Family Christmas Dinner (Sinead)

Aoife never went home for Christmas anymore. She had one year, but after that she and her parents had decided it was just too much bother and expense to be travelling from Hogwarts to London to Kerry and then back again in the space of a couple of short weeks. But that was fine. A lot of people stayed at school. Hogwarts was very different during holidays, what with there being no classes and just a whole castle, plus Hogsmeade, to explore. And anyway, it was worth it, for the amazing lunch the house elves made on Christmas day. It was better than her mam's shit cooking. Way, way better. She was sure Sinead would appreciate the meal too, since her niece was staying over Christmas as well. It would be just like normal family Christmas dinner at home, minus all her parents and siblings and their spouses and children. And minus the bad food, obviously. She’d hardly seen the girl all term, probably down to the fact that she’d been sorted into Ravenclaw. The redhead wasn’t bitter, she just feared for Sinead’s sanity, stuck in a house with the devil and the devil’s deceivingly cute little sister.

When she woke up on Christmas morning, the first thing she did was spring out of bed and run to the window to see if it was a White Christmas. It wasn’t. It was just raining, like it always seemed to be here. Then she opened the presents from her family in the post, and a couple from friends, giggling excitedly to herself when she saw the contents. It was still early, so she got back into bed and slept more, before spending the rest of the morning reading her book on caring for your pet sheep - she would have to go and visit Willow later today - and snacking on one of the many huge bags of Haribos she’d gotten as presents.

Before long, the time came for Christmas lunch. She was almost late, which would have been a tragedy, since all of the good food would be gone, but she managed to get dressed into a festive Christmas jumper and jeans and practically fly down the stairs to the Great Hall in time. The food hadn’t yet appeared when she arrived, and she let out a sigh of relief. Nobody seemed to be sticking to their house tables really, so Aoife headed in the opposite direction to normal, to the Ravenclaw table. She could see Sinead by herself there straight away.

She beamed as she took a seat on the bench opposite Sinead. “Happy Christmas!” She reached into her bag to grab the gift she’d wrapped up neatly for her niece. It was a cool notebook with dolphins on it. And a load of sweets she’d picked up from Honeydukes the week before. Sometimes she was creative with gift-giving, just not most of the time. Right on cue, the lunch appeared, and she didn’t hesitate in grabbing her plate and piling it up with the wonderful Christmas food. When she’d got as much as she could fit on the plate, she sat back and glanced at Sinead. “So how’s Hogwarts? I’ve hardly seen you since summer!” And it might just be her awful busy sixth year schedule, or it might be that she was a terrible auntie.

Ravenclaw wasn't too bad. It wasn't as great as Gryffindor seemed to be, but at least Ravenclaws had a good chance at the House Cup, which was Sinead's newest ambition. Truthfully, she was looking forward to spending the holidays at the castle, because there was so much to explore and much more to learn, not to mention she had all days and nights to bother the headmaster about her amazing idea of a dolphin club. Christmas at Hogwarts was pretty much a relief, because the usual family dinner was always crowded and, well...Aoife's mom wasn't a good cook, so all thoughts of hunger went away from Sinead's mind on Christmas. Nevertheless, the food at Hogwarts was insane. Insanely good! The House Elves really outdid themselves on a daily basis.

It was barely lunch time, though, so Sinead couldn't go bother the headmaster just yet. She had to eat first! So she got dressed, wearing a red pullover she thought might have been Aoife's at some point, and ran down to the Common Room. The Ravenclaw prefects had put up a little Christmas tree full of House Pride stuff, and Sinead saw her name among some of the presents. Most of them were from family members, which she wasn't too excited about, and there were some from random kids she didn't know, so she wasn't excited about them either. There wasn't anything from her favorite auntie, though. That made Sinead frown, her heart breaking just the tiniest bit. She'd obviously gotten something for Aoife! And Aoife hadn't even sent anything!

Quickly, she ran back to get her auntie's present anyway, in case she saw her around, and stuffed it in her book bag. Sinead had to carry that bag all the time, in case she saw someone important and had to explain the purpose and necessity of Dolphin Club. The little silver-wrapped box held chocolates and a charm bracelet, with only sheep charms, of course. So she went and ran down to the Great Hall, because food was needed desperately, her stomach already growling, and found the Ravenclaw table mostly empty. "They must all be asleep, still." Sinead shrugged, making her way towards the edge of the table. Putting her bag down next to her, she began taking out its contents and pulled out an old notebook in which to write that day's tasks. She had to finish some holiday break homework, which was a pain and she hated it passionately, and she also had to check on Aoife and make sure that Hunter guy was treating her well. Obviously, she'd heard of Aoife's new boyfriend, which made her barf but who was she to judge her awesome aunt?

Suddenly, the red haired princess came up! Out of nowhere! Like, poof! Grinning, Sinead bounced on her seat a little, "HAPPY CHRISTMAAAAAAAS!!!" She dragged out the word and greeted her as loudly as possible. Another one of her new year's resolution, to be more outspoken. She clearly couldn't do that with just anyone, but her aunt was trusted, so craziness would be okay in such a moment. Aoife shoved a gift into her hands before spreading all over the table and grabbing as much food as she could, and Sinead put the gift aside and joined her in the food gathering. They were going to be very full by the first five minutes of lunch, but it was worth it. So worth it. When Aoife sat back down, Sinead handed the silver box to her. "Hogwarts is okay. They haven't accepted my club suggestion, but I'm working on it." she shrugged, taking pumpkin juice and serving herself a huge glass of it. "I know! I heard stuff about you, though. You're pretty popular, which you never told me you were." she glared at her aunt, because what kind of human relative didn't warn their lovely niece of the fame following them.