A.N. - Hello, thank you everyone who is still sticking around and reading this fanfic. This is one of my favorite ones I have written. I gotta I do actually have up to chpt 19 written just not typed up.
Again thank you for sticking around I was thinking about waiting til Christmas to post this one since this is the Christmas chapter, but I feel like you guys waited long enough so think of it as an early present from me. I'm sorry I had a little writer's block but I'm back (and after rereading all the wonderful reviews you guys have given me while this has being going I couldn't help but get back into it.
I hope you enjoy and Thank you again.
~Chapter 16~
Sunday had passed and now only a small handful of students remained. Alex, Ginny, and Hermione were the only Gryffindor's left; Severus, Lucius, and one or two first years were in Slytherin. There was also a sprinkling of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws.
The girls, despite not being able to be with the Weasley Clan for this Christmas, still had the Christmas spirit and could not wait for the holiday. You could tell because the one red head was skipping ahead of her friends as they made their way down to dinner on Christmas Eve.
Upon entering the Hall there was a single table. Ginny when straight to sit next to Severus, who stood to greet her, along with Lucius who also stood, greeting them. Being a gentleman he pulled out Alex's and Hermione's chairs. The former gave him a smile as thanks while the latter just rolled her eyes at him, but took the seat anyways.
The Dinner was fun and delicious. Dumbledore passed around Christmas crackers, making everyone pop at least one. Inside each had a different crazy hat, while was enchanted to not leave you alone until you wore it. Laughter echoed the Hall at everyone in the strange hats.
Time passed quickly and soon everyone was full and headed back to their dorms to sleep. Lucius invited the three girls and Severus up to the Heads Dorm for Hot Chocolate. Ginny once again leading the group this time with Severus. Hermione and Alex walked behind with Lucius. "Is she always this bouncy?" The male asked, as he watched the red head dance around his friend.
"Only around Christmas," Alex laughed, "We're happy she's like this I mean we were afraid she'd be sad since this is technically her first Christmas away from her family." Hermione nodded in agreement.
"What about you two?" The blonde asked, "Are you sad to be away from your families?" the two of them shared a sad smile.
"Both of our parents are dead, Alex's died when she was little, mine passed away in… an accident." Her voice got quiet at the end but Lucius decided it he shouldn't press it. "We would gather at the Wesley's home. They are a nice big family and it's always welcoming. So it's strange not to be there for this holiday." Alex took a hold of her friends hand in a comforting way, giving her a small reassuring smile.
"As much as we love being here we will have to go home soon." Alex piped in, "It'll be hard with all the wonderful people we've met here."
"Does your group of idiots know about this?" Lucius said surprised and hurt to hear they would be leaving.
The two shook their heads, "Not yet," Hermione answered, "But we should tell them sooner than later." Alex nodded agreeing with her.
"I say we should tell them New Year's" Ginny said joining the conversation, with Severus next to her.
"I think New Year's would be a good time, the longer you wait the harder it will be on all of you," The dark Slytherin said taking a hold of Ginny's hand.
The odd group made it to the Head's dorm common room, after calling on a house elf to bring up some hot chocolate, Ginny called out asking for extra marshmallows. They all settled down and spent most of the night just talking and laughing before falling asleep where they were.
The next morning Alex was the first to wake up, she sighed as she snuggled into the warmth before sitting up. After stretching she noticed her 'pillow' was actually Lucius, carefully she brushed a piece of blonde hair out of his face before looking around the room. To the one side was Ginny and Severus cuddled together on one of the chairs, she smiled softly at the two before looking over to see Hemione watching her from the other chair.
"Wanna go grab breakfast for everyone?" The brunette said softly to not wake the others. With a nod confirming, Alex started to untangle herself from Lucius without waking him. Once that was done the two linked arms and make their way out of the head's common room and to the kitchens.
After then left Severus woke to see red covering his eyes. Confused at first he reached up to find out it was just hair from the girl snuggled on top of him, he blushed at the thought. Softly he ran his fingers through the hair as he looked around the room. He first noticed that the other two girls had disappeared, and there was someone asleep one the couch who he assumed was Lucius from the blonde hair. He looked down when he felt Ginny shift around and saw her waking up.
"Morning," Severus smiled at her, which she returned.
"Good Morning," she replied as she stretched, "Where's Alex and Mione?" she muttered after looking around the room.
"Not sure, I just got up a little before you they were gone before then." Severus replied.
"Hm… They probably went to fetch us some breakfast." The redhead said and a few minutes later they could hear talking coming from the portrait entrance.
"Oh, Good Morning!" Hermione chimed when she saw Severus and Ginny watching them. The two girls moved and placed the platters of food they brought up. "We got breakfast," she smiled.
"Someone should probably wake him up." Alex said looking towards Lucius.
"You can do that." Severus said smirking, as he walked past the Gryffindor with Ginny headed to the table of food.
The dark haired witch sighed and made her way over to the couch. Leaning over she nudged the blonde wizard gently, "Lucius," she called his name. The teen just groaned softly and rolled over, making Alex sigh. She moved around the couch glaring at her friends who were giggling at her attempts.
"Come on Lucius, we have breakfast." She called as she leaned down by the wizard. What happened next happened very fast and shocked Alex. The blond suddenly shot up into a sitting positon, only problem was that Alex was still leaning over him. Which ended up with the two hitting heads. Alex fell backwards onto her butt while Lucius went right back down onto the couch, both holding their heads groaning.
"What the bloody hell was that for?" Lucius growled.
"It wasn't my fault," Alex said, "You just suddenly sat up." She looked up and glared at her friends who were giggling at the two of them. But she couldn't hold it long and soon she was giggling along with them. Lucius sat there looking back and forth between the giggling girls and just shook his head sighing.
I guess I'm awake now," the blond groaned as he moved to stand up. He held a hand out to help up the still giggling Alex, who calmed down and took it gratefully. The two then joined the rest of the group to eat their breakfast.
"Happy Chirstmas!" Ginny cheered happily, as she made her way over to the tree that was set up in the corner.
"It was nice of the house elves to bring our presents here instead of to our room." Hermione smiled as she followed the read head, Alex nodded in agreement.
"Yeah if they hadn't you all would be stuck watching me open all of mine," Lucius joked with a smirk.
"I wouldn't have," Ginny giggled, "I would have headed straight for our room to open my own." She stuck her tongue out at the blonde.
"Same here," Alex and Hermione chimed in at the same time, while Severus just nodded saying he would have done that also.
"Wow you guys are no fun," The blonde Slytherin just shook his head, as he crouched down by the tree to find his own pile.
After they each found their own piles they started opening them all. Ginny was the first to finish opening hers, there was four presents in her pile. The first one she opened was a join present from Hermione and Alex. It was a golden chain with two charms hanging from it, one was a snitch and the other was a little fox. She carefully lifted it from the box and hooked it around her neck as she flashed a happy smile to her two friends.
The next present was from Severus, after smiling at the note he written for her, she carefully pulled away the silvery paper. Inside the box laying on satin was a smile vial filled with a golden liquid. Ginny stared at it slightly shocked it was Felix Felicis, liquid luck. Severus just shrugged when she looked to him, "I always wanted to try and brew it," he told her. The girl smiled and hugged him tightly.
The last two boxes were attached together one said 'Open me first' and the other 'Open me Second'. Ginny smiled at this and opened the first one first, inside was a smaller box and a note from Lily saying inside was a charm bracelet and a charm also that the next box was from the boys, which were charms from each of them.
She opened the smaller box to see that it was a golden bracelet with a lily flower charm hanging from it. She quickly opened the second box to see four little charms, each with a label who it was from. A dog bone from Sirius, a bead that looked like moon from Remus, an antler one from James, and one that looked like a piece of cheese from Peter. The girl was iffy about putting the one from Peter onto the bracelet.
The next one finished unwrapping was Lucius, after bypassing the stuff from his family and admirers, he only opened up two of his presents. One was from Alex and the other from Severus. The present from Severus was a rare book, there was only three of them and it was only in Latin. Lucius smiled at his friend and thanked him.
The Slytherin's second present was wrapped in a shiney silver and red paper, after raising an eyebrow at the colors at Alex, he opened it to find a silver chain. Lifting it out of the box he saw that on the chain was a ring, it too was silver with a thick band and engraved around it was a snake. The letter M was on the face of it was wrapped in the snakes' tail and resting on its head. Lucius stared at it slightly shocked and looked to Alex, who went over and took the chain and hooked it around his neck. "Thank you," Lucius said quietly, Alex just smiled in return.
Severus smiled at the two as he finished opening his presents. He was pleasantly surprised to see more than what he usually got. From Lucius he got a beautiful new quill the feather seemed to shine a lovely emerald color and the tip was silver. He also gave him ink that was a dark green that almost seemed black. He thanked his friend before opening up the next present, which was a combined gift from Alex, Hermione and Lily. The first part was from Alex which was a copy of Moste Potente Potions, the boy ran a hand down the cover happily. Looking up at Alex he gave her a smile thanking. The second part was a lovely set of vials for his potions. They looked like they could have cost quite a bit. He thanked Hermione profusely and made sure to remember to send a note to Lily later to thank her also.
The last present Severus got was from Ginny, it was wrapped in silver with a golden bow. The teen opened it carefully and pulled out a silver chain and on it a ring slightly similar to the one Lucius got. Ginny smiled, "Me and Alex collaborated." She leaned over to hook it around his neck, "It's a good luck charm for you," she nodded to the ring. Severus looked down at it and noticed instead of an 'S', like he thought, it was the potions master symbol. He stared at it surprised, "I know you'll become a great Potions Master," Ginny whispered in his hear as she gave him a hug and placed a kiss on his cheek.
Alex was happy that everyone so far liked their gifts, and opened hers up. The first box was from Ginny and Hermione, upon opening it she pulled out a silver chain and on it were two charms, a little collie and a heart which was half ruby and half emerald. After admiring it for a while and giving her friends a smile she hooked it around her neck.
The next gift she picked up reminded her of the on Ginny got with the two boxes saying first and second. Upon opening the 'First' box, and reading the note from Lily, she lifted the silver charm bracelet which had a lily charm dangling from it. In the other box was charms from all the boys, except Sirius' charm was a little black dog that looked similar to his animagus form.
After putting on the bracelet she opened the present wrapped in silver paper with an emerald bow. Smiling up at Lucius, knowing it was his present, as she removed the paper revealing and old tome and a small velvet box.
"Wow," Alex began to giggle, "This is one of the books I was looking at when we were in Hogsmead last time. How did you get it without me noticing?" She asked him, surprised.
Lucius just smirked, "I'm magic, dear." He said, making Alex giggle more.
"Oh come on open the little box," Ginny said excitedly, rolling her eyes at the blonde's joke. Alex nodded and picked the box that was with the tome. The dark haired witch let out a small gasp when she opened it, causing the other witches to get curious and move up behind her to see. They too gasped in awe, nestled inside was a corded silver bracelet that looked like a snake its eyes were set with emeralds.
"Oh wow." Alex said softly as she carefully removed the bracelet from its velvet cushion. "Lucius this is too much," she said softly looking to the blonde.
"I don't think so," The blonde just smirked, "It is charmed to sit anywhere on your arm or ankle. Where ever you wish it." He explained to her.
"Thank you very much. It is so beautiful." Alex said as she carefully placed it back into its box. "I'll have to find an outfit that will go with it for our New Year's Party." She smiled at Lucius who returned the smile.
"Come on Alex you got one more present," Ginny said as she picked up a long thin box, "Huh, that's weird there's no name from who it's from." She handed the box over to her friend.
"Well that's weird," Alex said softly as she carefully removed the wrapping with care and lifted the lid of the white box inside. Resting inside, laying on golden paper, was a single rose. The flower itself was closed and black, the witch stared at it slightly in shock. She carefully picked up the rose from its bed, as Hermione moved to get a closer look.
"It's a magical rose," the brunette whispered in awe, "These are really rare. Fore it to truly powerful the giver must find and pick it themselves. The next person to touch it will be its owner. It's known as one of the most romantic gifts in the magical world." Alex said there staring at the rose, tying to think of who would do something like this.
A gasp came from Ginny, "It's blooming!" all attention went to the rose, she was right the flower looked like it was trying to bloom, which scared Alex. She quickly put the rose back into its box.
"Okay Hermione time for you to open your presents," The dark haired witch said trying to change the subject and quick. Hermione nodded, seeing how she really wanted to think of something else.
The first present she pulled over to open was from Lily and the boys, since it looked just like the one Ginny and Alex just opened. Carefully opening the 'First' box she smiled as she pulled out a golden charm bracelet with a lily hanging from it.
"I wonder if the guys got Lily one too," Alex giggled as Hermione opened up the 'Second' box with the charms from the Marauders.
"They did, and surprisingly asked if I would mind giving her one too." Severus spoke up.
"That was nice of them," Hermione said as she looked up from the little wolf charm. "I guess so she could have the same amount of charms as us." Ginny smiled as she leaned against Severus.
After hooking her bracelet on, Hermione moved to her next present. It was from Ginny and Alex and it was a golden chain similar to Ginny's, though her charms were a wolf and a book. Giggling she hooked it around her neck.
"I guess we planned this well hm?" She smiled at her friends. Lucius looked at the three necklaces curious as to why they chose those charms.
"If I may ask, what do each of your charms mean?" The blonde asked unable to keep the question in.
"Oh that's easy," Ginny smiled, "My charms, the Snitch because I usually play as a seeker but I couldn't here cause James is the Seeker," she shrugged.
"My charms, the heart is mine I am a Gryfffindor but I do have Slytherin in me." Alex smirked. Lucius opened his mouth to comment but Hermione started to talk.
"And my charms, the book is because I'm such a bookworm," Hermione giggled.
"Wait you only told us of one of the charms what about the other ones?" Severus pointed out.
"Don't worry we're getting to that," Ginny said to him, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "It would probably be just easier to just show them that one right?" The red head looked to the others who nodded in response.
"I think so," Hermione said smiling, "May I?" After a nod, she stood up and took a step away from the group. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath and changed into her wolf form. While Severus and Lucius were distracted by the sudden wolf in front of them, Alex and Ginny took the chance to change also.
Severus was shocked when a fox suddenly jumped up onto his lap. He then remembered that the charm on her necklace was a fox and began to scratch the animal behind her ear. Alex on the other hand came up next to Lucius and pushed her muzzle under his arm to get his attention. Lucius looked at the dog and smiled as he gave her a light pet.
Hermione changed back, "we're Animagus," She said simply, as she sat down by her pile of presents.
"Well I'm sure we can see that plainly for ourselves." Severus said, making Hermione smile at his slight Professor tone.
Alex, still in her animagus form moved over to the tree and using her nose pushed another present over to Hermione, "Is this one mine." She asked. With a bark as an answer she picked it up. The tag read it was from Remus, so carefully she began to open it. Inside was a much older copy of her favorite book, 'Hogwarts, A History'. The brunette smiled happily and hugged it to herself.
"Awe how cute," Alex said after changing back, "Did you tell him that was your favorite?" she asked smiling, Hermione shook her head no.
"I didn't," She mumbled, "I guess he must have noticed that I read it a lot when I'm at the library." Hermione blushed happily. "Hm, Despite not being home I would have to say this is one of the best Christmas's we've had." She looked up at Alex's red brown eyes.
"I'd have to agree with you on that one," She smiled as the two of them looked to Ginny, who was still preoccupied with having her ears scratched by Severus.
A.N. Again thank you again and i really should be having the next chapter typed up soon :3