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My Dearest Iris,

Oh, how I miss you! It's been much too long since we've met, and every day I find myself longing for your youthful spirit. To be young and in love, it's such a special feeling, one that I hope you never let go of.

I know what you're thinking, I always do, it's almost as if we can read each other's minds. You shouldn't think too far into this, you'll understand one day.

Don't fret, Iris. I'll see what I can do.

All my love--

"Iris!"

Her reading interrupted, she turned toward the sound of the voice calling her name. Folding the letter carefully, she tucked it back into the inner pocket of her trunk.

It had been only a few weeks since she had gotten the letter in response to the one she had sent out, but Iris read it often, trying to find some hidden answer in the words on the page.

It was Hermione who had said her name, standing in the doorway of their dormitory.

"Everyone's leaving now," she told Iris, nodding toward the common room. Iris grabbed a small box off of her nightstand, tucking it into her over the shoulder bag,  and she and Hermione exited the room.

It was the last day before the holiday break, and almost everyone was headed home to their families.

As usual, Iris and Harry were staying at Hogwarts for the holidays, but this year both Ron and Hermione were staying with them.

As Christmas was just within a few days, Hogwarts had been decorated accordingly, with thick streamers of holly and mistletoe strung along the corridors, mysterious lights shone from inside every suit of armour, and the Great Hall was filled with its usual twelve Christmas trees, glittering with golden stars.

A powerful and delicious smell of cooking pervaded the corridors, growing ever more prominent as the days passed. Iris inhaled deeply as she and Hermione strolled down to the Great Hall to watch as all the students left.

The two girls were soon in the crowd of teens, all with trunks, making their way out of the castle.

Iris and Hermione were saying goodbye to their dormmates, Lavender and Parvati when Iris heard someone call her name.

She turned around searching for the person when her eyes landed on Cedric, who stood off to the side of the room next to his trunk, smiling at her.

Her lips tugged into a grin as she gestured for him to wait a moment. Turning back to the girls, all three were giggling watching the exchange.

Iris playfully rolled her eyes and pulled Lavender and Parvati into a tight hug.

"Alright, now you two have a good holiday and I expect at least one letter each," Iris said sternly, releasing them with a smile.

Lavender laughed, "Yeah yeah, now go get your man," she winked.

Iris jokingly gasped, walking backwards away from her three friends, "He is not 'my man'!" She paused, smirking, "Not yet."

All four laughed loudly and Iris gave one last wave before turning and walking briskly over to where Cedric stood.

"Hi."

"Hi."

Whey both glanced around for a moment, looking everywhere but at each other.

"Well... have a—" Iris began.

Cedric quickly cut her off, "I was wondering..." he fidgeted around, a blush rising on his cheeks as he avoided eye contact.

"I, well... I, uh... this went a lot smoother in my head," he told her with a chuckle.

Iris stood there, with a confused smile as he rambled on sweetly.

"I really have enjoyed these past few weeks that we've been hanging out, so I was wondering if you'd like to go on a date?" His voice turned up into a question and he rubbed the back of his neck.

Iris grinned at the proposal, and nodded eagerly, "Yes, of course! I would love that!"

Cedric looked shocked and relieved when he spoke, "Oh, really? I mean-- this is great... I didn't prepare for this... um I'll figure out what we're doing after the holiday," he fumbled over his words and Iris giggled.

The sharp and loud whistle of the Hogwarts Express blew from far away signalling its arrival, and Professor McGonagall started ushering students out of the castle and down the path to the station.

"Well. I've got to go now, but I'll write you as soon as I get home," Cedric told her, picking his trunk up off the ground.

"Alright then," Iris smiled, "Have a good Christmas, Cedric!"

"You too, Iris!" He waved to her as he back up and started walking out of the hall, a large grin on his face.

Iris looked back to where her three friends were still standing and saw them all beaming and giving her thumbs up, signalling they had been eavesdropping.

She laughed at them and waved as Hermione led Lavender and Parvati out of the castle to say goodbye.

The dark-haired girl started walking the other direction, each step taking her further into the depths of the castle.

She soon reached her destination, stop in place and speaking out loud, "Peppermint Toads."

The great gargoyle that stood before her spiralled skyward and she stepped onto the staircase as it took her up.

Coming upon the familiar wooden door, Iris gently knocked, hearing a pleasant "Come in," in response.

Slowly twisting the doorknob, Iris peeked her head around the door with a faint smile as her gaze met with the kind old man who had guided her over the years. He was sitting in the lower part of his office, on a small worn red sofa.

Dumbledore smiled widely when he saw her and beckoned her inside, "Ah, Iris! You're just on time! Our guest arrived only a few minutes ago!"

It was then that Iris noticed someone was standing with their back to her in the upper part of the Headmaster's office, just up the stairs petting Fawkes.

Iris' jaw dropped in excitement, as she would recognize this person anywhere.

They turned to face Iris, an excited smile on their face as the woman spoke, "Hi honey!"

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Hey guys! Sorry, this is the shortest chapter ever. It's been much too long since I've uploaded, and I'm so sorry about that, I just couldn't find the motivation to get in the mood to write. Also another note- not a spoiler but this story is not going to follow any events that have taken place in the fantastic beasts series.

 A lot has happened though since my last update so I'll give you all a rundown!

We hit 1k views, thank you so much!

I changed the face claim to Elizabeth Olsen (and I know she doesn't really look young enough, but it's what I want)

We got over 100 votes!

I came out with a new story called 'Where The Wild Things Are' and I'm super excited about that because I have a lot of plot twists in store that I don't think anyone is going to expect!

So thank you all so much for all of your support, it means so much to me! ❤️❤️

~Elle