black and white ✰ g.w.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Christmas Day was a very happy one indeed, though very different from those Olivia had experienced previously. She had always gone home for the holidays, so this was her first Christmas spent at Hogwarts. This was also her first Christmas spent with her friends and a boy she liked.

After opening presents and attending breakfast, the six of them sat in the common room together. They were all in high spirits until they noticed Arabella rushing down the stairs from the girls' dormitories. Fred and George's demeanor changed immediately and without saying a word to their friends, rose from their seats, and stood in front of the portrait hole, blocking their sister's path. Arabella was going so fast that she couldn't stop before she reached the twins and they each grabbed one of her arms, carried her backward, and dropped her into the nearest armchair. Then they sat across from her on a couch and engaged in conversation.

"Poor girl," Olivia said. "If Oliver made me talk to him about George, I might die."

"George isn't an evil Slytherin, though," Angelina pointed out. "They're only making sure she's not being dumb."

Olivia snorted. "He's not evil, he's a kid."

"If he wasn't evil, he wouldn't be turned into a ferret by an Auror," Alicia disagreed.

"Ex-Auror," Olivia corrected.

"Okay, I get Moody's creepy, but I still don't understand why you dislike him so much," Angelina said.

"Me neither, Lina. It's just a feeling I have."

Later on in the day, once the twins had calmed down after their conversation with Arabella, they sat with Olivia and Angelina in the common room. Lee and Alicia had gone, probably to spend time with their own partners from the previous night.

Suddenly, Olivia thought of something and a smile spread across her face as she looked to George.

"What? What are you thinking about?" George questioned her, smiling himself after seeing hers.

"Just of the chaos that would ensue back at home and the contents of a letter I might receive after sending some Canary Creams to my mum," Olivia said.

"Olivia, what have I told you about pranks orchestrated by owl?" Angelina said. "It could go seriously wrong."

"Oh, please. Aegis is not going to eat something she's supposed to deliver. Besides, she's already a bird, so if she does happen to go mad and eat them, she'll be fine."

"I'm not talking about the owls, Liv, I'm talking about the humans!"

"Oh, Mum will be fine, she can sniff out pranks a mile away. Or see them, I'm not sure how it works, but she's got like a sixth-sense for pranks, it's incredible. But she'll get the Canary Creams and hand them out and watch as all of my relatives turn into large birds before her very eyes."

Angelina struggled not to laugh as she acted sternly. "And what if Gregory got into them?"

"Then he'd turn into a canary and I might get hexed by Aunt Jade when I get home but it'll be worth it because I'll be able to think of it and laugh. And then when Gregory gets older, I'll be able to tell him that I indirectly turned him into a canary and we'll have a laugh."

"And Gregory is...?" Fred asked.

"A two-year-old," Angelina told him.

"Actually, he just turned three," Olivia corrected her.

"You want to turn a toddler into a bird?" George asked with a laugh.

"Well, no, but I'm just saying if it happened, it'd be kind of hilarious."

"Livi, you have cats, you can't be turning your family into birds!" Angelina said. She had failed to keep in her laughter.

"Oh, but I can."

"I'll get the Canary Creams," George said, getting up and heading towards the staircase leading to the boys' dormitories.

"And I'll get the parchment and quill," Olivia said with a triumphant smile, getting up and heading towards the staircase leading to the girls' dormitories.

"What if they have kids?" Angelina said to Fred. "We'll all be done for."

Fred laughed. "They're hardly even dating, I think we have a long time yet before we have to worry about the possibility of that," he said. "Although, I think I'd decline the request to babysit, wouldn't you?"

George and Olivia left to the Owlery together, where they wrote a small letter to Catrina and then tied it all to Aegis' leg. After sending her on her way, they went back to Gryffindor Tower, laughing as they thought about scenarios that could happen when their "care package" as they called it got to the Village.

Olivia was still smiling broadly that night as she got ready for bed with Alicia and Angelina.

"Oh my gosh, I completely forgot to ask," Alicia said, "Are you okay, Liv?"

Olivia's brows furrowed in confusion. "Do I look not okay?" she asked.

"It's just that... you know, that thing with your father..."

"Alicia, we've discussed this a thousand times. Just because my father left on Christmas when I was two doesn't mean I hate Christmas. I don't even remember what happened, it doesn't affect me. It's my mum and Oliver that get down around this time, which is why I sent those Canary Creams. Hopefully Mum will put them to good use and allow her and Oliver to laugh instead of shutting themselves in their rooms."

"Oh, well, if I'd have known that, I wouldn't have made such a fuss about it," Angelina said. "Does George know?"

"No, I didn't tell him. I wasn't about to spoil the mood by saying 'Hey, by the way, my father left 14 years ago today!' Besides, I don't want him worrying about me like you two are, especially when I'm perfectly fine."

Alicia and Angelina exchanged a look. "Well, if you're sure..."

"I am."

"All right, then." Angelina put out all of the candles in the room and shut the curtains. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Olivia and Alicia replied.

[word count: 1016]
[written: 5/23/20]
[published: 6/19/20]
sorry that tiny bit of trauma just came out of nowhere