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(warning: alcohol use and mentions of anxiety)
On christmas morning, it snowed dreadfully. The subtle shine of the stoney castle was engorged in the glaze of ice and the blanket of snow.
As per Violet's intensive planning, the three Beaumont girls gathered for an early morning Christmas celebration in the great hall. The girls painfully felt the absence of the classic Christmases they would have at home.
Zinnia ached for the smell of caramalised popcorn and her father's homemade sticky date pudding. All she could do was hold onto the echo of Christmas music ringing in her ear, almost as if it were coming straight from the decaying radio in their living room.
The three girls greeted each other with warm smiles and hugs, all knowing what they were missing at home. Presents in hand, they all sat and exchanged the poorly wrapped boxes of different shapes.
"It's bloody freezing you guys" Prim let out a strangled shiver as she looked around at the nearly desolate hall.
"Don't be so dramatic, you love us" Zinnia smirked as Violet let out a silent chuff. Zinnia leant over and gave the refusing Prim a teasing hug, Prim chuckled to herself in return and playfully pushed Zinnia off. The owls flew down from the windows and dropped a abundance of presents to each Beaumont child.
They all eagerly opened the gifts with bursting smiles and amused chuffs.
From Basil, Zinnia received some new mixtapes. From Daisy a horribly drawn image of a dog alongside many chocolate frogs. From Poppy, some beautiful new earrings and rings. From Aster, some of Zonko's prank products, most of which she assumed he would ask to borrow later if she had not used them herself on Filch.
The rest of her family graced her with new books to fill her lexicon, 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil', 'The Alienist' and finally 'Bird by Bird', all of which she had placed on her list as they came out during the year. Although Zinnia was a classic novel fan, she tried to reach out to contemporary authors as much as possible, it was her way of keeping up with the muggle world.
Once the girl had departed to the warmth of each of their common rooms, Zinnia retired to hers. When she entered the room all heads of the Weasleys and companions faced her with gleeful smiles. Everyone cheered her arrival as they invited her to sit around the Gryffindor tree and open presents. By the time they had finished, her sweet's collection grew a substantial amount and she worried if she could finish it before they went bad.
The day was spent with the people she loved most and awkward encounters with Harry, after her burst in the common room they had basically no interaction beside the simple nod they would give each other in the hall. Sometimes not even that. Although Zinnia was outraged by Harry's behaviour and stupendous idiocy, she couldn't help but yearn for the simple laughs she shared with him and the way her whole body warmed when he was near.
