After the big show with the troll at Halloween, there was a noticeable shift between Harry, Ron and Hermione. The three of them seemed to become great friends and I couldn't help but get jealous. I still maintained my friendship with each of them, Hermione and me being the closest, but I couldn't help the feeling of jealously I got whenever I saw them together. It took Daphne a few weeks of begging to finally get the truth out of me about what really happened on Halloween, and once I did tell her, I made her swear that she wouldn't tell anyone. She was a little shocked to find out about my friendship with the three Gryffindors, but she kept most of her comments to herself about how she really felt about it.
As the days grew shorter and colder and the countdown towards the Christmas holiday grew closer, it was obvious that most students stopped caring so much about their school work and more about what they would do once they got to go home for a couple of weeks. When the day had finally come for all the students who would be returning home for the break to board the Hogwarts Express, I found myself sat in a compartment with my fellow Slytherins, something that was much different than the first time I was on the train.
"Mother and father will have the whole house decorated beautifully, of course, and I'm sure Astoria will be excited to see me." Daphne rambled on, repeating the same things she had been saying for weeks.
The topic of what each of us would be doing during the break carried on for majority of the train ride, making the time pass by rather quickly. I would miss seeing my new friends for the time that I was back home, but I was extremely excited to see my mum again. As the train pulled into the station, each of us were anxious to get out of our compartment and onto the platform where we would be reunited with out families.
Just as I was walking off the train behind Theodore Nott, I felt someone grab my arm and pull me back slightly. I looked over my shoulder and found Draco giving me a small smile, looking slightly nervous about something.
"Draco? Are you alright?" I asked, turning fully to look at him properly.
Draco nodded his head. "I just wanted to say… Happy Christmas."
I smiled at him widely and he couldn't seem to help but smile back. "Happy Christmas, Draco. I'll see you back here soon."
Draco nodded once more before turning and walking off. I watched as he weaved his way through the crowd.
"Earth to Ana!" I jumped at the sound of Daphne shouting my name and turned quickly to find my friend standing behind me with a massive smile. "I've been saying your name for the past thirty seconds repeatedly."
"Sorry, I must have been day dreaming." I apologized quickly.
"Well, I'm off to find my parents. Happy Christmas, Ana! I hope you and your mum have a fun time and you need to promise to tell me all about what it's like to have a muggle Christmas when we get back."
I laughed at my friend's enthusiasm towards learning about how a muggle Christmas might be different than a wizarding one, but nodded my head anyways. "Of course. Happy Christmas, Daphne."
We parted with a quick hug and I quickly found my way towards my mum who was standing off to the side, watching me as I practically ran towards her. She gave me a massive hug before we made our way back to the regular muggle side of King's Cross Station.
"Are you excited to be home?" Mum asked as she drove us away from King's Cross back to our house.
"Yes. I love Hogwarts, but I also miss home." I answered, looking out the window at the muggle world I left behind only a few months ago.
"I'm excited to hear everything that you have learnt! I also can't wait to meet your new friend."
Right before Christmas holidays, Hermione and I realized that we lived fairly close to each other and right away wrote to our parents to set up a meeting so that we could see each other over the break. I was excited that I would be able to see at least one of my new friends over the break, and I knew mum was also excited to meet her, as well as Hermione's parents.
"Are the two of you in the same house?"
"No. Hermione is in Gryffindor. I have a few classes with her though."
"Oh, well it's good that the two of you are still friends. Now, tell me everything about how your first year is going so far."
The house was completely decorated for Christmas, all set up with a tree and everything, when we got back home, and I couldn't help but get very excited. We spent the first few days just doing our usual Christmas traditions of watching films and baking lots of goodies that we gave to the neighbours and the rest of our family. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were filled with family and lots of presents and questions about my new school. Mum decided it would be best if we didn't tell my aunts and uncles and cousins that I was a witch, so she made up a story about me going to a new boarding school that I found pretty easy to follow along with, only have to change a few things in my stories to make them sound like I went to a muggle school.
"Why do all of your friends have funny names?" My cousin Mary asked me at Christmas dinner after I told a story about Pansy and Draco pulling a prank on Goyle that involved him slipping on some slime and landing face first in front of Professor Snape.
"Because they're all very rich and have family names." I answered honestly.
Mary had turned her nose up at my explanation but seemed to buy it. She quickly started telling me all of the presents she got for Christmas from her parents and completely ignored anything else I had to say. I didn't mind her taking over the conversation, I just sat quietly and wondered what my Slytherin friends would be doing at the same time and how different their Christmases must be.
The time for Hermione's family to come over for dinner arrived after what felt like ages. Her parents were very nice, both dentists, but not boring dentists like I had. Me and mum worked really hard making a pie for dessert and Mr. Granger told me right away that he was very impressed with my baking skills.
"What are Harry and Ron doing over the holiday?" I asked Hermione as we sat in my room while our parents talked downstairs while the dinner was still cooking.
"You haven't heard from them?" She seemed surprised that they hadn't written to me, but I didn't really know why. None of my Slytherin friends had written to me, but that was because we found it pointless since we weren't apart for all that long.
"No. I haven't heard from anyone." I told her. "Maybe it's just a Slytherin thing, but it isn't very common to write to each other over Christmas holidays apparently."
"Well, it's supposed to be a secret, but I can't stand to keep it from you. Do you know who Nicholas Flammel is?"
I shook my head and Hermione started telling me everything about Fluffy the three-headed dog, how they thought Professor Snape was trying to steal something, and how Ron and Harry were trying to get information to try and figure out what exactly it was that Fluffy was hiding.
"You don't think it's too dangerous, do you? I mean, Hogwarts is supposed to be a safe place." I said quietly, still shocked at Hermione's news.
"I don't know. I think that Dumbledore wouldn't put something super dangerous, but it's clearly something that is very important."
"Ana! Hermione!" My mum called us from the bottom of the stairs and we both jumped.
"Do you promise to tell me what happens? I want to know everything." I took Hermione's hand and raised an eyebrow at her. Now that I knew this information, I didn't want to be kept out of the dark anymore. Just because I wasn't in the same house as them, that didn't mean that I didn't deserve to be kept in the loop.
"Of course. I'll tell you everything I can when I find out what exactly Fluffy is hiding."
The rest of the Christmas break was just filled with me and my mum spending more time together before I had to go back to school. As much as I enjoyed being home and seeing my mum again, I found myself wishing I was back at Hogwarts much sooner than I thought I would. Hogwarts was the only place where I could really be myself and fit in with everyone around me. I had started to feel very out of place at home, especially with my own family, and I realized that since I had felt what it was like to be in the wizarding world where I belonged, I didn't really enjoy spending time in the muggle world anymore.
As much as mum tried to understand and listen to me talk about my classes and the different things that happened at Hogwarts, it was clear that she didn't really understand in the same way that my wizarding friends did.