Brighter Than the Sun

Chapter Thirteen

Meanwhile, in the rest of the castle, the magnificent Christmas decorations had been put up, despite the fact that hardly any of the students remained to enjoy them. Thick streamers of holly and mistletoe were strung along the corridors, mysterious lights shone from inside every suit of armor, and the Great Hall was filled with its usual twelve Christmas trees, glittering with golden stars. A powerful and delicious smell of cooking pervaded the corridors, and by Christmas Eve, it had grown so strong that even Scabbers poked his nose out of the shelter of Ron's pocket to sniff hopefully at the air.

On Christmas, I woke up excitedly. Hermione and I had the entire dorm to ourselves so we could spread out our presents as we opened them. She told me that after opening presents she usually went to hang out with Harry and Ron, which I was completely fine with.

Hermione adored the bookmarks and Sugar Quills I got her. She'd given me a pair of glasses that had a spell that helped with dyslexia. I put them on and, after testing the glasses out on a page in one of my textbooks, squealed and gave Hermione a huge hug. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

Hermione laughed. "You're welcome. I saw those and I thought they'd really help. They were the last pair, too, it was lucky I found them."

"Now my gift seems... kind of lackluster."

"It's not!" Hermione assured me. "These are going to be a big help."

We continued opening the presents. I got a mixed pack of Chocolate Frogs and Peppermint Toads from Ron and a Holyhead Harpies sweater from Harry. Chiron had sent a Christmas card with the signatures of all my siblings from Cabin Seven.

I also found a lumpy package, but I didn't know who it was from.

"Oh!" Hermione said when she saw it. "Ron'll be delighted."

"It's from him?" I asked, and opened it, taking out a red sweater with a golden A. "I didn't know Ron had taken up knitting."

"It's from his mum," Hermione laughed. "Harry and I have been getting them since first year, too. They're Weasley family sweaters. It looks like you've just become an honorary member of the family."

I put it on over my pajamas and instantly loved how warm it was. "I like being an honorary Weasley."

"Don't we all," Hermione agreed. She picked up a string of tinsel and tied it around Crookshanks' neck while he protested. "There! Doesn't he look festive?"

I laughed. "Hang on, let me try. which color ribbon do you think looks best with Jab's fur?"

We ended up choosing red to match my Weasley sweater.

"Tomatoes," Jab muttered grumpily and tried to paw the ribbon off but was unsuccessful. "Tomatoes and cherries."

Hermione and I giggled at his antics and hurried up to the boys' dorm. We found the two of them talking.

"What're you two laughing about?" Hermione asked as we entered, holding our festive-looking pets. Both boys looked up.

"Ash, you got a Weasley sweater!" Ron noticed, grinning. Then he raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What's with the glasses?"

I'd forgotten I still had them on. "My gift from Hermione. Now I don't have to take that nasty dyslexia potion anymore!"

"And Harry's not the only four-eyes in our friend group!" Ron said as enthusiastically as I had, earning an indignant elbow in the ribs from the said Four-Eyes. Crookshanks let out an grumpy meow, grabbing Ron's attention. He also saw Jab in my arms and groaned.

"Don't bring them in here!" said Ron, hurriedly snatching Scabbers from the depths of his bed and stowing him in his pajama pocket. But Hermione wasn't listening. She dropped Crookshanks onto Seamus's empty bed and stared, open-mouthed, at a broom in Harry's lap.