Class of 78 - Ivy's Story

Chapter 8 - Holiday Cheer

The only word Iris could think of to sum up her first half of the year at Hogwarts was extraordinary. Between her friends, homework and her music Iris thought she'd had arguably the most fun than she ever had in her life. Halloween had come and passed, the weekend before Iris had gone and helped Hagrid as she usually did every Saturday and they spent the day elbows deep in pumpkin guts. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter managed to dye Dumbledore's beard a bright green at the Halloween feast and while nobody could prove it was them, Iris could swear she saw Dumbledore smile and wink at the group while the entire great hall laughed. With all the excitement she could almost forget about going back home and what that would mean for her. They key words of course being almost.

As Halloween got farther away, and yule crept closer Iris couldn't help but linger on the dark and fearful thoughts that seemed to come attached with the topic of home. She knew Sirius was thinking about it too as he was joking around a lot more than usual. Iris coped differently than him and instead threw herself into her music. The guitar her mother bought for her seldom left her side after Hagrid had fashioned a strap for the instrument; she could now carry it on her shoulder. She had already had to get a new journal for her music as her previous one had run out of pages. Soon enough it was the day to leave for Christmas break and Iris was sitting on her favorite couch in the common room in front of a blazing fireplace. She hadn't been able to catch a wink of sleep so she already had her trunk packed and sitting next to her.

Someone sat down next to her and she turned her head to see James staring into the fire

"Couldn't sleep either?" Iris asked him softly and James shook his head

"No, I just woke up to talk to you." Iris looked at him in surprise and he looked at her with a sad smile "i don't know exactly what it's like at your house, although my family is technically part of the 28 we don't really care about that blood stuff, that doesn't mean we don't hear rumors about what happens i just-" James cut himself off with a sigh "if it ever gets to be too much, you can come to my house, i talked to mum and she would love to meet my new friends so just... think about it okay?"

Iris nodded and smiled sadly at James "It's gonna be fine Jamie, it has to be" James rolled his eyes at the stupid nickname she had given him a few weeks prior and smiled at her

"I hope you're right Ivy." Iris laughed and leaned her head on James shoulder "Thank you James"

They spent the rest of the early hours talking and laughing and planning pranks to pull on their friends and fellow classmates. It wasn't until Sirius walked down the stairs trunk floating behind him did the two first years notice it was time for breakfast. Iris smiled at Sirius and stood up with James in tow.

"Good Morning Siri, are you excited for winter break?" Sirius gave her a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes and nodded

"Sure, can't wait to be reminded what a disappointment i am over the holidays." he scoffed and rolled his eyes. Iris smiled and went over to pull her best friend into a hug

"Just wait until you see the gift i made for you, it's wicked" Iris laughed as Sirius looked at her with another roll of his eyes

"Oh great another one of those stupid flower crowns that you made for my birthday?" Iris gasped and smacked him in the arm

"Sirius Black you loved that flower crown and you know it! You look dashing in yellow Daffodils." James snorted and after Remus and Peter met them in the common room the group headed down to the dining hall for their last meal together before the train ride. Peter and Remus were staying at the castle for Christmas but still wanted to get breakfast early and spend as much time as they could with their friends before the break. They ate and laughed and Iris smiled at her friends and how lucky she was to have met them this year.