Lorelei didn't bother using the tunnel: there were only two other Slytherin students staying at Hogwarts over the break. Not worrying about anyone hearing her, Lorelei clomped down the empty hallway in her boots; a coat, gloves, and hat tossed over her arm.
Filch stood waiting for her in their usual spot by the statue.
"What do I need all of this for?" Lorelei asked as she walked up.
"You'll see," Was all Filch would say. He offered to carry Lorelei's things until she needed them.
Lorelei handed Filch her coat. "It must be somewhere cold. Are we going outside?"
"I said you'll see when we get there." Filch grumbled.
"Ugh, fine." Lorelei sighed and crossed her arms. "Lead the way."
Filch led Lorelei through the hallways, up stairs, and down some more hallways. No matter how much Lorelei prodded, he wouldn't tell her where they were going. They finally stopped in front of an inconspicuous wooden door.
"You can put this on now." Filch handed Lorelei her winter gear. Lorelei did as he said.
"Now close your eyes." Filch said.
"What? I'm going to run into something."
Filch sighed and held out his hand.
Lorelei smiled. "Much better." She took his hand with her mitten-ed one and closed her eyes.
Filch opened the wooden door, letting in a swirl of cold, snowy air.
"Brr." Lorelei shivered. Her boots crunched on fresh snow as Filch led her outside. She felt the afternoon sun hit her face. "Can I open my eyes yet?"
"Not yet." Filch positioned Lorelei so she was facing something. "Okay. You can open your eyes now."
Lorelei opened her eyes and blinked in the harsh sunlight bouncing off the snow. As he eyes adjusted to the brightness she saw they were in a small courtyard, over grown with bushes and ivy. In the middle of the courtyard stood a lone willow tree, its delicate branches dusted with frost. Wooden boxes were stacked by a bench near the base of the tree.
"Oh it's gorgeous!" Lorelei gasped. The frost sparkled on the branches as they swayed in the gentle breeze. "What's in the boxes?"
"Go take a look if you're so curious." Filch said.
Lorelei glanced at Filch suspiciously and went over to the boxes. She wondered what he was planning: he had never surprised her with anything like this before. Lorelei opened the first box slowly, expecting it to be filled with spiders or something gross, but found it was filled with old Christmas decorations. She shot a confused look at Filch who was standing behind her.
"Old Christmas decorations?" Lorelei asked. She dug through the box and pulled out a long strand of garland, getting it wrapped around her in the process.
"That's for the tree you goon." Filch started to help Lorelei untangle herself. He had to stifle a laugh as he watched her flail about, only entangling herself further. "Hold still."
Lorelei froze with her arms outstretched, her back to Filch. "Was that a smile?" She contorted her head to look at Filch's face without moving her body.
Filch forced a frown. "No it was not. I said hold still." A few deft movements by Filch and Lorelei was free of the garland. "There." He dropped the garland back in the box.
"I guess I'll let you handle the garland." Lorelei laughed, her face colouring slightly. "Thanks for the help. Let's see what is in these other boxes." She opened the other boxes which were full of an assortment of ornaments and magic lights. She pulled out a couple glass ornaments and held them up so they sparkled in the sun. "How am I supposed to hang these?"
"You're a witch, aren't ya?" Filch said. "Use your wand."
"Oh… that makes sense." Lorelei began laying out the different ornaments on the snow; round glass ones, hand-carved wooden ones, ones shaped like candy canes and icicles, some of them even looked like they were made by previous students. The glass ones in an array of different colours were Lorelei's favourite. She put those ones aside to hang on the tree, along with some of the wooden ones shaped like animals.
Filch watched Lorelei, feeling a warmth growing in his chest. She looked back at him and smiled.
"Come here." She waved him over. "I need your help."
"Did you decide which ones you want to hang on the tree?" Filch asked. He saw she had picked out some of the wooden animals that had hung in the Great Hall when he first became the groundskeeper. The warm feeling in his chest grew a little more.
"Yup!" Lorelei took her wand out of its holder. "Can you hand me ornaments one at a time and I'll use my magic to hang them. If I tried to do it by myself I'd probably end up breaking them." She laughed.
Filch picked up a blue glass ball and held it out. "Don't you go turning my hand into a squirrel or anything now."
Lorelei giggled. "I would never! Just hold still… Leviosa!" Lorelei waved her wand and the ornament floated into the air. She guided it carefully to the tree and hooked it on one of the branches. She released the spell and the ornament stayed put. "Oh thank goodness." Lorelei let out a breath. She turned to Filch, "Another!"
Pretty soon they got a rhythm down and before they knew it all the ornaments were hung.
"Phew, I think that was the last one." Lorelei wiped her forehead and returned her wand to its holder. All that magic had made her warm, she had taken off her hat and mittens. Lorelei took in their masterpiece for the first time. The willow tree's branches bent gracefully under the weight of the ornaments. The glass orbs caught the sun and cast a myriad of coloured circles on the snow around the tree. The wooden animals almost seemed alive as they moved in the breeze.
"Wow." Lorelei breathed. "It looks so good!"
Filch glanced at Lorelei out of the corner of his eye and saw her beaming at him. "It looks great," he said. There was the hint of a smile on his craggy face, and this time he wasn't trying to cover it up with a frown.
Lorelei was shocked, she was seeing a new side of Filch and it made her heart flutter. She swallowed her sudden butterflies and slipped her hand into Filch's, intertwining her fingers with his. "Thank you for helping. It wouldn't look near as good if you hadn't."
Filch felt the heat rise to his face as Lorelei's petite hand held his clumsy, rough one. Somehow though he didn't seem to mind; he had begun to enjoy when Lorelei would take his hand on their walks around the castle. As the warmth in his chest spread, something inside Filch was beginning to thaw.
Filch cleared his throat and regretfully pulled his hand free. "Come on, we better clean this mess up."