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The weather was getting colder and colder, as mid-December was approaching. The first school term ends in two weeks and Christmas was coming, you could feel it in the air. The school grounds were covered with snow and as Gwen looked out of a window she could see Hagrid dragging a Christmas tree behind him.
Gwen loved Christmas. She could still remember that one Christmas during her second year when Laurence had died. She had no desire to celebrate it. She thought it would be useless and more painful to go home to the big mansion of theirs and celebrate the holiday, just her and Sebastian.
But during those holidays the Hamilton siblings were invited to spend the holidays at the Weasleys. Gwen could still feel the sadness of the loss of her brother but she was invited into a family which helped her realize that she is never truly alone.
That Friday before dinner, Gwen and the rest of the Quidditch team had an emergency practice. Just last week Hufflepuff went against Ravenclaw. The Ravenclaws won.
Even though she felt sorry for Cedric and the Hufflepuffs, she felt happy for her and her entire team. Oliver had been working them hard when it came to Quidditch. They already met on the field three times that week and that Saturday they had to meet again which meant that the team had to leave Hogsmeade early.
Oliver also commanded them to run around the castle at least five times each day for them to get in shape.
Like that's going to happen.
Gwen was doing some of her homework after taking a shower. She tried to get some of it done so that she would have time to study and have fun during the holidays. Gwen finished her Vampire Summary and wrote her name on the top so she could pack it up.
Gwen turned to look at Fred who was supposed to be finishing his Vampire summary. Instead, he was sleeping and drooling on his parchment. Gwen smiled and used the feather of her quill to tickle Fred's left ear. As soon as he felt the feather, he muttering nonsense under his breath and giggling.
"Fred, Fred, wake up!" Gwen yelled, retreating her quill. Fred bolted straight up from his chair and looked around the room frantically. Gwen laughed when she saw a piece of parchment stuck to the side of his face.
"Why did you wake me?" Fred exclaimed. Gwen reached out and removed the parchment from his face and set it on the table.
"Well, dinner starts in about thirty minutes and you still haven't changed out of the quidditch uniform," Gwen explained as she closed her books and pushed them to the side. Fred cheered up with the sound of that. "Oh, yes! The epic prank! I'll come down in five minutes tops."
Gwen smiled as she saw him running up the stairs. "You don't see it do you?" Gwen turned around to look at Ginny. Gwen raised an eyebrow at her. "What?" Ginny raised her hands and moved closer to Gwen and sat down facing her. "Nothing, nothing. I've heard about the prank you're going to pull. Should I be worried?"
Gwen looked at the female Weasley incredulously. "How did you find out?" Gwen asked in a whisper. Ginny let out a laugh. "You do realize that your best friends are the loudest people in the wizarding world?" Gwen nodded her head slowly. "You do have a point. But trust me you have nothing to be worried about, it isn't much of a prank and more like a spirit lifter."
"Spirit lifter?" Gwen nodded once more. "Yes as it lifts people's depressing spirits," Gwen explained. "I'll look for this spirit-lifting prank." Ginny waved goodbye and left the Common room. Just then Gwen heard shouts and laughter coming her way and she knew that the boys were coming.
"What time is it? Showtime!" Lee shouted as he jumped the last few steps. "How is it that I always know when you three are around?" Gwen remarked as she stood up from her chair and straightened out her shirt. Lee scoffed. "Oh come on, look whose talking. You're no angel either."
"No time for talking! We have to go, it's supposed to set off at 8:15." George said and whispered the last part so no one could hear him.
"Okay, important question. Do you think that I should buy Olivia a present for Christmas?" Lee asked as they descended the stairs.
Fred and George simultaneously scoffed and uttered a 'No'. While Gwen squealed 'Yes'. "Why no? You should. Give her something small, not too expensive or that. Just a present that says 'Hey, I care." Gwen explained with a bright smile.
George shoved Gwen which made her scowl at him. "WRONG! That would just scare her away. Don't listen to her!" Gwen sped in front of George and grabbed Lee by the shoulders and shook him. "Don't listen to George! Who are you going to listen about girls? The two immature red-headed twins who never dated or had any experience with any women or me, an actual girl?"
Lee even dared to think about it which made Gwen question her choice of friends. "Sorry Gred, Forge but I'm going to stick with my girl on this one," Lee replied. Gwen raised her hand and gave Lee a high five.
Fred groaned. "Fine if you want to ruin your life then listen to her. Now, let's go or we're going to be late."
The four Gryffindor pranksters entered the Great Hall to see that it was now decorated for Christmas. The tree that Gwen saw Hagrid dragging through the snow was now beautifully decorated with brilliant ornaments and lights.
The snow was also falling as the ceiling was reflecting the snowy weather outside. It was truly a breathtaking sight. Gwen took a seat next to Ron who was already stuffing his face disgustingly with food. George was practically jumping up and down in his seat in front of her.
"George, please stop. You're giving me a headache." It was safe to say that Gwen was exhausted after a whole week of physical and mental work. George gave Gwen a shy smile. "Sorry. I'm just very excited. How much left?" He asked as he leaned forward, trying to look at the time on Gwen's watch.
Gwen looked at her watch as well. "Ten minutes. Better eat before the food gets ruined." Gwen announced as she started to serve food on her plate. As she ate, Gwen was staring intently at the flower vase that was in front of Oliver Wood. Oliver wasn't brooding or looking constipated because of Quidditch, he looked calm for once.
And at exactly 8:15 booms were heard throughout the Great Hall as well as the shouting of surprised students. The four house tables, as well as the teachers' table, had many vases of white roses. The white roses each let out large puffs of silver and gold glitter. Soon enough the Great Hall and the students and teachers were covered in glitter.
It took a while until the glitter stopped. Just when everyone thought it was over more glitter shot out from the vases and went towards the sky which spelt out 'HAPPY HOLIDAYS'. The spectacle ended after a few fireworks in the end. The Great Hall never was so sparkly.
Gwen looked down at her hands and saw that they were covered in glitter. The glitter was supposed to stick until you take a shower.
"OKAY, EVERYBODY OUT OF THE HALL. WE'LL GET THIS CLEANED IN NO TIME! EVACUATE!!" McGonagall exclaimed and Gwen had to fight the urge to laugh as she was also covered head to toe in glitter. "Ah, what a wonderful show, if I say so myself," Dumbledore claimed as he looked at the Great Hall from the outside. He was nowhere near angry like McGonagall, if anything he was wearing the glitter with pride.
Gwen had to search for some time to find the twins and Lee since it was hard to recognize anyone with all the blinding glitter. She finally found them because of the blinding grins on their faces. When they spotted her, they smiled even wider and ran up to her.
"I think that was a job well done, only one complaint though. I have been sneezing glitter for a few minutes now." Fred explained and in perfect timing, he sneezed, allowing a cloud of glitter to come out of his nose. Gwen ducked right on causing the glitter to hit Snape who was passing by.
Snape simply looked miserable covered in glitter. It was as if he was being tortured. Snape glared at Fred and simply walked past him. "Let's go. I need to shower because even though I make this glitter work, I can't see out of my left eye." Lee said as he rubbed vigorously at his eye.
Gwen smiled and nodded. She threw her arm over his shoulder and helped him walk up the stairs. It was safe to say that this time, it was Lee that was about to fall on every step and not Gwen.
The glitter-covered girl went straight into the shower the second time that day. Just like expected, the glitter washed off straight away as soon as she rubbed water over it. So when Gwen entered her dorm without a spot of glitter, the four girls in the dormitories looked at her with astonishment.
"How did you get the glitter out?" Ivy asked as she bolted straight up from bed. "Just take a shower. Washes right off." Gwen responded. Ivy literally had to tackle Alicia out of the way to enter the bathroom first.
"Well, someone is in a hurry," Gwen commented as she heard the door slam. "So, how did you get the glitter in the vases? And don't give us the 'I don't know what you're talking about' crap." Angelina stated as she tried to rub some of the glitter from her arms.
"Twins, Lee and I snuck into the kitchens. We told the house-elves about our plan and they decided to help as they loved the idea of glitter everywhere. Then they conjured up vases, that was their idea, and we went on working from there." Gwen explained. She had now opened her trunk to find some clothes for her to wear for Hogsmeade and her date tomorrow.
"It's amazing how you manage to do all these pranks and rarely get caught," Alicia added. Gwen smiled as she thought about the magic map. "It's as if we knew exactly where everyone was and made sure to avoid them," Gwen added, trying to sound mysterious on purpose.
Angelina huffed. "Well, that sounds oddly specific." Gwen shrugged. "Really? Huh. Anyway, I'm going to sleep, I'm tired and I barely slept at all last night. Night." Gwen hopped into her bed, leaving the others to wonder what exactly she meant.
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