from Kero and Yue, and a carved stone that would automatically sharpen any dagger, knife, or sword from Meiling. Sakura had long ago taken lessons from Syaoran on how to use a sword and martial arts. She had become quite good and was evenly matched with both Li's.
Sakura took the package from the owl and thanked him as he flew away.
She opened the letter and skimmed it. "It's from otousan and oniichan!" she exclaimed excitedly.
Inside that package was a pouch of Galleons and a pair of barrettes that instantly changed color depending on her mood.
She lifted out a collar that had a note attached to it.
Sakura, can you have Eriol or someone attach this to Nakuru? It doesn't matter where and she won't feel a thing. It'll disappear once it's put on. Merry Christmas kaijuu.
- Touya
Eriol frowned. "I'm not sure I trust-"
He was interrupted when Nakuru and Spinel arrived. "We're baaaa-aaaack," said Nakuru. "OOOOOHHHHH! YOU'RE OPENING PRESENTS!"
As she started for the tree Syaoran snuck behind her and deftly attached the collar to her neck. She didn't even feel him do it.
"What?" demanded Syaoran as Eriol glared at him. "I was curious. Nothing happened, anyway."
Nakuru scrambled for her presents, oblivious, as usual, to what had happened.
They quickly dismissed it when Sakura let out an, "Oooooo." She held up a belt from Eriol that had a square pocket attached on opposite sides.
"It's for your Sakura Cards," explained Eriol. "One side is for the Cards ruled by Yue, and the other is for the Cards ruled by Keroberos. If you know which Card you want, just pick up the first one and that'll be it."
"Wow, it's perfect," said Sakura giving him a hug.
Syaoran glared, feeling a tad...okay more than a tad, jealous.
Eriol grinned pleasantly at him and sauntered over. "I don't think Sakura's opened a present from you yet."
"I was just about to give it to her," mumbled Syaoran as he reached into his pocket as Tomoyo exclaimed over the embroidered camera bag Sakura had given her.
"Er...umm...S-sakura," stuttered Syaoran, a blush spreading across his face, "this is for you."
Sakura smiled at him. "Thank you Syaoran." She grabbed an oblong box from under the Christmas tree. "This is for you too," she said shyly.
He tore away the paper and opened the box. What was in there took his breath away.
"Did I know you could embroider that well?" he asked absentmindedly.
Inside was a sheath for his sword with rich, colorful designs of cherry blossoms and peonies, a moon and a sun, as well as the elements, all along its length. A moonstone was placed near the top on both sides.
"It's funny how well I can embroider considering how horribly I sew," laughed Sakura as she opened up Syaoran's gift to her.
She gasped and almost went into a coughing fit. Snuggled in a piece of fabric was a silver ring designed into a wolf that had curled up, snout to tail. Its eyes were tiny emeralds and its nose was a small black opal.
Tomoyo whistled and Meiling clapped.
"Aren't you two a bit young to be getting married?" That was Eriol, of course.
They blushed fiercely.
"That's not an engagement ring, that's a promise ring," said Syaoran heatedly.
Eriol raised an eyebrow suggestively.
"Oh, shut up Hiiragizawa," muttered Syaoran.
"But I'm not saying anything." He frowned. "Or I wasn't, anyway."
"Perhaps I should have gotten you Band-Aids instead of that wand cleaning kit," threatened Syaoran.
Eriol was interrupted by Tomoyo who wisely chose that time to throw her arms around him and thank him for the intricately carved jewelry box that enlarged its inside to hold whatever she needed it to, while the outside stayed about the length of her hand.
"It also has a secret compartment if you touch the center of the rose carving," murmured Eriol, losing the fight against the blush.
Syaoran smirked and opened his mouth to say something. Eriol hastily beat him.
"And I thank you for the focus stone. It will really help me concentrate my energy on," he gave Syaoran a warning look, "important things."
They soon finished the presents and were cleaning up when the door opened.
"Special delivery for Kinomoto Sakura," said an amused voice.
Sakura leaped up with a shriek. "Otousan!" She hugged him tightly.
The door opened fully.
"TOUYA-KUN!" screeched Nakuru, racing at him.
Touya looked at her in thinly veiled panic and prayed that Sakura had followed his directions. Unfortunately he had forgotten to think up a command word and said the first thing that came to mind.
"Sit, Sit, SIT!"
Nakuru's face hit the floor at his feet painfully. It took her a while to get back to her feet and she pouted.
The silence was interrupted by Syaoran.
"So that's what the collar was for," said Syaoran with a chuckle.
*~*
Harry sighed contentedly as he finished his last bite of chicken and surveyed the room. Ron was still stuffing his face and Mrs. Weasley had begun to levitate the dishes over to the sink.
"Are you done, dear?" she asked him.
Harry nodded. "Thank you, Mrs. Weasley."
Ron finished shoveled the last bit of food into his mouth and jumped up.
"Bill and Charley should be here soon," he informed Harry looking hopefully in the direction of the Christmas tree. "Then we can open our presents."
"Fred! George! Don't you dare touch those presents until your brothers are here!" shouted Mrs. Weasley suddenly.
Fred and George emerged from the living room, looking annoyed. "I swear, Mum can see through walls," muttered Fred. Or maybe it was George.
At that moment, with a loud roaring, Bill emerged from the fireplace.
Ginny clattered downstairs and Mr. Weasley raced up from the basement.
"Can we-" they began at the same time. Their faces fell.
"Oh. Hi Bill," said Ginny in disappointment.
"Nice to see you guys too," remarked Bill dryly.
"It's nothing against you," explained Mr. Weasley quickly, "but until Charlie gets here we have to wait before opening our presents. We were hoping you two had come together."
"No, but he said he would be right-"
The fire roared behind him and Charlie appeared.
"-behind me," finished Bill.
Ginny, Fred, George, Ron, Mr. Weasley, and Harry cheered before rushing for the tree.
Charlie stared after them, bemused. "I did take a shower this morning," he commented.
"Don't take it personally, dear," said Mrs. Weasley. "They're all boys and Ginny's still young."
Charlie and Bill looked at their mother. "We're boys too, you know," said Bill cautiously.
Mrs. Weasley patted his head and led the two into the living room. "You two are different."
Paper and bows were quickly strewn across the floor as the opening of presents commenced.
Harry chewed absently on one of the new High Flying Schmoks candies Ron had given him as he flipped through the book Myths and Realities: What is the Truth? from Hermione. This one actually looked interesting and was not so thick as to be unappealing.
"Thank you, Hermione," praised Ron as he opened a box containing a new cauldron. Neville had melted his last one and, changed as Snape may be, he knew he was not going to let him get away with a blob of metal in place of a cauldron.
Harry was just about finished opening his presents when an owl swooped in, dropping something in his lap, and then Ron's before flying off.
It was a small box from Draco. Harry still felt a little surprised that Draco was still kind. After that first day, Draco had been a little more like his old self. Not rude, but with more backbone. Draco had confessed to him that he had been unused to having a conscience and it took him a day before he could get rid of the wimpy attitude.
Harry opened the box and inside was a hat. Wondering what it was, he looked around for a note and found one.
Harry,
This hat is used to block nightmares. Wear it when you sleep. Happy Christmas!
-Draco
It reminded Harry of the strange dreams he had been having with the girl's voice. It had stopped once school had gotten off, but Harry still practiced the lesson it had been teaching him. Meditation.
Now that he remembered, he wanted to ask Ron about it. Maybe it was a condition some wizards got or something.
He sidled over to where Ron sat. "Hey Ron, I've been." His throat worked, but no sound came out.
Ron looked at him quizzically. "You've been what?"
Harry tried again, but no matter what he did, he couldn't tell him anything.
He sighed and shook his head. "Nevermind."
There was a spell on him. But was it good...or bad?
*~*
The group was happily chatting with their fellow professors as they piled food onto their plates. Only Nakuru seemed less than happy and that was because she couldn't glomp Touya.
She had tried to be sneaky about it and almost succeeded when Touya realized what she was doing and panicked.
"Sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit!"
Needless to say, she was going to be feeling that for a long time to come.
Sakura was looking around the room for Severus when she realized he wasn't there.
"I'll be right back," she told Tomoyo and headed down to his room.
She stopped in front of the door and knocked loudly.
"Go away," came the oh-so-polite reply.
Sakura, of course, barged right in and screeched to a halt. She choked and pounded her chest as she coughed.
Severus glared at her and crossed his arms. The effect was ruined by the red hat, Santa suit, and pillow tucked against his stomach. Or she assumed it was a pillow.
Sakura recovered and burst into a fit of giggling. "Why are you (giggle) wearing those (snort) clothes? (guffaw) I know it's (hysterical laughter) the season for (wild burst of laughter) it, but it's not (chuckle) you're style."
"I refused Albus's invitation," he replied coldly.
"Well, I came to fetch you for the party. You can show off your new clothes there." Sakura barely managed to get that out before shrieking with laughter.
"Over my dead body."
Sakura wiped tears of laughter from her eyes. "Tell you what. If you come to the party I'll get rid of that suit for you."
Snape sighed. "I guess I don't have much choice."
"Glad to be of service," said Sakura cheerfully. "After all, you don't want to miss what we got Dumbledore."
Snape sighed again when his regular black robes appeared and the Santa suit disappeared.
They were halfway back to the Great Hall before Severus gave in to his curiosity. "Alright, what did you and your little group give Albus?"
Sakura looked up at him, eyes sparkling mischievously.
"Socks. Fluffy, pink, frilly ones. After all, one can't have too many socks."
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Okay. First of all, I don't own the "sit" idea. I got that from the manga Inuyasha, and I thought it would be funny to add it into this chapter (and probably more to come).
One other technical detail that I was too lazy to fit into the text was that Draco is staying at Hogwarts for all vacations since his father is a Death Eater and probably wouldn't like Draco's new loyalties.
I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! My next update will be: who knows? Sometime in 2003.
Happy Holidays,
Mystical Magician