chapter 8
22 12 1987
The rest of the term flew by quickly. Classes were easy for Kinsley, the Halloween feast was delicious but uneventful, and soon enough Christmas was upon them.
Kinsley woke up early on the 22nd (the day all of the Hogwarts students left for Christmas break) and decided to forego her morning run in favor of opening presents with her friends before they left.
She shrunk her presents down to fit in her pocket, and then walked down and up the stairs to get to Oliver and Percy’s dorm. All four boys were awake and chatting quietly, no doubt waiting for Kinsley herself to rock up.
“Hey Kins,” “Morning Kins,” “What’s up, Kins,” “How’s it going, Kins,” chorused from the dorm, as Kinsley flopped down on Oliver’s bed.
Kinsley was practically part of the furniture in the boy's dorm, having been invited to come over whenever Brinley and Emmerson were getting to be too much for her. The two girls had never lost their resentment of Kinsley, it was only fueled by her ongoing friendship with numerous boys. Therefore, Kinsley found herself escaping to the boy's dorm more often than not. Declan and Bryce had grown to be friends with Kinsley over the time she spent in their dorm, and she had added them to her list of people she felt comfortable around in the school. Needless to say, the list was growing to be very long.
Kinsley pulled the presents out of her pocket and enlarged them back to regular size. They had agreed beforehand to open presents on this morning so that Kinsley could feel included.
“Thanks for waiting for me, guys.”
“It’s no problem, Kins. Now everyone pick a present and open it.” Percy commanded, picking a green and red checkered one from his pile.
Oliver and Kinsley reached for similarly wrapped ones, opening them to each find a book from Penelope.
“Biography of Elthador Evanscope! He’s the best Keeper the league has ever seen!” Oliver shouted happily.
Kinsley and Percy got a book on Potions (Kins’ best subject) and a book on Transfiguration (Percy’s best subject) respectively.
From Indie they all got handmade anklets, with matching gold beads on different coloured strings. Kinsley’s string was black, which she knew was a testament to her favourite animal. Percy’s was dark blue, and Oliver’s was green, to match their eyes.
Bodie gifted them all a hand-carved wooden animal, Percy had made them each a pie from scratch (Kinsley was ecstatic over her cherry pie), and Oliver had knitted them all scarves.
“Where did you guys learn to do this?” Kingsley asked, with a pie in one hand and a red/gold scarf and a wooden black cat in the other.
“My mother taught me.” They said in time with one another.
Kinsley’s gift to everyone came with simple black wrapping and a large gold bow.
“It’s not much.” She warned.
Inside was a photo of the six of them, from a couple of weeks ago. They stood out in the snow posing with big cheesy grins, until Bodie revealed the snowball he had tucked behind his back and threw it straight into Kinsley’s face. The photo ended with everyone pulling back and going for the snow, and Bodie turning to run away with Kinsley on his heels.
The photo was in a plain white frame, with just the name of the person whose frame it was at the top engraved with magic.
“I love it,” Oliver announced.
Percy wrapped Kinsley in a hug.
Kinsley had a huge haul which included a necklace with a ‘K’ on it from all of the Professors, a fancy quill from Sev, a gold ring from Poppy, and some fancy new shampoos, conditioners, and things like that from her Mum.
Other classmates got her treats and chocolates, of which she most certainly returned the favour, and people in older years and already graduated sent her some of the same, or new clothes or mementos.
Kinsleys favourite was a set of big diamond earrings from Narcissa Black (Malfoy now, actually), who had only known Kinsley for a year but had loved her as if she was her own child. The earrings probably cost more than Kinsley had to her name, but she knew the number wouldn’t even scratch the amount in Narcissa’s purse.
Percy, Oliver, and Kinsley walked down to the Great Hall together, where they met their Ravenclaw friends. Or, rather, their Ravenclaw friends met them.
Penelope sprinted forward and engulfed the three in a bone-crushing hug.
Indie joined the hug a second later, chanting ‘Thank guys, thank you!”.
Bodie strolled over at a controlled pace, but the grip in his hug was tighter than the two girls combined.
“Thankyou guys!” Kinsley pulled back and said. “I loved everything.”
Percy and Oliver chimed in with agreeances, and the six walked over to the Ravenclaw table and took a seat at one end. They chatted about other gifts and Christmas plans, and what everyone would be doing for the Christmas break.
“I’ll make sure to ask Mum if you can come next Christmas. There’s no way she’ll mind, she loves an excuse to knit another Weasley sweater.” Percy promised Kinsley, upset that she’d be basically by herself over one of his most favourite holidays.
Percy was wearing a dark blue sweater with a gold ‘P’, matching both his eyes and his bracelet.
“Thanks, Perce. That’s really generous of you.” Kinsley smiled.
Over at the Gryffindor table, Bill and Charlie were both eating together wearing their own initialed jumpers, the former being gold and the latter being red.
“Hey, I’m gonna go and sit with my brothers. It’s basically Christmas and all. Hey Kins, do you wanna come? I know you guys are already friends?” Percy asked.
“I’d love to. We’ll be back in a bit,” Kinsley said to the other four before her and Percy waved goodbye and scampered over to sit with the other Weasley’s.
“Hey Perce, Happy -almost- Christmas. Oh hi, Kins, you too. Thanks for the book on dragons!” Charlie grinned at them both.
“Yeah, Happy -almost- Christmas, you two. My chocolate was much appreciated Kins, thank you.” Bill chimed.
“My pleasure.” She smiled back, taking a seat. “How’s Assasin going, Bill?”
Assassin was a game that the seventh years played every year. The Head Boy and Girl decided on the rules and prize for the year, but the basics stayed the same. Everyone received a piece of paper with their target written on it, and to eliminate a target they had to be stunned. Once stunned, you took your target’s paper and went after their target. The last person standing won.
Head Boy and Girl decided out-of-bounds areas, and were the ultimate deciders in any sorts of disputes. They both participated as well, of course.
The Professors all had to have at least some level of knowledge about the game - it had been running since they were all at school. However, it was a complete rite of passage for seventh years, and a blind eye was usually turned.
“I’m still in,” Bill announced proudly. “Everyone put twenty galleons towards the prize fund, so I’m hoping I can win it. That money would go a long way after school.”
“Have you eliminated anyone, yet?” Kinsley asked.
“Yeah, I got Thomas Orwin a couple of days after Halloween. Took me a while watching him to figure out how to get into the Hufflepuff dorms, but once I was in I got him in the back pretty easily.”
Kinsley laughed, but Percy looked concerned. “Breaking into another house’s common room and stunning someone? That doesn’t sound very safe?”
Charlie and Bill both waved him off, which didn’t seem to have any effect on the worry that was evident on Percy’s face.
“It’s all just for fun, Perce. If everyone followed the rules straight, no one would have any fun and school would be all monotonous and boring. As long as Thomas consented to the game, there’s no harm done.”
Percy seemed to take Kinsley's words on board. “That makes sense, actually.”
Charlie, Bill, and Kinsley all grinned at each other.
After almost an hour of conversation, Percy and Kinsley left the other Weasley brothers and returned to their group. Shortly after, Professor McGonagall called for all students leaving for the Christmas holidays to follow her, and she escorted the vast majority of students out of the Great Hall.
“See you guys! I’ll miss you!” Kinsley called out. Her friends all waved back.
Only four other students were remaining after everyone else had left for home, and Kinsley didn’t know a single one. She headed up to the Professor’s table and sat down, thanking them all profusely for her gifts. They all thanked her back for hers, and she chatted happily with them, gushing over the decorations and her term so far.
The Christmas break passed incredibly slowly, as all Kinsley had to do was bake with the House Elves, run and walk around the grounds, practice quidditch, or talk to the Professors. Finally, though, Kinsley heard the sound of chatter from where she was sitting in the Great Hall next to Professor Flitwick, and she perked up when students started trickling in through the doors.
Kinsley ran up to her group when they all walked in, telling them that she was ever so bored without them and they were never allowed to leave her alone ever again.
“Mum’s demanding you come to The Burrow next Christmas,” Percy told her excitedly. “Everyone’s quite excited to meet you. Ginny especially. She needs another girl.”
“I’d love to! Thanks, Perce!” Kins wrapped him in a hug.