Shape of Magic 13: A Very Merry Christmas

[center]<<<Harriet ‘Hera’ Potter>>>[/center]

“Man, this year has flown,” Hera thought with amazement.

Between studying, whatever drama Taylor or Amy dragged her into (usually Taylor), and exploring there hadn’t been much time to actually just stop and think. There were her own Quidditch matches and practice to consider as well. Wood was intense, but he had a way of really getting them pumped up and ready for the games.

He could do with fewer five-AM practice sessions though.

Taylor and Amy tried, but it was obvious they weren’t too interested in the wizarding sport. At least Taylor found it fun to watch, but Amy admitted she’d prefer to read or do anything else with her time.

But the fact that she and Taylor still came to watch the game when she played meant the world to her.

But it was Christmas now and, at the very least, Taylor, Ron, Amy, and she had the castle almost entirely to themselves. Ron had stayed with her to keep her company, knowing she couldn’t go with Sirius yet because he was still recovering and going back to the Dursleys… was not something she wanted to do.

Taylor and Amy had also decided to remain instead of returning to the orphanage, though their reasoning was to get to know the couple that they were possibly going to be adopted by. As well as keeping her company, of course.

Hermione had left to spend time with her family, which Hera didn’t blame her for in the least.

Still, waking up and looking down at the foot of her bed to see a pile of presents was not on her list of expectations. She thought she’d get some presents, but… not as many as sat there at that moment.

She stared kind of dumbfounded up until Amy came over with a chuckle, “Come on Hera. I think the others are waiting,” She teased with a smile.

A small bug clone appeared in the air next to them, slowly swaying back and forth, and said, “I suggest taking everything downstairs with you, Ron has.”

“I believe we should listen to our Ladybug now,” Amy said dryly, “Hmm, maybe we should come up with a different nickname for Taylor…” She absentmindedly added.

“A traveler in Hogsmead called me Anansi when they saw a bug clone of mine,” She replied, flowing up and over Hera’s bed to come down on the other side. “And the password to your common room changed, can you let me in?”

Amy just rolled her eyes, “Yeah,” She said as she got up, “See you soon Hera,” She added before she went down to let Taylor in.

Hermione and Ron needed nicknames too, according to Sirius anyway. Hermione needed a better one, rather. Hera didn’t entirely get it, but she wasn’t willing to argue over it.

Owl was just so… plain. Or at least that’s what Taylor and Sirius said about it. And Hermione could see where they were coming from. Still she wasn’t the best at names, it took her nearly a week to think of Hedwig’s name and she’d eventually just taken it out of a history book! So yeah, they could come up with something.

Taylor came up the stairs following Amy, a small present pile floating behind her. “Like Santa Claus I come bearing gifts!” She announced, grabbing a few and tossing them around, “Hera, these two are yours!” She said, “One from me, one from Susan. Ron, catch!”

Taylor threw a soft and fluffy looking package to Ron as she handed her two. One was like Ron’s and one was in a smaller, almost jewelry sized, box.

“Amy, this one’s yours, also from Susan,” that one was wide and thin, “and I have one for each of your twin brothers, Ron. I’d get them up, but they’re coming down right about… now.”

“Oh bloody hell… this better not be another prank…” Ron grumbled, a fair observation in Hera’s opinion.

She’d learned that with the Twins you could never really tell what they’re scheming.

They came down wearing sweaters, the first letter of their name on them… sweaters that looked a lot like what Taylor was wearing at that moment, actually. Just in very different colors, for Taylor’s was colored in silvers and greens where the Weasley’s were in more traditional Gryffindor colors.

“Oh hey, she got a Weasley sweater too,” Fred said, “Looks nicer than ours, maybe she puts in more effort if you’re an orphan?” He asked George, “Doesn’t have her name on it either, honestly it’s like she thinks we’ll forget.”

“Which is ridiculous, we all know that I’m Gred and you’re Forge,” Gred replied with a nod.

Ron just groaned, while Taylor snickered and Amy sighed. Hera thought it was amusing herself, but just limited herself to smiling at the twins' antics.

“And, Amy, we got a gift from the Orphanage,” Taylor said, “It came with a letter that we’re supposed to read together, according to the envelope.”

“Oh?” Amy smiled as she walked over to Taylor, and honestly Hera wondered if they would ever publicly claim to be sisters. Amy certainly fretted over Taylor like one of those overprotective siblings, or at least that’s what Hera thought anyway.

“Yeah, haven’t read it yet obviously, but…” Taylor shrugged and floated the package and letter in front of the fire with her wand, “God, but I love magic…” She sighed with a soft smile.

“Yeah, it’s great,” Hera said in complete agreement, “Even if some of it I could do without,” She added, rubbing her scar.

“Yeah, yeah,” Forge said, “Less moody talk, more opening presents!”

Hera snickered and, indeed, started opening some. Hermione had gotten her Quidditch Through the Ages instead of, well… Hera thought she’d be getting a much different type of book from the girl. Another package, from Mrs. Weasley, had a sweater of her own and a bit of fudge. Susan’s gift was an actual snitch to play with, alongside instructions for its use.

“So you can practice in your free time and at home…” Hera read the note that was tucked in with the instructions before snorting, “She says she’s still not going to root for me on the pitch, house rivalry.”

“Well, Hufflepuff is the house of solidarity,” Taylor commented with a chuckle as she and Amy opened the letter together and started reading. “Though you are distant and far; we will always follow your star; so from us to you; our love will always remain true…” Taylor twitched slightly and, in an attempt to be discreet about wiping her eyes, turned to start opening their shared present.

“We’re going to have to do something special for them,” Amy said with a sniff and a soft smile, as she wiped her eyes.

No one commented on it.

“Oh they shouldn’t have…” Taylor whispered, lifting up two large and clearly homemade blankets. They looked comfortable, extremely so, but they also looked very patchworked. Like they were made from dozens of scarves, hats, and gloves.

Silk ones.

Amy giggled, “I think this was that scarf you gave Timmy when he was dropped off.” She said with a nostalgic smile, “Oh and you gave Sara these gloves during that cold snap last year…”

“Yeah… I’d wondered where they went after they got holes in them and started wearing thin…” Taylor said, “I didn’t know they were saving them, I never looked into their personal things…”

“Amazing,” Ron teased, “The Lady of Spies not looking into private things.”

“I can still take back your gift…” Taylor replied grumpily before tossing two packages at the twins, “These are yours, it doesn’t matter who gets which, you’ll enjoy this. Trust me.”

“Why you shouldn’t have Milady!” Gred exclaimed.

“We are grateful, oh Mistress of All Things Buggy!” Forge exclaimed.

Taylor just rolled her eyes, and even Hera giggled. Amy wasn't paying much attention as she examined her blanket with a fond smile. Honestly, Hera was a little jealous of her but she wasn’t going to voice it. Sure, she wished she had that sort of relationship with her family, but that wasn’t the case. So all she could do was be happy for Taylor and Amy.

Still, it was amusing watching the twins open their presents and getting scarves with their names on them, which seemed to confuse the two until Taylor instructed them to put their wands against them… which led to the two scarves swapping what name was displayed. “Professor McGonagall helped me with the enchanting work,” She admitted, “But I sewed and weaved the rest with the help of a few thousand spiders.”

“Wicked!” The twins said in unison while Ron shuddered faintly.

“Well he’s certainly gotten better about that,” Hera thought, not that she really blamed him.

“Oh, right!” Taylor said, “I also got something for Ophis and Lily!” She tossed the two packages to Amy, “Just things to keep them warm in winter.”

“Thank you, they’ve been so lethargic since it's gotten colder,” Amy said, “I’m sure they’ll appreciate these.”

Hera smiled as she opened up her own scarf-filled package, an elaborate Quidditch design woven and dyed into it which went very well with the sweater she was gifted from Mrs. Weasley.

“I may have collaborated with Mrs. Weasley over owls,” Taylor confessed with a smile.

What she got from the Dursleys was best left unmentioned when what she got from Sirius was right next to it; a large book filled with… pictures of her family, even baby pictures of what must have been her.

“Heh… that’s sweet of your Dogfather,” Taylor commented as she glanced over.

Hera just nodded absentmindedly as she stared at the first picture of her parents she’d ever seen, they had just graduated Hogwarts and were in a picture with the rest of the Marauders. Though Peter was hiding in the background, which she was thankful for… she might’ve been tempted to just try to cut him out of the picture or something.

“So, what’s everyone planning on doing this summer?” Taylor asked curiously.

Ron shrugged, “Probably chores and homework,” He mumbled as the twins nodded in agreement.

“I’m not sure.” Hera said, “I mean obviously I’ll have to stay with the Dursley’s for a while, but afterwards I’m not sure. I’ll be with Sirius so… your guess is as good as mine.”

“Well I’m sure mom wouldn’t mind you stopping by,” Ron said, “If you want.”

Amy and Taylor nodded as the twins grinned at each other at the idea of having Hera over… and possibly having Taylor come over into their domain.

Taylor just raised a brow, “Oh? Are you two challenging me?” She quipped as she stared at the twins.

“Perhaps,” They replied.

Ron shook his head, he’d been given a scarf with a Chudley Cannons design on it, which made him smile, and from his mom… “Always maroon…” He sighed.

“Sometimes colors are the hardest thing to get right,” Taylor said as she reached over and gave him a pat on the back.

Percy slowly walked down, looking disheveled in his own sweater, the twins giving each other a first bump as she reached for the last package she had; light, airy, and soft, like cloth. “Who’s that from?” Amy asked, leaning over to look.

“It doesn’t say,” Hera replied as she opened it, a light and shimmering cloak being revealed underneath the paper.

“I know what that is!” Ron exclaimed as the twins and Percy whistled appreciatively, “It’s an invisibility cloak, I’m sure of it! Try it on!”

“Invisibility cloak?” Taylor mumbled, “Who in their right mind would give a teenager something like that?”

“Please, like you don’t want to play with it,” Amy snarked.

“Never said I didn’t,” Taylor retorted, “Just wondering what was going through their mind when they thought this was a good idea to give to a mischievous eleven year old,” She added dryly.

Still, not for nothing Hera did try the cloak on and… her body vanished underneath her as Taylor looked… very confused, clutching her head slightly.

Taylor whistled despite her discomfort, “Okay, mildly confusing. But… damn if that isn’t impressive.” She admitted, “I… know I put a bug on you, and I can still feel it vaguely… but I can’t actually perceive it? It’s… hard to put into words,” She tried to explain.

Amy hummed before touching Taylor’s neck, “Oh wow. Stop trying to find the bug, you’re either going to give yourself a migraine or a minor brain hemorrhage,” Amy said in her doctor voice.

Taylor grunted but stopped as she rubbed her forehead, “Hell…” She grumbled, “I know where you are with it, but it’s weird. Also I’m going to teach you how to move around quietly so you don’t have to rely on the silencing charm.”

Hera nodded before remembering that she couldn’t be seen and saying aloud, “Thanks.”

“No problem,” Taylor said as she closed her eyes and relaxed, no doubt trying to reign in the possible migraine. “Ames, help me with these ear cuffs would you?” She asked, fishing them out of her pocket, “I, uh… can’t figure out how to put them on in the mirror…”

“You’re going to be a menace with that aren’t you?” Amy asked dryly, “Just don’t take after your old man too much, Snape already doesn’t like you. No need to make it worse,” She pointed out, “Sure, let me see those.”

Taylor grunted in thanks as Hera put her hood down, “Oh, hey,” Fred said, leaning down and picking up a note, “This fell out of it.”

Hera didn’t recognize the looping handwriting on it. “Your father left this in my possession before he died,” She read aloud, “It is time it was returned to you. I’m sure you’ll use it well. A Very Merry Christmas to you.”

“Can’t be a normal invisibility cloak, can it?” Percy asked, “If your father had it that must have been at least eleven years ago, normal ones don’t last that long.”

“Let me see that note,” Taylor asked after Amy showed her how to put the ear cuffs on.

She shrugged and handed it over, fascinated by the cloak as she put the hood up and down, watching herself vanish and reappear in the mirror.

“Huh…” Taylor scratched her cheek, “I don’t recognize the writing, but I think we all can think of one crazy old man that’d hand over something like that to a teenager,” She said eventually with a chuckle. “One that I’m pretty sure Prongs would have trusted enough to loan something valuable too.”

The twins seemed to glance at one another, “Hey Hera, was Prongs your dad?” George asked.

“Uh, yeah,” Hera said, “Sirius said that was his nickname.”

“We’ll talk later, but we have something you might like. We found it in our second year and it’s been blooming useful, but it does have the name ‘Prongs’ on it,” Fred said, “So if you want it later, you can.”

“Don’t you all need it?” Hera asked.

“Nah, we’ve used it enough that it doesn’t really help us much anymore,” George said before reaching over and grabbing Percy, who’d been trying to escape, “And as for you… what did we say about eating with us, Perce?” He asked, Fred grabbing the prefect from the other side. Percy was, technically, larger than the two… but it wasn’t by much and so they managed to march him out of the common room and down the stairs.

Hera looked at Ron, “Do we want to know?” She asked.

“Family stuff,” He replied with a smile, “Percy’s been eating with the other prefects since he got his badge but Christmas is supposed to be for families.”

“Can’t argue with that.” Taylor said with a nod, “And honestly Percy really needs to learn to relax.”

Amy scoffed, “You’re one to talk, Miss Busy Bee!” She said, flicking Taylor’s nose lightly.

“Hey, at least I can do everything without breaking time to do it,” She replied with a pout, “Honestly, the boy is in multiple places at once and I swear it’s time travel because the bug on him is the same one! Taking twelve classes, honestly…”

“Blimey…” Ron said with wide eyes, clearly having no idea what she was talking about.

“And what's more, whenever I ask Dumbledore about it, he just twinkles at me and distracts me with a lemon drop!” Taylor ‘complained’ but it was obvious she wasn’t really upset. “When I can take the elective courses officially, I’ll figure it out! I will!”

“Oh lord, this castle can barely stand one of you,” Amy said dryly, “The thought of multiple sounds terrifying.”

“Bah, you love me,” She replied, “I’m the protagonist, obviously, and everyone loves those.”

“Yes. You, as in singular. Only one. Uno,” Amy snarked, “I reserve my right to find multiple yous irritating.”

Hera and Ron were snickering at the banter as she opened her last present from Hagrid, a wooden flute that was clearly hand carved.

“Wow,” Hera said as she looked at it, “Wonder how long it took him to carve this?”

“That’s right, he can’t use magic, can he?” Amy asked, walking over, “It looks nice.”

“Um, yeah…” Hera said as she rolled the flute around in her hands, the level of detail was surprising for the giant man.

“Go on, blow in it,” Ron said, “You might need practice but I’m sure you won’t sound that horrible.”

Hera nodded before putting the flute to her lips and blowing, and much to her surprise what she heard was an owl hoot, even if she was a bit screechy and high pitched.

“Oh wow, that must have taken… so much planning to get right,” Taylor said, “I could do it with termites, but that would be massively cheating. We should do something nice for him.”

Hera nodded, “Yeah,” She said as she looked at the flute, “But what though?”

“Maybe a new umbrella?” Amy suggested.

“Not that,” Hera advised, “His current one has bits of his wand in it.” It wasn’t exactly secret, and if it was he was terrible at keeping it anyway.

“Huh, well…” Amy scratched her cheek, “Maybe… a carved walking stick? I mean he probably won’t need it but it’ll be something from us. My only other suggestion would be like… another spider like Steve.”

“Oh, that’s a good one,” Taylor said with a smile, “Maybe the Holmans would help us pay for it?” She suggested, “Or Sirius?”

“Maybe,” Amy said.

Hera nodded, “Honestly, I think Sirius would get the guy a bike just like his if he asked.” She admitted, “He really seemed fond of him. And I could pay for the spider if you picked it out.”

Amy nodded, “And I and Tay could make him a carved walking stick.” She said with a nod, “I mean… how efficient are magical termites anyway?”

“I haven’t found any yet,” Taylor replied, “But regular ones are excessively efficient. They can, with effort, bring down wooden buildings in months.”

“Effort that you’ll help along,” Amy said dryly, “Now, who’s good at drawing? We need some designs for the walking stick!”

“Um… Dean draws,” Ron suggested, “We can ask him in the great hall, he’s already gone down to eat.”

“Nice,” Amy said, “But… what designs… oh! Dragons!”

“Yeah, Hagrid did mention he wished he could have a dragon a while back, didn’t he?” Hera commented. “I think he’d like it.”

They were discussing it, and what Hera could get Susan, Sirius, and Hermione when they could get to Hogsmead or Diagon Alley, as they went down to the great hall for breakfast.

They’d arrived to a flurry of whispers and the reason was made clear very quickly; a beautiful woman with pitch black hair and skin as pale as moonlight was speaking with Professor Kettleburn while the man next to her spoke with Professor Kip like they were old friends.

“Those the two planning on adopting you?” Ron asked curiously as he managed to pull his eyes away from the woman.

“I think so?” Taylor replied, “But her hair and skin are the wrong color. Maybe she changed them with magic?”

“Not the wildest thing imaginable,” Hera said, “I heard there was a girl in Hufflepuff that can change her appearance whenever she wants…”

“I think that’s called… being a Metamor-something,” Ron supplied, “I can’t remember exactly, but it’s something like that.”

“That sounds useful,” Taylor said, though Hera could only imagine what she was thinking.

Probably something along the lines of infiltrating the other Houses, not like she hadn’t already done that really. Honestly, sometimes Hera wondered just what went on in her head.

The woman noticed them and, with an apology to the professor, slowly walked over to the group. “I’m sorry if you didn’t recognize me, my appearance changes with the seasons,” She explained, “Oh, and to your young friends, call me Aif.”

Her eyes were… hypnotizing, looking like dark purple flowers she didn’t know the name of.

“Huh, well that answers one question,” Hera thought before saying out loud, “Pleasure to meet you, ma’am- err Aif.”

“You would be Hera, yes?” She asked in turn, hand going out to her, “And you are Ron? They have told me much about you both, only good things of course.”

Ron mumbled something but waved, “Nice to meet you,” He said awkwardly, clearly being heavily affected by… whatever magic the woman had.

“They’ve told us nothing but good things about you and your husband,” Hera said.

“A pleasure to hear that, but you, unlike I, can lie,” She replied with a wink, “So you’ll forgive me for not fully trusting you… as your Professor Moody doesn’t trust I. Not that I blame him; my kind oft gets along poorly with wizards. He likely believes I have enchanted my dear husband…”

“Honestly, Professor Moody’s paranoid with everyone,” Taylor said, “Pretty sure he doesn’t trust me, and I’m his student.”

“Taylor, I love you dearly,” Amy started, “But anyone that trusts you is a fool. You are the second least trustworthy student in our year and the fourth least trustworthy student in the school, if you count the twins as two people.”

“... Who’s the first?” Taylor asked, “And why do I feel challenged? Aif, have I been challenged?”

“Malfoy and no, no you haven’t been. You don’t want to be like Malfoy,” Amy quickly answered, bumping her with her elbow.

“Valid,” Taylor said, “And, honestly, I love my hair but I couldn’t imagine putting nearly as much effort into it as Malfoy does his.”

Hera snorted at that, honestly just looking at him she wondered how much product did the Slytherin put in his hair to get it to look like that.

Aif giggled at the banter and smiled pleasantly. “Was I interrupting anything?” She asked.

“Oh, no mis-uh, Aif,” Hera said with a cough, “We were just talking about gift ideas…”

That seemed to get her attention as she said, “Oh, yes! We hadn’t had time to wrap yours.” Even as she spoke she was reaching into a bag that wasn’t there beforehand, taking out two small black boxes. “This one is yours,” she said, passing one to Ron, “and this one is yours.”

Ron’s had a ring in it, a silver one with an intricate script that she didn’t recognize etched into it. “It’s a ring of protection, it works similarly to an Erudus potion but instead of stone changes your flesh into moon silver for moments. It requires good timing to do it, but it is quite powerful,” She explained. “You wear it on your right hand.”

“Bloody hell,” Ron mumbled, obviously not sure what more to say in response, not that Hera blamed him.

Hera’s had a copper and gold necklace with emeralds inset inside it. “And that will let you grant healing to someone once a year. It doesn’t work on everything, but it can regrow limbs. Not useful against curses, but valuable none-the-less. Consider these gifts for being friends with Amy and Taylor.”

“Wow,” Hera didn’t even realize that was possible with magic, “Thank you…”

“Of course, of course. You owe us nothing,” She replied with a smile, “Truthfully, it was easier for me to create these than for us to purchase what we did for Amy and Taylor… who already received their gifts, just early.”

“We were just going to have breakfast, Aif… care to join us?” Amy asked.

“We would love to,” She replied with a smile, “Chuck and I would love to eat with you all… which is why we are here, in fact. Lead the ways, darlings.”

Hera just chuckled as they all made their way to the Gryffendor table, where they all found a seat and began helping themselves to the various breakfast foods that were available. Taylor helped herself to some waffles, eggs, bacon, sausage, and orange juice.

Amy had herself something similar as well, only with a cup of black coffee to drink.

Ron had a traditional English breakfast, and after some consideration Hera decided to try some of the ‘American’ fare that Taylor and Amy were clearly enjoying.

It was nice, and it only got better as the day went on. She hoped that when Sirius got better they could do things like it together.

But as it was… it was the best Christmas she’d ever had.

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