It was his first real Christmas ever. It was also his first Yule, as Cassius kept reminding Harry.
When school let out for winter break a surprising number of older Slytherins and Hufflepuffs elected to stay at the castle instead of going home for their break. Mostly because word had spread that Harry had never had a proper Yule or Christmas and had never received presents before.
It was something many of the upper years were quite eager to fix.
Winter break had started off easy with late-night gossip, snowball fights, and lots of hot chocolate (Harry was now firmly addicted to the drink). Then the Slytherins had taken Harry hostage on the night of the 20th to celebrate Yule the proper way by lighting a Yule log, carving runes into ornaments, and burning their New Year's wishes in the fire. Harry had loved all of it and had even convinced Cassius to take him out to see the thestrals to give them a Yule gift of raw meat and pets.
The thestrals were quite fond of the little boy and Cassius had never seen them behave like they did with Harry with anyone else before.
That night the Slytherins and Harry slept in a puppy pile in front of the Yule log fire.
Harry had never been so happy before.
But it was finally Christmas. His first Christmas without Dudley to bully him, his first Christmas feast, and when he woke up he saw his first presents ever.
The pile was even bigger than anything he had ever seen Dudley receive. At first, he was convinced somebody messed up and gave him someone else's presents by accident. But Beatrice confirmed they were all for him and nudged him to open them.
Harry sat on the floor and slowly and ever so carefully opened his presents, being careful to not rip the wrapping paper even after Beatrice had reassured him that it would be okay to tear the paper.
Harry received all sorts of things from his friends and acquaintances. Jewelry, nail polish, and things to put in his hair from his friends in his year. The upper-class Hufflepuffs got him the most colorful clothes they could find him, both muggle and wizarding. The upper-class Slytherins got him books ranging from magical creatures to fashion to protection spells as well as more glitter pens.
His favorite gifts were from Bee and Cassy though.
Bea got him a beautiful deck of tarot cards that Harry could feel hummed with magic, as well as a box of his favorite sweets.
Cassy got Harry a stuffed Manta Ray as big as Harry was tall and inside the Christmas card attached to the Manta Ray was a parchment with hand-drawn and watercolor-painted Manta Rays that was so beautiful Harry wanted to cry.
There was a mystery package that had no name attached to the note which made Beatrice suspicious enough to take the parcel to Professor Sprout instead of risking Harry opening it.
Harry didn't care overly much, too busy hugging his life-size manta ray.
When the Hufflepuffs finally made it to breakfast, they lost Harry quickly as he ran to tackle Cassius.
"Good Morning little badger and Happy Christmas. Did you like your gifts?" Cassius asked as he ruffled Harry's hair.
"You're 'mazing Cassy! Did you paint the picture yourself?" Harry asked with wonder.
"Yes I did, I could teach you to paint if you would like." Cassius offered and smiled at how excited Harry got. The boy deserved so much more than he had received but the upper years had all agreed that too much at once would overwhelm the boy.
"I wanna paint like you, Cassy! Will you teach me to paint manta rays?" Harry wondered.
"Of course I will little badger." Cassius ruffled the boy's hair, thoroughly messing up his already flyaway hair. Not that Harry seemed to mind in the least, still touch-starved and eager for any friendly touch he could get, especially from Cassius.
Nothing beats the warm happy feeling inside of Harry when Cassius is kind to him.
The rest of the school year was quite peaceful.
Well, it was for Harry at least.
He gave Bee and Cassy near-weekly heart attacks, like that one week near Valentine's Day where Harry decided to see if he could fly instead of waiting for the staircases to change.
Harry received a very stern talking-to after that incident.
There was also an instance where Harry came crying to Cassy because Hagrid's hut had partially burned down after the half-giant tried to raise a baby dragon. Harry had been afraid Hagrid would be homeless.
Cassius was now even more afraid of the forbidden forest where the baby dragon had escaped to.
Harry had taken to painting rather well once Cassius had started to teach him. His paintings were undoubtedly much better than his handwriting. However, Harry still refused to paint anything other than watercolor manta rays. By now half the school had received their own Manta Ray painting as a gift from Harry. The Ravenclaws had even started to call Harry 'Little Ray' or 'Baby Ray' because of his obsession. It didn't help that on the weekends Harry would lug around the Harry-sized stuffed manta ray that Cassius had given him.
There wasn't a soul in Hogwarts or even down in Hogsmeade that did not know about Harry's love of manta rays.
And if it wasn't manta rays it was the thestrals.
Cassius hated that Harry had to go and befriend the skeletal beasts.
The thestrals even trusted Harry enough to allow him near their foals. Harry loved the thestral foals and the foals loved him. They would follow Harry around like really clumsy creepy ducklings. It was as endearing as it was disturbing.
The only problem Harry really faced was the fact that their DADA professor disappeared not long before their final exam. Not that anyone was particularly upset the stuttering man had left early, but it was rather abrupt.
Dumbledore was in a terrible mood for days after Quirell's disappearance.
Harry avoided interacting with the Headmaster at all costs.
And suddenly the harsh reality shoved its way back into Harry's life as he realized he had no choice but to return to the Dursleys once more.
Harry was afraid that with his new looks and coming home from magic school would prove too much for Vernon and he would finally follow through on his threat to kill Harry.
Harry cried the whole train ride home.
Not even Bee or Cassy could calm him down.
Both of whom had a sinking feeling they knew exactly why their little badger was so distressed.
"Now Harry, I want you to write to either me or Cassius every three days. I don't care if it is a short missive letting me know you are alright. If either of us fail to receive an owl from you, we will be showing up on your front doorstep." Beatrice tried to lecture in a stern tone but her worry made her voice wobble and crack.
"You will?" Harry sniffled.
"Of course we will. You are our friend little badger. I know you are scared and I fear I know why you are. If anything happens to you. If anything at all, you contact one of us immediately. We may not be able to prevent you from going back to your relative's home and dubious care, but we will kidnap you if they even breathe on you wrong." Cassius declared passionately.
"I don't wanna go backā¦" Harry admitted quietly, "The old man said I had no choice but to go back but I am scared."
Beatrice felt like her heart had been ripped out. How dare Dumbledore deny Harry's need to leave his relatives' home. Harry deserved so much better.
There was a plan for several of the upper-year Hufflepuffs and Slytherins to meet up this summer to plan for a way to get Harry out of his relatives' house permanently, but it would still be two weeks before they met up. Beatrice hoped that Harry could make it until then.
Cassius and Beatrice walk with Harry off of the train and onto the platform, they both wave to their families but continue walking with Harry. They wanted to see the faces of the monsters the little boy lived with.
Cassius had never been on the muggle side of the barrier at Kings Cross, but he was more concerned over Harry than his fear of the muggle world. Cassius was carrying Harry's trunk so both he and Beatrice could hold Harry's hands. Harry's hands were clammy and shaking, holding onto Beatrice and Cassius like they were the only thing keeping him up.
And then they saw them.
Vernon Dursley's face was already turning red at the sight of his nephew. Petunia's lips were pursed like she had sucked on a very sour lemon. Dudley was thankfully not with them.
"Come boy! It is bad enough we had to wait for you here but you show up with more freaks attached to you, and Dudley is probably starving at home waiting for dinner." Vernon barked out and Harry flinched into Cassius' side.
Cassius growled, "You muggle filth will not speak to Harry like that."
Petunia was already going pale, but Vernon did not sense the danger.
"I'll speak to the freak however I bloody want to!" Vernon's yelling was starting to attract attention not only from other muggles passing by but also some of the muggle borns and their families that were leaving the station as well.
Beatrice prided herself on being a good Hufflepuff. She was always open-minded and willing to accept anyone. But Hufflepuff also meant loyalty and she honored the friendship she had with Harry.
Without a single care on who was watching, Beatrice let go of Harry's hand and stomped over to Vernon and Petunia, getting close to Vernon's face before he could back away and shoving her wand under his fat chin. "Listen here you fat piece of shit. I will curse you if you do not learn some fucking respect and toleration for your nephew. That boy deserves better than you and your filthy family. You are the freaks here, with your inability to care for a little boy. Now he has to return to your house for now, but if you behave we are working on a way to get him new guardians and away from you. If I stop receiving letters from Harry, if he tells me you have touched so much as a hair on his head or treated him poorly in any way, I will bring the full force of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement on you, your house, and your neighborhood. When we come to pick him up in a couple of weeks he better be well-fed, uninjured, and in the same condition he is in now. Do we understand each other?"
Vernon's face had cycled from red to purple to now pale and sweaty. Vernon looked like he wanted to argue but Beatrice shoved her wand harder into the fat folds of Vernon's neck.
"Yes! Yes! I understand we won't hurt the freak." Vernon blubbered out, but Beatrice was getting really tired of hearing the word 'freak' and slapped Vernon across his face as hard as she could.
"He has a goddamn name, maybe you should take this summer to learn it." Beatrice snarled before turning away and heading back to a trembling Harry. Cassius had his arms wrapped around Harry, hugging him and petting his bright hair to calm him down.
Beatrice kneeled down in front of Harry with a small smile. "Now Harry, I expect a letter tonight and then every 3 days after to either Cassius or me. They will not hurt you anymore. If they do, you tell us immediately and we will kidnap you out of their care. You deserve better little badger. We love you very much. Please, please keep in contact with us."
Harry threw himself at Beatrice, hugging her so tightly, but she didn't care.
They would protect Harry even if Dumbledore would not.
