I am so happy I’m your Secret Santa! Thank you for being so sweet and kind! May this Christmas end the present year on a cheerful and inspiring note and make way for a fresh and bright New Year! I wish you all the wonderful things in the world, you deserve all of it! Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year! Bless!
I hope you like my little present, dear friend!
and thank you so so so so much, @hphm-secretsanta, for making this possible!
Kyril used his thumb and forefinger to rub his eyes before he returned his glasses to their rightful place. He was exhausted. He'd always kept busy during his time at Hogwarts. Between classes, the vaults, and maintaining some semblance of a social life, he was used to late nights and even the occasional all nighter. But with the start of sixth year came an increase in schoolwork that had seriously eaten into his sleep schedule. Still he opened his eyes and, with a weary sigh, resumed work on his partially finished potion.
Potions class was always difficult when one was tired. The cool, damp air of the dungeons came into contrast with the warmth of the fires used to heat the cauldrons. There was even the risk of pleasant smells and vapors filling the air, though that was dependent on the potion to be brewed for the day. Today's assignment was perhaps the worst offender of all, amortentia. The most powerful love potion in the world. Even some of the ingredients smelled nice on their own. All of these things combined and seemed to drag Kyril's eyelids down repeatedly. He should have taken a wide-eye potion this morning.
Somehow he managed to keep his eyes open and his hands moving. Just a few more steps and then class would be over. As he leaned closer to stir, the warm vapors began to wash over him and threatened to close his eyes once more. Concentrate Kyril. Think about something to keep your mind working. The Christmas holiday approached quickly and planning for that should be enough excitement to drive off his weariness. He glanced aside to his table mate Merula Snyde, occasional thorn in his side and yet somehow still fun to be around. She always stayed for Christmas, but what exactly could the two Slytherins do together? Hopefully something that did not end in yet another duel. Kyril's mind searched and a possibility began to play out for him.
-------------------------------------------------
Kyril found himself in the warm and inviting Three Broomsticks, its interior decorated in all manner of bright Christmas decorations. He sat in a corner booth by himself near the fireplace, a thick book open on the table next to an untouched butterbeer. Before he had time to consider why he was here, his table was suddenly approached by Merula. She wore a plain green sweater under a heavy black coat and had a butterbeer in hand.
"Vasiley. Spending time with all your friends I see," she quipped while she sauntered up to the table.
"Snyde. Yes, they were just listing all your best qualities," he replied coolly, his face composed and calm as ever.
She set her drink on the table and threw her coat off into the booth. "Well, allow me to interrupt then," she said as she slid herself onto the seat across from him. She eyed his still full drink. "Are you going to babysit that all night or what?" Merula asked derisively.
"I will drink at my own pace, thank you. Not everything has to be a competition between us," came Kyril's retort as he tried to re-focus on his book. For some strange reason he was having difficulty making out the words.
The girl's face became mischievous. "Oh I see. Afraid to lose are we?" she taunted. Merula grabbed her drink and quickly gulped down a fifth of the sickly sweet liquid. "Ahhhhhh!" she let out an exaggerated gasp as she set the mug down and then wiped a bit of liquid from the corner of her mouth.
"Your childish tactics won't work on me anymore Snyde," Kyril said though his eyes involuntarily flickered between her mug and his own. He was not going to fall for this. That was until she began to reach for her drink once more. He was not losing, even in a contest that was objectively stupid and childish. He snatched his own mug and began to chug. With that the race was on.
Some time later both teenagers struggled to finish a fifth mug. A pair of stomachs rebelled against all the liquid and sugar that had been forced upon them. The two locked eyes, each determined not to lose. "Ready to give up Snyde? You don't look so good," Kyril asked.
"In your dreams Vasiley. You're looking fairly pale yourself. Well, paler," she fired back. Damn her.
Both Slytherins knocked back the rest of their drinks and slammed their glasses onto the table at the same time. Kyril waited a moment for his stomach to calm slightly. This couldn't continue, else one or both of them would have to vomit. However he knew that neither of them would want to lose. Then he got an idea. "You know, we could call it a draw. If you'd like," Kyril offered.
"Pffft. A draw? Why would I want to draw? I'm the most powerful..." she began before she paused with a look of unease. "I suppose in the spirit of Christmas I could accept a draw. Think of it as my gift to you," the girl added with false confidence.
"Wow, you are so generous," he sarcastically replied with a roll of his eyes. Still he breathed a sigh of relief that the silly competition had come to an end. "Care to walk back to the castle?"
Merula responded with a shrug and a disinterested, "Yeah, alright I guess." She wasn't quite able to hide the slight twitch of her lips that threatened to become a smile if left unchecked though.
The pair slowly got up, put on their heavy coats, and made their way to the door. Neither wanted to move particularly fast after all the butterbeer they'd just drank. That was until they got outside and began to trudge through the snow, all exposed skin feeling the bite of the bitterly cold December air. A few warming charms helped mitigate this, but still neither wanted to stay outside for any longer than they had to.
"Hey Kyril!" he heard a familiar voice call from behind. He turned towards the sound, but when he did the entire world swirled around him. There was darkness for the blink of an eye and then he no longer walked through the cold snow of Hogsmeade with Merula. Instead he found he had just entered the heat filled Hogwarts kitchens, also decorated for the Christmas season, and was being approached by the lovable rogue Jae Kim in his trademark yellow hoodie. It was then Kyril realized that that was the voice he'd heard.
"Hey Jae," he replied automatically in his confusion.
"What brings you to my home away from home?" Jae asked curiously. "Didn't think I'd get to see you in detention again."
"I'm not sure," Kyril responded honestly, still taken aback by his sudden change in surroundings. "Wait how did you manage to get detention over Christmas?"
"Ah ah ah," Jae said with a sarcastic wag of his finger. "I can't just go around giving away my secrets like that."
Kyril couldn't help a small smile at his friend's flippant answer. Knowing Jae there were any number of infractions that could be the cause of his Christmastime captivity. Most likely it was a combination of multiple offenses. Kyril adjusted the glasses that had become slightly askew on his face before he replied sarcastically, "Yes, well I suppose you wouldn't want anyone to imitate you."
"Exactly. There can only be one Jae Kim in the school or it would never survive," Jae said in a way that almost seemed like bragging. "Say, since you're here, care to help with some dishes?" The Gryffindor's eyes seemed to grow twice as large as he asked, and Kyril swore to himself. Surely he had better things to do than dishes, and yet...
"Sigh. Fine. I will help with some dishes," the Slytherin accepted with a heavy emphasis on the word some. This was not going to end up like the time Jae tricked him into doing all the work for the day.
"Hooray," the shifty Gryffindor exclaimed. "Glad I've got my old work flirt back." With this he gave a wink and headed off to one of the many sinks piled high with dishes, followed by a Kyril who had failed to keep himself from blushing.
They each rolled up their sleeves and got to work scrubbing, rinsing, and drying dish after dish. As they moved around each other to get things put away, Jae began to get playful. He'd bump into Kyril with his hips or run his hand across Kyril's shoulders. The Slytherin couldn't determine whether he was more annoyed or excited by this.
"Would you mind helping me get something from the storage cupboard?" Jae whispered into his ear as they neared the end of their pile of dishes.
Kyril gulped and then watched the other boy head towards the main storage cupboard. After a moment's hesitation he followed. When he got there he saw Jae playfully launch himself onto a large sack of flour, which exploded and filled the room with the white powder. As Kyril attempted to clear the air of flour it suddenly changed to a clump of snow falling from a tree branch right onto him.
"Kyril! Are you alright?" he heard a concerned girl say from nearby. Was that Chiara? His suspicions were confirmed when moments later he had cleared the snow from his face enough to see. As she drew near him she used her wand to quickly dry him off and warm him. Bless her healer training.
Kyril removed his glasses to clean the snow off of them. "Chiara. Yes I am now, thanks to you," he answered her. This earned him one of her big smiles that always brightened his day. She had on a heavy coat with a Hufflepuff color scheme and badger crest. "What are you doing out here in the snow anyway?" the boy asked while he looked at his surroundings. They seemed to be on the outskirts of the forbidden forest.
"Oh, I brought some friends to play with Borf for a bit," the cheerful Puff answered as she gestured to a trio of crups following after her. Two were white with light brown spots, and the third had a coat that was fully chocolate brown. They bound their way through the snow and began sniffing the Slytherin boy. "Come on out Borf!" Chiara called further into the forest, and moments later the large grey werewolf pup came running out of the forest through the snow. He made his way to the werewolf girl and received the pats on his head he wanted.
Kyril bent down and began to pet the crups. They were quite cute and all seemed full of energy, six tails wagged about and occasionally sent bits of snow flying this way or that. It was then the boy had an idea. "Chiara, do you think they'd enjoy playing with me in my animagus form?" he asked curiously.
"Kyril that's brilliant, they'd love it!" she exclaimed as she ran over and gave him a hug that warmed him more than her spells had earlier. Well alright then.
His question answered he used the magic that was now a part of him to change his form. He leaned forward and by the time his hands would have hit the ground they had already changed into large paws covered in white fur. Where once stood a proud and stoic Slytherin now sat the big furry body of a Samoyed. The crups and werewolf pup were confused briefly, before they began to jump around and bark with excitement at the new furred friend that had suddenly appeared.
Kyril had always found his animagus form freeing. It was as though leaving his human form behind also left behind all of his problems, at least temporarily. He hopped through the snow to a nearby tree and began to dig. After a moment he found the treasure he'd been looking for, a large and sturdy stick. He picked it up in his mouth and showed it to the other animals. Then without warning he took off in a run away from the group. As he had hoped there were soon four sets of paws that chased after him.
He didn't know how long he played with the crups and Borf. They'd played keep away with the stick and after that was some basic play fighting that all canines do. Chiara even got involved by throwing different sticks she found for them to chase. What he did know is that he was exhausted by the time he'd transformed back and taken a seat on a fallen log next to Chiara. He took a moment to catch his breath before speaking. "Pant. That was fun. I don't often get the chance to get loose like that," he eventually stated.
"I'm glad you got to enjoy yourself. And that all of them got to have a good time," she added while pointing to the group of canines that had gathered around them to lay down. They too seemed to have been worn out by all the playing. Chiara moved a little closer to Kyril before she wordlessly rested her head on his shoulder.
They sat there in silence for a while, before Chiara eventually stood up and stretched. "Well, I should probably be getting these crups back to Kettleburn soon. I'm glad I ran into you. I think everyone had a great time," the cheerful teen said. She collected the crups and began to make her way out of the sparse treeline they were in.
"I'll join you," Kyril called after her as he rose to join her. As he caught up to her they passed between two trees and the world turned on its head again. He tripped and fell towards the forest floor. Only instead of grass, roots, and snow he found himself on a stone floor covered in straw. He looked about enough to realize he was in the owlery before he attempted to stand.
It was then he noticed he was no longer in his usual sweater and slacks. No he was in a floor length light turquoise dress that hugged his slim figure closely. His white hair had been lengthened to fall past his shoulders, but fortunately he was in matching turquoise flats and not heels. He didn't know how, but somehow Dariah was behind this.
As he made his way toward the exit though, he heard the door open. Damn, someone must be here to send a letter. He quickly looked around and decided the balcony was the best place to stay out of the newcomer's way. Hopefully they'd mail their letter and leave without paying him much mind. He made his way to the edge and immediately regretted the decision as he realized he didn't have a coat on. Still he went up to the railing to look out over the grounds of Hogwarts. He didn't often see the view from up here since his common room was in the dungeon and not one of the castle's towers.
He heard footsteps enter the owlery and then stop in the middle of the floor. Crap, they must have spotted him. Kyril just hoped it wasn't someone he knew. Seconds later, his hopes were dashed when he clearly heard his friend Talbott say, "Oh. Hello. I'm not used to other people coming here for anything besides the post."
"Yes, well I'm just enjoying the view," Kyril replied while he attempted to make his voice higher so he wouldn't be recognized. He moved involuntarily pressed himself to the railing in an attempt to put more distance between them.
This quickly backfired when Talbott worried aloud, "Hey you're getting awful close to the edge there. Careful you don't fall." He came closer and soon stood directly behind the crossdressed Slytherin. His concern was touching, but also a bit patronizing. As though he was incompetent and clumsy.
"I'm not a child, I'll be fine," Kyril snapped in his normal voice because he forgot he was supposed to be disguising it. He leaned over the ledge and looked down to prove his point. It was then he realized just how high they were and he began to wobble some from the sight. The irony of a fall from the tower because he attempted to prove he wouldn't fall was lost on him in the moment of panic.
Suddenly a pair of firm hands grab him by the hips and steadied him. "It's okay. I've got you," Talbott's calm voice reassured him. Kyril leaned back and stretched out his arms. For a second it felt like he was flying. Then he brought his feet back onto the balcony floor and turned to Talbott without thinking. "Kyril?" Talbott asked in confusion.
Before he could answer he began to hear another voice calling his name. This time it was Rowan's, and as he repeated "Kyril. Kyril." in a loud whisper he suddenly felt his shoulder be pushed and the world around him disappeared. Instead he was back in the potions classroom leaned against his table. He must have fallen asleep in class.
His face red from the dreams he'd had, he looked down at his cauldron and his heart sank. Amortentia was not supposed to be gurgling and brown at any point. How in Merlin's name was he going to fix this before…
"Ahem. Vasiley. Normally you are more attentive with your potions. Care to explain how your amortentia ended up in such a sorry state?" Snape droned in his typical dripping sarcasm. On the other side of the table Merula snickered. Kyril put those happy dreams away to think about later. For now he needed to figure out how to explain this.
Were I never to wake to see you, tears I would weep
Another scribbling of the quill.
“Damn. Why can’t I find the right lines to this?” muttered a boy of average height with severe but handsome features and neatly combed brown hair.
Making sure no one else was listening in (the Slytherin dungeons were not very well lit and contained plenty of snoops) Felix dipped the quill back into the ink and attempted to resume his little project once more. But this wasn’t just another monotonous essay from Professor Snape….it was far more personal.
Felix Rosier had to resist blushing when he thought of Elia Westerling. A beautiful, vivacious Hufflepuff girl who hailed from Essex. The House of the Badger was often written off as uninspiring or even useless by some critics from other houses, but this particular Hufflepuff was someone he would never soon forget. Slim, curvy, with raven hair and hazel eyes, Elia had a personality to match- confident and self-assured but also playful and a tad mischievous which made her any boy’s match if they tried hitting on her. Felix had never tried himself, but by Merlin he wanted to and rather than embarrass himself with a cheesy pickup line, perhaps a poem would be able to better catch her attention.
Then there was the matter of her family- she was of mostly French and Turkish descent though she was English on her mother’s side, the fact was wizarding blood only went back two generations- two of her grandparents had been muggles. This made it that much harder to confess his feelings, his parents would certainly frown. He could already hear his older cousin, Evan admonishing him.
Intermarriage dilutes the magical blood, Felix. Even talking to one of those wretched creatures is an affront to everything we stand for.
Even with all this in mind, Felix had long decided not to pay much attention to his family’s pure blood prejudices. Elia was a witch that was indisputable, and a damn good one. He wasn’t going to let something so trivial get in the way of at least taking a shot. Besides, Evan had held onto that ideology with an iron fist and look where he ended up? Buried six feet under, killed by Mad-Eye Moody himself.
No, he wouldn’t let remnants of the Dark Lord’s memory bully him into deciding what he wanted, and that was Elia. The bigger question remained, however: how would he give her this poem?
“Alright, let me see…”
“Whatcha doin?”
The sound of a young girl’s voice made him jump almost ten feet in the air, spilling ink all over the desk.
“Merlin’s beard, Allison! Where do you get off sneaking up on people like that?”
“I don’t know,” the girl shrugged. “I was just bored and wanted to see what you were up to.”
Felix sighed. Allison Garrison had been nothing but a pain in his arse from the day she had arrived at Hogwarts. It was his first year being a prefect but the last he expected was for them to be so…blunt, or at least that was the case with Allison. She constantly talked back, caused mischief, and lost more house points from Professor Snape in one month than any other Slytherin in an entire year. His memory of his own time at age eleven was somewhat hazy but he was also quite certain that he had been able to keep his mouth shut for the most part.
This first year held no such ability.
“It’s just homework I have to do. Nothing that need concern you, Garrison.”
“It doesn’t look like homework.”
Good heavens, this girl just won’t let up.
“And how can you tell?”
“You keep crossing things out. Over and over again. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t take you that long to write a sentence for a Potions essay. And you’re mumbling constantly.”
Despite the negative attributes he associated with the first year Slytherin girl, Felix had to admit she could be quite clever and extraordinarily perceptive for someone her age. It was impressive and at times such as these, annoying.
“Whatever I’m doing, it’s still none of your business, Garrison. Now go.”
“This wouldn’t have anything to do with that Hufflepuff girl you’re always staring at-”
Felix cut her off with a temporary silence charm before lifting it.
“Must you always be a problem?”
“How’s it my problem you can’t tell a girl that you like her?” Allison responded sarcastically with a hint of a smirk. “Oh, I can picture it now. A snake and a badger together in never ending love. A snadger! Yeah, that’s what I’ll call it. Snadger!”
“Garrison, unless you want detention, I suggest you take your prattling somewhere else.”
That threat seemed to finally work as she had served a few already and would not enjoy another session pickling toad guts with Professor Snape. Nevertheless, she continued to taunt him as she left the room skipping and singing, “Snadger, Snadger, Snadger” all the way out of the common room.
“The little first year is going to give me an aneurysm someday,” Felix muttered to himself, attempting to return to his poem. With any luck, he could finish it before dinner and give it to Elia then.
Felix ran a hand through his hair as he entered the Great Hall, all abuzz with activity as it usually was. He knew Elia liked it that way, but he didn’t want to make it seem like he had done it on purpose. Better to be casually aloof and spontaneous than give away it was all part of a calculated plan.
Making his way over to the Hufflepuff table, he received some confused even hard stares from some of them. It was no secret that Slytherin was the least liked among the four houses and while the puffs were not quite as hostile as the Gryffindors, there was a clear stark contrast between ideologies: hard work versus ambition, fair play versus cunning, honesty versus doing whatever it took to win regardless of moral implications. Thankfully, Elia did not share such sentiments- they had been friends since first year after all, but trying to confess your feelings to girl was still nerve racking all the same.
He tried to calm himself, taking a deep breath through his nostrils.
Just ask for a moment of her time, which she’ll give you. Read her the poem, ask her to Hogsmeade and it’s over. Easy right?
Before he could debate further in his head, an odd sight made him stop in his tracks. A first year Slytherin girl that looked painfully familiar was already chatting away to Elia of all people. Feeling his stomach drop three feet, Felix rushed over as quickly as he could.
“Of all things…what on earth is she doing talking to Elia?” he muttered.
When he reached the scene, the horror reached new levels.
“Oh, hello, Felix,” Elia said, a hint of amusement in her voice. “I was just talking to one of your first years. She’s quite interesting you might say.”
“Interesting how?” Felix asked trying to keep his tone as light as possible.
“Oh, I told her everything,” Allison boasted but with a dangerous twinkle in her eye. “I told her you’re my prefect of course, how you keep trying to get me to stay out of trouble, the incident with Devil’s Snare, Merula, even giving me detention. She told me that you guys have been friends for over five years now.”
“That is true,” he replied tersely. Elia seemed like she was trying not to laugh but this was not unfolding the way he wanted it to. The mischievous look on Garrison’s face only spelled further trouble.
“So why haven’t you told her, yet? You know? About the po-mmhmhmmmff”
It was then that Felix’s patience ran out as he covered Allison’s mouth with his hand and spun her away from the Hufflepuff table.
“Very nice to see you, Elia,” he said forcing a smile that was more like a grimace. “But I do believe we must be going.”
He began leading Allison away but the Hufflepuff girl stopped him.
“Felix, it’s okay, let her go. I’d like to speak with you in private.”
Such a calm, reassuring tone from Elia, who rarely turned down an opportunity to tease him, helped deescalate the situation. He released Elia, but not before she licked his hand with her tongue.
“Ack! I’m not finished with you, Garrison. Stay here until I return.”
“Whatever you say,” Allison responded in that same sing-song tone. “Have fun, snadgers!”
Felix had to be practically led away from the Great Hall from the eyes of other prying Hufflepuffs, still mortified from Allison’s meddling.
She knows. She knows that I like her and she’s going to let me down easy. All because that stupid first year couldn’t shut her mouth for two seconds.
Upon exiting, Felix heaved a heavy sigh, figuring it was best to rip the bandage off quickly before the inevitable rejection came.
“Elia, I’m sorry about her,” he said. “I wanted to tell you myself, but she beat me to it, I guess.”
“Felix, you don’t need to apologize,” the Hufflepuff soothed him and then her infamous grin spread across her face like a Cheshire cat. “The truth is, I’ve known for some time.”
“Wait…you were already aware of how I felt?”
“Boys are hardly subtle,” Elia laughed. “Even a Slytherin such as yourself. I’ve caught you staring more than a few times.”
“So, why not say anything?”
“Well for one, listening to Allison jabber on like that was kind of cute.”
Felix couldn’t prevent the pink from spreading across his face.
“She’s getting detention for the rest of the year,” he muttered.
Elia placed a soft, feminine hand over his cheek, turning it to face her. This caused him to go from pink all the way to beet red.
“Felix, don’t punish her. She wasn’t trying to embarrass you; it was actually quite sweet. Nothing she told me was anything I didn’t know already. But she put in a good word for you, saying how you were a great prefect and how you wanted to ask me out with a poem. She thinks the world of you.”
He crumpled the piece of paper in his robe pocket.
“She does, eh?”
“Yes. And I don’t need a poem and an elaborate ritual to be convinced to go out with you,” she teased. “I’ll gladly go to Hogsmeade with you next weekend. Meet me in the courtyard at two o’clock.”
And then, without warning, Elia kissed him on the cheek and winked at him as she walked back into the Great Hall to rejoin the other Hufflepuffs.
Touching the spot where he had received the kiss, Felix proceeded to shuffle back towards the Slytherin table in a bit of a daze, wondering if he had actually just scored a date with the girl of his dreams until a loud, familiar voice snapped him back to reality.
“Felix?”
The Slytherin prefect looked down and saw the little eleven year old girl staring up at him. Functionality returned to his brain, remembering that he had instructed Allison to remain in the Great Hall until he returned.
“You told me to stay here. What’s my punishment?”
Looking into the eyes of the precocious first year, Felix knew she had tried to play matchmaker on purpose and true to Slytherin form, used her own brand of cunning to do it. But more so than that, he also knew that Allison also genuinely tried to make him look good as well, appealing to Elia’s heart and sensibility. The newfound revelation that this first year not only tried to help but liked him was touching.
“You’re off the hook this time, Garrison. Enjoy your dinner.”
Allison mocked fake surprised, but the twinkle in her eyes gave her away.
“Wow! Thanks, Felix! You really are the best prefect ever.”
Giving him a big hug, she skipped away to her friend Rowan but before sitting down, she added, “Enjoy your snadger date! Snadger, snadger, snadger…”
Felix rolled his eyes but allowed a slight smile to cross his face.
He knew this would not be the first nor the last time Allison Garrison caused him trouble.
