Nessu Fanni

Harry slowly opened his eyes and noticed that everything was blurry. He must have been hit pretty hard. Oh, my glasses, he thought. He reached over to the table beside his bed and picked up his glasses. He put them on, clearing his world in the process. Everything looked more defined and how it should look.

Harry looked around and noticed that he was in a bed. He didn't know how he didn't notice it before. He looked around the room some more and noticed that there were many beds around him. He was in the Hospital Wing and saw Hermione in the bed next to him. He smiled, knowing that she was okay. He was glad that she was fine even though Katie had assured him that she would be during the game.

Just then, Katie entered the room. Harry nearly laughed. It seemed like she had read his mind and decided to walk in at that moment. However, that thought wasn't the most comforting. What if she could read his mind? Harry decided to stop thinking and waited for her to walk over to him.

Katie didn't walk over to Harry, she ran.

"Oh, Harry! Are you all right?" she asked, rushing to his bedside.

Harry was a little shocked at her entrance.

"Uh..." he began, at a loss for words. "I think so."

"That was an excellent catch, though!" said Katie. She could never fail to amaze him. She seemed so concerned for his well being but was still concerned with winning Quidditch.

"Thanks," Harry replied.

By this time, Hermione was awake. Katie must have woken Hermione up when she entered the room.

"I wish I could have seen it," Hermione said groggily.

"You're finally awake. How are you feeling?" Katie asked Hermione, turning toward her. She wasn't that concerned about Hermione. She knew that she would be fine and Harry had a rougher game than Hermione did.

"A bit sore," Hermione replied, rubbing her head.

There was a brief pause as Harry and Hermione tried to find a good position to lie in without much pain. Katie waited for them to shift around and merely smiled at them both when they were finished.

Hermione was the first one to break the silence. "Katie, did we win?" she asked excitedly. She had hoped that they did win. It was her first Quidditch game and she didn't even get to play much of it.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Katie. "Harry caught the Snitch, but flew into the wall. The score was one hundred and eighty to sixty. Malfoy's not looking too happy. It's great."

"Good start to the season," said Harry. He was finally beginning to fill his role as captain of the team and Katie noticed this. She gave him a big hug and Hermione could see Harry wince with the pain. Hermione gave a little chuckle as Katie noticed what she was doing to Harry.

"Oh, I'm sorry Harry!" she exclaimed, stepping away from him. She pulled up a chair from the back of the room and sat down between Harry and Hermione. They began chatting about each play in the game, informing Hermione on every time the Slytherins got scored on. Katie seemed to remember ever sour expression Malfoy gave their team and they laughed as she imitated him.

Suddenly Madam Pomfrey interrupted their conversation. She didn't care and instantly yelled at the intruder.

"No visitors!" she yelled, waving a flask at Katie. "Out! Out!"

Katie didn't try to anger Madam Pomfrey and began to leave the room.

"No, wait!" exclaimed Harry. He was having so much fun with Hermione and Katie; he didn't want it to end. "Can't she just stay for a few more minutes?" he pleaded.

Madam Pomfrey sighed and agreed. "You'll still have to take these potions," she said, giving the flasks to Harry and Hermione.

Harry looked inside the flask and saw a thick blue and purple liquid. It looked disgusting, but Harry drank anyway. He tried to drink it down in one gulp but there was still some left over and he had to go through another sip of the potion. It was freezing going down his throat. He could feel it as it went down every part of him. However, he could also feel himself getting instantly better. His back didn't hurt as much anymore and he managed to smile to Madam Pomfrey. She smiled back and left the room.

When Harry and Hermione had finished their potions, Hermione sighed.

"I am going to have to give Malfoy a piece of my mind when I get out of here," Hermione said angrily.

Harry and Katie exchanged confused glances.

"Why?" asked Katie.

"The Bludger!"

Katie and Harry exchanged glances again. However, this time they were thinking about how much they didn't want to tell Hermione. Don't. Don't, Thought Harry. Apparently Katie wasn't a mind reader after all.

"Hermione," Katie began, but she couldn't continue. They weren't very good friends and Katie didn't want Hermione to kill the messenger.

"What?" Hermione asked. She was getting a little annoyed at the anxiety between Harry and Katie. What didn't they want to tell her?

"Hermione," Harry began. He had the courage. "It wasn't Malfoy. It was Ron."

"What?" Hermione exclaimed. It looked as if she had just taken a punch. "I don't believe it."

"I'm sorry, Hermione," said Harry, trying to sound comforting.

* * *

The first day of winter came very quickly. It wasn't December 21^st but everyone knew that it was winter. There was a fresh frost on the school grounds and the edges of the lake were beginning to freeze. Everyone wore their winter robes to Care of Magical Creatures and still shivered in the winter cold.

The snow first fell on the earth on the second of December. It had all ready felt like winter for two weeks before then. By the time the snow fell, the ice was frozen and Hagrid had started finding pine trees to decorate the Great Hall for Christmas.

As December passed, the everyday routines were carried out as usual. Students passed from class to class being prepared for their examinations in the summer. The teachers were all ready emphasizing the importance of the O.W.L.'s to Harry, Hermione, and their peers. Hermione was the only one concerned enough to start revising six months in advance.

No one's lives were very happy, though. Now that Hermione knew what Seamus was or wasn't or what he was or wasn't doing, Hermione grew to be afraid of Seamus. She did not break up with him, but Harry suspected that this was out of fear. Even with Harry by her side, Hermione couldn't underestimate Seamus. What would Seamus do to her if she did break up with him?

Only a small group of students from Gryffindor stayed at the school over the holidays. Harry, Hermione, the Weasleys, Lee Jordan, Neville and Parvati Patil stayed at the school for the Christmas holidays. Padam Patil, who was in Ravenclaw, stayed at Gryffindor Tower. There were no other Ravenclaws staying over the holidays and Dumbledore agreed that she could stay with her twin sister. No Hufflepuffs or Slytherins stayed at Hogwarts, which included Ron and Malfoy. Harry found it interesting that Seamus was leaving. He wondered what he could be up to during the holidays.

When Christmas Day arrived, Harry woke up with a start. He had had a nightmare that involved him, Ron and Seamus. He wondered what it could have been about, but he had no time to think about it. Hermione was the one who woke him up and he nearly screamed when he saw her in his room. He wrapped his covers around himself, even though he had nothing to hide.

"Hermione!" he exclaimed.

Hermione merely laughed at him. "Harry, it's Christmas!"

"That doesn't give you the right to come into my room!" Harry yelled, throwing a pillow at her. He didn't expect it to make her leave but he tried anyway. "You don't see me coming into your room, do you?"

Hermione caught the pillow and threw it back at Harry. "Harry, if it bothers you that much then I'll just leave."

"No!" Harry said, almost getting out of bed. He stopped clutching at his covers and stretched out his arm, gesturing for Hermione not to go. Hermione smiled at him and returned to where she was standing before.

Harry suddenly noticed that there was a large pile of presents beside his bed. He got up and picked up the one closest to him. Hermione urged him to open it and he ripped open the wrapping paper. It was a Christmas cake with red icing. It had squiggly writing in red icing that read 'Happy Christmas.' Harry noticed that there was a note attached to the wrapping paper. Harry bent down and picked it up.

"It's from Hagrid," Harry announced.

"I figured so," said Hermione, smiling. She couldn't help but constantly smile on Christmas morning. She was so happy when people opened presents. It reminded her of her family at home. Surprisingly, that thought just made her happier, not sad. She did miss her parents, but she loved being with her friends as well. Harry was used to Hermione being this was on Christmas and paid no attention to it.

Harry next saw a card on the floor. At first he thought it was from Sirius, but then he opened it. It was not. Harry merely read the card and didn't say anything for a good minute.

"Harry, what is it?" Hermione was concerned by his silence.

"As if that's going to scare me," Harry mumbled. If Seamus thinks he's going to do something to me or my friends, he's got another thing coming, thought Harry.

Suddenly, an arrow shot through the open window beside Harry's bed and landed in the opposite wall. It had a note attached to it and Hermione was first to pick it up. She was sick of Harry not telling her what was going on. She would find out for herself.

She read the note out loud, "'I think it might. Seamus.' What does this mean, Harry?"

Harry couldn't answer Hermione. He didn't know what to think of this. This meant that Seamus was nearby and Harry left the dormitory without telling Hermione to follow him. He knew that she would, her curiosity wouldn't let her stay in there.

Harry waited outside the door to the dormitory on the staircase. When Hermione left the room as well, she was carrying a present.

"It's from me," she explained.

Harry and Hermione went downstairs into the common room in silence. They sat by the fireplace, far away from any window. Harry sat down on the ground and placed the present in front of him. Hermione sat herself in a nearby chair and watched Harry open her present. She was very excited, despite what had happened in the dormitory. She still wanted to know what was going on, but the present distracted her.

It took Harry a while to get off all the bows and streamers. It looked like Hermione had taken a while wrapping the present. When Harry finally got off the wrapping paper, he found that he was right about his suspicions. As he was unwrapping the present, he suspected that it was a book. Of course, books are easy to spot in wrapping paper.

Harry held up the book in front of him and read the title. It was the newest Quidditch book. He turned the book over and read the description of its contents on the back. It contained the newest Quidditch moves that the professional players did. Apparently, the author was tortured by three Quidditch teams for spying on their practices. Harry knew that he would show this book to his team in the next practice after Christmas Break was over.

"Thank you, Hermione. You have no idea how much this means to me," Harry said, standing up and giving Hermione a hug.

Hermione returned the hug and beamed at him.

"Really, Harry? You really like it?" Hermione was close to tears. She had put in a lot of effort into getting the present. She didn't have Ron as a friend anymore and had twice as much to spend on Harry this year.

"Yes, I love it," said Harry. He released Hermione from his hug and picked up some socks he had left on the fireplace the night before.

"What are those?" Hermione asked curiously.

"I thought you were smart, Hermione. These are socks," Harry teased.

"Yes, yes. I know that." Hermione was a bit impatient with Harry right now and it showed. Harry decided to not make her ask him again and answered her question quickly before she could even ask.

"I'm giving these to Dobby. Do you want to come?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded and they silently left the common room through the portrait hole.

* * *

When Ron woke up, he was in a large room in a huge bed. It was the most comfortable bed he had ever been it. It was decorated all in green. He sat up, not wanting to leave the comforts of the bed. As he put his hands on his pillows to push himself up, he noticed that the pillows were green as well, embroidered with black snakes.

Ron looked around the room and saw a black desk with a mirror and a chair straight in front of him. There was a black closet with two snakes intertwining as a handle on the left hand side of the room. There was a dark green door near the closet and a black door on the right hand side of the room. Next to the black door was a large window. Ron could see through the window from where he was sitting. He saw the snow covered ground below. He must have been on the third story. He saw some very small bushes that were covered in snow beside an ice sculpture of a snake.

Ron finally figured it out and knew that he could be in only one place: Malfoy Manor.

He tried to remember the night before, but it seemed a dream. He had arrived at Malfoy Manor with Draco. They had dinner with Draco's parents, Lucius and Narcissa. Ron went to sleep early which was probably because the bed was so soft.

Ron realized that he still wasn't out of bed and used all his strength to lift his legs over the bed and onto the ground. As soon as he did that, the rest was easier. He put weight on his feet and stood up. Looking back at the bed, regretfully, he walked over to the closet and found his clothes. He got dressed and walked out of his room.

The night before, the Malfoys had assured him that there were house elves and that he didn't need to make his bed or clean up after meals. Ron liked this idea and didn't know how he lived at the Burrow all those years. Of course, he'd have to go back there during the summer, but he didn't want to think about that now. Ron could sure get used to the treatment that the Malfoys were accustomed to.

Ron walked down the hall, down the main staircase, which lead him to the Front Entrance. From what he was told the night before, he turned left and entered the Atrium. He seemed on the right track. There were three doors. One door took him back into the Front Entrance and two more brought him either to the Dining Room or into Lucius Malfoy's study. One wrong move and he would be toast. Ron took the door closest to his right and found an empty room with a long table. At the end of the table was Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. Ron sighed with relief and walked toward them.

He took a seat across from Narcissa and tucked in his chair.

"Draco doesn't seem to want to join us yet," commented Lucius in his usual drawl.

"How did you get in Slytherin again?" asked Narcissa, looking at Ron. She seemed more interested in what she was saying, but Ron could tell that they weren't happy people. They weren't like the Weasleys.

"Thanks to Nessu," said Ron briefly. There was nothing else to it. Nessu did it and Dumbledore was right when he told Ron to thank him.

"Oh, yes. I had forgotten that he's going by that name now. It's nice that he can start over, isn't it dear?" said Narcissa turning to look at her husband.

"Yes, wonderful," said Lucius plainly.

Ron was a bit disturbed at how formal it was between the Malfoys. He had almost expected them to burst out laughing and hold hands or hug or even kiss like his parents would when they were having breakfast. His parents loved each other and Ron had a feeling that the Malfoys didn't. It seemed like they were having a business discussion. They couldn't be married!

Finally, Draco came through the same door that Ron had come through only moments before. He sat beside his mother without a word at first. Then, he decided to speak.

"Hello mother. Father," said Draco, not looking at either of his parents.

"Glad you could join us," said Lucius.

As Lucius spoke, it was as if it was a magic word. A dozen house elves came bursting into the Dining Room with plates and glasses of eggs, bacon, orange juice, apple juice, and almost anything that Ron could possibly want for breakfast. Ron looked happier than he ever had. This was by far his favourite Christmas and he would never forget it.