When Hugo and Lily went down to greet James, Devon, Ainsley, Samantha, and Stephanie on Thanksgiving morning in the common room, they made sure to act normally so as not to tip anyone off about the surprise they had arranged for Devon.
Everyone, even Devon, ate small breakfasts that morning consisting of a sausage biscuit and a glass of orange juice each. The morning was mainly spent just chit chatting.
When the students had all convened in the Great Hall for the Thanksgiving feast just before 1, Professor Longbottom Disapparated from the staff table.
Everyone knew he had Disapparated because of the loud cracking sound that had occurred as he had disappeared.
But he wasn't gone long. Less than a minute after his Disapparation, Professor Longbottom Appaarated back into the Great Hall. When he returned, he had a boy with him.
The boy was of average size, but he was fairly tall. He had green eyes and black hair.
As the students all looked at the boy Professor Longbottom had brought with him, Devon felt almost as though an electric current had raced through him when he realized who it was.
Devon leapt from his chair and rushed to greet his dear friend.
"MILES!" exclaimed Devon with that jolt of happiness still rushing through him as he engulfed Miles Munson in a tight hug.
"DEVON!" roared Miles happily, "It's so awesome to see you again!"
Hugo and Lily felt as though their hearts had been warmed by a campfire as they watched this scene. To see how much this moment meant to Devon made their efforts more than worth it.
"Man, it's wonderful to see you again too, Miles," said Devon joyfully, "I was sure I'd never-"
At that nanosecond they heard another crack. Professor Longbottom Disapparated again and then came back with another boy.
This boy was tall and lanky and had brown eyes and coffee colored hair.
"GARY!" yelled Devon jovially as he let go of Miles and turned to hug Gary. "I can't believe I'm actually getting to see you again too!"
"DEVON!" shouted Gary, "I'm thrilled to see you again. I-"
At that nanosecond they heard yet another crack. Professor Longbottom Disapparated a third time and quickly returned with a third boy.
This boy was somewhat short and somewhat skinny, though not exactly what you'd call petit. He had brown eyes and medium brown hair.
"TODD!" screamed Devon blissfully with his heart leaping as he released Gary and now throwing himself into Todd, "It's amazing to see you again!"
"DEVON!" yelled Todd excitedly, "It's great to see you again!"
Hugo and Lily were smiling widely, their eyes were glowing, and their insides couldn't be warmer. Those meaningful moments between Devon and his old friends were exactly what Hugo and Lily had been looking forward to as Thanksgiving approached. They'd never been more gratified by anything else they'd ever done.
Now letting go of Todd, it now sunk in on Devon that all three of his old elementary school friends were at Hogwarts and at the Thanksgiving feast.
Devon's heart had rarely glowed on the inside more than it was glowing on the inside now. But his brain couldn't take in what was happening. How on earth did Miles, Gary, and Todd come to be at Hogwarts?
"Um, Miles, Gary, Todd, I'm obviously in ecstasy to see you three again. But how did this come to be?" asked Devon.
"Well," said Todd, "Five people played roles in setting this up. Professor McGonagall contacted Dudley and explained to him the idea of us coming to Hogwarts for Thanksgiving so that you could have an opportunity to see us again. Dudley made the arrangements with our parents to allow us to come to Hogwarts for Thanksgiving and Professor Longbottom brought us here."
"The idea that we would each come separately was Hugo Weasley's idea.," explained Gary, "When the idea of the three of us reuniting with you at Hogwarts on Thanksgiving was being discussed, Hugo suggested that we come one at a time so as to allow you to greet each of us one on one and to allow that emotional crescendo to build up to the point when it sunk in on you we'd all come. But ultimately there is one person who is primarily responsible for setting this up."
"That person," revealed Miles, "Is Miss Lily Luna Potter."
"Oh, Lily!" burst out Devon emotionally.
Hugo and Lily went over to join them.
Devon gave Hugo a short hug and turned to Lily.
Giving her a very tight hug, Devon said, "Lily, thanks," softly.
Then Devon suddenly had tears flowing down his face. These were a third tears of happiness, a third tears of gratitude, and a third tears of love.
"Lily, I can't even begin to tell you how much it means to me that you would arrange this for me," said Devon warmly.
"The day the notice appeared on the Gryffindor message boards about Hogwarts FINALLY acknowledging Thanksgiving this year, I was struck by this idea. You had expressed sadness over the fact that you would never see your three close friends from your muggle elementary school ever again. I decided I wanted to do this to really make this a special Thanksgiving for you," said Lily.
"I am very touched by your thoughtfulness, Lily," said Devon with his eyes watering, "You truly are a special friend."
"Typical Lily," said Hugo proudly, "Always thinking of others rather than herself."
"It really shows what a special friend Lily is to Devon that she truly wanted Devon to have the opportunity to see us again," observed Miles, "Oftentimes a person's newer friends will become protective or possessive of their friendships and will want to keep that person away from their old friends."
"And sometimes that person's older friends will be resentful towards his or her newer friends being either jealous or resentful that they now have the closeness with that person that they once did," said Lily, "It's clear to me that none of those feelings exist within Miles, Gary, or Todd."
"No," said Gary clearly, "We are very happy for Devon that he has found friends at Hogwarts that he loves and values just as much, or, in your case Lily, more than he ever did us."
"I realized that nanosecond I met sweetie pie Lily that I had just met the most special friend I ever would have," said Devon meaningfully, "I was struggling with my trunk on Platform Nine and Three Quarters and before we had even been introduced to each other, Lily offered to help me with my trunk, an offer I accepted gratefully. The rest is history."
"Wow," said Todd in an amazed voice, "Not many eleven-year olds would be so eager to help out a complete stranger like that."
"And the result of my doing so was my gaining a beautiful friendship with dear Devon. What comes around goes around.", said Lily.
"By the way, Lily, while I know you acting for Devon, I still want to thank you for arranging this. I never thought I'd see Devon again either, so this moment means a lot to me too." said Miles brightly.
"Miles, Gary, Todd," said Lily sincerely, "While my motivation was obviously about Devon, I am truly happy for you three to be reunited with your friend as well. I wanted to make a special day for Devon, and, in the process, I ended up making this a special day for you three as well. To know I succeeded in making a very special day for four people is a really satisfying feeling and I say that humbly."
Miles, Gary, and Todd each took turns giving Lily a quick hug. This made Devon smile. It gave Devon a fuzzy feeling to see how well Miles, Gary, and Todd had taken to Lily.
A few seconds later they all heard a splashing sound as, Miles, Gary, and Todd had water balloons drooped on their heads.
Turning around, they saw Ainsley.
"You must be Ainsley Cochlain," said Gary cheerfully, "Professor McGonagall told us you are a prankster."
"Gary, Miles, Todd, it's nice to meet you, " said Ainsley with a smile, "The water balloon prank is one of my personal favorites. Lily is usually my favorite target."
"It's wonderful for us to meet you as well, "said Miles to Ainsley, "It's always good to someone lighthearted around."
"It's also a wonderful testament to Lily that she can be such a good sport about both being on the receiving end of pranks and being ribbed and razzed." added Ainsley, "Then again most of our group has a good sense of humor."
"We do too," chorused Gary, Todd, and Miles.
Stephanie came over next.
"Hi, Miles, Gary, Todd," said Stephanie in a friendly voice, "I'm Stephanie Baylac. I'm one of the more serious people in Devon's group of friends."
Gary, Miles, and Todd each gave Stephanie a handshake. A few nanoseconds later, a scowling Samantha came over.
"Seriously," said Samantha scornfully, "It's bad enough that Devon/Hugo/James/Lily have all become so attached to each other. And now Devon is allowing old attachments he should have let go ages ago to reform. Apart from the fact that friends coming into and going out of life is just part of life, does no one understand that people allowing themselves to become attached to other people is the great weakness of the human race?"
"You're the albino girl," noticed Miles, "So you're Samantha Saver, right?"
"Right," said Samantha simply, "Being emotionally attached to other people sets people up for sadness and grief. If Devon had never been emotionally attached to you three in the first place, he'd never have had to feel that sadness he talked about."
"Samantha, you must never have had a close relationship with another person, "observed Gary, "If you had you would understand what close relationships mean to people and how beautiful they are."
"Gary is EXACTLY RIGHT!" yelled James as he came to join the fray, "Close bonds between people, such as that which exists between myself, Hugo, Devon, and Lily are precious and people who have them would do well to make every effort to preserve them when possible. And Gary, Todd, Miles, along those lines, I suggest that while eating today you try to make arrangements with Devon to try to see him again sometime."
"We will, " chorused Todd, Miles, Gary, and Devon together.
Hugo and Lily grinned at this.
"By the way," said James brightly, "I'm James Sirius Potter, I'm Lily's brother."
Gary, Miles, and Todd all shook hands with James with smiles on their faces.
Professor McGonagall now came over to them and said, I've set up a special table outside just for the ten of you."
Professor McGonagall led James, Hugo, Devon, Gary, Todd, Miles, Ainsley, Samantha, Stephanie, and Lily outside not to the sweeping lawns where the parade was being set up but to the Quidditch pitch.
In the middle of the center circle was a table for ten with the start of the feast already prepared for them. Each plate had several slices of thick cut turkey on it as well as piles of stuffing, corn, and mashed potatoes. There was also a bottle of Budweiser adjacent to each plate. The table seated four to a side with seats for one on the ends.
Knowing that Devon would want to sit with the beloved friends he hadn't seen for so long, Hugo and Lily motioned for Devon, Miles, Todd, and Gary to sit down on the west side of the table, which they all did. Hugo and Lily would be joined on the east side by James and Ainsley, while Stephanie took the north end and Samantha took the south end.
As they sat down to eat, a sense of contentment filled the table. This had been, was, and would be a special Thanksgiving.
"Yummy," declared Gary as he bit into his first bite of the thick and juicy turkey, "Nothing I've ever tasted before has ever been as good as this turkey."
"Same story with the stuffing," smiled Miles.
"And the corn," added Todd.
"House elf cooking is nine hundred octillion to the nine hundred octillionth power times better than the best muggle cooking," said Devon matter of factly, "The difference was crystal clear to me on the night of the Welcoming Feast."
For the next fifty minutes Devon ate and talked with, Gary, Todd, and Miles. The others were mostly quiet so that Devon and Gary, Todd, and Miles had ample chance to just catch up amongst themselves.
Most of them liked the turkey best of the food. The lone exception to this was Stephanie the mashed potato lover.
Towards the end of the feast, Lily. who was sitting across the table from Miles, got a good look at a ring on Miles's right hand as Miles lifted his fork to his mouth to finish his mashed potatoes.
It was a replica of the ring used in The Lord of the Rings movies.
This very ring had once belonged to Lily herself.
When she was eight, Lily had won a youth broom race at a wizarding fair in Godric's Hollow and the replica of the ring used in The Lord of the Rings movies had been the prize for winning.
Lily was not a Lord of the Rings fan, but the replica ring had been special to her because it had represented her pride in that triumph.
Then last November it had been stolen from her.
On November 23rd, 2018, Harry and Ginny had taken Lily to Dean's Dance Den, a dance den owned by Harry's former classmate, Dean Thomas. Dean's Dance Den was owned by a wizard but located in a muggle village. This meant it had a customer base that was drawn from both the wizarding and muggle worlds. As it so happened, this dance den included a couple of dance floors dedicated to youths. Youths could practice their dance moves either by themselves or with a partner. As Lily had some degree of interest in dance, Harry and Ginny had taken her to Dean's Dance Den a handful of tables.
Lily happened to be wearing her prize(d) ring on that day. After the first song had ended, Lily had sat down at a table and taken the ring off because she was finding it uncomfortable. She had set the ring down on the table and to her horror when she returned to the table after the second song her prize(d) ring had been missing.
Harry and Ginny had spent that evening just hugging their sobbing and inconsolable daughter.
In fact, Lily had grieved the loss of her most prize(d) possession for the rest of November 2018, though her spirits had been lifted quite a bit on December 1 when Harry and Ginny put up Christmas decorations and started playing Christmas music.
"Miles?" asked Lily calmly, "May I ask where you got that replica Lord of the Rings ring?"
"It was abandoned last November by someone at a dance den named Dean's Dance Den. I found it lying abandoned on a table. As a huge Lord of the Rings fan, I jumped at the chance to get a replica ring from Lord of the Rings, " answered Miles happily.
Miles held up his right hand and pointed at the ring. In a magnificent imitation of Gollum, Miles proclaimed "My precious!"
As Miles gave his explanation, a very hurt look came onto Lily's face and her eyes started to water.
"Um, Miles" began Lily uneasily.
"Lily, you were the original owner of this ring, weren't you?' asked Miles in a very uncomfortable voice. He had guessed this truth from the hurt he had seen on Lily's face.
"I was, sort of. You see, when I was eight, I won a youth broom race at a wizarding fair in Godric's Hollow and that ring was the prize for winning. Although I am not a Lord of the Rings fan, that ring was special to me because it had represented my pride in that personal triumph," explained Lily patiently.
"So, it wasn't abandoned at all!" realized Miles
"No," said Lily clearly, 'I took it off between songs because I was finding it uncomfortable. I intended to retrieve it after the second song but when I returned to the table, I had put it down on it was gone."
Miles shook his head. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.
"Miles, it's okay," said Lily in a reassuring voice, "You truly believed that ring to have been abandoned and so you just made an honest mistake."
"This ring is rightfully yours, Lily," said Miles with obvious reluctance in his voice, "And if it carries emotional value to you, I suppose the only decent thing I can do is return it to you."
"It's okay, Miles," said Lily quickly and clearly, "There is a solution that can make both of us happy. We will need Ainsley's help."
"I know what I'm going to be asked to do," said Ainsley smugly, "I am great at Transfiguration, including Multiplying Spells. Lily is going to ask me to make a copy of that ring, then she is going to ask Miles if she can have the original replica back and offer him the one that I create in its place."
"Ainsley is so smart," said Lily with a smile, "That's exactly what I would like to happen. In that way I could get my prize(d) ring back and Miles can still have a replica ring like that from The Lord of the Rings. "
"That's a brilliant idea, Lily," said a relived sounding Miles.
Miles slipped off the ring and handed it to Ainsley, who immediately made a copy of the ring with her Multiplying Spell. Ainsley was then careful to hand the original to Lily and the copy to Miles.
"Luna once said that the things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end, " said Lily with a smile, "Honestly, as hurt as I had been to lose my prize(d) ring last November, I hadn't thought about it since I came to Hogwarts. As it is Thanksgiving, I am very thankful to the fates for allowing me to reclaim my prize(d) ring."
Lily felt a certain radiance around her as she slipped her prize(d) ring onto her right ring finger. The recovery of her prize(d) ring had caused joy to radiate through her. She just smiled.
"I'm so happy you have that ring back, Lily, "said Hugo to his closest cousin and BFF, "I saw first-hand how crushing a blow it had been for you to lose that ring the first time I saw you last November after that loss."
James nodded at this, "That ring truly was Lily's most prize(d) possession and now it will be again."
"All's well that ends well, " smiled Lily, "And I'm warning everyone right now, I do not want anyone badmouthing or criticizing Miles for taking the ring. He truly believed it had been abandoned and so he made an honest mistake. No one deserves to be scolded or demeaned for making an honest mistake."
Miles smiled gratefully at Lily and gave her a thumbs up. Everyone else nodded in understanding.
"By the way, piped up James, "I have an idea for when we can all meet up again. You know, of course, that nowadays, Hogwarts closes for winter break over Christmas and New Year's, throwing a Christmas party on the last day of term. "
"Our parents, " piped up Lily, "Insist on keeping Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for the immediate family only."
"So do ours," chorused everyone else.
"However," smiled James, there is no reason why we can't meet up with friends on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. We can all meet up then."
"We could all meet at my place on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. The Dursley's house is a big one and we'd have plenty of room to hold nine guests," offered Devon
Hugo, James, Todd, Gary, Miles, Samantha, Ainsley, Stephanie, and Lily all accepted this offer eagerly.
If I may make a suggestion," said Lily, "Maybe Gary, Todd, and Miles, could arrive at Devon's house on December 30th. In this way Devon and his old friends could spend a day just to themselves and then the rest of us would arrive the next day and we could all have our big gathering together for New Year's Eve."
"I love that idea," said Devon happily, "It would be great to have a day with just with my old friends and it would also be great for everyone to gather for New Year's. That's the best of both worlds."
Everyone nodded.
Hugo, James, Miles, Todd, Gary, Ainsley, Samantha, Stephanie, and Lily all proceeded to give Devon quick but sincere thanks for inviting them to his house for New Year's.
"There are a couple of ground rules that you must all follow while at my house," said Devon in a polite but clear voice, "First, my mom has serious smoke allergies so there can be NO smoking at the Dursley household. Second, my dad inherited Grandma Petunia's hatred of animals and does not allow any animals in our house. Those of you who own owls or cats will need to make other arrangements for the your animals while at my place. Finally, you must never yell or raise your voices while at my house. Both dad and mom believe that yelling is evil and inhumane. Yelling in their presence WILL cause them to lose trust in and respect for you."
"My parents are the exact same way in their stance against yelling," said Samantha proudly.
"Do you all agree to abide by the three rules I have just laid out while at the Dursley household?"
Everyone nodded his or her head and Devon smiled at them all.
A few minutes later the plates were cleared, and smaller plates appeared for dessert. A large pumpkin pie appeared that had been pre sliced into ten pieces.
Devon almost instantly grabbed the first piece of pumpkin pie and dug in. Then Hugo, James, Gary, Todd, and Miles all quickly grabbed a piece of pumpkin pie and started to dig in.
Samantha, Ainsley, and Stephanie each waited patiently to serve themselves their pieces until they saw that Devon, Hugo, James, Gary, Todd, and Miles had each gotten their pieces. In Lily's case, she also waited for Samantha, Ainsley, and Stephanie to go before her as well.
The pumpkin pie proved to be of equal quality to the meal food. After this tasty close to the eating, Devon spoke.
"I want to sing a song," said Devon clearly, "James, Hugo, Gary, Todd, Miles, Ainsley, Samantha, Stephanie, and Lily, this song is dedicated to all of you."
And Devon sang his song.
"Oh no, did I get too close oh?
Oh, did I almost see what's really on the inside?
All your insecurities.
All the dirty laundry.
Never made me blink one time.
Unconditional, unconditionally.
I will love you unconditionally.
There is no fear now.
Let go and just be free.
I will love you unconditionally.
Come just as you are to me.
Don't need apologies.
Know that you are all worthy.
I'll take your bad days with your good.
Walk through this storm I would.
I'd do it all because I love you, I love you.
Unconditional, unconditionally.
I will love you unconditionally.
There is no fear now.
Let go and just be free.
I will love you unconditionally.
So open up your heart and just let it begin.
Open up your heart, and just let it begin.
Open up your heart, and just let it begin.
Open up your heart.
Acceptance is the key to be.
To be truly free.
Will you do the same for me?
Unconditional, unconditionally.
I will love you unconditionally.
And there is no fear now.
Let go and just be free.
Cause I will love you unconditionally (oh yeah).
I will love you.
I will love you.
I will love you unconditionally."
When Devon had finished, every one of his friends, Hogwarts, or older, felt his or her heart warmed.
"Devon, that was beautiful," said Lily appreciatively.
"You really do have a great singing voice, Devon," complimented Todd, "I'd forgotten how well you can sing."
At that nanosecond Professor McGonagall came over and informed them that the parade would start in a few minutes and to get themselves over to the sweeping lawns.
As they all started to proceed to the parade, McGonagall added, "A major announcement regarding Hogwarts will be made as part of the parade. "