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ღ chapter twelve ( the marauder's map )
TWO WEEKS BEFORE the end of the term, the sky lightened suddenly to a dazzling, opaline white and the muddy grounds were revealed one morning covered in glittering frost. Inside the castle, there was a buzz of Christmas in the air. Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, had already decorated his classroom with shimmering lights that turned out to be real, fluttering fairies.
The students were all happily discussing their plans for the holidays, and due to Juliet's frustration with her mother, she was staying at Hogwarts along with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. She was still extremely angry, and had been stubborn since birth, when she'd been born nearly a week late.
She now knew why her mother had refused to sign her, and Harry's permission slips, and to everyone's delight, with the exception of Jules and Harry, there was another Hogsmeade trip the last weekend of term.
On the Saturday morning of the Hogsmeade trip, Harry and Jules bid good-bye to Ron and Hermione, who were wrapped in cloaks and scarves, then turned up the marble staircase together, and headed up toward Gryffindor Tower. Snow had started to fall outside the windows, and the castle was very still and quiet.
It was cold inside, frigid even. Ravenclaw tower was not as cozy as Gryffindor tower, and Jules was clad in a thick jumper Mrs. Weasley had knit her for last Christmas. It was one of her favorites, cream in color, with buttons down the front, and navy trimmings.
"Psst, Harry, Jules!"
She turned, halfway along the third-floor corridor, to see Fred and George peering out at them from behind a statue of a humpbacked, one-eyed witch.
"What are you doing?" Harry curiously said. "How come you're not going to Hogsmeade?"
"We've come to give you two a bit of festive cheer before we go," Fred said, with a mysterious wink. "Come in here," he added, nodding toward an empty classroom to the left of the one-eyed statue. They followed Fred and George inside, the latter closing the door quietly and turning around with a beaming smile, to look at the two third years.
"Early Christmas present for you, two," he said. "I guess, Harry can hang on to it, Juju here loses track of things all the time."
"Hey!" Jules exclaimed, chuckling. "I lost Juno like once."
"How do you lose a cat?" Fred pointed out, George nodding along.
"Fair enough," Jules giggled.
Fred pulled something from inside his cloak with a flourish and laid it on one of the desks. It was a large, square, very worn piece of parchment with nothing written on it. Jules and Harry both stared at it, bewildered.
