Samantha had taken a while to decide whether or not to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas. Leslie and Max had both decided to stay a long time ago, but Samantha had to also think about her siblings. They were close to each other. She knew they had to have many questions, about where she was, what she was doing, and why she had gone, and Samantha wasn't quite sure how to answer any of them.
She didn't know, for instance, if she should tell them about magic, or if she should hide it from them. She didn't know, if she hid it from them, what she would say about where she was or why she had left. She could always avoid all contact with them in the hopes for hiding it from them, but then there was no point in going home at all.
So, in the end, Samantha decided to stay with her friends at school.
"You're staying?" Leslie had yelled when Samantha told her. "Merlin, Sam, that's wonderful!" she said, wrapping her arms around Samantha's neck.
Samantha laughed, and hugged her best friend back.
"We're gonna have so much fun together," she told Leslie later, as the girls sat in the Common Room.
"The most fun," Leslie agreed.
They woke the morning of December 25th with a feeling of inexplicable joy, seeing the pile of gifts at the end of their beds.
Smiling at each other, they started opening them.
Samantha got a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans from Ellie, a huge box of Chocolate Frogs from Hudson, a red and gold journal from Bella, a white lace dress from Leslie, and a silver necklace and earrings from Max. The Dursley's had given her a singular sock with a note reminding her how much trouble she was causing them, leaving them to cover up her disappearance, and asking if she had to come home for the summer.
"That's not very nice," Leslie said, reading the note.
'Yeah, well, they're not very nice people," Samantha said, throwing the note away. She had two presents left.
The first was a small book with a leather cover. Samantha opened it and gasped.
"What is it?" Leslie asked her.
Samantha couldn't speak. Leslie curiously moved over to look at it, and knit her eyebrows together.
"Are those...?" she asked.
"My parents," Samantha whispered, her eyes brimming with tears. She flipped through the pictures, looking at the smiling faces of her parents and their friends, and, on occasion, herself and her siblings.
The Potter siblings had never had pictures of themselves growing up. There was the occasional school picture, but not any of the normal things most kids had, like when they lost their first tooth or when they learned to ride a bike or any other occasion.
Samantha saw pictures of her parent's wedding, both smiling, looking as happy as can be. Her mom was pregnant with her in these pictures, and one in particular caught Samantha's eye.
It was her parents, sitting down, her mom in the gorgeous white dress, her dad in his handsome suit, where both of her parent's hands were laid on Lily's stomach, where a slight but noticeable bump popped out. There were three people around them, all of whom Samantha recognized from Snape's memories.
Sirius was on the other side of James, smiling widely, his handsome face framed by his dark hair.
Remus was on Lily's other side, his smile calmer than Sirius's, his arm around Lily's shoulders, a tired look in his eyes.
Peter was next to Remus, smiling almost nervously, still, however, looking happy.
It was her parents, however, who looked the happiest. Her mom was smiling widely, pure joy in her bright green eyes as she cradled her baby bump, her eyes moving from the camera to James. Her dad was glowing with excitement, looking from Lily to where Samantha lay in Lily's stomach as if he had never been more proud of anyone in his life.
All five inhabitants of the photo waved at her on occasion. Samantha stared at the picture for a very long time.
Finally, she shut the photo album and looked down at the final gift she had received. It was a fluid-like, silky material the color of silver. She examined it curiously, wondering what it could be.
"Must be some sort of... blanket or something. It's weird," Samantha said, throwing it around her shoulders.
Leslie gasped. "Sam, you're invisible!" she cried, putting her hand over her mouth
"What?" Samantha said, her eyes wide as she looked down at herself-or what used to be herself, for, from her neck down, Samantha was invisible.
"It's an Invisibility Cloak! Sam, those are really rare! Who gave it to you?" Leslie said, rushing to examine the cloak.
"Certainly not the Dursleys," Samantha said.
"It didn't come with a note?" Leslie asked.
Samantha shook her head. "Nope," she said.
"Wow... who would do that? Why would they give this to you?" Leslie asked.
Samantha shrugged. "Haven't got a clue," she replied.
"This is... amazing," Leslie said after another few minutes of examining it.
"I know. We'll have to try it out later tonight," Samantha said, setting it next to the rest of her gifts. "Come on, let's go visit Max."
Leslie raised her eyebrows. "Is something going on with you and Max?" she asked.
Samantha felt her face go slightly hotter. "No, nothing," she replied. She wasn't exactly sure why she hadn't told Leslie about her and Max. She just knew that Bella was the girl she talked to about that. Leslie was the one who she was crazy with.
"If you say so," Leslie said in a singsong voice.
The two made their way into the boys' dormitory where they met Max and his friends.
"Hey, Leslie, Samantha, Merry Christmas!" Max called when he saw them. He was sitting on his bed with Elias, Damon and Connor, and the boys formed a circle. As Samantha got closer, she saw that they were playing with Quidditch figurines, part of Samantha's present to Max.
"Sam, these are really cool!" Connor told her, watching a tiny wizard zoom around on a tiny broomstick.
Samantha chuckled. "I thought you guys would like them," she said. The set of seven wizard figurines, seven mini broomsticks, and four tiny Quidditch balls had come with a book about the history of Quidditch.
"Seriously, Samantha, this is amazing," Max said softly, standing up from the bed.
Samantha smiled lightly. "Thank you for the necklace and earrings. They're really pretty," she told him.
"No problem," Max told her. "Margot helped me pick them out. She was very annoyed with me by the end of the shopping trip," he said.
Samantha laughed. "Of course she was."
Leslie raised her eyebrows, looking at Samantha. Samantha rolled her eyes at Leslie.
"So, you all decided to stay? Why?" Samantha asked, sitting on the edge of Max's bed.
"My parents are going to visit some relatives in America, and I didn't feel like going," Elias said.
"I just didn't want to go home. Why should I? I've got friends here, plus, going home, I'd have to see my awful brother and aunt," Damon said.
"I feel you. My aunt is awful as well. So is my uncle," Samantha replied, playing with a broom figurine and watching it fly around.
"I just stayed because they all stayed," Connor said, watching the beaters hit each other with their bats.
"Nice," Samantha said.
At Privet Drive, Harry and Lauren sat a few feet away from the tree, watching as Dudley opened yet another present they all knew would be forgotten in a few weeks.
"I will never understand why they make us sit here and watch," Harry whispered to Lauren.
She nodded in response. Lauren was eyeing a present different from the rest. It was a square box about two inches in height and had shimmery, gold paper wrapped around it. There was a card on top of it.
The Dursley's seemed not to have noticed this box, since it was tucked away behind the tree and not visible to them until Dudley opened a few more presents in that direction.
Lauren looked at the Dursley's for a moment. She needed to touch the parcel. She inched her way towards it, watching the Dursley's the whole time.
Soon, she was close enough to reach out and feel it. Nervously, and knowing the risks of it, she reached her hand out and let her fingertips brush the wrapping paper.
Her hand lingered there as she took in the information. It was for her and Harry. It was chocolates. She felt the card. It was from a man with a long, white beard and half moon glasses. Lauren had no idea who it was.
Harry looked at her. "Who's is it?" he whispered.
"It's... ours. Chocolate. And a card from a guy with a long white beard and glasses. I don't know who he is," Lauren whispered back, inching back to Harry
"Who would get us chocolate?" Harry asked.
Lauren shrugged. "An old guy with a long beard," she told Harry.
Dudley soon made it over to the final present, the one wrapped in gold paper.
"Petunia, did you get that for Dudley?" Uncle Vernon asked, not recognizing the present.
"No. You didn't?" she asked him.
'No," Uncle Vernon replied.
"There's... a name tag," Lauren said nervously.
Aunt Petunia picked it up. "To Ha... Harry and Lauren Potter..." she read slowly.
"Who would send you guys something?" Dudley sneered.
Petunia was silent.
"Who's it from?" Uncle Vernon asked.
"It doesn't say," Aunt Petunia responded in a voice that was almost a whisper.
"Not... not from her, is it?" Uncle Vernon asked. Neither he nor Aunt Petunia had mentioned Samantha's name since the day she ran away.
"Could be," Aunt Petunia said quietly.
"Can we open it or not?" Harry asked.
Aunt Petunia, without looking at Uncle Vernon, who looked as though he would like nothing more than to crush the package, handed it to Lauren, who was closest.
Carefully, she took the card out from under the bow, handing the present to Harry to hold. She opened the card and two pictures fell out.
The first was labeled "Harry's first Christmas" on the back. Lily and James were crouched in front of a Christmas tree, smiling happily, James holding a toddler version of Samantha, smiling so big her eyes were hidden, and Lily holding a five month old Harry, who was also smiling, showing off the white beginnings of teeth on the bottom of his mouth.
The second was labeled "Last family photo" on the back. Here, the five of them were seated on a couch. James had Harry on his lap, who now had many more teeth, and Lily had Samantha on her lap, who was holding baby Lauren in her arms.
Lauren and Harry examined the pictures, looking at every detail. Lauren saw a cat tail in the corner of the Christmas picture.
"We had a cat," she whispered to Harry, pointing to the tail.
"What are those?" Aunt Petunia demanded.
Lauren handed her the pictures. Aunt Petunia gasped.
"That- that's Lily..." she said.
Lauren nodded slowly. She took the pictures back from Aunt Petunia, taking care to touch her hand for as long as possible to know what she was feeling.
Lauren pulled her hand away slowly, giving Aunt Petunia a strange look.
Harry and Lauren read the card. In thin, loopy writing, it said simply, "Thought you would enjoy these photographs I had in my possession. Enjoy the chocolates as well. Merry Christmas!"
"It's not from her, is it?" Uncle Vernon asked again.
Harry shook his head. "No. That's not her handwriting," he told his uncle.
They unwrapped the box of chocolates.
"No fair! They got chocolate! I want it!" Dudley cried, reaching for the box. Harry leapt up, holding it away from Dudley.
"You will give that to Dudley this instant," Uncle Vernon roared.
"No," Lauren said. "It's ours. You wouldn't make Dudley give it to us if he got some, so why would you make us give it to him?"
Uncle Vernon looked at her furiously. "You listen here, girl-," he said, grabbing Lauren's arm, but the second he did that, a white hot pain shot through his arm. He screamed, and so did Lauren.
Uncle Vernon pulled his arm away from Lauren, and Lauren put her left hand where Uncle Vernon had grabbed her right arm. Both were panting.
Uncle Vernon held up his arm, which stuck out at a strange angle. Lauren, though she had felt all of the pain, was completely unharmed.
"You broke his arm!" Aunt Petunia cried, rushing to her husband, who was howling in pain. Dudley was watching Lauren with fear in his eyes.
"Dudders, get in the car, we're going to the hospital!" she called, pushing Vernon towards the door. "You two," her eyes narrowed as she looked at Harry and Lauren. "You will be dealt with when we get back. I want the house exactly as we left it when we get back. Don't touch any of Diddy's new presents," she instructed Lauren and Harry, and with that, the Durselys were out the door.
Harry and Lauren sat on the couch, looking at the pictures.
"Mum was pregnant with me here," Lauren told Harry, showing him the Christmas photograph and pointing to the small part of their mother's stomach they could see.
"Mm," Harry replied absent-mindedly. "Did you really break Uncle Vernon's arm?"
Lauren looked at Harry and shrugged. "I don't know how I could've. He only touched me. I didn't touch him," she told Harry. "But... I felt it. I felt the pain that he felt. It was-," Lauren shuddered, "awful."
"Why do you think I can't... do what you do? You know... feel stuff and know it," asked Harry.
Lauren shrugged again. "I'm not sure. I don't know why I can do it. Samantha can't do it. I've felt her before. It's like... magic. If that were real. It's supernatural, basically. I don't really understand it," Lauren said.
Harry bit his lip. "I wish magic were real," he sighed.
"Then we could teleport away from the Dursleys and turn a pumpkin into a house and live there forever and find Samantha and... and bring our parents back," Lauren said, slowing down once she got to the end.
"That sounds nice," Harry said, trading pictures with Lauren so they were studying the other picture.
The Dursley's came back a few hours later. They had forgotten all about the chocolates, which Lauren had snuck to her room just in time, because she was then punished for breaking her uncle's arm. Harry was punished too, though neither of them could figure out why. They weren't allowed to leave their rooms for the rest of the winter holidays.
Harry, however, snuck to Lauren a few early mornings, and the siblings would share a chocolate and talk until they heard Uncle Vernon stop snoring, and then Harry would scamper back downstairs to his closet and not talk to Lauren for another day or two.