Impossible to Return

Hazel sighed, her breath visible in the air. She rubbed her arms, wrapping the blanket more snug around herself. The dungeons were irritably chilly as always, and they made goosebumps appear on Hazel's arms, even with her maroon sweater on.

She was sitting in an armchair in the Slytherin common room, staring at the fire. Most Slytherin students had gone home for the holidays, which meant the common room was practically empty. Though Hazel didn't like it in there, she could tolerate it if there was a minimal amount of people.

She was very, very bored. Christmas break had started two days ago. She should be super excited! But what was there to be happy about when you were alone?

The only person Hazel was friends with though, was Lily Evans. And she knew Lily would be in her common room. That was the problem. Hazel couldn't get into the Gryffindor common room, so she couldn't even talk to Lily.

Hazel shivered. Not only did the temperature seem to be dropping in the common room, but the painting of one of the old Slytherin heads was glaring at her.

Suddenly a roll of parchment appeared on the table in front of her. It was tied with silver string, and on the top it bore Hazel's name.

That was the thing with the Slytherin common room. It was under the lake so the owls couldn't fly through the windows. All letters were dropped in a bin that magically transported the letters to their intended receiver.

Hazel snatched the parchment and slipped it out of the string. It unrolled nicely, revealing a small paragraph.

Dear Hazel,

I haven't seen you much since Christmas break began. If you're not busy, we should hang out. I'll be at the library if you want to come meet me.

Sincerely, Lily

Hazel smiled. Lily always seemed to know the perfect time to do these things.

After throwing the parchment in the fire, Hazel got up and made her way to the library. Her shoes echoed in the corridors, the silence of emptiness weighing down on her.

Hazel spotted Lily almost instantly in the library, and they sat down at a table, almost with complete privacy. There was no one in the library, minus the librarian.

"So what have you been doing since the break started?" Lily asked, resting her chin on her hand.

Hazel shrugged and brushed away a curly strand of hair from her face. "Nothing really. I've been bored out of my mind."

Lily nodded. "Yeah. I was working on my Charms assignment, but after that..." Lily sighed. "Alice and Marlene and them all left. My dormitory is empty."

Hazel looked at Lily in envy. "I wish that was the case with me. Samantha and Terra and Cora all stayed. I can't get rid of them!"

The corners of Lily's mouth turned down pityingly. "I'm sorry. But, hey, I have an idea. Why don't you stay in my dormitory? There's no one in there but me, and I doubt any of the professors would care."

Hazel nibbled on her lip. "I don't know. I want to, but—"

"Come on!" Lily encouraged. "There's no harm in it, right?"

Hazel contemplated it. She didn't want to spend Christmas alone, but would she get in trouble for being in the Gryffindor common room? Well, it was Christmas, and the Gryffindor common room was sure to be warmer than the Slytherin one...

Hazel grinned. "I'm in."

Lily and Hazel dashed down to the dungeons so Hazel could grab some things. Lily waited outside while Hazel entered her dormitory. Hazel didn't plan on coming back down until the break was over.

She started to stuff her pyjamas and clothes into her trunk quickly, and gathered up any essentials. As she was doing so, Terra and Samantha entered.

They were chatting animatedly, but when they saw Hazel, both of them quieted. Hazel waited for them to make a snarky remark, or to whisper to each other about Hazel's choice of clothing, but they didn't.

They both stayed silent as they grabbed their hairbrushes and makeup and started to clean themselves up. They seemed to be rushing. Hazel didn't know why, and when she caught Terra's gaze in the mirror, Terra's eyes widened and she looked away.

As Hazel grabbed her bag and left the dormitory, she wondered why they were acting this way. It had started a few weeks ago. They had practically disappeared. She never saw them outside of class, except for the rare times in their dormitory. But even then, they would rush in and out and be gone without a single insult. The daily pranks had stopped. Hazel didn't know what happened, but she was thankful it had.

Lily greeted her outside the Slytherin common room, and they walked arm in arm to the portrait of the Fat Lady. The Fat Lady looked disapprovingly down at Hazel when Lily said the password, but she didn't comment on it before swinging open.

Hazel sat her bag down on one of the girls beds and smiled. Maybe this Christmas would be better than she thought.