Well. I still don't own Harry Potter…so…
All my bells
are ringing just for you
And I got
No desire
For someone new.
-All My Bells Are Ringing by Lenka
Izzy's POV:
"Izzy!"
"Whaaa-" I mumbled incoherently. Who had the audacity to wake me up at seven in the morning on a Saturday?
"Come on!" Rose urged again. "It's Christmas Break! The train's leaving today."
At this, I jolted awake. "But…I haven't packed!" I whined.
"Not my fault," Rose snorted and walked out of the dorm.
I sighed, grabbing my wand from my nightstand. "Pack," I said to the mess on the floor, and everything zoomed up into my trunk, which abruptly snapped shut. I pulled myself all of the way out of bed and dragged my body to my newly-packed trunk. I unlocked the lid and pulled it open to inspect the contents. Not very neat, I thought to myself. Oh well. Better than what I would've done without magic.
I stumbled tiredly down the stairs as was routine.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty!" Al said happily from the common room. What was with all of this happiness so early in the morning? Must be in the Weasley genes.
"Let's go eat," I told him. I normally wasn't quite so unpleasant in the mornings, but I'd been up reading last night.
Al chuckled, but followed me out of the room and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "You excited to go home?" he asked as he looked down at me curiously.
"Yeah, I can't wait to see Marie and my parents," I told him sincerely.
"Well…what about my family?" Al acted hurt, putting on a sad face.
"I love your family Al!" I told him. It was true, the Weasley- Potter family was very nice. "They're just not my family."
"Oh, I know that," Albus mumbled and squeezed my shoulders lightly. He looked down at me for a moment, his bright green eyes sparkling as usual.
"So…what'd you get me for Christmas?" I asked, a smile tugging at my lips.
Al laughed lightly. "Why d'you assume I got you anything?" he teased.
"I hope you got something for me, or else you're not going to get your totally wicked present." I smacked his arm lightly but smiled at him anyways.
"Ooh!" Al's eyes lit up excitedly. "A present? For me?"
"Oh, shut up! I've gotten you a present every year for six years now," I said. "And I hope that you've gotten me a present, because I rather like being around you Al…"
"Is that some type of a threat?"
"Take it however you like."
"I'm not sure I feel very safe around you."
"I was kidding…kind of."
My present for Al was pretty amazing. First, I'd gotten him the newest care kit for his broom because he hadn't gotten one since second year. I had also managed to get my hands on three bottles of Felix Felicis potion and a jar of Peruvian Darkness Powder. I figured he probably wouldn't put them to "good use" by our professors' definition, but how ever he used them would probably be pretty amusing.
We snarfed down our breakfast before retrieving our trunks from our dorms and boarding the train.
We wandered down the train, dragging our luggage behind us. Finally, we found the compartment with Rose, Scorpius, James, and Celeste. We slipped in with our friends and spent the ride playing Exploding Snap and eating our sweets.
I must've dozed off, because suddenly Al was prodding me in the side. "Hey, Izzy! Wake up!" he told me.
"Mmm?"
"We're here. Get off the train."
We made our way to the platform together, and I spotted Marie, who was already with Trent.
"Hey, I see my sister!" I yelped and turned to Albus, who was (very kindly) pulling my trunk. "So, I guess I'll see you on Christmas afternoon."
"Guess so. Try to have a little bit of fun without me," Al mumbled as I threw my arms around him to give him a hug.
I pulled away, and he chuckled lightly before giving me a final good-bye as I was whisked away into the crowd.
"Hey, Izzy," Marie greeted me as she pulled me towards her, out of the mass of people. "Ready to go home?" she asked. "D'you have Cheesecake?"
"Right here. I'm ready to go," I told her as I grabbed my sister's newly manicured hand in my own, grasping my owl's cage and my trunk in the other.
Suddenly, the darkness of disapparation gripped me, constricting my throat. Just as abruptly as it began, it was all over.
We had appeared in the cozy living room of my house. "Hey! We're home!" Trent shouted out. I heard my mother's squeal as she rushed into the room, her apron tied around her waist and her blonde hair sprinkled with flour. The short woman engulfed me and my brother in yet another hug.
"I'm making dinner, and your father's still at work," Mom told the three of us. "Are you hungry? Oh wait," she pulled out her wand, which she pointed at our trunks. The disappeared immediately, and I assumed they had been put in our rooms.
I heard a high-pitched yelp and turned around to see Marie's little, light brown dog running towards us. "Fishstick!" I cried. "Come here, buddy!"
The petit, energetic pup ran over excitedly to me, jumping on my legs while Marie laughed.
It was good to be home.
"IZZY! GET UP!"
"Get the hell offa me…" I mumbled, swinging my arms around.
"Izzyyyy…" Trent whined, drawing out the last syllable. "It's Christmas…"
"Let me sleep, you prick, or I'll tear your face off," I threatened.
"Mom won't let me open presents 'till you and Marie get up!" he exclaimed.
"If I agree to come with you, will you get off my stomach?" I gasped as his knee sunk farther down into my torso.
"Oops…sorry Izzy." He moved his bony leg.
"All right. Go get Marie," I told my brother.
"She's already up," the blonde-haired, bright-eyed boy next to me explained.
Sure enough, when we got into the family room, the rest of the family was in there. Yes, they all looked half asleep, but they were in there nonetheless.
"Trenton, no other day of the year could you wake me up at five in the morning and still be alive right now," I informed my brother, whose blue eyes expanded twice their size. Marie and my father chuckled, but my mother apparently felt the need to defend her youngest.
"Isabelle, be nice," she scolded from her armchair. "Here, Trent. Your first," Mom said as she handed Trent a present.
A half an hour later, our family room floor was covered in bright wrapping paper and metallic green bows. I was now the proud owner of a purple pygmy puff from my parents, a huge bag of sweets from Trent, and an absolutely gorgeous new dress and shoes from Marie. The dress was light purple with a sweetheart neckline and a beaded waist. From there, the bottom half poofed out with ruffles that went down just past my knees. The shoes were black, open-toed with a small heel and a black flower on them. I mean, how much more awesome can your sister get?
After we'd eaten lunch, I had all of my possessions packed back in my trunk, Cheesecake in her cage. I would be with the Potter's for the rest of break, so I had to take everything with me.
"Ready?" Marie said as she grabbed my hand. Once again, the darkness surrounded me as the pop of disapparation echoed in my ears.
I fell onto the doorstep a second later as Marie swung the knocker. The door flew open immediately, and the next thing I knew, I was being squeezed to death by my best friend.
"Al!" I shrieked.
"Izzy!" he mocked.
"I'll see you later, okay Izzy?" Marie said from behind me.
I wrenched myself from Al and turned around to embrace my older sister. "Bye, Marie. Love you," I mumbled, smelling her perfume that wafted around.
"Love you, too," she replied as she pulled away and was gone with a crack.
I was immediately pulled into the Potter's home by Albus. "Geez, calm down, Al!" I yelled. "You're going to pull my arm out of its socket!"
Al laughed good-naturedly and released my hand. We entered the kitchen and I was ambushed (again) by Lily. I smiled down at the 14 year with her arms around me. The girl who was practically my sister smiled back up at me, her thick, wavy, black hair flowing down her back.
"Hey, Lily," I giggled. I didn't see Lily often because she was actually two years younger than me, but I spent most of my holidays at the Potter's, so I knew Lily quite well.
"Let her breathe, Lils," James laughed as he pulled me into a one-armed hug.
"Jamsie!" I squealed. James sighed at his nickname and pushed me away.
"McCallum, you know much better than to call me that," James muttered irritably.
"Hey, Izzy, I got your present upstairs," Al told me, an excited glint in his eyes.
"Oh, good. I was getting a little worried that you hadn't gotten me anything after all." I smiled up at Albus, who smiled back.
"I've gotten you a present every year, for six years now," Al joked, repeating my words from a few days ago. "Come on, it's in my room." Al grabbed my hand once again and dragged me upstairs to his bedroom.
I plopped down on the comfy bed and looked around the room. His walls were plastered with posters of Quidditch teams, mostly the Chudley Cannons. The floor was covered in candy wrappers, dirty clothes, and Weasley Wizard Wheezes products.
Al rummaged through his drawers, pulling out a medium-sized white box with a light green bow. He strolled over to my place on the bed and handed me the gift. I carefully untied the bow and pulled back the paper.
I gasped as saw what was in the package. Carefully set in the tissue paper was an ornate, leather bound journal. The cover had a floral, gilded, gold border. I opened the book up to the first page to find my name written in a fancy manuscript. The pages weren't lined, so I could write or draw on them.
I looked up at Al, not even able to speak. "It's enchanted," he explained, "so it only opens for you. I figured that with your little broth-"
I cut him off, attacking him with a huge hug. "Thank you. It's beautiful," I whispered, looking up into his brilliant green eyes.
A small, shy smile snaked across his face. "Oh, really…it was nothing…it's not even that great…" he muttered embarrassedly.
"No," I stated firmly. "It's perfect. Here, open yours now." I shoved his present into his hands. Al ripped off the paper and tore the box open.
"Bloody…Izzy, this is amazing!" Al yelled, examining his new broom care kit. He pulled out the vials of potion and the jar of powder. A wicked grin snaked its way across his face. "I'd use this potion to get a better grade on my exams, but I really don't care about that enough."
"Er…Al, I don't think you're allowed to use that during exams, anyways," I informed him.
"So?" Al said sarcastically while he looked over his Peruvian Darkness Powder. "This is brilliant, Izzy." He grinned at me, and I could see the excitement in his eyes.
I sighed. "I'm beginning to regret getting you such potentially disastrous presents."
Albus only laughed in response.
Soooo…what do you think guys? I haven't been getting a lot of reviews lately…and I'm becoming sad. I don't like being sad, so you should review. Unless you like people like me being sad, and if that's you then…go read a different fanfic.
Only joking! Keep reading (and reviewing) my story!
Thanks to all of the people who are reading! I love you all!