Infinity Times Infinity

The Slytherin common room was heavily decorated with Christmas decorations. Green and silver decorations hung appropriately around the room: stockings hung from the fireplace, tinsel wrapped around the pillars, and baubles floated above. A giant pine tree stood at one of the corners of the room, it had not been decorated yet, that was left for students to do for holiday spirit. 

Both Adrian and Solaris had gone home for the holidays. Adrian sent his gift early through owl post: it was neatly wrapped, topped with a bow. Attached to it was a family postcard where it was nicely tucked underneath the twine; his parents and siblings waved at you. You laughed as his older sister, Kamie, gave their younger brother a noogie. Solaris on the other hand said that her gift would arrive on Christmas morning, you just had to wait and be patient for it, she wrote in her letter. You had given them their respective gifts the day before they had left home, so that was out of the way. 

Bored, you approached the undecorated tree and looked through a box of decorations that sat beside it. You sat down and sorted through the knotted white and silver tinsel, winding it every few feet so as to not get it tangled again. 

Somehow no students had decorated the tree, so it sat there, alone and naked. It was probably due to the fact that most Slytherin students had gone back home to their families. Well, you wouldn’t let that ruin your fun. You were beginning to wrap a string of fairy lights around the pine when you were disrupted by someone.

“What are you doing?” You heard a voice say behind you. 

You were pleasantly surprised to see Draco, the only thing you weren’t pleased to see, however, was the scowl on his face. You quirked an eyebrow and turned back around to the lights you were hanging. 

“Going through the decorations that were left in the box.” You placed the wheel of Christmas lights down and turned your head to look at him again. “Want to help me decorate the tree? Christmas day is in a few days anyway.”

The boy seemed nearly taken aback by your suggestion. “You want my help?”

You looked around the empty common room then back at him. “I don’t see anyone else here that could help me — yes you, Draco.” 

He seemed to look around, unsure if the two of you were really alone, and gave you another puzzled look. You had no idea why he was acting as if someone would make fun of him if he decorated a tree. It’s almost as if he’s never decorated one before.

“Father doesn’t let us decorate the Christmas tree at our manor,” he said, “he makes the house elves decorate everything, which doesn’t leave us much to do.”

That answered your question. “Well, that leaves this one to be decorated then doesn’t it?”

A sparkle shone in his eyes as he heard the words. Something like pure joy exploded in them, but it disappeared quickly when he blinked. He turned away from the tree. 

“I don’t know how to decorate it,” he said, his voice trailing faint at the end.

You smiled as you handed him a piece of tinsel. “It’s easy, we’ll do it together.”

-----

Later that week you headed for the Gryffindor common room. Not many other students were there at Hogwarts for the holidays and there were considerably fewer seeing as there were attacks happening around the castle. Luckily for you, you weren’t alone; the Weasley children remained. For reasons unknown, they were, but you weren’t complaining. The lady in the painting welcomed you in, recognizing you as a friend of the twins and after receiving the correct password. 

(“It’s the Christmas holiday and with that comes holiday cheer”, she explained, she wasn’t going to be a prude on this day and therefore let you in less reluctantly. She might’ve had wine a little too early that morning if you were being honest. She hiccuped a few couple times.)

You carefully made your way up the stairs and walked into the boy’s tower, in search of their room. Once you found it and made sure it was theirs, you cleared your throat. 

“Merry Christmas!” You shouted as you pushed open the door to their shared room. 

George and Lee sprung up from bed, earning a wail of surprise as they crashed onto the floor. Fred on the other hand remained in bed… and asleep. You walked closer to his bed, surprised by his ability to remain in such a deep slumber. 

You clapped your hands again, this time much closer to his face. “It’s Christmas morning, sleepyhead!”

“Five more minutes,” he grumbled and pulled the sheets over his head. 

As you went to grab the sheets and pull them back away from his face, you were pulled in and fell with an oomph. A groan erupted from beneath you and all you could do was laugh as the confused redhead pushed you off of him. 

“Knock it off, George — wait, Y/N?” He squinted as he tried to blink the drowsiness away. Immediately, you saw his face redden as he pushed himself up from bed. He rubbed his eyes and looked at you carefully as you kept your seat on the edge of his bed. “What are you doing here in our room? More specifically Gryffindor Tower? How’d you even get in here — ?”

You pouted playfully, as you laid down at the foot of the bed. “Just wanted to wish you guys a Merry Christmas.”

“Okay, that answered one question out of three,” George mumbled as he picked himself off of the floor. 

You shrugged your shoulders and didn’t offer a response. “Think of it as magic.”

Lee groaned as he sat up. He tiredly scratched his side as he looked outside before pressing himself against the windowpane, his tired breaths fogged up the glass. “Guys, it’s snowing outside and I’m hungry. Let’s change and go downstairs.”

The twins nodded in agreement and promptly kicked you out of the dorm, so they could change into more suitable clothing. You leaned against the stone wall beside the door and patiently waited for them to finish. At that exact time, you noticed Harry, Ron, and Hermione making their way downstairs. As soon as your eyes met theirs you waved at them.

“Morning you three.”

The three of them did a double-take as they saw you, a Slytherin, inside their tower. 

“How did you —” Ron began, but you answered nonchalantly. 

“I rode a dragon and crashed through the window. Not one of my best entrances, but it did the job.” 

The three of them weren’t sure if you were joking or not so you shook your head at them and laughed at their confusion. 

“Your Lady let me in after I gave her the password — Don’t worry, no other Slytherins know it, just little ol’ me,” you explained, “It is Christmas after all, right? Blame it on the festivities and holiday cheer.”

Hermione gave you another skeptical look but decided not to act on it. The three of them seemed as if they had other, more important things to do and promptly dismissed themselves after wishing you a Merry Christmas.

A few minutes after they disappeared down the stairs, the door to the boy’s room opened. Lee and the twins were dressed from head to toe in warm and colorful clothes. And it wouldn’t be Christmas without the twins wearing their signature F & G knitted sweaters from their mother. The four of you made your way downstairs and exited the Gryffindor common room. 

Soft white snow sifted from the cloudy sky above. The usual routine of daily snow never got old for you — even if the cold got too harsh at times. The crackling December wind nipped at your face as snowflakes gently fell onto your being, like fallen kisses from snow nymphs. 

As the four of you headed for breakfast, you looked out into the courtyard. The usual green lawn was littered in a white sheet of freshly fallen snow. An idea popped into mind. You nudged Lee with your shoulder and shushed him before he spoke too loud. 

“Fresh snow… you know what that means,” you whispered to the Gryffindor beside you. 

Lee returned the same look of mischief and nodded. “I like the way you think. Nothing like a little morning pick me up, right?”

The twins, oblivious to what the two of you were planning, continued their trek towards the Great Hall. You and Lee, on the other hand, began to scoop and shape snow into hand-sized pellets. With a flick of your wand, you enchanted them to follow you and soon enough you had a small army of snowballs trailing you for immediate replenishment of ammunition. 

The two of you grabbed a snowball and nodded at each other before throwing one at each boy. Yours hit George, Lee’s hit… George as well. The two redheads turned to face each other and as soon as Fred laughed at his twin, you threw another snowball and hit him square in the face. This time it was George’s time to laugh at the other. 

Fred walked over to the courtyard and began scooping up some snow. “Oh, you are so dead, Lupin.”

You laughed as you got another snowball from your pile. “You’re going to eat those words, Weasley.”

Snowballs were whizzing left and right, up and down, in nearly every direction possible. You had underestimated the twins’ abilities to fight in the snow, but you and Lee were not giving up anytime soon. You had been hit a few times in the face, some others on your back, and other times on your buttock. Those were thanks to Fred who nearly laughed himself to death the first time it happened. 

In a turn of events, however, you were behind George, shoveling snow down his sweater since he had done the same to you moments prior when he managed to make you lose your footing. You slipped and one thing led to another where you dragged him down with you by grabbing onto his jacket. George was definitely heavier as he fell on top of you, you shut your eyes and waited for the impact. An oomph escaped your lips and you very nearly bashed your head with his as the two of you collided onto the floor. 

Your eyes fluttered open and you felt your face heat in the cold of the snowy morning. George’s arm had been swiftly tucked beneath your head as he held you carefully… or however careful a tall ass ginger could be. Once the two of you were sure that you were safely on the floor, and not still falling, he raised his head and gave you a careful look over. 

“You’re not hurt are you?” He asked, his batted eyelashes flinging snowflakes down onto your face. You couldn’t feel them from how hot your face felt. 

“Yeah — yeah, I’m fine,” you said softly, discreetly grabbing some snow from beside you. “My head hurts a bit, might’ve hit something on the way down.”

“Let me see,” he murmured and moved your head to the side with a free hand. 

As he dropped his head a bit lower to examine your head, you smacked him with the snow and laughed as he rolled over. 

“You sneaky little —”

But before the two of you could comprehend what was going on with either Fred or Lee, a sudden shadow loomed over the courtyard. You and George looked up and saw a giant wave of snowballs tower above the four of you. The other two Gryffindors were holding their wands out. It seemed the ones responsible for this were those two. 

“Wait, Lee no!” You shouted.

“Fred, don’t!” George began to say, but it was too late. 

Each team of two stood frozen as an avalanche of snowballs pelted down towards them. “Oh no —”

-----

The four of you trudged into the Great Hall soaked and covered in snow from head to toe. You felt like a yeti. Some of the professors who remained at Hogwarts were seated at the high table enjoying their breakfast in peace, that was until the four of you entered. Some shook their heads in disapproval, some giggled at the sight before them. With one more glance at the boys, you couldn’t help but fall into hysterical laughter; it didn’t take long for the other three to join.

Once you reached the dining area, you followed the three snow dorks towards the Gryffindor table and took a seat. You were thankful they hadn’t left. When you had asked them why at the beginning of break, they explained that they had overheard you, Adrian, and Solaris discussing your holiday plans. They further explained that once they heard you say that you were staying behind for the holidays, they just knew they couldn’t leave you alone and your heart warmed at their thoughtfulness. 

You piled up on some warm breakfast items and thanked George as he poured you a warm cup of hot chocolate. (“Can’t have you freezing on us, now can we?” he teased.)

-----

You were walking out of your dorm to leave the common room when you heard Draco’s voice from the main living area. 

“Crabbe — Goyle — what do you think of the Christmas tree?”

Two distinct voices answered unsurely, but Draco paid no mind as he continued to ramble. 

“Excellent, isn’t it?” You heard him say, his voice dripping with pride. “Y/N and I decorated it. Spent the entire afternoon doing so, I say it came out spectacularly well. Wouldn’t you agree?”

You snuck a peek into the common area and saw Draco pointing at different parts of the tree. The other two boys gave each other confused looks but remained quiet. They seemed oddly uncomfortable and even smelled a bit muddled. You couldn’t quite explain why they did. 

“And you know what she said? She said ‘Good job, Draco’ and it was… nice. I bet father wouldn’t have told me that if we were to decorate the tree together, surely mum would’ve, but it’s different when Y/N says it. She’s not family, but it almost feels like it.”

Sometimes you forget how young Draco is. He’s barely a second year at Hogwarts and he’s already taking on family values to heart. It hurts at times to see it, the bigotry and the spoiledness, but hopefully, he wouldn’t follow his parents’ path. At least you hope he didn’t. 

You didn’t have the heart to walk out at that moment and instead decided to head back into your dorm to sleep. It was late after all, mischief could wait for tomorrow.