Thomas Cloverleigh Echos of the Past (Harry Potter Fanfiction)

Chapter 22 - The Family You Choose

The train ride home, because that was what Thomas had now — a home. Left Thomas with mixed feelings. Leaving Bernard in the shadow of his parents, who wouldn't so much as look at him. Left Lars very quiet as well, when they which the O'Sullivan Manor. Thomas couldn't help to get caught up in the spirit of things. Christmas holidays with the O'Sullivan's as the best thing Thomas ever experienced. Ever.

The dinner — for five. Was the craziest thing Thomas ever seen. Unlike the small meal Thomas was only allowed scraps from. There was fat roasted turkey, a ham bigger than Thomas could carry on his own. Mountains of mashed potatoes, platters of cheese, bowls overflowing with buttered peas. Silver boats — that actual floated! Spun around the table carrying a thick, rich gravy and red bubbling sauce.

Snacks were in every nook and cranny of the house. Thomas had his fill before morning ever came. One of the dessert, was this special cake — made with a rich fruit and nut combination laced with whisky. Aunt Merry — Thomas was still shy about calling her that, made it back in October. Despite its contains, both Lars and Thomas got a small slice.

Thomas received a scare of his life when he opened the crackers given to him by Berry. What the house elf had given out was nothing like the feeble Muggle ones he had seen the Rows hand out. To everyone but him of course. Thomas pulled a wizard cracker with Lars and it didn't only snap open and smell like a match, it went off with a blast!

Knocking Thomas clean out of his chair! It engulfed them all in a cloud of red smoke. From the inside the smoke exploded a tumble of glowing butterflies. That escaped into the dark corners of the house. The heaps of gifts for everyone — was also outstanding. Thomas had to reorganize his ring to make all the potion supplies fit inside. He felt kinda bad for his self-made gifts, but no one, not even Berry would have any of that.

Before leaving back to school, they celebrated 'Nollaig na mBean' or Women's Christmas. Traditionally the women got the day off and the men do the housework and cooking! Thomas found out that cooking and potions was not an interchangeable skill. He followed the recipe, but still... it tasted off. Uncle Liam and Lars managed to save the dinner, by bringing out the left overs. It was a lot of fun.

Thomas face still stung from all his smiling when they got on the train to return to Hogwarts. It was a shame Bernard couldn't say the same. He came back looking more tired, and solemn than when Thomas had first met him. His first words to them, was an apology that his library books came up empty.

It didn't bother them, but Bernard seemed upset. His lips were tight, and his body was stiffer than a statue. Not even Lars could draw a smile out of their friend. He did, however get him to relax, and the closer they got to school. The more Bernard came out of that hard shell of his.

Professors were coming down hard about exams. They first heard about it in Herbology, where Bernard finally reverted to his usual self. Unlike the others Thomas stayed relaxed. He didn't worry about each Professor warning, class after class.

His friends looked fine with them — why should he worry? That was because, his friends were smart. Not regular smart, but wicked smart. Without Pipa to balance them out, Thomas didn't know what he was in for. Homework came in like the exams were around the corner, and not at the end of the year. Pop tests, and surprise questions were coming out of the woods — like pixes freed from their cages.

Exams, Tomas discovered — sucked. He thought they shouldn't be that bad, he paid attention in class, he took notes. He knew what he was doing, at least enough to get by. What was the problem then? It was that everything he knew — was wrong. Outside of potions, Thomas was struggling to keep his head above passing.