CHAPTER TWELVE:
NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

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THE ARRIVAL OF CHRISTMAS was both a blessing and a curse for Freya McKinnon. Freya had always loved the snow. Nine times out of ten, she could be found out on the Hogwarts grounds with her camera around her neck and a thick, woolly Hufflepuff jumper wrapped snugly around her frame. Solana would shake her head and sigh every time she caught the girl returning to the Hufflepuff Common Room with frozen fingers and rosy cheeks, but she'd still marvel at every picture Freya took. The way the snow would cover the grassy hills around the castle was a beauty that no camera but Freya's seemed to capture properly. It was a nice distraction for what she knew was waiting at home.

Marlene McKinnon was a Christmas baby. Born December 23rd, her parents used to tell Fraser that his sister was a gift like no other. Fraser would roll his eyes and laugh, ruffling Marlene's hair and saying she was 'more of a nuisance, a thorn in his side' than the holy gift their parents insisted she was. But that was before. Now, Fraser would spend his Christmas locked up in his room, nursing a broken heart and a bottle of Firewhiskey to take the edge off. When she could finally convince him to unlock the door, Freya would crawl onto the window ledge beside him, a plate of half-burnt cookies in her hands that Fraser would chuckle weakly at but still eat anyways just to appease her. Together, they'd watch the snow fall, Fraser whispering stories of his childhood Christmas' whenever the sorrow wasn't too strong.

All in all, Christmas was both the best and worst time of Freya's year. More often than not, she had to watch her dad live like half a person, more zombie than human, the physical embodiment of grief and mourning. Nonetheless, it was harder than normal when it came to December, when she knew people like Solana would be going home to a mother who was alive, a step-dad that was emotionally present enough to cook a big Christmas feast, a brother to hold her up if things ever got too hard. Still, this year felt different. As much as she fretted over going home, Umbridge's presence in the castle was enough to have her jumping for joy. In the final weeks, she threw herself into D.A meetings (she hadn't made much progress but at least there was something to show for all the hours she'd put into practicing) and photography as a distraction, counting down the days until the Hogwarts Express would arrive to free her from Umbridge's prison.

"You look happy," George noted with a smirk on the night of their last D.A meeting. In just two more days, the Hogwarts Express would be coming, then bye-bye Umbitch. Freya couldn't wipe the smile from her face. "I know I'm great but this is a bit much, Frey."

"Oh, please," she scoffed, rolling her eyes as Fred and Solana snickered at them. "I'm just looking forward to going home."

"Well, there's a first," Solana noted, releasing Fred's hand so she could link her arm with Freya's. At the boy's huff, she laughed and pushed herself further into Freya's side, smirking at his disgruntled expression. "You got a secret boyfriend or girlfriend waiting at home we don't know about?"

Freya didn't notice the way George's face fell, but Solana did. She shot him a knowing look over Freya's shoulder, to which George quickly looked away, cheeks tinted pink. "Of course not," Freya rolled her eyes at Solana, painfully oblivious. "But I'm getting away from Umbridge, aren't I?"

"Very true," Solana nodded then. "I do have to be around Dean, though. And you know what he's like."

"Oi." An affronted sound came from behind them. Freya turned to see the boy himself standing there, frowning at his sister's back with Seamus Finnegan and Neville Longbottom on either side of him. "Love you too, sis."

"Oh, you know I'm only kidding," Solana shook her head.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were already waiting inside the Room of Requirement when they arrived. Sensing the Christmas cheer, the room had decorated itself in hues of red and green tinsel. There was a tall Christmas tree now standing with a glittering star on top, taking up one whole corner, and rows upon rows of baubles lining its branches and the bannisters of the ceiling. Freya let out a laugh as she recognised the boy printed on each one. Well, that explained why Harry looked so flustered.

"I have to say, Potter, this is a stunning close-up of you," she smirked, plucking one off the tree to wave teasingly at Harry.

"A bit self-centred--" George piped up from behind her.

"But I like your confidence," finished Fred.

"I didn't put them up," he huffed at the snickering trio, snatching the bauble out of Freya's hand and throwing it into the corner so no one else could see. "Dobby did."

"Oh, sure he did," she nodded, not believing him for a second.

Harry just sighed and shook his head, forcefully turning his attention to the appearance of Angelina, Katie and Alicia rather than their teasing. Alas, he would come to regret his decision, as Angelina had a rather dull look in her eyes, like just one wrong word would cause an avalanche of insults.

"Well," she said, loud enough for Freya and the twins to hear her as they lingered behind Harry. "We've replaced you."

"Replaced me?" Harry repeated, frowning.

"You and Fred and George," she elaborated. Instinctively, Freya's eyes turned to George. His bruises had faded just three days after the Quidditch match, but any mention of it brought back his sour look of anger and disappointment. Tonight was no different. He turned away with Fred right behind him, not wanting to hear any more. "We've got another seeker."

"Who?" said Harry, jaw visibly clenching at the thought.

"Ginny Weasley."

Both Harry and Freya's eyes went wide. "Ginny's the new seeker? Like Fred and George's sister Ginny?"

"Yeah, I know," Angelina said, noticing their disbelief. "But she's pretty good, actually. We might still be competition for you yet, McKinnon."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far," Freya snickered, but Angelina didn't seem in the mood for jokes as she kept her blank stare on Harry's impassive face, like she was searching for any signs of remorse for the problems he'd caused her.

"Nothing on you, of course, Harry. But as we can't have you..."

Harry's eyes narrowed slightly, but that was the only outward reaction Freya noticed. For a boy who'd spent much of his year struggling with anger, he was suddenly rather good at keeping it hidden. "And what about the beaters?" he asked, voice stubbornly even. Freya was suddenly grateful for Fred and George's absence. She didn't know what they would do if they had to hear the names of their replacements from Angelina's brutal mouth.

"Andrew Kirke," Alicia piped up with a frown. "And Jack Sloper. Neither of them are brilliant, but compared to the rest of the idiots who turned up..."

Fortunately, more students arrived, and Freya found a reason to slip away without seeming rude. She noticed Angelina continuing to serve Harry, Fred and George with dirty looks, but the twins outright ignored her as they jinxed some of the baubles to follow Harry around the room, glinting just that bit brighter to show off his awkwardly stretched face to other amused members of the D.A.

"Okay," Harry exclaimed, shooting Fred and George a pointed glare as the group delved into silence. Sighing, they lowered their wands, the baubles clattering to the floor. Harry took that as a sign to continue. "Now, I thought this evening, we could just go over the things we've done so far, because it's the last meeting before the holidays and there's no point starting anything new right before a three-week break--"

"We're not doing anything new?" Zacharias Smith questioned, evidently displeased.

"Oh, here we go," Freya muttered to George with a roll of her eyes.

"If I'd known that, I wouldn't have come..."

"We're all really sorry Harry didn't tell you, then," Fred called out, prompting Freya and several others to laugh. Zacharias' face went red with embarrassment, but fortunately for them, he didn't say anything.

"We can practice in pairs," Harry decided, not wanting to linger on the interruption for much longer. "We'll start with the impedimenta jinx, just for ten minutes, then we can get out the cushions and try stunning again."

Instinctively, Freya turned to look at George. He was already watching her, a grin on his face as he murmured something to Fred, and the identical boy turned towards his girlfriend instead. Over the course of their D.A lessons, Freya and George had gotten used to pairing up with each other. Fred liked to tease Solana so the two often unconsciously ditched George, not that he seemed to mind too much. He knew Freya had found comfort in keeping the same partner. George never judged her when she fumbled up the pronunciation of a spell or got the wand-work wrong. Unlike his twin, he was far more patient. He would sit with her for as long as it took, teaching her the movements and breaking down the words so it was easier to say. Freya was almost certain she wouldn't have made any progress at all had it not been for him and Harry. She didn't feel quite as foolish when it was them teaching her.

"You're going to get it this time, I know it," George said as Freya joined him in their usual corner.

"I doubt it," Freya laughed, discarding her jacket so it'd be easier to move her arms.

At first, it seemed like she was right. George had frozen her three times, leaving him with three minutes to tug at her hair and laugh at her displeased expressions. But then out of nowhere, she got it. With a cry of 'impedimenta' and a slash of her wand through the air, the spell struck George hard in the chest and froze him with wide eyes and his own wand outstretched, just seconds too late. For a moment, Freya wondered if she was imagining things. But as Fred and Solana let out gasps beside her and Harry's proud exclamation of her name, a beaming smile split across her face.

"I did it," she cried, grabbing onto the nearest person's arm, which just so happened to be Fred. "Fred, look."

"I can see that, McKinnon," he laughed at her, though he did murmur a quiet 'good job, Frey' in her ear before ambling up to poke George's ribs with his wand. "Georgie, this is not a good look for you."

Slowly, George regained movement again, allowing him to snap his arm down and shove Fred away from him. "Oh, shut up, Freddie." Once Fred had made his way back to Solana, George turned to beam at Freya. "You did it," he exclaimed, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. Freya laughed, pouting slightly as he ruffled her blonde hair, a few of the strands falling out of their plait.

"You didn't go easy on me, did you?" she asked, reluctantly pulling away for a moment.

"As if I'd do that," he rolled her eyes, but Freya knew he'd done it a few times before. This was different, though. His shock had actually been genuine. She'd made progress.

They attempted the spell a few more times, with Freya's confidence practically bursting at the seams as she stunned George twice more; once, when he was going easy on her, then another time when he and Fred were too focused on Fred jinxing Zacharias to stumble over his feet every time he went to hex his partner. Soon enough, Harry was announcing that it was time to practice stunning again. The group lined up on either side of the room, laying out cushions so that each pair could take centre stage and show off their progress. Freya spent the whole time clinging anxiously to the sleeve of George's jumper. She wasn't terrible with stunning; she'd gotten George good a couple times with the 'stupefy' spell, but the pressure of two dozen eyes on her was enough that she knew she'd falter. Fortunately, Harry called time right before it was meant to be Freya and George's turn; whether it was purposeful or not, Freya still breathed a sigh of relief.

"You're getting really good," he said once the cushions had been packed away and everyone had gathered together their things. "When we get back from the holidays, we can start doing some of the big stuff — maybe even patronuses."

There was a murmur of excitement as the group quickly dispersed, murmuring to each other about what they thought their patronuses would be. Freya was one of the last to leave with Fred and George, Solana up ahead with Dean and his friends. The twins were also discussing their patronuses, but Freya couldn't bring herself to think about her's. She'd only just started mastering spells that were easy for fifth years to cast. A patronus seemed far beyond her reach. At the dire thought, a bit of Freya's previous confidence slipped away. Oh, who was she fooling with this? She would never be Marlene McKinnon or Estelle Davies.

"Hey, you alright?" George whispered, gently nudging her side to get her attention. Without her realising it, Fred had gone on ahead to join Solana, leaving George to worriedly stare down at the quiet blonde.

Freya sighed. "I'm just not looking forward to the patronuses."

"What? Why?" he frowned. "Don't you want to know what yours is?"

"Of course I do," she huffed at him. "But I don't think I'll be able to cast the spell. It's too advanced."

George stopped walking, and after realising he was no longer with her, so did Freya. He was still frowning, looking at Freya like she'd grown three heads. "You're far more talented than you give yourself credit for," he declared, remaining serious even as Freya pulled a face in disbelief. "I mean it. Besides, patronuses are all about happy memories. So think of me, and I'm sure you'll ace it."

Freya scoffed, shaking her head as George's serious expression was finally replaced by a smirk. She didn't argue with him when he grabbed her hand and tugged her down the corridor after Fred and Solana. She didn't know what to say, really. George had so much faith in her. How could she tell him that she wasn't sure she even had any happy memories? Not ones that were strong enough for a patronus, at least.

In the end, she decided not to dwell on the thought. She'd been in a good mood before the meeting, excited for the three weeks ahead of her. No. She would force herself to be that version of Freya McKinnon again. She could worry about patronuses and letting people down later on. For now, she had George still holding her hand to think about. What could possibly go wrong with that?