Sorry for the long wait guys. I hope any fans I have enjoy what I've written, though after the delay I doubt I have any left! Reality bit hard, and know I'm back at Uni, so I doubt I'll post regular like. Still, I hope someone reads this.
I officially do renounce any claim that this is original or real. It is neither, for those who think the Harry Potter universe is original I refer you to the excellent series and related books published by J. K. Rowling. If you think this is real I refer you to the nearest Psychiatrist. Seek help.
Enjoy!
Christmas was coming
It seemed, to Yoni, brought up more in tune with so-called `pagan' festivals than Christian ones, somewhat hypocritical to worship Christmas. The Christian calendar had been changed so many times that it seems just as likely that Jesus shared his birthday with Harry than he was actually born on Christmas day. Also so many modern festivals were old Pagan festivals by another name. A canny of the Roman's to culturally subvert those whom they conquered
"We won't stop you worshipping you r festivals just call them this instead"
Nevertheless, Christmas was a holiday. A holy day to reflect on the joy of giving (only somewhat marred by the fact that everyone focused on the joy of receiving) and the joy of not having to do any work. Despite that Yoni, Ron, Harry and Hermione regularly spent time in the library searching for a person Nicolas Flamel. Harry said he had seen the name somewhere, so Yoni concentrated on books that might have caught Harry's eye, or ones he might (or should) of read for homework.
Hagrid, despite infrequent interrogations, refused to yield up any information. Yoni though it a waste of time, the only way Hagrid would betray a confidence was by mistake; not exactly a comforting thought, but one he kept to himself. Harry seemed unusually about criticisms levelled at Hagrid, probably surrogate father/brother dynamic there.
The holidays started, Yoni spent the time at school not, as his friends assumed, because he wanted to, but because he had to. The lessons with his demon trainer couldn't be interrupted, Chardanassar had made that clear.
At first the three friends had been enjoying themselves too much to worry about Flamel. They played wizard chess and plotted ways to get Malfoy expelled.
When the House elves came around midnight Christmas Eve Yoni pretended that he was asleep, but kept grunting and shifting when they came too close. Eventually Jitty worked out it was a game, and he was actually awake, they played this for the better part of an hour until they deposited his presents and left.
Yoni though it was best that he wait for the others to wake up, but the presents were calling to him. They whispered and plotted and schemed to get him to open them now. After another hour, when the moon shone clear through the window, he gave in, got up and opened his presents. Quietly.
From his mother he received an enchanted jacket. It had four pockets, two normal ones on the outside, and two on the inside, halfway down (it was floor length) and seeming big enough to hold a book or two. In actuality it could hold a library (though the book you wanted out at this point becomes problematic). The best part was he wouldn't feel the weight of whatever he put in there.
While Yoni hadn't made a big thing at being rich he hadn't made any kind of effort to conceal it either. As a result he imagined the presents his friends would get him would be fairly generic; after all he had everything he wanted.
Instead he was hard pressed not to laugh
Ron had got him a second hand book: "Bargain hunter; the book to buy for the thrifty wizard" It was filled with ways to save money
Hermione had given him a selection of sugar-free sweets and teeth -flossing string-mints
Harry had given him a book simply called "Argos" that seemed to be advertising muggle things. Obviously Harry had been paying attention when Yoni had said he barely knew how the average wizard lived, let alone muggles.
He had also received the usual plethora from his extended family; books from his Uncle's on history, including a fascinating one actually written by his Uncle Kurchoskhov (not an actual Uncle, more like Great-Uncle three times removed or something) that he had written on the habits and life-styles of Russian wizards.
And games from his female relatives including a new release from Hamnmerschmitt where you directing a Quidditch game (minus the snitch) with your wand and any time you scored your opponent got squirted with gobstone goo. Harry would probably enjoy playing that. Yoni amused himself with some of the games and read until Harry and Ron started to stir. Harry seemed quite surprised to get presents
"Happy Christmas" said Ron sleepily as Harry scrambled out of bed and pulled on his dressing-gown
Yoni was tempted to say "and Merry new year", but refrained himself
"You too, and Merry Christmas to you Yoni"
"Likewise, and a very Merry Christmas to you young Ronald" Yoni said in a pompous tone, but mellowed it was a smile
Harry laughed, Ron just threw a pillow
"Hey, will you look at this? I've got some presents!"
"What did you expect, turnips?" said Ron, turning to his own, much bigger pile, of presents.
There was the usual opening of presents repeated a million times throughout England, with the accompanying exclamations, Yoni just kept reading. Apparently werewolves were first sighted in Russia, though Rumours of them had been endemic for years in a large area of, what we now think of as, the Middle East.
Harry was very pleased with Yoni's gift of his own wizard Chess set, bought at the last minute through OwlOrder (The two O's you can rely on) after cancelling the set of seeker gear, Yoni would save that for another celebration.
Meanwhile Ron was staring open-mouthed at Yoni's gift to him.
It was a Quaffle, a standard ordinary Quaffle. Signed by all the Chudley Canon's. He turned huge great saucer eyes to Yoni, a mute appeal for confirmation. Yoni nodded, grinning widely
"I won't tell you how I got it, but it's yours, I hope you like it."
Harry, intrigued, had gone to Ron's side and read the signatures, and then he looked up, grinning like Yoni, at Ron. "Aren't you going to thank Yoni, Ron? It's bad manners not to, you know."
Ron swung a mock-punch at Harry than garbled out some inarticulate thanks to Yoni.
"Thanks... I mean ... it's ...uh"
"You know, you're cute when you're inarticulate. Your welcome, I'm sure."
It was at this point that Harry discovered his last present; something fluid and silvery-grey went slithering to the floor where it lay in gleaming folds
"That's an invisibility cloak! You've got a good friend somewhere Harry." Yoni said
"Try it on" said Ron, so Harry picked it up and slipped it over his shoulders
"I don't feel any different" said Harry.
"Look in the mirror" said Yoni, smiling. Harry moved to the mirror and stared at his floating head.
"There's a note!" Ron suddenly said "A note fell out of it"
Harry picked it up and read it while Ron admired the cloak; Yoni got up and passed over to Harry.
"May I see the note?" he asked, silently Harry passed it over, then stared at the cloak with a peculiar look to his face.
Your father left this in my possession before he died
It is time it was returned to you
Use it well
A Very Merry Christmas to you
It was in Dumbledore's hand, Yoni having seen it before on his letter of acceptance into Hogwarts.
At that moment Fred and George came bounding in and Harry, Yoni noticed, quickly stuffed the cloak out of sight. Greedy?
"Merry Christmas all!" "Hey look – Harry's got a Weasley jumper too!"
Fred and George were both wearing jumpers with their first initial on.
"Harry's is better than ours, though" said Fed, holding up Harry's jumper.
"She obviously makes more of an effort if you're not family"
"Why aren't you wearing yours, Ron?" George demanded "Come on, get it on, they're lovely and warm"
"I hate maroon" moaned Ron half-heartedly as he pu8lled it over his head.
"You haven't got a letter on your" George observed "I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. Buy we're not stupid – we know we're called Gred and Forge"
"What's all this noise?" Percy stuck his head through the door, looking disapproving. He had clearly come halfway through unwrapping his presents as he, too, carried a lumpy jumper over his arm, which Fred seized.
"P for Prefect! Get it on Percy, come on, we're all wearing ours, even Harry got one."
"I – don't – want –"protested Percy as the twins forced the jumper over his head, knocking his glasses askew
"And you're not sitting with the Prefects today, either. Christmas is a time for the family" stated George
They Frog-marched Percy from the room, his arms pinned to his sides by his jumper.
Christmas dinner was lavish, as only Hogwarts feasts could be. Harry seemed surprised by the Wizard Crackers. After dinner they all had a snowball fight, where Yoni though it politic to get a hit a few times, but not too many. After all, snow is COLD.
The after supper entertainment consisted of Percy chasing Fred and George around the common room because they had stolen his Prefects badge.
Finally, they all went to bed. Ron went to sleep almost immediately but Harry seemed Restive. Yoni faked sleep, as he sometimes did when one of his room-mates couldn't sleep. After a while Harry pulled out the cloak and looked at it. Then swung it on and disappeared from view.
From view perhaps, but that left another sense, almost as good if you train it right. Yoni listened to Harry cross the room and walk down the stairs. Yoni gave him a count of ten, and then followed him. It wasn't easy, Harry could move on, when Yoni would have to stop and hide but, luckily, they met no-one.
It quickly became clear that Harry's destination was the library, and it became absurdly easy to track him when he picked up a lamp.
He made a bee-line for the restricted section and Yoni though about stopping him, didn't he know that some books are aware? Probably not, still the burned hand teaches best, and so Yoni, instead, stealthily climbed to the top of a bookcase, and hid in the deep shadows there.
Sure enough, the book screamed, Harry panicked and knocked over his lamp, and probably panicked further when he heard Filch coming. Yoni, who had been concentrating on sound, had been hearing him for some time. Harry fled, straight past Filch, while Yoni let Filch get past him, then leaped to the next bookshelf, and slid quietly down, and out of the library.
Outside Yoni stopped and listened, he could just hear Harry's footsteps fleeing, so he followed them, he didn't worry about being quiet or stealthy, he let Harry stay a corner or more ahead, and he doubted Harry was listening for pursuit. He sounded too...panicked.
Finally he stopped, and Yoni slid into a nearby shadow
"You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and somebody's been in the library – restricted section."
Filch had obviously used the shortcut behind Melinda the beautiful.
"The restricted Section? Well, they can't be far, we'll catch them." Replied Snape
Why would Snape ask to be specially informed of night-time activity?
Yoni felt safe where he was, it was unlikely that either Snape or Filch would see him, in the deep shadow of a buttress, but Harry would bump into them if he didn't move, the only way he could go was in through an ajar door near him. This he evidently did since neither Filch nor Snape slammed into him. If Harry had backtracked, Yoni was sure he would have heard him passing, which Snape and Filch shortly did, so Yoni quietly crossed to the door and slipped in while he could still hear Snape and Filch, trusting that Harry wouldn't be coming out.
Yoni was already thinking of how to explain his presence when he realised it was unnecessary, Harry was leaning against a wall breathing deeply, evidently listening intently, but had failed to detect Yoni's stealthy entry.
"He must have his eyes closed" Yoni though
He quickly crossed to a corner and stood there unmoving. It's amazing what people don't see when they don't expect to see it. Yoni looked around with his eyes.
The only thing of interest in this dusty, disused classroom was a huge floor-length mirror, evidently put there out of the way. It had an ornate gold frame with the inscription Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi, which Yoni presupposed was Welsh or its ancestor; Celtic. It was resting on two clawed feet.
Harry moved towards it, pulling the cloak off his head. Presumably he wanted to see a floating head again. Yoni rolled his eyes and settled in for a long wait. He was wrong.
No sooner had Harry stepped in front of it than he whirled around, hand clapped to his mouth. Yoni frowned, he couldn't have seen him: Yoni couldn't see Harry, not even his head, so Harry presumably couldn't see him.
But he should, Yoni quickly realised, the mirror didn't reflect Harry's head, but it should. Obviously a magic mirror, but what caused Harry such discomfort?
Harry had turned back now; he looked over his shoulder and bock, obviously calming. Slowly he approached until his nose almost touched the glass. There he stayed for at least half an hour. Yoni was getting impatient to look in the mirror himself. Harry was so engrossed Yoni doubted he would notice if a herd of Hippogriff's stampeded through. Nevertheless he stealthily crossed to the door and back in the corridor then used a simple levitation spell to bang a branch on a window. He hoped that would be enough, Yoni dared not risk making too big a noise, Snape and Filch might still be prowling.
It was enough, he heard Harry leave, so Yoni himself went in and up to the mirror. And smiled.
Prepared for anything the sight in the mirror didn't seem that surprising.
It was Yoni, older and more mature. Laugh lines round the eyes and a twinkle in his eye. He, or I, was sitting at Dumbledore's desk, behind him was a picture of Harry cursing Voldemort, sign of victory? While on his other side... was Ron.
On both their right hand was a matching ring, a serpent biting its tail; ancient Wiccatta marriage practice: a symbol of eternity for a wedding ring. They were married.
So does the mirror show the future? Probably not, though not impossible. Many Wiccatta's had made divination their study, and one thing they quickly learned was that with the exception of historically indispensable people, no-ones future was set, or predictable. History doesn't care about individuals, just the sweep of the general mass.
But they could be wrong
Yoni wanted his relatives to be wrong, wanted the mirror to be right. To be accepted on his own terms as a man of lore and have a man such as Ron for his spouse? Who wouldn't want that?
But Yoni, mindful of his danger, left after a few moments more. Head probably spinning as much as Harry's who, he hoped, wouldn't notice that Yoni's bed was empty...