Alexandra Dursley {Golden Trio}

Chapter 150 - A Very Funny Christmas

HOGWARTS LEGACY IS A THING? AND NO ONE TOLD ME?! :)

Midway through December, many of the students returned home for the holidays, including most of the DA. Correction - all of the DA. There were only a handful of students left behind for the holidays, Al included. She had been invited to the Burrow, Fred and George's, Remus and Tonks's, but she'd decided to stay. Because even if one student was there, Al felt obliged to stay too.

She spent her first week holed up in the room of requirement, restocking her potions, listening to Potterwatch or writing up her screaming charm report to get Flitwick and Vector to look over. She also got through all of her homework and had a look at the wide array of books that they had there. Most of them were old textbooks, but one or two were muggle stories from previous students and Al had a good time reading Sherlock Holmes.

On Christmas day, Al slept in and went down to a late breakfast of bacon and eggs. She received three packages. The first was from Remus, which was a book about potions ingredients and theories. From George was a box of hair-care and skincare potions, along with a very nice bubble bath. And finally from Mrs Weasley she received a purple knitted jumper with an A on it, and a box of homemade fudge.

When she got back, Al tuned into the replay of Celestina Warbeck's Christmas Eve performance, reminding her of last Christmas. That had been the best one yet, and this year didn't live up to it. Al had only stayed at Hogwarts once for Christmas, and that had been during fourth year when she didn't have a choice. Still, it was better than this - there had been far more people here then, and it was much less empty.

Al went down for Christmas dinner at three o'clock, still trying to think of something else to do. She had that bottle of firewhiskey, but really she'd been saving that for a special occasion. She could probably goad the Carrows into a duel. Yes, that was just what she needed - duelling practice. But they weren't at Christmas dinner with the rest of the Professors. In fact - many of them had left and only the Heads of Houses remained, along with Snape who hadn't actually showed up to the Great Hall.

Only Theo and one third year boy were at the Slytherin table, there were two Ravenclaw fourth-year girls, no Gryffindors and no Hufflepuffs. Al smiled warmly at all of them as she passed, wishing them a happy Christmas. Only Theo failed to return it, but Al shook him off. She was the last to start eating, and slowly the others trickled out.

While Al ate her turkey and stuffing she had a few ideas. She could go down to the kitchens and do some baking, go to the training room in the room of requirement and practice duelling, steal some butterbeer and mead from the kitchens and get drunk by herself, or she could go and wind-up Snape - stick a dungbomb on his stairs or something. But then when she was just finishing her Christmas pudding: "Could you come with me please, Dursley?" McGonagall's stern face looked down at her, not very festive at all. Oh no.

Al nodded silently and followed slightly behind McGonagall to her office, and then through a door leading off into a living room, decorated in red and with a Christmas tree balanced in the corner. The Slytherin third year and the two Ravenclaw girls were also there sat on the sofa, each clutching a bottle butterbeer and looking nervous. Slughorn, Sprout and Flitwick were also there, and Celestina Warbeck's Christmas album was playing on a gramophone in the corner.

"Here she is!" Slughorn beamed as she walked in, "Our star student!"

"There you are," McGonagall said, handing her a glass of mead, "Get that down you- we're all hiding from Sna- Professor Snape."

"Excellent," Al said grinning and taking a sip, "That sounds like my kind of Christmas. I've been so bored."

"Oh we all have," Sprout said, and Al noticed her robes didn't have a single bit of dirt on them, "There's no one here except us lot."

"We know it's not very Professional," Flitwick began, "But screw it!" Al giggled a little bit in spite of herself. She thought they might have had quite a bit of mead already.

"Albus has had his fair share of staffing problems in the past," McGonagall said, "And in my opinion, we're quite a good bunch - we're not Lockhart for Merlin's sake!" Al laughed with McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout, while the others just looked on a bit cluelessly. "We've uh-" McGonagall glanced down at the three students sat on the sofa, but Al knew she'd seen them all after detention at least once.

"It's fine, they're DA," Al said calmly, and McGonagall smiled. She actually smiled!

"We heard you on Potterwatch," she told Al as the bottle refilled their glasses, "You really have outdone yourself."

"Yes, yes," Professor Flitwick squeaked, "That charm work was fantastic Dursley, really fantastic. The school is indebted to you!"

"Here, here," Slughorn said, raising his glass, and Al felt her face go hot as they drank to her. Was she supposed to drink too? She just stood there feeling as awkward as the other three students looked, but smiling all the same.

"Come on, Minerva," Sprout said as the song changed, "We're dancing." Al watched, torn between delight and confusion as the two women danced away to the song. She would never, ever have guessed that this would be how she spent her Christmas.

She turned to face the fourth year girls, intending to strike up a conversation, when McGonagall grabbed her arm and spun her round and she ended up dancing with the two Professors. Al saw two empty brandy bottles and three empty bottles of mead on the side. That explained quite a bit.

After that, Al had a conversation with Slughorn about the book that Remus had bought her, having read it himself. That was until McGonagall sat on the sofa next to her and conjured two armchairs for Flitwick and Sprout, then summoning a plate of gingerbread from the kitchenette.

"I'm glad you get on with Remus," she said, and Al thought she must be really quite tipsy by now. "He was the best behaved of his friends."

"Do you remember them then?" Al asked, really wanting to hear more.

The Professors exchanged a look between them and burst out laughing. "Oh, we remember," Sprout assured her.

"How could we forget!" Slughorn said.

"James and Sirius always caused the trouble," Sprout said reminiscing, "Quite hilarious most of the time - they turned the grand staircase into a water slide one particularly hot summer."

"Oh, and they were excellent Quidditch players!" McGonagall said.

"True talent there," Slughorn said, "I reckon it runs in families - you've got the Potters, the Blacks, the Weasleys..."

"I always loved teaching Remus though," Flitwick said, "Excellent student - very hard working. And a pleasure to work with too."

"I've got a feeling he masterminded most of their plans though," Sprout said with a fond smile, "James and Sirius were very talented, but it was Remus who had the brain."

"I agree," McGonagall said, "Some of those were ingenious. He definitely played his part."

"And Albus made him a prefect!" Flitwick said, and they roared with laughter. Al spent the rest of the evening with them, and snuck out at ten o'clock, feeling very tired and knowing full well she was breaking curfew. But she didn't care. She'd just had a very funny Christmas.