Foxtail's Tale | Remus Lupin [1]

22|Last Christmas Break

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7th Year of Hogwarts
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THE LAST SCHOOLYEAR seemed to be sprinting faster than anyone could have imagined. Christmas break arrived and everyone piled into the Hogwarts Express. Considering the expansion of their friend group, they had colonised two compartments next to one another so that they could still talk to each other when the doors were open. Everyone would return to their respective homes, but dates had been set for rendezvous.

Eloise watched the snow fall and Hogwarts vanish in the distance. Her breath condensed on the window. Remus' hand was on her thigh, and the wool from Molly's previous Christmas jumper was tickling the back of her neck.

James was standing in the corridor and salsa-dancing with Sirius to Queen, which drummed on from a small radio that belonged to Lily. Peter was laughing and sharing a bag of sour sweets with Marlene. Remus had his nose deep in some book about Norse Mythology, Eloise could not for her life remember its title. Dorcas was scribbling away in her poetry book, annotating her heart out. Meanwhile, Alice busied herself with her cat, cuddling and kissing it sweet whilst Frank embroidered a jumper hem.

It was strangely peaceful.

The Prewett girl looked down at the small table of her train compartment, on top of the engraved Marauders' initials lay a Polaroid photo. It depicted her and her friends the day before. They were all modelling Christmas family poses from a magazine that belonged to Dorcas, they all had Christmas hats on and jumpers in an array of colours. A simple multiplication spell allowed all the friends to have a copy.

That warmth and comfort. Maybe that was love. Eloise Mathilda Prewett would treasure it forever.

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The Burrow was bustling with even more family than the year prior. Although the young twins and Elena were screaming to their hearts content, it was a merry gathering. The gifts were flowing as always, and it was the first year when one of the kids got to join in on the gift giving. Bill Weasley at 8 knew about the big Santa Claus secret (as he called it), and decided it was his turn to chip in. His gifts were simple, but thoughtful. He had mostly made large drawings for everyone and tied some garden trinkets together with scraps of yarn. Eloise received a pine-cone tied at the end of an oak leaf.

Eloise herself had lugged around a sack of gifts which she had spread out under the tree. "Screaming mandrakesss," She sang out loud to gain the attention of her niece and nephews. "It's time for presents."

"I'm not a mandrake," Bill argued with a 'harrumph', he crossed his arms in defiance.

Not buying the sudden maturity of her nephew, Eloise ruffled Bill's red strands before shoving him towards the tree. She received an air raspberry in return.