Several feet of snow covered Hogwarts by the time half the December passed.
The lake froze solid and except for the Gryffindor Common Room and the Great Hall, where the fires roared nonstop, the drafty corridors became icy and a bitter wind rattled the windows in the classrooms.
Down in the dungeons, especially during the potions classes, the students' breaths misted.
Black and Draco were sharing a cauldron with Harry and Ron next to them. All the boys kept looking at the girl standing beyond the table, carrying out experiments of her own.
Professor Snape was nowhere to be seen.
Sensing their gazes, Darice looked up. She smirked.
"God I hate her!" Black cursed under his breath. He looked at Draco. "No offense."
Draco's mouth twitched. "Seriously, I have stopped taking offense. She did absolutely crush you…" He laughed, twisting his lips with a smirk of his own.
Harry came to borrow an ingredient as Ron had burned theirs.
Draco reached out to pick the slug up.
Black and Harry's eyes narrowed.
"What's that?!" Harry asked, hushed.
Draco instantly pulled back his hand, trying to hide it under his robe's long sleeves.
Black grabbed his hand before the young Malfoy could do that.
On the back of Draco's hand, there were red, bloody markings, saying — I am a liar.
The markings were hiding many other sentences under them, layering each other.
Ron came to look at what was taking Harry so long and his eyes widened as well.
"It's nothing," Draco said, snatching his hand, frowning. He looked up to see if Darcie hadn't seen him and then sighed in relief.
Black, Harry, and Ron exchanged glances.
"You should tell Professor Dumbledore…" Harry began.
"No." Black cut off Harry. "And what? Take this matter home?! Really? Why do you think he isn't going home for the holidays?"
"Don't talk like you know me, peasant!" Draco spat, carrying on with the experiment.
Black rolled his eyes.
It was true. None of the boys were going back home for Christmas.
Professor McGonagall had come around the week before, making a list of students who would be staying for the holidays, and all four of them had signed up surprisingly.
Even Neville wanted to remain at Hogwarts, seeing all his roommates staying for the holidays. The next day he got a letter from his gran and began packing immediately.
Of course, all had their reasons to not go.
Harry wanted to stay, believing this would probably be the best Christmas he'd ever had. Mr and Mrs Weasley had gone to Charlie in Romania. Draco didn't want to go home and then explain the scars others could easily see on his hands, especially to his sister.
Black wanted to see the Christmas presents.
Despite losing his match with Slytherin, Black wasn't much concerned about it. The condition was Gryffindor to not let Slytherin win the Quidditch Cup. It didn't matter what was the results of individual matches. Somehow, he would make the Slytherin lose.
On the other hand, there was the matter of Golden Snitch becoming a Timeline Artifact after serving its purpose.
However, using Lucky Intuitions and his experience, Black knew the Timeline would find a way to replay as many original events as it could. If not this time, then surely in one of the coming matches, or perhaps next year, Harry would come to win the match by swallowing a Golden Snitch.
Black still had years to wait it out.
The most pressing matter right now was the one related to the Contestants.
No ordinary Contestant could teleport in this timeline and remain unknown to Black now.
So, if there were Contestants in this world, then they were the ones his father had warned him about. These Contestants had come knowing about the Supreme Protector, the changed Timeline, and the transformed Dumbledore.
But… did they know about him being an Outer One as well? It was hard to say.
It wouldn't surprise Black, or the Ad Infinitum, if these scoundrels waited for him to go to them.
Black couldn't help it, either. This timeline was related to his Main Mission. If he didn't explore it now, he might never explore it later. Not to mention, he must not only complete the Mission Objective but also Death's objective as well.
I can't delay things any longer, Black thought as Harry, Ron, and Draco argued among themselves. After getting my hands on the Stone, I must start carrying out Death's task.
My goals also align with it now. The Order will definitely come after me. It's better to make them directly interfere with the timeline and suffer backlash as soon as possible. Motherfuckers!
"Shut up!" Draco hissed. "No. I won't tell anyone! Father has already halved my allowance. Allowance! Do you know that word, Weasley?!"
Ron blushed.
Harry smacked Draco's head. "Can you not pass these random remarks?!"
Draco ground his teeth. "No! I can't control it!"
"Professor!"
The entire class paused and looked at the boy who had shouted.
Draco, Harry, and Ron's jaws dropped, seeing Black raising his hand out of nowhere. Who was he calling, though?! Had Professor Snape arrived?!!
"Professor Darcie!" Black shouted, chuckling and making many mouths twitch, especially Daphne and Hermione's. "These three boys aren't letting me concentrate on the experiment. Can I come over to you and do it in peace?"
Now the entire class' jaw dropped.
Suddenly, Professor Snape came blasting through the doors, his black cloak billowing icily behind him.
He approached the class' front and sensed the odd grin lingering on some children's faces who were too slow to wipe it out.
"What's going on?" he asked slowly before snapping his head toward Darcie.
The four Gryffindor boys, standing together, felt a chill running down their spines.
"Mr. Black, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter," Darcie said, eying the boys before her gaze landed on her brother with a smile, "and Mr. Draco were being a nuisance to the class, Professor."
Snape's lips arched up slightly. "Five points from Gryffindor... each."
"That's…" Black let out.
"… so…" Harry said through the clenched teeth.
"… so…" Ron echoed Harry's tone.
"… unfair!" Draco spat.
In return, Darcie just let out another smirk.
…
Somewhere between their Quidditch match and the beginning of the holidays, the boys forgot they needed to search for who Nicolas Flamel was.
Once the holidays started, they had the dormitory to themselves.
Gryffindor Common Room never lacked fun anyway, but now, they could get the best armchairs by the fire, what with it being so empty all of a sudden.
Their favorite topic, while eating bread, muffins, and marshmallows, was how to get Umbridge expelled. It was fun to talk about until Draco began begging them not to let Darcie know about it somehow.
Between playing the magical chess and hearing the hooting of owls once again, Christmas Eve went by.
When they woke up in the morning, they found a grand pile of presents in the Common Room waiting for them.
For Draco, his mother had sent boxes of sweets. Darcie had sent him an autographed banner from her match with the Gryffindors, which he immediately threw on Black's face.
Black had received a heart-shaped cake and a handmade black sweater with a heart woven in gold and scarlet from his mother.
Cersei's overdoing it again, he thought, his lips twitching.
Mrs Weasley had sent sweaters for all of them. Draco immediately began talking about paying for it and got shut up by Harry and Ron as they forced him to wear the Weasley Sweater.
This only left one parcel.
Harry picked it up and unwrapped it.
Black eyed it with Calm. He could feel it. He had always been waiting for it.
The item within this parcel… held the mark of the Artificer, bursting forth in waves toward him.
Something fluid and silvery gray went slithering to the floor where it lay in gleaming folds.
**************
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