Miranda Black and the Chamber of Secrets

Chapter 11 - The Diary Returns

Over the next few weeks everything went along rather perfectly. No-one else was attacked and everyone seemed to be pretending as if the petrifications hadn't happened at all. There were no more petrifications, and most of the school left on the Hogwarts Express for the Christmas holidays. This meant we often had the common room to ourselves, and Harry was spared the menacing looks from people thinking he was the heir of Slytherin. Relaxed days soon led to Christmas Day..

I awoke in the morning to find Ginny tugging on my sleeve.

"Come on! Get up. It's Christmas!" she said loudly, extremely happy.

"Alright! And a 'Merry Christmas' would be nice!" I replied.

"Merry Christmas! Now come on," she said in a rush. I shook my head at her and laughed.

I didn't bother to get changed, creeping downstairs after Ginny in my pyjamas. I followed her to the Christmas tree, which had been put in the middle of the room. Daniel was already down there, munching on a piece of fudge.

"Mornin'," he said, his mouth full.

"Good morning, Merry Christmas!" I said with a smile.

"I saw a couple of presents for you both there," Daniel pointed to under the tree.

I went over to a small package. My name was on it, next to a smiley face. I tore the wrapping paper off, and saw a plain bit of parchment. I frowned and thought, how boring! But then I remembered Fred and George's 'Marauders Map' and immediately knew what it was.

Grinning, I pocketed it and moved on to the next parcel. It was from Mrs.Weasley. I opened it and a woollen jumper fell out. I held it up - it had my initials on it in purple and black. I happily put it on top of my pyjamas, much to the disappointment of Ron, who was making his way downstairs flanked by his brothers and Harry. Fred, George, and Harry were all sporting their own Mrs Weasley jumpers proudly.

"The woman's mad! No one needs these!" he exclaimed.

"Cheer up Ronnie, they're fashionable," Fred said, clapping his little brother on the back.

"It's very nice of her," I said. Ginny half-smiled, and I moved onto my last package. The boys were joined by Hermione, taking seats in the closest armchairs. The parcel was small, the smallest of them all. I slowly ripped it open and peeked inside. It was a small pearl unicorn, which was emitting a bright glow. A single piece of card was taped to it. All it said was Merry Christmas!

"Wow Miranda, that's beautiful. Who's that from?" Daniel asked me, as he looked up from examining a new Chocolate Frog collectible card.

"I don't know. It doesn't say," I answered with a frown. Daniel made a face.

"I wonder who sent it?" Ginny wondered aloud, looking over at me. Harry and Ron shared a glance.

"Me too," I said, picking up my presents and carefully taking them upstairs. Harry jumped up and followed me.

"I had a present like that too, last year. It was from Dumbledore, passing it on from my father. You don't think..?" he said, gesturing to the unicorn.

"Could be," I said, "Maybe I'll find out, one day," Harry reached up and ruffled my hair in a very brotherly way, before heading back downstairs. I followed after him, taking a seat next to Fred.

"You're giving up the Map?" I questioned in a whisper. He grinned.

"George and I know this place inside out by now. It's time to pass the knowledge on to a new generation," he said.

"Encouraging rule breaking," I said, nodding, "Thank you,"

It was safe to say that day was the best Christmas of my whole life. We spent the day playing in the fresh snow, warming up by the fire and eating far too much chocolate. The dinner feast was grand too, with the staff all getting tipsy and us few students stuffing ourselves full. Harry, Ron, and Hermione disappeared after dinner, but no one seemed too worried as we all had an early night. The next morning, however, news filtered around the small group of students left at school that Hermione had been put in the hospital wing.