Liar. Harry Potter's sister ~ Book 2

chapter twenty

I woke up on Christmas morning to the rustling of wrapping paper and the muffled whispers I recognise as the voices of Hermione and Ginny. I roll over in my bed, squinting at the ray of sunlight falling into my eyes and hurl myself upright. I yawn, rubbing my eyes as the room comes into focus: Hermione and Ginny were sat cross-legged on the carpeted floorboards, hunched over two small piles of presents at the foot of their beds. Their eyes were drawn up from their presents at my sudden movement and they beam at me.

"Happy Christmas!" Ginny says, brightly, stuffing a large handful of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans into her mouth, and grabbing another present from the top of her pile.

"Merry Christmas, Olivia." Hermione says, happily. She was already dressed, unlike Ginny who was wrapped up in multiple blankets and pyjamas, and was unwrapping a small package gently, as if trying not to tear the paper too much. "Here," she says, putting down the package and reaching over to the foot of my bed. She throws a carefully wrapped parcel into my lap, addressed to me in her own writing.

"Happy Christmas to you too," I say, mid way through a yawn, before tearing the paper concealing the present Hermione has tossed at me. Into my lap fell a homework planner (classic Hermione), with a small Gryffindor crest in the corner and a sleek front cover. I thank her gratefully, before setting the planner on my bedside table and swinging my legs over the side of my bed. I pull one of the blankets from Ginny, wrap it around my shoulders and sit down in front of the small pile of wrapped presents.

We spend the next twenty minutes opening the rest of our presents and talking excitedly to each other about the day ahead of us. A strange excitement was hanging over my shoulders this year: I had spent these last few days more miserable than I can ever remember and I just had a feeling that today was going to be different. I would be seeing Draco again, for starters, which was the main reason for my excitement as I hadn't seen him in what felt like forever.

"Good haul this year," I say, leaning back and examining the pile of gifts that were scattered on the ground before me: Mr and Mrs Weasley had given me a hand knitted emerald sweater with gold detailing, along with a batch of home baked mince pies. Sirius and Remus had bought me a set of books of defence strategies, specialising in the production on counter-jinxes, hexes and defensive spells. I smile as I skim through the pages, knowing that it was going to come in handy when it came to our DA meeting. Harry had given me an elegant phoenix feather quill along with a large pot of purple ink. Ron and Ginny's present was a large box filled with a variety of sweets from Honeydukes, along with a separate box filled with Skiving Snackboxes from Fred and George. Hagrid gifted me, what looked like a handcrafted, moleskin journal, with the front page of the book bearing my name carved slightly scruffily into a thin slab of wood. Tonks has given me a small book, no bigger than the size of my hand titled: Guide to the concealment of magical scars and injuries, along with a note that read: I remember you telling me you wouldn't mind hiding that scar of yours sometimes. A witch at St Mungo's was telling me about this book the other day, hope it helps ;).

The three of us hurried downstairs after and we're greeted by a chorus of Merry Christmas, along with a large breakfast consisting of plates of pastries, along with cooked foods such as bacon, sausages and eggs. I wished a happy Christmas to everyone around the table before we ate.

When we were all relatively full, the plates were cleared away with one flick of a wand and the table was clear again. Molly, Tonks and Mad-Eye had soon hurried over to St Mungo's: Mr Weasley was being discharged from the hospital and they were going over to escort him home. Mrs Weasley has given us kids strict instructions to prepare the table for Christmas lunch.

One smashed plate and a cut finger, thanks to Ron, later, the clock on the wall chimed loudly for midday and I was tapped on the shoulder by Remus.

"Come on," he says holding my coat in his arms, "we've got to go and pick up your... friend." he gives me a knowing look out of the corner of his eye as I pull my coat on and button it up.