On Christmas Day, most people would wake up to the smell of a scrumptious breakfast prepared for the family. For Analeigh, she was in for a rude awakening. She felt something ticklish swiping at her face every few seconds, and no matter how many times she tried to shoo it away, it kept coming back — it was her cat. Eventually, Velvet ended up sitting on Analeigh's face, deciding it was the most comfortable spot for the feline.

"Argh!"

Analeigh swatted the animal away and heard a hiss from her right. She sat up, mumbling incoherent things in irritation as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes before searching for the culprit. She wanted to sleep in for as long as she wanted, having slept extra late last night because of the Yule Ball, but her cat's tail just had to disrupt everything.

"Velvet, you're the worst," Analeigh grumbled. The white cat hissed once more before curling up on the other side of the bed and going back to sleep. If only it was that easy.

Analeigh looked around her dorm. All her roommates were still fast asleep. When her eyes landed on the stained glass window, she immediately noticed that it was snowing despite the colored glass blurring the view. It wasn't her first time experiencing snow, but it was her first time spending Christmas in the castle. She had always gone back home during the break even when she was still a Beauxbatons student as well as last year when she first transferred here, so she wasn't sure what to expect from Hogwarts.

She glanced at the old clock on the wall. It read 6:12 A.M. She groaned, plopping back into bed. Five hours of sleep was okay during the school year when they were given loads of homework, but on Christmas Day? It just wasn't enough. However, she couldn't bring herself back to sleep. With a sigh, she threw the duvet off of her, swung her legs to the side, and decided to have an early start that day. At least she'd get to enjoy a heavenly breakfast before everybody else did.

Analeigh dressed up in a pair of leggings, a thick long sleeved shirt, and a maroon scarf. She ran a hand threw her dirty blonde hair and paused at the foot of the bed, only now realizing that there was a pile of presents before her. She decided to open up a few and save the rest later.

The first one was a white box from her parents. According to the card, her mum had found this in a muggle shop and thought it was perfect for her. When Analeigh opened the box and was met with another box, this time covered in velvet, she knew what was inside. She lifted the lid and smiled when she saw a pair of stunning earrings. They must've cost a lot even for muggle jewelry.

The next was a messily wrapped package from Mrs. Weasley. After examining the package, Analeigh knew what her present was, and her heart swelled up in joy. She tore it open and found a knitted green sweater with a yellow 'A' at the center. She had heard from Hermione that these sweaters were Mrs. Weasley's trademark gift. Of course, Harry and Hermione have been receiving them all these years, and Analeigh had first seen what a Weasley sweater looked like last year when Hermione had worn it the day she got back from home before the Christmas break ended. Now, Analeigh had received one of her own, and she was extremely touched by the gesture.

Just by looking at the pile, she could tell that a lot of them were sweets, so she opened a few of them to eat later on and left the others unopened. However, one present stood out because its card had a fancy seal. She could already guess who it was from — there weren't many people who went the extra mile like this. She picked it up, shaking the box, but it barely made a sound. Shrugging, she set it back down and checked the card first, comforting her suspicions.

Dear Analeigh,

For the longest time, I didn't actually know what present to get you. I wanted it to be genuine as possible, so I hope this will suffice. You said last night before the ball that you would much rather spend Christmas sitting in front of the fireplace in an oversized sweater, so I mailed an order last minute to Twilfitt and Tatting's in Diagon Alley (Gladrag's Wizardwear in Hogsmeade was full of robes, much to my dismay). I woke up at four in the morning to an owl who wouldn't stop tapping my window with the package. I hope you like it. Merry Christmas!

Sincerely,

Cedric Diggory

Analeigh felt all giddy, but there was a tinge of guilt, too. Cedric had gone though the trouble of ordering a present for her past midnight and all she had sent him was a wand polishing kit and a slightly pricey quill. She unwrapped the gift and found a large, knitted beige sweater. She smiled, and though she liked the physical gift a great deal, she appreciated his effort even more.

It was quarter to seven when Analeigh made her way down to the Great Hall alone. She was clutching the sweater from Cedric, unsure if she should wear it. Should she have worn the one from Mrs. Weasley instead? It was homemade and there was no perfect time to wear it than now. However, Analeigh was already walking down her third flight of stairs and decided it would be impractical to go back to the Gryffindor Tower to fetch her Weasley sweater.

The delicious smell of various food wafted throughout the corridors. A chill ran down Analeigh's spine as she turned the corner when the cold air made its way into the castle. She pulled the sweater over her head and jumped when she felt someone tug it down to help her.

Startled, she turned around and came face to face with the one who sent her the gift, her hair all messy from just putting on the sweater.

"Cedric!"

The sixth year boy, wearing pants, a thick dark blue jacket, and a black scarf, smirked at her reaction. Even with the scarf covering almost the whole of the lower half of his face, Analeigh could see it all too well.

"It's always fun surprising you."

"Not fun for me," Analeigh said, smoothing out her sweater. It was extremely warm, so she wondered if it was charmed.

Cedric looked at the sweater she had put on and a big smile spread across his face. Instead of mentioning it, he asked, "Did you sleep well? It's pretty early— I didn't think you'd be up at this time."

"I would have slept in, but my cat woke me up by sitting on my face," Analeigh scoffed, still miffed about that.

Cedric chuckled, patting down the girl's hair in an attempt to fix it. "Come on, let's get some breakfast so you won't be in a bad mood anymore."

Analeigh remembered the first and only time she ate breakfast with Cedric. It was the first day of school when she had woken up too early for her liking, but she had chosen to get started with the day anyway, just like what happened that Christmas morning. That was also the day she got the opportunity to really speak to Cedric, the conversation never running dry until they had to part ways.

This time, Cedric invited her to sit in the Hufflepuff table with him. Countless golden plates lined the tables filled with a variety of food, all looking enticing even though Analeigh couldn't even recognize some of them. There were many choices of drinks as well, such as eggnog, hot chocolate, coffee, and tea — she wished they had gotten the Three Broomsticks' Butterbeer. In her only two years at Beauxbatons, Analeigh had always gone back home for Christmas, so she couldn't actually compare the food here and there at this time of the year. However, with the grandeur of Hogwarts' feasts and daily meals, she was a fully convinced that this school topped all the others in this category.

"How will you be spending Christmas here?" Cedric asked once they had devoured mouthfuls of their heavenly breakfast.

"I've never been in the castle during this time of the year yet," Analeigh admitted. She looked around the Great Hall in awe, emphasizing her statement. "So, I don't really know."

Cedric smiled, and if this was a movie, Analeigh would have seen a light bulb appear above the boy's head as an idea popped up.

"Well then, why don't we spend the day together?"

"Why?" she said without thinking. Although she was flattered by his offer, she was also surprised.

"Why not?" he said back. "It's your first time spending Christmas at Hogwarts, I memorize the castle like the back of my hand because of the endless nights of patrolling the halls, and I think I know just the thing you'd want to do today."

"You do?"

"Mhmm." He smirked as he sipped his drink. He set it down and continued, "I think we'll finish our little 'tour' by lunch. If I steal you right now, you'll still have time to spend this day with your friends and I with mine in the afternoon."

"Steal?" Analeigh said incredulously. Cedric nodded with a grin but didn't elaborate on that anymore.

"Go on, finish your breakfast."

★ ★ ★

Truth be told, Analeigh wanted to eat more that Christmas morning. The food all looked delicious, but in the end, she was too full to get even one more bite, and Cedric was jokingly pestering her to hurry up.

By the time they had finished their meal, the Great Hall was still void of people — just a few students up and about here and there. None of their respective friends were awake yet, though, which made Cedric's plan on how he and Analeigh would spend the day much easier to go through with. The two left the hall, Cedric walking slightly in front of her as he led the way.

"So, what exactly do you have planned?" Analeigh questioned.

"I can't tell you much — it'll ruin the suspense.

"What is it with you and surprises?"

"They're just satisfying," Cedric said simply.

"Not when you're on the end of the person who's being surprised."

"Touché."

They walked up a few flights of stairs and down various corridors. Analeigh tried to remember which set of stairs they walked up, which of those staircases moved to which direction, how many corners they turned, and what portraits they passed by. Analeigh thought that by now, she knew most of the castle, but just like when Cedric had lead her to the Prefect's bathroom, she realized that she really only knew the way to her classrooms, dorm, hospital wing, and the Great Hall.

"I swear, how do you even know where we're going?" she couldn't help but say.

"Patrolling at night gets boring sometimes. It's a little secret, but I'd abandon my post for a few minutes to roam around."

Analeigh gasped dramatically. "You abandon your post?"

"Is it that hard to believe?"

"I can't believe you broke the rules."

"Technically, I didn't break any rule," Cedric pointed out. "I just... found my way around it."

"That's very sneaky of you. Now, are we there yet?"

Cedric halted in the middle of the corridor. Analeigh looked left and right, trying to guess where they were headed next.

"Almost," he said. "We're gonna turn left here and then right at the end of that hall. There's only one door left, so I think you'll be able to remember it."

"Er... I can't even remember how we got here," Analeigh admitted as they continued walking. Cedric sent her a sheepish look, for getting the fact that it was her first time in this part of the castle whereas he had been patrolling them ever since he was made a prefect.

"Sorry, I should have know that it wouldn't be easy to memorize the way," he said. "If only Hogwarts had a map that could tell where every thing and every one was."

Analeigh sighed. "If only. Sounds like a tedious job, though. This castle seems endless."

Like Cedric had told her, they had come across only one door after turning the last corner. It looked like every other classroom door in the castle, so when they stepped in, she wasn't surprised to see an unused classroom. There were chairs, tables, and a blackboard stacked to the sides. She had seen empty classrooms before, so she honestly didn't know why this was any different.

"Why are we in a classroom?" she finally said, not wanting to sound rude.

"We're not here for the classroom," Cedric answered. He pointed behind her. There stood another door, presumably the professor's office when the classroom was still in use.

Cedric and Analeigh made their way to the door. She was expecting a basic office with a table and chair at the center and stacks of parchment piled in the corner, a few portraits and decorations here and there. Instead, when Cedric swung the door open, Analeigh saw that the room was entirely different from what she had thought it would be. The first thing she saw was the wide window at the end of the circular room. She rushed towards it, leaning on the bench covered with thick cushions. It overlooked the school grounds with Hagrid's hut and the Black Lake. They seemed like they were really high up — she assumed that they were in one of the highest points in the castle aside from the Astronomy Tower.

She stepped back and looked around. It was no bigger than the offices of the other professors. Bookshelves lined the walls, some of them familiar as they must have also come from the library. A table and chair was pushed to the side, and it could have been the teacher's desk. There was even a fireplace on the other end. The room looked too welcoming to be an office now.

"It's clearly an old office," Cedric broke the silence. "But it was already this cozy-looking when I first found it."

"It's amazing," Analeigh commented, walking back to the window to look at the view.

"I know. That's why I cleaned it up a while back. Even when I used a spell, it was hard. This place really hadn't been used in a long time."

"How come nobody found this before?"

"Maybe some have," Cedric said thoughtfully. "But maybe they just weren't interested in it. I'm glad I was, though. The view is spectacular, some books here most probably aren't even from the library, and it's comfortable here, especially after I fixed it up a bit."

"I'm glad you practically claimed this place," Analeigh teased. "You could come here anytime you want."

"You should, too," Cedric said, plopping down on the cushioned bench by the window.

"Really?"

"That is, if you remember the way here."

"Oh. I don't."

Cedric grinned in amusement. "Then let's go here again. Next time, I'll have something planned instead of us just looking at the view."

"It's alright, though. I've never been to this part of the castle, so this is still pretty exciting to me," Analeigh admitted, sitting down next to him but making sure she left a space between.

As Cedric said, they had nothing planned, but it wasn't boring like he was afraid it would be. They lit the fireplace, sat on the comfy seats in front of it, and ended up chatting for hours, talking about things as obvious as what was currently happening at Hogwarts, to things outside of the wizarding world that they had limited knowledge on. Both of them were pure-blooded and knew barely anything about muggles aside from those learned in Muggle Studies class, so it would seem amusing to muggle-borns if they overheard the pair wondering how technology worked without magic.

"Do you think some wizard actually enchanted it but never told anyone it was magic?" Analeigh had said.

"Could be," Cedric agreed. "I learned from class that the technology they make is really man-made, though, but a part of me still thinks that there's some magic mixed in."

"Then again, muggles are more independent and innovative than we think."

"That's true. After all, they thought of cars. Who'd think there'd be a better transportation than Portkeys and brooms?"

The old clock that hung on the wall rang a few times when the long hand struck twelve. Both Analeigh and Cedric turned their heads immediately, shocked that all those hours had passed by when they were just sitting comfortably and talking about anything that came up.

Cedric sighed. "Well, I did say I'd bring you back by noon."

Analeigh was disappointed, though she didn't want to admit it to even herself. "You're right. We wouldn't want our friends wondering why we suddenly disappeared on Christmas Day."

The two stood up and made their way to the door, Analeigh a few steps ahead. Cedric's heart thumped in his chest as his mind went haywire, deciding what he should do next.

"Hey, Analeigh?"

"Hm?"

"Would you like to do this again?"

Analeigh let her hand hover above the doorknob and turned her head to look at Cedric.

"Yeah, of course," she smiled slightly. "It was fun."

She didn't seem to get his drift. Then again, he wasn't very clear with his words.

"Actually, no," Cedric said, causing Analeigh to frown in confusion. What did he mean by no? Is he taking back what he said? "What I meant was: would you like to do this again, but next time, as a date?"

Oh.

Analeigh's eyes widened. She had not been expecting that at all. All she managed to sputter out was, "Oh, y-yeah, I guess. You know, I should really get going now. Thanks for today, Cedric."

She didn't know why she suddenly couldn't think straight, or why she couldn't string her words together. Of course, I would love to do that, was what she wanted to say. She was sure now, especially after he had asked her that, that she did like him more than she thought. He was a great friend, but beyond that, he was extremely kind and sweet to her in ways that made her feel like a love-struck teenage girl in romance novels who would turn into mush the moment her crush liked her back. And yet, all Analeigh did was end up panicking. She faced the door again and reached out for the doorknob, wanting to save herself from further embarrassment.

"Wait, Analeigh," Cedric called out, reaching for her shoulder.

She turned back around when his hand rested on her shoulder. Much to her surprise, his face was was much closer than she had remembered. She grew flustered but tried to keep her composure, standing up straighter and clearing her throat.

His eyes flitted to her lips now that she had stood up straighter and was looking directly at him.

Oh, so this is where this is going.

"Can I?" he asked quietly. He didn't have to explain himself; Analeigh wasn't daft.

Without uttering a word, she simply nodded with a shy smile. Mirroring her reaction, he grinned and closed the gap between them, his lips gently meeting hers.

What a happy Christmas, indeed.