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Post by Narrator on Dec 27, 2007 2:19:35 GMT -5
Most of the common rooms at this time of year were quiet and empty, as most students went home to see family over the winter break. Most, but not all students.
Those students who remained were always woken up, either by the gifts that had been placed upon their feet, or from the sound of other students opening their own gifts. Either way this was quite a warm morning for all the students waking up Christmas morning to find gifts waiting for each of them. There were gifts with Liliane's name on them, and other's with Stevie's.
The common rooms were all decorated in holiday decorum and each looked wonderful. The fire was going and it was very warm and cozy inside. No classes were held, so many students took the opportunity to explore the castle, while others just stayed in the Common Rooms to relax. The occasional student could be found studying or reading, getting a head start on the upcoming term.
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Post by Lilianne Wesker on Dec 27, 2007 11:38:34 GMT -5
As both their daugthers were now at Hogwarts, Lilianne's parents had decided to go on a romantic vacation for the holidays, giving the girls a chance to experiment Hogwart's Holiday time.
Lilianne wasn't so warm to the idea of spending her first christmas without her parents, but she was willing to give it a chance. She wanted her parents to enjoy some time on their own, after all.
She woke up alone in the first year girl's dormitory, to see a pile of gifts at the foot of her bed. She decided to take them and unwrap them in the common room, so that she'd hopefully have some company.
She was to meet up with her sister for breakfast in an hour. Isabelle had promised her they would have lots of fun together on this day.
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Post by Stevie Copeland on Dec 27, 2007 12:04:07 GMT -5
Stevie had not gotten much sleep. At all. He had received a letter explaining his parents' actions. They were trying to protect him from the wizarding world. They had heard about everything. Everything being the Chamber of Secrets, Voldemort, the Death Eaters, and the other things that have made Hogwarts not such a safe place. And they didn't want Stevie getting hurt. But, at the last minute, they decided that it would be for the better to let Stevie go out and decide for himself whether he'd want to say at Hogwarts or come home. Of course, he wanted to stay.
His parents were away on one of their normal business trips. They always said business trips. They never said WHERE they were going, and that had Stevie slightly confused. But, at the sight of presents, Stevie jumped out of bed, and landed on the floor. He missed his intended position, but quickly scooped up the presents anyway. He got dressed, sure, but forgot about his hair. A couple shakes, and it was at least half presentable.
He hopped up onto what was now dubbed 'Stevie's couch' due to Stevie ever being the only one using it.
"Hi!" He said to Lilianne, giving a short wave and trying to decide which present he would open up first.
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Post by Lilianne Wesker on Dec 27, 2007 12:50:09 GMT -5
"Merry Christmas, Stevie!" Lilianne said. She was sitting on the carpet near the fireplace with her gifts spread out around her. She was currently helping Dinsdale unwrap his tiny little present, a little ball with a bell in it.
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Post by Stevie Copeland on Dec 27, 2007 13:52:25 GMT -5
He grinned and unwrapped Floyd's present first, showing only slightly on his face the look of confusion experienced from reading the note. Floyd had gotten a small, red sweater in Gryffindor's color. Floyd quickly ran into it, but it only ended up a necklace. Stevie could see Floyd trying to get it on, so he figured he'd open one of his presents first.
Stevie's eyes lighted up and grew wider as he unwrapped... A plate. A plate with plastic wrap covering it. And under the plastic wrap were cookies. Home-baked, chocolate chip, cookies. He figured they probably put a spell on it so that they would stay good to eat, but this was just awesome.
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Post by Lilianne Wesker on Dec 27, 2007 14:32:02 GMT -5
Lilianne was now wearing a handknitted sweater with a picture of a clabbert on a broom on the front. She also had a hat, mittens and two scarves that she was all trying on at the same time, gifts from her maternal grandparents.
She giggled as she looked at Floyd trying to fit himself into the sweater, and tried to offer the little guy a hand fitting his paws in the holes.
"I bet you'll make Din jealous, he can't really wear shirts!"
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Post by Stevie Copeland on Dec 27, 2007 15:01:13 GMT -5
Floyd simply let Lilianne do all the work, and once he was on his sweatshirt, started rolling around in it. He liked the feeling of it.
One present caught Stevie's eye. It was one from Lilianne.
"Thanks!" He said as he quickly tore it open, revealing a sketch of Floyd, which was stared at by the real Floyd.
And some sweet smelling food. Stevie's eyes went wide, somehow getting wider than they actually were already. He was really happy he got some much sweet things, but that may not be for the benefit of the other people. Stevie would be running everywhere, bouncing off the walls, and never sitting still.
He opened another present from his parents, it was fairly small. It was a small box of every flavor beans. Stevie had not had pleasant experiences with these, but he might as well. Popping one into his mouth, he set the box on the table, as to offer Lilianne one. His right eye twitched slightly as he fell off. Jalapeno flavor. AGAIN. He quickly swallowed it.
"I keep... Getting... Jalapeno... Flavor..." He sighed, and simply sat back down.
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Post by Lilianne Wesker on Dec 27, 2007 17:18:46 GMT -5
"Pleasure. I hope you like the fudge, its a french-canadian recipe, my mom showed me how to make it." She giggled. "I knew sugar was your one weakness."
When offered, Lilianne reached for the beans. "Ooo, Bertie Botts, I love those. They're always quite an adventure... I just hope I don't get bacon, I nearly got sick on them once..."
She laughed again when Stevie reacted to the jalapeno. "Hey, I kinda like those." She ate the one she had taken from the box. "... Ew, grass."
She then went back to her gifts, unwrapping a gift from her sister, a witch beauty kit that she stared at puzzically for a while, and the presents from her parents, a nice new set of artist tools, and several novels.
"What were you planning on doing today, Stevie? I'm supposed to meet up with my sister at breakfast, and she'd said that she would spend time with me today, but I have no idea what she has planned..."
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Post by Stevie Copeland on Dec 27, 2007 17:28:53 GMT -5
"Um... Not much... Just wander..." He shrugged.
"I don't really have a plan." It was true. He heard everyone talking about what they were going to do. Stevie would just go with the flow. He took another bean, and tried it.
"Whoo! Sugar flavor!" Stevie was already getting slightly hyper from just the flavor of sugar.
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Post by Lilianne Wesker on Dec 27, 2007 19:28:34 GMT -5
"Well, would you join us for breakfast? I'm sure Isabelle wouldn't mind... And I suppose we could see what she had planned, and if you're interested... I mean if you want to spend time with us for Christmas..." She added, now sounding like her usual insecure self.
She reached for the few remaining gifts as she continued. "Maybe she'll want us to take our pets to play in the snow by the lake, that'd be..."
Lilianne's voice died down as she looked at the tag of the small gift she had just picked up. Obviously, she wasn't expecting it.
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Post by Stevie Copeland on Dec 27, 2007 20:18:10 GMT -5
"That'd actually be great!" Stevie grinned.
"It actually gives me something to do!" Floyd quickly hopped onto Stevie's shoulder, and chirped somewhat heroically, standing on his hind legs and lifting one paw. Floyd wanted food.
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Post by Lilianne Wesker on Dec 27, 2007 21:47:02 GMT -5
Lilianne still looked pretty confused and distracted as Stevie spoke. After looking at the card on her gift, she unwrapped it, looking a bit apprehensive, as if she was expecting it to burst into flames.
It was a tiny book, small enough to fit inside her palm. She looked at it's cover, then flipped through a few pages, holding it so that Stevie couldn't see what it was about.
Her face looked stuck between a frown and a smile for a moment, then she stuffed the little book, and the card in the kangaroo pocket of her sweater.
She acknowledged Stevie again, though she still looked lost in though. "...Yes, well, I'll be glad to have you with us. We can go once we're done going through our gifts. I'm almost done now..."
"... Who have you gotten gifts from?" She asked, after a short pause.
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Post by Stevie Copeland on Dec 27, 2007 23:45:48 GMT -5
"Family. And you." Came his reply.
He opened one of his last presents from an aunt he had never heard of. It was a note, and some money. He read it, confused.
"Family I've never heard about..." He sorted through the small remainder of his presents. There was another from his parents... But all the others were from uncles and aunts and even a set of grandparents he had never heard of before. Confusion definitely started to set in, as he unwrapped them all. Mostly, they were notes and books. Books on animals you could find, books on Hogwarts' history, and even an unnamed book, with just a blank cover.
"Gimme two seconds, okay? I gotta go put these away... Don't want anyone stealing them." He took a small bite of Lilianne's present.
"... It's really good!" He quickly hopped up after that, books and other presents in his arms, and dropped them off. He emptied most books in his chest near his bed of his belongings, but left one on the bed. The unmarked one. He intended to find out what it was afterwards, not now.
He was back in an instant, and jumped onto his couch.
"Okay, ready to roll!"
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Post by Lilianne Wesker on Dec 28, 2007 0:00:35 GMT -5
Lilianne went through the rest of her presents, also mostly from her relatives. She got some food, more books from several aunts and uncles from her mother's side of the family, and her godparents had sent her a very nice set of Wizard's Chess.
When Stevie ran off to put his gifts away, Lilianne quickly went and did the same, running back with Dinsdale in her arms to meet with Stevie.
She kept the peculiar tiny book in her pocket.
"Let's go then!"
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Post by Stevie Copeland on Dec 28, 2007 0:20:00 GMT -5
Stevie nodded, and he opened his pocket for Floyd to hop into. He did, peeking his head out a bit.
"Hm... Actually... Gimme another second." He ran off again, heading upstars to his dormitory, flying up the stairs taking two or three at a time. He quickly grabbed the unnamed book, which came in an unmarked present but addressed to Stevie, and stuck it in his pocket, intending to read it when he got some down time. He jogged out the door, and headed down to the hall, with Lilianne.
(Shall we continue at the hall itself? Or let someone else take care of it?)
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