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On a random morning in mid-December, Hogwarts found itself buried deep in several feet of snow. Which could only mean one thing: Christmas was coming.
Amelia and a couple of Hufflepuffs got a couple of points taken away for accidentally aiming a snowball at a teacher. Justin tried to convince his friends to have a snowball fight but the muggle way. In which you had to pick up the snow with your hands.
Amelia and Ernie both looked at each other before whipping their wands out and starting to bewitch some of the snow to form snowballs to fight against each other. Justin joined in and the three threw snow at each other until one of Amelia's snowballs was aimed at Ernie's head, who suddenly ducked down and caused the snowball to hit Professor Mcgonagall's shoulder.
They were lucky to only get a couple of points off.
Even though the holidays were coming up all the Hogwarts students still had to attend classes.
Amelia sat in her potions class beside Draco who said something that sparked a nerve.
" I do feel so sorry for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home."
Although the comment was targeted at Harry Potter, it hit close to home for Amelia.
She glanced over at Ron who paid no attention to her as he worked on the potion with Harry. She remembered the letter her mother sent that informed her to not come home for Christmas.
Amelia bit down on her lip in an attempt to keep any tears from falling down. A melancholy feeling rose within with every glance at her brother.
It astounded her that all her brothers were able to ignore her existence, even during the holidays. A time that was supposed to be celebrated with family.
Amelia walked past everyone once class ended and made her way toward the library where she knew Justin would be.
Justin had been the only person that distracted Amelia from her problems. She confided in him on certain things concerning her family. But for the most part, Amelia bottles up her feelings and refused to acknowledge that anything was wrong.
Justin was seated toward the back of the library with Ernie and Mandy Brocklehurst. Although they did have homework ( Thanks to Mcgonagall and Snape ) the three of them chatted in shushed voices so Madam Pince couldn't hear.
" Amelia you made it!" Justin beamed as she sat beside him.
" Of course! I just finished potions class." Amelia mumbled as she placed her bookbag beside her.
" Ew, Snape," Mandy said with a tone of disgust.
It was safe to say that, almost, everyone hated Professor Snape and his favoritism toward the Slytherins.
" Yeah, he's been harsh toward Neville especially. " Amelia pointed out as she remembered the many times he yelled or took points off Gryffindor because of something Neville did.
" I heard of him! Poor bloke." Justin said quietly. Professor Snape had also bullied Justin and other Hufflepuffs over potion subjects that he didn't know. And Justin hoped Snape didn't pick on him because he was a muggle-born wizard.
" You lot going back home for the Holidays?" Mandy asked. There was only one day left for the holiday break and many students had already begun packing.
" Yeah, honestly can't wait to go back home and see my parents," Justin said.
" I think I'm just going to stay at Hogwarts. " Amelia shrugged as she glanced down at her hands.
" Oh, I'm sure Christmas at Hogwarts would be amazing. " Mandy smiled.
Amelia thought back to past Christmas' when all the Weasleys would hold a feast, laugh at whatever joke Fred and George would pull their mother, and open a present where a knit sweater with her initial would be.
She began to miss her family.
Once the Holidays started, Amelia was happy to have the dormitory all to herself. The common room was emptier than usual, only about eight Slytherins stayed behind.
On Christmas eve Amelia sat in the great hall, glumly, as she ate her food. For the rest of the day, Amelia sulked in her room or in the common room and read many books to take her mind off things.
She read books that covered many aspects of magic, besides the dark arts. Amelia found herself chanting difficult spells, many of which didn't work properly, but the few that she managed to cast correctly, she made sure to memorize.
The next day Amelia went to the Great Hall and attended the Christmas feast Hogwarts held.
When Amelia entered the Great Hall she immediately stopped in her tracks when she saw her brothers sitting at the Gryffindor table with Harry Potter.
Reluctantly, she walked over toward the Slytherin table with her head down. She filled her golden plate with various sorts of food and began to eat.
She made sure to avert eye contact with any of her brothers and once she finished eating, she ran toward the common room.
The feeling of neglect filled Amelia. A few tears fell down her cheek as she buried her head in her pillow.
***
The next day Amelia woke up in the empty dormitory with a slight headache and puffy eyes.
She glumly stared emotionlessly around her room. A feeling of sorrow still lingered in the air and Amelia lost all motivation of getting out of bed. She glanced over toward her nightstand and stared blankly at the book she was reading: The layers of Legilimency.
Amelia laid back down on her bed and turn her back against the book. She lost the motivation to read or do anything productive. She closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep.
Her mind wandered to her friends. She couldn't wait for Justin, Ernie, or Mandy to return. She had also missed talking with Aries in the common room.
Amelia quickly sat up from her bed as she remembered Aries. Why did his name sound so familiar? Amelia thought. She crawled off her bed and headed toward her trunk. She started to pull out various of different books until she found the one she was looking for: Fantastic Beasts and where to find them by Newt Scamander
" Oh, Merlin's beard!" Amelia exclaimed as she closed her trunk and began to read the book. How did I not see it before? Amelia thought still in awe as she read the amazing work of Newt Scamander. Amelia mentally noted to ask Aries if he was actually related to Newt.
For the rest of the day, Amelia stayed in bed. She skipped both lunch and dinner, which she quickly regretted once her stomach started growling.
But the hurt that Amelia felt still lingered on. She wished to go back to the day of the sorting and beg the hat to place her in Gryffindor. Only then maybe Amelia could be happy again.
