Skylar Rogers || 1st Year

Opening Gifts & Snowball Fights

8:00am.

"Skylar! Sky! Wake up! Wake up! It's Christmas!" Kyle yelled, jumping on my bed. I immediately jolted awake and checked my phone. December 25th. My eyes widened. "CHRISTMAS!" I beamed, smiling. He laughed and hopped off the bed. I grabbed my blue robe while racing to Mom and Dad's bedroom. They were soundly asleep. "3. 2. 1!" I whispered. He nodded before we hopped on their bed and jumped repeatedly. "Wake up! Mom and Dad, it's Christmas! Wake up! It's Christmas!" We shouted loudly. "Oi!/whoa!" They blurted, jolting awake. I smiled happily and hopped off the bed. "Cmon! Presents!" I cheered. They laughed and rolled out of bed. Dad playfully lifted Kyle in his arms. "Ok ok! Wash your faces, brush your teeth first. Mommy will be cooking Christmas breakfast ok?" He said. We nodded in understanding as he carried Kyle to his bathroom. There are three bathrooms we have. Mom and Dad share one and the two are for me and Kyle. I did my morning routine once I came in mine. Smells of breakfast was filling the air. Mmm! I showered and changed into my PJ loungewear.

Kyle still wore his PJs with reindeer socks. I smiled. He huffed. "I'm. Starving." He muttered. I nodded in agreement. "Wait no longer." I told him. We walked downstairs as the smell lingered our noses. In the kitchen, Mom was cooking and Dad was making himself coffee. Kyle smiled. "Can I have some coffee?" He asked. They looked at each other then back at him. "No." They said in unison. He frowned. "Why?" He whined. Mom raised an eyebrow. "Well you're ten..." She trailed off. "Not twenty." I sassed. Dad nodded sternly. "And coffee contains caffeine which you're not old enough to have." He finished. Seriously, if Kyle drank coffee he would be hyper than SpongeBob himself. "How would you two like breakfast casserole?" Mom asked, smiling. Yes! So freaking delicious! "Yeah!" We beamed in unison. Dad smiled sweetly. "Me too darling." He said. She laughed. "In the meantime, why don't you two set up the TV? We can watch Home Alone 2 as Mommy finishes cooking and open presents!" She suggested. Kyle nodded as we went to the fabulously-decorated living room and set up the movie. We cheered, hopping on the couch to sit. Dad smiled and sat between us. "Quite surprising Mom is cooking." Kyle said. He looked at her confusedly. "What do you mean?" He asked. I smirked knowingly. "She always use magic to do all the cooking." I told him. "That explains the apple pie on Fourth of July." Kyle whispered in my ear. I chuckled and nodded in agreement. Dad playfully swayed his hand. "Hello? Am I a ghost? Cause I can hear you." He said sarcastically. Kyle turned his attention back to the movie. We already seen it a couple times so it wasn't important. He scoffed and smirked. "Your Mom is cooking by herself. She doesn't need magic to do all the work. Yes, she might have- he was cut off by Mom. "Breakfast is ready!" She shouted. "Breakfast!" We cheered and raced to the kitchen. He sighed. "So much for that explanation." He mumbled before pausing the movie and followed behind.

We watched the movie while eating. I clearly wanted more and Kyle was getting inpatient for presents. But I'm still missing the fact to not spend Christmas with my friends. I sent my letters but I'd rather visit Harry with a bag of homemade cookies. Mom turned to me and ate a piece. "Sweetheart, are you alright? You seem spaced out." She asked. I inhaled a deep breath. "Sorry. I really miss spending Christmas with Harry or Ron and his family. And I packed a bag of cookies for Harry." I said. She hummed in response. "Hm. That's funny. An amazing idea just popped in my head." She told me. Dad and Kyle shared confusion. The bubble of excitement was imploding through myself. Mom's ideas usually turn out really good...and really bad. She once planned a prank with Sirius during Thanksgiving. Flobberworms in Remus and James's drinks. Jeez. That still makes me shiver disgustedly. "What is it?" I asked. She smiled excitingly. "I've never told you this but Ron's mother and I met before. You guys were so little when Lily brought Harry to spend the night here. She's known his parents from the Auror Office. I owled her yesterday and thought we should visit her family for Christmas." She explained. What?! Really?! We get to see them on Christmas Day? My eyes widened. I cheered happily. "Yay! Thanks Mom!" I beamed. Kyle returned the gesture. "Yay! More kids!" He cheered. We laughed including Dad. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" He spoke. Kyle frowned. "Does this mean we have to change?" He asked, referring to our PJs. I giggled and scoffed. "Break our tradition? No!" I joked but in a serious tone. Dad cleared his throat firmly. "But bring your coats, hats, gloves if you'll play outside." He said. We nodded. "And we'll bring our presents too." Mom added. I ran upstairs with Kyle following behind. I grabbed my beanie off the nightstand and slipped my boots on. My coat was hanging off my arm as we walked downstairs. Mom waved her wand, putting our gifts inside her bag magically. Unique! I held onto my tablet with both hands. "Everyone ready?" Dad asked, playfully rubbing my beanie. "Yeah!" We answered. Mom threw a pinch of floo powder and the flames turned green. We entered the fireplace while it's flamed. "The Burrow." She spoke clearly. It floo'ed us through the fireplace and instantly appeared to a new home. Dad, on the other hand, looked rather queasy. "Are you ok Dad?" Kyle asked. He slightly gulped but nodded. "Alright. I think." He mumbled. Our jaws dropped. Harry, Ron and his siblings were opening gifts until they saw us and smiled. Harry smiled widely. I returned the gesture before running into his arms. He hugged back. "Merry Christmas!" I squealed happily. We parted. "Merry Christmas!" He said. His parents came from the kitchen with two red-haired adults and saw mine. Their eyes widened. They returned the gesture. "I didn't know you two were coming!" Mom said, referring to James and Lily. She chuckled. "Neither us." She told her. Ron hugged me. I playfully hugged back. "Hey Ronnikins!" I joked. He rolled his eyes. "You talked too much to Fred and George." He said. We parted, letting me see their identical smiles. "Oi! We missed ya Skylar." Fred said. "Missed pranking with ya too." George added. I laughed and winked. "I can assure you mates, some are coming next year." I said. "Cool!" They beamed, chuckling. Next to him was a freckled-faced girl with red straightened hair. She seemed to be Kyle's age. I smiled nicely. "Hi. You must be Ginny. I'm Skylar." I introduced. She returned the gesture shyly. "Hey! It's bloody true. Harry is best friends with an Avenger's kid. I thought Ron was babbling." She said a bit jokingly. He stuck his tongue out. "You always babble." He sassed. Ginny sighed annoyedly. I smirked. "Don't worry, he fangirled about it on the train." I joked. We giggled. "Ron's mental about Avengers!" Fred sing-songed. "And it's fantastic!" George playfully sung. Harry laughed. He crossed his arms and fake pouted. "Kids, you forgot your presents." Mrs. Weasley reminded. We turned our attention back to opening our gifts.

******Later******

Afterwards, we drank hot chocolate with loads of marshmallows while watching Christmas movies on my tablet. Ginny and I talked rather mostly. "Hey." Someone called. We looked up to see Kyle. He saw Ginny and slightly gasped. His cheeks were turning reddish. She returned the gesture shyly. "Um...." She trailed off. "Uh...." He trailed off. It took every ounce of me not to giggle. Bad first impressions, huh? I cleared my throat. "Kyle, this is Ginny. Ron's sister. Ginny, this is my brother Kyle." I introduced. She sighed nervously. "Hi!" She blurted. He smiled sweetly. "Hi Gin. Can I call you Gin?" He asked. She nodded, smiling warmly. The whole time the boys watched confusedly. I could've rolled my eyes if this movie weren't so good. His home was unlike any house I've ever seen. Of course, these aren't like muggle houses. A dish scrubber was scrubbing itself on a floating frying pan. Suddenly, a patch of snow was thrown to Ron's face. "Awh!" He blurted. Fred and George stood beside the doorframe while smiling wickedly. "Need a cloth Ronnikins?" Fred teased. No way. They're going down for that. I smiled confidently. "You two are gonna need a cloth when we're done beating you!" I said. Harry smirked determinedly. "Let's get them!" He said. We chased them outside where everywhere was snowed and began making snowballs. "You're going down!" Kyle shouted. "In your dreams mate!" They shouted in unison. Thankfully, we wore our gloves and coats so our parents wouldn't flip. We threw snowballs at each other and sometimes missed a few. Ginny threw a snowball toward George's face. "Yes!" She cheered. Kyle laughed. "Nice one Gin!" He said. She madly blushed. I low-key smirked. "Watch out, Rogers!" One yelled. A snowball missed me when I ducked. I threw another but Fred missed it. Harry laughed while throwing a snowball at Kyle. My brain clicked. Ugh, forgot. I ran back inside and grabbed my bag from behind the pillow. "What's that?" A familiar voice asked. Harry. I turned around and smiled. "Here's your present!" I squealed. He gasped dramatically. "Cookies?" He asked. I laughed. He took the bag and smiled happily. "Thank you so much. You're amazing." He said. Butterflies ran freely through my abdomen. My insides were twisted like a ribbon and my knees felt a bit weakening. My cheeks burned red. I smiled warmly. "Thanks Harry." I said shyly. The feeling of being happy is there. Best Christmas ever.