An American At Hogwarts: Book Three

Chapter Forty

I was right about Smith not being able to ruin our holiday cheer, although he certainly tried his best. Harry kicked the meeting off and announced we'd just be doing review, since it didn't make sense to start something new and then leave for several weeks, and Smith, as usual, complained. The twins quickly put him in his place, however, and Harry continued smoothly.

Fred and I partnered up as we practiced the Impediment Jinx and then Stupify, the two of us pushing George and Angelina together like usual. He, Lee, and I had tried to maneuver them under the mistletoe hanging around the room earlier, but they'd both carefully avoided it.

I glanced around the room a few times throughout the course of the hour, taking in the progress of the people around me. We'd spent a good amount of time on hand-to-hand muggle-style combat last week, and everyone had done fairly well. But the spellwork I saw today, especially from people who'd been struggling since I'd met them at Hogwarts, was absolutely astounding.

Harry had a real gift for this stuff, and I couldn't help beaming with pride.

Finally, as our usual hour-long meeting wound down to a close, Harry called us all to attention again.

"You're getting really good," he said, smiling around at all of us. "When we get back from the holidays we can start doing some of the big stuff–maybe even Patronuses."

Everyone murmured with excitement as we broke off, people heading back in their usual ones and twos. I'd planned to hang back with Harry, but I noticed Cho Chang clearly trying to do the same thing, so I decided to give them some space.

"Great work, Harry. You've really done a good job with this group," I said, giving him a smile before pulling him into a hug. He grinned back at me.

"Thanks, Alexa."

"I'll see you after the break, alright? Or during, if you get bored with the Weasleys and want to give me a call."

"Will do."

"Great. Merry Christmas, Harry."

We shared a smile, then I turned and headed out of the room with the twins. The three of us made use of our favorite secret passages on our way back to Gryffindor Tower, both because it was fun and to avoid any chance of Umbridge or Filch ruining our holiday cheer.

"You know, you could come spend part of the holiday with us," said Fred as we walked. I'd linked arms with each boy on either side of me, and we walked in sync through the familiar corridors.

"Thanks, guys. Maybe I'll swing by for a little bit. But I haven't seen my family in person since the summer. I miss them almost as much as they miss me."

"Fair enough," agreed George. "But keep the offer in mind, alright?"

"I promise."

"And you'd better come back with some good ideas to add to our pranking campaign," added Fred.

"And much more relaxed about all that college nonsense," agreed George.

"Alright, alright, yes to all. Now get off my back about it, it's the holidays."

The twins cackled, and I shoved them into the walls of the corridor one at a time. That just made them laugh harder. A warm glow spread through my chest as we made our way back to the Common Room, cackling like maniacs and enjoying every moment as we headed into the break.

With a few more moments like this, maybe senior year wouldn't be a total wash after all.

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I woke up and wandered down to breakfast the next morning with Angelina and Alicia. They had History of Magic for their first period, which meant I had a free period to do my usual morning workout routine then instead of before breakfast. I always enjoyed the extra hour or so of sleep it bought me.