Magical Encounters

Chapter fourteen: Christmas

Scorpius jumped as he opened his eyes to find Ariana staring down at him. He scrambled up to a sitting position, pulled his covers up to cover his bare torso and looked at Ariana in absolute shock. Ariana giggled at him and sat down beside him on the bed.

"Good morning," Ariana began while playfully messing up Scorpius' bed head. "I can't believe you weren't up early. It's Christmas you goof."

Scorpius rubbed his eyes and put his hands in his lap, letting the covers fall down and expose his chest once more. "Oh, Merry Christmas."

"Come on," Ariana whispered excitedly all the while getting up and tugging at Scorpius' arm. "Let's go open our presents."

Scorpius began to get up when suddenly he stopped himself. "Get out."-Shock and hurt played across Ariana's face- "Please, I have to get dressed."

Ariana breathed a sigh of relief and nodded to Scorpius. She turned and skipped merrily out of the room. "Meet you downstairs in the common room."

Scorpius threw his covers off and reached down to the floor. He picked up a shirt and gave it a whiff. Satisfied that it smelled relatively clean, Scorpius pulled it up over his head and began to head for the door. Walking warily around the pile of clothes by his bed, Scorpius made a mental note clean up his part of the dormitories before the other boys came to school and saw. Scorpius reached the door quickly and swung the door open to head down the corridor. He bolted down the stairs and shifted his direction just before he collided with Ariana who was waiting for him at the foot of the stairs.

Ariana wasted no time and instantly took Scorpius by the hand and dragged him to the Christmas tree that was present in the middle of the common room. Once they reached it Scorpius watched as Ariana dropped herself down onto the floor and looked up at him expectantly. Scorpius rolled his eyes and set himself down onto the floor gently while laughing at how excited Ariana appeared.

"You go first. "Arian said, shoving a present his way. "Make sure you read who it's from and the card and everything."

Scorpius took the present in his hands and tugged at the shinning emerald wrapping paper before Ariana abruptly slapped his hand away. "What did I just say Scorp. Card first."

Scorpius glared at Ariana and greedily grabbed the silver card attached to the wrapping paper. "It's from my parents."-Scorpius cleared his throat- "It says. Dear Scorpius, Your father and I are very upset that you chose to stay at school for the holidays but we figure you will be alright at the school. We miss you very much and hope you have a wonderful Christmas. Love, mom and dad. Can I open it now?"

Ariana nodded and Scorpius began tugging harshly on the wrapper. He pulled the last of the emerald paper off to reveal a relatively large box. Scorpius opened the box and tipped it over to spill its contents onto the floor. Boxes of candy instantly fell onto the floor and Scorpius looked up at Ariana with a weak smile, tossing her a box of Bertie Bott's every flavored beans and a chocolate frog.

"They always get me candy."Scorpius said, opening up his own chocolate frog and shoving it into his mouth. "Usually we also take a trip but obviously not this year. Your turn."

Scorpius watched as Ariana grabbed a large rectangular package. "The note in the card is huge. It's even on other pieces of paper."-Ariana looked up at Scorpius who shrugged and nodded at her to continue-"Alright the actual card has Mary's signature,"- Scorpius' face had a confused look on it- "She was the person who ran the orphanage. Anyway it says: Dear Ari, we got a letter from your school that said you made the Quidditch team so all of us here and your friends at Hogwarts contacted each other and got this. I hope you like it. Love, Mary." –Ariana paused for a second and there was a rustle of parchment until she pulled out one of the attached pieces of paper-"This one is from Rose, Fred, Roxanne, and their family. It says: Dear, Ariana. A woman named Mary contacted all of us and asked us if we would like to pitch in for your gift. We couldn't resist. Love, the Weasleys."- Another rustle, and Ariana pulled out the last piece of parchment-"This is the last one. It says: Dear Ari, you are going to go crazy for this gift. I am so glad that Mary lady found me. I hope you like it. Love, Albus."

Ariana was practically shaking with excitement when she finished reading the letters and she tore at the bright blue wrapping paper crazily. The wrapping paper cleared to reveal a box and Ariana's hands trembled as she lifted the lid and gasped. Scorpius peaked over Ariana's shoulder and his mouth dropped open as he saw what was inside.

It was the fastest broomstick in the world. The Lightning Bolt. Scorpius had to restrain himself from reaching out and taking the broom himself but thankfully he didn't have to for too long. Ariana pulled out the broomstick and pushed the box away from her.

Scorpius, who realized that no more presents really mattered after the Lightning Bolt, quickly tore through the rest of the presents. Nothing really stood out to him and before he knew it he had his last present sitting in front of him. Glancing left to Ariana, who was still holding the broomstick opened mouthed, and grabbed the card stuck to the outside of the metallic blue wrapping paper. Scorpius' eyebrows came together once he saw the name that was sighed on the card and cleared his throat, making Ariana turn to look at him.

"This is my last gift," Scorpius started, speaking slowly. "And it's from you." –He tore through the wrapping paper quickly and opened the box that was revealed- "You know Ari, you didn't have to get me anything, I know I have been a bit of a jer-"

Scorpius was at a loss for words. Out of the cardboard box in front of him, a pair of big orange eyes were blinking innocently up at him. Scorpius reached into the box and pulled out a beautiful dark brown owl whose coat glinted in the green light of the common room. Scorpius looked at Ariana with his eyes wide and saw that she was smiling at him hugely and waiting for what he was going to say.

"You got me an owl?" He asked her while he began to pet the owl on its soft and feathery coat. "Bloody hell Ari, I don't know what to say. Thank you."

Ariana set her broomstick down and scooted closer to Scorpius. "Well, I noticed that you always used the school owls to take you r post and I thought you might enjoy having a pet. I think it will be good for you. I got him from the owl emporium. They sent him here this morning and that's why I rushed you down here. It couldn't stay in there for too long you know."

"Thank you so much Ari. I love it." Scorpius said pulling Ariana into a tight little hug.

Ariana smiled and reached out her hand to pet the owl. "So what are you going to name him?"

Scorpius eyes narrowed and he looked at the owl carefully until his gaze finally rested on the owls enormous orange eyes. "Citrus. I am going to call him Citrus. You like that little one?"- He met eyes with the creature in front of him who chirped in response- "I think that's a yes."

Ariana smiled and reached for her next present which was just an envelope. "It's from the headmistress. It says: Dear Miss Dumbledore, I hope you are happy with your Christmas gifts but I have an important message for you. As you may have read in your school books in the headmistresses' office there are portraits of all the previous headmasters and mistresses. Well, since the very start of term one particular portrait has been asking to see you and by my word he will get his wishes. I am away on important business and will return after the Quidditch match that will be held in February. Upon my return I shall send you a letter requesting that you meet me in my office. Please be safe until then. Sincerely, Headmistress McGonagall."

Ariana pushed the letter away and looked up at Scorpius, her face skeptical. "Bloody hell the way she said that last part gave me goose bumps. 'Please be safe until then'. Makes it seem like she knows something bad is going to happen."

Scorpius waited while Ariana thought about the letter and then decidedly grabbed the last present under the Christmas tree. "This one is from me. It's not too much but I hope you like it."

Ariana blinked and came out of her reverie when he said this and then, seeing as there was no card, she began to open the box in front of her. Ariana put her hands inside the box and pulled out three things. One was a blank photo album, the other was a camera, and the last was a smaller box. Ariana laid the gifts down in front of her and then began to open the smaller box.

Inside the box was a white gold charm bracelet with a single charm hanging on it. Ariana lifted it out of the box to see that the charm was also white gold and was shaped to be a little snowflake. Ariana then looked at Scorpius and smiled.

"Scorp." She began. "It's beautiful. Thank you so much."

"Yeah," Scorpius said, clearing his throat. "No big deal. The uh, camera ensures that you take moving pictures every time, I thought that was cool. It's instant too. The pictures print right away. Like a Polaroid, I was told."

Ariana picked up the camera and scooted right up next to Scorpius. "That's awesome! It rocks Scorp, now smile."

No sooner had Scorpius raised his eyebrows and lifted his mouth into an awkward smile, then the flash and click of the camera went off and Ariana backed away from him. She waited patiently and when the picture had printed she shook it and waited for the results. Scorpius leaned in next to her and looked upon the photo just as the picture appeared. In the picture Ariana was smiling largely and looking back and forth between him and the camera, while the Scorpius in the picture made expressions of confusion and skepticism. Ariana and Scorpius both burst out laughing.

The rest of the Holidays went by quickly and Ariana and Scorpius spent them outside riding Ariana's new broom. They also soon discovered that Abby, who never saw owls as friends, was willing to accept Citrus and vice versa. One thing that the Holidays were short on was not happiness nor fun, but foresight. Not one word was spoken by either of them about what was going to happen once the Slytherins returned but they both knew nothing had changed and that everything would go back to the way it was before. They would be secret friends and no one would be the wiser.

Hey everyone. I hope you all liked this chapter but it was more of a fluff chapter then anything. Next time is the Quidditch matches but things are going to start to hit a faster pace. Stick around.

Becca