[HC.Room] A Badger's Christmas!

[karisisolde]

Christmas. What a great time of year. Usually Karis would of gone home for the holidays but somehow, things at home had become a little crowded, and Karis wanted to stay one year at Hogwarts anyway to see what it was like. Waking up to a bright room full of yellow, she smiled as she wiped her eyes and realised what day it was. It was family tradition to not get dressed until after opening presents, and being in her pyjama vest and shorts didn’t bother Karis. With her eyes wide, she threw back the covers violently and rushed down the stairs into the common room, almost skidding and knocking over the tree.

Looking around, she noticed she was the first one up. How crazy was that? It was 8.30am and she was the first one up. Did people not have the excitement of Christmas in them anymore? Karis shrugged at her thoughts but her smile would not shift. Jumping onto the sofa, she looked over to all the presents under the tree and grinned. Looking around the common room, the fairy lights were shining yellow and black and so was the tinsel that was dotted around in a glamorous fashion.

Crossing her legs on the sofa, she simply rocked a little and waited for the many hufflepuff faces to appear and spend Christmas with her. Who would be up first she had no idea, but she was excited, and every second that passed alone made her become more impatient. She wanted to open her families presents infront of her friends, so it would feel more like a family Christmas for her.

[Olivia Costa]

Usually, Olivia would be home with her family for Christmas, but this was not the case for this year. William, Liv's little brother, came down with a case of the flu. So, that meant that she would be spending her holidays here at Hogwarts, which wasn't so bad. At least she wasn't the only one not going back home.

Some people might ask, why isn't she going home if it's just a flu her brother is suffering from? Well, Olivia is very suseptible to disease, more so than probably most people. Her parents are often over protective of her, hence why they're not letting her return home until William gets better. But, they did promise they were send her gifts in time.

Sunlight peaked out from the shades and cast a beam across her face. Olivia stretched and yawned, finally sitting up. She brushed some of her hair out of her eyes as she looked around the room. It was rather weird not seeing any of her dormmates around. All of them had gone home for the holidays, so Liv had the room all to herself.

Liv threw her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Usually, she would go into William's room to wake him up, but since she wasn't home, she supposed she would get dressed. Olivia hummed softly to herself as she pulled out her clothes. It was always a small tradition with her family to dress up for Christmas, and today for her would be no different.

The dress she chose was black, with a small red ribbon that tied around the middle. It went to about her calves and dipped down only slightly in the middle. Over this, she pulled on a white sweater, that buttoned down in the middle, but she left the sweater open. Liv pushed back her hair and pulled on the necklace her mother had given her last Christmas. It was a small, silver chain, with a diamond in the middle of it.

Shoes weren't really needed, since she was just in the commonroom, so after checking herself in the mirror, she made her way downstairs. To her surprise, she wasn't the first awake. Liv smiled to see Karis bouncing on the couch, still in her pajamas, probably anxiously awaiting to open her presents. Olivia took a seat on one of the chairs near her and laughed softly.

"I'm guessing you're very excited then?"

[Gray Deluca]

With a stretch, a scratch on his back, and a yawn. Gray finally kicked the covers off himself and made his way sleepily downstairs. It was christmas, and yet he wasnt all that giddy about it. It wasnt a big deal to him, it was a day of, give and get for presents. What was so damn good about that? He looked over the top, Liv was there with Karis. Walking back into the Dorm, he threw pillows at the remaining sleepers. "Oi" Gray snarled, "Wake up ya' lazy gits"

Someone stirred, which was good. he'd gotten a reaction at least. Walking downstairs he conjured some well needed coffee and sat down on the couch. Mumbling something that sounded like a cross between, "Mmphy Mysmms" and "Merry Christmas." In truth, he said Merry Christmas, but it sounded like a jumble of letters because he yawned as soon as he started to speak.

Looking up at Olivia he gave her a soft but cheeky wink. He had gotten to know Liv a while back and thought she was a nice enough lass, a little into her shell but nothing some good old fashioned fun wouldnt break. Standing up, he walked over to the christmas tree and pulled out two presents. One for Karis, and one for Liv. Karis's was a simple denim jacket, though it was dark almost black, with yellow lining on it. Gray had managed to get the Hufflepuff crest on it, and a small badger over one of the pockets. Liv's was just a simple little bracelet. A few charms were on it like a broomstick, a moon, hufflepuff's crest and a badger. True, they were not fancy gifts, but they were gifts and Gray had thought about them too, probably because if Gray had just gotten them socks, Isabel would crucify him.

"Not much, but its something." He said with a smile before throwing himself back onto the couch.

[Girty Hubbles]

Christmas was always a time for family but for the first time in her life Girty Hubbles was not going home for Christmas. Dan was spending Christmas with the Owen family while her parents were off on a muggles cruise ship around the Caribbean (they did invite Girty to come along but after seeing the muggle film Titanic she never fancied going on a boat) So instead Girty stayed at the castle and agreed to help out her cousin Warren in the Hogshead over the holidays and safe to say it Christmas Eve had been a wild night.

Wincing as the sounds of students talking floated up from the main area of the common room Girty opened her eyes and gave a loud groan as the world was already spinning around her. By eleven last night she had already lost count with the amount of drinks she had had and the fact that she was the more sober one between her and Warren when closing up the bar just showed how much her cousin had drunk.

Stumbling into the main commonroom, her hair a mess, baggy trousers and a t-shirt that was too big for her (she had stole it off Alex) the Hufflepuff looked around at the three other students in the room and gave them a small smile and muttered a croaky greeting of Merry Christmas. The others seemed to be opening presents already but the mere thought of bending down….the thought of moving again was too much for Girty and she sunk into her favourite chair by the fire and closed her eyes trying to ignore the thumbing headache.

[Maria Turolia]

Maria entered the common room for the first time in quite a while. She had left Hogwarts to deal with things at home, and at last she was returning. This was where Maria was most comfortable, not with her family, but with her fellow students. That was perhaps why she had chosen not to wait until after the holidays to return. She looked down at her yellow sweater and blue jeans, knowing that soon she would be back in her school robes attending classes, something she would have never guessed she would be excited about.

Looking around Maria saw a few of the other Hufflepuffs, who were obviously very excited about Christmas, opening their gifts. Everyone appeare to have their own Christmas traditions. Some were still in pajamas while others were dressed up. Looking down at her She smiled faintly, glad to be back here. Glancing over at the fire Maria noticed the only person who didn't seem interested in the Christmas day. Girty looked like a mess sitting in her usual chair. Maria walked over and sat down in a nearby chair, and gave a small nod of greeting to Girty.

Maria examined the faces of all the other in the room. Familiar faces, yes, they were her housemates, but they weren't the ones that she talked to often. In fact, Girty was the only one that Maria had ever had a conversation with before. As she watched the others she strained her memory looking for names to go with the faces.

[Girty Hubbles]

At the sound of someone else entering the commonroom from the dorms Girty dared to open her eyes. The light that filled the room was blinding and everything was just a blur but as her eyes adjusted Girty noticed Maria walking in and sitting down near by. It had been a while since she had seen her fellow Hufflepuff and she was sure Dan would be happy to hear that their numbers were up again while Girty was just happy to see a familiar face. At Maria’s greeting Girty gave her a small smile and a small wave.

“Merry Christmas Maria. How are you this jolly 25th of December?”

It was a very croaky voice that escaped the Hufflepuff’s lips and it was soon followed by a string of coughs. It really had been a hell of a night last night and she was thankful to have Christmas day off if anything to recover from the drinking and shouting from the night before. Moving her hair out of her eyes Girty reached down to her left sock and pulled out her wand and with a few flicks a tea set appeared on the table in front of her with five cups just in case anyone else wanted one. Sliding off the chair with a small bump and a wince that she was actually moving Girty began to pour herself a warm cup of tea. Even the sound of the tea spoon hitting the side of the china cup felt like someone was banging a drum right next to her.

“Can I get anyone else one?" She asked in a quiet whisper. "Or was I the only one stupid enough to consume vast amounts of alcohol last night?"

[Marcus Conway]

Christmas was an important time for the Conway family. Since the children spent most of their time away from home Christmas had become one of the few times where they, being Marcus and his sister, Amara, would get to see their whole family until the following summer. Marcus didn't mind being away from his family so much any more but seeing them was still important to the small red headed boy.

This year, however, he and his sister were at Hogwarts for Christmas. He could not have told you why if you had asked him, partly because you were asking him but mostly because he didn't know. His parents had not told him. Marc was used to being in the dark so he didn't mind. Sure enough though, Mrs and Mr Conway had sent their gifts to them so that was at least something. Marcus had gotten something for his sister too and so had gone very early that morning to exchange gifts.

It was great to see Amara smiling. Christmas seemed to make her happy and nice and Marcus always liked it when Mar was nice. She should have been in Slytherin for how nasty she could be when she wanted to, that was what he thought any way. The two siblings had agreed not to open the presents until they had gotten back to their common rooms and so Marcus was confident that as soon as he turned the corner Amara would be ripping the wrapping paper off her present. He waited though, till he was in the common room again.

As Marcus entered, the yellow of his scarf clashing violently with his red hair, Marcus froze in his tracks as he saw the people in the common room. It had been empty when he left, where did they come from? Panic began to grip his throat and he broke out in a cold sweat. Quickly pulling off his scarf, as the common room was very war, Marcus tried to be inconspicuous and move to a couch where he could open his present without disturbing the older students. He had spent a year at Hogwarts already and still not lost his fear of the older students.

Moving as quietly as he could, Marc found a small pillow by the fire place and sat down on it, not looking up at the other people present. He carefully began to unwrap the present, worried that it might explode in his face.