Chapter 8

Christmas was coming. One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. Vivian was especially happy because this year, Harry and her would be spending Christmas away from the Dursleys, and well this would be their first real Christmas together without being locked up and forgotten.

Professor McGonagall had gone around earlier that week and made a list of all the students wishing to spend the holidays at Hogwarts. Word had gotten round that the twins would be staying and naturally Draco Malfoy sought to torment Harry even farther.

"I feel sorry," said Draco, one morning, " for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they are not wanted at home."

Harry clenched his fist at this comment but Vivian put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, and he ignored the pestering Slytherin. Not even Draco could damper their Christmas spirit.

No one could wait for the holidays to start. Hagrid had taken it upon himself to decorate the entire castle with enormous trees with brilliant decorations. One day when they left the dungeons at the end of Potions, they found a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead. Two enormous feet sticking out at the bottom and a large puffing sound told them Hagrid was behind it.

"Hi, Hagrid, want any help?" Ron asked, sticking his head through the branches.

"Nah, I'm alright, thanks, Ron."

"Would you mind moving out of the way?" came Malfoy's cold drawl from behind them. "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose- that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's use to."

Ron dived at Malfoy just as Snape came up the stairs.

"WEASLEY!"

Ron let go of the front of Malfoy's robes.

"He was provoked, Professor Snape." said Vivian, causing Snape to stare at her with dark eyes. "Draco was insulting his family."

"Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts rules, Miss Potter," said Snape calmly. "Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and be grateful it isn't ore. Move along, all of you."

As Vivian was dragged away with Hagrid and the rest, she cast a quick glance back at the Professor, now having a quiet word with Draco. Ever since their argument, she has felt strangely sad over the loss of trust for her professor.

As Hagrid lead them into the Great Hall, the children's eyes widened with wonder at the scene before them. Festoons of holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls, and no less than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room, glittering with hundreds of candles.

"How many days you got left until yer holidays?" Hagrid asked.

"Just one," said Hermoine. "And that reminds me - Harry, Ron, Vivian, we've got half an hour before lunch, we should be in the library."

"Oh yeah, you're right." said Ron.

"The library?" said Hagrid, following them out of the hall. "Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"

"Oh, we're not working," Vivian said brightly. "Ever since you mentioned Nicolas Flamel we've been trying to find out who he is."

"You what?" Hagrid asked shocked. "Listen here - I've told yeh - drop it. It's nothin' to you what that dog's guardin'. Besides, Vivian, weren't you the one who was against searching fer him?"

Vivian shrugged. "I got bored when they were spending all their time in the library, besides, I have developed a natural curiosity myself."

They quickly hurried off to the library leaving a disgruntled Hagrid behind.

It's true they had been searching for Flamel's name ever since Hagrid had let it slip, because how else were they going to find out what Dumbledore was hiding? Vivian secretly wished to find evidence that Snape wasn't plotting on stealing whatever was in that corridor so her mind could be at peace, and Ron, Harry, and Hermoine gladly accepted her help because of her vast intelligence similar to Hermoine's.

"Oh, it's hopeless," Ron said, dropping his copy of Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century. Vivian looked up from her own Notable Magical Names of Our Time, feeling quite sore from sitting for so long.

"Oh, alright. You will keep looking while I'm away, won't you?" said Hermoine. "And send me an owl if you find anything."

Unlike Ron, Harry, and Vivian, Hermoine was going home to spend the holidays with her Muggle parents.

But once the holidays had started, Ron and Harry were having too good a time to think much about Flamel. They had a dormitory to themselves and the common room was far emptier than usual, so they were able to get the good armchairs by the fire.

Vivian had given a half-attempt at finding Flamel, but she was more focused on learning Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall, who had offered extra lessons over the holidays. And whenever she wasn't with Ron and Harry, Vivian was with Fred and George who never ceased to make her laugh. While Ron and Harry were playing wizard chess, Vivian, Fred, and George were running around enchanting mistletoe to emit foul-smelling slime for whoever was under them.

On Christmas Eve, Vivian went to bed looking forward to the next day for the food and the fun, but not expecting anything special for her at all, she was more relieved that her nightmares hadn't happened in several weeks thanks to Professor Snape. Vivian was finally feeling comfortable closing her eyes without the familiar feel of fear pricking her heart ever since she was little.

She awoke the next morning to Harry and Ron outside of her door shouting, "Wake up, Vivian! We have presents!"

Vivian jumped out of bed and sprinted down the stairs, nearly taking the boys out with her. Sure enough, there were piles of presents for each of them under an enormous tree in the common room.

The three children were soon tearing into their gifts. Ron had written to his mother earlier in the fall about Harry and Vivian's sad life story so both children received matching emerald sweaters to match their eyes and a large box of homemade fudge.

"Every year she makes us sweaters," said Ron, unwrapping his own," and mines always maroon."

"That's really nice of her," Vivian said as Harry took a bite out of his fudge," These are the first Christmas presents we've ever gotten, so I'd say they're very special."

Continuing with the present unwrapping, Vivian picked up her next package, a poorly wrapped and very small lump. It was a rubber eraser from the Dursley's, Harry received a similar package of a fifty-pence piece.

"Well at least they still have a sense of humor," said Vivian grimly.

"Some humor." Harry said with a hint of frustration. He quickly passed the pitiful gift onto Ron, who was more than delighted to have some Muggle money. Though neither of the twins really expected anything from their blood relatives, it still put a sour note on the morning because even when they were away and happy for the holidays, their relatives still found joy in causing them misery.

However, the matter was soon forgotten as the children opened their next presents. Vivian was delighted to find a small bracelet with a carving of a dragon from Hagrid and a new book from Hermoine on Ancient Transfiguration History.

This only left one parcel. Vivian picked it up and felt it. It was very light and felt like a small oddly-shaped object on the delicate side.

She was interrupted from her curiousity when Ron gasped.

Something fluid and silvery gray went slithering to the floor where it lay in gleaming folds next to Harry.

"I've heard of those," Ron said in a hushed voice, dropping the box of Every Flavor Beans he'd gotten from Hermoine. "If that's what I think it is-they're really rare, and really valuable.

"What is it?" Vivian was extremely intrigued by the strange article of clothing as it seemed.

"It's an invisibility cloak," said Ron, a look of awe on his face. "I'm sure it is-try it on."

Harry threw the cloak around his shoulders and Vivian shrieked. Standing where her brother was suppose to be was nothing except empty air.

"Oh, Harry!" she cried. "Harry, are you there?"

"Vivian!" Came Harry's invisible reply."I'm standing right in front of you. It's brilliant!"

"There's a note!" Ron said suddenly. "A note fell out of it!"

Harry pulled off his cloak and seized the letter. Written in narrow, loopy writing he had never seen before were the following words: Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well. A very Merry Christmas to you.

"I'd give anything for one of these," said Ron. "Anything."

As the boys gawked over Harry's new prize, Vivian remembered her own strange packet and made haste to open it. Inside was a small object which immediately reminded her of a dream catcher she had once seen on Dudley's television, except this was diamond-shaped and the middle was almost like a mirror, with swirling white wisps that floated around in aimless paths. Staring at it, Vivian suddenly felt very sleepy, with the strange desire to find the closest spot to curl up and close her eyes.

"Now what do we have here." The object was taken from her by none other than George Weasley. He and Fred had entered the room when she wasn't paying attention.

"Hello, Fred. Hello, George."

"Hello, beautiful. "They said in perfect unison.

"Hey, look-You and Harry got a Weasley jumper too!"

Fred and George were wearing blue jumpers, one with a large yellow F on it, the other with a large yellow G.

"Now, Vivian. What is this strange contraption?" Vivian quickly grabbed the object back from them.

"I don't know cause you quite yanked it out of my hand before I had the chance to figure it out."

George shrugged. "It wasn't our fault. It was putting you in a weird trance. When we got here, you didn't even notice us."

"Yeah," Fred said, pretending to show off his muscles. "We are usually the first thing people notice, you know, with our good looks and all."

"Oh, stop it." Vivian playfully smacked them both. "Now will you let me read the note that came with it, or are you going to continue to flaunt your scrawny arms."

"Hey!" The two jumped at her, but she saw it coming and ducked underneath them and ran to the other side of the room. True enough, there was a tiny note pinned to the bottom of the parcel. Pulling it out, Vivian carefully read the neatly printed words: This will help with your nightmares. Place it near to your bed and it has magical power to root out evil thought or dreams.

"Huh, it's unsigned."

"Maybe it's from Dumbledore." Harry had noticed what his sister was holding and came over to inspect. "It probably was, only he would have access to something this powerful. That's great, Vivian! Now you won't have to visit Snape anymore."

"Calm down, Harry. Of course I will still continue my lessons with Snape. Though this device is certainly something, it can't guarantee that my nightmares will cease to exist. I need to be prepared in case anything happens."

"I suppose that's fair." Harry said grudgingly.

Vivian smiled, not wanting to ruin her brother's first real Christmas. "Harry, I have something for you."

His eyes lit up. "You do?"

She giggled and pulled a small package out of her pocket. Harry opened it to find a small medallion.

"It's for your broomstick. It suppose to bring good luck, the non-magic kind."

"Gee, thanks Vivian!" Harry hugged her and she hugged him back, loving the feeling that her brother was happy.

In return, Harry gave Vivian a set of new quills, enchanted to never run out of ink.

Spirits were rising all around. Vivian finally had time to give her present to the Weasley twins: an old book on all the tricks and pranks of the ancient times, which the boys got a hoot out of, and in return they gave her a framed photograph of the three of them enchanting magic snowballs. It made her smile.

This Christmas was truly special, spending it with the Weasley family, even Percy joined them for dinner instead of his usual spot at the Prefects table.

That night, Vivian still had one more present left to deliver, one for Snape. She had wanted to slip it to him all day, but Harry at been at her side the entire time so she never got the chance. Slipping down to the common room in the middle of the night, her plan was to call for her owl and send it to him that way.

She did not expect, however, to find Harry creeping out of his dorm as well, carrying their dad's invisibility cloak with him.

"Harry! What are you doing?"

Harry's surprise almost knocked his glasses right off of him, but he soon recovered. "Vivian! This is perfect! Come with me, I want to try out dad's cloak."

Vivian bite her lip, knowing they shouldn't leave, but her curiosity about the cloak was too overwhelming.

"Okay, Harry. I will."

Together, the two threw the cloak over the heads and disappeared out of the Fat Lady's portrait.

"Where should we go?"

Harry pondered her question before answering, "The Restricted Section. We'd be able to read as long as we like to find out who Flamel is."

Vvivan nodded and the two set off. The library was pitch black and very eerie. Harry lit a lamp to see his way along the rows of books. The lamp looked as if it was floating in mid-air, and even though Harry could feel his arm supporting it, the sight gave him the creeps.

The Restricted Section was right at the back of the library. Stepping carefully over the rope which separated theses books from the rest of the library, he held up the lamp so they could read the titles. This didn't tell them much, as most of the books were in ancient languages, or had no title at all, or had horrible stains looking horribly like blood.

"Harry," Vivian whispered, grabbing onto his arm. "I don't like this. Maybe we shouldn't be here."

"Shh, it's okay, Viv. Remember, we're doing this to find Flamel. It's the only chance we've got."

Setting the lamp carefully on the floor, Harry grabbed the nearest novel, a large black and silver volume that caught his eye. He pulled it out with difficulty, with the help of Vivian, because it was very heavy, and, balancing it on his knee, let it fall open.

A piercing, blood-curling shriek split the silence-the book was screaming! Vivian dropped to the floor and covered her ears. Tears streamed down her face as she was brought back to the familiar hauntings of her nightmares. Harry snapped it shut, but the shriek went on and on, one high, unbroken, ear-splitting note. He stumbled backwards and knocked over the lamp, which went out at once. Panicking, he heard footsteps coming door the corridor outside- stuffing the book back on the bookshelf, he grabbed Vivian off the floor and ran for it.

They froze as they heard Flinch's voice, talking with none other than Snape. Vivian noticed a door ajar to her left, and pulled Harry into it. They listened as the footsteps died away before taking deep breaths and leaning against each other in exhaustion. It was a few seconds before they took noticed to the new room where they were.

It was an ordinary room, nothing special save for the large object in front. It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet.

Harry stepped closer, wanting to see what was so special about it, but Vivian was more skeptical, remaining close to the door.

Harry screeched when he finally saw his reflection, clapping a hand over his mouth to stop himself from screaming louder.

"Harry! What is it?" Vivian rushed forward to grab her brother. Harry was too busy to staring at the mirror, stuck in a trance that ignored his desperate sister tugging at him.

"It's Mum...and Dad."

This caused Vivian to stop. Her eyes widened in shock as her mind tried to piece together Harry's words.

"What?"

"Vivian, look!" It's Mum and Dad! We're all together, a happy family!"

"Harry, please. I don't see anything."

"You probably have to stand where I'm standing." Harry gently pulled Vivian over to where he was. She slowly lifted her eyes to the mirror and gasped. Harry was right. Standing in front of her were two people whom she had never seen before, but knew in her heart it was her parents. She saw herself next to her mother, who had one hand on her and the other on James Potter, her father. Harry was standing next to her, smiling proudly next to their father, scar free.

Tears filled Vivian's eyes. They were happy, the happy family neither of them never had. It was too good to be true, this had to be a sick, cruel joke meant to torment her more.

Breaking away, she let out a sob, sinking to the floor clutching herself in waves of tears.

Harry stopped smiling. "What's wrong, Viv? It's our parents, we're a happy family, together and away from the Dursleys."

"Oh, Harry, don't you see? That family doesn't exist! Our parents are dead, and they aren't coming back. This mirror, this curse, is only reminding me what I can never have. We can never have our parents again, Harry. They're gone."

Vivian broke back into hysterical sobs and Harry remained soberly by her side, clutching his fists.

Several more moments passed, moments Vivian knew Harry was staring into the mirror before he dropped to her side.
"Come on, Vivian. Let's take you back, it's going to be alright, I won't take you here again."

Harry gently picked up his sister and threw the cloak over the both of them. It hurt seeing his sister in pain, and it inflicted a deeper pain knowing what she said was right. She was always right, no matter what happened she always saw the truth in it. Yet, for the first time in his life, Harry glimpsed true happiness. He couldn't imagine a better future than with his family together again. He knew what he was going to do, but he wouldn't tell Vivian. She wouldn't need to know his plans to return to the blissful peace he had just experienced.

Once the twins re-entered the common room, Harry brought the tired Vivian back to her room and helped her into bed, making sure her new dream catcher was next to her. Seeing her sleeping peacefully brought him peace. He always wanted his sister to be happy, she was all he had left and he would let nothing harm her.

Stepping back, he threw the cloak back over his head, leaving his beloved sister to go find Ron. Boy, was he in for a treat.

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