One for Each Night

I take out the menorah that Mother bought me before I came to Hogwarts. With the lunar calendar, I wasn't always going to be able to celebrate at home. I love Chanukah, the celebration of freedom, the Festival of Lights.

I position the first candle, and the shamash in its place of honor in the center. Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu melech haolum...

Please say yes. Please say yes. I think I'm going to be sick. I can't take this. Why are you turning red? Do you know that it took me days to get up the nerve to ask you? I don't know how I never noticed you before that Quidditch match last year. I wish you'd call off your hyena friends. I wish Sirius was here. He'd give me advice. I wish I had brothers, like Ron, so they could teach me these sorts of things. Flowers. I should have given you flowers. You'd say yes then, wouldn't you? What if you're dating someone and I don't know about it? Oh, I feel like such a fool. Do you like me? Check yes or no. Quidditch. We could talk about Quidditch. Could you make it your Christmas present to me? Please, anyone who's listening, I'll never ask for anything ever again. I'll let Malfoy catch the Snitch. I'd let Neville ride my Firebolt, if only you'd say yes.

No one here observes besides me, I think, except for maybe that one Hufflepuff seventh-year. Rebecca something. No one here makes potato pancakes with applesauce. I miss the sound of the sizzle of oil in the hot pans in the kitchen and the smell of the smoke as the last candle in the menorah dies.

I position the first and second candles, and the shamash in its place of honor in the center. Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu melech haolum...

Harry's a man on a mission. He's got guts of steel, asking Cho Chang. Who on earth am I going to ask? That Hannah girl in Hufflepuff is kind of cute; maybe she'd go with me. Or maybe Hermione. She'd be easier to talk to if she weren't so obsessed with that house-elf thing. No, I couldn't ask her anyway. She probably wants to go with Harry, and I can't really blame her. What was I thinking when I asked Fleur? I should listen to my dad and stay away from girls like her. Who am I going to go with? Guess as long as it's not someone like Eloise Midgen, things will be okay.

It's not as big a deal as Christmas is to those who celebrate it, but in our family it's important. It's a time to get together, relax, and enjoy each other's company. Every year, Tanta Ruth tells me how much I've grown, and Uncle Len slips me extra ghelt when she's not looking.

I position the first, second, and third candles, and the shamash in its place of honor in the center. Baruch atah Adonai Elohienu melech haolum...

Somehow I had a feeling that Cho was going to say no. I think she knew about the way Harry felt about her. Women's intuition, you know. And Ron! I felt bad when I had to tell him I already had a date, but not bad enough to tell him that it was Viktor. Who knew that Viktor was so down-to-earth and polite? Of course I had to say yes. I know he's smart, being school champion and always being in the library. World champion Quidditch player, and he turned absolutely red as he asked me to the ball. It was sort of cute. In the end, there's no holding out in the hopes that Ron might change. I'm not stupid. I'm not going to turn down this chance.

I celebrate in silence this year. Normally the house gets pretty loud. My sister laughs when the dreidel favors her and I turn over the small candies in my stash. She was a little less enthusiastic about beating me at dreidel, however, after I slipped in some Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

I position the first, second, third, and fourth candles, and the shamash in its place of honor in the center. Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu melech haolum...

Oh! I can't believe Harry asked me. I'm flattered, of course. He's a sweet boy, and a very good Quidditch player. Maybe we could be friends. How am I supposed to tell him that Cedric already asked me, when he's standing there looking like he's going to throw up on my shoes from being so nervous? This must be the first time he's ever asked a girl out on a date. How can I let him down easily? Must remember to not tell him I'm going with Cedric. He'd be crushed. Why isn't he going with that girl with the curly hair? I thought they always hung out together. Harry, I'm so sorry...

I like it when my father reads the blessing over the candles. He always asks me, or my sister, if we want to read it, but we refuse. We cling to memories of childhood, of hearing his voice read the prayer in Hebrew, and then in English.

I position the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth candles, and the shamash in its place of honor in the center. Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu melech haolum...

I wanted to go more than anything, and getting a date was my only chance, since I'm in third year. Why did he look so surprised? I spent hours getting ready this morning and even borrowed Susan Bones's copy of Tips and Tricks for Today's Teenage Witch. The new edition's got thirty-eight chapters, and believe me, I read every last one. Hair. Robes. Makeup. What to say. How to make him notice you. I went right up to him, knowing I looked great, and asked him. Hufflepuffs can be brave, too, you know. He looked at me like I'd just asked if he had any spare Swelling Solution on hand, and ran off. I can't cry. I'll ruin my mascara. I hate Harry Potter.

Secretly, I like to start making my list in July, right after my birthday. It's sort of a silly thing to look forward to, but I've been doing it since I was little.

I position the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth candles, and the shamash in its place of honor in the center. Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu melech haolum...

Cho told me Harry asked her to the ball. I felt kind of guilty. I didn't even know he liked her! Harry certainly deserves to go with someone as nice as she is, but I've waited too long for the right girl to come along. Cho is smart and pretty, but she's also sensitive and a good listener. My friends tease me for cradle robbing, but Cho's more mature than a lot of her friends. Still, I've been sure to avoid Harry in the halls. I feel bad looking at him. His face is a lot more expressive than he knows, and every time he sees me he looks like he wants to throw things.

Presents come by owl, one for each of eight nights. Money. Clothes. An updated copy of Quidditch Through the Ages, the longest volume yet. Oranges.

I position the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh candles, and the shamash in its place of honor in the center.

I had to pick the least ugly of the Slytherin girls. Knew Father would be pleased with the choice of Pansy Parkinson. Lesson in life: Do things to make your father happy and you end up committing yourself to what's sure to be an evening of stupid girly gossip and fawning. Potter's got girls asking him right and left. He could have a date for the next ten Yule Balls if he wanted. Saint Potter. Always gets everything. I hope he falls flat on his face when he has to get up and dance in front of everyone. Knowing Potter the Perfect, though, he's probably just as graceful on the dance floor as he is on a broom.

A great miracle happened there. The oil was only supposed to burn for one night, yet it burned for eight. It seems like miracles happen here all the time. Transfiguration. Charms. Wonder what the Maccabees would have said if they could have seen this place. They probably would have been Gryffindors.

I position the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth candles, and the shamash in its place of honor in the center. Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu melech haolum...

No one even notices. They're all too tied up in the Triwizard Tournament and the Yule Ball. I heard Harry Potter asked Cho Chang, and she turned him down because she's going with Cedric Diggory. Too bad for Harry. Ah well, I'm sure he'll find a date somehow. Can't believe Fleur asked me. Someone as beautiful as her...it's a wonder she even noticed I was alive. I wrote home as soon as she asked me, and Mother and Dad were very happy. When I got their owls, there was a moment where I would have given up the Yule Ball for the chance to be with the family. Tonight's the last night, when the surprise presents come out. As the sun goes down, I place the menorah on the windowsill and face south, towards home.