A/n: It's Christmas Morning. Yay! What surprises are in store for out favourite spellcasters?

Disclaimer: -sigh- still don't own.

Chapter 14 – Christmas Morning.

"Wake up sleepy" said a particularly loud voice.

Simone rolled over, ignoring it. She felt a shot of pain as something bulky collided with her side. "Ouch! What did you throw at me?"

"Your present. and I didn't throw it, I levitated it to you, forcefully," said Lily.

"It still hurt," Simone grumbled, opening her eyes and sitting up, "Why did you get me a present?"

"Ah…because it's Christmas? Why else? Did you forget all of a sudden about last night? I don't see how you could have. I've still got "Come ye merry gentlemen" stuck in my head,"

"Oh yeah, Christmas. Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas to you too. Now open your present!" Lily said eagerly.

Simone looked at the green-wrapped box on the floor, where it had fallen. Clicking her fingers, the box jumped back onto her bed. Simone flashed Lily a knowing smile and proceeded to open the gift.

Inside she found large, thick, leather-bound book entitled The Seven Great Unsolved Magical Mysteries by Ramona Henge. Simone was startled.

"Wow, Lily, this is awesome!"

"Awesome?"

"Oh sorry, I mean, it's incredible. I love it, thank you!"

"Don't worry about it. I know how much you like mysteries, which is ironic since you are very much a mystery yourself, with all those extra abilities and all,"

"I told you, I'll tell you one day. Just not yet,"

"I know. Now, what did you get me?"

"You? oh, um….well, you see, the thing is…"

Lily looked dejected.

"I don't know if it will be half as good as the present you got for me. Here you go!" Lily brightened up considerably. She eagerly accepted the purple package and opened it with practiced care. She was amazed at what she found. A beautiful crystal pendant, as big as her thumb, on a leather cord. She was lost for words.

"I know it looks like an ordinary crystal necklace, but this one is special. That crystal is Melianmite. It is only found in one place in the entire world, so it's incredibly rare, and only a handful of people know of its existence. But the most amazing thing is not its rarity, but its ability. You may know that all crystals are good at storing magical energy, but this one is the best. Once full, the energy will last over a year with typical daily use, and it can also use the energy to healing without any prompting or magical ability of the wearer. And it will also act as an amulet and protect you from certain magical attacks, and prevent you from being scried. And if you look on the cut sides at the bottom, you'll find symbols," Lily looked and saw two curvy lines, waves, on another side, there was a rat, and on the third side, a bird. "There symbols are of your zodiac sign, Aquarius, a rat, since you were born in the Chinese year of the rat, and a falcon, your spirit animal guide. This means it's personalised and the crystal will work at it's best only for you."

"I don't know what to say. This is such an amazing gift,"

"Just say you'll use it. Without giving too much away, let me just say that if you're going to keep me as company, you'll need the extra protection."

"I will this is the best present I've ever received. Thank you."

Lily gave Simone a hug.

"This is one awesome Christmas," Lily said.

Sirius' eyes flew open. It was his favourite time of the year; Christmas.

"Hey James, wake up!" he flung her pillow at James' head.

James garbled something inaudible.

"I said wake up!" Sirius levitated his thrown pillow so that it was beating James on the head.

"Fine, I'm awake, I'm awake," James replied, batting away Sirius' pillow.

"It's Christmas, it's Christmas!" sand Peter, as he bounced around the room with excitement.

Remus yawned. "What are you people going on about?"

"It's Christmas!" replied Peter.

"Oh, right. Christmas,"

"Presents!" added Sirius.

And so the four boys got up and exchanged gifts. Remus received books, as he had expected. Sirius ended up getting more prank items (especially from James). Peter received several shiny objects (which he was thrilled to get) and James received presents which were predominantly quidditch themed. Everyone was happy with their gifts, and once they were ready, the boys got dressed and headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

The Great Hall was full of laughter, as the students who were still there for the holidays, feasted and shared in conversation and jokes, overjoyed by the mood of the season. When the boys arrived, they found Simone and Lily already at the table.

"Morning boys," Simone greeted.

They all grumbled their replies. Remus yawned, again that morning. Staying up late and getting up early was not something he was used to.

"Merry Christmas Simone, Merry Christmas Lily," James said.

Lily looked up from her scrambled eggs, slightly startled. "Oh, Merry Christmas to you too, James,"

"I've got presents for you!" said Simone, as the boys sat down opposite her.

"Yay! Presents!' Sirius loved presents. Obviously.

Smiling, Simone gave the boys her gifts and watched in anticipation as they opened them. Peter unwrapped a shiny, mini mirror ball that spun of its own accord. James opened his box to find a miniature broomstick, which flew on its own. It looked the perfect size for perhaps a teddy bear. James gave Simone a knowing wink, thanking her silently.

Remus opened his present to find what looked like a book. It was entitled "Chocolate Literature" in Ancient Runes. When no-one else was looking, Remus opened the book to discover it was actually a box, filled with chocolate. The aromas tempted him to eat them all now, but he had the self control not to. He nodded his thanks to Simone. The box would be a fantastic way to keep his chocolate stash safe from the others, especially Sirius.

And Sirius eagerly unwrapped his gift to find a brand new Wizard Chess Set. It was made of crystal. Sirius looked questionably at Simone.

"It's a challenge. If you can beat me at Wizards Chess, you will get the reward." she replied.

"What reward?" he asked.

"You'll find out if you win, which I doubt. So, it doesn't really matter…"

"What are you talking about? I've beat you at chess a billion times over before it would even look like you were winning!"

Simone smiled, "So, you accept my challenge?"

"Of course. When do you want to play?"

"I'll let you know. It could be at any moment, so I suggest you get some practice in. You wouldn't want to be beaten by a girl, now would you?"

Sirius grumbled and studied his new chess set.

From the boys, she had received a book William Shakespeare's play, The Tempest (from Remus), an origami crane (or at least, an attempted one), (from Peter), the latest record of the Witchy Gypsies (from James) and a sketchbook from Sirius, because she "seemed like the kind of person who would like drawing and other stuff like that,"

Simone accepted all her gifts graciously.

It wasn't until well after breakfast, and a snowball fight, that Simone remembered the bloody spectre from the night before. After searching the castle, she found her bubble in a fourth level hallway, but the ghost had somehow escaped. This was a worry. Nothing was meant to be about to escape from the bubble. It had held all kinds of adversaries in the past, including ghosts, but this one had managed to get out. This was seriously bad.

"Oh crap," Simone muttered to herself.

"Hey, Simone, what's wrong?" said a voice from behind.

She turned around to see James, walking up to her.

"Oh, just a minor ghost-related problem," she replied,

"What? Peeves terrorising you?"

"No, this ghost is new. It doesn't belong here in the castle. Which is why I'm worried."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, once they die, ghosts usually choose a place to haunt and stay there for all eternity or until they move on. It isn't common for them to move around."

"Oh. And what does this new ghost look like?"

"Well, it's a young woman, of about 17, in a white tattered dress, kind of old-fashioned…umm, has tangled, long brown hair, and looks to be smeared with blood. Oh, and she looks quite angry, usually carrying a butchers knife."

James froze. "You mean, like that one?" he said, pointing.

Simone turned, and there she was; as menacing as she was the night before.

"The witch must die!"

Ohhh, cliffhanger! i've been meaning to write one of those. yea. i've changed the ending here.

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