Christmas time joy!

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"Good Morning and Merry Christmas!" 

Harriet shrieked and fell out of bed, landing in a very undignified heap on the floor, tangled in her bedsheets.

"Wake up, wake up!" Millicent was yelling, shaking the others awake. "There is presents and cheer!"

"Ugh! How are you this exited in the morning?" Elizabeth grumbled. "I know it's Christmas but you could still let me sleep in."

 Elizabeth was not a morning person. That much had been clear from the start of the school year. There had been several incidents of her running into the great hall with toothpaste on her cheek and her tie undone so she was on time for breakfast. This was followed by her walking to class with the others whilst scarfing down toast or anything else she could carry.

At the current moment, Millicent was walzing around the room singing a very out of tune rendition of Yuletide cheer. The only thing that made it bearable was Amina Cheng joining in halfheartedly with her more than passable singing voice. The girl sang with the voice of a siren.

Harriet took a few deep breaths to calm herself. Normally when she was yelled at that loudly, she had done something wrong and should probably run. She  untangled herself from the mass of bedsheets and speedwalked into the bathroom. Christmas was decidedly not her favourite time of year. It was snowing aswell. That meant cold and wet feet. The Dursleys had never bothered to buy her proper winter boots or at least new shoes. Or a coat. She usually dealt with Dudley's hand me down jackets that were so large, they did nothing against the drafts of icy air that swept around. 

Another thing that really sucked was watching Dudley open up all his presents so uncaringly, while she pretended to be grateful about a 50p coin. That and watching him ruin most of them really quickly. The memory of that almost made her regret responding to his letter and left a bitter aftertaste in her mouth that the mintiness of the toothpaste she was using couldn't seem to overpower. She spat it out and scrubbed her face angrily with cold water. Some people just didn't know how lucky they were.

Speaking of presents, she really hoped the others would like what she had gotten them. She probably wouldn't be around to watch them open them. She didn't want to ruin their fun by sitting around glumly and empty handed. Maybe she'd spend the day in the library. There wouldn't be many people there. And no one was likely to disturb her wallowing in sadness.

A sharp knock on the door nearly made her jump out of her skin.

"Hurry up in there!" It was Millicent. "Or don't you want to open your presents?"

Presents? Did Millicent just say presents? 

"I have presents?" She asked tentatively, praying she hadn't misheard. 

"Duh!" Milicent replied. Harriet could hear the grin. "You didn't think we'd all forgotten you, did you?"

Harriet stood there shocked. She had presents! Shyly, she cracked open the door and peered around.

"There we go!" Millicent cheered, grabbing her by the arm. "Now come on!"

She was dragged over to the sparkling, glittering tree in the corner of the dormitory. The second she had sat down, Amina shoved a parcel with green wrapping into her hand.

"Mine first!" She insisted.

"O - okay!" She said, carefuly peeling at the tape. The wrapping paper fell away to reveal a black notebook. Despite it's size it still felt pretty heavy. Harriet opened it gently. The paper was a soft creamy colour. 

"Th- thank you!" Harriet was at a loss for words. She gave Amina a hug, hoping to convey her gratitude.

"Mine next! Mine next!" Elizabeth said exitedly, holding out another package.

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