the girl with all of the choices

t e n

4986 words

christmas day- the yule ball

I woke up on Christmas morning to the smell of cinnamon and peppermint. I sat up in bed, looking around at my roommates. Erin was sitting up in her bed, reading a book. Fawn and Ainsley were still asleep. 

I looked over at Erin, waving good morning with a smile filling up my whole face. "Happy Christmas Erin!" I whispered.

She looked at me, smiled slightly, and nodded in my general direction. She didn't even say 'Happy Christmas' back. I knew there was a reason I didn't like her. I cursed myself for getting her a gift, even if it was just sweets. 

I got up and grabbed a little bag of sweets from under my bed. Inside were two candy canes, a chocolate frog, and a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. I walked over to her bed and handed the bag to her. 

"Don't worry if you didn't get me anything," I said to her. She smiled at me and I turned around to start getting ready. 

I looked at the clock on the wall. It read 7:30 am. I hoped that nobody else was up yet. I liked to go down to the common room and sit there before anyone else got up. Usually, I went home for Christmas, but last year I stayed here with Cedric and Fawn. I woke up before them and sat down there, and it was lifechanging. It made me feel so grateful to go to school here, and even more grateful to have friends who cared about me. 

I grabbed my clothes and changed into a plush green sweater and leggings. I was comfortable, yet cute, and I knew I could wear this down to the Great Hall when we went down for breakfast. 

I grabbed the other presents I had bought for my friends from under my bed and made my way to the common room. Luckily enough, there was nobody there. I glanced around the common room, admiring all of the decorations that were hung. Last weekend our whole house had come together to decorate. Cedric, Justin, Ernie, and Matt went out and cut down our tree. The rest of us helped to hang lights, decorate the tree, make popcorn garland, and just make the space feel homey. Hannah Abbot had brought a wax warmer with her that she usually kept in her room to school this year but kept it down by the study space with a cinnamon wax melt in it for the holidays. There were candy canes hung on the tree, which contributed to the peppermint smell.

I put my friends' presents on the couch and grabbed a mug filled with hot chocolate from our secret stash. The elves that worked in the kitchen always made sure we had hot chocolate on hand in our common room. It was their way of thanking us for helping them clean up after meals. I walked over and sat on the couch. 

I looked over at the tree. There were tons of little bags and boxes underneath. They were all labeled with each of our names. There seemed to be one for everyone in our house. I wondered if Professor Sprout had gotten us each a gift since we didn't go home for Christmas. She was by far my favorite Professor. I loved being in her house. 

I looked at my presents and thought about my friends. I had gotten Cedric an Ireland quidditch jersey, Aidan Lynch's to be specific. He was the seeker for the Irish. He was Cedric's favorite player. I got two new books for Fawn. They were muggle classics: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I had gotten a set of 10 scrunchies for Ainsley. She only seemed to ever use scrunchies, and the ones I found were really cute. For Matt, I got a copy of Four Weddings and a Funeral on DVD. Mum had sent me it to watch after it was released on DVD. It was just the type of movie Matt would like. And although he might not be able to watch it here at school, his Mum was a muggle-born, so she knew how to watch DVDs.