Lullaby

Chapter Six

It was finally Christmas, and I could hardly believe it. Lilith had sent another letter to me that dad was alright and would be home for our favorite holiday.

I had signed up to help decorate the castle for the holiday so I'm currently putting wreaths all over the school.

"Evelyn, can you please put the ornaments on the tree?" Professor McGonagall asks me.

"Sure," I give her a small smile before walking over to the basket near the huge tree in the Main Hall.

I take out some ornaments that looked and felt pretty ancient and carefully placed them on the tree. Since I was a short girl, I had to use a ladder to put the star on top. It was a magnificent object that glittered like diamonds and shined brightly in the dim hall.

I take a deep breath since I was scared of heights and hovered over the tree, on my tip toes with star in hand. I was just about to put it in place when I slipped, star flying out of my hand. I manage to regain my footing on the ladder and quickly look down, expecting to see a broken antique.

My eyes widen in surprise when I see Draco holding the star. "Did you drop this?"

I release a deep breath and scurry down the ladder. "Oh thank you!"

"You should be more careful," Draco smirks a little before handing me the star and walks away, hands in his pockets.

I stare at him blankly before asking someone else to put the star up since I didn't want to have another chance to break it.

When all the decorating is done, I go to my dorms and double check that I have my belongings before making my way to Sinna and Mae inside the Hogwarts Express.

"I'm so excited, it feels like I haven't seen Will in years!" Mae says giddily.

"You sound like you're excited to see your boyfriend," Sinna laughs.

Mae makes a face and shakes her head, "Of course not. Dogs are better than boys."

"I can partly agree with that," Sinna replies.

I raise an eyebrow towards Mae who just smirks. "Ooh, do you like anyone?"

Sinna's eyes dart around the cart and avoids the question. I giggle at their childishness before looking out the window from inside the Hogwarts Express.

I hadn't seen my dad in literally years, but will he be the man my mum loved or the coward that left us?

We purchased some candy while I just ate some jelly beans and chocolate frogs. I haven't had chocolate "in the real world" since I was...7? It was great to be able to eat sweets and go to school. I remember I had hated school because all my teachers were so boring and I thought they were teaching me mush when they're just trying to prepare us for the real world.

After two hours or so, I say good bye to Sinna and Mae who were arguing who was better -- Ron Weasley or Harry Potter.

I roll my eyes at their childishness. My stomach feels all giddy with butterflies when I see Jennie and Lilith, in their own car.

"Hey," Lilith waves cheerily. Jennie had her arms crossed and robes in hand since she changed into normal clothes like I had on the train.

I haul my luggage to the back of the car before placing Lullaby's cage carefully in the backseat with me.

"So," Lilith says as she drives out of the train station parking lot. "What's this 'troll in the dungeon' that I've heard in the Daily Prophet?"

My cheeks glow red with embarrassment.  "How do you know..?"

Jennie chuckles, "you were on the front cover."

My eyes grow wide, my face becoming more red than a tomato.

"So can you explain the situation?" I see Lilith raising her eyebrow towards me through the rearview mirror.

I take a deep breath before explaining my story, leaving off the part about Draco because Jennie would freak out and I would just die.

~*~

Lilith pulls out onto the driveway of the house that I remembered waking up in. Nothing much changed about the mansion except for all the Christmas decorations set up. My family and I really loved Christmas. 

Lilith helps me take out my luggage while Jennie heads inside quickly. When I get inside, my eyes light up when I see a giant Christmas tree. It obviously wasn't as big as the one at Hogwarts but it was pretty tall.

There were many ornaments that glittered with the silver lights wrapped around the tree. After looking around the dining room in awe, which made Jennie laugh at me, I hauled my stuff to my room and unpacked quickly.

I closed another drawer of my closet when I hear a knock on my door.

"Come in!" I call and turn around, freezing.

There he was.

His dark brown hair hugging his oval head, blue eyes still dazzling. He was wearing an ugly Christmas sweater like he used to do with old jeans and timberlands.

My eyes fill with tears when I quickly run to hug him. "Hey dad."