sister of the wolf | s. snape

thirty-one | doomed

Christmas came around the corner quickly and as any warmth left in the air departed, as did most of the Hogwarts students. However, the wolf and his sister remained. They had received a letter from their parents about a week prior stating that they wished for their children to spend their holiday at the school.

'Your mother's condition is only worsening and she doesn't wish to dampen your festive moods by having you see her this way.' Their father wrote. 'We both know how you kids are, and all you'll do is worry over her. Please, enjoy your Christmas with your friends. We'll send our gifts by owl. Merry Christmas! All our love, your mother and father.'

Of course, this only made the two's concern for their mother grow, but they tried their best to respect their wishes. Lily and James had plans of their own together for Christmas back at the Potter residence and Peter longed to see his family. But Willow, Evelyn, and Sirius decided to stay behind and provide some company for Elise and Remus. Which, of course, they were very grateful for and made their holiday break much more enjoyable.

The entire group stayed together in the Hufflepuff common room on the night of Christmas Eve, as it was the emptiest out of all of them currently. They piled pillows and blankets all around the open area near the fireplace, deciding to have a little slumber party so that they could all enjoy Christmas morning and open presents together.

"Baaaandittt!" Sirius' voice broke Elise out of her deep sleep, disturbing her comfort in the blanket burrito she'd made herself into on the floor. "Come on! It's Christmas! Wake uuup!"

The rowdy boy then grabbed onto the edge of her blanket and pulled it roughly, causing her to roll all the way out of it and onto the carpet. Elise groaned loudly and grabbed a pillow nearby, throwing it full force at his head. This obviously started an all-out wrestling match between the two.

"Padfoot, El! Not on Christmas morning, damnit!" Remus scolded, but couldn't quite hide his amused smile.

"Christmas?!" Willow shot up from her place on the couch, her curls frizzed up into a large poof atop her head. Her brown eyes stared widely around as if she'd forgotten where she was.

Evelyn was already wide awake and reading a book on an armchair, giggling at both the way Willow looked and the ongoing fight between Elise and Sirius.

Remus walked over to the large tree decorated in Hufflepuff colors, picking up a random gift and shaking it in the air.

"Hm, guess these presents are all mine, then!"

The wrestling pair immediately froze, looked at each other, then pushed away and sprinted over to the tree. Willow clambered clumsily off the couch and followed close behind. Evelyn simply grinned, shut her book, and strolled over.

The teenagers sat around Remus with excited expressions like a bunch of children waiting for storytime. The sight made him chuckle as he began sorting and handing out the presents to their designated recipients.

Once they were all in the hands of their owners, the teens began to furiously rip into the festive paper and open their gifts.

Elise received some new oversized jumpers from her parents, a pair of new combat boots from Sirius, multiple sticks of eyeliner and a dark red lipstick from Lily, a Defense Against the Dark Arts Advanced Spellbook from James, a large bag full of sweets from Peter, a silver necklace with moonstone from Marlene, an updated hardback copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them from Remus. And last, but not least, a potted Venus Flytrap plant from Oliver with a note that stated it was charmed to never wilt. Elise smirked at the boy's knowing of her inability to care for plants.