In the Melancholy Moonlight

Chapter XII: Tidings of Comfort and Joy

God rest ye merry gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember Christ our Savior
Was born on Christmas Day
To save us all from Satan's pow'r
When we were gone astray
Oh tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
Oh tidings of comfort and joy

"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"
Traditional English Christmas carol

LUCY:

"Oh, you're staying here for Christmas too, Lucy?" Harry asked as I scribbled my name beneath his.

I nodded and passed the quill to Ron. "My dad will be doing work in Germany starting the 27th, so my parents decided it would just be easier for us to stay here for Christmas."

I wasn't lying, but my dad's actions were very much intentional. The day everyone would leave school happened to be the full moon, and we all understood how disastrous a slight delay could be. If I were around other students when the sun set... yeah, it was far safer to just stay at Hogwarts. My parents had initially wanted Cedric to come home for Christmas and go to Germany with them for the rest of the break, but he adamantly refused. I tried to convince him that it was truly alright if he would rather go on holiday than stay at school with me, but he told me in no uncertain terms that he had no desire to spend Christmas with anyone but me.

"In that case, I propose an epic snowball fight!" Fred declared as he took the quill from his brother and scrawled his name. "The Diggorys and Harry against George, Ron, and myself."

"That sounds like fun!" Harry turned to me. "I've never had a snowball fight before, have you?"

I shook my head. "Cedric and I preferred building snowmen. Our mum would come out and try to enchant it so it would sing or dance, but it never went very well."

"Well, this year," George said as he wrote his name below his twin's, "Freddie and I will take a stab at it. I mean, we enchanted all of those skeletons for Halloween, so how different can a snowman be?"

"I imagine water is harder to manipulate than something more solid," Hermione posited from her spot on the couch. "I think I read that once."

"If anyone would know, it'd be you, Hermione!" Fred replied with a shrug. "Makes sense to me."

"I still want to try," George said. "I've been in need of a new challenge lately."

Fred's eyes lit up. "Oh, George, I have an idea for what we can do to practice! Come on!"

"Wait, where are you going?" Ron called after them, but it was too late. They disappeared through the portrait hole without looking back. He sighed, then grinned. "Mum and Dad knew what they were doing when they insisted we stay here for Christmas. I can't imagine how much trouble they'd get into if they found themselves in the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary."

As it turned out, their idea of "practice" was bewitching snowballs that followed Professor Quirrell around and repeatedly hit the back of his turban. After seeing that, I made them promise that our Christmas snowball fight would be magic-free. They agreed, as long as we had one round with magic on Christmas Eve.

With the full moon approaching, it was quite suffocating in the common room, where fires roared every hour of the day to combat the bitter cold outside, so I often retreated to the Quidditch stands to study. (Hermione told anyone who asked where I was that I was asking Cedric for help in the Hufflepuff common room, and no, Fred and George, she can't tell you how to get in, Professor Dumbledore made her promise not to.) It was quite nice, really, being alone. The only smells were those of wood and broom polish and whatever the biting wind carried. The weather discouraged most people from flying, so my sensitive ears were allowed a break. I tried to slip away for a few minutes between classes and dinner on Thursday, since meals were so overwhelming with so many bright lights and loud sounds and strong smells, but Hermione insisted on going with me and shooed Harry and Ron away to the common room, saying we'd catch up with them soon.