At 10 P.M. on the night of Thursday, December 24, 1992, Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather were sitting in a row on a long yellow couch in a room that Heather had named the Peaceful Warmth Room.
The Peaceful Warmth Room was a room that the eight of them would sometimes gather in to just enjoy some time quietly enjoying each other's company.
There were times and places for fun, excitement, grieving, gratitude, reflection, mess, and noise.
But the Peaceful Warmth Room was always designated to be a room that was free of all of that. When the octet convened in the Peaceful Warmth Room, it was to have quiet time just taking it easy and quietly and contently enjoying each other's company and their surroundings.
On this Christmas Eve, the walls of the Peaceful Warmth Room had been adorned with special Christmas lights that were dimmer than the normal Christmas lights but still easy enough to see in the naturally dim room. They alternated between red, green, yellow, blue, and orange and were very beautiful and enjoyable in a quiet and soft way.
Meanwhile, the couch they were sitting on was adjacent to the fires that were lit at the far north end of the room. These fires had dimmer flames than normal fires and were gorgeous tents of red, green, yellow, blue, and orange.
The fires were warm, but not hot. The noise, light, and temperature of everything in this room was dictated by magic, and the fires gave off a soft and gentle feeling of content warmth in a very soothing and relaxing way.
The room was quiet, but not dead quiet. The low crackling of the fires provided a welcoming low key sound.
Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather didn't talk much when they were in this room. The point was to simply relax and quietly enjoy each other's presence with each other. The Christmas lights and the fires simply added to the peaceful warmth of the Peaceful Warmth Room.
But at 11:55 P.M. Heather softly read out the classic Christmas story Twas the Night Before Christmas in a quiet and gentle voice. It was the perfect way to end the night, and they all went to their respective rooms and went to bed thereafter.
...
In sharp contrast, Christmas morning was as lively as it could be at Abbott Manor.
As Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather gathered around the kitchen table, Heather explained, "Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and I have collaborated to create a Yellow Christmas for the Yellow Quartet!"
Harry, Amy, Susan, and Hannah all smiled brightly between Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather at that.
"I do know you told us all to make sure we wore yellow today," beamed Susan.
And indeed, Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather were all wearing bright, vivid, yellow tee shirts and shorts with matching socks and tennis shoes.
The table had been draped with a pure yellow tablecloth that matched the shade of yellow of the Yellow Quartet's logo, and the chairs had been turned yellow as well.
"Before we do anything else," piped up Sirius, "I have an extra gift for Heather."
Next nanosecond, Sirius dug his left hand into his left hand pocket and retrieved two boxes of chocolates.
"At Thanksgiving," Sirius reminded them, "I told the story of how, during our fifth year at Hogwarts, Heather had won a box of chocolates as a prize from Professor Kettleburn for being the most successful student in a niffler lesson. I recounted how I snuck up on Heather from behind and stole the chocolates from her, and with many onlookers present, proceeded to eat them in her face, laughing at her and waving the residual smell in her face when they were gone. Well, I can never undo the humiliation and discomfort I caused Heather that day. Here's what I can do: I can apologize, and I can reimburse Heather for what I wrongly took from her. Heather, I am truly and sincerely sorry for the incident in question and I present these boxes of chocolates to you to pay you back for taking your chocolates that were rightfully yours on that day. You are truly a saint for having never held a grudge against me, especially considering how humiliating the incident in question was for you. "
Sirius handed the boxes of chocolates to Heather.
"Heather," said Sirius seriously, "I know you well enough to know that you'll share the first box, so I got you a second box to be strictly for you."
"Thank you, Sirius," replied Heather warmly, "I accept your apology, and I respect your efforts to try to right your wrong. And, yes, I'll share the first box of chocolates with all of us. Sharing chocolates together before we do anything else will add a nice touch to this Christmas. And while I don't deny the hurt and humiliation you caused me because of the chocolate theft incident, I want to emphasize that you more than made up for that with all the support you gave me during the most difficult time of my life after my husband died. Your support, especially your emotional support, along with the support of James, Remus, Lily, and of course, Amelia, really helped me get through those tough days."
Heather placed one of the boxes of chocolates in her left hand pocket. She then opened the other.
There were exactly sixteen pieces of chocolate in the box, enough for Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather to have two each.
Heather distributed the chocolates with a wide smile on her face and the octet slowly ate and enjoyed them.
"That was really nice, mom," beamed Hannah, "Thank you for sharing."
"Sharing chocolates was a good way to start Christmas and I got a nice feeling from sharing and seeing us all enjoy the chocolates," cooed Heather.
Everyone exchanged smiles.
"So," said Heather clearly, "The Abbotts have a tradition of only eating snack or dessert food for breakfast and then having a big meal in the afternoon on Christmas. I want to continue this tradition as a way of keeping my late husband's spirit alive."
"Mom, that is wonderful," said Hannah approvingly, "I know you've taken responsibility for keeping dad's family traditions alive since he passed, and, as a daughter, I really appreciate that. Though this one offers you some leeway."
"Yes," confirmed Heather, "The Abbotts would eat different snack or dessert foods for breakfast in different ways every Christmas. Last year we had a chocolate cake accented with mint and cherry frosting where we blew out a number of candles equal to our ages. This year we're going to do something different. We will do something different within this genre every Christmas morning. "
"So," asked Harry curiously, "What's this year's surprise going to entail?"
Next nanosecond, Heather called out to "Topsy!"
Topsy instantly appeared carrying a yellow plate carrying eight yellow cookies. These cookies came in the traditional Christmas shapes of snowmen, reindeer, Santas, and strings of lights. There were two of each shape.
"Aw, they're so pretty," said Amy adoringly, "That's beautiful work, Topsy!"
"Thank you very much for the praise, Mistress Amy," said Topsy glowingly, "Does Mistress Heather need anything else from Topsy?"
"Come to think of it," smiled Heather, "Please fetch us eight glasses of lemonade."
"Topsy is on it, Mistress Heather," replied Topsy.
"I love the idea of Christmas lemonade!" smiled Susan.
Topsy set the plate of cookies smack dab in the middle of the table and went to fetch the lemonade. She returned a minute and a nanosecond later and placed one glass each by Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather at each of their respective places.
"Thank you for all your hard work, Topsy," said Heather gratefully, "I am very fortunate to have you serving me."
"It is always Topsy's pleasure to help and serve Mistress Heather," cooed Topsy as she bowed between the eight of them and left.
"So," piped up Amelia warmly, "These cookies are lemon flavored. Lemon may not be a flavor traditionally associated with Christmas, but Sirius, Remus, Heather, and I wanted the Yellow Quartet to be able to start their Yellow Christmas with their favorite yellow flavor."
"Aw, Auntie, that is so sweet," cooed Susan.
"There are no knives, forks, or spoons because we don't need them," said Remus simply, "Cookies are finger food after all."
"That's also why there's only one plate," said Sirius seriously, "We'll just help ourselves to the cookies directly from the master plate."
Harry reached his right hand out to the master plate and randomly helped himself to a reindeer shaped lemon cookie.
"These are warm on the outside," Harry told the others as he took his first bite.
"AWESOME!" beamed Harry. "Hot on the inside with a soft and chewy consistency. Bursting with lemon flavor. All I can say is WOW!"
"I've got to try one myself then," exclaimed Amy, "And it has to be the other reindeer shaped one. I want to eat the same kind of cookie as Harry!"
Amy went for the remaining reindeer shaped cookie and smirked, "Rudolph's nose would have provided even more light if it had been yellow, but then the alteration for the title would have been lost!"
As Amy's cookie found her mouth she said, "Now that is a warm and lemony cookie that is fitting for a Yellow Christmas!"
Susan, meanwhile, chose a snowman shaped cookie and said, "Hmm, this one actually feels cool to the touch."
As Susan sank her teeth into her snowman shaped cookie, she declared, "This cookie is ice cold on the inside. It has a texture and consistency I'd compare with a popsicle. The lemony flavor is prominent in a cold way."
"It makes all the sense in the world for the snowmen cookies to be cold," stated Hannah cheerfully, "I'm going to take the second snowman cookie. I want to have the same kind of cookie that Susan did!"
Hannah found the remaining snowman cookie and made it hers.
As she began to eat it, she told everyone, "The production quality of these cookies is better than O in N.E.W.T. The lemony flavor really pops in these cookies. I'd expect nothing less from Topsy, who has to share some of the credit for making Christmas 1992 special."
"It's obvious to me that Heather and Hannah have had great admiration for Topsy for time out of mind," said Sirius seriously, "Our world would be a much better place if more masters and mistresses had the same level of respect for their house elves that Heather and Hannah have for Topsy."
"The key is to not take them for granted," said Heather in a crystal clear voice, "Always be aware of how hard they work and how much they do for us and acknowledge it."
Sirius had now decided it was time for him to have a cookie and he chose one that was shaped like a string of lights. This one was very warm to the hand and was brighter than the cookies the Yellow Quartet had consumed.
"Very warm and bright," smirked Sirius, "Fitting as it's shaped like light!"
As Sirius commenced his consumption of his cookie, he claimed, "It is very hot on the inside. It has a melty quality to it. It is bursting from outside to inside with lemony flavor. It's almost like a super-hot cake that just came out of the oven. Warmed my insides in a good way."
"I'm in for a hot treat then," said Remus glowingly, "I wish to share Sirius's cookie experience so I'm all in on the second string of lights shaped cookie."
Remus happily took the remaining string of lights shaped cookie and noted instantly that "Sirius was right about being very warm to the touch. It gets brighter when I hold it in my hand."
"I noticed that too," confirmed Sirius.
Remus carefully nibbled into his cookie and confirmed, "Yes, definitely very hot and melty. I love how each pair of us is getting a different cookie experience! Long live lemon!"
"That leaves the Santa cookies," said Amelia matter of factly.
Amelia grabbed one of the Santa cookies.
"Interestingly," said Amelia observantly, "This cookie is cold on the left hand side and hot on the right hand side. I'm guessing that the inside will be half melty and half icy."
"There's only one way to find out, " said Heather proddingly.
So, Amelia sank her teeth into her cookie and did indeed find out, "Yes, the left hand side is icy like a popsicle and the right hand side is melty. The most consistent thing about it is that it is 100% lemony."
"I'm having the last cookie," said Heather brightly, "And I am so joyful that I will have the same kind of cookie as Amelia."
Heather eagerly snatched the last cookie off the plate.
"Yes," felt Heather the nanosecond she had picked up the cookie, "It's a half and half cookie with regard to temperature."
Biting into it, she quickly added, "And texture. But the lemony flavor is beyond amazing!"
When the last cookie was gone, Heather told the others, "What I'd like to do now is have all eight of us raise our glasses and declare "Chosen family!" and then begin sipping the lemonade at the exact same nanosecond. "
Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather all raised their glasses and said, "Chosen Family!" together and then proceeded to all take their first sips at the exact same nanosecond.
The lemonade was soothing and refreshing. When it was gone Heather called Topsy to take the plate and glasses away and she did.
"Now," continued Heather, "I want to show you all something."
Heather retrieved her wand from her right hand pocket with her right hand while using her left hand to point out the kitchen window."
"It's snowing," said Amy fondly, "Arizona, at least the part of Arizona I grew up in, rarely sees snow as it has very hot summers and mild winters. As such, I'd never had a White Christmas before last year. To see snow on Christmas for a second consecutive year is totally awesome baby!"
"Ah," grinned Heather, "But this is not a White Christmas, it's a Yellow Christmas. So..."
Heather pointed her wand at the window and performed a strong nonverbal spell.
Before anyone knew what happened, the window and everything outside appeared yellow.
"That was NOT a Color Change Charm," Heather pointed out, "I simply used a nonverbal spell to create an optical illusion to make it appear that yellow snow is falling from the sky."
"That's so cool," beamed Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather herself as they happily watched the yellow snowfall.
"Mom has always loved the beauty of snow," said Hannah fondly, "But we've always watched it from indoors. Mom has always stuck to her hard and fast rule about not going outside if the temperature is below forty degrees. She's very paranoid about anyone's health or wellbeing being damaged by the cold."
"We witches and wizards don't have to worry much about frostbite like the muggles do," said Heather matter of factly, "But I've always been worried about the possibility of getting hypothermia. The bottom line is I'm not letting any of us take any chances of having our health or wellbeing being negatively affected by the cold. Nevertheless, I love watching snow fall from inside the Manor."
"Windows are wonder," said Harry brightly.
Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather all watched the yellow snowfall and applauded as it fell from the sky. When the effects of Heather's spell wore off and the snow was white again, Heather piped up, 'To the living room!"
Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather all made their way to the living room.
Heather went and plugged in their artificial Christmas tree, which had its five light combo of red, green, yellow, blue, and orange.
This year, all of the decorations on the tree were yellow.
Most of these decorations were yellow Christmas balls, yellow candy canes, and yellow tinsel upon the tree. There was a stack of presents under the tree that were all wrapped in yellow wrapping paper and topped with yellow bows.
"So," explained Heather, "The four adults here all got everyone here the same thing and included ourselves in each. The adults discussed amongst ourselves what we thought would be good Christmas presents. Let's start opening our gifts by opening Sirius's gifts."
Next nanosecond, Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather found his or her present from Sirius and held it in his or her hands.
These presents were rectangular in shape and were fairly lightweight.
When Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather had ripped the bows and wrapping paper off, they found themselves holding bright, vivid, yellow, bathroom towels.
"Our current bathroom towels are showing significant signs of wear and tear," said Sirius seriously, "This seemed like a good opportunity to replace them. It allowed me to provide all of us with a practical gift while also giving a yellow gift on Yellow Christmas."
"Good call," said Amy approvingly, "I LOVE that they are just plain yellow towels. No fancy design work. Just pure yellow."
"They are nice and thick too," said Harry happily, "These towels will keep us warm and comfortable as we dry ourselves off after showering each morning."
"They seem like they should be pretty sturdy too," said Susan matter of factly, "These should last many years."
"They are indisputably higher quality than the towels they replaced," declared Hannah confidently.
"That was part of the point," smiled Sirius, "Get us good high quality bathroom towels so that we'd be all set in that department for the foreseeable future."
"Open my gifts next," instructed Remus.
Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather placed the towels on their magically expanded yellow group couch, which would serve as a holding place until the gift opening activity was completed, and then found Remus's gifts.
Remus's gifts were also rectangular in shape, though they weren't quite as long or wide.
Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather opened these packages to reveal bathroom mats in the exact same shade of yellow as the towels.
"Second verse, similar to the first," smirked Harry.
"I'm guessing," put forth Amy, "That once Sirius told Remus, Amelia, and Heather that he was going to get us new yellow bathroom towels for Christmas, Remus figured matching mats would be a fitting gift for him to give."
"You have excellent deductive skills, Amy," smiled Remus kindly, "You really are the brightest witch of your age I've ever met."
"Sirius and Remus had done a wonderful job of choosing us gifts that are nice, practical, and match the yellow theme of the day," smiled Susan warmly.
"Getting new bathroom towels and bathroom mats at the same time makes all the sense in the world," said Hannah simply.
"You'll find a similar relationship between my gifts and Heather's," added Amelia, "Go for mine now."
Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather set the mats down on the couch and turned their attention to Amelia's gifts.
When Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather had each found Amelia's contribution, they all sensed there were actually three items in each. The packages were long and rectangular. The top item felt thicker than the bottom two though.
Once Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather tore away the bows and wrapping paper, they had new clothes in their hands. These included bottom layer bedsheets, bedsheets to cover oneself with, and thick warm blankets. These bedclothes were a bit of a lighter shade of yellow than the bathroom towels and mats they had opened, but they were still bright and vivid.
"Good call, Auntie," said Susan supportively, "I know that my current bedsheets are pretty worn out."
"I examined everyone's beds when we all returned here for Christmas vacation and the same holds true for everyone," explained Amelia, "Our blankets aren't in the worst shape, but I figured we'd go all in on all yellow."
The Yellow Quartet smiled at that.
"I'm guessing mom got us pillows and pillowcases to go along with our new bedsheets and blankets," predicted Hannah.
Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather quickly put the bedclothes down on the couch and sought Heather's gifts.
Even wrapped, the shape and feel of the objects inside them gave away the truth that Hannah had been correct about what her mother's gifts to them would be.
When Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather had all removed the bows and wrapping paper, they felt themselves holding thick and fluffy pillows that matched the yellow shade of their bedclothes inside pillowcases that were also that same yellow shade.
"Perfect," nodded Amy, "I've thought my pillow was a little on the flat side since we got home. Heather must have agreed with that."
"After Amelia told me about the situation with bedclothes," explained Heather, "I took it upon myself to check the pillows. I thought mine was a bit flat but wasn't sure if it was just my imagination, just my pillow, or an overall Abbott Manor issue."
"It was definitely the third," confirmed Harry.
Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather proceeded to deposit these pillows upon the couch.
"Interestingly enough," grinned Harry, "The Yellow Quartet had the same idea as the adults. Amy, Susan, Hannah, and I all decided that we would each get all eight of us the same thing, although we did not share with each other what we were getting everyone like the adults did with each other."
"That's so cool, pup," smiled Sirius.
"Let's go for my gifts next," prodded Harry in an excited voice, "Sometimes you are very hyper and need to release a lot of energy. "
"Yes," smirked Amy, "Sometimes you get the zoomies!"
"Love the dog reference," beamed Sirius.
"In such times," explained Harry, "It is effective to simply have some mindless fun. I have provided us with something that will allow us to have such mindless fun in such times."
Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather located Harry's packages.
These packages were long, rectangular, and very bouncy like.
When they had yanked off the bows and wrapping paper, Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather each found himself or herself holding a yellow trampoline.
"Perfect," exclaimed Amy excitedly, "What better way is there to blow off excess energy and have mindless fun than jumping as high as one possibly can repeatedly in a short burst of time."
"NOTHING!" chorused Susan and Hannah eagerly.
"We can have various types of jumping competitions on these too," realized Remus.
"We could even have Multiple team competitions," interjected Sirius, "We could have the Yellow Quartet vs the adults. We could create one tween/one adult teams and have a four team competition. We could have a four team competition between each pair of best friends."
"The possibilities are endless," added Amelia.
"And the yellow theme continues," said Heather joyfully.
"These are too big to fit on the couch," said Harry matter of factly, "So, we'll place them on the floor as adjacent to the couch as possible."
Once the trampolines had been set down, it was Amy who spoke next.
"In contrast with Harry's gift," said Amy in a soft, gentle voice, "I purchased us gifts that are meant for quiet, thoughtful enjoyment. Sometimes, you want a quiet, relaxed atmosphere, but you don't want to just chill. You want to use your brain in a relaxed way. Crossword puzzles and Sudoku puzzles have their place in the world, but sometimes a change of pace is nice. Sometimes, even in these quiet times, you'd like to give your brain a little more of a challenge. Without further ado, let's open my presents."
Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather took Amy's presents into their hands to see that they were a cross between squares and rectangles. They could all hear rattling inside the packages.
As Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather removed the bows and wrapping paper, Amy's gifts were revealed to be collections of jigsaw puzzles.
"I don't know why," said Harry thoughtfully, "But it intuitively makes sense to me that a Potions junkie would like jigsaw puzzles."
"Jigsaw puzzles, like Potions," reasoned Amy, "Require focus, concentration, and attention to detail for success to be achieved. I appreciate giving my brain exercise."
"Well," piped up Susan, "It looks like Amy got us magical creature jigsaw puzzles with yellow backgrounds."
"Yes," explained Amy, "There are four puzzles in the set. Each of the puzzles features a different magical creature. The creatures are yellow fwoopers, pure white dogs, stormy gray hippogriffs, and orange kneazles."
"How many different types of jigsaw puzzle sets did you have to choose from when selecting this present?" inquired Susan.
"Infinitely many," replied Amy, "I decided on one of the magical creatures sets in the end."
"Of course, jigsaw puzzles are a solitary activity," observed Susan.
"That's exactly Amy's intent with these gifts," realized Hannah, "Provide a brain stimulating activity that can be done both quietly as well as alone.
"Exactly," confirmed Amy.
"The contrast between Harry's and Amy's gifts is fascinating," cooed Sirius.
"This Christmas has come together nicely," added Remus.
"I say it's time for us to open my gifts," said Susan, "My gifts are our penultimate gifts."
So, they put the jigsaw puzzles on the couch and moved on to Susan's gifts.
Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather picked up Susan's gifts, which were small, square shaped things that rattled.
"My contribution is more in line with Harry's than Amy's," said Susan simply.
Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather opened Susan's presents to find themselves holding yellow beanbags.
"Oh, we're going to have fun with these," exclaimed Harry eagerly.
"They're versatile too," added Amy, "We can play catch with them, we can play tag with them, we can try to hit each other with them."
"Yeah," agreed Hannah happily, "There are a lot of ways to have fun with beanbags."
"And we can probably think of more as we go along," smiled Susan.
"Well," smiled Hannah, "It looks like my gifts are all that's left. I'll tell you that my gifts combine the mindless fun of Harry's and Susan's with the calmer nature of Amy's."
They tossed the beanbags onto the couch and prepared for the last presents.
Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather retrieved Hannah's gifts from under the tree.
Hannah's presents were cylinder in shape, and they could all hear a second piece moving around inside the packaging.
With this being the last present for each of them this Christmas, they demolished the bows and wrapping paper with gusto to unveil little yellow bubble blowers and cans of bubbly stuff.
"The bubbles in these cans are not clear, but yellow," declared Hannah happily, "You'll have to wait a bit to find out more, but these bubbles can have some unique qualities."
"Bubble blowing can be a very enjoyable activity," piped up Heather, "But let's everyone please restrict our use of these bubbles to outdoors, both at Abbott Manor and Skyward School of Practical Sorcery. I don't want that stuff getting all over the floors and furniture."
Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather all nodded.
They set the bubble blowing kits on the couch and now looked at the tree, enjoying its lights for a few minutes and a few nanoseconds.
Around one in the afternoon, Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather all gathered at the dining room table for their big Christmas feast.
The dishes and tablecloth they would be using beautifully intertwined the yellow theme with a traditional feeling of Christmas.
The tablecloth, plates, forks, knives, and goblets in front of them were mostly yellow with patterns of alternating red, green, and white snowflakes to preserve the yellow theme while adding a touch of Christmasy flavor to it all. Heather had also used her Simple Color Change Charm to make the chairs they were sitting in yellow.
Next nanosecond, Heather called out, "Topsy!"
Topsy appeared carrying a huge yellow platter carrying a large thick juicy ham, mashed potatoes with gravy, corn, carrots, and eight French toast sticks with extra cinnamon. There was a large yellow jug complete with a yellow cap filled with hot chocolate. Eight pieces of cherry jello for dessert completed their fix.
"Everything's done, Mistress Heather," said Topsy glowingly.
"Thank you, Topsy," returned Heather as Topsy took off again.
A nanosecond later, their Christmas ham magically split itself into eight equally sized pieces. All of the food then floated onto Harry's, Amy's, Susan's, Hannah's, Sirius's, Remus's, Amelia's, and Heather's plates in equal portions. Then, the hot chocolate jug uncapped itself automatically and filled Harry's, Amy's, Susan's, Hannah's, Sirius's, Remus's, Amelia's, and Heather's goblets with equal portions of itself.
"Let's dig in!" called Heather cheerfully.
Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather each cut up their individual pieces of ham. Then, in a wonderful tribute to their tight knit octet, Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather lifted their forks and ate their first bite of Christmas ham at literally the exact same nanosecond.
"YUMMY!" beamed Harry, "Hot, thick, and juicy. Ham is an excellent main course for Christmas!"
"Carrots pair really well with ham too," added Remus, "The inclusion of corn covers eating something yellow."
"Any meal that includes hot mashed potatoes and gravy is a winner," smiled Sirius.
"Mashed potatoes and gravy go well with so many things too," said Amy happily.
"I really like the inclusion of French toast sticks," piped up Susan, "It's a nice change of pace from dinner rolls."
"That was my idea," announced Amelia, trying to sound humble, "I told Heather that I wanted to include something cinnamony for Christmas. And, yes, I wanted us to change it up from dinner rolls."
"Good going, Auntie!" said Susan glowingly.
"Cherry is a flavor traditionally associated with Christmas," noted Hannah.
"True," nodded Heather, "We don't eat a lot of jello, so I thought it was a good choice to be a little different on Christmas."
"We don't drink hot drinks a lot either," said Harry matter of factly, "Hot chocolate on Christmas is awesome!"
They slowly ate their feast, taking their time to savor every last nibble.
When everything was gone, Heather called Topsy to take away the dishes and the octet then all stood up and smiled at each other.
Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather all instinctively and instantaneously burst into song and sang, "We wish you a Merry Christmas. We wish you a Merry Christmas. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. "
The octet then all shouted out together:
"MERRY CHRISTMAS!"
A shout out to the following members who have added Harry Potter and the Yellow Quartet to their favorites and/or follows lists since the last update:
Bumbaman
Caleb C- Hulse
mingodarienzo
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As this will be the last update to Harry Potter and the Yellow Quartet in 2024, I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas 🎄 and Happy New Year. Be safe everyone!
To the readers, favorers, and followers of Harry Potter and the Yellow Quartet, I'll see you all in 2025!
Much love from Arizona for all the support. Love you all-Michael. :) ❤️