Sophie Pendragon, Year One | Half-Vampire At Hogwarts

Chapter Twenty One: Christmas

          Oddly enough, I was the only Hufflepuff student that was staying at the castle. I curled on the couch with Calcifer and looked at the small Christmas tree with gifts underneath it for me. My friends got me gifts and I was looking forward to opening them all. In my hands, I rotated the gift from a mystery sender. It was a small box in dark green paper and a silver string tied it shut with a simple bow. It was Christmas Eve and I decided to open it as my annual gift before Christmas day. Inside the box was a green teardrop shaped jewel on a silver chain. It was lovely. I held it against the light from the fireplace and it glistened in my eyes.

          "So pretty," I whispered and put it on.

          Who would give me such a gift? I fell asleep on the couch and Calcifer pawed my nose to wake me.

          "Hey, Calcifer," I yawned and held up my fiery kitty.

          He meowed lazily and I put him down on the ground. The tree magically had even more gifts for me and I excitedly went through all of them while writing a list of who gave me what. It was going to help me write thank you cards to everyone. My dad got me a yellow knit sweater, Ron got me Hufflepuff earmuffs, Harry got me a treacle tart, Hermione got me a book about cooking with magic, Cedric got me a Hufflepuff Quidditch sweater, and my other Hufflepuff friends gave me a variety of sweets. To my surprise, Fred and George both got me Honeydukes sweets from Hogsmeade. Other gifts from friends were more pastries and sweets but nothing was from Draco.

          "Shall we deliver some letters together?" I asked Calcifer.

          He stretched and curled up on my feet. I laughed and wrote thank you letters to everyone who gave me a gift. Hagrid even got me a gift, which was a quill from a Hippogriff. I knew Harry and Ron were staying at the castle since Ron's parents went to Romania to see his second oldest brother, Charlie. Charlie works with dragons. The twins and Percy were also staying at the castle. Percy had gotten me a planner so that I would have an easier time with my assignments. I got my letters for them and Calcifer walked with me to the Great Hall to eat with them. Ron and Harry were currently playing wizards chess so I gave my letters to Ron's brothers first. Afterwards, I sat next to Harry and watched them play their game.

          "You're a brilliant player, Ron," I said when Harry lost.

          "Gosh, thanks, Sophie. Want to play?" he asked bashfully.

          I shook my head and gave them their letters, "Thank you so much for the gifts. You didn't have to get me anything!"

          Harry gave me a side hug, "Thank you for your gift. I hope you liked my gift. It's one of my favorites."

          I blushed, "I did. I'll remember that."

          For Harry, I got him a new flannel that would fit him and I got Ron a jacket. I twirled the green jewel between my fingers and Harry whispered in my ear.

          "I got an invisibility cloak from someone. I don't know who. Tonight, I'm going to the restricted section of the library. Do you want to come?" he asked.

          I blushed again and nodded. He smiled and we agreed to meet at dinner. When no one was looking, I turned into a bat and Harry held me in his hands. He was rather cute with how gentle he was trying to be with me. I was brought into the Gryffindor common room and he put me in the Christmas tree. I didn't mind being a bat and waited for him to return. Was the necklace from Draco? I'll ask him after the holiday when he returns. Speaking of returning, Harry came out in his pajamas with the flannel I got him on top.

          "Sorry for taking so long, Sophie," he said and held me in his hands.

          I licked his thumb, which I instantly regretted from tasting his flesh, and he blushed.

          "A-Are you hungry? Did you want to turn back?" he asked and set me on the couch.

          I turned back and I was blushing, "I-I'm sorry! I'm not hungry. I was just trying to convey that it was ok."

          He was embarrassed, "Right. Sorry about that. Are you ready to go?"

          I nodded and we both went under his invisibility cloak. Our hands were touching to hold up the cloak above our heads. He didn't seem to mind and I didn't either. We snuck into the library and crept into the restricted section. After going through the alphabet, we found a potential book and opened it. It screamed loudly, scaring us, and we struggled to close it. When we put it away, Mr. Filch came in.

          "Who's there?! Show yourself!" he demanded.

          When we panicked, we knocked our lantern off the table and it shattered, leaving us in the dark.

          "This way," I whispered and shuffled us into an aisle.

          I covered Harry's mouth as Mr. Filch walked right past us in the walkway. We left the library but Mrs. Norris was outside. She followed us but we nearly walked backwards into Professor Snape and Professor Quirrell.