CHRISTMAS AT Hogwarts seemed over the top to Laura. Based on what Draco had told Laura, it usually wasn't that grand, but since there were other schools, they wanted to impress them.

The Great Hall had twelve giant trees lined up, and the regal look accompanied food. The house elves were cooking up a storm, yet it seemed as if Fleur was the only one who had critiques on the food.

"It is too heavy, all this Hogwarts food," Laura heard her say one night. "I will not fit into my dress!"

"I can't believe she's complaining about that," Laura laughed, snorting. Fleur turned to see who laughed. Laura turned to Blaise, starting to talk about Quidditch.

"So, who do you think is going to win?"

"Ireland, for sure," Blaise said, catching on.

"Lame, they definitely aren't," Laura said, seeing as Fleur narrowed her eyes but turned away. "Thanks, Blaise," she added, winking at him.

"Of course, Laura," Blaise grinned, sending her a wink back.

"Well, I'll be back," Laura said, getting up.

She needed to ask Harry something, so she started for the Gryffindor table. When she walked over, Ron was interrogating Hermione.

"Hermione- who are you going to the ball with?" Ron had asked.

"I'm not telling you," Hermione sighed, "you'll just make fun of me."

"You're joking, Weasley!" Draco said the Gryffindors all turned around.

Laura jumped; she hadn't realized Draco had trailed after her.

"You're not telling me someone's asked that to the ball? Not the long-molared Mudblood?" he asked. Harry and Ron looked enraged, but Hermione cheerfully waved to someone behind Draco.

"Hello, Professor Moody," she said.

Draco went pale and turned around to see if Moody was there, but he was still sitting at the staff table. Laura had to admit even she was a little nervous to see if Moody was there.

"Twitchy little ferret, aren't you, Malfoy?" Hermione said scathingly, getting up and leaving.

"I need to talk to you about something later," Laura told Harry. Harry nodded, and he and Ron followed after Hermione.

Laura then turned around to see Draco cursing something under his breath. Laura laughed a bit, seeing his expression; he was still pale from the scare.

"What's that for, Potter," he snapped, seeing her laughing at him.

"Pickering," Laura said, rolling her eyes at him. "I think you deserved that, Malfoy."

"Think that was funny, do you?" he asked, folding his arm.

"Yeah," Laura smiled, "and? What are you gonna do about it?"

"Oh?" Draco said, a smirk replacing his scowl, "I have a few ideas."

"Shut it, Blondie," Laura said, covering his mouth with her hand, "I don't want to hear any of them."

🪐➶.✧༄

Laura and her roommates woke up bright and early on Christmas morning. None of them wasted any time finding the presents sat waiting for them at the foot of their bed.

The first one Laura opened was from Pansy. It was a Hogwarts-branded snitch, which Laura adored. Blaise had gotten her two gifts, the first being a Bulgarian jersey with Viktor's number as a gag gift. The other gift was a jade rock bracelet. Her gift from Snape was a small photo album with the Hogwarts crest on the cover.

Alana got her a pair of flats she had been talking about. Daphne got Laura a record player made of English oak wood (Natalie swore it was her idea). With the record player, Natialie got Laura records to play. All of them quickly exchanged hugs and thank yous.

Laura then went on to a surprise in her pile. She received a present from Harry; it was an assortment of British sweets Laura had talked about to him about a few weeks before.

The other surprise she received was a green sweater with the letter 'L' embroidered on the front. She didn't know who gifted it to her, but she loved it. She placed it to the side to wear that day.

Her parents and Nick left gifts for her when they came and watched her during the first task. She had opened them up with them so they could see her reaction.

That left one final present. It was a small package from Draco. Laura opened the wrapping to see a little note from Draco. To go with the letter was a small box.

"To my dearest Laura, here is one of my many gifts to you."

Laura smiled, opening the box to see it was the Slytherin ring Draco always wore.

Seeing it up close and personal made Laura appreciate the detail. It was a silver snake, which had always coiled up Draco's finger. She could see he had cleaned it, but there were some worn-down spots from him twisting it around his finger.

Laura couldn't stop herself from grinning, slipping the ring onto her right ring finger. She admired the new story she had just added to her everyday life.

"I see that grin," Daphne grinned, looking at Laura. "What did Draco get you?"

Laura held up her right hand, causing her roommates to gasp.

"He gave you the ring?" Pansy exclaimed, jumping over to hug Laura. "Oh, my Merlin- he better confess to you tonight. I know how much he loves that ring. He's been wearing it since before our first year here."

"Well, between the two of them, I bet it'll be Laura who confesses first," Alana said with a big grin. "You like to deny your feelings, Laura, but we all know how you feel about him. You also do like to take the initiative."

"I'll do whatever feels right," Laura said, attempting to hold back her smile, "but never mind me and Draco. We should all get ready. Today is going to be a good day. For some of us, it'll be our big debut."

"Right," Natalie grinned. "Alana and I are finishing up our playlist."

"Laura and I'll be back here later tonight to get ready," Pansy said, standing up and giving Laura a hand. "We'll see you three then!"

Laura and Pansy got ready for the day. Laura put on the sweater she was given; she immediately fell in love as it was one of the most comfortable things she had ever worn. She knew a lot of love went into making it with every stitch on the sweater.

Laura finished getting ready first, going down to the common room to see Draco sitting on the couch, reading a book. Laura walked over with a big grin, sitting on the other side of the couch from him.

"Merry Christmas, Draco," she grinned.

"Happy Christmas, Laura," Draco said, looking up from his book.

"Happy Christmas?" Laura said with a laugh, thinking Draco was joking.

"Get used to it, Pickering," Draco chuckled, "everyone says it here."

"Oh, right," Laura said, resting her face in her hands. "My dad used to say 'Happy Christmas' every year, then one year he got merry."

"The American's got to him, huh," Draco said, raising an eyebrow.

"He started throwing tea into the wharf," Laura shrugged, "and singing the national anthem around the house."

"Seriously?"

"No," Laura laughed, sitting up.

"I see you got my gift," Draco said, with a smile, nodding towards the ring.

"I did," Laura said, putting her hand out for him to see. "Thank you, I love it."

"I'm glad you do," Draco replied, winking.

Laura couldn't deny it anymore, even if she tried. She had definitely fallen for Draco. She had fallen hard.

When Blaise and Pansy finally finished getting ready, they headed to breakfast. They then played games in the common room with Jordan and some of his friends until lunch.

Lunch was grand. There looked to be over a hundred turkeys, Christmas puddings, and Cribbages Wizarding Crackers lined up on the tables. Laura didn't waste any stomach space, eating all the delicious food.

"You got one, Laura?" Ron exclaimed, seeing Laura's sweater as she approached the Gryffindor table.

Laura looked down at her sweater and then looked to see Ron, Harry, and Hermione's matching sweaters.

"It just showed up this morning with the rest of my gifts," Laura shrugged, a smile forming.

"The champion's become one of Mum's favorites, huh?" Fred asked as he and George walked over.

"Charlie said she was worried ten times over about the first task," George chuckled, swinging an arm around Laura and leaning on her. "It's no wonder Laura's got the sweater."

"I think part of it has to do with Harry," Fred said thoughtfully.

"Oi shut it," Ron said, stopping the twins. "None of that matters. Maybe Mum was just being nice."

"If you get a letter from our mum about staying with us this summer, make sure you take the opportunity, Pickering," George winked, standing up straight again. "See you all tonight."

The twins left, leaving Ron seeming bugged by it.

"Your mother is very kind," Hermione said with a small smile, then turned to Laura. "I heard through the grapevine: you're attending the ball with Malfoy, Laura."

"I am," Laura said, grinning.

"When'd he ask you out?" Harry asked, furrowing his eyebrows, not looking the most excited at this news.

"Is that why he's been scaring everyone who asks you?" Ron asked as well, folding his arms. "I don't know why you'd say yes to a git like that-"

"I told him no when he asked me," Laura said, cutting Ron off. "I was the one who asked him out."

"Well, why'd you do that?" Harry queried.

"It was my power move," Laura replied, putting her right hand on her hip. "He said yes, so, I mean, I did something right."

"Well, I guess someone's got to make the ferret look good," Hermione said with a laugh. "I know you'll be a stunner tonight, Laura."

"Thank you, Hermione," Laura grinned. "I heard who you were going with. I can't wait to see how you two look together."

"You know who asked Hermione?" Ron exclaimed as Hermione's eyes widened. "She won't even tell Harry or me."

"He told me," Laura shrugged. "I have my ways; sorry, Ron."

"You two are just going to have to wait till tonight to see," Hermione said, folding her arms.

"Say hi to us tonight," Harry smiled. "I still don't like that you're going with Malfoy, but have fun."

"I will," Laura smiled, then walked to the Slytherin table.

When they finished lunch, they decided to walk off the large meal. The snow outside was fresh as they imprinted their path. Laura loved the snow, looking at the snowflakes and their unique patterns.

However, mischief was soon made as Blaise threw a bit of snow onto Draco, who didn't take kindly to that act. Draco fought back, and the two boys started throwing snowballs back and forth. That was until Draco misthrew, hitting Pansy.

"Malfoy, you are going to get it," Pansy said with a cold laugh, grabbing a handful of snow and throwing it at him.

"Laura! Save me!" Draco exclaimed as he had both Blaise and Pansy throwing snowballs at him.

Laura snorted in laughter, quickly getting to work and helping Draco. The four battled it out for only a few minutes until they were all in a fit of laughter.

They then went inside to warm up, chatting more and enjoying each other's company. At around five, Laura and Pansy stood up to leave.

"You two need three hours to get ready?" Blaise asked as they got up.

"We're helping out Alana, Natalie, and Daphne," Laura explained. "It probably wouldn't take as long if we were getting ready ourselves, but we are supportive."

"Mate, I bet you're going to leave it till the last minute," Blaise teased, nudging Draco.

"As if," Draco said, rolling his eyes. "Between us two, you would be the one to wait, Zambini."

"But I'm not going to," Blaise said quickly, glancing over at Pansy, who was smirking. "I'm giving myself a reasonable time to change to look extra nice tonight."

"Well, see you two later," Laura said with a wave. "Please don't make any major bad decisions while we're gone!"

Laura and Pansy spent the next three hours getting ready. Laura didn't need too much time to finish getting ready. But she and her roommates spent time unwinding and relaxing before getting ready.

Laura did her hair in a half-up hairstyle with a braided crown. To Laura's dismay, she had to charm her hair back to black, keeping a section blue to represent her. She then put on light but elegant makeup.

Laura put on the dress her parents had given her, pairing it with the flats Alana had gifted her that morning. She placed the locket from her parents around her neck, the ring from Draco still on her finger.

Before finishing up, she found a small package on her bed. A smile formed on her face, seeing her name in Draco's handwriting.

She carefully opened the package, seeing a few star-shaped hair clips.

"Seeing meteor showers is uncommon, but they're so beautiful. Until then, seeing these clips in your hair will be my meteor shower."

Laura bit back a smile after reading the note. She took the clips, placing them in her hair in the mirror.

"Wow, Laura," Pansy breathed. Laura had just finished getting ready for the dance. "You're going to turn heads looking like that."

"Oh, don't even," Laura said, covering her mouth. "I'm blushing. You are too kind. You're the one who looks absolutely perfect, Pansy."

"Aww, thank you," Pansy grinned. "I'm hoping Blaise thinks the same."

"He definitely will, don't worry," Laura assured her. "You look so amazing, I'm being so serious."

"Well, Miss Champion," Pansy grinned, "you better go down before us. You've got a dance to open. If you need anything at all during the dance, come find me."

Laura hugged Pansy tightly with a big grin.

"Thank you, Pansy," she said. "Love you so much, I'll see you in the Great Hall!"

Laura went down to the common room, glancing around for Draco. She had only then realized they had never discussed where to meet. Thankfully, Blaise was sitting, waiting for Pansy to finish.

"Oh my, you look amazing, Blaise," Laura said, walking up to Blaise. "You for sure look extra nice tonight."

"Aww, thank you, Laura," Blaise beamed, sitting up straight. "You look beautiful. I'm sure Draco's jaw will drop when he sees you."

"You're too kind," Laura said, shaking her head with a smile. "But speaking of Draco, do you know where he is?"

"Oh, the git's at the entrance hall," Blaise chuckled. "You should've seen him in our dorm. He was so nervous. It was as if it was your wedding or something."

"Really?" Laura asked. She tried not to smile like an idiot, but she thought it was cute that Draco was that nervous to go to a dance with her. "Well, I guess I should give him his first look then."

"Woah woah woah," Blaise said, "I don't want you two moving too quickly. You two haven't even been on a date."

"As if Blondie would ever convince me to marry him," Laura said, rolling her eyes playfully. "But I'll see you later, Blaise. Make sure you tell Pansy how good she looks instead of staring at her when she walks down."

"Got it," Blaise said with a grin as Laura waved him goodbye.

"Laura!" Cedric exclaimed when he saw her walking down the hall. "You look gorgeous; green suits you well."

"Thank you," Laura said, smiling. "You look pretty dapper yourself. I bet Cho is pretty happy with her date."

"You are too kind," Cedric said with a laugh. He then lowered his voice. "I have something to tell you, but I'll tell you later. It's currently a little much to put on your mind. Have a good time at the ball, though."

"You too," Laura said, giving him a small wave before returning to trying to find Draco.

When she finally saw Draco, she watched his eyes widen. She ran over to him, a big grin on her face.