Winter has arrived in Hogwarts with the students waking up one day in the middle of December to find the castle buried under several feet of snow. Almira and her group of friends were happy that they were in Hufflepuff as they heard that while their cellar was warm underground, other houses were not as lucky as they heard that the Gryffindor’s and Ravenclaw’s towers were cold during the winter. And not to mention the Slytherin’s dungeon, which was freezing from what they heard from the ghosts.

There’s one week until the Christmas holidays, and Almira is lying on top of Fluffy’s back with her head propped in her hands while she’s happily swinging her legs.

“Hagrid, what’s under that trapdoor?”

She wonders about the trapdoor that’s usually hidden under Fluffy’s pawn.

“Now even yer startin’ to ask abou’ it! I’m telling yeh, I’m not gonna tell anythin’ cause it ain’ somethin’ yeh should know abou’!”

Hagrid stopped feeding Fluffy when he heard Almira’s question and said exasperatedly with a booming voice, making Almira surprised at Hagrid’s reaction just from her asking about it.

“Okay, then I’m not asking.”

Almira says and turns to her back, putting her arms under her head.

“Eh? Yer not askin’?”

Hagrid asks with a surprised expression on his face, clearly not expecting Almira to just stop asking about the trapdoor or what’s under it.

“If it’s a secret why would I keep asking about it? I mean if Fluffy here is guarding it then it should be precious. I don’t see why I should know about it.”

Almira says as she stretches her arm up to scratch Fluffy behind its ear.

“Glad yeh get it. There’s these three lassies, smar’ ones they are, but somehow got to know abou’ Fluffy an’ got it into their heads tha’ one of the teachers is gonna steal it. Rubbish I says, Snape’s a Hogwarts teacher, he’d do nothin’ of the sorts. I try to say to them, but they just won’ listen.”

Hagrid becomes happy upon hearing Almira’s reply and starts to gush about these troublemakers who try to help when it’s clearly not their job or problem, visibly a lot more relaxed once he was done.

“You’re really not good at keeping secrets Hagrid.”

Almira said with a giggle as she started to slide down Fluffy’s side headfirst, before doing a backflip and landing on her feet.

“I don’ know what yer on abou’, I’ve never let a secre’ slip through’ this mouth of mine. An’ yeh shoul’ stop with the flips an’ spins, ain’ somethin’ a girl shoul’ be doin’.”

Hagrid says as he watches Almira use the cleaning charm to get Fluffy’s hair out of her uniform.

“But it’s fun! You’d know if you tried!”

Almira says with a smile as she walks towards the door.

“Hav’ yeh looked me lassie? The day I do those flips of yer is the day whole Hogwarts comes down.”

Hagrid said with a laugh.

“I got to go now so that I’m not late for dinner. Bye Fluffy! See you later Hagrid!”

Almira says and gives a wave as she leaves the corridor to meet her friends for dinner at the Great Hall.

After she reached the Great Hall, she waved at Hermione as she passed the Gryffindor’s table, before joining her friends in the Hufflepuff’s one.

“Hi Mira. How was Fluffy?”

Susan asks as Almira sits down.

“Good! Still a little bored for not getting let out.”

Almira answers with a bright smile.

Of course, Almira couldn’t keep it a secret from her friends on where she was disappearing from time to time, though she might have left some details out from what she told them. Like the fact that the dog she said she helps Hagrid feed has three heads, or that it’s the size of a house.

“So what were you talking about?”

Almira asks her friends.

“We were telling each other what we’re going to do during the Christmas. I’m going to my grandparents place to spend the holidays, Megan said she’s going to help her family with the beasts, and Susan said her aunt is going to take her on a trip to somewhere.”

Hannah says clearly awaiting the weeklong rest from the schoolwork.

“Really? That sounds awesome!”

Almira beamed as she looked towards Susan and Megan.

“Dragonfire, spitroast.”

Megan says as she sees Almira’s gaze turn towards her.

“Yeah. My aunt takes me on a trip every Christmas with just the two of us. Last year she took me to Finland, and we spent a week living within a shaman community.”

Susan continues after Megan had said her part. They both have happiness clear on their faces.

“Those sound so nice! I’m just going to spend my holiday with my mom. These three and a half months in Hogwarts have been the longest time I’ve not seen my mom in, so it will be nice to see her again and just spend time with her.”

Almira says with a bright smile on her lips after hearing her friends’ holyday plans, though talking about getting to see her mother makes her miss her a little.

“Cheer up Mira, it’s only a week more. Then we’ll have a whole week without Professor Binns’ history-lessons and his sleep-inducing voice.”

Susan tries to cheer Almira as she notices that though Almira still has a bright smile on her face, it’s not as blinding as before.

“Mira, eat, feel better.”

Megan joins in by putting food on Almira’s plate.

“Thanks Susan, Megan and thanks Hannah!”

Almira says with a laugh after seeing Hannah try to think about something to say. She then looks at the mountain of food on her plate and says:

“Let’s eat!”

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Author's note:

Probably not going to have time to write this week as I need to get the first version of my thesis done. I'll write if I find myself having an idea during the time I'm taking a break, but probably only going to get something like 1 other chapter during the week. After this week I'll have some time again so I'l be back to at least 1ch/day then.