𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐒, bill weasley

1: The Christmas Committee

Chapter 1: The Christmas Committee

Hogwarts, 1st December 1987

The smell of pine and biscuits was in the air as Clara Dale rushed through the corridors of the castle, once again late for the meeting of the prefects that had started five minutes ago. Leaving the Hufflepuff common room behind her, she hurried past a group of students talking excitedly about the giant trees Hagrid had cut down at lunchtime today to put up in the castle over the next few days. She smiled at the thought of the Christmas atmosphere, which always reminded her of her mum.

Ten minutes late, Clara tore open the door of the small room where the sixth year's prefects, who would be organising Christmas this year, were meeting. Seven pairs of eyes focused on her as she stumbled into the room, breathing heavily. Gideon Quince, who was Hufflepuff's prefect along with her and also one of her closest friends, waved her to the seat next to him.
'Er sorry,' Clara cleared her throat, 'I kind of lost track of time.' She sat down in the seat next to Gideon, while Catriona Fairchild, from Slytherin, muttered darkly, 'Well, that's something new.'

Clara ignored the snarky comment and instead unwound her Hufflepuff scarf to drape it over the back of her chair. As she smoothed her blonde hair, her eyes flickered to Bill Weasley, Gryffindor's prefect. Since last year, he had been wearing his red hair longer than before, and Clara had also noticed that he now always wore an earring that looked like a dragon's tooth. Her eyes were travelling over the numerous freckles on his pale skin when he noticed her gaze. Clara bit the inside of her cheek and Bill gave her a cheerful wink. She quickly averted her eyes, but couldn't stop the blush from creeping into her cheeks. She had always had a thing for the Weasley, but she hadn't had too much contact with him until last year, when they were both made prefects of their houses. Besides, he was part of a popular group of Gryffindors who were admired throughout the school; well, except maybe by the Slytherins. She would never have had a chance with him, and yet he was always warm and polite to her, as he was to everyone, he was truly exceptional.

'-and so we should definitely get our ideas together for the Christmas organisation. We're already a bit late, but if we all work together, we should be able to make Christmas really special this year.' The girl from Ravenclaw, Maude Langley, beamed at them all, obviously waiting for suggestions. When no one spoke up immediately, Clara stepped in, having been pursuing an idea for some time to make this Christmas a little different than it usually was at Hogwarts. 'I have a suggestion,' she spoke up, speaking in front of people usually caused her problems in large groups, but here in a small circle it was quite easy. 'My mum was part of a society, the Wand & Heart Guild, which specialises in making a good life for all wizards and witches in Britain. For example, they campaign for orphanages to be built especially for magical children, as they often feel out of place with Muggles. They also support wizards and witches who have little money. Especially during the festive season, they actively collect donations, not just money but also warm clothes, presents for the children, you name it. I think it would be great if we could launch an appeal for donations, I'm sure there are lots of students who would be willing to donate something when they hear about the campaign, so we could do something good at Christmas this year.'